The Nevada County picayune., 1923-04-26
CHAPTER xxx.
Desert Gold.

A summer day dawned on Forlorn River, a beautiful, still, hot, golden day with huge sail clouds of white motionless over No Name peaks and the purple of clear air in the distance along the desert horizon
 Mrs. Bedding returned that day to find her daughter happy and the past buried forever in two lonely graves The haunting shadow left her eyes. Gale believed he would never forget the sweetness, the wonder, the pas sion of her embrace when she called him her boy and gave him her bless ing.
 The little wrinkled padre who mar ried Gale and Nell performed the ceremony as he told his beads. with out interest or penetration, and went his way, leaving happiness behind.
 "Shore I was a sick man." Ladd said "an darn near a dead one, but I'm agoin' to get well. Mebbe I'll be able to ride again some day. Nell, lay 1t to you. An I'm agoin' to kiss you an wish you all the joy there is in this world An Dick as Yaqui says, she's shore your Shower of Gold"
 He spoke of Gales finding love spoke of it with the deep and wistful feeling of the lonely ranger who had always yearned for love and had never known it. Bedding, once more lrac- tical, and important as never before with mining projects and water claims to manage, spoke of Gales great good fortune in the finding of gold-he called it desert gold.
 "Ah yes. Desert Gold" exclaimed Dicks father, softly. with eyes of pride. Perhaps he was glad Dick had found the rich claim; surely he was happy that Dick had won the girl he loved. But it seemed to Dick himself that his father meant something very different from love and fortune in his aliusion to desert gold.
 Yaqui came to Dick to say good by. Dick was startled, grieved and in his impulsiveness forgot for mo- ment the nature of the Indian. Yaqui was not to be changed
 Bedding tried to overload him with gifts. The Indian packed bag of food a blanket. a gun, knife, can. teen, and no more. The whole house. hold went out with him to the corrals and fields from which Bedding bade him choose a horse-any horse, even the loved Blanco Diable Gales heart was In his throat for fear the Indian might choose Blanco Sol. and he hated himself for selfshness he could not help. But without d word he would have parted wltfI the treas ured Sol
 Yaqui whistled the horses up-for the last time. Did he care for them? It would have been hard to say. He never looked at rhe fierce and naughty Diablo. nor at Blanco Sol as he raised his noble head and rang his piercing blast. The Indian did not choose one of Belding's whites He caught a lean and wiry broncho, strapped blanket on him, and fastened on the pack.
 Then he turned to these friends. the same emotionless, inscrutablc dark and silent Indian that he had always been. This parting was nothing 10 him He had stayed 10 pay q debt. and now he was going home
 He shook hands with the men. swept dark tleeting glance over Nell, and rested his strange eyes upon Mercedes beautiful and agitated face. II must have been moment of intense feeling for the Spanish girl. She owed it to him that she had life and love and happiness. She held out those speak ing slender hands. But Yaqui did not touch them. Turning away, he mount ed the broncho and rode down the trail toward the river.
 He's going home" said Bedding
 Home !" whispered Ladd; and Dick knew the ranger had felt the resurging tide of memory. Home--across the cactus and lava, through solemn lonely days, the silent lonely nights, into the vast and red-hazed world of desola- tion.
 ''Thorne, Mercedes, Nell, let's climb the foothill wonder and watch him out of sight" said Dick.
 They climbed while the others re- turned to the house. When they reached the summit of the lhill Yaqui was riding up the far bank of the river. sssass sH#sszsssHa 4ssav5555ss.