The L'Anse sentinel., 1923-12-14
Jef's Desert
Ride
e~~~~~~>~~~~ - $3.50
BY ANTHONY REIMERT
(0. ls23. wsstsrn Newspaper Union.)

~~~~@
Jeff rode his pinto as II all tn,
j devils In hell were after him, which
meant, with the pinto's present ca
pabilities, q slow, staggering walk
He had ridden thirty miles into tn,
desert since morning.
Thirty miles under that blazing, pit
iless sky, with the free ranges still
remote. But a mile further on wa
the water-hole. Once he and his pom,
had drunk there; they would be sat
from pursuit.
And after him, perhaps mile away
rode the sheriff. Jeff had had hin
In plain view all the time he rode.
But now he felt secure. Once hil
pinto had drunk, he could easily out
distance the sherifrs horse. Freedom
was his, though the shadow Of the
moose had dangled over him all that
morning.
He had shot his partner, Bill Salee-
by, his friend Of years, In quarrel
over cards. Both had been drunk
that was why the thirst tormented him
SO now. But he had shot Bill, and,
leaping on his horse, had ridden madly
into the desert.
Now he saw the water-hole In front
Of him. He kicked his jaded animal
into lope. A few moments later he
had flung himself from its back and
was tapping up the precious fluid.
while his pinto put its head down and
drank greedily.
Satisfied at last, he remounted. He
felt from the easy movement of his
mount that 1t. was now good for many
a mile. He started off again.
But after covering a few hundred
yards he pulled in and looked back.
The sheriff's horse had fallen-a quar-
ter Of mile, perhaps, from the wa
ter-hole. He saw the sheriff stagger-
ing about like drunken man. Round
and round he went-and dropped
again.
At once the meaning of this came
to JEFF. The sheriff did not know of
the water-hole, or did not know how
near it was. Had he known, he would
have pulled himself together, concen-
trated all his strength in the endeavor
to make the few hundred yards re-
naming.
AS he watched he saw the sheriff
go down for the last time and lie
STILL Exultation filled Jeff's heart
He was free-he was free!
He rode on a hundred yards farther.
He reined In and looked back. Sher-
iff and horse were still lying where he
had seen them before. They would
die there.
JEFF sat like statue. All sorts OF
thoughts ran through his head. Bit
terness and grief for the death Of his
partner Bill were foremost. Why
should he save the sheriff when a bet
ter man than he had cashed In that
morning?
He would almost have given his
life to have had his partner back
again. For years they had been to-
gether. prospecting, sharing good for
tune and Ill. Now he had killed Bill
over a measly game Of cards, and
there lay the sheriff.
"Shucks!" he muttered. "Come on.
pinto. I guess we got to save the
cuss."
He knew the risk; that the sheriff
would still have strength enough to
shoot him as he returned. His heart
misgave him; dozen times he
stopped the horse and called himself
fool as he turned back. Neverthe-
less, he kept on.
He had filed his canteen at the
water-hole, and now, after stopping
for another drink for himself and his
pinto, he rode back coward the mo-
tionless figures Of horse and man.
He rode cautiously, his pistol In his
hand. II the sheriff tried any tricks
with him he meant to spur his pony
hard, ride up. and try to put a bullet
into him before he was mortally
wounded. But the sheriff did not stir
| He rode around and reconnoitered.
He saw now that the, sneriff had raised
his head. He strained his eyes to see
whether he had a six-gun In his hand.
The light was binding.
"Sheriffr he yelled
There came no answer. Don't
shoot I" he called again. But still the
other was silent And then, taking his
chance, JEFF kicked his pony and
dashed at full speed toward the pros
trate man. threw the reins and dis
mounted.
The sheriff was waving an empty
hand at him. Jeff ran to him.
Next instant he let out whoop.
"Bnl! Bill, by all that's holyl"
"You--durned old fool" Bill NUT
tered. "That bullet hit my watch
didn't hurt me. rode oil this way
TO tell you to come back; It's all
right" His head dropped on his arm
Jeff kneeled beside him and put the