Phoenix tribune., 1924-09-20
CHAPTER XIII
The Border Patrol.

udTkHeSS Sdine the low Whitney VI d
horse in sudden recognition. while as
instantly that horrid shadow took
both shape and form. 1t was horse
saddled, bridled. the rein trailing
along the sand. one of the two animals
stampeded by the shot which had
killed Kelleen. He had sensed her
coming In the desert night. and was
even then dumbly welcoming her The
girl went forward slowly. doubtfully,
fearful of again startling the animal
into fight. but he remained quiet,
shifting at her as she drew near, and
she finally put hand on the dangling
rein. 1t was the horse Kelleen had
ridden, and Deborah hid her face in
his name and cried softly, while he
turned and rubbed his muzzle against
her shoulder in silent greeting. 1t
seemed too good to be true; as though
God had led her every step of the
way. The sudden reaction left her
weak as a child
Yet she must go on; there was more
cause now than ever before to go on
more hope of success She made the
effort twice before she succeeded in
dragging herself up into the saddle,
but the horse stood patiently, making
no attempt to break away. Once there
the girls strength came back, and
with 1t her determination. All was
still. deathly still; not a breath of air
touched her cheek; the dense night
shut them in. Carefully she located
the only star she knew; to her mind
II seemed utterly wrong In its posi-
tion. yet she was faithful to it. half
afraid. yet not daring to venture other
WISE she drew the horse about and
rode south.
The night seemed endless, the black
desert eternal. There were times
when the girl lost consciousness of ev-
erything, except that shining North
Star ever at her back. 1t was her one
guide and hope; through 1t she re-
tanned sanity and faith. In that way
lay Box canyon and those waiting
troopers She dare not ride fast.
knowing not what pitfalls were ahead,
the course irregular, up and down
The horse picked his way intelligently,
the reins lying loose, except as she
occasionally held him inexorably to
the southwark. She swayed wearily
in the saddle, cIinging to the high
pommel for support, unable to see,
yet aware that they crossed shallow
ravines, and found passage occasion
ally along ridges of outcropping rock,
and then advanced more easily for
long spaces over wide expanses of
sand, noiselessly as specter. 1t was
hard to keep awake, to concentrate
to remember-she had to struggle to
realize this was not all dream.
Then. after seemingly endless
hours. the dawn came. Would she
ever again forget 1t? She hardly
knew at first what 1t was. Riding
drearily with lowered head, she be-
came dimly aware of a change, a
tightening of the gloom about, a dull
grayness tingeing family the black
wall of the surrounding night. Almost
as she wondered the daylight came,
wan and spectral at first, widening
her vista on a gray circle as the stars
slowly faded from out a multicolored
sky. To the left a Frightening white
light shot up In long streamers. touch
ing with more gaudy tinges the edges
OF feecy clouds, while in the other d.
rection a purple haze blended with the
deeper shadows along the horizon. 1t
was the coming of the sun, rising ma
jestically above the far-off rim of the
desert. and she was still moving
southward; through the long night
hours she had kept the faith.
Yet there was little OF hope, of en-
cOuragement, in the picture unrolled
before her. Her view gradually spread
out In wider and wider circle, but
with no relief to its drear sameness
or monotony. Sand, leagues upon
leagues of sand stretched wherever
her wearied eyes turned, leveled by
the wind, or cast upward in rounded
hillOcks, but ever gray. depressing, a
sea of desolation. dead, unmOvable, ex-
tending to the far circle of the over
shadowing arch of sky. 1t was all
lifeless, not even sagebrush or Span
lsh bayonet visible. Doubts assalled
her. Had she taken the right course?
Did Kelleen imply that Box canyon
lay directly south and had she been
led astray. and thus wandered blindly
out into the very heart of the desert?
Could she, could the horse live
through such day of torture as that
rising sun promised? Helpless, hope
less. the girl dropped down weariIy In
the saddle. closing her eyes to the
desolation. They plodded on drearily,
her mind chaos. haunted by every
memory of horror arising from those
swift-occurring events which had led
to this tragedy. Her forcible mar
riage to Bob Meager, the bitter hatred
his touch had aroused, his drunken.
lustful eyes, the blow she struck him,
with murder In her heart, the fleeing
ike hunted criminal, desperately
seeking escape. Then the coming of
Kelleen into her life, strangely, mys-
teriously weaving about her a web
of fascination even az fhev roda m |