The Nevada County picayune., 1923-04-19

hand how these brought back to Gale the terrible lonely night hours on the lava!
 "What do you hear, YaquiT' asked Gale. He laughed little at the moou 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 Yaqui's subtle nameless influence. He listened hlm- self heard nothing but the scream of an eagle. Often he wondered II 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 rose and turned away from the rim. Gale followed, rested now and eager to go on. lie 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. It seemed to have cleared itself of muffled vibra- tions Yaqui mounted a little ridge and halted. The next instant Gale stood above bottomless cleft into which white stream leaped. His as- founded gaze swept backward along this narrow swift stream to its end in a dark, round, boiling pool. It was huge spring, a bubbling we'll, the out cropping of an underground river coming down from the vast plateau above.
 Yauui 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 claim here and never be cheated out of it. bitches on the benches and troughs on the steep walls would car " water down to the valley. Ber Chase had built great dam which would be useless If Gale chose to turn Forlorn river from its natural course. 1Ue lOu1liulu Hcdd Ol lIdl Lis slti iooS desert river belonged to him.
 His eagerness, his mounting passion, was checked by Yaqui's unusual ac- tIon. 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 divined instantly that Yaqui had never before seen the source of Forlorn river If he had ever ascended to this plateau. prob ably it had been 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 strode past the swirling pool of dark water and began to as cend a little slope that led up to shelving cliff. Another object halted the Indian. It was a pile of stones weathered 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. It was as if he had come upon something surprising. Sale wondered about the pile of stones. Had it once been 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 O. the slopng yellow shelf of stone. Faintly outlined there in red were the imprints of many human hands with fingers spread wide. Gale had ofteL seen such paintings on the walls Of the desert caverns. Manifestly these told Yaqui he had come to the spot fo; which he had aimed.
 Then his actions became swift-anC. Yaqui seldom moved swiftly. The fact impressed Gale. The Indiaa searched the level floor under thl shelf He gathered up handfuls of small black stones and he thrust them at Gale. Their weight made Gale start. and then he trembled. The Indians next move was to pick up a piece of weathered rock and throw 1t against the wall. It broke. He snatched up parts. and showed the broken edges to Gale. They contained yellow streaks, dull glints, faint trac- iugS of green If was gold
 Gale found his legs shaking under him; and he sat down, trying to take all the bits of stone into his lap. His fingers were all thumbs as with knife blade he dug into the black pieces of rock He found gold. Then he stared down the slope, down into the valley with its river winding forornly away