The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1917-08-18
CHAPTER xIx.-continues

49, 1iSs0 you re-Ine man IN the
case When Dave nodded, he vented
his amazement in long whistle. After
moment he asked, ''Well, why did you
want me to come here alone, ahead of
the Others?"
because / want you to know the
whole inside of this thing so that Won
can get busy when I'm gone; because
want to borrow what money YOU
have"
What you amin to pull off?'' Blaze
inquired, suspiciousIy.
I'm going to find her and bring her
OUT
You? Why, Dave, you can't get
through. This is a job for the sol
diers.''
But Dave hardly seemed to hear him.
You must start things moving at
once" he said, urgently Spread the
news, get the story into the papers.
notify the authorities. Get every in
fiuence at work, from here to head
quarters; get your senator and the
governor of the state at work. ELS
worth will help you. And now give
me your last dollar"
Blaze emptied his pockets. shaking
his shaggy head the while. LA Feria
is hundred and fifty miles in" he re-
mOnstrated
by rail from Pueblo, yes But it's
barely hundred, straight from here
You amt got chance, single-hand-
ed. You're crazy to try it,
Dave turned sick, cOlorless face to
his friend. They'll carve a stone for
LongoriO if 1 do get through" He
called to MontrOsa, and the mare came
to him, holding her head to one side
so as not to tread upon her dragging
reins.
I'm most tempted to go with you,"
Blaze stammered uncertainty
No. Somebody has to stay here and
stir things up. If we had twenty men
like you we might cut our way in and
out, but there's no time to organize,
and, anyhow, the government would
probably stop US. I've got a bunch
that I'll make it. If I don't-why, it's
AL right
The two men shook hands lingering
ly, awkwardly; then Blaze managed to
wish his friend luck. IF you don't
come back" he said, with a peculiar
catch in his voice, 81 reckon there's
enough good Texans left to follow your
trail. I'll sure look forward to it,
Dave took the river bank to Sangre
de Cristo. where, by means of the di-
lapidated ferry, he gained the Mexican
side. Once across, he rode straight up
toward the village of Romero. When
challenged by an understood soldier
he merely spurred Montrosa forward,
fEn
man did no more than finger his rifle
uncertainty, cursing under his breath
the overbearing airs of all gringos. Nor
did the rider trouble to make the slight
est detour, But cantered the full length
of ROmerO'S dusty street, the target of
more than one pair of hostile eyes. To
those who saw him, soldiers and civil
ians alike, it was evident that this
stranger had business, and no one felt
called upon to question its nature.
There are men who carry an air more
potent than a bOdyguard, and Dave
Law was one of these. Before the vii
lage had thoroughly awakened to his
coming he was gone, without a glance
to the right or left, without a word to
anyone.
When Romero was at his back he
rode for mile or two through a region
of tiny scattered farms and neglected
garden patches, after which he came
out into the mesquite. For all the
signs he saw, he might then have been
in the heart of foreign country. Mex
leo had swallowed him.
As the afternoon heat subsidized, Mont
rosa let herself out into a freer gait
hon A..
~, heading due west through a land
of. cactus and dagger, of thorn and
barb and bramble
The roads were unfenced, the mea-
dows desOlate; the huts were frequent
~ untenanted. Ahead the sky burned
splendidly, and the sunset grew more
brilliant, more dazzling, until it glori-
fed the whole mean, thirsty, cruel
countryside.
Dawes eyes were set upon that riot
of blazing colors, but for the time it
failed to thrill him. In that weiter of
changing hues and tints he saw only
red. Red That was the color OF
blood; it stood for passion, lust, VIC
Ience; and it was a fitting badge of
color for this land of revolutions and
alarms. AT first he saw little else
except the hint of black despair to fol-
low. But there was gold in the sunset,
too-the yellow gold of ransom! That |
was Mexico-red and yellow, blood and |
gold, lust and license. Once the riders |
fancy began TO work in this fashion. it
would not rest, and as the sunset grew |
in splendor he found in it richer mean |
iags. Red was the color of a woman's |
lips-yeS, and a woman's hair. The |
deepening blue of the high sky over |
head was the hue of a certain woman's |
eyes. A warm, soft breeze out of the |
west beat into his face, and he remem-
bered how warm and soft Alaire's |
breath had been upon his cheek.
The woman of his desires was yon-
der, where those colors warred, and |
she was mantled in red and gold and |
purple for his coming. The thought |
aroused him; he felt only a throbbing |
eagerness to see her and to take her |
in his aims once more before the end.
With his head high and his face