ilities. There
were water holes on this skillet, but nine out of ten were death traps,
reeking with mineral poisons, colored and alkaline. The two mentioned by
Buck could not be depended on, for they came and went, and more than one
luckless wanderer had depended on them to allay his thirst, and had died
for his trust.

So the scouts rode on in silence, noting the half-buried skeletons of
cattle which were strewn plentifully on all sides. Nearly three per
cent, of the cattle belonging to the Double Arrow yearly found death
on this tableland, and the herds of that ranch numbered many thousand
heads. It was this which made the Double Arrow the poorest of the
ranches, and it was this which allowed insufficient sentries in its
line-houses. The skeletons were not all of cattle, for at rare intervals
lay the sand-worn frames of men.

On the morning of the second day the oppression increased with the wind
and Red heaved a sigh of restlessness. The sand began to skip across the
plain, in grains at first and hardly noticeable. Hopalong turned in his
saddle and regarded the desert with apprehension. As he looked he
saw that where grains had shifted handfuls were now moving. His mount
evinced signs of uneasiness and was hard to control.

A gust of wind, stronger than the others, pricked his face and grains
of sand rolled down his neck. The leather of his saddle emitted strange
noises as if a fairy tattoo was being beaten upon it and he raised his
hand and pointed off toward the east. The others looked and saw what had
appeared to be a fog rise out of the desert and intervene between them
and the sun. As far as eye could reach small whirlwinds formed and broke
and one swept down and covered them with stinging sand. The day became
darkened and their horses whinnied in terror and the clumps of mesquite
twisted and turned to the gusts.

Each man knew what was to come upon them and they dismounted, hobbled
their horses and threw them bodily to the earth, wrapping a blanket
around the head of each. A rustling as of paper rubbing together became
noticeable and they threw themselves flat upon the earth, their heads
wrapped in their coats and buried in the necks of their mounts. For
an hour they endured the tortures of hell and then, when the storm had
passed, raised their heads and cursed Creation. Their bodies burned
as though they had been shot with fine needles and their clothes were
meshes where once was tough cloth. Even their sh