ot on my knee and catch
something to pull by."

Thea went up over his shoulder. "It's hard ground up here," she panted.
"Did I wrench your arm when I slipped then? It was a cactus I grabbed,
and it startled me."

"Now, one more pull and we're on the level."

They emerged gasping upon the black plateau. In the last five minutes
the darkness had solidified and it seemed as if the skies were pouring
black water. They could not see where the sky ended or the plain began.
The light at the ranch house burned a steady spark through the rain.
Fred drew Thea's arm through his and they struck off toward the light.
They could not see each other, and the rain at their backs seemed to
drive them along. They kept laughing as they stumbled over tufts of
grass or stepped into slippery pools. They were delighted with each
other and with the adventure which lay behind them.

"I can't even see the whites of your eyes, Thea. But I'd know who was
here stepping out with me, anywhere. Part coyote you are, by the feel of
you. When you make up your mind to jump, you jump! My gracious, what's
the matter with your hand?"

"Cactus spines. Didn't I tell you when I grabbed the cactus? I thought
it was a root. Are we going straight?"

"I don't know. Somewhere near it, I think. I'm very comfortable, aren't
you? You're warm, except your cheeks. How funny they are when they're
wet. Still, you always feel like you. I like this. I could walk to
Flagstaff. It's fun, not being able to see anything. I feel surer of you
when I can't see you. Will you run away with me?"

Thea laughed. "I won't run far to-night. I'll think about it. Look,
Fred, there's somebody coming."

"Henry, with his lantern. Good enough! Halloo! Hallo--o--o!" Fred
shouted.

The moving light bobbed toward them. In half an hour Thea was in her big
feather bed, drinking hot lentil soup, and almost before the soup was
swallowed she was asleep.

VIII

ON the first day of September Fred Ottenburg and Thea Kronborg left
Flagstaff by the east-bound express. As the bright morning advanced,
they sat alone on the rear platform of the observation car, watching the
yellow miles unfold and disappear. With complete content they saw the
brilliant, empty country flash by. They were tired of the desert and the
dead races, of a world without change or ideas. Fred said he was glad to
sit back and let the Santa Fe do the work for a while.

"And where are we going, anyhow?" he added.

"T