Lower coast gazette., 1913-09-20

~ HsE.. NOs ~
them to the pup. SAKE Gotha snatched
at them and swallowed them as il
frenzied with hunger. Evans looked at
the food on the table, Their ct the
famished, emaciated dog. He stood
gripping the edge OF the table and
staring out at the desert. A slow red
came up from his neck and crossed
his face; it seemed a magic red. for it
wiped the vicious lines from his face
and left i. boyish and shamed. Sud
denly his lips tremble6. He dropped
down in the doorway and ran his hand
gently along the pups sensitive back.
His bloodshot eyes were Blinded with
tears.
"Old man." he whispered to SAKE
Gotha, 81 wasn't worth it,"
The dog looked up into the young
mans face with an expression eager
and questioning. And then, summon
ing all his feeble strength, he crowded
his long, awkward body into the mans
lap and laid his great head against the
blue flannel shirt, and with a sigh OF
absolute content, closed his eyes.
Evans flung his stalwart arm across
the tawny, trembling body, and ad-
dressed the brooding desert brokenly.
Doesn't this beat the world?" he
said.
After a moment he set SAKE Gotha
on the floor and fed him a can OF evap'
Grated milk, carefully warmed, With
bits of freshly fried bacon in it. He
washed out the dogs cuts, then put
him to bed tn his own bunk. All that
afternoon, while the dog slept, Evans
paced the hut, fighting his fight. And
like all solitary desert-dwellers, he
talked aloud.
They've kept back my pay. They've
let me half-starve. the beastly com
pany They sent me down here with
promises they haven't kept. Why
haven't l the right to make something
for myself? It's the great chance OF
my life to make money. With the mug
gets | have now l could 60 home this
fall and get married and never see this
fiendish country again. I've a right
to give them the same treatment they
have given mi. If they break their
promises, why should l keep mine?"
He paused to look at the desert.
They promised to pay me regularly,
to raise me, to give me a job in the
home office after a year. It's been two
years now. Yes, I know, | made some
promises. ! was to report all finds and
turn in all valuable ore to them. But
they haven't treated me right
Then he turned to the sleeping dog,
and his face softened. "Wouldnt that
beat you, his not eating the stun on
the table! Goodness knows I'd treated
him badly enough! It seems as II even
a dog might have a sense OF honor;
as if it didn't matter what / was, the
fool pup had to keep straight with him
self; as if"
Suddenly Evans stopped and gulped.
Again came the slow, agonizing blush.
For a long time he stood in silence.
Finally, he squared his shoulders and
moistened his lips. II can send the
maps and what ore l have left by stage
tomorrow. But it will take another
year to get the whole thing straight
ened up. and got them paid back--an-
other year of loneliness, and sand
storms and sweltering. No snowy
Christmas or green spring or the smell
Of burning leaves in the fall this year
for me. / guess the pup will stay by
me, though.
AS il he had realized that there was
need of him, SAKE Gotha WOKE anu
ambled over to the mans side. Evans
| sat down in the door and the dog
sauatted beside him. Evans turned
took the dogs great head between his
hands and looked into the limpid eyes.
Il guess, old man. that there are
more ways than n Of making a sue
cess Of yourself, and money.maklng Is
the least of them"
In Evans eyes were the loneliness
and grief Of disappointed youth. But
the rest of his face once more was
clear and boyish with the wonderful
courage of the young.
SAKE Gotha paved Evans knee wist-
fully. Perhaps across the stiffness OF
the desert he caught the baying Of the
hunting pack in some distant, rain
drenched woodland. Yet he would not
20. The dog leaned warmly against
his man, who slid an arm across the
tawny back. Then, with faces to their
forbidden north, man and dog watched
the desert night advance.-Youth's
Companion.
Progress Of Agriculture in