Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1924-12-12
AT THE EDGE
OF HERMITS
RIM

'S>S>@1@~1s@ssS~->ee>@SN1@1Se.
By ROSE HENDERSON

ing her lips cautiously as 4
fearing 10 be overheard She
stood quietly in the jagged purple
I shadow Of q huge rock 81 the edge Of
! Hsrnit's Rim, and her brown finger
/ picked softly at 6 slender. silver-hsn-
died knife in her belt. bright-col
ored fl buzZed in a yellow cactus bios
som slim lizards az ashen as slkali
/ flashed nOiselessly in the sun
Across the sand below the cliff, the
bridge-buiIding gang lolled II the shade
at the side Of the canyon, their dinner
pals beEde them Garrett Brand. the
foreman. had started up the zlg-zag-
ging trail that climbed 10 HerInit's
BIN. Every day for q month Maria
had met him there at noon in the shade
Of the rocks She had listened 10 his
talk about his home In Minnesota
whore there were cool blue lakes and
forests Of maple and oak. In the win
ter there were sleighing parties. Maria
always shiyered a little al his descrip-
tons Of the cold and Brand would
laugh and tell her what fun It was 70
go snOwbslling and get your face
washed In the snow.
Once he told her about a girl he used
10 90 70 school with. a yellow haired,
blue-eyed girl whose name was Kath-
leen. They went c0astlng together on
red wooden hand sleds, and skating,
too. and sail-boating when It was warm.
Then you viii sometime 90 back and
marry her. this KnthleenT' Maria had
asked
"Oh, no She wouldn't have me. I
think Ike dark girls better, anyhow"
he had laughed
Maria recalled this conversation as
she stood hidden in the niche Of rock,
watching the shimmering trail. She
had recalled Il so often that she knew
every sentence he had spoken. II was
quite possible that she added few,
uncOnsclOusly celebrating the things
which hurt her most. She had dreamed
sullenly over his words in the long
days when she helped her stepmother
in tie little adobe house at the brink Of
the canyon. She had lain awake
nights, sobbing angrlly at the thought
Of Kathleen
Maria looked out across the sand and
saw the men, Ike flies, on the steep
side Of the canyon. and her eyes
glowed between half-shut lids as she
leaned forward watching for Brand.
Tonight the bridge would be finished,
and they would move on north. Yes
terday Brand had told her about II,
and she had listened with taut nerves
for him to say something more. Yet
he said nothing. After all their love
making there In the shadows, after
their walks together when the full
moon smiled over the mesas, he was
leaving her, going away coldly, 10 the
yellow-halred girl in the country of
lakes and forests. Maria had wept
4 little and confessed that she would
he very lonely But he only looked
dreamily into the distance. his hat
pushed back from the curling brown
isair on his forehead. II would be i'm
possible for him to see her that eve
ming. he had insisted There was too
ruuch 10 be done getting ready 10 go
away.
"And that Kathleen, yOu-will sec
| ger when you return?" she asked.
Sure. I'll see her If she's there" hf
laughed. Were Just old pals, yoU
zee"
He would meet Maria at Hermit's
! him 10 say good-by. He would come
at the usual time, when the men were
ut lunch. He was sorry they could not
lave a walk the last evening. But 4
was impossible
He had been lying TO her, playing
with her, she thought sullenly. Per
haps he was even now laughing AT The
memory Of her foollshness A qulcl
fr0wn swept her face at the memory
~ his laugh. She touched the silver
handled knife stealthily and watched
a chalky lizard dart under a cactus
leaf out across the sand the trai
leaned still and empty. Brand hat
PASSED under the jutting shelf Of thu
lit Maria moved impatlently. 1
seemed as II the men had been sittlni
there on the rocks for hours Then sh'
heard his step on the trail below tn
edge OF the cliff Her throat frightened
throbblngly. and her lips parted in {
moclIing smile. He was coming to ga!
goOd-by, 10 add the insult Of caressei
10 the pain he had already given her
He would laugh his easy, boylsh laugl
Mt her seriousness and theI
fling her aside
And she would go back to the taunti
Of the little village, to her step
mothers ridlcule and to the hateful
cOurtshlp of Juan Jamez. If she haC
no other lover her father would in
slst that she marry the fat, drunken
Mexican. For she was getting old. Al
ready she was past twenty, as her step
mother frequently reminded her Juar
was rich. And he had been wanting hel
for years She would go to live in tn,
many-roomed adobe where there was
housekeeper and maid There wa.
also patio garden. But Marli
shrugged at the thought. Somethin,
about Juan reminded her OF taran
tula--something sinister and sluggish
and then daFtlng suddenly alive
The scenes Brand had described
came back. waverine before her like {
Turing mirage She had dreamed o
walking with him through red ant
yellow forests ~ feeling the cool wind
hlOtytnp oypr hlug iul,pg Sla hof