St. Tammany farmer., 1922-12-30
TMMAkY CoVGTON DECEMBER

L. E
cedes Her poignant voice seemed
to break a spell.
"Shore, lady, Yaqui's goin' home, =
replied Ladd gently. "An' considerin'
our troubles, I reckon We ought to
thank God he knows the way"
They mounted and rode down the
| slope toward the darkening south.
Not until night travel was obstruct-
ed by wall OF cactus did the Indian
halt to make dry camp. Water and
grass for the horses and fire to cook
! by were MOTTO be had. Mercedes bore
up surprisingly; but she fell asleep
almost the instant her thirst had been
allayed. Thorne laid her upon blan-
ket and covered her. The men ate
and drank. Gale lay down weary Of
limb and eye. He heard the soft
thump Of hoofs, the sough Of wind in
| the cactus-then no more
Day dawned with the fugitives In
the saddle. A picketed wall Of cac-
tus hedged them in, yet the Yaqui
made tortuous path, that, zigzag as
It might, in the main always headed
south.
The Yaqui, If not at fault, was yet
uncertain. His falcon eyes searched
and roved, and became fixed at length
at the southwest, and toward this he
turned his horse The great, futed
saguaros, fifty, sixty feet high, raised
columnal forms, and their branching
1i,,o1c 1,,rx,frop o16od oro no
to the desert. It was the low-bushed
cactus that made the toll and pain Of
travel Yet these thorny forms were
beautiful.
In the basins between the ridges, to
right and left along the floor Of low
plains the mirage glistened, wavered,
faded, vanished-lakes and trees and
clouds. Inverted mountains hung
suspended in the lilac air and faint
tracery of white-walled cities.
At noon Yaqui halted the cavalcade.
He had selected field of bisnagi cac-
tus for the place of rest. Presently
his reason became obvious With long,
heavy knife he cut off the tops of
these barrel-shaped plants. He
scooped out soft pulp, and with stone
and hand then began to pound the
|, deeper pulp into juicy mass. When
he threw this out there was little
water left, sweet, cold water which
man and horse shared eagerly. Thus
he made even the deserts flercest
growths minister to their needs.
But he did not halt long. Miles Of
gray-green spiked walls lay between
him and that line of ragged, red lava
which manifestly he must reach be-
fore dark. The travel became faster,
straighter. And the glistening thorns
clutched and clung to leather and
cloth and flesh. The horses reared,
snorted, baked, leaped-but they
were sent on. Only Blanco Sol, the
patient, the plodding, the indomitable,
needed no goad or spur. Mercedes
reeled in her. saddle. Thorne bade
her drink, bathed her face, supported
her, and then gave way to Ladd, who
took the girl with him on Torres
broad back. The middle Of the after
noon saw Thorne reeling in his saddle,
and then, wherever possible, Gales
powerful arm lent him strength to
hold his seat.
The fugitives were entering DESC
late, burned-6ut world. The waste
Of sand began to yield to cinders.
The horses sank to their fetlocks as
they toAed ON. A fine, choking dust
blew back from the leaders, and men
coughed and horses snorted. But the
sun was now behind the hills In be-
tween ran the stream Of lava. It
was broken, sharp, dull rust color, full
Of cracks and caves and crevices, and
everywhere upon its Jagged surface
grew the white-thorned choya.
Again twilight encompassed the
travellers. But there was still light
enough for Gale to see the CONSTRUCTED
passage open into wide, deep space
where the dull color was relieved by
the gray Of gnarled and dwarfed mes
quite. Blanco Sol, keenest Of scent,
whistled his welcome herald of water.
The other horses answered, quickened
their gait. Gale smelled 1t, too, sweet,
cool, damp on the dry air.
Yaqui turned the corner Of pocket
in the lava wall. The file Of white
horses rounded the corner after him.
And Gale, coming last, saw the pale,
glancing CLEAN Of pool Of water
beautiful in the twilight.
Next day the Yaqui's relentless
driving demand on the horses was no
longer In evidence. He lost no time,
but he did not hasten. His course
wound between low cinder dunes
which limited their view Of the sur
rounding country. These dunes finally
sank down to black floor as hard as
flint, with tongues Of lava to the left,
and to the right the slow descent into
the cactus plain. Yaqui was now
travelling due west, It was Gales
idea that the Indian was skirting the
first sharp-toothed slope of vast vol
canic plateau which formed the west
ern half Of the Sonora desert and e1-
tended to the Gulf Of California.
Travel was slow, but not exhausting
for rider or beast.
Thirty miles Of easy stages brought
the fugitives to another waterhole,
little round pocket under the heaved-
up edge Of lava. There was spare,
short, bleached grass for the horses,
but no wood for a fire. This night
ff1oro waro nunsffnn and ron1v& CON