The Rim of the Desert

h growing dismay searched the draw below the station. "There isn't a town in sight!" she exclaimed, and her lip

al lines broke lightly in his face, "but I could

ld me you were going there, and this was your stop. It was h

on from his pocket and opened it. "You see, your stop was Ellensburg; the only through road starts there." He found the thoroughfare and began to trace it with his forefinger. "It crosses rugged country; follows the canyons through these spurs of the Cascades. They push down sheer to the Columbia. See the big bend it makes, flowing south for miles along the mountains

off in the direction of the hidden Columbi

not remain at this siding alone all night; yet she was debating the propriety of riding through the mountains to Wenatchee with him. Then unexpectedly the click of a telegraph cu

slowly f

essage, swung around on his stool, and got t

communicate with the nearest garage for me, can you not? Or a stable-or- somewhere. You see," and for an instant the coquetry of a pretty

it on. "Of course I could call up Ellensburg," he said; "that's the nearest for a machine. But it belongs to the doctor, and even if

th good saddle-horses we should be able to make it as soon. Do you know

way, up the mountain road, in the spring to take this position when the Milwaukee opened. But I don't know much about your cut-off; I just kept on to Ellensburg and dropped down by train from there. The main road, though, was in pretty good shape. It's the old stage road that used to connect with the Northern Pacific, and they had to do some mighty heavy hauling over it while t

ses?" asked T

ce in awhile, and any of them would

ddle-horses, I presume, at that ranch off

are working two teams, every day and Sunday, while daylight lasts, grubbing out the sage-brush for planting.

dle-horses?" said

t spare it. But that's your only chance. I don't know of any other horses in twenty miles, unless it's a wild band

ent then asked: "When is the ne

ensburg, and there's a livery there, with a cross-road to strike the Ellensburg-Wenatchee. But, say! If you do drop off at Kittitas, ask Lighter to show you the colts. They are the star team in three counties. Took the prize at North Yakima

be allowed the privilege to buy them. But," and he

hether to sparkle or to cloud, and he read the arrested question on her lips. "If there are any saddle-horses," he answered, "I will have them here before that two

oad." But she stood watching him, with the uncertainty

ed. Once he stopped and bent to fasten a loose strap, and then he took off his coat, which he folded to carry. The pall of dust enveloped him. In it his actions gathered mystery, and his big frame loomed indistinctly like the fig

ion master smiled. "They're beauties, you can t

afternoon sun. If the Columbia flowed in that neighborhood, it was hidden by sand dunes and decomposing cliffs of granite. There was no glimpse of water anywhere, not a green blade; even the bunch grass, that grew sparsely betw

. "Well," he said genially, "how ar

u, how could any human being, li

self all kinds of a fool. But I had sunk an even thousand dollars in a twenty-acre tract; bought it off a real estate map over in Seattle, without seeing the ground." He laughed, half in embarrassment at the confession, and moved to take a more comfortable position against the wall. "I was in a railroad office in Chicago," he explai

"how hard! How mi

trees. I set the whole twenty acres to apples-I always did like a good apple, and I had sized up the few home orchards around Wenatchee-then I put in alfalfa for a filler, and that eased things, and I settled down to office work, small pay, lots of time to plan, and waited for my trees to grow. That was four years ago, five since I struck the Wenatchee valley, and this season they came into bearing. Now, at th

ed to catch and reflect his enthusiasm. "To have waited, fo

braced up with scaffolding, only fourteen acres of them, but every branch loaded. But that orchard is an exception; they had to lift water from the river with buckets and a wheel, and most of the pioneers put in grain. Their eyes are just beginning to open. But think of Hesperides Val

y tale," she said. "I

ngly large apple, nearer the size of a small pumpkin, "how's this for a Rome Beauty? An agent who is selling acreage for a company down the Yakima offered me five dollars for that apple yesterday. He wanted it for a window display over at his Seattle office. But

Sound cloud effect at sunset. That is what it

. Now taste one and tell me what the flavor of a Wenatche

hole nervous frame keyed by her responsiveness to high pitch. "It's like nothing else in the world," she said finally. "No, wait, yes, it is. It's like

at her feet and stood looking down at her an uncertain moment. "I would like awfully well

s hard to give a certain address." In the pause that followed, she glanced again and smiled. "I would like one or

re all you

sure I shall look for your orchard when I reach W

erides Vale, and that special Eden of mine is the core. You cou

certain pocket of the valley. I wonder"-she started and turned a little to give him

several miles of private flume. And perhaps he will show you how easy it's going to be to tap the new High Line that's building down the Wenatchee and on to the plateau across the Columbia thirty miles. But it's a big proposition to finance; in places they'll have to bore through granite clif

ded her face. In that moment she seemed older, and the strong light brought out two lines

e Almighty made his hot beds there, all smooth and level, and just forgot to turn the water on. And take a project like the Peshastin, run by a strong company with plenty of capital; the man along the canal only has to pay his water rate, so much an irrigated acre; nothing towards the plant, nothing for flume construction and repairs. And, say, I don't want to bore you, I don't want to influence you too far, but I hate to see a woman-a lady-throw her money away right in sight of a sure proposition; even if you can't go into improved orchards, any Hesperides investment is safe. It means at least double the price to you within

der her lashes. "Thank you,

ot listening to her. Then, presently, the sound that had caught his alert ear reached her own faintly. Somewhere out i

y. They'll call me in a minute." And

d; and it was there, at the turn, she first noticed a cloud of dust. It advanced rapidly, but for a while she was not able to determine whether it enveloped a rider or a man on

p through the dunes. She went along the platform and picked up her hat, which she had left on the suitcase with her coat. While she pinned it on and tied her veil over it, the freight signalled twice. It was so close she caught the echo of the thundering trucks from so

ation master's step behind her. "Well," he said, "it's Nip and Tuck, sure. But say, he can sprint some. Does i

o her voice, "I must go without him, and I su

isn't going to miss the freight, and it will be hou

n how to do this," he said; "it's so long since I've seen a girl-or a lady. I'm afraid I've bored y

gravely. "I've learned so much. I wonder if, should I come

you are at Wenatchee, and if my proposition seems good to you at one hundred dollars an acre, and that is what I'

d stopped, breathing deep and full, while he shook the dust from his hat. "I am sorry, madam," he said, "but their only saddle-

"And you were forced to tramp back d

ver his powdered leggings and shoes; the humor broke gently in

ollowed, and when Tisdale came back, she stood framed in the doorway of the waiting caboose, while a brakeman dusted a chair, which he placed adroitly facing outside, so that she migh

board. Then the station master, remembering the apples at the last moment, ran with the basket, crowned sti

fluted back to Bailey, and she leaned forward a litt

that morning in the observation car. The hand he laid on the wall as a brace against the rocking of the light caboose was on a level with her eyes, and they rested there. It was a strong, well-made hand, the hand of the capable draughtsman, sensitive ye

t where the railroad track was lost among the dunes. "Of course I have heard of you," she admitted. "We-Mrs. Feversham-recognized you this morning in Snoqualmie Pass and would have

then, her glance falling to the basket at her feet, she bent and took the largest apple. "Did you ever see such a marvel?" she asked. "It came fro

the caboose, where he deliberately selected a stool which he brought forward to the door. Her confusion puzzled him. Had she been about to confess, as he had at first conjectured, that Miss Armitage was an incognito used to satisfy