The Nevada County picayune., 1923-03-15

~HaI t6 dim=aH hours Sun-W0Hld #I both Eaaas#a and Thorne. Come au now"
 For once Jim Lash's eool good na- fufe and careless indifference gave precedence f5 amaze and seofn
 ..'Always knew yop was husky chap. But Dick. you're no hoss. Get me crutch aH' give me d lift on one side"
 Come ea. replied Gale. i've Dc tiiHe to monkey.
 He lifted the ranger. called to Yaqui te follow with some of the camp out- ft and oaee more eSsayed the steep descent Jim Lash was the heaviest man of the three. and Gales strength vas put 10 enormous strain 10 carry him on tHat#broEen trail. Netrrrhe- lcss. he went down, down. walking swiftly and surely over the bad places. and II last he staggered into the arroyo with bursting heart and red-binded eyes. When he had re- covered he made final trip ID the slope for the camp effects which "a qH 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 cafe and watch over Thorne which, up #to that time. she had absolutely refused to relinquish The #eayalryman 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. ghastly, stricken, raylng. Suddenly, and to Gales amaze and thanksgiving, there came an abatement Of Thorne's fever. With ii some heat and redness of the in famed wound disappeared. Next morning he was conscious, and Gale crasped some of the hope that Mer- eedeS had never abandoned. He forced her to rest while he attended 10 Thorne. That day he saw that the crisis was past Recovery for Thorne was now possible, and would perhaps depend entirely upon the eyre he re ceivcd
 Jim Lashs wound healed without any aggrayating symptoms. IL would he only matter of time until he had tEe use of his leg again. All these days. however. there waS little ap- parent change In Ladd's condition. un- less it was that he seemed 10 fade away as he fingered. Then Yaqui asked for the care of Ladd. The Indian ahsentcd himself from camp for n 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 10 his wounds, That done. he let him lie with the wounds exposed to the air. at night covering him Next day he again exposed fine wounds to the warm. dry air. SlovH they closed and Ladd ceased 70 bleed externally.
 Days passed and grew Into what Ciale imagined must have been weeks. Yaqui recovered fully. Jim Lash be gan to move about on crutch; he shared the Indlau's 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 hullet-perced body. The tireless implacahle in Scrutahle savage was ever at the rangers side His great somher eyes burned. Al length he went to Gale, and with that strange light fitting across the hard bron2ed face, he said Ladd would live