Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-08-01

vast comfort of friends, true friends, certain
as the very heart in his breast to serve him to
the end.
Like panoramic dream he behed swift
procession of mine and cattle scenes troop past
for swift review. He lived again whole months
of nights spent out alone beneath the sky with
the snow and the wind hurled down on him from
a merciesS armament of bleakness Once more
he stumbled forward bllndly in the desert he
and Gettysburg. perishlne tor water, giving up
their liquid souls to the horribly naked and in
satiate sun Again he toiled IN the shaft OF
mine till his back felt like a crackly thing OF
glass with each aching tissure going deeper.
Once more the gold goddess beckoned with
her smile, and fortune was there, almost IN
reach.-the fortune that he and his partners
had sought doggedly, so patiently. the for
tune for which they had starved and delved and
suffered. only to see it vanish in the air the
sunshine will vanish from a peak
Old hopes like ghosts, went skulklng 10y.
vain charlatans. ashamed But friendships
stood about in every scene. bright presences
that cast a roseate glow all the tribulatlonS
of his life And it seemed as if failure here
was half a failure only, after all 1t had not
robbed him, either of his youth, his strength ora
certain bovish credultv and trust in all his kind
He still believed he should win his golden goal,
and he loved the land that had tried him.
His last his biggest venture, the Monte
Cristo mine, was however, gone-everythlng
sold to meet the company debts. Neverthc-
less, he mad once more purChdSci Il Cltnn, With
all but his very last dollar IN the world, and he
and his partners would soon be on the ground,
assaultlng the stubborn adamant with powder,
pick and drill in the fever of the miners cease
less dream.
To-day. as he rode beside the girl, he won
dered at it all. why he had labored persist
entity. The faint. far-otf shadow of sweet
heart, long since left behind, failed to supply
him motive She had grown impatient, lis
tened to sutton more tangible than Vans alb
sent self and So. blamelesslv had faded from
his scheme of hopes. leaving no more than
fragrance in his thoughts, with certainly no
bitterness anger.
old New York; he repeated at the end of
~ his reverie and meeting once more the
steady brown ewes of the girl with whom the
fates had thrown him. he fetched up promptly
with the present.
How long has your brother been out here
in Goldite,'
About month, she answered. He's ben
in the West for nearly year, and wrote MIR.
Bostwick to come"
Van said. Mr. Bostwick is doubtless a very
particular friend of your family"
w by. yes, he's ny-that is, he was-he al
W. 5 has been very particular fr:er.d-fcr
c-; wears" she faltcrcd, suddenly turning red.
We haven't any family Glen and l. and he's
my half brother only; but We re Just like chuns,
and that was why wanted to come. | expect
to surprise him. He doesn't know I'm here
an was silent, ana Sne presently auded.
Il hope you and Glen will be friends |
know how much he'll wish to thank YOU
He looked at her gravely. . hope he won't.
It's up to to thank him.
They had come to road at the level of the
valey,-a desert valley treeless, CRASHES, gray,
and desolate. The sun rapidly nearing the
rim of the mountains if to escape pursuit of
a monstrous bank of clouds.
Van spurred his chestnut to gallop, and the
horses bearing the women responded with no
further need of urging,