Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1892-07-28

who lived in Delaware. and he knew,
too, that 1.-THE young fellow" had
found money making very slow work
From Lucin's to the great alkah
plain that lay before the buttes in
which the gold was hidden was long
and toilsome journey. But the real
work only began with the crossing Of
the alkah desert,
White and naked lay the dead land
before their aching eyes The eye OF
Heaven shOne down With most unre-
lenting f1erceness. No breath OF air
was stirring, and the whole world was
to them as dumb as death.
Mart had counted on the journey
being hard one, but not so hard as
this. He had not dreamed that the
water would give out so soon, nor that
the horses would sink down and die
as they did.
Still they staggered on, their forms
bent under their heavy burdens,
standing out sharp and raw Dove the
white earth, on which their clearly
defined shadows fell with inky bla OK
ness
In that cloudless, mfstless air dis
lance seemed set at naught, for they
! travelled on and on toward the buttes,
and yet they seemed to grow no
nearer.
1t was toward evening that they
reached a rocky islet in the sea Of
alkali, and there, after a very bad
meal of bareback, they fell asleep.
Robbins dreaming OF clear, cold
water drawn from marble fountains
in crystal goblets. The young man
was the first to awake. The sun was
beginning to shoot his fiery needles
over the mountain. Robbins lifted
his hand to rub his eyes.
''R-r-z-z-z!''
Then a tongue of flame darted
toward him and struck him on the
palm of the hand.
''My God" he gFoaned, ''it's
rattlesnake, and he's bitten me-"
His voice seemed to awaken hun
dred echoes, and to these responded a
hundred rattles.
Seiby sat up in his blanket and
stared at him stupidity. As he made
the movement, a rattlesnake struck
him in the face, and another, at his
side, would have done the same had
he not thrown himself out Of reach
of his deadly fangs
The rattles resounded on every
side. The two men ran back to a
stretch of sand beyond the rock and
gaZed at each other wildly.
''Hold STILL" demanded Mart.
sILet me look at your bite"
He grasped the boys hand.
''Thank God, it's not in the vein!'
He seized his knife and quickly
followed out piece of flesh.
let the Hood run free, while tie
this cord around your arm"
He twisted the stout cord until it
cut into the arm.
ssNOw, the whisky he gasped.
''No," said Robbins, '1et me cut
the poison out of your wound"
Mart held still a moment while
this was done.
''Now, the whiskY-quick!" cried
} Robbins.
But Selby did not look for the
, bringing forth Of the flask with any
) light of hope in his eyes.
'It is yours" he said, quietly.
sThere is only enough for one and
barely that"
: 'Then it is yours, Mart"
: 'fNO-yOurS."
: Your face is already beginning tt
l swell. Drink it."
! There was anguish in the tone, a
l there was heroism in the words, bu
l it was heroism of the weakly sort
He held out the bottle at ARM
= length, while he turned his face
l away.
mo, by God! It's yours, boy!'
=, ] -, a =
tone from Mart Selby. "You have
e mother and a sweetheart back in tn
4 States. And II have nobody
5 There was somebody once, but Their
n amt nobody now-nobody at all"
e In the face of this fearful tempta
d tion, Robbins felt himself weaken
a ing. He grew less strong of resolu
- tion with each tick of the watch il
t his pocket, heard so plainly in tn
q desert stiffness. What coward h
4 felt himself; but-how sweet wa
d life.
g Was there not help to be had iron
e some other source? He could no
v take this. The drinking of tina
e liquid was the drinking of Selby'
s life, and that life meant much to hin
u now. Here was the whole man!
e His eye swept the hopeless plain
l. He looked for the ''dust" of a trave
r Ter, but he saw none. The heat o
a the day was growing. He though
a he felt the poison pulsing through hi
II veins.
''No-no,' he said. sinking dow
II upon the sand. And there was
IS pitiable weakness in his tone.
If Selby took the bottle from hi
1t hand. AS he did so a shade of fea
d arose to Robbins face. Selby saw
d and smiled. The swollen face mad
the smile grotesque, but, none tn
It less, it was the smile of a god. b
/ came forward and knelt beside til
-e crouching form of Robbins, who lyin
70 on his face, with his eyes shu-
hepped him not to think of him. hr