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Desert Gold
by Zane Grey
April, 1996 [Etext #502]
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DESERT GOLD
A ROMANCE OF THE BORDER BY ZANE GREY
AUTHOR OF RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, WILDFIRE, ETC., ETC.
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
Chapter 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 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 recognize it. But it was akin to pain.
Chapter 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
meant 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 than 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 mad 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. They 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 along 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 to 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!"
Chapter 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 cold 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 isn't 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.
Chapter 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 let 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 hear, 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.
The 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 along. 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.
Chapter 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 to
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 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
water 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.
Chapter 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. Please 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 alot. 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. Throne 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 gold 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!"
Chapter 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 sever 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. The seemed shy, and Lash was silent while Ladd
made embarrassed, unintelligible reply to Mercedes's'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 his 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 affect 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
hears 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 fee 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 the 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 till 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 spend 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.
"Shore, 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 caps, 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 be came 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 Kick 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 rebel 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 hears 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 say 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 mad 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 fact 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. Then 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 is 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 Beldings 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 was 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 cam 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 accpet, 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. Gall--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 tine 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 antoher 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 cam 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 cam 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 every 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 west 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 spend
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 Yak down, gave him a drink. Then, after a long,
sweeping survey of the surrounding desert, he removed Sold's saddle
and let him roll, and took for himself a welcome rest and a bite
to eat.
The Yak 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 Yak'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 Thorn into a seamed and
cracked floor. This was Altar Valley. It was a chaos of array'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 made 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. The 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, homeles, 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 hersman 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 ouside 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. He 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 streem 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 it 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 power 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 boood 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 rangers 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 positon.
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 long 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.
Diable 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.
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 hear 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 Case 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 earnet 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--sonn....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
Throne 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
appal 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 gew 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
waterhold, 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.
They 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 suble 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 postion.
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 them, 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 missle
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 an'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 positoin, 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 whereThorne 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 ben 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 withing 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
oustripped 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 bee 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 "Holla!" 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 awkardly 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 unconcious 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 unti 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 could 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. I'ts 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 calvaryman
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 sufferd 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 receptable.
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 hld. 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 algow 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 balmly
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 ahrd 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 broding, 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 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 zenish 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 read
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 ot 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 was 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 abut 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 odne 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 offerd 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 to 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--in deed, 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 make 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 dake, 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 swiftyly 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 want 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. Well 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 kowing. 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 contructed 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 knww. 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 they 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
actins. 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, ovewhelmed 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
ceremoney 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 ot her, whispering: "Lluvia d'oro"--
"Shower of Gold."
End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Desert Gold, by Zane Grey