covered sparsely with ragged bushes. New stars flared out; the spirit
of the night descended upon the desert. As the world seemed to draw
further and further away from them, these two beings, strange to the
vastness engulfing them, huddled closer together. They spoke little,
always in lowered voices. Between words they were listening, awaiting
that which did not come.




Chapter II

Superstition Pool

Physically tired as they were, the night was a restless one for both
Helen and her father. They ate their meal in silence for the most
part, made their beds close together, picketed their horses near by and
said their listless 'good nights' early. Each heard the other turn and
fidget many times before both went to sleep. Helen saw how her father,
with a fine assumption of careless habit, laid a big new revolver close
to his head.

The girl dozed and woke when the pallid moon shone upon her face. She
lifted herself upon her elbow. The moonlight touched upon the willow
stick she had thrust into the sand at her bedside; the feather was
upright and like a plume. She considered it gravely; it became the
starting-point of many romantic imaginings. Somehow it was a token; of
just exactly what, to be sure, she could not decide. Not definitely,
that is; it was always indisputable that the message of the bluebird is
one of good fortune.