OCR Text |
Show yJHC GREEI FLAML W Story of What Happened In SJM Death Valley. mI By CUTH BERT BAKER. .(Copyright, 1910, by American Prcaa Abso-r Abso-r elation. V "Father, tell us n story nbout some- . thlng that occurred when you lived otii in the far west." '""A true story nbout something thnt really" happened?" i " "Ves; a real true story!" shouted i Jj, several children at once. . ( rft "Very well. I'll toll you what hnp- 'tS pened to Anron Winters nnd his wife, f ' " s . Itosle. In the Death valley region." '. $ "'. "Death valley! That muRt have been J an awful place." '"Thnt's why they called It Death ! valley. It was so hot that people ' couldn't live there. Aaron nnd Itosle f . 'didn't live in the valley, but In a gulch called Ash meadows, not far from the f mouth of the valley. Hut even at Ash meadows It was desolate and lonely. j The couple lived In a little hut on the t side of a mountain. The country was I ' , wild and rugged, so wild and rugged J tltat no one else would live there. j Their cabin was n hundred miles from , , the nearest neighbor. Aaron Winters was a hunter, and that's why he lived ' invny from other people. Hunters I must live whore there Is game, nnd when settlers come In the game moves ; Away. "Anron often considered the feaslbll; ity of tnl;l:ig his wife to a more cheer-; t.tja-Jw ful region, hut he knew no trade but . lVr that of hunter. And how could he; $ t make n living except when there wnaj " game? Besides, having always dwelt. fry it" uwny from men. how would he get on; f '" " with them? If he had means to make, , him independent that would be an-; r other matter. He had nothing but his cabin and the game he killed. Ho longed for funds to enable him to ! ' make the change. i ' ""Hut how could he ever hope to gath er funds in n country where no mnn -would come to settle? True, he could ; -,, have all the land he cared to take pos- . " session of, but, it wasn't worth nny- j Xy thing. I have ofteu thought that tlds ,,jr might have been another cause to keep t" him there. Perhaps he thought that some day settlers would come In and ' ho could sell his mountain side for nough money to enable him to get v , mixed it wrrn the oiiemicais. away. But if that wns what (he was 1 x ' waiting for he was doomed to disap- l ' polntmont. , "One dny a desert tramp came along f ' nnd asked for shelter overnight. He wati the llrst humau being that either Aaroj or Itosle had soon hi many a long day. and you may bu nsaured thq, . couple made him welcome. A desert V trump l not likely to be u very lntel-' lntel-' loetunl or well bred fellow, and tobtj ' - .one t-erluinly was not. lie was burned , f nlmoHt hhiek by tlie sun, and tyfj i , clot hen were dirty and ragged. Hut h' could tulk to them, and that') more 7' tlmu their cut or their dog could do. ' And just think how the Bound of an other voice than their own must have ., delighted them! ,T "llosie got up n spxxl supper for the I tramp, which be te as though lie hid, pusned through Death valley, where; there was neither flesh nor vegetable1 that a man could live on. After supper, , while llosie was clearing the table and washlug the dishes, Aaron gave thu tramp a pipe and some tobacco, anil ,, the two vat down for a smoke and ni ' chat. Aarou didn't care what his ' guest talked about so loug as he talk-' ed, nnd Kosle at hor work enjoyed the ' , sound of a voice, rough and uncouth though it was, n well as her huubnud. "The tramp liad vlsitetl many regions nnd naturally talked about them. He , had been at Salt lake nnd told them j that the water was so dense thnt persons per-sons bathing in it would float on its surface like a boat on vnj(er. ne bad uecn :.1 coiornno nun torn rnem no $ the gSltl wns stamped out of the rffiJk'.' J The last place he had boon was. Ne i vada. There are borax deposits' , j thnt state, and he told Aaron bow the ., j tookcth 'i "Now, Anron hnd often bc?n In Deaf 5 valley and hnd noticed somcthlnr S tiiewOhat looked like what tbe trnnij i described. lie asked how one mlgh 3 know borax deposits, and the tram j told him that there were certain chen j lcnls which when combined with borr, . 3 l would burn a green flame. Anron nls j nkel th.- tramp what borax was unci". J for. nnd he told him, us you nil kuow, that it wns used for wnnhlug purposm nnd that a little package of It was i worth about 10 cents. Aarou thought that ttkls was the price what he hud ' ueeujnust be worth thousauds of dot- ! lnrs. . ! "The next morning, after the tramp': ! departure, Aarou talked over with ! Itoslevhnt had been said nbout the j borax deposits. He thought it was : possible that what he had seen in : Dcatk- valley might bo borax. But ' Yvcu if he went there hu hnd no menus , of iliscoverlug whether what hu had seen wns borax or ordinary soil. " 'Hosle, denr,' said Anron, 'I would Ilko.,,you. to go to u town where you can get these chemicals for testing borax, but It will require a week oi two, during which I shall have to sta. here alone. Then when you come back wo SThll have to make a trip to Death valley, and after all our trouble there Isn't one chance In a dosen that' what I hnyo seen there will turn out to be borax.' "I really think, Anion.' replied tin-wife? tin-wife? 'that the chances don't warrant the trouble, but I'm worn out with this Resolution and am yearning to see people. I feel as if I must have one ; of my own sex to talk to, even If onl for lulnj'.' I " 'Well, sweetheart, go. but don't sta any longer than to have a good chat. ; for Pin very anxious to make. -the test.' "So the next day Anron took her where she could get some one to take her on farther and left her to go back to the cabin. As she kissed him good-by good-by ahe looked at him wistfully aud Bald: " 'Aaron. 1 won't leave you again. 1 know how lonely you are without me. how hard It is for you to have to gel your mcnls, and I worry for feai something will happen to you. What would you do while I am away If you should become sick or meet with an accident?' "Never mind nbout thnt, Itosle. Bring back the chemicals ns soon as you can.' ", Oh, there's nothing In that. AnroilT JCPii!lliiiluk.abDUt it. You'.ro nurejo jjet -disappointed.' "They parted, Itosle going on anil Aaron going back to the cabin. It seemed very quiet there without bin wife, and he wished It was the end Instead In-stead of the beginning of their separation. separa-tion. After he hnd cooked and eaten hid supper he sat nmoklug his pipe, thinking about what the tramp had told him. He realised that there was scarcely a chance of what he had seen being borax, but the thought of what would happen if It should be hor.tx scut a thrill all through lilni. He would bo tho only person to know it. and no one was likely to come into Death valley to learn of the ieerot before be-fore he had e.stabllbhed his legal claim ! to nil tho property lie cared to possess. i "In ten dayii Itosle came back with a i substance she hnd obtained from a chtiiulst. But neither she nor Aaron thought much about this, they wore so glad to meet again. After a dny or two Itosle spoke of It nnd asked her husband hus-band when he wns going to Death valley. val-ley. Ilo'sald lie dreaded to go, for ho felt sure ho would have his trouble for nothing. But Itosle said that since they had tho materials they might as well make tho trip and she would go with him. "So the next day Itosle spent the morning preparing a lunch of antelope srertk this was nil there was, since they lived only on game and n the afternoon, they sot out for the valley. "They reached their destination so'ue .time before sunset, and, having pro-'cttred pro-'cttred some of the substance tliey had goue for, they mixed It with the chiM.iieali. But they did not wlah to igul'u It till night carae, because they p might not be able by daylight to tell wither or not thp ttamo was greeu. Xfo-re than an how must elapse before It would be dark, nnd they speivt the interval in suspense, no much depended de-pended on what they hoped for. Anron did not eare so much for himself ill-! ill-! rectly. It was of Itosle he was thinking. think-ing. For years he had kept hr In a OTftlorutiftS, aud now If this sulwtance were borax he could take her wherever wher-ever she cared to go. While he was thinking of this the wife's mind wan i full of dread lost her husbnnV., wh- I hud, b'.illt great hopes on this matter. should be disappointed. I "The sun sot, darkness came, aud yet i Winters delayed to apply the match, i "'Why don't you light It. Aaron?' psked Itosle. fAaron made no reply. None was needed. His wife knew he dreaded the disappointment that both fult was j" nlmost sure to come. They had hnd I no careful description of tho appear- t ance of the substance the tramp had soon, nnd even If they hnd there might be resmnbT.iuee wu'naurtno sunstanccs being at all alike. What folly to expect ex-pect that they were the'snme! "Then Aaron scratched u mntch and held it to the combination. It blnzcd up in a bright tin me. -""ffMHiwiw-Hroonf Jlvlr lio-shuutuil. 'We're rich!' "So they were for yoIo who had been mo poor. They sold their property proper-ty for $20,000. "But they were not city people and would not enjoy a el ty life. Therefore t1; fortune they acquired was all they i:rcded to make them comfortable and happy. They bought a ranch in Nova-da. Nova-da. where they enjoyed n country life nnd had all the neighbors they wished for. "That's the story, my dear.i. as 1 heard It. and I think It's about an It happened. The west Is full of such wonderful cases of jieople without money, even In rags, lighting upon something of great value to make them rich. It wns not riches that Anron Winters nnd hip wife required to mnke them hnppy, but sufllclcnt menus to enable them to leave tho Death valley region." |