The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1903-02-03

and looked about him k~iinking.y.
Not SO yards away stood a woman,
or a girl child, he could not tell which.
The figure stretched its hands toward
him and he went to II doubtingIy. 1t
was in slightly better case than he,
for it could still talk. 1t said:
For Gods sake, waterl"
Hope mumb.ed something. intended
for There is not water in this coun-
try" He stared at the figure; the fig
ure stared at him from under loose
hair. In these circumstances sex
ceases. He put his arm about the fig
ure's waist and supported it. He was a
brave man, was Hope, and he tod him
self in that instant that here was a life
miserab.y dependent upon his own and
that he would work harder to save it
than he had yet worked. The thought
seemed to give him strength. and he
stood erect for the first time in many
hours. His implacable science told him
that there was no drinkable water in
Death valley. but he remembered that
when he was an idle and p~urposeless
boy he used to read Beadle's dime nov
els. and in one Of these novels was a
heroic Indian slayer who had got water
in the valley by digging for it with his
tomahawk. He almost smiled at the
recollection and he wished that he
might have the snug. we.l-fed. IN
thirsty author of that romance for ~
hours in the valley itself. instead Of
in his New York room, with hot and
cold water pipes within ten feet of
him. Nevertheless he kept his arm
about the figure and gently urged it
onward.
They came TO a cleft, or lengthy de-
preston, in the internal soil. Possibly
30.OO0,OOO of years ago IT had been a
creek. Its bed was still defined and
it was of sand. Hope cast about
him until he found a silver of red rock.
sharp-pointed. a foot wide and three
feet long-just a scale of the stone. in
fact-aDd with this he set to digging
slowly. The sand was loose. and BY
heroic effort at the end Of an hour or
two he had gone down tour feet in a
narrow hole. The woman sat near him.
She had not uttered a word since her
first pitiful plea and she did not watch
him while he dug. Six inches further
and the sand became moist. Another
foot and water could be squeezed from
it; another foot and a small pool of ii.
six inches across and a half inch deep.
was visible. 1t was hot but sweetish.
evidently a seep from some one of the
saline or alkaline lakes, and the min
eral had been filtered from it in its
passage. Set it down to the overcast
ing credit of Francis Hope that he
climbed from the hole. went to the
woman, brought her to its edge. took
a half pint in his hat and poured it
down her throat. while his own lips
were bleeding. / say that Sir Philip
Sidney, riding from battle with a
broken thigh and giving his last drop
to a wounded soldier. did not do a finer
deed. Five small swallows of the water
restored the scientific mind TO fts nor
ma. precision, and he saw that neither
his companion nor himself got too
much of IL. They rested by the little
pool until the sun set, then took a final
draught and set out. Reason had come
ooEA " AEA IG6F Ill EnE HAdEEA HEE
hand in his as she stepped out bravely.
his eye on a fixed point dimly seen in
the dusk. AT ten that night they came
TO a trail. broad and beaten, and Law
down beside it to sleep. the woman
resting her head upon his shoulder like
a tired child. AT midnight a 16-muIe
team came by. 1t dragged a huge
wagon loaded with crude horax. and
the driver alternately swore and sang.
lie gave them food and drink. asked
few questions, and. supposing them to
be mar and wife. offered them a bed
in his huge enormous Vehicle. Sexhad
r%easserted itself. Hope laughed and
the woman b,ushed. SO she curled her
se.f in the rear end of it and Hope went
TO the forward end. 20 feet away. and
between them was a mountainous bar
rier Of borax.
Next day she told him her story. Her
father and brothers were Californians
and prosPectOrs camped upon the edge
of the desert. She had quit school and
accompanied them for the novelty of
it and had wandered from the tent in
pursuit of beetles. she had been more
saving with her water bottle and had
been out l2 hours longer than Hope.
Her name was Beatrice Holden, and
while she rode she blossomed out Won
derfully, finally ending as a frank.
somewhat pump and very pretty girl
of 90. with a constant ~trustfulness in
and dependence upon her rescuer.
They went TO the Needles together aud
from there TO Los Angeles, where she
had friends. The end of it was that he
asked her to marry him. and she did.
He took her TO Washington with him
and has got out of his experience a
charming wife, a magazine article or
two. an impressionixtic description of
the pangs of thirst. an elucidatei and
printed theory to the effect that wom-
en- are capable of more endurance than
men and a profound pamphlet on the
possibility and desirability of irrigat-
ing Death valley.
Thirdly" Was Missing.
DR.. Gordon. who was the first min
lister Of the church in Jamaica Plain,
about the wear IT7I was a Srotrhman