Arizona republican., 1922-05-17
Chapter VI.
LOVES SEARCH

! LOVES SEARCH
| Arriving there, she began to search
| around all the nearby bushes, look
/ ing for bit of paper, a letter, any
| thing that might identify the
! stranger. She had been thus engaged
| for only q few minutes, when her
! horse began TO neigh excitedly. This
was Immediately answered by an
other horse which came running up
| to them q She was at once convinced
she had not hoped in vain; this horse,
a handsome dark-bay, was bridled
and saddled. She seized it by the
hanging reins, mounted her own
horse and started for town. But a
little way from where the body had
been found, where a small wash cut
across the desert road, the strange
horse started to turn to the LETT. she
coaxed him several times. turning
around and starting toward town
| again. but each time the horse would
| turn to the left, refusing to be led
! any farther. She decided she must
find what was the trouble. Throw
! ing her reins over a greasewood bush,
| she mounted the obstinate creature
and let him have his own way. he
| followed the wash almost to its
| source, then turned to the right fol-
| lowing what was proving to be O
| freshly beaten path, rocky and tor
! tuous. All at once she pulled the
| reins and got down; she had seen
| great splashes of dried blood on the
gray rock. Near her lay Colt au-
/ tomato, loaded She picked it up
and mounted again. and the horse
kept on the trail. The path was get
4 ting more difficult but the horse
seemed accustomed to it. Turning a
| few huge boulders, they suddenly
/ came to a large cave. carved out of
| the side of the mountain, in the
shape of a niche
Near the entrance was what
| showed to have been the horses lit
| ter, with some hay nearby. In the
| far corner was an improvised bed,
made of blankets and quilts spread
| on the ground. On a natural ledge
! in the wall lay some flour, canned
| goods of different kinds. some bacon
and some ham. The floor was strewn
| with cigarette butts, and several
\ packages of popular brand were
near the bed. A small water barrel
and a pile of local newspapers COM
pleted the outfit. But strange feel
/ ing was coming over her. craving
| to rush out of there, away from un-
| der this heavy soulitwde. She re-
! dilu oNalt tOd bu~h vi NNs~
| trail, anxious to tell the sheriff of
| her find. When she came to where
she had picked UP the gun, not want
ing to gaze upon the bloody rocks
| again. she turned her head to the
left. She was surprised that from
this point she could see the slope on
the other side of the mountain. She
was directly behind a huge split in
the rock, and she could have reached
the other side had it not been for
the many huge boulders scattered
between the path and the fissure.
The Unseen Target
She could see. way in the distance.
the rock on which they had sat a
few days before: the rock on which
they had declared themselves, on
which they had revealed their young
souls, one to the other. She could
also see the little knoll on which the
rattler had been killed. And she saw
1 her young hero again pick up his
| gun, go back a few steps and take
! aim and shoot the snakes head right
| off At this moment she uttered a
| painful cry. The truth had flashed
| to her mind 1t was all very clear
now. She was in a direct line with
| the little knoll and with the spot
| from which her sweetheart had shot.
| The man had been killed by the same
| bullet which had killed the rattler.
| The discovery appalled, her. She was
| brusquely being confronted with the
fact that George had killed the
| stranger, and she stood there dumb
| founded. She slowly remembered
that thus far she had made no prog
ress toward identification. The cave
must have been his abode. and this
horse she was riding, no doubt was
| his. But what could he have been
doing in these parts? Again a little
anger arose in her toward this man,
who had to be on this spot at the
very moment, and place his death
| upon her lovers hands An inde-
finable feeling came over her whole
being as 1t dawned upon her that the