The Washington herald., 1921-06-26

surely, fatefully toward the end of another
day. Not that it mattered, though, she told
herself bitterly. All days had come to mean
much the same to her, pitiless records OF
failure, hopelessness, hardship; but never
happiness! That she had pawned, with her
soul. in a past long gone, but still a thing
Of virile memories, vivid and heart soaring.
As far as her vision reached, along the
ribbon-like trail down the mountainside.
struggled black and drab line that spelled
the passing of El Oro Blanco. She could
net have explained why she had not Joined
IN the exodus. Inherent stubbor.ness, faith
in the came, fate - all might have been
to blame.
For twenty years Sonora Diablo had\been
swept along on the ever moving, ever-chang-
ing current of the turbulent gold country.
She had seen scores Of mining camps spring
Up overnight only to disappear like the fame
of burned-out candle, leaving ghost cities
" tell mutely Of blasted hopes and wasted
lives. But she resented in q new sort Of
way the repetition of what meant personal
defeat. She had discovered Ell Orc Blanco
had watched with the feverish pride Of q
creator the influx of treasure mad adven-
turers, dreams Of winning q mighty fortune
throbbing in her mind. And now she, like
the four score other failures fast disappear
ing in the distance, must begin all over
again.
Beginning anew was no novelty to Sonora
Diablo. But the beginnings were no easier,
the fight no less desperate, the way no less
strewn with pitfalls. She had not only to
battle nature in its widest places, but that
part of it, too, hardest to conquer-her own
kind She had never tried to conquer herself.
The rest Of humanity had not given her time
She had fought for riches, not for its own
sake but as a means to an end to the accom-
plishment Of which she had consecrated her
life. Failure had been her reward. 1t had
repeated itself with such insistence that she
might long ago have taken the lurid path Of
the easiest way chosen by women who had
staked themselves and lost. But she had
abandoned neither hope nor herself Her
past was strewn with men who could have =
testified to that-had they lived! None Of
those had been the right man. That was her
chief regret.
Much of all this came back to her today
as she sat in the doorway Of her shack,
elbows on corduroy clad knees and chin
rough spaces of the earth.
The sun slipped slowly down the noun
tainside, bathing slopes and the valley below
in crimsoned gold. The vanguard of the dis
appearing line was rounding faraway curve
in the trail. A few MOMENTS more and she
wo IL be alone with Satan in Flo Oro
Blanco.
Satar, the cat, had lived with Sonora
Diablo for five years. starved with her, shared
in her spasmodic prosperity, and showed a
sympathy and understanding far beyond hu-
man ken. Now, in her moment Of loneliness,
the big, black feline rubbed purring against
her knee and mewed plaintively. In sud-
den access of heart-hunger, she snatched
him to her breast, grooming over him
mother to her first born. A suspicion Of
moisture was dimming her eyes when Bad
Bill Haskins, the bully Of the camp, crossed
the line separating their claims.
ETJF SOMEBODY'D shoot that damned eat
you might have some luck, he snarled.
He's hoodooed every camp he's been in and
IT," hoodoo'n foller you as long as he hves!"
The woman glared at him.
The hombre that harms Satan'n have
Sonora Diablo to answer to-" she defed.
He'll" Bad Bill snorted. He leered
down at her. Come along with me, Sc
NORA" he invited suggestively. 81 can take
good care of you. You'll sure starve to death
up here"
Sonora Diablo did not reply in words, but
what Bad Bill read in her eyes sent him
down the trail. Twenty PAGES away be
paused.
''I didn't mean no harm, Senora," he
protested contritely. But you orter kill
that Internal cat. He'll hoodoo you till you
iie-he, sure's hell, will!"
Then, as he fed before the hot glare in her
face, something that sang murderously
clipped lock from his temple. And Satan's
eyes, as he hissed defiance, were a yellow
blaze Of hate that matched the devils dancing
in those Of his mistress.
Boiling with inward rage, Sonora Diablo
prepared the evening meal of tortillas, fri
joles, rice and coffee. She and the cat ate
in silence. Then she rolled a cigarette and
seated herself in the doorway to smoke and
moodily watch the moon spread its silvery
glory over mountain and valley.
Silence lay everywhere, broken only By
the soft, mysterious sounds that belong only
70 nlsnt IN great open sPeces. OoWn INC
slopes mist was rising and Transforming itself
into huge, distorted shadows.
Satan had stretched himself at her feet
and was doing contentedly. As she watched
the great, ebony figure, Sonora Diablo fam
cied she saw in him something new, uncanny,
devilish. Her eyes wandered back to him
with weird insistence. And each time the
fantastic idea Bad Bill had implanted in her
mind-that to Satan she owed her i'll for
tune-gripped her with greater strength.
Try as she would she could not throw of
the superstitious spell. At last she kicked
the cat down the mountainside, went inside.
and lay down upon her bunk to sleep. Satan
mewed his reproach and, after a bit, peeped
IL. k.l