Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 7, 1925 — page 111: what you’re looking at

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

‘THE bers and other evil riders, and she shrank in the Saddle, expecting each instant to hear a gruff voice or feel hands clutching at her. When there came no sound or mavement around her. she sighed audibly with relief. And then she remembered: of having read tales of horses halting of their own voli- tion upon approaching dangerous spots such as cliffs and ditches, and she endeavored to penetrate the blackness ahead of her in an effort to see what obstructed. She could see nothing. She was assailed with a sensation of futility, of helplessness. She did not dare urge the horse onward for | fear of a catastrophe, and so she continued to sit, vacillating, uncertain. She leaned forward, resting her hands. upon theshigh pommel of the saddle. -The- movement took her head forward a little and a glimmer of Weht, like a pin point in the vast darkness, flashed in her eyes. She turned quickly to face the pin point. It was to her left, and so iar away that at first it appeared to be a low-hanging star, But it was too low for a star. fact, lower than the ground upon which her horse stood. And so she finally decided it was down in a valley. — A house was there, probably, And per- nes the light shone through a window. Possibly the presence of the light explained — the action of the horse in halting. The animal, unguided, had been uncertain of her destination, and was awaiting her pleasure. There probably was 2 trail leading to- ward the light; the horse must have seen it. She didn’t ‘sare if there was still a trail — stretching out ahead of her. If she had reached the edge of the broken country about which Grace had warned her, there would be no trail westward, and she ought to ride straight ahead. The trouble was that she didn’t know whether she had been riding straight. It was quite possible that she might have been riding off at an angle for some little time, for since the moon had gone down she hadn’t been able to see anything. Of course, the horse would follow the trail as long as there was a trail, but the point was that he might have passed the end of the trail some time age. It might even be VALLEY OF THE STARS. Tt was, ae : f possible that the light she saw was one of the lights of Willets. aS She looked back. Blackness. There were a, few stars, remote, almost obscured, and a dull, semiluminous haze in the sky. There was nothing by which she could establish a sense of direction, and as she continued to speculate she began to have a feeling that she would be doing wrong to urge the horse. Left alone, he would probably take _ her straight to Willets, whereas, if she ‘at-— tempted to guide him, she might get lost or go plunging down a precipice. Obeying a sudden impulse, she gently struck the animal with the quirt she carried. Instantly the horse swerved, lunged, and ‘galloped toward the light. She was almost satisfied | now, and she watched: with interest as the light grew larger in her vision. The further she rode the firmer became her conviction that the light was in Willets, and that she would have been foolish to reject the wisdom of the animal she rode. Again she became aware that they were descending, and thus was vindicated her — conclusion that the light could not be a star. She rode for half an hour, while the light drew closer, and she tried to distinguish its character. “After a while she decided it was rectangular and was therefore coming through a window or a door. When she drew near enough to perceive that it was shining through a window, she found herself in a dense wood, for light beams from the window shone on the branches and leaves of trees. Deep in the woods she halted the horse and sat motionless in the saddle, listening, peering about her. If the light came from a window of a house in Wiilets, why weren’t there more lights? This interrogation was, she felt, founded upon her fear that this might not be Willets after all. Willets must be a little town, and it would not be odd that in such a place only one house should be illu- minated. It was more astonishing that at. this hour there should be any light at all! When that thought assailed her she grew apprehensive, and she tried hard to detect the cutlines of other buildings. When she failed she resolutely closed her lips, took 581 “comicbooks.-co