Evening star., 1924-10-05

baby after all. and a baby could
never tell that Ell Caiman had failed
in feat of strength.
We will rest here" he said
craftfly. and deposited his burden
on a ledge beside the trail. staggered
not hear if it wept, and lay down
to die.
1t did not weep. 1t crawled after
him needle ssly near the brink. "Hola,
compadre." protested FL Caiman, but
thou wilt fall bum, bum, to the bot
tom Of the barranca. Hast thou no
brains?'
He struggled up and caught the
rash one even as il pitched from the
ledge. The baby, too, was Shivering
and the tiny fingers that clutched
him were little claws of ice.
He pushed it back on the ledge and
began one-handed struggle with
his shirt His dead arm hampered
him. He fumbled for the knife in
his sash and slit the garment and
peeled it off and wrapped it clumsily
round and round the baby.
Then he toiled on. emerging on the
chill. starlit mesa, his great torso
naked, head hanging, small crusted
hole in the thick muscles of his
neck, and death lighting the mighty
strength that was in him. The cold
stars wheeled on. the sky paled and
the sun tlared Whitley over the nebu-
| lous hills. 1t rose and grew hot
beating on his shaggy head, but FL
Caiman could no longer distinguish
between fire without and fire within
II am FL Caiman." he mumbled to
the now blood-stained bundle under
his arm ''Dost hear me, devil? am
the strong one, and what l will can"
X * 4
EROM Tequila, the metropolis of the
= Rio Verde district, the cavalry
rode vaiiantly out and found no ban
dts, and the matter was officially
closed. To be sure, those careless
American parents who had lost a
baby were not satisfied. The father.
not content with harrying a
comandante who had done all tha t
man may do, himself took up the
search. But the hills are vast and
the trials arc many, and. after all, he
was only an ignorant foreigner. He
might better have spent his time in
his Office in Guadalaja jara, being young
and far from rich.
The woman'S was the harder part.
She could only sit in the meson in
Tequila, waiting, watching the slow
creeping of the sun across the patio.
remembering and remembering that
harsh grinding of the brakes. the
shock that had hurled her little son
from her arms. Remembering, She
had been tired and fretful. Her last
words to him had been fretful. ''Oh,
do stop fussing. See the pretty
trees"
Day after day remembering-her
thin hands helpless in her lap, her
eyes lifting only to question her hus-
band when he came from his end
less fruitless riding in the hills. For
them. you see, the incident would
never be closed
No, certainly there We're no bandits
in the Rio Verde district, Vasquez,
you Will remember. was shoemaker
The cavalry need have ridden only
few doors from their barracks to
find him stitching virtuously in his
shop. FL Caiman was carbonero a
peaceful newer of wood and burner
of charcoal. Only few leagues from
Tequila you might pass the trail that
climbed to his hut, might hear the
ring of his ak and See the smoke
of his fires curl up from the noun
tainside.
There were some weeks when the
customers of FL Caiman bought char
coal from another. for he did not ap-
pear. Then at last his little donkey
train came down from the hills again
and the shadow of FL Claimants voice
cried through the streets. Carbon, I,
Carbon" 1t was indeed the shadow
Of Ell Caiman who shuff1ed there, his
great frame gaunt with illness and
sagging with fatigue. for he came
afoot. 1t was this matter that
brought him to the shop of VaSqueZ
the shoemaker. Leaning heavily in
the doorway he begged, who keeps
nv horse?"