Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 117: what you’re looking at

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

A BOOB THERE WAS. tion. Snatching her hand, he dragged her on with him in the direction where he had seen the miracle. The transitory gleam of sunlight was gone now. It had pierced the thick veil of the storm for but an instant. Almost complete darkness encompassed them; even the blind- ing glare of the lightning showed the way for but a foot or two in front of them. Through the blackness and the uproar they stumbled on, lashed by stinging volleys of sand, fighting against those hurricane blasts. A dozen times they were hurled to the ground, blown apart, in danger of los- ing each other. Bob’s injured toe was for- gotten in the excitement of the struggle. They were bruised, battered and bleeding, for the storm slashed their exposed hands and faces. If they gained two yards, the next_onslaught of the wind seemed to lose them ten. Breath was gone, they were blind, the last ounce of endurance seemed slipping. Faith gave way and fell heavily to the ground. Bob leaned over and tried to pull her to her feet, but she lay inert. She was either unconscious, or beyond further effort. Useless to try and speak to her; his voice would be carried a mile away almost before it left his lips. He gathered her up in his arms and plunged on. He had lost all sense of direc- tion now. He was staggering, weaving like a drunken man; his head bursting like that of a diver who has remained too long be- neath the surface. Consciousness was go- ing. Yet still by a sheer impulse of will he floundered forward. Then suddenly his foot found nothing under it, and he and the girl went down to- gether—down out of the wind and the smother of sand into a narrow channel of clear, ice-cold water. The shock of it brought them both to. Faith, who was underneath Bob and com- pletely immersed, began to struggle. He lifted himself to let her get her head above the surface, and almost had his own head blown from his shoulders for his pains. Quickly he ducked back. Then, his eyes cleared by the water of the dust and grit which had filled them, he saw their situation. The stream into which they had so op- 743 portunely tumbled had cut more deeply into the desert on one side than the other, and this higher bank happening to be toward the wind served them as a shield and defense. Across the shallow chasm—it was little more than a ditch—the sand swept in solid sheets, for the storm was now at its height. But down in the rivulet’s bed, under the edge of that lee shore, there was a space of a few inches where one might breathe. They were saved! And yet—so quick is human nature to find cause of complaint— Bob, even as he thrilled to the knowledge that the peril was over, found himself wish- ing that the water was not quite so cold. Already his teeth were chattering, and he was shivering from head to foot. And, al- though she gamely made no murmur, he knew that Faith was in an equally uncom- fortable plight. Still there was nothing to do but cling to their refuge, and be thankful for it. The uproar was now something indescribable, the glare of the lightning almost continuous, the velocity of the sand-charged wind like that of a rifle bullet. Anything in its path was doomed to extinction. How long the storm lasted neither of them could tell. It may have been ten or fifteen minutes; to them it seemed a cen- tury. But gradually the wind diminished, the blackness lessened, the thunder receded into the distance. Then all at once the thing was over. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and cloud- less; the desert lay drowsing, so calm and Serene and innocent looking that one could scarcely believe it capable of kicking up such didoes. Bob and Faith, blue and shaking from their immersion, rolled out of the water and lay prone on the bank, too done up by their experience even to talk. They were chilled to the bone, exhausted both mentally and physically; and they were willing just to bask inert in the welcome sunshine. The warmth and the aridity of the air soon dried their wet garments, and at the same time a peculiar stimulating quality in it restored their spirits and brought back their strength. CoOmicoooks (C@