, and above them the great white, solemn peaks, austere and
stately guardians of the desert which stretched away and away, its
illimitable distances lost at last in the horizon line.

Hanson, of the far west, was used to magnificent scenic effects, but the
desert that sparkled like the gold of man's eternal quest, that lay with
its sentinel hills enfolded and encompassed in color, colors that
seemed as if some spinner of the sunset courts wove forever fresh
combinations and sent these ethereal tapestries out to float over the
wide spaces of the wilderness--this caused him to catch his breath and
exclaim.

It was truly a sight to take any man's breath away; but even such a view
could only arrest Hanson's interest temporarily. He was hungry, and the
station agent, a weedy youth, was making a noisy closing up.
Intentionally noisy, for when one is the agent of a small desert
station, the occasional visitor is apt to whet one's curiosity to razor
edge.

Roused by these sounds, and by his growing hunger, which the cool purity
of the air only augmented, Hanson turned to the boy.

"Where's a place to stay?" he asked.

"There ain't but one," replied the youth; "the San Gorgonio hotel. You
walk right up this street until you come to it, on the left side. It's
got a sign out, electric," he added with some pride. He looked curiously
at Hanson, standing tall and straight with his ruddy, good-looking face,
keen, quick, gray eyes and curling light hair. "Going to be here long?"
he asked tentatively.

"I don't know," returned Hanson idly. "Guess not. No string on me,
though, even if I'd choose to put in a month or so here. This way, you
say?" He lifted his suit case and began to walk in the direction the
station agent had indicated.

"Say," the latter called after him, "you don't want to miss the show
to-night."

"What show?" Hanson turned, interest amounting almost to eagerness in
his tone.

"Benefit." The boy rolled the word unctuously under his tongue. "I guess
maybe you saw why in the papers. The river got on a tear and cut into a
nice little town here on the desert, drowned some of the folks and did a
lot of damage generally, so we're raising some money to send to 'em."

The stranger's interest had increased perceptibly. "Sounds good to me,"
he said heartily. "What's your features?"

"Just one," the other answered impressively. "We don't need no more in
this part of the world, if we got her."

"Her!" cried Hanson,