Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------- [Illustration: "Lennon elevated his rifle and sent a parting shot over the heads of the fleeing riders"] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOM OF CACTUS By ROBERT AMES BENNET Frontispiece by RALPH PALLEN COLEMAN Garden City New York DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY 1920 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright, 1919, by Doubleday, Page & Company All Rights Reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian ----------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. Ambushed 3 II. Off Trail 13 III. The Gila Monster 24 IV. Pards in Peril 35 V. Dead Hole 47 VI. Her Folks 55 VII. Craft and Cruelty 62 VIII. Cactus Carmena 75 IX. The Man Who Was 85 X. The Setter of Traps 95 XI. Cross Currents 107 XII. A Bargain 117 XIII. The Blossoming 127 XIV. The Prowler 136 XV. Crooked Ways 145 XVI. The Drop 156 XVII. Death Play 168 XVIII. The Attack 180 XIX. Out of the Frying Pan-- 192 XX. Into the Fire 201 XXI. Treachery 211 XXII. The Sacrifice 222 XXIII. Out of the Past 234 XXIV. His Daughter's Father 245 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BLOOM OF CACTUS CHAPTER I AMBUSHED As Lennon drove his heavily packed burro over the round of the ridge above the camp spring, all the desolate Arizona waste around him was transformed by the splendour of dawn. Up out of mysterious velvety blue-black valleys loomed the massive purple-walled fortresses and cities of the mountain giants, guarded by titanic skyward towering pyramids and turrets of exquisite rose pink. The burro was not interested in scenery or light effects. He topped the ridge and plodded slowly down the steep trail on the far side. Lennon lingered to enjoy the glorious illusion of the view. All too soon, as the glaring sun cleared the high plateau on the eastern horizon, the ethereal colours of daybreak faded. The magic towers and pyramids lowered and shrank in bulk until they became only bald rugged peaks and buttes.