The Argosy, November 1908 — page 18: what you’re looking at

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

584 and she would not want to come. An American girl, born and raised in the West, would come here, and if a man tried to make love to her, she’d put a bullet through him. But Miss Bonilla doesn’t seem to be that kind. Anyhow, IT can’t tell what to do until I find her” His dark eyes followed every move I made. ‘Tam leaving you two here together,” T said. ‘‘ And what I say now applies to one as much as to the other. I don’t want any monkey business while I am gone. You are not overmuch in love with each other, you and Sam, and either one of you, on a pinch, could get up. But if I find, when I come back, that either of you has hurt the other, I’ll shoot you both. Understand? ”’ “T shall not move,” answered Her- nandez. ‘‘I am sore all over.” “T will wait,” said Sam. I shouldered my rifle, whistled to Bones, and went out. But I did not know in which direction to proceed. I had not noticed which way Namona went when she took Miss Bonilla away, nor from which point she came when she returned. I believed my best plan was to start in a small circuit, keeping on enlarging it as I proceeded, until I. found my pretty refugee. There were several deep gullies on and near my farm, in any one of which the girl might be hiding, poor as that shelter might be. I started. This was new business to Bones. Had I been going after bear or rabbits or any other game, he would know, from the direction I took and the region I was beating up, just what I was after and how he should act. But this business of going round my own farm time after time, each time drawing farther away from it, had its puzzling aspect to the dog. I did think of letting him smell the stirrups of the saddle, and see if he could trace her footsteps. But he was a hunting dog, and no bloodhound. 1 walked on, and he trudged at my heels, entirely at a loss as to the purpose of it all. I explored gullies, all the time calling the seforita. I received no answer. And finally, in THE ARGOSY. my long unwinding tramp, I came to the ruins of San Miguel. This was the remains of an ancient Spanish monastery. It was situated about a mile from my house. One wall was standing. All around was débris— blocks of adobe, fallen pillars, and pieces of roof-frames. The old wreck had thus far escaped the degrading hands of tourists, who had carried away, bit by bit, half a dozen other old ruins of the same kind nearer to the railroads. But old San Miguel was there, a heap of useless rub- bish, to be sure, but all there. There was no cloister standing, no room of any kind, only the one bare wall at the eastern end. This would afford no hiding-place except for a per- son on one side of it from a person on the other. I walked around it, but the girl was not there. I was about to start away when.I heard Bones sniff. He had his nose stuck up in the air, and it was evident that he was studying something on the gently moving breeze. ‘What is it, Bones?” I asked. she here?” Then I called her. “ Senorita! Miss Bonilla!” I shouted. No answer came. “ Senorita, it is I, the American.” “T am here, senor.” I looked around me in absolute be- wilderment. The voice seemed to have come out of the ground. ‘Where are you?” I asked. “Under this mound of adobe.” I looked again in vain. “I don’t see you. There are many mounds of adobe,” I called. ‘See my hand waving?” And sure enough, from a small open- ing in what seemed to be one of the ordinary piles of rubbish, I saw a small white hand beckoning. I hurried to her. ““ How in the world did you get in there?” I asked as I began to tear away the blocks. “Don’t!” she called. ‘ Namona built me in. Isn’t it fine? Nobody could find me here, not even you.” “But you want to come out, don’t you? You can’t be very oomfortable in there.” ée Is comicloooks.corn