The Rim of the Desert

m the end of the Wenatchee range lifted clear-cut, in a mighty promontory, from the face of the desert. Already the

s is the Columbia, Mr. Tisdale. I know it is the Nile. Those are the ruins o

ng wide and swift and intensely blue, where the rapids ceased, then he glanced at the other shore

have traveled abroad. Do you know, that disappoi

le than a lantern-slide lecture and the moving-picture show. But my fath

glowing face, the mirth-provoking lines broke and

s all once a great inland sea? Countless glacial streams brought wash down from the mountains, filling the shallows with the finest alluvial earth. Then, in some big upheaval, one or perhaps s

returned to the levels. "And naturally, as the bed of the sea was laid bare,

hurried to evade, warmed his scientist soul. "Yes," he answered, "Nature remembered, while she was busy, to construct the main flume. She

ttle; she watched his face covertly yet expec

rbee. He knew more about reclamation than I, for he grew up among your California or

e land, Mr. Tisdale, if-

I have Mrs. Wea

onsider the tr

o cool and pleasant up there above the desert heat that he set up a little camp of his own in the shade of some pine trees that rimmed the pool, and the rest of the season he rode to and from his work. Then he began to see the possibilities of that alluvial pocket under irrigation, and before he went back to college he secured the quarter section. That was his final year, and he expected to return the next summer and open the project. But his whole future was changed by that unfortunate marriage. His wife was not the kind of woman to follow him into the desert and share inevitable discomfort and hardship until

l it over again. I-can't-bear it." And she sank against the ba

I see you must have heard the story through Mr. Feversham

ks and catches: "You don't know the hold your story has on me. I've dreamed it all over at night; I've wakened cold and wet with perspiration from he

nderness rose through the

he endured. I have gone over the ground with her in imagination, mile after mile, that long trek from Nome. I have seen her done for, whimpering in a corner, like the weakest husky in the team, there at the Aurora mine, and at her limit again up in Rainy Pass. And on

met his look, questioni

ds occult,

ho has lived in the big spaces has his sen

de, and the nigh horse broke, turning the front wheel into a tangle of sage. "Mr. Tisdale," she cried a

hange was made, she drew to the edge of the seat, holding her h

n like you"-and she gave him her swift, direct look, and the shadow of a smile touched her mouth-"well-balanced, strong, would have kept the danger down. I should never be afraid-for you. But," she hu

ays on a man's nerves, but I have seen the closest partners get beyond speaking to each other. It's a life to bring out the good and the bad in a man; a life to make men hate; and it can forge two men together. But David Weatherbee never had an enem

le journey. How else could he have carried it through?" She leaned forward a

she finished brokenly. "You

rked. He laid his hand for an instant over hers. "If any

let the blue flood of the Columbia through. The interest crept back to her face. Between them and those guardian peaks a steel bridge, fine as a spider web, was etched on the river, then a first orchard broke the areas of s

very year. He keeps her busy. He was a rugged little chap at the start, did his best to grow, and bright!"-Tisdale paused, shaking his head, while the humorous lines deepened-"But he had to be vig

or her train. The ceremony was at Trinity, that stone church on the first hill, and the Bishop of Alaska, who was waiting too, officiated. I w

Weatherbee was the

the boy had been his own. That would have been his salvation. If Da

ing watercourse, and the great weariness Tisdale had n

lines to me. You've deceived me with all that fine show of spirits, but I've

"this vixen did hurt you yeste

uncomfortable after a while, and my glove is getting tight. A l

left the promontory, her glance followed the road ahead. The bridge was no longer fine as a spider web; it was a railroad crossing of steel, and the long eav

k to civilization. A few minutes more and, if you will g

et hotel. I can't thank you enough for all your kindness and patience," she went on hurriedly. "For making this trip possibl

public garage," he said, "and a rival establishment opposite. You will have no trouble to finish your trip b

her on a rough mountain road than on the Seattle boulevard, and, of

d the reins. "The building seems modern, but we may find

d, after a moment, "and start back to Kittitas to-mo

s this afternoon; but I expect to take the wes

ttitas by way of Seattle. I'm afraid"-her voice broke a little, the color flushed pinkly to her

ers of his mouth, "when I ship these horses ba

ited, regarding Tisdale with an expectant, disconcerting side-glance of he

and bath on the north side, with windows looking up the Columbia, should make you fairly comfortable through the heat of the day." But the girl waited, and when his eyes fell to that open purse, his own color burned through the tan. There was no help

ught these horses-o

hment in her eyes, but his glance moved directly to the colts. "And, you s

ey are beauties, Mr. Tisdale, and I know a man in Seattle who is going to be disappointed. I congratulate you on being able to secure them." She

d smoking and talking outside the entrance, while a little apart a land promoter and his possible capitalist consulted a blue print; b

ut if you find anything wrong, or should happen to want me,

w her lips part, though she did not speak. Then her eyelids drooped, the color played softly in her face, and she turned to go in. There had been no invitation in her attitude, yet he had felt a certai

ctantly. "If I start up the valley at two"-and he looked at his watch-"that will be a rest of nearly three hours. It means the heat of