Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-07-30
CHAPTER xvII-Continued


histe~ic torrent bed now filed almost
to i'll old banks with drifting sands,
he sqt3tted over map, measuring
and committing a pocket compass. His
anxiety IS evident.
They weff Toward again, however,
under the full light Of day into
trackless waste where there was not
even a depression to guide them and
where Brena, holding the compass in
her hands, gave directions to him as
he moved the wheel At the end of
twe1tv miles more Brena uttered an
axclallet ion.
"What is that on the desert?' she
asked. Peter, lookl There! to the
left"
A little point Of light shone on the
sand as If 8 diamond had, caught the
sunlight and had extracted from it a
bit Of its essence to outshine the sun
himself. Peter steering toward 1t,
looked down over the edge Of the car
as one might look over the edge of a
boat at some piece of strange fiotsam
sighted in midocean This was strange
fotsam INDEED. Peter having stopped
the car again to pick it up, showed it
to Brena it was an empty vial of
white glass.
Peter sprang out Of the car, and,
walking about IN widening circles,
searched the ground. He appeared
excited. fine and time again he
looked at the little glass vial.
"Some one has been here,'' said
Brena. I'm just Irish enough to say
that, Peter"
Hush" he said. Eve seen more
than you have seen. 1t means every
thing to us"
He bent over her as If he were go
ing to take her in his arms, but he
tossed his head at some thought that
had restrained him, and took the
wheel once more.
At nine o'clock they came within
sight of great mound on the desert
u appeared as If 1t were the fat round
back of some gigantic creature that
had buried itself for a sleep Of centu-
ries in sand walIow Of vast area.
"There it isl' exclaimed DeWolfe
"Look, Brena. Look to the west
Somewhere up there is the Llano Els.
tacado-the Staked plain-as the
Spanish explorers called it. And
there's the haze on the horizon-the
haze that the Jesuit missionaries told
about. 1t comes from the colder air o.
the Mescalero ridge ~
''And it means that we have found
our way?"
Eyes, found our way. There's ninety
miles more"
Where are we goingY
ITO the oldest city, Brena, in Amer.
Tea. To city at the base Of high
cliff, built of clay which crumbled cen,
turtles ago into dust. The wall is left
perhaps as 1t was two centuries ago
A dry well. A carving upon the rock
A MINDLESS place occupied only by
horned toads and perhaps one other
misshapen thing"
At three o'clock they had stopped
again to eat; they were able to see II
the west the tops Of distant mountains
marked by deeper, duller blue thar
the thin cloudless rotunda of the sky
An hour later they came within sigh
of the tableland upon which these
mountains were set like piles of fooC
upon giants doorstep. And this
step up-this mesa-with its precipi
tous edge, marked the end Of the des
ert.
"The cliffs that rise to that table
land are impossible" said Peter, will
his eyes s'lght and his voice filled
with excitement. "The city was bull
below their protection around a grea
well and walled in front with thicl
Notifications. We shall see them
Brena!"
He looked at the opening in the higI
wall as If it were the nav Of DESTINY
opened to belch forth upon them sen
tence
TELL me, Peter-are there danger,
there? Do you known
IL only guess" he answered. ("
think there are none. / think, Brena
that beyond that wall there is free
dom for us--life for us--a message To-
u.s."
al must go with you"
He nodded.
At the entrance he stopped, gain,
down at the ground-the film, the blan
ket of fine dust. He uttered an excla
nation.
what do you see, Peterf"
II see a record in the sand"
what recordY
1--WE shall see MORE" he said grimly
@Come."
Toward this memorial Of tragedy. O
death, of decay, Of the insignificanc,
of time, of the inconsequence Of al
age of man, Brena and Peter. like twt
creatures of a moment Of life. walked
with solemn, awed faces.
Look J" said Peter suddenly. "Hav,
you your nerve? Look !"
He pointed to a pile Of charreC
bones lying close to the we'll Anon,
them was a piece Of human skull
blackened as If by fire.
wait" Peter commanded.
He went forward, bent over RI,
CHASTITY pile, kicked the sand that sur
rounded it and, STOPPING down. gath
cred a number of objects into the cur
of his hand.
"This was no prehistoric man" h,
said solemnly. "Seel The eyelets ane
the nails of shoes. The leather 1on,