OCR Text |
Show r THE N f.IL B if. ICC EL .41 Mi GF2HE " ruurQAT i COPVArTT, 79ZO LITTLE. JSBO ; AMD mmmmmmmmmmmiimmmmmmmmmmmmmumwmmmmmmmmmmmmm J COPrr)r-- 1 . the same experience again with no embarrassment whatever. His first Impression then, besides abounding, incredible astonishment, was that she had quite knocked out his breath. But let it be said for him that he recovered with notable promptness. Ills own arms had gone np and closed around her, and the girl had wriggled free. "But you mustn't do that!" she told TO SHOOT OR BLUFF? Synopsis. Warned by his physician that he has not more than six month! to live, Dan lulling (Its despondently on a park bench, wondering where he should spend those six months. Memories of his grandfather and a deep love for all of the wild help him in thing-reaching a decision. In a large southern Oregon city he meets people who had known and loved his grandfather, a famous frontiersman. He makes his home with Silas Innox, a typical westerner. The only other members of the household are Lennox's son, "Bill," and daughter, "Snowbird." Their abode is In the Umpqua divide, and there Falling plans to live out the short span of life which he has been teld is his. From the first health shows a marked Kailing-Improvement, and In the companionship of Lennox and his son and daughter he fits Into the woods life as If he had been born to It. By quick thinking and a remarkable display of "nerve" he saves Lennox's life and his own when they are attacked by a mad coyote. Lennox declares he Is a reincarnation of his grandfather, Dan Falling I, whose fame as a woodsman la a household word. Dan learns that an organized band of outlaws, of which Bert Cranston is the leader, Is setting forest fires. Landry Hildreth, a former member of the gang, has been Induced to turn state's evidence. Cranston shoots Hildreth and leaves him for dead. Whlsperfoot, the mountain Hon. springs on Hildreth and finishes him. s him. "But, good Lord, girl I Ton did It to met Is there no justice In women?" "But I did It to thank you for this lovely gift. For remembering me for being so good and considerate. You haven't any cause to thank me." He had many serious difficulties In thinking It out. And only one conclusion was obtainable that Snowbird kissed as naturally as she did anything else, and the kiss meant exactly what she said It did and no nr-re- . But the fact remained that he would have walked a good many miles farther If he thought there was any possibility of repeat. But all at once his fantasies were suddenly and rudely dispelled by the Intrusion of realities. Dan bad been walking silently tllmself In the pine needles. As Lennox had wondered at long ago, he knew how by instinct; and Instinctively he practiced this attainment as soon as he got out Into the wild. The creature he had heard was fully one hundred yards distant, yet Dan could hear htm with entire plainness. And for a while he couldn't even guess what manner of thing It CHAPTER II Continued. , might he. A cougar that made so much no'se And as for Whisperfoot the terror that choked his heart with blood be- would be Immediately expelled from gan to wear off In a little while. The the union. A wolf pack, running by wan lay so still In the thickets. there was a strange, wild smell In the air. Whlsperfoot's stroke had gone home so true there had not even been a right. The darkness began to lift around him, and a strange exulta-tloa rapture unknown before In all Ms hunting, began to creep into his wild blood. Then, as a shadow steals, he went creeping back to his dead. s, n, Dan Falling had been studying naon the high ridges; and lie went home by a back trail that led to old Bald mountain. The trail was just a narrow serpent In the brush ; and It had not been made by gangs of laborers, working with shovels and picks. Possibly half a dozen white men. In all, had ever walked along It. It was Just the path of the wild creatures, worn down by hoof and paw and cushion since the young days of the world. It wits a roundabout trail home, but yet It had its advantages. It took him within two miles of Snowbird's lookout station, and at this hour of day he had been particularly fortunate In finding her at a certain spring on the niountala side. It was rather a singular coincidence. Along about four he would usually find himself wander-la- g up that way. Strangely enough, at the same time. It was true that she had an Irresistible Impulse to go down and sit In the green ferns beside the same spring. They always seemed to be surprised to see one another. In reality, either of them would have f.een considerably more surprised had f.he other failed to put In an appearance. And always they had long talks, a the afternoon drew to twilight. "Hut I don't think you ought to wait co late before starting home," the girl would always say. "You're not a human hawk, and it Is easier to get lost than you think." And this solicitude, Dan rightly figured, wns a good sign. There was only one objection to It. It resulted la an unmlstakble Inference that she considered him unable to take rare of himself and that was the Inst thing on earth that he warned her to think. He understood her welt enough to know that her standards were Uie standards of the mountains, and valuing strength above all things. He didn't stop to question why, every day, he trod so many weary miles to be with her. She was as natural as a fawn ; and many times she had quite taken away tils breath. And once she did it liter-allHe didn't think that so long ah death spared him he would ever he able to forget that experience. It was her birthday, and knowing of it In time he had arranged for the delivery of a certain pRrkage, dear to a girlish heart, at her father's house. In the trystlng hour he had come trudging over the hills with It, and few, experience" In his life had evif yielded such unmitigated pleasure as the sljrlit of her, glowing white and red, as she took off Its wrapping pnper. It was a Jolly and when she Old gift, he recollected had seen It, sha fairly leaped at him. Her warm, eotind arms around hi nets. bii1 the softest, loveliest lips In fbe tiorld pressed his. P.ttt In those Ja's he ....dirtV have the strrncth hst i tr. fait he l endure ture e ro-ili- TIMES-NEWSijEPH- UTAH. I, him. But because Dan had learned the lesson of standing still, because his oilve-dra- b sporting clothes blended softly with the colored leaves, Cranston did not detect hi in. He turned and strode on down the trail. Ife didn't move quite like a man with Innocent purposes. There was something stealthy, something sinister In his stride, and the way he kept such a sharp lookout in all directions. Yet he never glanced to the trail for deer tracks, as he would have done had he been hunting. Without even waiting to meditate on the matter, Dun started to shadow him. Before one hundred yards bad been traversed, he could better understand the joy the cougar takes In bis hunting. It was the same process a cautious, silent advance In the trail of prey. He had to walk with the same caution, he bad to take advantage of the thickets. He began to feel a curl ous excitement. Cranston seemed to be moving more carefully now, examining the brush along the trail. Now and then he glanced up at the tree tops. And all at once he stopped and knelt In the dry shrubbery. At first all that Dan could see was the glitter of a knife blade. Cranston seemed te be whittling a piece of dead pine Into fine shavings. Now he was gathering pine needles and small twigs, making a little pile of them. And then, just as Cranston drew his match, Dan saw his purpose. Cranston was at his old trade setting a forest fire. For two very good reasons, Das didn't call to him at once. The two reasons were that Cranston had a rifle and that Dan was unarmed. It might be extremely likely that Cranston would choose the most plausible and effective means of preventing an Interruption of his crime, and by the same token, prevent word of the crime ever The rifle reaching the authorities. contained five cartridges, and only one was needed. But the Idea of backing out, unseen, never even occurred te Dan. The fire would have a tremendous headway before he could summon help. Although It was near the lookout station, every condition pointed to a disastrous fire. The brush was dry as tinder, not so heavy as to choke the wind, but yet tall enough to carry the flame Into the tree tops. The stiff breeze up the ridge would certainly carry the flame for miles through the parched Divide before help could come. In the meantime stock and lives and homes would be endangered, besides the Irreparable There were many loss of timber. things that Dan might do, but giving up was not one of them. After all, he did the wisest thing of all. He simply came out In plain sight and unconcernedly walked down the trail toward Cranston. At the same instant, the latter struck his match. As Dan was no longer stalking, Cranston Immediately heard his step. He whirled, recognized Dan, and for one long instani in which the world seemed to have time In plenty to make a complete revolution, he stood perfectly motionless. The match flared In his dark fingers, his eyes full of singular conjecturing rested on Dan's face. No instant of the letter's life had ever been fraught with greater peril. He understood perfectly what was got us; on In Cranston's mind. The was calmly deciding whether to shoot or whether to bluff It out. One required no more moral courage than the other. It really didn't make a great deal of difference to Cranston. But he decided that the killing was not wprt the cartridge. The other course was too easy. He did not even dream that Din had been shadowing hlra and had seen his Intention. He would have laughed at the Idea that a "tenderfoot" could thur walk behind him, unheard. Without concern, he scattered with his foot the little heap of kindling, and slipping his pipe into Ills mouth, he touched the flaring match to it. It was a wholly admirable little piece of acting, and would have deceived any one who had not seen his previous preparations. Then he walked on down the trail toward Dan. Ihin stopped and lighted his own It was a curious little truce. pipe. And then he leaned back against the great gray trunk of a fallen tree. "Well. Cranston." he said civilly. The men had met on previous occasions, and always there had been the snme invisible war between them. "How do you do. Falling," Cranston replied. No perceptions could be so blunt as to miss the premeditated insult In the tone. He didn't speak In his own tongue at all, the short, gut tural "Howdy" that Is the greeting of the mountain men. He pronounced all the words with an exaggerated pre cision, an unmistakable mockery of Dan's own tone. In his accent he threw a tone of sickly sweetness, and b's Inference was ah too plain. He wis simply ratling Falling a milksop and a white-liver- ; just as plainly as if he hnd used the words. The eyes of the two men met. Cranston's lips were slightly curled In an lintnlstnknhle leer. Dsn's were very straight. And In one thmg at least, their eyes looked Just the snme. The pupils of both pairs had contracted to steel points, bright In the dark frayH of the Irises. Cranston's looked somewhat reft; and Dan's were orly hard nnd brlpht. When One Is Sixteen y - fet (Conducted by National Council of the Boy Scouts of America.) SCOUT In a report to the national council headquarters, a scoutmaster fills in the blank asking for comment npoiu his troop's community good turns aV- follows : "Did everything they could, ' anywhere," which seems to be typical ) of the spirit of scouts throughout the country. The jobs aren't always tha pleasaiitest sort either, or the easiest, but when a scout tackles the thing be does It "for all he's worth," with brain and brawn and a right good will. Here are a few little things scouts In Birmingham did, in their "leisure hours." It looks as if these boys were not only going to be good citizens In .the future, but are gooi citizens, here and now. One scout repaired a bridge, cleaned mud out of two curbs and drained a ditch ; half-hou- r time. Five scouts removed a large pile of brush where trees had oeen trimmed up; 15 minutes each. Five scouts repaired a street where It had washed out by piling rocks and brush and then dirt on top ; one hour's time. Two scouts buried go SUMMER and youth and organdiesumhand through the gay mer days. They seem to belong together and customers are making the g most of an vogue for the sprlghtllest of fabrics. Organdie Is employed In frocks and their trimmings. In millinery and in dress accessories for all womankind from little girlhood n, but It appears that girls from sixteen to the end of their "teens" are favored with the most adorable of all the frocks made of It Simple styles and enchanting colors govern the designing of frocks for girls In their teens. The color range la organdie has been widened and Includes the dark staple shades of blue and brown, the pale 'ones In many colors and all the new hues that have found favor this season, including ocean blue, tangarlne, grape-fru- it yellow, coral, cherry and lovely Colors are nearly always made up In combination with white. An ex ever-growin- gray-green- s. ample of this is shown In the pretty frock for a girl of sixteen to eighteen or more, which appears here. The dress of blue, organdie has a straight full skirt banded about the hips with white organdie, its short sleeves are finished with a plaited frill of white and a very ample fichu Is edged with a double frill or organdie and extended Into a girdle that terminates in of organdie. loops and sash-end- s combiBesides this nation, sweet sixteen rejoices In two- -' color combinations in dresses made for youthful revelries. Purple and yellow, pink and blue, red and tan, or whatever else the colorist, who Is a master of his art, chooses to mix in just the right proportions, make up the gay party dresses of the pretty "sub-debsFor the littler girls also, lively color combinations are used, with pockets, collars, sashes and organdie flowers, providing opportunities for the designers. coior-and-whl- ." Favorite Ribbon Novelties flre-fie'- Dan Saw Hi Purpose. as freely; crack brush sight, might but a wolf pack would also bay to wal'e the dead. Of course it mlgh be an elk or a steer, and still more likely, a bear. He stood still and listened. The sound grew nearer. Soon It became evident that the creature was either walking with two legs, animal putor else was a ting two feet down at the same Instant. Don had learned to wait. He stood perfectly still. And gradually he came to the conclusion that he was listening to the footfall of another man. But It was rather hard to Imagine what a man might be doing on this lonely hill. Of course It might be a deer hunter; but few were the valley sportsmen who had penetrated to this far land. The footfall was much too heavy for Snowbird. The steps were evidently on another trail that Intersected his own trail one hundred yards farther up the hill. He had only to stand still, and In an Instant the man would come In sight. He took one step Into the thickets, prepared to xnceni himself if It necessity. Then he waited. Soon the man stepped out on the trail. Kven at the distance of one hundred difficulty whatever yard. Dnn had no He could not in recognizing him. mistake this tall, dark form, the soiled, 'rdouchy clothes, the rough hair, the Intent, dnrk features. It was a man about his own age, his own height, but weighing fully twenty pound more, and the dark, narrow eyes cou'd belong to no one but Bert Cranston. He carried his rifle loosely In Tils' srm. He sloptwd at the forks In the rnll and looked carefully In all direction'. Pan hod every reson to think tbsf Cmnston would see him at first glance. Only oih dump of tMrket sheltered four-foote- d he-ca- Snowbird te the men and ribbon. Such bags are made In many CCUTAIN ribbon furnishings are always so color combinations, with black a favor, f success that designers need only concern themselves with making them In new ways. And some of them do not require even novelty In design but ate serenely sure of favor every season. The group of ribbon "fancies" as plctuiea above Includes familiar belongings made In faailllar ways, and little novelties that have the attraction of newness to recommend them. They II nuke very appropriate gifts. Tht. pretty things made of ribbon as showi, here. Include four boudoir caps, a stK'UpIng bag. two kinds of sachet bags and a cluster of amusing little penwtyeia, The last are novel and look like Biinlature pickaninnies. They might be made of wishbones, with a round bit of sponge answering for the hend, petticoat of chamois skin and wide skirt of gay ribbon, buttonholed bout the edge with silk lloss. Ha by rlMun furnishes a tie about the neek k nd a loop by which this little mnv he hung up conveniently. 'I he handsome bag pictured Is mndc sntln rllhon and of plwin nnd hnx-adelined v. 1th slit in. It Is mounted on one be. of thene round mountings thnt have sntlu come puiniliir nod suspended sure glm-trn.-- (TO UK CONTINtKU) to Be Clever. clrTer conversationalist" "Mio ! n to be, to cover Of " tH'l. iiT husband bwkea" Has "She's a SERVICE ite for the plain ribbon. Packages of small sachets tied together, each one a dead hen, that the city health department would not remove; 30 minutes' time. Four scouts dug a dralnway to let standing water out of the street, and opened up ten sewers and 23 gutters. Two scouts repaired a bridge and opened four sewers and 20 gutters; ten hours. One scout cut a dead tree which stood close by the passageway and was very dangerous to those passing; one hour. Eleven scouts worked two hours getting water out of basement of a church, then built a fire and dried out the place. Three scouts repaired four sewers, also raked up a lot of leaves from around a house and burned them, as they were dangerous to the commuf hours. nity; one and one-hal- CHIEF SEA SCOUT REPORTS. At the last national council meeting the chief sea scout, James A. Wilder, made this report: "We have found our sea legs. After .some backing and filling as to the best methods, we have, with the advice of some 400 executives, and others, settled on the course to be steered. This decision has steadied the program and the taflrail log begins to register more speed. November, 1920, was our banner month, followed by the record breakers, December and January. 1920 and 1921. As we go to press, February, 1921, has already broken the record again.. We have registered more ships in the last tlve months than in the previous three years. This is at the rate of 110 per ent increase annually. "We have the assurance that the sea coo st program is being pushed as the official older boy program, in 87 cities. Ship's papers or preliminary steps have already been taken by 104 scout centers. In some cities, notably San Francisco, Honolulu and others, the program has been under way for several years without the registry of a single ship, because of a vote to thoroughly train leadership before admitting boys to membership. The at the rate we are growing at present, will be 200 "ships" In 1922. If the last four months' Increase in our number is maintained we will be. In six months, the lurgest seamanship training course or "nautical school' In the United States. Swift Increase Is not expected lu the face of such slogans as 'You must know It all the time,' 'Don't start anything you enn'f finish.' 'Practice makes perfect.' 'No frauds.' 'The ship Is what you make her.' 'Don't give up the ship.' Nevertheless, we're already half the slwy-o-f, Annapolis, and as fur as plain satl.f ?oes. we are giving the same program. navy boats have been "Fifty loaned to bona-fidsenscouts. according to regulations, and to certain Five hundred training bases. are still available for really determined seacoasts of schooner (or sec ond) grade. "The slogan Is now, 'run your troop like a ship,' and In a seamanllke mtni-neSeacoust centers are asked to avoid foolhardy practices, slack and frauds, and the lonl shipping committees are required to lake a pledge that no boat work or small boat sailing shall take place until the ship's company have qunlillod as llfesnvers. This waiting game limy not spell numbers, but spells quality." sea-coa- st e sen-coa- st provided with a diminutive gilt safety pin, are made of various colors In satin ribbon and always prove an acceptable gift to dainty maids and matrons. The boudoir caps shown are very simply designed. That one at the upper right Is merely a length of wide ribbon gathered along one edge to form the top, where a rosette Is perched. This Is made of narrow ribbon and the same ribbon Is gathered Into four little frills at the edge of the cap which has satin ribbon ties. Wide ribbon makes the quaint Victorian bonnet, banded with narrow ribbon, nt the lower left TO KEEP TROOPS GOING. of the group. At the center a ribbon cap Is shown veiled with wide lace, "I have a question, too, Mr. Cnv with a large ribbon rose posed at each Scout. This seems about the hardest side. The Inst enp employs lace petals time In the whole year to keep things Instead of a rosette on the crown and in our There Is III In lnstlc bridle covered with going besides trimp. has nn doing fun regular meetings." shirred ribbon. anybody help out In this rase? "I believe I can. dive Scout. We had the same trouble In our troop until Int sinter, when we arranged a scout dinner and Invited our duds nnd mothers. Tlint gve our folks a pretty good bleu ca ursrt r vnrM Nivyua usm about what we do In scouting. Vi r. i Hcout In Hoys' Life. 1. |