the bed of a mighty inland sea-were by far too much occupied in keeping reasonably cool, to betray even a passing interest in anything; except

wice a day puffed joyfully out again, had, on this particular afternoon, se

kin to Jim, and then thar's them likely lookin' lads an' those uncommon purty gals. N

d doors, windows and eaves. But the sun had blistered and the hot desert winds had cracked and peeled its originally gaudy hues, and it was now a melancholy monotone of dull, pallid yellow. Here and there the paint had vanished altogether, and the bleached boards showe

and so was a favorite lounging place for the prominent citizens of Blu

peculiar color and length of his hair, which looked as if it might have been gathered up bodily from the floor of a

e tall chap yond

ime had not spoken. He had been leaning against the front wall of the National, thoughtfully removing some more of its paint by scraping it with the big rowelled Mexican spurs which he

ound as if in astoni

l these moons? Yes, that's Jim Bell, sure enough. Wouldn

r shook

"that's a right pretty gal yonder, too. Any of you heard wha

Bell worked his way further inter ther desert than any man has ever bin. What he w

eckon it

kindled in the word he used there

few white men hes ever got thet fur, an' if they did, they never come back to tell." He gazed out over the crystalline, quivering desert,

y of gitting thar witho

ithered old man with the dese

o, ther vehicle or ther critter hain't invented that's goin' ter get away off thar back of beyond whar the gold lies-or whar they say it does," he added rather doubtfully. "When I w

tch of alkali?" asked the tall young man, with a jingle of th

g, er devil wagon,

en with the empha

out air

ed carelessly almost

By ginger,

oke in a rather

ace near New York and engaging a young chap ter build him some aeroplanes. Thar was a good

ll be safe enough frum them ornery road agents like ther fellers thet stuck up ther Laredo stage only last week an'

n Cash thoughtfully, "thar was several inter i

d the stranger, jingling his s

sni

ell you what 'ud be the least of what 'ud h

cking some gray dust from his "chaps" with his rawhide quirt, "so you think that Jim Bell means t

Cash, rather impatiently; "you're a h

his way. I suppose he is one of the g

ed for the hotel. The operation had been a long one, as they bestowed particular attention upon sundry wooden boxes of oblong shap

d sheepishly at some distance, some of them uneasily twisting their fingers. The presence of the young girls in the party filled them

n of the Western country, to the hotel proprietor; "this is Roy Prescott and his chum, Jimsy Bancroft, and this," i

puttered out Cash with one of his finest bows, and Cash was r