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VOLUME 93 NO. 5i
Popyrirriltt rate. by Perry Manon vomruny. Boston. ltlmor.
OMPAN ON
.,. ' IN FlCiION FACT AND COMMENT
YEARLY SUl3SCRlP'TlON'25" ' FIVE CENiSACOi’i'
DECEMBER I8. I9l9 2
from the top of the last foothill the
blotch of green that marked the bed
of the river. lie lounged in his saddle.
remembered that lounging was nminst
the regulations and hannful to the
d sat up again. Then he shook
his head and urged his horse on. No
good stopping there. Better make the
shade of the ootwnwoods and the pre-
cious stream before it got hotter.
Sand and mesquite danced before his
eyes in the stearning heat’. His mnteen
was empty. and the last drink from it
been as hot as morning ooiiee. His
eyes were half closed against the glans
.IT was midday when MacDonald saw
scuttled from beneath his horse's hoofs.
Cottontails spread enormous ears and
sailed away before him. Once his eye
caught the glistening coils of a rattler.
too lazy even to sound a warning.
llis thoughts wandered disconsolately
back to the events of the morning. Al-
ready he was sorry. A few hours ago
he had been :2. mvalryman in good
standing, a soldier with a troop that
had made a name for itself. friends, and
a job he liked better than he had real-
ized. Now he wusa deserter,-or would
be soon,-liable to face a firing squad,
for these were war times; an outcast
with every man's hand against him.
Sullenly he reviewed the events that
had led to this predicament. He saw
now that it dated back to the time of
his enlistment. lie had signed up to
light in France, and, because mvalry
had grown unpopular on the continent,
they had sent him to bake in Arizona.
Then he had “got in wrong" with the
top sergeant by being into two succes-
sive rnomlngi M reveille. It seemed to
him that every particularly disagree-
able bit of fatigue work had some to
him after that. But the ultimate and
immediate cause for his parting oom-
pany with Troop C was an incident
that had happened that morning.
A platoon had set out. on a three
days’ patrol alorliz the border. It was
the choice detail of the post for it ended
at a ranch where they shot ducks in an
artiticinl pond and roasted them after-
wards. It meant escape from guard and
fatigue at camp and was thenearest
thing to a mention that the men had.
liiaeDonald lind drawn this detail for
the first time. He started out with the
others in high spirits, grinning at his
envious tent mates left in camp. And
then, at the first halt, scarcely five
miles from camp, the top sergeant came
back for it belated inspection. ills eye.
unfailing for dotail of eqnipmentrestrd
on P01 1!.
“ W ro is your extra bandoloer,
MacDonald ?” he demanded. In honor,
liiaeI)onalrl’s hand went tohis shoulder.
by Edwin C.Dicl<enson
The strap was not there. He re-
membered then that he had laid it
on the saddle rock when he had
gathered up saddle and bridle.
“I forgot it,” he stammered.
“Forgot itl" barked the top sergeant. “You
know the Captain's orders for a man who for-
gets his ammunition?"
MacDonald was too miserable to answer.
“Go back to omnp and report to the fatigue
sergeant for duty on the picket line.”
The patrol went on; MacDonald turned
back. in spite of his anger and chagrin he
meant to return to ramp. But as he rode on
his sense of injustice grew. He had a full wr-
tridge belt of ammunition. Besides, there had
been extra bandoleers in the wagon that no
oompanied the patrol. The “top” had it in for
him; he would have let another man off with
a warning. Then Maclinnald thought of an-
other twenty-four hours on fatigue. The day
before he had finished his regular detail of
cleaning the picket line, sweeping the parade
ground and doing a dozen other minor and
menial tasks. Worst of all was the thought of
facing his mates in camp with the isle of his
forgetfulness
Money jingled in his pocket. Yesterday had
been a long-delayed pay day, He would not
be looked for in camp for three days and the
railway was only forty miles distant. Before
he knew it he had reinod his horse into a cross
trail to the east.
Through the hot morning he had ridden.
Long before this time his fellows on the patrol
would have halted in some shady cation until
the scorching noonday hours were over. But
he had pressed on, following the vision of the
comfortable cushions in a swift-running train,
of the coast with cooling drinks and plenty to
eat. of the turf and the trees and the flowers
and the sea.
To ease his conscience he told himself that
he would reenlist under another name and go
to France with an overseas division.
Now, at last. with a sigh of relief. he
reached the shade of the ootwnwooda A hun-
dred yards beyond, a stmam boiled out of the
sand. ran a short course and seeped out of sight
again with all the mystery
of a desert river.
llis aninmldid not pause in
the shade of the oottonwoods,
but went on and wad->d into
the shallow, swift-running
stream. liiacilonald looked
down at it In disgust The
water was chocolate in oolor,
and only a few inches tloep.
“A real riverl" the horse-
man repent;-d bitterly.
The horse thrust its muzzle
eagerly into the dist-nlnred
water. raised it in disnppoint-
merit, and then. with A sigh
rat was almost human. low-
ered it again and drank nois-
ily. Iilaclionald diillliillllii-‘(I
stitlly. lie was more ruuidle
mm...-as -v
u r lvrcnu
sore and weary than he had realized.
and there was run unsteadiness about
his gait that vaguely alarmed him.
Limping upstre.-un, be lowered him-
self at full length to drink.
[it the nrst mouthful he exclaimed and spat
the stun‘ from his mouth. It was not only
coffee-like in appearance but wamr to the taste.
liut already his thirst was a need as well as a
desire. Thnisting his face into the tepid Hood,
he drunk.
When he had finished. he returned to the
shade of a big oottonwood under which was a
strip of close-cropped turf. The heat was more
terrific than ever; the water he had drunk
soorned to increase his dis:-omfort rather than
to relieve it Taking oi! his spurs and his car-
trldge belt, be stripped and went back to the
streiun.
The horse, having drank im oil, wandered
dejeciedly back to graze on the saint)’ herbage
MacDonald lay at full length in the middle
of the narrow stream and found temporary re-
lief. The water barely oovorod his body. Now
and then he thrust his in-ml under and found
an appreciable relief from tho heat of the noon-
duy sun. Occasionally he got to his feet, and
the breeze. as It dried him rapidly, would give
him delicious but short-lived refreshment.
For a long time he lingt-rod. A Iassitude had
crept over him that he could not shake off; he
seemed unable to summon will power enough
to leave the tepid slreurn. Even the instinct of
self-preservation seemed to have been dulled
in him. It was none too friendly a oountry.
There had been rumors nt camp the day be-
fore of raiding bands of Yaquis. Yet Mao-
Iionnld had violated one of the cardinal rules
of the cavalry when disinounted: he had left
his gun in the gun boot. Moreover, his pistol
wmz in its holster athuclied to the belt, a hun-
drod yards away beneath the cottonwood trees.
With the act of deserting had come a reaction
against the routine and habits of the soldier.
Once he got to his feet and walked halfway
back toward the trees with the intention of
getting his gun; but the sun beat down so
fiercely that be halted ind:-<-lsin>ly. turned and
went back to the rippling current of the stream.
There he lay until a shrill
neigh from his horse roused
was horseman
enough to know what that
neigh meant-the presence
of other horses. Getting
quickly to his feet, he saw
a bond of about a. dozen
horsemen just entering the
grove. They were from Mex-
ico and sinned, and MacDon-
ald, knowing that Arizona
tolerated no armed Mexi-
mns. felt his heart sinlr, for
theywere nearer to his horse
and equipment than he was.
At the nelirh of MncIlon-
uld's horse they had halted
in suspicion. But the grove
was opt-n,und the only thing
THEA DEsERTER‘AND THE DESERT
in rziglit was a single animal. They came
slowly on with rlfla across the porn-
niels of their saddles Then they saw
Maellonald. naked. They greeted him
with laughing Jeers, but as he oontin-
uul to walk toward his clothes a pistol
orm-lied. and the sand kicked up in front
f him.
Muclionald stopped in his traclrs.
lie into a strange thought llmt if he
only hail his clothes on they might offer
some resistance to a bullet; to face gun-
fire without a. stitch on an-mod to .lo-
mand a superior sort of criurruze. As he
stood there under the blazing sun, a
whim man and helpless the brown
Moxlrnns sat their horses in the shade
of the big cottonwood and curiously
looked him over.
Th:-n, at I guttuml word of oonnnnnd,
one of the horsemen wheelwl his pony
and "lie oil’ in the direction of the rail-
way. rloubtleu to see whether lilac-
Donald was part of an BAlV'al'l(’9 guard.
The others rode by him down to the
water, giving him curious and un-
friendly glances. liaelinnuld started
lxu-,k toward his clothes znmin but
stopp<><l at I sharp command from the
leader of the band; the liiexloun potted
in liolstered revolver significantly.
It was MacDonald's first experience
with men who held human life soclieap.
it was hard to believe that they would
shoot him as carelemly as if he had
been a dog; and he was surprised. too,
in a vague way, that the matter was
not of more concern to him. Just now
his chief thought was to get out of that
blazing sun. lie tumed back to the
stnzim and crouched in the water. The
bandits made no objection
Pn-sently the scout came canterlng
back: he shook his head at the ques-
tioniml glztnoe of the leader, and then
the members of the band tslkrd together
in their own lan
They were at odds about something
-that was plain. The leader shook his
head vigorously at some argument that
secured popular with the m1Ijon'ty of
his hand. There was more of the Span-
ish-llexlmu in the leader. He was
slender. aquiline of feature. somewhat
of the dandy ; his apparel and the silver
adnrnments of his horse's bridle were
gaudier than those of the others. liis
followers had the high cheek bones,
brood faces and squat bodies of the
Yaqui.
At last the leader. with a certain
dignity and finality, waved aside the
arguments of his men and, turning to
Mar-Donald. spoke in good English.
“They would kill you at once. gringo.
These men of mine do not like your
white skin, and they have no inin;:in:I-
tion. lint I. I am their captain, and it
ploasvs me to give you your lite--for
the pmserit." he added, with an un-
fricndly gleam in his dnrk eyes. “It is
warm. you will need no clothes so those
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