struggling among the sages.

it is the fourth day after forsaking the couch among the shin oaks, and the two fugitives are still travelling upon the llano estacado. they have made little more than sixty miles to the south-eastward, and have not yet struck any of the streams leading out to the lower level of the texan plain.

their progress has been slow; for the wounded man, instead of recovering strength, has grown feebler. his steps are now unequal and tottering. in addition to the loss of blood, something else has aided to disable him—the fierce cravings of hunger and the yet more insufferable agony of thirst.

his companion is similarly afflicted; if not in so great a degree, enough to make him also stagger in his steps. neither has had any water since the last drop drank amid the waggons, before commencing the fight; and since then a fervent sun shining down upon them, with no food save crickets caught in the plain, an occasional horned frog, and some fruit of the opuntia cactus—the last obtained sparingly.

hunger has made havoc with both, sad and quick. already at the end of the fourth day their forms are wasted. they are more like spectres than men.

and the scene around them is in keeping. the plain, far as the eye can reach, is covered with artemisia, whose hoary foliage, in close contact at the tops, displays a continuation of surface like a vast winding-sheet spread over the world.

across this fall the shadows of the two men, proportioned to their respective heights. that of the ex-ranger extends nearly a mile before him; for the sun is low down, and they have its beams upon their backs.

they are facing eastward, in the hope of being able to reach the brow of the llano where it abuts on the texan prairies; though in the heart of one of them this hope is nearly dead. frank hamersley has but slight hopes that he will ever again see the homes of civilisation, or set foot upon its frontier. even the ci-devant ranger inclines to a similar way of thinking.

not far off are other animated beings that seem to rejoice. the shadows of the two men are not the only ones that move over the sunlit face of the artemisia. there, too, are outlined the wings of birds—large birds with sable plumage and red naked necks, whose species both know well. they are zopilotés—the vultures of mexico.

a score of such shadows are flitting over the sage—a score of the birds are wheeling in the air above.

it is a sight to pain the traveller, even when seen at a distance. over his own head it may well inspire him with fear. he cannot fail to read in it a forecast of his own fate.

the birds are following the two men, as they would a wounded buffalo or stricken deer. they soar and circle above them, at times swooping portentously near. they do not believe them to be spectres. wasted as their flesh may be, there will still be a banquet upon their bones.

now and then walt wilder casts a glance up towards them. he is anxious, though he takes care to hide his anxiety from his comrade. he curses the foul creatures, not in speech—only in heart, and silently.

for a time the wearied wayfarers keep on without exchanging a word. hitherto consolation has come from the side of the ex-ranger; but he seems to have spent his last effort, and is himself now despairing.

in hamersley’s heart hope has been gradually dying out, as his strength gets further exhausted. at length the latter gives way, the former at the same time.

“no farther, walt!” he exclaims, coming to a stop. “i can’t go a step further. there is a fire in my throat that chokes me; something grips me within. it is dragging me to the ground.”

the hunter stops too. he makes no attempt to urge his comrade on. he perceives it would be idle.

“go on yourself,” hamersley adds, gasping out the words. “you have yet strength left, and may reach water. i cannot, but i can die, i’m not afraid to die. leave me, walt; leave me!”

“niver!” is the response, in a hoarse, husky voice, but firm, as if it came from a speaking-trumpet.

“you will; you must. why should two lives be sacrificed for one? yours may still be saved. take the gun along with you. you may find something. go, comrade—friend—go!”

again the same response, in a similar tone.

“i sayed, when we were in the fight,” adds the hunter, “an’ aterwards, when gallupin’ through the smoke, that livin’ or dyin’ we’d got to stick thegither. didn’t i say that, frank hamersley? i repeat it now. ef you go unner hyar in the middle o’ this sage-brush, walt wilder air goin’ to wrap his karkiss in a corner o’ the same windin’ sheet. there ain’t much strength remainin’ in my arms now, but enuf, i reck’n, to keep them buzzarts off for a good spell yit. they don’t pick our bones till i’ve thinned thar count anyhow. ef we air to be rubbed out, it’ll be by the chokin’ o’ thirst, and not the gripin’ o’ hunger. what durned fools we’ve been, not to a-thinked o’ ’t afore! but who’d iver think o’ eatin’ turkey buzzart? wall, it’s die dog or swaller the hatchet; so onpalatable as thar flesh may be, hyar goes to make a meal o’ it!”

while speaking, he has carried the gun to his shoulder.

simultaneous with his last words comes the crack, quickly followed by the descent of a zopiloté among the sages.

“now, frank,” he says, stooping to pick up the dead bird, while the scared flock flies farther away, “let’s light a bit o’ a fire, an’ cook it. thar’s plenty o’ sage for the stuffin’, an’ its own flavour’ll do for seasonin’ ’stead o’ inyuns. i reck’n we kin git some o’ it down, by holdin’ our noses; an’ at all events, it’ll keep us alive a leetle longer. wagh, ef we only hed water!”

as if a fresh hope has come suddenly across his mind, he once more raises himself erect to the full stretch of his gigantic stature, and standing thus, gazes eastwardly across the plain.

“thar’s a ridge o’ hills out that way,” he says. “i’d jest spied it when you spoke o’ giein out. whar thar’s hills, thar’s a likelihood o’ streams. sposin’, frank, you stay hyar, whiles i make tracks torst them. they look like they wa’n’t mor’n ten miles off anyhow. i ked easy get back by the mornin’. d’ye think ye kin hold out thet long by swallerin’ a bit o’ the buzzart?”

“i think i could hold out that long as well without it. it’s more the thirst that’s killing me. i feel as if liquid fire was coursing through my veins. if you believe there be any chance of finding water, go, walt.”

“i’ll do so; but don’t you sturve in the meanwhile. cook the critter afore lettin’ it kim to thet. ye’ve got punk, an’ may make a fire o’ the sage-brush. i don’t intend to run the risk o’ sturvin’ myself; an’ as i mayn’t find any thin’ on the way, i’ll jest take one o’ these sweet-smellin’ chickens along wi’ me.”

he has already re-loaded the rifle; and, once more pointing its muzzle towards the sky, he brings down a second of the zopilotés.

“now,” he says, taking up the foul carcase, and slinging it to his belt, “keep up your heart till this chile return to ye. i’m sure o’ gettin’ back by the mornin’; an’ to make sartint ’bout the place, jest you squat unner the shadder o’ yon big palmetto—the which i can see far enuff off to find yur wharabouts ’thout any defeequelty.”

the palmetto spoken of is, in truth, not a “palmetto,” though a plant of kindred genus. it is a yucca of a species peculiar to the high table plains of northern and central mexico, with long sword-shaped leaves springing aloe-like from a core in the centre, and radiating in all directions, so as to form a spherical chevaux-de-frize. its top stands nearly six feet above the surface of the ground, and high over the artemisias; while its dark, rigid spikes, contrasted with the frosted foliage of the sage, render it a conspicuous landmark that can be seen far off over the level plain.

staggering on till he has reached it, hamersley drops down on its eastern side, where its friendly shadow gives him protection from the sun, fervid, though setting; while that of walt wilder is still projected to its full length upon the plain. saying not another word, with the rifle across his shoulder and the turkey buzzard dangling down his thigh, he takes departure from the spot, striking eastward towards the high land dimly discernible on the horizon.