The Enchanted Canyon

heaven's first law, for so only can a man be tra

ad not counted on the village dogs. These set up such an outcry that, while Enoch leaned quietly against a rude corral fence waiting for the hullaballoo to cease, the door of the

half smiling in response, kicked and cursed the dogs into silence. Then he app

o Indian?" aske

nodded. "Wh

to buy a

you com

that went thro

ake mistake. Ash Fork that way," jerking his

. "You sell

leave him at Hillers' i

e of it. Maybe I'll ride up that way," waving a careless arm toward the no

d the Indian. "W

I can g

ght! I

ell saddled, two blankets, one an Army, the other a Navajo, a frying pan, a coffee pot, a canteen and enough flour, bacon and coffee to see him through the day. He also ac

he asked, pointing to one that

, five miles," an

after

's ranch, north

Good-by!" and he turned

s before him. The spring boasted a pepper tree, a lovely thing of delicate foliage, gazing at itself in the mirrored blue of the spring. Enoch allowed the horse to drink its fill, then he unrolled the blankets and clothi

lack of sleep and he was physically weary. But he could not rest

quitting this

ting of self to

aloud, then smiled

spot somewhere in my philosophy that'll brea

sand. Enoch lifted his tired eyes. Far on every side lay the uneven, rock strewn desert floor, dotted with cactus and greasewood. To the east, vivid against the blue sky, rose a solitary mountain peak, a true

feverish and restless. But I'll give it a try. For to-day, I'll not think. I'll concern mysel

as refreshing only in its cleansing quality. But Enoch, lying at length in the sand, the water trickling ceaselessly over him, felt his taut muscles relax and a great desire to sleep came upon him. But he was still too close to the railroad and possible discovery to allow himself this luxury. By the time he had finished his

irt was too small across the chest and Enoch found it impossible to button the collar. Th

when I find the Navajos. All right, Pablo," to the horse, "

ely oblivious to the menace that lay behind the intriguing beauty of the burning horizon. He was giving small heed, too, to the details of the landscape about him. He was conscious of the heat and of color, color that glowed and quivered and was ever changing, and he told himself that when he was

and at noon he rode into the shade of a little grove of stunted pi?on and juniper. He could find no water but there was a coarse dried grass growing among the trees that the horse cropped eagerly. En

the soft nuzzling of the

d his unaccustomed fingers made awkward work of cooking, but he managed, after an hour's endeavor, to produce an unsavory me

water, if you want any to-night," he said, as

ot. The trail was discernible enough in the starlight, but Enoch made no att

r her in the desert. He knew that her work would keep her in the Grand Canyon country. He knew that it would be easy to avoid her. And, in spite of the fact that every fiber of his being yearned for her, he had not the slightest desire to see her! She would, he knew, see the Brown story. No matter what her father may have told her, the newspaper story, with its vile innuendoes

red and the things that did not matter, he must be the restless plaything of circumstance. In his younger days he had been able to persuade himself that if his point of view on his life work were right and sane, nothing else could hurt him t

e had missed. If he had had this, he told himself, life's bludgeons, however searching, however devastating, he could have laughed at. A man must have the thought of some good woman's love to sustain him. But for Enoch, the thought

to be identified or to mingle with human beings. Then he smiled ruefully as he recalled the poverty of his outfit and he gave Pablo his way again. In a short time Pablo

ch. "Can you tell me whe

f grub?" ask

nd eat," replied Enoch

d of camp

What yo

What's

How much you

and how much. Which wa

ot much grub. You come over by the fire." Enoch dropped the reins over Pablo's head and followed to the

said Enoch. "M

"You like a cup of

wn gratefully by the fire.

, Mr. Smith?" as

I'd like to rest in the desert. I was on the train when the idea struck me, an

eated John's brother.

k so. I just want

lone in desert," said John. "You don

pick it up

hair was tumbled by the night wind. His face was deep

in desert." John Red S

to-night. We'l

"I'll unsaddle my pony. Ought I

rother handed Enoch a tin cup as he spoke

weariness, he rolled himself in his blankets. But he slept only fitfully. The sand was hard, and his long afternoon's nap had taken the edge from his appetite for sl

the camp lay at the foot of a mesa, close in whose shadow a small herd of scraggly, unkempt ponies was staked. The two Indians moved about de

'em many years. They got good outfit, but burros go slow, so you can easy overtake 'em to-day. You tell 'im you want a job. Tell 'im John Re

le. I'll do as you suggest. By the way, will you sell me those boots of yours? I'll

Indians both looked at Enoch's smart Oxford ties with eagerness. Then without a word, Red Sun began rapidly to unlace his boots. It would be difficult to say which made the ex

ne point, which they repeated so often that it really penetrated his distraught and weary mind. He was to keep to the trail. No matter what or whom he thought he saw in the distance, he was to keep to the trail. If a sand storm struck him, he was to camp immediately and on the trail. If he need

he would save much time by riding due north, but he could not forget the Indian brothers' reiterated warnings. And, although he could

its John's brother had urged on him. There was no water for the horse, but Enoch drank deeply from the canteen a

was only seeking for strength to go back. And finally he muttered that give him two weeks' respite and he would go back, strength or no strength. And over and about all his broken thinking played an unceasing sense of loss. The public had invaded his last privacy. The stronghold wherein a man fights his secret weakness should be sacred. Not even a clergyman nor a wife s

t was to stop and make camp. He wished that it were possible for him to spend the next few week

ocotilla growing from the top. A man in overalls was bending over the fire, while another was bringing a dripping cof

d dismounted stiffly. "

t him frankly. "Good

people for work in return for per

r man, eying Enoch intently. "My name

Smith," s

" grinned th

" repeated E

by his appraisal of the newcomer, "wipe your feet on the door m

-er-I'm a tenderfoot, so perhaps you'd

for you," said Field. "

ill supper

is keen gray eyes were deep set under huge, shaggy eyebrows. He wore a gray flannel shirt and a pair of well worn brown corduroys, tucked into the tops of a pair of ordinary shoes. Field was younger, probably

ttention to the prepara

ed Pablo and

or a darn good meal, M

. If he was as good a

cup and plate for him. We're shy on

's ability. The hot biscuits, baked in a dutch oven, the fried potatoes, stewed tomatoes, the bacon, the coffee were each deliciously prepared. Enoch

e in a condition to con

t where was yo

office work. I wanted to rest in the desert. I thought I could manage it alone, but it looks as if I we

riend of yours

rail. He was exceedingl

been in bad shape. John's not noted

at all!" protested En

y, each suppr

the mill for me. We had to shut down for three months-bottom's dropped clean out of the price of zinc. We've

aid Enoch, refilling his pipe, "you two fellows are off for the kind of

what kind of a chap the

rl

im. "I'd do my share of the work, and pay for my board. I m

nd weariness that even the fitful light of the fire could not conceal. There

king trouble again. Com

rl

t did not seem related to the obstreperous Mamie went on

ping trip's like marriage, you know, terrible trying on the nerves. S

Enoch

a half a day for yourself and your horse.

ly grateful!"

rly. "And I advise you to begin now. Have you b

s. I've slep

ut sand so's to make a hollow for your hips a

still asleep when he stole over to the spring to wash and shave. It was biting cold, but he felt like a new man when he had finished his toilet and stood drawing deep breaths while he watched the dawn approach through

had borne this burden. After he had cleaned and packed the dishes, Enoch went out for Pablo, who had strayed a quarter of a mile in his

ame Curly, and Enoch brought up the rear. There was little talking on the trail. The single file, the

He found he could do this by thinking of Diana. And so he spent the day with her, an

ugher. During the latter part of the day sand gave way to rock, and the des

the back and the evidence of many camp fires in the front announced that this was one of the trail's establishe

were established around the fire, pipes glowing, "well, Mr. Just Smith, are you getting rested?" He g

thanks. And I'm try

end you yet as a horse wrangler, but if I permit you to b

alled it the death trail. Wow! What it must have been before the

rizona that couldn't grow crops if you could get water to it. He's a fine old liar!

w years back trying to fix it to get wa

a government bunc

of it?" a

de these other chaps mad. This was government land, of course, but they didn't want the government to get interested in developing oil wells. Government oil would be too cheap. So they got some Mexicans to start a fight with these Survey lads. But the Survey boys turned out to be

t an Arizona man!

s when he was just out of college. He and my oldest brother were law

iled to

uck some gushers. They were one tough crowd. We all slept in tents those days, and I remember none of us dared to light a lamp or candle because if one of those

keep out of business,

ge their ow

ore about?" ask

answered Mack calmly.

efing. When you make yo

u can get yourself ele

. In the

e you trying to do, ruin my reputation with Just Smith here

r," said Eno

e fire glow. Suddenly Enoch burst into a

ever seen in the desert, Mack?" aske

fifty miles from anywhere. He had no pack, just a canteen. He said he was doing a penance and if I tried to help him, he'd curse me. So I went

han Just Smith chasing Pablo

Mamie's tail to keep her from

y, "Dignity's an awful thing to ta

ack, and in the fewest possibl

, pounding along at the rear of the parade, hour after hour, was still in too anguished and abstracted a frame of mind to heed details. He knew only that

d day, after several ho

ned in hi

iced the mirage?" p

ure, waves that broke in foam and ran softly up on quiet shores. Upon the sea, silhouetted against the turquoise sky were ships with sails o

the sky darkened almost to black, then turned a sullen red. Lightning forked across the zenith and the thunder reverberated among the thousand mesas, the entangled gorges, until it seemed almost impossible to endure the uproar. Rain did not begin to fall until noon. There was not a place in sight that wou

oped remarkably as the afternoon wore on. Enoch could not recall ever having been so wretchedly uncomfortable in his life. He was sodden

! I've gon

was unbelievable, stopped. A last flare of lightning seemed to blast the clouds from th

sked Mack, grinning,

w," replied Curly. "Com

throwing his leg over the saddle, "I think you ought to tr

he isn't!"

I enjoy it," said Eno

him a keen look, "you a

hinks y

ed, but said nothing further. Ma

ck or a kick in the pants to prove it. You may be a lawyer, all right, Mr. Smith, but I'l

abutted almost on the trail. Curly apparently had not paid the sli

here and there a tiny cedar or mesquite yielded itself up and at last a good blaze flared up before the mesa. The men shifted to dry underwear, wrung out their outer clothing and put it on again, and drank copiously of the hot cof