The Winslow mail., 1923-10-26
GIFT OF THE. DESERT

He grasped her bride rein, the two
horses moving forward at walk, circ
ling to the left of the stone marker.
A hundred feet beyond, the faint
sound of horses hoofs gave evidence
that they passed along a narrow ridge
of rock. Suddenly Kelleen came to
pause, leaning forward In the saddle
to see more clearly.
"You have no memory of how
things are here?" he asked.
"No; only that the springs are over
to the left yonder."
"Then listen; there Is an outer
opening Of rock which swerves here
to the right, and runs almost directly
east for two hundred yards. Follow
that carefully; go just as far as pos
sible, and then wait there for me.
There is no danger, so you keep close
to the rocks. Keep to the center so
the horse will leave no imprint"
And what are you going to doT'
ride straight ahead down the trail :;
then circle back through gully, and
meet you out yonder. Don't be afraid !;
just wait. I'll come, although it may
require half an hour or more for me
to make the trip safely; I've got to
cover every trace) after 1 once strike
out into the desert"
She watched him ride away vanish
ing quickly into the gloom, his horses
hoofs making no sound in the soft
sand. Instantly she began urging her
own mount along the narrow rock
ridge, watchful that he did not stray
from the narrow path of rock. Where
this very plainly ended she drew the
animal to halt and sat upright in the
saddle, staring wonderingly about into
the silent desolation. Her mind trav-
eled back over all that had happened
that night. She had no time before
for thought; she had been continu-
Ously forced onward by circumstances
beyond control, driven blindIy. But
now everything which had occurred so
swiftly during those past few hours
swept over her in memory like q flood
What was the end now before her?
1t all seemed more a horrible dream
than any reality Of life. 1t was be-
yond belief, beyond experience; that
such things were even possible seemed
utterly beyond reason.
Yet memory would not die or be
deceived. 1t was true-all Of 1T was
true. The death of old Tom Meager;
the return Of the renegade son; his
brutal assumption of CONTROL the glow
of lust in his eyes at their first meet
ing; and then-then the happenings of
this last night. And now-now she
was there waiting, amid all this DESC
lation, for the return of a strange
man, whose face she never had seen.
The whole situation seemed impossi-
BILE, yet she could not doubt its actual
reality. She was not dreaming; she
was wide awake.
Yet as she reviewed all the events
leading up to this situation the girl
could not perceive where she might
have done otherwise. The impossible
ity of leaving the ranch unaided; the
openly avowed purpose of Bob Meager;
the forced marriage; the drunken as
lieving she had killed the man in self
defense; and the unexpected meeting
with Kelleen-all these had been utter
ly beyond her control. Even after that
scarcely a choice had been left her.
The man had to be accepted as a
friend or else left behind as an enemy.
He was in position to either serve or
betray her, as he chose, and there was
that about his personality which had
won her faith. What it was she hard
ly knew, nor did she have the slight
est conception still who the man ac-
tually was. His evident dislike of
Meager and Garrity meant nothing ex-
cept perhaps as thus explaining his
willingness to befriend her against
them. She had seen him as only a
dark, ill-defned shape in the night.
She had gained no glimpse Of his fea-
lures, but she liked his voice, the
genial yet respectful way in which he
addressed her, the cool assurance with
which he had taken complete control;
whatever the fellows past might have
been, she felt confidence in him, be-
lieved firmly that he was really en-
deavoring honestly to serve her in this
emergency.
1t seemed a long while, so long as
to almost frighten her, before she be-
came aware of his approach. Indeed,
he was actually beside her on foot
before she recognized his presence,
approaching silently from the oppo-
site direction from that anticipated.
Her startled gaze had scarcely distin-
guished his dim outline, when he
spoke, his hand already grasping her
horses rein
"There, that is over with" he said
genially. Nov I'll lead you for the
next five hundred yards. After that
We'll do some real riding"
Where their course led she could
not clearly determine from the saddle,