Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-06-15

on, and horse and men met. with
shock that nearly unseated the rider.
Maddened by the spurs, the horse
shook off the clutching hands-the
man, with the frenzied light still in
his eyes, turned in his saddle, and
laughing gayly emptied his revolver
into the crowd
There was shrek. groan, a scurry
of hoofs, and then silence-for a space
Beyond the town the desert stretched
away-a level reach of sand and alkali
baking under the pitiless sun.
The man, on jaded horse, spurred
desperately toward the line of jagged
rocks at the northern side, that rose
like palisade built by hands, clear
cut against the cloudless sky.
He looked often over his shoulder as
he went, and cursed, under his breath,
the gasping animal on which he rode.
The lust of murder was gone, and only
the instinct of the hunted remained.
mile from the rocks. where COM
parative safety lay, the horse stumbled
and fell. Mechanically the man swung
himself free as the animal went down,
and stood a moment watching it. 1t lay
still, with a stiffness he had seen be-
fore. Suddenly a woman's face came
between him and the dying beast-her
face, with the great cash on the temple
and the awful fear in the eyes. Curse
her! If he had only had time to square
his account with the man. too! He
laughed grimly at the memory of the
disfigured face that was not an object
for anyone's kisses now. Again he
looked behind him, and stood rigid as
he saw, far in the distance, a line of
dots creeping nearer.
1.-THE possew His hand went to his
belt-it was gone! In a fash he re-
membered that the strap had given
away in their last desperate struggle,
and she held it now, no doubt, clenched
in her stiffening fngers-she held his
life in her hands until the end! His
revolver he had emptied into the crowd
as he fed.
With the eyes of trapped animal,
he looked about him. A mile away
were the shcltering rocks-a mile in
this heat! A mile through the blister
ing sand. Behind were the relentless
men. There was no choice. He
clenched his hands, and then gave the
horse a savage kick. With faint
moan of pain the dying brute struggled
to rise. fell forward, and lay still
quite still-eyen under the blows and
kicks the maddened man rained upon
1t.
He ceased, finally, from exhaustion.
and after a moments breath started
forward over the yielding sand. The
sun had nearly set, but the heat was
sitting, his breath came in gasps, and
his eyes were blinded by the water
dripping from his forehead: but lie
stumbled on, and fell, as the horse Lad
fallen, under the shadow OF the first
great bowler. at the foot of the rocks.
For moment he lay helpless, then
slowly raised his head and looked
back with an evil chuckle. They were
cut in that heat and glare, while ne
lay ''in the shadow of great rock in
weary land''-when had he heard
some one say that?
"a weary landp' Cod knows, it was
that! The few cactus plants shriveled
and grew grayer in the heat. which
had weight to tia weight under
which no living thing could stand
erect. Even the coming OF twilight
brought no relief. Oh. If he had
drink; a cup OF cold water. He bad
heard some one say something about
that, too-somewhere What was it?
Who was it? His mother? He must
go on, higher up among tie rocks,
where safety lay. lie turned weakly
on his elbow. but stopped half way.
as sharp. ominous sound pierced the
heat-a sound that somehow seemed
the intensifcation OF coda cold that
flashed through his feveFed brow and
froze him into statue as he lay.
1t was the warning of RATHER. Be-
side him. coiled, ready to strike, with
Its head on level with his eyes, lay
snake as thick as his wrist.
His brain whirled for moment. and
then suddenly grew strangely clear.
Was there nothing which could face
this heat: Here was one thing no
Arizona sun could shrive lone thing
the fires OF the hereafter could not
warm
Its head was proudly erect, 80 the