The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1937-07-01

less as when he and Carolee be-
came lost for while; he had
thought to bring water this time.
Water! ....'
Quickly he looked. The canteen
was under the dead animal and
the saddle. By straining he eX-
tracted it, but it had been smash
ed in the fall and was quite empty
now.
Diobolically, at that inStanI,
thirst seemed double within him.
MANY another man has cxper-
fenced that sensation, when water
] is discovered gomez.
"This is getting fantastic!! Stu
art told himself. "All that hoey
about Superstition Mountsin-
and yet | get lost with a girl, dad
gets shot at, and now I'm in d new
spot. I'll be seeing the Thur der
Gods next He was cOnfuseC at
the train of events as well as con-
cerned for his own safety.
He had good reason to be con-
cerned, even more than he rcaliz-
ed. Arizona air is thin" dry.
Wet clothes in backwards dry in
! twenty minutes. Meat is cured
quickly OF "jerked" simply by
hanging outside on string. The
aridity is even greater in desert
attitudes such as Superstition
provides. Rainfall is rare, totaling
but five or six inches in a year,
often less. CanteenS are standard
equipment with every man who
works outdoors. Sun and thirst
can cause real suffering in four
hours, delirium in six or eight,
death in twenty-four
Stuart didn't know all these de-
tails, but he was beginning to
suspect them. By p. M, he was
| i'll. His tongue seemed double in
size, and he was seeing his first
tantalizing mirages,. always OF
lakes and streams. Yet he felt IA
tional
He fired his pistol repeatedly
but his only answers were mock
I ing echoes.
He tried chewing the Scanty
green leaves, and once sucked
some moist earth that he found
in a deep. shady gorge, but that
only made him vomit and caused
his mouth to bleed.
The ar turned sharply cold
after nightfall. The wind changed,
too. Stuart wondered where the
intense sun heat had so suddenly
dissipated. But the night wind
| seemed no more humid. He was
shivering. 0nce-he had been
walking for hourS-he thought he
heard Carolee Golfers laughter.
He looked up suddenly and saw
nothing, and knew then that he
was beginning to lose control.
| His collar had seemed tight
earlier and he had unbuttoned it..
He had thrown the neckerchief
away. Now his throat seemed even
more CONSTRUCTED and he tore off
his entire shirt, painting a bit at
the eXertion.
That made him realize his semi
hysteria, so he Gained for while.
| He could see fairly well by the
stars. He kept going in what he
believed to be the back-trail di-
rection, down the rocky slope that
would lead into Apache Canyon,
thence home. But sometimes he
climbed. too. He wasn't sure.
| 1t was late when he decided
Finally to sleep. He moved partly
by instinct, toward low slip of
rock that would afford protection
from the wind, and crawled under
it.
| Something went "wh-s-s-S, IA
a, whs-s-s-s-" at him, and he
could see moving forms. He saw
that they were babies, knew them
| for lion kittens. He had stumbled
onto a ~anther den. He didn't re-
| member about pantherS, but he
imagined they ate men. The mo-
Their cat would be coming home.
| He backed away, and soon ne
! stumbled onto some buck brush.