and gave
way to savage shouts and then to delirious babblings; and when he awoke
he was groveling in a sand-wash and the sun had sunk in the west.

Once more he rose up and looked down the empty trail and across the
waterless flats; and then he raised his eyes to the eastern hills,
burning red in the last rays of the sun. They were high, very high, with
pines on their summits, and from the wash of a near canyon there lapped
out a tongue of green, the promise of water beyond. But his strength had
left him now and given place to a feverish weakness--the hills were far
away, and he could only sit and wait, and if help did not come he would
perish. The solemn twilight turned to night, a star glowed in the east;
and then, on the high point above the mouth of the canyon, there leapt
up a brighter glow. It was a fire, and as he gazed he saw a form passing
before it and feeding the ruddy blaze. He rose up all a-tremble, crushed
down a brittle salt-bush and touched it off with a match; and as the
resinous wood flared up he snatched out a torch and carried the flame to
another bush. It was the signal of the lost, two fires side by side, and
he gave a hoarse cry when, from the point of the canyon, a second fire
promised help. Then he sank down in the sand, feebly feeding his signal
fire, until he was roused by galloping feet.

A half moon was in the sky, lighting the desert with ghostly radiance,
and as he scrambled up to look he saw a boy on a white mule, riding in
with a canteen held out. Not a word was spoken but as he gurgled down
the water he rolled his eyes and gazed at his rescuer. The boy was slim
and vigorous, stripped down to sandals and bib overalls; and
conspicuously on his hip he carried a heavy pistol which he suddenly
hitched to the front.

"That's enough, now," he said, "you give me back that canteen." And when
the man refused he snatched it from his lips and whipped out his ready
gun. "Don't you grab me," he warned, "or I'll fill you full of lead.
You've had enough, I tell you!"

For a moment the man faced him as if crouching for a spring; and then
his legs failed him and he sank to the ground, at which the boy dropped
down and stooped over him.

"Lie still," he said, "and I'll bathe your face--I was afraid you were
crazy with the heat."

"That's all right, kid," muttered the man, "you're right on the job.
Say, gimme another drink."

"In a minute--well, just a little one! Now, lie down here in the sand
an