The Lamar register., 1923-03-28

the desert caverns. Manii"s'lv ln
told Yaqui lie had come to the spot
hch he had aimed
Then his actions became swift
Iaqui seldom moved swiftly y
,act Impressed Gale The iuii.
searched the Level floor under tat
shelf He gathered up handfuls ~
small black stones and he thsi-
them at Gale. Their weight uuda
Gale start. and then he rremhled The
Indians next move was To pick up %
piece of weathered rock and throw II
against the wall. II broke. IL"
snatched mp parts. and showed the
broken edges to Gale They contained
yellow streaks. dull gllnts. faint trnc-
ings OF green. II 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 forlornly away
into the desert. But he did not see
any of that. Here was reality as
sweet, as wonderful, as saving as a
dream come true Yaqui had led him
to ledge of gold. Gale had learned
enough about mineral TO know that
this was a rich strike. All In second
he was speechless with the joy Of 1t.
But his mind whirled in thought about
this strange and noble Indian, who
seemed never to be able to pay debt.
Belding and the poverty that had
come to him Nell. who had wept
over the loss of spring! Laddy,
who never could ride again Jim
Lash. who swore he would always look
after his friend. Thorne and Mer-
cedesl All these people, who had
been good TO him and whom he loved,
were poor. But now they would be
rich. They would one and all be his
partners. He had discovered the
source OF Forlorn river, and was rich
In water Yaqui had made him rich
in gold. Gale wanted to rush down
the slope, down into the valley, and
tell his wonderful news.
Suddenly his eyes cleared and he
turned to ice. then to fire. That was
the mark Of a prospector's claim. But
II was old. very old. The ledge had
never been worked. The slope was
wild. There was not another single
Indication that prospector had ever
been there Where. then. was he who
had first staked this claimf Gale
wondered with growing hope. with
the fire easing. with the cold passing
The Yaqui uttered the low. strange,
Involuntary cry so rare with him.
cry somehow always associated with
death. Gale shuddered.
The Indian was digging in the sand
and dust under the shelving wall He
threw out an object that rang against
the stone. II was belt buckle. He
threw out old shrunken, withered
boots. He came upon other things,
and then he ceased TO dig
The grave of desert prosrectors
Gale had seen more than one. Ladd
had told him many story of such
gruesome finds. II was grim. hard
fact.
Then the keen-eyed Yaqui reached
up to little projecting shelf of rock
and took from II a small object. He
showed no curiosity and gave the
thing to Gale.
How strangely Gale felt when he re-
ceived into his hands fiat oblonc
box! Was It only the influence of
the Yaqui, or was there nnmeless
and unseen presence beside that
gravel Gale could not be sure. But
he knew he had gone back TO the old
desert mood. He knew something
hung in the balance. No accident. no
luck. no debt-paylng Indian could ac-
count wholly for that moment. Gale
knew he held In his hands more than
gold.
The box was tin one. and not at
all rusty. Gale prled open the re-
luctant lid \ faint old musty odor
penetrated his noStrlls Inside the
box lay n packet wrapped in what
once might have been oilskln He
took It out aud removed this covering.
folded paper remained in his hands