Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1915-11-04
band, which had almost won the prize.

Stooi LIZ AuhAduS, WIZ udu uuSueU
from the scene Of the cabin almost in
an even line, scattered and struggled
unevenly. Now only two were able to
send bullets whistling about Willock's
head; now only one found it possible
to cover the distance. At last he fell
out of range.
The child who had lain so truStingly
upon Willock's wild bosom. who had
llung to him as to Il fat.ler-She was
safe! An Cnwonted smile crept under
the briStiiliS beard of the fugitive, as
he urged the pony forward in %unrelaX-
ing speed. Should he seek refuge
among civilized communities his crimes
would hang over his head. To venture
into his old haunts in No Mans Land
would be to expose his back to the as
Sassin'S knife, or his breast to ambush
&c murderers.
h were desperate reflections, and
the future seemed framed in solitude.
yet Brick Wilcox rode on with that
odd smile about the grim lips. The
smile was unlike him, but. the whole
AFFAIR was such an experience as had
never entered his most daring fancy.
Never before in his life had he held a
child in his arms, still less had he felt
the sweet embrace of peaceful slum-
Der.
The sun had risen when the pony,
after a few tottering steps, suddenly
sank to earth. Wilcox unfastened the
halter from its neck, tied it With the
lariat about his waist, and without
pause set out afoot.
Though stiff from long riding. the
change of motion soon brought renew
ed vigor. Wilcox had grown thirsty,
and as he sun rose higher and beat
down on him from an unclouded sky,
his eyes searched the plains eagerly
for some shelter that promised water.
He did not look in vain. Against the
horizon rose the low blue shapes of the
Wichita mountains, looking at first like
fiat sheets of cardboard, cut out by Il
careless hand and set upright in the
sand. He advanced, growing weaker,
breathing with more difficulty, but still
muttering, Not yet-not just yet"
The mountains had begun to spread
apart. There were long ranges and
short. Here and there. 4 form that
had seemed an integral part Of some
ranse, defined itself as distinct from
all others, lying like an island Of rock
in a sea of unbroken desert. Wilcox
was approaching the Wichita noun
talns from their southwestern extrem-
lty. AS far as he could see in one di-
rectlon the grotesque forms stretched
In Isolated chains or single groups; but
IN the other the end az reached, and
beyond lay the unbroken waste Of the
Panhandle,
Swaying on his great legs as with
the weakness Of an infant, he was
now very near the end Of the system.
A wall Of granite sparsely dotted with
green rose above him to n height Of
about $50 feet.
He san to the ground, his eyes red
and dimmed. For some time he re-
manned there inert, staring, his brain
refusing to work. If yonder stood a
white object between him and the
mountain, a curious white something
with wheels, might 1t not be a covered
wagon? No; 1t was q mirage. But
was it possible for q mirage to deceive
him into the fancy that a wagon stood
only a few hundred feet away? Per
haps 1T was really a wagon. He star
ed stupidity, not moving. There were
no dream horses to this ghost wagon.
There was no sign Of life. If captured
| nv tho Indians ~ u,nrII pof hor. l>ao-
left intact. But how came a wagon
into this barren world?
lie stared up at the sun as if to as
sure himself that he was awake, then
laughed hoarsely, foolishly. He began
to crawl forward, but the wagon did
not move. AS it grew palmer il all
its details a new strength came to him.
He strove to rise and. after several at
tempts, succeeded. He staggered for
ward till his hands grasped one Of the
wheels. 1t was no dream.
A searching look distinguished two
objects that excluded from attention
all others. Upon a mattress at the
rear of h wagon lay 4 woman, her
face covered by a cloth. and near the
front seat stood Il keg of water. The
rigid form Of the I'M and the posi-
ton Of the arms and hands showed
that she was dead.
The man recognized this truth, but it
made only Il dim impression. That
keg Of water meant life-and life was
a thousandfold more to him than death.
He drew himself upon the seat, snatch
ed at h tin cup beside the keg and
drew out the cloth covered corncob
that stopped the flow. Having slaked
his thirst there was mingled with his
of ineffable content an over
whelming desire for sleep. He drop
ped on the second mattress. on which
bedclothes We're carelessly strewn. His
head found the empty pillow that lay
indented as it had been left by some
vanished sleeper. AS his eyelids closed
he fell sound asleep. But for the ris-
ing and falling of his powerful breast
he WAS motionless as the body of the
Oma
On the ioD,a1ikn c,,mmit nf Mount