Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1891-03-26

Hestral TO see my friends there It's
only an hours ridA"
That settles it, Thought Stoney.
Plenty Of stout fellows to use m sheg-
ins deputies there He has probably
stumbled on traces and II going for
help. He sat and smoked and slipped
hrs hand back under his coat. Easy 10
shoot the fellow he said to himself.
well, good-by, Stoncr, said Warren
suddenly; Il suppose the beach road Ia
as good rs ever
Perfectly safe: only when you cross
Toro creek keep on the sandbar. IT'S a
hard as iron- crossed there today
THANK yoE. Adios-"
Simple. smiling speech. those words
OF Stoneris. aud yet they were intended
70 send Warren 10 his death more surely
and safely than by bullet Of pistol or
pellet Of secret poison.
Stoner took an extra swia of brandy
and went 70 his rest. Warren rode down
the rugged hin to the bottom OF the ra-
y1ne. then turned seaward ana at last
~, wide grlch opened broadly 10 the
sbere Of the Pacific.
The cliffs were from 60 to 800 feet
high, and fun Of waveworn caves. War
rem drew rein on the beach, and for fully
ten minutes watched the ocean sway O..
rise. His thoughts throbbed with dreams
OF Tessa He would take her away from
her narrow and hurtful surroundings.
He would force Stoner's consent, marry
her and make her happy.
He rode rapidly south, and in half an
hour the mouth of the Toro appeared in
the midst OF sand dunes, breakers rolling
In and the steady river rolling out. Here
was the long sandbar. ten feet wide and
stretching across hardly an inch higher
than the water surface.
Warren was beginning to have some
suspicious OF Stoner. hut not such as to
lead him to doubt the simple directions
he had received. The sandbar looked
safe, but within q few days the sea, as
Stoner knew, had swept IL nightly.
torn out the long compacted bar and
placed instead quivering mass Of quick
sand, SO treacherous that not even a
light footed rabbit could cross with
out being swallowed up and dragged
bodily down. Warren rode swiftly for
ward. He had crossed sandbars hum
dreds OF times. Some horses would
have been wiser, but the animal he rode
had been bred in the valley.
The approach to the bar was hard for
o few rods, and he galloped on. Sud-
denly. in one heart breaking, breathless
descent, noiseless, but unutterably dread
full, Tom Warren's horse went down,
down, and the soft, shiny sand came up
to his name. He shrieked out that
ghastly cry Of appeal and agony that a
desperate. dying horse win sometimes
utter.
Tom knew the peril. He had drawn
his feet from the stirrups and lifted
them up at the first downward throb,
but the sand began to grab at him also.
He threw himself Fat ON his breast and
tore himself loose from the poor animal,
over whose back the mingled sand and
water were running, rs it rolled from
side to side in Intellectual struggles to
escape.
Tom spread himself out over as much
surface rs possible, but slowly, resistless-
IL the mighty fierce drew him down.
ward. The hard beach was only ten feet
distant, but practically the chasm was
impossible. He felt his horse sink out
of sight; the sand gripped his own knees
and arms, his thighs and shoulders. Twy
inches more and the end by suffocation
was inevitable. Up to this time he had
not shouted; only his horses wild death
scream had told Of tho tragedy. What
was the use? Who would be passing
along that lonely road? Then he thought
Of Tessa and Of life. He raised his voice
in q clear. strong shout for help, again
and again repeated
Far of along tho deep ravine there
came q cry in response. and q horses
hurrying feet, and hope awoke in his
heart. The margin Of life was five min
utes now-not longer. Faster. faster. o
fearless rideri
tom, where are your
Here, Tessa; don't come too near"
But the mountain girl knew the dan
ger. Creeping down stairs for drink
OF water, she had heard her fathers
words to Warren. had thrown q shawl
about her shoulders, and run to the past
ure. Then she caught her pet horse,
sprang upon his unsaddled back, seized
Ioped at the utmost speed down the
ravine, hoping against hope, for many
minutes had necessarily elapsed since
Warren started.
She sprang to the ground and tossed
the rawhide rope TO the one arm he held
above the sand. She folded her shawl
and put it over her horses shoulders and
tied the RATA round like collar. Then
she led him slowly away from the quick
sands, and Warren thought his arm
would break, but slowly, reluctantly,
painfully the sand gave up its prey.
"Your father told me to take this road,
Tessa," said the young sheriff.
.Yes, knew that, aud heard one Of
the men tell him today that the bar was
swept out"
There was . long silence between
them.
'Tessa, go with me to San Lula" said
Warren, land let Us get married"
And Tessa went.
Old Stoner heard the news O few DAYS
later. Within an hour he had s.retired
from business" The camp was broken
up, the hunters disappeared, mysterious
lights flashed 1t intervals all night from
the points Of the cliff, and the next day
old Ssoner himself disappeared. leaving
his family, the ranch and the live stock.
Il was said that he made the best Of his
way to Mexico and finally to South
America The world IL large as yet,
and men who have money can ramble
over a good deal Of il without finding
past they wish to escape from. But
Tessa lives In her San Luis Obigpo cot
tage, with orange trees over II and Ia