Upon a small station on one of the transcontinental lines winding among

the mountains far above the level of the sea, the burning rays of the

noonday sun fell so fiercely that the few buildings seemed ready to

ignite from the intense heat. A season of unusual drought had added to

the natural desolation of the scene.

Mountains and foot-hills were blackened by smouldering fires among the timber, while a dense pall of smoke entirely hid the distant ranges from view. Patches of sage-brush

and bunch grass, burned sere and brown, alternated with barren stretches

of sand from which piles of rubble rose here and there, telling of

worked-out and abandoned mines. Occasionally a current of air stole

noiselessly down from the canyon above, but its breath scorched the

withered vegetation like the blast from a furnace. Not a sound broke the

stillness; life itself seemed temporarily suspended, while the very air

pulsated and vibrated with the heat, rising in thin, quivering columns.

Suddenly the silence was broken by the rapid approach of the stage from

a distant mining camp, rattling noisily down the street, followed by a

slight stir within the apparently deserted station. Whirling at

breakneck pace around a sharp turn, it stopped precipitately, amid a

blinding cloud of dust, to deposit its passengers at the depot.

One of these, a young man of about five-and-twenty, arose with some

difficulty from the cramped position which for seven weary hours he had

been forced to maintain, and, with sundry stretchings and shakings of

his superb form, seemed at last to pull himself together. Having secured

his belongings from out the pile of miscellaneous luggage thrown from

the stage upon the platform, he advanced towards the slouching figure of

a man just emerging from the baggage-room, his hands thrust deep in his

trousers pockets, his mouth stretched in a prodigious yawn, the arrival

of the stage having evidently awakened him from his siesta.

"How's the west-bound--on time?" queried the young man rather shortly,

but despite the curtness of his accents there was a musical quality in

the ringing tones.

Before the cavernous jaws could close sufficiently for reply, two

distant whistles sounded almost simultaneously.

"That's her," drawled the man, with a backward jerk of his thumb over

his shoulder in the direction of the sound; "she's at Blind Man's Pass;

be here in about fifteen minutes."

The young man turned and sauntered to the rear end of the platform,

where he paused for a few moments; then, unconscious of the scrutiny of

his fellow-passengers, he began silently pacing up and down, being in no

mood for conversation with any one. Every bone in his body ached and his

head throbbed with a dull pain, but these physical discomforts, which he

attributed to his long and wearisome stage ride, caused him less

annoyance than did the fact that he had lost several days' time, besides

subjecting himself to numerous inconveniences and hardships, on what he

now denominated a "fool's errand."




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