Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1920-07-09

gan TO turn the desert gray. gradually
revealing Its forlorn desolatiOn. West
colt lifted his head, and gazed about
with wearled eyes, smarting still from
the whipping of the sand-grit. On
every side stretched away a scene OF
utter desolation, unrelieved by either
shrub or tree-an apparently endless
ocean Of sand. In places leveled by the
wind, and elsewhere piled into fan
tastic heaps. The breeze slackened
somewhat as the sun REDEEMED the
east, and the ponies threw up their
heads and whinnied slightly, increas-
ing their speed. Westcott saw the
marshal arouse himself, straighten In
the saddle, and stare about. his eyes
still dull and heavy.
zone HI of view. Jim," he said
disgustedly, 'but l reckon we can't be
a great ways from that spring. We've
been ridin' right smart"
"Its not far ahead; the ponies sniff
water. All there's q bunch o green
ahead; that'll likely be Badger
springs"
Assured they were beyond pursuit,
the two unsaddled and turned the
ponies out to crop the few handfuls
of wire grass which the sweet water
bubbling up from slight depression
had coaxed into stunted growth. There
was no wood to be had. although they
found evidence of several camp-fires,
and consequently they were obliged to
content themselves with what they
could find eatable in their bag. Except
for q few sentences neither spoke, I'M
til Brennan having partially satisfied
his appetite produced the note given
him by Miss La Rue, and deliberately
slashed open the sealed envelope.
"In the name Of the law" he said
grimly, hauling out the Enclosure
"Now We'll see what's the row. Holy
smoke It's in SPANISH Here, Jim, do
you read that lingof
az know words here and there" and
Westcott bent over the paper, his
brOws wrinkllng. Lets see; It's not
quite clear, but the sense Is hat Men,
DEE will be paid thousand dollars for
something's can't make out what,
only 1t has to do with prisoners. lay
says he'll be there to confer with him
some time tonight"
"Lacy write it7"
Eyes; at least he signed it."
"Well, If Lacy aims to meet Mendez
tonight, he ought to be along here
soon after nightfall. How'd it do to
hide In these sand hills and waltz
1--WE can do that, Dan, II we don't
hit any TRAIL" said Westcott, leaning
over, his hand on the others knee,
"but If we can get there earlier, I'd
rather not waste time. There's no
knowing what devil like Mendez may
do. Let's take scout around, any
how"
They started, the one going east, the
other west, and made a semicircle un-
til they met, a hundred yards or so,
south of the spring. having found moth
ing. Again they circled out, blowing
their way through the sand, and all at
once Brennan lifted his hand into the
air and called. Westcott hurried over
to where he stood motionless, staring
down at the track of q wagon wheel.
1t had slid along slight declivity, and
left mark so deep as not yet to be
obliterated. They traced It for thirty
feet before 1t entirely disappeared.
"Still goin' SOUTH" affirmed the mar
shall, gazing In that direction. Don't
look like there's nothin' out there, but
we might try. Let's saddle up"
1t was blind trail, and progress
was slow. The men separated, riding
back and forth, leaning forward In the
saddles, scanning the sand for the
slightest sign. Twice they encoun-
tered an undoubted wheel mark, and
once traces of the whole four wheels
were plainly visible. These could be
followed easily for nearly quarter OF
mile, but then as quickly vanished as
the wagon came again to an outcrop-
ping Of rock. Yet this was assured
the outfit had headed steadily south
ward.
This was desperately slow work, and
UcyOuu tHht IiuBe VI TUCK tHcy uiSCoN-
cred no other evidence. An hour
passed, and not the slightest sign gave
encouragement. Could the wagon have
turned In some other direction? In
the shadow of sand dune they halted
finally to discuss the situation. Should
they go on? Or explore further to the
west? Might Il not even be better to
retrace their way to the springs, and
wait the coming of Lacy?
Brennan was for turning back,
arguing the uselessness of going fur
ther, and the necessity Of water for
the ponies.
"Come on, JIM" he urged. BE SEN
sible; we've lost the trail, and that's
no fault o. ours. An Apache Indian
couldn't trace herd o. steers through
this sand. And look ahead tharl It's
worse. an more Of 1t. Pm for stalking
Lacy at the springs" He stopped sud-
denly. staring southwark as though he
had seen a vision. "Holy smoke
What's that2 BY Godl It's wagon,
Jim; an 1t come right up out of the
earth. There wasn't no wagon there