OCR Text |
Show VALLEY 1 OF THE 11 GIANTS j JUTTfOR Or "CA7JPY j2rassxJAX COPVRIGHT, By PETER JB.KYNE MWM H '-i'-Sr' synopsis. H ""ijBffi& CHAPTnil I.-rioneer In tlio California H ;fiEr redwood region, John CnrUlfuui, nt forty- H lB$U rcven, Ib the leading citizen of Sequoia, B Vt "'"iBwpL owner of mills, ships, and many acres of H Bfci. Mfflh"'. timber, a widower after threo yearn of H v&tK&IS&P" married life, and father of two-day-old H aSKx, I3ryco Cardigan, ImP?' CHAPTER II. At fourteen Bryco mnlccs H nm. ran. ,ho acquaintance of Shirley Sumner, a via- fl rtiMCT&F ,tor t0 Sequoia, and his junior by a few H liUkMsl years. Together they visit the Valley of liH IiIhM? tho Ul.ints, nacred to John Cardigan and H rl,-'il "j ,lls Bon ns tl10 burial place of liryce'i liH 11 kZ'm 'i mother, and part with mutual regret. liH if Iftt?'-"; H !' CHAPTER Ill.-Whllo Bryco Is At col- liH mniSK ,eco Jolln Cardigan meets with heavy W .. 'EMHI" buylnesa lonses and for the first time view W ' r -w ntESlt tho futuro with uncertainty. miM t " f -MWSp' CHAPTER IV. After graduation from jfl " rJ WimTV college, and a trip abroad, Bryco Cnrdl- iiHH ' II iltlfr KAn comes homo. On tho train he meott iiHH Fl WWi- I Shirley Humner, on her way to Sequoia to iiHH a I '' mnko her home there with her unclo, iiHH B"5fSt3jl Co1- Pennington. Ilryce lenrns that hit iiHH I fwwZ father's eyesight has failed und that Col. IsH I'fEw&tt Pennington la seeking to take ndvantage ol H J'-52j- tno old nluU' business misfortunes. H ,Cfc4iEv' CHAPTER V.-In tho Valloy of tin iiiH, II M Gtnnts young Cardigan finds a tree fcllod H'll tM&yJ. directly across his mother's grave. Indi- iiiiH tl IfljT:W cations nro that It was cut down to sccurt H rl iSa ; tbe burl, and evidence seems to show that iiiiH I.TOFn Pennington and his woods-boss, Julei mmmm'w Atv Hondau, are Implicated In tho outrage. TlJI I dnrq Hny it's quite nil rlRht to H Li hnvo Invited' hJm, Isn't It, Unclo Selli?" m V,l "Certainly, ccrtnlnly, my dear. H J Quito nil right, hut, op nh, slightly M - Inconvenient. I nni expecting other M v t j, compnny Thursday night unfortunnte- H ' j ly, Broyton, tlio president of the Hank of Soquoln, Is coming up to dlno nnd . '-V, discuss some business affairs vrlth mo iiiiB '&H " nftenrard; so If you don't mind, my m "M" (loflr' sunPS0 yu cn" y,nK Cnnllgnn K. 'r np and nslc him to defer his visit until H ; Romo later date." isiiH '.'j.'? "Certainly, uncle. What porfectly B in "" marvelous rososl How did you sue- m lyi)' cced In growing them, Dndo SothT" iiiiiii --. He Bmllcd sourly "! didn't rals H -if v tlicm," ho replied. "Thnt hnlf-breed H II ' Indian thnt driven John Csnlljnn's H V car brought them nround about n WffiTl . jMHj . - nur ago, along with a card. Titer JflBSyAMrTp 1 It Is, heflldc your plate." HMHj. She blushed ever bo sllrhtly. "I HIiK nupposo Hryro Cardigan l vindicating H''Ti himself," she murmured n.i slia with- ' m drew tho card from the envelope. As K ,'k B,1 ,in(1 Riirmlsed, It was nryco Cnrdl- n'lA 'r' Ban's. Colonel I'cnnlngton vras the H .'srariv't& proprietor of a slmllnr aunnlso. iiiiiiil f 'k -jjy "Past work, Shirley," he murmured iiiiH Sjfkj' bantorlngly. "I wonder what he'll iiiiH fcP'" BCntl you for ,u,,cll00lu Somo dill iiiiB'fSPtf pickles, probably." LiHW,ldi Sho pretended to be very busy with isiiH 'Vff- Ui roscs' nnd not to ,mT iieflr(l iiH'Aui: him.. ilH ifc Shirley, left nlono nt tho hrenkfast- WLm, iM the owlish butler set before her. H' k j Yngucly she wondered nt her uncle's M jf r I npparcnt hostility to tho Cnrdlgnns; iiiiH V'iltey sll WI,H ns vngticly troubled In tho iiiiH 8it knowledgo thnt until sho should succeed iiiiH im ,u ntllcntlng this hostility, It must iiiiH I''flr7'S Inevitably nets ns n Imr to tho further iiiiiB "''llfej' .progress of her friendship with Hryco iiiiH TliPL. - A ' 'Cardigan. And nho told herself she iliiiHV wife dl(1 nnt u'l,nt 0 ,oso tImt fr,0,u,Kn,t) iiiiH '""JtP s,i wnn'1 ,,)o onst Mt in lovo wIth "-l ,1'1" n,liclt s,u-' rcallzetl ho wns rather iiiiiHu tS lovnblo. And Instly lie wis n good, do- B iVihl voted son nnd wns susceptlblo of H if -r T development Into n congcnlnl nnd H - f ,. j wholly ncceptnblo commdu to n young H h H j Indy nbsolutcly lacking In other menus iiiiiB 1 ot ni,niS(,ll0llt - A I Sho tlulshcd her breakfast In H. jfL I thoughtful silence; then the went to H 1rjf tho telephone and called up Hryce. H '' J Ho recognized her voice Instantly nnd H 7 called her nnino before she bad oppqr- H f' tunlty to auuouiice her Identity. Hi f1' "Thank you so much for tho benutl- iiiiiH JA f"' rosts In Cnrdlgnn," bho begnn. B' "I'm glad you llkod them. Nobody Hf picks flowers out of our garden, you 11111!" kuow. I used to, but I'll bo too busy m -d hcrenfter to bother with (ho garden. K, y tlio way, Miss Sumner, does your. Ht' U undo own a car?" Hr 1 "I bellevo ho does a Httlo old rnt-j H 'I' tic trap which bo drives lUmself." Bi - , 'Then I'll send Gcorgo over with, HIE 4 tlio Napier this nfternoon. You might Esr caro to tnko n spin out Into tho sur. Hlv rounding country. Jly tho way, Miss, r ' Sumner, you nrc to consider Gcorgo SJL and thnt car ns your personal prop- HHk erty. I fenr you're going to find Bk Sequoia a dull place; so whenever you ir ' t wl8l to go for n ride, just call mo up, 0 ,' and I'll havo George report to you." Mq "Hut think of nil tho expensive gaso- K line nnd tires I" H' "Oh, but you mustn't look nt thing r" from that angle nfter you cross the B;l Ilocky mountulns on your way west. H l What nro you going to do this nfter- Kv "I doo't know. I haven't thought V that far ahead," B ''For somo real sport I would bur- Hl, 'ny gest that you motor up to Lngunn M. ''' Grande. Thnt's Spnnlsh for Dig La- H , soon, you know. Tnko a rod with H you. Thero aro somo land-locked sal B ; mon In tho' lagoon. HH "But I lmycn't any rod." w. "I'll send you over a good one." HK 1 "Hut I havo nobody to tench me BPL 1 jwjBHI 'fe?" 1 r',1 !",- . , 11 ! - - how to u.se It," flio hinted danngly. "I appreciate that compliment," he flashed bnclt nt her, "hut unfortunately unfortunate-ly my holldnyn nro over for a long long time. I took my fnther's plnco In the business this morning." "So soon?" "Yes. Things hnro been hnppenlng shllo I wits away. However, speaking speak-ing of- fishing, Gcorgo Sen Otter will provo nn Invnlunblo Instructor. lie Is n good boy nnd you mny trust bJm Implicitly. On Thursday evening you can tell whnt success you hnd ylth tho snlmon." "Oh, thnt reminds me, Air. Cnnllgnn. You can't como Thursday ovonlng, nfter all." And sho czplnlned tlio rcn-son. rcn-son. "Suppose you como Wcdnesdny night Instead." "Wo'll cnll that n bet. Thnnk you." Sho chuckled nt his frnnk good humor; hu-mor; "Thnnk you, Mr. Cnrdlgnn, for nil your kindness nnd thoughtfulncss; nnd If you will persist In being nice to mc, you might send Gcorgo Sen Otter nnd tho enr at one-thirty. I'll ho glad to avail myself of both until I enn got n car of my own sent up from San Francisco. Till Wcdnesdny night, then. .Good b3'e." As Ilryco Cnrdlgnn hung up, he heaved n slight sigh. It wns difficult to get out of the habit of plnylng; he found himself the possessor of a very groat deslro to closo down tho desk, call on Shirley Sumner, nnd spend tho romnlndcr of the dny bnsklng In the sunlight of her presence. Following his discovery of tho out-rngo out-rngo committed on his fnther's sanctuary, sanctu-ary, Bryco wasted considerable vnl-unblc vnl-unblc time nnd ofTort In a futllo en-denvor en-denvor to gather somo further hint of tho Identity of tho vandals; hut despairing nt last, he dismissed the mntter from his mind, resolving only thnt on Thursday he would go up Into I'ennlngtqn'.i woods nnd Interview tho redoubtable Jules Rondeau. , Brycc'a nnturnl Inclination was to wnlt upon M. Jlondenu Immediately,' If not sooner, but the recollection of' his dinner engagement nt tho Penning-! ton homo warned him to proceed cautiously; for whllo harboring noi apprehensions as to the outcome of a posstblo clnsh with Ilondcnu, Brycel wns not so optimistic ns to believe he ' would cscnpo unscnthed from nn en ' couutor. I Colonel Pennington's pompous imported im-ported British Initler showed Bryce Into the Pennington living room nt ' six-thirty, announcing him with duo ' ceremony. Shirley roso from tho plnno j whero she had been Idly fingering the keys nnd greeted him with every np- i penrnnco of pleasure following which, I phe turned to present her visitor to ( Colonel Pennington, who wns standing In his favorlto position wltli his buck ' to tho fireplace. "Uncle Scth, this Is Mr. Canllgan, who wns so very ulco to mo tho day j I landed In Bed Bluff." Tho Colonel bowed. "I havo to thnnk you, sir, for your courtesy to my niece." Ho hadassumed nn air of reserve, ,pf distinct aloofness, despite I his studied politeness. ' "Your niece, Colonel, Is ono of those j fortunnto beings tho world will always clnmor to serve." "Quito true, Mr. Cnrdlgnn. When sho was quite a llttlo girl. I enmo under un-der her spell myself." ' "So did I, Colonel. Miss Sumner j hns doubtless told you of our first J meeting somo twelve years ngo." , j "Quito so. Mny I offer you n cocktail, Mr. Cnrdlgnn?" "Thnnk you, certainly. Dnd nnd I havo been pinning ono on nbout this time every night slnco my return." j "Shirley belongs to tho Bnnd of Hope," tho Colonel explained. "She's ready nt any time to brenk a lnnco1 with tlio Demon Bum. So We will hnvo to drink her shnrc, Mr. Cardigan. Pray bo seated." ' Bryco seated himself. "Well, wo lumbermen nro a low lot and naturally fond of dissipation," bo ngrcod. "I f car Miss Sumner's prohibition tendencies tenden-cies will bo still further strengthened nfter sho hns seen tho mnd-trnln." "What Is thnt?" Shirley quoricd. i "Tho mnd-trnln runs over your1 uncle's "logging rnllroad into Township nine, whero Ids timber nnd ours Is lo-cnted. lo-cnted. It Is the only train opornted on Sunday, nnd It leaves Sequoia nt llvo p. in. to carry tho Pennington nnd j Cardigan crows buck to tho woods nfter their Butimlny-nlght colcbrntlonj In town. As n usual thing, nil hnnds with tho exception of tho brnkemnn.i engineers, nnd fireman, aro singing, j weeping or lighting drunk." "Do tboy fight, Mr. Cnrdlgnn?" "Frequently. I might wiy- usually. It's qulto nn Inspiring sight -to soo n couple of lumberjacks going to It on n fint-cnr traveling' "thirty miles an hour." "How liorrlblol" "Yes, Imiocd. Tho right of wny li lined with empty whisky bottles." Colonel Pennington epoko up. "We don't have nny fighting on.tho'innd-train on.tho'innd-train nny moro," ho said blnndly. "Indeed 1 How do you prevent it?" I Bryco asked. , "My woods-boss, Jules Rondenu, makes them keep the pence," Pennington Penning-ton replied with n small smlfo. "If tlicro's nny fighting to be done, ho does it." "You menn ntnong hla own crow, of I course," Bryce suggested. I "No, ho's in charge of tho mnd-trnln, i nnd whether a fight ctarts among your ! men or ours, he takes a hnnd. He'l hnd them nil behaving mildly for quite v 3 'Ha Can Whip Any Man In thi Country." a while, because ho enn whip nny man In the country, nnd everybody realize It. I don't know whnt I'd do without Rondenu. Ho ccrtnlnly makes those bohunks of initio step lively." "Oh-h-hl Do you employ bohunks, Colonel?" "Ccrtnlnly. They cost less; they nro fnr less Independent thnn most men und moro readily handled. And you don't hnvo to pnmper them pnr-I pnr-I tlcnlnrly In tho mntter of food. Why, I Mr. Cnnllgnn, with nil duo respect to your fnthcr, tho wny ho feeds bis men Is simply ridiculous! Cnko nnd pla and doughnuts at tho snmo mcnll" "Well, Dad started In to feed hla men tho snmo food he fed himself, and I supposo tho habits ono forms In J youth nro not readily chnnged In old age, Colonel." "But thnt ninkes It hnrd for other mnnufneturers," the Colonel protested. "I feed my men good plnln food and plenty of It quite better food thnn thoy were used to before they enmo to O1I3 country; but I ennnot seem to sntlsfy them. Your respected parent Is tho basis for comparison in this country, Cnrdlgnn, nnd I find It devilish devil-ish inconvenient." lie laughed Indulgently Indul-gently and passed his clgnrettc-caso to Bryce. "Unclo Seth alwnys grows restless ! when somo other mnn Is tlio lender," Shirley volunteered with n mlschlc-1 mlschlc-1 vo'us glnnco at Pennington. "Don't 1 you, Nunky-dunk?" -'Im nfrnld I do, my denr," tho I Colonel admitted with his best nlr of 1 henrty expnnslveness. "I'm nfrnld I 1 do. However.' Mr. Cnrdlgnn, now that you have at least, I havo been so In-j In-j formed taken over your father's btisl-' btisl-' neis, I 11111 hoping we will be enabled to get together on ninny little details and work them out on n common basis to our mutual advantage. We lumbermen lumber-men should stand together nnd not mnko It hard for each other. However," How-ever," he concluded, "let's not talk , shop. I Imnglno wo hnvo enough of that during the dny. Besides, here I are tho cocktnlls." 1 With fho disposal of the cocktnlls. I the conversation drifted Into a discus-I discus-I slon of Shirley's adventures with a I snlmon In Big lagoon. Tito Colonel ! discoursed learnedly on tho superior I sport of niUKkellunge-flshing. which I prompted Bryco to enter Into a desctip-1 desctip-1 t'on of going after swordflsh ntnong 1 tho Islands of tho Santa Barbara channel. chan-nel. "Once 1 was fishing at San " I The butler appeared In the doorway and bowed lo Shirley, announcing thnt 1 dinner was served. The girl rose and gave her arm to Bryce; with her othei l arm linked through her uncle's she ' turned toward the dining room. Just Inside the entrance Bryco I paused. The soft glow of the candlcr ' In tho old-fashioned sliver candle sticks upon the tnble was reflected It 1 tho polished walls of the room walli 1 formed of panels of tho most ex , qulsltely pntterned redwood burl Bryct ' Cardigan had ever seen. Also tin panels- were unusually large. j Shirley Sumner's alert glanco fol I lowed Bryce's ns It swept aronnd tin 1 room. "This dining room Is Uncli Seth's particular delight, Mr. Canll ' gan," sho explained. j "It Is very beautiful, Miss Sumner I And your unclo hns worked wonden 1 In tho mntter of having It polished I Those panels are positively the larges j and most beautiful specimens of red wood burl ever turned out In tliit I country. The grain Is not merelj wavy; It Is not merely curly; It h actually so contrary that you him here, Colonel Pennington, a room nb solutely unique, In that It Is formei of blrd's-oyo burl. Mark tho dee shadows In It. And how It does rellee those- candidal" 1 "It Is beautiful." the f -'omjl gle clnrcdl "And t must coiitesa to t pnrdonnble pride In It, although flu tnsk of keeping tlcso wnlls from be lug mnrred by the furniture knocklni ngnlnst them requires tho utmos caro." 1 Bryco turned nnd his brown eye-blazed eye-blazed into the Colonel's. "Where din you succeed In finding such a mnrvel j ons tree?" ho queried pointedly. " know of but one tree In Humbold county thnt could hnvo produced sucl beautiful burl." For nbout n second Colonel Penning ton met Bryce's glnnco unwaveringly then ho rend something In his guest'i' eyes, nnd his glnnco shifted, whlli over his benign countcnnncc n flusl sprend quickly. Bryce noted it, nn( his quickly roused suspicions were ni quickly kindled Into ccrtnlnly. "When did you find that tree?" ho rcpeutot Innocently. "Rondenu, my woods-boss, knew ) wns on tho lookout for something special something nobody elso coulc get; so ho kept his eyes open." "Indeed I" There wus Just a trac( of Irony In Bryce's tones ns ho drew Shirley's chnlr nnd held It for her "You nro fortunate to havo such a woods-boss In your employ. Suet loyal frllows nro usually too good tt bo true, and quite frequently they put their blnnkcts on their bncks nnd gel out of tho country when you .least expect ex-pect It. I daro sny It would bo n shock to you If Rondenu did thnt." Thero was no mistaking tho veiled threat behind thnt uppnrently Innocent observation, nnd the Colonel, being n mnn of more thnn ordinary astuteness, astute-ness, realized thnt at Inst he must plnco his enrds on the table. "Yes," ho said, "I would be rather disappointed. disappoint-ed. However, I pny Rondenu rathci more thnn It Is customary to pay woods-bosses; so, I Imnglno he'll stay unless, of course, somebody takes n notion to run him out of the country. And when thnt hnppcns, I want to be on hnnd to view the spectacle." Bryco sprinkled a mqdlcum of snlt In his soup. "I'm going up Into Township Town-ship nlno to-morrow nfternoon," he rcmnrked casually. "I think I shall go over to your enmp nnd pny tho In-compnrnblo In-compnrnblo Jules n brief visit." Again tho Colonel assimilated the hint, but preferred to dissemble. "Oh, you enn't stcnl him from me, Cnrdlgnn," Cnrdl-gnn," ho lnughed. "I warn you In nd-vnncc nd-vnncc so spnre yourself the effort." "I'll try anything once," Bryco retorted re-torted with equal good nature. "However, "How-ever, I don't want to steal him from i you. I want to ascertain from him I where he procured this burl." . "He wouldn't tell you." j "Ho might. I'm a persunslro little , cuss when I choose to exert myself." "Rondenu Is not communicative. lie i requires lots of persundlng." "Whnt delicious soup I" Bryco murmured, mur-mured, blnndly. "Miss Sumner, may 1 hnvo a crncker7" The dinner passed pleasantly; the challenge and defiance botween guest and host hud been so skillfully nnd gracefully exchanged that Shirley hadn't tho slightest suspicion thnt, theso two well-groomed men hnd, un-t dor her very nose, ns It were, agreed ' lo bo enemies nnd then, for the time, being, turned their nttentlon to other nnd more trifling mntters. A sprightly thrco-coi-nered conversntlon continued for nn hour. Then the Colonel,- secretly secret-ly enraged nt the cnlm, mocking, con-1 templntlve glances which Bryce ever' and nnon bestowed upon him, nnd tin-' nblc longer to convince himself thnt ho wns too apprehensive that this' cool young mnn knew nothing nnd would do nothing even If lie knew , something rose, plended the necessity for looking over some papers, and bade , Bryco good-night. Foolishly ho . proffered Bryco n limp bund; nnd n demon of deviltry taking possession of , tlio latter, he squeezed It with n simple, hearty earnestness, tho while he said: j "Colonel Pennington, I hopo I do1 not have to assure you that my visit hero this evening has not only been i delightful but ei Instructive. Good- j night, sir, and pleasant dreams." With difficulty the Colonel suppress-1 ed it groan. However, ho was not the j sort of mnn who .suffers In- silence; I for a minute lntor tho butler, leaning j over the banisters as his master climb- j Cd tho stairs to his library, heard the latter curse with an eloquence thnt wns singularly appealing. CHAPTER VII. Colonel Seth Pennington looked up sourly as a clerk entered his private, office. "Well 7" he demnnded brusquely. brus-quely. When addressing Ills em ployees, the Colonel seldom bothered to assume his pontifical manner. "Mr. Bryce Cardigan Is waiting to soo you, sir." i "Very well. Show hi in in." Bryce entered. "Good morning, i Colonel," he snld pleasantly, nnd brn zeuly thrust out Ids linnd. "Not for me, my boy," the Colonel assured him, "I had enough of thnt last night. We'll Just consider tin , hnnd-shaking all attended to, If yoi please. Have n rhnlr; sit down nnt tell me whnt I can do to miiko yoi happy." " , ' "I'm delighted to find you In sucl n generous frame of mind, Colonel You can make me gtiiulneiy happy b.v renewing, for ten yenrs on tho sniiu terms ns the original contract, youi arrangement to freight tho logs of th Cardigan Redwood Lumber company from tho woods to tidewater." Colonel Pennington clenred lib thront with n propitiatory "Ahem-ni m I" Then he removed his gold spec ( tncles nnd carefully wiped them wltl n silk handkerchief, ns carefully re plnced them upon his aristocratic noso nnd then gazed curiously nt Bryce. J'My dear young friend I My verj iwjienr yoyug friend I. Iiiiust nrotcst ni being abi' to u'iscuss" HIS mutter Your fnfher nnd I have been over It It detail; we foiled to agree, nnd thai, settles It." , "I did not expect you to ngreo tt' my request I nm not quite thnl optimistic," Bryce replied evenly. "J thought thnt possibly, If I rcopcncc, negotiations you might have u reason nblo counter-proposition to suggest." "I hnven't thought of nny." "I suppose If 1 agreed to sell you thnt quarter-section of timber in tin little vnlley over yonder" (ho polntcc" to the cast) "nnd tho nnturnl outlet for your Squnw creek timber, you'd quickly think of one," Bryce suggested pointedly. "No, I nm not In the mnrkct for thnl Vnlley of tho Glnnts, ns your Idcnllstlc father prefers to cnll it. The possession posses-sion of Hint big limber is nil advantage advan-tage I expect to enjoy before I acquire ac-quire ninny moro gray hnlrs. B'lt 1 do not expect to pny for It." "Do you expect mo to offer It to you ns a bonus for renewing our hnul-lug hnul-lug contract?" The Colonel snapped his fingers. "By George," he declared, "that's n bright Idea, and a few month's ngo I would hnvo been Inclined to consider it very seriously. But now " "You figure you've. got us winging, eh?" Bryco wns smiling pleasantly. "I nm mnklng no admissions," Pennington Penn-ington responded enigmatically, "nor any hauling contracts for my neighbor's neigh-bor's logs," he ndded. "I supposo Pll hnve to nbnndon logging log-ging In Township nine nnd go back to tho Snn ncdrln," Bryco sighed resignedly. re-signedly. ''if you do, you'll go broke You cnnvt afford It. You're on tho verge of Insolvency this minute." "I supposo, slnco you decline to haul our logs, nfter the expiration of our present contract, nnd In view of fho fnct thnt wc nro not flnnnclnlly nblo to build our own logging rnllroad, thnt tho wisest course my fnther and I could pursue would be to s611 our timber In Township nine to you. It adjoins your holdings In tho same township." "I had a notion the situntlon would begin to dnwn upon you." Tho Colonel wns smiling now; his handsome face wns grndunlly assuming tho expression expres-sion pontifical. "I'll give you n dollar a tlmusnnd feet stumpngo for It." "I'm afraid I enn't accept thnt offer. Wc pnld n dollar and a half for It, you know, nnd If wo sold It to you nt n dollar, the snle. would not bring us sufficient money to tnke up our bonded Indebtedness; we'd only hnve the San Ilodrln timber nnd the Vnlley of tli ( Glnnts left, and slnco wo cannot log either of these nt present, naturally we'd be out of business." "That's the way I figured It, m boy." "Well we're not going out of biifl ness." ' J "Pardon me for disagreeing with you I think you nro." "Not much I We enn't nfford it." "My dear boy, my Aery denr young , friend, listen to me, Your paternal nncestor Is the only human being who ' hns ever succeeded In making n perfect per-fect monkey of me. When I wnnted to purchuso from him n right of wny , through his absurd Vnlley of thei Glnnts, In order thnt I might log my Squnw creek timber, he refused mc. And to add Insult to Injury, he spouted n lot of rot nbout his big trees, how much they meant to him. nnd the utter nrtlstlc horror of running run-ning n logging-train through the grove particularly since he plnnned to be-quenth be-quenth it to Sequoln ns n public park. "I will not renew your logging contract. con-tract. Thnt Is mini, young mnn. No mnn enn ride me with spurs nnd get nwny wltli it." "Oh, I knew thnt yesterdnj'." "Then why hnvo you cnlled on mo todny, taking up my time on n dend Issue?" "I wnnted to give you ono flnnl chnnce to repent. I know your plan. Yon have It In your power to smash "I Will Not Renew Your Longing Contract." Con-tract." the Cardigan Redwood Lumber company, com-pany, acquire It nt fifty per cent of Its vnluo and nicrgo its assets with your Lagunn Grando Lumber company. You are nn nmbltlous mnn. You wnnt to be the grentest redwood manufacturer In California, and in order to achieve your ambitions, you are willing to ruin a competitor: you MJcclliic-to piny the gnmo like n thoi-Miglihred.!' "I piny the game of business accord IHI..I. I HI . 1M III HI - lug tn the rules 6f the gunie; I do M nothing Illegal, sir." "And nothing generous or chivalrous. Colonel, you know your plen of a shortngo of rolling-stock Is that the contract for hauling our logs has been very profitable nnd will be more profit-nblo profit-nblo In the futuro If you will accept n flfty-ccnt-per-thousnnd Increnso on tho freight rate and renew tho Con- tract for ten years." "Nothing doing, young mnn. Remember, Re-member, you are not In n position ,'J( nsk favors." "Then I supposo we'll have to go down fighting?" ., "I do not nntlclpnto much of n fight." "And I'll begin by running your woodH-bofis out of tho country." "Alt-li I" "You know why, j)f course those burl pnnelB In your dining room. Ron- K denu felled n treo In our Valley of tho Glnnts to get thnt burl for you, Colonel Pennington." Pennington flushed." "I defy you to prove thnt," ho nlinost shouted, "Very well. I'll mnke Rondenu confess; con-fess; perhnps he'll even tell me who sent him nfter the burl. Upon my word, I think you Inspired that dastardly raid. At nny rate, I know Rondenu Is guilty, nnd you, as his employer nnd the hctieficlnry of his S crime, must nccept tho odium." n The Colonel's fnce went white. "I do not admit anything except thnt you nppenr to" hnvo lost your bend, young 1 mnn. However, for the snko of argu- 1 ment: granting thnt Rondeau felled 1 thnt tree, ho did It under tho appro- 1 henston thnt your Vnlley of tho Giants Is n part of my Squaw creek timber adjoining." "I do not believe that. Thero wns mnllcc In the act brutnllty, oven ; for my mother's grnvc' Identified the lnnd as ours, and Rondenu felfed the treo on her tombstone." T ."If that Is so, and Rondeau felled thnt tree I do not bellevo1 he did I am sincerely sorry, Cardigan. Name 'our price und I will pay you for the tree." "You can't pay for that tree," Bryce burst forth. "No pitiful human being can pay In dollars and cents for the wanton destruction of God's handiwork. handi-work. You wnnted thnt burl, and when my fnther was blind nnd could no longer mnke his Sundny pllgrlmago up to thnt grove, your woods-boss went up nnd stolo thnt which you knew you could not buy." "Thnt will bo nbout nil from you, young mnn. Get out of my office. And, by tho wny, forget that you have met my niece." "It's your office so I'll get out Af for your second command" ho snapped his fingers In Pennington's face "fooey l" When Bryco hnd gone, the Colonel hurriedly cnlled his logging-camp on the telephone nnd asked for Jules Rondenu, only to bo Informed by tho timekeeper who nnswered tho telephone, tele-phone, thnt Rondenu wns up In the green timber with the choppers and could not be gotten to the telephone In less thnn two hours. "Do not send for him, then," Pennington Pen-nington commnnded. "I'm coming up j on the eleven-fifteen train nnd will tnlk to him when ho comes In for his i lunch." At eleven o'clock, nnd just as tho n Colonel wns lenvlng to bonrd tho I I eleven-fifteen , logging-train bound I i empty for tho woods, Shirley Sumner I mndp her appearance In his office. I i (Continued next week.) |