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Show ifhe White Desert ttl BY COURTNEY RILEY COOPER, tjwj '' "p,'igh,' 19 i iir,"kn a . the ' 1 S.0vUrgel' upon ih- MaiM-ningH WMErlnCC Far on tli othe, selc ''' ;LSeJ v ' " ' ',0SBry ma" n! i to gjvo up the , , . P1.d" nj.--n .r.- . M!:.nl- - DTh..iH-irrl uAUj)fr CRATTKR XVI -KmV of ti" SS '" ' " "'nn l I1 little else 10 uu. 1 iicj WOy to the rambling "fuP,,, .. r.li.f Ti,-,rsr. Ti,-,rsr. .ni.l Hi' ('(' 'lrl,, f thn doorway. later, the agent once Jead key. Ea ttsie turned use here. ' he announcerl u, camp "'! assemble help thse who are not 'here is death In this b their wat-belt guide Ixted forth, to bend term In a struggle and lCh the squat, snow-.l-in camp. There. Ra'tiste I workmen In the bunk f greater things than announced. "We want ten who will ko back bernacle. and who will take the risk to help je. Eet is the danger nianv of you will go0'! nother thej 1 cached Cor i U, silent men who .acted, were affixed. Huddled. b of white, 0110 follow-made follow-made the gruelling trip nude. Aln ady tho re-ginnlng re-ginnlng to come in. mil weakened, blizsard-of blizsard-of houses where tho. ;rashed beneath the n-, of lost ranchmen, of , drifting before the th. It was the begln-wecks' begln-wecks' jdege of a white world was one gr .it dreary- white a desert re was life onh that j death, where the bat-ce bat-ce continued only aa a this bleak desert went e "West Country, silent, Mil, their lips cracked ; of wind, their 1 1 IT Yflmt an! Bjlure v. 'ill,-AElBfTstopi 'ill,-AElBfTstopi !iKrapp '" 41 Brag ! ojjt sw -'li: fund I ijaR mam ' 3Sn; tlx b to pi 1 : jAnd with t n . 1 wqHnen! it's The .sho-H OHfBl) the Hps i: lie- !.-ur ip' . rt. riKla ar: tifcKat lt'l Open CL-RMns"" i(" iI'Thtr. - QdbBp the wire. Then t . 1 . to tSrHt you h' ip campaign to for Cn sftBopen 1 .- IJ; -fc are sian ii MfiKt Off I 'i Kir two weeks. W ;ieed food' and coa.1. Road will not be open for four or five weeks more under lordlnan circumstances'. Thin -win mean death to many of us here, (he wiping out of a "great Umber and agricultural country, and a blot on' the history of Colorado. Help us ! and we will not forget It "'THE CITIZENS Op THE WE, COUNTRY.' ' "Sounds pood " The telegraphergpas busll putting it on the wire. Then a wait of hours. Then the wire clattered forth a mean age. He jumped. M's from tho papers in Denver " he shouted "A Joint message. They've taken up the flghl " The snows Mil! swirled the Btormsl still came and went. lurlng thH I period of uncertainty Houston met! Ba'tiste Rcnatid. returning from ihc lake region, to find him r-iRlng. I ' Is et that the world is all unjust?" I he roared. J am the mad enough to tear them apart!" "Who? What's gone wrong?" "Ah! I pasa today the Blackburn mill. They have the saw going they keep at work, when there an the women and the habies who sta:f when there are tho cattle who are dy ing. wiiPti tnere is the country that Is Hike a broken thing. They know that We do not pet our machinery' They have think they have a chance for I the contract " ' It brought Houston to a sharp , knowledge of conditions They had 'Klven. that tho rest of the country I might not suffer. Their enemies had ; worked on. fired with the new hope ,that the machinery necessary to j carry out Houston's contract would I not arrive In time. A shout had come from the distance. Faintly through the .-Ifting nnw thej could see figures running. Then the words came. "They're going to open the road' They're going to open the road!" A message bearer came from the station "It's the M. P & S. L. Ac-1 cording to the message, tho papers hammered the stuffing out of the. Crestline road. The other road saw I Hi was looking Into ih- drawn, hap- j a ii ivuiurcs i mi uii(-mi khis o- ma n a greaj cJhance to step In. it's lend-ytbg lend-ytbg tho men and the rolling stock. They're K"'n to open another fellow's fel-low's road, for the publicity and the good will that's in it." Two pictures flashed across Houston's Hous-ton's brain; one of a snowy sawmill with th- force working day and night, when all the surrounding country cried for help; another of carload after carload car-load of necessary machinery, snow-covered, snow-covered, ice-bound, on a sidetrack at Tollifcr. with tho whole. horrible, snow-clutched fierceness of the Continental Con-tinental Divide between it and its goal. In the night he awoke, again thinking think-ing of it. Every possible hand that cculd swing a pick or jam a crowbar against grudging ice would be needed up there. A mad desire began 16 come over him. a strange, Impelling scheme took hold of his brain They would need men men who would not be afraid, men who would be willing will-ing to slave day and night if necessary neces-sary to the success of the adventure. Kong before dawn he rose and scribbled scrib-bled a note to Ba'tisto Itenaud: "I'm Kolng over the range. I can't s.ut. They may need me. I'm writ-i Ing this, because you woifld try to Idissaude mo if i told you personally Don't he afraid for me I'll make it somehow. I've got to go. It's easier than standing by. . ' ''HOUSTON." Then, his snowshoes afrixed. ho went out Into the night The storm clouds were thick on the sky again, the snow was dashing about him once more. He floundered aimlessly, 'striving by abort sallies to recover I tho path from which the storm wa's driving him i Dawn found him at last, floundering flounder-ing hopelessly in snow-si-reened woods, going on toward he knew not where. A half-hour, then he stopped. Fifty feet away, almost covered by the changing snows, a small cabin showed faintly. His numbed hands banged at the door, but thero came no answer. He shouted, stll lno sound came from, within The door delded. and climbing over tho pile of snow at the step. Houston guided his snowshoes through the narrow nar-row door, blinking In the half-light in th effort to see about him. There was a stove, but the fire was dead. At the one little window, tho curtain was drawn tight and pinned at the sides to the sash. There was a led and the form of some one"; beneath the covers. Houston called again, but still there camo no answer. He was looking look-ing Into the drawn, haggard features half-open yet unseeing, one emaciated) hand grasped about something that was shielded by the covers. Houston fon od himself even closer. He touched touch-ed the hand. He called: "Agnes'" The eyelids moved sllphtly; it was' the only evidence of life, save thej labored, irregular breathing. Then the, hand moved, clutching Slowly, trem-j Ijlingly. Houston turned back an edge! t the blankets and stood aghast. On her breast was a baby dead' CHAPTER XVII. Crtrtr, ,,.ifnr n,nc Iw.illTlt' T-Tr.f ninths 'went to the woman's head; quietly, reverently. Barry had taken the still, small child from the tightly clenched arm and covered it. on the little table. And with thV touch of tho small, lifeless life-less form, the resentment which had smoldered in Houston's heart for months seemed to disappear. "I'm sorry Agnes. Don't be afraid of rne. I'll get help for you." "Don't." There was the dullness that comes wh.-n grief has reached the breaking point. "Dead. It died yesterday, morning " j Housron could say nothing in answer. an-swer. Quietly he turned to the stovo, red-hot now, and with snow water lean ihe making of grind from the .supplies on the shelf. Forcing himself to the subject Hous- 1 ton asked a question: "Where is he?" "Who?" Sudden fright had come Into the woman's' eyes. "Your husband" (Continued In Our West i-ne) oo |