the scene. The sand flung the sun's rays back in their faces and they seemed to be wading through a lake of shimmering heat.
The cool night air brought some slight mitigation of their sufferings but instead of being baked they were nearly frozen. Some of the cook's cherished fuel and a few dead mesquite branches supplied a poor fire, round which those not watching the herd huddled in humorous discontent. The two barrels of water slung to the wagon were all of the precious liquid they possessed ; the horses were given a bare swallow apiece but the cattle had to go thirsty. One mug of coffee was the allowance for each man.
'D'j'ever see such a durned country?' Jed complained, as he ruefully finished his drink. 'Fella told me once that more'n two-thirds o' the earth is covered with water an' we gotta come to a bit where there ain't enough to rust a nail.'
At the first glimmer of grey in the east they arose, shivering, swallowed a scanty breakfast, and set out ; the foreman was anxious to get as far as possible ere the sun's rays attained their full force. The day proved to be a repetition of the preceding, the discomfort intensified by the fact that even the miserable ration of water they had then enjoyed was no longer available ; a quart or so, reserved for the invalid and the women, was all that remained.
By mid-day it was evident the cows could not go much farther. Already a few had fallen and had, perforce, to be abandoned ; the rest still staggered weakly on, tongues protruding, sullenly lowing, and many of them nearly blind. Theforeman ranged up beside Sudden, who was leading the herd. His voice was little more than a whisper:
'Jim, if we don't git outa this Devil's oven mighty soon it's our finish. That black o' yores 'pears to be in better shape than any o' the hosses ; ride on an' take a look-see.'
Sudden nodded and forged ahead, quickly leaving the labouring herd behind, though his own pace was no more than a walk. He had covered about a mile when a flat hummock of rock attracted his attention and he rode to the top of it. From there he had a more extended view. Wiping the bitter alkali dust from his smarting eyes he stared unbelievingly. Was it a mirage, that maddening mockery of the desert, or did he really see a dark, irregular line between the sky and the sand? He gazed again, intently, but the vision persisted. He tried to utter a whoop but his swollen tongue and parched throat produced only a hoarse cackle. When the herd came in sight, a straggling string of grey ghosts he waved an arm and Jeff joined him. The foreman's squinting eyes followed the pointing finger, and he managed to articulate:
'If them's trees, it means runnin' water. Ride on, Jim, there may be Injuns about.'
Sudden departed, taking his own and Jeff's empty canteens. Gradually, as he approached it, the dark line thickened and presently took the form of foliage. The trees were but half a mile distant now, a long wall of them, pine, oak, cottonwood, with a close undergrowth of thorny bushes. The nearness of them put new life into both horse and rider. In a few moments they saw the river, a sluggish stream less than a hundred yards across, passing between wide sloping banks. Sudden drank sparingly, dipped his head in the water, and then dragged his unwilling mount away from it.
'yu've had enough, for now, yu old soak,' he admonished. 'Wanta give yoreself a colic or somethin'?'
The black rubbed its wet, silken nostrils against his shoulder and gave in. At the top of the bank, Sudden mounted and rode back to carry the good news. The foreman's face brightened, and when he had moistened his aching throat and sent the canteens back down the line, he looked at the stumbling beasts beside him, and said:
'They'll just about make it--we'll lose some, mebbe, but that can't be helped. They's perkin' up a'ready. See of Show'em-how there ; he can smell that damn water.'
At the head of the herd the big long-horn was striding gallantly along, nose up, nostrils distended, and from time to time he gave vent to a feeble bellow, as of a leader encouraging, his followers.
'We'll have to rest 'em up for a day or so,' the foreman continued. 'She ain't much of a river, yu say?'
'That's so, but I'd rest 'em the other side,' Sudden advised. 'She's low now, but come a storm, she'd be a rip-roarin' devil. Get 'em over, pronto, ol-timer.'
'Any special reason for sayin' that, Jim?' Jeff inquired. 'Them steers is plenty tuckered out for swimmin'.'
'There ain't much o' that an' they'll feel different after a swill,' Sudden told him. 'See here, Jeff ; the water is risin'on'y by inches yet--but that means more to come.'
The other nodded agreement ; he knew how quickly a stream showing a mere trickle of water could become a raging torrent. They had almost reached the river when Sudden's restless eyes lighted on the remains of a fire, almost hidden behind a big cactus. They rode to the spot.
'Injuns?' the foreman inquired, indicating a moccasin track.
Sudden shook his head. 'The sticks is laid criss-cross an' burned in the middle, white man fashion ; a redskin lays 'em all pointin' to the centre an' burns the ends.' He searched the surrounding ground. 'Ain't no hoofprints. What's a white man on foot doin' in these parts?'
'I got riddles enough a'ready,' Jeff said dryly. 'Best git that cussed wagon an' hosses over first, I s'pose.'
So the herd was held back till this was done. Fortunately the bed of the stream was firm, and--as Sudden had guessed --there was not, as yet, much deep water, so the unwieldy vehicle was transported without undue difficulty. The remuda followed, and then came the cattle. Tumbling pell-mell down the bank the parched brutes staggered into the water and stood there as though rooted. It was Sudden who saw the solution. 'Keep on pilin' 'em in, Jeff,' he cried.
The plan worked. The pressure of the thirsty ones behind forced the leaders into deep water and soon they were swimming for the other bank. The foreman breathed again, but his troubles were not yet at an end. The crossing was only nearing completion when a warning came from Sandy:
'Hurry 'em up, Jeff ; she's risin' rapid.'
It was true ; the span of the river was twice what it had been, and the outfit, recognizing the danger, made desperate efforts to hustle over the rest of the herd. Sluggishly, as it seemed, the jaded long-horns fought their way through the deepening water and climbed the opposing slope, reluctant to leave the liquid they had for forty-eight hours been without.
'We'll make it,' Jeff said, relief in his tone.
He spoke too soon. The last of the 'drag'--consisting of the weaker animals--in charge of Jed, was little more than half-way across when a dull booming sound which grew louder every moment sent all eyes up-stream. There, at a narrow bend where the banks rose steeply, they saw a sight to make the bravest quail. Piled up between the bluffs was a great wall of water twenty feet high, the foaming crested lip of which bristled with driftwood, great branches and even whole trees, torn up bodily by the torrent.
The cowboy saw the danger, and leaving his charges to fend for themselves, spurred his mount in an endeavour to reach the bank. But the peril was advancing too swiftly. With a thunderous crash the avalanche of water broke upon the struggling forms and swept them from sight. Cursing in their helplessness, the rest of the outfit watched their comrade go to his doom. All save Sudden, who, at the first glimpse of the threatening deluge, had raced his horse to a jutting point in the bank and, at the risk of being swept away himself, had swung his rope. The loop dropped over Jed's shoulders just as the limb of a tree struck him from his saddle and buried him in a seething welter of tormented water.
Feeling that the rope, already tied to the horn, was taut, Sudden backed his horse slowly away from the river. A cheer greeted him when it was seen that the limp figure of the cowboy was at the end of the lariat. Willing hands carried him to a dry spot and sought for injuries ; beyond a scratch or two, there was none. Dumpy, who, with a strangely pale face, had been feeling anxiously for broken bones, gasped with relief when the rescued man opened his eyes and sat up.
'So yu ain't drowned?' he said fatuously.
'Course I am, yu chump,' Jed retorted. 'My insides is, anyway. Damn this country, there ain't no reasonableness in it ; yu either gits too much or none a-tall o' most things. yu needn't look so glad I ain't gone neither.'
Dumpy, fearing he had shown too much so licitude, promptly went to the other extreme.
'I mighta knowed yu couldn't drown'd a fella born to have his neck stretched,' he retorted.
'Well, yo're safe thataway, seein' yu ain't got no neck,' his friend grinned. He stood up and held out a hand to
