gleaming earth. In and out among these dark spots
a man was slowly riding. Now and then he leaned forward and looked
keenly through the growing darkness as though searching for some
familiar landmark. The horse lagged across the heavy sand, with
drooping head and ears. The rider patted its neck with a buckskin
gloved hand and spoke cheerily to the tired animal:

"Hot and tired, ain't you, old fellow? You want your supper and a big
drink of water. Well, you oughtn't to have wandered off the road while
I was asleep. Now, I sure reckon we've got to bunk on a sand heap
to-night and wait till daylight to find out where we are."

Again he peered through the dusk, and a little ray of light came
glimmering from far away toward the right. He knew that it must come
from either a ranch house or a camp-fire.

"I don't remember any ranch as far up toward the White Sands as that
seems to be," he thought. "It must be a camp-fire. We don't know whose
it is, old pard, but we're goin' to take chances on it."

He rode on in silence, the bridle lying loosely on the horse's neck.
All the senses of the plainsman were on the alert, his ears were
strained to catch the faintest sound that might come from the
direction of the fire, while his eyes alternately swept the darkened
plain and fastened themselves on the light. His horse pricked up its
ears and gave a loud whinny, which was answered in kind from the
direction of the fire. Presently the man shouted a loud "hello," but
there was no reply. "That's queer!" he thought. "My voice ought to
carry that far, sure!" He waited a few moments, listening intently,
then, drawing in a deep breath, he sent out another long, loud call
that bellowed across the plain and sank into the far darkness. Still
there was no reply, but when his horse neighed again there was instant
response. The animal had quickened its pace and with head up and ears
bent forward was rapidly lessening the distance between them and the
light. The rider could see that it was a camp-fire, and soon could
distinguish the flickering of the flames, but, in the illuminated
circle around it there was no sign of human beings nor shadow of
moving life. He drew rein and again sent a full lunged, far-reaching
"hello-o-o" across the distance. The moon, just showing a silver edge
above the mountain tops, threw a faint glimmer of light across the
plain, making visible the nearest clumps of bushes.

"I guess that would mighty near wake a dead