The St. Johns herald., 1921-06-23


 presented from those bluffs, either of
 broken, rocky country, or dismal
 desert, white with alkan. It was a
 land devoid even of animal or ird life,
 waterless and forlorn, avoided even by
 Indians except for concealment. In
 all those hours of darkness he heard
 no sound of life except the distant
 howl of a coyote.
 The first faint gray of dawn rave
 him glimpse of his surroundings, and.
 on a slight ridge of land, he finally
 drew up his tired mount, and gazed
 curiously about. He dismounted, and,
 after a few moments scrutiny of the
 ground, decided that he was still safe
 ly on the trail of those travelling
 ahead. There were two traces sufi-
 ciently defined to indicate the passage
 within a few hours of both Macklin's
 party, and the two others. Neither
 outfit had made any effort at conceal i ment, but Shelby, fearing the latter
 might be camped for breakfast, left
 his horse to crop on the short grass,
 while he advanced on foot. The trail
 was obscure, but not difficult to fol-
 low when once discovered. Hanley
 and his companion had not venturC1
 the passage until dawn, the marks of
 their horses hoofs so fresh as to con-
 vince their trailer they were scarcely
 beyond the sound of his voice. He even found where they had dismount- ed waiting for daylight, the ground filtered with the ends of burnt ciga- rettes.
 Shelby loitered an hour before ven- turing to follow. There was no other way out, and so he munched at cold meal, and permitted the buckskin to browse along the bank of the stream, we'll concealed by fringe of willows. Then, both horse and man refreshed, he went forward on foot, leading the animal, and began the upward climb. In places it was not unlike cave, and Shelby had no idea how far he had gone, when he suddenly emerged out from the gloom into tb@ sunlight of the summit, with a clear view across the levei plateau.
 Shelby stopped, holding the horse back below the summit and gazed anx- iOusly about. The soil left no trail and, with the naked eye, Shelby was unable to distinguish sign of life within the radius of vision. Every thing had the appearance of death the death of ages. He stood upright and swept the circle with his field glasses. He was barely in time; for far off there to the left, scarcely dis cernible even then against the black, oVerhanging ridges of rock, he made out two slowly moving objects. They were not distinct, he could not have sworn what the. were, but there was no doubt in his mind as to their iden- tity. He studied them eagerly until they disappeared down a coulee, and then carefully marked the course, his point of guidance a high pinnacle of rock. standing out against the sky.
 He was an hour reaching this ob- jective, but once there he found the trail plainly traced along the edge of the bank. It led in and out amid the l intricacies of the hills, taking, of nee essity, so winding a course as to give | Shelby no view ahead and soon con- fused him in point of direction. He | could only move forward cautiously, | fearful lest they might have halted for l some purpose, and watchful of every | trace of their passage, as other ravines were constantly uniting with this | through which he was blindly feeling | his way. He came to sand and lost | all signs of the trail instantly, search ing for it in vain for nearly an hour before confessing himself at fault. | Then, leaving the horse below, he | climbed the nearest hill for a view of | his surroundings.
 The sun gave him the proper dIrec- tions, but all about stretched the same dreary, bare ridges of rock, offering no guidance. There was no life visi- ble anywhere and although he waited | for some time, sweeping his glasses back and forth, he gained no glimpse of the two he endeavored to follow. They had vanished as though swal- lowed up by the earth. The sun was already in the west and desperately he determined to try the level. Even this, amid the intricacies of those branch Ing passages between the round hills, was difficult to achieve, yet he finally discovered an exit and ventured to- ward the north, confident that the Cottonwood would surely lie some where in that direction.
 He came upon it so suddenly and as to almost daze his faculties. Almost without warning he stood at the very edge of a yawning hole and stared in amazement down Into those depths below. Again and