The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-08-15
G NAN Of g
MUSIC MOUNTAIN
By frank II. Spedrmdn
Author Of Whispering Smith
Author Of Whispering Smith
Il can help IT.

Henry. | worked for your father-
you're too old n man, jim
"IIenry-"
Don't talk to me Do as tell you"
numbered De Spain.
Mc.ilpln bowed his head.
"Rcady" yelled Page. buckling the
rifle holster in place. Still talking, and
with McAlpin glued to his elbow. De
Spain yaultpd into the saddle, caught
the lines from Bulls hands, and
eteadied the Lady rs She Sidestepped
neryously- McAlpin following close
and lodging the dancing hoofS rs he
looked earnestly up to catch the last
word. De Spain touched the horse with
the lines. She leaped through the door
way and he raised a backward hand
TO those behind. Running outside the
door. they yelled a chorus Of cries
after the swift-moving horseman, and,
clustered in an excited group, watched
the Lady with a dozen great strides
round the CalabaSas trail and disap-
pear with her rider into the whirllng
snow.
She fell at once into an Easy reach
ing step, and De Spain, busy with his
reflections. hardly gave thought To
what she was doing. and little more to
what was going on about him.
No moving figure reflects the impas-
sive more than n horseman of the
mountains, on a long ride. Though
never so s~wift-borne, the man looking
neither to the right nor 10 the left,
moving evenly and statuelike against
the sky, a part of the wiry beast under
him, presents the very picture of In
difference to the world around him.
The great, swift wind spreading over
the desert emptied on 1t snOw-laden
puffs that whlrled and wrapped a cloud
of flakes about horse and rider in the
symbol of a shroud. De Spain gave
no heed to these diminishing eddies,
but he knew what was behind them,
and for the wind, he only wished it
might keep the snow In the air till he
caught sight of Nan.
The even reach Of the horse brought
him to the point where Nan had
changed to the stage wagon. Without
a break in her long stride. Lady Jane
took the hint OF her swerving rider,
put her nose into the wind. and headed
north. De Spain, alive to the difficult
ties Of his venture. set his hat lower
and bent forward to follow the wagon
along the sand. With the first of the
white fiurries passed, he found himself
in a snowless pocket, as it were, of the
advancing storm. He hoped for moth
ing from the prospect ahead but ev-
cry moment Of respite from the blind
ing whirl was a gain, and with his eyes
close on the trail that had carried Nan
into danger, he urged the Lady on.
When the snow again closed down
about him he calculated from the
roughness Of the country that he
should be within a mile Of the road
that Nan was trying to reach. from the
gap to Sleepy Cat. But the broken
ground straight ahead would prevent
her from driving directly to 1t. He
knew she must hold to the right, and
her curving track, row becoming diff
cult TO trail, confirmed his conclusion
A fresh drive Of the wind buffeted
him as he turned directly north. Only
ut intervals could he see any trace Of
the wagon wheels. The driving snow
compelled him more than once to dis
noun and search for the trail. Each
Nsw,z - ,4,s "a A. .ar~.x - ,nnrniv. 1 4
was more prolonged. AT times he was
compelled to ride the desert in wide
circles TO find the tracks, and this cos
time when minutes might mean life
But as long as he could he chung tt
the struggle 70 track her exactly. ii
saw almost where the storm had strucl
the t~o wayfarers. Neither, he knew
was insensible to its dangers. VIVA
amazed him was that a man like Duk
Morgan should be out in 1t. He foun'
4 spot where they had halted and, wit
a start that checked the beating Of hi
heart, his eyes fell on her footprin
not yet obliterated, beside the WACO
track.
The sight of 1t was an electric shoe
Throwing himself from his horse, h
knelt over it in the storm, obliviOus II
an instant of everything but that tn
!, tracery meant her presence, where
now bent. hardly half an hour befor
He swung, after a moments keen scr
/ tiny, into his saddle, with fresh r
!, solve. Pressed by the rising fury
the wind, the w~ayfarers had becon
! from this point. De Spain saw q
plainly, hardly more than fugitive
Good ground to the left, where the
hope of safety lay. had been owe
looked. Their tracks wandered on Il
open desert like these who, losing cot
age, lose their course In the confusi'
and fear of the impending peril.
$ And with this increasing uncertain
8 In their direction vanished De SPAR
last hopes Of tracking them. The VII
e swept the desert now as a hurrica
sweeps the open sea, snatching I
fallen snow from the face Of h ear
t. as the sea-gale, flattening the a c
y the waters, rips the foam from {
frantic waves to drive 1t In wild. SCI
ding fragments across them.