Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1923-08-03


fit, and once more essayed the steep
descent. Jim Lash was the heaviest
man of the three, aud Gales strength
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 a final Grip up the
slope for the camp effects which va
qui had been unable to carry.
In the labor Of watching and nurs-
ing 1t 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 cayalryman 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 Thornes fever With
it 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 he 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 APP
parent change in Ladd's condition, I'M
less it 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
exposed to the air, at night
covering him. Next day he again
exposed the wounds to the warm, dry
afr. 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 a crutch; he
shared the Indians watch over Laid.
Thorne lay haggard, emaclated
ghost of his former rugged self, but
with life in the eyes that turned al.
ways toward Mercedes. Ladd fingered
md fingered. The life seemingly
would not leave his bulletpierced
body. The tireless, implacable, in
jcrutable savage was ever at the
'angers side. His great somber eyes
,urned. At length he went to Gale,
md with that strange light fitting
lcross the hard bronzed face, he said
add would live.
The second day after Ladd had
zen given such thin nourishment as
e could swallow he recovered the use
f his tongue.
"shOre-this's HI" he whispered.
That was Characteristic speech for
he ranger, Gale thought; and indeed {
made all who had heard 1t smile
lille their eyes were wet.
From that time forward Ladd Q