Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team HEART OF THE SUNSET By Rex Beach Author of "THE SILVER HORDE" "THE SPOILERS" "THE IRON TRAIL" Etc. CONTENTS I. THE WATER-HOLE II. THE AMBUSH III. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE WATER-HOLE IV. AN EVENING AT LAS PALMAS V. SOMETHING ABOUT HEREDITY VI. A JOURNEY, AND A DARK MAN VII. LUIS LONGORIO VIII. BLAZE JONES'S NEMESIS IX. A SCOUTING TRIP X. A RANGER'S HORSE XI. JUDGE ELLSWORTH EXACTS A PROMISE XII. LONGORIO MAKES BOLD XIII. DAVE LAW BECOMES JEALOUS XIV. JOSE SANCHEZ SWEARS AN OATH XV. THE TRUTH ABOUT PANFILO XVI. THE RODEO XVII. THE GUZMAN INCIDENT XVIII. ED AUSTIN TURNS AT BAY XIX. RANGERS XX. SUPERSTITIONS AND CERTAINTIES XXI. AN AWAKENING XXII. WHAT ELLSWORTH HAD TO SAY XXIII. THE CRASH XXIV. DAVE LAW COMES HOME XXV. A WARNING AND A SURPRISE XXVI. THE WATER-CURE XXVII. LA FERIA XXVIII. THE DOORS OF PARADISE XXIX. THE PRIEST FROM MONCLOVA XXX. THE MAN OF DESTINY XXXI. A SPANISH WILL XXXII. THE DAWN HEART OF THE SUNSET I THE WATER-HOLE A fitful breeze played among the mesquite bushes. The naked earth, where it showed between the clumps of grass, was baked plaster hard. It burned like hot slag, and except for a panting lizard here and there, or a dust-gray jack-rabbit, startled from its covert, nothing animate stirred upon its face. High and motionless in the blinding sky a buzzard poised; long-tailed Mexican crows among the thorny branches creaked and whistled, choked and rattled, snored and grunted; a dove mourned inconsolably, and out of the air issued metallic insect cries--the direction whence they came as unascertainable as their source was hidden. Although the sun was half-way down the west, its glare remained untempered, and the tantalizing shade of the sparse mesquite was more of a trial than a comfort to the lone woman who, refusing its deceitful invitation, plodded steadily over the waste. Stop, indeed, she dared not. In spite of her fatigue, regardless of the torture from feet and limbs unused to walking, she must, as she constantly assured herself, keep going until strength failed. So far, fortunately, she had kept her head, and she retained sufficient reason to deny the fanciful apprehensions which clamored for audience. If she once allowed herself to become panicky, she knew, she would fare worse--far worse--and now, if ever, she needed all her faculties. Somewhere to the northward, perhaps a mile, perhaps a league distant, lay the water-hole.