The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-03-24

the broncho and. reeling in his saddle,
endeavor to sweep the desert with his
binoculars.
And toward the middle of the after
noon he fancied that something re-
warded one such effort; something
for an instant swan aIhwart the field
Of the glasses: something that seemed
to move like weary horse with a
human figure bound to its back.
But now the phenomena were dis
cernible which. had he been more des-
ert wise, would have made him pause
and think before he ventured farther
from those hills, already beyond
reach as they were.
His first appreciated warning came
when the surface Of the desert seemed
to lift and shake like the top Of =
canvas tent In gale. At the same
time q mighty gust Of wind swept
athwart the waste. hot as q furnace
blast In q trice dust enveloped man
and horse, q sitting cloud Of super
heated particles that stung the flesh
like a myriad needles. And then dark
ness fell, the twilight of hades, q cop
per-colored pail. Nothing remained
visible beyond arms length.
Blinded. half suffocated, unspeak-
ably dismayed and bewildered, the
broncho swung round, back to the
blast, and refused to bulge another
imcn
Himself more than half-dazed, but
still bounded by his nightmare vision
Of Judith, Alan dismounted to escape
being torn bodily from the saddle by
that hellish sand-blast. and Selling
the bride sought to draw the horse
on with him.
He wasted his strength In that en-.
deavor: the animal baked, planted
its hoofs deep in the sand, stifened
its legs and resisted with the stub
bornness of a rock; then. of a sudden
jerked his head smartly, snapped the
bride from his grasp and flung away
scudding before the storm.
Pursuit was out of the question
. indeed, the bride was barely tori
from his hand before Alan lost sight
of the broncho.
For q moment he stood rooted in
CONSERVATION as in a bog-with an
! arm upthrown across his face.
Then the thought of Judith re
CURED. :.
Head Bonded and shoulders rounded
he began to forge way into the teeth
Of the sandstone.
How long he fought on, pitting his
strength against the elements, cannot
be reckoned.
In the end he stumbled blindly dowr
slight decline and was abruptly
conscious that he had in some way
found shelter from the full force of thu
wind.
He staggered on another yard o.
two, breathing more freely, and blum
dered into rough-ribbed wall Of rocl
some sporadic outcrop, he under
stood, whose bulk stood between hin
and the storm.
He thought to rest for time, unit
the storm had spent its creates
strength; but as he laid his shoulde
gratefully against the rock an
scrubbed the dust from his smartin
eyes he saw what he at first conceive
to be q hallucination: Judith Trim
standing within a ya-,. &C him, alive
strong free.
; He stared incredulously, saw he
recognize him, open her mouth t
utter a wondering cry that was maud
BILE, and come quickly nearer.
Allan! You came for me! You 70
lowed me, through all this!"
He threw off her hand with bite
laugh-that was like the croaking Of
, raven as 1t issued from his bone dr.
throat-and in momentary possessio
OF hysteric madness. reeled away frol
the woman and the shelter of the roc
and delivered himself anew to tn
mercy of the dust-storm.