Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1896-04-01

for this except, again, by the fact that
we were neither of us ourselves. Every
thing seemed to me like bad dream,
from the stamping of the horses in the
darkness to Saumarez telling me the
story of his loving Edith Copleigh since
the first. He was still clawing my shoul-
der and begging me to tell him where
Edith Copleigh was when another lull
came and brought light with it, and we
saw the dust cloud forming on the plain
in front of u.s. So we knew the worst
was over. Tho moon was low down, and
there was just like the glimmer of the
false dawn that comes about an hour
before the real one. But tho light was
very faint, and the dun cloud roared like
bull. l wondered where Edith Cop
leigh had gone, and as l was wondering
I saw three things together: First, Maud
Copleigh's face came smiling out Of the
darkness aud moved toward Saumarez
who was standing by mel heard the
girl whisper, George" and slide her
arm through the arm that was not claw
ing my shoulder, and saw that look on
her face which only comes once or twice
In lifetime, when a woman is perfect
ly happy and the air Is full of trumpets
and gorgeous colored fire and the Garth
turns into cloud because she loves and
Is loved-at the same time ] saw Sau-
marezs face as he heard Maud Cop
leighs voice, and 90 yards away from
the clump of orange trees saw brown
holland habit r,attinu a hnrca
1t must have been my state of over
excitement that made me so quick to
meddle with what did not concern me.
Saumarez was moving off to the habit,
but pushed him back and said; "Stop
here and explain. I'll fetch her back.
And ran out to got ut my own horse.
had a perfectly unnecessary notion that
everything must be done decently and
in order and that Saumarez's first care
was to wipe the happy look out Of Maud
Copleigh's face. All the time l was
linking up the curb chain I wondered
how he would do 1t.
Icantered after Edith Copleigh, think
ing to bring her back slowly on some
pretense or another. But she galloped
away as soon as she saw me, and was
forced to ride after her in earnest. She
called back over her shoulder; $50
away. I'm going home. Oh, go awayl !"
two or three times, but my business was
to catch her first and argue later. The
ride just fitted in with the rest Of the evil
dream. The ground was very bad and
now and again we rushed through the
whirling, choking "dust devils" In the
skirts Of the flying storm. There was a
burning hot wind blowing that brought
up stencil of stale brick kilns with it,
and through the half light and through
the dust devils across that desolate plain
flickered the brown holland habit on the
gray horse. She headed for the station
at first. Then she wheeled round and set
Off for the river through beds of burned
down jungle grass. bad even to ride pig
over In cold blood l should never have
dreamed of going over such q country
at night, but it seemed quite right and
natural with the lightning cracking
overhead and reek like the smell of
the pit in my nostrils. I rode and shout
ed, and she bent forward and lashed her
horse, and the aftermath of the dust
storm came up and caught us both and
drove us downward like pieces of paper.
l don't know how far we rode, but
the drumming of the horse hoofs, and the
roar of the wind, and the race Of the
blood red moon through tho yellow mist
seemed to have gone on for years and
years, and l was literally drenched with
sweat from my helmet to my CATERS
when the gray stumbled, recovered him
self and drew up dead lame. My brute
was used up altogether Edith Copleigh
was in sad state. plastered with dust,
her helmet off and crying bitterly.
"Why can't you let me alone?" she
said ~ only wanted to get away and
go home. Oh, please let me go''
"You have got to come back with me,
Miss Copleigh. Saumarez has something
to say to you. ;"
1t was a foolish way of putting it, but
I hardly knew Miss Copleigh, and
though was playing providence at the
cost of my horse could not tell her in
as many words what Saumarez had told
me. l thought he could do that better
himself. All her pretense about being
tired and wanting to go home broke
down, and she rocked herself to and fro
in the saddle as she sobbed, and the hot
wind blew her black hair to leeward.
am not going to repeat what she said,
because she was utterly unstrung.
This, if you please, was the cynical
Miss Copleigh. Here was l, almost an
utter stranger to her, trying to tell her
that Saumarez loved her, and she was
to come back and hear him say SO. be-
lieye I made myself understood, for she
gathered the gray together and made
him hobble somehow, and we set off fol
the tomb, while the storm went thun
dering down to Umballa, and few big
drops of warm rain fell. found out
that she had been standing close to Sau
marez when he proposed to her sister
and had wanted to 60 home to cry il
peace, as an English girl should. Sh'
dabbed her eyes with her pocket hand
kerchief as we went along and babbled