urselves," Dick pulled up his horse. "When
folks thirst to death in the desert, they often strip off their clothes
and run around in a big circle."

Roger bit his dry lips. "All right, Dick, come on," he muttered.

The foot marks swung in a wide circle. It was a mile farther on that
they found the madam, stark naked, her gaunt face turned to the sky. She
too had been dead for many days.

"I don't see why the buzzards didn't get her. Her burro wasn't Peter, he
deserted her," murmured Dick. "Look, Rog, under her head."

It was the dispatch box, lightly sifted over with sand as was the body.

"What do you suppose happened?" asked Roger.

"She obviously thirsted to death. But she got the box first. Do you
suppose she killed him, to get it?"

"Perhaps she found him dead and took it," suggested Roger.

"Well, we'll never know. Let's gather up what we can of her clothes and
bury her. Poor old devil. Her story's ended," said Dick.

They dug Clarissa von Minden's grave and put her in it, then Dick pulled
a prayer book from his pocket.

"Charley made me bring it," he explained. "I'm glad of it, now. Somehow
it seems worse to chuck a woman away without a minister to help, than it
does a man. I guess she did some tall suffering, from first to last, eh
Rog?"

Roger nodded. Dick read the burial service reverently and they finished
this gruesome job. Roger tied the little black metal box to his saddle
and they started on their way. They made camp in the mountains that
evening, not far from the peak that sheltered Von Minden. They had ample
firewood for they camped near a clump of cedars and they went hastily
through the contents of the dispatch box, by the light of the flames.

There was no marriage certificate. The entire box was filled with notes
in German in a microscopic hand. Roger read excerpts of it. Von Minden
seemed to have made an exhaustive study of the resources of this section
of the desert and of the north of Mexico.

"He had some sort of a huge irrigation scheme in his head," Roger said.
"He's got some letters copied in here and a lot of stuff. We ought to
turn this over to a German consul, somewhere and let him notify the
proper relations."

"That a good idea," agreed Dick. "He used to tell Charley and me
strange things when he was off his head. Once he said he was charting
this region for the Kaiser. The poor old lunatic."

"His ideas were not so crazy as they might be," protested Roger. "I've
some d