The Elk Mountain pilot., 1923-03-01

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Gale Carried the Wounded Man Down
Into the Arroyo.
tax on his strength Surely ana
swiftly. however. he bore the cavalry
man down the trail to lay him besid
Ladd. Again he started back, ana
when he began to mount the steer
lava steps he was hot, wet, breathine
hard. AS he reached the scene o.
that nights camp voice greeted him
Jim Lash was sitting up
Hello, Dick. l woke some late
this mornin'. Where's Laddyi
Where's Thorne an Mercedes? Lool
here, mani l reckon yOifain packln
this crippled outfit down that awfui
trailY'
Had to. Jim-an hours sun-wonld
kill-both Laddy and Thorne. Come
on. now"
For once Jim Lash's cool good ma
ture and careless Indifference CAV,
| precedence to amaze and scorn.
always knew you was a husl;
chap. But, Dick, you're no hoss Ge,
me a crutch an give me n lift on on,
side''
Come on" replied Gale, 'I've l,
time to monkey"
tie lifted the ranger. called to Yaqr
to follow with some of the camp on
fit, and once more essaved the stee
descent. Him Lash was the heayieg
man of the three. and Gales strenrl
was put to enormous strain to carry
him on that broken trail. Neverthe-
less, he went down, down, walking
swiftly and surely over the bad
places; and at last he staggered into
the arroyo with bursting heart and
red-blinded eyes. When he had re-
covered he made final trip up the
slope for the camp effects which va
qui had been unable to carry.
In the labor of watching and nurs-
ing it seemed to Gale that two days
and two nights slipped by like few
hours. Then Gale succumbed to wea-
riness. After his much-needed rest he
relieved Mercedes of the care and
watch over Thorne which, up to that
time, she had absolutely refused to
relinquish. The cavalryman required
constant attention. His condition
slowly grew worse, and there came a
day which Gale thought surely was
the end. But that day passed. and
the night. and the next day, and
Thorne lived on, CHASTITY, stricken.
raving. Suddenly, and to Gales
amaze and thanksgiving, there came
an abatement of Thorne's fever. With
1t some heat and redness of the in
famed wound disappeared. Next
morning he was conscious. and Gale
grasped some of the hope that Mer.
cedes had never abandoned. He
forced her to rest while he attended
to Thorne. That day he saw that the
crisis was past. Recovery for Thorne
was now possible, and would perhaps
depend entirely upon the care Me re
ceived
Jim Lash's wound healed without
any aggravating symptoms. 1t would
be only a matter of time until he had
the use of his leg again. All these
days, however. there was little ap-
parent change in Ladd's condition. un-
less 1t was that he seemed TO
fade away as he fingered. Then
Yaqui asked for the care of Ladd. The
Indian absented himself from camp
for a while, and when he returned he
carried the roots and leaves of desert
plants unknown to Gale. From these
the Indian brewed an ointment. Then
he stripped the bandages from Ladd
and applied the mixture to his wounds.
That DONE he let him lie with the
wounds exposed to the air. at night
covering him. Next day he again
exposed the wounds to the warm. dry
air. Slowly they closed. and Ladd
ceased to bleed externally.
Days passed and grew into what
Gale imagined must have been weeks.
Yaqui recovered fully. Jim Lash be-
gan to move about on crutch; he
shared the Indians watch over Ladd.
Thorne lay haggard. emaciated
ghost of his former rugged self but
with life in the eyes that turned al
ways toward Mercedes. Ladd fingered
and fingered. The life seemingly
would not leave his bullet-pierced
body. The tlreless, implacable, In
scrutable savage was ever at the
rangers side. His great somber eyes
burned. At length he went to Gale.
and with that strange light fitting
across the hard bronzed face, he said
Ladd would live.
The second day after Ladd had