Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Great American Desert Part 20

To each of the others Hi gave a handful of pulp.

"Nectar straight from Heaven," murmured Elfreda at her first taste. "Who would think that so much heavenliness could come from such a hideous plant, so hideous that, were I alone, it would give me the s.h.i.+vers to look at?"

Uttering exclamations of satisfaction and delight, the Overland girls ate and ate, soothing their throats and satisfying their thirst.

"Please tell us what this is, Mr. Lang," asked Grace.

"It is the bisnaga, sometimes called the 'n.i.g.g.e.rhead,' belonging to the cactus family, a plant that is ever hailed with joy by the thirsty traveler."

"It's a life saver," agreed Lieutenant Wingate. "Where is that Chinaman? Doesn't he ever get thirsty?"

"Don't worry about him. He is out there in the bushes now, swallowing 'n.i.g.g.e.rheads' as fast as he can gulp them down. This is one of the secrets of the desert. There are others--but a man must know them before he can take advantage of them."

"Tell us about them. I just dote on secrets," exclaimed Emma, her good nature now fully restored.

"They might answer for an emergency, but nothing short of real food would answer for me," declared Hippy.

"Just the same a man might live on what we see before us here for a long time," replied the guide. "If you will examine those mesquite bushes you will find a bean pod on them. It is a rich and nouris.h.i.+ng food. Then there are the pears of the tuna and the fruit of the sahuaro or giant cactus."

"We saw a forest of them on the Apache Trail," Grace informed him.

"Yes, I know. You will find all of these nouris.h.i.+ng foods about you here, hideous, some of them, but furnis.h.i.+ng food and water that have saved the lives of many desert travelers.

"Besides these food plants of the desert, we have the cat's-claw, mesquite and cholla shrubs for fuel; the bear-gra.s.s and yuccas for camp-building. Better than a mirage, is it not, Miss Dean?"

Emma flushed.

"I don't know about that. The sight of that lake that wasn't a lake made me forget for the moment that I was thirsty," answered Emma spiritedly.

The Chinaman's shrill call for supper sounded while they were still talking. The girls, now greatly refreshed, turned campward and sat down on the ground to eat "poisoned pig," as Hippy Wingate had named the bacon with its bitter alkaline taste.

"I fear we are forgetting that we still are without water,"

reminded Grace after they had finished their supper, feeling more like themselves than at any time in the last two days.

"Don't throw a monkey-wrench in the machinery," begged Hippy.

"Let's live while the living is good, and die when we haven't anything else to do."

"Grace is quite right," agreed Anne. "I am worrying about to- morrow myself."

"I have been thinking it over," spoke up Hi Lang. "I believe I will go out early in the morning and ride until noon. I can cover a lot of ground in that time, and if I do not find water, the chances are against our getting any in the direction we are going.

In that event we will head for the mountains and fight our way through. I never knew so many water holes to fail, but the storm is largely responsible for that condition."

"Why didn't we bring an artesian well with us? I have heard that one could have water anywhere with one of those. Are they very heavy to carry?" asked Emma innocently.

A shout greeted her question, and the guide brushed a hand across his mouth to hide his silent laughter.

"What's the matter? Have I said something funny?" demanded Emma, bristling.

"That would be impossible," answered Hippy. "No, Emma Dean, an artesian well would be no burden to carry at all if one were able to solve the problem of how to carry it. All the makin's are right here, too. Hi, why didn't you bring a medium-sized artesian well with you! I am amazed that you would neglect to find a way to bring one along," rebuked Hippy.

"You are all making fun of me. I think you are real mean," pouted Emma.

"We're not," protested Hippy.

"Yes, he is, dear. Hippy, stop teasing Emma. She is worn out and irritable. By the way, Mr. Lang, what is an artesian well?" asked Nora, which brought down another shout of laughter, this time at her expense.

"I'm not irritable," objected Emma.

"An artesian well is a hole in the ground, Miss Dean," the guide gravely informed her.

"I'm going to bed!" announced Emma, getting up. "Am I to sleep in the open, or do we have tents to cover us to-night?" she asked with much dignity.

"Ping will pitch the tents. He is getting out the canvas now,"

replied Grace. "Before I turn in I am going out to eat some more 'n.i.g.g.e.rheads.' Any one going with me?"

All signified their desire to have more of the luscious white pulp, and in a few moments they were gorging themselves among the bisnagas.

The moon was now well along in its first quarter, and in the cool of the evening the Overland girls were in a frame of mind to appreciate and enjoy the scene.

"The desert has a strange and beguiling beauty all its own,"

murmured Grace.

"Yes," agreed Elfreda. "Such an evening as this makes one forget the awful heat, and lays hold of one's spirit. Then the silence-- no whistling of wind, no rustling of leaves. Why, I find myself holding my breath so as not to break the silence."

"I had not observed it," retorted Grace, presenting a smiling face to her companion. "The camp should be ready by now. I move we go back and turn in."

"The mystery of it all, too," added Elfreda, turning to walk to the camp.

The guide told them not to be concerned at his absence if he did not get in until late on the following day, and the Overland Riders sought their blankets for a rest which all needed.

The night pa.s.sed without one of the girls moving, so far as any of them could remember, when they were rudely awakened next morning.

Shouts and yells from Hippy Wingate, and a scream from Emma Dean, brought Grace, Elfreda, Anne and Nora to their feet, hurriedly throwing on sufficient clothing to make themselves presentable.

"Girls! Hurry, hurry!" shrieked Emma.

"Coming! Hold fast!" shouted Elfreda Briggs, running out ahead of the others.

CHAPTER XIV

THE MYSTERIOUS HORSEMAN

"For mercy sake, what is it?" cried Elfreda.

Emma was dancing about in a high state of excitement.