OCR Text |
Show I . IyalleyI I II OF THE If H lliii COPYRIGHT, RT PETER JS.KYNE JiiM M CHAPTER III. H Throughout the hnppy years of H Bryco's boyhood his fntlior continued H to enlarge niitl Improve his sawmill, H to build more schooners, nnd to nc- H quire more redwood timber. Lands, H the purclmHC of wlilch by Cnrdlgan n H decode before liad cnused hla neigh- H bors to Impugn his judgment, now H developed strategical Importance. As H a result those hinds necessary to con- H Hcilldnto his own holdings enmo to H him nt his own price, while his nd- H verio holdings that blocked the log- H glug operntlons of his competitors H went from liiiti also nt his own price. H In fact, all well-laid plans matured H Hntlsfuctorlly with the exception of H one, and since It has n very definite H bearing on the story, the necessity for H ojcplnlnlng It Is paramouut. H'' Contiguous to Cardigan's logging H 5 operations to tho cast and north of H Sequoln, and comparatively closo In, H ! lay n bloc!: of two thousand acres H of splendl'd timber, tho natural, fcas- H Iblc, and Inexpensive outlet for which, H i when It should be logged, was the Mi t Valley of tho Giants. For thirty Hi ' years John Cardigan had played n HJ waiting game with tho owner of that Hi timber, for tho latter was as fully H' obsessed with the belief (lint ho was Hj going to sell It to John Cardigan nt a H ' dollar and a half per thousand feet H ' etumpnge as Cardigan was certain he H ' Was going to buy It for (it dollar n H thousand- when ho should be ready H to do so and not one second sooner. H" Eventually tho tlmo for acquiring H1 more tlmbor arrived. John Cardigan. H meeting his neighbor on tho street H'l accosted him thus: H) "Look here, Hill, Isn't It time we H got togetlier on that timber of yqprs? H' You know jou'vo been holding It to H; block me and force mo to buy at your H ' figure. I'll give you a dollar n thous- H; N and Btumptige for your timber, Dill." B?" "j wnnt a dollar and a half." H "A dollar is my absolute limit." H- "Then I'll keep my timber." H' "And I'll keep my money. When H I llnlsh logging In my present hold- H' lugs, I'm going to pull out of that H country nnd'Mog twenty miles south H of Sequoia. Remember, Dill, the man H ' who buys your timber will have to log H It through my land and I'm not go- H i Ing to log that quarter-section In the H ' valley. Hence there will bo no outlet H ' for your timber In back." H "Not going to log It? Why, what H ', nre you going to do with It?" H i "I'm Just going to let it stny there H l until I die. When my will Is fllctl for H t probate, your curiosity will be sntls- H Ded but not until then. Hotter tnko Hl n dollar, Dill. It's a good, fair price, H as the market on redwood timber is H' now, nnd you'll bo making an oven B , , hundred per cent, on your Investment H i H , Remember, Dill, If I don't buy your m J timber, you'll never log It yourself H v nnd neither will anybody else. You'll H be stuck with It for the next forty M years and tuxes aren't getting any H "I'll hnng on a little longer, I H &-Jlp'TvthlnI so, too," John Cardigan rc- M v piled. And that night, as was his M wont, oven though ho realized thnt it M wns not possible for Drycc to gain a H .profound understanding of the business fl , 1 problems to which ho wan heir, John M Cardigan discussed tho Squaw creek H 'f timber with his son, relating to him m tho details of his conversation with M the H ' Dryco pondered. "Hut Isn't It m cheaper to give him his price on Squaw M creek timber than go logging in the H San Uedrln und have to build twenty M miles of logging railroad to got your Hj logs to the mill?" H "It would be, son, if I had to build B the railroad. Fortunately, I do not. H I'll Just shoot tho logs down tho hill- M side to tho Snn Uedrln rlrer and H' drivo them down the stream to a log- H boom on tidewater." H Dryco looked at his father admin H lngly. "I guess Dan Kcyes is right, H Dad," ho said. "Dan says you're fl crazy like a fox. Now I know why H you've been picking up claims In Uie H San Uedrln watershed." H- "No, jou don't, Drycc. l'vo novcr B told you, but I'll tell you now thu H real reason, Humboldt county has no H , rail connection with the outside world, H go wo nro forced to ship our lumber H by water. Dut somo day a railroad H will bo built lu from tho south from H v- Snn Francisco; and when It comes, tho H only route for It to travel is through H our timber in the San Uedrln valley. H I've accumulntel that ten thousand B acres for you, my son, for the railroad H will never bo built In .my day. It B doesn't matter, son, You will fatlll bo Hi lodging there fifty years from now. K And when tho rnllroud people come to H you for a right of way, my boy, give H It to them. Don't charge them n cent. H . It lias always been tny policy to en- Hh! wnwr in, i i i, " " ii "BW.Zi .J-."... .L.,...,..-, . .,.,., ,..rr-f ' ' "" ' ""'' rr" courngo tno aevciopmeni oc mio county, nnd I wnnt you to bo n forward-looking, public-spirited citizen. That's why I'm sending you East to college. You've been bom and rnlsed In this town, nnd you must see more of tho world. Listen to me, son, You're only n boy, nnd yon can't understand un-derstand everything I tell you, but somo day understanding will come to you. You mustn't fall tho people who work for you wh'o aro dependent upon your strength and brains nnd enterprise enter-prise to furnish tiem with an opportunity oppor-tunity for life, liberty, nnd tho pursuit of' hnpplness. When you aro the boss of Cnrdlgnn's mill, you must koep tho wheels turning; you must never shut down tho mill or Uve logging-camps In dull times just to avoid a loss you can stand better thnn your employees." His hard, trembling old hand closed over the boy's. "I wnnt you to be n brave nnd honorable man," ho concluded. con-cluded. Truo to his word, when John Cardigan Cardi-gan llnlshcd Ills logging In his old, original holdings adjacent to Sequoia nnd Dill Henderson's Squaw creek timber, ho quietly moved south with his Squaw creek woods-gang and Join ed the crow already getting out logs In tho Son Uedrln watershed. Not until then did Dill Henderson realize 'that John Cardigan had called bis bluff whereat ho cursed himself for n fool nnd n poor Judge of human nn-Jure. nn-Jure. He had tried n hold-up fenmo nnd hnd failed; n dollnr a thousand feet stumpoge was a fair price; for years ho had needed tho money; nnd, now, when It wns too lute, 1 realized his error. Luck was with Henderson, however, for shortly thereafter there camo again to Sequoia one Colonel Pennington, n millionaire whlte-plue operator from Michigan, From a chnlr-warmer on the porch of tho Hotel Sequoia, the Colonel hnd heard the talo of how stiff-necked old John Cardigan hnd called tho bluff of equally equal-ly stiff-necked Dill Henderson; so for I l Dlnna See How I'm to Keep thn Mill Runnln'l" the next few woeks the Colonel, under pretense of going hunting or fishing on Squaw creek, managed to make n fairly accurate cursory crulso of the Henderson timber following which he purchased It from the delighted Dill for a dollar nnd a quarter per thousand feet atumpngc. No mnu is Infallible, nnd In plan nlng his logging operations In the San Uedrln watershed John Cardigan presently made the discovery thnt he luid erred In Judgment. Thnt season, from May to November, his woods-crew woods-crew put thirty million foot of logs Into the San Uedrln river, while the mill sawed on a reserve supply of logs tnken from tho last of tho old chop-pings chop-pings adjacent to Squnw creek. That year, howover, tho rainfall In tho San Uedrln country wns fifty per cent, less thnn normal, and by tho first of May of tho following ,venr Cardigan's woods-crow hnd succeeded In driving slightly less thnn half of tho cut of tho preceding year to tho boom on tidewater .at the mouth of tho river. "Unless the Lord'll gl' us n lot more wnter In tho river," tho woods-boss McTnvlbh complained, "1 dlnnu see how I'm to keep tho mill runnin'." Ho was taking John Cardigan up the river bank and cxplnlnlng the situation. situa-tion. "Tho hcuvy butt-logs lino sunk to tho bottom," he continued. "Wlo n normal head o' water, tho lads'll move thorn, but wl the drapplf wo havo tho nee" Ho throw up lilr hornlike hands despairingly. Threo dny3 later a cloud-burst filled the river to tho brim; It enmo nt night T""' " ""W:-I" " "V jt 2 jBHajflHNttajMaflHHflMBtaiEtiKiu " M I) Ml I and swept the river clean of Cardigan's Cardi-gan's clenr logs. An finny of Juggernauts, Jug-gernauts, they swept down pn the boiling torrent to tidewater, reaching tho bay shortly after the tide hnd commenced to ebb. Now, n chain Is only as strong as Its wenkest link, and a log-boom Is n clinplct of Miinii logs, linked end to end by means of short chains; hence when the van-guard of logs on tho Up of thnt flood reached tho log-boom, log-boom, tho Impetus of tho charge wns too great io bo resisted. Straight through the weakest link In this boom tho huge snw-loga crnRhcd nnd out over Humboldt bar to tho brond Pacific. Pa-cific. With tho ebb tide some of them enmc back, while others, caught in cross-currents, bobbed about the bay all night nnd finally benched nt widely scnttcrcd points. Out of tho fifteen million feet of logs less thnn three million were salvaged, nnd this task In Itself wns nn cxpcnslvo opcrntlon. John Cardigan rccplvcd tho news cnlmly. He turned from the manager nnd walked nwny through his logged-over logged-over In ml g, ncross tho little divide nnd down Into tho quarter-section of green timber ho had told McTavlsh not to cut. Onco In the Valley of the Giants, ho followed n well-worn foot-pn'th foot-pn'th to the llttlo amphitheater, and where the sunlight filtered through like n halo and fell on a plain little white mnrblc monument, he paused mid sat down on the now almost decayed de-cayed sugar-plno windfall. "I've como for n llttlo comfort, sweetheart," he murmured to her who slept beneath the stone. Then he leaned bnck against a redwood tree, removed his lint, nnd closed his eyes, holding Ills great gray head tho while a. little to one sldo lu a listening nttl-"tude. nttl-"tude. Long ho sat there, n great, tlmc-bltten devotee nt tho shrine of his comfort; and presently tho hnr-rlcd hnr-rlcd look left his strong, kind face and was replaced by a little prescient smile the sort of smllo worn by one who through bitter years has sought something very, very precious nnd has at length discovered It CHAPTER IV. It wns on tho day that John Cardigan Cardi-gan received tho telegram frbm Drycc saying that, following four years at Princeton ajid two years of travel nbrond, he Wns returning to Sequoln to tako over his redwood heritage that ho discovered that a stranger nnd not tho llesh of his flesh nnd the blood of hla blood was to reap the reward of hJs fifty years'of endenvor. For a long tlmo he sat there lothnr gle with misery. Eventually he roused himself, reached for tho desk telephone, nnd pressed n button on tho office oxchnnge-statlon. His manager, man-ager, one Thomns Slnclnlr, answered. "ThomuSj" ho said calmly, "you know, of course, thnt Dryco Is 'coming 'com-ing home. Tell (leorgo to tnke the big enr nnd go over to Red Dluff for him." OcorgO Sen Otter, son of Dryco Cnrdlgnn's old hnlf-brecd nurse, wns n person In whoso nature struggled tho whlto's predilection for advertise ment und civic pride nnd tho ml man's Instinct for adornment. For three yenrs ho hnd been old mnn Cardigan's chnuffeur nnd mnn-of-nll-work about tho Intter's old-fnshloned-home, and In the former capacity he drove John Cardigan's slnglo evldenca of extravagance a Nnplcr enr, which wns very justly regarded by Gcorgo Sen Otter ns the king of nutomoblles, since It wns tho only Imported car In tho county. Upon receipt of orders, therefore, from Slnclnlr, to drlvo tho Nnpler over to Red Dluff nnd meet his future .boss and ono-tlmo playfellow, play-fellow, Gcorgo Sea Otter arrayed himself him-self In a pair of new blnck, corduroy trousers, yellow- button shoes, a blue woolen shirt with n largo scarlet silk handkerchief tied nround tho neck, a pair of beaded buckskin gloves with fringe dependent from the gauntlet, and n brond white beaver lint with a rattlosnake-nkln band. Across the windshield of tho Napier ho fastened an orange-colored pennant bearing 1 In bright green letters tho legend: MY CITY SEQUOIA. As a safety-first safety-first precaution jigalnst mnn nnd beast en route, ho buokled n gun- senbbard to the snn re tires on tho runnlng-bonrd nnd slipped n rifle Into tho scnhbnrd within quick nnd easy reach of his hand; and arrayed thus, Gcorgo descended upon Red Dluff nt the helm of Uie king of automobiles. When the overland train coasted Into Red Dluff nnd slid to n grinding halt, Dryco Cnrdlgnn snw thnt the Highest Living Authority had descended de-scended from the train nlso, 11 o had elected to designate her thus In the absence of nny Information nnent her Christian uud family names, and for the further reason that quite obviously obvious-ly sho was a very superior person, Dryco could see that she was the llttlo daughter of some large rich man. The sparslty of Jewelry and the rich simplicity of her nttlro proved that, and moreover she wns accompanied accom-panied by a French mold to whom sho spoke In French In a manner which testified thnt beforo acquiring the French mnld sho hnd been lu the custody of n French nurse. Sho possessed pos-sessed poise. For the rest, sho hnd wonderful Jet-bluck hair, violet eyes, and milk-white skin, a correct noso but a somewhat generous mouth. Dryco guessed' she was twenty or twenty-ouo yenrs old nnd that sho hnd a temper susceptible of being aroused. The fact thnt this remarkable young woman hnd nlso left the train nt Red Dluff further Interested him, for ho knew Red Dluff uud while giving giv-ing credit to tho many lovely damsels of that little umbltlous city, Dryce had a suspicion that no former Red DJiiff girl would dare to Invade the ... i,.... mi ,1 i if .i, i.i jdf TjTTTi lXWU old iniiiif imvu rtlth,i Fruclt mnld. He notciUnas further evidence of the colTcctnc.su of his assumption, that the youthful buggnge-smnsher nt I be station fulled to recognize hqr nnd wns evidently dazzled when, followed by tho mnld, struggling with two suit-cases, she nppnmchcd him nnd In pure though alien English Inquired Uio location of tho best hotel nnd the hour nnd point of departure of tho nutomobllo stngo for San Uedrln. Tho youth hnd answered her first question and wns about to answer tho second when Georgo Sea Otter, In all his barbaric splendor, came pussyfooting pussy-footing nround the corner of the station sta-tion In old mnn Cnrdlgnn's regal touiiug-cnr. Tho Highest Living Authority, following fol-lowing tho gnze of tlio bnggngo-smasher, bnggngo-smasher, turned nnd beheld George Sen Otter. Doyond n doubt ho wns of tho West westward. Sho noted the rifle-stock projecting from the scabbard, scab-bard, nnd a vision of a stogo hold-up flashed across her mind. Ah, yes, of course the express messenger's weapon, weap-on, no doubt! And further to clinch her Instnnt assumption thnt here wns tho Sequoln motor-stage, there was tho pennant adorning tho wlnd-shlcld I Dismissing tho bnggagc-sraashcr with a gracious smile, the Uiglicst Living Authority approached Georgo Sea Otter, noting, tho while, further evidence evi-dence that this car was a public conveyance, con-veyance, for tho young man who hnd been her fellow-pnsscngcr was bonding bond-ing toward tho nutomobllo also. Sho heard him say: "nello, George, you radiant red rascal! I'm mighty glad to see you, boy. Shako I" They shook, Georgo Sen- Otter's dark eyes and wjilto teeth flashing plcnsurnbly. Dryce tossed his bng Into In-to the tomicnu; the hnlf-brecd opened the front door; nnd the young mnstcr hnd his foot on the running-board nnd wns nbout to enter tho car when a 8of t voice spoko at his elbow : "Driver, this is tho stngo for Sequoia, is it not?" Gcorgo Sen Otter could senrccly credit Ills auditory nerves. "Tills "This Is the Stage for Sequoia, It It Not?" enr?" ho demanded bluntly, "this the Sequoia stage! Take a look, lady. This here's n Napier Imported automobile, auto-mobile, it's a private cur uud belongs be-longs to my boss here." Dryco turned nnd lifted his hat. "Quito nnturolly, you thought-It was the Sequoia stage." He turned n smoldering glance upon George Sen Otter. "George," he declared ominously, omi-nously, but with n sly wink that drew tho sting from his words, "If you're nnxlous to hold down your job, the next time n lady speaks to you nnd asks you a simple question, you an swer yes or no nnd refrnln from sur-cnstlc sur-cnstlc remarks. Don't let your enthusiasm en-thusiasm for this enr run nwny with you." He faced tho girl again. "Wm It your Intention to go to Sequoln or fhe next trip of tho stngo?" (Continued next week.) |