Desert Dust
By €du>in L Sabin
Author of “How Are You Feeling?” eta.
“Daniel ami I appear to be at
Ruts, sir,” 1 said. “Why, I do
Hot know, except that he seems
to have had a dislike for me from
the first day. If he'll let me
Blone I’ll let him alone. I’m not
one to look for (rouble.”
‘ Ilia heavy face, with those
thick pursed lips and small china
bine eyes, changed not a jot.
“Daniel will take care of him
fcelf.”
} .“That is his privilege,’.’ I
fcnsAvercd. “I am not here <o
question his rights, Captain, as
Jong as he keeps within them ;
hut I don’t require of him to take
'care of me also. If hit will hold
to his own trail I’ll hofd to mine,
End I assure you there’ll be no
rouble.”
“Daniel will take care of him
self, I say,” he reiterated. “Yes,
»nd look after all that belongs to
him, stranger. There’s no use
threatening Daniel. AVhijt he
does he does as servant of the ,
Lord and he fears naught.”
“Neither do I, sir,” I retorted
hotly. “One may wish to avoid
trouble and still not fear it. I
have not come to you with com
plaint. I merely wish to explain.
JVou are captain of the train and
Responsible for its conduct. 1
give you notice that I shall de
fend myself against insult and
•nnoyauce.”
I turned on my heel—sensed
poised forms and inquiring
feces; and his booming voice
•tayed me.
“A moment, stranger. Your
talk is big. What have you to do
with this woman Edna?”
“With Mrs. Montoyo? What
I please, if it pleases her, sir. If
*he claims your protection, very
good. Should she claim mine,
ehe’ll have it.” And there, con
found it, I had spoken. “But
with this, Daniel has nothing to
do. I believe that the lady you *
mention is simply your present
guest and my former ac
quaintance.”
IOU err, nc tuuuderefl,
darkening. “You cannot be ex
pected to see the light. But ’l
®ay to you, keep away, keep
away. I will have no gallivant
ing, no cozening and smiling and
prating and distracting. She
must be nothing to you. Never
can be, never shall be. Her way
is appointed, the instrument
chosen, and ns a sister in Zion she
•hall know you not. Now get
you gone-” a favorite ex
pression of his. “Get you gone,
meddle not hereabouts, and 111
•ee to it that you are spared from
harm.”
Burprifling myself, and per
haps him, I gazed full at him and
laughed without reserve or irri
tation.
“Thank you, Captain,” I
heard myself saying. “Iam per
fectly capable of sqjf-protection.
And I expect to remain a friend
of Mrs. Montovo as long as she
permits me. For your bluster
and Daniel’s I care not a sou. In
fact, I consider you a pair of
damned body-snatchers. Good
•vening.”
Then out I stormed, boiling
within, reckless of opposition—
even courting it; but met none,
Daniel least of all (for he was
elsewhere), until as I passed on
along the lined-up wagons I
heard ray name uttertd breath
lessly.
“Mr. Beeson.”
It was not My Lady; her I had
not glimpsed. The gentle English
dirl Rachael had intercepted me.
Bhe stood between two wagons,
whither she had hastened.
-XOU will be careful I”
“How far, madamt”
“Of yourself, and for her. Oh,
be careful. You can gain
•©thing.”
Her face and tone entreated
hie. She was much in earnest,
the roses of her round cheeks
baled* her hands elasped.
“I shall only look out for my
•elf,” said I. ‘‘That seems neces
•arv.”
“You should keep away from
•nr camp, and from Daniel. There
Is nothing you can do. You—if
you could only understand.”
Her hands tightened upon each
Other. “Won’t you be careful!
More careful! For I know. You
eannot interfere; there is no
way. You but run great risk.
Bister Edna will be happy.”
“Did*she send you, madam!”
X asked.
“N-no; yes. Yes, she wishes
It. Her place has been found.
The Lord so wills. We all are
happy in Zion, under the Lord.
Burely you would not try to in
terfere, sir!”
*
“I have no desire to interfere
with the future happiness of Mrs.
Monto^o, ” I stiffly answered.
“She is not the root of the busi
ness between Daniel am! me, al
though he would have, it appear
so. And you yourself, a woman,
are satisfied to have her forced
into *M or monism ? ’’
“She has been living in sin,
sir. *The truth is appointed only
among the Latter Day Saints.
We have the hook and the word
—the Gentile priests are not or
dained of the Lord for laying‘on
of hands. In Zion Edna shall he
purged and set free; there she
shall be brought to salvation.
Our bishops, perhaps Brigham
Young himself, will show her the
way. But no woman in Zion is
married without consent. The
Lord directs through our pro
phets. Oh, sir, if you could only
see!”
An angel could not have
pleaded more sweetly. To have
argued with her would have been
sacrilege, for I verily believed
that she was pure of heart.
“There is nothing for me to
say, inadam,” I responded. “As
far as I can do so with self
respect I will avoid Daniel. I
certainly shall not intrude upon
your party, or bother Mrs. Mon
foyo: But if Daniel brings
trouble to mo I will hand it back
to him. That’s flat. He shall
not flout me out of face. It rests
with him whether we travel on
peacefully or not. And I thank
you for your interest.”
“I will pray for you,” she said
simply. “Good-bye, sir.”
She withdrew, hastening again,
sleek haired, round figured,
modest in her shabby gown. I
proceeded to the outfit with a
new sense of disease. If she—if
Mrs. Monoyo really had yielded,
if she were out of the game—but
she never had been in it; not to
me. And still t conned the mat
ter over and over, vainly convinc
ing myself that the situation had
cleared. Notwithstanding all my
1 noil, I somenow felt that an in
centive hud vanished, leaving a
gap. *The affair now had sim
mered down to plain temper and
tit for tat. I championed nothing,
except myself.
Why, will her submissive, in a
fracas I might be working hurt
to her, beyond the harm to him.
But she be hanged, as to that
phase of it. I had been led on so
lar that there was no solution
save as Daniel turned aside.
Heaven knows that the matter
would have been sordid enough
had it focused upon a gambler’s
wife; and here it looked only
prosaic. Thus viewing it I
fought an odd disappointment in
myself, coupled with a keener
disappointment in her.
“You talked to Hyrum, I see,’’
Jenks commented.
“I did.’’
'Bout Dan’l, mebbet”
“I wanted to make plain that
the business is none of my seek
ing. Hyrum is wagon master.”
“Didn’t get any satisfaction,
I’ll bet.”
“No. On the contrary.”
“I could have told you you’d
be wastin’ powder.”
“At any rate,” I informed.
“Mrs. Montoyo is entirely out or
the matter. She never was in it
except as she was entitled to pro
tection, but now she requires no
further notice.”
“ How sot”
“That is her wish. She sent
me word by Rachael.”
“She didT Wallt” He eyed
me. You swaller that!”
“Willingly,” And I swallow
ed my bitterness also. <
“Means to marry him, does
she!”
“Rachael did not say as to
that. Rather, she gave me to un
derstand that a way would be
found to release Mrs. Montoyo
from Benton connections, but
that no woman in Utah is oblig
ed to marry. Is that true!”
“Urn m.” Jenks rubbed his
board. “Wall, they do say
Brigham Young is ag’in prom
ise’yus swappin’, and thiugs got
to be doue straight, ’cordin’ to
the faith. But an unjined female
in the ehureh is a powerful lone
ly critter. Sticks out like a sore
thumb. They read the Bible at
her plenty. Um-m,” mused he.
“I don’t put muoh stock in that
yarn you bring me. Then’s a
nigger in the wood-pile, but he
ain’t black. What you goin’ to
do about it!”
“Nothing. It’s not my con
cern. Now if Daniel will niind
his affairs I’ll continue to mind
mine.”
“Wall, Zion’s a long way off
yet,” quoth friend Jenks. “I
don't lok to see you or she get
there—nor Dan’l either.”
He being stubborn. I let him
have the last word; did not seek
to develop his views. But his
contentious harping shadowed
like an omen.
CHAPTER XVI
I Do The Beed
We had camped well beyond
a last bunch of the red-shirted
graders, so that the thread of a
trail wended before, lonely, sand
obscured, leading apparently
nowhere, through this desert de
void of human life. Line stakes
of the surveyors denoted the
grade; but the surveyors’ work
wras done, here. Rush ord' rs
from headquarters had sent them
all westward still, to set their
final stakes across other deserts
and across the mountains, clear
to Ogden at the north end of the
Salt Lake itself.
Seemingly we had cut loose
and were more than ever a world
to ourselves. The country had
grown sterile beneath ordinary,
if possible; and our thoughts and
talk would have been sterile also
were it not for that one recurrent
topic which kept them quick. In
these journeyings men seize upon
little things and magnify them;
discuss and rediscuss a phase
until launched maybe as an
empty joke it returns freighted
with tradgedy.
However, now that once My
Lady had eliminated herself from
my field I did not see but that
Daniel and I might taper off into
at least an armed neutrality. If
he continued to nag me, it would
be wholly of his own free will.
He had no grievance.
Then in case that I did kill him
—if kill him I must, and that
eventuality hung over me like
the sword of Damocles) I should
be not ashamed to tell even my
mother. In this I took what
small comfort I might.
I had not spoken at length
with Mrs. Montoyo for several
days. We had exchanged merely
civil greetings. To-day I did
not, see her during the march;
did not attempt to see her—did
not so much as curiouly glance
her way, being content to let
well enough alone, although
aware tnat my care might be mis
interpreted as a token of fear.
But as to proving the case
against me, Daniel was at liberty
to experiment with the status in
quo.
Toward evening we climbed a
second wide, flat divide. We
were leaving the Red Basin, they
said, and about to cross into the
Bitter Creek Plains, which, ac
cording to the talk, were ““a
damned sight wuss!” Some
where in the Bitter Creek Plains
our course met the coutse of the
Overland Stage road, trending
up from the south for the passage
of the Green River at the farther
edge of the Plains.
I had only faint hope that Mrs.
Montoyo would be delivered
over to the stage there. It scarce
ly would be her wish. We were
destined to travel on to Salt Lakg
City together—she, Daniel and I
If the Red Basin had been bad
and if the Bitter Creek Plains
were to be worse, assuredly this
plateau was limbo: a gray, bleak,
wind-swept elevation fairly level
and extending, in elevation per
ceptible mainly by the vista, as
far as eye might see, northward
and southward, separating basin
from basin—one Hell, as Jenks
declared, from the other.
Nevertheless there was a wild
grandeur in the site, flooded all
with crimson as the sun sank in
the clear western sky beyond
the Plains tjiemsclves, so that our
plateau was still bathed ia rudy
color when the Red Basin upon
the one hand had deepened to
purple and the white blotches of
soda and alkali down in the
Plains upon the other hand
gleamed evilly in a tenuous
gloaming.
Wo had corralled adjacent to
another tainted pond, of which
the animals refused to drink but
which furnished a little rank
forage for them and an oasis for
a half dozen ducks. A pretty
picture these made, too, as they
lightly sat the open water,
burnished to brass by the sunset
so that the surface shimmered
iridescent, its ripples from the
floating bodies flowing molten in
all directions.
After supper I took the notion
to go over there, in the twilight,
on idle exploration. Water of
any kind had an appeal; a soli
tary pond always has; the ducks
brought thoughts of home. Many
a teal and widgeon and canvas
back had fallen to my double
barreled Manton, back on the
Atlantic coast—very long ago,
before I had got entangled in
this confounded web of misad
venture and homicidal tendenies.
To the pond I went, mood sub
dued. It set slightly in a cup;
and when I had emerged from a
little swale or depression that I
had followed, attracted by the
laughter of children playing at
the marge, whom should 1 see,
approaching on liee diagonal,
but, yjrs. Montoyo—her very hair
and form—coming in lik*;-wiso,
perhaps with errand similar to
mine: simple inclination.
And that (again perhaps) was
a mutual surprise, indeed awk
ward to me, for we both were in
plain sight from the camp. Cer
tainly T could not turn off, nor
turn back. Not now. It was
make or break. Hesitate I did
with involuntary action of
muscles; I thought that she
momentarily hesitated; then I
drove on, defiant, and so did she.
The fates were resolved that
there should be no dilly-dallying
by the principals chosen for this
drama that they had staged.
Our obstinate paths met at the
base of a small point white with
alkali, running shortly into the
sedges. Had we timed by agree
ment beforehand we could not
have acted with more precision.
So here we halted, in narrow
quarters, either willing but un
able to yield to the other.
She smiled. I thought that
she looked thinner.
“An unexpected pleasure, Mr.
Beeson. At least, for me. It has
been some days.”
“I believe it has,” I granted.
“Shall I pass oni”
“You might have turned
aside.”
“And so,” I reminded, “might
you.”
“But I didn’t care to.”
“Neither did f,'madam. The
pond is free to all.”
I was conscious that a hush
seemed to have gripped the
whole camp, so that even the
animals had ceased bawling. The
children near us stared, eyes and
mouths open.
“You have kept away from me
purposely?” she asked. “I do
not blame your discretion.”
“I am not courting trouble.
And as long as you are contented
yonder-”
“I contented?” She drew up,
paling. “Why do you say that,
when you must know.” She
laughed weakly. “I am still
for the Lion’s den.”
“You have become more re
conciled—I’ve been requested
not to interfere.”
“You? Without doubt. By
Daniel, by Captain Adams, likely
by others. More than requested,
I fancy. And you do perfectly
right to avoid trouble if possible.
In fact, you can leave me now
and continue your walk, sir, with
no reproaches. Believe me, I
shall not drag you farther into
my affairs.”
(To be Continued.)
Pile-Drivers.
Victor Murdock.
Not one man In a million the
world over understands the device
of short selling. The reason Is
that most men do not speculate.
Little groups of men In all coun
tries do speculate and they do un
derstand short selling. As oc
casion offers these men pound the
daylights out of farmers, rail
roads, Industries, and during the
last two weeks they have been
putting the fixings to one of the
great nations of the earth—
France. Short selling Is accom
plished by contracting to sell
something you haven't got. It
looks Innocent enough, but when
the shortsellers mass their efforts,
the effect on the price of a thing
Is that of a pile-driver. About two
weeks ago, the shortsellers went
after the franc. The franc was In
a weak position and the short
sellers drove It down until It Was
worth only 8.42 cents. It Is 19.8
cents at par. France is fighting
for its life against this onslaught.
It has borrowed fifty million dol
lars of American bankers and
fifty million more from British
bankers to enter the market to
keep the franc from dropping Into
J the depths. It Is paying six per
o cent, far this , money. The tax
payer will pay this In the end. He
always does pay In the end for the
frolics and upkeep of the gamb
lers.
The Call.
t never hear the March winds blow
In their sweeping, blustering war,
But they stir In my heart a wild desire
To bundle up and away.
Away where the blue sea stretches
wide.
Where the gray gulls scream and dip
As they circle over the flapping sails
Of a stout and sturdy ship.
For I was a sailor lad so bold
In the years that are long since past.
And I've viewed the seven seas that are
From the top of a swaying mast.
I have felt the thrill of battling waves
With staunch and loyal matss.
I have sailed to magic ports afar
Where romance lives and waits.
But now I must sit and rest and dose—
Old age brings ills and fears—
Or, so they say—so a younger man
Has filled my place for years.
But whenever 1 hear the March winds
blow,
’Tls a oall from the sea it sceins.
And It fires my heart with the old de
sires—
Even old men have their dreams.
Katherine Edelman In the Kansas
City Star._ _ _
Modern Methods.
From the Waukegan Sun.
Inhaling deeply In the early morn
ing Is practiced by the modern girl,
also; but she does It through a cig
arette. i
C//W" 71
I V Jllll The Cross and
"t/VU Crete it printed
HARMONIES genuine package
TTAVE your interior walls tinted
FI the exact color. Exercise
your own good taste in just ^
the color tones to bring out the best
features of every room. There is
only one sure way.
^_lnsteadcf Kalsomine or Wall
Wouldn't Ride Free
President James Buchanan Insisted
on paying his fare at all times when
he traveled, never receiving a pass,
even though he was out of office. He
would have been horrified at the Idea
of traveling free when he was pres
ident. Friends often heard him say:
“I will pay my way while I can af
ford It. When I cannot afford to pay,
I will stay at home."—From Inklings.
New Auto Signal
A new rear signal for automobiles
displays the word “slow” in green
light when either the clutch or brake
pedal or broke Is operated and “stop'*
In red when both are used.
The man who achieves self-mastery
>as accomplished much.
Tree to Decorate
With proper attention and care*
trees of small size will thrive in small
patches of soil where larger trees,
with their spreading root systems,
might languish, says the American
Tree association of Washington, D. CX
Tlie efTect of these formally pruned
trees Is dignified and decorative, and
gives a fine touch of green to a street
lined with high-class shops or hand
some houses in solid rows.
- |
Here'e Real Drug Store
One drug store in New York has
never cnrried anything hut drugs, yet
has remained in the same location for
more than fifty years.
There Is no place like the home of
a young man’s best girl.
InantM rnai^artdlM
. naaa
jmmmSM
XM ,
Will Your
Family Be Happy This Spring? 4
Suppose you have defi
nitely decided to buy a
Chevrolet this Spring.
That does not necessari
ly mean that you are
going to get it.
Anyone posted on con
ditions in the automo
bile business will tell
you that thousands of
families are going to be
unable to get cars this
Spring. That has been
true almost every Spring
for years, but the short
age in April, May and
June, this year, is going
to be more serious than
ever before.
The cnly way to be sure
of a Chevrolet this Spring
is to order it NOW.
If you do not want to
pay for it in full at this
time, any Chevrolet
dealer will arrange terms
to suit your convenience,
so you can pay asyou ride.
You will be surprised to
learn how easy it is to
pay for a Chevrolet.
Will Chevrolet Advance Prices?
Ten make* of automobiles have
already advanced in price. In
spite of increased costs of ma
terials. the Chevrolet price is
still the same. How long—we
cannot guarantee. To make,
sure of your Chevrolet at pres
ent low prices
BUY NOW!
Chevrolet Motor Company, Detroit, Mich.
Division of General Motor* Corporation
* Price* f. o. b. Flint, Michigan
Superior Rmditer - - 9490 Superior Sedan ... 9799
Superior Touring ... 499 Superior Commercial Chatalt 399
Superior Utility Coup. - 940 Superior Light Deli eery - 499
Superior 4-Paaaangar Coupe - 7)9 Utility Bxpreae Truck ChMais 999
Fitter Belie* on Closed Model* _}
Cotton From Auatrlia
It has been predicted that within a
Jew years Australia will send a mil
ion bales of cotton each year to be
ised In the Lancashire cotton mills.
There are no fools so troublesome
is those who have some wit.
Principles of Justice
The fundamental principles of Ju*-'
tlce are, first, that no injury he don*
to anyone, nnd, secondly, that It b*
subservient to the public good.
Our idea of a plucky man Is oo*
who refuses to be plucked.