The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1924-05-08
CHAPTER xV-Continued.

moved. He looked abou him.. In the
far distance were the fainteSt blue
outlines of hills. 1t occurred to him
that De Witt might have been making
for these. And he might as well go
forward as turn back.
He trudged on endlessly, leading the
horse, the sun a grilling fire above
him. His boots were burned through
from contact with the hot stones.
his tread.
The sun, ever in it's descent, seemed
to grow hotter. Winton was half
dead from thirst. The painting horse
was becoming a burden. AT last it
stood still and dropped slowly upon
It's knees. 1t looked at him and
whinnied.
AS Winton glanced hopelessly over
the plain his eyes were arrested by
the sight of a dark object lying an
indefinite distance away. 1t was too
large for a man-too black for a rock.
And there were nj rocks anywhere,
for the whole plain seemed to have
Dttu CIuSucu ndl ny q Sldhl olCdlu-
roller.
Winton made his way toward it. 1t
began to take form; it was a dead
horse. 1t had dropped in its tracks,
and it's sufferings had been ended by
a bullet through the head. But there
were no signs of a rider, and it was
impossible to distinguish any foot
tracks on the stones.
1t was no doubt the horse that had
been ridden by one of the three. 1t
was not De Wits. Probably it was
the Hottentot's.
Winton's spirits scared upward. He
set his teeth grim,y and went back
to his animal. He must go on now,
even if he had to leave the beast be-
hind him.
He stood looking at it. 1t had fallen
upon its stomach, and crouched thus,
with it's legs bent under it. 1t raised
its head and whinnied again family.
1t was past saving, unless water could
be procured Immediately.
Winton drew his revolver, took care
full aim behind the ear, and fired. The
beasts head went down-it ~quivered,
rolled ON it's side, and died.
And he went on. BY degrees his
journey became automatic, so that he
was hardly conscious of his surround
ings. He saw only the distant hills
and the western sun descending with
tantaiizing slowness. His tongue,
swollen and numb, seemed to distend
his cheeks. Sometimes the stony
desert yielded for a few steps to
sparse patches of finty earth, indicat-
ing the hope of some fertile region
beyond, but it always began again.
The sun dipped into the west, and
still the man staggered onward. The
significance of the patches of thorn
scrub was lost to him, of the rugged
and broken terrain, of the foothills
about him, with their struggling mi
mOsas. But suddenly Winton stopped,
trembling.
Green grass was at his feet, and
out of a assure in the ground there
dubbed a little spring, u~nguessed at
by the map-makers. 1t was a tiny
unknown oasis in the vast wilderness.
De Witt had evidently possessed the
secret, n had planned to make this
his headquarters until the hue and
cry had been dropped.
q Winton flung himself upon the
earth beside the spring, and, burying
his face in the water, drank until his
shriveled veins seemed to pulse with
new blood.
The sun had set, and the intense
heat was changing to the icy cold of the
desert night when he arose, rested,
and with all the grimness of his reso-
luton n~erving him to action. He knew
that Sheila could not be far away. He
looked at his revolver. To his con-
~sternation he discovered that only two
shots remained. However, these
should be enough-one, at least, would
save Sheila from De Witt the other
He would not face the possibilities
that unfoIded themselves before him,
but rose to his feet, and was about to
follow the spring through a valley into
the hills when something lying upon
the ground attracted his attention.
1t was SheiIa's handkerchief.
He snatched it up and pressed it to
his lips. He felt that Sheila had
dropped it for an indication, knowing
that he would follow. Lightly he
stepped forward into the bush-clad
hills, among the boulders.
The valley opened. The scene grew
des0Iate again. All round Winton
were hills of a precipitous character,
which gradually grew sleeper until he
found himself in a sort of level am
p%hitheater, apparently incIosed, save
at the end through which he had come.
Thin tufts of grass and sparse vege-
tation grew around the bases of the
cliffs. but the central portion of the
valley was of a dazzling ~whiteneSs, as
If incrusted with salt or alkali.
Alarr opa cidn yuQrn nrmDrnuc fpaiIc" .