The Prescott daily news., 1908-02-26
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THE DESERTS BREATH
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By ROY NORTON
(Copyright.)

'-P NAA1 oohb1 oillilll, DdChpT. IOu00 the woman; but rather at one of those times when terror and fear, in so far as he knew these emotions. sat heav- fly upon him. Geronimo was out again and that explained It.
 Sandy wouldn't have made the at. tempt to cross from one station to an other had there not been vital neces- sity for going, and throughout the 1 journey he had avoided the usual ways of travel and sought those which were obscure Now and again he ventured out into a main trail where the horizons were so clearly marked that his chances for seeing were as good as those of an enemy.
 The finding of the woman was not without weirdness. The manner of her fall was not new to Sandy. He had witnessed it before on painful oc- casions, and the deserts ways were known to him. Without a moments hesitancy he unslung his canteen. threw the reins over his ponys head and sprang to the side of the prone l figure.
 That was merely the beginning of it.
 Back In the gully he made for her a shelter of pack cover and this work 1 done, retired to a distance where he might search the surface of the in- ferno for other signs of animation. | This because, as he ruminated, | There's shore somethin' wrong or | there wouldn't be no white woman afoot away out here 50 mile from no- where and lnjuns everywhere about" l But his glasses brought him no sign of life. Everywhere was the silent desert, writhing monotonously be- heath the sun.
 l With her welfare his motive, as night drew on, he took a chance on fire" and kindled a tiny blaze suffi- cient to boil a kettle of water and prepare a lunch, He hesitated as to what was the proper method of wax | ing sleeping woman. This at least was new experience He stretched 1 forth hand and gently shook her. but she, despite his tenderness, started a scream that he brought to a close by firmly clapping a big red palm over her mouth.
 Sorry. but it's ag'in the law, when l Geronimo's out, to make a noise,' he drawled
 The terror died from her eyes at his apology, and she drank the tea in | Ci n oh hn savory strips of bacon and pilot bread tasted like an epicurean dish, and strength and hope came back And when the moon had crept over the desert, she told him of her coming, while he nodded his head in sym pathy and interjected now and then a question. But what had led her to take such an admittedly dangerous trip? Why must she reach Hila camp? What had become of her es- cort? Once more the terror of the preceding day was upon her, and she rocked to and fro and twisted her fingers in anguish as she recited her story. She had induced a packer to 'ake her through; there had been an Indian onslaught from which she was protected by previous flight and secre- ton, and from her hiding she had wit messed the last fight, the murder and mutilation of her defender Then the savages, in ignorance of her hay J ing been a part of the expedition, and l barbarously eXultant over their sue. l cess, had gone.
 Good Lord" Sandy said over and over again So they finally got poor old Joe, eh? Finally got poor old Joe"
 l And all my fault, came the fearful ! assertion of the woman. He wouldn't have attempted the trip had l not begged him to-"
 Sandy assured her that it was all in the game' and that Joe would probably have made the trip and would have died just as gamely had she not been with him. She sat in silence and, when calm, reverted to the cause of her expedition. It came hesitatingly and with alusions some of which were unintelligibe to Sandy.
 There had been a quarrel with Bob, and Bob had lost his temper and gone away leaving a broken-hearted woman behind him. And now the broken-hearted woman had learned that Bob was to be in Hila camp, and hungry for a reconciliation and for his love, had faced the terrors of the pitiless savages to reach him; and in the facing had narrowly saved her life thus far, and, as nearly as