Brand Blotters

The book is tenderfoot rose from the ledge upon which he had been lying and stretched himself stiffly. The chill of the long night had set him shivering. His bones ache from the pressure of his body upon the rock where he had slept and waked and dozed again with troubled dreams. The tenderfoot, slithering down a hillside of shale, caught at a greasewood bush and waited. The sound of a rifle shot had drifted across the ridge to him. Friend or foe, it made no difference to him now. He had reached the end of his tether, must get to water soon or give up the fight. The rescued man ate, drank, and from sheer fatigue fell asleep within five minutes of the time he was shown his bedroom.