Saturn gave her his ring of amethysts and Uranus the greenish
malachite, of buoyant hope the emblem. This, in time, was changed to
copper, the king of all commercial metals.
Mars gave the bloodstone. From it came soldiers bold, heroes who
fought Apaches and the Spaniard.
The winged Mercury on passing tossed her two stones, most precious;
the lodestone and a Blackstone. The lodestone was a stone of grit.
When Arizona placed it in her crib thence came the lucky prospector
who sinks his shafts through earth and rock in search of mineral
treasure.
Then opened she the Blackstone and lo, from it arose the men of
eloquence who aided by retainers fight keenly in continued terms for
order, law and justice with weapons that are mightier than the sword
which giveth glory, eternal rest and immortality to heroes only whom
it smiteth.
Behold, a shadow now fell on the Earth and as a serpent coils and
creeping stretches forth its slimy length, it came apace.
Foreboding evil it announced the knight-errant of never-ending space,
a wicked comet. To Arizona gave he playthings many: the rattlesnake,
hairy tarantelas and stinging scorpions, horned toads and centipedes,
a scented hydrophobia-cat, the Gila monster, a Mexican and the
Apache; also a thorny cactus plant.
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