The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-12-16
A DESERT ROMANCE
BY Edmund Stuart Roche.

CHRISTOPHER MORGAN sat upon a
l box in the shade of some large
powders and within whip-reach OF
the circular path about the arastra, and
ateach rota tion of the mule stimulated
him by touch of the whip lash. 1t
was a drowsy occupation. The monet
onous creaking of the wooden shaft,
the grating of the crush stones. and the
sound of the dull thick wash of the
tailings thus kept in muddy commo-
ton, acted as sedative on Morgan,
who had already several times almost
dropped asleep. He was about falling
into u still deeper doze, when he was
made alert in a moment at the sound
of voices from little mesa above the
camp. Presently, riding down the
steep and almost obliterated trail. came
first lank, elderly man in faded over
alls and a flannel shirt, and after him
a girl dressed in coarse blue denim and
a sunbonnet of the same material, rid
ing astride on a mans saddle. She had
a light. girlish figure, and her face was
to Morgan a revelation of loveliness,
and his estimate of her attractions was
not altogether without some founda-
ton. Her mouth was perhaps little
too large and her nose a trif1e too 'tip-
tilted" for an exacting taste, but her
gray eyes were full of life and sympa-
thetic intelligence, her hair golden, her
teeth as white and regular as young
animals, and her complexion fresh and
blooming.
The elderly man hailed Morgan in a
loud voice which woke the echoes all
about: Good mornin', companero.
How goes it?"
Morgan acknowledged the vocifer-
Gus greeting and went to meet his Wis
itors as they rode up toward the ar
astra. "My names Bascom,' said the
man, "and this here's my daughter
'Boly,' short for Bolivyer. A man pass
ing along the road, night bafore last
said as how you'd bought in this here
Belshazzar property. and Boly and me
lowed it'd be the square thing to come
over and get acquainted"
Meantime his guests had dismount-
ed, and, holding their ponies by theiI
brides, sat down on a broad fiat rock
near the arastra, while Morgan re-
sumed his seat on the box facing them,
you done well when you bought
this here property" continued Bas-
com. "I've known the ledge this ten
years, and if you go slow, you'll come
out ahead of the game. Them there
fellers, the creditors, shut down on
and busted up all natural enough, as
I seer they would when 1 first set eyes
on 'em. Bull Horns all right"
Miss Boly said nothing, but fixed her
gray eyes on Morgan and sat silently
regarding him in frank and interest
ed way which somewhat embarrassed
him. Mr.. Bascom was not only curious
as to the past, present and future OF
his host, but was loudly overfiowing
with information as to himself. "My
place is just over t'other side of this
here ridge in the other canyon" he ex-
planned. 81 took up land there ten
years ago. never thinkin' I'd stay there
this time. And I wouldn't if it hadn't
been for a thievn' pardner of mine."
"How's that?"
"Why, this away. I'd made stake
before ever I'd come in here, landin'
arms for Bolivyun insurgents, and this
pardner, this ere triflin' feller Meeks,
Mas in with me. We had $4,000 profits
between us, mostly in big, yellow twen-
ties; and he comes up to my place
here sayin' as he'd help develop the
claims back over the ridge on which we
had located together. We was goin' to
put that coin all in to developin', but
one mornin' l wakes up to find him
clean gone, along with his share of the
money and mine too. / tracked him
out on to the desert down Mud Springs
way, and then lost his trail altogether,
and | never seen hide nor hair of him
or heard where he went to. Since then
I've had to rustic for livin'. Boly,
here, she helps out herdin' few cows
I've got on the bunch grass fats on
t'other side the ridge" Boly blushed,
laughed and cast down her eyes at this
laudatory and pointed personal refer
ence.
When his guests had remounted and
slowly climbed the trail again, Morgan
watched them till they were out of
sight, with an unaccountable mixed
feeling of wild JOY and deep depres-
sion in his heart to which he had
hitherto been a stranger, and it was
with an impulse to sing, which ended
with sigh, that he fiicked up his mule
and recalled his attention to the re-
quiremeEts of the arastra. During
the next few days the image of Boly
grew more and more deeply impressed
on his hitherto unsusceptible heart.
This state of mind was progressive;
and when, on the third day after Boly's
visit, he had made a satisfactory test
cleanup, il was in the best spirits that
he determined to knock off from work
and return Bascom's visit. On his way
over the ridge he diverged from his di-
rect route to Bascom's toward little