The midland journal., 1916-04-14

&fAA ~
would have been no boy.r He paused.
Somehow" he went on. II don't be-
Iieye Margarita would have chosen to
have things different She got her jour
dextase and died before it was over.
Ill don't think we need be sorry for
her. Why didn't you go away on the
b0at?''
Il don't know" said Gerry. II tried
to, but couldn't. just buried her
and the boy last night. couldn't run
away like that. as though it were all
over. OF course know 1t is all over,
but when one falls an endless depth in
sleep and suddenly wakes In cold
sweat it takes time for the mind to
catch its balance. It's that way with
me. I've fallen from q height. I've
walked to cold sweat. must take
time to get the balance Of life and set
it right. You can't hurry over these
transitions. because somehow it
wouldn't be decent"
Lieber nodded. "You don't feel like
riding back with mt?'' he asked hesi-
tatingly.
Gerry shook his head. "No. z he said.
81 can't do that I'm just going to sit
here aud wait for while and then I'm
going home: There's something I'VE
got to straighten out After that, /
don't know. But there's something I
wish you'd do for me, Lieber, and that
is to look after old Doaa Maria and
those two old darkies at Fazenda Flo
res. They won't last long. any of
them, and 1 don't want them to lack
for anything. I'll square up with you"
Lieber nodded listlessly. "I'll look
out for them"
The next morning early Gerry saw
him of. There was a wistfui look in
| the old mans eyes as from the top
of the cliff he turned and gazed down
the river. "Lieber," said Gerry. s'you
can count ON me to do what can for
you when get home. Do you under
stand2"
Lieber flushed. Their eyes met. He
took Gerrys outstretched hand and
gripped 1t hard. Then he rode away
without a word.
Lieber threw his horse into a rapid
rack that was faster than gallop. 1t
was a killing pace, but he. knew the
mettle OF his mount. Late in the after
| noon he came to the confines of his
ranch. The broad-eaved house in the
distance looked very still and deserted.
Beyond 1t loomed the solitary joa tree.
Something had happened to the joa
tree during the two days he had been
away. 1t had become a beacon. He
remembered the giant Bougainvillea
vine that covered the tree The Bou-
| gainvillea had bloomed into tower
OF mauve fame. 1t stood out in dar-
ing contrast to somber desert and
brown-tiled roofs. Its single, defiant
and blaring note struck an answering
chord in Lieber's heart. He took cour-
age OF that brave burst of color. so
jarring in garden, but in a desert a
thing of glory. Lieber passed into the
loneliness of his deserted house with
a firm step.
Gerry spent many days at Piranhas
as he had planned In thought. He
went over his life In painstaking
retrospection. His mind fingered long
on the last three years, their fulIness,
their even upward trend. Could man
live three such years and lose them
In ghastly half hour the flood had
wiped out the tangible results of
| three years Of labor, But what about
the Intangible? He had sinned against
Allx and against her faith, but had he
sinned against himself? He felt inf
nitely older than the first Gerry Ian
sing, but would he change this think
Ing age for his unthinking youth? ?
What If he had learned three years
ago that Alix had saved herself and
| his name? Would it have meant loss
or gain to him today? Something
within him cried, LOSS! Loss! bL +.
he dared not take courage from the in
ward cry. He could not know, he rea-
soned, until he had seen Alix.
Twice, three times, the little stern
wheeler drove her nose into the mud
bank at Piranhas, called her hoarse
warning ard departed. From some dis
tant cliff Gerry saw her come and go,
or, miles away, walking himself tired
| across the desert, heard her throaty
siren cry and did not heed 1t.
| |910YazsSs,4 -