Semi-weekly herald., 1911-05-22

separated from his companion. SOM
instinct Of the plains must have gati-
ed them. for at last thsy dragreA
themselves out from the desert. tAs
crunching sand under foot changing
into rock, and then to short brittle
grass. At which the ponies nibblsA -
erly. The slope led gradually Asw1-
ward. the animals seeming water. aaA
struggling TO break awav Swaytns
In their saddles. the riders let them
20. and they never stopped until belly
deep In the stream, their noses buried.
The men shivered In their saddles,
until. at last satisfied. the ponies con-
sented to be forced back up the bank.
where they nibblsd ut the short tufts
of herbase, but IN q manner express
sive Of weariness. Keith Aung him
self on tho ground. every muscle Of
his body aching. his exposed flesh still
smartinE from the hail Of sand
through which they had passed.
He had not the slightest conception
as to where they were. except he
knew this must be the Salt Fork. Ut
terly confused by the maze OF shifting
dunes, through whose intricacies they
had somehow found passage. the black
ness Of the night yielded no clue As to
their point of emergence. The vol
ume OF water In tho stream alone
suggested that in their wanderings
fh..,s l.-if
ward. and come out much lower down
than had been originally intended. II
SO. then they might be almost directly
south of Carson City. and in section
with which he WAS totally unRcquaint-
ed. One thing was. however, certain
they would be compelled to wait for
daylight to ascertain the truth. and
There was another barren. sandy
stretch of desolation lying between
this isolated valley and that OF tho
Canadian. and their horses would
never stand to be pushed forward
without both rest and food AS to
themselves-they had eaten their last
crumb long since, but this was not
the hrst time both had known stsrvx-
ton.
Keith arose reluctantly, and remov-
ed the saddles from the animals, hob
bling them SO they could Craze ut
viii. Neb was propped up beneath an
out-cropping OF the bank, which partly
protected him from the wind, mere
hulk of shadow. Keith could not
tell whether he slept or not, but made
no effort to disturb him. moment
he stared yacantly about into the
black silence. and then lay down. pill
lowing his head upon a saddle. He
found 1t impossible TO sleep, the chill
OF the wind causing him to turn and
twist, In vain search after comfort,
while unappeased hunger gnawed In
cessantly His eyes ranged about over
the dull gloom of the skies until they
fell again to the earth level, and then
he suddenly sat up. half believing him
self in dream-down the stream. how
far away he could not judge. there
CLEANED steady. yellowish light. II
was no flicker OF camp fire. yet re-
mained stationary. Surely no star
could be 30 low and large. nor did he
recall any with that peculiarlty OF
color. II such miracle was possible
In the heart OF that sandy desert he
would have sworn Il was lamp shin
ing through window But he had
never heard OF any settler on the Salt
Fork. and almost laughed at the
thought. believing for the instant his
brain played him some elhsh trick
Yet that light WAS no Illusion; he rub
bed his eyes. only to see II more clear
ly. convinced now of its reality. He
strobe hastily across, and shook Net
into semi-consciousness, dragging him
bodily up the bank and pointing down
the stream.
DO you see that?' he inquired anx
iously. There, straight ahead oil
your"
Tho negro stared, shaking with cold
and scarcely able to stand alone.
Maybe 1t am de moon. Massa Jack,
be muttered. thickly. "or goblin'i
lantern. Lawd. don't Jest like de
looks OBJ dat ting"
We'll. | do" and Keith laughed un
easily at the negro's fears. "An
wanted to know was II you saw what
l saw. That's lamp shining through
window, Neb. What in heaven 4
name 1t can be doing here I am un
able to guess, but I'm going to md out
1t means shelter and food. boy, even Il
we have to night for It. Come on, the
horses are safe, and wen discover
what il bshind that Light yonder."