The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1915-02-05

THAT'S my pencil he thought duly
. There Is not another pencil In this
desert How can write to Dolores Il
Old Man Gallon walks OFF,"
He took out Of his pocket a worn
leather wallet and drew out the pic
ture Of a woman, whose calm, cold fea-
lures. unaderned by the photographers
art, were appealing to the man Of his
appetites ..~
He looked at this a moment, and
then all the morbid fire In his blood
famed toward his heart Love. life
and happiness depended upon the pos
session Of gold Therefore. with this
fire in his heart, Wilkerson suddenly
got that absolute thirst for gold which
traverses deserts, which has killed
more people than the armies of Eu
rope.
And In his sudden access OF physical
desire for gold In order to attain this
woman he rose to his feet, and there
came upon his face swift expression
stealthy but determined -..--r--v s,-.
He put the photograph away and
pantheriike, stole into the shadow IN
der the hill and toward the man who
bad been his partner, but whom he
was resolved to kill He crept along
taking all precautions against disturb
ing single pebble, until he stood over
Gallon. and in the full moonlight he
saw that Gallon was drawing the plans
and marking the locations Of mine.
How far" he thought forcefuIly to
! himself, has the old man gone What
gulch is this7 What place Is this7 He
has found the gold, and I'm going to
have ft!'' He still watched the pencil
and saw him trace In rude letters:
This will make you happy"
That moment Gallon saw Wflkerson
smiling at him 80.
Smiles and tears. sorrow and laugh.
ter have made this world what It IS.
and the smile on the saturnfne vfsage
Of Wflkerson stirred Gallon to his
depths Did Wilkerson known Had
Wilkerson seen? Was Ruth to- lose the
gold that he had found after all these
years? Wilkerson had peered over his
shoulder. WfIkerson! Wflkerson! VII
kerson! There must be no Wflkerson!
He pulled out his revolver and fred
at the man smiling at him from the
shadow.
WfIkerson emptied his revolver at
the old man. But Gallons trained eye.
backed up by his overmasterfng pas.
sion. had directed his weapon too sure
IT, Wilkerson realized that his cue
my's bullet had gone home. -. +
Still with the blood lust In his heart
Gallon pulled out the picture Of little
girl and passionately kissed It. IT
"You look like your mother. Ruth.
DE whispered =
But while he was yielding to this
queer tenderness his former partner
was struggling to his feet-dizzy with
pain, absolutely cowed by the shock Of
finding himself physically helpless, yet,
driven by instinct to find other human,
beings Where were they7 There WA.
no sound on the desert except the
srustHng Of the dry leaves Of the
yuccas and the murmur Of the cactus
Us It died Of drought. He was really OF
two minds One desire was to ind the
location Of the gold The other was to
save his own life and assuage the bit
ter fast which he knew meant death
At Last he stumbled to his feet and
peered across the mist yelled valley.
Far away he saw a light Gathering
all his strength, he started toward It,
tor It held out to him the. prospect Of
help for bis physical injury. and az he
fingered his revolver he fever1shly
dreamed Of finding Gallon and 80
avenging himself .--. +. =.
Under the stars he tramped on. Al
men see their real world In miniature
and their ideal world magnifed, az we
al do, the moon, flooding It's light
down upon his path, did not appear
within bis range Of vision It was
only the little pin points OF starr In
the purple black sky that be discernet1
and Ia the midst Of this ornament. as
If horizons had been obliterated, he
saw q solitary twfnkling light, which
meant a human habita ton q: s. s,
It'll get him yet, !" he muttered thick
" The mere act OF articulate speech
died In bis throat He realized that he
had no water. and the overpowertn9
thirst burned In his very marrow
~ cant mako n hn ff1ouot1f r.. him,