San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-08-28

stirrup and mounted Rozinante, he swore
reverential oath that, come what might,
| Mirandy should be saved. 1t was true he
| had not been well treated either by the wild
! der or Mirandy, he told himself again. yet
love your enemies-hed heap Goals of fire
| on their heads and do them good for evil
| That had been his principle in life ever since
| he reformed. Besides, what man of spirit
| and honor could see such an outrage COM
mitted and not interferel Even if the girl
were a stranger to him, he could not do less
than shoot the villain and restore her to her
weeping family. But when she was his
hearts ease-Mirandy Rejoice, for the
| hour is at hand.
He pulled out his carbine from its holster
| under his leg to see if it was all right. And
yet, wasn't shooting too good for man who
would treat woman as Bob Green was going
| to treat Mirandy' Shouldn't he be hangedl
| Then he examined the rawhide lasso that
hung from his saddle horn, in painful doubt
on this question.
He would intercept the party at the Mon
tezlma crossing, he told himself, and show
Bob Green that there was one man of honor
and courage still left in San Miguel county.
And he'd do the deed single handed perhaps
Mirandy would smile upon him little for
that-perhaps shed-marry him. B'hold tn
bridegroom cometh-perhaps. His head
grew dizzy at this thought, and he pushed
his horse into a hard gallop and rode out of
sight of the ranch.
When the sun rose that morning it lit up
perfect day. Here and there on the rolling
mesas stood a sentinel cactus or pinion that
split up the yellow light into long lanes
that lay softly on the lea. As the day grew
older and the shadows shorter, one might
have noticed a small, cumulus cloud in the
west, hanging close to the line where land
and sky joined. This cloud grew larger and
darker as it sailed up toward the zenith, and
others followed it until the blue was hidden
behind the gray. Then swift, zigzag streaks
of gold darted from one part of the heavens
to another, and dull, rumbing peals of thun-
der followed the flashes. There was a COM
ing storm in April-an extraordinary occur
renee in New Mexico.
Down the road that skirted Los Tanos
might have been seen two persons-a man
and woman-riding at full speed. The man
sat bolt upright in his saddle-a perpendicu.
lar line from his shoulder would have
touched his hip, his knee and his heel-and he
| stuck as close to the leather as if he had been
tied there. Beside him galloped the woman,
mounted upon spirited chestnut mare, which
she rode on side saddle. Upon her head
she wore huge white sombrero, tied tightly
under her chin, and from beneath this her
hair had slipped and hung in masses down
her back. Her riding habit was long, flow
ing skirt of some dark brown material, and
her left foot-although concealed by her
dress-carried spur, with which she now
and then urged her steed onward. The man
looked anxiously up at the sky, and turning
to his companion, said:
Cant you git a little more outen the
mare, Mirandyl We must git across the
Montezumy bog afore the rain comes, if we
want to git married this year. Least bit o
water therell make the mud too soft"
81 don't low I kin do anythin' better,
Bob" said Mirandy; ''still I'll try" She
spurred the mustang again and again. To
each prick of the steel the animal responded
with few vicious jumps, then settled back
again into the lope.
Its no use, Bob" she said 81 can't git
her outen this gait"
"Well, We must take our chances then"
said Bob "We can't turn back now; the
wilder III be after us in two hours with
possy."
Before them stretched the low, fat expanse
of the marsh extending to the right and left
the bog appeared to be a hard crust, baked
dry and stiff and covered with a white coat
ing of alkali, through which grew no man.
ner of living plant. So parched had the land
become that it was split and scanned with
cracks that yawned for moisture. Down
through the middle of this desert flowed the
sluggish stream that came from the Monte
yuma spring, a curious natural phenomenon
that yielded water as bitter and heavy as
that of the Dead sea, yet, strange to say,
nourished a row of trees, willow and pine,
with here and there scaly, narrow chested
cypress that grew along the edges of the
creek. These trees were the only green
things for miles; the land elsewhere pre-
sented a bare, desolate appearance.
Across the bog there was a faint path
which could be traversed in the dry season;
but once let the crust become wet, and it
turned to a Shiny mud that yielded to the
weight of a man or horse, and gripped so
tightly what it seized that self relief was i'm
possible.
Just before the two riders reached the edge
of the bog, the storm which had been
gathering all the morning suddenly burst
upon them. Sharp flashes of lightning
darted from one black cloud to another, and
loud, rumbling thunder answered the
flashes Then came the rain. The man hur-
riedly sprang from his horse, and untying
his 'slcker," which he had carried tightly
bound to his saddle, wrapped the huge yell
low oil cloth coat about the girl, and mount
ing again, pulled his sombrero down over
his face.
oval, we got to go on, Mirandy. No use