Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1908-04-16

HHS uuSl De included and must
nave the most because II the ponv
/ Kept his feet he would take her to
ssiety somewhere-perhaps, Plain
~ the pony must be- the favored one
again the sun was merciless "a en-
unity and focused pitiless rays unon
Inem, adding to their thirst And n
ene woman who expressed sur
PRISE "nen Sandy advised her. with
many apologies, to go a leetIe mite
$40" on that water" The half-emptv
cSnteen came away from her Inns as
sne said; rs that all we have?"
on. we got plenty" came the
Gneeriul reply, IF we only go slow.
Jest a leetle slow"
To show his freedom from worry
SANDY ehirped up tune but soma
no" II was a failure, as his lips were
100 parched for artistic success.
Two days more! Two days more,
AND she and the pony must have n
an though men died thirst-strickep
IN day In this terrible heat Well
II couldn't be helped. and there wa,
no use in alarming her. She must
keep her nerve. otherwise there WA
no hope.
The night came again and went
ana the sun returned and was lust as
nesrtiess and unkind. Now there
were no assumptions Of cheerfulness
3 only silence and caution. and the
urging forward OF faded beasts.
Again night fell. but this time there
was no pause. The woman uoaned
Win WEAKNESS and wondered at this
omittsnce as well as at the energv
Win which Sandy urged the poor
weakly travelling beasts forward
The three hours' rest in the dawn
seemed so brief and the way so long.
ana she WAS thirsty, so terrib;y
tnlrsty! And this tall, g2unt man
"lth the Earring head was cruel. be-
cause he now carried the cantsen scd
wouldn't let her have a drink; Just
gave her a swallow once In awhile
and used such heartless care to ierl,
II away before she could ouepcb he,
thirst Why, he was kinder to the
pony.
And yet-and yet-hs himself never
seemed to drink. Why didn't he?
Perhaps he wanted one as much "a
she did
Long hours of silence unbroken
Followed save by the "piff-pif"' of his
and the horses feet upon the trail
into which they had emerged.
And she in the meantime dreamed
OF water! Now she begged for IL and
sucked at the sterile mouth of tho
clustering empty canteen to which she
chung and which at intervals she
Rugged to her feverea breast.
Sandy began broken comments
which were as the ravens croakings
IN hoarseness. No longer was she a
stranger to him, and he began to won.
der vaguely why 1t was that he had
never before recognized her as his
brother. He would drag back from
the hold on the pommel thong of her
saddle into which he had twisted his
hand for support, and look I'D at her
Then as the pony advanced he would
be 1erked forward until he dreamed
again.
His great bloodshot eyes looked
around hollowly on the glaring rim OF
the horizon; a smile of delirium
twitched his cracked lips.
They came out to meet them at
Hila camp, their weird appearance be-
ing observed from afar. The insen-
sible woman dashed to the saddle bv
a gaunt red-headed man who after
wards carried no memory of the act.
and who sprawled forward and
dropped on his face as they sighted
him. And with them they brought
Whitewater that carried with It life
and sanity and drowned from the
fevered bodies Of the wanderers the
raging fires Of dissolution and the hot
flame of the deserts breath.
AS they slashed the lashings from
the woman's form, she fell inertly
into the arms of the man she had
Jared forth to find-the man who. con.
scious at last of his error and of the
loyalty of his wife, gathered her up
close to his breast and roughly
pressed his lips to hers in a passion
OF remorseful kisses. In the wrath
full glare Of the half-sunk sun-defeat.
ed, and flaming out its rage in torrid
streaks Of red and orange and stormy
purple-the others grouped them
selves about the crumpled figure on
the deserts face and drew away the
pony that, faithful to the end, had
halted. and with dumb questioning In
its pathetic eyes. was nosing its mas
ter's blistered cheek.
"Sandy-by Cod" said the man
who turned the packer over and held
a canteen to the blackened, bleeding
lips.
With bedimmed eyes from which
the tears Of delirium had not vet
cleared, the red-headed one looked
questioningly around. His arm
feebly stretched forth, his lean, red
fingers pathetically opened, and he
hoarsely quoted from childhood's rec
elections: There cometh a woman
of Samaria to the well to draw water
water and Jesus said unto her,
Give me to drink"
And from him who Graded the
woman in his arms came the hushed
reply: Gods given us all to drink.