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@@ -0,0 +1,11946 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Desert Gold, by Zane Grey + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Desert Gold + +Author: Zane Grey + +Posting Date: September 13, 2008 [EBook #502] +Release Date: April, 1996 +[Last updated: March 21, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DESERT GOLD *** + + + + + + +DESERT GOLD + +A ROMANCE OF THE BORDER + + +BY + +ZANE GREY + + + + +CONTENTS + + + Prologue + + I. Old Friends + II. Mercedes Castaneda + III. A Flight Into The Desert + IV. Forlorn River + V. A Desert Rose + VI. The Yaqui + VII. White Horses + VIII. The Running of Blanco Sol + IX. An Interrupted Siesta + X. Rojas + XI. Across Cactus and Lava + XII. The Crater of Hell + XIII. Changes at Forlorn River + XIV. A Lost Son + XV. Bound In The Desert + XVI. Mountain Sheep + XVII. The Whistle of a Horse + XVIII. Reality Against Dreams + XIX. The Secret of Forlorn River + XX. Desert Gold + + + + +D E S E R T G O L D + + + +PROLOGUE + + +I + +A FACE haunted Cameron--a woman's face. It was there in the white +heart of the dying campfire; it hung in the shadows that hovered over +the flickering light; it drifted in the darkness beyond. + +This hour, when the day had closed and the lonely desert night set in +with its dead silence, was one in which Cameron's mind was thronged +with memories of a time long past--of a home back in Peoria, of a woman +he had wronged and lost, and loved too late. He was a prospector for +gold, a hunter of solitude, a lover of the drear, rock-ribbed +infinitude, because he wanted to be alone to remember. + +A sound disturbed Cameron's reflections. He bent his head listening. A +soft wind fanned the paling embers, blew sparks and white ashes and +thin smoke away into the enshrouding circle of blackness. His burro +did not appear to be moving about. The quiet split to the cry of a +coyote. It rose strange, wild, mournful--not the howl of a prowling +upland beast baying the campfire or barking at a lonely prospector, but +the wail of a wolf, full-voiced, crying out the meaning of the desert +and the night. Hunger throbbed in it--hunger for a mate, for +offspring, for life. When it ceased, the terrible desert silence smote +Cameron, and the cry echoed in his soul. He and that wandering wolf +were brothers. + +Then a sharp clink of metal on stone and soft pads of hoofs in sand +prompted Cameron to reach for his gun, and to move out of the light of +the waning campfire. He was somewhere along the wild border line +between Sonora and Arizona; and the prospector who dared the heat and +barrenness of that region risked other dangers sometimes as menacing. + +Figures darker than the gloom approached and took shape, and in the +light turned out to be those of a white man and a heavily packed burro. + +"Hello there," the man called, as he came to a halt and gazed about +him. "I saw your fire. May I make camp here?" + +Cameron came forth out of the shadow and greeted his visitor, whom he +took for a prospector like himself. Cameron resented the breaking of +his lonely campfire vigil, but he respected the law of the desert. + +The stranger thanked him, and then slipped the pack from his burro. +Then he rolled out his pack and began preparations for a meal. His +movements were slow and methodical. + +Cameron watched him, still with resentment, yet with a curious and +growing interest. The campfire burst into a bright blaze, and by its +light Cameron saw a man whose gray hair somehow did not seem to make +him old, and whose stooped shoulders did not detract from an impression +of rugged strength. + +"Find any mineral?" asked Cameron, presently. + +His visitor looked up quickly, as if startled by the sound of a human +voice. He replied, and then the two men talked a little. But the +stranger evidently preferred silence. Cameron understood that. He +laughed grimly and bent a keener gaze upon the furrowed, shadowy face. +Another of those strange desert prospectors in whom there was some +relentless driving power besides the lust for gold! Cameron felt that +between this man and himself there was a subtle affinity, vague and +undefined, perhaps born of the divination that here was a desert +wanderer like himself, perhaps born of a deeper, an unintelligible +relation having its roots back in the past. A long-forgotten sensation +stirred in Cameron's breast, one so long forgotten that he could not +recognize it. But it was akin to pain. + + + +II + +When he awakened he found, to his surprise, that his companion had +departed. A trail in the sand led off to the north. There was no +water in that direction. Cameron shrugged his shoulders; it was not +his affair; he had his own problems. And straightway he forgot his +strange visitor. + +Cameron began his day, grateful for the solitude that was now unbroken, +for the canyon-furrowed and cactus-spired scene that now showed no sign +of life. He traveled southwest, never straying far from the dry stream +bed; and in a desultory way, without eagerness, he hunted for signs of +gold. + +The work was toilsome, yet the periods of rest in which he indulged +were not taken because of fatigue. He rested to look, to listen, to +feel. What the vast silent world meant to him had always been a +mystical thing, which he felt in all its incalculable power, but never +understood. + +That day, while it was yet light, and he was digging in a moist +white-bordered wash for water, he was brought sharply up by hearing the +crack of hard hoofs on stone. There down the canyon came a man and a +burro. Cameron recognized them. + +"Hello, friend," called the man, halting. "Our trails crossed again. +That's good." + +"Hello," replied Cameron, slowly. "Any mineral sign to-day?" + +"No." + +They made camp together, ate their frugal meal, smoked a pipe, and +rolled in their blankets without exchanging many words. In the morning +the same reticence, the same aloofness characterized the manner of +both. But Cameron's companion, when he had packed his burro and was +ready to start, faced about and said: "We might stay together, if it's +all right with you." + +"I never take a partner," replied Cameron. + +"You're alone; I'm alone," said the other, mildly. "It's a big place. +If we find gold there'll be enough for two." + +"I don't go down into the desert for gold alone," rejoined Cameron, +with a chill note in his swift reply. + +His companion's deep-set, luminous eyes emitted a singular flash. It +moved Cameron to say that in the years of his wandering he had met no +man who could endure equally with him the blasting heat, the blinding +dust storms, the wilderness of sand and rock and lava and cactus, the +terrible silence and desolation of the desert. Cameron waved a hand +toward the wide, shimmering, shadowy descent of plain and range. "I +may strike through the Sonora Desert. I may head for Pinacate or north +for the Colorado Basin. You are an old man." + +"I don't know the country, but to me one place is the same as another," +replied his companion. For moments he seemed to forget himself, and +swept his far-reaching gaze out over the colored gulf of stone and +sand. Then with gentle slaps he drove his burro in behind Cameron. +"Yes, I'm old. I'm lonely, too. It's come to me just lately. But, +friend, I can still travel, and for a few days my company won't hurt +you." + +"Have it your way," said Cameron. + +They began a slow march down into the desert. At sunset they camped +under the lee of a low mesa. Cameron was glad his comrade had the +Indian habit of silence. Another day's travel found the prospectors +deep in the wilderness. Then there came a breaking of reserve, +noticeable in the elder man, almost imperceptibly gradual in Cameron. +Beside the meager mesquite campfire this gray-faced, thoughtful old +prospector would remove his black pipe from his mouth to talk a little; +and Cameron would listen, and sometimes unlock his lips to speak a +word. And so, as Cameron began to respond to the influence of a desert +less lonely than habitual, he began to take keener note of his comrade, +and found him different from any other he had ever encountered in the +wilderness. This man never grumbled at the heat, the glare, the driving +sand, the sour water, the scant fare. During the daylight hours he was +seldom idle. At night he sat dreaming before the fire or paced to and +fro in the gloom. He slept but little, and that long after Cameron had +had his own rest. He was tireless, patient, brooding. + +Cameron's awakened interest brought home to him the realization that +for years he had shunned companionship. In those years only three men +had wandered into the desert with him, and these had left their bones +to bleach in the shifting sands. Cameron had not cared to know their +secrets. But the more he studied this latest comrade the more he began +to suspect that he might have missed something in the others. In his +own driving passion to take his secret into the limitless abode of +silence and desolation, where he could be alone with it, he had +forgotten that life dealt shocks to other men. Somehow this silent +comrade reminded him. + +One afternoon late, after they had toiled up a white, winding wash of +sand and gravel, they came upon a dry waterhole. Cameron dug deep into +the sand, but without avail. He was turning to retrace weary steps +back to the last water when his comrade asked him to wait. Cameron +watched him search in his pack and bring forth what appeared to be a +small, forked branch of a peach tree. He grasped the prongs of the +fork and held them before him with the end standing straight out, and +then he began to walk along the stream bed. Cameron, at first amused, +then amazed, then pitying, and at last curious, kept pace with the +prospector. He saw a strong tension of his comrade's wrists, as if he +was holding hard against a considerable force. The end of the peach +branch began to quiver and turn. Cameron reached out a hand to touch +it, and was astounded at feeling a powerful vibrant force pulling the +branch downward. He felt it as a magnetic shock. The branch kept +turning, and at length pointed to the ground. + +"Dig here," said the prospector. + +"What!" ejaculated Cameron. Had the man lost his mind? + +Then Cameron stood by while his comrade dug in the sand. Three feet he +dug--four--five, and the sand grew dark, then moist. At six feet water +began to seep through. + +"Get the little basket in my pack," he said. + +Cameron complied, and saw his comrade drop the basket into the deep +hole, where it kept the sides from caving in and allowed the water to +seep through. While Cameron watched, the basket filled. Of all the +strange incidents of his desert career this was the strangest. +Curiously he picked up the peach branch and held it as he had seen it +held. The thing, however, was dead in his hands. + +"I see you haven't got it," remarked his comrade. "Few men have." + +"Got what?" demanded Cameron. + +"A power to find water that way. Back in Illinois an old German used +to do that to locate wells. He showed me I had the same power. I can't +explain. But you needn't look so dumfounded. There's nothing +supernatural about it." + +"You mean it's a simple fact--that some men have a magnetism, a force +or power to find water as you did?" + +"Yes. It's not unusual on the farms back in Illinois, Ohio, +Pennsylvania. The old German I spoke of made money traveling round +with his peach fork." + +"What a gift for a man in the desert!" + +Cameron's comrade smiled--the second time in all those days. + +They entered a region where mineral abounded, and their march became +slower. Generally they took the course of a wash, one on each side, +and let the burros travel leisurely along nipping at the bleached +blades of scant grass, or at sage or cactus, while they searched in the +canyons and under the ledges for signs of gold. When they found any +rock that hinted of gold they picked off a piece and gave it a chemical +test. The search was fascinating. They interspersed the work with +long, restful moments when they looked afar down the vast reaches and +smoky shingles to the line of dim mountains. Some impelling desire, not +all the lure of gold, took them to the top of mesas and escarpments; +and here, when they had dug and picked, they rested and gazed out at +the wide prospect. Then, as the sun lost its heat and sank lowering to +dent its red disk behind far-distant spurs, they halted in a shady +canyon or likely spot in a dry wash and tried for water. When they +found it they unpacked, gave drink to the tired burros, and turned them +loose. Dead mesquite served for the campfire. While the strange +twilight deepened into weird night they sat propped against stones, +with eyes on the dying embers of the fire, and soon they lay on the +sand with the light of white stars on their dark faces. + +Each succeeding day and night Cameron felt himself more and more drawn +to this strange man. He found that after hours of burning toil he had +insensibly grown nearer to his comrade. He reflected that after a few +weeks in the desert he had always become a different man. In +civilization, in the rough mining camps, he had been a prey to unrest +and gloom. But once down on the great billowing sweep of this lonely +world, he could look into his unquiet soul without bitterness. Did not +the desert magnify men? Cameron believed that wild men in wild places, +fighting cold, heat, starvation, thirst, barrenness, facing the +elements in all their ferocity, usually retrograded, descended to the +savage, lost all heart and soul and became mere brutes. Likewise he +believed that men wandering or lost in the wilderness often reversed +that brutal order of life and became noble, wonderful, super-human. So +now he did not marvel at a slow stir stealing warmer along his veins, +and at the premonition that perhaps he and this man, alone on the +desert, driven there by life's mysterious and remorseless motive, were +to see each other through God's eyes. + +His companion was one who thought of himself last. It humiliated +Cameron that in spite of growing keenness he could not hinder him from +doing more than an equal share of the day's work. The man was mild, +gentle, quiet, mostly silent, yet under all his softness he seemed to +be made of the fiber of steel. Cameron could not thwart him. +Moreover, he appeared to want to find gold for Cameron, not for +himself. Cameron's hands always trembled at the turning of rock that +promised gold; he had enough of the prospector's passion for fortune to +thrill at the chance of a strike. But the other never showed the least +trace of excitement. + +One night they were encamped at the head of a canyon. The day had been +exceedingly hot, and long after sundown the radiation of heat from the +rocks persisted. A desert bird whistled a wild, melancholy note from a +dark cliff, and a distant coyote wailed mournfully. The stars shone +white until the huge moon rose to burn out all their whiteness. And on +this night Cameron watched his comrade, and yielded to interest he had +not heretofore voiced. + +"Pardner, what drives you into the desert?" + +"Do I seem to be a driven man?" + +"No. But I feel it. Do you come to forget?" + +"Yes." + +"Ah!" softly exclaimed Cameron. Always he seemed to have known that. +He said no more. He watched the old man rise and begin his nightly +pace to and fro, up and down. With slow, soft tread, forward and back, +tirelessly and ceaselessly, he paced that beat. He did not look up at +the stars or follow the radiant track of the moon along the canyon +ramparts. He hung his head. He was lost in another world. It was a +world which the lonely desert made real. He looked a dark, sad, +plodding figure, and somehow impressed Cameron with the helplessness of +men. + +Cameron grew acutely conscious of the pang in his own breast, of the +fire in his heart, the strife and torment of his passion-driven soul. +He had come into the desert to remember a woman. She appeared to him +then as she had looked when first she entered his life--a golden-haired +girl, blue-eyed, white-skinned, red-lipped, tall and slender and +beautiful. He had never forgotten, and an old, sickening remorse +knocked at his heart. He rose and climbed out of the canyon and to the +top of a mesa, where he paced to and fro and looked down into the weird +and mystic shadows, like the darkness of his passion, and farther on +down the moon track and the glittering stretches that vanished in the +cold, blue horizon. The moon soared radiant and calm, the white stars +shone serene. The vault of heaven seemed illimitable and divine. The +desert surrounded him, silver-streaked and black-mantled, a chaos of +rock and sand, silent, austere, ancient, always waiting. It spoke to +Cameron. It was a naked corpse, but it had a soul. In that wild +solitude the white stars looked down upon him pitilessly and pityingly. +They had shone upon a desert that might once have been alive and was +now dead, and might again throb with life, only to die. It was a +terrible ordeal for him to stand alone and realize that he was only a +man facing eternity. But that was what gave him strength to endure. +Somehow he was a part of it all, some atom in that vastness, somehow +necessary to an inscrutable purpose, something indestructible in that +desolate world of ruin and death and decay, something perishable and +changeable and growing under all the fixity of heaven. In that +endless, silent hall of desert there was a spirit; and Cameron felt +hovering near him what he imagined to be phantoms of peace. + +He returned to camp and sought his comrade. + +"I reckon we're two of a kind," he said. "It was a woman who drove me +into the desert. But I come to remember. The desert's the only place +I can do that." + +"Was she your wife?" asked the elder man. + +"No." + +A long silence ensued. A cool wind blew up the canyon, sifting the +sand through the dry sage, driving away the last of the lingering heat. +The campfire wore down to a ruddy ashen heap. + +"I had a daughter," said Cameron's comrade. "She lost her mother at +birth. And I--I didn't know how to bring up a girl. She was pretty +and gay. It was the--the old story." + +His words were peculiarly significant to Cameron. They distressed him. +He had been wrapped up in his remorse. If ever in the past he had +thought of any one connected with the girl he had wronged he had long +forgotten. But the consequences of such wrong were far-reaching. They +struck at the roots of a home. Here in the desert he was confronted by +the spectacle of a splendid man, a father, wasting his life because he +could not forget--because there was nothing left to live for. Cameron +understood better now why his comrade was drawn by the desert. + +"Well, tell me more?" asked Cameron, earnestly. + +"It was the old, old story. My girl was pretty and free. The young +bucks ran after her. I guess she did not run away from them. And I was +away a good deal--working in another town. She was in love with a wild +fellow. I knew nothing of it till too late. He was engaged to marry +her. But he didn't come back. And when the disgrace became plain to +all, my girl left home. She went West. After a while I heard from +her. She was well--working--living for her baby. A long time passed. +I had no ties. I drifted West. Her lover had also gone West. In +those days everybody went West. I trailed him, intending to kill him. +But I lost his trail. Neither could I find any trace of her. She had +moved on, driven, no doubt, by the hound of her past. Since then I +have taken to the wilds, hunting gold on the desert." + +"Yes, it's the old, old story, only sadder, I think," said Cameron; and +his voice was strained and unnatural. "Pardner, what Illinois town was +it you hailed from?" + +"Peoria." + +"And your--your name?" went on Cameron huskily. + +"Warren--Jonas Warren." + +That name might as well have been a bullet. Cameron stood erect, +motionless, as men sometimes stand momentarily when shot straight +through the heart. In an instant, when thoughts resurged like blinding +flashes of lightning through his mind, he was a swaying, quivering, +terror-stricken man. He mumbled something hoarsely and backed into the +shadow. But he need not have feared discovery, however surely his +agitation might have betrayed him. Warren sat brooding over the +campfire, oblivious of his comrade, absorbed in the past. + +Cameron swiftly walked away in the gloom, with the blood thrumming +thick in his ears, whispering over and over: + +"Merciful God! Nell was his daughter!" + + + +III + +As thought and feeling multiplied, Cameron was overwhelmed. Beyond +belief, indeed, was it that out of the millions of men in the world two +who had never seen each other could have been driven into the desert by +memory of the same woman. It brought the past so close. It showed +Cameron how inevitably all his spiritual life was governed by what had +happened long ago. That which made life significant to him was a +wandering in silent places where no eye could see him with his secret. +Some fateful chance had thrown him with the father of the girl he had +wrecked. It was incomprehensible; it was terrible. It was the one +thing of all possible happenings in the world of chance that both +father and lover would have found unendurable. + +Cameron's pain reached to despair when he felt this relation between +Warren and himself. Something within him cried out to him to reveal +his identity. Warren would kill him; but it was not fear of death that +put Cameron on the rack. He had faced death too often to be afraid. +It was the thought of adding torture to this long-suffering man. All +at once Cameron swore that he would not augment Warren's trouble, or +let him stain his hands with blood. He would tell the truth of Nell's +sad story and his own, and make what amends he could. + +Then Cameron's thought shifted from father to daughter. She was +somewhere beyond the dim horizon line. In those past lonely hours by +the campfire his fancy had tortured him with pictures of Nell. But his +remorseful and cruel fancy had lied to him. Nell had struggled upward +out of menacing depths. She had reconstructed a broken life. And now +she was fighting for the name and happiness of her child. Little Nell! +Cameron experienced a shuddering ripple in all his being--the physical +rack of an emotion born of a new and strange consciousness. + +As Cameron gazed out over the blood-red, darkening desert suddenly the +strife in his soul ceased. The moment was one of incalculable change, +in which his eyes seemed to pierce the vastness of cloud and range, and +mystery of gloom and shadow--to see with strong vision the illimitable +space before him. He felt the grandeur of the desert, its simplicity, +its truth. He had learned at last the lesson it taught. No longer +strange was his meeting and wandering with Warren. Each had marched in +the steps of destiny; and as the lines of their fates had been +inextricably tangled in the years that were gone, so now their steps +had crossed and turned them toward one common goal. For years they had +been two men marching alone, answering to an inward driving search, and +the desert had brought them together. For years they had wandered alone +in silence and solitude, where the sun burned white all day and the +stars burned white all night, blindly following the whisper of a +spirit. But now Cameron knew that he was no longer blind, and in this +flash of revelation he felt that it had been given him to help Warren +with his burden. + +He returned to camp trying to evolve a plan. As always at that long +hour when the afterglow of sunset lingered in the west, Warren plodded +to and fro in the gloom. All night Cameron lay awake thinking. + +In the morning, when Warren brought the burros to camp and began +preparations for the usual packing, Cameron broke silence. + +"Pardner, your story last night made me think. I want to tell you +something about myself. It's hard enough to be driven by sorrow for +one you've loved, as you've been driven; but to suffer sleepless and +eternal remorse for the ruin of one you've loved as I have +suffered--that is hell.... Listen. In my younger days--it seems long +now, yet it's not so many years--I was wild. I wronged the sweetest +and loveliest girl I ever knew. I went away not dreaming that any +disgrace might come to her. Along about that time I fell into terrible +moods--I changed--I learned I really loved her. Then came a letter I +should have gotten months before. It told of her trouble--importuned +me to hurry to save her. Half frantic with shame and fear, I got a +marriage certificate and rushed back to her town. She was gone--had +been gone for weeks, and her disgrace was known. Friends warned me to +keep out of reach of her father. I trailed her--found her. I married +her. But too late!... She would not live with me. She left me--I +followed her west, but never found her." + +Warren leaned forward a little and looked into Cameron's eyes, as if +searching there for the repentance that might make him less deserving +of a man's scorn. + +Cameron met the gaze unflinchingly, and again began to speak: + +"You know, of course, how men out here somehow lose old names, old +identities. It won't surprise you much to learn my name really isn't +Cameron, as I once told you." + +Warren stiffened upright. It seemed that there might have been a +blank, a suspension, between his grave interest and some strange mood +to come. + +Cameron felt his heart bulge and contract in his breast; all his body +grew cold; and it took tremendous effort for him to make his lips form +words. + +"Warren, I'm the man you're hunting. I'm Burton. I was Nell's lover!" + +The old man rose and towered over Cameron, and then plunged down upon +him, and clutched at his throat with terrible stifling hands. The harsh +contact, the pain awakened Cameron to his peril before it was too late. +Desperate fighting saved him from being hurled to the ground and +stamped and crushed. Warren seemed a maddened giant. There was a +reeling, swaying, wrestling struggle before the elder man began to +weaken. The Cameron, buffeted, bloody, half-stunned, panted for speech. + +"Warren--hold on! Give me--a minute. I married Nell. Didn't you know +that?... I saved the child!" + +Cameron felt the shock that vibrated through Warren. He repeated the +words again and again. As if compelled by some resistless power, +Warren released Cameron, and, staggering back, stood with uplifted, +shaking hands. In his face was a horrible darkness. + +"Warren! Wait--listen!" panted Cameron. "I've got that marriage +certificate--I've had it by me all these years. I kept it--to prove to +myself I did right." + +The old man uttered a broken cry. + +Cameron stole off among the rocks. How long he absented himself or +what he did he had no idea. When he returned Warren was sitting before +the campfire, and once more he appeared composed. He spoke, and his +voice had a deeper note; but otherwise he seemed as usual. + +They packed the burros and faced the north together. + +Cameron experienced a singular exaltation. He had lightened his +comrade's burden. Wonderfully it came to him that he had also +lightened his own. From that hour it was not torment to think of Nell. +Walking with his comrade through the silent places, lying beside him +under the serene luminous light of the stars, Cameron began to feel the +haunting presence of invisible things that were real to him--phantoms +whispering peace. In the moan of the cool wind, in the silken seep of +sifting sand, in the distant rumble of a slipping ledge, in the faint +rush of a shooting star he heard these phantoms of peace coming with +whispers of the long pain of men at the last made endurable. Even in +the white noonday, under the burning sun, these phantoms came to be +real to him. In the dead silence of the midnight hours he heard them +breathing nearer on the desert wind--nature's voices of motherhood, +whispers of God, peace in the solitude. + + + +IV + +There came a morning when the sun shone angry and red through a dull, +smoky haze. + +"We're in for sandstorms," said Cameron. + +They had scarcely covered a mile when a desert-wide, moaning, yellow +wall of flying sand swooped down upon them. Seeking shelter in the lee +of a rock, they waited, hoping the storm was only a squall, such as +frequently whipped across the open places. The moan increased to a +roar, and the dull red slowly dimmed, to disappear in the yellow pall, +and the air grew thick and dark. Warren slipped the packs from the +burros. Cameron feared the sandstorms had arrived some weeks ahead of +their usual season. + +The men covered their heads and patiently waited. The long hours +dragged, and the storm increased in fury. Cameron and Warren wet +scarfs with water from their canteens, and bound them round their +faces, and then covered their heads. The steady, hollow bellow of +flying sand went on. It flew so thickly that enough sifted down under +the shelving rock to weight the blankets and almost bury the men. They +were frequently compelled to shake off the sand to keep from being +borne to the ground. And it was necessary to keep digging out the +packs. The floor of their shelter gradually rose higher and higher. +They tried to eat, and seemed to be grinding only sand between their +teeth. They lost the count of time. They dared not sleep, for that +would have meant being buried alive. The could only crouch close to the +leaning rock, shake off the sand, blindly dig out their packs, and +every moment gasp and cough and choke to fight suffocation. + +The storm finally blew itself out. It left the prospectors heavy and +stupid for want of sleep. Their burros had wandered away, or had been +buried in the sand. Far as eye could reach the desert had marvelously +changed; it was now a rippling sea of sand dunes. Away to the north +rose the peak that was their only guiding mark. They headed toward it, +carrying a shovel and part of their packs. + +At noon the peak vanished in the shimmering glare of the desert. The +prospectors pushed on, guided by the sun. In every wash they tried for +water. With the forked peach branch in his hands Warren always +succeeded in locating water. They dug, but it lay too deep. At +length, spent and sore, they fell and slept through that night and part +of the next day. Then they succeeded in getting water, and quenched +their thirst, and filled the canteens, and cooked a meal. + +The burning day found them in an interminably wide plain, where there +was no shelter from the fierce sun. The men were exceedingly careful +with their water, though there was absolute necessity of drinking a +little every hour. Late in the afternoon they came to a canyon that +they believed was the lower end of the one in which they had last found +water. For hours they traveled toward its head, and, long after night +had set, found what they sought. Yielding to exhaustion, they slept, +and next day were loath to leave the waterhole. Cool night spurred +them on with canteens full and renewed strength. + +Morning told Cameron that they had turned back miles into the desert, +and it was desert new to him. The red sun, the increasing heat, and +especially the variety and large size of the cactus plants warned +Cameron that he had descended to a lower level. Mountain peaks loomed +on all sides, some near, others distant; and one, a blue spur, +splitting the glaring sky far to the north, Cameron thought he +recognized as a landmark. The ascent toward it was heartbreaking, not +in steepness, but in its league-and-league-long monotonous rise. +Cameron knew there was only one hope--to make the water hold out and +never stop to rest. Warren began to weaken. Often he had to halt. The +burning white day passed, and likewise the night, with its white stars +shining so pitilessly cold and bright. + +Cameron measured the water in his canteen by its weight. Evaporation +by heat consumed as much as he drank. During one of the rests, when he +had wetted his parched mouth and throat, he found opportunity to pour a +little water from his canteen into Warren's. + +At first Cameron had curbed his restless activity to accommodate the +pace of his elder comrade. But now he felt that he was losing +something of his instinctive and passionate zeal to get out of the +desert. The thought of water came to occupy his mind. He began to +imagine that his last little store of water did not appreciably +diminish. He knew he was not quite right in his mind regarding water; +nevertheless, he felt this to be more of fact than fancy, and he began +to ponder. + +When next they rested he pretended to be in a kind of stupor; but he +covertly watched Warren. The man appeared far gone, yet he had +cunning. He cautiously took up Cameron's canteen and poured water into +it from his own. + +This troubled Cameron. The old irritation at not being able to thwart +Warren returned to him. Cameron reflected, and concluded that he had +been unwise not to expect this very thing. Then, as his comrade +dropped into weary rest, he lifted both canteens. If there were any +water in Warren's, it was only very little. Both men had been enduring +the terrible desert thirst, concealing it, each giving his water to the +other, and the sacrifice had been useless. + +Instead of ministering to the parched throats of one or both, the water +had evaporated. When Cameron made sure of this, he took one more +drink, the last, and poured the little water left into Warren's +canteen. He threw his own away. + +Soon afterward Warren discovered the loss. + +"Where's your canteen?" he asked. + +"The heat was getting my water, so I drank what was left." + +"My son!" said Warren. + +The day opened for them in a red and green hell of rock and cactus. +Like a flame the sun scorched and peeled their faces. Warren went +blind from the glare, and Cameron had to lead him. At last Warren +plunged down, exhausted, in the shade of a ledge. + +Cameron rested and waited, hopeless, with hot, weary eyes gazing down +from the height where he sat. The ledge was the top step of a ragged +gigantic stairway. Below stretched a sad, austere, and lonely valley. +A dim, wide streak, lighter than the bordering gray, wound down the +valley floor. Once a river had flowed there, leaving only a forlorn +trace down the winding floor of this forlorn valley. + +Movement on the part of Warren attracted Cameron's attention. Evidently +the old prospector had recovered his sight and some of his strength, +for he had arisen, and now began to walk along the arroyo bed with his +forked peach branch held before him. He had clung to the precious bit +of wood. Cameron considered the prospect for water hopeless, because +he saw that the arroyo had once been a canyon, and had been filled with +sands by desert winds. Warren, however, stopped in a deep pit, and, +cutting his canteen in half, began to use one side of it as a scoop. +He scooped out a wide hollow, so wide that Cameron was certain he had +gone crazy. Cameron gently urged him to stop, and then forcibly tried +to make him. But these efforts were futile. Warren worked with slow, +ceaseless, methodical movement. He toiled for what seemed hours. +Cameron, seeing the darkening, dampening sand, realized a wonderful +possibility of water, and he plunged into the pit with the other half +of the canteen. Then both men toiled, round and round the wide hole, +down deeper and deeper. The sand grew moist, then wet. At the bottom +of the deep pit the sand coarsened, gave place to gravel. Finally water +welled in, a stronger volume than Cameron ever remembered finding on +the desert. It would soon fill the hole and run over. He marveled at +the circumstance. The time was near the end of the dry season. +Perhaps an underground stream flowed from the range behind down to the +valley floor, and at this point came near to the surface. Cameron had +heard of such desert miracles. + +The finding of water revived Cameron's flagging hopes. But they were +short-lived. Warren had spend himself utterly. + +"I'm done. Don't linger," he whispered. "My son, go--go!" + +Then he fell. Cameron dragged him out of the sand pit to a sheltered +place under the ledge. While sitting beside the failing man Cameron +discovered painted images on the wall. Often in the desert he had +found these evidences of a prehistoric people. Then, from long habit, +he picked up a piece of rock and examined it. Its weight made him +closely scrutinize it. The color was a peculiar black. He scraped +through the black rust to find a piece of gold. Around him lay +scattered heaps of black pebbles and bits of black, weathered rock and +pieces of broken ledge, and they showed gold. + +"Warren! Look! See it! Feel it! Gold!" + +But Warren had never cared, and now he was too blind to see. + +"Go--go!" he whispered. + +Cameron gazed down the gray reaches of the forlorn valley, and +something within him that was neither intelligence nor +emotion--something inscrutably strange--impelled him to promise. + +Then Cameron built up stone monuments to mark his gold strike. That +done, he tarried beside the unconscious Warren. Moments passed--grew +into hours. Cameron still had strength left to make an effort to get +out of the desert. But that same inscrutable something which had +ordered his strange involuntary promise to Warren held him beside his +fallen comrade. He watched the white sun turn to gold, and then to red +and sink behind mountains in the west. Twilight stole into the arroyo. +It lingered, slowly turning to gloom. The vault of blue black lightened +to the blinking of stars. Then fell the serene, silent, luminous desert +night. + +Cameron kept his vigil. As the long hours wore on he felt creep over +him the comforting sense that he need not forever fight sleep. A wan +glow flared behind the dark, uneven horizon, and a melancholy misshapen +moon rose to make the white night one of shadows. Absolute silence +claimed the desert. It was mute. Then that inscrutable something +breathed to him, telling him when he was alone. He need not have +looked at the dark, still face beside him. + +Another face haunted Cameron's--a woman's face. It was there in the +white moonlit shadows; it drifted in the darkness beyond; it softened, +changed to that of a young girl, sweet, with the same dark, haunting +eyes of her mother. Cameron prayed to that nameless thing within him, +the spirit of something deep and mystical as life. He prayed to that +nameless thing outside, of which the rocks and the sand, the spiked +cactus and the ragged lava, the endless waste, with its vast star-fired +mantle, were but atoms. He prayed for mercy to a woman--for happiness +to her child. Both mother and daughter were close to him then. Time +and distance were annihilated. He had faith--he saw into the future. +The fateful threads of the past, so inextricably woven with his error, +wound out their tragic length here in this forlorn desert. + +Cameron then took a little tin box from his pocket, and, opening it, +removed a folded certificate. He had kept a pen, and now he wrote +something upon the paper, and in lieu of ink he wrote with blood. The +moon afforded him enough light to see; and, having replaced the paper, +he laid the little box upon a shelf of rock. It would remain there +unaffected by dust, moisture, heat, time. How long had those painted +images been there clear and sharp on the dry stone walls? There were +no trails in that desert, and always there were incalculable changes. +Cameron saw this mutable mood of nature--the sands would fly and seep +and carve and bury; the floods would dig and cut; the ledges would +weather in the heat and rain; the avalanches would slide; the cactus +seeds would roll in the wind to catch in a niche and split the soil +with thirsty roots. Years would pass. Cameron seemed to see them, +too; and likewise destiny leading a child down into this forlorn waste, +where she would find love and fortune, and the grave of her father. + +Cameron covered the dark, still face of his comrade from the light of +the waning moon. + +That action was the severing of his hold on realities. They fell away +from him in final separation. Vaguely, dreamily he seemed to behold +his soul. Night merged into gray day; and night came again, weird and +dark. Then up out of the vast void of the desert, from the silence and +illimitableness, trooped his phantoms of peace. Majestically they +formed around him, marshalling and mustering in ceremonious state, and +moved to lay upon him their passionless serenity. + + + +I + +OLD FRIENDS + +RICHARD GALE reflected that his sojourn in the West had been what his +disgusted father had predicted--idling here and there, with no +objective point or purpose. + +It was reflection such as this, only more serious and perhaps somewhat +desperate, that had brought Gale down to the border. For some time the +newspapers had been printing news of Mexican revolution, guerrilla +warfare, United States cavalry patrolling the international line, +American cowboys fighting with the rebels, and wild stories of bold +raiders and bandits. But as opportunity, and adventure, too, had +apparently given him a wide berth in Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, he had +struck southwest for the Arizona border, where he hoped to see some +stirring life. He did not care very much what happened. Months of +futile wandering in the hope of finding a place where he fitted had +inclined Richard to his father's opinion. + +It was after dark one evening in early October when Richard arrived in +Casita. He was surprised to find that it was evidently a town of +importance. There was a jostling, jabbering, sombreroed crowd of +Mexicans around the railroad station. He felt as if he were in a +foreign country. After a while he saw several men of his nationality, +one of whom he engaged to carry his luggage to a hotel. They walked up +a wide, well-lighted street lined with buildings in which were bright +windows. Of the many people encountered by Gale most were Mexicans. +His guide explained that the smaller half of Casita lay in Arizona, the +other half in Mexico, and of several thousand inhabitants the majority +belonged on the southern side of the street, which was the boundary +line. He also said that rebels had entered the town that day, causing +a good deal of excitement. + +Gale was almost at the end of his financial resources, which fact +occasioned him to turn away from a pretentious hotel and to ask his +guide for a cheaper lodging-house. When this was found, a sight of the +loungers in the office, and also a desire for comfort, persuaded Gale +to change his traveling-clothes for rough outing garb and boots. + +"Well, I'm almost broke," he soliloquized, thoughtfully. "The governor +said I wouldn't make any money. He's right--so far. And he said I'd be +coming home beaten. There he's wrong. I've got a hunch that something +'ll happen to me in this Greaser town." + +He went out into a wide, whitewashed, high-ceiled corridor, and from +that into an immense room which, but for pool tables, bar, benches, +would have been like a courtyard. The floor was cobblestoned, the +walls were of adobe, and the large windows opened like doors. A blue +cloud of smoke filled the place. Gale heard the click of pool balls +and the clink of glasses along the crowded bar. Bare-legged, +sandal-footed Mexicans in white rubbed shoulders with Mexicans mantled +in black and red. There were others in tight-fitting blue uniforms +with gold fringe or tassels at the shoulders. These men wore belts +with heavy, bone-handled guns, and evidently were the rurales, or +native policemen. There were black-bearded, coarse-visaged Americans, +some gambling round the little tables, others drinking. The pool +tables were the center of a noisy crowd of younger men, several of whom +were unsteady on their feet. There were khaki-clad cavalrymen +strutting in and out. + +At one end of the room, somewhat apart from the general meelee, was a +group of six men round a little table, four of whom were seated, the +other two standing. These last two drew a second glance from Gale. +The sharp-featured, bronzed faces and piercing eyes, the tall, slender, +loosely jointed bodies, the quiet, easy, reckless air that seemed to be +a part of the men--these things would plainly have stamped them as +cowboys without the buckled sombreros, the colored scarfs, the +high-topped, high-heeled boots with great silver-roweled spurs. Gale +did not fail to note, also, that these cowboys wore guns, and this fact +was rather a shock to his idea of the modern West. It caused him to +give some credence to the rumors of fighting along the border, and he +felt a thrill. + +He satisfied his hunger in a restaurant adjoining, and as he stepped +back into the saloon a man wearing a military cape jostled him. +Apologies from both were instant. Gale was moving on when the other +stopped short as if startled, and, leaning forward, exclaimed: + +"Dick Gale?" + +"You've got me," replied Gale, in surprise. "But I don't know you." + +He could not see the stranger's face, because it was wholly shaded by a +wide-brimmed hat pulled well down. + +"By Jove! It's Dick! If this isn't great! Don't you know me?" + +"I've heard your voice somewhere," replied Gale. "Maybe I'll recognize +you if you come out from under that bonnet." + +For answer the man, suddenly manifesting thought of himself, hurriedly +drew Gale into the restaurant, where he thrust back his hat to disclose +a handsome, sunburned face. + +"George Thorne! So help me--" + +"'S-s-ssh. You needn't yell," interrupted the other, as he met Gale's +outstretched hand. There was a close, hard, straining grip. "I must +not be recognized here. There are reasons. I'll explain in a minute. +Say, but it's fine to see you! Five years, Dick, five years since I +saw you run down University Field and spread-eagle the whole Wisconsin +football team." + +"Don't recollect that," replied Dick, laughing. "George, I'll bet you +I'm gladder to see you than you are to see me. It seems so long. You +went into the army, didn't you?" + +"I did. I'm here now with the Ninth Cavalry. But--never mind me. +What're you doing way down here? Say, I just noticed your togs. Dick, +you can't be going in for mining or ranching, not in this God-forsaken +desert?" + +"On the square, George, I don't know any more why I'm here than--than +you know." + +"Well, that beats me!" ejaculated Thorne, sitting back in his chair, +amaze and concern in his expression. "What the devil's wrong? Your old +man's got too much money for you ever to be up against it. Dick, you +couldn't have gone to the bad?" + +A tide of emotion surged over Gale. How good it was to meet a +friend--some one to whom to talk! He had never appreciated his +loneliness until that moment. + +"George, how I ever drifted down here I don't know. I didn't exactly +quarrel with the governor. But--damn it, Dad hurt me--shamed me, and I +dug out for the West. It was this way. After leaving college I tried +to please him by tackling one thing after another that he set me to do. +On the square, I had no head for business. I made a mess of +everything. The governor got sore. He kept ramming the harpoon into me +till I just couldn't stand it. What little ability I possessed deserted +me when I got my back up, and there you are. Dad and I had a rather +uncomfortable half hour. When I quit--when I told him straight out that +I was going West to fare for myself, why, it wouldn't have been so +tough if he hadn't laughed at me. He called me a rich man's son--an +idle, easy-going spineless swell. He said I didn't even have character +enough to be out and out bad. He said I didn't have sense enough to +marry one of the nice girls in my sister's crowd. He said I couldn't +get back home unless I sent to him for money. He said he didn't +believe I could fight--could really make a fight for anything under the +sun. Oh--he--he shot it into me, all right." + +Dick dropped his head upon his hands, somewhat ashamed of the smarting +dimness in his eyes. He had not meant to say so much. Yet what a +relief to let out that long-congested burden! + +"Fight!" cried Thorne, hotly. "What's ailing him? Didn't they call +you Biff Gale in college? Dick, you were one of the best men Stagg +ever developed. I heard him say so--that you were the fastest, +one-hundred-and-seventy-five-pound man he'd ever trained, the hardest +to stop." + +"The governor didn't count football," said Dick. "He didn't mean that +kind of fight. When I left home I don't think I had an idea what was +wrong with me. But, George, I think I know now. I was a rich man's +son--spoiled, dependent, absolutely ignorant of the value of money. I +haven't yet discovered any earning capacity in me. I seem to be unable +to do anything with my hands. That's the trouble. But I'm at the end +of my tether now. And I'm going to punch cattle or be a miner, or do +some real stunt--like joining the rebels." + +"Aha! I thought you'd spring that last one on me," declared Thorne, +wagging his head. "Well, you just forget it. Say, old boy, there's +something doing in Mexico. The United States in general doesn't +realize it. But across that line there are crazy revolutionists, +ill-paid soldiers, guerrilla leaders, raiders, robbers, outlaws, +bandits galore, starving peons by the thousand, girls and women in +terror. Mexico is like some of her volcanoes--ready to erupt fire and +hell! Don't make the awful mistake of joining rebel forces. Americans +are hated by Mexicans of the lower class--the fighting class, both +rebel and federal. Half the time these crazy Greasers are on one side, +then on the other. If you didn't starve or get shot in ambush, or die +of thirst, some Greaser would knife you in the back for you belt buckle +or boots. There are a good many Americans with the rebels eastward +toward Agua, Prieta and Juarez. Orozco is operating in Chihuahua, and +I guess he has some idea of warfare. But this is Sonora, a mountainous +desert, the home of the slave and the Yaqui. There's unorganized +revolt everywhere. The American miners and ranchers, those who could +get away, have fled across into the States, leaving property. Those +who couldn't or wouldn't come must fight for their lives, are fighting +now." + +"That's bad," said Gale. "It's news to me. Why doesn't the government +take action, do something?" + +"Afraid of international complications. Don't want to offend the +Maderists, or be criticized by jealous foreign nations. It's a +delicate situation, Dick. The Washington officials know the gravity of +it, you can bet. But the United States in general is in the dark, and +the army--well, you ought to hear the inside talk back at San Antonio. +We're patrolling the boundary line. We're making a grand bluff. I +could tell you of a dozen instances where cavalry should have pursued +raiders on the other side of the line. But we won't do it. The +officers are a grouchy lot these days. You see, of course, what +significance would attach to United States cavalry going into Mexican +territory. There would simply be hell. My own colonel is the sorest +man on the job. We're all sore. It's like sitting on a powder +magazine. We can't keep the rebels and raiders from crossing the line. +Yet we don't fight. My commission expires soon. I'll be discharged in +three months. You can bet I'm glad for more reasons than I've +mentioned." + +Thorne was evidently laboring under strong, suppressed excitement. His +face showed pale under the tan, and his eyes gleamed with a dark fire. +Occasionally his delight at meeting, talking with Gale, dominated the +other emotions, but not for long. He had seated himself at a table +near one of the doorlike windows leading into the street, and every +little while he would glance sharply out. Also he kept consulting his +watch. + +These details gradually grew upon Gale as Thorne talked. + +"George, it strikes me that you're upset," said Dick, presently. "I +seem to remember you as a cool-headed fellow whom nothing could +disturb. Has the army changed you?" + +Thorne laughed. It was a laugh with a strange, high note. It was +reckless--it hinted of exaltation. He rose abruptly; he gave the +waiter money to go for drinks; he looked into the saloon, and then into +the street. On this side of the house there was a porch opening on a +plaza with trees and shrubbery and branches. Thorne peered out one +window, then another. His actions were rapid. Returning to the table, +he put his hands upon it and leaned over to look closely into Gale's +face. + +"I'm away from camp without leave," he said. + +"Isn't that a serious offense?" asked Dick. + +"Serious? For me, if I'm discovered, it means ruin. There are rebels +in town. Any moment we might have trouble. I ought to be ready for +duty--within call. If I'm discovered it means arrest. That means +delay--the failure of my plans--ruin." + +Gale was silenced by his friend's intensity. Thorne bent over closer +with his dark eyes searching bright. + +"We were old pals--once?" + +"Surely," replied Dick. + +"What would you say, Dick Gale, if I told you that you're the one man +I'd rather have had come along than any other at this crisis of my +life?" + +The earnest gaze, the passionate voice with its deep tremor drew Dick +upright, thrilling and eager, conscious of strange, unfamiliar +impetuosity. + +"Thorne, I should say I was glad to be the fellow," replied Dick. + +Their hands locked for a moment, and they sat down again with heads +close over the table. + +"Listen," began Thorne, in low, swift whisper, "a few days, a week +ago--it seems like a year!--I was of some assistance to refugees +fleeing from Mexico into the States. They were all women, and one of +them was dressed as a nun. Quite by accident I saw her face. It was +that of a beautiful girl. I observed she kept aloof from the others. +I suspected a disguise, and, when opportunity afforded, spoke to her, +offered my services. She replied to my poor efforts at Spanish in +fluent English. She had fled in terror from her home, some place down +in Sinaloa. Rebels are active there. Her father was captured and held +for ransom. When the ransom was paid the rebels killed him. The leader +of these rebels was a bandit named Rojas. Long before the revolution +began he had been feared by people of class--loved by the peons. +Bandits are worshiped by the peons. All of the famous bandits have +robbed the rich and given to the poor. Rojas saw the daughter, made off +with her. But she contrived to bribe her guards, and escaped almost +immediately before any harm befell her. She hid among friends. Rojas +nearly tore down the town in his efforts to find her. Then she +disguised herself, and traveled by horseback, stage, and train to +Casita. + +"Her story fascinated me, and that one fleeting glimpse I had of her +face I couldn't forget. She had no friends here, no money. She knew +Rojas was trailing her. This talk I had with her was at the railroad +station, where all was bustle and confusion. No one noticed us, so I +thought. I advised her to remove the disguise of a nun before she left +the waiting-room. And I got a boy to guide her. But he fetched her to +his house. I had promised to come in the evening to talk over the +situation with her. + +"I found her, Dick, and when I saw her--I went stark, staring, raving +mad over her. She is the most beautiful, wonderful girl I ever saw. +Her name is Mercedes Castaneda, and she belongs to one of the old +wealthy Spanish families. She has lived abroad and in Havana. She +speaks French as well as English. She is--but I must be brief. + +"Dick, think, think! With Mercedes also it was love at first sight. My +plan is to marry her and get her farther to the interior, away from the +border. It may not be easy. She's watched. So am I. It was +impossible to see her without the women of this house knowing. At +first, perhaps, they had only curiosity--an itch to gossip. But the +last two days there has been a change. Since last night there's some +powerful influence at work. Oh, these Mexicans are subtle, mysterious! +After all, they are Spaniards. They work in secret, in the dark. They +are dominated first by religion, then by gold, then by passion for a +woman. Rojas must have got word to his friends here; yesterday his +gang of cutthroat rebels arrived, and to-day he came. When I learned +that, I took my chance and left camp. I hunted up a priest. He +promised to come here. It's time he's due. But I'm afraid he'll be +stopped." + +"Thorne, why don't you take the girl and get married without waiting, +without running these risks?" said Dick. + +"I fear it's too late now. I should have done that last night. You +see, we're over the line--" + +"Are we in Mexican territory now?" queried Gale, sharply. + +"I guess yes, old boy. That's what complicates it. Rojas and his +rebels have Casita in their hands. But Rojas without his rebels would +be able to stop me, get the girl, and make for his mountain haunts. If +Mercedes is really watched--if her identity is known, which I am sure +is the case--we couldn't get far from this house before I'd be knifed +and she seized." + +"Good Heavens! Thorne, can that sort of thing happen less than a +stone's throw from the United States line?" asked Gale, incredulously. + +"It can happen, and don't you forget it. You don't seem to realize the +power these guerrilla leaders, these rebel captains, and particularly +these bandits, exercise over the mass of Mexicans. A bandit is a man of +honor in Mexico. He is feared, envied, loved. In the hearts of the +people he stands next to the national idol--the bull-fighter, the +matador. The race has a wild, barbarian, bloody strain. Take +Quinteros, for instance. He was a peon, a slave. He became a famous +bandit. At the outbreak of the revolution he proclaimed himself a +leader, and with a band of followers he devastated whole counties. The +opposition to federal forces was only a blind to rob and riot and carry +off women. The motto of this man and his followers was: 'Let us enjoy +ourselves while we may!' + +"There are other bandits besides Quinteros, not so famous or such great +leaders, but just as bloodthirsty. I've seen Rojas. He's a handsome, +bold sneering devil, vainer than any peacock. He decks himself in gold +lace and sliver trappings, in all the finery he can steal. He was one +of the rebels who helped sack Sinaloa and carry off half a million in +money and valuables. Rojas spends gold like he spills blood. But he +is chiefly famous for abducting women. The peon girls consider it an +honor to be ridden off with. Rojas has shown a penchant for girls of +the better class." + +Thorne wiped the perspiration from his pale face and bent a dark gaze +out of the window before he resumed his talk. + +"Consider what the position of Mercedes really is. I can't get any +help from our side of the line. If so, I don't know where. The +population on that side is mostly Mexican, absolutely in sympathy with +whatever actuates those on this side. The whole caboodle of Greasers +on both sides belong to the class in sympathy with the rebels, the +class that secretly respects men like Rojas, and hates an aristocrat +like Mercedes. They would conspire to throw her into his power. Rojas +can turn all the hidden underground influences to his ends. Unless I +thwart him he'll get Mercedes as easily as he can light a cigarette. +But I'll kill him or some of his gang or her before I let him get +her.... This is the situation, old friend. I've little time to spare. +I face arrest for desertion. Rojas is in town. I think I was followed +to this hotel. The priest has betrayed me or has been stopped. +Mercedes is here alone, waiting, absolutely dependent upon me to save +her from--from.... She's the sweetest, loveliest girl!... In a few +moments--sooner or later there'll be hell here! Dick, are you with me?" + +Dick Gale drew a long, deep breath. A coldness, a lethargy, an +indifference that had weighed upon him for months had passed out of his +being. On the instant he could not speak, but his hand closed +powerfully upon his friend's. Thorne's face changed wonderfully, the +distress, the fear, the appeal all vanishing in a smile of passionate +gratefulness. + +Then Dick's gaze, attracted by some slight sound, shot over his +friend's shoulder to see a face at the window--a handsome, bold, +sneering face, with glittering dark eyes that flashed in sinister +intentness. + +Dick stiffened in his seat. Thorne, with sudden clenching of hands, +wheeled toward the window. + +"Rojas!" he whispered. + + + +II + +MERCEDES CASTANEDA + +THE dark face vanished. Dick Gale heard footsteps and the tinkle of +spurs. He strode to the window, and was in time to see a Mexican +swagger into the front door of the saloon. Dick had only a glimpse; +but in that he saw a huge black sombrero with a gaudy band, the back of +a short, tight-fitting jacket, a heavy pearl-handled gun swinging with +a fringe of sash, and close-fitting trousers spreading wide at the +bottom. There were men passing in the street, also several Mexicans +lounging against the hitching-rail at the curb. + +"Did you see him? Where did he go?" whispered Thorne, as he joined +Gale. "Those Greasers out there with the cartridge belts crossed over +their breasts--they are rebels." + +"I think he went into the saloon," replied Dick. "He had a gun, but +for all I can see the Greasers out there are unarmed." + +"Never believe it! There! Look, Dick! That fellow's a guard, though +he seems so unconcerned. See, he has a short carbine, almost +concealed.... There's another Greaser farther down the path. I'm +afraid Rojas has the house spotted." + +"If we could only be sure." + +"I'm sure, Dick. Let's cross the hall; I want to see how it looks from +the other side of the house." + +Gale followed Thorne out of the restaurant into the high-ceiled +corridor which evidently divided the hotel, opening into the street and +running back to a patio. A few dim, yellow lamps flickered. A Mexican +with a blanket round his shoulders stood in the front entrance. Back +toward the patio there were sounds of boots on the stone floor. Shadows +flitted across that end of the corridor. Thorne entered a huge chamber +which was even more poorly lighted than the hall. It contained a table +littered with papers, a few high-backed chairs, a couple of couches, +and was evidently a parlor. + +"Mercedes has been meeting me here," said Thorne. "At this hour she +comes every moment or so to the head of the stairs there, and if I am +here she comes down. Mostly there are people in this room a little +later. We go out into the plaza. It faces the dark side of the house, +and that's the place I must slip out with her if there's any chance at +all to get away." + +They peered out of the open window. The plaza was gloomy, and at first +glance apparently deserted. In a moment, however, Gale made out a +slow-pacing dark form on the path. Farther down there was another. No +particular keenness was required to see in these forms a sentinel-like +stealthiness. + +Gripping Gale's arm, Thorne pulled back from the window. + +"You saw them," he whispered. "It's just as I feared. Rojas has the +place surrounded. I should have taken Mercedes away. But I had no +time--no chance! I'm bound!... There's Mercedes now! My God!... Dick, +think--think if there's a way to get her out of this trap!" + +Gale turned as his friend went down the room. In the dim light at the +head of the stairs stood the slim, muffled figure of a woman. When she +saw Thorne she flew noiselessly down the stairway to him. He caught her +in his arms. Then she spoke softly, brokenly, in a low, swift voice. +It was a mingling of incoherent Spanish and English; but to Gale it was +mellow, deep, unutterably tender, a voice full of joy, fear, passion, +hope, and love. Upon Gale it had an unaccountable effect. He found +himself thrilling, wondering. + +Thorne led the girl to the center of the room, under the light where +Gale stood. She had raised a white hand, holding a black-laced +mantilla half aside. Dick saw a small, dark head, proudly held, an +oval face half hidden, white as a flower, and magnificent black eyes. + +Then Thorne spoke. + +"Mercedes--Dick Gale, an old friend--the best friend I ever had." + +She swept the mantilla back over her head, disclosing a lovely face, +strange and striking to Gale in its pride and fire, its intensity. + +"Senor Gale--ah! I cannot speak my happiness. His friend!" + +"Yes, Mercedes; my friend and yours," said Thorne, speaking rapidly. +"We'll have need of him. Dear, there's bad news and no time to break +it gently. The priest did not come. He must have been detained. And +listen--be brave, dear Mercedes--Rojas is here!" + +She uttered an inarticulate cry, the poignant terror of which shook +Gale's nerve, and swayed as if she would faint. Thorne caught her, and +in husky voice importuned her to bear up. + +"My darling! For God's sake don't faint--don't go to pieces! We'd be +lost! We've got a chance. We'll think of something. Be strong! +Fight!" + +It was plain to Gale that Thorne was distracted. He scarcely knew what +he was saying. Pale and shaking, he clasped Mercedes to him. Her +terror had struck him helpless. It was so intense--it was so full of +horrible certainty of what fate awaited her. + +She cried out in Spanish, beseeching him; and as he shook his head, she +changed to English: + +"Senor, my lover, I will be strong--I will fight--I will obey. But +swear by my Virgin, if need be to save me from Rojas--you will kill me!" + +"Mercedes! Yes, I'll swear," he replied hoarsely. "I know--I'd rather +have you dead than-- But don't give up. Rojas can't be sure of you, or +he wouldn't wait. He's in there. He's got his men there--all around +us. But he hesitates. A beast like Rojas doesn't stand idle for +nothing. I tell you we've a chance. Dick, here, will think of +something. We'll slip away. Then he'll take you somewhere. +Only--speak to him--show him you won't weaken. Mercedes, this is more +than love and happiness for us. It's life or death." + +She became quiet, and slowly recovered control of herself. + +Suddenly she wheeled to face Gale with proud dark eyes, tragic +sweetness of appeal, and exquisite grace. + +"Senor, you are an American. You cannot know the Spanish blood--the +peon bandit's hate and cruelty. I wish to die before Rojas's hand +touches me. If he takes me alive, then the hour, the little day that +my life lasts afterward will be tortured--torture of hell. If I live +two days his brutal men will have me. If I live three, the dogs of his +camp... Senor, have you a sister whom you love? Help Senor Thorne to +save me. He is a soldier. He is bound. He must not betray his honor, +his duty, for me.... Ah, you two splendid Americans--so big, so strong, +so fierce! What is that little black half-breed slave Rojas to such +men? Rojas is a coward. Now, let me waste no more precious time. I am +ready. I will be brave." + +She came close to Gale, holding out her white hands, a woman all fire +and soul and passion. To Gale she was wonderful. His heart leaped. +As he bent over her hands and kissed them he seemed to feel himself +renewed, remade. + +"Senorita," he said, "I am happy to be your servant. I can conceive of +no greater pleasure than giving the service you require." + +"And what is that?" inquired Thorne, hurriedly. + +"That of incapacitating Senor Rojas for to-night, and perhaps several +nights to come," replied Gale. + +"Dick, what will you do?" asked Thorne, now in alarm. + +"I'll make a row in that saloon," returned Dick, bluntly. "I'll start +something. I'll rush Rojas and his crowd. I'll--" + +"Lord, no; you mustn't, Dick--you'll be knifed!" cried Thorne. He was +in distress, yet his eyes were shining. + +"I'll take a chance. Maybe I can surprise that slow Greaser bunch and +get away before they know what's happened.... You be ready watching at +the window. When the row starts those fellows out there in the plaza +will run into the saloon. Then you slip out, go straight through the +plaza down the street. It's a dark street, I remember. I'll catch up +with you before you get far." + +Thorne gasped, but did not say a word. Mercedes leaned against him, +her white hands now at her breast, her great eyes watching Gale as he +went out. + +In the corridor Gale stopped long enough to pull on a pair of heavy +gloves, to muss his hair, and disarrange his collar. Then he stepped +into the restaurant, went through, and halted in the door leading into +the saloon. His five feet eleven inches and one hundred and eighty +pounds were more noticeable there, and it was part of his plan to +attract attention to himself. No one, however, appeared to notice him. +The pool-players were noisily intent on their game, the same crowd of +motley-robed Mexicans hung over the reeking bar. Gale's roving glance +soon fixed upon the man he took to be Rojas. He recognized the huge, +high-peaked, black sombrero with its ornamented band. The Mexican's +face was turned aside. He was in earnest, excited colloquy with a +dozen or more comrades, most of whom were sitting round a table. They +were listening, talking, drinking. The fact that they wore cartridge +belts crossed over their breasts satisfied that these were the rebels. +He had noted the belts of the Mexicans outside, who were apparently +guards. A waiter brought more drinks to this group at the table, and +this caused the leader to turn so Gale could see his face. It was +indeed the sinister, sneering face of the bandit Rojas. Gale gazed at +the man with curiosity. He was under medium height, and striking in +appearance only because of his dandified dress and evil visage. He wore +a lace scarf, a tight, bright-buttoned jacket, a buckskin vest +embroidered in red, a sash and belt joined by an enormous silver clasp. +Gale saw again the pearl-handled gun swinging at the bandit's hip. +Jewels flashed in his scarf. There were gold rings in his ears and +diamonds on his fingers. + +Gale became conscious of an inward fire that threatened to overrun his +coolness. Other emotions harried his self-control. It seemed as if +sight of the man liberated or created a devil in Gale. And at the +bottom of his feelings there seemed to be a wonder at himself, a +strange satisfaction for the something that had come to him. + +He stepped out of the doorway, down the couple of steps to the floor of +the saloon, and he staggered a little, simulating drunkenness. He fell +over the pool tables, jostled Mexicans at the bar, laughed like a +maudlin fool, and, with his hat slouched down, crowded here and there. +Presently his eye caught sight of the group of cowboys whom he had +before noticed with such interest. + +They were still in a corner somewhat isolated. With fertile mind +working, Gale lurched over to them. He remembered his many +unsuccessful attempts to get acquainted with cowboys. If he were to +get any help from these silent aloof rangers it must be by striking +fire from them in one swift stroke. Planting himself squarely before +the two tall cowboys who were standing, he looked straight into their +lean, bronzed faces. He spared a full moment for that keen cool gaze +before he spoke. + +"I'm not drunk. I'm throwing a bluff, and I mean to start a rough +house. I'm going to rush that damned bandit Rojas. It's to save a +girl--to give her lover, who is my friend, a chance to escape with her. +When I start a row my friend will try to slip out with her. Every door +and window is watched. I've got to raise hell to draw the guards +in.... Well, you're my countrymen. We're in Mexico. A beautiful +girl's honor and life are at stake. Now, gentlemen, watch me!" + +One cowboy's eyes narrowed, blinking a little, and his lean jaw +dropped; the other's hard face rippled with a fleeting smile. + +Gale backed away, and his pulse leaped when he saw the two cowboys, as +if with one purpose, slowly stride after him. Then Gale swerved, +staggering along, brushed against the tables, kicked over the empty +chairs. He passed Rojas and his gang, and out of the tail of his eye +saw that the bandit was watching him, waving his hands and talking +fiercely. The hum of the many voices grew louder, and when Dick +lurched against a table, overturning it and spilling glasses into the +laps of several Mexicans, there arose a shrill cry. He had succeeded in +attracting attention; almost every face turned his way. One of the +insulted men, a little tawny fellow, leaped up to confront Gale, and in +a frenzy screamed a volley of Spanish, of which Gale distinguished +"Gringo!" The Mexican stamped and made a threatening move with his +right hand. Dick swung his leg and with a swift side kick knocked the +fellows feet from under him, whirling him down with a thud. + +The action was performed so suddenly, so adroitly, it made the Mexican +such a weakling, so like a tumbled tenpin, that the shrill jabbering +hushed. Gale knew this to be the significant moment. + +Wheeling, he rushed at Rojas. It was his old line-breaking plunge. +Neither Rojas nor his men had time to move. The black-skinned bandit's +face turned a dirty white; his jaw dropped; he would have shrieked if +Gale had not hit him. The blow swept him backward against his men. +Then Gale's heavy body, swiftly following with the momentum of that +rush, struck the little group of rebels. They went down with table and +chairs in a sliding crash. + +Gale carried by his plunge, went with them. Like a cat he landed on +top. As he rose his powerful hands fastened on Rojas. He jerked the +little bandit off the tangled pile of struggling, yelling men, and, +swinging him with terrific force, let go his hold. Rojas slid along +the floor, knocking over tables and chairs. Gale bounded back, dragged +Rojas up, handling him as if he were a limp sack. + +A shot rang out above the yells. Gale heard the jingle of breaking +glass. The room darkened perceptibly. He flashed a glance backward. +The two cowboys were between him and the crowd of frantic rebels. One +cowboy held two guns low down, level in front of him. The other had +his gun raised and aimed. On the instant it spouted red and white. +With the crack came the crashing of glass, another darkening shade over +the room. With a cry Gale slung the bleeding Rojas from him. The +bandit struck a table, toppled over it, fell, and lay prone. + +Another shot made the room full of moving shadows, with light only back +of the bar. A white-clad figure rushed at Gale. He tripped the man, +but had to kick hard to disengage himself from grasping hands. Another +figure closed in on Gale. This one was dark, swift. A blade +glinted--described a circle aloft. Simultaneously with a close, red +flash the knife wavered; the man wielding it stumbled backward. In the +din Gale did not hear a report, but the Mexican's fall was significant. +Then pandemonium broke loose. The din became a roar. Gale heard shots +that sounded like dull spats in the distance. The big lamp behind the +bar seemingly split, then sputtered and went out, leaving the room in +darkness. + +Gale leaped toward the restaurant door, which was outlined faintly by +the yellow light within. Right and left he pushed the groping men who +jostled with him. He vaulted a pool table, sent tables and chairs +flying, and gained the door, to be the first of a wedging mob to +squeeze through. One sweep of his arm knocked the restaurant lamp from +its stand; and he ran out, leaving darkness behind him. A few bounds +took him into the parlor. It was deserted. Thorne had gotten away +with Mercedes. + +It was then Gale slowed up. For the space of perhaps sixty seconds he +had been moving with startling velocity. He peered cautiously out into +the plaza. The paths, the benches, the shady places under the trees +contained no skulking men. He ran out, keeping to the shade, and did +not go into the path till he was halfway through the plaza. Under a +street lamp at the far end of the path he thought he saw two dark +figures. He ran faster, and soon reached the street. The uproar back +in the hotel began to diminish, or else he was getting out of hearing. +The few people he saw close at hand were all coming his way, and only +the foremost showed any excitement. Gale walked swiftly, peering ahead +for two figures. Presently he saw them--one tall, wearing a cape; the +other slight, mantled. Gale drew a sharp breath of relief. Thorne and +Mercedes were not far ahead. + +From time to time Thorne looked back. He strode swiftly, almost +carrying Mercedes, who clung closely to him. She, too, looked back. +Once Gale saw her white face flash in the light of a street lamp. He +began to overhaul them; and soon, when the last lamp had been passed +and the street was dark, he ventured a whistle. Thorne heard it, for +he turned, whistled a low reply, and went on. Not for some distance +beyond, where the street ended in open country, did they halt to wait. +The desert began here. Gale felt the soft sand under his feet and saw +the grotesque forms of cactus. Then he came up with the fugitives. + +"Dick! Are you--all right?" panted Thorne, grasping Gale. + +"I'm--out of breath--but--O.K.," replied Gale. + +"Good! Good!" choked Thorne. "I was scared--helpless.... Dick, it +worked splendidly. We had no trouble. What on earth did you do?" + +"I made the row, all right," said Dick. + +"Good Heavens! It was like a row I once heard made by a mob. But the +shots, Dick--were they at you? They paralyzed me. Then the yells. +What happened? Those guards of Rojas ran round in front at the first +shot. Tell me what happened." + +"While I was rushing Rojas a couple of cowboys shot out the lamplights. +A Mexican who pulled a knife on me got hurt, I guess. Then I think +there was some shooting from the rebels after the room was dark." + +"Rushing Rojas?" queried Thorne, leaning close to Dick. His voice was +thrilling, exultant, deep with a joy that yet needed confirmation. +"What did you do to him?" + +"I handed him one off side, tackled, then tried a forward pass," +replied Dick, lightly speaking the football vernacular so familiar to +Thorne. + +Thorne leaned closer, his fine face showing fierce and corded in the +starlight. "Tell me straight," he demanded, in thick voice. + +Gale then divined something of the suffering Thorne had +undergone--something of the hot, wild, vengeful passion of a lover who +must have brutal truth. + +It stilled Dick's lighter mood, and he was about to reply when Mercedes +pressed close to him, touched his hands, looked up into his face with +wonderful eyes. He thought he would not soon forget their beauty--the +shadow of pain that had been, the hope dawning so fugitively. + +"Dear lady," said Gale, with voice not wholly steady, "Rojas himself +will hound you no more to-night, nor for many nights." + +She seemed to shake, to thrill, to rise with the intelligence. She +pressed his hand close over her heaving breast. Gale felt the quick +throb of her heart. + +"Senor! Senor Dick!" she cried. Then her voice failed. But her hands +flew up; quick as a flash she raised her face--kissed him. Then she +turned and with a sob fell into Thorne's arms. + +There ensued a silence broken only by Mercedes' sobbing. Gale walked +some paces away. If he were not stunned, he certainly was agitated. +The strange, sweet fire of that girl's lips remained with him. On the +spur of the moment he imagined he had a jealousy of Thorne. But +presently this passed. It was only that he had been deeply +moved--stirred to the depths during the last hour--had become conscious +of the awakening of a spirit. What remained with him now was the +splendid glow of gladness that he had been of service to Thorne. And +by the intensity of Mercedes' abandon of relief and gratitude he +measured her agony of terror and the fate he had spared her. + +"Dick, Dick, come here!" called Thorne softly. "Let's pull ourselves +together now. We've got a problem yet. What to do? Where to go? How +to get any place? We don't dare risk the station--the corrals where +Mexicans hire out horses. We're on good old U.S. ground this minute, +but we're not out of danger." + +As he paused, evidently hoping for a suggestion from Gale, the silence +was broken by the clear, ringing peal of a bugle. Thorne gave a +violent start. Then he bent over, listening. The beautiful notes of +the bugle floated out of the darkness, clearer, sharper, faster. + +"It's a call, Dick! It's a call!" he cried. + +Gale had no answer to make. Mercedes stood as if stricken. The bugle +call ended. From a distance another faintly pealed. There were other +sounds too remote to recognize. Then scattering shots rattled out. + +"Dick, the rebels are fighting somebody," burst out Thorne, excitedly. +"The little federal garrison still holds its stand. Perhaps it is +attacked again. Anyway, there's something doing over the line. Maybe +the crazy Greasers are firing on our camp. We've feared it--in the +dark.... And here I am, away without leave--practically a deserter!" + +"Go back! Go back, before you're too late!" cried Mercedes. + +"Better make tracks, Thorne," added Gale. "It can't help our +predicament for you to be arrested. I'll take care of Mercedes." + +"No, no, no," replied Thorne. "I can get away--avoid arrest." + +"That'd be all right for the immediate present. But it's not best for +the future. George, a deserter is a deserter!... Better hurry. Leave +the girl to me till tomorrow." + +Mercedes embraced her lover, begged him to go. Thorne wavered. + +"Dick, I'm up against it," he said. "You're right. If only I can get +back in time. But, oh, I hate to leave her! Old fellow, you've saved +her! I already owe you everlasting gratitude. Keep out of Casita, +Dick. The U.S. side might be safe, but I'm afraid to trust it at +night. Go out in the desert, up in the mountains, in some safe place. +Then come to me in camp. We'll plan. I'll have to confide in Colonel +Weede. Maybe he'll help us. Hide her from the rebels--that's all." + +He wrung Dick's hand, clasped Mercedes tightly in his arms, kissed her, +and murmured low over her, then released her to rush off into the +darkness. He disappeared in the gloom. The sound of his dull +footfalls gradually died away. + +For a moment the desert silence oppressed Gale. He was unaccustomed to +such strange stillness. There was a low stir of sand, a rustle of +stiff leaves in the wind. How white the stars burned! Then a coyote +barked, to be bayed by a dog. Gale realized that he was between the +edge of an unknown desert and the edge of a hostile town. He had to +choose the desert, because, though he had no doubt that in Casita there +were many Americans who might befriend him, he could not chance the +risks of seeking them at night. + +He felt a slight touch on his arm, felt it move down, felt Mercedes +slip a trembling cold little hand into his. Dick looked at her. She +seemed a white-faced girl now, with staring, frightened black eyes that +flashed up at him. If the loneliness, the silence, the desert, the +unknown dangers of the night affected him, what must they be to this +hunted, driven girl? Gale's heart swelled. He was alone with her. He +had no weapon, no money, no food, no drink, no covering, nothing except +his two hands. He had absolutely no knowledge of the desert, of the +direction or whereabouts of the boundary line between the republics; he +did not know where to find the railroad, or any road or trail, or +whether or not there were towns near or far. It was a critical, +desperate situation. He thought first of the girl, and groaned in +spirit, prayed that it would be given him to save her. When he +remembered himself it was with the stunning consciousness that he could +conceive of no situation which he would have exchanged for this +one--where fortune had set him a perilous task of loyalty to a friend, +to a helpless girl. + +"Senor, senor!" suddenly whispered Mercedes, clinging to him. "Listen! +I hear horses coming!" + + + +III + +A FLIGHT INTO THE DESERT + +UNEASY and startled, Gale listened and, hearing nothing, wondered if +Mercedes's fears had not worked upon her imagination. He felt a +trembling seize her, and he held her hands tightly. + +"You were mistaken, I guess," he whispered. + +"No, no, senor." + +Dick turned his ear to the soft wind. Presently he heard, or imagined +he heard, low beats. Like the first faint, far-off beats of a drumming +grouse, they recalled to him the Illinois forests of his boyhood. In a +moment he was certain the sounds were the padlike steps of hoofs in +yielding sand. The regular tramp was not that of grazing horses. + +On the instant, made cautious and stealthy by alarm, Gale drew Mercedes +deeper into the gloom of the shrubbery. Sharp pricks from thorns +warned him that he was pressing into a cactus growth, and he protected +Mercedes as best he could. She was shaking as one with a severe chill. +She breathed with little hurried pants and leaned upon him almost in +collapse. Gale ground his teeth in helpless rage at the girl's fate. +If she had not been beautiful she might still have been free and happy +in her home. What a strange world to live in--how unfair was fate! + +The sounds of hoofbeats grew louder. Gale made out a dark moving mass +against a background of dull gray. There was a line of horses. He +could not discern whether or not all the horses carried riders. The +murmur of a voice struck his ear--then a low laugh. It made him +tingle, for it sounded American. Eagerly he listened. There was an +interval when only the hoofbeats could be heard. + +"It shore was, Laddy, it shore was," came a voice out of the darkness. +"Rough house! Laddy, since wire fences drove us out of Texas we ain't +seen the like of that. An' we never had such a call." + +"Call? It was a burnin' roast," replied another voice. "I felt low +down. He vamoosed some sudden, an' I hope he an' his friends shook the +dust of Casita. That's a rotten town Jim." + +Gale jumped up in joy. What luck! The speakers were none other than +the two cowboys whom he had accosted in the Mexican hotel. + +"Hold on, fellows," he called out, and strode into the road. + +The horses snorted and stamped. Then followed swift rustling sounds--a +clinking of spurs, then silence. The figures loomed clearer in the +gloom.. Gale saw five or six horses, two with riders, and one other, at +least, carrying a pack. When Gale got within fifteen feet of the group +the foremost horseman said: + +"I reckon that's close enough, stranger." + +Something in the cowboy's hand glinted darkly bright in the starlight. + +"You'd recognize me, if it wasn't so dark," replied Gale, halting. "I +spoke to you a little while ago--in the saloon back there." + +"Come over an' let's see you," said the cowboy curtly. + +Gale advanced till he was close to the horse. The cowboy leaned over +the saddle and peered into Gale's face. Then, without a word, he +sheathed the gun and held out his hand. Gale met a grip of steel that +warmed his blood. The other cowboy got off his nervous, spirited horse +and threw the bridle. He, too, peered closely into Gale's face. + +"My name's Ladd," he said. "Reckon I'm some glad to meet you again." + +Gale felt another grip as hard and strong as the other had been. He +realized he had found friends who belonged to a class of men whom he +had despaired of ever knowing. + +"Gale--Dick Gale is my name," he began, swiftly. "I dropped into +Casita to-night hardly knowing where I was. A boy took me to that +hotel. There I met an old friend whom I had not seen for years. He +belongs to the cavalry stationed here. He had befriended a Spanish +girl--fallen in love with her. Rojas had killed this girl's +father--tried to abduct her.... You know what took place at the hotel. +Gentlemen, if it's ever possible, I'll show you how I appreciate what +you did for me there. I got away, found my friend with the girl. We +hurried out here beyond the edge of town. Then Thorne had to make a +break for camp. We heard bugle calls, shots, and he was away without +leave. That left the girl with me. I don't know what to do. Thorne +swears Casita is no place for Mercedes at night." + +"The girl ain't no peon, no common Greaser?" interrupted Ladd. + +"No. Her name is Castaneda. She belongs to an old Spanish family, +once rich and influential." + +"Reckoned as much," replied the cowboy. "There's more than Rojas's +wantin' to kidnap a pretty girl. Shore he does that every day or so. +Must be somethin' political or feelin' against class. Well, Casita +ain't no place for your friend's girl at night or day, or any time. +Shore, there's Americans who'd take her in an' fight for her, if +necessary. But it ain't wise to risk that. Lash, what do you say?" + +"It's been gettin' hotter round this Greaser corral for some weeks," +replied the other cowboy. "If that two-bit of a garrison surrenders, +there's no tellin' what'll happen. Orozco is headin' west from Agua +Prieta with his guerrillas. Campo is burnin' bridges an' tearin' up +the railroad south of Nogales. Then there's all these bandits callin' +themselves revolutionists just for an excuse to steal, burn, kill, an' +ride off with women. It's plain facts, Laddy, an' bein' across the +U.S. line a few inches or so don't make no hell of a difference. My +advice is, don't let Miss Castaneda ever set foot in Casita again." + +"Looks like you've shore spoke sense," said Ladd. "I reckon, Gale, you +an' the girl ought to come with us. Casita shore would be a little +warm for us to-morrow. We didn't kill anybody, but I shot a Greaser's +arm off, an' Lash strained friendly relations by destroyin' property. +We know people who'll take care of the senorita till your friend can +come for her." + +Dick warmly spoke his gratefulness, and, inexpressibly relieved and +happy for Mercedes, he went toward the clump of cactus where he had +left her. She stood erect, waiting, and, dark as it was, he could tell +she had lost the terror that had so shaken her. + +"Senor Gale, you are my good angel," she said, tremulously. + +"I've been lucky to fall in with these men, and I'm glad with all my +heart," he replied. "Come." + +He led her into the road up to the cowboys, who now stood bareheaded in +the starlight. They seemed shy, and Lash was silent while Ladd made +embarrassed, unintelligible reply to Mercedes's thanks. + +There were five horses--two saddled, two packed, and the remaining one +carried only a blanket. Ladd shortened the stirrups on his mount, and +helped Mercedes up into the saddle. From the way she settled herself +and took the few restive prances of the mettlesome horse Gale judged +that she could ride. Lash urged Gale to take his horse. But this Gale +refused to do. + +"I'll walk," he said. "I'm used to walking. I know cowboys are not." + +They tried again to persuade him, without avail. Then Ladd started +off, riding bareback. Mercedes fell in behind, with Gale walking +beside her. The two pack animals came next, and Lash brought up the +rear. + +Once started with protection assured for the girl and a real objective +point in view, Gale relaxed from the tense strain he had been laboring +under. How glad he would have been to acquaint Thorne with their good +fortune! Later, of course, there would be some way to get word to the +cavalryman. But till then what torments his friend would suffer! + +It seemed to Dick that a very long time had elapsed since he stepped +off the train; and one by one he went over every detail of incident +which had occurred between that arrival and the present moment. +Strange as the facts were, he had no doubts. He realized that before +that night he had never known the deeps of wrath undisturbed in him; he +had never conceived even a passing idea that it was possible for him to +try to kill a man. His right hand was swollen stiff, so sore that he +could scarcely close it. His knuckles were bruised and bleeding, and +ached with a sharp pain. Considering the thickness of his heavy glove, +Gale was of the opinion that so to bruise his hand he must have struck +Rojas a powerful blow. He remembered that for him to give or take a +blow had been nothing. This blow to Rojas, however, had been a +different matter. The hot wrath which had been his motive was not +puzzling; but the effect on him after he had cooled off, a subtle +difference, something puzzled and eluded him. The more it baffled him +the more he pondered. All those wandering months of his had been +filled with dissatisfaction, yet he had been too apathetic to +understand himself. So he had not been much of a person to try. +Perhaps it had not been the blow to Rojas any more than other things +that had wrought some change in him. + +His meeting with Thorne; the wonderful black eyes of a Spanish girl; +her appeal to him; the hate inspired by Rojas, and the rush, the blow, +the action; sight of Thorne and Mercedes hurrying safely away; the +girl's hand pressing his to her heaving breast; the sweet fire of her +kiss; the fact of her being alone with him, dependent upon him--all +these things Gale turned over and over in his mind, only to fail of any +definite conclusion as to which had affected him so remarkably, or to +tell what had really happened to him. + +Had he fallen in love with Thorne's sweetheart? The idea came in a +flash. Was he, all in an instant, and by one of those incomprehensible +reversals of character, jealous of his friend? Dick was almost afraid +to look up at Mercedes. Still he forced himself to do so, and as it +chanced Mercedes was looking down at him. Somehow the light was +better, and he clearly saw her white face, her black and starry eyes, +her perfect mouth. With a quick, graceful impulsiveness she put her +hand upon his shoulder. Like her appearance, the action was new, +strange, striking to Gale; but it brought home suddenly to him the +nature of gratitude and affection in a girl of her blood. It was sweet +and sisterly. He knew then that he had not fallen in love with her. +The feeling that was akin to jealousy seemed to be of the beautiful +something for which Mercedes stood in Thorne's life. Gale then grasped +the bewildering possibilities, the infinite wonder of what a girl could +mean to a man. + +The other haunting intimations of change seemed to be elusively blended +with sensations--the heat and thrill of action, the sense of something +done and more to do, the utter vanishing of an old weary hunt for he +knew not what. Maybe it had been a hunt for work, for energy, for +spirit, for love, for his real self. Whatever it might be, there +appeared to be now some hope of finding it. + +The desert began to lighten. Gray openings in the border of shrubby +growths changed to paler hue. The road could be seen some rods ahead, +and it had become a stony descent down, steadily down. Dark, ridged +backs of mountains bounded the horizon, and all seemed near at hand, +hemming in the plain. In the east a white glow grew brighter and +brighter, reaching up to a line of cloud, defined sharply below by a +rugged notched range. Presently a silver circle rose behind the black +mountain, and the gloom of the desert underwent a transformation. From +a gray mantle it changed to a transparent haze. The moon was rising. + +"Senor I am cold," said Mercedes. + +Dick had been carrying his coat upon his arm. He had felt warm, even +hot, and had imagined that the steady walk had occasioned it. But his +skin was cool. The heat came from an inward burning. He stopped the +horse and raised the coat up, and helped Mercedes put it on. + +"I should have thought of you," he said. "But I seemed to feel warm... +The coat's a little large; we might wrap it round you twice." + +Mercedes smiled and lightly thanked him in Spanish. The flash of mood +was in direct contrast to the appealing, passionate, and tragic states +in which he had successively viewed her; and it gave him a vivid +impression of what vivacity and charm she might possess under happy +conditions. He was about to start when he observed that Ladd had +halted and was peering ahead in evident caution. Mercedes' horse began +to stamp impatiently, raised his ears and head, and acted as if he was +about to neigh. + +A warning "hist!" from Ladd bade Dick to put a quieting hand on the +horse. Lash came noiselessly forward to join his companion. The two +then listened and watched. + +An uneasy yet thrilling stir ran through Gale's veins. This scene was +not fancy. These men of the ranges had heard or seen or scented +danger. It was all real, as tangible and sure as the touch of +Mercedes's hand upon his arm. Probably for her the night had terrors +beyond Gale's power to comprehend. He looked down into the desert, and +would have felt no surprise at anything hidden away among the bristling +cactus, the dark, winding arroyos, the shadowed rocks with their +moonlit tips, the ragged plain leading to the black bold mountains. +The wind appeared to blow softly, with an almost imperceptible moan, +over the desert. That was a new sound to Gale. But he heard nothing +more. + +Presently Lash went to the rear and Ladd started ahead. The progress +now, however, was considerably slower, not owing to a road--for that +became better--but probably owing to caution exercised by the cowboy +guide. At the end of a half hour this marked deliberation changed, and +the horses followed Ladd's at a gait that put Gale to his best +walking-paces. + +Meanwhile the moon soared high above the black corrugated peaks. The +gray, the gloom, the shadow whitened. The clearing of the dark +foreground appeared to lift a distant veil and show endless aisles of +desert reaching down between dim horizon-bounding ranges. + +Gale gazed abroad, knowing that as this night was the first time for +him to awake to consciousness of a vague, wonderful other self, so it +was one wherein he began to be aware of an encroaching presence of +physical things--the immensity of the star-studded sky, the soaring +moon, the bleak, mysterious mountains, and limitless slope, and plain, +and ridge, and valley. These things in all their magnificence had not +been unnoticed by him before; only now they spoke a different meaning. +A voice that he had never heard called him to see, to feel the vast +hard externals of heaven and earth, all that represented the open, the +free, silence and solitude and space. + +Once more his thoughts, like his steps, were halted by Ladd's actions. +The cowboy reined in his horse, listened a moment, then swung down out +of the saddle. He raised a cautioning hand to the others, then slipped +into the gloom and disappeared. Gale marked that the halt had been +made in a ridged and cut-up pass between low mesas. He could see the +columns of cactus standing out black against the moon-white sky. The +horses were evidently tiring, for they showed no impatience. Gale +heard their panting breaths, and also the bark of some animal--a dog or +a coyote. It sounded like a dog, and this led Gale to wonder if there +was any house near at hand. To the right, up under the ledges some +distance away, stood two square black objects, too uniform, he thought, +to be rocks. While he was peering at them, uncertain what to think, +the shrill whistle of a horse pealed out, to be followed by the +rattling of hoofs on hard stone. Then a dog barked. At the same +moment that Ladd hurriedly appeared in the road a light shone out and +danced before one of the square black objects. + +"Keep close an' don't make no noise," he whispered, and led his horse +at right angles off the road. + +Gale followed, leading Mercedes's horse. As he turned he observed that +Lash also had dismounted. + +To keep closely at Ladd's heels without brushing the cactus or +stumbling over rocks and depressions was a task Gale found impossible. +After he had been stabbed several times by the bayonetlike spikes, +which seemed invisible, the matter of caution became equally one of +self-preservation. Both the cowboys, Dick had observed, wore leather +chaps. It was no easy matter to lead a spirited horse through the +dark, winding lanes walled by thorns. Mercedes horse often balked and +had to be coaxed and carefully guided. Dick concluded that Ladd was +making a wide detour. The position of certain stars grown familiar +during the march veered round from one side to another. Dick saw that +the travel was fast, but by no means noiseless. The pack animals at +times crashed and ripped through the narrow places. It seemed to Gale +that any one within a mile could have heard these sounds. From the +tops of knolls or ridges he looked back, trying to locate the mesas +where the light had danced and the dog had barked alarm. He could not +distinguish these two rocky eminences from among many rising in the +background. + +Presently Ladd let out into a wider lane that appeared to run straight. +The cowboy mounted his horse, and this fact convinced Gale that they +had circled back to the road. The march proceeded then once more at a +good, steady, silent walk. When Dick consulted his watch he was amazed +to see that the hour was still early. How much had happened in little +time! He now began to be aware that the night was growing colder; and, +strange to him, he felt something damp that in a country he knew he +would have recognized as dew. He had not been aware there was dew on +the desert. The wind blew stronger, the stars shone whiter, the sky +grew darker, and the moon climbed toward the zenith. The road +stretched level for miles, then crossed arroyos and ridges, wound +between mounds of broken ruined rock, found a level again, and then +began a long ascent. Dick asked Mercedes if she was cold, and she +answered that she was, speaking especially of her feet, which were +growing numb. Then she asked to be helped down to walk awhile. At +first she was cold and lame, and accepted the helping hand Dick +proffered. After a little, however, she recovered and went on without +assistance. Dick could scarcely believe his eyes, as from time to time +he stole a sidelong glance at this silent girl, who walked with lithe +and rapid stride. She was wrapped in his long coat, yet it did not +hide her slender grace. He could not see her face, which was concealed +by the black mantle. + +A low-spoken word from Ladd recalled Gale to the question of +surroundings and of possible dangers. Ladd had halted a few yards +ahead. They had reached the summit of what was evidently a high ridge +which sloped with much greater steepness on the far side. It was only +after a few more forward steps, however, that Dick could see down the +slope. Then full in view flashed a bright campfire around which +clustered a group of dark figures. They were encamped in a wide +arroyo, where horses could be seen grazing in black patches of grass +between clusters of trees. A second look at the campers told Gale they +were Mexicans. At this moment Lash came forward to join Ladd, and the +two spent a long, uninterrupted moment studying the arroyo. A hoarse +laugh, faint yet distinct, floated up on the cool wind. + +"Well, Laddy, what're you makin' of that outfit?" inquired Lash, +speaking softly. + +"Same as any of them raider outfits," replied Ladd. "They're across +the line for beef. But they'll run off any good stock. As hoss +thieves these rebels have got 'em all beat. That outfit is waitin' +till it's late. There's a ranch up the arroyo." + +Gale heard the first speaker curse under his breath. + +"Sure, I feel the same," said Ladd. "But we've got a girl an' the +young man to look after, not to mention our pack outfit. An' we're +huntin' for a job, not a fight, old hoss. Keep on your chaps!" + +"Nothin' to it but head south for the Rio Forlorn." + +"You're talkin' sense now, Jim. I wish we'd headed that way long ago. +But it ain't strange I'd want to travel away from the border, thinkin' +of the girl. Jim, we can't go round this Greaser outfit an' strike the +road again. Too rough. So we'll have to give up gettin' to San +Felipe." + +"Perhaps it's just as well, Laddy. Rio Forlorn is on the border line, +but it's country where these rebels ain't been yet." + +"Wait till they learn of the oasis an' Beldin's hosses!" exclaimed +Laddy. "I'm not anticipatin' peace anywhere along the border, Jim. +But we can't go ahead; we can't go back." + +"What'll we do, Laddy? It's a hike to Beldin's ranch. An' if we get +there in daylight some Greaser will see the girl before Beldin' can +hide her. It'll get talked about. The news'll travel to Casita like +sage balls before the wind." + +"Shore we won't ride into Rio Forlorn in the daytime. Let's slip the +packs, Jim. We can hid them off in the cactus an' come back after +them. With the young man ridin' we--" + +The whispering was interrupted by a loud ringing neigh that whistled up +from the arroyo. One of the horses had scented the travelers on the +ridge top. The indifference of the Mexicans changed to attention. + +Ladd and Lash turned back and led the horses into the first opening on +the south side of the road. There was nothing more said at the moment, +and manifestly the cowboys were in a hurry. Gale had to run in the +open places to keep up. When they did stop it was welcome to Gale, for +he had begun to fall behind. + +The packs were slipped, securely tied and hidden in a mesquite clump. +Ladd strapped a blanket around one of the horses. His next move was to +take off his chaps. + +"Gale, you're wearin' boots, an' by liftin' your feet you can beat the +cactus," he whispered. "But the--the--Miss Castaneda, she'll be torn +all to pieces unless she puts these on. Please tell her--an' hurry." + +Dick took the chaps, and, going up to Mercedes, he explained the +situation. She laughed, evidently at his embarrassed earnestness, and +slipped out of the saddle. + +"Senor, chapparejos and I are not strangers," she said. + +Deftly and promptly she equipped herself, and then Gale helped her into +the saddle, called to her horse, and started off. Lash directed Gale +to mount the other saddled horse and go next. + +Dick had not ridden a hundred yards behind the trotting leaders before +he had sundry painful encounters with reaching cactus arms. The horse +missed these by a narrow margin. Dick's knees appeared to be in line, +and it became necessary for him to lift them high and let his boots +take the onslaught of the spikes. He was at home in the saddle, and +the accomplishment was about the only one he possessed that had been of +any advantage during his sojourn in the West. + +Ladd pursued a zigzag course southward across the desert, trotting down +the aisles, cantering in wide, bare patches, walking through the clumps +of cacti. The desert seemed all of a sameness to Dick--a wilderness of +rocks and jagged growths hemmed in by lowering ranges, always looking +close, yet never growing any nearer. The moon slanted back toward the +west, losing its white radiance, and the gloom of the earlier evening +began to creep into the washes and to darken under the mesas. By and +by Ladd entered an arroyo, and here the travelers turned and twisted +with the meanderings of a dry stream bed. At the head of a canyon they +had to take once more to the rougher ground. Always it led down, +always it grew rougher, more rolling, with wider bare spaces, always +the black ranges loomed close. + +Gale became chilled to the bone, and his clothes were damp and cold. +His knees smarted from the wounds of the poisoned thorns, and his right +hand was either swollen stiff or too numb to move. Moreover, he was +tiring. The excitement, the long walk, the miles on miles of jolting +trot--these had wearied him. Mercedes must be made of steel, he +thought, to stand all that she had been subjected to and yet, when the +stars were paling and dawn perhaps not far away, stay in the saddle. + +So Dick Gale rode on, drowsier for each mile, and more and more giving +the horse a choice of ground. Sometimes a prod from a murderous spine +roused Dick. A grayness had blotted out the waning moon in the west +and the clear, dark, starry sky overhead. Once when Gale, thinking to +fight his weariness, raised his head, he saw that one of the horses in +the lead was riderless. Ladd was carrying Mercedes. Dick marveled +that her collapse had not come sooner. Another time, rousing himself +again, he imagined they were now on a good hard road. + +It seemed that hours passed, though he knew only little time had +elapsed, when once more he threw off the spell of weariness. He heard +a dog bark. Tall trees lined the open lane down which he was riding. +Presently in the gray gloom he saw low, square houses with flat roofs. +Ladd turned off to the left down another lane, gloomy between trees. +Every few rods there was one of the squat houses. This lane opened +into wider, lighter space. The cold air bore a sweet perfume--whether +of flowers or fruit Dick could not tell. Ladd rode on for perhaps a +quarter of a mile, though it seemed interminably long to Dick. A grove +of trees loomed dark in the gray morning. Ladd entered it and was lost +in the shade. Dick rode on among trees. Presently he heard voices, +and soon another house, low and flat like the others, but so long he +could not see the farther end, stood up blacker than the trees. As he +dismounted, cramped and sore, he could scarcely stand. Lash came +alongside. He spoke, and some one with a big, hearty voice replied to +him. Then it seemed to Dick that he was led into blackness like pitch, +where, presently, he felt blankets thrown on him and then his drowsy +faculties faded. + + + +IV + +FORLORN RIVER + +WHEN Dick opened his eyes a flood of golden sunshine streamed in at the +open window under which he lay. His first thought was one of blank +wonder as to where in the world he happened to be. The room was large, +square, adobe-walled. It was littered with saddles, harness, blankets. +Upon the floor was a bed spread out upon a tarpaulin. Probably this +was where some one had slept. The sight of huge dusty spurs, a gun +belt with sheath and gun, and a pair of leather chaps bristling with +broken cactus thorns recalled to Dick the cowboys, the ride, Mercedes, +and the whole strange adventure that had brought him there. + +He did not recollect having removed his boots; indeed, upon second +thought, he knew he had not done so. But there they stood upon the +floor. Ladd and Lash must have taken them off when he was so exhausted +and sleepy that he could not tell what was happening. He felt a dead +weight of complete lassitude, and he did not want to move. A sudden +pain in his hand caused him to hold it up. It was black and blue, +swollen to almost twice its normal size, and stiff as a board. The +knuckles were skinned and crusted with dry blood. Dick soliloquized +that it was the worst-looking hand he had seen since football days, and +that it would inconvenience him for some time. + +A warm, dry, fragrant breeze came through the window. Dick caught +again the sweet smell of flowers or fruit. He heard the fluttering of +leaves, the murmur of running water, the twittering of birds, then the +sound of approaching footsteps and voices. The door at the far end of +the room was open. Through it he saw poles of peeled wood upholding a +porch roof, a bench, rose bushes in bloom, grass, and beyond these +bright-green foliage of trees. + +"He shore was sleepin' when I looked in an hour ago," said a voice that +Dick recognized as Ladd's. + +"Let him sleep," came the reply in deep, good-natured tones. "Mrs. B. +says the girl's never moved. Must have been a tough ride for them +both. Forty miles through cactus!" + +"Young Gale hoofed darn near half the way," replied Ladd. "We tried to +make him ride one of our hosses. If we had, we'd never got here. A +walk like that'd killed me an' Jim." + +"Well, Laddy, I'm right down glad to see you boys, and I'll do all I +can for the young couple," said the other. "But I'm doing some worry +here; don't mistake me." + +"About your stock?" + +"I've got only a few head of cattle at the oasis now, I'm worrying +some, mostly about my horses. The U. S. is doing some worrying, too, +don't mistake me. The rebels have worked west and north as far as +Casita. There are no cavalrymen along the line beyond Casita, and +there can't be. It's practically waterless desert. But these rebels +are desert men. They could cross the line beyond the Rio Forlorn and +smuggle arms into Mexico. Of course, my job is to keep tab on Chinese +and Japs trying to get into the U.S. from Magdalena Bay. But I'm +supposed to patrol the border line. I'm going to hire some rangers. +Now, I'm not so afraid of being shot up, though out in this lonely +place there's danger of it; what I'm afraid of most is losing that +bunch of horses. If any rebels come this far, or if they ever hear of +my horses, they're going to raid me. You know what those guerrilla +Mexicans will do for horses. They're crazy on horse flesh. They know +fine horses. They breed the finest in the world. So I don't sleep +nights any more." + +"Reckon me an' Jim might as well tie up with your for a spell, Beldin'. +We've been ridin' up an' down Arizona tryin' to keep out of sight of +wire fences." + +"Laddy, it's open enough around Forlorn River to satisfy even an +old-time cowpuncher like you," laughed Belding. "I'd take your staying +on as some favor, don't mistake me. Perhaps I can persuade the young +man Gale to take a job with me." + +"That's shore likely. He said he had no money, no friends. An' if a +scrapper's all you're lookin' for he'll do," replied Ladd, with a dry +chuckle. + +"Mrs. B. will throw some broncho capers round this ranch when she hears +I'm going to hire a stranger." + +"Why?" + +"Well, there's Nell-- And you said this Gale was a young American. My +wife will be scared to death for fear Nell will fall in love with him." + +Laddy choked off a laugh, then evidently slapped his knee or Belding's, +for there was a resounding smack. + +"He's a fine-spoken, good-looking chap, you said?" went on Belding. + +"Shore he is," said Laddy, warmly. "What do you say, Jim?" + +By this time Dick Gale's ears began to burn and he was trying to make +himself deaf when he wanted to hear every little word. + +"Husky young fellow, nice voice, steady, clear eyes, kinda proud, I +thought, an' some handsome, he was," replied Jim Lash. + +"Maybe I ought to think twice before taking a stranger into my family," +said Belding, seriously. "Well, I guess he's all right, Laddy, being +the cavalryman's friend. No bum or lunger? He must be all right?" + +"Bum? Lunger? Say, didn't I tell you I shook hands with this boy an' +was plumb glad to meet him?" demanded Laddy, with considerable heat. +Manifestly he had been affronted. "Tom Beldin', he's a gentleman, an' +he could lick you in--in half a second. How about that, Jim?" + +"Less time," replied Lash. "Tom, here's my stand. Young Gale can have +my hoss, my gun, anythin' of mine." + +"Aw, I didn't mean to insult you, boys, don't mistake me," said +Belding. "Course he's all right." + +The object of this conversation lay quiet upon his bed, thrilling and +amazed at being so championed by the cowboys, delighted with Belding's +idea of employing him, and much amused with the quaint seriousness of +the three. + +"How's the young man?" called a woman's voice. It was kind and mellow +and earnest. + +Gale heard footsteps on flagstones. + +"He's asleep yet, wife," replied Belding. "Guess he was pretty much +knocked out.... I'll close the door there so we won't wake him." + +There were slow, soft steps, then the door softly closed. But the fact +scarcely made a perceptible difference in the sound of the voices +outside. + +"Laddy and Jim are going to stay," went on Belding. "It'll be like the +old Panhandle days a little. I'm powerful glad to have the boys, +Nellie. You know I meant to sent to Casita to ask them. We'll see some +trouble before the revolution is ended. I think I'll make this young +man Gale an offer." + +"He isn't a cowboy?" asked Mrs. Belding, quickly. + +"No." + +"Shore he'd make a darn good one," put in Laddy. + +"What is he? Who is he? Where did he come from? Surely you must be--" + +"Laddy swears he's all right," interrupted the husband. "That's enough +reference for me. Isn't it enough for you?" + +"Humph! Laddy knows a lot about young men, now doesn't he, especially +strangers from the East?... Tom, you must be careful!" + +"Wife, I'm only too glad to have a nervy young chap come along. What +sense is there in your objection, if Jim and Laddy stick up for him?" + +"But, Tom--he'll fall in love with Nell!" protested Mrs. Belding. + +"Well, wouldn't that be regular? Doesn't every man who comes along +fall in love with Nell? Hasn't it always happened? When she was a +schoolgirl in Kansas didn't it happen? Didn't she have a hundred +moon-eyed ninnies after her in Texas? I've had some peace out here in +the desert, except when a Greaser or a prospector or a Yaqui would come +along. Then same old story--in love with Nell!" + +"But, Tom, Nell might fall in love with this young man!" exclaimed the +wife, in distress. + +"Laddy, Jim, didn't I tell you?" cried Belding. "I knew she'd say +that.... My dear wife, I would be simply overcome with joy if Nell did +fall in love once. Real good and hard! She's wilder than any antelope +out there on the desert. Nell's nearly twenty now, and so far as we +know she's never cared a rap for any fellow. And she's just as gay and +full of the devil as she was at fourteen. Nell's as good and lovable as +she is pretty, but I'm afraid she'll never grow into a woman while we +live out in this lonely land. And you've always hated towns where there +was a chance for the girl--just because you were afraid she'd fall in +love. You've always been strange, even silly, about that. I've done +my best for Nell--loved her as if she were my own daughter. I've +changed many business plans to suit your whims. There are rough times +ahead, maybe. I need men. I'll hire this chap Gale if he'll stay. Let +Nell take her chance with him, just as she'll have to take chances with +men when we get out of the desert. She'll be all the better for it." + +"I hope Laddy's not mistaken in his opinion of this newcomer," replied +Mrs. Belding, with a sigh of resignation. + +"Shore I never made a mistake in my life figger'n' people," said Laddy, +stoutly. + +"Yes, you have, Laddy," replied Mrs. Belding. "You're wrong about +Tom.... Well, supper is to be got. That young man and the girl will be +starved. I'll go in now. If Nell happens around don't--don't flatter +her, Laddy, like you did at dinner. Don't make her think of her looks." + +Dick heard Mrs. Belding walk away. + +"Shore she's powerful particular about that girl," observed Laddy. +"Say, Tom, Nell knows she's pretty, doesn't she?" + +"She's liable to find it out unless you shut up, Laddy. When you +visited us out here some weeks ago, you kept paying cowboy compliments +to her." + +"An' it's your idea that cowboy compliments are plumb bad for girls?" + +"Downright bad, Laddy, so my wife says." + +"I'll be darned if I believe any girl can be hurt by a little sweet +talk. It pleases 'em.... But say, Beldin', speaking of looks, have you +got a peek yet at the Spanish girl?" + +"Not in the light." + +"Well, neither have I in daytime. I had enough by moonlight. Nell is +some on looks, but I'm regretful passin' the ribbon to the lady from +Mex. Jim, where are you?" + +"My money's on Nell," replied Lash. "Gimme a girl with flesh an' +color, an' blue eyes a-laughin'. Miss Castaneda is some peach, I'll +not gainsay. But her face seemed too white. An' when she flashed +those eyes on me, I thought I was shot! When she stood up there at +first, thankin' us, I felt as if a--a princess was round somewhere. +Now, Nell is kiddish an' sweet an'--" + +"Chop it," interrupted Belding. "Here comes Nell now." + +Dick's tingling ears took in the pattering of light footsteps, the rush +of some one running. + +"Here you are," cried a sweet, happy voice. "Dad, the Senorita is +perfectly lovely. I've been peeping at her. She sleeps like--like +death. She's so white. Oh, I hope she won't be ill." + +"Shore she's only played out," said Laddy. "But she had spunk while it +lasted.... I was just arguin' with Jim an' Tom about Miss Castaneda." + +"Gracious! Why, she's beautiful. I never saw any one so beautiful.... +How strange and sad, that about her! Tell me more, Laddy. You +promised. I'm dying to know. I never hear anything in this awful +place. Didn't you say the Senorita had a sweetheart?" + +"Shore I did." + +"And he's a cavalryman?" + +"Yes." + +"Is he the young man who came with you?" + +"Nope. That fellow's the one who saved the girl from Rojas." + +"Ah! Where is he, Laddy?" + +"He's in there asleep." + +"Is he hurt?" + +"I reckon not. He walked about fifteen miles." + +"Is he--nice, Laddy?" + +"Shore." + +"What is he like?" + +"Well, I'm not long acquainted, never saw him by day, but I was some +tolerable took with him. An' Jim here, Jim says the young man can have +his gun an' his hoss." + +"Wonderful! Laddy, what on earth did this stranger do to win you +cowboys in just one night?" + +"I'll shore have to tell you. Me an' Jim were watchin' a game of cards +in the Del Sol saloon in Casita. That's across the line. We had +acquaintances--four fellows from the Cross Bar outfit, where we worked +a while back. This Del Sol is a billiard hall, saloon, restaurant, an' +the like. An' it was full of Greasers. Some of Camp's rebels were +there drinkin' an' playin' games. Then pretty soon in come Rojas with +some of his outfit. They were packin' guns an' kept to themselves off +to one side. I didn't give them a second look till Jim said he reckoned +there was somethin' in the wind. Then, careless-like, I began to peek +at Rojas. They call Rojas the 'dandy rebel,' an' he shore looked the +part. It made me sick to see him in all that lace an' glitter, knowin' +him to be the cutthroat robber he is. It's no oncommon sight to see +excited Greasers. They're all crazy. But this bandit was shore some +agitated. He kept his men in a tight bunch round a table. He talked +an' waved his hands. He was actually shakin'. His eyes had a wild +glare. Now I figgered that trouble was brewin', most likely for the +little Casita garrison. People seemed to think Campo an' Rojas would +join forces to oust the federals. Jim thought Rojas's excitement was +at the hatchin' of some plot. Anyway, we didn't join no card games, +an' without pretendin' to, we was some watchful. + +"A little while afterward I seen a fellow standin' in the restaurant +door. He was a young American dressed in corduroys and boots, like a +prospector. You know it's no onusual fact to see prospectors in these +parts. What made me think twice about this one was how big he seemed, +how he filled up that door. He looked round the saloon, an' when he +spotted Rojas he sorta jerked up. Then he pulled his slouch hat +lopsided an' began to stagger down, down the steps. First off I made +shore he was drunk. But I remembered he didn't seem drunk before. It +was some queer. So I watched that young man. + +"He reeled around the room like a fellow who was drunker'n a lord. +Nobody but me seemed to notice him. Then he began to stumble over +pool-players an' get his feet tangled up in chairs an' bump against +tables. He got some pretty hard looks. He came round our way, an' all +of a sudden he seen us cowboys. He gave another start, like the one +when he first seen Rojas, then he made for us. I tipped Jim off that +somethin' was doin'. + +"When he got close he straightened up, put back his slouch hat, an' +looked at us. Then I saw his face. It sorta electrified yours truly. +It was white, with veins standin' out an' eyes flamin'--a face of fury. +I was plumb amazed, didn't know what to think. Then this queer young +man shot some cool, polite words at me an' Jim. + +"He was only bluffin' at bein' drunk--he meant to rush Rojas, to start +a rough house. The bandit was after a girl. This girl was in the +hotel, an' she was the sweetheart of a soldier, the young fellow's +friend. The hotel was watched by Rojas's guards, an' the plan was to +make a fuss an' get the girl away in the excitement. Well, Jim an' me +got a hint of our bein' Americans--that cowboys generally had a name +for loyalty to women. Then this amazin' chap--you can't imagine how +scornful--said for me an' Jim to watch him. + +"Before I could catch my breath an' figger out what he meant by 'rush' +an' 'rough house' he had knocked over a table an' crowded some Greaser +half off the map. One little funny man leaped up like a wild monkey +an' began to screech. An' in another second he was in the air upside +down. When he lit, he laid there. Then, quicker'n I can tell you, the +young man dove at Rojas. Like a mad steer on the rampage he charged +Rojas an' his men. The whole outfit went down--smash! I figgered then +what 'rush' meant. The young fellow came up out of the pile with +Rojas, an' just like I'd sling an empty sack along the floor he sent +the bandit. But swift as that went he was on top of Rojas before the +chairs an' tables had stopped rollin'. + +"I woke up then, an' made for the center of the room. Jim with me. I +began to shoot out the lamps. Jim throwed his guns on the crazy +rebels, an' I was afraid there'd be blood spilled before I could get +the room dark. Bein's shore busy, I lost sight of the young fellow for +a second or so, an' when I got an eye free for him I seen a Greaser +about to knife him. Think I was some considerate of the Greaser by +only shootin' his arm off. Then I cracked the last lamp, an' in the +hullabaloo me an' Jim vamoosed. + +"We made tracks for our hosses an' packs, an' was hittin' the San +Felipe road when we run right plumb into the young man. Well, he said +his name was Gale--Dick Gale. The girl was with him safe an' well; but +her sweetheart, the soldier, bein' away without leave, had to go back +sudden. There shore was some trouble, for Jim an' me heard shootin'. +Gale said he had no money, no friends, was a stranger in a desert +country; an' he was distracted to know how to help the girl. So me an' +Jim started off with them for San Felipe, got switched, and' then we +headed for the Rio Forlorn." + +"Oh, I think he was perfectly splendid!" exclaimed the girl. + +"Shore he was. Only, Nell, you can't lay no claim to bein' the +original discoverer of that fact." + +"But, Laddy, you haven't told me what he looks like." + +At this juncture Dick Gale felt it absolutely impossible for him to +play the eavesdropper any longer. Quietly he rolled out of bed. The +voices still sounded close outside, and it was only by effort that he +kept from further listening. Belding's kindly interest, Laddy's blunt +and sincere cowboy eulogy, the girl's sweet eagerness and praise--these +warmed Gale's heart. He had fallen among simple people, into whose +lives the advent of an unknown man was welcome. He found himself in a +singularly agitated mood. The excitement, the thrill, the difference +felt in himself, experienced the preceding night, had extended on into +his present. And the possibilities suggested by the conversation he +had unwittingly overheard added sufficiently to the other feelings to +put him into a peculiarly receptive state of mind. He was wild to be +one of the Belding rangers. The idea of riding a horse in the open +desert, with a dangerous duty to perform, seemed to strike him with an +appealing force. Something within him went out to the cowboys, to this +blunt and kind Belding. He was afraid to meet the girl. If every man +who came along fell in love with this sweet-voiced Nell, then what hope +had he to escape--now, when his whole inner awakening betokened a +change of spirit, hope, a finding of real worth, real good, real power +in himself? He did not understand wholly, yet he felt ready to ride, +to fight, to love the desert, to love these outdoor men, to love a +woman. That beautiful Spanish girl had spoken to something dead in him +and it had quickened to life. The sweet voice of an audacious, unseen +girl warned him that presently a still more wonderful thing would +happen to him. + +Gale imagined he made noise enough as he clumsily pulled on his boots, +yet the voices, split by a merry laugh, kept on murmuring outside the +door. It was awkward for him, having only one hand available to lace +up his boots. He looked out of the window. Evidently this was at the +end of the house. There was a flagstone walk, beside which ran a ditch +full of swift, muddy water. It made a pleasant sound. There were +trees strange of form and color to to him. He heard bees, birds, +chickens, saw the red of roses and green of grass. Then he saw, close +to the wall, a tub full of water, and a bench upon which lay basin, +soap, towel, comb, and brush. The window was also a door, for under it +there was a step. + +Gale hesitated a moment, then went out. He stepped naturally, hoping +and expecting that the cowboys would hear him. But nobody came. +Awkwardly, with left hand, he washed his face. Upon a nail in the wall +hung a little mirror, by the aid of which Dick combed and brushed his +hair. He imagined he looked a most haggard wretch. With that he faced +forward, meaning to go round the corner of the house to greet the +cowboys and these new-found friends. + +Dick had taken but one step when he was halted by laugher and the +patter of light feet. + +From close around the corner pealed out that sweet voice. "Dad, you'll +have your wish, and mama will be wild!" + +Dick saw a little foot sweep into view, a white dress, then the swiftly +moving form of a girl. She was looking backward. + +"Dad, I shall fall in love with your new ranger. I will--I have--" + +Then she plumped squarely into Dick's arms. + +She started back violently. + +Dick saw a fair face and dark-blue, audaciously flashing eyes. Swift as +lightning their expression changed to surprise, fear, wonder. For an +instant they were level with Dick's grave questioning. Suddenly, +sweetly, she blushed. + +"Oh-h!" she faltered. + +Then the blush turned to a scarlet fire. She whirled past him, and +like a white gleam was gone. + +Dick became conscious of the quickened beating of his heart. He +experienced a singular exhilaration. That moment had been the one for +which he had been ripe, the event upon which strange circumstances had +been rushing him. + +With a couple of strides he turned the corner. Laddy and Lash were +there talking to a man of burly form. Seen by day, both cowboys were +gray-haired, red-skinned, and weather-beaten, with lean, sharp +features, and gray eyes so much alike that they might have been +brothers. + +"Hello, there's the young fellow," spoke up the burly man. "Mr. Gale, +I'm glad to meet you. My name's Belding." + +His greeting was as warm as his handclasp was long and hard. Gale saw a +heavy man of medium height. His head was large and covered with +grizzled locks. He wore a short-cropped mustache and chin beard. His +skin was brown, and his dark eyes beamed with a genial light. + +The cowboys were as cordial as if Dick had been their friend for years. + +"Young man, did you run into anything as you came out?" asked Belding, +with twinkling eyes. + +"Why, yes, I met something white and swift flying by," replied Dick. + +"Did she see you?" asked Laddy. + +"I think so; but she didn't wait for me to introduce myself." + +"That was Nell Burton, my girl--step-daughter, I should say," said +Belding. "She's sure some whirlwind, as Laddy calls her. Come, let's +go in and meet the wife." + +The house was long, like a barracks, with porch extending all the way, +and doors every dozen paces. When Dick was ushered into a +sitting-room, he was amazed at the light and comfort. This room had +two big windows and a door opening into a patio, where there were +luxuriant grass, roses in bloom, and flowering trees. He heard a slow +splashing of water. + +In Mrs. Belding, Gale found a woman of noble proportions and striking +appearance. Her hair was white. She had a strong, serious, well-lined +face that bore haunting evidences of past beauty. The gaze she bent +upon him was almost piercing in its intensity. Her greeting, which +seemed to Dick rather slow in coming, was kind though not cordial. +Gale's first thought, after he had thanked these good people for their +hospitality, was to inquire about Mercedes. He was informed that the +Spanish girl had awakened with a considerable fever and nervousness. +When, however, her anxiety had been allayed and her thirst relieved, +she had fallen asleep again. Mrs. Belding said the girl had suffered +no great hardship, other than mental, and would very soon be rested and +well. + +"Now, Gale," said Belding, when his wife had excused herself to get +supper, "the boys, Jim and Laddy, told me about you and the mix-up at +Casita. I'll be glad to take care of the girl till it's safe for your +soldier friend to get her out of the country. That won't be very soon, +don't mistake me.... I don't want to seem over-curious about you--Laddy +has interested me in you--and straight out I'd like to know what you +propose to do now." + +"I haven't any plans," replied Dick; and, taking the moment as +propitious, he decided to speak frankly concerning himself. "I just +drifted down here. My home is in Chicago. When I left school some +years ago--I'm twenty-five now--I went to work for my father. He's--he +has business interests there. I tried all kinds of inside jobs. I +couldn't please my father. I guess I put no real heart in my work. +The fact was I didn't know how to work. The governor and I didn't +exactly quarrel; but he hurt my feelings, and I quit. Six months or +more ago I came West, and have knocked about from Wyoming southwest to +the border. I tried to find congenial work, but nothing came my way. +To tell you frankly, Mr. Belding, I suppose I didn't much care. I +believe, though, that all the time I didn't know what I wanted. I've +learned--well, just lately--" + +"What do you want to do?" interposed Belding. + +"I want a man's job. I want to do things with my hands. I want +action. I want to be outdoors." + +Belding nodded his head as if he understood that, and he began to speak +again, cut something short, then went on, hesitatingly: + +"Gale--you could go home again--to the old man--it'd be all right?" + +"Mr. Belding, there's nothing shady in my past. The governor would be +glad to have me home. That's the only consolation I've got. But I'm +not going. I'm broke. I won't be a tramp. And it's up to me to do +something." + +"How'd you like to be a border ranger?" asked Belding, laying a hand on +Dick's knee. "Part of my job here is United States Inspector of +Immigration. I've got that boundary line to patrol--to keep out Chinks +and Japs. This revolution has added complications, and I'm looking for +smugglers and raiders here any day. You'll not be hired by the U. S. +You'll simply be my ranger, same as Laddy and Jim, who have promised to +work for me. I'll pay you well, give you a room here, furnish +everything down to guns, and the finest horse you ever saw in your +life. Your job won't be safe and healthy, sometimes, but it'll be a +man's job--don't mistake me! You can gamble on having things to do +outdoors. Now, what do you say?" + +"I accept, and I thank you--I can't say how much," replied Gale, +earnestly. + +"Good! That's settled. Let's go out and tell Laddy and Jim." + +Both boys expressed satisfaction at the turn of affairs, and then with +Belding they set out to take Gale around the ranch. The house and +several outbuildings were constructed of adobe, which, according to +Belding, retained the summer heat on into winter, and the winter cold +on into summer. These gray-red mud habitations were hideous to look +at, and this fact, perhaps, made their really comfortable interiors +more vividly a contrast. The wide grounds were covered with luxuriant +grass and flowers and different kinds of trees. Gale's interest led +him to ask about fig trees and pomegranates, and especially about a +beautiful specimen that Belding called palo verde. + +Belding explained that the luxuriance of this desert place was owing to +a few springs and the dammed-up waters of the Rio Forlorn. Before he +had come to the oasis it had been inhabited by a Papago Indian tribe +and a few peon families. The oasis lay in an arroyo a mile wide, and +sloped southwest for some ten miles or more. The river went dry most of +the year; but enough water was stored in flood season to irrigate the +gardens and alfalfa fields. + +"I've got one never-failing spring on my place," said Belding. "Fine, +sweet water! You know what that means in the desert. I like this +oasis. The longer I live here the better I like it. There's not a +spot in southern Arizona that'll compare with this valley for water or +grass or wood. It's beautiful and healthy. Forlorn and lonely, yes, +especially for women like my wife and Nell; but I like it.... And +between you and me, boys, I've got something up my sleeve. There's +gold dust in the arroyos, and there's mineral up in the mountains. If +we only had water! This hamlet has steadily grown since I took up a +station here. Why, Casita is no place beside Forlorn River. Pretty +soon the Southern Pacific will shoot a railroad branch out here. There +are possibilities, and I want you boys to stay with me and get in on +the ground floor. I wish this rebel war was over.... Well, here are +the corrals and the fields. Gale, take a look at that bunch of horses!" + +Belding's last remark was made as he led his companions out of shady +gardens into the open. Gale saw an adobe shed and a huge pen fenced by +strangely twisted and contorted branches or trunks of mesquite, and, +beyond these, wide, flat fields, green--a dark, rich green--and dotted +with beautiful horses. There were whites and blacks, and bays and +grays. In his admiration Gale searched his memory to see if he could +remember the like of these magnificent animals, and had to admit that +the only ones he could compare with them were the Arabian steeds. + +"Every ranch loves his horses," said Belding. "When I was in the +Panhandle I had some fine stock. But these are Mexican. They came +from Durango, where they were bred. Mexican horses are the finest in +the world, bar none." + +"Shore I reckon I savvy why you don't sleep nights," drawled Laddy. "I +see a Greaser out there--no, it's an Indian." + +"That's my Papago herdsman. I keep watch over the horses now day and +night. Lord, how I'd hate to have Rojas or Salazar--any of those +bandit rebels--find my horses!... Gale, can you ride?" + +Dick modestly replied that he could, according to the Eastern idea of +horsemanship. + +"You don't need to be half horse to ride one of that bunch. But over +there in the other field I've iron-jawed broncos I wouldn't want you to +tackle--except to see the fun. I've an outlaw I'll gamble even Laddy +can't ride." + +"So. How much'll you gamble?" asked Laddy, instantly. + +The ringing of a bell, which Belding said was a call to supper, turned +the men back toward the house. Facing that way, Gale saw dark, +beetling ridges rising from the oasis and leading up to bare, black +mountains. He had heard Belding call them No Name Mountains, and +somehow the appellation suited those lofty, mysterious, frowning peaks. + +It was not until they reached the house and were about to go in that +Belding chanced to discover Gale's crippled hand. + +"What an awful hand!" he exclaimed. "Where the devil did you get that?" + +"I stove in my knuckles on Rojas," replied Dick. + +"You did that in one punch? Say, I'm glad it wasn't me you hit! Why +didn't you tell me? That's a bad hand. Those cuts are full of dirt +and sand. Inflammation's setting in. It's got to be dressed. Nell!" +he called. + +There was no answer. He called again, louder. + +"Mother, where's the girl?" + +"She's there in the dining-room," replied Mrs. Belding. + +"Did she hear me?" he inquired, impatiently. + +"Of course." + +"Nell!" roared Belding. + +This brought results. Dick saw a glimpse of golden hair and a white +dress in the door. But they were not visible longer than a second. + +"Dad, what's the matter?" asked a voice that was still as sweet as +formerly, but now rather small and constrained. + +"Bring the antiseptics, cotton, bandages--and things out here. Hurry +now." + +Belding fetched a pail of water and a basin from the kitchen. His wife +followed him out, and, upon seeing Dick's hand, was all solicitude. +Then Dick heard light, quick footsteps, but he did not look up. + +"Nell, this is Mr. Gale--Dick Gale, who came with the boys last last +night," said Belding. "He's got an awful hand. Got it punching that +greaser Rojas. I want you to dress it.... Gale, this is my +step-daughter, Nell Burton, of whom I spoke. She's some good when +there's somebody sick or hurt. Shove out your fist, my boy, and let +her get at it. Supper's nearly ready." + +Dick felt that same strange, quickening heart throb, yet he had never +been cooler in his life. More than anything else in the world he +wanted to look at Nell Burton; however, divining that the situation +might be embarrassing to her, he refrained from looking up. She began +to bathe his injured knuckles. He noted the softness, the deftness of +her touch, and then it seemed her fingers were not quite as steady as +they might have been. Still, in a moment they appeared to become surer +in their work. She had beautiful hands, not too large, though +certainly not small, and they were strong, brown, supple. He observed +next, with stealthy, upward-stealing glance, that she had rolled up her +sleeves, exposing fine, round arms graceful in line. Her skin was +brown--no, it was more gold than brown. It had a wonderful clear tint. +Dick stoically lowered his eyes then, putting off as long as possible +the alluring moment when he was to look into her face. That would be a +fateful moment. He played with a certain strange joy of anticipation. +When, however, she sat down beside him and rested his injured hand in +her lap as she cut bandages, she was so thrillingly near that he +yielded to an irrepressible desire to look up. She had a sweet, fair +face warmly tinted with that same healthy golden-brown sunburn. Her +hair was light gold and abundant, a waving mass. Her eyes were shaded +by long, downcast lashes, yet through them he caught a gleam of blue. + +Despite the stir within him, Gale, seeing she was now absorbed in her +task, critically studied her with a second closer gaze. She was a +sweet, wholesome, joyous, pretty girl. + +"Shore it musta hurt?" replied Laddy, who sat an interested spectator. + +"Yes, I confess it did," replied Dick, slowly, with his eyes on Nell's +face. "But I didn't mind." + +The girl's lashes swept up swiftly in surprise. She had taken his +words literally. But the dark-blue eyes met his for only a fleeting +second. Then the warm tint in her cheeks turned as red as her lips. +Hurriedly she finished tying the bandage and rose to her feet. + +"I thank you," said Gale, also rising. + +With that Belding appeared in the doorway, and finding the operation +concluded, called them in to supper. Dick had the use of only one arm, +and he certainly was keenly aware of the shy, silent girl across the +table; but in spite of these considerable handicaps he eclipsed both +hungry cowboys in the assault upon Mrs. Belding's bounteous supper. +Belding talked, the cowboys talked more or less. Mrs. Belding put in a +word now and then, and Dick managed to find brief intervals when it was +possible for him to say yes or no. He observed gratefully that no one +round the table seemed to be aware of his enormous appetite. + +After supper, having a favorable opportunity when for a moment no one +was at hand, Dick went out through the yard, past the gardens and +fields, and climbed the first knoll. From that vantage point he looked +out over the little hamlet, somewhat to his right, and was surprised at +its extent, its considerable number of adobe houses. The overhanging +mountains, ragged and darkening, a great heave of splintered rock, +rather chilled and affronted him. + +Westward the setting sun gilded a spiked, frost-colored, limitless +expanse of desert. It awed Gale. Everywhere rose blunt, broken ranges +or isolated groups of mountains. Yet the desert stretched away down +between and beyond them. When the sun set and Gale could not see so +far, he felt a relief. + +That grand and austere attraction of distance gone, he saw the desert +nearer at hand--the valley at his feet. What a strange gray, somber +place! There was a lighter strip of gray winding down between darker +hues. This he realized presently was the river bed, and he saw how the +pools of water narrowed and diminished in size till they lost +themselves in gray sand. This was the rainy season, near its end, and +here a little river struggled hopelessly, forlornly to live in the +desert. He received a potent impression of the nature of that blasted +age-worn waste which he had divined was to give him strength and work +and love. + + + +V + +A DESERT ROSE + +BELDING assigned Dick to a little room which had no windows but two +doors, one opening into the patio, the other into the yard on the west +side of the house. It contained only the barest necessities for +comfort. Dick mentioned the baggage he had left in the hotel at +Casita, and it was Belding's opinion that to try to recover his +property would be rather risky; on the moment Richard Gale was probably +not popular with the Mexicans at Casita. So Dick bade good-by to fine +suits of clothes and linen with a feeling that, as he had said farewell +to an idle and useless past, it was just as well not to have any old +luxuries as reminders. As he possessed, however, not a thing save the +clothes on his back, and not even a handkerchief, he expressed regret +that he had come to Forlorn River a beggar. + +"Beggar hell!" exploded Belding, with his eyes snapping in the +lamplight. "Money's the last thing we think of out here. All the +same, Gale, if you stick you'll be rich." + +"It wouldn't surprise me," replied Dick, thoughtfully. But he was not +thinking of material wealth. Then, as he viewed his stained and torn +shirt, he laughed and said "Belding, while I'm getting rich I'd like to +have some respectable clothes." + +"We've a little Mex store in town, and what you can't get there the +women folks will make for you." + +When Dick lay down he was dully conscious of pain and headache, that he +did not feel well. Despite this, and a mind thronging with memories +and anticipations, he succumbed to weariness and soon fell asleep. + +It was light when he awoke, but a strange brightness seen through what +seemed blurred eyes. A moment passed before his mind worked clearly, +and then he had to make an effort to think. He was dizzy. When he +essayed to lift his right arm, an excruciating pain made him desist. +Then he discovered that his arm was badly swollen, and the hand had +burst its bandages. The injured member was red, angry, inflamed, and +twice its normal size. He felt hot all over, and a raging headache +consumed him. + +Belding came stamping into the room. + +"Hello, Dick. Do you know it's late? How's the busted fist this +morning?" + +Dick tried to sit up, but his effort was a failure. He got about half +up, then felt himself weakly sliding back. + +"I guess--I'm pretty sick," he said. + +He saw Belding lean over him, feel his face, and speak, and then +everything seemed to drift, not into darkness, but into some region +where he had dim perceptions of gray moving things, and of voices that +were remote. Then there came an interval when all was blank. He knew +not whether it was one of minutes or hours, but after it he had a +clearer mind. He slept, awakened during night-time, and slept again. +When he again unclosed his eyes the room was sunny, and cool with a +fragrant breeze that blew through the open door. Dick felt better; but +he had no particular desire to move or talk or eat. He had, however, a +burning thirst. Mrs. Belding visited him often; her husband came in +several times, and once Nell slipped in noiselessly. Even this last +event aroused no interest in Dick. + +On the next day he was very much improved. + +"We've been afraid of blood poisoning," said Belding. "But my wife +thinks the danger's past. You'll have to rest that arm for a while." + +Ladd and Jim came peeping in at the door. + +"Come in, boys. He can have company--the more the better--if it'll +keep him content. He mustn't move, that's all." + +The cowboys entered, slow, easy, cool, kind-voiced. + +"Shore it's tough," said Ladd, after he had greeted Dick. "You look +used up." + +Jim Lash wagged his half-bald, sunburned head, "Musta been more'n tough +for Rojas." + +"Gale, Laddy tells me one of our neighbors, fellow named Carter, is +going to Casita," put in Belding. "Here's a chance to get word to your +friend the soldier." + +"Oh, that will be fine!" exclaimed Dick. "I declare I'd forgotten +Thorne.... How is Miss Castaneda? I hope--" + +"She's all right, Gale. Been up and around the patio for two days. +Like all the Spanish--the real thing--she's made of Damascus steel. +We've been getting acquainted. She and Nell made friends at once. I'll +call them in." + +He closed the door leading out into the yard, explaining that he did +not want to take chances of Mercedes's presence becoming known to +neighbors. Then he went to the patio and called. + +Both girls came in, Mercedes leading. Like Nell, she wore white, and +she had a red rose in her hand. Dick would scarcely have recognized +anything about her except her eyes and the way she carried her little +head, and her beauty burst upon him strange and anew. She was swift, +impulsive in her movements to reach his side. + +"Senor, I am so sorry you were ill--so happy you are better." + +Dick greeted her, offering his left hand, gravely apologizing for the +fact that, owing to a late infirmity, he could not offer the right. +Her smile exquisitely combined sympathy, gratitude, admiration. Then +Dick spoke to Nell, likewise offering his hand, which she took shyly. +Her reply was a murmured, unintelligible one; but her eyes were glad, +and the tint in her cheeks threatened to rival the hue of the rose she +carried. + +Everybody chatted then, except Nell, who had apparently lost her voice. +Presently Dick remembered to speak of the matter of getting news to +Thorne. + +"Senor, may I write to him? Will some one take a letter?... I shall +hear from him!" she said; and her white hands emphasized her words. + +"Assuredly. I guess poor Thorne is almost crazy. I'll write to +him.... No, I can't with this crippled hand." + +"That'll be all right, Gale," said Belding. "Nell will write for you. +She writes all my letters." + +So Belding arranged it; and Mercedes flew away to her room to write, +while Nell fetched pen and paper and seated herself beside Gale's bed +to take his dictation. + +What with watching Nell and trying to catch her glance, and listening +to Belding's talk with the cowboys, Dick was hard put to it to dictate +any kind of a creditable letter. Nell met his gaze once, then no more. +The color came and went in her cheeks, and sometimes, when he told her +to write so and so, there was a demure smile on her lips. She was +laughing at him. And Belding was talking over the risks involved in a +trip to Casita. + +"Shore I'll ride in with the letters," Ladd said. + +"No you won't," replied Belding. "That bandit outfit will be laying +for you." + +"Well, I reckon if they was I wouldn't be oncommon grieved." + +"I'll tell you, boys, I'll ride in myself with Carter. There's +business I can see to, and I'm curious to know what the rebels are +doing. Laddy, keep one eye open while I'm gone. See the horses are +locked up.... Gale, I'm going to Casita myself. Ought to get back +tomorrow some time. I'll be ready to start in an hour. Have your +letter ready. And say--if you want to write home it's a chance. +Sometimes we don't go to the P. O. in a month." + +He tramped out, followed by the tall cowboys, and then Dick was enabled +to bring his letter to a close. Mercedes came back, and her eyes were +shining. Dick imagined a letter received from her would be something +of an event for a fellow. Then, remembering Belding's suggestion, he +decided to profit by it. + +"May I trouble you to write another for me?" asked Dick, as he received +the letter from Nell. + +"It's no trouble, I'm sure--I'd be pleased," she replied. + +That was altogether a wonderful speech of hers, Dick thought, because +the words were the first coherent ones she had spoken to him. + +"May I stay?" asked Mercedes, smiling. + +"By all means," he answered, and then he settled back and began. + +Presently Gale paused, partly because of genuine emotion, and stole a +look from under his hand at Nell. She wrote swiftly, and her downcast +face seemed to be softer in its expression of sweetness. If she had in +the very least been drawn to him-- But that was absurd--impossible! + +When Dick finished dictating, his eyes were upon Mercedes, who sat +smiling curious and sympathetic. How responsive she was! He heard the +hasty scratch of Nell's pen. He looked at Nell. Presently she rose, +holding out his letter. He was just in time to see a wave of red +recede from her face. She gave him one swift gaze, unconscious, +searching, then averted it and turned away. She left the room with +Mercedes before he could express his thanks. + +But that strange, speaking flash of eyes remained to haunt and torment +Gale. It was indescribably sweet, and provocative of thoughts that he +believed were wild without warrant. Something within him danced for +very joy, and the next instant he was conscious of wistful doubt, a +gravity that he could not understand. It dawned upon him that for the +brief instant when Nell had met his gaze she had lost her shyness. It +was a woman's questioning eyes that had pierced through him. + +During the rest of the day Gale was content to lie still on his bed +thinking and dreaming, dozing at intervals, and watching the lights +change upon the mountain peaks, feeling the warm, fragrant desert wind +that blew in upon him. He seemed to have lost the faculty of +estimating time. A long while, strong in its effect upon him, appeared +to have passed since he had met Thorne. He accepted things as he felt +them, and repudiated his intelligence. His old inquisitive habit of +mind returned. Did he love Nell? Was he only attracted for the moment? +What was the use of worrying about her or himself? He refused to +answer, and deliberately gave himself up to dreams of her sweet face +and of that last dark-blue glance. + +Next day he believed he was well enough to leave his room; but Mrs. +Belding would not permit him to do so. She was kind, soft-handed, +motherly, and she was always coming in to minister to his comfort. This +attention was sincere, not in the least forced; yet Gale felt that the +friendliness so manifest in the others of the household did not extend +to her. He was conscious of something that a little thought persuaded +him was antagonism. It surprised and hurt him. He had never been much +of a success with girls and young married women, but their mothers and +old people had generally been fond of him. Still, though Mrs. +Belding's hair was snow-white, she did not impress him as being old. +He reflected that there might come a time when it would be desirable, +far beyond any ground of every-day friendly kindliness, to have Mrs. +Belding be well disposed toward him. So he thought about her, and +pondered how to make her like him. It did not take very long for Dick +to discover that he liked her. Her face, except when she smiled, was +thoughtful and sad. It was a face to make one serious. Like a +haunting shadow, like a phantom of happier years, the sweetness of +Nell's face was there, and infinitely more of beauty than had been +transmitted to the daughter. Dick believed Mrs. Belding's friendship +and motherly love were worth striving to win, entirely aside from any +more selfish motive. He decided both would be hard to get. Often he +felt her deep, penetrating gaze upon him; and, though this in no wise +embarrassed him--for he had no shameful secrets of past or present--it +showed him how useless it would be to try to conceal anything from her. +Naturally, on first impulse, he wanted to hide his interest in the +daughter; but he resolved to be absolutely frank and true, and through +that win or lose. Moreover, if Mrs. Belding asked him any questions +about his home, his family, his connections, he would not avoid direct +and truthful answers. + +Toward evening Gale heard the tramp of horses and Belding's hearty +voice. Presently the rancher strode in upon Gale, shaking the gray +dust from his broad shoulders and waving a letter. + +"Hello, Dick! Good news and bad!" he said, putting the letter in +Dick's hand. "Had no trouble finding your friend Thorne. Looked like +he'd been drunk for a week! Say, he nearly threw a fit. I never saw a +fellow so wild with joy. He made sure you and Mercedes were lost in +the desert. He wrote two letters which I brought. Don't mistake me, +boy, it was some fun with Mercedes just now. I teased her, wouldn't +give her the letter. You ought to have seen her eyes. If ever you see +a black-and-white desert hawk swoop down upon a quail, then you'll know +how Mercedes pounced upon her letter... Well, Casita is one hell of a +place these days. I tried to get your baggage, and I think I made a +mistake. We're going to see travel toward Forlorn River. The federal +garrison got reinforcements from somewhere, and is holding out. +There's been fighting for three days. The rebels have a string of flat +railroad cars, all iron, and they ran this up within range of the +barricades. They've got some machine guns, and they're going to lick +the federals sure. There are dead soldiers in the ditches, Mexican +non-combatants lying dead in the streets--and buzzards everywhere! It's +reported that Campo, the rebel leader, is on the way up from Sinaloa, +and Huerta, a federal general, is coming to relieve the garrison. I +don't take much stock in reports. But there's hell in Casita, all +right." + +"Do you think we'll have trouble out here?" asked Dick, excitedly. + +"Sure. Some kind of trouble sooner or later," replied Belding, +gloomily. "Why, you can stand on my ranch and step over into Mexico. +Laddy says we'll lose horses and other stock in night raids. Jim Lash +doesn't look for any worse. But Jim isn't as well acquainted with +Greasers as I am. Anyway, my boy, as soon as you can hold a bridle and +a gun you'll be on the job, don't mistake me." + +"With Laddy and Jim?" asked Dick, trying to be cool. + +"Sure. With them and me, and by yourself." + +Dick drew a deep breath, and even after Belding had departed he forgot +for a moment about the letter in his hand. Then he unfolded the paper +and read: + + +Dear Dick,--You've more than saved my life. To the end of my days +you'll be the one man to whom I owe everything. Words fail to express +my feelings. + +This must be a brief note. Belding is waiting, and I used up most of +the time writing to Mercedes. I like Belding. He was not unknown to +me, though I never met or saw him before. You'll be interested to +learn that he's the unadulterated article, the real Western goods. +I've heard of some of his stunts, and they made my hair curl. Dick, +your luck is staggering. The way Belding spoke of you was great. But +you deserve it, old man. + +I'm leaving Mercedes in your charge, subject, of course, to advice from +Belding. Take care of her, Dick, for my life is wrapped up in her. By +all means keep her from being seen by Mexicans. We are sitting tight +here--nothing doing. If some action doesn't come soon, it'll be darned +strange. Things are centering this way. There's scrapping right along, +and people have begun to move. We're still patrolling the line eastward +of Casita. It'll be impossible to keep any tab on the line west of +Casita, for it's too rough. That cactus desert is awful. Cowboys or +rangers with desert-bred horses might keep raiders and smugglers from +crossing. But if cavalrymen could stand that waterless wilderness, +which I doubt much, their horses would drop under them. + +If things do quiet down before my commission expires, I'll get leave of +absence, run out to Forlorn River, marry my beautiful Spanish princess, +and take her to a civilized country, where, I opine, every son of a gun +who sees her will lose his head, and drive me mad. It's my great luck, +old pal, that you are a fellow who never seemed to care about pretty +girls. So you won't give me the double cross and run off with +Mercedes--carry her off, like the villain in the play, I mean. + +That reminds me of Rojas. Oh, Dick, it was glorious! You didn't do +anything to the Dandy Rebel! Not at all! You merely caressed +him--gently moved him to one side. Dick, harken to these glad words: +Rojas is in the hospital. I was interested to inquire. He had a +smashed finger, a dislocated collar bone, three broken ribs, and a +fearful gash on his face. He'll be in the hospital for a month. Dick, +when I meet that pig-headed dad of yours I'm going to give him the +surprise of his life. + +Send me a line whenever any one comes in from F. R., and inclose +Mercedes's letter in yours. Take care of her, Dick, and may the future +hold in store for you some of the sweetness I know now! + +Faithfully yours, Thorne. + + +Dick reread the letter, then folded it and placed it under his pillow. + +"Never cared for pretty girls, huh?" he soliloquized. "George, I never +saw any till I struck Southern Arizona! Guess I'd better make up for +lost time." + +While he was eating his supper, with appetite rapidly returning to +normal, Ladd and Jim came in, bowing their tall heads to enter the +door. Their friendly advances were singularly welcome to Gale, but he +was still backward. He allowed himself to show that he was glad to see +them, and he listened. Jim Lash had heard from Belding the result of +the mauling given to Rojas by Dick. And Jim talked about what a grand +thing that was. Ladd had a good deal to say about Belding's horses. +It took no keen judge of human nature to see that horses constituted +Ladd's ruling passion. + +"I've had wimmen go back on me, but never no hoss!" declared Ladd, and +manifestly that was a controlling truth with him. + +"Shore it's a cinch Beldin' is agoin' to lose some of them hosses," he +said. "You can search me if I don't think there'll be more doin' on +the border here than along the Rio Grande. We're just the same as on +Greaser soil. Mebbe we don't stand no such chance of bein' shot up as +we would across the line. But who's goin' to give up his hosses +without a fight? Half the time when Beldin's stock is out of the +alfalfa it's grazin' over the line. He thinks he's careful about them +hosses, but he ain't." + +"Look a-here, Laddy; you cain't believe all you hear," replied Jim, +seriously. "I reckon we mightn't have any trouble." + +"Back up, Jim. Shore you're standin' on your bridle. I ain't goin' +much on reports. Remember that American we met in Casita, the +prospector who'd just gotten out of Sonora? He had some story, he had. +Swore he'd killed seventeen Greasers breakin' through the rebel line +round the mine where he an' other Americans were corralled. The next +day when I met him again, he was drunk, an' then he told me he'd shot +thirty Greasers. The chances are he did kill some. But reports are +exaggerated. There are miners fightin' for life down in Sonora, you +can gamble on that. An' the truth is bad enough. Take Rojas's +harryin' of the Senorita, for instance. Can you beat that? Shore, +Jim, there's more doin' than the raidin' of a few hosses. An' Forlorn +River is goin' to get hers!" + +Another dawn found Gale so much recovered that he arose and looked +after himself, not, however, without considerable difficulty and rather +disheartening twinges of pain. + +Some time during the morning he heard the girls in the patio and called +to ask if he might join them. He received one response, a mellow, "Si, +Senor." It was not as much as he wanted, but considering that it was +enough, he went out. He had not as yet visited the patio, and surprise +and delight were in store for him. He found himself lost in a +labyrinth of green and rose-bordered walks. He strolled around, +discovering that the patio was a courtyard, open at an end; but he +failed to discover the young ladies. So he called again. The answer +came from the center of the square. After stooping to get under shrubs +and wading through bushes he entered an open sandy circle, full of +magnificent and murderous cactus plants, strange to him. On the other +side, in the shade of a beautiful tree, he found the girls. Mercedes +sitting in a hammock, Nell upon a blanket. + +"What a beautiful tree!" he exclaimed. "I never saw one like that. +What is it?" + +"Palo verde," replied Nell. + +"Senor, palo verde means 'green tree,'" added Mercedes. + +This desert tree, which had struck Dick as so new and strange and +beautiful, was not striking on account of size, for it was small, +scarcely reaching higher than the roof; but rather because of its +exquisite color of green, trunk and branch alike, and owing to the odd +fact that it seemed not to possess leaves. All the tree from ground to +tiny flat twigs was a soft polished green. It bore no thorns. + +Right then and there began Dick's education in desert growths; and he +felt that even if he had not had such charming teachers he would still +have been absorbed. For the patio was full of desert wonders. A +twisting-trunked tree with full foliage of small gray leaves Nell +called a mesquite. Then Dick remembered the name, and now he saw where +the desert got its pale-gray color. A huge, lofty, fluted column of +green was a saguaro, or giant cactus. Another oddshaped cactus, +resembling the legs of an inverted devil-fish, bore the name ocatillo. +Each branch rose high and symmetrical, furnished with sharp blades that +seemed to be at once leaves and thorns. Yet another cactus interested +Gale, and it looked like a huge, low barrel covered with green-ribbed +cloth and long thorns. This was the bisnaga, or barrel cactus. +According to Nell and Mercedes, this plant was a happy exception to its +desert neighbors, for it secreted water which had many times saved the +lives of men. Last of the cacti to attract Gale, and the one to make +him shiver, was a low plant, consisting of stem and many rounded +protuberances of a frosty, steely white, and covered with long +murderous spikes. From this plant the desert got its frosty glitter. +It was as stiff, as unyielding as steel, and bore the name choya. + +Dick's enthusiasm was contagious, and his earnest desire to learn was +flattering to his teachers. When it came to assimilating Spanish, +however, he did not appear to be so apt a pupil. He managed, after +many trials, to acquire "buenos dias" and "buenos tardes," and +"senorita" and "gracias," and a few other short terms. Dick was indeed +eager to get a little smattering of Spanish, and perhaps he was not +really quite so stupid as he pretended to be. It was delightful to be +taught by a beautiful Spaniard who was so gracious and intense and +magnetic of personality, and by a sweet American girl who moment by +moment forgot her shyness. Gale wished to prolong the lessons. + +So that was the beginning of many afternoons in which he learned desert +lore and Spanish verbs, and something else that he dared not name. + +Nell Burton had never shown to Gale that daring side of her character +which had been so suggestively defined in Belding's terse description +and Ladd's encomiums, and in her own audacious speech and merry laugh +and flashing eye of that never-to-be-forgotten first meeting. She +might have been an entirely different girl. But Gale remembered; and +when the ice had been somewhat broken between them, he was always +trying to surprise her into her real self. There were moments that +fairly made him tingle with expectation. Yet he saw little more than a +ghost of her vivacity, and never a gleam of that individuality which +Belding had called a devil. On the few occasions that Dick had been +left alone with her in the patio Nell had grown suddenly unresponsive +and restrained, or she had left him on some transparent pretext. On the +last occasion Mercedes returned to find Dick staring disconsolately at +the rose-bordered path, where Nell had evidently vanished. The Spanish +girl was wonderful in her divination. + +"Senor Dick!" she cried. + +Dick looked at her, soberly nodded his head, and then he laughed. +Mercedes had seen through him in one swift glance. Her white hand +touched his in wordless sympathy and thrilled him. This Spanish girl +was all fire and passion and love. She understood him, she was his +friend, she pledged him what he felt would be the most subtle and +powerful influence. + +Little by little he learned details of Nell's varied life. She had +lived in many places. As a child she remembered moving from town to +town, of going to school among schoolmates whom she never had time to +know. Lawrence, Kansas, where she studied for several years, was the +later exception to this changeful nature of her schooling. Then she +moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, from there to Austin, Texas, and on to +Waco, where her mother met and married Belding. They lived in New +Mexico awhile, in Tucson, Arizona, in Douglas, and finally had come to +lonely Forlorn River. + +"Mother could never live in one place any length of time," said Nell. +"And since we've been in the Southwest she has never ceased trying to +find some trace of her father. He was last heard of in Nogales +fourteen years ago. She thinks grandfather was lost in the Sonora +Desert.... And every place we go is worse. Oh, I love the desert. But +I'd like to go back to Lawrence--or to see Chicago or New York--some of +the places Mr. Gale speaks of.... I remember the college at Lawrence, +though I was only twelve. I saw races--and once real football. Since +then I've read magazines and papers about big football games, and I was +always fascinated .... Mr. Gale, of course, you've seen games? + +"Yes, a few," replied Dick; and he laughed a little. It was on his +lips then to tell her about some of the famous games in which he had +participated. But he refrained from exploiting himself. There was +little, however, of the color and sound and cheer, of the violent +action and rush and battle incidental to a big college football game +that he did not succeed in making Mercedes and Nell feel just as if +they had been there. They hung breathless and wide-eyed upon his words. + +Some one else was present at the latter part of Dick's narrative. The +moment he became aware of Mrs. Belding's presence he remembered +fancying he had heard her call, and now he was certain she had done so. +Mercedes and Nell, however, had been and still were oblivious to +everything except Dick's recital. He saw Mrs. Belding cast a strange, +intent glance upon Nell, then turn and go silently through the patio. +Dick concluded his talk, but the brilliant beginning was not sustained. + +Dick was haunted by the strange expression he had caught on Mrs. +Belding's face, especially the look in her eyes. It had been one of +repressed pain liberated in a flash of certainty. The mother had seen +just as quickly as Mercedes how far he had gone on the road of love. +Perhaps she had seen more--even more than he dared hope. The incident +roused Gale. He could not understand Mrs. Belding, nor why that look +of hers, that seeming baffled, hopeless look of a woman who saw the +inevitable forces of life and could not thwart them, should cause him +perplexity and distress. He wanted to go to her and tell her how he +felt about Nell, but fear of absolute destruction of his hopes held him +back. He would wait. Nevertheless, an instinct that was perhaps akin +to self-preservation prompted him to want to let Nell know the state of +his mind. Words crowded his brain seeking utterance. Who and what he +was, how he loved her, the work he expected to take up soon, his +longings, hopes, and plans--there was all this and more. But something +checked him. And the repression made him so thoughtful and quiet, even +melancholy, that he went outdoors to try to throw off the mood. The sun +was yet high, and a dazzling white light enveloped valleys and peaks. +He felt that the wonderful sunshine was the dominant feature of that +arid region. It was like white gold. It had burned its color in a +face he knew. It was going to warm his blood and brown his skin. A +hot, languid breeze, so dry that he felt his lips shrink with its +contact, came from the desert; and it seemed to smell of wide-open, +untainted places where sand blew and strange, pungent plants gave a +bitter-sweet tang to the air. + +When he returned to the house, some hours later, his room had been put +in order. In the middle of the white coverlet on his table lay a fresh +red rose. Nell had dropped it there. Dick picked it up, feeling a +throb in his breast. It was a bud just beginning to open, to show +between its petals a dark-red, unfolding heart. How fragrant it was, +how exquisitely delicate, how beautiful its inner hue of red, deep and +dark, the crimson of life blood! + +Had Nell left it there by accident or by intent? Was it merely +kindness or a girl's subtlety? Was it a message couched elusively, a +symbol, a hope in a half-blown desert rose? + + + +VI + +THE YAQUI + +TOWARD evening of a lowering December day, some fifty miles west of +Forlorn River, a horseman rode along an old, dimly defined trail. From +time to time he halted to study the lay of the land ahead. It was bare, +somber, ridgy desert, covered with dun-colored greasewood and stunted +prickly pear. Distant mountains hemmed in the valley, raising black +spurs above the round lomas and the square-walled mesas. + +This lonely horseman bestrode a steed of magnificent build, perfectly +white except for a dark bar of color running down the noble head from +ears to nose. Sweatcaked dust stained the long flanks. The horse had +been running. His mane and tail were laced and knotted to keep their +length out of reach of grasping cactus and brush. Clumsy home-made +leather shields covered the front of his forelegs and ran up well to +his wide breast. What otherwise would have been muscular symmetry of +limb was marred by many a scar and many a lump. He was lean, gaunt, +worn, a huge machine of muscle and bone, beautiful only in head and +mane, a weight-carrier, a horse strong and fierce like the desert that +had bred him. + +The rider fitted the horse as he fitted the saddle. He was a young man +of exceedingly powerful physique, wide-shouldered, long-armed, +big-legged. His lean face, where it was not red, blistered and +peeling, was the hue of bronze. He had a dark eye, a falcon gaze, +roving and keen. His jaw was prominent and set, mastiff-like; his lips +were stern. It was youth with its softness not yet quite burned and +hardened away that kept the whole cast of his face from being ruthless. + +This young man was Dick Gale, but not the listless traveler, nor the +lounging wanderer who, two months before, had by chance dropped into +Casita. Friendship, chivalry, love--the deep-seated, unplumbed +emotions that had been stirred into being with all their incalculable +power for spiritual change, had rendered different the meaning of life. +In the moment almost of their realization the desert had claimed Gale, +and had drawn him into its crucible. The desert had multiplied weeks +into years. Heat, thirst, hunger, loneliness, toil, fear, ferocity, +pain--he knew them all. He had felt them all--the white sun, with its +glazed, coalescing, lurid fire; the caked split lips and rasping, +dry-puffed tongue; the sickening ache in the pit of his stomach; the +insupportable silence, the empty space, the utter desolation, the +contempt of life; the weary ride, the long climb, the plod in sand, the +search, search, search for water; the sleepless night alone, the watch +and wait, the dread of ambush, the swift flight; the fierce pursuit of +men wild as Bedouins and as fleet, the willingness to deal sudden +death, the pain of poison thorn, the stinging tear of lead through +flesh; and that strange paradox of the burning desert, the cold at +night, the piercing icy wind, the dew that penetrated to the marrow, +the numbing desert cold of the dawn. + +Beyond any dream of adventure he had ever had, beyond any wild story he +had ever read, had been his experience with those hard-riding rangers, +Ladd and Lash. Then he had traveled alone the hundred miles of desert +between Forlorn River and the Sonoyta Oasis. Ladd's prophecy of +trouble on the border had been mild compared to what had become the +actuality. With rebel occupancy of the garrison at Casita, outlaws, +bandits, raiders in rioting bands had spread westward. Like troops of +Arabs, magnificently mounted, they were here, there, everywhere along +the line; and if murder and worse were confined to the Mexican side, +pillage and raiding were perpetrated across the border. Many a +dark-skinned raider bestrode one of Belding's fast horses, and indeed +all except his selected white thoroughbreds had been stolen. So the +job of the rangers had become more than a patrolling of the boundary +line to keep Japanese and Chinese from being smuggled into the United +States. Belding kept close at home to protect his family and to hold +his property. But the three rangers, in fulfilling their duty had +incurred risks on their own side of the line, had been outraged, +robbed, pursued, and injured on the other. Some of the few waterholes +that had to be reached lay far across the border in Mexican territory. +Horses had to drink, men had to drink; and Ladd and Lash were not of +the stripe that forsook a task because of danger. Slow to wrath at +first, as became men who had long lived peaceful lives, they had at +length revolted; and desert vultures could have told a gruesome story. +Made a comrade and ally of these bordermen, Dick Gale had leaped at the +desert action and strife with an intensity of heart and a rare physical +ability which accounted for the remarkable fact that he had not yet +fallen by the way. + +On this December afternoon the three rangers, as often, were separated. +Lash was far to the westward of Sonoyta, somewhere along Camino del +Diablo, that terrible Devil's Road, where many desert wayfarers had +perished. Ladd had long been overdue in a prearranged meeting with +Gale. The fact that Ladd had not shown up miles west of the Papago +Well was significant. + +The sun had hidden behind clouds all the latter part of that day, an +unusual occurrence for that region even in winter. And now, as the +light waned suddenly, telling of the hidden sunset, a cold dry, +penetrating wind sprang up and blew in Gale's face. Not at first, but +by imperceptible degrees it chilled him. He untied his coat from the +back of the saddle and put it on. A few cold drops of rain touched his +cheek. + +He halted upon the edge of a low escarpment. Below him the narrowing +valley showed bare, black ribs of rock, long, winding gray lines +leading down to a central floor where mesquite and cactus dotted the +barren landscape. Moving objects, diminutive in size, gray and white +in color, arrested Gale's roving sight. They bobbed away for a while, +then stopped. They were antelope, and they had seen his horse. When +he rode on they started once more, keeping to the lowest level. These +wary animals were often desert watchdogs for the ranger, they would +betray the proximity of horse or man. With them trotting forward, he +made better time for some miles across the valley. When he lost them, +caution once more slowed his advance. + +The valley sloped up and narrowed, to head into an arroyo where grass +began to show gray between the clumps of mesquite. Shadows formed +ahead in the hollows, along the walls of the arroyo, under the trees, +and they seemed to creep, to rise, to float into a veil cast by the +background of bold mountains, at last to claim the skyline. Night was +not close at hand, but it was there in the east, lifting upward, +drooping downward, encroaching upon the west. + +Gale dismounted to lead his horse, to go forward more slowly. He had +ridden sixty miles since morning, and he was tired, and a not entirely +healed wound in his hip made one leg drag a little. A mile up the +arroyo, near its head, lay the Papago Well. The need of water for his +horse entailed a risk that otherwise he could have avoided. The well +was on Mexican soil. Gale distinguished a faint light flickering +through the thin, sharp foliage. Campers were at the well, and, +whoever they were, no doubt they had prevented Ladd from meeting Gale. +Ladd had gone back to the next waterhole, or maybe he was hiding in an +arroyo to the eastward, awaiting developments. + +Gale turned his horse, not without urge of iron arm and persuasive +speech, for the desert steed scented water, and plodded back to the +edge of the arroyo, where in a secluded circle of mesquite he halted. +The horse snorted his relief at the removal of the heavy, burdened +saddle and accoutrements, and sagging, bent his knees, lowered himself +with slow heave, and plunged down to roll in the sand. Gale poured the +contents of his larger canteen into his hat and held it to the horse's +nose. + +"Drink, Sol," he said. + +It was but a drop for a thirsty horse. However, Blanco Sol rubbed a +wet muzzle against Gale's hand in appreciation. Gale loved the horse, +and was loved in return. They had saved each other's lives, and had +spent long days and nights of desert solitude together. Sol had known +other masters, though none so kind as this new one; but it was certain +that Gale had never before known a horse. + +The spot of secluded ground was covered with bunches of galleta grass +upon which Sol began to graze. Gale made a long halter of his lariat +to keep the horse from wandering in search of water. Next Gale kicked +off the cumbersome chapparejos, with their flapping, tripping folds of +leather over his feet, and drawing a long rifle from its leather +sheath, he slipped away into the shadows. + +The coyotes were howling, not here and there, but in concerted volume +at the head of the arroyo. To Dick this was no more reassuring than +had been the flickering light of the campfire. The wild desert dogs, +with their characteristic insolent curiosity, were baying men round a +campfire. Gale proceeded slowly, halting every few steps, careful not +to brush against the stiff greasewood. In the soft sand his steps made +no sound. The twinkling light vanished occasionally, like a +Jack-o'lantern, and when it did show it seemed still a long way off. +Gale was not seeking trouble or inviting danger. Water was the thing +that drove him. He must see who these campers were, and then decide +how to give Blanco Sol a drink. + +A rabbit rustled out of brush at Gale's feet and thumped away over the +sand. The wind pattered among dry, broken stalks of dead ocatilla. +Every little sound brought Gale to a listening pause. The gloom was +thickening fast into darkness. It would be a night without starlight. +He moved forward up the pale, zigzag aisles between the mesquite. He +lost the light for a while, but the coyotes' chorus told him he was +approaching the campfire. Presently the light danced through the black +branches, and soon grew into a flame. Stooping low, with bushy +mesquites between him and the fire, Gale advanced. The coyotes were in +full cry. Gale heard the tramping, stamping thumps of many hoofs. The +sound worried him. Foot by foot he advanced, and finally began to +crawl. The wind favored his position, so that neither coyotes nor +horses could scent him. The nearer he approached the head of the +arroyo, where the well was located, the thicker grew the desert +vegetation. At length a dead palo verde, with huge black clumps of its +parasite mistletoe thick in the branches, marked a distance from the +well that Gale considered close enough. Noiselessly he crawled here +and there until he secured a favorable position, and then rose to peep +from behind his covert. + +He saw a bright fire, not a cooking-fire, for that would have been low +and red, but a crackling blaze of mesquite. Three men were in sight, +all close to the burning sticks. They were Mexicans and of the coarse +type of raiders, rebels, bandits that Gale expected to see. One stood +up, his back to the fire; another sat with shoulders enveloped in a +blanket, and the third lounged in the sand, his feet almost in the +blaze. They had cast off belts and weapons. A glint of steel caught +Gale's eye. Three short, shiny carbines leaned against a rock. A +little to the left, within the circle of light, stood a square house +made of adobe bricks. Several untrimmed poles upheld a roof of brush, +which was partly fallen in. This house was a Papago Indian habitation, +and a month before had been occupied by a family that had been murdered +or driven off by a roving band of outlaws. A rude corral showed dimly +in the edge of firelight, and from a black mass within came the snort +and stamp and whinney of horses. + +Gale took in the scene in one quick glance, then sank down at the foot +of the mesquite. He had naturally expected to see more men. But the +situation was by no means new. This was one, or part of one, of the +raider bands harrying the border. They were stealing horses, or +driving a herd already stolen. These bands were more numerous than the +waterholes of northern Sonora; they never camped long at one place; +like Arabs, they roamed over the desert all the way from Nogales to +Casita. If Gale had gone peaceably up to this campfire there were a +hundred chances that the raiders would kill and rob him to one chance +that they might not. If they recognized him as a ranger comrade of +Ladd and Lash, if they got a glimpse of Blanco Sol, then Gale would +have no chance. + +These Mexicans had evidently been at the well some time. Their horses +being in the corral meant that grazing had been done by day. Gale +revolved questions in mind. Had this trio of outlaws run across Ladd? +It was not likely, for in that event they might not have been so +comfortable and care-free in camp. Were they waiting for more members +of their gang? That was very probable. With Gale, however, the most +important consideration was how to get his horse to water. Sol must +have a drink if it cost a fight. There was stern reason for Gale to +hurry eastward along the trail. He thought it best to go back to where +he had left his horse and not make any decisive move until daylight. + +With the same noiseless care he had exercised in the advance, Gale +retreated until it was safe for him to rise and walk on down the +arroyo. He found Blanco Sol contentedly grazing. A heavy dew was +falling, and, as the grass was abundant, the horse did not show the +usual restlessness and distress after a dry and exhausting day. Gale +carried his saddle blankets and bags into the lee of a little +greasewood-covered mound, from around which the wind had cut the soil, +and here, in a wash, he risked building a small fire. By this time the +wind was piercingly cold. Gale's hands were numb and he moved them to +and fro in the little blaze. Then he made coffee in a cup, cooked some +slices of bacon on the end of a stick, and took a couple of hard +biscuits from a saddlebag. Of these his meal consisted. After that he +removed the halter from Blanco Sol, intending to leave him free to +graze for a while. + +Then Gale returned to his little fire, replenished it with short sticks +of dead greasewood and mesquite, and, wrapping his blanket round his +shoulders he sat down to warm himself and to wait till it was time to +bring in the horse and tie him up. + +The fire was inadequate and Gale was cold and wet with dew. Hunger and +thirst were with him. His bones ached, and there was a dull, +deep-seated pain throbbing in his unhealed wound. For days unshaven, +his beard seemed like a million pricking needles in his blistered skin. +He was so tired that once having settled himself, he did not move hand +or foot. The night was dark, dismal, cloudy, windy, growing colder. A +moan of wind in the mesquite was occasionally pierced by the high-keyed +yelp of a coyote. There were lulls in which the silence seemed to be a +thing of stifling, encroaching substance--a thing that enveloped, +buried the desert. + +Judged by the great average of ideals and conventional standards of +life, Dick Gale was a starved, lonely, suffering, miserable wretch. +But in his case the judgment would have hit only externals, would have +missed the vital inner truth. For Gale was happy with a kind of +strange, wild glory in the privations, the pains, the perils, and the +silence and solitude to be endured on this desert land. In the past he +had not been of any use to himself or others; and he had never know +what it meant to be hungry, cold, tired, lonely. He had never worked +for anything. The needs of the day had been provided, and to-morrow +and the future looked the same. Danger, peril, toil--these had been +words read in books and papers. + +In the present he used his hands, his senses, and his wits. He had a +duty to a man who relied on his services. He was a comrade, a friend, +a valuable ally to riding, fighting rangers. He had spent endless +days, weeks that seemed years, alone with a horse, trailing over, +climbing over, hunting over a desert that was harsh and hostile by +nature, and perilous by the invasion of savage men. That horse had +become human to Gale. And with him Gale had learned to know the simple +needs of existence. Like dead scales the superficialities, the +falsities, the habits that had once meant all of life dropped off, +useless things in this stern waste of rock and sand. + +Gale's happiness, as far as it concerned the toil and strife, was +perhaps a grim and stoical one. But love abided with him, and it had +engendered and fostered other undeveloped traits--romance and a feeling +for beauty, and a keen observation of nature. He felt pain, but he was +never miserable. He felt the solitude, but he was never lonely. + +As he rode across the desert, even though keen eyes searched for the +moving black dots, the rising puffs of white dust that were warnings, +he saw Nell's face in every cloud. The clean-cut mesas took on the +shape of her straight profile, with its strong chin and lips, its fine +nose and forehead. There was always a glint of gold or touch of red or +graceful line or gleam of blue to remind him of her. Then at night her +face shone warm and glowing, flushing and paling, in the campfire. + +To-night, as usual, with a keen ear to the wind, Gale listened as one +on guard; yet he watched the changing phantom of a sweet face in the +embers, and as he watched he thought. The desert developed and +multiplied thought. A thousand sweet faces glowed in the pink and +white ashes of his campfire, the faces of other sweethearts or wives +that had gleamed for other men. Gale was happy in his thought of Nell, +for Nell, for something, when he was alone this way in the wilderness, +told him she was near him, she thought of him, she loved him. But +there were many men alone on that vast southwestern plateau, and when +they saw dream faces, surely for some it was a fleeting flash, a gleam +soon gone, like the hope and the name and the happiness that had been +and was now no more. Often Gale thought of those hundreds of desert +travelers, prospectors, wanderers who had ventured down the Camino del +Diablo, never to be heard of again. Belding had told him of that most +terrible of all desert trails--a trail of shifting sands. Lash had +traversed it, and brought back stories of buried waterholes, of bones +bleaching white in the sun, of gold mines as lost as were the +prospectors who had sought them, of the merciless Yaqui and his hatred +for the Mexican. Gale thought of this trail and the men who had camped +along it. For many there had been one night, one campfire that had +been the last. This idea seemed to creep in out of the darkness, the +loneliness, the silence, and to find a place in Gale's mind, so that it +had strange fascination for him. He knew now as he had never dreamed +before how men drifted into the desert, leaving behind graves, wrecked +homes, ruined lives, lost wives and sweethearts. And for every +wanderer every campfire had a phantom face. Gale measured the agony of +these men at their last campfire by the joy and promise he traced in +the ruddy heart of his own. + +By and by Gale remembered what he was waiting for; and, getting up, he +took the halter and went out to find Blanco Sol. It was pitch-dark +now, and Gale could not see a rod ahead. He felt his way, and +presently as he rounded a mesquite he saw Sol's white shape outlined +against the blackness. The horse jumped and wheeled, ready to run. It +was doubtful if any one unknown to Sol could ever have caught him. +Gale's low call reassured him, and he went on grazing. Gale haltered +him in the likeliest patch of grass and returned to his camp. There he +lifted his saddle into a protected spot under a low wall of the mound, +and, laying one blanket on the sand, he covered himself with the other +and stretched himself for the night. + +Here he was out of reach of the wind; but he heard its melancholy moan +in the mesquite. There was no other sound. The coyotes had ceased +their hungry cries. Gale dropped to sleep, and slept soundly during +the first half of the night; and after that he seemed always to be +partially awake, aware of increasing cold and damp. The dark mantle +turned gray, and then daylight came quickly. The morning was clear and +nipping cold. He threw off the wet blanket and got up cramped and half +frozen. A little brisk action was all that was necessary to warm his +blood and loosen his muscles, and then he was fresh, tingling, eager. +The sun rose in a golden blaze, and the descending valley took on +wondrous changing hues. Then he fetched up Blanco Sol, saddled him, +and tied him to the thickest clump of mesquite. + +"Sol, we'll have a drink pretty soon," he said, patting the splendid +neck. + +Gale meant it. He would not eat till he had watered his horse. Sol had +gone nearly forty-eight hours without a sufficient drink, and that was +long enough, even for a desert-bred beast. No three raiders could keep +Gale away from that well. Taking his rifle in hand, he faced up the +arroyo. Rabbits were frisking in the short willows, and some were so +tame he could have kicked them. Gale walked swiftly for a goodly part +of the distance, and then, when he saw blue smoke curling up above the +trees, he proceeded slowly, with alert eye and ear. From the lay of +the land and position of trees seen by daylight, he found an easier and +safer course that the one he had taken in the dark. And by careful +work he was enabled to get closer to the well, and somewhat above it. + +The Mexicans were leisurely cooking their morning meal. They had two +fires, one for warmth, the other to cook over. Gale had an idea these +raiders were familiar to him. It seemed all these border hawks +resembled one another--being mostly small of build, wiry, angular, +swarthy-faced, and black-haired, and they wore the oddly styled Mexican +clothes and sombreros. A slow wrath stirred in Gale as he watched the +trio. They showed not the slightest indication of breaking camp. One +fellow, evidently the leader, packed a gun at his hip, the only weapon +in sight. Gale noted this with speculative eyes. The raiders had +slept inside the little adobe house, and had not yet brought out the +carbines. Next Gale swept his gaze to the corral, in which he saw more +than a dozen horses, some of them fine animals. They were stamping and +whistling, fighting one another, and pawing the dirt. This was +entirely natural behavior for desert horses penned in when they wanted +to get at water and grass. + +But suddenly one of the blacks, a big, shaggy fellow, shot up his ears +and pointed his nose over the top of the fence. He whistled. Other +horses looked in the same direction, and their ears went up, and they, +too, whistled. Gale knew that other horses or men, very likely both, +were approaching. But the Mexicans did not hear the alarm, or show any +interest if they did. These mescal-drinking raiders were not scouts. +It was notorious how easily they could be surprised or ambushed. +Mostly they were ignorant, thick-skulled peons. They were wonderful +horsemen, and could go long without food or water; but they had not +other accomplishments or attributes calculated to help them in desert +warfare. They had poor sight, poor hearing, poor judgment, and when +excited they resembled crazed ants running wild. + +Gale saw two Indians on burros come riding up the other side of the +knoll upon which the adobe house stood; and apparently they were not +aware of the presence of the Mexicans, for they came on up the path. +One Indian was a Papago. The other, striking in appearance for other +reasons than that he seemed to be about to fall from the burro, Gale +took to be a Yaqui. These travelers had absolutely nothing for an +outfit except a blanket and a half-empty bag. They came over the knoll +and down the path toward the well, turned a corner of the house, and +completely surprised the raiders. + +Gale heard a short, shrill cry, strangely high and wild, and this came +from one of the Indians. It was answered by hoarse shouts. Then the +leader of the trio, the Mexican who packed a gun, pulled it and fired +point-blank. He missed once--and again. At the third shot the Papago +shrieked and tumbled off his burro to fall in a heap. The other Indian +swayed, as if the taking away of the support lent by his comrade had +brought collapse, and with the fourth shot he, too, slipped to the +ground. + +The reports had frightened the horses in the corral; and the vicious +black, crowding the rickety bars, broke them down. He came plunging +out. Two of the Mexicans ran for him, catching him by nose and mane, +and the third ran to block the gateway. + +Then, with a splendid vaulting mount, the Mexican with the gun leaped +to the back of the horse. He yelled and waved his gun, and urged the +black forward. The manner of all three was savagely jocose. They were +having sport. The two on the ground began to dance and jabber. The +mounted leader shot again, and then stuck like a leech upon the bare +back of the rearing black. It was a vain show of horsemanship. Then +this Mexican, by some strange grip, brought the horse down, plunging +almost upon the body of the Indian that had fallen last. + +Gale stood aghast with his rifle clutched tight. He could not divine +the intention of the raider, but suspected something brutal. The horse +answered to that cruel, guiding hand, yet he swerved and bucked. He +reared aloft, pawing the air, wildly snorting, then he plunged down +upon the prostrate Indian. Even in the act the intelligent animal +tried to keep from striking the body with his hoofs. But that was not +possible. A yell, hideous in its passion, signaled this feat of +horsemanship. + +The Mexican made no move to trample the body of the Papago. He turned +the black to ride again over the other Indian. That brought into +Gale's mind what he had heard of a Mexican's hate for a Yaqui. It +recalled the barbarism of these savage peons, and the war of +extermination being waged upon the Yaquis. + +Suddenly Gale was horrified to see the Yaqui writhe and raise a feeble +hand. The action brought renewed and more savage cries from the +Mexicans. The horse snorted in terror. + +Gale could bear no more. He took a quick shot at the rider. He missed +the moving figure, but hit the horse. There was a bound, a horrid +scream, a mighty plunge, then the horse went down, giving the Mexican a +stunning fall. Both beast and man lay still. + +Gale rushed from his cover to intercept the other raiders before they +could reach the house and their weapons. One fellow yelled and ran +wildly in the opposite direction; the other stood stricken in his +tracks. Gale ran in close and picked up the gun that had dropped from +the raider leader's hand. This fellow had begun to stir, to come out +of his stunned condition. Then the frightened horses burst the corral +bars, and in a thundering, dust-mantled stream fled up the arroyo. + +The fallen raider sat up, mumbling to his saints in one breath, cursing +in his next. The other Mexican kept his stand, intimidated by the +threatening rifle. + +"Go, Greasers! Run!" yelled Gale. Then he yelled it in Spanish. At +the point of his rifle he drove the two raiders out of the camp. His +next move was to run into the house and fetch out the carbines. With a +heavy stone he dismantled each weapon. That done, he set out on a run +for his horse. He took the shortest cut down the arroyo, with no +concern as to whether or not he would encounter the raiders. Probably +such a meeting would be all the worse for them, and they knew it. +Blanco Sol heard him coming and whistled a welcome, and when Gale ran +up the horse was snorting war. Mounting, Gale rode rapidly back to the +scene of the action, and his first thought, when he arrived at the +well, was to give Sol a drink and to fill his canteens. + +Then Gale led his horse up out of the waterhole, and decided before +remounting to have a look at the Indians. The Papago had been shot +through the heart, but the Yaqui was still alive. Moreover, he was +conscious and staring up at Gale with great, strange, somber eyes, +black as volcanic slag. + +"Gringo good--no kill," he said, in husky whisper. + +His speech was not affirmative so much as questioning. + +"Yaqui, you're done for," said Gale, and his words were positive. He +was simply speaking aloud his mind. + +"Yaqui--no hurt--much," replied the Indian, and then he spoke a strange +word--repeated it again and again. + +An instinct of Gale's, or perhaps some suggestion in the husky, thick +whisper or dark face, told Gale to reach for his canteen. He lifted the +Indian and gave him a drink, and if ever in all his life he saw +gratitude in human eyes he saw it then. Then he examined the injured +Yaqui, not forgetting for an instant to send wary, fugitive glances on +all sides. Gale was not surprised. The Indian had three wounds--a +bullet hole in his shoulder, a crushed arm, and a badly lacerated leg. +What had been the matter with him before being set upon by the raider +Gale could not be certain. + +The ranger thought rapidly. This Yaqui would live unless left there to +die or be murdered by the Mexicans when they found courage to sneak +back to the well. It never occurred to Gale to abandon the poor +fellow. That was where his old training, the higher order of human +feeling, made impossible the following of any elemental instinct of +self-preservation. All the same, Gale knew he multiplied his perils a +hundredfold by burdening himself with a crippled Indian. Swiftly he set +to work, and with rifle ever under his hand, and shifting glance spared +from his task, he bound up the Yaqui's wounds. At the same time he +kept keen watch. + +The Indians' burros and the horses of the raiders were all out of +sight. Time was too valuable for Gale to use any in what might be a +vain search. Therefore, he lifted the Yaqui upon Sol's broad shoulders +and climbed into the saddle. At a word Sol dropped his head and +started eastward up the trail, walking swiftly, without resentment for +his double burden. + +Far ahead, between two huge mesas where the trail mounted over a pass, +a long line of dust clouds marked the position of the horses that had +escaped from the corral. Those that had been stolen would travel +straight and true for home, and perhaps would lead the others with +them. The raiders were left on the desert without guns or mounts. + +Blanco Sol walked or jog-trotted six miles to the hour. At that gait +fifty miles would not have wet or turned a hair of his dazzling white +coat. Gale, bearing in mind the ever-present possibility of +encountering more raiders and of being pursued, saved the strength of +the horse. Once out of sight of Papago Well, Gale dismounted and +walked beside the horse, steadying with one firm hand the helpless, +dangling Yaqui. + +The sun cleared the eastern ramparts, and the coolness of morning fled +as if before a magic foe. The whole desert changed. The grays wore +bright; the mesquites glistened; the cactus took the silver hue of +frost, and the rocks gleamed gold and red. Then, as the heat +increased, a wind rushed up out of the valley behind Gale, and the +hotter the sun blazed down the swifter rushed the wind. The wonderful +transparent haze of distance lost its bluish hue for one with tinge of +yellow. Flying sand made the peaks dimly outlined. + +Gale kept pace with his horse. He bore the twinge of pain that darted +through his injured hip at every stride. His eye roved over the wide, +smoky prospect seeking the landmarks he knew. When the wild and bold +spurs of No Name Mountains loomed through a rent in flying clouds of +sand he felt nearer home. Another hour brought him abreast of a dark, +straight shaft rising clear from a beetling escarpment. This was a +monument marking the international boundary line. When he had passed +it he had his own country under foot. In the heat of midday he halted +in the shade of a rock, and, lifting the Yaqui down, gave him a drink. +Then, after a long, sweeping survey of the surrounding desert, he +removed Sol's saddle and let him roll, and took for himself a welcome +rest and a bite to eat. + +The Yaqui was tenacious of life. He was still holding his own. For the +first time Gale really looked at the Indian to study him. He had a +large head nobly cast, and a face that resembled a shrunken mask. It +seemed chiseled in the dark-red, volcanic lava of his Sooner +wilderness. The Indian's eyes were always black and mystic, but this +Yaqui's encompassed all the tragic desolation of the desert. They were +fixed on Gale, moved only when he moved. The Indian was short and +broad, and his body showed unusual muscular development, although he +seemed greatly emaciated from starvation or illness. + +Gale resumed his homeward journey. When he got through the pass he +faced a great depression, as rough as if millions of gigantic spikes +had been driven by the hammer of Thor into a seamed and cracked floor. +This was Altar Valley. It was a chaos of arroyo's, canyons, rocks, and +ridges all mantled with cactus, and at its eastern end it claimed the +dry bed of Forlorn River and water when there was any. + +With a wounded, helpless man across the saddle, this stretch of thorny +and contorted desert was practically impassable. Yet Gale headed into +it unflinchingly. He would carry the Yaqui as far as possible, or +until death make the burden no longer a duty. Blanco Sol plodded on +over the dragging sand, up and down the steep, loose banks of washes, +out on the rocks, and through the rows of white-toothed _choyas_. + +The sun sloped westward, bending fiercer heat in vengeful, parting +reluctance. The wind slackened. The dust settled. And the bold, +forbidding front of No Name Mountains changed to red and gold. Gale +held grimly by the side of the tireless, implacable horse, holding the +Yaqui on the saddle, taking the brunt of the merciless thorns. In the +end it became heartrending toil. His heavy chaps dragged him down; but +he dared not go on without them, for, thick and stiff as they were, the +terrible, steel-bayoneted spikes of the choyas pierced through to sting +his legs. + +To the last mile Gale held to Blanco Sol's gait and kept ever-watchful +gaze ahead on the trail. Then, with the low, flat houses of Forlorn +River shining red in the sunset, Gale flagged and rapidly weakened. +The Yaqui slipped out of the saddle and dropped limp in the sand. Gale +could not mount his horse. He clutched Sol's long tail and twisted his +hand in it and staggered on. + +Blanco Sol whistled a piercing blast. He scented cool water and sweet +alfalfa hay. Twinkling lights ahead meant rest. The melancholy desert +twilight rapidly succeeded the sunset. It accentuated the forlorn +loneliness of the gray, winding river of sand and its grayer shores. +Night shadows trooped down from the black and looming mountains. + + + +VII + +WHITE HORSES + +"A CRIPPLED Yaqui! Why the hell did you saddle yourself with him?" +roared Belding, as he laid Gale upon the bed. + +Belding had grown hard these late, violent weeks. + +"Because I chose," whispered Gale, in reply. "Go after him--he dropped +in the trail--across the river--near the first big saguaro." + +Belding began to swear as he fumbled with matches and the lamp; but as +the light flared up he stopped short in the middle of a word. + +"You said you weren't hurt?" he demanded, in sharp anxiety, as he bent +over Gale. + +"I'm only--all in.... Will you go--or send some one--for the Yaqui?" + +"Sure, Dick, sure," Belding replied, in softer tones. Then he stalked +out; his heels rang on the flagstones; he opened a door and called: +"Mother--girls, here's Dick back. He's done up.... Now--no, no, he's +not hurt or in bad shape. You women!... Do what you can to make him +comfortable. I've got a little job on hand." + +There were quick replies that Gale's dulling ears did not distinguish. +Then it seemed Mrs. Belding was beside his bed, her presence so cool +and soothing and helpful, and Mercedes and Nell, wide-eyed and +white-faced, were fluttering around him. He drank thirstily, but +refused food. He wanted rest. And with their faces drifting away in a +kind of haze, with the feeling of gentle hands about him, he lost +consciousness. + +He slept twenty hours. Then he arose, thirsty, hungry, lame, overworn, +and presently went in search of Belding and the business of the day. + +"Your Yaqui was near dead, but guess we'll pull him through," said +Belding. "Dick, the other day that Indian came here by rail and foot +and Lord only knows how else, all the way from New Orleans! He spoke +English better than most Indians, and I know a little Yaqui. I got +some of his story and guessed the rest. The Mexican government is +trying to root out the Yaquis. A year ago his tribe was taken in +chains to a Mexican port on the Gulf. The fathers, mothers, children, +were separated and put in ships bound for Yucatan. There they were +made slaves on the great henequen plantations. They were driven, +beaten, starved. Each slave had for a day's rations a hunk of sour +dough, no more. Yucatan is low, marshy, damp, hot. The Yaquis were +bred on the high, dry Sonoran plateau, where the air is like a knife. +They dropped dead in the henequen fields, and their places were taken +by more. You see, the Mexicans won't kill outright in their war of +extermination of the Yaquis. They get use out of them. It's a +horrible thing.... Well, this Yaqui you brought in escaped from his +captors, got aboard ship, and eventually reached New Orleans. Somehow +he traveled way out here. I gave him a bag of food, and he went off +with a Papago Indian. He was a sick man then. And he must have fallen +foul of some Greasers." + +Gale told of his experience at Papago Well. + +"That raider who tried to grind the Yaqui under a horse's hoofs--he was +a hyena!" concluded Gale, shuddering. "I've seen some blood spilled +and some hard sights, but that inhuman devil took my nerve. Why, as I +told you, Belding, I missed a shot at him--not twenty paces!" + +"Dick, in cases like that the sooner you clean up the bunch the +better," said Belding, grimly. "As for hard sights--wait till you've +seen a Yaqui do up a Mexican. Bar none, that is the limit! It's blood +lust, a racial hate, deep as life, and terrible. The Spaniards crushed +the Aztecs four or five hundred years ago. That hate has had time to +grow as deep as a cactus root. The Yaquis are mountain Aztecs. +Personally, I think they are noble and intelligent, and if let alone +would be peaceable and industrious. I like the few I've known. But +they are a doomed race. Have you any idea what ailed this Yaqui before +the raider got in his work?" + +"No, I haven't. I noticed the Indian seemed in bad shape; but I +couldn't tell what was the matter with him." + +"Well, my idea is another personal one. Maybe it's off color. I think +that Yaqui was, or is, for that matter, dying of a broken heart. All +he wanted was to get back to his mountains and die. There are no Yaquis +left in that part of Sonora he was bound for." + +"He had a strange look in his eyes," said Gale, thoughtfully. + +"Yes, I noticed that. But all Yaquis have a wild look. Dick, if I'm +not mistaken, this fellow was a chief. It was a waste of strength, a +needless risk for you to save him, pack him back here. But, damn the +whole Greaser outfit generally, I'm glad you did!" + +Gale remembered then to speak of his concern for Ladd. + +"Laddy didn't go out to meet you," replied Belding. "I knew you were +due in any day, and, as there's been trouble between here and Casita, I +sent him that way. Since you've been out our friend Carter lost a +bunch of horses and a few steers. Did you get a good look at the +horses those raiders had at Papago Well?" + +Dick had learned, since he had become a ranger, to see everything with +keen, sure, photographic eye; and, being put to the test so often +required of him, he described the horses as a dark-colored drove, +mostly bays and blacks, with one spotted sorrel. + +"Some of Carter's--sure as you're born!" exclaimed Belding. "His bunch +has been split up, divided among several bands of raiders. He has a +grass ranch up here in Three Mile Arroyo. It's a good long ride in U. +S. territory from the border." + +"Those horses I saw will go home, don't you think?" asked Dick. + +"Sure. They can't be caught or stopped." + +"Well, what shall I do now?" + +"Stay here and rest," bluntly replied Belding. "You need it. Let the +women fuss over you--doctor you a little. When Jim gets back from +Sonoyta I'll know more about what we ought to do. By Lord! it seems +our job now isn't keeping Japs and Chinks out of the U. S. It's keeping +our property from going into Mexico." + +"Are there any letters for me?" asked Gale. + +"Letters! Say, my boy, it'd take something pretty important to get me +or any man here back Casita way. If the town is safe these days the +road isn't. It's a month now since any one went to Casita." + +Gale had received several letters from his sister Elsie, the last of +which he had not answered. There had not been much opportunity for +writing on his infrequent returns to Forlorn River; and, besides, Elsie +had written that her father had stormed over what he considered Dick's +falling into wild and evil ways. + +"Time flies," said Dick. "George Thorne will be free before long, and +he'll be coming out. I wonder if he'll stay here or try to take +Mercedes away?" + +"Well, he'll stay right here in Forlorn River, if I have any say," +replied Belding. "I'd like to know how he'd ever get that Spanish girl +out of the country now, with all the trails overrun by rebels and +raiders. It'd be hard to disguise her. Say, Dick, maybe we can get +Thorne to stay here. You know, since you've discovered the possibility +of a big water supply, I've had dreams of a future for Forlorn +River.... If only this war was over! Dick, that's what it +is--war--scattered war along the northern border of Mexico from gulf to +gulf. What if it isn't our war? We're on the fringe. No, we can't +develop Forlorn River until there's peace." + +The discovery that Belding alluded to was one that might very well lead +to the making of a wonderful and agricultural district of Altar Valley. +While in college Dick Gale had studied engineering, but he had not set +the scientific world afire with his brilliance. Nor after leaving +college had he been able to satisfy his father that he could hold a +job. Nevertheless, his smattering of engineering skill bore fruit in +the last place on earth where anything might have been expected of +it--in the desert. Gale had always wondered about the source of +Forlorn River. No white man or Mexican, or, so far as known, no +Indian, had climbed those mighty broken steps of rock called No Name +Mountains, from which Forlorn River was supposed to come. Gale had +discovered a long, narrow, rock-bottomed and rock-walled gulch that +could be dammed at the lower end by the dynamiting of leaning cliffs +above. An inexhaustible supply of water could be stored there. +Furthermore, he had worked out an irrigation plan to bring the water +down for mining uses, and to make a paradise out of that part of Altar +Valley which lay in the United States. Belding claimed there was gold +in the arroyos, gold in the gulches, not in quantities to make a +prospector rejoice, but enough to work for. And the soil on the higher +levels of Altar Valley needed only water to make it grow anything the +year round. Gale, too, had come to have dreams of a future for Forlorn +River. + +On the afternoon of the following day Ladd unexpectedly appeared +leading a lame and lathered horse into the yard. Belding and Gale, who +were at work at the forge, looked up and were surprised out of speech. +The legs of the horse were raw and red, and he seemed about to drop. +Ladd's sombrero was missing; he wore a bloody scarf round his head; +sweat and blood and dust had formed a crust on his face; little streams +of powdery dust slid from him; and the lower half of his scarred chaps +were full of broken white thorns. + +"Howdy, boys," he drawled. "I shore am glad to see you all." + +"Where'n hell's your hat?" demanded Belding, furiously. It was a +ridiculous greeting. But Belding's words signified little. The dark +shade of worry and solicitude crossing his face told more than his +black amaze. + +The ranger stopped unbuckling the saddle girths, and, looking at +Belding, broke into his slow, cool laugh. + +"Tom, you recollect that whopper of a saguaro up here where Carter's +trail branches off the main trail to Casita? Well, I climbed it an' +left my hat on top for a woodpecker's nest." + +"You've been running--fighting?" queried Belding, as if Ladd had not +spoken at all. + +"I reckon it'll dawn on you after a while," replied Ladd, slipping the +saddle. + +"Laddy, go in the house to the women," said Belding. "I'll tend to +your horse." + +"Shore, Tom, in a minute. I've been down the road. An' I found hoss +tracks an' steer tracks goin' across the line. But I seen no sign of +raiders till this mornin'. Slept at Carter's last night. That raid the +other day cleaned him out. He's shootin' mad. Well, this mornin' I +rode plumb into a bunch of Carter's hosses, runnin' wild for home. +Some Greasers were tryin' to head them round an' chase them back across +the line. I rode in between an' made matters embarrassin'. Carter's +hosses got away. Then me an' the Greasers had a little game of hide +an' seek in the cactus. I was on the wrong side, an' had to break +through their line to head toward home. We run some. But I had a +closer call than I'm stuck on havin'." + +"Laddy, you wouldn't have any such close calls if you'd ride one of my +horses," expostulated Belding. "This broncho of yours can run, and +Lord knows he's game. But you want a big, strong horse, Mexican bred, +with cactus in his blood. Take one of the bunch--Bull, White Woman, +Blanco Jose." + +"I had a big, fast horse a while back, but I lost him," said Ladd. +"This bronch ain't so bad. Shore Bull an' that white devil with his +Greaser name--they could run down my bronch, kill him in a mile of +cactus. But, somehow, Tom, I can't make up my mind to take one of them +grand white hosses. Shore I reckon I'm kinda soft. An' mebbe I'd +better take one before the raiders clean up Forlorn River." + +Belding cursed low and deep in his throat, and the sound resembled +muttering thunder. The shade of anxiety on his face changed to one of +dark gloom and passion. Next to his wife and daughter there was +nothing so dear to him as those white horses. His father and +grandfather--all his progenitors of whom he had trace--had been lovers +of horses. It was in Belding's blood. + +"Laddy, before it's too late can't I get the whites away from the +border?" + +"Mebbe it ain't too late; but where can we take them?" + +"To San Felipe?" + +"No. We've more chance to hold them here." + +"To Casita and the railroad?" + +"Afraid to risk gettin' there. An' the town's full of rebels who need +hosses." + +"Then straight north?" + +"Shore man, you're crazy. Ther's no water, no grass for a hundred +miles. I'll tell you, Tom, the safest plan would be to take the white +bunch south into Sonora, into some wild mountain valley. Keep them +there till the raiders have traveled on back east. Pretty soon there +won't be any rich pickin' left for these Greasers. An' then they'll +ride on to new ranges." + +"Laddy, I don't know the trails into Sonora. An' I can't trust a +Mexican or a Papago. Between you and me, I'm afraid of this Indian who +herds for me." + +"I reckon we'd better stick here, Tom.... Dick, it's some good to see +you again. But you seem kinda quiet. Shore you get quieter all the +time. Did you see any sign of Jim out Sonoyta way?" + +Then Belding led the lame horse toward the watering-trough, while the +two rangers went toward the house, Dick was telling Ladd about the +affair at Papago Well when they turned the corner under the porch. +Nell was sitting in the door. She rose with a little scream and came +flying toward them. + +"Now I'll get it," whispered Ladd. "The women'll make a baby of me. +An' shore I can't help myself." + +"Oh, Laddy, you've been hurt!" cried Nell, as with white cheeks and +dilating eyes she ran to him and caught his arm. + +"Nell, I only run a thorn in my ear." + +"Oh, Laddy, don't lie! You've lied before. I know you're hurt. Come +in to mother." + +"Shore, Nell, it's only a scratch. My bronch throwed me." + +"Laddy, no horse every threw you." The girl's words and accusing eyes +only hurried the ranger on to further duplicity. + +"Mebbe I got it when I was ridin' hard under a mesquite, an' a sharp +snag--" + +"You've been shot!... Mama, here's Laddy, and he's been shot!.... Oh, +these dreadful days we're having! I can't bear them! Forlorn River +used to be so safe and quiet. Nothing happened. But now! Jim comes +home with a bloody hole in him--then Dick--then Laddy!.... Oh, I'm +afraid some day they'll never come home." + + +The morning was bright, still, and clear as crystal. The heat waves +had not yet begun to rise from the desert. + +A soft gray, white, and green tint perfectly blended lay like a mantle +over mesquite and sand and cactus. The canyons of distant mountain +showed deep and full of lilac haze. + +Nell sat perched high upon the topmost bar of the corral gate. Dick +leaned beside her, now with his eyes on her face, now gazing out into +the alfalfa field where Belding's thoroughbreds grazed and pranced and +romped and whistled. Nell watched the horses. She loved them, never +tired of watching them. But her gaze was too consciously averted from +the yearning eyes that tried to meet hers to be altogether natural. + +A great fenced field of dark velvety green alfalfa furnished a rich +background for the drove of about twenty white horses. Even without +the horses the field would have presented a striking contrast to the +surrounding hot, glaring blaze of rock and sand. Belding had bred a +hundred or more horses from the original stock he had brought up from +Durango. His particular interest was in the almost unblemished whites, +and these he had given especial care. He made a good deal of money +selling this strain to friends among the ranchers back in Texas. No +mercenary consideration, however, could have made him part with the +great, rangy white horses he had gotten from the Durango breeder. He +called them Blanco Diablo (White Devil), Blanco Sol (White Sun), Blanca +Reina (White Queen), Blanca Mujer (White Woman), and El Gran Toro +Blanco (The Big White Bull). Belding had been laughed at by ranchers +for preserving the sentimental Durango names, and he had been +unmercifully ridiculed by cowboys. But the names had never been +changed. + +Blanco Diablo was the only horse in the field that was not free to roam +and graze where he listed. A stake and a halter held him to one +corner, where he was severely let alone by the other horses. He did not +like this isolation. Blanco Diablo was not happy unless he was +running, or fighting a rival. Of the two he would rather fight. If +anything white could resemble a devil, this horse surely did. He had +nothing beautiful about him, yet he drew the gaze and held it. The +look of him suggested discontent, anger, revolt, viciousness. When he +was not grazing or prancing, he held his long, lean head level, +pointing his nose and showing his teeth. Belding's favorite was almost +all the world to him, and he swore Diablo could stand more heat and +thirst and cactus than any other horse he owned, and could run down and +kill any horse in the Southwest. The fact that Ladd did not agree with +Belding on these salient points was a great disappointment, and also a +perpetual source for argument. Ladd and Lash both hated Diablo; and +Dick Gale, after one or two narrow escapes from being brained, had +inclined to the cowboys' side of the question. + +El Gran Toro Blanco upheld his name. He was a huge, massive, +thick-flanked stallion, a kingly mate for his full-bodied, glossy +consort, Blanca Reina. The other mare, Blanca Mujer, was dazzling +white, without a spot, perfectly pointed, racy, graceful, elegant, yet +carrying weight and brawn and range that suggested her relation to her +forebears. + +The cowboys admitted some of Belding's claims for Diablo, but they gave +loyal and unshakable allegiance to Blanco Sol. As for Dick, he had to +fight himself to keep out of arguments, for he sometimes imagined he +was unreasonable about the horse. Though he could not understand +himself, he knew he loved Sol as a man loved a friend, a brother. Free +of heavy saddle and the clumsy leg shields, Blanco Sol was somehow +all-satisfying to the eyes of the rangers. As long and big as Diablo +was, Sol was longer and bigger. Also, he was higher, more powerful. +He looked more a thing for action--speedier. At a distance the +honorable scars and lumps that marred his muscular legs were not +visible. He grazed aloof from the others, and did not cavort nor +prance; but when he lifted his head to whistle, how wild he appeared, +and proud and splendid! The dazzling whiteness of the desert sun shone +from his coat; he had the fire and spirit of the desert in his noble +head, its strength and power in his gigantic frame. + +"Belding swears Sol never beat Diablo," Dick was saying. + +"He believes it," replied Nell. "Dad is queer about that horse." + +"But Laddy rode Sol once--made him beat Diablo. Jim saw the race." + +Nell laughed. "I saw it, too. For that matter, even I have made Sol +put his nose before Dad's favorite." + +"I'd like to have seen that. Nell, aren't you ever going to ride with +me?" + +"Some day--when it's safe." + +"Safe!" + +"I--I mean when the raiders have left the border." + +"Oh, I'm glad you mean that," said Dick, laughing. "Well, I've often +wondered how Belding ever came to give Blanco Sol to me." + +"He was jealous. I think he wanted to get rid of Sol." + +"No? Why, Nell, he'd give Laddy or Jim one of the whites any day." + +"Would he? Not Devil or Queen or White Woman. Never in this world! +But Dad has lots of fast horses the boys could pick from. Dick, I tell +you Dad wants Blanco Sol to run himself out--lose his speed on the +desert. Dad is just jealous for Diablo." + +"Maybe. He surely has strange passion for horses. I think I +understand better than I used to. I owned a couple of racers once. +They were just animals to me, I guess. But Blanco Sol!" + +"Do you love him?" asked Nell; and now a warm, blue flash of eyes swept +his face. + +"Do I? Well, rather." + +"I'm glad. Sol has been finer, a better horse since you owned him. He +loves you, Dick. He's always watching for you. See him raise his head. +That's for you. I know as much about horses as Dad or Laddy any day. +Sol always hated Diablo, and he never had much use for Dad." + +Dick looked up at her. + +"It'll be--be pretty hard to leave Sol--when I go away." + +Nell sat perfectly still. + +"Go away?" she asked, presently, with just the faintest tremor in her +voice. + +"Yes. Sometimes when I get blue--as I am to-day--I think I'll go. But, +in sober truth, Nell, it's not likely that I'll spend all my life here." + +There was no answer to this. Dick put his hand softly over hers; and, +despite her half-hearted struggle to free it, he held on. + +"Nell!" + +Her color fled. He saw her lips part. Then a heavy step on the +gravel, a cheerful, complaining voice interrupted him, and made him +release Nell and draw back. Belding strode into view round the adobe +shed. + +"Hey, Dick, that darned Yaqui Indian can't be driven or hired or coaxed +to leave Forlorn River. He's well enough to travel. I offered him +horse, gun, blanket, grub. But no go." + +"That's funny," replied Gale, with a smile. "Let him stay--put him to +work." + +"It doesn't strike me funny. But I'll tell you what I think. That +poor, homeless, heartbroken Indian has taken a liking to you, Dick. +These desert Yaquis are strange folk. I've heard strange stories about +them. I'd believe 'most anything. And that's how I figure his case. +You saved his life. That sort of thing counts big with any Indian, +even with an Apache. With a Yaqui maybe it's of deep significance. +I've heard a Yaqui say that with his tribe no debt to friend or foe +ever went unpaid. Perhaps that's what ails this fellow." + +"Dick, don't laugh," said Nell. "I've noticed the Yaqui. It's +pathetic the way his great gloomy eyes follow you." + +"You've made a friend," continued Belding. "A Yaqui could be a real +friend on this desert. If he gets his strength back he'll be of +service to you, don't mistake me. He's welcome here. But you're +responsible for him, and you'll have trouble keeping him from +massacring all the Greasers in Forlorn River." + + +The probability of a visit from the raiders, and a dash bolder than +usual on the outskirts of a ranch, led Belding to build a new corral. +It was not sightly to the eye, but it was high and exceedingly strong. +The gate was a massive affair, swinging on huge hinges and fastening +with heavy chains and padlocks. On the outside it had been completely +covered with barb wire, which would make it a troublesome thing to work +on in the dark. + +At night Belding locked his white horses in this corral. The Papago +herdsman slept in the adobe shed adjoining. Belding did not imagine +that any wooden fence, however substantially built, could keep +determined raiders from breaking it down. They would have to take +time, however, and make considerable noise; and Belding relied on these +facts. Belding did not believe a band of night raiders would hold out +against a hot rifle fire. So he began to make up some of the sleep he +had lost. It was noteworthy, however, that Ladd did not share +Belding's sanguine hopes. + +Jim Lash rode in, reporting that all was well out along the line toward +the Sonoyta Oasis. Days passed, and Belding kept his rangers home. +Nothing was heard of raiders at hand. Many of the newcomers, both +American and Mexican, who came with wagons and pack trains from Casita +stated that property and life were cheap back in that rebel-infested +town. + +One January morning Dick Gale was awakened by a shrill, menacing cry. +He leaped up bewildered and frightened. He heard Belding's booming +voice answering shouts, and rapid steps on flagstones. But these had +not awakened him. Heavy breaths, almost sobs, seemed at his very door. +In the cold and gray dawn Dick saw something white. Gun in hand, he +bounded across the room. Just outside his door stood Blanco Sol. + +It was not unusual for Sol to come poking his head in at Dick's door +during daylight. But now in the early dawn, when he had been locked in +the corral, it meant raiders--no less. Dick called softly to the +snorting horse; and, hurriedly getting into clothes and boots, he went +out with a gun in each hand. Sol was quivering in every muscle. Like +a dog he followed Dick around the house. Hearing shouts in the +direction of the corrals, Gale bent swift steps that way. + +He caught up with Jim Lash, who was also leading a white horse. + +"Hello, Jim! Guess it's all over but the fireworks," said Dick. + +"I cain't say just what has come off," replied Lash. "I've got the +Bull. Found him runnin' in the yard." + +They reached the corral to find Belding shaking, roaring like a madman. +The gate was open, the corral was empty. Ladd stooped over the ground, +evidently trying to find tracks. + +"I reckon we might jest as well cool off an' wait for daylight," +suggested Jim. + +"Shore. They've flown the coop, you can gamble on that. Tom, where's +the Papago?" said Ladd. + +"He's gone, Laddy--gone!" + +"Double-crossed us, eh? I see here's a crowbar lyin' by the gatepost. +That Indian fetched it from the forge. It was used to pry out the +bolts an' steeples. Tom, I reckon there wasn't much time lost forcin' +that gate." + +Belding, in shirt sleeves and barefooted, roared with rage. He said he +had heard the horses running as he leaped out of bed. + +"What woke you?" asked Laddy. + +"Sol. He came whistling for Dick. Didn't you hear him before I called +you?" + +"Hear him! He came thunderin' right under my window. I jumped up in +bed, an' when he let out that blast Jim lit square in the middle of the +floor, an' I was scared stiff. Dick, seein' it was your room he blew +into, what did you think?" + +"I couldn't think. I'm shaking yet, Laddy." + +"Boys, I'll bet Sol spilled a few raiders if any got hands on him," +said Jim. "Now, let's sit down an' wait for daylight. It's my idea +we'll find some of the hosses runnin' loose. Tom, you go an' get some +clothes on. It's freezin' cold. An' don't forget to tell the women +folks we're all right." + +Daylight made clear some details of the raid. The cowboys found tracks +of eight raiders coming up from the river bed where their horses had +been left. Evidently the Papago had been false to his trust. His few +personal belongings were gone. Lash was correct in his idea of finding +more horses loose in the fields. The men soon rounded up eleven of the +whites, all more or less frightened, and among the number were Queen +and Blanca Mujer. The raiders had been unable to handle more than one +horse for each man. It was bitter irony of fate that Belding should +lose his favorite, the one horse more dear to him than all the others. +Somewhere out on the trail a raider was fighting the iron-jawed savage +Blanco Diablo. + +"I reckon we're some lucky," observed Jim Lash. + +"Lucky ain't enough word," replied Ladd. "You see, it was this way. +Some of the raiders piled over the fence while the others worked on the +gate. Mebbe the Papago went inside to pick out the best hosses. But +it didn't work except with Diablo, an' how they ever got him I don't +know. I'd have gambled it'd take all of eight men to steal him. But +Greasers have got us skinned on handlin' hosses." + +Belding was unconsolable. He cursed and railed, and finally declared +he was going to trail the raiders. + +"Tom, you just ain't agoin' to do nothin' of the kind," said Ladd +coolly. + +Belding groaned and bowed his head. + +"Laddy, you're right," he replied, presently. "I've got to stand it. +I can't leave the women and my property. But it's sure tough. I'm sore +way down deep, and nothin' but blood would ever satisfy me." + +"Leave that to me an' Jim," said Ladd. + +"What do you mean to do?" demanded Belding, starting up. + +"Shore I don't know yet.... Give me a light for my pipe. An' Dick, go +fetch out your Yaqui." + + + +VIII + +THE RUNNING OF BLANCO SOL + +THE Yaqui's strange dark glance roved over the corral, the swinging +gate with its broken fastenings, the tracks in the road, and then +rested upon Belding. + +"Malo," he said, and his Spanish was clear. + +"Shore Yaqui, about eight bad men, an' a traitor Indian," said Ladd. + +"I think he means my herder," added Belding. "If he does, that settles +any doubt it might be decent to have--Yaqui--malo Papago--Si?" + +The Yaqui spread wide his hands. Then he bent over the tracks in the +road. They led everywhither, but gradually he worked out of the thick +net to take the trail that the cowboys had followed down to the river. +Belding and the rangers kept close at his heels. Occasionally Dick lent +a helping hand to the still feeble Indian. He found a trampled spot +where the raiders had left their horses. From this point a deeply +defined narrow trail led across the dry river bed. + +Belding asked the Yaqui where the raiders would head for in the Sonora +Desert. For answer the Indian followed the trail across the stream of +sand, through willows and mesquite, up to the level of rock and cactus. +At this point he halted. A sand-filled, almost obliterated trail led +off to the left, and evidently went round to the east of No Name +Mountains. To the right stretched the road toward Papago Well and the +Sonoyta Oasis. The trail of the raiders took a southeasterly course +over untrodden desert. The Yaqui spoke in his own tongue, then in +Spanish. + +"Think he means slow march," said Belding. "Laddy, from the looks of +that trail the Greasers are having trouble with the horses." + +"Tom, shore a boy could see that," replied Laddy. "Ask Yaqui to tell +us where the raiders are headin', an' if there's water." + +It was wonderful to see the Yaqui point. His dark hand stretched, he +sighted over his stretched finger at a low white escarpment in the +distance. Then with a stick he traced a line in the sand, and then at +the end of that another line at right angles. He made crosses and +marks and holes, and as he drew the rude map he talked in Yaqui, in +Spanish; with a word here and there in English. Belding translated as +best he could. The raiders were heading southeast toward the railroad +that ran from Nogales down into Sonora. It was four days' travel, bad +trail, good sure waterhole one day out; then water not sure for two +days. Raiders traveling slow; bothered by too many horses, not looking +for pursuit; were never pursued, could be headed and ambushed that +night at the first waterhole, a natural trap in a valley. + +The men returned to the ranch. The rangers ate and drank while making +hurried preparations for travel. Blanco Sol and the cowboys' horses +were fed, watered, and saddled. Ladd again refused to ride one of +Belding's whites. He was quick and cold. + +"Get me a long-range rifle an' lots of shells. Rustle now," he said. + +"Laddy, you don't want to be weighted down?" protested Belding. + +"Shore I want a gun that'll outshoot the dinky little carbines an' +muskets used by the rebels. Trot one out an' be quick." + +"I've got a .405, a long-barreled heavy rifle that'll shoot a mile. I +use it for mountain sheep. But Laddy, it'll break that bronch's back." + +"His back won't break so easy.... Dick, take plenty of shells for your +Remington. An' don't forget your field glass." + +In less than an hour after the time of the raid the three rangers, +heavily armed and superbly mounted on fresh horses, rode out on the +trail. As Gale turned to look back from the far bank of Forlorn River, +he saw Nell waving a white scarf. He stood high in his stirrups and +waved his sombrero. Then the mesquites hid the girl's slight figure, +and Gale wheeled grim-faced to follow the rangers. + +They rode in single file with Ladd in the lead. He did not keep to the +trail of the raiders all the time. He made short cuts. The raiders +were traveling leisurely, and they evinced a liking for the most level +and least cactus-covered stretches of ground. But the cowboy took a +bee-line course for the white escarpment pointed out by the Yaqui; and +nothing save deep washes and impassable patches of cactus or rocks made +him swerve from it. He kept the broncho at a steady walk over the +rougher places and at a swinging Indian canter over the hard and level +ground. The sun grew hot and the wind began to blow. Dust clouds +rolled along the blue horizon. Whirling columns of sand, like water +spouts at sea, circled up out of white arid basins, and swept away and +spread aloft before the wind. The escarpment began to rise, to change +color, to show breaks upon its rocky face. + +Whenever the rangers rode out on the brow of a knoll or ridge or an +eminence, before starting to descend, Ladd required of Gale a long, +careful, sweeping survey of the desert ahead through the field glass. +There were streams of white dust to be seen, streaks of yellow dust, +trailing low clouds of sand over the glistening dunes, but no steadily +rising, uniformly shaped puffs that would tell a tale of moving horses +on the desert. + +At noon the rangers got out of the thick cactus. Moreover, the +gravel-bottomed washes, the low weathering, rotting ledges of yellow +rock gave place to hard sandy rolls and bare clay knolls. The desert +resembled a rounded hummocky sea of color. All light shades of blue +and pink and yellow and mauve were there dominated by the glaring white +sun. Mirages glistened, wavered, faded in the shimmering waves of +heat. Dust as fine as powder whiffed up from under the tireless hoofs. + +The rangers rode on and the escarpment began to loom. The desert floor +inclined perceptibly upward. When Gale got an unobstructed view of the +slope of the escarpment he located the raiders and horses. In another +hour's travel the rangers could see with naked eyes a long, faint +moving streak of black and white dots. + +"They're headin' for that yellow pass," said Ladd, pointing to a break +in the eastern end of the escarpment. "When they get out of sight +we'll rustle. I'm thinkin' that waterhole the Yaqui spoke of lays in +the pass." + +The rangers traveled swiftly over the remaining miles of level desert +leading to the ascent of the escarpment. When they achieved the +gateway of the pass the sun was low in the west. Dwarfed mesquite and +greasewood appeared among the rocks. Ladd gave the word to tie up +horses and go forward on foot. + +The narrow neck of the pass opened and descended into a valley half a +mile wide, perhaps twice that in length. It had apparently unscalable +slopes of weathered rock leading up to beetling walls. With floor bare +and hard and white, except for a patch of green mesquite near the far +end it was a lurid and desolate spot, the barren bottom of a desert +bowl. + +"Keep down, boys" said Ladd. "There's the waterhole an' hosses have +sharp eyes. Shore the Yaqui figgered this place. I never seen its +like for a trap." + +Both white and black horses showed against the green, and a thin +curling column of blue smoke rose lazily from amid the mesquites. + +"I reckon we'd better wait till dark, or mebbe daylight," said Jim Lash. + +"Let me figger some. Dick, what do you make of the outlet to this +hole? Looks rough to me." + +With his glass Gale studied the narrow construction of walls and +roughened rising floor. + +"Laddy, it's harder to get out at that end than here," he replied. + +"Shore that's hard enough. Let me have a look.... Well, boys, it don't +take no figgerin' for this job. Jim, I'll want you at the other end +blockin' the pass when we're ready to start." + +"When'll that be?" inquired Jim. + +"Soon as it's light enough in the mornin'. That Greaser outfit will +hang till to-morrow. There's no sure water ahead for two days, you +remember." + +"I reckon I can slip through to the other end after dark," said Lash, +thoughtfully. "It might get me in bad to go round." + +The rangers stole back from the vantage point and returned to their +horses, which they untied and left farther round among broken sections +of cliff. For the horses it was a dry, hungry camp, but the rangers +built a fire and had their short though strengthening meal. + +The location was high, and through a break in the jumble of rocks the +great colored void of desert could be seen rolling away endlessly to +the west. The sun set, and after it had gone down the golden tips of +mountains dulled, their lower shadows creeping upward. + +Jim Lash rolled in his saddle blanket, his feet near the fire, and went +to sleep. Ladd told Gale to do likewise while he kept the fire up and +waited until it was late enough for Jim to undertake circling round the +raiders. When Gale awakened the night was dark, cold, windy. The +stars shone with white brilliance. Jim was up saddling his horse, and +Ladd was talking low. When Gale rose to accompany them both rangers +said he need not go. But Gale wanted to go because that was the thing +Ladd or Jim would have done. + +With Ladd leading, they moved away into the gloom. Advance was +exceedingly slow, careful, silent. Under the walls the blackness +seemed impenetrable. The horse was as cautious as his master. Ladd did +not lose his way, nevertheless he wound between blocks of stone and +clumps of mesquite, and often tried a passage to abandon it. Finally +the trail showed pale in the gloom, and eastern stars twinkled between +the lofty ramparts of the pass. + +The advance here was still as stealthily made as before, but not so +difficult or slow. When the dense gloom of the pass lightened, and +there was a wide space of sky and stars overhead, Ladd halted and stood +silent a moment. + +"Luck again!" he whispered. "The wind's in your face, Jim. The horses +won't scent you. Go slow. Don't crack a stone. Keep close under the +wall. Try to get up as high as this at the other end. Wait till +daylight before riskin' a loose slope. I'll be ridin' the job early. +That's all." + +Ladd's cool, easy speech was scarcely significant of the perilous +undertaking. Lash moved very slowly away, leading his horse. The soft +pads of hoofs ceased to sound about the time the gray shape merged into +the black shadows. Then Ladd touched Dick's arm, and turned back up +the trail. + +But Dick tarried a moment. He wanted a fuller sense of that +ebony-bottomed abyss, with its pale encircling walls reaching up to the +dusky blue sky and the brilliant stars. There was absolutely no sound. + +He retraced his steps down, soon coming up with Ladd; and together they +picked a way back through the winding recesses of cliff. The campfire +was smoldering. Ladd replenished it and lay down to get a few hours' +sleep, while Gale kept watch. The after part of the night wore on till +the paling of stars, the thickening of gloom indicated the dark hour +before dawn. The spot was secluded from wind, but the air grew cold as +ice. Gale spent the time stripping wood from a dead mesquite, in +pacing to and fro, in listening. Blanco Sol stamped occasionally, +which sound was all that broke the stilliness. Ladd awoke before the +faintest gray appeared. The rangers ate and drank. When the black did +lighten to gray they saddled the horses and led them out to the pass +and down to the point where they had parted with Lash. Here they +awaited daylight. + +To Gale it seemed long in coming. Such a delay always aggravated the +slow fire within him. He had nothing of Ladd's patience. He wanted +action. The gray shadow below thinned out, and the patch of mesquite +made a blot upon the pale valley. The day dawned. + +Still Ladd waited. He grew more silent, grimmer as the time of action +approached. Gale wondered what the plan of attack would be. Yet he +did not ask. He waited ready for orders. + +The valley grew clear of gray shadow except under leaning walls on the +eastern side. Then a straight column of smoke rose from among the +mesquites. Manifestly this was what Ladd had been awaiting. He took +the long .405 from its sheath and tried the lever. Then he lifted a +cartridge belt from the pommel of his saddle. Every ring held a shell +and these shells were four inches long. He buckled the belt round him. + +"Come on, Dick." + +Ladd led the way down the slope until he reached a position that +commanded the rising of the trail from a level. It was the only place +a man or horse could leave the valley for the pass. + +"Dick, here's your stand. If any raider rides in range take a crack at +him.... Now I want the lend of your hoss." + +"Blanco Sol!" exclaimed Gale, more in amazement that Ladd should ask +for the horse than in reluctance to lend him. + +"Will you let me have him?" Ladd repeated, almost curtly. + +"Certainly, Laddy." + +A smile momentarily chased the dark cold gloom that had set upon the +ranger's lean face. + +"Shore I appreciate it, Dick. I know how you care for that hoss. I +guess mebbe Charlie Ladd has loved a hoss! An' one not so good as Sol. +I was only tryin' your nerve, Dick, askin' you without tellin' my plan. +Sol won't get a scratch, you can gamble on that! I'll ride him down +into the valley an' pull the greasers out in the open. They've got +short-ranged carbines. They can't keep out of range of the .405, an' +I'll be takin' the dust of their lead. Sabe, senor?" + +"Laddy! You'll run Sol away from the raiders when they chase you? Run +him after them when they try to get away?" + +"Shore. I'll run all the time. They can't gain on Sol, an' he'll run +them down when I want. Can you beat it?" + +"No. It's great!... But suppose a raider comes out on Blanco Diablo?" + +"I reckon that's the one weak place in my plan. I'm figgerin' they'll +never think of that till it's too late. But if they do, well, Sol can +outrun Diablo. An' I can always kill the white devil!" + +Ladd's strange hate of the horse showed in the passion of his last +words, in his hardening jaw and grim set lips. + +Gale's hand went swiftly to the ranger's shoulder. + +"Laddy. Don't kill Diablo unless it's to save your life." + +"All right. But, by God, if I get a chance I'll make Blanco Sol run +him off his legs!" + +He spoke no more and set about changing the length of Sol's stirrups. +When he had them adjusted to suit he mounted and rode down the trail +and out upon the level. He rode leisurely as if merely going to water +his horse. The long black rifle lying across his saddle, however, was +ominous. + +Gale securely tied the other horse to a mesquite at hand, and took a +position behind a low rock over which he could easily see and shoot +when necessary. He imagined Jim Lash in a similar position at the far +end of the valley blocking the outlet. Gale had grown accustomed to +danger and the hard and fierce feelings peculiar to it. But the coming +drama was so peculiarly different in promise from all he had +experienced, that he waited the moment of action with thrilling +intensity. In him stirred long, brooding wrath at these border +raiders--affection for Belding, and keen desire to avenge the outrages +he had suffered--warm admiration for the cold, implacable Ladd and his +absolute fearlessness, and a curious throbbing interest in the old, +much-discussed and never-decided argument as to whether Blanco Sol was +fleeter, stronger horse than Blanco Diablo. Gale felt that he was to +see a race between these great rivals--the kind of race that made men +and horses terrible. + +Ladd rode a quarter of a mile out upon the flat before anything +happened. Then a whistle rent the still, cold air. A horse had seen +or scented Blanco Sol. The whistle was prolonged, faint, but clear. +It made the blood thrum in Gale's ears. Sol halted. His head shot up +with the old, wild, spirited sweep. Gale leveled his glass at the +patch of mesquites. He saw the raiders running to an open place, +pointing, gesticulating. The glass brought them so close that he saw +the dark faces. Suddenly they broke and fled back among the trees. +Then he got only white and dark gleams of moving bodies. Evidently +that moment was one of boots, guns, and saddles for the raiders. + +Lowering the glass, Gale saw that Blanco Sol had started forward again. +His gait was now a canter, and he had covered another quarter of a mile +before horses and raiders appeared upon the outskirts of the mesquites. +Then Blanco Sol stopped. His shrill, ringing whistle came distinctly to +Gale's ears. The raiders were mounted on dark horses, and they stood +abreast in a motionless line. Gale chuckled as he appreciated what a +puzzle the situation presented for them. A lone horseman in the middle +of the valley did not perhaps seem so menacing himself as the +possibilities his presence suggested. + +Then Gale saw a raider gallop swiftly from the group toward the farther +outlet of the valley. This might have been owing to characteristic +cowardice; but it was more likely a move of the raiders to make sure of +retreat. Undoubtedly Ladd saw this galloping horseman. A few waiting +moments ensued. The galloping horseman reached the slope, began to +climb. With naked eyes Gale saw a puff of white smoke spring out of +the rocks. Then the raider wheeled his plunging horse back to the +level, and went racing wildly down the valley. + +The compact bunch of bays and blacks seemed to break apart and spread +rapidly from the edge of the mesquites. Puffs of white smoke indicated +firing, and showed the nature of the raiders' excitement. They were far +out of ordinary range, but they spurred toward Ladd, shooting as they +rode. Ladd held his ground; the big white horse stood like a rock in +his tracks. Gale saw little spouts of dust rise in front of Blanco Sol +and spread swift as sight to his rear. The raiders' bullets, striking +low, were skipping along the hard, bare floor of the valley. Then Ladd +raised the long rifle. There was no smoke, but three high, spanging +reports rang out. A gap opened in the dark line of advancing horsemen; +then a riderless steed sheered off to the right. Blanco Sol seemed to +turn as on a pivot and charged back toward the lower end of the valley. +He circled over to Gale's right and stretched out into his run. There +were now five raiders in pursuit, and they came sweeping down, yelling +and shooting, evidently sure of their quarry. Ladd reserved his fire. +He kept turning from back to front in his saddle. + +Gale saw how the space widened between pursuers and pursued, saw +distinctly when Ladd eased up Sol's running. Manifestly Ladd intended +to try to lead the raiders round in front of Gale's position, and, +presently, Gale saw he was going to succeed. The raiders, riding like +vaqueros, swept on in a curve, cutting off what distance they could. +One fellow, a small, wiry rider, high on his mount's neck like a +jockey, led his companions by many yards. He seemed to be getting the +range of Ladd, or else he shot high, for his bullets did not strike up +the dust behind Sol. Gale was ready to shoot. Blanco Sol pounded by, +his rapid, rhythmic hoofbeats plainly to be heard. He was running +easily. + +Gale tried to still the jump of heart and pulse, and turned his eye +again on the nearest pursuer. This raider was crossing in, his carbine +held muzzle up in his right hand, and he was coming swiftly. It was a +long shot, upward of five hundred yards. Gale had not time to adjust +the sights of the Remington, but he knew the gun and, holding coarsely +upon the swiftly moving blot, he began to shoot. The first bullet sent +up a great splash of dust beneath the horse's nose, making him leap as +if to hurdle a fence. The rifle was automatic; Gale needed only to pull +the trigger. He saw now that the raiders behind were in line. Swiftly +he worked the trigger. Suddenly the leading horse leaped convulsively, +not up nor aside, but straight ahead, and then he crashed to the ground +throwing his rider like a catapult, and then slid and rolled. He half +got up, fell back, and kicked; but his rider never moved. + +The other raiders sawed the reins of plunging steeds and whirled to +escape the unseen battery. Gale slipped a fresh clip into the magazine +of his rifle. He restrained himself from useless firing and gave eager +eye to the duel below. Ladd began to shoot while Sol was running. The +.405 rang out sharply--then again. The heavy bullets streaked the dust +all the way across the valley. Ladd aimed deliberately and pulled +slowly, unmindful of the kicking dust-puffs behind Sol, and to the +side. The raiders spurred madly in pursuit, loading and firing. They +shot ten times while Ladd shot once, and all in vain; and on Ladd's +sixth shot a raider topped backward, threw his carbine and fell with +his foot catching in a stirrup. The frightened horse plunged away, +dragging him in a path of dust. + +Gale had set himself to miss nothing of that fighting race, yet the +action passed too swiftly for clear sight of all. Ladd had emptied a +magazine, and now Blanco Sol quickened and lengthened his running +stride. He ran away from his pursuers. Then it was that the ranger's +ruse was divined by the raiders. They hauled sharply up and seemed to +be conferring. But that was a fatal mistake. Blanco Sol was seen to +break his gait and slow down in several jumps, then square away and +stand stockstill. Ladd fired at the closely grouped raiders. An +instant passed. Then Gale heard the spat of a bullet out in front, saw +a puff of dust, then heard the lead strike the rocks and go whining +away. And it was after this that one of the raiders fell prone from +his saddle. The steel-jacketed .405 had gone through him on its +uninterrupted way to hum past Gale's position. + +The remaining two raiders frantically spurred their horses and fled up +the valley. Ladd sent Sol after them. It seemed to Gale, even though +he realized his excitement, that Blanco Sol made those horses seem like +snails. The raiders split, one making for the eastern outlet, the +other circling back of the mesquites. Ladd kept on after the latter. +Then puffs of white smoke and rifle shots faintly crackling told Jim +Lash's hand in the game. However, he succeeded only in driving the +raider back into the valley. But Ladd had turned the other horseman, +and now it appeared the two raiders were between Lash above on the +stony slope and Ladd below on the level. There was desperate riding on +part of the raiders to keep from being hemmed in closer. Only one of +them got away, and he came riding for life down under the eastern wall. +Blanco Sol settled into his graceful, beautiful swing. He gained +steadily, though he was far from extending himself. By Gale's actual +count the raider fired eight times in that race down the valley, and +all his bullets went low and wide. He pitched the carbine away and lost +all control in headlong flight. + +Some few hundred rods to the left of Gale the raider put his horse to +the weathered slope. He began to climb. The horse was superb, +infinitely more courageous than his rider. Zigzag they went up and up, +and when Ladd reached the edge of the slope they were high along the +cracked and guttered rampart. Once--twice Ladd raised the long rifle, +but each time he lowered it. Gale divined that the ranger's restraint +was not on account of the Mexican, but for that valiant and faithful +horse. Up and up he went, and the yellow dust clouds rose, and an +avalanche rolled rattling and cracking down the slope. It was beyond +belief that a horse, burdened or unburdened, could find footing and +hold it upon that wall of narrow ledges and inverted, slanting gullies. +But he climbed on, sure-footed as a mountain goat, and, surmounting the +last rough steps, he stood a moment silhouetted against the white sky. +Then he disappeared. Ladd sat astride Blanco Sol gazing upward. How +the cowboy must have honored that raider's brave steed! + +Gale, who had been too dumb to shout the admiration he felt, suddenly +leaped up, and his voice came with a shriek: + +"LOOK OUT, LADDY!" + +A big horse, like a white streak, was bearing down to the right of the +ranger. Blanco Diablo! A matchless rider swung with the horse's +motion. Gale was stunned. Then he remembered the first raider, the +one Lash had shot at and driven away from the outlet. This fellow had +made for the mesquite and had put a saddle on Belding's favorite. In +the heat of the excitement, while Ladd had been intent upon the +climbing horse, this last raider had come down with the speed of the +wind straight for the western outlet. Perhaps, very probably, he did +not know Gale was there to block it; and certainly he hoped to pass +Ladd and Blanco Sol. + +A touch of the spur made Sol lunge forward to head off the raider. +Diablo was in his stride, but the distance and angle favored Sol. The +raider had no carbine. He held aloft a gun ready to level it and fire. +He sat the saddle as if it were a stationary seat. Gale saw Ladd lean +down and drop the .405 in the sand. He would take no chances of +wounding Belding's best-loved horse. + +Then Gale sat transfixed with suspended breath watching the horses +thundering toward him. Blanco Diablo was speeding low, fleet as an +antelope, fierce and terrible in his devilish action, a horse for war +and blood and death. He seemed unbeatable. Yet to see the +magnificently running Blanco Sol was but to court a doubt. Gale stood +spellbound. He might have shot the raider; but he never thought of +such a thing. The distance swiftly lessened. Plain it was the raider +could not make the opening ahead of Ladd. He saw it and swerved to the +left, emptying his six-shooter as he turned. His dark face gleamed as +he flashed by Gale. + +Blanco Sol thundered across. Then the race became straight away up the +valley. Diablo was cold and Sol was hot; therein lay the only handicap +and vantage. It was a fleet, beautiful, magnificent race. Gale +thrilled and exulted and yelled as his horse settled into a steadily +swifter run and began to gain. The dust rolled in a funnel-shaped +cloud from the flying hoofs. The raider wheeled with gun puffing +white, and Ladd ducked low over the neck of his horse. + +The gap between Diablo and Sol narrowed yard by yard. At first it had +been a wide one. The raider beat his mount and spurred, beat and +spurred, wheeled round to shoot, then bent forward again. In his circle +at the upper end of the valley he turned far short of the jumble of +rocks. + +All the devil that was in Blanco Diablo had its running on the downward +stretch. The strange, cruel urge of bit and spur, the crazed rider who +stuck like a burr upon him, the shots and smoke added terror to his +natural violent temper. He ran himself off his feet. But he could not +elude that relentless horse behind him. The running of Blanco Sol was +that of a sure, remorseless driving power--steadier--stronger--swifter +with every long and wonderful stride. + +The raider tried to sheer Diablo off closer under the wall, to make the +slope where his companion had escaped. But Diablo was uncontrollable. +He was running wild, with breaking gait. Closer and closer crept that +white, smoothly gliding, beautiful machine of speed. + +Then, like one white flash following another, the two horses gleamed +down the bank of a wash and disappeared in clouds of dust. + +Gale watched with strained and smarting eyes. The thick throb in his +ears was pierced by faint sounds of gunshots. Then he waited in almost +unendurable suspense. + +Suddenly something whiter than the background of dust appeared above +the low roll of valley floor. Gale leveled his glass. In the clear +circle shone Blanco Sol's noble head with its long black bar from ears +to nose. Sol's head was drooping now. Another second showed Ladd +still in the saddle. + +The ranger was leading Blanco +Diable--spent--broken--dragging--riderless. + + + +IX + +AN INTERRUPTED SIESTA + +NO man ever had a more eloquent and beautiful pleader for his cause +than had Dick Gale in Mercedes Castaneda. He peeped through the green, +shining twigs of the palo verde that shaded his door. The hour was +high noon, and the patio was sultry. The only sounds were the hum of +bees in the flowers and the low murmur of the Spanish girl's melodious +voice. Nell lay in the hammock, her hands behind her head, with rosy +cheeks and arch eyes. Indeed, she looked rebellious. Certain it was, +Dick reflected, that the young lady had fully recovered the wilful +personality which had lain dormant for a while. Equally certain it +seemed that Mercedes's earnestness was not apparently having the effect +it should have had. + +Dick was inclined to be rebellious himself. Belding had kept the +rangers in off the line, and therefore Dick had been idle most of the +time, and, though he tried hard, he had been unable to stay far from +Nell's vicinity. He believed she cared for him; but he could not catch +her alone long enough to verify his tormenting hope. When alone she +was as illusive as a shadow, as quick as a flash, as mysterious as a +Yaqui. When he tried to catch her in the garden or fields, or corner +her in the patio, she eluded him, and left behind a memory of +dark-blue, haunting eyes. It was that look in her eyes which lent him +hope. At other times, when it might have been possible for Dick to +speak, Nell clung closely to Mercedes. He had long before enlisted the +loyal Mercedes in his cause; but in spite of this Nell had been more +than a match for them both. + +Gale pondered over an idea he had long revolved in mind, and which now +suddenly gave place to a decision that made his heart swell and his +cheek burn. He peeped again through the green branches to see Nell +laughing at the fiery Mercedes. + +"Qui'en sabe," he called, mockingly, and was delighted with Nell's +quick, amazed start. + +Then he went in search of Mrs. Belding, and found her busy in the +kitchen. The relation between Gale and Mrs. Belding had subtly and +incomprehensively changed. He understood her less than when at first +he divined an antagonism in her. If such a thing were possible she had +retained the antagonism while seeming to yield to some influence that +must have been fondness for him. Gale was in no wise sure of her +affection, and he had long imagined she was afraid of him, or of +something that he represented. He had gone on, openly and fairly, +though discreetly, with his rather one-sided love affair; and as time +passed he had grown less conscious of what had seemed her unspoken +opposition. Gale had come to care greatly for Nell's mother. Not only +was she the comfort and strength of her home, but also of the +inhabitants of Forlorn River. Indian, Mexican, American were all the +same to her in trouble or illness; and then she was nurse, doctor, +peacemaker, helper. She was good and noble, and there was not a child +or grownup in Forlorn River who did not love and bless her. But Mrs. +Belding did not seem happy. She was brooding, intense, deep, strong, +eager for the happiness and welfare of others; and she was dominated by +a worship of her daughter that was as strange as it was pathetic. Mrs. +Belding seldom smiled, and never laughed. There was always a soft, sad, +hurt look in her eyes. Gale often wondered if there had been other +tragedy in her life than the supposed loss of her father in the desert. +Perhaps it was the very unsolved nature of that loss which made it +haunting. + +Mrs. Belding heard Dick's step as he entered the kitchen, and, looking +up, greeted him. + +"Mother," began Dick, earnestly. Belding called her that, and so did +Ladd and Lash, but it was the first time for Dick. "Mother--I want to +speak to you." + +The only indication Mrs. Belding gave of being started was in her eyes, +which darkened, shadowed with multiplying thought. + +"I love Nell," went on Dick, simply, "and I want you to let me ask her +to be my wife." + +Mrs. Belding's face blanched to a deathly white. Gale, thinking with +surprise and concern that she was going to faint, moved quickly toward +her, took her arm. + +"Forgive me. I was blunt.... But I thought you knew." + +"I've known for a long time," replied Mrs. Belding. Her voice was +steady, and there was no evidence of agitation except in her pallor. +"Then you--you haven't spoken to Nell?" + +Dick laughed. "I've been trying to get a chance to tell her. I +haven't had it yet. But she knows. There are other ways besides +speech. And Mercedes has told her. I hope, I almost believe Nell +cares a little for me." + +"I've known that, too, for a long time," said Mrs. Belding, low almost +as a whisper. + +"You know!" cried Dick, with a glow and rush of feeling. + +"Dick, you must be very blind not to see what has been plain to all of +us.... I guess--it couldn't have been helped. You're a splendid +fellow. No wonder she loves you." + +"Mother! You'll give her to me?" + +She drew him to the light and looked with strange, piercing intentness +into his face. Gale had never dreamed a woman's eyes could hold such a +world of thought and feeling. It seemed all the sweetness of life was +there, and all the pain. + +"Do you love her?" she asked. + +"With all my heart." + +"You want to marry her?" + +"Ah, I want to! As much as I want to live and work for her." + +"When would you marry her?" + +"Why!... Just as soon as she will do it. To-morrow!" Dick gave a wild, +exultant little laugh. + +"Dick Gale, you want my Nell? You love her just as she is--her +sweetness--her goodness? Just herself, body and soul?... There's +nothing could change you--nothing?" + +"Dear Mrs. Belding, I love Nell for herself. If she loves me I'll be +the happiest of men. There's absolutely nothing that could make any +difference in me." + +"But your people? Oh, Dick, you come of a proud family. I can tell. +I--I once knew a young man like you. A few months can't change +pride--blood. Years can't change them. You've become a ranger. You +love the adventure--the wild life. That won't last. Perhaps you'll +settle down to ranching. I know you love the West. But, Dick, there's +your family--" + +"If you want to know anything about my family, I'll tell you," +interrupted Dick, with strong feeling. "I've not secrets about them or +myself. My future and happiness are Nell's to make. No one else shall +count with me." + +"Then, Dick--you may have her. God--bless--you--both." + +Mrs. Belding's strained face underwent a swift and mobile relaxation, +and suddenly she was weeping in strangely mingled happiness and +bitterness. + +"Why, mother!" Gale could say no more. He did not comprehend a mood +seemingly so utterly at variance with Mrs. Belding's habitual +temperament. But he put his arm around her. In another moment she had +gained command over herself, and, kissing him, she pushed him out of +the door. + +"There! Go tell her, Dick... And have some spunk about it!" + +Gale went thoughtfully back to his room. He vowed that he would answer +for Nell's happiness, if he had the wonderful good fortune to win her. +Then remembering the hope Mrs. Belding had given him, Dick lost his +gravity in a flash, and something began to dance and ring within him. +He simply could not keep his steps turned from the patio. Every path +led there. His blood was throbbing, his hopes mounting, his spirit +soaring. He knew he had never before entered the patio with that +inspirited presence. + +"Now for some spunk!" he said, under his breath. + +Plainly he meant his merry whistle and his buoyant step to interrupt +this first languorous stage of the siesta which the girls always took +during the hot hours. Nell had acquired the habit long before Mercedes +came to show how fixed a thing it was in the life of the tropics. But +neither girl heard him. Mercedes lay under the palo verde, her +beautiful head dark and still upon a cushion. Nell was asleep in the +hammock. There was an abandonment in her deep repose, and a faint +smile upon her face. Her sweet, red lips, with the soft, perfect +curve, had always fascinated Dick, and now drew him irresistibly. He +had always been consumed with a desire to kiss her, and now he was +overwhelmed with his opportunity. It would be a terrible thing to do, +but if she did not awaken at once-- No, he would fight the temptation. +That would be more than spunk. It would-- Suddenly an ugly green fly +sailed low over Nell, appeared about to alight on her. Noiselessly +Dick stepped close to the hammock bent under the tree, and with a sweep +of his hand chased the intruding fly away. But he found himself +powerless to straighten up. He was close to her--bending over her +face--near the sweet lips. The insolent, dreaming smile just parted +them. Then he thought he was lost. But she stirred--he feared she +would awaken. + +He had stepped back erect when she opened her eyes. They were sleepy, +yet surprised until she saw him. Then she was wide awake in a second, +bewildered, uncertain. + +"Why--you here?" she asked, slowly. + +"Large as life!" replied Dick, with unusual gayety. + +"How long have you been here?" + +"Just got here this fraction of a second," he replied, lying +shamelessly. + +It was evident that she did not know whether or not to believe him, and +as she studied him a slow blush dyed her cheek. + +"You are absolutely truthful when you say you just stepped there?" + +"Why, of course," answered Dick, right glad he did not have to lie +about that. + +"I thought--I was--dreaming," she said, and evidently the sound of her +voice reassured her. + +"Yes, you looked as if you were having pleasant dreams," replied Dick. +"So sorry to wake you. I can't see how I came to do it, I was so +quiet. Mercedes didn't wake. Well, I'll go and let you have your +siesta and dreams." + +But he did not move to go. Nell regarded him with curious, speculative +eyes. + +"Isn't it a lovely day?" queried Dick. + +"I think it's hot." + +"Only ninety in the shade. And you've told me the mercury goes to one +hundred and thirty in midsummer. This is just a glorious golden day." + +"Yesterday was finer, but you didn't notice it." + +"Oh, yesterday was somewhere back in the past--the inconsequential +past." + +Nell's sleepy blue eyes opened a little wider. She did not know what +to make of this changed young man. Dick felt gleeful and tried hard to +keep the fact from becoming manifest. + +"What's the inconsequential past? You seem remarkably happy to-day." + +"I certainly am happy. Adios. Pleasant dreams." + +Dick turned away then and left the patio by the opening into the yard. +Nell was really sleepy, and when she had fallen asleep again he would +return. He walked around for a while. Belding and the rangers were +shoeing a broncho. Yaqui was in the field with the horses. Blanco Sol +grazed contently, and now and then lifted his head to watch. His long +ears went up at sight of his master, and he whistled. Presently Dick, +as if magnet-drawn, retraced his steps to the patio and entered +noiselessly. + +Nell was now deep in her siesta. She was inert, relaxed, untroubled by +dreams. Her hair was damp on her brow. + +Again Nell stirred, and gradually awakened. Her eyes unclosed, humid, +shadowy, unconscious. They rested upon Dick for a moment before they +became clear and comprehensive. He stood back fully ten feet from her, +and to all outside appearances regarded her calmly. + +"I've interrupted your siesta again," he said. "Please forgive me. +I'll take myself off." + +He wandered away, and when it became impossible for him to stay away +any longer he returned to the patio. + +The instant his glance rested upon Nell's face he divined she was +feigning sleep. The faint rose-blush had paled. The warm, rich, +golden tint of her skin had fled. Dick dropped upon his knees and bent +over her. Though his blood was churning in his veins, his breast +laboring, his mind whirling with the wonder of that moment and its +promise, he made himself deliberate. He wanted more than anything he +had ever wanted in his life to see if she would keep up that pretense +of sleep and let him kiss her. She must have felt his breath, for her +hair waved off her brow. Her cheeks were now white. Her breast swelled +and sank. He bent down closer--closer. But he must have been +maddeningly slow, for as he bent still closer Nell's eyes opened, and +he caught a swift purple gaze of eyes as she whirled her head. Then, +with a little cry, she rose and fled. + + + +X + +ROJAS + +NO word from George Thorne had come to Forlorn River in weeks. Gale +grew concerned over the fact, and began to wonder if anything serious +could have happened to him. Mercedes showed a slow, wearing strain. + +Thorne's commission expired the end of January, and if he could not get +his discharge immediately, he surely could obtain leave of absence. +Therefore, Gale waited, not without growing anxiety, and did his best +to cheer Mercedes. The first of February came bringing news of rebel +activities and bandit operations in and around Casita, but not a word +from the cavalryman. + +Mercedes became silent, mournful. Her eyes were great black windows of +tragedy. Nell devoted herself entirely to the unfortunate girl; Dick +exerted himself to persuade her that all would yet come well; in fact, +the whole household could not have been kinder to a sister or a +daughter. But their united efforts were unavailing. Mercedes seemed +to accept with fatalistic hopelessness a last and crowning misfortune. + +A dozen times Gale declared he would ride in to Casita and find out why +they did not hear from Thorne; however, older and wiser heads prevailed +over his impetuosity. Belding was not sanguine over the safety of the +Casita trail. Refugees from there arrived every day in Forlorn River, +and if tales they told were true, real war would have been preferable +to what was going on along the border. Belding and the rangers and the +Yaqui held a consultation. Not only had the Indian become a faithful +servant to Gale, but he was also of value to Belding. Yaqui had all +the craft of his class, and superior intelligence. His knowledge of +Mexicans was second only to his hate of them. And Yaqui, who had been +scouting on all the trails, gave information that made Belding decide +to wait some days before sending any one to Casita. He required +promises from his rangers, particularly Gale, not to leave without his +consent. + +It was upon Gale's coming from this conference that he encountered +Nell. Since the interrupted siesta episode she had been more than +ordinarily elusive, and about all he had received from her was a +tantalizing smile from a distance. He got the impression now, however, +that she had awaited him. When he drew close to her he was certain of +it, and he experienced more than surprise. + +"Dick," she began, hurriedly. "Dad's not going to send any one to see +about Thorne?" + +"No, not yet. He thinks it best not to. We all think so. I'm sorry. +Poor Mercedes!" + +"I knew it. I tried to coax him to send Laddy or even Yaqui. He +wouldn't listen to me. Dick, Mercedes is dying by inches. Can't you +see what ails her? It's more than love or fear. It's +uncertainty--suspense. Oh, can't we find out for her?" + +"Nell, I feel as badly as you about her. I wanted to ride in to +Casita. Belding shut me up quick, the last time." + +Nell came close to Gale, clasped his arm. There was no color in her +face. Her eyes held a dark, eager excitement. + +"Dick, will you slip off without Dad's consent? Risk it! Go to Casita +and find out what's happened to Thorne--at least if he ever started for +Forlorn River?" + +"No, Nell, I won't do that." + +She drew away from him with passionate suddenness. + +"Are you afraid?" + +This certainly was not the Nell Burton that Gale knew. + +"No, I'm not afraid," Gale replied, a little nettled. + +"Will you go--for my sake?" Like lightning her mood changed and she +was close to him again, hands on his, her face white, her whole +presence sweetly alluring. + +"Nell, I won't disobey Belding," protested Gale. "I won't break my +word." + +"Dick, it'll not be so bad as that. But--what if it is?... Go, Dick, +if not for poor Mercedes's sake, then for mine--to please me. +I'll--I'll... you won't lose anything by going. I think I know how +Mercedes feels. Just a word from Thorne or about him would save her. +Take Blanco Sol and go, Dick. What rebel outfit could ever ride you +down on that horse? Why, Dick, if I was up on Sol I wouldn't be afraid +of the whole rebel army." + +"My dear girl, it's not a question of being afraid. It's my word--my +duty to Belding." + +"You said you loved me. If you love me you will go... You don't love +me!" + +Gale could only stare at this transformed girl. + +"Dick, listen!... If you go--if you fetch some word of Thorne to +comfort Mercedes, you--well, you will have your reward." + +"Nell!" + +Her dangerous sweetness was as amazing as this newly revealed character. + +"Dick, will you go?" + +"No-no!" cried Gale, in violence, struggling with himself. "Nell +Burton, I'll tell you this. To have the reward I want would mean +pretty near heaven for me. But not even for that will I break my word +to your father." + +She seemed the incarnation of girlish scorn and wilful passion. + +"Gracias, senor," she replied, mockingly. "Adios." Then she flashed +out of his sight. + +Gale went to his room at once, disturbed and thrilling, and did not +soon recover from that encounter. + +The following morning at the breakfast table Nell was not present. Mrs. +Belding evidently considered the fact somewhat unusual, for she called +out into the patio and then into the yard. Then she went to Mercedes's +room. But Nell was not there, either. + +"She's in one of her tantrums lately," said Belding. "Wouldn't speak +to me this morning. Let her alone, mother. She's spoiled enough, +without running after her. She's always hungry. She'll be on hand +presently, don't mistake me." + +Notwithstanding Belding's conviction, which Gale shared, Nell did not +appear at all during the hour. When Belding and the rangers went +outside, Yaqui was eating his meal on the bench where he always sat. + +"Yaqui--Lluvia d' oro, si?" asked Belding, waving his hand toward the +corrals. The Indian's beautiful name for Nell meant "shower of gold," +and Belding used it in asking Yaqui if he had seen her. He received a +negative reply. + +Perhaps half an hour afterward, as Gale was leaving his room, he saw +the Yaqui running up the path from the fields. It was markedly out of +the ordinary to see the Indian run. Gale wondered what was the matter. +Yaqui ran straight to Belding, who was at work at his bench under the +wagon shed. In less than a moment Belding was bellowing for his +rangers. Gale got to him first, but Ladd and Lash were not far behind. + +"Blanco Sol gone!" yelled Belding, in a rage. + +"Gone? In broad daylight, with the Indian a-watch-in?" queried Ladd. + +"It happened while Yaqui was at breakfast. That's sure. He'd just +watered Sol." + +"Raiders!" exclaimed Jim Lash. + +"Lord only knows. Yaqui says it wasn't raiders." + +"Mebbe Sol's just walked off somewheres." + +"He was haltered in the corral." + +"Send Yaqui to find the hoss's trail, an' let's figger," said Ladd. +"Shore this 's no raider job." + +In the swift search that ensued Gale did not have anything to say; but +his mind was forming a conclusion. When he found his old saddle and +bridle missing from the peg in the barn his conclusion became a +positive conviction, and it made him, for the moment, cold and sick and +speechless. + +"Hey, Dick, don't take it so much to heart," said Belding. "We'll +likely find Sol, and if we don't, there's other good horses." + +"I'm not thinking of Sol," replied Gale. + +Ladd cast a sharp glance at Gale, snapped his fingers, and said: + +"Damn me if I ain't guessed it, too!" + +"What's wrong with you locoed gents?" bluntly demanded Belding. + +"Nell has slipped away on Sol," answered Dick. + +There was a blank pause, which presently Belding broke. + +"Well, that's all right, if Nell's on him. I was afraid we'd lost the +horse." + +"Belding, you're trackin' bad," said Ladd, wagging his head. + +"Nell has started for Casita," burst out Gale. "She has gone to fetch +Mercedes some word about Thorne. Oh, Belding, you needn't shake your +head. I know she's gone. She tried to persuade me to go, and was +furious when I wouldn't." + +"I don't believe it," replied Belding, hoarsely. "Nell may have her +temper. She's a little devil at times, but she always had good sense." + +"Tom, you can gamble she's gone," said Ladd. + +"Aw, hell, no! Jim, what do you think?" implored Belding. + +"I reckon Sol's white head is pointed level an' straight down the +Casita trail. An' Nell can ride. We're losing' time." + +That roused Belding to action. + +"I say you're all wrong," he yelled, starting for the corrals. "She's +only taking a little ride, same as she's done often. But rustle now. +Find out. Dick, you ride cross the valley. Jim, you hunt up and down +the river. I'll head up San Felipe way. And you, Laddy, take Diablo +and hit the Casita trail. If she really has gone after Thorne you can +catch her in an hour or so." + +"Shore I'll go," replied Ladd. "But, Beldin', if you're not plumb +crazy you're close to it. That big white devil can't catch Sol. Not in +an hour or a day or a week! What's more, at the end of any runnin' +time, with an even start, Sol will be farther in the lead. An' now +Sol's got an hour's start." + +"Laddy, you mean to say Sol is a faster horse than Diablo?" thundered +Belding, his face purple. + +"Shore. I mean to tell you just that there," replied the ranger. + +"I'll--I'll bet a--" + +"We're wastin' time," curtly interrupted Ladd. "You can gamble on this +if you want to. I'll ride your Blanco Devil as he never was rid +before, 'cept once when a damn sight better hossman than I am couldn't +make him outrun Sol." + +Without more words the men saddled and were off, not waiting for the +Yaqui to come in with possible information as to what trail Blanco Sol +had taken. It certainly did not show in the clear sand of the level +valley where Gale rode to and fro. When Gale returned to the house he +found Belding and Lash awaiting him. They did not mention their own +search, but stated that Yaqui had found Blanco Sol's tracks in the +Casita trail. After some consultation Belding decided to send Lash +along after Ladd. + +The interminable time that followed contained for Gale about as much +suspense as he could well bear. What astonished him and helped him +greatly to fight off actual distress was the endurance of Nell's mother. + +Early on the morning of the second day, Gale, who had acquired an +unbreakable habit of watching, saw three white horses and a bay come +wearily stepping down the road. He heard Blanco Sol's familiar +whistle, and he leaped up wild with joy. The horse was riderless. +Gale's sudden joy received a violent check, then resurged when he saw a +limp white form in Jim Lash's arms. Ladd was supporting a horseman who +wore a military uniform. + +Gale shouted with joy and ran into the house to tell the good news. It +was the ever-thoughtful Mrs. Belding who prevented him from rushing in +to tell Mercedes. Then he hurried out into the yard, closely followed +by the Beldings. + +Lash handed down a ragged, travel-stained, wan girl into Belding's arms. + +"Dad! Mama!" + +It was indeed a repentant Nell, but there was spirit yet in the tired +blue eyes. Then she caught sight of Gale and gave him a faint smile. + +"Hello--Dick." + +"Nell!" Gale reached for her hand, held it tightly, and found speech +difficult. + +"You needn't worry--about your old horse," she said, as Belding carried +her toward the door. "Oh, Dick! Blanco Sol is--glorious!" + +Gale turned to greet his friend. Indeed, it was but a haggard ghost of +the cavalryman. Thorne looked ill or wounded. Gale's greeting was +also a question full of fear. + +Thorne's answer was a faint smile. He seemed ready to drop from the +saddle. Gale helped Ladd hold Thorne upon the horse until they reached +the house. Belding came out again. His welcome was checked as he saw +the condition of the cavalryman. Thorne reeled into Dick's arms. But +he was able to stand and walk. + +"I'm not--hurt. Only weak--starved," he said. "Is Mercedes-- Take me +to her." + +"She'll be well the minute she sees him," averred Belding, as he and +Gale led the cavalryman to Mercedes's room. There they left him; and +Gale, at least, felt his ears ringing with the girl's broken cry of joy. + +When Belding and Gale hurried forth again the rangers were tending the +tired horses. Upon returning to the house Jim Lash calmly lit his +pipe, and Ladd declared that, hungry as he was, he had to tell his +story. + +"Shore, Beldin'," began Ladd, "that was funny about Diablo catchin' +Blanco Sol. Funny ain't the word. I nearly laughed myself to death. +Well, I rode in Sol's tracks all the way to Casita. Never seen a rebel +or a raider till I got to town. Figgered Nell made the trip in five +hours. I went straight to the camp of the cavalrymen, an' found them +just coolin' off an' dressin' down their hosses after what looked to me +like a big ride. I got there too late for the fireworks. + +"Some soldier took me to an officer's tent. Nell was there, some white +an' all in. She just said, 'Laddy!' Thorne was there, too, an' he was +bein' worked over by the camp doctor. I didn't ask no questions, +because I seen quiet was needed round that tent. After satisfying +myself that Nell was all right, an' Thorne in no danger, I went out. + +"Shore there was so darn many fellers who wanted to an' tried to tell +me what'd come off, I thought I'd never find out. But I got the story +piece by piece. An' here's what happened. + +"Nell rode Blanco Sol a-tearin' into camp, an' had a crowd round her in +a jiffy. She told who she was, where she'd come from, an' what she +wanted. Well, it seemed a day or so before Nell got there the +cavalrymen had heard word of Thorne. You see, Thorne had left camp on +leave of absence some time before. He was shore mysterious, they said, +an' told nobody where he was goin'. A week or so after he left camp +some Greaser give it away that Rojas had a prisoner in a dobe shack +near his camp. Nobody paid much attention to what the Greaser said. +He wanted money for mescal. An' it was usual for Rojas to have +prisoners. But in a few more days it turned out pretty sure that for +some reason Rojas was holdin' Thorne. + +"Now it happened when this news came Colonel Weede was in Nogales with +his staff, an' the officer left in charge didn't know how to proceed. +Rojas's camp was across the line in Mexico, an' ridin' over there was +serious business. It meant a whole lot more than just scatterin' one +Greaser camp. It was what had been botherin' more'n one colonel along +the line. Thorne's feller soldiers was anxious to get him out of a bad +fix, but they had to wait for orders. + +"When Nell found out Thorne was bein' starved an' beat in a dobe shack +no more'n two mile across the line, she shore stirred up that cavalry +camp. Shore! She told them soldiers Rojas was holdin' +Thorne--torturin' him to make him tell where Mercedes was. She told +about Mercedes--how sweet an' beautiful she was--how her father had +been murdered by Rojas--how she had been hounded by the bandit--how ill +an' miserable she was, waitin' for her lover. An' she begged the +cavalrymen to rescue Thorne. + +"From the way it was told to me I reckon them cavalrymen went up in the +air. Fine, fiery lot of young bloods, I thought, achin' for a scrap. +But the officer in charge, bein' in a ticklish place, still held out +for higher orders. + +"Then Nell broke loose. You-all know Nell's tongue is sometimes like a +choya thorn. I'd have give somethin' to see her work up that soldier +outfit. Nell's never so pretty as when she's mad. An' this last stunt +of hers was no girly tantrum, as Beldin' calls it. She musta been +ragin' with all the hell there's in a woman.... Can't you fellers see +her on Blanco Sol with her eyes turnin' black?" + +Ladd mopped his sweaty face with his dusty scarf. He was beaming. He +was growing excited, hurried in his narrative. + +"Right out then Nell swore she'd go after Thorne. If them cavalrymen +couldn't ride with a Western girl to save a brother American--let them +hang back! One feller, under orders, tried to stop Blanco Sol. An' +that feller invited himself to the hospital. Then the cavalrymen went +flyin' for their hosses. Mebbe Nell's move was just foxy--woman's +cunnin'. But I'm thinkin' as she felt then she'd have sent Blanco Sol +straight into Rojas's camp, which, I'd forgot to say, was in plain +sight. + +"It didn't take long for every cavalryman in that camp to get wind of +what was comin' off. Shore they musta been wild. They strung out +after Nell in a thunderin' troop. + +"Say, I wish you fellers could see the lane that bunch of hosses left +in the greasewood an' cactus. Looks like there'd been a cattle +stampede on the desert.... Blanco Sol stayed out in front, you can +gamble on that. Right into Rojas's camp! Sabe, you senors? Gawd +Almighty! I never had grief that 'd hold a candle to this one of bein' +too late to see Nell an' Sol in their one best race. + +"Rojas an' his men vamoosed without a shot. That ain't surprisin'. +There wasn't a shot fired by anybody. The cavalrymen soon found Thorne +an' hurried with him back on Uncle Sam's land. Thorne was half naked, +black an' blue all over, thin as a rail. He looked mighty sick when I +seen him first. That was a little after midday. He was given food an' +drink. Shore he seemed a starved man. But he picked up wonderful, an' +by the time Jim came along he was wantin' to start for Forlorn River. +So was Nell. By main strength as much as persuasion we kept the two of +them quiet till next evenin' at dark. + +"Well, we made as sneaky a start in the dark as Jim an' me could +manage, an' never hit the trail till we was miles from town. Thorne's +nerve held him up for a while. Then all at once he tumbled out of his +saddle. We got him back, an' Lash held him on. Nell didn't give out +till daybreak." + +As Ladd paused in his story Belding began to stutter, and finally he +exploded. His mighty utterances were incoherent. But plainly the +wrath he had felt toward the wilful girl was forgotten. Gale remained +gripped by silence. + +"I reckon you'll all be some surprised when you see Casita," went on +Ladd. "It's half burned an' half tore down. An' the rebels are livin' +fat. There was rumors of another federal force on the road from Casa +Grandes. I seen a good many Americans from interior Mexico, an' the +stories they told would make your hair stand up. They all packed guns, +was fightin' mad at Greasers, an' sore on the good old U. S. But shore +glad to get over the line! Some were waitin' for trains, which don't +run reg'lar no more, an' others were ready to hit the trails north." + +"Laddy, what knocks me is Rojas holding Thorne prisoner, trying to make +him tell where Mercedes had been hidden," said Belding. + +"Shore. It 'd knock anybody." + +"The bandit's crazy over her. That's the Spanish of it," replied +Belding, his voice rolling. "Rojas is a peon. He's been a slave to +the proud Castilian. He loves Mercedes as he hates her. When I was +down in Durango I saw something of these peons' insane passions. Rojas +wants this girl only to have her, then kill her. It's damn strange, +boys, and even with Thorne here our troubles have just begun." + +"Tom, you spoke correct," said Jim Ladd, in his cool drawl. + +"Shore I'm not sayin' what I think," added Ladd. But the look of him +was not indicative of a tranquil optimism. + +Thorne was put to bed in Gale's room. He was very weak, yet he would +keep Mercedes's hand and gaze at her with unbelieving eyes. Mercedes's +failing hold on hope and strength seemed to have been a fantasy; she +was again vivid, magnetic, beautiful, shot through and through with +intense and throbbing life. She induced him to take food and drink. +Then, fighting sleep with what little strength he had left, at last he +succumbed. + +For all Dick could ascertain his friend never stirred an eyelash nor a +finger for twenty-seven hours. When he awoke he was pale, weak, but +the old Thorne. + +"Hello, Dick; I didn't dream it then," he said. "There you are, and my +darling with the proud, dark eyes--she's here?" + +"Why, yes, you locoed cavalryman." + +"Say, what's happened to you? It can't be those clothes and a little +bronze on your face.... Dick, you're older--you've changed. You're not +so thickly built. By Gad, if you don't look fine!" + +"Thanks. I'm sorry I can't return the compliment. You're about the +seediest, hungriest-looking fellow I ever saw.... Say, old man, you +must have had a tough time." + +A dark and somber fire burned out the happiness in Thorne's eyes. + +"Dick, don't make me--don't let me think of that fiend Rojas!.... I'm +here now. I'll be well in a day or two. Then!..." + +Mercedes came in, radiant and soft-voiced. She fell upon her knees +beside Thorne's bed, and neither of them appeared to see Nell enter +with a tray. Then Gale and Nell made a good deal of unnecessary bustle +in moving a small table close to the bed. Mercedes had forgotten for +the moment that her lover had been a starving man. If Thorne remembered +it he did not care. They held hands and looked at each other without +speaking. + +"Nell, I thought I had it bad," whispered Dick. "But I'm not--" + +"Hush. It's beautiful," replied Nell, softly; and she tried to coax +Dick from the room. + +Dick, however, thought he ought to remain at least long enough to tell +Thorne that a man in his condition could not exist solely upon love. + +Mercedes sprang up blushing with pretty, penitent manner and moving +white hands eloquent of her condition. + +"Oh, Mercedes--don't go!" cried Thorne, as she stepped to the door. + +"Senor Dick will stay. He is not mucha malo for you--as I am." + +Then she smiled and went out. + +"Good Lord!" exclaimed Thorne. "How I love her. Dick, isn't she the +most beautiful, the loveliest, the finest--" + +"George, I share your enthusiasm," said Dick, dryly, "but Mercedes +isn't the only girl on earth." + +Manifestly this was a startling piece of information, and struck Thorne +in more than one way. + +"George," went on Dick, "did you happen to observe the girl who saved +your life--who incidentally just fetched in your breakfast?" + +"Nell Burton! Why, of course. She's brave, a wonderful girl, and +really nice-looking." + +"You long, lean, hungry beggar! That was the young lady who might +answer the raving eulogy you just got out of your system.... I--well, +you haven't cornered the love market!" + +Thorne uttered some kind of a sound that his weakened condition would +not allow to be a whoop. + +"Dick! Do you mean it?" + +"I shore do, as Laddy says." + +"I'm glad, Dick, with all my heart. I wondered at the changed look you +wear. Why, boy, you've got a different front.... Call the lady in, and +you bet I'll look her over right. I can see better now." + +"Eat your breakfast. There's plenty of time to dazzle you afterward." + +Thorne fell to upon his breakfast and made it vanish with magic speed. +Meanwhile Dick told him something of a ranger's life along the border. + +"You needn't waste your breath," said Thorne. "I guess I can see. +Belding and those rangers have made you the real thing--the real +Western goods.... What I want to know is all about the girl." + +"Well, Laddy swears she's got your girl roped in the corral for looks." + +"That's not possible. I'll have to talk to Laddy.... But she must be a +wonder, or Dick Gale would never have fallen for her.... Isn't it +great, Dick? I'm here! Mercedes is well--safe! You've got a girl! +Oh!.... But say, I haven't a dollar to my name. I had a lot of money, +Dick, and those robbers stole it, my watch--everything. Damn that +little black Greaser! He got Mercedes's letters. I wish you could +have seen him trying to read them. He's simply nutty over her, Dick. +I could have borne the loss of money and valuables--but those +beautiful, wonderful letters--they're gone!" + +"Cheer up. You have the girl. Belding will make you a proposition +presently. The future smiles, old friend. If this rebel business was +only ended!" + +"Dick, you're going to be my savior twice over.... Well, now, listen to +me." His gay excitement changed to earnest gravity. "I want to marry +Mercedes at once. Is there a padre here?" + +"Yes. But are you wise in letting any Mexican, even a priest, know +Mercedes is hidden in Forlorn River?" + +"It couldn't be kept much longer." + +Gale was compelled to acknowledge the truth of this statement. + +"I'll marry her first, then I'll face my problem. Fetch the padre, +Dick. And ask our kind friends to be witnesses at the ceremony." + +Much to Gale's surprise neither Belding nor Ladd objected to the idea +of bringing a padre into the household, and thereby making known to at +least one Mexican the whereabouts of Mercedes Castaneda. Belding's +caution was wearing out in wrath at the persistent unsettled condition +of the border, and Ladd grew only the cooler and more silent as +possibilities of trouble multiplied. + +Gale fetched the padre, a little, weazened, timid man who was old and +without interest or penetration. Apparently he married Mercedes and +Thorne as he told his beads or mumbled a prayer. It was Mrs. Belding +who kept the occasion from being a merry one, and she insisted on not +exciting Thorne. Gale marked her unusual pallor and the singular depth +and sweetness of her voice. + +"Mother, what's the use of making a funeral out of a marriage?" +protested Belding. "A chance for some fun doesn't often come to +Forlorn River. You're a fine doctor. Can't you see the girl is what +Thorne needed? He'll be well to-morrow, don't mistake me." + +"George, when you're all right again we'll add something to present +congratulations," said Gale. + +"We shore will," put in Ladd. + +So with parting jests and smiles they left the couple to themselves. + +Belding enjoyed a laugh at his good wife's expense, for Thorne could +not be kept in bed, and all in a day, it seemed, he grew so well and so +hungry that his friends were delighted, and Mercedes was radiant. In a +few days his weakness disappeared and he was going the round of the +fields and looking over the ground marked out in Gale's plan of water +development. Thorne was highly enthusiastic, and at once staked out +his claim for one hundred and sixty acres of land adjoining that of +Belding and the rangers. These five tracts took in all the ground +necessary for their operations, but in case of the success of the +irrigation project the idea was to increase their squatter holdings by +purchase of more land down the valley. A hundred families had lately +moved to Forlorn River; more were coming all the time; and Belding +vowed he could see a vision of the whole Altar Valley green with farms. + +Meanwhile everybody in Belding's household, except the quiet Ladd and +the watchful Yaqui, in the absence of disturbance of any kind along the +border, grew freer and more unrestrained, as if anxiety was slowly +fading in the peace of the present. Jim Lash made a trip to the +Sonoyta Oasis, and Ladd patrolled fifty miles of the line eastward +without incident or sight of raiders. Evidently all the border hawks +were in at the picking of Casita. + +The February nights were cold, with a dry, icy, penetrating coldness +that made a warm fire most comfortable. Belding's household usually +congregated in the sitting-room, where burning mesquite logs crackled +in the open fireplace. Belding's one passion besides horses was the +game of checkers, and he was always wanting to play. On this night he +sat playing with Ladd, who never won a game and never could give up +trying. Mrs. Belding worked with her needle, stopping from time to +time to gaze with thoughtful eyes into the fire. Jim Lash smoked his +pipe by the hearth and played with the cat on his knee. Thorne and +Mercedes were at the table with pencil and paper; and he was trying his +best to keep his attention from his wife's beautiful, animated face +long enough to read and write a little Spanish. Gale and Nell sat in a +corner watching the bright fire. + +There came a low knock on the door. It may have been an ordinary +knock, for it did not disturb the women; but to Belding and his rangers +it had a subtle meaning. + +"Who's that?" asked Belding, as he slowly pushed back his chair and +looked at Ladd. + +"Yaqui," replied the ranger. + +"Come in," called Belding. + +The door opened, and the short, square, powerfully built Indian +entered. He had a magnificent head, strangely staring, somber black +eyes, and very darkly bronzed face. He carried a rifle and strode with +impressive dignity. + +"Yaqui, what do you want?" asked Belding, and repeated his question in +Spanish. + +"Senor Dick," replied the Indian. + +Gale jumped up, stifling an exclamation, and he went outdoors with +Yaqui. He felt his arm gripped, and allowed himself to be led away +without asking a question. Yaqui's presence was always one of gloom, +and now his stern action boded catastrophe. Once clear of trees he +pointed to the level desert across the river, where a row of campfires +shone bright out of the darkness. + +"Raiders!" ejaculated Gale. + +Then he cautioned Yaqui to keep sharp lookout, and, hurriedly returning +to the house, he called the men out and told them there were rebels or +raiders camping just across the line. + +Ladd did not say a word. Belding, with an oath, slammed down his cigar. + +"I knew it was too good to last.... Dick, you and Jim stay here while +Laddy and I look around." + +Dick returned to the sitting-room. The women were nervous and not to +be deceived. So Dick merely said Yaqui had sighted some lights off in +the desert, and they probably were campfires. Belding did not soon +return, and when he did he was alone, and, saying he wanted to consult +with the men, he sent Mrs. Belding and the girls to their rooms. His +gloomy anxiety had returned. + +"Laddy's gone over to scout around and try to find out who the outfit +belongs to and how many are in it," said Belding. + +"I reckon if they're raiders with bad intentions we wouldn't see no +fires," remarked Jim, calmly. + +"It 'd be useless, I suppose, to send for the cavalry," said Gale. +"Whatever's coming off would be over before the soldiers could be +notified, let alone reach here." + +"Hell, fellows! I don't look for an attack on Forlorn River," burst +out Belding. "I can't believe that possible. These rebel-raiders have +a little sense. They wouldn't spoil their game by pulling U. S. +soldiers across the line from Yuma to El Paso. But, as Jim says, if +they wanted to steal a few horses or cattle they wouldn't build fires. +I'm afraid it's--" + +Belding hesitated and looked with grim concern at the cavalryman. + +"What?" queried Thorne. + +"I'm afraid it's Rojas." + +Thorne turned pale but did not lose his nerve. + +"I thought of that at once. If true, it'll be terrible for Mercedes +and me. But Rojas will never get his hands on my wife. If I can't +kill him, I'll kill her!... Belding, this is tough on you--this risk we +put upon your family. I regret--" + +"Cut that kind of talk," replied Belding, bluntly. "Well, if it is +Rojas he's acting damn strange for a raider. That's what worries me. +We can't do anything but wait. With Laddy and Yaqui out there we won't +be surprised. Let's take the best possible view of the situation until +we know more. That'll not likely be before to-morrow." + +The women of the house might have gotten some sleep that night, but it +was certain the men did not get any. Morning broke cold and gray, the +19th of February. Breakfast was prepared earlier than usual, and an +air of suppressed waiting excitement pervaded the place. Otherwise the +ordinary details of the morning's work continued as on any other day. +Ladd came in hungry and cold, and said the Mexicans were not breaking +camp. He reported a good-sized force of rebels, and was taciturn as to +his idea of forthcoming events. + +About an hour after sunrise Yaqui ran in with the information that part +of the rebels were crossing the river. + +"That can't mean a fight yet," declared Belding. "But get in the +house, boys, and make ready anyway. I'll meet them." + +"Drive them off the place same as if you had a company of soldiers +backin' you," said Ladd. "Don't give them an inch. We're in bad, and +the bigger bluff we put up the more likely our chance." + +"Belding, you're an officer of the United States. Mexicans are much +impressed by show of authority. I've seen that often in camp," said +Thorne. + +"Oh, I know the white-livered Greasers better than any of you, don't +mistake me," replied Belding. He was pale with rage, but kept command +over himself. + +The rangers, with Yaqui and Thorne, stationed themselves at the several +windows of the sitting-room. Rifles and smaller arms and boxes of +shells littered the tables and window seats. No small force of +besiegers could overcome a resistance such as Belding and his men were +capable of making. + +"Here they come, boys," called Gale, from his window. + +"Rebel-raiders I should say, Laddy." + +"Shore. An' a fine outfit of buzzards!" + +"Reckon there's about a dozen in the bunch," observed the calm Lash. +"Some hosses they're ridin'. Where 'n the hell do they get such +hosses, anyhow?" + +"Shore, Jim, they work hard an' buy 'em with real silver pesos," +replied Ladd, sarcastically. + +"Do any of you see Rojas?" whispered Thorne. + +"Nix. No dandy bandit in that outfit." + +"It's too far to see," said Gale. + +The horsemen halted at the corrals. They were orderly and showed no +evidence of hostility. They were, however, fully armed. Belding +stalked out to meet them. Apparently a leader wanted to parley with +him, but Belding would hear nothing. He shook his head, waved his +arms, stamped to and fro, and his loud, angry voice could be heard +clear back at the house. Whereupon the detachment of rebels retired to +the bank of the river, beyond the white post that marked the boundary +line, and there they once more drew rein. Belding remained by the +corrals watching them, evidently still in threatening mood. Presently a +single rider left the troop and trotted his horse back down the road. +When he reached the corrals he was seen to halt and pass something to +Belding. Then he galloped away to join his comrades. + +Belding looked at whatever it was he held in his hand, shook his burley +head, and started swiftly for the house. He came striding into the +room holding a piece of soiled paper. + +"Can't read it and don't know as I want to," he said, savagely. + +"Beldin', shore we'd better read it," replied Ladd. "What we want is a +line on them Greasers. Whether they're Campo's men or Salazar's, or +just a wanderin' bunch of rebels--or Rojas's bandits. Sabe, senor?" + +Not one of the men was able to translate the garbled scrawl. + +"Shore Mercedes can read it," said Ladd. + +Thorne opened a door and called her. She came into the room followed +by Nell and Mrs. Belding. Evidently all three divined a critical +situation. + +"My dear, we want you to read what's written on this paper," said +Thorne, as he led her to the table. "It was sent in by rebels, +and--and we fear contains bad news for us." + +Mercedes gave the writing one swift glance, then fainted in Thorne's +arms. He carried her to a couch, and with Nell and Mrs. Belding began +to work over her. + +Belding looked at his rangers. It was characteristic of the man that, +now when catastrophe appeared inevitable, all the gloom and care and +angry agitation passed from him. + +"Laddy, it's Rojas all right. How many men has he out there?" + +"Mebbe twenty. Not more." + +"We can lick twice that many Greasers." + +"Shore." + +Jim Lash removed his pipe long enough to speak. + +"I reckon. But it ain't sense to start a fight when mebbe we can avoid +it." + +"What's your idea?" + +"Let's stave the Greaser off till dark. Then Laddy an' me an' Thorne +will take Mercedes an' hit the trail for Yuma." + +"Camino del Diablo! That awful trail with a woman! Jim, do you forget +how many hundreds of men have perished on the Devil's Road?" + +"I reckon I ain't forgettin' nothin'," replied Jim. "The waterholes +are full now. There's grass, an' we can do the job in six days." + +"It's three hundred miles to Yuma." + +"Beldin', Jim's idea hits me pretty reasonable," interposed Ladd. "Lord +knows that's about the only chance we've got except fightin'." + +"But suppose we do stave Rojas off, and you get safely away with +Mercedes. Isn't Rojas going to find it out quick? Then what'll he try +to do to us who're left here?" + +"I reckon he'd find out by daylight," replied Jim. "But, Tom, he ain't +agoin' to start a scrap then. He'd want time an' hosses an' men to +chase us out on the trail. You see, I'm figgerin' on the crazy Greaser +wantin' the girl. I reckon he'll try to clean up here to get her. But +he's too smart to fight you for nothin'. Rojas may be nutty about +women, but he's afraid of the U. S. Take my word for it he'd discover +the trail in the mornin' an' light out on it. I reckon with ten hours' +start we could travel comfortable." + +Belding paced up and down the room. Jim and Ladd whispered together. +Gale walked to the window and looked out at the distant group of +bandits, and then turned his gaze to rest upon Mercedes. She was +conscious now, and her eyes seemed all the larger and blacker for the +whiteness of her face. Thorne held her hands, and the other women were +trying to still her tremblings. + +No one but Gale saw the Yaqui in the background looking down upon the +Spanish girl. All of Yaqui's looks were strange; but this singularly +so. Gale marked it, and felt he would never forget. Mercedes's beauty +had never before struck him as being so exquisite, so alluring as now +when she lay stricken. Gale wondered if the Indian was affected by her +loveliness, her helplessness, or her terror. Yaqui had seen Mercedes +only a few times, and upon each of these he had appeared to be +fascinated. Could the strange Indian, because his hate for Mexicans +was so great, be gloating over her misery? Something about Yaqui--a +noble austerity of countenance--made Gale feel his suspicion unjust. + +Presently Belding called his rangers to him, and then Thorne. + +"Listen to this," he said, earnestly. "I'll go out and have a talk +with Rojas. I'll try to reason with him; tell him to think a long time +before he sheds blood on Uncle Sam's soil. That he's now after an +American's wife! I'll not commit myself, nor will I refuse outright to +consider his demands, nor will I show the least fear of him. I'll play +for time. If my bluff goes through... well and good.... After dark the +four of you, Laddy, Jim, Dick, and Thorne, will take Mercedes and my +best white horses, and, with Yaqui as guide, circle round through Altar +Valley to the trail, and head for Yuma.... Wait now, Laddy. Let me +finish. I want you to take the white horses for two reasons--to save +them and to save you. Savvy? If Rojas should follow on my horses he'd +be likely to catch you. Also, you can pack a great deal more than on +the bronchs. Also, the big horses can travel faster and farther on +little grass and water. I want you to take the Indian, because in a +case of this kind he'll be a godsend. If you get headed or lost or +have to circle off the trail, think what it 'd mean to have Yaqui with +you. He knows Sonora as no Greaser knows it. He could hide you, find +water and grass, when you would absolutely believe it impossible. The +Indian is loyal. He has his debt to pay, and he'll pay it, don't +mistake me. When you're gone I'll hide Nell so Rojas won't see her if +he searches the place. Then I think I could sit down and wait without +any particular worry." + +The rangers approved of Belding's plan, and Thorne choked in his effort +to express his gratitude. + +"All right, we'll chance it," concluded Belding. "I'll go out now and +call Rojas and his outfit over... Say, it might be as well for me to +know just what he said in that paper." + +Thorne went to the side of his wife. + +"Mercedes, we've planned to outwit Rojas. Will you tell us just what +he wrote?" + +The girl sat up, her eyes dilating, and with her hands clasping +Thorne's. She said: + +"Rojas swore--by his saints and his virgin--that if I wasn't given--to +him--in twenty-four hours--he would set fire to the village--kill the +men--carry off the women--hang the children on cactus thorns!" + +A moment's silence followed her last halting whisper. + +"By his saints an' his virgin!" echoed Ladd. He laughed--a cold, +cutting, deadly laugh--significant and terrible. + +Then the Yaqui uttered a singular cry. Gale had heard this once +before, and now he remembered it was at the Papago Well. + +"Look at the Indian," whispered Belding, hoarsely. "Damn if I don't +believe he understood every word Mercedes said. And, gentlemen, don't +mistake me, if he ever gets near Senor Rojas there'll be some gory +Aztec knife work." + +Yaqui had moved close to Mercedes, and stood beside her as she leaned +against her husband. She seemed impelled to meet the Indian's gaze, +and evidently it was so powerful or hypnotic that it wrought +irresistibly upon her. But she must have seen or divined what was +beyond the others, for she offered him her trembling hand. Yaqui took +it and laid it against his body in a strange motion, and bowed his +head. Then he stepped back into the shadow of the room. + +Belding went outdoors while the rangers took up their former position +at the west window. Each had his own somber thoughts, Gale imagined, +and knew his own were dark enough. A slow fire crept along his veins. +He saw Belding halt at the corrals and wave his hand. Then the rebels +mounted and came briskly up the road, this time to rein in abreast. + +Wherever Rojas had kept himself upon the former advance was not clear; +but he certainly was prominently in sight now. He made a gaudy, almost +a dashing figure. Gale did not recognize the white sombrero, the +crimson scarf, the velvet jacket, nor any feature of the dandy's +costume; but their general effect, the whole ensemble, recalled vividly +to mind his first sight of the bandit. Rojas dismounted and seemed to +be listening. He betrayed none of the excitement Gale had seen in him +that night at the Del Sol. Evidently this composure struck Ladd and +Lash as unusual in a Mexican supposed to be laboring under stress of +feeling. Belding made gestures, vehemently bobbed his big head, +appeared to talk with his body as much as with his tongue. Then Rojas +was seen to reply, and after that it was clear that the talk became +painful and difficult. It ended finally in what appeared to be mutual +understanding. Rojas mounted and rode away with his men, while Belding +came tramping back to the house. + +As he entered the door his eyes were shining, his big hands were +clenched, and he was breathing audibly. + +"You can rope me if I'm not locoed!" he burst out. "I went out to +conciliate a red-handed little murderer, and damn me if I didn't meet +a--a--well, I've not suitable name handy. I started my bluff and got +along pretty well, but I forgot to mention that Mercedes was Thorne's +wife. And what do you think? Rojas swore he loved Mercedes--swore +he'd marry her right here in Forlorn River--swore he would give up +robbing and killing people, and take her away from Mexico. He has +gold--jewels. He swore if he didn't get her nothing mattered. He'd +die anyway without her.... And here's the strange thing. I believe +him! He was cold as ice, and all hell inside. Never saw a Greaser +like him. Well, I pretended to be greatly impressed. We got to +talking friendly, I suppose, though I didn't understand half he said, +and I imagine he gathered less what I said. Anyway, without my asking +he said for me to think it over for a day and then we'd talk again." + +"Shore we're born lucky!" ejaculated Ladd. + +"I reckon Rojas'll be smart enough to string his outfit across the few +trails leadin' out of Forlorn River," remarked Jim. + +"That needn't worry us. All we want is dark to come," replied Belding. +"Yaqui will slip through. If we thank any lucky stars let it be for +the Indian.... Now, boys, put on your thinking caps. You'll take eight +horses, the pick of my bunch. You must pack all that's needed for a +possible long trip. Mind, Yaqui may lead you down into some wild +Sonora valley and give Rojas the slip. You may get to Yuma in six days, +and maybe in six weeks. Yet you've got to pack light--a small pack in +saddles--larger ones on the two free horses. You may have a big fight. +Laddy, take the .405. Dick will pack his Remington. All of you go +gunned heavy. But the main thing is a pack that 'll be light enough +for swift travel, yet one that 'll keep you from starving on the +desert." + +The rest of that day passed swiftly. Dick had scarcely a word with +Nell, and all the time, as he chose and deliberated and worked over his +little pack, there was a dull pain in his heart. + +The sun set, twilight fell, then night closed down fortunately a night +slightly overcast. Gale saw the white horses pass his door like silent +ghosts. Even Blanco Diablo made no sound, and that fact was indeed a +tribute to the Yaqui. Gale went out to put his saddle on Blanco Sol. +The horse rubbed a soft nose against his shoulder. Then Gale returned +to the sitting-room. There was nothing more to do but wait and say +good-by. Mercedes came clad in leather chaps and coat, a slim +stripling of a cowboy, her dark eyes flashing. Her beauty could not be +hidden, and now hope and courage had fired her blood. + +Gale drew Nell off into the shadow of the room. She was trembling, and +as she leaned toward him she was very different from the coy girl who +had so long held him aloof. He took her into his arms. + +"Dearest, I'm going--soon.... And maybe I'll never--" + +"Dick, do--don't say it," sobbed Nell, with her head on his breast. + +"I might never come back," he went on, steadily. "I love you--I've +loved you ever since the first moment I saw you. Do you care for me--a +little?" + +"Dear Dick--de-dear Dick, my heart is breaking," faltered Nell, as she +clung to him. + +"It might be breaking for Mercedes--for Laddy and Jim. I want to hear +something for myself. Something to have on long marches--round lonely +campfires. Something to keep my spirit alive. Oh, Nell, you can't +imagine that silence out there--that terrible world of sand and +stone!... Do you love me?" + +"Yes, yes. Oh, I love you so! I never knew it till now. I love you +so. Dick, I'll be safe and I'll wait--and hope and pray for your +return." + +"If I come back--no--when I come back, will you marry me?" + +"I--I--oh yes!" she whispered, and returned his kiss. + +Belding was in the room speaking softly. + +"Nell, darling, I must go," said Dick. + +"I'm a selfish little coward," cried Nell. "It's so splendid of you +all. I ought to glory in it, but I can't. ... Fight if you must, +Dick. Fight for that lovely persecuted girl. I'll love you--the +more.... Oh! Good-by! Good-by!" + +With a wrench that shook him Gale let her go. He heard Belding's soft +voice. + +"Yaqui says the early hour's best. Trust him, Laddy. Remember what I +say--Yaqui's a godsend." + +Then they were all outside in the pale gloom under the trees. Yaqui +mounted Blanco Diablo; Mercedes was lifted upon White Woman; Thorne +climbed astride Queen; Jim Lash was already upon his horse, which was +as white as the others but bore no name; Ladd mounted the stallion +Blanco Torres, and gathered up the long halters of the two pack horses; +Gale came last with Blanco Sol. + +As he toed the stirrup, hand on mane and pommel, Gale took one more +look in at the door. Nell stood in the gleam of light, her hair +shining, face like ashes, her eyes dark, her lips parted, her arms +outstretched. That sweet and tragic picture etched its cruel outlines +into Gale's heart. He waved his hand and then fiercely leaped into the +saddle. + +Blanco Sol stepped out. + +Before Gale stretched a line of moving horses, white against dark +shadows. He could not see the head of that column; he scarcely heard a +soft hoofbeat. A single star shone out of a rift in thin clouds. +There was no wind. The air was cold. The dark space of desert seemed +to yawn. To the left across the river flickered a few campfires. The +chill night, silent and mystical, seemed to close in upon Gale; and he +faced the wide, quivering, black level with keen eyes and grim intent, +and an awakening of that wild rapture which came like a spell to him in +the open desert. + + + +XI + +ACROSS CACTUS AND LAVA + +BLANCO SOL showed no inclination to bend his head to the alfalfa which +swished softly about his legs. Gale felt the horse's sensitive, almost +human alertness. Sol knew as well as his master the nature of that +flight. + +At the far corner of the field Yaqui halted, and slowly the line of +white horses merged into a compact mass. There was a trail here +leading down to the river. The campfires were so close that the bright +blazes could be seen in movement, and dark forms crossed in front of +them. Yaqui slipped out of his saddle. He ran his hand over Diablo's +nose and spoke low, and repeated this action for each of the other +horses. Gale had long ceased to question the strange Indian's +behavior. There was no explaining or understanding many of his +manoeuvers. But the results of them were always thought-provoking. +Gale had never seen horse stand so silently as in this instance; no +stamp--no champ of bit--no toss of head--no shake of saddle or pack--no +heave or snort! It seemed they had become imbued with the spirit of +the Indian. + +Yaqui moved away into the shadows as noiselessly as if he were one of +them. The darkness swallowed him. He had taken a parallel with the +trail. Gale wondered if Yaqui meant to try to lead his string of +horses by the rebel sentinels. Ladd had his head bent low, his ear +toward the trail. Jim's long neck had the arch of a listening deer. +Gale listened, too, and as the slow, silent moments went by his faculty +of hearing grew more acute from strain. He heard Blanco Sol breathe; +he heard the pound of his own heart; he heard the silken rustle of the +alfalfa; he heard a faint, far-off sound of voice, like a lost echo. +Then his ear seemed to register a movement of air, a disturbance so +soft as to be nameless. Then followed long, silent moments. + +Yaqui appeared as he had vanished. He might have been part of the +shadows. But he was there. He started off down the trail leading +Diablo. Again the white line stretched slowly out. Gale fell in +behind. A bench of ground, covered with sparse greasewood, sloped +gently down to the deep, wide arroyo of Forlorn River. Blanco Sol shied +a few feet out of the trail. Peering low with keen eyes, Gale made out +three objects--a white sombrero, a blanket, and a Mexican lying face +down. The Yaqui had stolen upon this sentinel like a silent wind of +death. Just then a desert coyote wailed, and the wild cry fitted the +darkness and the Yaqui's deed. + +Once under the dark lee of the river bank Yaqui caused another halt, +and he disappeared as before. It seemed to Gale that the Indian +started to cross the pale level sandbed of the river, where stones +stood out gray, and the darker line of opposite shore was visible. But +he vanished, and it was impossible to tell whether he went one way or +another. Moments passed. The horses held heads up, looked toward the +glimmering campfires and listened. Gale thrilled with the meaning of it +all--the night--the silence--the flight--and the wonderful Indian +stealing with the slow inevitableness of doom upon another sentinel. +An hour passed and Gale seemed to have become deadened to all sense of +hearing. There were no more sounds in the world. The desert was as +silent as it was black. Yet again came that strange change in the +tensity of Gale's ear-strain, a check, a break, a vibration--and this +time the sound did not go nameless. It might have been moan of wind or +wail of far-distant wolf, but Gale imagined it was the strangling +death-cry of another guard, or that strange, involuntary utterance of +the Yaqui. Blanco Sol trembled in all his great frame, and then Gale +was certain the sound was not imagination. + +That certainty, once for all, fixed in Gale's mind the mood of his +flight. The Yaqui dominated the horses and the rangers. Thorne and +Mercedes were as persons under a spell. The Indian's strange silence, +the feeling of mystery and power he seemed to create, all that was +incomprehensible about him were emphasized in the light of his slow, +sure, and ruthless action. If he dominated the others, surely he did +more for Gale--colored his thoughts--presage the wild and terrible +future of that flight. If Rojas embodied all the hatred and passion of +the peon--scourged slave for a thousand years--then Yaqui embodied all +the darkness, the cruelty, the white, sun-heated blood, the ferocity, +the tragedy of the desert. + +Suddenly the Indian stalked out of the gloom. He mounted Diablo and +headed across the river. Once more the line of moving white shadows +stretched out. The soft sand gave forth no sound at all. The +glimmering campfires sank behind the western bank. Yaqui led the way +into the willows, and there was faint swishing of leaves; then into the +mesquite, and there was faint rustling of branches. The glimmering +lights appeared again, and grotesque forms of saguaros loomed darkly. +Gale peered sharply along the trail, and, presently, on the pale sand +under a cactus, there lay a blanketed form, prone, outstretched, a +carbine clutched in one hand, a cigarette, still burning, in the other. + +The cavalcade of white horses passed within five hundred yards of +campfires, around which dark forms moved in plain sight. Soft pads in +sand, faint metallic tickings of steel on thorns, low, regular +breathing of horses--these were all the sounds the fugitives made, and +they could not have been heard at one-fifth the distance. The lights +disappeared from time to time, grew dimmer, more flickering, and at +last they vanished altogether. Belding's fleet and tireless steeds +were out in front; the desert opened ahead wide, dark, vast. Rojas and +his rebels were behind, eating, drinking, careless. The somber shadow +lifted from Gale's heart. He held now an unquenchable faith in the +Yaqui. Belding would be listening back there along the river. He would +know of the escape. He would tell Nell, and then hide her safely. As +Gale accepted a strange and fatalistic foreshadowing of toil, blood, +and agony in this desert journey, so he believed in Mercedes's ultimate +freedom and happiness, and his own return to the girl who had grown +dearer than life. + + +A cold, gray dawn was fleeing before a rosy sun when Yaqui halted the +march at Papago Well. The horses were taken to water, then led down +the arroyo into the grass. Here packs were slipped, saddles removed. +Mercedes was cold, lame, tired, but happy. It warmed Gale's blood to +look at her. The shadow of fear still lay in her eyes, but it was +passing. Hope and courage shone there, and affection for her ranger +protectors and the Yaqui, and unutterable love for the cavalryman. Jim +Lash remarked how cleverly they had fooled the rebels. + +"Shore they'll be comin' along," replied Ladd. + +They built a fire, cooked and ate. The Yaqui spoke only one word: +"Sleep." Blankets were spread. Mercedes dropped into a deep slumber, +her head on Thorne's shoulder. Excitement kept Thorne awake. The two +rangers dozed beside the fire. Gale shared the Yaqui's watch. The sun +began to climb and the icy edge of dawn to wear away. Rabbits bobbed +their cotton tails under the mesquite. Gale climbed a rocky wall above +the arroyo bank, and there, with command over the miles of the +back-trail, he watched. + +It was a sweeping, rolling, wrinkled, and streaked range of desert that +he saw, ruddy in the morning sunlight, with patches of cactus and +mesquite rough-etched in shimmering gloom. No Name Mountains split the +eastern sky, towering high, gloomy, grand, with purple veils upon their +slopes. They were forty miles away and looked five. Gale thought of +the girl who was there under their shadow. + +Yaqui kept the horses bunched, and he led them from one little park of +galleta grass to another. At the end of three hours he took them to +water. Upon his return Gale clambered down from his outlook, the +rangers grew active. Mercedes was awakened; and soon the party faced +westward, their long shadows moving before them. Yaqui led with Blanco +Diablo in a long, easy lope. The arroyo washed itself out into flat +desert, and the greens began to shade into gray, and then the gray into +red. Only sparse cactus and weathered ledges dotted the great low roll +of a rising escarpment. Yaqui suited the gait of his horse to the lay +of the land, and his followers accepted his pace. There were canter +and trot, and swift walk and slow climb, and long swing--miles up and +down and forward. The sun soared hot. The heated air lifted, and +incoming currents from the west swept low and hard over the barren +earth. In the distance, all around the horizon, accumulations of dust +seemed like ranging, mushrooming yellow clouds. + +Yaqui was the only one of the fugitives who never looked back. Mercedes +did it the most. Gale felt what compelled her, he could not resist it +himself. But it was a vain search. For a thousand puffs of white and +yellow dust rose from that backward sweep of desert, and any one of +them might have been blown from under horses' hoofs. Gale had a +conviction that when Yaqui gazed back toward the well and the shining +plain beyond, there would be reason for it. But when the sun lost its +heat and the wind died down Yaqui took long and careful surveys +westward from the high points on the trail. Sunset was not far off, +and there in a bare, spotted valley lay Coyote Tanks, the only +waterhole between Papago Well and the Sonoyta Oasis. Gale used his +glass, told Yaqui there was no smoke, no sign of life; still the Indian +fixed his falcon eyes on distant spots looked long. It was as if his +vision could not detect what reason or cunning or intuition, perhaps an +instinct, told him was there. Presently in a sheltered spot, where +blown sand had not obliterated the trail, Yaqui found the tracks of +horses. The curve of the iron shoes pointed westward. An intersecting +trail from the north came in here. Gale thought the tracks either one +or two days old. Ladd said they were one day. The Indian shook his +head. + +No farther advance was undertaken. The Yaqui headed south and traveled +slowly, climbing to the brow of a bold height of weathered mesa. There +he sat his horse and waited. No one questioned him. The rangers +dismounted to stretch their legs, and Mercedes was lifted to a rock, +where she rested. Thorne had gradually yielded to the desert's +influence for silence. He spoke once or twice to Gale, and +occasionally whispered to Mercedes. Gale fancied his friend would soon +learn that necessary speech in desert travel meant a few greetings, a +few words to make real the fact of human companionship, a few short, +terse terms for the business of day or night, and perhaps a stern order +or a soft call to a horse. + +The sun went down, and the golden, rosy veils turned to blue and shaded +darker till twilight was there in the valley. Only the spurs of +mountains, spiring the near and far horizon, retained their clear +outline. Darkness approached, and the clear peaks faded. The horses +stamped to be on the move. + +"Malo!" exclaimed the Yaqui. + +He did not point with arm, but his falcon head was outstretched, and +his piercing eyes gazed at the blurring spot which marked the location +of Coyote Tanks. + +"Jim, can you see anything?" asked Ladd. + +"Nope, but I reckon he can." + +Darkness increased momentarily till night shaded the deepest part of +the valley. + +Then Ladd suddenly straightened up, turned to his horse, and muttered +low under his breath. + +"I reckon so," said Lash, and for once his easy, good-natured tone was +not in evidence. His voice was harsh. + +Gale's eyes, keen as they were, were last of the rangers to see tiny, +needle-points of light just faintly perceptible in the blackness. + +"Laddy! Campfires?" he asked, quickly. + +"Shore's you're born, my boy." + +"How many?" + +Ladd did not reply; but Yaqui held up his hand, his fingers wide. Five +campfires! A strong force of rebels or raiders or some other desert +troop was camping at Coyote Tanks. + +Yaqui sat his horse for a moment, motionless as stone, his dark face +immutable and impassive. Then he stretched wide his right arm in the +direction of No Name Mountains, now losing their last faint traces of +the afterglow, and he shook his head. He made the same impressive +gesture toward the Sonoyta Oasis with the same somber negation. + +Thereupon he turned Diablo's head to the south and started down the +slope. His manner had been decisive, even stern. Lash did not +question it, nor did Ladd. Both rangers hesitated, however, and showed +a strange, almost sullen reluctance which Gale had never seen in them +before. Raiders were one thing, Rojas was another; Camino del Diablo +still another; but that vast and desolate and unwatered waste of cactus +and lava, the Sonora Desert, might appall the stoutest heart. Gale +felt his own sink--felt himself flinch. + +"Oh, where is he going?" cried Mercedes. Her poignant voice seemed to +break a spell. + +"Shore, lady, Yaqui's goin' home," replied Ladd, gently. "An' +considerin' our troubles I reckon we ought to thank God he knows the +way." + +They mounted and rode down the slope toward the darkening south. + +Not until night travel was obstructed by a wall of cactus did the +Indian halt to make a dry camp. Water and grass for the horses and +fire to cook by were not to be had. Mercedes bore up surprisingly; but +she fell asleep almost the instant her thirst had been allayed. Thorne +laid her upon a blanket and covered her. The men ate and drank. Diablo +was the only horse that showed impatience; but he was angry, and not in +distress. Blanco Sol licked Gale's hand and stood patiently. Many a +time had he taken his rest at night without a drink. Yaqui again bade +the men sleep. Ladd said he would take the early watch; but from the +way the Indian shook his head and settled himself against a stone, it +appeared if Ladd remained awake he would have company. Gale lay down +weary of limb and eye. He heard the soft thump of hoofs, the sough of +wind in the cactus--then no more. + +When he awoke there was bustle and stir about him. Day had not yet +dawned, and the air was freezing cold. Yaqui had found a scant bundle +of greasewood which served to warm them and to cook breakfast. +Mercedes was not aroused till the last moment. + +Day dawned with the fugitives in the saddle. A picketed wall of cactus +hedged them in, yet the Yaqui made a tortuous path, that, zigzag as it +might, in the main always headed south. It was wonderful how he +slipped Diablo through the narrow aisles of thorns, saving the horse +and saving himself. The others were torn and clutched and held and +stung. The way was a flat, sandy pass between low mountain ranges. +There were open spots and aisles and squares of sand; and hedging rows +of prickly pear and the huge spider-legged ocatillo and hummocky masses +of clustered bisnagi. The day grew dry and hot. A fragrant wind blew +through the pass. Cactus flowers bloomed, red and yellow and magenta. +The sweet, pale Ajo lily gleamed in shady corners. + +Ten miles of travel covered the length of the pass. It opened wide +upon a wonderful scene, an arboreal desert, dominated by its pure light +green, yet lined by many merging colors. And it rose slowly to a low +dim and dark-red zone of lava, spurred, peaked, domed by volcano cones, +a wild and ragged region, illimitable as the horizon. + +The Yaqui, if not at fault, was yet uncertain. His falcon eyes +searched and roved, and became fixed at length at the southwest, and +toward this he turned his horse. The great, fluted saguaros, fifty, +sixty feet high, raised columnal forms, and their branching limbs and +curving lines added a grace to the desert. It was the low-bushed +cactus that made the toil and pain of travel. Yet these thorny forms +were beautiful. + +In the basins between the ridges, to right and left along the floor of +low plains the mirage glistened, wavered, faded, vanished--lakes and +trees and clouds. Inverted mountains hung suspended in the lilac air +and faint tracery of white-walled cities. + +At noon Yaqui halted the cavalcade. He had selected a field of bisnagi +cactus for the place of rest. Presently his reason became obvious. +With long, heavy knife he cut off the tops of these barrel-shaped +plants. He scooped out soft pulp, and with stone and hand then began +to pound the deeper pulp into a juicy mass. When he threw this out +there was a little water left, sweet, cool water which man and horse +shared eagerly. Thus he made even the desert's fiercest growths +minister to their needs. + +But he did not halt long. Miles of gray-green spiked walls lay between +him and that line of ragged, red lava which manifestly he must reach +before dark. The travel became faster, straighter. And the glistening +thorns clutched and clung to leather and cloth and flesh. The horses +reared, snorted, balked, leaped--but they were sent on. Only Blanco +Sol, the patient, the plodding, the indomitable, needed no goad or +spur. Waves and scarfs and wreaths of heat smoked up from the sand. +Mercedes reeled in her saddle. Thorne bade her drink, bathed her face, +supported her, and then gave way to Ladd, who took the girl with him on +Torre's broad back. Yaqui's unflagging purpose and iron arm were +bitter and hateful to the proud and haughty spirit of Blanco Diablo. +For once Belding's great white devil had met his master. He fought +rider, bit, bridle, cactus, sand--and yet he went on and on, +zigzagging, turning, winding, crashing through the barbed growths. The +middle of the afternoon saw Thorne reeling in his saddle, and then, +wherever possible, Gale's powerful arm lent him strength to hold his +seat. + +The giant cactus came to be only so in name. These saguaros were +thinning out, growing stunted, and most of them were single columns. +Gradually other cactus forms showed a harder struggle for existence, +and the spaces of sand between were wider. But now the dreaded, +glistening choya began to show pale and gray and white upon the rising +slope. Round-topped hills, sunset-colored above, blue-black below, +intervened to hide the distant spurs and peaks. Mile and mile long +tongues of red lava streamed out between the hills and wound down to +stop abruptly upon the slope. + +The fugitives were entering a desolate, burned-out world. It rose +above them in limitless, gradual ascent and spread wide to east and +west. Then the waste of sand began to yield to cinders. The horses +sank to their fetlocks as they toiled on. A fine, choking dust blew +back from the leaders, and men coughed and horses snorted. The huge, +round hills rose smooth, symmetrical, colored as if the setting sun was +shining on bare, blue-black surfaces. But the sun was now behind the +hills. In between ran the streams of lava. The horsemen skirted the +edge between slope of hill and perpendicular ragged wall. This red +lava seemed to have flowed and hardened there only yesterday. It was +broken sharp, dull rust color, full of cracks and caves and crevices, +and everywhere upon its jagged surface grew the white-thorned choya. + +Again twilight encompassed the travelers. But there was still light +enough for Gale to see the constricted passage open into a wide, deep +space where the dull color was relieved by the gray of gnarled and +dwarfed mesquite. Blanco Sol, keenest of scent, whistled his welcome +herald of water. The other horses answered, quickened their gait. +Gale smelled it, too, sweet, cool, damp on the dry air. + +Yaqui turned the corner of a pocket in the lava wall. The file of +white horses rounded the corner after him. And Gale, coming last, saw +the pale, glancing gleam of a pool of water beautiful in the twilight. + + +Next day the Yaqui's relentless driving demand on the horses was no +longer in evidence. He lost no time, but he did not hasten. His +course wound between low cinder dunes which limited their view of the +surrounding country. These dunes finally sank down to a black floor as +hard as flint with tongues of lava to the left, and to the right the +slow descent into the cactus plain. Yaqui was now traveling due west. +It was Gale's idea that the Indian was skirting the first sharp-toothed +slope of a vast volcanic plateau which formed the western half of the +Sonora Desert and extended to the Gulf of California. Travel was slow, +but not exhausting for rider or beast. A little sand and meager grass +gave a grayish tinge to the strip of black ground between lava and +plain. + +That day, as the manner rather than the purpose of the Yaqui changed, +so there seemed to be subtle differences in the others of the party. +Gale himself lost a certain sickening dread, which had not been for +himself, but for Mercedes and Nell, and Thorne and the rangers. Jim, +good-natured again, might have been patrolling the boundary line. Ladd +lost his taciturnity and his gloom changed to a cool, careless air. A +mood that was almost defiance began to be manifested in Thorne. It was +in Mercedes, however, that Gale marked the most significant change. +Her collapse the preceding day might never have been. She was lame and +sore; she rode her saddle sidewise, and often she had to be rested and +helped; but she had found a reserve fund of strength, and her mental +condition was not the same that it had been. Her burden of fear had +been lifted. Gale saw in her the difference he always felt in himself +after a few days in the desert. Already Mercedes and he, and all of +them, had begun to respond to the desert spirit. Moreover, Yaqui's +strange influence must have been a call to the primitive. + +Thirty miles of easy stages brought the fugitives to another waterhole, +a little round pocket under the heaved-up edge of lava. There was +spare, short, bleached grass for the horses, but no wood for a fire. +This night there was question and reply, conjecture, doubt, opinion, +and conviction expressed by the men of the party. But the Indian, who +alone could have told where they were, where they were going, what +chance they had to escape, maintained his stoical silence. Gale took +the early watch, Ladd the midnight one, and Lash that of the morning. + +The day broke rosy, glorious, cold as ice. Action was necessary to +make useful benumbed hands and feet. Mercedes was fed while yet +wrapped in blankets. Then, while the packs were being put on and +horses saddled, she walked up and down, slapping her hands, warming her +ears. The rose color of the dawn was in her cheeks, and the wonderful +clearness of desert light in her eyes. Thorne's eyes sought her +constantly. The rangers watched her. The Yaqui bent his glance upon +her only seldom; but when he did look it seemed that his strange, +fixed, and inscrutable face was about to break into a smile. Yet that +never happened. Gale himself was surprised to find how often his own +glance found the slender, dark, beautiful Spaniard. Was this because +of her beauty? he wondered. He thought not altogether. Mercedes was a +woman. She represented something in life that men of all races for +thousands of years had loved to see and own, to revere and debase, to +fight and die for. + +It was a significant index to the day's travel that Yaqui should keep a +blanket from the pack and tear it into strips to bind the legs of the +horses. It meant the dreaded choya and the knife-edged lava. That +Yaqui did not mount Diablo was still more significant. Mercedes must +ride; but the others must walk. + +The Indian led off into one of the gray notches between the tumbled +streams of lava. These streams were about thirty feet high, a rotting +mass of splintered lava, rougher than any other kind of roughness in +the world. At the apex of the notch, where two streams met, a narrow +gully wound and ascended. Gale caught sight of the dim, pale shadow of +a one-time trail. Near at hand it was invisible; he had to look far +ahead to catch the faint tracery. Yaqui led Diablo into it, and then +began the most laborious and vexatious and painful of all slow travel. + +Once up on top of that lava bed, Gale saw stretching away, breaking +into millions of crests and ruts, a vast, red-black field sweeping +onward and upward, with ragged, low ridges and mounds and spurs leading +higher and higher to a great, split escarpment wall, above which dim +peaks shone hazily blue in the distance. + +He looked no more in that direction. To keep his foothold, to save his +horse, cost him all energy and attention. The course was marked out +for him in the tracks of the other horses. He had only to follow. But +nothing could have been more difficult. The disintegrating surface of +a lava bed was at once the roughest, the hardest, the meanest, the +cruelest, the most deceitful kind of ground to travel. + +It was rotten, yet it had corners as hard and sharp as pikes. It was +rough, yet as slippery as ice. If there was a foot of level surface, +that space would be one to break through under a horse's hoofs. It was +seamed, lined, cracked, ridged, knotted iron. This lava bed resembled +a tremendously magnified clinker. It had been a running sea of molten +flint, boiling, bubbling, spouting, and it had burst its surface into a +million sharp facets as it hardened. The color was dull, dark, angry +red, like no other red, inflaming to the eye. The millions of minute +crevices were dominated by deep fissures and holes, ragged and rough +beyond all comparison. + +The fugitives made slow progress. They picked a cautious, winding way +to and fro in little steps here and there along the many twists of the +trail, up and down the unavoidable depressions, round and round the +holes. At noon, so winding back upon itself had been their course, +they appeared to have come only a short distance up the lava slope. + +It was rough work for them; it was terrible work for the horses. Blanco +Diablo refused to answer to the power of the Yaqui. He balked, he +plunged, he bit and kicked. He had to be pulled and beaten over many +places. Mercedes's horse almost threw her, and she was put upon Blanco +Sol. The white charger snorted a protest, then, obedient to Gale's +stern call, patiently lowered his noble head and pawed the lava for a +footing that would hold. + +The lava caused Gale toil and worry and pain, but he hated the choyas. +As the travel progressed this species of cactus increased in number of +plants and in size. Everywhere the red lava was spotted with little +round patches of glistening frosty white. And under every bunch of +choya, along and in the trail, were the discarded joints, like little +frosty pine cones covered with spines. It was utterly impossible always +to be on the lookout for these, and when Gale stepped on one, often as +not the steel-like thorns pierced leather and flesh. Gale came almost +to believe what he had heard claimed by desert travelers--that the +choya was alive and leaped at man or beast. Certain it was when Gale +passed one, if he did not put all attention to avoiding it, he was +hooked through his chaps and held by barbed thorns. The pain was +almost unendurable. It was like no other. It burned, stung, +beat--almost seemed to freeze. It made useless arm or leg. It made him +bite his tongue to keep from crying out. It made the sweat roll off +him. It made him sick. + +Moreover, bad as the choya was for man, it was infinitely worse for +beast. A jagged stab from this poisoned cactus was the only thing +Blanco Sol could not stand. Many times that day, before he carried +Mercedes, he had wildly snorted, and then stood trembling while Gale +picked broken thorns from the muscular legs. But after Mercedes had +been put upon Sol Gale made sure no choya touched him. + +The afternoon passed like the morning, in ceaseless winding and +twisting and climbing along this abandoned trail. Gale saw many +waterholes, mostly dry, some containing water, all of them +catch-basins, full only after rainy season. Little ugly bunched +bushes, that Gale scarcely recognized as mesquites, grew near these +holes; also stunted greasewood and prickly pear. There was no grass, +and the choya alone flourished in that hard soil. + +Darkness overtook the party as they unpacked beside a pool of water +deep under an overhanging shelf of lava. It had been a hard day. The +horses drank their fill, and then stood patiently with drooping heads. +Hunger and thirst appeased, and a warm fire cheered the weary and +foot-sore fugitives. Yaqui said, "Sleep." And so another night passed. + + +Upon the following morning, ten miles or more up the slow-ascending +lava slope, Gale's attention was called from his somber search for the +less rough places in the trail. + +"Dick, why does Yaqui look back?" asked Mercedes. + +Gale was startled. + +"Does he?" + +"Every little while," replied Mercedes. + +Gale was in the rear of all the other horses, so as to take, for +Mercedes's sake, the advantage of the broken trail. Yaqui was leading +Diablo, winding around a break. His head was bent as he stepped slowly +and unevenly upon the lava. Gale turned to look back, the first time +in several days. The mighty hollow of the desert below seemed wide +strip of red--wide strip of green--wide strip of gray--streaking to +purple peaks. It was all too vast, too mighty to grasp any little +details. He thought, of course, of Rojas in certain pursuit; but it +seemed absurded to look for him. + +Yaqui led on, and Gale often glanced up from his task to watch the +Indian. Presently he saw him stop, turn, and look back. Ladd did +likewise, and then Jim and Thorne. Gale found the desire irresistible. +Thereafter he often rested Blanco Sol, and looked back the while. He +had his field-glass, but did not choose to use it. + +"Rojas will follow," said Mercedes. + +Gale regarded her in amaze. The tone of her voice had been +indefinable. If there were fear then he failed to detect it. She was +gazing back down the colored slope, and something about her, perhaps +the steady, falcon gaze of her magnificent eyes, reminded him of Yaqui. + +Many times during the ensuing hour the Indian faced about, and always +his followers did likewise. It was high noon, with the sun beating hot +and the lava radiating heat, when Yaqui halted for a rest. The place +selected was a ridge of lava, almost a promontory, considering its +outlook. The horses bunched here and drooped their heads. The rangers +were about to slip the packs and remove saddles when Yaqui restrained +them. + +He fixed a changeless, gleaming gaze on the slow descent; but did not +seem to look afar. + +Suddenly he uttered his strange cry--the one Gale considered +involuntary, or else significant of some tribal trait or feeling. It +was incomprehensible, but no one could have doubted its potency. Yaqui +pointed down the lava slope, pointed with finger and arm and neck and +head--his whole body was instinct with direction. His whole being +seemed to have been animated and then frozen. His posture could not +have been misunderstood, yet his expression had not altered. Gale had +never seen the Indian's face change its hard, red-bronze calm. It was +the color and the flintiness and the character of the lava at his feet. + +"Shore he sees somethin'," said Ladd. "But my eyes are not good." + +"I reckon I ain't sure of mine," replied Jim. "I'm bothered by a dim +movin' streak down there." + +Thorne gazed eagerly down as he stood beside Mercedes, who sat +motionless facing the slope. Gale looked and looked till he hurt his +eyes. Then he took his glass out of its case on Sol's saddle. + +There appeared to be nothing upon the lava but the innumerable dots of +choya shining in the sun. Gale swept his glass slowly forward and +back. Then into a nearer field of vision crept a long white-and-black +line of horses and men. Without a word he handed the glass to Ladd. +The ranger used it, muttering to himself. + +"They're on the lava fifteen miles down in an air line," he said, +presently. "Jim, shore they're twice that an' more accordin' to the +trail." + +Jim had his look and replied: "I reckon we're a day an' a night in the +lead." + +"Is it Rojas?" burst out Thorne, with set jaw. + +"Yes, Thorne. It's Rojas and a dozen men or more," replied Gale, and +he looked up at Mercedes. + +She was transformed. She might have been a medieval princess embodying +all the Spanish power and passion of that time, breathing revenge, +hate, unquenchable spirit of fire. If her beauty had been wonderful in +her helpless and appealing moments, now, when she looked back +white-faced and flame-eyed, it was transcendant. + +Gale drew a long, deep breath. The mood which had presaged pursuit, +strife, blood on this somber desert, returned to him tenfold. He saw +Thorne's face corded by black veins, and his teeth exposed like those +of a snarling wolf. These rangers, who had coolly risked death many +times, and had dealt it often, were white as no fear or pain could have +made them. Then, on the moment, Yaqui raised his hand, not clenched or +doubled tight, but curled rigid like an eagle's claw; and he shook it +in a strange, slow gesture which was menacing and terrible. + +It was the woman that called to the depths of these men. And their +passion to kill and to save was surpassed only by the wild hate which +was yet love, the unfathomable emotion of a peon slave. Gale marveled +at it, while he felt his whole being cold and tense, as he turned once +more to follow in the tracks of his leaders. The fight predicted by +Belding was at hand. What a fight that must be! Rojas was traveling +light and fast. He was gaining. He had bought his men with gold, with +extravagant promises, perhaps with offers of the body and blood of an +aristocrat hateful to their kind. Lastly, there was the wild, desolate +environment, a tortured wilderness of jagged lava and poisoned choya, a +lonely, fierce, and repellant world, a red stage most somberly and +fittingly colored for a supreme struggle between men. + +Yaqui looked back no more. Mercedes looked back no more. But the +others looked, and the time came when Gale saw the creeping line of +pursuers with naked eyes. + +A level line above marked the rim of the plateau. Sand began to show +in the little lava pits. On and upward toiled the cavalcade, still +very slowly advancing. At last Yaqui reached the rim. He stood with +his hand on Blanco Diablo; and both were silhouetted against the sky. +That was the outlook for a Yaqui. And his great horse, dazzlingly +white in the sunlight, with head wildly and proudly erect, mane and +tail flying in the wind, made a magnificent picture. The others toiled +on and upward, and at last Gale led Blanco Sol over the rim. Then all +looked down the red slope. + +But shadows were gathering there and no moving line could be seen. + +Yaqui mounted and wheeled Diablo away. The others followed. Gale saw +that the plateau was no more than a vast field of low, ragged circles, +levels, mounds, cones, and whirls of lava. The lava was of a darker +red than that down upon the slope, and it was harder than flint. In +places fine sand and cinders covered the uneven floor. Strange +varieties of cactus vied with the omnipresent choya. Yaqui, however, +found ground that his horse covered at a swift walk. + +But there was only an hour, perhaps, of this comparatively easy going. +Then the Yaqui led them into a zone of craters. The top of the earth +seemed to have been blown out in holes from a few rods in width to +large craters, some shallow, others deep, and all red as fire. Yaqui +circled close to abysses which yawned sheer from a level surface, and +he appeared always to be turning upon his course to avoid them. + +The plateau had now a considerable dip to the west. Gale marked the +slow heave and ripple of the ocean of lava to the south, where high, +rounded peaks marked the center of this volcanic region. The uneven +nature of the slope westward prevented any extended view, until +suddenly the fugitives emerged from a rugged break to come upon a +sublime and awe-inspiring spectacle. + +They were upon a high point of the western slope of the plateau. It was +a slope, but so many leagues long in its descent that only from a +height could any slant have been perceptible. Yaqui and his white +horse stood upon the brink of a crater miles in circumference, a +thousand feet deep, with its red walls patched in frost-colored spots +by the silvery choya. The giant tracery of lava streams waved down the +slope to disappear in undulating sand dunes. And these bordered a +seemingly endless arm of blue sea. This was the Gulf of California. +Beyond the Gulf rose dim, bold mountains, and above them hung the +setting sun, dusky red, flooding all that barren empire with a sinister +light. + +It was strange to Gale then, and perhaps to the others, to see their +guide lead Diablo into a smooth and well-worn trail along the rim of +the awful crater. Gale looked down into that red chasm. It resembled +an inferno. The dark cliffs upon the opposite side were veiled in blue +haze that seemed like smoke. Here Yaqui was at home. He moved and +looked about him as a man coming at last into his own. Gale saw him +stop and gaze out over that red-ribbed void to the Gulf. + +Gale devined that somewhere along this crater of hell the Yaqui would +make his final stand; and one look into his strange, inscrutable eyes +made imagination picture a fitting doom for the pursuing Rojas. + + + +XII + +THE CRATER OF HELL + +THE trail led along a gigantic fissure in the side of the crater, and +then down and down into a red-walled, blue hazed labyrinth. + +Presently Gale, upon turning a sharp corner, was utterly amazed to see +that the split in the lava sloped out and widened into an arroyo. It +was so green and soft and beautiful in all the angry, contorted red +surrounding that Gale could scarcely credit his sight. Blanco Sol +whistled his welcome to the scent of water. Then Gale saw a great +hole, a pit in the shiny lava, a dark, cool, shady well. There was +evidence of the fact that at flood seasons the water had an outlet into +the arroyo. The soil appeared to be a fine sand, in which a reddish +tinge predominated; and it was abundantly covered with a long grass, +still partly green. Mesquites and palo verdes dotted the arroyo and +gradually closed in thickets that obstructed the view. + +"Shore it all beats me," exclaimed Ladd. "What a place to hole-up in! +We could have hid here for a long time. Boys, I saw mountain sheep, +the real old genuine Rocky Mountain bighorn. What do you think of +that?" + +"I reckon it's a Yaqui hunting-ground," replied Lash. "That trail we +hit must be hundreds of years old. It's worn deep and smooth in iron +lava." + +"Well, all I got to say is--Beldin' was shore right about the Indian. +An' I can see Rojas's finish somewhere up along that awful hell-hole." + +Camp was made on a level spot. Yaqui took the horses to water, and +then turned them loose in the arroyo. It was a tired and somber group +that sat down to eat. The strain of suspense equaled the wearing +effects of the long ride. Mercedes was calm, but her great dark eyes +burned in her white face. Yaqui watched her. The others looked at her +with unspoken pride. Presently Thorne wrapped her in his blankets, and +she seemed to fall asleep at once. Twilight deepened. The campfire +blazed brighter. A cool wind played with Mercedes's black hair, waving +strands across her brow. + +Little of Yaqui's purpose or plan could be elicited from him. But the +look of him was enough to satisfy even Thorne. He leaned against a +pile of wood, which he had collected, and his gloomy gaze pierced the +campfire, and at long intervals strayed over the motionless form of the +Spanish girl. + +The rangers and Thorne, however, talked in low tones. It was +absolutely impossible for Rojas and his men to reach the waterhole +before noon of the next day. And long before that time the fugitives +would have decided on a plan of defense. What that defense would be, +and where it would be made, were matters over which the men considered +gravely. Ladd averred the Yaqui would put them into an impregnable +position, that at the same time would prove a death-trap for their +pursuers. They exhausted every possibility, and then, tired as they +were, still kept on talking. + +"What stuns me is that Rojas stuck to our trail," said Thorne, his +lined and haggard face expressive of dark passion. "He has followed us +into this fearful desert. He'll lose men, horses, perhaps his life. +He's only a bandit, and he stands to win no gold. If he ever gets out +of here it 'll be by herculean labor and by terrible hardship. All for +a poor little helpless woman--just a woman! My God, I can't understand +it." + +"Shore--just a woman," replied Ladd, solemnly nodding his head. + +Then there was a long silence during which the men gazed into the fire. +Each, perhaps, had some vague conception of the enormity of Rojas's +love or hate--some faint and amazing glimpse of the gulf of human +passion. Those were cold, hard, grim faces upon which the light +flickered. + +"Sleep," said the Yaqui. + +Thorne rolled in his blanket close beside Mercedes. Then one by one +the rangers stretched out, feet to the fire. Gale found that he could +not sleep. His eyes were weary, but they would not stay shut; his body +ached for rest, yet he could not lie still. The night was so somber, +so gloomy, and the lava-encompassed arroyo full of shadows. The dark +velvet sky, fretted with white fire, seemed to be close. There was an +absolute silence, as of death. Nothing moved--nothing outside of +Gale's body appeared to live. The Yaqui sat like an image carved out +of lava. The others lay prone and quiet. Would another night see any +of them lie that way, quiet forever? Gale felt a ripple pass over him +that was at once a shudder and a contraction of muscles. Used as he +was to the desert and its oppression, why should he feel to-night as if +the weight of its lava and the burden of its mystery were bearing him +down? + +He sat up after a while and again watched the fire. Nell's sweet face +floated like a wraith in the pale smoke--glowed and flushed and smiled +in the embers. Other faces shone there--his sister's--that of his +mother. Gale shook off the tender memories. This desolate wilderness +with its forbidding silence and its dark promise of hell on the +morrow--this was not the place to unnerve oneself with thoughts of love +and home. But the torturing paradox of the thing was that this was +just the place and just the night for a man to be haunted. + +By and by Gale rose and walked down a shadowy aisle between the +mesquites. On his way back the Yaqui joined him. Gale was not +surprised. He had become used to the Indian's strange guardianship. +But now, perhaps because of Gale's poignancy of thought, the contending +tides of love and regret, the deep, burning premonition of deadly +strife, he was moved to keener scrutiny of the Yaqui. That, of course, +was futile. The Indian was impenetrable, silent, strange. But +suddenly, inexplicably, Gale felt Yaqui's human quality. It was aloof, +as was everything about this Indian; but it was there. This savage +walked silently beside him, without glance or touch or word. His +thought was as inscrutable as if mind had never awakened in his race. +Yet Gale was conscious of greatness, and, somehow, he was reminded of +the Indian's story. His home had been desolated, his people carried +off to slavery, his wife and children separated from him to die. What +had life meant to the Yaqui? What had been in his heart? What was now +in his mind? Gale could not answer these questions. But the +difference between himself and Yaqui, which he had vaguely felt as that +between savage and civilized men, faded out of his mind forever. Yaqui +might have considered he owed Gale a debt, and, with a Yaqui's austere +and noble fidelity to honor, he meant to pay it. Nevertheless, this +was not the thing Gale found in the Indian's silent presence. +Accepting the desert with its subtle and inconceivable influence, Gale +felt that the savage and the white man had been bound in a tie which +was no less brotherly because it could not be comprehended. + +Toward dawn Gale managed to get some sleep. Then the morning broke +with the sun hidden back of the uplift of the plateau. The horses +trooped up the arroyo and snorted for water. After a hurried breakfast +the packs were hidden in holes in the lava. The saddles were left +where they were, and the horses allowed to graze and wander at will. +Canteens were filled, a small bag of food was packed, and blankets made +into a bundle. Then Yaqui faced the steep ascent of the lava slope. + +The trail he followed led up on the right side of the fissure, opposite +to the one he had come down. It was a steep climb, and encumbered as +the men were they made but slow progress. Mercedes had to be lifted up +smooth steps and across crevices. They passed places where the rims of +the fissure were but a few yards apart. At length the rims widened out +and the red, smoky crater yawned beneath. Yaqui left the trail and +began clambering down over the rough and twisted convolutions of lava +which formed the rim. Sometimes he hung sheer over the precipice. It +was with extreme difficulty that the party followed him. Mercedes had +to be held on narrow, foot-wide ledges. The choya was there to hinder +passage. Finally the Indian halted upon a narrow bench of flat, smooth +lava, and his followers worked with exceeding care and effort down to +his position. + +At the back of this bench, between bunches of choya, was a niche, a +shallow cave with floor lined apparently with mold. Ladd said the +place was a refuge which had been inhabited by mountain sheep for many +years. Yaqui spread blankets inside, left the canteen and the sack of +food, and with a gesture at once humble, yet that of a chief, he +invited Mercedes to enter. A few more gestures and fewer words +disclosed his plan. In this inaccessible nook Mercedes was to be +hidden. The men were to go around upon the opposite rim, and block the +trail leading down to the waterhole. + +Gale marked the nature of this eyrie. It was the wildest and most +rugged place he had ever stepped upon. Only a sheep could have climbed +up the wall above or along the slanting shelf of lava beyond. Below +glistened a whole bank of choya, frosty in the sunlight, and it +overhung an apparently bottomless abyss. + +Ladd chose the smallest gun in the party and gave it to Mercedes. + +"Shore it's best to go the limit on bein' ready," he said, simply. "The +chances are you'll never need it. But if you do--" + +He left off there, and his break was significant. Mercedes answered +him with a fearless and indomitable flash of eyes. Thorne was the only +one who showed any shaken nerve. His leave-taking of his wife was +affecting and hurried. Then he and the rangers carefully stepped in +the tracks of the Yaqui. + +They climbed up to the level of the rim and went along the edge. When +they reached the fissure and came upon its narrowest point, Yaqui +showed in his actions that he meant to leap it. Ladd restrained the +Indian. They then continued along the rim till they reached several +bridges of lava which crossed it. The fissures was deep in some parts, +choked in others. Evidently the crater had no direct outlet into the +arroyo below. Its bottom, however, must have been far beneath the +level of the waterhole. + +After the fissure was crossed the trail was soon found. Here it ran +back from the rim. Yaqui waved his hand to the right, where along the +corrugated slope of the crater there were holes and crevices and +coverts for a hundred men. Yaqui strode on up the trail toward a +higher point, where presently his dark figure stood motionless against +the sky. The rangers and Thorne selected a deep depression, out of +which led several ruts deep enough for cover. According to Ladd it was +as good a place as any, perhaps not so hidden as others, but freer from +the dreaded choya. Here the men laid down rifles and guns, and, +removing their heavy cartridge belts, settled down to wait. + +Their location was close to the rim wall and probably five hundred +yards from the opposite rim, which was now seen to be considerably +below them. The glaring red cliff presented a deceitful and baffling +appearance. It had a thousand ledges and holes in its surfaces, and +one moment it looked perpendicular and the next there seemed to be a +long slant. Thorne pointed out where he thought Mercedes was hidden; +Ladd selected another place, and Lash still another. Gale searched for +the bank of choya he had seen under the bench where Mercedes's retreat +lay, and when he found it the others disputed his opinion. Then Gale +brought his field glass into requisition, proving that he was right. +Once located and fixed in sight, the white patch of choya, the bench, +and the sheep eyrie stood out from the other features of that rugged +wall. But all the men were agreed that Yaqui had hidden Mercedes where +only the eyes of a vulture could have found her. + +Jim Lash crawled into a little strip of shade and bided the time +tranquilly. Ladd was restless and impatient and watchful, every little +while rising to look up the far-reaching slope, and then to the right, +where Yaqui's dark figure stood out from a high point of the rim. +Thorne grew silent, and seemed consumed by a slow, sullen rage. Gale +was neither calm nor free of a gnawing suspense nor of a waiting wrath. +But as best he could he put the pending action out of mind. + +It came over him all of a sudden that he had not grasped the stupendous +nature of this desert setting. There was the measureless red slope, +its lower ridges finally sinking into white sand dunes toward the blue +sea. The cold, sparkling light, the white sun, the deep azure of sky, +the feeling of boundless expanse all around him--these meant high +altitude. Southward the barren red simply merged into distance. The +field of craters rose in high, dark wheels toward the dominating peaks. +When Gale withdrew his gaze from the magnitude of these spaces and +heights the crater beneath him seemed dwarfed. Yet while he gazed it +spread and deepened and multiplied its ragged lines. No, he could not +grasp the meaning of size or distance here. There was too much to stun +the sight. But the mood in which nature had created this convulsed +world of lava seized hold upon him. + +Meanwhile the hours passed. As the sun climbed the clear, steely +lights vanished, the blue hazes deepened, and slowly the glistening +surfaces of lava turned redder. Ladd was concerned to discover that +Yaqui was missing from his outlook upon the high point. Jim Lash came +out of the shady crevice, and stood up to buckle on his cartridge belt. +His narrow, gray glance slowly roved from the height of lava down along +the slope, paused in doubt, and then swept on to resurvey the whole +vast eastern dip of the plateau. + +"I reckon my eyes are pore," he said. "Mebbe it's this damn red glare. +Anyway, what's them creepin' spots up there?" + +"Shore I seen them. Mountain sheep," replied Ladd. + +"Guess again, Laddy. Dick, I reckon you'd better flash the glass up +the slope." + +Gale adjusted the field glass and began to search the lava, beginning +close at hand and working away from him. Presently the glass became +stationary. + +"I see half a dozen small animals, brown in color. They look like +sheep. But I couldn't distinguish mountain sheep from antelope." + +"Shore they're bighorn," said Laddy. + +"I reckon if you'll pull around to the east an' search under that long +wall of lava--there--you'll see what I see," added Jim. + +The glass climbed and circled, wavered an instant, then fixed steady as +a rock. There was a breathless silence. + +"Fourteen horses--two packed--some mounted--others without riders, and +lame," said Gale, slowly. + +Yaqui appeared far up the trail, coming swiftly. Presently he saw the +rangers and halted to wave his arms and point. Then he vanished as if +the lava had opened beneath him. + +"Lemme that glass," suddenly said Jim Lash. "I'm seein' red, I tell +you.... Well, pore as my eyes are they had it right. Rojas an' his +outfit have left the trail." + +"Jim, you ain't meanin' they've taken to that awful slope?" queried +Ladd. + +"I sure do. There they are--still comin', but goin' down, too." + +"Mebbe Rojas is crazy, but it begins to look like he--" + +"Laddy, I'll be danged if the Greaser bunch hasn't vamoosed. Gone out +of sight! Right there not a half mile away, the whole caboodle--gone!" + +"Shore they're behind a crust or have gone down into a rut," suggested +Ladd. "They'll show again in a minute. Look sharp, boys, for I'm +figgerin' Rojas 'll spread his men." + +Minutes passed, but nothing moved upon the slope. Each man crawled up +to a vantage point along the crest of rotting lava. The watchers were +careful to peer through little notches or from behind a spur, and the +constricted nature of their hiding-place kept them close together. +Ladd's muttering grew into a growl, then lapsed into the silence that +marked his companions. From time to time the rangers looked +inquiringly at Gale. The field glass, however, like the naked sight, +could not catch the slightest moving object out there upon the lava. A +long hour of slow, mounting suspense wore on. + +"Shore it's all goin' to be as queer as the Yaqui," said Ladd. + +Indeed, the strange mien, the silent action, the somber character of +the Indian had not been without effect upon the minds of the men. Then +the weird, desolate, tragic scene added to the vague sense of mystery. +And now the disappearance of Rojas's band, the long wait in the +silence, the boding certainty of invisible foes crawling, circling +closer and closer, lent to the situation a final touch that made it +unreal. + +"I'm reckonin' there's a mind behind them Greasers," replied Jim. "Or +mebbe we ain't done Rojas credit... If somethin' would only come off!" + +That Lash, the coolest, most provokingly nonchalant of men in times of +peril, should begin to show a nervous strain was all the more +indicative of a subtle pervading unreality. + +"Boys, look sharp!" suddenly called Lash. "Low down to the left--mebbe +three hundred yards. See, along by them seams of lava--behind the +choyas. First off I thought it was a sheep. But it's the Yaqui!... +Crawlin' swift as a lizard! Can't you see him?" + +It was a full moment before Jim's companions could locate the Indian. +Flat as a snake Yaqui wound himself along with incredible rapidity. +His advance was all the more remarkable for the fact that he appeared +to pass directly under the dreaded choyas. Sometimes he paused to lift +his head and look. He was directly in line with a huge whorl of lava +that rose higher than any point on the slope. This spur was a quarter +of a mile from the position of the rangers. + +"Shore he's headin' for that high place," said Ladd. "He's goin' slow +now. There, he's stopped behind some choyas. He's gettin' up--no, +he's kneelin'.... Now what the hell!" + +"Laddy, take a peek at the side of that lava ridge," sharply called +Jim. "I guess mebbe somethin' ain't comin' off. See! There's Rojas +an' his outfit climbin'. Don't make out no hosses.... Dick, use your +glass an' tell us what's doin'. I'll watch Yaqui an' tell you what his +move means." + +Clearly and distinctly, almost as if he could have touched them, Gale +had Rojas and his followers in sight. They were toiling up the rough +lava on foot. They were heavily armed. Spurs, chaps, jackets, scarfs +were not in evidence. Gale saw the lean, swarthy faces, the black, +straggly hair, the ragged, soiled garments which had once been white. + +"They're almost up now," Gale was saying. "There! They halt on top. +I see Rojas. He looks wild. By ----! fellows, an Indian!... It's a +Papago. Belding's old herder!... The Indian points--this way--then +down. He's showing Rojas the lay of the trail." + +"Boys, Yaqui's in range of that bunch," said Jim, swiftly. "He's +raisin' his rifle slow--Lord, how slow he is!... He's covered some one. +Which one I can't say. But I think he'll pick Rojas." + +"The Yaqui can shoot. He'll pick Rojas," added Gale, grimly. + +"Rojas--yes--yes!" cried Thorne, in passion of suspense. + +"Not on your life!" Ladd's voice cut in with scorn. "Gentlemen, you +can gamble Yaqui 'll kill the Papago. That traitor Indian knows these +sheep haunts. He's tellin' Rojas--" + +A sharp rifle shot rang out. + +"Laddy's right," called Gale. "The Papago's hit--his arm falls--There, +he tumbles!" + +More shots rang out. Yaqui was seen standing erect firing rapidly at +the darting Mexicans. For all Gale could make out no second bullet +took effect. Rojas and his men vanished behind the bulge of lava. +Then Yaqui deliberately backed away from his position. He made no +effort to run or hide. Evidently he watched cautiously for signs of +pursuers in the ruts and behind the choyas. Presently he turned and +came straight toward the position of the rangers, sheered off perhaps a +hundred paces below it, and disappeared in a crevice. Plainly his +intention was to draw pursuers within rifle shot. + +"Shore, Jim, you had your wish. Somethin' come off," said Ladd. "An' +I'm sayin' thank God for the Yaqui! That Papago 'd have ruined us. +Even so, mebbe he's told Rojas more'n enough to make us sweat blood." + +"He had a chance to kill Rojas," cried out the drawn-faced, passionate +Thorne. "He didn't take it!... He didn't take it!" + +Only Ladd appeared to be able to answer the cavalryman's poignant cry. + +"Listen, son," he said, and his voice rang. "We-all know how you feel. +An' if I'd had that one shot never in the world could I have picked the +Papago guide. I'd have had to kill Rojas. That's the white man of it. +But Yaqui was right. Only an Indian could have done it. You can +gamble the Papago alive meant slim chance for us. Because he'd led +straight to where Mercedes is hidden, an' then we'd have left cover to +fight it out... When you come to think of the Yaqui's hate for +Greasers, when you just seen him pass up a shot at one--well, I don't +know how to say what I mean, but damn me, my som-brer-ro is off to the +Indian!" + +"I reckon so, an' I reckon the ball's opened," rejoined Lash, and now +that former nervous impatience so unnatural to him was as if it had +never been. He was smilingly cool, and his voice had almost a +caressing note. He tapped the breech of his Winchester with a sinewy +brown hand, and he did not appear to be addressing any one in +particular. "Yaqui's opened the ball. Look up your pardners there, +gents, an' get ready to dance." + +Another wait set in then, and judging by the more direct rays of the +sun and a receding of the little shadows cast by the choyas, Gale was +of the opinion that it was a long wait. But it seemed short. The four +men were lying under the bank of a half circular hole in the lava. It +was notched and cracked, and its rim was fringed by choyas. It sloped +down and opened to an unobstructed view of the crater. Gale had the +upper position, fartherest to the right, and therefore was best +shielded from possible fire from the higher ridges of the rim, some +three hundred yards distant. Jim came next, well hidden in a crack. +The positions of Thorne and Ladd were most exposed. They kept sharp +lookout over the uneven rampart of their hiding-place. + +The sun passed the zenith, began to slope westward, and to grow hotter +as it sloped. The men waited and waited. Gale saw no impatience even +in Thorne. The sultry air seemed to be laden with some burden or +quality that was at once composed of heat, menace, color, and silence. +Even the light glancing up from the lava seemed red and the silence had +substance. Sometimes Gale felt that it was unbearable. Yet he made no +effort to break it. + +Suddenly this dead stillness was rent by a shot, clear and stinging, +close at hand. It was from a rifle, not a carbine. With startling +quickness a cry followed--a cry that pierced Gale--it was so thin, so +high-keyed, so different from all other cries. It was the involuntary +human shriek at death. + +"Yaqui's called out another pardner," said Jim Lash, laconically. + +Carbines began to crack. The reports were quick, light, like sharp +spats without any ring. Gale peered from behind the edge of his +covert. Above the ragged wave of lava floated faint whitish clouds, +all that was visible of smokeless powder. Then Gale made out round +spots, dark against the background of red, and in front of them leaped +out small tongues of fire. Ladd's .405 began to "spang" with its +beautiful sound of power. Thorne was firing, somewhat wildly Gale +thought. Then Jim Lash pushed his Winchester over the rim under a +choya, and between shots Gale could hear him singing: "Turn the lady, +turn--turn the lady, turn!... Alaman left!... Swing your pardners!... +Forward an' back!... Turn the lady, turn!" Gale got into the fight +himself, not so sure that he hit any of the round, bobbing objects he +aimed at, but growing sure of himself as action liberated something +forced and congested within his breast. + +Then over the position of the rangers came a hail of steel bullets. +Those that struck the lava hissed away into the crater; those that came +biting through the choyas made a sound which resembled a sharp ripping +of silk. Bits of cactus stung Gale's face, and he dreaded the flying +thorns more than he did the flying bullets. + +"Hold on, boys," called Ladd, as he crouched down to reload his rifle. +"Save your shells. The greasers are spreadin' on us, some goin' down +below Yaqui, others movin' up for that high ridge. When they get up +there I'm damned if it won't be hot for us. There ain't room for all +of us to hide here." + +Ladd raised himself to peep over the rim. Shots were now scattering, +and all appeared to come from below. Emboldened by this he rose +higher. A shot from in front, a rip of bullet through the choya, a +spat of something hitting Ladd's face, a steel missile hissing +onward--these inseparably blended sounds were all registered by Gale's +sensitive ear. + +With a curse Ladd tumbled down into the hole. His face showed a great +gray blotch, and starting blood. Gale felt a sickening assurance of +desperate injury to the ranger. He ran to him calling: "Laddy! Laddy!" + +"Shore I ain't plugged. It's a damn choya burr. The bullet knocked it +in my face. Pull it out!" + +The oval, long-spiked cone was firmly imbedded in Ladd's cheek. Blood +streamed down his face and neck. Carefully, yet with no thought of +pain to himself, Gale tried to pull the cactus joint away. It was as +firm as if it had been nailed there. That was the damnable feature of +the barbed thorns: once set, they held on as that strange plant held +to its desert life. Ladd began to writhe, and sweat mingled with the +blood on his face. He cursed and raved, and his movements made it +almost impossible for Gale to do anything. + +"Put your knife-blade under an' tear it out!" shouted Ladd, hoarsely. + +Thus ordered, Gale slipped a long blade in between the imbedded thorns, +and with a powerful jerk literally tore the choya out of Ladd's +quivering flesh. Then, where the ranger's face was not red and raw, it +certainly was white. + +A volley of shots from a different angle was followed by the quick ring +of steel bullets striking the lava all around Gale. His first idea, as +he heard the projectiles sing and hum and whine away into the air, was +that they were coming from above him. He looked up to see a number of +low, white and dark knobs upon the high point of lava. They had not +been there before. Then he saw little, pale, leaping tongues of fire. +As he dodged down he distinctly heard a bullet strike Ladd. At the +same instant he seemed to hear Thorne cry out and fall, and Lash's +boots scrape rapidly away. + +Ladd fell backward still holding the .405. Gale dragged him into the +shelter of his own position, and dreading to look at him, took up the +heavy weapon. It was with a kind of savage strength that he gripped +the rifle; and it was with a cold and deadly intent that he aimed and +fired. The first Greaser huddled low, let his carbine go clattering +down, and then crawled behind the rim. The second and third jerked +back. The fourth seemed to flop up over the crest of lava. A dark arm +reached for him, clutched his leg, tried to drag him up. It was in +vain. Wildly grasping at the air the bandit fell, slid down a steep +shelf, rolled over the rim, to go hurtling down out of sight. + +Fingering the hot rifle with close-pressed hands, Gale watched the sky +line along the high point of lava. It remained unbroken. As his +passion left him he feared to look back at his companions, and the cold +chill returned to his breast. + +"Shore--I'm damn glad--them Greasers ain't usin' soft-nose bullets," +drawled a calm voice. + +Swift as lightning Gale whirled. + +"Laddy! I thought you were done for," cried Gale, with a break in his +voice. + +"I ain't a-mindin' the bullet much. But that choya joint took my +nerve, an' you can gamble on it. Dick, this hole's pretty high up, +ain't it?" + +The ranger's blouse was open at the neck, and on his right shoulder +under the collar bone was a small hole just beginning to bleed. + +"Sure it's high, Laddy," replied Gale, gladly. "Went clear through, +clean as a whistle!" + +He tore a handkerchief into two parts, made wads, and pressing them +close over the wounds he bound them there with Ladd's scarf. + +"Shore it's funny how a bullet can floor a man an' then not do any +damage," said Ladd. "I felt a zip of wind an' somethin' like a pat on +my chest an' down I went. Well, so much for the small caliber with +their steel bullets. Supposin' I'd connected with a .405!" + +"Laddy, I--I'm afraid Thorne's done for," whispered Gale. "He's lying +over there in that crack. I can see part of him. He doesn't move." + +"I was wonderin' if I'd have to tell you that. Dick, he went down hard +hit, fallin', you know, limp an' soggy. It was a moral cinch one of us +would get it in this fight; but God! I'm sorry Thorne had to be the +man." + +"Laddy, maybe he's not dead," replied Gale. He called aloud to his +friend. There was no answer. + +Ladd got up, and, after peering keenly at the height of lava, he strode +swiftly across the space. It was only a dozen steps to the crack in +the lava where Thorne had fallen head first. Ladd bent over, went to +his knees, so that Gale saw only his head. Then he appeared rising +with arms round the cavalryman. He dragged him across the hole to the +sheltered corner that alone afforded protection. He had scarcely +reached it when a carbine cracked and a bullet struck the flinty lava, +striking sparks, then singing away into the air. + +Thorne was either dead or unconscious, and Gale, with a contracting +throat and numb heart, decided for the former. Not so Ladd, who probed +the bloody gash on Thorne's temple, and then felt his breast. + +"He's alive an' not bad hurt. That bullet hit him glancin'. Shore +them steel bullets are some lucky for us. Dick, you needn't look so +glum. I tell you he ain't bad hurt. I felt his skull with my finger. +There's no hole in it. Wash him off an' tie-- Wow! did you get the +wind of that one? An' mebbe it didn't sing off the lava!... Dick, look +after Thorne now while I--" + +The completion of his speech was the stirring ring of the .405, and +then he uttered a laugh that was unpleasant. + +"Shore, Greaser, there's a man's size bullet for you. No slim, +sharp-pointed, steel-jacket nail! I'm takin' it on me to believe +you're appreciatin' of the .405, seein' as you don't make no fuss." + +It was indeed a joy to Gale to find that Thorne had not received a +wound necessarily fatal, though it was serious enough. Gale bathed and +bound it, and laid the cavalryman against the slant of the bank, his +head high to lessen the probability of bleeding. + +As Gale straightened up Ladd muttered low and deep, and swung the heavy +rifle around to the left. Far along the slope a figure moved. Ladd +began to work the lever of the Winchester and to shoot. At every shot +the heavy firearm sprang up, and the recoil made Ladd's shoulder give +back. Gale saw the bullets strike the lava behind, beside, before the +fleeing Mexican, sending up dull puffs of dust. On the sixth shot he +plunged down out of sight, either hit or frightened into seeking cover. + +"Dick, mebbe there's one or two left above; but we needn't figure much +on it," said Ladd, as, loading the rifle, he jerked his fingers quickly +from the hot breech. "Listen! Jim an' Yaqui are hittin' it up lively +down below. I'll sneak down there. You stay here an' keep about half +an eye peeled up yonder, an' keep the rest my way." + +Ladd crossed the hole, climbed down into the deep crack where Thorne +had fallen, and then went stooping along with only his head above the +level. Presently he disappeared. Gale, having little to fear from the +high ridge, directed most of his attention toward the point beyond +which Ladd had gone. The firing had become desultory, and the light +carbine shots outnumbered the sharp rifle shots five to one. Gale made +a note of the fact that for some little time he had not heard the +unmistakable report of Jim Lash's automatic. Then ensued a long +interval in which the desert silence seemed to recover its grip. The +.405 ripped it asunder--spang--spang--spang. Gale fancied he heard +yells. There were a few pattering shots still farther down the trail. +Gale had an uneasy conviction that Rojas and some of his band might go +straight to the waterhole. It would be hard to dislodge even a few men +from that retreat. + +There seemed a lull in the battle. Gale ventured to stand high, and +screened behind choyas, he swept the three-quarter circle of lava with +his glass. In the distance he saw horses, but no riders. Below him, +down the slope along the crater rim and the trail, the lava was bare of +all except tufts of choya. Gale gathered assurance. It looked as if +the day was favoring his side. Then Thorne, coming partly to +consciousness, engaged Gale's care. The cavalryman stirred and moaned, +called for water, and then for Mercedes. Gale held him back with a +strong hand, and presently he was once more quiet. + +For the first time in hours, as it seemed, Gale took note of the +physical aspect of his surroundings. He began to look upon them +without keen gaze strained for crouching form, or bobbing head, or +spouting carbine. Either Gale's sense of color and proportion had +become deranged during the fight, or the encompassing air and the +desert had changed. Even the sun had changed. It seemed lowering, +oval in shape, magenta in hue, and it had a surface that gleamed like +oil on water. Its red rays shone through red haze. Distances that had +formerly been clearly outlined were now dim, obscured. The yawning +chasm was not the same. It circled wider, redder, deeper. It was a +weird, ghastly mouth of hell. Gale stood fascinated, unable to tell +how much he saw was real, how much exaggeration of overwrought +emotions. There was no beauty here, but an unparalleled grandeur, a +sublime scene of devastation and desolation which might have had its +counterpart upon the burned-out moon. The mood that gripped Gale now +added to its somber portent an unshakable foreboding of calamity. + +He wrestled with the spell as if it were a physical foe. Reason and +intelligence had their voices in his mind; but the moment was not one +wherein these things could wholly control. He felt life strong within +his breast, yet there, a step away, was death, yawning, glaring, smoky, +red. It was a moment--an hour for a savage, born, bred, developed in +this scarred and blasted place of jagged depths and red distances and +silences never meant to be broken. Since Gale was not a savage he +fought that call of the red gods which sent him back down the long ages +toward his primitive day. His mind combated his sense of sight and the +hearing that seemed useless; and his mind did not win all the victory. +Something fatal was here, hanging in the balance, as the red haze hung +along the vast walls of that crater of hell. + +Suddenly harsh, prolonged yells brought him to his feet, and the +unrealities vanished. Far down the trails where the crater rims closed +in the deep fissure he saw moving forms. They were three in number. +Two of them ran nimbly across the lava bridge. The third staggered far +behind. It was Ladd. He appeared hard hit. He dragged at the heavy +rifle which he seemed unable to raise. The yells came from him. He +was calling the Yaqui. + +Gale's heart stood still momentarily. Here, then, was the catastrophe! +He hardly dared sweep that fissure with his glass. The two fleeing +figures halted--turned to fire at Ladd. Gale recognized the foremost +one--small, compact, gaudy. Rojas! The bandit's arm was outstretched. +Puffs of white smoke rose, and shots rapped out. When Ladd went down +Rojas threw his gun aside and with a wild yell bounded over the lava. +His companion followed. + +A tide of passion, first hot as fire, then cold as ice, rushed over +Gale when he saw Rojas take the trail toward Mercedes's hiding-place. +The little bandit appeared to have the sure-footedness of a mountain +sheep. The Mexican following was not so sure or fast. He turned back. +Gale heard the trenchant bark of the .405. Ladd was kneeling. He shot +again--again. The retreating bandit seemed to run full into an +invisible obstacle, then fell lax, inert, lifeless. Rojas sped on +unmindful of the spurts of dust about him. Yaqui, high above Ladd, was +also firing at the bandit. Then both rifles were emptied. Rojas +turned at a high break in the trail. He shook a defiant hand, and his +exulting yell pealed faintly to Gale's ears. About him there was +something desperate, magnificent. Then he clambered down the trail. + +Ladd dropped the .405, and rising, gun in hand, he staggered toward the +bridge of lava. Before he had crossed it Yaqui came bounding down the +slope, and in one splendid leap he cleared the fissure. He ran beyond +the trail and disappeared on the lava above. Rojas had not seen this +sudden, darting move of the Indian. + +Gale felt himself bitterly powerless to aid in that pursuit. He could +only watch. He wondered, fearfully, what had become of Lash. +Presently, when Rojas came out of the cracks and ruts of lava there +might be a chance of disabling him by a long shot. His progress was now +slow. But he was making straight for Mercedes's hiding-place. What +was it leading him there--an eagle eye, or hate, or instinct? Why did +he go on when there could be no turning back for him on that trail? +Ladd was slow, heavy, staggering on the trail; but he was relentless. +Only death could stop the ranger now. Surely Rojas must have known +that when he chose the trail. From time to time Gale caught glimpses +of Yaqui's dark figure stealing along the higher rim of the crater. He +was making for a point above the bandit. + +Moments--endless moments dragged by. The lowering sun colored only the +upper half of the crater walls. Far down the depths were murky blue. +Again Gale felt the insupportable silence. The red haze became a +transparent veil before his eyes. Sinister, evil, brooding, waiting, +seemed that yawning abyss. Ladd staggered along the trail, at times he +crawled. The Yaqui gained; he might have had wings; he leaped from +jagged crust to jagged crust; his sure-footedness was a wonderful thing. + +But for Gale the marvel of that endless period of watching was the +purpose of the bandit Rojas. He had now no weapon. Gale's glass made +this fact plain. There was death behind him, death below him, death +before him, and though he could not have known it, death above him. He +never faltered--never made a misstep upon the narrow, flinty trail. +When he reached the lower end of the level ledge Gale's poignant doubt +became a certainty. Rojas had seen Mercedes. It was incredible, yet +Gale believed it. Then, his heart clamped as in an icy vise, Gale +threw forward the Remington, and sinking on one knee, began to shoot. +He emptied the magazine. Puffs of dust near Rojas did not even make +him turn. + +As Gale began to reload he was horror-stricken by a low cry from +Thorne. The cavalryman had recovered consciousness. He was half +raised, pointing with shaking hand at the opposite ledge. His +distended eyes were riveted upon Rojas. He was trying to utter speech +that would not come. + +Gale wheeled, rigid now, steeling himself to one last forlorn +hope--that Mercedes could defend herself. She had a gun. He doubted +not at all that she would use it. But, remembering her terror of this +savage, he feared for her. + +Rojas reached the level of the ledge. He halted. He crouched. It was +the act of a panther. Manifestly he saw Mercedes within the cave. +Then faint shots patted the air, broke in quick echo. Rojas went down +as if struck a heavy blow. He was hit. But even as Gale yelled in +sheer madness the bandit leaped erect. He seemed too quick, too supple +to be badly wounded. A slight, dark figure flashed out of the cave. +Mercedes! She backed against the wall. Gale saw a puff of +white--heard a report. But the bandit lunged at her. Mercedes ran, +not to try to pass him, but straight for the precipice. Her intention +was plain. But Rojas outstripped her, even as she reached the verge. +Then a piercing scream pealed across the crater--a scream of despair. + +Gale closed his eyes. He could not bear to see more. + +Thorne echoed Mercedes's scream. Gale looked round just in time to +leap and catch the cavalryman as he staggered, apparently for the steep +slope. And then, as Gale dragged him back, both fell. Gale saved his +friend, but he plunged into a choya. He drew his hands away full of +the great glistening cones of thorns. + +"For God's sake, Gale, shoot! Shoot! Kill her! Kill her!... +Can't--you--see--Rojas--" + +Thorne fainted. + +Gale, stunned for the instant, stood with uplifted hands, and gazed +from Thorne across the crater. Rojas had not killed Mercedes. He was +overpowering her. His actions seemed slow, wearing, purposeful. Hers +were violent. Like a trapped she-wolf, Mercedes was fighting. She +tore, struggled, flung herself. + +Rojas's intention was terribly plain. + +In agony now, both mental and physical, cold and sick and weak, Gale +gripped his rifle and aimed at the struggling forms on the ledge. He +pulled the trigger. The bullet struck up a cloud of red dust close to +the struggling couple. Again Gale fired, hoping to hit Rojas, praying +to kill Mercedes. The bullet struck high. A third--fourth--fifth time +the Remington spoke--in vain! The rifle fell from Gale's racked hands. + +How horribly plain that fiend's intention! Gale tried to close his +eyes, but could not. He prayed wildly for a sudden blindness--to faint +as Thorne had fainted. But he was transfixed to the spot with eyes +that pierced the red light. + +Mercedes was growing weaker, seemed about to collapse. + +"Oh, Jim Lash, are you dead?" cried Gale. "Oh, Laddy!... Oh, Yaqui!" + +Suddenly a dark form literally fell down the wall behind the ledge +where Rojas fought the girl. It sank in a heap, then bounded erect. + +"Yaqui!" screamed Gale, and he waved his bleeding hands till the blood +bespattered his face. Then he choked. Utterance became impossible. + +The Indian bent over Rojas and flung him against the wall. Mercedes, +sinking back, lay still. When Rojas got up the Indian stood between +him and escape from the ledge. Rojas backed the other way along the +narrowing shelf of lava. His manner was abject, stupefied. Slowly he +stepped backward. + +It was then that Gale caught the white gleam of a knife in Yaqui's +hand. Rojas turned and ran. He rounded a corner of wall where the +footing was precarious. Yaqui followed slowly. His figure was dark +and menacing. But he was not in a hurry. When he passed off the ledge +Rojas was edging farther and farther along the wall. He was clinging +now to the lava, creeping inch by inch. Perhaps he had thought to work +around the buttress or climb over it. Evidently he went as far as +possible, and there he clung, an unscalable wall above, the abyss +beneath. + +The approach of the Yaqui was like a slow dark shadow of gloom. If it +seemed so to the stricken Gale what must it have been to Rojas? He +appeared to sink against the wall. The Yaqui stole closer and closer. +He was the savage now, and for him the moment must have been glorified. +Gale saw him gaze up at the great circling walls of the crater, then +down into the depths. Perhaps the red haze hanging above him, or the +purple haze below, or the deep caverns in the lava, held for Yaqui +spirits of the desert, his gods to whom he called. Perhaps he invoked +shadows of his loved ones and his race, calling them in this moment of +vengeance. + +Gale heard--or imagined he heard--that wild, strange Yaqui cry. + +Then the Indian stepped close to Rojas, and bent low, keeping out of +reach. How slow were his motions! Would Yaqui never--never end it?... +A wail drifted across the crater to Gale's ears. + +Rojas fell backward and plunged sheer. The bank of white choyas caught +him, held him upon their steel spikes. How long did the dazed Gale sit +there watching Rojas wrestling and writhing in convulsive frenzy? The +bandit now seemed mad to win the delayed death. + +When he broke free he was a white patched object no longer human, a +ball of choya burrs, and he slipped off the bank to shoot down and down +into the purple depths of the crater. + + + +XIII + +CHANGES AT FORLORN RIVER + +THE first of March saw the federal occupation of the garrison at +Casita. After a short, decisive engagement the rebels were dispersed +into small bands and driven eastward along the boundary line toward +Nogales. + +It was the destiny of Forlorn River, however, never to return to the +slow, sleepy tenor of its former existence. Belding's predictions came +true. That straggling line of home-seekers was but a forerunner of the +real invasion of Altar Valley. Refugees from Mexico and from Casita +spread the word that water and wood and grass and land were to be had +at Forlorn River; and as if by magic the white tents and red adobe +houses sprang up to glisten in the sun. + +Belding was happier than he had been for a long time. He believed that +evil days for Forlorn River, along with the apathy and lack of +enterprise, were in the past. He hired a couple of trustworthy +Mexicans to ride the boundary line, and he settled down to think of +ranching and irrigation and mining projects. Every morning he expected +to receive some word form Sonoyta or Yuma, telling him that Yaqui had +guided his party safely across the desert. + +Belding was simple-minded, a man more inclined to action than +reflection. When the complexities of life hemmed him in, he groped his +way out, never quite understanding. His wife had always been a mystery +to him. Nell was sunshine most of the time, but, like the +sun-dominated desert, she was subject to strange changes, wilful, +stormy, sudden. It was enough for Belding now to find his wife in a +lighter, happier mood, and to see Nell dreamily turning a ring round +and round the third finger of her left hand and watching the west. +Every day both mother and daughter appeared farther removed from the +past darkly threatening days. Belding was hearty in his affections, +but undemonstrative. If there was any sentiment in his make-up it had +an outlet in his memory of Blanco Diablo and a longing to see him. +Often Belding stopped his work to gaze out over the desert toward the +west. When he thought of his rangers and Thorne and Mercedes he +certainly never forgot his horse. He wondered if Diablo was running, +walking, resting; if Yaqui was finding water and grass. + +In March, with the short desert winter over, the days began to grow +warm. The noon hours were hot, and seemed to give promise of the white +summer blaze and blasting furnace wind soon to come. No word was +received from the rangers. But this caused Belding no concern, and it +seemed to him that his women folk considered no news good news. + +Among the many changes coming to pass in Forlorn River were the +installing of post-office service and the building of a mescal +drinking-house. Belding had worked hard for the post office, but he +did not like the idea of a saloon for Forlorn River. Still, that was +an inevitable evil. The Mexicans would have mescal. Belding had kept +the little border hamlet free of an establishment for distillation of +the fiery cactus drink. A good many Americans drifted into Forlorn +River--miners, cowboys, prospectors, outlaws, and others of nondescript +character; and these men, of course, made the saloon, which was also an +inn, their headquarters. Belding, with Carter and other old residents, +saw the need of a sheriff for Forlorn River. + +One morning early in this spring month, while Belding was on his way +from the house to the corrals, he saw Nell running Blanco Jose down the +road at a gait that amazed him. She did not take the turn of the road +to come in by the gate. She put Jose at a four-foot wire fence, and +came clattering into the yard. + +"Nell must have another tantrum," said Belding. "She's long past due." + +Blanco Jose, like the other white horses, was big of frame and heavy, +and thunder rolled from under his great hoofs. Nell pulled him up, and +as he pounded and slid to a halt in a cloud of dust she swung lightly +down. + +It did not take more than half an eye for Belding to see that she was +furious. + +"Nell, what's come off now?" asked Belding. + +"I'm not going to tell you," she replied, and started away, leading +Jose toward the corral. + +Belding leisurely followed. She went into the corral, removed Jose's +bridle, and led him to the watering-trough. Belding came up, and +without saying anything began to unbuckle Jose's saddle girths. But he +ventured a look at Nell. The red had gone from her face, and he was +surprised to see her eyes brimming with tears. Most assuredly this was +not one of Nell's tantrums. While taking off Jose's saddle and hanging +it in the shed Belding pondered in his slow way. When he came back to +the corral Nell had her face against the bars, and she was crying. He +slipped a big arm around her and waited. Although it was not often +expressed, there was a strong attachment between them. + +"Dad, I don't want you to think me a--a baby any more," she said. "I've +been insulted." + +With a specific fact to make clear thought in Belding's mind he was +never slow. + +"I knew something unusual had come off. I guess you'd better tell me." + +"Dad, I will, if you promise." + +"What?" + +"Not to mention it to mother, not to pack a gun down there, and never, +never tell Dick." + +Belding was silent. Seldom did he make promises readily. + +"Nell, sure something must have come off, for you to ask all that." + +"If you don't promise I'll never tell, that's all," she declared, +firmly. + +Belding deliberated a little longer. He knew the girl. + +"Well, I promise not to tell mother," he said, presently; "and seeing +you're here safe and well, I guess I won't go packing a gun down there, +wherever that is. But I won't promise to keep anything from Dick that +perhaps he ought to know." + +"Dad, what would Dick do if--if he were here and I were to tell him +I'd--I'd been horribly insulted?" + +"I guess that 'd depend. Mostly, you know, Dick does what you want. +But you couldn't stop him--nobody could--if there was reason, a man's +reason, to get started. Remember what he did to Rojas!... Nell, tell +me what's happened." + +Nell, regaining her composure, wiped her eyes and smoothed back her +hair. + +"The other day, Wednesday," she began, "I was coming home, and in front +of that mescal drinking-place there was a crowd. It was a noisy crowd. +I didn't want to walk out into the street or seem afraid. But I had to +do both. There were several young men, and if they weren't drunk they +certainly were rude. I never saw them before, but I think they must +belong to the mining company that was run out of Sonora by rebels. +Mrs. Carter was telling me. Anyway, these young fellows were +Americans. They stretched themselves across the walk and smiled at me. +I had to go out in the road. One of them, the rudest, followed me. He +was a big fellow, red-faced, with prominent eyes and a bold look. He +came up beside me and spoke to me. I ran home. And as I ran I heard +his companions jeering. + +"Well, to-day, just now, when I was riding up the valley road I came +upon the same fellows. They had instruments and were surveying. +Remembering Dick, and how he always wished for an instrument to help +work out his plan for irrigation, I was certainly surprised to see +these strangers surveying--and surveying upon Laddy's plot of land. It +was a sandy road there, and Jose happened to be walking. So I reined in +and asked these engineers what they were doing. The leader, who was +that same bold fellow who had followed me, seemed much pleased at being +addressed. He was swaggering--too friendly; not my idea of a gentleman +at all. He said he was glad to tell me he was going to run water all +over Altar Valley. Dad, you can bet that made me wild. That was +Dick's plan, his discovery, and here were surveyors on Laddy's claim. + +"Then I told him that he was working on private land and he'd better +get off. He seemed to forget his flirty proclivities in amazement. +Then he looked cunning. I read his mind. It was news to him that all +the land along the valley had been taken up. + +"He said something about not seeing any squatters on the land, and then +he shut up tight on that score. But he began to be flirty again. He +got hold of Jose's bridle, and before I could catch my breath he said I +was a peach, and that he wanted to make a date with me, that his name +was Chase, that he owned a gold mine in Mexico. He said a lot more I +didn't gather, but when he called me 'Dearie' I--well, I lost my temper. + +"I jerked on the bridle and told him to let go. He held on and rolled +his eyes at me. I dare say he imagined he was a gentlemen to be +infatuated with. He seemed sure of conquest. One thing certain, he +didn't know the least bit about horses. It scared me the way he got in +front of Jose. I thanked my stars I wasn't up on Blanco Diablo. Well, +Dad, I'm a little ashamed now, but I was mad. I slashed him across the +face with my quirt. Jose jumped and knocked Mr. Chase into the sand. +I didn't get the horse under control till I was out of sight of those +surveyors, and then I let him run home." + +"Nell, I guess you punished the fellow enough. Maybe he's only a +conceited softy. But I don't like that sort of thing. It isn't +Western. I guess he won't be so smart next time. Any fellow would +remember being hit by Blanco Jose. If you'd been up on Diablo we'd +have to bury Mr. Chase." + +"Thank goodness I wasn't! I'm sorry now, Dad. Perhaps the fellow was +hurt. But what could I do? Let's forget all about it, and I'll be +careful where I ride in the future.... Dad, what does it mean, this +surveying around Forlorn River?" + +"I don't know, Nell," replied Belding, thoughtfully. "It worries me. +It looks good for Forlorn River, but bad for Dick's plan to irrigate +the valley. Lord, I'd hate to have some one forestall Dick on that!" + +"No, no, we won't let anybody have Dick's rights," declared Nell. + +"Where have I been keeping myself not to know about these surveyors?" +muttered Belding. "They must have just come." + +"Go see Mrs. Cater. She told me there were strangers in town, +Americans, who had mining interests in Sonora, and were run out by +Orozco. Find out what they're doing, Dad." + +Belding discovered that he was, indeed, the last man of consequence in +Forlorn River to learn of the arrival of Ben Chase and son, mineowners +and operators in Sonora. They, with a force of miners, had been +besieged by rebels and finally driven off their property. This property +was not destroyed, but held for ransom. And the Chases, pending +developments, had packed outfits and struck for the border. Casita had +been their objective point, but, for some reason which Belding did not +learn, they had arrived instead at Forlorn River. It had taken Ben +Chase just one day to see the possibilities of Altar Valley, and in +three days he had men at work. + +Belding returned home without going to see the Chases and their +operations. He wanted to think over the situation. Next morning he +went out to the valley to see for himself. Mexicans were hastily +erecting adobe houses upon Ladd's one hundred and sixty acres, upon +Dick Gale's, upon Jim Lash's and Thorne's. There were men staking the +valley floor and the river bed. That was sufficient for Belding. He +turned back toward town and headed for the camp of these intruders. + +In fact, the surroundings of Forlorn River, except on the river side, +reminded Belding of the mushroom growth of a newly discovered mining +camp. Tents were everywhere; adobe shacks were in all stages of +construction; rough clapboard houses were going up. The latest of this +work was new and surprising to Belding, all because he was a busy man, +with no chance to hear village gossip. When he was directed to the +headquarters of the Chase Mining Company he went thither in +slow-growing wrath. + +He came to a big tent with a huge canvas fly stretched in front, under +which sat several men in their shirt sleeves. They were talking and +smoking. + +"My name's Belding. I want to see this Mr. Chase," said Belding, +gruffly. + +Slow-witted as Belding was, and absorbed in his own feelings, he yet +saw plainly that his advent was disturbing to these men. They looked +alarmed, exchanged glances, and then quickly turned to him. One of +them, a tall, rugged man with sharp face and shrewd eyes and white +hair, got up and offered his hand. + +"I'm Chase, senior," he said. "My son Radford Chase is here somewhere. +You're Belding, the line inspector, I take it? I meant to call on you." + +He seemed a rough-and-ready, loud-spoken man, withal cordial enough. + +"Yes, I'm the inspector," replied Belding, ignoring the proffered hand, +"and I'd like to know what in the hell you mean by taking up land +claims--staked ground that belongs to my rangers?" + +"Land claims?" slowly echoed Chase, studying his man. "We're taking up +only unclaimed land." + +"That's a lie. You couldn't miss the stakes." + +"Well, Mr. Belding, as to that, I think my men did run across some +staked ground. But we recognize only squatters. If your rangers think +they've got property just because they drove a few stakes in the ground +they're much mistaken. A squatter has to build a house and live on his +land so long, according to law, before he owns it." + +This argument was unanswerable, and Belding knew it. + +"According to law!" exclaimed Belding. "Then you own up; you've jumped +our claims." + +"Mr. Belding, I'm a plain business man. I come along. I see a good +opening. Nobody seems to have tenable grants. I stake out claims, +locate squatters, start to build. It seems to me your rangers have +overlooked certain precautions. That's unfortunate for them. I'm +prepared to hold my claim and to back all the squatters who work for +me. If you don't like it you can carry the matter to Tucson. The law +will uphold me." + +"The law? Say, on this southwest border we haven't any law except a +man's word and a gun." + +"Then you'll find United States law has come along with Ben Chase," +replied the other, snapping his fingers. He was still smooth, +outspoken, but his mask had fallen. + +"You're not a Westerner?" queried Belding. + +"No, I'm from Illinois." + +"I thought the West hadn't bred you. I know your kind. You'd last a +long time on the Texas border; now, wouldn't you? You're one of the +land and water hogs that has come to root in the West. You're like the +timber sharks--take it all and leave none for those who follow. Mr. +Chase, the West would fare better and last longer if men like you were +driven out." + +"You can't drive me out." + +"I'm not so sure of that. Wait till my rangers come back. I wouldn't +be in your boots. Don't mistake me. I don't suppose you could be +accused of stealing another man's ideas or plan, but sure you've stolen +these four claims. Maybe the law might uphold you. But the spirit, +not the letter, counts with us bordermen." + +"See here, Belding, I think you're taking the wrong view of the matter. +I'm going to develop this valley. You'd do better to get in with me. +I've a proposition to make you about that strip of land of yours facing +the river." + +"You can't make any deals with me. I won't have anything to do with +you." + +Belding abruptly left the camp and went home. Nell met him, probably +intended to question him, but one look into his face confirmed her +fears. She silently turned away. Belding realized he was powerless to +stop Chase, and he was sick with disappointment for the ruin of Dick's +hopes and his own. + + + +XIV + +A LOST SON + +TIME passed. The population of Forlorn River grew apace. Belding, who +had once been the head of the community, found himself a person of +little consequence. Even had he desired it he would not have had any +voice in the selection of postmaster, sheriff, and a few other +officials. The Chases divided their labors between Forlorn River and +their Mexican gold mine, which had been restored to them. The desert +trips between these two places were taken in automobiles. A month's +time made the motor cars almost as familiar a sight in Forlorn River as +they had been in Casita before the revolution. + +Belding was not so busy as he had been formerly. As he lost ambition +he began to find less work to do. His wrath at the usurping Chases +increased as he slowly realized his powerlessness to cope with such +men. They were promoters, men of big interests and wide influence in +the Southwest. The more they did for Forlorn River the less reason +there seemed to be for his own grievance. He had to admit that it was +personal; that he and Gale and the rangers would never have been able +to develop the resources of the valley as these men were doing it. + +All day long he heard the heavy booming blasts and the rumble of +avalanches up in the gorge. Chase's men were dynamiting the cliffs in +the narrow box canyon. They were making the dam just as Gale had +planned to make it. When this work of blasting was over Belding +experienced a relief. He would not now be continually reminded of his +and Gale's loss. Resignation finally came to him. But he could not +reconcile himself to misfortune for Gale. + +Moreover, Belding had other worry and strain. April arrived with no +news of the rangers. From Casita came vague reports of raiders in the +Sonoyta country--reports impossible to verify until his Mexican rangers +returned. When these men rode in, one of them, Gonzales, an +intelligent and reliable halfbreed, said he had met prospectors at the +oasis. They had just come in on the Camino del Diablo, reported a +terrible trip of heat and drought, and not a trace of the Yaqui's party. + +"That settles it," declared Belding. "Yaqui never went to Sonoyta. +He's circled round to the Devil's Road, and the rangers, Mercedes, +Thorne, the horses--they--I'm afraid they have been lost in the desert. +It's an old story on Camino del Diablo." + +He had to tell Nell that, and it was an ordeal which left him weak. + +Mrs. Belding listened to him, and was silent for a long time while she +held the stricken Nell to her breast. Then she opposed his convictions +with that quiet strength so characteristic of her arguments. + +"Well, then," decided Belding, "Rojas headed the rangers at Papago Well +or the Tanks." + +"Tom, when you are down in the mouth you use poor judgment," she went +on. "You know only by a miracle could Rojas or anybody have headed +those white horses. Where's your old stubborn confidence? Yaqui was +up on Diablo. Dick was up on Sol. And there were the other horses. +They could not have been headed or caught. Miracles don't happen." + +"All right, mother, it's sure good to hear you," said Belding. She +always cheered him, and now he grasped at straws. "I'm not myself +these days, don't mistake that. Tell us what you think. You always say +you feel things when you really don't know them." + +"I can say little more than what you said yourself the night Mercedes +was taken away. You told Laddy to trust Yaqui, that he was a godsend. +He might go south into some wild Sonora valley. He might lead Rojas +into a trap. He would find water and grass where no Mexican or +American could." + +"But mother, they're gone seven weeks. Seven weeks! At the most I +gave them six weeks. Seven weeks in the desert!" + +"How do the Yaquis live?" she asked. + +Belding could not reply to that, but hope revived in him. He had faith +in his wife, though he could not in the least understand what he +imagined was something mystic in her. + +"Years ago when I was searching for my father I learned many things +about this country," said Mrs. Belding. "You can never tell how long a +man may live in the desert. The fiercest, most terrible and +inaccessible places often have their hidden oasis. In his later years +my father became a prospector. That was strange to me, for he never +cared for gold or money. I learned that he was often gone in the +desert for weeks, once for months. Then the time came when he never +came back. That was years before I reached the southwest border and +heard of him. Even then I did not for long give up hope of his coming +back, I know now--something tells me--indeed, it seems his spirit +tells me--he was lost. But I don't have that feeling for Yaqui and his +party. Yaqui has given Rojas the slip or has ambushed him in some +trap. Probably that took time and a long journey into Sonora. The +Indian is too wise to start back now over dry trails. He'll curb the +rangers; he'll wait. I seem to know this, dear Nell, so be brave, +patient. Dick Gale will come back to you." + +"Oh, mother!" cried Nell. "I can't give up hope while I have you." + +That talk with the strong mother worked a change in Nell and Belding. +Nell, who had done little but brood and watch the west and take violent +rides, seemed to settle into a waiting patience that was sad, yet +serene. She helped her mother more than ever; she was a comfort to +Belding; she began to take active interest in the affairs of the +growing village. Belding, who had been breaking under the strain of +worry, recovered himself so that to outward appearance he was his old +self. He alone knew, however, that his humor was forced, and that the +slow burning wrath he felt for the Chases was flaming into hate. + +Belding argued with himself that if Ben Chase and his son, Radford, had +turned out to be big men in other ways than in the power to carry on +great enterprises he might have become reconciled to them. But the +father was greedy, grasping, hard, cold; the son added to those traits +an overbearing disposition to rule, and he showed a fondness for drink +and cards. These men were developing the valley, to be sure, and a +horde of poor Mexicans and many Americans were benefiting from that +development; nevertheless, these Chases were operating in a way which +proved they cared only for themselves. + +Belding shook off a lethargic spell and decided he had better set about +several by no means small tasks, if he wanted to get them finished +before the hot months. He made a trip to the Sonoyta Oasis. He +satisfied himself that matters along the line were favorable, and that +there was absolutely no trace of his rangers. Upon completing this trip +he went to Casita with a number of his white thoroughbreds and shipped +them to ranchers and horse-breeders in Texas. Then, being near the +railroad, and having time, he went up to Tucson. There he learned some +interesting particulars about the Chases. They had an office in the +city; influential friends in the Capitol. They were powerful men in +the rapidly growing finance of the West. They had interested the +Southern Pacific Railroad, and in the near future a branch line was to +be constructed from San Felipe to Forlorn River. These details of the +Chase development were insignificant when compared to a matter striking +close home to Belding. His responsibility had been subtly attacked. A +doubt had been cast upon his capability of executing the duties of +immigration inspector to the best advantage of the state. Belding +divined that this was only an entering wedge. The Chases were bent +upon driving him out of Forlorn River; but perhaps to serve better +their own ends, they were proceeding at leisure. Belding returned home +consumed by rage. But he controlled it. For the first time in his +life he was afraid of himself. He had his wife and Nell to think of; +and the old law of the West had gone forever. + +"Dad, there's another Rojas round these diggings," was Nell's remark, +after the greetings were over and the usual questions and answers +passed. + +Belding's exclamation was cut short by Nell's laugh. She was serious +with a kind of amused contempt. + +"Mr. Radford Chase!" + +"Now Nell, what the--" roared Belding. + +"Hush, Dad! Don't swear," interrupted Nell. "I only meant to tease +you." + +"Humph! Say, my girl, that name Chase makes me see red. If you must +tease me hit on some other way. Sabe, senorita?" + +"Si, si, Dad." + +"Nell, you may as well tell him and have it over," said Mrs. Belding, +quietly. + +"You promised me once, Dad, that you'd not go packing a gun off down +there, didn't you?" + +"Yes, I remember," replied Belding; but he did not answer her smile. + +"Will you promise again?" she asked, lightly. Here was Nell with arch +eyes, yet not the old arch eyes, so full of fun and mischief. Her lips +were tremulous; her cheeks seemed less round. + +"Yes," rejoined Belding; and he knew why his voice was a little thick. + +"Well, if you weren't such a good old blind Dad you'd have seen long +ago the way Mr. Radford Chase ran round after me. At first it was only +annoying, and I did not want to add to your worries. But these two +weeks you've been gone I've been more than annoyed. After that time I +struck Mr. Chase with my quirt he made all possible efforts to meet me. +He did meet me wherever I went. He sent me letters till I got tired of +sending them back. + +"When you left home on your trips I don't know that he grew bolder, but +he had more opportunity. I couldn't stay in the house all the time. +There were mama's errands and sick people and my Sunday school, and +what not. Mr. Chase waylaid me every time I went out. If he works any +more I don't know when, unless it's when I'm asleep. He followed me +until it was less embarassing for me to let him walk with me and talk +his head off. He made love to me. He begged me to marry him. I told +him I was already in love and engaged to be married. He said that +didn't make any difference. Then I called him a fool. + +"Next time he saw me he said he must explain. He meant I was being +true to a man who, everybody on the border knew, had been lost in the +desert. That--that hurt. Maybe--maybe it's true. Sometimes it seems +terribly true. Since then, of course, I have stayed in the house to +avoid being hurt again. + +"But, Dad, a little thing like a girl sticking close to her mother and +room doesn't stop Mr. Chase. I think he's crazy. Anyway, he's a most +persistent fool. I want to be charitable, because the man swears he +loves me, and maybe he does, but he is making me nervous. I don't +sleep. I'm afraid to be in my room at night. I've gone to mother's +room. He's always hanging round. Bold! Why, that isn't the thing to +call Mr. Chase. He's absolutely without a sense of decency. He bribes +our servants. He comes into our patio. Think of that! He makes the +most ridiculous excuses. He bothers mother to death. I feel like a +poor little rabbit holed by a hound. And I daren't peep out." + +Somehow the thing struck Belding as funny, and he laughed. He had not +had a laugh for so long that it made him feel good. He stopped only at +sight of Nell's surprise and pain. Then he put his arms round her. + +"Never mind, dear. I'm an old bear. But it tickled me, I guess. I +sure hope Mr. Radford Chase has got it bad... Nell, it's only the old +story. The fellows fall in love with you. It's your good looks, Nell. +What a price women like you and Mercedes have to pay for beauty! I'd a +d---- a good deal rather be ugly as a mud fence." + +"So would I, Dad, if--if Dick would still love me." + +"He wouldn't, you can gamble on that, as Laddy says. ... Well, the +first time I catch this locoed Romeo sneaking round here I'll--I'll--" + +"Dad, you promised." + +"Confound it, Nell, I promised not to pack a gun. That's all. I'll +only shoo this fellow off the place, gently, mind you, gently. I'll +leave the rest for Dick Gale!" + +"Oh, Dad!" cried Nell; and she clung to him wistful, frightened, yet +something more. + +"Don't mistake me, Nell. You have your own way, generally. You pull +the wool over mother's eyes, and you wind me round your little finger. +But you can't do either with Dick Gale. You're tender-hearted; you +overlook the doings of this hound, Chase. But when Dick comes back, you +just make up your mind to a little hell in the Chase camp. Oh, he'll +find it out. And I sure want to be round when Dick hands Mr. Radford +the same as he handed Rojas!" + +Belding kept a sharp lookout for young Chase, and then, a few days +later, learned that both son and father had gone off upon one of their +frequent trips to Casa Grandes, near where their mines were situated. + +April grew apace, and soon gave way to May. One morning Belding was +called from some garden work by the whirring of an automobile and a +"Holloa!" He went forward to the front yard and there saw a car he +thought resembled one he had seen in Casita. It contained a +familiar-looking driver, but the three figures in gray coats and veils +were strange to him. By the time he had gotten to the road he decided +two were women and the other a man. At the moment their faces were +emerging from dusty veils. Belding saw an elderly, sallow-faced, +rather frail-appearing man who was an entire stranger to him; a +handsome dark-eyed woman whose hair showed white through her veil; and +a superbly built girl, whose face made Belding at once think of Dick +Gale. + +"Is this Mr. Tom Belding, inspector of immigration?" inquired the +gentleman, courteously. + +"I'm Belding, and I know who you are," replied Belding in hearty amaze, +as he stretched forth his big hand. "You're Dick Gale's Dad--the +Governor, Dick used to say. I'm sure glad to meet you." + +"Thank you. Yes, I'm Dick's governor, and here, Mr. Belding--Dick's +mother and his sister Elsie." + +Beaming his pleasure, Belding shook hands with the ladies, who showed +their agitation clearly. + +"Mr. Belding, I've come west to look up my lost son," said Mr. Gale. +"His sister's letters were unanswered. We haven't heard from him in +months. Is he still here with you?" + +"Well, now, sure I'm awful sorry," began Belding, his slow mind at +work. "Dick's away just now--been away for a considerable spell. I'm +expecting him back any day.... Won't you come in? You're all dusty and +hot and tired. Come in, and let mother and Nell make you comfortable. +Of course you'll stay. We've a big house. You must stay till Dick +comes back. Maybe that 'll be-- Aw, I guess it won't be long.... Let +me handle the baggage, Mr. Gale.... Come in. I sure am glad to meet you +all." + +Eager, excited, delighted, Belding went on talking as he ushered the +Gales into the sitting-room, presenting them in his hearty way to the +astounded Mrs. Belding and Nell. For the space of a few moments his +wife and daughter were bewildered. Belding did not recollect any other +occasion when a few callers had thrown them off their balance. But of +course this was different. He was a little flustered himself--a +circumstance that dawned upon him with surprise. When the Gales had +been shown to rooms, Mrs. Belding gained the poise momentarily lost; +but Nell came rushing back, wilder than a deer, in a state of +excitement strange even for her. + +"Oh! Dick's mother, his sister!" whispered Nell. + +Belding observed the omission of the father in Nell's exclamation of +mingled delight and alarm. + +"His mother!" went on Nell. "Oh, I knew it! I always guessed it! +Dick's people are proud, rich; they're somebody. I thought I'd faint +when she looked at me. She was just curious--curious, but so cold and +proud. She was wondering about me. I'm wearing his ring. It was his +mother's, he said. I won't--I can't take it off. And I'm scared.... +But the sister--oh, she's lovely and sweet--proud, too. I felt warm +all over when she looked at me. I--I wanted to kiss her. She looks +like Dick when he first came to us. But he's changed. They'll hardly +recognize him.... To think they've come! And I had to be looking a +fright, when of all times on earth I'd want to look my best." + +Nell, out of breath, ran away evidently to make herself presentable, +according to her idea of the exigency of the case. Belding caught a +glimpse of his wife's face as she went out, and it wore a sad, strange, +anxious expression. Then Belding sat alone, pondering the contracting +emotions of his wife and daughter. It was beyond his understanding. +Women were creatures of feeling. Belding saw reason to be delighted to +entertain Dick's family; and for the time being no disturbing thought +entered his mind. + +Presently the Gales came back into the sitting-room, looking very +different without the long gray cloaks and veils. Belding saw +distinction and elegance. Mr. Gale seemed a grave, troubled, kindly +person, ill in body and mind. Belding received the same impression of +power that Ben Chase had given him, only here it was minus any +harshness or hard quality. He gathered that Mr. Gale was a man of +authority. Mrs. Gale rather frightened Belding, but he could not have +told why. The girl was just like Dick as he used to be. + +Their manner of speaking also reminded Belding of Dick. They talked of +the ride from Ash Fork down to the border, of the ugly and torn-up +Casita, of the heat and dust and cactus along the trail. Presently +Nell came in, now cool and sweet in white, with a red rose at her +breast. Belding had never been so proud of her. He saw that she meant +to appear well in the eyes of Dick's people, and began to have a faint +perception of what the ordeal was for her. Belding imagined the sooner +the Gales were told that Dick was to marry Nell the better for all +concerned, and especially for Nell. In the general conversation that +ensued he sought for an opening in which to tell this important news, +but he was kept so busy answering questions about his position on the +border, the kind of place Forlorn River was, the reason for so many +tents, etc., that he was unable to find opportunity. + +"It's very interesting, very interesting," said Mr. Gale. "At another +time I want to learn all you'll tell me about the West. It's new to me. +I'm surprised, amazed, sir, I may say.... But, Mr. Belding, what I want +to know most is about my son. I'm broken in health. I've worried +myself ill over him. I don't mind telling you, sir, that we quarreled. +I laughed at his threats. He went away. And I've come to see that I +didn't know Richard. I was wrong to upbraid him. For a year we've +known nothing of his doings, and now for almost six months we've not +heard from him at all. Frankly, Mr. Belding, I weakened first, and +I've come to hunt him up. My fear is that I didn't start soon enough. +The boy will have a great position some day--God knows, perhaps soon! +I should not have allowed him to run over this wild country for so +long. But I hoped, though I hardly believed, that he might find +himself. Now I'm afraid he's--" + +Mr. Gale paused and the white hand he raised expressively shook a +little. + +Belding was not so thick-witted where men were concerned. He saw how +the matter lay between Dick Gale and his father. + +"Well, Mr. Gale, sure most young bucks from the East go to the bad out +here," he said, bluntly. + +"I've been told that," replied Mr. Gale; and a shade overspread his +worn face. + +"They blow their money, then go punching cows, take to whiskey." + +"Yes," rejoined Mr. Gale, feebly nodding. + +"Then they get to gambling, lose their jobs," went on Belding. + +Mr. Gale lifted haggard eyes. + +"Then it's bumming around, regular tramps, and to the bad generally." +Belding spread wide his big arms, and when one of them dropped round +Nell, who sat beside him, she squeezed his hand tight. "Sure, it's the +regular thing," he concluded, cheerfully. + +He rather felt a little glee at Mr. Gale's distress, and Mrs. Gale's +crushed I-told-you-so woe in no wise bothered him; but the look in the +big, dark eyes of Dick's sister was too much for Belding. + +He choked off his characteristic oath when excited and blurted out, +"Say, but Dick Gale never went to the bad!... Listen!" + +Belding had scarcely started Dick Gale's story when he perceived that +never in his life had he such an absorbed and breathless audience. +Presently they were awed, and at the conclusion of that story they sat +white-faced, still, amazed beyond speech. Dick Gale's advent in +Casita, his rescue of Mercedes, his life as a border ranger certainly +lost no picturesque or daring or even noble detail in Belding's +telling. He kept back nothing but the present doubt of Dick's safety. + +Dick's sister was the first of the three to recover herself. + +"Oh, father!" she cried; and there was a glorious light in her eyes. +"Deep down in my heart I knew Dick was a man!" + +Mr. Gale rose unsteadily from his chair. His frailty was now painfully +manifest. + +"Mr. Belding, do you mean my son--Richard Gale--has done all that you +told us?" he asked, incredulously. + +"I sure do," replied Belding, with hearty good will. + +"Martha, do you hear?" Mr. Gale turned to question his wife. She +could not answer. Her face had not yet regained its natural color. + +"He faced that bandit and his gang alone--he fought them?" demanded Mr. +Gale, his voice stronger. + +"Dick mopped up the floor with the whole outfit!" + +"He rescued a Spanish girl, went into the desert without food, weapons, +anything but his hands? Richard Gale, whose hands were always useless?" + +Belding nodded with a grin. + +"He's a ranger now--riding, fighting, sleeping on the sand, preparing +his own food?" + +"Well, I should smile," rejoined Belding. + +"He cares for his horse, with his own hands?" This query seemed to be +the climax of Mr. Gale's strange hunger for truth. He had raised his +head a little higher, and his eye was brighter. + +Mention of a horse fired Belding's blood. + +"Does Dick Gale care for his horse? Say, there are not many men as +well loved as that white horse of Dick's. Blanco Sol he is, Mr. Gale. +That's Mex for White Sun. Wait till you see Blanco Sol! Bar one, the +whitest, biggest, strongest, fastest, grandest horse in the Southwest!" + +"So he loves a horse! I shall not know my own son.... Mr. Belding, you +say Richard works for you. May I ask, at what salary?" + +"He gets forty dollars, board and outfit," replied Belding, proudly. + +"Forty dollars?" echoed the father. "By the day or week?" + +"The month, of course," said Belding, somewhat taken aback. + +"Forty dollars a month for a young man who spent five hundred in the +same time when he was at college, and who ran it into thousands when he +got out!" + +Mr. Gale laughed for the first time, and it was the laugh of a man who +wanted to believe what he heard yet scarcely dared to do it. + +"What does he do with so much money--money earned by peril, toil, +sweat, and blood? Forty dollars a month!" + +"He saves it," replied Belding. + +Evidently this was too much for Dick Gale's father, and he gazed at his +wife in sheer speechless astonishment. Dick's sister clapped her hands +like a little child. + +Belding saw that the moment was propitious. + +"Sure he saves it. Dick's engaged to marry Nell here. My +stepdaughter, Nell Burton." + +"Oh-h, Dad!" faltered Nell; and she rose, white as her dress. + +How strange it was to see Dick's mother and sister rise, also, and turn +to Nell with dark, proud, searching eyes. Belding vaguely realized +some blunder he had made. Nell's white, appealing face gave him a +pang. What had he done? Surely this family of Dick's ought to know +his relation to Nell. There was a silence that positively made Belding +nervous. + +Then Elsie Gale stepped close to Nell. + +"Miss Burton, are you really Richard's betrothed?" + +Nell's tremulous lips framed an affirmative, but never uttered it. She +held out her hand, showing the ring Dick had given her. Miss Gale's +recognition was instant, and her response was warm, sweet, gracious. + +"I think I am going to be very, very glad," she said, and kissed Nell. + +"Miss Burton, we are learning wonderful things about Richard," added +Mr. Gale, in an earnest though shaken voice. "If you have had to do +with making a man of him--and now I begin to see, to believe so--may +God bless you!... My dear girl, I have not really looked at you. +Richard's fiancee!... Mother, we have not found him yet, but I think +we've found his secret. We believed him a lost son. But here is his +sweetheart!" + +It was only then that the pride and hauteur of Mrs. Gale's face broke +into an expression of mingled pain and joy. She opened her arms. +Nell, uttering a strange little stifled cry, flew into them. + +Belding suddenly discovered an unaccountable blur in his sight. He +could not see perfectly, and that was why, when Mrs. Belding entered +the sitting-room, he was not certain that her face was as sad and white +as it seemed. + + + +XV + +BOUND IN THE DESERT + +FAR away from Forlorn River Dick Gale sat stunned, gazing down into the +purple depths where Rojas had plunged to his death. The Yaqui stood +motionless upon the steep red wall of lava from which he had cut the +bandit's hold. Mercedes lay quietly where she had fallen. From across +the depths there came to Gale's ear the Indian's strange, wild cry. + +Then silence, hollow, breathless, stony silence enveloped the great +abyss and its upheaved lava walls. The sun was setting. Every instant +the haze reddened and thickened. + +Action on the part of the Yaqui loosened the spell which held Gale as +motionless as his surroundings. The Indian was edging back toward the +ledge. He did not move with his former lithe and sure freedom. He +crawled, slipped, dragged himself, rested often, and went on again. He +had been wounded. When at last he reached the ledge where Mercedes lay +Gale jumped to his feet, strong and thrilling, spurred to meet the +responsibility that now rested upon him. + +Swiftly he turned to where Thorne lay. The cavalryman was just +returning to consciousness. Gale ran for a canteen, bathed his face, +made him drink. The look in Thorne's eyes was hard to bear. + +"Thorne! Thorne! it's all right, it's all right!" cried Gale, in +piercing tones. "Mercedes is safe! Yaqui saved her! Rojas is done +for! Yaqui jumped down the wall and drove the bandit off the ledge. +Cut him loose from the wall, foot by foot, hand by hand! We've won the +fight, Thorne." + +For Thorne these were marvelous strength-giving words. The dark horror +left his eyes, and they began to dilate, to shine. He stood up, +dizzily but unaided, and he gazed across the crater. Yaqui had reached +the side of Mercedes, was bending over her. She stirred. Yaqui lifted +her to her feet. She appeared weak, unable to stand alone. But she +faced across the crater and waved her hand. She was unharmed. Thorne +lifted both arms above head, and from his lips issued a cry. It was +neither call nor holloa nor welcome nor answer. Like the Yaqui's, it +could scarcely be named. But it was deep, husky, prolonged, terribly +human in its intensity. It made Gale shudder and made his heart beat +like a trip hammer. Mercedes again waved a white hand. The Yaqui +waved, too, and Gale saw in the action an urgent signal. + +Hastily taking up canteen and rifles, Gale put a supporting arm around +Thorne. + +"Come, old man. Can you walk? Sure you can walk! Lean on me, and +we'll soon get out of this. Don't look across. Look where you step. +We've not much time before dark. Oh, Thorne, I'm afraid Jim has cashed +in! And the last I saw of Laddy he was badly hurt." + +Gale was keyed up to a high pitch of excitement and alertness. He +seemed to be able to do many things. But once off the ragged notched +lava into the trail he had not such difficulty with Thorne, and could +keep his keen gaze shifting everywhere for sight of enemies. + +"Listen, Thorne! What's that?" asked Gale, halting as they came to a +place where the trail led down through rough breaks in the lava. The +silence was broken by a strange sound, almost unbelieveable considering +the time and place. A voice was droning: "Turn the lady, turn! Turn +the lady, turn! Alamon left. All swing; turn the lady, turn!" + +"Hello, Jim," called Gale, dragging Thorne round the corner of lava. +"Where are you? Oh, you son of a gun! I thought you were dead. Oh, +I'm glad to see you! Jim, are you hurt?" + +Jim Lash stood in the trail leaning over the butt of his rifle, which +evidently he was utilizing as a crutch. He was pale but smiling. His +hands were bloody. A scarf had been bound tightly round his left leg +just above the knee. The leg hung limp, and the foot dragged. + +"I reckon I ain't injured much," replied Him. "But my leg hurts like +hell, if you want to know." + +"Laddy! Oh, where's Laddy?" + +"He's just across the crack there. I was trying to get to him. We had +it hot an' heavy down here. Laddy was pretty bad shot up before he +tried to head Rojas off the trail.... Dick, did you see the Yaqui go +after Rojas?" + +"Did I!" exclaimed Gale, grimly. + +"The finish was all that saved me from runnin' loco plumb over the rim. +You see I was closer'n you to where Mercedes was hid. When Rojas an' +his last Greaser started across, Laddy went after them, but I couldn't. +Laddy did for Rojas's man, then went down himself. But he got up an' +fell, got up, went on, an' fell again. Laddy kept doin' that till he +dropped for good. I reckon our chances are against findin' him +alive.... I tell you, boys, Rojas was hell-bent. An' Mercedes was game. +I saw her shoot him. But mebbe bullets couldn't stop him then. If I +didn't sweat blood when Mercedes was fightin' him on the cliff! Then +the finish! Only a Yaqui could have done that.... Thorne, you didn't +miss it?" + +"Yes, I was down and out," replied the cavalryman. + +"It's a shame. Greatest stunt I ever seen! Thorne, you're standin' up +pretty fair. How about you? Dick, is he bad hurt?" + +"No, he's not. A hard knock on the skull and a scalp wound," replied +Dick. "Here, Jim, let me help you over this place." + +Step by step Gale got the two injured men down the uneven declivity and +then across the narrow lava bridge over the fissure. Here he bade them +rest while he went along the trail on that side to search for Laddy. +Gale found the ranger stretched out, face downward, a reddened hand +clutching a gun. Gale thought he was dead. Upon examination, however, +it was found that Ladd still lived, though he had many wounds. Gale +lifted him and carried him back to the others. + +"He's alive, but that's all," said Dick, as he laid the ranger down. +"Do what you can. Stop the blood. Laddy's tough as cactus, you know. +I'll hurry back for Mercedes and Yaqui." + +Gale, like a fleet, sure-footed mountain sheep, ran along the trail. +When he came across the Mexican, Rojas's last ally, Gale had evidence +of the terrible execution of the .405. He did not pause. On the first +part of that descent he made faster time than had Rojas. But he +exercised care along the hard, slippery, ragged slope leading to the +ledge. Presently he came upon Mercedes and the Yaqui. She ran right +into Dick's arms, and there her strength, if not her courage, broke, +and she grew lax. + +"Mercedes, you're safe! Thorne's safe. It's all right now." + +"Rojas!" she whispered. + +"Gone! To the bottom of the crater! A Yaqui's vengeance, Mercedes." + +He heard the girl whisper the name of the Virgin. Then he gathered her +up in his arms. + +"Come, Yaqui." + +The Indian grunted. He had one hand pressed close over a bloody place +in his shoulder. Gale looked keenly at him. Yaqui was inscrutable, as +of old, yet Gale somehow knew that wound meant little to him. The +Indian followed him. + +Without pausing, moving slowly in some places, very carefully in +others, and swiftly on the smooth part of the trail, Gale carried +Mercedes up to the rim and along to the the others. Jim Lash worked +awkwardly over Ladd. Thorne was trying to assist. Ladd, himself, was +conscious, but he was a pallid, apparently a death-stricken man. The +greeting between Mercedes and Thorne was calm--strangely so, it seemed +to Gale. But he was calm himself. Ladd smiled at him, and evidently +would have spoken had he the power. Yaqui then joined the group, and +his piercing eyes roved from one to the other, lingering longest over +Ladd. + +"Dick, I'm figger'n hard," said Jim, faintly. "In a minute it 'll be +up to you an' Mercedes. I've about shot my bolt.... Reckon you'll do-- +best by bringin' up blankets--water--salt--firewood. Laddy's got--one +chance--in a hundred. Fix him up--first. Use hot salt water. If my +leg's broke--set it best you can. That hole in Yaqui--only 'll bother +him a day. Thorne's bad hurt... Now rustle--Dick, old--boy." + +Lash's voice died away in a husky whisper, and he quietly lay back, +stretching out all but the crippled leg. Gale examined it, assured +himself the bones had not been broken, and then rose ready to go down +the trail. + +"Mercedes, hold Thorne's head up, in your lap--so. Now I'll go." + +On the moment Yaqui appeared to have completed the binding of his +wounded shoulder, and he started to follow Gale. He paid no attention +to Gale's order for him to stay back. But he was slow, and gradually +Gale forged ahead. The lingering brightness of the sunset lightened +the trail, and the descent to the arroyo was swift and easy. Some of +the white horses had come in for water. Blanco Sol spied Gale and +whistled and came pounding toward him. It was twilight down in the +arroyo. Yaqui appeared and began collecting a bundle of mesquite +sticks. Gale hastily put together the things he needed; and, packing +them all in a tarpaulin, he turned to retrace his steps up the trail. + +Darkness was setting in. The trail was narrow, exceedingly steep, and +in some places fronted on precipices. Gale's burden was not very +heavy, but its bulk made it unwieldy, and it was always overbalancing +him or knocking against the wall side of the trail. Gale found it +necessary to wait for Yaqui to take the lead. The Indian's eyes must +have seen as well at night as by day. Gale toiled upward, shouldering, +swinging, dragging the big pack; and, though the ascent of the slope +was not really long, it seemed endless. At last they reached a level, +and were soon on the spot with Mercedes and the injured men. + +Gale then set to work. Yaqui's part was to keep the fire blazing and +the water hot, Mercedes's to help Gale in what way she could. Gale +found Ladd had many wounds, yet not one of them was directly in a vital +place. Evidently, the ranger had almost bled to death. He remained +unconscious through Gale's operations. According to Jim Lash, Ladd had +one chance in a hundred, but Gale considered it one in a thousand. +Having done all that was possible for the ranger, Gale slipped blankets +under and around him, and then turned his attention to Lash. + +Jim came out of his stupor. A mushrooming bullet had torn a great hole +in his leg. Gale, upon examination, could not be sure the bones had +been missed, but there was no bad break. The application of hot salt +water made Jim groan. When he had been bandaged and laid beside Ladd, +Gale went on to the cavalryman. Thorne was very weak and scarcely +conscious. A furrow had been plowed through his scalp down to the +bone. When it had been dressed, Mercedes collapsed. Gale laid her +with the three in a row and covered them with blankets and the +tarpaulin. + +Then Yaqui submitted to examination. A bullet had gone through the +Indian's shoulder. To Gale it appeared serious. Yaqui said it was a +flea bite. But he allowed Gale to bandage it, and obeyed when he was +told to lie quiet in his blanket beside the fire. + +Gale stood guard. He seemed still calm, and wondered at what he +considered a strange absence of poignant feeling. If he had felt +weariness it was now gone. He coaxed the fire with as little wood as +would keep it burning; he sat beside it; he walked to and fro close by; +sometimes he stood over the five sleepers, wondering if two of them, at +least, would ever awaken. + +Time had passed swiftly, but as the necessity for immediate action had +gone by, the hours gradually assumed something of their normal length. +The night wore on. The air grew colder, the stars brighter, the sky +bluer, and, if such could be possible, the silence more intense. The +fire burned out, and for lack of wood could not be rekindled. Gale +patrolled his short beat, becoming colder and damper as dawn +approached. The darkness grew so dense that he could not see the pale +faces of the sleepers. He dreaded the gray dawn and the light. Slowly +the heavy black belt close to the lava changed to a pale gloom, then to +gray, and after that morning came quickly. + +The hour had come for Dick Gale to face his great problem. It was +natural that he hung back a little at first; natural that when he went +forward to look at the quiet sleepers he did so with a grim and stern +force urging him. Yaqui stirred, roused, yawned, got up; and, though +he did not smile at Gale, a light shone swiftly across his dark face. +His shoulder drooped and appeared stiff, otherwise he was himself. +Mercedes lay in deep slumber. Thorne had a high fever, and was +beginning to show signs of restlessness. Ladd seemed just barely +alive. Jim Lash slept as if he was not much the worse for his wound. + +Gale rose from his examination with a sharp breaking of his cold mood. +While there was life in Thorne and Ladd there was hope for them. Then +he faced his problem, and his decision was instant. + +He awoke Mercedes. How wondering, wistful, beautiful was that first +opening flash of her eyes! Then the dark, troubled thought came. +Swiftly she sat up. + +"Mercedes--come. Are you all right? Laddy is alive Thorne's not--not +so bad. But we've got a job on our hands! You must help me." + +She bent over Thorne and laid her hands on his hot face. Then she +rose--a woman such as he had imagined she might be in an hour of trial. + +Gale took up Ladd as carefully and gently as possible. + +"Mercedes, bring what you can carry and follow me," he said. Then, +motioning for Yaqui to remain there, he turned down the slope with Ladd +in his arms. + +Neither pausing nor making a misstep nor conscious of great effort, +Gale carried the wounded man down into the arroyo. Mercedes kept at +his heels, light, supple, lithe as a panther. He left her with Ladd +and went back. When he had started off with Thorne in his arms he felt +the tax on his strength. Surely and swiftly, however, he bore the +cavalryman down the trail to lay him beside Ladd. Again he started +back, and when he began to mount the steep lava steps he was hot, wet, +breathing hard. As he reached the scene of that night's camp a voice +greeted him. Jim Lash was sitting up. + +"Hello, Dick. I woke some late this mornin'. Where's Laddy? Dick, +you ain't a-goin' to say--" + +"Laddy's alive--that's about all," replied Dick. + +"Where's Thorne an' Mercedes? Look here, man. I reckon you ain't +packin' this crippled outfit down that awful trail?" + +"Had to, Jim. An hour's sun--would kill--both Laddy and Thorne. Come +on now." + +For once Jim Lash's cool good nature and careless indifference gave +precedence to amaze and concern. + +"Always knew you was a husky chap. But, Dick, you're no hoss! Get me a +crutch an' give me a lift on one side." + +"Come on," replied Gale. "I've no time to monkey." + +He lifted the ranger, called to Yaqui to follow with some of the camp +outfit, and once more essayed the steep descent. Jim Lash was the +heaviest man of the three, and Gale's strength was put to enormous +strain to carry him on that broken trail. Nevertheless, Gale went down, +down, walking swiftly and surely over the bad places; and at last he +staggered into the arroyo with bursting heart and red-blinded eyes. +When he had recovered he made a final trip up the slope for the camp +effects which Yaqui had been unable to carry. + +Then he drew Jim and Mercedes and Yaqui, also, into an earnest +discussion of ways and means whereby to fight for the life of Thorne. +Ladd's case Gale now considered hopeless, though he meant to fight for +him, too, as long as he breathed. + +In the labor of watching and nursing it seemed to Gale that two days +and two nights slipped by like a few hours. During that time the +Indian recovered from his injury, and became capable of performing all +except heavy tasks. Then Gale succumbed to weariness. After his +much-needed rest he relieved Mercedes of the care and watch over Thorne +which, up to that time, she had absolutely refused to relinquish. The +cavalryman had high fever, and Gale feared he had developed blood +poisoning. He required constant attention. His condition slowly grew +worse, and there came a day which Gale thought surely was the end. But +that day passed, and the night, and the next day, and Thorne lived on, +ghastly, stricken, raving. Mercedes hung over him with jealous, +passionate care and did all that could have been humanly done for a +man. She grew wan, absorbed, silent. But suddenly, and to Gale's +amaze and thanksgiving, there came an abatement of Thorne's fever. With +it some of the heat and redness of the inflamed wound disappeared. +Next morning he was conscious, and Gale grasped some of the hope that +Mercedes had never abandoned. He forced her to rest while he attended +to Thorne. That day he saw that the crisis was past. Recovery for +Thorne was now possible, and would perhaps depend entirely upon the +care he received. + +Jim Lash's wound healed without any aggravating symptoms. It would be +only a matter of time until he had the use of his leg again. All these +days, however, there was little apparent change in Ladd's condition +unless it was that he seemed to fade away as he lingered. At first his +wounds remained open; they bled a little all the time outwardly, +perhaps internally also; the blood did not seem to clot, and so the +bullet holes did not close. Then Yaqui asked for the care of Ladd. +Gale yielded it with opposing thoughts--that Ladd would waste slowly +away till life ceased, and that there never was any telling what might +lie in the power of this strange Indian. Yaqui absented himself from +camp for a while, and when he returned he carried the roots and leaves +of desert plants unknown to Gale. From these the Indian brewed an +ointment. Then he stripped the bandages from Ladd and applied the +mixture to his wounds. That done, he let him lie with the wounds +exposed to the air, at night covering him. Next day he again exposed +the wounds to the warm, dry air. Slowly they closed, and Ladd ceased +to bleed externally. + +Days passed and grew into what Gale imagined must have been weeks. +Yaqui recovered fully. Jim Lash began to move about on a crutch; he +shared the Indian's watch over Ladd. Thorne lay haggard, emaciated +ghost of his rugged self, but with life in the eyes that turned always +toward Mercedes. Ladd lingered and lingered. The life seemingly would +not leave his bullet-pierced body. He faded, withered, shrunk till he +was almost a skeleton. He knew those who worked and watched over him, +but he had no power of speech. His eyes and eyelids moved; the rest of +him seemed stone. All those days nothing except water was given him. +It was marvelous how tenaciously, however feebly, he clung to life. +Gale imagined it was the Yaqui's spirit that held back death. That +tireless, implacable, inscrutable savage was ever at the ranger's side. +His great somber eyes burned. At length he went to Gale, and, with +that strange light flitting across the hard bronzed face, he said Ladd +would live. + + +The second day after Ladd had been given such thin nourishment as he +could swallow he recovered the use of his tongue. + +"Shore--this's--hell," he whispered. + +That was a characteristic speech for the ranger, Gale thought; and +indeed it made all who heard it smile while their eyes were wet. + +From that time forward Ladd gained, but he gained so immeasurably +slowly that only the eyes of hope could have seen any improvement. Jim +Lash threw away his crutch, and Thorne was well, if still somewhat +weak, before Ladd could lift his arm or turn his head. A kind of long, +immovable gloom passed, like a shadow, from his face. His whispers +grew stronger. And the day arrived when Gale, who was perhaps the +least optimistic, threw doubt to the winds and knew the ranger would +get well. For Gale that joyous moment of realization was one in which +he seemed to return to a former self long absent. He experienced an +elevation of soul. He was suddenly overwhelmed with gratefulness, +humility, awe. A gloomy black terror had passed by. He wanted to +thank the faithful Mercedes, and Thorne for getting well, and the +cheerful Lash, and Ladd himself, and that strange and wonderful Yaqui, +now such a splendid figure. He thought of home and Nell. The terrible +encompassing red slopes lost something of their fearsomeness, and there +was a good spirit hovering near. + + +"Boys, come round," called Ladd, in his low voice. "An' you, Mercedes. +An' call the Yaqui." + +Ladd lay in the shade of the brush shelter that had been erected. His +head was raised slightly on a pillow. There seemed little of him but +long lean lines, and if it had not been for his keen, thoughtful, +kindly eyes, his face would have resembled a death mask of a man +starved. + +"Shore I want to know what day is it an' what month?" asked Ladd. + +Nobody could answer him. The question seemed a surprise to Gale, and +evidently was so to the others. + +"Look at that cactus," went on Ladd. + +Near the wall of lava a stunted saguaro lifted its head. A few +shriveled blossoms that had once been white hung along the fluted +column. + +"I reckon according to that giant cactus it's somewheres along the end +of March," said Jim Lash, soberly. + +"Shore it's April. Look where the sun is. An' can't you feel it's +gettin' hot?" + +"Supposin' it is April?" queried Lash slowly. + +"Well, what I'm drivin' at is it's about time you all was hittin' the +trail back to Forlorn River, before the waterholes dry out." + +"Laddy, I reckon we'll start soon as you're able to be put on a hoss." + +"Shore that 'll be too late." + +A silence ensued, in which those who heard Ladd gazed fixedly at him +and then at one another. Lash uneasily shifted the position of his +lame leg, and Gale saw him moisten his lips with his tongue. + +"Charlie Ladd, I ain't reckonin' you mean we're to ride off an' leave +you here?" + +"What else is there to do? The hot weather's close. Pretty soon most +of the waterholes will be dry. You can't travel then.... I'm on my +back here, an' God only knows when I could be packed out. Not for +weeks, mebbe. I'll never be any good again, even if I was to get out +alive.... You see, shore this sort of case comes round sometimes in the +desert. It's common enough. I've heard of several cases where men had +to go an' leave a feller behind. It's reasonable. If you're fightin' +the desert you can't afford to be sentimental... Now, as I said, I'm +all in. So what's the sense of you waitin' here, when it means the old +desert story? By goin' now mebbe you'll get home. If you wait on a +chance of takin' me, you'll be too late. Pretty soon this lava 'll be +one roastin' hell. Shore now, boys, you'll see this the right way? +Jim, old pard?" + +"No, Laddy, an' I can't figger how you could ever ask me." + +"Shore then leave me here with Yaqui an' a couple of the hosses. We can +eat sheep meat. An' if the water holds out--" + +"No!" interrupted Lash, violently. + +Ladd's eyes sought Gale's face. + +"Son, you ain't bull-headed like Jim. You'll see the sense of it. +There's Nell a-waitin' back at Forlorn River. Think what it means to +her! She's a damn fine girl, Dick, an' what right have you to break +her heart for an old worn-out cowpuncher? Think how she's watchin' for +you with that sweet face all sad an' troubled, an' her eyes turnin' +black. You'll go, son, won't you?" + +Dick shook his head. + +The ranger turned his gaze upon Thorne, and now the keen, glistening +light in his gray eyes had blurred. + +"Thorne, it's different with you. Jim's a fool, an' young Gale has +been punctured by choya thorns. He's got the desert poison in his +blood. But you now--you've no call to stick--you can find that trail +out. It's easy to follow, made by so many shod hosses. Take your wife +an' go.... Shore you'll go, Thorne?" + +Deliberately and without an instant's hesitation the cavalryman replied +"No." + +Ladd then directed his appeal to Mercedes. His face was now convulsed, +and his voice, though it had sunk to a whisper, was clear, and +beautiful with some rich quality that Gale had never heard in it. + +"Mercedes, you're a woman. You're the woman we fought for. An' some +of us are shore goin' to die for you. Don't make it all for nothin'. +Let us feel we saved the woman. Shore you can make Thorne go. He'll +have to go if you say. They'll all have to go. Think of the years of +love an' happiness in store for you. A week or so an' it 'll be too +late. Can you stand for me seein' you?... Let me tell you, Mercedes, +when the summer heat hits the lava we'll all wither an' curl up like +shavin's near a fire. A wind of hell will blow up this slope. Look at +them mesquites. See the twist in them. That's the torture of heat an' +thirst. Do you want me or all us men seein' you like that?... +Mercedes, don't make it all for nothin'. Say you'll persuade Thorne, +if not the others." + +For all the effect his appeal had to move her Mercedes might have +possessed a heart as hard and fixed as the surrounding lava. + +"Never!" + +White-faced, with great black eyes flashing, the Spanish girl spoke the +word that bound her and her companions in the desert. + +The subject was never mentioned again. Gale thought that he read a +sinister purpose in Ladd's mind. To his astonishment, Lash came to him +with the same fancy. After that they made certain there never was a +gun within reach of Ladd's clutching, clawlike hands. + +Gradually a somber spell lifted from the ranger's mind. When he was +entirely free of it he began to gather strength daily. Then it was as +if he had never known patience--he who had shown so well how to wait. +He was in a frenzy to get well. He appetite could not be satisfied. + +The sun climbed higher, whiter, hotter. At midday a wind from gulfward +roared up the arroyo, and now only palos verdes and the few saguaros +were green. Every day the water in the lava hole sank an inch. + +The Yaqui alone spent the waiting time in activity. He made trips up +on the lava slope, and each time he returned with guns or boots or +sombreros, or something belonging to the bandits that had fallen. He +never fetched in a saddle or bridle, and from that the rangers +concluded Rojas's horses had long before taken their back trail. What +speculation, what consternation those saddled horses would cause if +they returned to Forlorn River! + +As Ladd improved there was one story he had to hear every day. It was +the one relating to what he had missed--the sight of Rojas pursued and +plunged to his doom. The thing had a morbid fascination for the sick +ranger. He reveled in it. He tortured Mercedes. His gentleness and +consideration, heretofore so marked, were in abeyance to some sinister, +ghastly joy. But to humor him Mercedes racked her soul with the +sensations she had suffered when Rojas hounded her out on the ledge; +when she shot him; when she sprang to throw herself over the precipice; +when she fought him; when with half-blinded eyes she looked up to see +the merciless Yaqui reaching for the bandit. Ladd fed his cruel +longing with Thorne's poignant recollections, with the keen, clear, +never-to-be-forgotten shocks to Gale's eye and ear. Jim Lash, for one +at least, never tired of telling how he had seen and heard the tragedy, +and every time in the telling it gathered some more tragic and gruesome +detail. Jim believed in satiating the ranger. Then in the twilight, +when the campfire burned, Ladd would try to get the Yaqui to tell his +side of the story. But this the Indian would never do. There was only +the expression of his fathomless eyes and the set passion of his +massive face. + +Those waiting days grew into weeks. Ladd gained very slowly. +Nevertheless, at last he could walk about, and soon he averred that, +strapped to a horse, he could last out the trip to Forlorn River. + +There was rejoicing in camp, and plans were eagerly suggested. The +Yaqui happened to be absent. When he returned the rangers told him +they were now ready to undertake the journey back across lava and +cactus. + +Yaqui shook his head. They declared again their intention. + +"No!" replied the Indian, and his deep, sonorous voice rolled out upon +the quiet of the arroyo. He spoke briefly then. They had waited too +long. The smaller waterholes back in the trail were dry. The hot +summer was upon them. There could be only death waiting down in the +burning valley. Here was water and grass and wood and shade from the +sun's rays, and sheep to be killed on the peaks. The water would hold +unless the season was that dreaded ano seco of the Mexicans. + +"Wait for rain," concluded Yaqui, and now as never before he spoke as +one with authority. "If no rain--" Silently he lifted his hand. + + + +XVI + +MOUNTAIN SHEEP + +WHAT Gale might have thought an appalling situation, if considered from +a safe and comfortable home away from the desert, became, now that he +was shut in by the red-ribbed lava walls and great dry wastes, a matter +calmly accepted as inevitable. So he imagined it was accepted by the +others. Not even Mercedes uttered a regret. No word was spoken of +home. If there was thought of loved one, it was locked deep in their +minds. In Mercedes there was no change in womanly quality, perhaps +because all she had to love was there in the desert with her. + +Gale had often pondered over this singular change in character. He had +trained himself, in order to fight a paralyzing something in the +desert's influence, to oppose with memory and thought an insidious +primitive retrogression to what was scarcely consciousness at all, +merely a savage's instinct of sight and sound. He felt the need now of +redoubled effort. For there was a sheer happiness in drifting. Not +only was it easy to forget, it was hard to remember. His idea was that +a man laboring under a great wrong, a great crime, a great passion +might find the lonely desert a fitting place for either remembrance or +oblivion, according to the nature of his soul. But an ordinary, +healthy, reasonably happy mortal who loved the open with its blaze of +sun and sweep of wind would have a task to keep from going backward to +the natural man as he was before civilization. + +By tacit agreement Ladd again became the leader of the party. Ladd was +a man who would have taken all the responsibility whether or not it was +given him. In moments of hazard, of uncertainty, Lash and Gale, even +Belding, unconsciously looked to the ranger. He had that kind of power. + +The first thing Ladd asked was to have the store of food that remained +spread out upon a tarpaulin. Assuredly, it was a slender enough +supply. The ranger stood for long moments gazing down at it. He was +groping among past experiences, calling back from his years of life on +range and desert that which might be valuable for the present issue. +It was impossible to read the gravity of Ladd's face, for he still +looked like a dead man, but the slow shake of his head told Gale much. +There was a grain of hope, however, in the significance with which he +touched the bags of salt and said, "Shore it was sense packin' all that +salt!" + +Then he turned to face his comrades. + +"That's little grub for six starvin' people corralled in the desert. +But the grub end ain't worryin' me. Yaqui can get sheep up the slopes. +Water! That's the beginnin' and middle an' end of our case." + +"Laddy, I reckon the waterhole here never goes dry," replied Jim. + +"Ask the Indian." + +Upon being questioned, Yaqui repeated what he had said about the +dreaded ano seco of the Mexicans. In a dry year this waterhole failed. + +"Dick, take a rope an' see how much water's in the hole." + +Gale could not find bottom with a thirty foot lasso. The water was as +cool, clear, sweet as if it had been kept in a shaded iron receptacle. + +Ladd welcomed this information with surprise and gladness. + +"Let's see. Last year was shore pretty dry. Mebbe this summer won't +be. Mebbe our wonderful good luck'll hold. Ask Yaqui if he thinks it +'ll rain." + +Mercedes questioned the Indian. + +"He says no man can tell surely. But he thinks the rain will come," +she replied. + +"Shore it 'll rain, you can gamble on that now," continued Ladd. "If +there's only grass for the hosses! We can't get out of here without +hosses. Dick, take the Indian an' scout down the arroyo. To-day I seen +the hosses were gettin' fat. Gettin' fat in this desert! But mebbe +they've about grazed up all the grass. Go an' see, Dick. An' may you +come back with more good news!" + +Gale, upon the few occasions when he had wandered down the arroyo, had +never gone far. The Yaqui said there was grass for the horses, and +until now no one had given the question more consideration. Gale found +that the arroyo widened as it opened. Near the head, where it was +narrow, the grass lined the course of the dry stream bed. But farther +down this stream bed spread out. There was every indication that at +flood seasons the water covered the floor of the arroyo. The farther +Gale went the thicker and larger grew the gnarled mesquites and palo +verdes, the more cactus and greasewood there were, and other desert +growths. Patches of gray grass grew everywhere. Gale began to wonder +where the horses were. Finally the trees and brush thinned out, and a +mile-wide gray plain stretched down to reddish sand dunes. Over to one +side were the white horses, and even as Gale saw them both Blanco +Diablo and Sol lifted their heads and, with white manes tossing in the +wind, whistled clarion calls. Here was grass enough for many horses; +the arroyo was indeed an oasis. + +Ladd and the others were awaiting Gale's report, and they received it +with calmness, yet with a joy no less evident because it was +restrained. Gale, in his keen observation at the moment, found that he +and his comrades turned with glad eyes to the woman of the party. + +"Senor Laddy, you think--you believe--we shall--" she faltered, and her +voice failed. It was the woman in her, weakening in the light of real +hope, of the happiness now possible beyond that desert barrier. + +"Mercedes, no white man can tell what'll come to pass out here," said +Ladd, earnestly. "Shore I have hopes now I never dreamed of. I was +pretty near a dead man. The Indian saved me. Queer notions have come +into my head about Yaqui. I don't understand them. He seems when you +look at him only a squalid, sullen, vengeful savage. But Lord! that's +far from the truth. Mebbe Yaqui's different from most Indians. He +looks the same, though. Mebbe the trouble is we white folks never knew +the Indian. Anyway, Beldin' had it right. Yaqui's our godsend. Now as +to the future, I'd like to know mebbe as well as you if we're ever to +get home. Only bein' what I am, I say, Quien sabe? But somethin' +tells me Yaqui knows. Ask him, Mercedes. Make him tell. We'll all be +the better for knowin'. We'd be stronger for havin' more'n our faith in +him. He's silent Indian, but make him tell." + +Mercedes called to Yaqui. At her bidding there was always a suggestion +of hurry, which otherwise was never manifest in his actions. She put a +hand on his bared muscular arm and began to speak in Spanish. Her voice +was low, swift, full of deep emotion, sweet as the sound of a bell. It +thrilled Gale, though he understood scarcely a word she said. He did +not need translation to know that here spoke the longing of a woman for +life, love, home, the heritage of a woman's heart. + +Gale doubted his own divining impression. It was that the Yaqui +understood this woman's longing. In Gale's sight the Indian's +stoicism, his inscrutability, the lavalike hardness of his face, +although they did not change, seemed to give forth light, gentleness, +loyalty. For an instant Gale seemed to have a vision; but it did not +last, and he failed to hold some beautiful illusive thing. + +"Si!" rolled out the Indian's reply, full of power and depth. + +Mercedes drew a long breath, and her hand sought Thorne's. + +"He says yes," she whispered. "He answers he'll save us; he'll take us +all back--he knows!" + +The Indian turned away to his tasks, and the silence that held the +little group was finally broken by Ladd. + +"Shore I said so. Now all we've got to do is use sense. Friends, I'm +the commissary department of this outfit, an' what I say goes. You all +won't eat except when I tell you. Mebbe it'll not be so hard to keep +our health. Starved beggars don't get sick. But there's the heat +comin', an' we can all go loco, you know. To pass the time! Lord, +that's our problem. Now if you all only had a hankerin' for checkers. +Shore I'll make a board an' make you play. Thorne, you're the +luckiest. You've got your girl, an' this can be a honeymoon. Now with +a few tools an' little material see what a grand house you can build +for your wife. Dick, you're lucky, too. You like to hunt, an' up +there you'll find the finest bighorn huntin' in the West. Take Yaqui +and the .405. We need the meat, but while you're gettin' it have your +sport. The same chance will never come again. I wish we all was able +to go. But crippled men can't climb the lava. Shore you'll see some +country from the peaks. There's no wilder place on earth, except the +poles. An' when you're older, you an' Nell, with a couple of fine boys, +think what it'll be to tell them about bein' lost in the lava, an' +huntin' sheep with a Yaqui. Shore I've hit it. You can take yours out +in huntin' an' thinkin'. Now if I had a girl like Nell I'd never go +crazy. That's your game, Dick. Hunt, an' think of Nell, an' how +you'll tell those fine boys about it all, an' about the old cowman you +knowed, Laddy, who'll by then be long past the divide. Rustle now, +son. Get some enthusiasm. For shore you'll need it for yourself an' +us." + +Gale climbed the lava slope, away round to the right of the arroyo, +along an old trail that Yaqui said the Papagos had made before his own +people had hunted there. Part way it led through spiked, crested, +upheaved lava that would have been almost impassable even without its +silver coating of choya cactus. There were benches and ledges and +ridges bare and glistening in the sun. From the crests of these +Yaqui's searching falcon gaze roved near and far for signs of sheep, +and Gale used his glass on the reaches of lava that slanted steeply +upward to the corrugated peaks, and down over endless heave and roll +and red-waved slopes. The heat smoked up from the lava, and this, with +the red color and the shiny choyas, gave the impression of a world of +smoldering fire. + +Farther along the slope Yaqui halted and crawled behind projections to +a point commanding a view over an extraordinary section of country. +The peaks were off to the left. In the foreground were gullies, +ridges, and canyons, arroyos, all glistening with choyas and some other +and more numerous white bushes, and here and there towered a green +cactus. This region was only a splintered and more devastated part of +the volcanic slope, but it was miles in extent. Yaqui peeped over the +top of a blunt block of lava and searched the sharp-billowed +wilderness. Suddenly he grasped Gale and pointed across a deep wide +gully. + +With the aid of his glass Gale saw five sheep. They were much larger +than he had expected, dull brown in color, and two of them were rams +with great curved horns. They were looking in his direction. +Remembering what he had heard about the wonderful eyesight of these +mountain animals, Gale could only conclude that they had seen the +hunters. + +Then Yaqui's movements attracted and interested him. The Indian had +brought with him a red scarf and a mesquite branch. He tied the scarf +to the stick, and propped this up in a crack of the lava. The scarf +waved in the wind. That done, the Indian bade Gale watch. + +Once again he leveled the glass at the sheep. All five were +motionless, standing like statues, heads pointed across the gully. They +were more than a mile distant. When Gale looked without his glass they +merged into the roughness of the lava. He was intensely interested. +Did the sheep see the red scarf? It seemed incredible, but nothing +else could account for that statuesque alertness. The sheep held this +rigid position for perhaps fifteen minutes. Then the leading ram +started to approach. The others followed. He took a few steps, then +halted. Always he held his head up, nose pointed. + +"By George, they're coming!" exclaimed Gale. "They see that flag. +They're hunting us. They're curious. If this doesn't beat me!" + +Evidently the Indian understood, for he grunted. + +Gale found difficulty in curbing his impatience. The approach of the +sheep was slow. The advances of the leader and the intervals of +watching had a singular regularity. He worked like a machine. Gale +followed him down the opposite wall, around holes, across gullies, over +ridges. Then Gale shifted the glass back to find the others. They +were coming also, with exactly the same pace and pause of their leader. +What steppers they were! How sure-footed! What leaps they made! It +was thrilling to watch them. Gale forgot he had a rifle. The Yaqui +pressed a heavy hand down upon his shoulder. He was to keep well +hidden and to be quiet. Gale suddenly conceived the idea that the sheep +might come clear across to investigate the puzzling red thing +fluttering in the breeze. Strange, indeed, would that be for the +wildest creatures in the world. + +The big ram led on with the same regular persistence, and in half an +hour's time he was in the bottom of the great gulf, and soon he was +facing up the slope. Gale knew then that the alluring scarf had +fascinated him. It was no longer necessary now for Gale to use his +glass. There was a short period when an intervening crest of lava hid +the sheep from view. After that the two rams and their smaller +followers were plainly in sight for perhaps a quarter of an hour. Then +they disappeared behind another ridge. Gale kept watching sure they +would come out farther on. A tense period of waiting passed, then a +suddenly electrifying pressure of Yaqui's hand made Gale tremble with +excitement. + +Very cautiously he shifted his position. There, not fifty feet distant +upon a high mound of lava, stood the leader of the sheep. His size +astounded Gale. He seemed all horns. But only for a moment did the +impression of horns overbalancing body remain with Gale. The sheep was +graceful, sinewy, slender, powerfully built, and in poise magnificent. +As Gale watched, spellbound, the second ram leaped lightly upon the +mound, and presently the three others did likewise. + +Then, indeed, Gale feasted his eyes with a spectacle for a hunter. It +came to him suddenly that there had been something he expected to see +in this Rocky Mountain bighorn, and it was lacking. They were +beautiful, as wonderful as even Ladd's encomiums had led him to +suppose. He thought perhaps it was the contrast these soft, sleek, +short-furred, graceful animals afforded to what he imagined the barren, +terrible lava mountains might develop. + +The splendid leader stepped closer, his round, protruding amber eyes, +which Gale could now plainly see, intent upon that fatal red flag. +Like automatons the other four crowded into his tracks. A few little +slow steps, then the leader halted. + +At this instant Gale's absorbed attention was directed by Yaqui to the +rifle, and so to the purpose of the climb. A little cold shock +affronted Gale's vivid pleasure. With it dawned a realization of what +he had imagined was lacking in these animals. They did not look wild! +The so-called wildest of wild creatures appeared tamer than sheep he +had followed on a farm. It would be little less than murder to kill +them. Gale regretted the need of slaughter. Nevertheless, he could not +resist the desire to show himself and see how tame they really were. + +He reached for the .405, and as he threw a shell into the chamber the +slight metallic click made the sheep jump. Then Gale rose quickly to +his feet. + +The noble ram and his band simply stared at Gale. They had never seen +a man. They showed not the slightest indication of instinctive fear. +Curiosity, surprise, even friendliness, seemed to mark their attitude +of attention. Gale imagined that they were going to step still closer. +He did not choose to wait to see if this were true. Certainly it +already took a grim resolution to raise the heavy .405. + +His shot killed the big leader. The others bounded away with +remarkable nimbleness. Gale used up the remaining four shells to drop +the second ram, and by the time he had reloaded the others were out of +range. + + +The Yaqui's method of hunting was sure and deadly and saving of energy, +but Gale never would try it again. He chose to stalk the game. This +entailed a great expenditure of strength, the eyes and lungs of a +mountaineer, and, as Gale put it to Ladd, the need of seven-league +boots. After being hunted a few times and shot at, the sheep became +exceedingly difficult to approach. Gale learned to know that their +fame as the keenest-eyed of all animals was well founded. If he worked +directly toward a flock, crawling over the sharp lava, always a +sentinel ram espied him before he got within range. The only method of +attack that he found successful was to locate sheep with his glass, +work round to windward of them, and then, getting behind a ridge or +buttress, crawl like a lizard to a vantage point. He failed often. +The stalk called forth all that was in him of endurance, cunning, +speed. As the days grew hotter he hunted in the early morning hours and +a while before the sun went down. More than one night he lay out on +the lava, with the great stars close overhead and the immense void all +beneath him. This pursuit he learned to love. Upon those scarred and +blasted slopes the wild spirit that was in him had free rein. And like +a shadow the faithful Yaqui tried ever to keep at his heels. + +One morning the rising sun greeted him as he surmounted the higher cone +of the volcano. He saw the vastness of the east aglow with a glazed +rosy whiteness, like the changing hue of an ember. At this height +there was a sweeping wind, still cool. The western slopes of lava lay +dark, and all that world of sand and gulf and mountain barrier beyond +was shrouded in the mystic cloud of distance. Gale had assimilated +much of the loneliness and the sense of ownership and the love of lofty +heights that might well belong to the great condor of the peak. Like +this wide-winged bird, he had an unparalleled range of vision. The +very corners whence came the winds seemed pierced by Gale's eyes. + +Yaqui spied a flock of sheep far under the curved broken rim of the +main crater. Then began the stalk. Gale had taught the Yaqui +something--that speed might win as well as patient cunning. Keeping +out of sight, Gale ran over the spike-crusted lava, leaving the Indian +far behind. His feet were magnets, attracting supporting holds and he +passed over them too fast to fall. The wind, the keen air of the +heights, the red lava, the boundless surrounding blue, all seemed to +have something to do with his wildness. Then, hiding, slipping, +creeping, crawling, he closed in upon his quarry until the long rifle +grew like stone in his grip, and the whipping "spang" ripped the +silence, and the strange echo boomed deep in the crater, and rolled +around, as if in hollow mockery at the hopelessness of escape. + +Gale's exultant yell was given as much to free himself of some bursting +joy of action as it was to call the slower Yaqui. Then he liked the +strange echoes. It was a maddening whirl of sound that bored deeper +and deeper along the whorled and caverned walls of the crater. It was +as if these aged walls resented the violating of their silent sanctity. +Gale felt himself a man, a thing alive, something superior to all this +savage, dead, upflung world of iron, a master even of all this grandeur +and sublimity because he had a soul. + +He waited beside his quarry, and breathed deep, and swept the long +slopes with searching eyes of habit. + +When Yaqui came up they set about the hardest task of all, to pack the +best of that heavy sheep down miles of steep, ragged, choya-covered +lava. But even in this Gale rejoiced. The heat was nothing, the +millions of little pits which could hold and twist a foot were nothing; +the blade-edged crusts and the deep fissures and the choked canyons and +the tangled, dwarfed mesquites, all these were as nothing but obstacles +to be cheerfully overcome. Only the choya hindered Dick Gale. + +When his heavy burden pulled him out of sure-footedness, and he plunged +into a choya, or when the strange, deceitful, uncanny, almost invisible +frosty thorns caught and pierced him, then there was call for all of +fortitude and endurance. For this cactus had a malignant power of +torture. Its pain was a stinging, blinding, burning, sickening poison +in the blood. If thorns pierced his legs he felt the pain all over his +body; if his hands rose from a fall full of the barbed joints, he was +helpless and quivering till Yaqui tore them out. + +But this one peril, dreaded more than dizzy height of precipice or +sunblindness on the glistening peak, did not daunt Gale. His teacher +was the Yaqui, and always before him was an example that made him +despair of a white man's equality. Color, race, blood, breeding--what +were these in the wilderness? Verily, Dick Gale had come to learn the +use of his hands. + +So in a descent of hours he toiled down the lava slope, to stalk into +the arroyo like a burdened giant, wringing wet, panting, clear-eyed and +dark-faced, his ragged clothes and boots white with choya thorns. + +The gaunt Ladd rose from his shaded seat, and removed his pipe from +smiling lips, and turned to nod at Jim, and then looked back again. + +The torrid summer heat came imperceptibly, or it could never have been +borne by white men. It changed the lives of the fugitives, making them +partly nocturnal in habit. The nights had the balmy coolness of +spring, and would have been delightful for sleep, but that would have +made the blazing days unendurable. + +The sun rose in a vast white flame. With it came the blasting, +withering wind from the gulf. A red haze, like that of earlier +sunsets, seemed to come sweeping on the wind, and it roared up the +arroyo, and went bellowing into the crater, and rushed on in fury to +lash the peaks. + +During these hot, windy hours the desert-bound party slept in deep +recesses in the lava; and if necessity brought them forth they could +not remain out long. The sand burned through boots, and a touch of +bare hand on lava raised a blister. + +A short while before sundown the Yaqui went forth to build a campfire, +and soon the others came out, heat-dazed, half blinded, with parching +throats to allay and hunger that was never satisfied. A little action +and a cooling of the air revived them, and when night set in they were +comfortable round the campfire. + +As Ladd had said, one of their greatest problems was the passing of +time. The nights were interminably long, but they had to be passed in +work or play or dream--anything except sleep. That was Ladd's most +inflexible command. He gave no reason. But not improbably the ranger +thought that the terrific heat of the day spend in slumber lessened a +wear and strain, if not a real danger of madness. + +Accordingly, at first the occupations of this little group were many +and various. They worked if they had something to do, or could invent +a pretext. They told and retold stories until all were wearisome. +They sang songs. Mercedes taught Spanish. They played every game they +knew. They invented others that were so trivial children would +scarcely have been interested, and these they played seriously. In a +word, with intelligence and passion, with all that was civilized and +human, they fought the ever-infringing loneliness, the savage solitude +of their environment. + +But they had only finite minds. It was not in reason to expect a +complete victory against this mighty Nature, this bounding horizon of +death and desolation and decay. Gradually they fell back upon fewer +and fewer occupations, until the time came when the silence was hard to +break. + +Gale believed himself the keenest of the party, the one who thought +most, and he watched the effect of the desert upon his companions. He +imagined that he saw Ladd grow old sitting round the campfire. Certain +it was that the ranger's gray hair had turned white. What had been at +times hard and cold and grim about him had strangely vanished in sweet +temper and a vacant-mindedness that held him longer as the days passed. +For hours, it seemed, Ladd would bend over his checkerboard and never +make a move. It mattered not now whether or not he had a partner. He +was always glad of being spoken to, as if he were called back from +vague region of mind. Jim Lash, the calmest, coolest, most nonchalant, +best-humored Westerner Gale had ever met, had by slow degrees lost that +cheerful character which would have been of such infinite good to his +companions, and always he sat brooding, silently brooding. Jim had no +ties, few memories, and the desert was claiming him. + +Thorne and Mercedes, however, were living, wonderful proof that spirit, +mind, and heart were free--free to soar in scorn of the colossal +barrenness and silence and space of that terrible hedging prison of +lava. They were young; they loved; they were together; and the oasis +was almost a paradise. Gale believe he helped himself by watching them. +Imagination had never pictured real happiness to him. Thorne and +Mercedes had forgotten the outside world. If they had been existing on +the burned-out desolate moon they could hardly have been in a harsher, +grimmer, lonelier spot than this red-walled arroyo. But it might have +been a statelier Eden than that of the primitive day. + +Mercedes grew thinner, until she was a slender shadow of her former +self. She became hard, brown as the rangers, lithe and quick as a +panther. She seemed to live on water and the air--perhaps, indeed, on +love. For of the scant fare, the best of which was continually urged +upon her, she partook but little. She reminded Gale of a wild brown +creature, free as the wind on the lava slopes. Yet, despite the great +change, her beauty remained undiminished. Her eyes, seeming so much +larger now in her small face, were great black, starry gulfs. She was +the life of that camp. Her smiles, her rapid speech, her low laughter, +her quick movements, her playful moods with the rangers, the dark and +passionate glance, which rested so often on her lover, the whispers in +the dusk as hand in hand they paced the campfire beat--these helped +Gale to retain his loosening hold on reality, to resist the lure of a +strange beckoning life where a man stood free in the golden open, where +emotion was not, nor trouble, nor sickness, nor anything but the +savage's rest and sleep and action and dream. + +Although the Yaqui was as his shadow, Gale reached a point when he +seemed to wander alone at twilight, in the night, at dawn. Far down +the arroyo, in the deepening red twilight, when the heat rolled away on +slow-dying wind, Blanco Sol raised his splendid head and whistled for +his master. Gale reproached himself for neglect of the noble horse. +Blanco Sol was always the same. He loved four things--his master, a +long drink of cool water, to graze at will, and to run. Time and +place, Gale thought, meant little to Sol if he could have those four +things. Gale put his arm over the great arched neck and laid his cheek +against the long white mane, and then even as he stood there forgot the +horse. What was the dull, red-tinged, horizon-wide mantle creeping up +the slope? Through it the copper sun glowed, paled, died. Was it only +twilight? Was it gloom? If he thought about it he had a feeling that +it was the herald of night and the night must be a vigil, and that made +him tremble. + +At night he had formed a habit of climbing up the lava slope as far as +the smooth trail extended, and there on a promontory he paced to and +fro, and watched the stars, and sat stone-still for hours looking down +at the vast void with its moving, changing shadows. From that +promontory he gazed up at a velvet-blue sky, deep and dark, bright with +millions of cold, distant, blinking stars, and he grasped a little of +the meaning of infinitude. He gazed down into the shadows, which, +black as they were and impenetrable, yet have a conception of +immeasurable space. + +Then the silence! He was dumb, he was awed, he bowed his head, he +trembled, he marveled at the desert silence. It was the one thing +always present. Even when the wind roared there seemed to be silence. +But at night, in this lava world of ashes and canker, he waited for +this terrible strangeness of nature to come to him with the secret. He +seemed at once a little child and a strong man, and something very old. +What tortured him was the incomprehensibility that the vaster the space +the greater the silence! At one moment Gale felt there was only death +here, and that was the secret; at another he heard the slow beat of a +mighty heart. + +He came at length to realize that the desert was a teacher. He did not +realize all that he had learned, but he was a different man. And when +he decided upon that, he was not thinking of the slow, sure call to the +primal instincts of man; he was thinking that the desert, as much as he +had experienced and no more, would absolutely overturn the whole scale +of a man's values, break old habits, form new ones, remake him. More of +desert experience, Gale believe, would be too much for intellect. The +desert did not breed civilized man, and that made Gale ponder over a +strange thought: after all, was the civilized man inferior to the +savage? + +Yaqui was the answer to that. When Gale acknowledged this he always +remembered his present strange manner of thought. The past, the old +order of mind, seemed as remote as this desert world was from the +haunts of civilized men. A man must know a savage as Gale knew Yaqui +before he could speak authoritatively, and then something stilled his +tongue. In the first stage of Gale's observation of Yaqui he had +marked tenaciousness of life, stoicism, endurance, strength. These +were the attributes of the desert. But what of that second stage +wherein the Indian had loomed up a colossal figure of strange honor, +loyalty, love? Gale doubted his convictions and scorned himself for +doubting. + +There in the gloom sat the silent, impassive, inscrutable Yaqui. His +dark face, his dark eyes were plain in the light of the stars. Always +he was near Gale, unobtrusive, shadowy, but there. Why? Gale +absolutely could not doubt that the Indian had heart as well as mind. +Yaqui had from the very first stood between Gale and accident, toil, +peril. It was his own choosing. Gale could not change him or thwart +him. He understood the Indian's idea of obligation and sacred duty. +But there was more, and that baffled Gale. In the night hours, alone +on the slope, Gale felt in Yaqui, as he felt the mighty throb of that +desert pulse, a something that drew him irresistibly to the Indian. +Sometimes he looked around to find the Indian, to dispel these strange, +pressing thoughts of unreality, and it was never in vain. + +Thus the nights passed, endlessly long, with Gale fighting for his old +order of thought, fighting the fascination of the infinite sky, and the +gloomy insulating whirl of the wide shadows, fighting for belief, hope, +prayer, fighting against that terrible ever-recurring idea of being +lost, lost, lost in the desert, fighting harder than any other thing +the insidious, penetrating, tranquil, unfeeling self that was coming +between him and his memory. + +He was losing the battle, losing his hold on tangible things, losing +his power to stand up under this ponderous, merciless weight of desert +space and silence. + +He acknowledged it in a kind of despair, and the shadows of the night +seemed whirling fiends. Lost! Lost! Lost! What are you waiting for? +Rain!... Lost! Lost! Lost in the desert! So the shadows seemed to +scream in voiceless mockery. + +At the moment he was alone on the promontory. The night was far spent. +A ghastly moon haunted the black volcanic spurs. The winds blew +silently. Was he alone? No, he did not seem to be alone. The Yaqui +was there. Suddenly a strange, cold sensation crept over Gale. It was +new. He felt a presence. Turning, he expected to see the Indian, but +instead, a slight shadow, pale, almost white, stood there, not close +nor yet distant. It seemed to brighten. Then he saw a woman who +resembled a girl he had seemed to know long ago. She was white-faced, +golden-haired, and her lips were sweet, and her eyes were turning +black. Nell! He had forgotten her. Over him flooded a torrent of +memory. There was tragic woe in this sweet face. Nell was holding out +her arms--she was crying aloud to him across the sand and the cactus +and the lava. She was in trouble, and he had been forgetting. + +That night he climbed the lava to the topmost cone, and never slipped +on a ragged crust nor touched a choya thorn. A voice called to him. +He saw Nell's eyes in the stars, in the velvet blue of sky, in the +blackness of the engulfing shadows. She was with him, a slender shape, +a spirit, keeping step with him, and memory was strong, sweet, beating, +beautiful. Far down in the west, faintly golden with light of the +sinking moon, he saw a cloud that resembled her face. A cloud on the +desert horizon! He gazed and gazed. Was that a spirit face like the +one by his side? No--he did not dream. + + +In the hot, sultry morning Yaqui appeared at camp, after long hours of +absence, and he pointed with a long, dark arm toward the west. A bank +of clouds was rising above the mountain barrier. + +"Rain!" he cried; and his sonorous voice rolled down the arroyo. + +Those who heard him were as shipwrecked mariners at sight of a distant +sail. + + +Dick Gale, silent, grateful to the depths of his soul, stood with arm +over Blanco Sol and watched the transforming west, where clouds of +wonderous size and hue piled over one another, rushing, darkening, +spreading, sweeping upward toward that white and glowing sun. + +When they reached the zenith and swept round to blot out the blazing +orb, the earth took on a dark, lowering aspect. The red of sand and +lava changed to steely gray. Vast shadows, like ripples on water, +sheeted in from the gulf with a low, strange moan. Yet the silence was +like death. The desert was awaiting a strange and hated +visitation--storm! If all the endless torrid days, the endless mystic +nights had seemed unreal to Gale, what, then, seemed this stupendous +spectacle? + +"Oh! I felt a drop of rain on my face!" cried Mercedes; and whispering +the name of a saint, she kissed her husband. + +The white-haired Ladd, gaunt, old, bent, looked up at the maelstrom of +clouds, and he said, softly, "Shore we'll get in the hosses, an' pack +light, an' hit the trail, an' make night marches!" + +Then up out of the gulf of the west swept a bellowing wind and a black +pall and terrible flashes of lightning and thunder like the end of the +world--fury, blackness, chaos, the desert storm. + + + +XVII + +THE WHISTLE OF A HORSE + +AT the ranch-house at Forlorn River Belding stood alone in his darkened +room. It was quiet there and quiet outside; the sickening midsummer +heat, like a hot heavy blanket, lay upon the house. + +He took up the gun belt from his table and with slow hands buckled it +around his waist. He seemed to feel something familiar and comfortable +and inspiring in the weight of the big gun against his hip. He faced +the door as if to go out, but hesitated, and then began a slow, +plodding walk up and down the length of the room. Presently he halted +at the table, and with reluctant hands he unbuckled the gun belt and +laid it down. + +The action did not have an air of finality, and Belding knew it. He had +seen border life in Texas in the early days; he had been a sheriff when +the law in the West depended on a quickness of wrist; he had seen many +a man lay down his gun for good and all. His own action was not final. +Of late he had done the same thing many times and this last time it +seemed a little harder to do, a little more indicative of vacillation. +There were reasons why Belding's gun held for him a gloomy fascination. + +The Chases, those grasping and conscienceless agents of a new force in +the development of the West, were bent upon Belding's ruin, and so far +as his fortunes at Forlorn River were concerned, had almost +accomplished it. One by one he lost points for which he contended with +them. He carried into the Tucson courts the matter of the staked +claims, and mining claims, and water claims, and he lost all. +Following that he lost his government position as inspector of +immigration; and this fact, because of what he considered its +injustice, had been a hard blow. He had been made to suffer a +humiliation equally as great. It came about that he actually had to +pay the Chases for water to irrigate his alfalfa fields. The +never-failing spring upon his land answered for the needs of household +and horses, but no more. + +These matters were unfortunate for Belding, but not by any means wholly +accountable for his worry and unhappiness and brooding hate. He +believed Dick Gale and the rest of the party taken into the desert by +the Yaqui had been killed or lost. Two months before a string of +Mexican horses, riderless, saddled, starved for grass and wild for +water, had come in to Forlorn River. They were a part of the horses +belonging to Rojas and his band. Their arrival complicated the mystery +and strengthened convictions of the loss of both pursuers and pursued. +Belding was wont to say that he had worried himself gray over the fate +of his rangers. + +Belding's unhappiness could hardly be laid to material loss. He had +been rich and was now poor, but change of fortune such as that could +not have made him unhappy. Something more somber and mysterious and +sad than the loss of Dick Gale and their friends had come into the +lives of his wife and Nell. He dated the time of this change back to a +certain day when Mrs. Belding recognized in the elder Chase an old +schoolmate and a rejected suitor. It took time for slow-thinking +Belding to discover anything wrong in his household, especially as the +fact of the Gales lingering there made Mrs. Belding and Nell, for the +most part, hide their real and deeper feelings. Gradually, however, +Belding had forced on him the fact of some secret cause for grief other +than Gale's loss. He was sure of it when his wife signified her desire +to make a visit to her old home back in Peoria. She did not give many +reasons, but she did show him a letter that had found its way from old +friends. This letter contained news that may or may not have been +authentic; but it was enough, Belding thought, to interest his wife. +An old prospector had returned to Peoria, and he had told relatives of +meeting Robert Burton at the Sonoyta Oasis fifteen years before, and +that Burton had gone into the desert never to return. To Belding this +was no surprise, for he had heard that before his marriage. There +appeared to have been no doubts as to the death of his wife's first +husband. The singular thing was that both Nell's father and +grandfather had been lost somewhere in the Sonora Desert. + +Belding did not oppose his wife's desire to visit her old home. He +thought it would be a wholesome trip for her, and did all in his power +to persuade Nell to accompany her. But Nell would not go. + +It was after Mrs. Belding's departure that Belding discovered in Nell a +condition of mind that amazed and distressed him. She had suddenly +become strangely wretched, so that she could not conceal it from even +the Gales, who, of all people, Belding imagined, were the ones to make +Nell proud. She would tell him nothing. But after a while, when he +had thought it out, he dated this further and more deplorable change in +Nell back to a day on which he had met Nell with Radford Chase. This +indefatigable wooer had not in the least abandoned his suit. Something +about the fellow made Belding grind his teeth. But Nell grew not only +solicitously, but now strangely, entreatingly earnest in her +importunities to Belding not to insult or lay a hand on Chase. This +had bound Belding so far; it had made him think and watch. He had +never been a man to interfere with his women folk. They could do as +they liked, and usually that pleased him. But a slow surprise gathered +and grew upon him when he saw that Nell, apparently, was accepting +young Chase's attentions. At least, she no longer hid from him. +Belding could not account for this, because he was sure Nell cordially +despised the fellow. And toward the end he divined, if he did not +actually know, that these Chases possessed some strange power over +Nell, and were using it. That stirred a hate in Belding--a hate he had +felt at the very first and had manfully striven against, and which now +gave him over to dark brooding thoughts. + +Midsummer passed, and the storms came late. But when they arrived they +made up for tardiness. Belding did not remember so terrible a storm of +wind and rain as that which broke the summer's drought. + +In a few days, it seemed, Altar Valley was a bright and green expanse, +where dust clouds did not rise. Forlorn River ran, a slow, heavy, +turgid torrent. Belding never saw the river in flood that it did not +give him joy; yet now, desert man as he was, he suffered a regret when +he thought of the great Chase reservoir full and overflowing. The dull +thunder of the spillway was not pleasant. It was the first time in his +life that the sound of falling water jarred upon him. + +Belding noticed workmen once more engaged in the fields bounding his +land. The Chases had extended a main irrigation ditch down to +Belding's farm, skipped the width of his ground, then had gone on down +through Altar Valley. They had exerted every influence to obtain right +to connect these ditches by digging through his land, but Belding had +remained obdurate. He refused to have any dealings with them. It was +therefore with some curiosity and suspicion that he saw a gang of +Mexicans once more at work upon these ditches. + +At daylight next morning a tremendous blast almost threw Belding out of +his bed. It cracked the adobe walls of his house and broke windows and +sent pans and crockery to the floor with a crash. Belding's idea was +that the store of dynamite kept by the Chases for blasting had blown +up. Hurriedly getting into his clothes, he went to Nell's room to +reassure her; and, telling her to have a thought for their guests, he +went out to see what had happened. + +The villagers were pretty badly frightened. Many of the poorly +constructed adobe huts had crumbled almost into dust. A great yellow +cloud, like smoke, hung over the river. This appeared to be at the +upper end of Belding's plot, and close to the river. When he reached +his fence the smoke and dust were so thick he could scarcely breathe, +and for a little while he was unable to see what had happened. +Presently he made out a huge hole in the sand just about where the +irrigation ditch had stopped near his line. For some reason or other, +not clear to Belding, the Mexicans had set off an extraordinarily heavy +blast at that point. + +Belding pondered. He did not now for a moment consider an accidental +discharge of dynamite. But why had this blast been set off? The loose +sandy soil had yielded readily to shovel; there were no rocks; as far +as construction of a ditch was concerned such a blast would have done +more harm than good. + +Slowly, with reluctant feet, Belding walked toward a green hollow, +where in a cluster of willows lay the never-failing spring that his +horses loved so well, and, indeed, which he loved no less. He was +actually afraid to part the drooping willows to enter the little cool, +shady path that led to the spring. Then, suddenly seized by suspense, +he ran the rest of the way. + +He was just in time to see the last of the water. It seemed to sink as +in quicksand. The shape of the hole had changed. The tremendous force +of the blast in the adjoining field had obstructed or diverted the +underground stream of water. + +Belding's never-failing spring had been ruined. What had made this +little plot of ground green and sweet and fragrant was now no more. +Belding's first feeling was for the pity of it. The pale Ajo lilies +would bloom no more under those willows. The willows themselves would +soon wither and die. He thought how many times in the middle of hot +summer nights he had come down to the spring to drink. Never again! + +Suddenly he thought of Blanco Diablo. How the great white thoroughbred +had loved this spring! Belding straightened up and looked with +tear-blurred eyes out over the waste of desert to the west. Never a +day passed that he had not thought of the splendid horse; but this +moment, with its significant memory, was doubly keen, and there came a +dull pang in his breast. + +"Diablo will never drink here again!" muttered Belding. + +The loss of Blanco Diablo, though admitted and mourned by Belding, had +never seemed quite real until this moment. + +The pall of dust drifting over him, the din of the falling water up at +the dam, diverted Belding's mind to the Chases. All at once he was in +the harsh grip of a cold certainty. The blast had been set off +intentionally to ruin his spring. What a hellish trick! No Westerner, +no Indian or Mexican, no desert man could have been guilty of such a +crime. To ruin a beautiful, clear, cool, never-failing stream of water +in the desert! + +It was then that Belding's worry and indecision and brooding were as if +they had never existed. As he strode swiftly back to the house, his +head, which had long been bent thoughtfully and sadly, was held erect. +He went directly to his room, and with an air that was now final he +buckled on his gun belt. He looked the gun over and tried the action. +He squared himself and walked a little more erect. Some long-lost +individuality had returned to Belding. + +"Let's see," he was saying. "I can get Carter to send the horses I've +left back to Waco to my brother. I'll make Nell take what money there +is and go hunt up her mother. The Gales are ready to go--to-day, if I +say the word. Nell can travel with them part way East. That's your +game, Tom Belding, don't mistake me." + +As he went out he encountered Mr. Gale coming up the walk. The long +sojourn at Forlorn River, despite the fact that it had been laden with +a suspense which was gradually changing to a sad certainty, had been of +great benefit to Dick's father. The dry air, the heat, and the quiet +had made him, if not entirely a well man, certainly stronger than he +had been in many years. + +"Belding, what was that terrible roar?" asked Mr. Gale. "We were badly +frightened until Miss Nell came to us. We feared it was an earthquake." + +"Well, I'll tell you, Mr. Gale, we've had some quakes here, but none of +them could hold a candle to this jar we just had." + +Then Belding explained what had caused the explosion, and why it had +been set off so close to his property. + +"It's an outrage, sir, an unspeakable outrage," declared Mr. Gale, +hotly. "Such a thing would not be tolerated in the East. Mr. Belding, +I'm amazed at your attitude in the face of all this trickery." + +"You see--there was mother and Nell," began Belding, as if apologizing. +He dropped his head a little and made marks in the sand with the toe of +his boot. "Mr. Gale, I've been sort of half hitched, as Laddy used to +say. I'm planning to have a little more elbow room round this ranch. +I'm going to send Nell East to her mother. Then I'll-- See here, Mr. +Gale, would you mind having Nell with you part way when you go home?" + +"We'd all be delighted to have her go all the way and make us a visit," +replied Mr. Gale. + +"That's fine. And you'll be going soon? Don't take that as if I +wanted to--" Belding paused, for the truth was that he did want to +hurry them off. + +"We would have been gone before this, but for you," said Mr. Gale. +"Long ago we gave up hope of--of Richard ever returning. And I +believe, now we're sure he was lost, that we'd do well to go home at +once. You wished us to remain until the heat was broken--till the +rains came to make traveling easier for us. Now I see no need for +further delay. My stay here has greatly benefited my health. I shall +never forget your hospitality. This Western trip would have made me a +new man if--only--Richard--" + +"Sure. I understand," said Belding, gruffly. "Let's go in and tell +the women to pack up." + +Nell was busy with the servants preparing breakfast. Belding took her +into the sitting-room while Mr. Gale called his wife and daughter. + +"My girl, I've some news for you," began Belding. "Mr. Gale is leaving +to-day with his family. I'm going to send you with them--part way, +anyhow. You're invited to visit them. I think that 'd be great for +you--help you to forget. But the main thing is--you're going East to +join mother." + +Nell gazed at him, white-faced, without uttering a word. + +"You see, Nell, I'm about done in Forlorn River," went on Belding. +"That blast this morning sank my spring. There's no water now. It was +the last straw. So we'll shake the dust of Forlorn River. I'll come on +a little later--that's all." + +"Dad, you're packing your gun!" exclaimed Nell, suddenly pointing with +a trembling finger. She ran to him, and for the first time in his life +Belding put her away from him. His movements had lost the old slow +gentleness. + +"Why, so I am," replied Belding, coolly, as his hand moved down to the +sheath swinging at his hip. "Nell, I'm that absent-minded these days!" + +"Dad!" she cried. + +"That'll do from you," he replied, in a voice he had never used to her. +"Get breakfast now, then pack to leave Forlorn River." + +"Leave Forlorn River!" whispered Nell, with a thin white hand stealing +up to her breast. How changed the girl was! Belding reproached +himself for his hardness, but did not speak his thought aloud. Nell +was fading here, just as Mercedes had faded before the coming of Thorne. + +Nell turned away to the west window and looked out across the desert +toward the dim blue peaks in the distance. Belding watched her; +likewise the Gales; and no one spoke. There ensued a long silence. +Belding felt a lump rise in his throat. Nell laid her arm against the +window frame, but gradually it dropped, and she was leaning with her +face against the wood. A low sob broke from her. Elsie Gale went to +her, embraced her, took the drooping head on her shoulder. + +"We've come to be such friends," she said. "I believe it'll be good +for you to visit me in the city. Here--all day you look out across +that awful lonely desert.... Come, Nell." + +Heavy steps sounded outside on the flagstones, then the door rattled +under a strong knock. Belding opened it. The Chases, father and son, +stood beyond the threshold. + +"Good morning, Belding," said the elder Chase. "We were routed out +early by that big blast and came up to see what was wrong. All a +blunder. The Greaser foreman was drunk yesterday, and his ignorant men +made a mistake. Sorry if the blast bothered you." + +"Chase, I reckon that's the first of your blasts I was ever glad to +hear," replied Belding, in a way that made Chase look blank. + +"So? Well, I'm glad you're glad," he went on, evidently puzzled. "I +was a little worried--you've always been so touchy--we never could get +together. I hurried over, fearing maybe you might think the blast--you +see, Belding--" + +"I see this, Mr. Ben Chase," interrupted Belding, in curt and ringing +voice. "That blast was a mistake, the biggest you ever made in your +life." + +"What do you mean?" demanded Chase. + +"You'll have to excuse me for a while, unless you're dead set on having +it out right now. Mr. Gale and his family are leaving, and my daughter +is going with them. I'd rather you'd wait a little." + +"Nell going away!" exclaimed Radford Chase. He reminded Belding of an +overgrown boy in disappointment. + +"Yes. But--Miss Burton to you, young man--" + +"Mr. Belding, I certainly would prefer a conference with you right +now," interposed the elder Chase, cutting short Belding's strange +speech. "There are other matters--important matters to discuss. +They've got to be settled. May we step in, sir?" + +"No, you may not," replied Belding, bluntly. "I'm sure particular who +I invite into my house. But I'll go with you." + +Belding stepped out and closed the door. "Come away from the house so +the women won't hear the--the talk." + +The elder Chase was purple with rage, yet seemed to be controlling it. +The younger man looked black, sullen, impatient. He appeared not to +have a thought of Belding. He was absolutely blind to the situation, +as considered from Belding's point of view. Ben Chase found his voice +about the time Belding halted under the trees out of earshot from the +house. + +"Sir, you've insulted me--my son. How dare you? I want you to +understand that you're--" + +"Chop that kind of talk with me, you ------ ------ ------ ------!" +interrupted Belding. He had always been profane, and now he certainly +did not choose his language. Chase turned livid, gasped, and seemed +about to give way to fury. But something about Belding evidently +exerted a powerful quieting influence. "If you talk sense I'll +listen," went on Belding. + +Belding was frankly curious. He did not think any argument or +inducement offered by Chase could change his mind on past dealings or +his purpose of the present. But he believed by listening he might get +some light on what had long puzzled him. The masterly effort Chase put +forth to conquer his aroused passions gave Belding another idea of the +character of this promoter. + +"I want to make a last effort to propitiate you," began Chase, in his +quick, smooth voice. That was a singular change to Belding--the +dropping instantly into an easy flow of speech. "You've had losses +here, and naturally you're sore. I don't blame you. But you can't see +this thing from my side of the fence. Business is business. In +business the best man wins. The law upheld those transactions of mine +the honesty of which you questioned. As to mining and water claims, you +lost on this technical point--that you had nothing to prove you had +held them for five years. Five years is the time necessary in law. A +dozen men might claim the source of Forlorn River, but if they had no +house or papers to prove their squatters' rights any man could go in +and fight them for the water. .... Now I want to run that main ditch +along the river, through your farm. Can't we make a deal? I'm ready +to be liberal--to meet you more than halfway. I'll give you an +interest in the company. I think I've influence enough up at the +Capitol to have you reinstated as inspector. A little reasonableness +on your part will put you right again in Forlorn River, with a chance +of growing rich. There's a big future here.... My interest, Belding, +has become personal. Radford is in love with your step-daughter. He +wants to marry her. I'll admit now if I had foreseen this situation I +wouldn't have pushed you so hard. But we can square the thing. Now +let's get together not only in business, but in a family way. If my +son's happiness depends upon having this girl, you may rest assured +I'll do all I can to get her for him. I'll absolutely make good all +your losses. Now what do you say?" + +"No," replied Belding. "Your money can't buy a right of way across my +ranch. And Nell doesn't want your son. That settles that." + +"But you could persuade her." + +"I won't, that's all." + +"May I ask why?" Chases's voice was losing its suave quality, but it +was even swifter than before. + +"Sure. I don't mind your asking," replied Belding in slow +deliberation. "I wouldn't do such a low-down trick. Besides, if I +would, I'd want it to be a man I was persuading for. I know +Greasers--I know a Yaqui I'd rather give Nell to than your son." + +Radford Chase began to roar in inarticulate rage. Belding paid no +attention to him; indeed, he never glanced at the young man. The elder +Chase checked a violent start. He plucked at the collar of his gray +flannel shirt, opened it at the neck. + +"My son's offer of marriage is an honor--more an honor, sir, than you +perhaps are aware of." + +Belding made no reply. His steady gaze did not turn from the long lane +that led down to the river. He waited coldly, sure of himself. + +"Mrs. Belding's daughter has no right to the name of Burton," snapped +Chase. "Did you know that?" + +"I did not," replied Belding, quietly. + +"Well, you know it now," added Chase, bitingly. + +"Sure you can prove what you say?" queried Belding, in the same cool, +unemotional tone. It struck him strangely at the moment what little +knowledge this man had of the West and of Western character. + +"Prove it? Why, yes, I think so, enough to make the truth plain to any +reasonable man. I come from Peoria--was born and raised there. I went +to school with Nell Warren. That was your wife's maiden name. She was +a beautiful, gay girl. All the fellows were in love with her. I knew +Bob Burton well. He was a splendid fellow, but wild. Nobody ever knew +for sure, but we all supposed he was engaged to marry Nell. He left +Peoria, however, and soon after that the truth about Nell came out. +She ran away. It was at least a couple of months before Burton showed +up in Peoria. He did not stay long. Then for years nothing was heard +of either of them. When word did come Nell was in Oklahoma, Burton was +in Denver. There's chance, of course, that Burton followed Nell and +married her. That would account for Nell Warren taking the name of +Burton. But it isn't likely. None of us ever heard of such a thing +and wouldn't have believed it if we had. The affair seemed destined to +end unfortunately. But Belding, while I'm at it, I want to say that +Nell Warren was one of the sweetest, finest, truest girls in the world. +If she drifted to the Southwest and kept her past a secret that was +only natural. Certainly it should not be held against her. Why, she +was only a child--a girl--seventeen--eighteen years old.... In a moment +of amazement--when I recognized your wife as an old schoolmate--I +blurted the thing out to Radford. You see now how little it matters to +me when I ask your stepdaughter's hand in marriage for my son." + +Belding stood listening. The genuine emotion in Chase's voice was as +strong as the ring of truth. Belding knew truth when he heard it. The +revelation did not surprise him. Belding did not soften, for he +devined that Chase's emotion was due to the probing of an old wound, +the recalling of a past both happy and painful. Still, human nature +was so strange that perhaps kindness and sympathy might yet have a +place in this Chase's heart. Belding did not believe so, but he was +willing to give Chase the benefit of the doubt. + +"So you told my wife you'd respect her secret--keep her dishonor from +husband and daughter?" demanded Belding, his dark gaze sweeping back +from the lane. + +"What! I--I" stammered Chase. + +"You made your son swear to be a man and die before he'd hint the thing +to Nell?" went on Belding, and his voice rang louder. + +Ben Chase had no answer. The red left his face. His son slunk back +against the fence. + +"I say you never held this secret over the heads of my wife and her +daughter?" thundered Belding. + +He had his answer in the gray faces, in the lips that fear made mute. +Like a flash Belding saw the whole truth of Mrs. Belding's agony, the +reason for her departure; he saw what had been driving Nell; and it +seemed that all the dogs of hell were loosed within his heart. He +struck out blindly, instinctively in his pain, and the blow sent Ben +Chase staggering into the fence corner. Then he stretched forth a long +arm and whirled Radford Chase back beside his father. + +"I see it all now," went on Belding, hoarsely. "You found the woman's +weakness--her love for the girl. You found the girl's weakness--her +pride and fear of shame. So you drove the one and hounded the other. +God, what a base thing to do! To tell the girl was bad enough, but to +threaten her with betrayal; there's no name for that!" + +Belding's voice thickened, and he paused, breathing heavily. He +stepped back a few paces; and this, an ominous action for an armed man +of his kind, instead of adding to the fear of the Chases, seemed to +relieve them. If there had been any pity in Belding's heart he would +have felt it then. + +"And now, gentlemen," continued Belding, speaking low and with +difficulty, "seeing I've turned down your proposition, I suppose you +think you've no more call to keep your mouths shut?" + +The elder Chase appeared fascinated by something he either saw or felt +in Belding, and his gray face grew grayer. He put up a shaking hand. +Then Radford Chase, livid and snarling, burst out: "I'll talk till I'm +black in the face. You can't stop me!" + +"You'll go black in the face, but it won't be from talking," hissed +Belding. + +His big arm swept down, and when he threw it up the gun glittered in +his hand. Simultaneously with the latter action pealed out a shrill, +penetrating whistle. + +The whistle of a horse! It froze Belding's arm aloft. For an instant +he could not move even his eyes. The familiarity of that whistle was +terrible in its power to rob him of strength. Then he heard the rapid, +heavy pound of hoofs, and again the piercing whistle. + +"Blanco Diablo!" he cried, huskily. + +He turned to see a huge white horse come thundering into the yard. A +wild, gaunt, terrible horse; indeed, the loved Blanco Diablo. A +bronzed, long-haired Indian bestrode him. More white horses galloped +into the yard, pounded to a halt, whistling home. Belding saw a slim +shadow of a girl who seemed all great black eyes. + +Under the trees flashed Blanco Sol, as dazzling white, as beautiful as +if he had never been lost in the desert. He slid to a halt, then +plunged and stamped. His rider leaped, throwing the bridle. Belding +saw a powerful, spare, ragged man, with dark, gaunt face and eyes of +flame. + +Then Nell came running from the house, her golden hair flying, her +hands outstretched, her face wonderful. + +"Dick! Dick! Oh-h-h, Dick!" she cried. Her voice seemed to quiver in +Belding's heart. + +Belding's eyes began to blur. He was not sure he saw clearly. Whose +face was this now close before him--a long thin, shrunken face, +haggard, tragic in its semblance of torture, almost of death? But the +eyes were keen and kind. Belding thought wildly that they proved he +was not dreaming. + +"I shore am glad to see you all," said a well-remembered voice in a +slow, cool drawl. + + + +XVIII + +REALITY AGAINST DREAMS + +LADD, Lash, Thorne, Mercedes, they were all held tight in Belding's +arms. Then he ran to Blanco Diablo. For once the great horse was +gentle, quiet, glad. He remembered this kindest of masters and reached +for him with warm, wet muzzle. + +Dick Gale was standing bowed over Nell's slight form, almost hidden in +his arms. Belding hugged them both. He was like a boy. He saw Ben +Chase and his son slip away under the trees, but the circumstances +meant nothing to him then. + +"Dick! Dick!" he roared. "Is it you?... Say, who do you think's +here--here, in Forlorn River?" + +Gale gripped Belding with a hand as rough and hard as a file and as +strong as a vise. But he did not speak a word. Belding thought Gale's +eyes would haunt him forever. + +It was then three more persons came upon the scene--Elsie Gale, running +swiftly, her father assisting Mrs. Gale, who appeared about to faint. + +"Belding! Who on earth's that?" cried Dick Hoarsely. + +"Quien sabe, my son," replied Belding; and now his voice seemed a +little shaky. "Nell, come here. Give him a chance." + +Belding slipped his arm round Nell, and whispered in her ear. "This 'll +be great!" + +Elsie Gale's face was white and agitated, a face expressing extreme joy. + +"Oh, brother! Mama saw you--Papa saw you, and never knew you! But I +knew you when you jumped quick--that way--off your horse. And now I +don't know you. You wild man! You giant! You splendid barbarian!... +Mama, Papa, hurry! It is Dick! Look at him. Just look at him! Oh-h, +thank God!" + +Belding turned away and drew Nell with him. In another second she and +Mercedes were clasped in each other's arms. Then followed a time of +joyful greetings all round. + +The Yaqui stood leaning against a tree watching the welcoming home of +the lost. No one seemed to think of him, until Belding, ever mindful +of the needs of horses, put a hand on Blanco Diablo and called to Yaqui +to bring the others. They led the string of whites down to the barn, +freed them of wet and dusty saddles and packs, and turned them loose in +the alfalfa, now breast-high. Diablo found his old spirit; Blanco Sol +tossed his head and whistled his satisfaction; White Woman pranced to +and fro; and presently they all settled down to quiet grazing. How +good it was for Belding to see those white shapes against the rich +background of green! His eyes glistened. It was a sight he had never +expected to see again. He lingered there many moments when he wanted +to hurry back to his rangers. + +At last he tore himself away from watching Blanco Diablo and returned +to the house. It was only to find that he might have spared himself +the hurry. Jim and Ladd were lying on the beds that had not held them +for so many months. Their slumber seemed as deep and quiet as death. +Curiously Belding gazed down upon them. They had removed only boots and +chaps. Their clothes were in tatters. Jim appeared little more than +skin and bones, a long shape, dark and hard as iron. Ladd's appearance +shocked Belding. The ranger looked an old man, blasted, shriveled, +starved. Yet his gaunt face, though terrible in its records of +tortures, had something fine and noble, even beautiful to Belding, in +its strength, its victory. + +Thorne and Mercedes had disappeared. The low murmur of voices came +from Mrs. Gale's room, and Belding concluded that Dick was still with +his family. No doubt he, also, would soon seek rest and sleep. +Belding went through the patio and called in at Nell's door. She was +there sitting by her window. The flush of happiness had not left her +face, but she looked stunned, and a shadow of fear lay dark in her +eyes. Belding had intended to talk. He wanted some one to listen to +him. The expression in Nell's eyes, however, silenced him. He had +forgotten. Nell read his thought in his face, and then she lost all +her color and dropped her head. Belding entered, stood beside her with +a hand on hers. He tried desperately hard to think of the right thing +to say, and realized so long as he tried that he could not speak at all. + +"Nell--Dick's back safe and sound," he said, slowly. "That's the main +thing. I wish you could have seen his eyes when he held you in his +arms out there.... Of course, Dick's coming knocks out your trip East +and changes plans generally. We haven't had the happiest time lately. +But now it'll be different. Dick's as true as a Yaqui. He'll chase +that Chase fellow, don't mistake me.... Then mother will be home soon. +She'll straighten out this--this mystery. And Nell--however it turns +out--I know Dick Gale will feel just the same as I feel. Brace up now, +girl." + +Belding left the patio and traced thoughtful steps back toward the +corrals. He realized the need of his wife. If she had been at home he +would not have come so close to killing two men. Nell would never have +fallen so low in spirit. Whatever the real truth of the tragedy of his +wife's life, it would not make the slightest difference to him. What +hurt him was the pain mother and daughter had suffered, were suffering +still. Somehow he must put an end to that pain. + +He found the Yaqui curled up in a corner of the barn in as deep a sleep +as that of the rangers. Looking down at him, Belding felt again the +rush of curious thrilling eagerness to learn all that had happened +since the dark night when Yaqui had led the white horses away into the +desert. Belding curbed his impatience and set to work upon tasks he +had long neglected. Presently he was interrupted by Mr. Gale, who came +out, beside himself with happiness and excitement. He flung a hundred +questions at Belding and never gave him time to answer one, even if +that had been possible. Finally, when Mr. Gale lost his breath, +Belding got a word in. "See here, Mr. Gale, you know as much as I +know. Dick's back. They're all back--a hard lot, starved, burned, torn +to pieces, worked out to the limit I never saw in desert travelers, but +they're alive--alive and well, man! Just wait. Just gamble I won't +sleep or eat till I hear that story. But they've got to sleep and eat." + +Belding gathered with growing amusement that besides the joy, +excitement, anxiety, impatience expressed by Mr. Gale there was +something else which Belding took for pride. It pleased him. Looking +back, he remembered some of the things Dick had confessed his father +thought of him. Belding's sympathy had always been with the boy. But +he had learned to like the old man, to find him kind and wise, and to +think that perhaps college and business had not brought out the best in +Richard Gale. The West had done that, however, as it had for many a +wild youngster; and Belding resolved to have a little fun at the +expense of Mr. Gale. So he began by making a few remarks that appeared +to rob Dick's father of both speech and breath. + +"And don't mistake me," concluded Belding, "just keep out of earshot +when Laddy tells us the story of that desert trip, unless you're +hankering to have your hair turn pure white and stand curled on end and +freeze that way." + + +About the middle of the forenoon on the following day the rangers +hobbled out of the kitchen to the porch. + +"I'm a sick man, I tell you," Ladd was complaining, "an' I gotta be +fed. Soup! Beef tea! That ain't so much as wind to me. I want about +a barrel of bread an' butter, an' a whole platter of mashed potatoes +with gravy an' green stuff--all kinds of green stuff--an' a whole big +apple pie. Give me everythin' an' anythin' to eat but meat. Shore I +never, never want to taste meat again, an' sight of a piece of sheep +meat would jest about finish me.... Jim, you used to be a human bein' +that stood up for Charlie Ladd." + +"Laddy, I'm lined up beside you with both guns," replied Jim, +plaintively. "Hungry? Say, the smell of breakfast in that kitchen +made my mouth water so I near choked to death. I reckon we're gettin' +most onhuman treatment." + +"But I'm a sick man," protested Ladd, "an' I'm agoin' to fall over in a +minute if somebody doesn't feed me. Nell, you used to be fond of me." + +"Oh, Laddy, I am yet," replied Nell. + +"Shore I don't believe it. Any girl with a tender heart just couldn't +let a man starve under her eyes... Look at Dick, there. I'll bet he's +had something to eat, mebbe potatoes an' gravy, an' pie an'--" + +"Laddy, Dick has had no more than I gave you--indeed, not nearly so +much." + +"Shore he's had a lot of kisses then, for he hasn't hollered onct about +this treatment." + +"Perhaps he has," said Nell, with a blush; "and if you think that--they +would help you to be reasonable I might--I'll--" + +"Well, powerful fond as I am of you, just now kisses 'll have to run +second to bread an' butter." + +"Oh, Laddy, what a gallant speech!" laughed Nell. "I'm sorry, but I've +Dad's orders." + +"Laddy," interrupted Belding, "you've got to be broke in gradually to +eating. Now you know that. You'd be the severest kind of a boss if +you had some starved beggars on your hands." + +"But I'm sick--I'm dyin'," howled Ladd. + +"You were never sick in your life, and if all the bullet holes I see in +you couldn't kill you, why, you never will die." + +"Can I smoke?" queried Ladd, with sudden animation. "My Gawd, I used +to smoke. Shore I've forgot. Nell, if you want to be reinstated in my +gallery of angels, just find me a pipe an' tobacco." + +"I've hung onto my pipe," said Jim, thoughtfully. "I reckon I had it +empty in my mouth for seven years or so, wasn't it, Laddy? A long +time! I can see the red lava an' the red haze, an' the red twilight +creepin' up. It was hot an' some lonely. Then the wind, and always +that awful silence! An' always Yaqui watchin' the west, an' Laddy with +his checkers, an' Mercedes burnin' up, wastin' away to nothin' but +eyes! It's all there--I'll never get rid--" + +"Chop that kind of talk," interrupted Belding, bluntly. "Tell us where +Yaqui took you--what happened to Rojas--why you seemed lost for so +long." + +"I reckon Laddy can tell all that best; but when it comes to Rojas's +finish I'll tell what I seen, an' so'll Dick an' Thorne. Laddy missed +Rojas's finish. Bar none, that was the--" + +"I'm a sick man, but I can talk," put in Ladd, "an' shore I don't want +the whole story exaggerated none by Jim." + +Ladd filled the pipe Nell brought, puffed ecstatically at it, and +settled himself upon the bench for a long talk. Nell glanced +appealingly at Dick, who tried to slip away. Mercedes did go, and was +followed by Thorne. Mr. Gale brought chairs, and in subdued excitement +called his wife and daughter. Belding leaned forward, rendered all the +more eager by Dick's reluctance to stay, the memory of the quick tragic +change in the expression of Mercedes's beautiful eyes, by the strange +gloomy cast stealing over Ladd's face. + +The ranger talked for two hours--talked till his voice weakened to a +husky whisper. At the conclusion of his story there was an impressive +silence. Then Elsie Gale stood up, and with her hand on Dick's +shoulder, her eyes bright and warm as sunlight, she showed the rangers +what a woman thought of them and of the Yaqui. Nell clung to Dick, +weeping silently. Mrs. Gale was overcome, and Mr. Gale, very white and +quiet, helped her up to her room. + +"The Indian! the Indian!" burst out Belding, his voice deep and +rolling. "What did I tell you? Didn't I say he'd be a godsend? +Remember what I said about Yaqui and some gory Aztec knifework? So he +cut Rojas loose from that awful crater wall, foot by foot, finger by +finger, slow and terrible? And Rojas didn't hang long on the choya +thorns? Thank the Lord for that!... Laddy, no story of Camino del +Diablo can hold a candle to yours. The flight and the fight were jobs +for men. But living through this long hot summer and coming +out--that's a miracle. Only the Yaqui could have done it. The Yaqui! +The Yaqui!" + +"Shore. Charlie Ladd looks up at an Indian these days. But Beldin', +as for the comin' out, don't forget the hosses. Without grand old Sol +an' Diablo, who I don't hate no more, an' the other Blancos, we'd never +have got here. Yaqui an' the hosses, that's my story!" + + +Early in the afternoon of the next day Belding encountered Dick at the +water barrel. + +"Belding, this is river water, and muddy at that," said Dick. "Lord +knows I'm not kicking. But I've dreamed some of our cool running +spring, and I want a drink from it." + +"Never again, son. The spring's gone, faded, sunk, dry as dust." + +"Dry!" Gale slowly straightened. "We've had rains. The river's full. +The spring ought to be overflowing. What's wrong? Why is it dry?" + +"Dick, seeing you're interested, I may as well tell you that a big +charge of nitroglycerin choked my spring." + +"Nitroglycerin?" echoed Gale. Then he gave a quick start. "My mind's +been on home, Nell, my family. But all the same I felt something was +wrong here with the ranch, with you, with Nell... Belding, that ditch +there is dry. The roses are dead. The little green in that grass has +come with the rains. What's happened? The ranch's run down. Now I +look around I see a change." + +"Some change, yes," replied Belding, bitterly. "Listen, son." + +Briefly, but not the less forcibly for that, Belding related his story +of the operations of the Chases. + +Astonishment appeared to be Gale's first feeling. "Our water gone, our +claims gone, our plans forestalled! Why, Belding, it's unbelievable. +Forlorn River with promoters, business, railroad, bank, and what not!" + +Suddenly he became fiery and suspicious. "These Chases--did they do +all this on the level?" + +"Barefaced robbery! Worse than a Greaser holdup," replied Belding, +grimly. + +"You say the law upheld them?" + +"Sure. Why, Ben Chase has a pull as strong as Diablo's on a down +grade. Dick, we're jobbed, outfigured, beat, tricked, and we can't do +a thing." + +"Oh, I'm sorry, Belding, most of all for Laddy," said Gale, feelingly. +"He's all in. He'll never ride again. He wanted to settle down here +on the farm he thought he owned, grow grass and raise horses, and take +it easy. Oh, but it's tough! Say, he doesn't know it yet. He was +just telling me he'd like to go out and look the farm over. Who's +going to tell him? What's he going to do when he finds out about this +deal?" + +"Son, that's made me think some," replied Belding, with keen eyes fast +upon the young man. "And I was kind of wondering how you'd take it." + +"I? Well, I'll call on the Chases. Look here, Belding, I'd better do +some forestalling myself. If Laddy gets started now there'll be blood +spilled. He's not just right in his mind yet. He talks in his sleep +sometimes about how Yaqui finished Rojas. If it's left to him--he'll +kill these men. But if I take it up--" + +"You're talking sense, Dick. Only here, I'm not so sure of you. And +there's more to tell. Son, you've Nell to think of and your mother." + +Belding's ranger gave him a long and searching glance. + +"You can be sure of me," he said. + +"All right, then; listen," began Belding. With deep voice that had +many a beak and tremor he told Gale how Nell had been hounded by +Radford Chase, how her mother had been driven by Ben Chase--the whole +sad story. + +"So that's the trouble! Poor little girl!" murmured Gale, brokenly. "I +felt something was wrong. Nell wasn't natural, like her old self. And +when I begged her to marry me soon, while Dad was here, she couldn't +talk. She could only cry." + +"It was hard on Nell," said Belding, simply. "But it 'll be better now +you're back. Dick, I know the girl. She'll refuse to marry you and +you'll have a hard job to break her down, as hard as the one you just +rode in off of. I think I know you, too, or I wouldn't be saying--" + +"Belding, what 're you hinting at?" demanded Gale. "Do you dare +insinuate that--that--if the thing were true it'd make any difference +to me?" + +"Aw, come now, Dick; I couldn't mean that. I'm only awkward at saying +things. And I'm cut pretty deep--" + +"For God's sake, you don't believe what Chase said?" queried Gale, in +passionate haste. "It's a lie. I swear it's a lie. I know it's a +lie. And I've got to tell Nell this minute. Come on in with me. I +want you, Belding. Oh, why didn't you tell me sooner?" + +Belding felt himself dragged by an iron arm into the sitting-room out +into the patio, and across that to where Nell sat in her door. At +sight of them she gave a little cry, drooped for an instant, then +raised a pale, still face, with eyes beginning to darken. + +"Dearest, I know now why you are not wearing my mother's ring," said +Gale, steadily and low-voiced. + +"Dick, I am not worthy," she replied, and held out a trembling hand +with the ring lying in the palm. + +Swift as light Gale caught her hand and slipped the ring back upon the +third finger. + +"Nell! Look at me. It is your engagement ring.... Listen. I don't +believe this--this thing that's been torturing you. I know it's a lie. +I am absolutely sure your mother will prove it a lie. She must have +suffered once--perhaps there was a sad error--but the thing you fear is +not true. But, hear me, dearest; even if it was true it wouldn't make +the slightest difference to me. I'd promise you on my honor I'd never +think of it again. I'd love you all the more because you'd suffered. +I want you all the more to be my wife--to let me make you forget--to--" + +She rose swiftly with the passionate abandon of a woman stirred to her +depths, and she kissed him. + +"Oh, Dick, you're good--so good! You'll never know--just what those +words mean to me. They've saved me--I think." + +"Then, dearest, it's all right?" Dick questioned, eagerly. "You will +keep your promise? You will marry me?" + +The glow, the light faded out of her face, and now the blue eyes were +almost black. She drooped and shook her head. + +"Nell!" exclaimed Gale, sharply catching his breath. + +"Don't ask me, Dick. I--I won't marry you." + +"Why?" + +"You know. It's true that I--" + +"It's a lie," interrupted Gale, fiercely. "But even if it's +true--why--why won't you marry me? Between you and me love is the +thing. Love, and nothing else! Don't you love me any more?" + +They had forgotten Belding, who stepped back into the shade. + +"I love you with my whole heart and soul. I'd die for you," whispered +Nell, with clenching hands. "But I won't disgrace you." + +"Dear, you have worried over this trouble till you're morbid. It has +grown out of all proportion. I tell you that I'll not only be the +happiest man on earth, but the luckiest, if you marry me." + +"Dick, you give not one thought to your family. Would they receive me +as your wife?" + +"They surely would," replied Gale, steadily. + +"No! oh no!" + +"You're wrong, Nell. I'm glad you said that. You give me a chance to +prove something. I'll go this minute and tell them all. I'll be back +here in less than--" + +"Dick, you will not tell her--your mother?" cried Nell, with her eyes +streaming. "You will not? Oh, I can't bear it! She's so proud! And +Dick, I love her. Don't tell her! Please, please don't! She'll be +going soon. She needn't ever know--about me. I want her always to +think well of me. Dick, I beg of you. Oh, the fear of her knowing has +been the worst of all! Please don't go!" + +"Nell, I'm sorry. I hate to hurt you. But you're wrong. You can't +see things clearly. This is your happiness I'm fighting for. And it's +my life.... Wait here, dear. I won't be long." + +Gale ran across the patio and disappeared. Nell sank to the doorstep, +and as she met the question in Belding's eyes she shook her head +mournfully. They waited without speaking. It seemed a long while +before Gale returned. Belding thrilled at sight of him. There was +more boy about him than Belding had ever seen. Dick was coming +swiftly, flushed, glowing, eager, erect, almost smiling. + +"I told them. I swore it was a lie, but I wanted them to decide as if +it were true. I didn't have to waste a minute on Elsie. She loves +you, Nell. The Governor is crazy about you. I didn't have to waste two +minutes on him. Mother used up the time. She wanted to know all there +was to tell. She is proud, yes; but, Nell, I wish you could have seen +how she took the--the story about you. Why, she never thought of me at +all, until she had cried over you. Nell, she loves you, too. They all +love you. Oh, it's so good to tell you. I think mother realizes the +part you have had in the--what shall I call it?--the regeneration of +Richard Gale. Doesn't that sound fine? Darling, mother not only +consents, she wants you to be my wife. Do you hear that? And +listen--she had me in a corner and, of course, being my mother, she put +on the screws. She made me promise that we'd live in the East half the +year. That means Chicago, Cape May, New York--you see, I'm not exactly +the lost son any more. Why, Nell, dear, you'll have to learn who Dick +Gale really is. But I always want to be the ranger you helped me +become, and ride Blanco Sol, and see a little of the desert. Don't let +the idea of big cities frighten you. We'll always love the open places +best. Now, Nell, say you'll forget this trouble. I know it'll come +all right. Say you'll marry me soon.... Why, dearest, you're crying.... +Nell!" + +"My--heart--is broken," sobbed Nell, "for--I--I--can't marry you." + +The boyish brightness faded out of Gale's face. Here, Belding saw, was +the stern reality arrayed against his dreams. + +"That devil Radford Chase--he'll tell my secret," panted Nell. "He +swore if you ever came back and married me he'd follow us all over the +world to tell it." + +Belding saw Gale grow deathly white and suddenly stand stock-still. + +"Chase threatened you, then?" asked Dick; and the forced naturalness of +his voice struck Belding. + +"Threatened me? He made my life a nightmare," replied Nell, in a rush +of speech. "At first I wondered how he was worrying mother sick. But +she wouldn't tell me. Then when she went away he began to hint things. +I hated him all the more. But when he told me--I was frightened, +shamed. Still I did not weaken. He was pretty decent when he was +sober. But when he was half drunk he was the devil. He laughed at me +and my pride. I didn't dare shut the door in his face. After a while +he found out that your mother loved me and that I loved her. Then he +began to threaten me. If I didn't give in to him he'd see she learned +the truth. That made me weaken. It nearly killed me. I simply could +not bear the thought of Mrs. Gale knowing. But I couldn't marry him. +Besides, he got so half the time, when he was drunk, he didn't want or +ask me to be his wife. I was about ready to give up and go mad when +you--you came home." + +She ended in a whisper, looking up wistfully and sadly at him. Belding +was a raging fire within, cold without. He watched Gale, and believed +he could foretell that young man's future conduct. Gale gathered Nell +up into his arms and held her to his breast for a long moment. + +"Dear Nell, I'm sure the worst of your trouble is over," he said +gently. "I will not give you up. Now, won't you lie down, try to rest +and calm yourself. Don't grieve any more. This thing isn't so bad as +you make it. Trust me. I'll shut Mr. Radford Chase's mouth." + +As he released her she glanced quickly up at him, then lifted appealing +hands. + +"Dick, you won't hunt for him--go after him?" + +Gale laughed, and the laugh made Belding jump. + +"Dick, I beg of you. Please don't make trouble. The Chases have been +hard enough on us. They are rich, powerful. Dick, say you will not +make matters worse. Please promise me you'll not go to him." + +"You ask me that?" he demanded. + +"Yes. Oh yes!" + +"But you know it's useless. What kind of a man do you want me to be?" + +"It's only that I'm afraid. Oh, Dick, he'd shoot you in the back." + +"No, Nell, a man of his kind wouldn't have nerve enough even for that." + +"You'll go?" she cried wildly. + +Gale smiled, and the smile made Belding cold. + +"Dick, I cannot keep you back?" + +"No," he said. + +Then the woman in her burst through instinctive fear, and with her eyes +blazing black in her white face she lifted parted quivering lips and +kissed him. + +Gale left the patio, and Belding followed closely at his heels. They +went through the sitting-room. Outside upon the porch sat the rangers, +Mr. Gale, and Thorne. Dick went into his room without speaking. + +"Shore somethin's comin' off," said Ladd, sharply; and he sat up with +keen eyes narrowing. + +Belding spoke a few words; and, remembering an impression he had wished +to make upon Mr. Gale, he made them strong. But now it was with grim +humor that he spoke. + +"Better stop that boy," he concluded, looking at Mr. Gale. "He'll do +some mischief. He's wilder'n hell." + +"Stop him? Why, assuredly," replied Mr. Gale, rising with nervous +haste. + +Just then Dick came out of his door. Belding eyed him keenly. The +only change he could see was that Dick had put on a hat and a pair of +heavy gloves. + +"Richard, where are you going?" asked his father. + +"I'm going over here to see a man." + +"No. It is my wish that you remain. I forbid you to go," said Mr. +Gale, with a hand on his son's shoulder. + +Dick put Mr. Gale aside gently, respectfully, yet forcibly. The old +man gasped. + +"Dad, I haven't gotten over my bad habit of disobeying you. I'm sorry. +Don't interfere with me now. And don't follow me. You might see +something unpleasant." + +"But my son! What are you going to do?" + +"I'm going to beat a dog." + +Mr. Gale looked helplessly from this strangely calm and cold son to the +restless Belding. Then Dick strode off the porch. + +"Hold on!" Ladd's voice would have stopped almost any man. "Dick, you +wasn't agoin' without me?" + +"Yes, I was. But I'm thoughtless just now, Laddy." + +"Shore you was. Wait a minute, Dick. I'm a sick man, but at that +nobody can pull any stunts round here without me." + +He hobbled along the porch and went into his room. Jim Lash knocked +the ashes out of his pipe, and, humming his dance tune, he followed +Ladd. In a moment the rangers appeared, and both were packing guns. + +Not a little of Belding's grim excitement came from observation of Mr. +Gale. At sight of the rangers with their guns the old man turned white +and began to tremble. + +"Better stay behind," whispered Belding. "Dick's going to beat that +two-legged dog, and the rangers get excited when they're packing guns." + +"I will not stay behind," replied Mr. Gale, stoutly. "I'll see this +affair through. Belding, I've guessed it. Richard is going to fight +the Chases, those robbers who have ruined you." + +"Well, I can't guarantee any fight on their side," returned Belding, +dryly. "But maybe there'll be Greasers with a gun or two." + +Belding stalked off to catch up with Dick, and Mr. Gale came trudging +behind with Thorne. + +"Where will we find these Chases?" asked Dick of Belding. + +"They've got a place down the road adjoining the inn. They call it +their club. At this hour Radford will be there sure. I don't know +about the old man. But his office is now just across the way." + +They passed several houses, turned a corner into the main street, and +stopped at a wide, low adobe structure. A number of saddled horses +stood haltered to posts. Mexicans lolled around the wide doorway. + +"There's Ben Chase now over on the corner," said Belding to Dick. "See, +the tall man with the white hair, and leather band on his hat. He sees +us. He knows there's something up. He's got men with him. They'll +come over. We're after the young buck, and sure he'll be in here." + +They entered. The place was a hall, and needed only a bar to make it a +saloon. There were two rickety pool tables. Evidently Chase had +fitted up this amusement room for his laborers as well as for the use +of his engineers and assistants, for the crowd contained both Mexicans +and Americans. A large table near a window was surrounded by a noisy, +smoking, drinking circle of card-players. + +"Point out this Radford Chase to me," said Gale. + +"There! The big fellow with the red face. His eyes stick out a +little. See! He's dropped his cards and his face isn't red any more." + +Dick strode across the room. + +Belding grasped Mr. Gale and whispered hoarsely: "Don't miss anything. +It'll be great. Watch Dick and watch Laddy! If there's any gun play, +dodge behind me." + +Belding smiled with a grim pleasure as he saw Mr. Gales' face turn +white. + +Dick halted beside the table. His heavy boot shot up, and with a crash +the table split, and glasses, cards, chips flew everywhere. As they +rattled down and the chairs of the dumfounded players began to slide +Dick called out: "My name is Gale. I'm looking for Mr. Radford Chase." + +A tall, heavy-shouldered fellow rose, boldly enough, even swaggeringly, +and glowered at Gale. + +"I'm Radford Chase," he said. His voice betrayed the boldness of his +action. + + +It was over in a few moments. The tables and chairs were tumbled into +a heap; one of the pool tables had been shoved aside; a lamp lay +shattered, with oil running dark upon the floor. Ladd leaned against a +post with a smoking gun in his hand. A Mexican crouched close to the +wall moaning over a broken arm. In the far corner upheld by comrades +another wounded Mexican cried out in pain. These two had attempted to +draw weapons upon Gale, and Ladd had crippled them. + +In the center of the room lay Radford Chase, a limp, torn, hulking, +bloody figure. He was not seriously injured. But he was helpless, a +miserable beaten wretch, who knew his condition and felt the eyes upon +him. He sobbed and moaned and howled. But no one offered to help him +to his feet. + +Backed against the door of the hall stood Ben Chase, for once stripped +of all authority and confidence and courage. Gale confronted him, and +now Gale's mien was in striking contrast to the coolness with which he +had entered the place. Though sweat dripped from his face, it was as +white as chalk. Like dark flames his eyes seemed to leap and dance and +burn. His lean jaw hung down and quivered with passion. He shook a +huge gloved fist in Chase's face. + +"Your gray hairs save you this time. But keep out of my way! And when +that son of yours comes to, tell him every time I meet him I'll add +some more to what he got to-day!" + + + +XIX + +THE SECRET OF FORLORN RIVER + +IN the early morning Gale, seeking solitude where he could brood over +his trouble, wandered alone. It was not easy for him to elude the +Yaqui, and just at the moment when he had cast himself down in a +secluded shady corner the Indian appeared, noiseless, shadowy, +mysterious as always. + +"Malo," he said, in his deep voice. + +"Yes, Yaqui, it's bad--very bad," replied Gale. + +The Indian had been told of the losses sustained by Belding and his +rangers. + +"Go--me!" said Yaqui, with an impressive gesture toward the lofty +lilac-colored steps of No Name Mountains. + +He seemed the same as usual, but a glance on Gale's part, a moment's +attention, made him conscious of the old strange force in the Yaqui. +"Why does my brother want me to climb the nameless mountains with him?" +asked Gale. + +"Lluvia d'oro," replied Yaqui, and he made motions that Gale found +difficult of interpretation. + +"Shower of Gold," translated Gale. That was the Yaqui's name for Nell. +What did he mean by using it in connection with a climb into the +mountains? Were his motions intended to convey an idea of a shower of +golden blossoms from that rare and beautiful tree, or a golden rain? +Gale's listlessness vanished in a flash of thought. The Yaqui meant +gold. Gold! He meant he could retrieve the fallen fortunes of the +white brother who had saved his life that evil day at the Papago Well. +Gale thrilled as he gazed piercingly into the wonderful eyes of this +Indian. Would Yaqui never consider his debt paid? + +"Go--me?" repeat the Indian, pointing with the singular directness that +always made this action remarkable in him. + +"Yes, Yaqui." + +Gale ran to his room, put on hobnailed boots, filled a canteen, and +hurried back to the corral. Yaqui awaited him. The Indian carried a +coiled lasso and a short stout stick. Without a word he led the way +down the lane, turned up the river toward the mountains. None of +Belding's household saw their departure. + +What had once been only a narrow mesquite-bordered trail was now a +well-trodden road. A deep irrigation ditch, full of flowing muddy +water, ran parallel with the road. Gale had been curious about the +operations of the Chases, but bitterness he could not help had kept him +from going out to see the work. He was not surprised to find that the +engineers who had constructed the ditches and dam had anticipated him +in every particular. The dammed-up gulch made a magnificent reservoir, +and Gale could not look upon the long narrow lake without a feeling of +gladness. The dreaded ano seco of the Mexicans might come again and +would come, but never to the inhabitants of Forlorn River. That +stone-walled, stone-floored gulch would never leak, and already it +contained water enough to irrigate the whole Altar Valley for two dry +seasons. + +Yaqui led swiftly along the lake to the upper end, where the stream +roared down over unscalable walls. This point was the farthest Gale +had ever penetrated into the rough foothills, and he had Belding's word +for it that no white man had ever climbed No Name Mountains from the +west. + +But a white man was not an Indian. The former might have stolen the +range and valley and mountain, even the desert, but his possessions +would ever remain mysteries. Gale had scarcely faced the great gray +ponderous wall of cliff before the old strange interest in the Yaqui +seized him again. It recalled the tie that existed between them, a tie +almost as close as blood. Then he was eager and curious to see how the +Indian would conquer those seemingly insurmountable steps of stone. + +Yaqui left the gulch and clambered up over a jumble of weathered slides +and traced a slow course along the base of the giant wall. He looked up +and seemed to select a point for ascent. It was the last place in that +mountainside where Gale would have thought climbing possible. Before +him the wall rose, leaning over him, shutting out the light, a dark +mighty mountain mass. Innumerable cracks and crevices and caves +roughened the bulging sides of dark rock. + +Yaqui tied one end of his lasso to the short, stout stick and, +carefully disentangling the coils, he whirled the stick round and round +and threw it almost over the first rim of the shelf, perhaps thirty +feet up. The stick did not lodge. Yaqui tried again. This time it +caught in a crack. He pulled hard. Then, holding to the lasso, he +walked up the steep slant, hand over hand on the rope. When he reached +the shelf he motioned for Gale to follow. Gale found that method of +scaling a wall both quick and easy. Yaqui pulled up the lasso, and +threw the stick aloft into another crack. He climbed to another shelf, +and Gale followed him. The third effort brought them to a more rugged +bench a hundred feet above the slides. The Yaqui worked round to the +left, and turned into a dark fissure. Gale kept close to his heels. +They came out presently into lighter space, yet one that restricted any +extended view. Broken sections of cliff were on all sides. + +Here the ascent became toil. Gale could distance Yaqui going downhill; +on the climb, however, he was hard put to it to keep the Indian in +sight. It was not a question of strength or lightness of foot. These +Gale had beyond the share of most men. It was a matter of lung power, +and the Yaqui's life had been spent scaling the desert heights. +Moreover, the climbing was infinitely slow, tedious, dangerous. On the +way up several times Gale imagined he heard a dull roar of falling +water. The sound seemed to be under him, over him to this side and to +that. When he was certain he could locate the direction from which it +came then he heard it no more until he had gone on. Gradually he +forgot it in the physical sensations of the climb. He burned his hands +and knees. He grew hot and wet and winded. His heart thumped so that +it hurt, and there were instants when his sight was blurred. When at +last he had toiled to where the Yaqui sat awaiting him upon the rim of +that great wall, it was none too soon. + +Gale lay back and rested for a while without note of anything except +the blue sky. Then he sat up. He was amazed to find that after that +wonderful climb he was only a thousand feet or so above the valley. +Judged by the nature of his effort, he would have said he had climbed a +mile. The village lay beneath him, with its new adobe structures and +tents and buildings in bright contrast with the older habitations. He +saw the green alfalfa fields, and Belding's white horses, looking very +small and motionless. He pleased himself by imagining he could pick +out Blanco Sol. Then his gaze swept on to the river. + +Indeed, he realized now why some one had named it Forlorn River. Even +at this season when it was full of water it had a forlorn aspect. It +was doomed to fail out there on the desert--doomed never to mingle with +the waters of the Gulf. It wound away down the valley, growing wider +and shallower, encroaching more and more on the gray flats, until it +disappeared on its sad journey toward Sonoyta. That vast shimmering, +sun-governed waste recognized its life only at this flood season, and +was already with parched tongue and insatiate fire licking and burning +up its futile waters. + +Yaqui put a hand on Gale's knee. It was a bronzed, scarred, powerful +hand, always eloquent of meaning. The Indian was listening. His bent +head, his strange dilating eyes, his rigid form, and that +close-pressing hand, how these brought back to Gale the terrible lonely +night hours on the lava! + +"What do you hear, Yaqui?" asked Gale. He laughed a little at the mood +that had come over him. But the sound of his voice did not break the +spell. He did not want to speak again. He yielded to Yaqui's subtle +nameless influence. He listened himself, heard nothing but the scream +of an eagle. Often he wondered if the Indian could hear things that +made no sound. Yaqui was beyond understanding. + +Whatever the Indian had listened to or for, presently he satisfied +himself, and, with a grunt that might mean anything, he rose and turned +away from the rim. Gale followed, rested now and eager to go on. He +saw that the great cliff they had climbed was only a stairway up to the +huge looming dark bulk of the plateau above. + +Suddenly he again heard the dull roar of falling water. It seemed to +have cleared itself of muffled vibrations. Yaqui mounted a little +ridge and halted. The next instant Gale stood above a bottomless cleft +into which a white stream leaped. His astounded gaze swept backward +along this narrow swift stream to its end in a dark, round, boiling +pool. It was a huge spring, a bubbling well, the outcropping of an +underground river coming down from the vast plateau above. + +Yaqui had brought Gale to the source of Forlorn River. + +Flashing thoughts in Gale's mind were no swifter than the thrills that +ran over him. He would stake out a claim here and never be cheated out +of it. Ditches on the benches and troughs on the steep walls would +carry water down to the valley. Ben Chase had build a great dam which +would be useless if Gale chose to turn Forlorn River from its natural +course. The fountain head of that mysterious desert river belonged to +him. + +His eagerness, his mounting passion, was checked by Yaqui's unusual +action. The Indian showed wonder, hesitation, even reluctance. His +strange eyes surveyed this boiling well as if they could not believe +the sight they saw. Gale divined instantly that Yaqui had never before +seen the source of Forlorn River. If he had ever ascended to this +plateau, probably it had been to some other part, for the water was new +to him. He stood gazing aloft at peaks, at lower ramparts of the +mountain, and at nearer landmarks of prominence. Yaqui seemed at +fault. He was not sure of his location. + +Then he strode past the swirling pool of dark water and began to ascend +a little slope that led up to a shelving cliff. Another object halted +the Indian. It was a pile of stones, weathered, crumbled, fallen into +ruin, but still retaining shape enough to prove it had been built there +by the hands of men. Round and round this the Yaqui stalked, and his +curiosity attested a further uncertainty. It was as if he had come +upon something surprising. Gale wondered about the pile of stones. Had +it once been a prospector's claim? + +"Ugh!" grunted the Indian; and, though his exclamation expressed no +satisfaction, it surely put an end to doubt. He pointed up to the roof +of the sloping yellow shelf of stone. Faintly outlined there in red +were the imprints of many human hands with fingers spread wide. Gale +had often seen such paintings on the walls of the desert caverns. +Manifestly these told Yaqui he had come to the spot for which he had +aimed. + +Then his actions became swift--and Yaqui seldom moved swiftly. The fact +impressed Gale. The Indian searched the level floor under the shelf. +He gathered up handfuls of small black stones, and thrust them at Gale. +Their weight made Gale start, and then he trembled. The Indian's next +move was to pick up a piece of weathered rock and throw it against the +wall. It broke. He snatched up parts, and showed the broken edges to +Gale. They contained yellow steaks, dull glints, faint tracings of +green. It was gold. + +Gale found his legs shaking under him; and he sat down, trying to take +all the bits of stone into his lap. His fingers were all thumbs as +with knife blade he dug into the black pieces of rock. He found gold. +Then he stared down the slope, down into the valley with its river +winding forlornly away into the desert. But he did not see any of +that. Here was reality as sweet, as wonderful, as saving as a dream +come true. Yaqui had led him to a ledge of gold. Gale had learned +enough about mineral to know that this was a rich strike. All in a +second he was speechless with the joy of it. But his mind whirled in +thought about this strange and noble Indian, who seemed never to be +able to pay a debt. Belding and the poverty that had come to him! +Nell, who had wept over the loss of a spring! Laddy, who never could +ride again! Jim Lash, who swore he would always look after his friend! +Thorne and Mercedes! All these people, who had been good to him and +whom he loved, were poor. But now they would be rich. They would one +and all be his partners. He had discovered the source of Forlorn +River, and was rich in water. Yaqui had made him rich in gold. Gale +wanted to rush down the slope, down into the valley, and tell his +wonderful news. + +Suddenly his eyes cleared and he saw the pile of stones. His blood +turned to ice, then to fire. That was the mark of a prospector's +claim. But it was old, very old. The ledge had never been worked, the +slope was wild. There was not another single indication that a +prospector had ever been there. Where, then, was he who had first +staked this claim? Gale wondered with growing hope, with the fire +easing, with the cold passing. + +The Yaqui uttered the low, strange, involuntary cry so rare with him, a +cry somehow always associated with death. Gale shuddered. + +The Indian was digging in the sand and dust under the shelving wall. He +threw out an object that rang against the stone. It was a belt buckle. +He threw out old shrunken, withered boots. He came upon other things, +and then he ceased to dig. + +The grave of desert prospectors! Gale had seen more than one. Ladd had +told him many a story of such gruesome finds. It was grim, hard fact. + +Then the keen-eyed Yaqui reached up to a little projecting shelf of +rock and took from it a small object. He showed no curiosity and gave +the thing to Gale. + +How strangely Gale felt when he received into his hands a flat oblong +box! Was it only the influence of the Yaqui, or was there a nameless +and unseen presence beside that grave? Gale could not be sure. But he +knew he had gone back to the old desert mood. He knew something hung +in the balance. No accident, no luck, no debt-paying Indian could +account wholly for that moment. Gale knew he held in his hands more +than gold. + +The box was a tin one, and not all rusty. Gale pried open the +reluctant lid. A faint old musty odor penetrated his nostrils. Inside +the box lay a packet wrapped in what once might have been oilskin. He +took it out and removed this covering. A folded paper remained in his +hands. + +It was growing yellow with age. But he descried a dim tracery of +words. A crabbed scrawl, written in blood, hard to read! He held it +more to the light, and slowly he deciphered its content. + + +"We, Robert Burton and Jonas Warren, give half of this gold claim to +the man who finds it and half to Nell Burton, daughter and +granddaughter." + + +Gasping, with a bursting heart, overwhelmed by an unutterable joy of +divination, Gale fumbled with the paper until he got it open. + +It was a certificate twenty-one years old, and recorded the marriage of +Robert Burton and Nellie Warren. + + + +XX + +DESERT GOLD + +A SUMMER day dawned on Forlorn River, a beautiful, still, hot, golden +day with huge sail clouds of white motionless over No Name Peaks and +the purple of clear air in the distance along the desert horizon. + +Mrs. Belding returned that day to find her daughter happy and the past +buried forever in two lonely graves. The haunting shadow left her +eyes. Gale believed he would never forget the sweetness, the wonder, +the passion of her embrace when she called him her boy and gave him her +blessing. + +The little wrinkled padre who married Gale and Nell performed the +ceremony as he told his beads, without interest or penetration, and +went his way, leaving happiness behind. + +"Shore I was a sick man," Ladd said, "an' darn near a dead one, but I'm +agoin' to get well. Mebbe I'll be able to ride again someday. Nell, I +lay it to you. An' I'm agoin' to kiss you an' wish you all the joy +there is in this world. An', Dick, as Yaqui says, she's shore your +Shower of Gold." + +He spoke of Gale's finding love--spoke of it with the deep and wistful +feeling of the lonely ranger who had always yearned for love and had +never known it. Belding, once more practical, and important as never +before with mining projects and water claims to manage, spoke of Gale's +great good fortune in finding of gold--he called it desert gold. + +"Ah, yes. Desert Gold!" exclaimed Dick's father, softly, with eyes of +pride. Perhaps he was glad Dick had found the rich claim; surely he +was happy that Dick had won the girl he loved. But it seemed to Dick +himself that his father meant something very different from love and +fortune in his allusion to desert gold. + + +That beautiful happy day, like life or love itself, could not be wholly +perfect. + +Yaqui came to Dick to say good-by. Dick was startled, grieved, and in +his impulsiveness forgot for a moment the nature of the Indian. Yaqui +was not to be changed. + +Belding tried to overload him with gifts. The Indian packed a bag of +food, a blanket, a gun, a knife, a canteen, and no more. The whole +household went out with him to the corrals and fields from which +Belding bade him choose a horse--any horse, even the loved Blanco +Diablo. Gale's heart was in his throat for fear the Indian might +choose Blanco Sol, and Gale hated himself for a selfishness he could +not help. But without a word he would have parted with the treasured +Sol. + +Yaqui whistled the horses up--for the last time. Did he care for them? +It would have been hard to say. He never looked at the fierce and +haughty Diablo, nor at Blanco Sol as he raised his noble head and rang +his piercing blast. The Indian did not choose one of Belding's whites. +He caught a lean and wiry broncho, strapped a blanket on him, and +fastened on the pack. + +Then he turned to these friends, the same emotionless, inscrutable dark +and silent Indian that he had always been. This parting was nothing to +him. He had stayed to pay a debt, and now he was going home. + +He shook hands with the men, swept a dark fleeting glance over Nell, +and rested his strange eyes upon Mercedes's beautiful and agitated +face. It must have been a moment of intense feeling for the Spanish +girl. She owed it to him that she had life and love and happiness. She +held out those speaking slender hands. But Yaqui did not touch them. +Turning away, he mounted the broncho and rode down the trail toward the +river. + +"He's going home," said Belding. + +"Home!" whispered Ladd; and Dick knew the ranger felt the resurging +tide of memory. Home--across the cactus and lava, through solemn +lonely days, the silent, lonely nights, into the vast and red-hazed +world of desolation. + +"Thorne, Mercedes, Nell, let's climb the foothill yonder and watch him +out of sight," said Dick. + +They climbed while the others returned to the house. When they reached +the summit of the hill Yaqui was riding up the far bank of the river. + +"He will turn to look--to wave good-by?" asked Nell. + +"Dear he is an Indian," replied Gale. + +From that height they watched him ride through the mesquites, up over +the river bank to enter the cactus. His mount showed dark against the +green and white, and for a long time he was plainly in sight. The sun +hung red in a golden sky. The last the watchers saw of Yaqui was when +he rode across a ridge and stood silhouetted against the gold of desert +sky--a wild, lonely, beautiful picture. Then he was gone. + +Strangely it came to Gale then that he was glad. Yaqui had returned to +his own--the great spaces, the desolation, the solitude--to the trails +he had trodden when a child, trails haunted now by ghosts of his +people, and ever by his gods. Gale realized that in the Yaqui he had +known the spirit of the desert, that this spirit had claimed all which +was wild and primitive in him. + +Tears glistened in Mercedes's magnificent black eyes, and Thorne kissed +them away--kissed the fire back to them and the flame to her cheeks. + +That action recalled Gale's earlier mood, the joy of the present, and +he turned to Nell's sweet face. The desert was there, wonderful, +constructive, ennobling, beautiful, terrible, but it was not for him as +it was for the Indian. In the light of Nell's tremulous returning +smile that strange, deep, clutching shadow faded, lost its hold +forever; and he leaned close to her, whispering: "Lluvia +d'oro"--"Shower of Gold." + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Desert Gold, by Zane Grey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DESERT GOLD *** + +***** This file should be named 502.txt or 502.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/5/0/502/ + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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