foes or friends?

mounted on the mustang mare, frank hamersley pursues his way, wondering at his strange guide. so lovely a being encountered in such an out-of-the-way corner of the world—in the midst of a treeless, waterless desert, over a hundred miles from the nearest civilised settlement!

who is she? where has she come from? whither is she conducting him?

to the last question he will soon have an answer; for as they advance she now and then speaks words of encouragement, telling him they are soon to reach a place of rest.

“yonder!” she at length exclaims, pointing to two mound-shaped elevations that rise twin-like above the level of the plain. “between those runs our road. once there, we shall not have much farther to go; the rancho will be in sight.”

the young prairie merchant makes no reply. he only thinks how strange it all is—the beautiful being by his side—her dash—her wonderful knowledge exhibited with such an air of naïvété—her generous behaviour—the picturesqueness of her dress—her hunter equipment—the great dogs trotting at her heels—the dead game on the croup behind—the animal he bestrides—all are before his mind and mingling in his thoughts like the unreal phantasmagoria of a dream.

and not any more like reality is the scene disclosed to his view when, after passing around the nearest of the twin mound-shaped hills, and entering a gate-like gorge that opens between them, he sees before him and below—hundreds of feet below—a valley of elliptical form like a vast basin scooped out of the plain. but for its oval shape he might deem it the crater of some extinct volcano. but then, where is the lava that should have been projected from it? with the exception of the two hillocks on each hand, all the country around, far as the eye can reach, is level as the bosom of a placid lake. and otherwise unlike a volcanic crater is the concavity itself. no gloom down there, no black scoriae, no returning streams of lava, nor débris of pumice-stone; but, on the contrary, a smiling vegetation—trees with foliage of different shades, among which can be distinguished the dark-green frondage of the live-oak and pecan, the more brilliant verdure of cottonwoods, and the flower-loaded branches of the wild china-tree. in their midst a glassy disc that speaks of standing water, with here and there a fleck of white, which tells of a stream with foaming cascades and cataracts. near the lakelet, in the centre, a tiny column of blue smoke ascends over the tree-tops. this indicates the presence of a dwelling; and as they advance a little further into the gorge, the house itself can be descried.

in contrast with the dreary plain over which he has been so long toiling, to hamersley the valley appears a paradise—worthy home of the peri who is conducting him down to it. it resembles a landscape painted upon the concave sides of an immense oval-shaped dish, with the cloudless sky, like a vast cover of blue glass, arching over it.

the scene seems scarcely real, and once more the young prairie merchant begins to doubt the evidence of his senses. after all, is it only a vision of his brain, distempered by the long strain upon his intellect, and the agony he has been enduring? or is it but the mirage of the desert, that has so oft already deceived him?

his doubts are dissipated by the sweet voice sounding once more in his ears.

“mira, caballero! you see where you are going now? it is not far; you will need to keep a firm seat in the saddle for the next hundred yards or so. there is a steep descent and a narrow pathway. take good hold with your knees, and trust yourself to the mare. she knows the way well, and will bear you in safety. won’t you, lolita? you will, my pet!”

at this the mustang gives a soft whimper, as if answering the interrogatory.

“i shall myself go before,” the girl continues. “so let loose the rein, and leave lolita to take her own way.”

after giving this injunction, she turns abruptly to the right, where a path almost perpendicular leads down a ledge, traversing the façade of the cliff. close followed by the mustang, she advances fearlessly along it.

certainly a most dangerous descent, even for one afoot; and if left to his own will, hamersley might decline attempting it on horseback. but he has no choice now, for before he can make either expostulation or protest, lolita has struck along the path, and continues with hind-quarters high in air and neck extended in the opposite direction, as though standing upon her head! to her rider there is no alternative but do as he has been directed—stick close to the saddle. this he manages by throwing his feet forward and laying his back flat along the croup, till his shoulders come between the crossed shanks of the prong-horns.

in this position he remains, without saying a word, or even daring to look below, till he at length finds himself moving forward with face upturned to the sky, thus discovering that the animal he bestrides is once more going along level ground.

again he hears the voice of lolita’s mistress, saying, “now, señor, you can sit upright; the danger is past. you have behaved well, yegua—yeguita!” she adds, patting the mare upon the neck; “you shall have the promised pinons—a whole cuartilla of them.”

once more stepping to the front, she strikes off among the trees, along a path which still inclines downward, though now in gentler slope.

hamersley’s brain is in a whirl. the strange scenes, things, thoughts, and fancies are weaving weird spells around him; and once more he begins to think that his senses have either forsaken or are forsaking him.

this time it is really so, for the long-protracted suffering—the waste of blood and loss of strength—only spasmodically resuscitated by the excitement of the strange encounter—is now being succeeded by a fever of the brain, that is gradually depriving him of his reason.

he has a consciousness of riding on for some distance farther—under trees, whose leafy boughs form an arcade over his head, shutting out the sun. soon after, all becomes suddenly luminous, as the mustang bears him out into a clearing, with what appears a log-cabin in the centre. he sees or fancies the forms of several men standing by its door; and as the mare comes to a stop in their midst his fair conductor is heard excitedly exclaiming,—

“hermano! take hold of him! alerte! alerte!”

at this one of the men springs towards him; whether to be kind, or to kill, he cannot tell. for before a hand is laid on him the strange tableau fades from his sight; and death, with all its dark obliviousness, seems to take possession of his soul.