Evening star., 1923-08-12
1t Was Only Dream, Scarsda1e
Was Told BY HIS Chinese Friend
After the Great Crisis Passed

Yet somewhere among its ruinous
shacks, it's empty ways. life might
linger. Through those silent streets
| past those forsaken homes. Scars
dale staggered under the weight OF
| the Ave notebooks.
1t was as If death went walking
through q dead town.
,. At last, in the blank snow cover
| ing Main street, he espied footprints.
He followed them.
The tracks led him to a building
| which seemed to have put up los'
| iilg fight against the creeping decay
ali around It.
II was half unroofed: its false third
story had fallen into the street; Its
windows were nailed with Stats here
and there: but from a stovepipe
| thrust out of hole in the wall
| thread of smoke drifted.
Scarsdale dragged himself to the
door. He managed to open IT. though
his hands had been 50 badly frozen
| he could hardly use them. He
| slipped and stumbled along a dark
passage. There was a window cut
| in this passage opening upon what
! had once been bar. Throush the
! window Scarsdale stared.
: There were two men there.
One was Adams. the fat half-breed
that Scarsdale remembered as the
| keeper of the pooiroom years ago.
! He dozed in a chair by the stove.
The "other man was standing at the
! ruinous bar and drinking from a
cracked tumbler. lr
At the very moment Scarsdale's s
lface appeared at the window in, the
wall this man glanced up and caught
sight of him. And to Scarsdale it
was as if death himself had looked
up and recognized him
They remained like that for a mo-
ment, looking at each other; then
the man put down his glass without
taking his eyes off Scarsdale and be-
gan to grin. No one but Melsome
Rand could grin like that.
Scarsdale hesitated just an instant.
He did not in the least care whether
he died or not. He was past caring
personally. But there were the note
books. He turned away from the
window and went out into the street
again.
He did not know what good that
would do. Melsome Rand would sim
ply follow him at his leisure. But
there was just a chance to save the
notebooks. Just a chance that there
might be some other man left in
Lawes who would take care of them
and see that they were forwarded.
There might even be some one who
would give Scarsdale hot drink,
bend his hands around the gun he
couldn't raise, lodge the barrel on a
window ledge. and so enable him to
put up some sort of a fight with
Melsome Rand-for the credit of the
force.
CCARSDALE dragged on. looking
- for such a man. He was sur
prised to see, presently, that night
had come. Tho bitter arctic day
light had changed to a more pitiless
moonlight. The shacks of dead
Lawes were black, haggard squares.
They sprawled. shook, staggered,
tilted, as If each one Of them was
crushed under the weight of five little
notebooks. At their feet sprawled,
shook and staggered their black
shadows. The pitiful places were
all empty. Adams, the half reed.
and Melsome Rand seemed the only
men left alive in Lawes; and why
were they there, since they were yet
living? For Scarsdale hardly count
ed himself alive.
He looked back two or three times
His eyes were giving out, and at first he
did not see Rand. though he knew
he was there, somewhere behind. But
again. when he looked around, Rand
was treading almost in his wavering
tracks, grinning-always with that
hungry grin. Scarsdale stopped;
Rand stopped. too. He said. so you
remember me, Scarsdale?"
Yes" said Scarsdale. He tried to
add. i've seen nothing but you for
the last month" confusing Rand with
that other presence, Death. which
dwelt in Lawes, but it was long
sentence, and he gave il up.
Death-or Melsome Rand-came a
step nearer. He said, You sur
prised to see me here, Scarsdale""
NO" said Scarsdale DULY. Il don't
know that I am" Rands presence
Deaths presence-seemed quite rea-
sonable at that time and in that
place. But the surviving sanity of
Scarsdale could wonder at 1t as a de-
liberate trap of destiny.
Rand's slow, hungry eyes devoured
Scarsdale's appearance with an avid
satisfaction. He said softly, only
four men to welcome you to Lawes,
Scarsdale, and one of ems me. Amt
that queer? wouldn't that get you,
Scarsdale. Just the four of US left
as men, looking for the lode the other
fools said was worked out. but that
we knows there yet, 'somewheres by
the Wayamous.
Well find 1t soon, and then we'll
be rich men, and the old Chink can
send that daughter o his that he
keeps so close no white mans ever
seen her since she grew up. he can
send her to make a big marriage in
Frisco. Rich men, Scarsdale. me and
Adams and the two Chinks. You
never thought that time you followed
me 800 miles that I'd live to be a
free. rich man when you was a dead
one. did you, Scarsdale?"
NO"
For the last fifty of that 800 miles,
Scarsdale," Melsome Rand purred, Il
was pretty near as bad as you are
now. You hunted me till 1 was dyin'
on my feet"
"I got YOU in the end" said Scars