The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-29
CHAPTER XIV.
Till Death Do Part.

D must be those to whom the dis
 carded refuse of an aba pdoned A Indian camp seems wealth. Yet such was the case with us. two repre- sentatives of the higher civilization. thus removed from that civilization by no more than a few days span As soon as I was able to stand we remov- ed our little encampment to the ground lately occupied by the Indian village. We must have food. and I could not yet hunt. Here at the camp we found some bits of dried meat. We found ragged and half hairless robe. discard ed by some squaw. and to us it seem. ed priceless. for now we had a house by day and a bed by night A half dozen broken lodge poles seemed rich es to us. We hoarded some broken moccasins which had been thrown away.
 For myself, weakened by sickness. such food as we had was of little serv- ice. I knew that I was starving and feared that she was doing little better l looked at her that morning after we had propped up our little canopy of hide to break the sun. Her face was clean drawn now into hard lines of muscle. Her limbs lay straight and clean before her as she sat, her hands lying in her lap as she looked out across the plains. Her eyes were still brown and clear, her figure still was that of woman She was still sweet to look upon, but her cheeks were growing hollow. Unless presently l could arise and kill meat for her then must the world roll void through the ether. unpeopled ever more.
 I know not what thoughts came to her mind as we sat looking out on the pictures of the mirage which the sun was painting on the desert landscape But finally as we gaZed there seemed among these weird images one colossal tragic shape which moved. advanced. changed definitely. Now it stood SD giant stature and now dwindled. but always it came nearer. We realized at last that it was a solitary buffalo bull. no doubt coming down to water at a little couIee just beyond us. I turned to look at her and saw her eyes growing fierce. She reached back for my rife. and I arose.
 Come" l said. and so we started We dared not use the horse in stalking our game.
 l could stand, I could walk short way. but the weight of this great rifle. sixteen pounds or more. which l had never felt before. now seemed to crush me down. She put her arm about me firmly. her face frowning and eager.
 'Can you go?" she said.
 ''No." said l, 'I cannot, but I must and shall l put away her arm from me. but in turn she caught up the rifle Even for this l was still too proud. ''No,' said I. "I have always carried my own weapons thus far.'
 Come. then" she said. "this way;'' and so caught the muzzle of the heavy barrel and walked on, leaving me the stock to support for my share of the weight. Thus we carried the great rife between us, and so stumbled on until at length the sun grew too warm for me. and I dropped, overcome with fatigue. Patiently she waited for me. and so we two. partners, mates, man and a woman. primitive, the first, went on little by little.
 "Go," said 1. motioning toward the rife. 'T am too weak. I might miss. l can get no farther"
 She caught up the rife barrel at its balancing point. looked to the lock as a man might have done. and leaned
 
 chase. 1.-the. brown. sinuous. sh crept rapidly away, and presently wa hid where the grass grew taller in th lat beyond. The bull moved forwar little also. and l lost sight of bo
 or what seemed to me an unconscio'
 ble time. She told me later that s'
 rept close to the water hole and Wa
 d there for the bull to come. but tG
 ie stood back and stared ahead stupi
 v and would not move She said sl rrembled when at last he approache so savage was his look. Even a mH might be smitten with terror at Il fierce aspect of one of these animals
 But at last I heard the bitter cracl of the rife and. raising my head. sa her spring up and then drop dowi again. Then. staggering a short wa! up the opposite slope. I saw the slow bulk of the great black bull. He turn