Semi-weekly herald., 1911-05-01

neHt eyes harAsn>l. his iiDs set I'm
ly. A. this truth came crushing home.
A pretty life story surely sAs to -
proud Of. and with probably no better
ending than an Indian bullet, or the
nash sf = rsvslvsr in some harresa
fight
The narrow valley along which -
was travelling suddenly changed its
rise Of the ridge. Slightly below the
summit he halted. In front extended
the wide expanss Of the ArkaAsAs
valley. = scene of splsndor under the
golden rays OF the sun. with vivid
contrast Of colors. the gray Of rocks.
the yellow of sand. the brown OF dis
tant hills. the green Of vegetation.
and the silver sheen Of the stream
half hidden behind the fringe Of cot
tsAwsods lining It's banks. This was
. sight Keith had often looked upon.
but always with appreciation, aad for
the moment his eyes swept aeress
frsm blun to blum without thought
except for its wild beauty. Thea hs
perceived something which instantly
startled him into zttsnticn-yonAsr,
closs beside the river. Just beyond
that ragged bunch Of cottonwoods,
slender spirals OF blue smoke were
visible. That would hardly ~ 4 camp
Of frsiEhters at this hour Of the day,
and besides. the Santa Fs trail along
here ran close in against the blun,
coming down to the river at the ford
two miles further west No party of
plsinsmen would ever venture to build
fire In SO exposed spot, and no
small company would take the
chances OF the trail But surely that
appeared to be the nap Of canvas
wagon top little to the right Of the
smoke, yet all was SO far away he
could not be certain. He stared In
that direction a long while, shading
his eyes with both hands. unable to
decide. There were three or four NOV
Ing black dots higher up the river, but
SO far away he could not distinguish
whether men or animals. Only as out
lined against tho yellow sand dunes
could he tell they were advancing
"0Se ~ ~ W a. INV
Decidedly puzzled by all this, yet
determined to solve the mystery and
unwilling to remain hidden there uA-
til night, Keith led his horse along the
slant Of the ridge, until he attained a
sharp break through the bluf leading
down into the valley 1t was q rug
ged cash. nearly imPassable, but 4
hulf ,f t.tI
prairie, the winding path preventing
the slightest view of what might be
meanwhile trsnspiring below Once
safely out in the valley the river could
no longer be seen. while barely a
hundred yards away, winding along
like great serrA-,it, ran the deeply
rutted trail to Santa Fe. In neither
direction appeared any sign of human
life As near as he could determine
from those distant cottonwoods out
lined against the sky for the smoke
spifals were too thin by then to be Oh
served the spot sought must be coz
siderably to the right OF where he had
emerged With this idea In mind he
advanced cautiously, his every sense
alert, searching anxiously for fresh
signs OF passage or evidence of 4
wagon train having deserted the beat.
en- tack, and turned south. The trail
itself, dustless and packed hard, re
vealed nothing. but some FIVE hundred
yards beyond the ravine he discovered
what he sought-here two wagons had
turned sharply to the left. their
wheels cutting deeply enough into the
prairie sod to show them heavily
laden. With the experience Of the
border hs WAS able to determine that
these wagons we're drawn by mules.
two span of each. their small hoofs
clearly defined on the turf, and that
they were being driven rapidly, on a
sharp trot as they turned. and then
q hundred feet further, at a slashinE
gallep. Just outside their trail ap-