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370 THE
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THE Mi
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(Continued from Page 339.)
The sun had now sunk almost to the
higher mountain line. It stood reddening
on the heights and shone directly
into our faces. The fairy cities of the
sunset opened their gates and invited
us to enter. We seemed to be riding into
a world of Are. Each separate peak
and ridge burned as though itself aflame
from the falling sun. The vision was
overpowering.
"This is great!" I exclaimed, not being
able to exactly express my emotions.
"Great," echoed May field; and as if
by consent we reined our ponies up to
a walk, feeling that a quicker pace had
been sacrilege. I felt the awe of the
divine Presence, and believed myself
in that moment shriven of a dishonorable
luuu&m wuilu lictu ueeu wun me an nour
before.
A few minutes later the glory fell into
an ashen gray, then came a dusky twilight,
and then suddenly the blank darkness
of night ensued. The stars came
out slowly, and made a crystal pavement
of the sky; but the desert and the low
hills gloomed ominously about us, and
loneliness came to keep us companionship.
We rode on in utter silence. We
could not speak. There was no sound
in all that world of shade, no chirp of
cricket, no cry of night bird. For a
moment we stopped on a slight knoll, but
could hear only our own hearts beating
and the'low panting of our tired beasts.
"We're lost!" I at last found words to
say In measured monotone.
"I believe it," was Mayfleld's equally
hopeless and laconic answer.
"Wouldn't we better pile up for the
night?" he at last suggested.
"Not until we find the trail and at
least come to fresh water," I objected,
feeling a burning thirst in my throat
made worse by the alkali dust which our
ponies were constantly kicking up from
the trailless dunes.
"Can you make anything of the stars?"
I asked, myself vainly trying to locate
a familiar flame point.
"I could if I were in Tennessee," Mayfleld
replied; "but out here they all look
bo Dig aim origin. iney irignten me. To
tell you the truth, Penn, the only thing
I can see is 'Job's Coffin.'"
"Hush, you ghost raiser!" I commanded,
a little spiritedly, and so got hold
of myself again. "Find us the 'Bear,'
or the 'Dipper' and we'll know what to
do. Sapio is west of us."
Rut thouarh we at laat. cnt tho otora
right, and determined our course, our
ponies were not astronomers and insisted
on zigzagging about, following the
most inviting ground. We finally gave
them the rein, and after hours of tumbling
over heaps of bowlders and through
sand dunes we saw in the distance a
i PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOI
EN OT SAPIO
*By Horace M. DuVose.
faint light, and almost instantly there
came to our ears a sound of waters gurgling
in the grass. We had come upon
the winding course of the Hondo, whose
tide at that season is little greater than
the stream emitted from a garden hose,
though at times it becomes a (gjreat
torrent, and is *he habitat, in the gorges
and canyons, of such fur-bearing animals
as fhp Ottpr ana tho hoover
The light, we soon made out, came
from a rude hut or jacal. Dismounting,
I called at the door. The summons was
answered by a gruff-sounding voice from
within. I had expected to hear only
Spanish, or at least a broken and "Greaser"
English; but the words and tones
were both familiar.
"What is it yez'd be havin' at this
toime av night?" was asked as we saw
a great bearded face and bushy head
thrust through the jacal door.
I quickly described our plight and told
our destination. It was natural to put
as good a face as possible upon matters,
but "lost" was the only word I could
honestly use, and so I blurted it out.
"As foine a pair av tinderfeet as iver
Oi see, Oi declare!" was the half-soliloquizing
response; but two brawny hands
were reached out and drew us each toward
the door. Half thrusting us through
the same hands caught the lassoes of
our bronchos and fixed them securely
to projecting beams of the jacal.
"Benito is me naime," explained our
host, in a return of the formality of introduction
which we made of ourselves. "Benito
it is whin Oi'm talking Spanish
wid the Graysers an' buyln' pelts in the
Cainyon; but wid gentlemen loike yourselves,
and wid other tinderfeet, Oi'm
Binjamin Kirk, an Oi'm prou-ud to have
yez sthoppin oonder me roof."
Thus our host unfolded himself as he
went about to make us comfortable, handing
each of us a rude stool to sit upon.
He then snuffed his candle and set a
few tin dishes on an uncovered shelf-like
table fixed to the wall.
"Dhraw oop, the two av yez, for a
snack," he said, and the grace displayed
TO Q O IV- 1 ? - ?
UKH Ul U1C IU1U U1 Dlttl UCJ uiur
self.
"Be havin', the two av ye*," he continued,
"some av thim 'freeholies,' an' a
sip av the barefoot coffee. Shure an' its
the best to be had in the shaddy av
Sapio."
The adventures of the day had given
me an appetite, and, now that anxiety
was gone, I could have done justice to
anything eatable. But Mayfleld sipped
his barefoot coffee, after munching a
hard-tack biscuit, and showed little fancv
for the big blue beans. This our host
noticed, and with great suavity said: "If
the banes are not to yez loikin', why
thin be helpin' yezself to the pippy
sauce."
UTH. March 23, 1910.
RANCH |
At this I could not renross n hom-fv
laugh, in which Benito himself joined,
whereupon May field attacked the frijoles,
and, to the host's evident satisfaction,
persisted until he had harpooned the last
bean from the dish.
"I am sure, Mr. Kirk," I said on arising
from the table, "that I never in my
life sat down to a more satisfying
board;" and Mayfield joined heartily in
the sentiment.
"It's mooch for the loikes av yez to
be saying to the loikes av me," was
the genuine Gaelic return of our appreciation.
The trapper now filled his huge pipe
bowl, lit it from the candle, and, draw
lug ins siuoi m iront or us, became at
once confidential.
"It's trappin' Oi've bin in the shaddy
av Sapio since a good bit ago, Oi can
tell yez. Oi've seen em coom, an'
Oi've seen 'em go, an* yez two lads be
the foinest yit. D'~~yez know what that
cow-poonchin' bizness be?"
"We have read about it in books," I
replied. .
"By the wraith av me gran'father, I
belave ye!" exclaimed Benito. "'Tis a
pity yez two should be lavin' the daddy's
roof."
"We are alone in the world," I exclaimed.
"Alone! Sure an' Oi can belave it,"
and from that point Benito's voice took
uii an utmost iatneriy tone. "Alone!
Oi've bin meself over a good bit av brine
an' turf. 'Tis a har-rd lot."
"But we think, Mr. Kirk, that a little
adventure may be helpful to us. It's hard
luck almost anywhere we go," I said by
way of Justifying myself and Mayfleld.
"Beloikes!" he rejoined; "but shure
'tis a livin' pity that two as folne young
gintlemen as yez are tonight should have
to be sp'ilt in the making av a couple
av cow punchers."
To this protest we could offer no
answer but silence and the time to retire
seemed to have properly come.
"The saints be kind to yez," was Benito's
blessing after he had commanded
us to slumber. For beds he had provided
us each with a pile of otter pelts,
than which there could be no softer
couch. Stretched upon these we were
soon lulled to sleep by the gurgling cadences
of the noor.hu >
?^ ?// iiuuuu a 11 a 1116
desert breezes that made zithers of the
thatch ,of Benito's jacal.
After a morning menu repeated from
the table list of the night before, we were
off again with the good wishes and compliments
of our host.
"Shure an" the two av yez sits in
thim saddles loike glntlemen av proppffV."
WPTO tho WArrl n *
??, vmw T.U1UD mm which ne
sped our going.
We had now a good day's ride, and
more, before us; and though Sapio loom