Show THE prospector AND US IUS I BURRO R I 1 ift by will C higgins with the first beams of daybreak said the prospector to his burro jim and I 1 started out to find art and Top feather who had disappeared so mysteriously the evening before we could not imagine what had happened to them the ni for we knew that art would have returned after starting out to kill the buck we had seen even if he had not been successful while there was no reason why Top feather should remain out all night even if he was trying to find art while both of them we felt sure could not be far away we had bad your mother with us in case we should find either of our lost anes ones injured or unable to travel and the little baby burro followed at her heels we had not gone more than a hundred yards before we realized that the broken ground was littered with bones which appeared to us unnatural and as we advanced the country seemed to be devoid of verdure and parched while the number of bones increased and these were interspersed here and there with skeletons of human beings we were so amazed at this that we stopped for a moment or so to discuss this strange condition and while so employed the baby burro began gamboling tamboling gam boling around in play getting further and further away from its mother this did not interest jim and myself any until looking up when your mother exhibited signs of great uneasiness we saw the little donkey wheel round and round as if dizzy and then sink to the ground as if dead we both rushed to the spot and even as I 1 approached the stricken animal I 1 noticed a peculiar odor and my eyes began to baurr jim was acting queerly also and grasping the little beast and motioning for jim to retreat I 1 hauled the baby burro back the way we had come for several yards then I 1 dropped to the ground almost overcome jim hollered to the two squaws squads who came to us speedily and began bathing my face after awhile I 1 was revived and we all went back to camp but not before we had bad administered first aid to the baby burro which came around all right within half an hour much to the apparent joy of its mother who really seemed to shed tears when her offspring was first stricken jim had hardly had more than a whiff of the deadly fumes that seemed to arise out of the ground and was anxious to make an investigation vesti gation of the mystery but he was detained by lueta Top feathers squaw who told us that she remembered now of hearing that somewhere in the crater mountains there was a crevice in the rocks from which there issued poisonous devils and that any man or beast passing near or over it was almost certain to be destroyed unless fortunate enough to get beyond the influence of the vapor and that even then the victim was almost sure to pass into a state of insensibility and to remain unconscious for many hours unless revived by the application of water and vigorous rubbing and we realized that but for the fact that we had been on the winward side of the fissure of death when we approached it we might have been afflicted most seriously we then began to realize what had happened to art and Top feather and so decided to make a search for them in the near vicinity of hellhole hell hole which had so nearly resulted in the death of jim and myself and so we all skirted around the perilous deathtrap outside of the region of bones until finally we came to a little canyon that was half concealed by scrub oak and here sprawling out on the ground we found art and Top feather to all appearances dead but who upon careful examination we found to be still breathing although there was only a slight and spasmodic fluttering of the heart then we knew there was still hope for there was yet life and we all worked over the stricken men bathing their faces and rubbing their limbs until after an hour or more they both showed signs of reviving and by night they were able to be taken to camp where they were made comfortable and you may be sure that we all were in need of rest and refreshment for it had been a long and exciting day with us but we were overjoyed because of the fact that we had found and rescued our friends before it was too late As for lueta the care she took of Top feather was almost pathetic while we all worked over art as if he was kith and kin to us and the whole party rejoiced over the safe recovery of our two lost ones the next morning continued the prospector the gas victims had so far recovered that they were able to talk and relate their experiences of the previous evening art complained of pains in his lungs while his eyes were swelled and much irritated in somewhat painful gasps he stated that he had noticed the bones scattered around on the ground after he had started out after the buck but that he had not paid much attention to them as he was so much interested in getting some fresh meat for our little party he remembered that he had seen the th e crevice in the rock just as he was about to take aim at the deer which could now be plainly seen through an opening in the clump of bushes which partially hid him that as he was about to press the trigger he felt dizzy and began to sway about and the last thing he remembered was that he was falling from then on he was unconscious until revived in the little canyon below and he wondered where he was and what had happened as he opened his eyes and saw us all standing around As for Top feather he told how bow after the failure of jim to return or to respond to our call he had remembered too the old legend about the old boneyard bone yard at the base of the crater mountains supposed to have resulted from the annihilation of life to all who approached too near a crevice in the rock from which there came deadly fumes he had always regarded this story as false but when art failed to return the old legend flashed upon his mind and he was so impressed that he at once rushed to the rescue not caring to explain his reasons for such a sudden departure for fear of be beings ing laughed at as a simpleton and a dreamer the minute he saw the bones and skeletons scattered about he knew that there thee must be truth in the old story and he redoubled his eff efforts orts to reach the spot where art must have fallen As I 1 told you in our previous conversation it was almost dark when art had left us on his quest for the buck and Top feather stated that when he finally reached arts prostrate body he could merely see the outlines of his friend and companion Top feather grabbed him qt quickly lickly under the arms and started to drag him away from the fateful spot but art was heavy weighing more than pounds and before Top feather could fully accomplish his purpose he too got one or two whiffs of the poisonous fumes and before he reached the little canyon with arts almost lifeless body he was reeling and staggering like a drunken man and almost in a jiffy he was off and practically gone himself As a matter of fact he remembered nothing regained consciousness in arms of course we were all greatly overjoyed over the fact that the two boys had been spared to us and we decided to remain in camp for a week at least in order that the near victims of the tragedy might regain their strength and while our journey had been so tragically inter berred with we had no intention of giving up the search for the lost mine Top feather had been telling us about for we were more determined than ever to go 90 on with our quest although our trying experience was a warning that we must advance more cautiously into the comparatively unknown region we were heading for and I 1 must t tell ell you for your own satisfaction satisfaction for I 1 can see that you are much interested that the little baby burro recovered all right which statement must be true as gospel for that frol little mite of a beast was you yourself it is getting late now and time to turn in so I 1 will not attempt to tell you what we made afterwards progress until our next fireside chat 1 I want to tell you old long ears con eluded the prospector 1 I have had many experiences perien ces in life but none of them affected me more than the fear I 1 had on that occasion that I 1 might lose art and Top feather and there you are and then some py |