The Brownsville daily herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1897-1910, 1909-09-23

now suand1ng. His face was drippins
with perspiration that ran down into
his matted golden beard. his eyes
were wild, his hands were bleeding.
Drink" cried Baraka joyfully, and
she gave him the gourd.
He gripped it as a greedy dog snaps
at bit of meat, and pulling out the
wooden plug he set the gourd to his
lips, with an expression of beatitude
But he was an old traveller and only
drank a little, knowing that his life
might depend on making the small
supply last A gourd of water was
worth more than many rubies just
then
Are you very thirsty yet?" he
asked in a harsh voice
No. answered Baraka brayeiy
keep 1t for yourself"
His hand closed round the neck of
the gOurd and he looked up towards
the rocks above The vulture had
come back and was eircling slowly
down.
You had better bury the body
while I go on working" sald the trav-
eler, turning back into the cave and
taking the gGurd with him.
Baraka mad marked the place ewbere
he had tired to dig for water and had
almost disappeared in the quicksand
She took from the body the wallet. il
which were dates and some half-dry
bread, and then dragged and pushed
and rolled the dead man from the
place where be had fallen. The vul-
ture sat on the lowest ledge where
his claws could find hold and
though he watched her with horrible
red eyes while she robbed him OF MS
prey, he did not dare go nearer.
The body sank into the moving
sand and Baraka had to roll herself
back TO firmer ground in haste to es-
cape being swallowed up with the
dead man. The last she saw of him
was one brown foot sticking ID. 1t
sank slowly out Of sight, and then she
went to the hollow where the ruby
mine was and took up a piece of the
broken crust. fun OF precious stones +
and threw 1t at the vulture as hard as
-na could It did not hif him, but he
at once tumbled 0-s the ledge into the
air. opened his queer, pedraggled +
wings and struck upwards.
Then Baraka sat down in the shade
and slowly brushed away the dry sand
that had got into the folds Of her lin
en- garment, and looked steadily at the
mouth of the cave and tried not to
realize that her throat was parched
and her lips almost cracking with
thirst. and that the traveller had a
gourd almost full of water with him
For she loved him. and was willing to
die that he might live little longer,
besides. if he succeeded in digging his
way ont. there would be plenty to
drink, and when he was free she was
sure that he would love her because Z
she had made him so rich.
The sun rose higher and at last !
shone down to the bottom Of the .
chasm, and she sat in the narrow strip .
of shade, where she had passed most /
of the previous day She was very .
thirsty and feverish. and felt tired,
and wished she could sleep, but could
not. Still the traveller toiled in the
and from time to time she
heard sounds from far away as of
stones and loose earth falling He was
still working hard, for he was very
strong and he was desperate,
Baraka thought that if he was able
to dig through the dam the -sater
would run in again, and she watched
the sand for hours, but it was drier
than ever. The shadow broadened
again. and crept up the rock quickly
as the afternoon passed.
It was a long time since she had
heard any sound from the cave, she
went to the entrance and listened, but
all was quite still. Perhaps the trav-
eler had fallen asleep from eXhaus-
ton, too tired even to drag himself
out into the air when he could work
no longer. She sat down in the en-
trance and waited.
An hour passed. Perhaps he was
dead At the mere inward suggestion
Baraka sprang to her feet. and her
heart beat frantically, and stood still
an instant, and then beat again as if
it would burst, and she could hardly
breathe. She steadied herself against
the rock, and then went in to know
the truth, feeling her way, and in
stinctively shading her eyes as many
people do in the dark.
A breath of cool air made. her open
them, and to her amazement there
was light before her. She thought
she must have turned quite round
while she was walking, and that she
was going back to the entrance, so
she turned again. But in a few sec
onds there was light before her once
more. and soon she saw the dry sand,
full of her footprints and the travel
er's, and then the hollow where the
mine was came in sight
She retraced her steps a second