Desert Gold

  "That was Nell Burton, my girl–step-daughter, I should say," said Belding.  "She's sure some whirlwind, as Laddy calls her.  Come, let's go in and meet the wife."

  The house was long, like a barracks, with porch extending all the way, and doors every dozen paces.  When Dick was ushered into a sitting-room, he was amazed at the light and comfort.  This room had two big windows and a door opening into a patio, where there were luxuriant grass, roses in bloom, and flowering trees.  He heard a slow splashing of water.

  In Mrs. Belding, Gale found a woman of noble proportions and striking appearance.  Her hair was white.  She had a strong, serious, well-lined face that bore haunting evidences of past beauty.  The gaze she bent upon him was almost piercing in its intensity.  Her greeting, which seemed to Dick rather slow in coming, was kind though not cordial.  Gale's first thought, after he had thanked these good people for their hospitality, was to inquire about Mercedes.  He was informed that the Spanish girl had awakened with a considerable fever and nervousness.  When, however, her anxiety had been allayed and her thirst relieved, she had fallen asleep again.  Mrs. Belding said the girl had suffered no great hardship, other than mental, and would very soon be rested and well.

  "Now, Gale," said Belding, when his wife had excused herself to get supper, "the boys, Jim and Laddy, told me about you and the mix-up at Casita.  I'll be glad to take care of the girl till it's safe for your soldier friend to get her out of the country.  That won't be very soon, don't mistake me....I don't want to seem over-curious about you–Laddy has interested me in you–and straight out I'd like to know what you propose to do now."

  "I haven't any plans," replied Dick; and, taking the moment as propitious, he decided to speak frankly concerning himself.  "I just drifted down here.  My home is in Chicago.  When I left school some years ago–I'm twenty-five now–I went to work for my father. He's–he has business interests there.  I tried all kinds of inside jobs.  I couldn't please my father.  I guess I put no real heart in my work.  the fact was I didn't know how to work.  The governor and I didn't exactly quarrel; but he hurt my feelings, and I quit. Six months or more ago I came West, and have knocked about from Wyoming southwest to the border.  I tried to find congenial work, but nothing came my way.  To tell you frankly, Mr. Belding, I suppose I didn't much care.  I believe, though, that all the time I didn't know what I wanted.  I've learned–well, just lately–"

  "What do you want to do?" interposed Belding.

  "I want a man's job.  I want to do things with my hands.  I want action.  I want to be outdoors."

  Belding nodded his head as if he understood that, and he began to speak again, cut something short, then went on, hesitatingly:

  "Gale–you could go home again–to the old man– it'd be all right?"

  "Mr. Belding, there's nothing shady in my past.  The governor would be glad to have me home.  That's the only consolation I've got. But I'm not going.  I'm broke.  I won't be a tramp.  And it's up to me to do something."

  "How'd you like to be a border ranger?" asked Belding, laying a hand on Dick's knee.  "Part of my job here is United States Inspector of Immigration.  I've got that boundary line to patrol–to keep out Chinks and Japs.  This revolution has added complications, and I'm looking for smugglers and raiders here any day.  You'll not be hired by the U. S.  You'll simply be my ranger, same as Laddy and Jim, who have promised to work for me.  I'll pay you well, give you a room here, furnish everything down to guns, and the finest horse you ever saw in your life.  Your job won't be safe and healthy, sometimes, but it'll be a man's job–don't mistake me! You can gamble on having things to do outdoors.  Now, what do you say?"

  "I accpet, and I thank you–I can't say how much," replied Gale, earnestly.

  "Good!  That's settled.  Let's go out and tell Laddy and Jim."

  Both boys expressed satisfaction at the turn of affairs, and then with Belding they set out to take Gale around the ranch.  The house and several outbuildings were constructed of adobe, which, according to Belding, retained the summer heat on into winter, and the winter cold on into summer.  These gray-red mud habitations were hideous to look at, and this fact, perhaps, made their really comfortable interiors more vividly a contrast.  The wide grounds were covered with luxuriant grass and flowers and different kinds of trees.  Gale's interest led him to ask about fig trees and pomegranates, and especially about a beautiful specimen that Belding called palo verde.

  Belding explained that the luxuriance of this desert place was owing to a few springs and the dammed-up waters of the Rio Forlorn. Before he had come to the oasis it had been inhabited by a Papago Indian tribe and a few peon families.  The oasis lay in an arroyo a mile wide, and sloped southwest for some ten miles or more.