The Lamar register., 1923-03-14


and this last time it seemed little
harder to do. little more Indicative
of vacillation. There were reasons
why Belongs gun held for him
gloomy fascination.
The Chases. those grasping and con
scienceless agents of new force in
the development of the West. were
bent upon Beldlngs ruin. and, 50 far
as his fortunes ut FnrlOrn River were
concerned had almost accomplished
It. one by one he lost points for
which he contended with them. He
carried into the Tucson courts the
matter of the staked claims, and min
Ing claims, and water claims and he
lost all Following that he lost his
government position as inspector of
Immigration and this fact, because
of what he considered its injustice,
had heen a hard blow. He had been
made to suffer II humiliation equally
as great. II came about that he ac-
tually had to pay the Chases for water
to irrigate his alfalfa fields. The
neverfailing spring upon his land an
swered for the needs Of household
and horses. but no more.
These matters We're unfortunate for
Belding. hut not by any means wholly
accountable for his worry and unhap-
piness and broOdinE hate. He be
lleyed Dick Gale and the rest of the
party taken Into the desert by the
Yaqui had heen killed or lost. Two
months before string of Mexican
horses rlderless. saddled starved for
grnss and Wild for water, had come
to Forlorn River. They We're part
of the horses belonging TO Roias and
his band. Their arrival complicated
the mystery and strengthened convic-
tlons OF the loss Of both pursuers and
pursued
Belongs unhappiness could hardly
be laid to material loss. He had been
rich and was now poor. but change of
fortune such as that could not have
made him unhappy. Something more
somber and mysterious and sad than
the loss of Dick Gale and their friends
had come into the lives of his wife
and Nell He dated the time of this
change back to a certain day when
Mrs. Belding recognized In the elder
Chase an old schoOlmate and a re-
jected suitor. II took time for slow
thinking Beldiag to discover anything
wrong In his household, but gradually
he had forced on him the fact of some
secret cause for grief other than Gales
loss. He was sure of 1t when his wife
signified her desire to make = visit TO
her old home back In Peoria.
A letter she had received contained
news that may or may not have been
authentic; but 1t was enough, Belding
thought, TO interest his wife. An cid
prospector had returned to Peoria,
and he had told relatives Of meeting
Robert Burton at the Sonoyta oasis
fifteen years before. and that Burton
had gone into the desert never to re-
turn. To Belding this was no sur
prise, for he had heard that before his
marriage. There appeared to have
been no doubts as to the death OF his
wife's first husband. The singular
thing was that both Nell's father and
grandfather had been lost somewhere
In the Sonora desert.
Belding did not oppose his wife's
desire to visit her old home. He
thought It would be a wholesome trip
for her. and did all in his power to
persuade Nell to accompany her. But
Nell would not go.
Ii was after Mrs. Belongs depar-
ture that Beldlng discovered in Nell
a condition OF mind that amazed and
distressed him. She had suddenly be-
came strangely wretched. She would
tell him nothing. But after a while,
when he had thought It out, he dated
this deplorable change In Nell back
to day on which he had met Nell
with Radford Chase. This indefatlga-
BILE wocer had not in the least aban-
doned his suit. A slow surprise gath
cred upon Tom Belding when he saw
that Nell. apparently, was accepting
young Chase's attentions. AT least.
she no longer hid from him. Belding
could not account for this, because he
was sure Nell cordially desplsed the
fellow. And toward the end he d.
vined. If he did not actually know,
that these Chases possessed some
strange power over Nell. and were us