Produced by Roberta Staehlin, Jen Haines, David Garcia and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) Transcriber's notes are at end of text. [Illustration: _She forgot the flowers in her arms, forgot the sunset, and stood entranced in prayer._] THE ANGEL OF THE GILA _A Tale of Arizona_ CORA MARSLAND _With Illustrations by S. S. HICKS and GEM VAUGHN_ [Illustration] RICHARD G. BADGER THE GORHAM PRESS BOSTON COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY RICHARD G. BADGER _All Rights Reserved_ _THE GORHAM PRESS, BOSTON, U. S. A._ TO MY MOTHER CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I THE MINING CAMP 11 II THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY 19 III CLAYTON RANCH 30 IV THE ANGEL OF THE GILA 41 V THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN BALL 57 VI A SOUL'S AWAKENING 78 VII THE GILA CLUB 89 VIII THE COW LASSES 107 IX A VISIT AT MURPHY RANCH 117 X CARLA EARLE 132 XI AN EVENTFUL DAY 140 XII CHRISTMAS DAY 154 XIII THE ADOPTION OF A MOTHER 167 XIV THE GREAT TRANSFORMATION 182 XV SOME SOCIAL EXPERIENCES 194 XVI OVER THE MOUNTAINS 205 XVII THE GREAT RACE 217 XVIII NIGHT ON THE RANGE 225 XIX INASMUCH 238 XX A WOMAN'S NO 241 XXI THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW 248 XXII THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE 265 XXIII AT SUNSET 271 XXIV AFTERMATH 278 THE ANGEL OF THE GILA The Angel of The Gila CHAPTER I THE MINING CAMP It was an October day in Gila,[1] Arizona. The one street of the mining camp wound around the foothills, and led eastward to Line Canyon, which, at that point, divides Arizona from New Mexico. Four saloons, an opium den, a store of general merchandise,--owned and operated by the mining company,--a repair shop, one large, pretentious adobe house,--the headquarters of the company, where superintendent, assayers, and mining engineers boarded,--several small dwelling houses, and many miners' shacks, constituted the town. [1] Pronounced hé la. A little further to the eastward, around a bend in the foothills, and near Line Canyon, lay Clayton Ranch,--the most historic, as well as the most picturesque spot in that region. Near the dwelling house, but closer to the river than the Clayton home, stood a little adobe schoolhouse.