Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 118: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

744 Bob finally sat up. “Lucky thing I happened to sight this little old brook,’’ he commented. “ It may not be any Mississippi, and I’ll tell the world it’s a bit chilly; but it certainly done noble by us all right.” “ T still can’t believe in it.” Faith raised herself on one elbow and gazed frowningly at the tiny stream. ‘‘ Why, Bob, I know this part of the desert thoroughly, and every foot of it has been gone over by oil pros- pectors. If you told any one who lives around here that you’d found water in this locality they’d say you were crazy. There isn’t a drop of it within twenty miles.” ‘Maybe you’re mistaken in your bear- ings?” he suggested. ‘‘ We may not be where you think we are.”’ “No.” She pointed to a butte of scarred, _black rock which poked itself up out of the desert some six or seven miles away. “ That is a landmark everybody is familiar with. { could not be mistaken in that. “The only way I can account for the water being here ”—she looked a bit fright- ened—“ is to believe that it was a miracle in our behalf like the one that happened to Hagar in the Bible. But what you or I have ever done to deserve a miracle, I don’t know.” “Well, so far as that goes,” observed Bob, “TI never heard that Hagar was an especially exemplary character. The reason she ran away to the wilderness was because she’d been sassy to her mistress and got frightened. Maids in those days apparently didn’t have everything their own way, with Thursday afternoons and every other Sun- day off.”’ He evidently didn’t take much stock in the miracle theory. “Tl tell you,” he said, rising to his feet; *‘ suppose, if you feel up to walking, that we explore a bit, follow the course of the stream and see where it gets to. I have an idea that it will lead us before long to some human habitation; for I’m still convinced that you must be mixed up on your land- marks.” She obstinately shook her head at this explanation; but, nevertheless, got up to ac- company him. ‘““ Which way shall we go?” she asked. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. '“ Downstream,” returned Bob confident- ly. “It’s a law of nature that small water courses empty into larger ones, and the big- ger the stream the more apt we are to find houses along it.” But in spite of this jaunty certainty they had not traveled very far before they found this rivulet turning out to be something of a paradox. Instead of growing larger the farther it flowed, it visibly decreased in size. By the time they had followed it a couple of miles, it was reduced to a mere trickle; and a little further on it ended altogether in a patch of wet sand. ‘““'There’s another thing that’s struck me about it,” said Faith as he stood staring non- plused at this unexpected phenomenon. “Have you noticed, Bob, that there is no vegetation along the banks? Did you ever see anything like that before?”’ “ By George, you’re right!’ He scratched his head bewilderedly. ‘‘ Darned if it don’t almost look like magic or something. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit now to see the whole thing disappear. “And yet it’s water for sure.” He stooped down and, scooping up a palmful of it, drank it down. ‘ Mighty good water, too. Let’s follow it the other way.” Accordingly, they retraced their steps, and still found the puzzling stream trans- gressing all the regular rules; for the nearer they approached its source, wider grew the channel, and greater the volume of water. Winding in an out among the sand hills it led them, until Bob suddenly paused, struck by the familiarity of the scene. “Say!” he exclaimed. “If I am not mis- taken, this is just about where I came to that fake oil camp of Van Carpen’s and J. P.’s yesterday. I know the place by those three funny looking cactuses over there together.” As he finished speaking he pressed hur- riedly ahead, where the stream circled around the base of another dune; and then turning, shouted back excitedly to Faith: “It’s here!’”’ he called. ‘“ This is where the camp was all right. The litter they left is all around. And this is where the water comes from, too.” “Where the water comes from?” she asked wonderingly as she hastened forward. COMmiICLooks (C@