Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1893-03-10

ne WAS db ltAob NONflNAl Wy ~ NLltii lOst hkdlD
and plodded along through the scorching
hours with burned feet in his cracking old
shoes.
His wits were all a-blur, but his bodily
senses i,lt that the whole land lay on a vast
upward slope, continual gentle pressure
back, as it were, to each toilsome step he
took In the late afternoon he felt "A slight
pulling tendency, sign that he was on an
mperceptible descent. Then c.me adelicate
long plait in the sand the ascent began
again, and he fell stupidity down, with some
indistinct fancy Of staying there till moth
ing was left Of him bat bones-baked, dusty
bones.
But when his face touched the hot sand
he got up again and trod on. He had no
fear of pursuit now, for he was in the
thirstland no man entered to return.
The Spanards had spoken of it, and they
had let him go into it, knowing it was but
taking the labor Of his destruction OF their
own hands Fle could imagine them con
soling themselves for the loss Of the horse
and officer by telling again the tales OF the
desert; how to go into it for an hour was to
be lost, and to be lost was 10 wander round
on ones steps, which meant death finally
Then he resolved 10 lie down and bear his
pains dH Il Ndlldhb man Hli.tHl VII night
should Gomez then he could follow one Of
the stars. By this time little shadow lay
at his feet, there was Il rock not far away,
and he went and lay down there trying to
be sensible and steady headed.
The sun went down, red globe i'm n pur
pie haze. The stars appeared, and he fol
lowed one for "A long time till he got among
rocks and bruised his body against them in
. l.. 10 IL Of, q
moonrise He lay there on the stony floor
and his thirst kept him from feeling the
hardness Of it-for awhile.
At last he could bear it no longer, but rose
and ran on, then presently struck against
one of the stones and fell, stunned, as he had
fallen before out in the sand tracks. Still
the man was not beaten. When he had re-
covered, he wiped his heavy eyes with the
back of his hand aud felt his way along
through that rocky maize, tapping his
sword on each side and following the pas
sages, holding on TO his star with the bull
dog instinct Of his race. At last the moon
came out and lit the plain, showing it
mounting up and up in long, slow slope
till the eye lost it in the darkness, but
covered so far with stones, stones stones,
like the graveyard of the whole human race
and at last shuflied out into places where
the stones, that dreadful multitude all ex-
actly alike, stood in groups only The
moon sped on her course, and the ground
underfoot sent ring from his steel staff
! it was rock.
Then the stones ceased altogether, and n
series of low ridges came. They taxed his
shaky legs and arms to their full, low
/ though they were, 50 that lac lay down to
rest on each AS he got upon it, Then he
came to the long ridge, highest Of all this
I huge inclined land, aud saw its edge wind
/ ing away to right, TO left, for miles in the
/ hard moonlight, and the rock floor sloping
I downward far below him for miles and
miles more.
/ Looking behind, the sight Of the fearful
maze of wilderness he had wonderfully
come through filed him with terror, and
/ he fled away from It, down and on, only tC
| fall again like Il child Then for awhile his
tortured frame could carry him no more
/ There he lay, delriously mumbling about
streams and lakes and fountains till the
sun came and struck his bare head with its
hot rays.
/ He crawled up onto his feet and stag
gered along, swaying one way for many
PAGES, then the other, hanging his hands
and head, moaning in dry, broken way
/ like cut bellows, yet still going on. And
then his dim eye received a refreshing mo
mentary cooiness-a plant, growing green
! at his feet.
Down he sank upon it, seized it, chewed
the dusty leaves. There were little driblets
I Of earth here and there Another bit OF
/ green caught his eye He raised his heavy
head and saw that 100 PAGES away the pla-
teau on which he stood broke off sheer He
had crossed the desert, for down there, ,00t
] feet below, were green plains, palms and a
] river, and beyond-the blue Pacific.
| The poor, wasted creature raised his bony,
cracked claws and gurgled with triumph.
/ He had cheated the Spaniards and the
/ thirst lands. Hurrahl
And there were more plants nearer the
edge. To them he fastened, with the blade
| still dragging from his wrist, to fall prone
on little group of them and on huge
/ puff adder lying almost invisible along an
earth grove Instantly the beast drew back
it's head and struck him on the bare leg,
then fed.
/ A rage filed him. He seized the sword in
both shaking hands, brought it down al
the marked back, missed it, fell forward.
and the steel bent and broke under him
as the enemy glided away. Bat after it he
| painted with the strength of revenge; caught
it up as it twisted by large stone, pushed
| the stone over its neck by an effort, and
kneeling cut its writhing body into long
strips with the fragment of his blade. Then
he got back somehow to the green tufts
/ and while the poison worked its way to his
heart sweetened his last moments Of life
/ with those leaves, till a stupor came over
him and he slept with his destroyer the
/ sleep of death on the border of the Sweet
Palm Coast, as the Indians called it in their
/ tongue.
Such was the escape of John Tisden,
whose bones have long become dust, the
only man who ever crossed the TERRA dc
! Sed.-W Delaplaine Scull in BLACK and
/ White"