The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-07-31
he fell asleep. He awoke while

he fell asleep. He awoke while
| dreaming that he was resting in the
shade of some trees by a running
stream; he did not realize for a mo-
ment where he was, but when he re-
membered he jumped up and moved
on, he knew not which way-only tic
be going. When he thought of his
direction with horror, he came back
to see from his tracks which way he
had been going when he fell.
He got on his knees and made a
circle to find the tracks, for he could
tell nothing from the tracks where
he had lain in the sand. He made a
circle, but found no track; he made
a larger circle and examined every
part of the sand, with the same re-
suit; he could not tell north, south,
east nor west.
He knew of the North star and
the Dipper, but he had never had
use for them before, and now every
star looked alike to him. They
would brighten up, then fade away.
He was becoming blind and he could
hear nothing but what seemed the
bowling Of coyotes and water run
ming. The coyotes seemed drawing
nearer, and the thought of his bare
bones lying OH the desert in a few
hours started him to his feet. He
took the our he was facing. He
was very weak, and reeled as he went
in the direction of his discovery of
the morning before. That seemed to
act as a magnet, Gin his weak condi-
ton. He thought now, in his suf-
fering, of his Creator and of the
Hereafter. He had never given either
much thought before, but he knew
now he was facing them. Suddenly
he came upon his tracks and found
that he had been walking in a circle.
Then his last hope fed; he staggered,
tripped, fell heavily on his head and
lay unconscious.
When the man recovered conscious
ness he was lying on some brush
against a large granite bolder which
formed one side of a brush hut. On
the other side was the door. through
which could be seen pine trees whose
branches moved to and fro, giving a
purring music. The man tried to III
derstand what had happened, and
then marveled that he was still in the
body; he moved his limbs and traced
his features with his hand, trying to
recognize himself. While thus
thinking he heard voices speaking
| Spanish outside. Then an old In
dian woma came in, looked at him
strangely, and asked in Spanish how
he was. He told her he felt well,
but the sound of his WI voice fright
ened him, and he would say no more.
Later in the day an old and a young
man came into the place. They had
evidently been hunting all day. From
them the %prospector learned of his
| rescue.
A few months prior to the white
mans journey an Indian, named
Pinto, a Mexican outlaw, for whom
a large reward was offered, lived by
skirting the desert from one water
hole to another, and relieving pros
pectors~of their provisions (and mis-
e%ries), if he saw them first, through
the sights of his rifle. In this way
he had maintained himself for years,
until he located 1.-THE rich placers in
Alamo, for which discovery the Mex
lean government pardoned him his
crimes. The rush to the new placers
vas great; Indians and Mexicans
were going from all quarters Pinto
had sent word to a friend at Yuma
to come to the mines. He described
the course his friend should take,
and how he would recognize the camp
when he reached it. 1t had a large
number Of alamo (cottonwood) trees
in. the gulch, which was surrounded
by mountains, from which the ocean
could be seen, about 40 miles away.
The man started from Yuma with
his wife, daughter and young son.
They took a westerly direction, but
in a few days had lost their bearings
and drifted out in the desert.
Several days out of Yuma they
crossed tracks. They followed this
trail in it's zig-zag career, then they
guessed the truth-some one was lost
in the desert and they concluded to
follow him. They had not gone far
when they found the unconscious
man. In their own way they treated
him and gave him a little water at
regular intervals, then packed him on
a burro, changed their course to the
north, for they knew the country,
and on the fourth day they reached
the camp in which the escaped fugi-
tive heard their story. When the pa
tient was we'll enough they wanted
him to go to the new field with them;
he begged them to return with him,
and told them of the wonderful dis
covery and the good outfit which was
out on the desert somewhere. AS the
prospector told Of the nugget trail
two feet wide, the old man would
look at his wife and raise his shout
ders slowly in a strange way. But
the prospector insisted; he tried in
every way to get them to return
with him. His persistence was the
only thing which would alter the
smile which persistently played on
the old mans bony features. He