| Show flame flamed e of afi the border CHAPTER I 1 lone M mesa esa the girl clin clinging ging to the face ot of the weathered cliff her booted feet barely touching the narrow ledge below was chiefly conscious of the strain upon her wrists all the pain in the world teemed seemed centered there she knew that three hundred feet of space hung blue and clear beneath her that the azure sky cupped serenely above and still the she endured with her mouth set and her dark eyes flaming upward at the face which topped the mesas rim this was a mans face young and lean and weathered as tile the land about a fave fate wild as a hawks with long blue tyes eyes that watched her painfully moreover it was a drunken face or it t had been ten minutes ago now it was sobering fast and there was sweat at its temples let go with one hand please an catch th rope its owner begged for th love of god I 1 leave god out of it I 1 the girl panted thinly A lot you ten know about him I 1 then for your folks miss you got some folks somewhere break their hearts if you jr if you fell sure I 1 have a brother kill you if he be knew id give gai e him th chance only catch th tb ropp rope its a little pull ill have bare you up here in a minute for what she asked bitterly the man groaned for your life an your safety you give we me your word yes tes will you take it 1 I will swing that loop to my other shoulder th im left handed banded with the expert espert precision of a trained cow hand band the man swung the loop around her slim body with a catlike cat like ilke sweep of her left hand the girl caught it let go the bare root of the dead ginop pine stump on the rim which bad saved her and swung clear hand over hand the man raised her the scant ten feet which had bad separated them and pulled her over the edge of the cliff together they rose to their feet and stood looking into each others eyes with tragic tenseness which precluded speech then the man stooped and picked up the girls wide hat bat and timidly held it out to her she took it without a word set it on her dark head bead brushed the white sandy sift of the cliff face from her shirt and riding breeches and watched him catch her horse and lead it back she took her rein and swung up in her saddle her lips set in a tight line above her firm chin in that tense silence she leaned to the starts start when he caught her horses bit 1 I miss he said thickly 1 I want to to say that I 1 aint ever felt so bad in my life ive done a lot of things that bear light but notha so BO bad as this I 1 never made so big a mistake in judgment in all my days an there aint no excuse I 1 can offer I 1 just just know a woman lived rather die than aban than no said the girl like a rasp youve got a lot to learn then now get out of my way she lifted the rein again leaned in her saddle and the tall black horse beneath her leaped to his stride from a standing start across the high mesa she went like it a streak of flame her scarlet shirt against the blue sky making a fire in the spirit of the man who stood watching her when he could no longer hear the sound bound of her horses feet sliding to in the loose stone silt he be stooped and picked up his own hat for a long time he be held it in his two hands bands staring at it unseeing trig down on the sandy levels the girl gave her horse his head bead and sailed away anway toward tile the north and east two hours later she rode loto into the stone tagged flagged patio of her brothers ranch house and swung off with the last thunder of the iron shod feet that was as a pretty piece of horsemanship sonya said a mans voice quite spectacular how long have you ridden like that oh hello rodl why I 1 dont know ever since ive been in this country I 1 guess five bre years now its a land that makes for flight and wide gestures 1 I 1 see youve been gone an ancon time wherever reve you yon been over beyond chee wash theres there a sick woman to in a began and im afraid ashes going to die A shadow passed across the girls face darkening it for a moment these indians indiana are so pitiful rod so 0 o patient so BO hopeless and they are so BO poor they make m me e fairly question destiny sometimes my darling I 1 why bother your dear head bead one navajo more or less 1 I wish you talk like that rod she said earnestly if you knew them like I 1 do you they are a lost people that I 1 grant you who know they tire are lost and they are going down to obil oblivion vion like a gallant galant ship with its sails balls set and flags fla gs flying you dont understand rod nod no said eald the man getting up and coming toward her 1 I dont neither do I 1 want to I 1 only understand that your absurd devotion devot 1011 to them Is keeping you from me ine and fr from om your rightful place in life ile he stooped and kissed her gently go wash and rest a bit child he maid laid you look rather fagged bagged lila babs and Is in the nursery with serge berge Is out on the range somewhere said bald he be in till night all right said ald sonya 1 I guess eess by VINGIE E ROE copyright doubleday duran dorm A co in ins W service ill take your advice I 1 am a little tired she rase rose and entered the deep house it cool place its walls laid up of flat stories stones chinked with adobe mud its bare floors bright with indian rugs sonya loved her brothers brot herg house his wife hla his child and himself best beat of all for five years she had lived with them in this lone land of cactus sand gand and sunlight and it seemed as tf if a hand tugged at her heart whenever she thought of leaving them she had thought of that gravely the last year of new york and rodney blake and all they stood for convention and affluence and what nhat the world called life it had been a year on the nineteenth of next nest month since she had promised to marry him rod hod was the soul of gallantry and had bad made three trips to arizona in that time always urging her to come away with him to give up her work and always she had put him off a little longer not that she fond of him who could tall fall to be fond of him with his good looks his smiling goodnature good nature and he be was serges closest friend dated from college days but how could she give up her work here among the people whom she had learned to loie ione and who needed her and her skill to so badly wasting herself rod said it she must practice medicine why not do it where the results were valuable among folks who counted where she could make a career for herself in her chosen field these thoughts passed through her mind as she divested herself of her dusty riding clothes and bathed in the low pool in one corner of her room where the living waters of the spring the man the tall lean Van vandal dalof of saddle and spur who had ridden her down to the mesas mesa edge ran softly through and out under the wall in a pipe A treasure this indoor pool A blessing it would be hard to leave along with darkness her horse and llla lila and little babs yet she had come near as a breath to leaving them three hours back and had not given them a thought there had been no thought in her when she flung her body out of the arms of the man who held her and over the edge edga of lone mesa only the age old terror of conquest the high fierce flare of white hot fury at defilement which has filled the heart of woman since creation she bad essayed death as instinctively as she drew her breath and had bad done it on the instant the man the tall lean vandal of saddle and spur who had ridden her down to ro the mesas edge and lifted her bodily from darkness back came back in her vision as be had come again and again on the ride home to la the patio with rod she could tee see the long blue eyes of him wild with inner fire under their sleepy look they had large pupils under their bronze colored lashes and they were fierce bud and cruel swift eyes that could change in a second from one vita expression to another she bad seen them change instantly when she looked up after the sliding full fall over the rim the lolling jolting catch of her clutching bands in the pinon roots from that promising sleepy wildness to wide shock had seen them literally sober themselves from halt half drunken dementia to anguished sanity strange eyes beautiful even in their cruelty there had bad been no mercy for her in them A wave of the cold terror of that moment went over her followed instantly stanlly In by a burning flush ol of anger ill take my pound of flesh from him tor for this she told herself through tight lips if it takes me the rest of my natural life if a free citizen of this country cant ride in safety ill know the reason why then she finished dressing and went out to where llla lila dark serges long haired golden wife put the finishing touches on the table for the evening meal they were a striking toll foil for or each other sonya and her sister in law one so tall and dark and vital NII full lapped full of brow above her dusky eyes sinuous in her movements the other small and fragile as a flower a fair thing to look at to know they were close as a hand in its glove these two A tight conspiracy against the cr crown own serge sometimes told them smilingly meaning himself but it was a conspiracy of 0 love and ana loyalty and that dear service which only love engenders and he knew it it had bad served him well for or things had not been too easy on the ranch in the sagebrush country where serge ran his flocks of sheep and women can hold up the hands 0 of men when the waters of circumstance become too deep these two had waded with him leaning in against his shoulders frail lila had carried his child too and sonya bad stood by at its deliverance that had been three years back and he be know in his heart that it if it been for their strong courage hed have given up but be bad been ashamed to quit and times were better now the flocks had find become herds he had indians indiana with them in camps all over the sage hello sonya said llla lila hows cows two fingers wife bad said sonya im afraid im going to lose her ashes a sweet thine too pretty and young two babies the patience of these indians indiana Is pathetic she whispered to me that it if she had to go away why sorrow it wits was the common lot IOL poor creature said llla lila her eyes filling what more can you do dear only a very little more im going back early tomorrow and stay with her till the crisis passes if she dies said llla lila what will become of 0 the babies two fingers has a sister over in long ruins maybe shed take them id hate to see them go into the school so little and so wild like ilke baby quail they need deed a womans comans love not a routine llla lila sighed and looked at babs through the open door this world Is hard on children and women she said and only a mans true love redeems it and here comes one of the crusaders now said sonya nodding her black head toward the northern sage serge A pink flush spread quickly up under lilas fair skin ner her blue eyes crinkled at the corners always the sound of her husbands coming brought this phenomenon of loy joy to sight upon her face A little later he came in from the the back patio scrubbed and shining his riding clothes brushed free of the days sand and dust his dark face burned by sun and wind A handsome man was serge ln taller than sonya showing his russian blood in the bold contours of his face the fire in his black eyes the slowness of his movements ile he kissed llla lila with a long kiss smiled at sonya whew I 1 be said sure Is good to get home rodney blake came in his hands in the pockets of his plus fours this Is the damnedest darn edest family he complained grinning here am 1 I a guest under its roof and ive twiddled my thumbs all day waiting for it to see im around now rod I 1 said llla lila Is that nice tl avent babs and I 1 paid you all the attention possible babs I 1 the young auto autocrat cratl ashes slept most of the time and ignored me the rest youve youre done pretty well llla lila consider considering ilIg the thousand things youve done today about the house but as for these others well I 1 know I 1 should be highly affronted by their indifference some day im going to be no kidding yeah like h 1 you will said serge come here cabs babs and sit on daddys daddes lap tor for supper it was a pleasant meal that followed and later the small group sat in the big patio watching the twilight march across the mysterious land in unspeakable beauty sonya resting her head against the long chairs back sighed in sheer ecstasy of appreciation tired dear asked rod tenderly sonya moved and looked at him tired why no im not tired now she said then why the sigh oh I 1 dont know just just drinking in all this I 1 guess she waved her hands apart and the gesture compassed the whole lone iona country with simple eloquence the man smoking watched tier her with speculative eyes in which there was a glint of hardness this country and its problems they menaced his hl hope and he be was beginning to hate them with a deep and abiding hatred serge was waa talking about the bands of his sheep on bad land levels and lua lila was asking this and that question at intervals and presently sonya watching the great stars come coma out upon the blue heavens lost the purport ot of their words she was thinking of the woman in the lowly hogan began beyond chee wash and of the dark faced man who loved her to in his bis silent fashion and her heart was sad and heavy with her fear tor for them and then superimposed upon their pathetic tragedy she saw aw again the sky beyond looe lone siefas its rim and the wild fair face of a man sobering in bewilderment and anguish she stirred in her chair and rod hod blake touched her hand eh she said startled TO blo BB |
