Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1923-04-12

| right side of the fssure, opposite to
| the one he had come down. 1t was a
! steep climb, and encountered as the
men were they made but slow prog
ress. At length the rims widened out
and the red, smoky crater yawned be-
meath. Yaqui left the trail and began
/ clambering down over the rough and
twisted convolutions of lava which
formed the rim. It was with extreme
difficulty that the party followed him.
The choya was there to hinder pas
sage. Finally the Indian halted upon
a narrow bench of flat, smooth lava,
and his followers worked with exceed
ing care and effort down to his posi-
i ton.
At the back of this bench, between
punches of choya, was a niche, a shall
low cave with floor lined apparently
/ with mold. Yaqui spread blankets
inside, left the canteen and the sack
of food, and with a gesture at once
humble, yet that of a chief, he in
vited Mercedes to enter. few more
gestures and fewer words disclosed
his plan. In this inaccessible nook
Mercedes was to be hidden. The men
were to go around upon the opposite
rim, and block the trail leading down
/ to the waterhole
Laid chose the smallest gun in the
party and gave it to Mercedes.
ashore it's best to go the limit on
bein' ready" he said, simply ''The
chances are. you'll never need it. But
if you do
He left off there, and his break was
significant. Mercedes answered him
with a fearless and indomitable flash
of eyes. Thorne was the only one who
showed any shaken nerve. His leave
taking of his wife was affecting and
hurried Then he and the rangers
carefully stepped in the tracks of the
1 Yaqui He strobe on up the trail
toward a higher point, where pres
emily his dark figure stood motionless
against the sky. The rangers and
Thorne selected a deep depression, out
of which led several ruts deep enough
for cover. Here the men laid down
rifles and guns, and, removin their
heavy cartridge belts, settled down
! to wait.
Jim Lash crawled into a little strip
of shade and bided the time TRANQUILITY.
Laid was restless and impatient and
/ watchful, every little while rising to
i look up the far-reaching slope, and
then to the right, where Yaqui's dark
figure stood out from high point of
| Az 49,, TrToran 4rr.ovu csiIon+
seemed consumed by a slow, sul1en
rage. Gale was neither calm nor free
| of a gnawing suspense nor of a wait
ing wrath But as best he could he
i put the pending action out of mind.
/ 1t came over him all of sudden
! that he had not grasped the stupen-
/ dous nature of this desert setting.
There was the measureless red slope,
/ its lower ridges finally sinking into
white sand dunes toward the blue sea.
The cold sparkling light, the white
sun, the deep azure of sky, the feeling
Of boundless expanse all around him
these meant high altitude. South2
ward the barren red simply merged
/ into distance. The field Of craters
rose in high, dark wheels toward the
/ dominating peaks. When Gale with
drew his gaze from the magnitude of
/ these spaces and heights the crater
| beneath him seemed dwarfed. Yet
while he gazed it spread and deep
/ ened and multiplied its ragged lines.
i No. he could not grasp the meaning
of size or distance here. There was
II MI ,icrhk Q-4+ fho
4 mood in which nataure had created
this convulsed world seized hold upon
him.
The hours passed. AS the sun
| climbed the clear sky, steely lights van
i ished, the blue hazes deepened, and
/ slowly the glisteninG surfaces of lava
| turned redder Laid was concerned
| to discover that Yaqui was missing
i from his outlook upon the high point.
! Jim Lash came out of the shady crew
i ice, and stood up to buckle on his car
/ fridge belt. His narrow, gray glance
slowly roved from the height of lava
down along the slope, paused in doubt,
and then swept on to resurvey the
whole vast eastern dip of the plateau.
81 reckon my eyes are pore, he said.
"Mebbe it's this d-n red glare. Any
way, what's them creepin' spots up
! there?"
ashore I seen them. Mountain
sheep, replied Ladd
Guess again, Laddy. Dick, L
4 reckon you'd better flash the glass. up
the slope"
Gale adjusted the field glass and be
gan to search the lava, beginning close
at hand and working away from him.
Presently the glass became stationary.
''I see half dozen small animals,
brown in color. They look like sheep.
But / couldn't distinguish mountain
sheep from antelope
ashore they're bighorn," said Lady.
,as,s.e4,4b