Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1923-02-23

| saw luG kIGCn dA1dlAd ACAOot NAN
tng's white horses, looking very small
and m~otionless. He pleased himself
by imagining he could pick out Blan-
co Sol. Then his gaze swept on to the
river.
Indeed, he realized now why some one
had named it Forlorn river. Even at
this season when it was full of water
1t had a forlorn aspect. 1t was doomed
never to mingle with the waters of the
Gulf. 1t wound way down the valley
growing wider and shallower, en-
croaching more and more on the gray
flats, until it disappeared on its SAD
Journey toward Sonoyta. That vast
shimmering, ~sun-governed waste recog-
nized it's life only at this flood season.,
and was already with parched tongue
and insatiate fire licking and burning
up it's futile waters. 5
Yaqui put a hand on Gales knee
It was a brOnzed, Scared, powerfuI
hand, always eloquent of
The Indian was listening. His bent
head, his strange dilating eyes, his
rigid form, and that close-pressing
hand, how these brought back to Gale
the terrible lonely night hours on the
laval
"What do you hear, YaquiT' asked
Gale. He laughed a little at h mood
that had come over him. But the
sound of his voice did not break the
spell. He did not want to speak
again. He yielded to Yaqufs subtle
nameless influence. He listened him
self. heard nothing but the scream of
an eagle. Often he wondered If the
Indian could hear things that made no
sound. Yaqui was beyond understand
ing.
Whatever the Indian had listened
to or for, presently he satisfied him
self, and, with a grunt that might
mean anything, he rost and turned
away from the rim. Gale followed,
rested now and eager to go on. He
saw that the great cliff they had
climbed was only a stairway up to
the huge looming dark bulk of the
plateau above.
Suddenly he again heard the dull
roar of falling water. 1t seemed to
have cleared itself of muffled vibra-
LIOIS. IdQul LuOuAlCu q RllAO hAU5C
and halted. The next instant Gale
stood above a bottomless cleft into
which a white stream leaped. His as
founded gaze swept backward along
this narrow swift stream to its end In
a dark, round, boiling pool. 1t was a
huge spring, a bubbling well, the out
cropping Of an underground river
coming down from the vast plateau
above.
Yaqui had brought Gale to the
source of Forlorn river.
Flashing thoughts in Gales mind
were no swifter than the thrills that
ran over him. He would stake out a
claim here and never be cheated out
of it. bitches on the benches and
troughs on the steep walls would car
ry water down to the valley. Ben
Chase had built a great dam which
would be useless if Gale chose to turn
Forlorn river from it's natural course.
The fountain head of that mysterious
desert river belonged to him.
His eagerness, his mounting passion,
was checked by Yaqui's unusual ac-
ton. The Indian showed wonder,
hesitation, even reluctance. His
strange eyes surveyed this boiling well
as if they could not believe the sight
they saw. Gale OWNED instantly that
Yaqui had never before seen the
source Of Forlorn river. If he had
ever assembled to this plateau, prob
ably it had beer to some other part,
for the water was new to him. He
stood gazing aloft at peaks, at lower
rampants Of the mountain, and at
nearer landmarks of prominence.
Yaqui seemed at fault. He was not
sure of his location.
Then he strobe past the swirling
pool of dark water and began to as
cend a little slope that led up to a
shelving cliff. Another object halted
the Indian. 1t was a pile of stones,
w~eathered, crumbled, fallen into ruin,
but still retaining shape enough to
prove it had been built there by the
hands Of men. Round and round this
the Yaqui stalked, and his curiosity
attested a further uncertainty. 1t
was as If he had come upon something
surprising. Gale wondered about the
pile of stones. Had it once been a
prospector's claim?
"Ugh!" grunted the Indian; and,
though his exclamation expressed no
satisfaction, it surely put an end to
doubt. He pointed up to the roof Of
the sloping yellow shelf Of stone.
Family outlined there in red were the
imprints of many human hands with
fingers spread wide. Gale had often
seen such paintings On the walls of
the desert caverns. Manifestly these
told Yaqui he had come to the spot for
which he had aimed.
Then his actions became swift-and
Yaqui seldom moved swiftly. The
fact impressed Gale. The Indian
searched the level floor under the
ebo1f uo o,&hcred IN ndf Of