Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1912-05-30

10 the. early venture. They must at
tain the valley of tho Salt Fork that
night, or else perish In the desert
there remained no other choice. Ty-
ing neckerchiefs over their horses
eyes. and lying fiat themselves. they
succeeded In pressing slowly forward.
winding IN and out among the shift
ing dunes, with only the wind to guide
them. II was an awful trail. the hoofs
sinking deep In drifting sand, the
struggling ponies becoming so ex-
hausted that their riders finally dis,
mounted. and staggered forward on
loot leading them stumbling blindly
after. Once the nesro's horse
dropped, and had to be dashed TO its
feet again; once Keith's pony stun
bied and fell on him, hurting him face
down into the sand. and he would
have died there, lacking sufncient
strength to lift the dead weight. but
for Neb's assistance. As It was he
went staggering blindly forward.
bruised, and faint from hunger and
fatigue. Neither man spoke; they had
no breath nor energy left to waste:
every ounce OF strength needed to be
conserved for the battle against ma
ture. They were lighting for life;
fighting grimly. almost hopelessly. aud
alone.
About them night finally closed in.
/ black and starless. yet fortunately
with gradual dying away Of the
storm. For an hour past they had
been struggling on, doubling thsir d.
rection, wondering duly II they were
not lost and merely drifting about in
a circle. They had debated this
Hereby once. the ponies standing de-
jectedly, tails to the storm, Neb argu-
Ing that the wind still blew from the
south. and Keith contendinE II had
shifted into the westward The white
man won his way, and they staggered
on uncertain. the negro grasping the
first pony's tail TO keep from being
separated from his companion. Some
instinct Of the plains must have guild
cd them. for at last they dragged
themselves out from the desert. the
crunching sand under foot changing
into rock. and then TO short brittle
grass, at which The ponies nibbIed Gag
erly. The slope led gradually down
ward, the animals seeming water. and
S'7wggling - hreat ava Gv-q--s--
IN their saddles. the riders LET tbor,
so, and they never stopaed until b.I.
deep In the stream. tleir noses buried.
the men shivercd IN their saddle
Cntil, at last satisfied, the ponies con
sented to be forced back UP the bank.
where they nibbled at the short TUFTS
OF heritage, but IN p manner oxpres-
slNe OF WEAKNESS. Keith flung him
ser on the ground. every muscle Of
MS body aching, hi exposed flesh stu
5marting from the hail Of sand
through which they lad passed.
lie hnd not the slightest convention
is 70 where they We're. except he
Knew this must be he Salt Fork. 1T
teriy confused by tire maze of shifting
dunes, through who-e intricacies they
mad somehow foun3 passage. the black
ness or the night yielded no clue as 10
their point Of emergence. The vol
ume OF water IN the stream alone
suggested that IN their wanderings
Jhcy must have drifted to the east
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 a section
with which he was totally unacquaint-
co one thing was, however. certain
they would be compelled to wait for
daylight to ascertain the truth. and
decide upon their future movements.
mere was another barren, sandy
stretch OF desolation lying between
this isolated valley and that of the
canadian, and their horses would
never stand &c. be pushed forward
without both rest and food. As to
themselves-they had eaten their last
crumb long since, but this was net
the first time both had known starva-
ton.
heith arose reluctantly, and remoy-
ed the saddles from the animals. hob
blng them so they could Craze at
VIII. Neb was propped up beneath an
out-cropping of the bank. which partly
protected him from the wind a mere
hulk OF a shadow. Keith could not
tell whether he slept or not, but made
no effort to disturb him. A moment
ne stared vaoanuy about into the
black silence. and then lay down, pil-
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-dCwn the stream. how
far away he could not judge. there
cleaned a steady. yellowish light. II
was no flicker Of a camp fire. vet re-
NAMED stationary Surely no star
could be 20 low and large; nor did he
recall any with that peculiarly OF
color. II such a miracle was possible
In the heart of that sandy desert be
would have sworn it was a lamp shin
Ing through a 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 elfsh tric,,