Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1893-02-03

the rocks Away-hide. and don't come
out till ] call Away All is commotion,
and the child dives and doubles through
the brush and cactus for a mile to the
rocky point at the mouth of the canon. into
which he burrows like rock rabbit. too
frightened to know or listen to what is
happening behind.
AnNiously he waits Tic Juan call. The
gray rocks begin to glow with light. The
mesas each side of the canon grow yellow.
red. and then white under the summer
sun lis weary waiting He is hungry
and thirsty. and the sun now strikes down
from directly overhead. Only I'm the GREY
ice he has chosen is a little nook of shade.
growing less and less. less and less.
The sun is Westoring now, and the heat
from the rocks unbearable More he can
not stand; and So. faint and frightened.
he peeps over the rocks and across the
plain.
Mastering courage. he creeps over rock
after rock. and then. taking advantage of
every little shrub. glides out towards the
place lac had left before dawn. BY the
way he finds few sheep. and drives them
trembliugly on: but close to camp an old
eve IN the lead stops short. stamps. and
with q frightened bleat scurries of to the
right, followed by the others. IT'S no use
chasing them, and with growing fear of
disaster. he creeps straight forward. What
is that shaggy brown thing living under q
shrub' What is snarling beyond? An
other step: he sees it is Old Lobo. stiff and
grinning in death. He pulls the little
knife from his girdle puts a stone in his
sling, and soon can make out the deserted
campfire, 10y which coyotes are tearing al
fTxp iaad chaaA Thar. "a 90. gt t,at.s i,,,,,,,I
The fire is out, and by the little broken
down arbOr of branches he finds the friio
pot upturned and empty. The brush is
trampled down all around Where is Tic
Juan? He calls aloud. A sheep bcats
here and there in answer: coyotes chatter
and howl. He calls Linda and waits
Lobo is dead, and there is no Tic Juan.
no Linda, Perhaps they are getting to-
gether the flock scattered by the BrJo.
He will run Gown to the pool TO get some
water, and cook something against their
return. Those two sheep the coyotes were
eating will make a good roast. and the
Patron always allows Tic Juan to eat the
sheep killed by mischance. The pool is all
lrampled I'm with hoot-marks. and 10 i-
hard work to I'LL his little gourd and pot
returning, he takes the flint and steel from
his waistbaud, and soon mas a nre started
with some sage brush root Iui on pull
ing back the DOugh of tine arDor 10 get at
the corn and trilole>-Why. what is thie'
The hole in which they were stored Is upcu
and empty, Hardly a grain of either re-
mains. and Yet 10 Is "a full month before THO
Juan can 20 again 10 Oio Caiiente To draw
more ratIun>. Where can Tic Juan be?
he flock must Dee dreadtuiy scattered bV
the Bruo. He will cache the meat iu the
hole. and round up all of them he can.
by nl-httall he has perhaps one-tourth
OF them collected together, though he has
seen many more out on the plain, but TOO
Tar OF TO follow that night. Starting the
fire again, he lies down by 10 TO wait Tic
Juan coming
What can have happened to Tic Juan?
lie was so wise. He knew all the trails
Tar south 10 Chihuahua. aud away up the
great road to the Med0HOs tsand dunes)
and where the first grass grew in the
spring, and the best shelters and latest
grass in the fall
There was no use waiting longer. though
that night, SO the half-famshed lad broils
a piece OF meat, and lies down TO doze til
about midnight, when the coyotes return
chatterlng and snaIhng, and have to be
driven away, and the sheep quoted down
again.
The moon is going down, and it is very
lonely. Even the pale moon was some
thing cheering. And now there is nothing
but the cold white stars. blinking like
BrU0S eyes.
At last there only remained one little
morsel OF sheep meat. Nearly three-uuar-
ters Of the whole flock had been rounded
up. To stay here was to starye To-mor-
row he would drive them southwark.
through the canon into the Encinila, val
ley, and borrow something to eat from the
nearest ranch till Tic Juan came back
There was nothing to pack up next
morning. The frijol pot, his gourd, flint
and steel, and sling were all his Lares and
Penates. The last bit OF meat had been
eaten overnight; and, breakiastless. the
boy at dawn headed the flock toward The
canon They We're not accustomed 10 feed
that way, and gave trouble; the goats es-
peclally, racing over the point OF rocks
and turning back on TO the plain. At last
a steady Old eve headed up the pass. few
more followed her, and then the mass of
the herd, while the goats skirted the sides
of the canon, jumping from rock 10 rock.
What would Tic Juan say If he came
back and did not find them? 'Twould bee
valley, and hurry on alone so as to get
back to camp, II possible. next evening.
The canon closes in, and the gray west
ern wall lights up under the sun in daz-
Zling whiteness What is that black thing
at the head of the pass, hanging on the
face of the rock There Is an old dead
maguey-plant in crevice Just over it at
the top of the wall. What can that black
thing be? He creeps nearer and nearer.
Holy Virgin! 1t is a mans body tied by
one ankle to the maguey, and hanging
over the cliff Who can it be? Nearer
and nearer he crouches. His heart stops
beating. That old sheepskin waist-cloth
he knows well. Can it be? Yes, it is
my God, it is.-Tio Juan hanging there
dead
With a wild wailing cry the boy turned
and fled down the pass and out on to the