The Lamar register., 1923-03-07


The Yaqui's method of hunting was
sure and deadly and saving in energy,
but Gale never would try 1t again. He
chose to stalk the game. After being
hunted few times and shot at, the
sheep became exceedingly difficult to
approach. He failed often. The stalk
called forth all that was In him of
endurance. cunning, speed. And like
shadow the faithful YaquI tried
ever TO keep at his heels
One morning YaQui spied flock of
sheep far under the curved, broken
rim of the main crater Then began
the stalk. Hiding, slipping, creeping,
crawling. Gale closed in upon his
quarry until the long rife grew like
stone in his grip. and the whipping
"spang" ripped the silence, and the
strange echo doomed deep In the era
ter. and rolled around as II in hollow
mockery at the hOpelessness OF escape
He waited beside his quarry. and
breathed deep, and swept the long
slopes with searching eyes Of habit.
When Yaqul came up they set about
the hardest task OF all, to pack the
best OF that heavy sheep down miles
OF steep. ragged, choya-covered lava.
The torrld summer heat came I'm
perceptibly, or II could never have
been borne by white men. II changed
the lives Of the fugltives, making
them partly nocturnal in habit. The
nights had the balmy coolness OF
spring. and would have been delight
ful for sleep but that would have
made the blazing days uncomfortable.
As Ladd had said, one OF their
greatest problems was the passing Of
time. The nights were internlnably
long, but they had TO be passed In
work or play or dream-anything ex-
cept sleep. That was Ladd's most In
flexible command. He gave no rea-
son. But not improbably the ranger
thought that the terrific heat OF the
day spent in slumber lessened wear
and strain, II not a real danger OF
madness.
Accordingly. at first the occupations
OF this little group were many and
various. They worked II they had
something to do, or could invent a
pretext They told and retold stories
until all were wearisome. They sang
songs. Mercedes taught Spanish
They played every game they knew
They invented others that were so
trivial children would scarcely have
been interested. and these they played
seriously. In a word, with intelli-
gence and passion. with all that was
civilized and human. they fought the
eyer-lnfringing loneliness, the savage
solitude OF their environment
Gale believed himself the keenest
OF the party the one who thought
most. and he watched the effect of the
desert upon his companions. For
hours. II seemed. Ladd would bend
over his checkerboard and never
make a move. II mattered not now
whether or not he had a partner. Jim
Lash, the calmest, coolest most non
chalant. best-humored westerner Gale
had ever met. had by slow degrees
lost that cheerful character which
would have been OF such Infinite good
to his companions. and always he sat
brooiing. silently brooding Jim had
no ties, few memories, and the desert
WIS claiming him.
Thorne and Mercedes, however.
were living. wonderful proof that spir-
II, mind, and heart we're free-free to
soar In scorn OF the colossal barren
ness and silence and space of that
terrible hedging prison OF lava. They
were young: they loved; they were
together; and the oasis was almost u
paradise. Thorne and Mercedes had
forgotten the outside world. II they
had been existing on the burned-out
desolate moon they could hardly have
been in harsher grimmer. lonelier |
spot than this red-walled arroya.
Although the Yaqui was as his |
shadow, Gale reached point when /
he seeemed to wander alone at twi- |
light. In the night, NJ dawn. At might |
he had formed habit Of climbing up |
the lava slope as far as the smooth |
trail extended. and here on ii promOn.
tory he paced TO aud fro, and watched |
the stars, and sat stOne-still for hours |
looking down ut the vast void with Its |
moving. changing shadows. He came
at length 10 realize that the desert |
was teacher. He did not realize all
that ne had learned. but he was
different man. And when he decided
upon that, he was not thinking OF the
slow. sure call to the primal Instincts
Of man; he was thinking that the
desert, as much as he had experienced