The Winslow mail., 1915-05-08

Sdlu hl1OW lnCl . 10 q NobNA
hole at the foot of the mountains"
And he pointed to where the blue out
lines of a distant range rose against
the cloudless SKY.
He removed his saddle bags and
slung them across his shoulders, and
the two men proceeded wearily. James
Jagged behind Vanderhuizen, who, tor
tured by thirst, walked like man in
a nightmare. On they went, hour aft
er hour, till suddenly the big Dutch
man went down.
You'd best leave me; I'm done for"
he murmured.
James set down his saddle bags,
opened them, and pulled out bottle
of water. He held it in the air. Van
derhuiZen leaped to his feet, to find
himself looking down the muzzle of a
revolver.
Hand over the bag" said James,
briefly.
"You scoundrel!" shouted Wander
huizen, through his swollen lips.
"This bottle for your half" James
pursued. "And-I know where to find
the water hole"
VanderhuiZen glared at him: then,
with gesture of despair, he took the
precious bag from his breast and tossed
it to the other. For man will give
all that he has to save his life.
Next moment Vanderhuizen had
knocked the head off the bottle and
o111DiV1n e. o;x
fluid James watched him sardonic-
ally
''You will find the water hole half
mile distant, at the foot of that eleva-
tion," he said, indicating a hummock
in the sand And he watched Wander.
huizen stagger away.
He went back to the horses and,
knocking the heads off the other bot
ties, poured the contents down their
throats. The animals, revived, stag
gered to their feet. His own horse
was done for, but Vanderhuizen's
seemed capable of carrying him to his
destination another water hole along
the wagon route across the desert,
which he knew like a book.
He clasped the diamonds to his
breast as he rode, and chuckled The
scheme had been an. excellent one and
had worked out better than he could
have expected. He had heard in Kim
berley, by the merest chance, that
Vanderhuizen intended to go down
country. He himself had never dared
to purchase diamonds from the ma
tives, but he knew VanderhuiZen's
reputation as a successful and daring
thief, and it had occurred to him that
there was a splendid opportunity of
compelling the man to share his plum
der with him.
The advent upon the scene of In
spector Thompson had been a little
disconcerting; but the same chance
which had told him of Vanderhuizen's
maneuver had given him information
that the police were on the mans
trail. He had then telegraphed to
Kliptontein for the two horses-and
everything had gone like clockwork.
It was no wonder that he chuckled
Looking back he could see the horse
still lying upon the sand, and Wander
huizen, a tiny figure under the moon,
marching painfully back. His own
plans could not fail him. He would
strike the water hole, refresh himself
and his steed and then proceed in
,leisurely manner toward the wagon
path
At last he reached the place. He
shackled his horse to torn tree and
climbed the ascent toward the hollow
crater in which lay the pond. But when
he reached the summit he found him.
self staring down into a dry mud hole.
The water had dried up under the
influence of the hot sun and an unus-
ually long dry season.
For a few minutes he could not be-
lieve his eyes. Then he lost his self
control. He would have to go back to
Vanderhui4en. And his bottles were
empty. He was parched with thirst,
and his animal was incapable of pro-
ceeding farther.
For hours he raved beside the water
hole, clenching his fists and calling
QOWn curses upon MS luck. lie spread
the diamonds in a little heap before
him and looked at the dull pebbles,
each one worth little lake of wine
And for all these he could not get SO
much water as would wet his lips.
''Ill go back then-back to Wander
huiZen," he muttered, and flung him
self upon the rocks. When l am
rested.
But nature, outraged, revenged her
self upon him by drawing down his
eyelids, and he slept profoundly.
Get up, James!"
He started to his feet. The sun was
high in the sky. Before him stood
Vanderhuizen. and-Inspector Thomp-
son.
Il want you, James" said the in
spector, lingering the bag of diamonds,
which he had taken from beside the
sleeping man. Il thought Wander
huizen was the man / was after, but
we'll, you understand. Your horse is
oil