, 1923-02-07
DESERT GOLD

wander at will. Canteens were filed.
a small bag Of food was packed. and
blankets made into a bundle. Then
Yaqui faced the steep ascent of the
lava slope.
The trail he followed led up on the
right side of the assure, opposite to
the n he had come down. 1t was n
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. 1t 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 fiat, smooth lava.
and his followers worked with exceed
ing care and effort down to his posi-
ton.
AT the back of this bench, between
punches of choya, was a niche, n 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. A few more
gestures and fewer words disclosed
his plan. In this inaccessible nook
Mercedes was to be hidden. The men
were to 20 around Upon the opposite
rim, and block the trail leading down
to the waterhole.
Ladd chose the smallest gun in the
party and gave it to Mercedes.
ashore it's best to go the limit on
beln' 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 shaker nerve. His leave
taking Of his wife was affecting and
hurried. Then he and the rangers
carefully stepped in the tracks of the
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.
Ladd was restless and Impatient and
watchful, every little while rising to
look up the ~far-reaching slope, and
then to the right, where Yaqui's dark
figure stood out from a high point of
the rim. ThOrne grew silent, and
seemed consumed by a slow. sullen
rage. Gale vas neither calm nor free
of a gnawing suspense nor of a whit
ing wrath. But as best he could he
put the pending action out of mind.
1t came over him all of a sudden
hat he had not grasped the stupen-
dous nature of this desert setting.
There was the m~easureless 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. South.
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 1t spread int deep
ened and multiplied Its ragged lines.
No, he could not grasp the meaning
of size or distance here. There was
too much to t the sight. But the
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
ished, the blue hazes deepened, and
slowly the glistenlng surfaces Of lava
turned redder. Ladd was concerned
to discover that Yaqui was missing
| from his outlook upon the high point.
Jim Lash came out of the shady crew
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?"
"Shore I seen them. Mountain
Sheep" replied Ladd.
"Guess again, Laddy. Dick. !
reckon you'd better fash 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.
81 see half a dozen small animals.
brown In color. They look like sheep.
But I couldn't distinguish mountain
sheep from antelope"
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