Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-02-03

The next morning the men came, ac-
companied by oxcarts loaded with fenc-
Ing, posts and all. Bieber was with them.
He sat his horse through the hot hours
and drove his men steadily. Gerry threw
! himself Into the work as foreman. The
fence grew with amazing rapidlty. From
the bridge they carried II In a straight
line past the house to the river. 1t cut
off a vast triangle, whose two other sides
were held by the ditch and the river.
By night the work was almost done.
Gerry was tired and happy, but he sighed.
How many weeks of toll would not he
and Bonifacio have had to put in to ac-
complish this fencel Money assumed n
new aspect In his thoughts What could
he not do II he had money to buy mate
rial and to pay labor? How he could
make little money grow! He thought
of the bank account at home that must
be piling UP in his name. But somehow
the thought of that money was not tan
talizing. That solution had nothing to
do with his present problem of life. That
money seemed unrelated to himself now
unrelated to effort. 1t did not belong in
the scheme of things.
Lieber stayed the night with them, and
Gerry studied and initiated the older
mans impersonality. Lieber kept his eyes
on his plate or in the vague distance
while the women attended them, and as
soon as the business of eating was over
he retired to the room that had been
allotted to him.
He was up early in the morning and
away to meet the coming herd. First
came the horses, neighlnE and quickcning
their weak trot at the smell of grass. Far
away and like distorted echo sounded
the lowing of the slower cattle. The little
herd of Fazenda Flores caught the moan
ing cry and lifted lazy heads. One or two
lowed back.
The horses were rounded UP at the
bridge to await the cattle. They stretched
thin necks toward the calling grass and
moved restlessly about with quick turns
of eager heads and low impatient whin-
MES Lieber sat his stable-fed stallion
stoldly, but his eyes grew moist as he
looked over the bony lot of horses
They must wait for the CATTLE" he said
to Gerry. "a fair start and no favor
God, If you could have seen them three
months ago!"
Gerry opened the wire gap. The horses
gave an anticipatory whirl and then
dashed through They forgot their weak
ness. They galloped down the slope,
spurninE beneath their feet the food they
had longed for. They did not stop till
they reached the rich bottoms. Ltcber
smiled affectionately. There's spirit for
YOU" he said.
The cattle followed but the men had to
beat the first through away from the gap.
They had stopped to eat and had blocked
the way At last they We're all in and
the gap closed. One or two stood with
straddled feet and continued to low, their
lips just brushing the lush grass. Poor
beasts" said Lieber, the smile gone from
his face, they are too weak to eat"
He and Gerry went back to the house
for breakfast The herders sat and
smoked. They had had coffee; it would
see them through half the day. Before
Lieber left, the horses were hcrdod once
more and with much trouble driven out
upon the desert. Licbcr turned to Gerry.
Don't let them back in until tomorrow,
please" he said IF you do, they'll
founder"
What about the cattle?" asked Gerry.
1.-THE cattle are all right They haven't
enough spirit left to kill themselves eat
ing. They'll begin lying down pretty
soon. Good-by and remember, you'll get
a warm welcome up at Lieber's whenever
you feel like riding over"
Thanks" said Gerry "Good-by."
He watched Lieber ride away on tho
road the priest had taken. Fazenda
Flores, his isolated refuge, was beginning
to link Itself to a world. Man, like a vine,
has tendris To climb he must reach
them out and cling.
CONTINUED TOMORROW.