Moreover, the
gravel-bottomed washes, the low weathering, rotting ledges of
yellow rock gave place to hard sandy rolls and bare clay knolls.
The desert resembled a rounded hummocky sea of color. All light
shades of blue and pink and yellow and mauve were there dominated
by the glaring white sun. Mirages glistened, wavered, faded in the
shimmering waves of heat. Dust as fine as powder whiffed up from
under the tireless hoofs.
The rangers rode on and the escarpment began to loom. The desert
floor inclined perceptibly upward. When Gale got an unobstructed
view of the slope of the escarpment he located the raiders and
horses. In another hour's travel the rangers could see with naked
eyes a long, faint moving streak of black and white dots.
"They're headin' for that yellow pass," said Ladd, pointing to a
break in the eastern end of the escarpment. "When they get out of
sight we'll rustle. I'm thinkin' that waterhole the Yaqui spoke of
lays in the pass."
The rangers traveled swiftly over the remaining miles of level
desert leading to the ascent of the escarpment. When they achieved
the gateway of the pass the sun was low in the west. Dwarfed
mesquite and greasewood appeared among the rocks. Ladd gave the
word to tie up horses and go forward on foot.
The narrow neck of the pass opened and descended into a valley
half a mile wide, perhaps twice that in length. It had apparently
unscalable slopes of weathered rock leading up to beetling walls.
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