Evening star., 1935-03-17
CHAPTER XXI.
HORROR TALE.

ACH morning Pascual had set
speech in which he pointed out
to Montana that they were not
IL bent on mission where sue
|, cess could be hoped for. For
himself there was duty and an oath to
lead him. What was there for Mon
tana?
There is a friend waiting" said
Montana. finally.
And after the morning in which he
made that answer, Brother Pascual
gave up the daily entreaty.
They kept doggedly to the trail. 1t
would have been possible to 60 down
| toward the coast and find better
roads, but along those roads might be
travelling men who had seen the pub
lished notice of a l0,000-peso reward
for a tall man with black hair and
blue eyes. So they had to keep to the
terrible back country.
For Pascual there was short-legged
mule-because only short legs, he used
to say, could possibly endure the strain
of his weight. For the Kid there was
the red mare, Sally. And they led
with them the towering black stallion.
Neither of them ever mounted the big
/ horse, but each felt that it would be
a Sacrilege to ride the horse Of man
who might be dead-who was surely
in agony.
One night when they were far south
Montana asked few direct questions.
"PaScual," he said, tell me in brief
not about the ghostly part OF 1t or
| l. co. tH1I1
the Valley of the Dead"
The friar pointed to the land.
1T is a bad place." he said. But
when water comes on the sand any
/ thing will grow. Well, there is one
valley where water flows and that
valley was bought by two men-bought
for nothing.
! They took laborers to the place.
| They planted tobacco. Never was such
/ tobacco seen. 1t grew as weeds grow.
/ 1t grew up out of the sand by magic.
/ But some of the men who tended 1t
grew i'll. Others ran away. The sun
/ added the brain, it was so strong, and
all about them was the ugly desert"
Here the friar paused and stood up
and surveyed the fiat horizon. He sat
down again and went on: What was
to be done? Tobacco meant money.
Beautiful tobacco would grow in that
valley. but there were no men to cultt-
vate it. AS fast as the labor was
| brought In the men would run away
again.
The desert was terrible thing to
cross. But anything was better than
| the valley. So the men who owned
the valley thought Of plan. They
went to the government.
/ They said: Why do you spend
much money on your prisons? Give
US the evildoers. We will take such
care of them that they will never be
seen again. And instead of charging
money for keeping them, as your
prisons do. We will pay you little bit
for every man. Yes, and even little
for the women"
"True!" muttered the Kid. There
are women in the valley. I'd forgotten
that. So the government began to
| ship down the criminals-the muir
derers, and that sort Of thing, eh?"
AT first, yes. But after while
/ there were not enough murderers.
Then the men in the valley-and par
ticularly Senor an-Silva-began to
offer more money a head. They would
send for a whole jailful of prisoners.
Some were vagrants. Some were
petty thieves. Some had disturbed
/ the peace. One had been drunk. One
was accused of being a revolutionist.
And all of them we're sent to die to-
! gether in the Valley of the Dead.
/ That is why the tobacco grows there
so beautifully and Senor Juan-Silva
grows richer each year. It is he who
owns the entire valley now"
This Juan-Silva," said the Kid.
What sort Of man Is he?"
They tell me that he is not Q
man"
"a devil, them"
eff it were not for him then the
valley would be closed. Who but
Juan-Silva would want to live there
while the hundreds and the thousands
die around him?"
What does he use for guard?"
asked Montana.
! only Indians. They are willing
to work there, happily, because they