, 1905-01-25
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"BOY" y E.: Fl; : : : Fl: !: :
i Nh COPYRIGHT 1904, W -.
r. Julta b Foster III
II II Il Il It It IT. II II tt tt II II

81, SIT! she corrected, in a puzzled tone.
How oldY"
I'm fourteen said Boy, with cam
araderie in the bend Of her cropped
head and the pressure of her weather
beaten hand.
"Oh! This one fourteen, too!' re-
turned the older woman in surprise
'This one married one year; at home,
one little-little"- Then, hesitating,
with a quick movement h rolled up
the reboso off her head and placed it in
the others yielding arms.
"a baby!' exclaimed the astonished
group that had formed about them, and
the young mother looked up and nod
ded and smiled. The elder laid her
hand on Boys shoulder. I'm MEXICO,
this one senorita; next mont sonora
too"
Somehow Boy wished she could cover
herself with calico from crown to sole.
and she pulled at her skirts as If to
lengthen them indefinitely.
"Sevadra mucha bueno," continued
the polite Mexican woman, patting
Boys mortified and shrinking shoulder
again.
Hanged If she amt out here can
yassing for Sevadra..'' said the captain,
and he burst out laughing and turned
ON his heel.
Nevertheless, when, a week later, the
cavalcade took up its march, Sevadra,
with an alert eye and fringes on his
mule stirrups, rode at the head.
ITS the influence of them women,
father" accused Mrs. Robinson. You'd
hired that guide if it hadn't been
for them. I've thought that ever since
they was here that day, lookin' at you
SO cute"
"Well, they did 'lectioneer some,
didn't they, mother?" admitted the
captain. But I'd never taken him if
he hadn't been otherwise recommend
ed. Why, he went over this road with
Beale and Whipple when they survey
ed it," And, straddiing the saddle, he
rode off down the trail. Away behind
a cloud of dust kept him In touch with
his drove of cattle, and now he gallop-
ed off more for the sake of being ado
ing than from necessity. His heart
swelled with pride at his plethoric
wagons, at his well conditioned OK
teams, at Boy, just now running along
side Buck and Barley and guiding
them with a stick laid owe their
yokes; at Tige, the faithful dog who
lay every night ON watch at his wagon
tongue; at the big cloud of dust, be-
tokening the size of his herd.
That day the Robinson train began
to string adventure upon the line that
stretched from the Iowa bottoms to
the Rio Colorado.
Hitherto the road had led through
comparative civilization, but now all
was uncertainty. The first indication
of the change was the character of the
soil and the tendency of vegetation to-
ward dwarf growth. These grew more
noticeable day by day. Then came
real camp fare, though the herd kept
them supplied with milk, and fresh,
sweet butter, churned itself by the mo-
ton of travel. Days and days the
oxen slowly tramped and turned their
cuds, and the sun grew hotter and hot
ter and the desert nearer. Whatever
there was of irritability in individual
temper now began to show itself. Two
of the men quarreled; another Shout
dered his pack and set off alone; the
captain swore once, he who had never
before used an oath. The drove grew
uneasy, with hayward heifers and
straying steers, and there was trouble
about the night watch.
One day Boy found a tarantula, a
great swelled, poisonous creature,
which ran after her on the tips of his
hairy toes. All these were signs of
what should come.
Then Zuni and the Navajo country.
Still in its large provision and equip
ment the train was a%ristocracy a-trav-
ell. How kind the Zuni, how wary and
taciturn the Navajol Also white wom-
en- were scarce, very scarce, and one
day as they stopped at the Zuni pueb-
10 for Il ten days rest and recupera-
ton Il young American trader came
down to the camp. Robinson's eldest
daughter, Adelaide, brought out the
noWereu 1ootStool, and in spirit he
knelt upon it with his hand upon his
heart. Who could blame him, young
II lonely as he was? Yet how selfish
II thoughtless is youth that, for the
sake OF its own yearning, it could bind
a woman down to life like that as if
with thongs. The captain swore again,
and the blond trader sighed and took
the mint, yet gave IA lingering. back
ward glance as he retired. Adelaide