Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1922-12-29


down in an air line" he said, present
". "Jim, shore they're twice that an
more accordin' to the trail"
Jim had his look and replied: II
reckon we're a day an night in the
lead"
ais It Rojas?" burst out Tholne
with set jaw.
eyes, Thorne. It's Rojas and
dozen or more" replied Gale, and he
looked up at Mercedes.
She was transformed. She might
have been a medieval princess en-
bodylng all the Spanish power and
passion of that time, breathing re-
venge, hate, unquenchable spirit Of
fire. If her beauty had been wonder
full in her helpless and appealing mo-
ments now, when she looked back
whlte-faced and flame-eyed' it was
transcendent.
Gale drew a long, deep breath. The
mood which had presaged pursuit,
strife, blood on this somber desert,
returned to him tenfold. He saw
Thorne's face corded by black veins,
and his teeth exposed like those of
snarling wolf. These rangers, who
had coolly rlsked death many times,
and had dealt it often, were white as
no fear or pain could have made them.
Then, on the moment, Yaqui raised his
hand not clenched or doubled tight,
but curled rigid like an eagles claw;
and he shook 1t In strange, slow ges-
ture which was meracing and terrible.
It was the woman that called to the
DEPTHS Of these men. And their pas
sion to kill and to save was surpassed
only By the wild hate which was yet
love, the unfathomable emotion OF a
peon slave. Gale marveled ut It,
while lie felt his whole being cold and
tense, as he turned onceNmore to fol-
low in the tracks of his leaders. The
fight predicted by Belding was at hand.
What a fight that must be! Rojas
was travelling light and fast. lie waI
gaining. He had bought his men with
gold, with extravagant promises, per
haps with offers of the body and blood
of an aristocrat hateful to their kind.
Lastly, there was the wild, desolate
environment, tortured wilderness OF
jagged lava and poisoned choya,
lonely, fierce and repellent world,
red stage most somberly and fittingly
icolored for a supreme struggle be-
tween men.
Yaqui looked back no more. Mer-
cedes looked back no more. But the
other looked, and the time came when
Gale saw the creeping line of pur-
suers with naked eyes.
A level line above marked the rim
of the plateau. Sand began to show
In the little lava pits. On and upward
toiled the cavalcade, still very slowly
advancing. At last YaquI reached the
rim. He stood with his hand en-
Blanco Diablo; and both were sllhol-
cited against the sky. That was the
outlook for q Yaqui. And his great
morse, dazzllngIy white in the sun
light, with head wildly and proudly
erect, name and tail flying in the
wind made a magnificent picture. The
others toiled on and upward, and at
last Gale led BlancO Sol over the rim.
Then all looked down the red slope.
But shadows were gathering there
and no moving line could be seen.
Yaqui mounted and wheeled Diablo
hn nth
YaQui led them into zone Of craters.
The top of the earth seemed to have
been blown out in holes from a few
rods in width to large craters, some
shallow, others deep, and all red as
fire. YaQui circled close to abysses
which yawned sheer from level sur
face, and he appeared always to be
turning upon his course to avoid them.
The plateau had now considerable
dip to the west. Gale marked the
slow heave and ripple of the ocean
of lava to the south, where high,
rounded peaks marked the center Of
this volcanic region. The uneven na-
ture of the slope westward prevented
any extended view, until suddenly the
fugitives emerged from a rugged
break to come upon q sublime and
awe-inspiring spectacle.
They were upon high point Of the
western slope of the plateau. 1t was
strange to Gale, and perhaps to the
others, to see their guide lead Diablo
into a smooth and well-wOrn trail
along the rim Of the awful crater.
Gale looked down into that red chasm.
1t resembled an inferno. The dark
cliffs upon the opposite side were
yelled in blue haze that seemed like
smoke Here Yaqui was at home. He
moved and looked about him as a mal
coming at last into his own, Gale
saw him stop and gaze out over that
red-rlbbed void to the Gulf.
Gale OWNED that somewhere along
this crater Of hell the Yaqui would
make his final stand; and one look
into his strange, inscrutable eyes
made Imagination picture a fitting
doom for the pursuing Rojas.
(To Be COntinued).
- When an American offered the
I