The rustler., 1891-11-13

I
thirat= plagued man stArrd ~ the PIC
ture HE disorted visiun had oonjured
ups and. drawing in his tongue. be
pressed his cracked iips Together. ~ 4
gluinr them % the hrim of a glass fuil
81 the sparkling liquid. Cor which he
wuuld have given anything be- pos-
seassd Tor one .nul-satisfying swallow.
his torture and that ~ she friend who
watched over him while be- lay tossing
on his blankets was ailayed to . de-
gree few hours later. when the hcroe
sun rePcnied aud the night stole on
slowly. A. the evening air famed his
brow. kawlinN riding hv the side Of
his sick friend. made Light % the days
mishaps and even managed a joke
about Big Bunster's burro being small
Ter than IL rider. which Joke seemed
very near the truth. though "a lacked
heartincss
] The little caravan IL way 30 Calieute
tral and along Il to one of the outer
walls of the great canyon where Il halt
ed for the night
Very early In the morning, before
the sun had ceased his repentance. two
Of the men slung their eautccns % their
sides and started for the river; though
Nost after they had gone, said: "lt's
even chances bout them gittin' water
they mought and they moughtn't
Them air canyon walls Is mighty
steep. but thar may be place 60 sit
down som'crs along thar
Clearly the sun had determined 10 be
as wicked a. ever; aud when his scorch-
ing, blistering rays reached the little
camp ON Calicute trail. the men soon
sought the shelter Of the rocks Raw
lins made Bunstcr as comfortable as
was possible; bu, there was very little
comfort 90 be enjoyed The sick man
walled for water, and his purple face
was an ugly sight for his friend 10 gaze
upon, while he vigorously famed with
his hat the dry, hot air above his brow.
Hours passed. "wnl they never
Gomez" thought Rawlins; ''why did
not 60 myself? II was because /
thought he might die while was
gone, and wanted to stick by him to
the end. Still, should have gone-l
should have gone"
Another hour dragged its reluctant
way along. II was nearly noon.
There they were at last-the water.
bearers. But why walked they SC
slowly? No doubt they were tired
Yes, they were tired aud worn-nearly
exhausted. in fact; their clothes were
in tatters. and they were shamefaced
aud cowed-for they brought back nj
water They had started from tn,
: walled-in stream with full canteens
but the ascent of the canyon-side hat
been so toilsome, the heat so intense
, and their thirst so great that they hat
= drunk every drop.
/ Ugly glances shot from Zach Raw
: .ins eyes at the recrcaut ones. lii
, blood was up He would go down (,
, the stream, though it were guarded by
, fiery dragon, and he would bring bacl
a cantecn full of water and steep th'
e hcartless ones in their shame. Yes
. Big Bunstcr should have the all-need
, ful draught, II he had 90 20 through
fire to get II. And he did 20 through
, fire; for il proved useless for Yost {,
e tell him that journey down to Tn,
waters edge in the cool Of the morn
ing and one made at midday were TIVE
5 very different things to undertake. IL,
jerled the canteen-strap over his
shoulder and strode quickly away owe
the baked mesa, under the burning
, sun and soon began the descent From
one great step of the rough, natura
/ -. g.. L.. 4
last he gained a point where he coult
5 look off and down into the canyon
, dark depths. Like sinuous piece o
! steel the river ran its way far below
| him, a strip OF IL visible here, anothe
there, and still another beyond, SO tina
; it seemed as il the stream burrowe'
e through high, rocky barriers Rawlin
$ paused not to note the brilliant patche
0 of color along the face of the grea
y esearpment, and the sharply sketches
[ chiar-oscuro that marked the make,
n grandeur OF the scene made no i'm
3 press He only saw, running swift,
at the base OF the great walls whicl
hemmed IL in from human hand, tn
y water for which the friend OF his yout
d lay dying. The way down was diff
v cult He was almost stifled by tn
i heat, he was tortured by an intoler
8 able thirst; his clothing was torn b
jagged rocks; hew as struck at by rattle
. snakes, and, II all this were no
!, enough. one OF the soles of his boot
I had become so warped by the heat an
q split by the rocks as TO make his ste
n unsafe.
II In fever of excitement, he finall
@ reached the rivers edge. lie threV
d himself down by the brink and eagerl
5 gulpcd the sparkling water Then h
r filed the cantcen and darted up tn
. rocks. Fleet as had been his descen
e to the base of the canyon wall, it ha
O taken him nearly two hours 10 make il
v II had been hard enough coming dow
q but now came the real work. So stee
e was the rocky escarpment that il
d ascent was one of great effort an
n peril, even for a strong man at earl
II dawn, but for weak man, at tw
II in the afternoon, II was a fearful tasl
1t How intensely hot it was there o