THE VALLEY OF ARCANA BY ARTHUR PRESTON HANKINS AUTHOR OF “THE JUBILEE GIRL,” “THE HERITAGE OF THE HILLS,” ETC. [Illustration] NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1923 COPYRIGHT, 1923, BY DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY, INC. PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. BY The Quinn & Boden Company BOOK MANUFACTURERS RAHWAY NEW JERSEY TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I AN EXTRA BED 1 II EL TRONO DE TOLERANCIA 9 III THE PROSPECTOR’S STORY 18 IV A MEMBER OF THE CLAN 26 V THE CONFERENCE AT JORNY SPRINGS 33 VI SECOND SIGHT 43 VII LOT’S WIFE AND SHIRTTAIL HENRY 54 VIII MISSING 65 IX A CASE FOR REJUVENATION 74 X SHIRTTAIL BEND 82 XI THE TRAIL TO MOSQUITO 93 XII THE LAND OF QUEER DELIGHTS 101 XIII AT TWO IN THE CAÑON 113 XIV THE LONG STRAW 128 XV VAGRANCY CAÑON 136 XVI THE CAMP IN VAGRANCY CAÑON 145 XVII BEAR PASS 156 XVIII IN THE PALM OF THE MOUNTAINS 169 XIX RIDDLES 180 XX THE INTERIM OF DOUBTS 190 XXI THE CAVE OF HYPOCRITICAL FROGS 201 XXII DR. SHONTO RIDES ALONE 211 XXIII OLD ACQUAINTANCES 221 XXIV MARY CHOOSES A SEAT 228 XXV THE DEADLY BULL AND THE SILVER FOX 238 XXVI THE LAST TABLET 248 XXVII ADRIFT ON LOST RIVER 260 XXVIII THE MESSAGE 270 THE VALLEY OF ARCANA CHAPTER I AN EXTRA BED TRIED outlanders though they were, Dr. Inman Shonto and Andy Jerome were hopelessly lost. Afoot, horseback, and by motor car the pair had covered thousands of square miles of desert and forest land in Southern California. But it was different up here in the mountainous region of the northern part of the state, where they found themselves surrounded by heavy timber vaster than they had dreamed could have been left standing by the ensanguined hand of the lumberman. And, besides, thin fingers of fog were reaching in from the sea, about eighteen miles to the west of them.