The Coolidge examiner., 1931-08-14
CHAPTER Il-Continued.

the year, blows almost without
ceasing in Oklahoma. And when
ii rains the roads become slith-
ering bogs of greasy red dough,
so that a wagon will sink and slide
at the same time. They had two
days of rain during which they
plodded miserably, inch by inch.
Gin squalled. Isaiah became just a
shivering black imp of misery, and
Sabra thought of her dimity-hung
bed back home in Wichita; of the
garden in the cool of the evening ;
of the family gathered in the din
ing room; of the pleasant food, the
easy talk. the luxurious ease.
At Pawnee Yancey saw fresh
deer tracks. He saddled a horse
and was off. They had. before
this, caught bass in the stream, and
Yancey had shot prairie chicken
and quail, and Sabra had fried
them delicately. But this was their
first promise of big game. Sabra
welcomed this unexpected halt. She
and Isaiah carried water from the
creek and washed a few bits of
clothes and hung them TO dry. She
bathed Gin. She heated water for
herself and bathed gratefully. She
set Isaiah TO gathering fuel for the
evening meal, while Gin played in
the shade of the clump of scrub
oak. She was quite serene. She
listened for the sound of horses
hOofs that would announce Yam
cey's triumphant return. Vaguely
she began TO wonder if Yancey
should not have returned by now.
She brushed her hair thoroughly,
enjoying the motion, throwing it
over her head and bending far for
ward in that cOntOrtiOniStic atti-
tude required by her task. After
she had braided it she decided to
leave it in a long thick plait down
her back. AudaciOusly she tied it
with a bright red ribbon, smiling
to think of what Yancey would say.
She tidied the wagon. She was
frankly worried now. Nothing could
happen. OF course nothing could
happen. And in another part of
her mind she thought that any
one of a dozen dreadful things
could happen. Indians. Why notf
Some wild thing in the woods.
Broken bones. A fall from his
horse. He might lose his way.
Suppose she had to spend the night
alone here on the prairie with the
two children.
In a sudden panic she stepped
out of the wagon with the feeling
that she must have her own human
thing near her-Cim, Isaiah-to
talk to. Gin was not there play
ing with his bits of stone and twigS.
He had gone off with Isaiah to
gather fuel, though she had forbid
den it. Isaiah, his long arms full
of dead leaves and small branches,
was coming toward the wagon now.
Gin was not with him.
where's Cim?"
He dropped his load, looked
around. Il lef' him playin' by his
self right hyah when All go fetch
de wood. Ain he in de wagon"
mo. No."
might be he crep' in de print
wagon"
"Wagon?" She ran to the other
wagon, peered inside, called. He
was not there.
Together they looked under the
wagon, behind the trees. Gin
CimI Cimarron Cravat, if you are
hiding, l shall punish you if you
don't come out this minute" A
shrill note of terror crept into her
voice. She began to scream his
name, her voice cracking gro
tesquely. ''Cimi Cim!" She prayed
as she ran, mumblingly. 20 God,
help me find him. o God. don't
let anything happen to him-Cim
Cimi Cim !"
She came to a little mound that
dipped suddenly and unexpectedly
to a draw. And there, in a hollow,
she came upon him. seated before
a cave in the side of the hill, the
front and roof ingeniouSly timbered
to make a log cabin. One nigh:
pass within five feet of it and
never find it. Four men were seat.
ed about the doorstep outside the
rude cabin. Gin was perched OIL
the knee of one of them, who was
cracking nuts for him. They were
laughing and talking and munching
nuts and having altogether de.
lightful time of it. Sabra's knees sud
denly became weak. She was trem'
bling. She stumbled as she ran to
ward him. Her face worked queer.
ly. The men sprang up, their hands
at their hips.
"The man is cracking nuts for
me-" remarked Cim, sociably, and
not especially glad to see her.
The man on whose knee he sat
was a slim young fellow with a
sandy mustache and a red handker
chief knotted cowboy fashion
around his throat. He put the boy
down sently as Sabra came up, and
rose with kind of easy grace
You ran away-you-we hunt
ed every-Cim-" she stammered
and burst into tears of mingled an
ger and relief.
The slim young man seemed the
spokesman, though the other three
were obviously older than he.
"Why, I'm real sorry you was