Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1903-07-24

forty-fotr Remington siN-shuotcr,
and started out in II s~outhcasterly
direction; not to prospect for gold,
but for water. which seemed far
more scarce. lie would turn every few
minutes to landmark his camp in the
short dry gulch, so he would not
miss ii IN his return. lie travelled
in the same direction until his shadow
in the sand became twice his own
length before he turned his face
toward camp. lie had seen no signs
of water. IT was dark that night
when he reached am with his can
teen nearly empty, and too tired to-.
cook. He made "A meal on panochc
and Mexican cheese, and again was
soon asleep in his blankets.
The next three days saw the same
experience tried. The man went as
far as he could ga and return to the
camp the same night, each day taking
u different direction, and each day
with the same rcsult-nO sign of
water. But in his travels he picked
up float quartz, which on prospect
ing with a horn spoon at camp, proved
to be very rich. Not knowing in
which direction he had found this
rich quartz he had to go over his old
trails and get specimens of the same
character of rock. which was - fine
grained, rosy quartz. FOr these trips
he had to take a burro. and also eases
to pack and mark each specimen.
This he continued dojnp for four or
five days. changing burros every dny,
without discovering where the rich
rock came from. nlthou"h he poi
from other kinds.
Then he determined TO push further
south. and to 20 as far in u doy ns
he could. with the hone of lncn,ino
water. IF not successful. hi, Gallon
can,ccn fun world NOT ALLOW him In
suffer much i'm two DAYS. He took
only the provisions for two DAYS. his
gallon cantccu fun of water and hi.
~six-shootcr.
He was able to cover 40 miles n
day, and he knew he must have done
this, though hnudirnuucd by the
wciuht he corricd. and thr dn,. sond
that offered no resistance.
The country he Travelled over was
all the snmc-rollinp sand and c~actus.
But as evening approached h. could
see on the horizon n smoky hlue
ridge rising out of the sand. II was
20 or 80 miles away, but there might |
he water somewhere along it's base, |
1t was the only sign of any Kind he
had seen for DAYS. He concluded to |
keep on, and by morning he hopcd TO
reach it,. Should he not find wafer
he had still a little left for the re-
turn. The thought of discovering
water gave him new strength, and he
u%uickcned his pace. The night was
bright, and he had no tro,ble to keep
his direction. He was saving with
the water now. for he had at least
Il two-day's trip back; his cantccn
was not more than half full, and he
would have to rest on the return trip.
Toward morning and he found the
ground rising. He knew he was an.
preaching the elevation he had seen
early in the evening. Wen worn out,
he stretched himself on the sand for ,
an hours rest and sleep. When he
awokc it was daylight. He was at
the base of IA hill. The elevation
proved to b" three hills, some little
distance apart, and one behind the |
other, which, at a long distance, gave
them the appearance of n ridge. They
were also higher than they had
seemed to he on the previous evening.
The man ate a little of the food
and drank some of the urccious
water. What he could now see of the
hills was not encouraging, but his
waking dream came to him-a dream