XVII THE HEART'S OWN BITTERNESS
XVIII THE FORGOTTEN CITY
XIX THE TRAIL AGAIN
XX THE RUINED MISSION
XXI THE END OF THE TRAIL




The Heart of the Desert


CHAPTER I

THE VALLEY OF THE PECOS

Rhoda hobbled through the sand to the nearest rock. On this she sank
with a groan, clasped her slender foot with both hands and looked about
her helplessly.

She felt very small, very much alone. The infinite wastes of yellow
desert danced in heat waves against the bronze-blue sky. The girl saw
no sign of living thing save a buzzard that swept lazily across the
zenith. She turned dizzily from contemplating the vast emptiness about
her to a close scrutiny of her injured foot. She drew off her thin
satin house slipper painfully and dropped it unheedingly into a bunch
of yucca that crowded against the rock. Her silk stocking followed.
Then she sat in helpless misery, eying her blue-veined foot.

In spite of her evident invalidism, one could but wonder why she made