The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-03-04

burning desert. the words were not to the
pc!nt-besfdes. that was all he knew OF il.
He shook his head sorrowfully. In the be-
ginning'-he thought he had struck the
right lead therein the beginning, God
created" But again he was stuck and
could go no further.
Lead up. East Side.'" they urged.
Then the light broke. The backward crop
ing had brought him down to the days OF
his childhood. to the words his grandfather
had been wont to say as with bowed heads
the family. to the third and fourth genera
items was gathered around his table on
Thanksgiving Day. So. under the burning
sun, whose only shadow was cast by the
fiocks of carrion birds that circied above
the remnant of the outfit. they stood over
the grave of their dead companion. waiting
for a like fate. or death by their own
hands, to be torn by coyotes perhaps be-
fore the breath was out of their bodies.
the six gaunt men with bowed. uncovered
heads, while East Side pronounced in
solemn tones:
'Oh, Lord for what we are about to re-
ceive make us devoutly thankful. Amen.
prayer was a prayer to East Side.
Anything that began with Lord" in reysr-
emit terms and ended with amen" was
prayer. His grandfather had been a godly
man, and he~had said it, therefore it was
appropriate on this occasion. The effect
was the same upon the Others for the
words smacked of the phraseology of the
wandering exhorters they had heard.
After the passing of the Missourian there
was even less to do: the men were more
taciturn with each other but there was no.
ticeably less profanity among them. pos
sibly because they harbored their strength
more jealousy and the exertion was I'M
necessary, or because their mouths were
LOT
was now six weeks since they had set out
across the sink" expecting to get the
cattle off their hands and have little
time" in the city before starting back to
the camp; but the wild-eyed, sorry looking
things seemed unpromising enough now
even for a glue factory.
As East Side" lay on the ground looking
up through the holes in his hat-they stood
upright and walked no more than was ab-
solutely necessary. for that required an ex-
penditure of strength-lazily watching the
flocks of birds that swooDed and poised
in the air above him, he discovered, or
thought he did. that they cast a shadow
against the sky--a tiny grey shadow that
he watched for the utter lack of anything
else to watch When the birds flew lower,
the shadow seemed to grow larger. but
when finally they flew away there was still
the shadow, larger and darker. With
wild whoop he sprang TO his feet. forget
ting the value of harboring his strength
as he grasped the import of that shadow
1t was a cloud! Every man sprang up at
that tiny speck. and went to work with
white face and unsteady hands. The speck
grew larger, and the men worked harder;
every hole or trough that led to the basin
was cleared for action. so that not one pre-
cious drop might be lost. Their words were
few but kindly as they scraped away. with
one eye on the ground and the other on the
cloud slowly but Enthusiastically growing
larger and coming their way.
During the night those sun-scorched
dreamers dreamed of moist winds and rain
clouds foregathering over the moon then
of rain drops pattering gently until they
made soaking downpour. But they bad
often dreamed that-dreamed it when their
parched tongues hung out of their mouths
and cracked for dryness. BY this time
they had grown wary. Even in their sleep
they were on their guard and not 10 be
beguiled into believing.
When at last in the early morning the
rain did come, with the first pattering
drops every man forgot everything in the
world but the all-eonsuning passion to
slake his burning thirst; until their hats
had caught enough to drain. they sucked
their shirt sleeves. Then, because his own
need for that last charge was no longer
imperative, the outfit boss drew bead on
the likeliest animal in the herd, and they
Toasted royalty. joyously. uproariously on
steak and water. And in the exuberance
of their glee no one noticed that for con-
venience they had chosen the mound that
covered the Missourian for their table.
After the feast every man lay down in
his trench which was now filled with wa
ter, and soaked. soaked through
to the marrow, rousing himself
only to drain his hat. then fall
ing back and soaking more. And, when,
after twenty-four hours Of soaking, they
got up out of their trenches. each water
logged man was a firm believer in the eff
cacy of prayer.-The Argonaut-