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Show BBBBBSE If OVGZ. lily. I 1 VALLEY! II OF THE ill I I GIANTS I I i J PETBKBKYNE CV H iHTraQQ car "cappy j3ras39KjX M j COPYRIGHT, By PETER JB.KYNE mMjI H SYNOP0I8. B CHAPTIJIt I.-rionecr In tho California H redwood ruRlon, John Cardigan, nt forty- H uwen, la tho lending cltlxon of Sequoia, iiM owner of mills, Nhlpa, and many acres of H timber, a wldowor aftor tlirco years of H married life, nnd father of two-day. old j Bryco Cardigan. M CHAPTER II.-At fourteen Bryce makes H the acquaintance of Slilrloy Sumnur, a vis. H Uor to Hoquola, and his junior by a few M years. Together thoy visit the Valley of H tho Glnntfl, sacred to John Cardigan and ftsf , hta son ns tho burial place of Dryce'a H mother, and part with mutual regret. H CHAPTICR IH.-Wlille IJryce la at col- H logo John Cardigan meets with heavy m business losses and for tho first tlmo vltwi H te futuro with uncertainty, H CUAPTKU IV.-Aftor graduation from H roHege, nnd a trip abroad, llryco Cnrdl- H nan conies home. On tho train ho meoti H Ktilrley Sumner, on her way to Sequoia to H make hor home there with her uncle, H Col. Pennington. IJryce learns that hi H father's eyesight has failed and that Col. H Pennington Is seeking to tnko advantage ol H tho old man's business mlsfortunos. H CHAPTER V.-In the Valley of tin H Qlants young Cardigan finds a treo felled H directly across his mother's grave. Indl- H cations are that It was cut down to sccur M the burl, and evldehco seems to show thai H Pennington nnd his woods-boss, Julei M Ilondenu, are Implicated In tho outrage. bbbbbh H "Uncle teeth," sho complained, "I'm 1 lonesome. The bookkeeper tells me 1 s you're froltip up to the logging-camp. May I go with you?" H "By nil means. Usually I ride In M the cab with the engineer and flremnn ; m but If you're coming, I'll have them m hook on the caboose. Step lively, my H 'dear, or they'll be holding the train H f for us and upsetting our schedule." H By virtue of their logging-contract H Jwlth Pennington, the Cardigans and H tielr employees were transported free H 'over 'Pennington's logging railroad; H hence, when Bryco Cnrdlgnn resolved H to wait upon Jules Rondeau In the mat- H ter of that murdered Qlant, It wan H characteristic 'of him to choose the H shortest and moat direct route to ! H quarry, and as tho long string of otripty B- logglntruckii "came crawling off th H Laguna Grande dumber company's log- H 'damp, he vwung over the side, quite H Ignorant of the fact tliat Shirley and H her precious relative were riding In H the little caboose In the rear. H At twelve-ten tha train slid In an H the- log lauding. H "Where's Rondeau 7" llryco asked. H The engineer pointed to n huge, H swarthy man. approaching across the H dealing In which the enmp waa sit- m uatcd. "That's him," ho replied. H And without further ado, Bryce strode H to nioet his man. H "Are you Jules Rondeau ?" ho de- H manded ad he came up to tho woods- H boss. Tho latter nodded. "I'm Bryco H . Oardlgan," his Interrogator announced, H "and I'm here to thrash you for chop- H ' ping that big redwood tree over In H that little valley where my mother Is M burled." H "Oh!" Ilondenu smiled. "Wis H pleasure, M'slcur," And without n H moment's hesitation ho rushed. llryco H backed away from him, wnrlly, and H they circled. H "When I get through -with you, Hon H denu," Bryce snld distinctly, "It'll take M a good man to lead you to your meals. H This country Isn't big enough for both H of us, and since you came here lust, H you've got to go first," H Bryce stepped in, feinted for Hon- H denu's Jaw with his right, and when H the woods-boss quickly rccovored, rlp- H pel a sizzling loft Into the tatter's H midriff, ltondcnu grunted nnd dropped Hj bis guard, with the result thnt Brycc's H great lists played n devil's tattoo on H his countenance before he could H crouch nnd cover. H "Tills Is n tough one," thouglit Bryce. H Ills blows had not, apparently, had the H Hllghtcst effect on tlio woods-boss. H Crouched low nnd with his arms H wrapped around his head, Hondouu H still came on unfalteringly, and Bryco H was furceil to give way before him ; to H save ills hands, ho avoided the risk of H battering Itondcau's hard head and H sinewy arms. H Already word that tho woods-boss H wns battling with a stranger had been H shouted Into tho camp dining room, H and the entire crew of that camp, H abandoning their half-finished meul, H camo pouring forth t" view tlio contest. H. Out of tho tall of his eye Bryce saw H them coming, but he was not appro- H lienslve, for he know tho code of the H' woodsman; "Lot every man roll his - own hoop." It would he n fight to a H ' finish, for no man would Interfere; j striking, kicking, gouging, biting, or H. choking would not be looked uion as H unsportsmnnllko; nnd as Bryce backed Ht cuutiously nwny from the huge, lithe, H active, and powerful man before him, m ho realized that Jules Bondeau was, - ui his faUier had stated, "top dog jB among the lumberjacks." H Bondeuu, ft was apparent, had no B1 stomach for Bryce's stylo of combat. K He wanted a rough-and-tiunblo fight 4 ( Bnrt kePt rushing, hoping to clinch; If Bf ; ne could but got Ills great hands on B. I Bryce, he would wrestle him down. "Rondeau Will Take Cara of Him Now." climb him, and finish the fight in Jig-time. Jig-time. But a rough-and-tumblo was exactly what Bryce was striving to avoid; hence when Rondeau rushed, Bryce sldo-stepped and peppered the woodsman's ribs. Suddenly two powerful hands were plnccd between "Bryce's shoulders, effectually ef-fectually halting his backward progress prog-ress ; then ho was propelled violently forward until he collided "with Rondeau. Ron-deau. 'With a 'bellow 'of triumph, the woods-boss's arms were around Bryce, winging him until Iw factd Urn man who hYd forced Mai "Into lhat terrible grip. This was no less a personage than Colonel Seth Pennington, and It was 'obvious 'he had taken charge of what he c6na!Uercd tlio 'obsequies. "SUtnd back, 'you men, and give them room," he shouted. "Rontleuu will take enro of him now. Stand 'baclr, I say. I'll discliarge tho mnn that Interferes." With a heave and a grunt Rondeau lifted his antagonist, tho pair went crashing to the earth together, Bryce underneath. And then something happened. hap-pened. With a howl of pain. Rondeau rolled over on his back and lay clasping clasp-ing his loft wrist In his right hand, while Bryce scrambled to his feet "The good old wrist-lock does the trick," he announced; and stooping, he grasped the woods-boss .by the collar col-lar with his left hand, lifted him, and struck him u terrible blow In the face with his right But for tho arm that upheld him. Rondeau would have fallen. fall-en. To have him fall, however, was not part of Bryce's plan. Jerking tho fellow toward him, he passetl his ami around Rondeau's neck, holding the tatter's head as In a vlso with tho crook of ids elbow. And then tlio battering bat-tering started. When it was finished, Bryce let his mnn go, and Rondeau, bloody, sobbing, and soml-consclous, sprawled on tho ground. Bryco bent over him. "Now. damn you," he ronred, "who felled that tree In Cardigan's redwoods?" "I did, M'slcur. Knough I con-fessl" con-fessl" Tho words were a whisper. "Did Colonel Pennington suggest It to you?" "lie want zo burl. By gnr, I do not want to fell zat tree " "That's all I want to know." Stooping, Stoop-ing, Bryco seized Rondeau by the nape of the neck and the slack of his over-nils, over-nils, lifted him shoulder-high and tlu-ow him, ns ono throws a sack of men!, full nt Colonel Pennington. "You throw me at him. Now 1 throw him at you. You damned, thieving, greedy, hypocritical Bcoun-drel, Bcoun-drel, if it weren't for your years and your gray hnlr, I'd kill you." The helpless hulk of the woods-boss descended upon the Colonel's expansive expan-sive chest and sent him crashing earth-ward. earth-ward. Then Bryce, war-mad, turned to face the ring of Laguna Grande employees em-ployees about him. "Nest!" he roared. "Singly, In pairs, or the wholo damned packP "Mr. Cardigan!" IIo turned. Colonel Pennington's breath had been knocked out of his body by the impact of his semi-conscious woods-boss, and ho lay Inert, gasping llko n hooked fish. Beside him Shirley Sumner was kneeling, her hands clasping her unclo's, but with her violet eyes blazing fiercely on Bryco Cardigan, "ITow dare you?" she cried. "You coward I To hurt my uncle I" Ho gazed nt her for a moment, fiercely, defiantly, his chest rising nnd falling from his rocent exertions, his knotted fists gory with tho blood of his runny. Then the light of battle tiled, slid he hung his head. "I'm sorry," he murmured, "not for his sake, but yours. I didn't know you were here. 1 forgotmyself." "I'll never spenk to you ngnln so long as I live," she burst out passionately. passion-ately. He advanced n step nnd stood gazing gaz-ing down upon her. Her angry glnnro met his unflinchingly; nnd presently for him the light went out of the world. "Very well," he murmured. "Goodbye." "Good-bye." And with bowed head he turflcd and made off through tho green timber toward his own logging-camp five miles distant With the descent upon his brenst of tlio llinp body of his big woods-bully, Colonel Pennington had been struck to earth as effectually ns If a fnlr-slzed tree hnd fallen on him, the Inst whiff of breath had been driven from his lungs ; nnd for the space of n minute, during which Jules Rondeau lay heavily heav-ily ncross his midriff, tho Colonel wns quite unable to get It buck. Pale, gasping, and Jarred from soul to suspenders, sus-penders, he wns merely awaro that something unexpected and disconcerting disconcert-ing hnd occurred. AVhllo tlio Colonel fought for Ids hrenth, his woodsmen remained In the oiling, paralyzed Into Inactivity bj renson of the swiftness nnd thoroughness thorough-ness of Bryce Cardigan's work; then Shirley motioned to them to remove tho wreckage, nnd they hnstened to obey. Kreed from tho weight on the geometric center of his being, Colonel Pennington stretched his legs, rolled his head from side to side, nnd snorted violently several times like a buck After the sixth snort he felt so much better that a clear understanding of tlio exact nature of the catastrophe came to him ; lie struggled nnd sat up, looking around him a little wildly. "Where did Cardigan gor he gnsped. Ono of his men pointed to the Umber Into which the enemy had Just disappeared. dis-appeared. "Surround him take him," Pennington Penning-ton ordered. "I'll give a month's pay to each of the six men that bring that scoundrel to me. Got him quickly I Understand?" Not a man moved. Pennington shook with fury. "Get him," he croaked. croak-ed. "There nro enough of you to do tho Job. Close in on him everybody. I'll give a month's pay to everybody." every-body." A man of that indiscriminate mixture mix-ture of Spaniard nnd Indian known in Onllfornln as cholo swept the circle of men with an alert nnd knowing glance. Ills name was Flnvio Artelan, but his straight black hair, dark russet complexion, com-plexion, beady eyes, and hawk nose gave film such a rescmblanca to, a fowl that he was known among his fellows fel-lows as the Black Minorca, regardless of tho fact thnt this sobriquet was scarcely fair to a very excellent breed of chicken. 'Thnt offer's good enough for me," he remarked In businesslike tones. "Corao on everybody. A month's poy for five minutes' work. I wouldn't tackle tho J6b with six men, but there ore twenty of us here." "Hurry," Uie Colonel urged them. Shirley Sumner's flashing glance rested upon the Black Minorca. "Don't you dare!" sho cried. "Twenty to one I For shame 1" "For n montli'8 pay," he replied Impudently, Im-pudently, nnd grinned evilly. "And I'm tnkin orders from my boss." He stnrted on n dog-trot for the timber, and a dozen men trailed after him. Shirley turned helplessly on her uncle," seized his arm nnd shook it frantically. "Call them backl Call them back I" she pleaded. Her undo got uncertainly to his feet "Not on your llfel" ho growled, and In his cold gray eyes there danced the lights of a thousand devils. "I told you tho fellow wns a rufllan. Now, perhaps, you'll believe me. We'll hold him until Hondouu revives, nnd then Shirley guessed the rest nnd she realized thnt It was useless to plead thnt sho wus only wasting time. "Bryce I Bryce!" sho called. "Run! Thoy're after you. Twenty of them I Run, run for my sakcl" His voice answered her from the timber: "Run? From those cattle? Not from man or devil." A silence. Then : "So you've changed your mind, hnvo you? You'vo spoken to mu again 1" There wns triumph, exultn-tlon exultn-tlon In his voice. "Tho timber's too thick, Shirley. I couldn't get nwuy anyhow so I'm coming back. She saw him burst through a thicket of aider saplings Into the clearing, saw n half dozen of her uncle's men closo In around him like wolves around n sick steer; nnd ut the shock of their contact, she moaned nnd hid her face In her trembling hnnds. Hnlf man nnd half tiger that he was, the Black Minorca, ns self-appointed leader, reached Bryco first. Tho cholo was n squat, powerful llttlo mun, with more bounce to him than u rubber hall; leading his men by a dozen yards, ho hesitated not an Instant In-stant but dodged under tho blow Bryco lushed out at him and enmo up insldo tho lntter's guard, feeling for Bryce's thront Instead ho mot Bryce's knee In his abdomen, and forthwith he folded fold-ed up llko an accordion. The next Instant Bryco had stooped, caught him by the slack of the trousers and tlio scruff of tho neck and thrown him, ns ho had thrown Rondeau, Ron-deau, Into the midst of tho men advancing ad-vancing to his nid. Three of them went down backward; and Bryce, charging over them, stretched two more with well-placed blows from left to right, and continued on across the clearing, running at top speed, for he realized that tor all tl d-perntlon I of his fight and the losses already In-1 fllcted on his nss Hants, the oddsj against him were Insurmountable. ' Seeing hlrn running nftny. thej Lngunn Urnndc woodsmen took henrt, nnd hope nnd pursu'-d him. Straight for the loading donkey at the dog-landing dog-landing Bryco ran. Beside the donkey stood a neat tier of firewood; In the' chopping block, where the donkey-! fireman had driven It prior to abandoning aban-doning tils post to view the contest' between Bryce and Jules Rondeau, wnsj a double-bitted uxe. Bryce Jerked It loose, swung it, whirled on his pur-1 suers, and rushed them. Llko turkeys scattering before tlio raid of n coyote they fled In divers directions nnd from n safe distance turned to gnze apprehensively ap-prehensively upon this demon they hnd been ordered to bring In. Bryce lowered the nxe, removed his hnt, nnd mopped his moist brow. From the center of the clenrlng men were crawling or staggering to snfety with the exception of the Black Minorca, who Iny moaning voftly. "Qet Off My Property, You Savagel" He Shrilled. Colonel Pennington, seeing his fondest hopes expire, lost his head, completely. "Get off my property, you savage I' he shrilled. "Don't bo a nut Colonel," Bryce returned re-turned soothingly. "I'll get off wlwc I get good nnd ready, nnd not a second sooner. In fact, I was trying to gel off as rapidly as I could when you sent your men to bring me back Prithee why, told thing? Didst crave more conversation with me, or didst want thy camp cleaned out?" He started toward Pennington, who backed hastily away. Shirley stood her ground, bending upon Bryco, ns he appronchod her, a cold and disapproving disapprov-ing glance. "I'll get you yet" the Colonel declnted from the shelter of nn old stump behind which lie Jind taken refuge. "Barking dogs never bite. Colonel. And that reminds me: I've heard enough from you. One more cheep out of you, ray friend, nnd I'll go up to my logging-camp, return here with a crew of hluenoses nnd wild Irish and run your wops, bohunks, and cholos out of tlio county. I don't fancy the clnss of labor you're Importing Into tills county, anyhow." Tlio Colonel, evidently deciding thnt discretion wns the better part of valor, promptly subsided, nlthough Bryce could see that he was mumbling threats to himself, though not In an audible voice. The demon Cnrdlgnn halted beside Shirley nnd stood gazing down at her. He wns smiling nt her whimsically. She mot his glnncc for n few seconds; then her lids were lowered and she bit her Up with vexntinn. "Shirley," he said. "You nre presumptuous," she qun-vcred. qun-vcred. "You set me nn exnmplo In presumption," presump-tion," ho retorted good humoredly. "Did you not cnll me by my first name a minute ago?" The heir to Cardigan's Cardi-gan's redwoods bent over the girl. "You spoko to me after your promise not to, Shirley," he snld gently. "You! will nlwnys .peak to me." I Sho commenced to cry softly. "1 lonthe you," sho sobbed. "For you I have tho utmost respect and ndmlration," ho replied. "No, you hnven't. If you hnd, you wouldn't hurt my uncle tho only h-man h-man being in all this world who Is dear to me." "Gosh I" he murmured plaintively. "I'm Jealous of that mon. However. I'm sorry I hurt him. I give you my word I came hero to fight fairly " "He merely tried to stop you from fighting." "No, ho didn't, Shirley. He Inter fered and fouled me. Still, despite that, if I hnd known you were a spectator spec-tator I tlilnk 1 should hnvo controlled myself and refrained from pulling off my vengennco In your presence. 1 rtiall nover censo to regret thnt I subjected sub-jected you to sucli n distressing spectacle. spec-tacle. I do hope, however, that you will believe mo when I tell you I am not a bully, although when tliere Is n fight worth wlille, I never dodgo It. And tills tlmo I fought for the honor of the Houio of Cardigan," "If you want mo to believe thnt you will beg my unclo's pnrdon." "I can't do thut IIo is my enemy nnd I shall hnte him forever; I shall fight him nnd his way of doing business until ho reforms or I nm exhausted." "You rcnllze, of course, what your Insistence n that plan means, Mr. Cnrdlgnn?" "Call me Bryce." he pleaded. "You're going to cnll me that some day anyhow, so why not start now?" "Yon orn altogether Insufferable, sir. Please go nwny nnd never presume pre-sume to address me ngaln. You are quite Impossible." lie shook his head. "I do not give up thnt readily, Shirley. I didn't know how dear what your friendship meant to me, until you sent mo nwny; I didn't tlilnk there wns any hope until you warned me those dogs were hunting hunt-ing me nnd called mo Bryce." lie held out his hand. "'God gave us our relntlons," he quoted, " but thank God, we enn choose our friends.' And I'll be n good friend to you, Shirley Sumner, Sum-ner, until I hnvo earned the right to be something more. Won't you shake hands with mo? Remember, this fight to-day Is only tho first- skirmish In n wnr to tho finish and I nm lending n forlorn hope. If I lose well, this will be good-bye." "I hate you," she answered drearily. "All our fine friendship smashed nnd you growing stupidly sentimental. 1 didn't tnk It of you. Plense go nwny. You nro distressing me." no smiled at her tenderly, forgivingly, forgiv-ingly, wistfully, but die did not sec It. "'Then It Is really good-bye," ho murmured mur-mured with mock dolorousness. She nodded her bowed head. "Yes," sho whispered. "After all, I have some pride, you know. You mustn't presume to be the butterfly preaching contentment to the tond in the dust." "As you will It Shirley." Ho turned nwny. "I'll send your nxe back with tho first trainload of logs from my enmp, Colonel," he called to Pennington. Penning-ton. Once more he strodo away Into the tlmUer. Shirley watched him pass out of her life, and gloried In what sho conceived con-ceived to be his ugony, for aho hnd bdth temper nnd spirit nnd Bryce Cardigan cnlmly, blunderingly, rather stupidly (she thought) hnd presumed flagrantly on brief acquaintance. Tho Colonel's voice broke In upon her bitter reflections. "That fellow Cardigan Is a hard nut to crack I'll say that for him." He had crossed the clearing to her side nnd was nddrcss lag her with his customary nir of ex pnnslvcness. "I tlilnk, my dear, you had better go back Into tlio caboose nwny from the prying eyes of those rough fellows. I'm sorry you enme. Shirley. I'll never forgive myself for bringing you. If I hnd, thought but how could I know thnt scoundrel was coming here to raise a disturbance? I And only Inst night he was at our house for dinner 1" i "I wonder what could have occurred j to make surh a madman out of him?" the girl queried wonderingly. "Hm acted morp like a demon than a human being." "Just like his old father," the Colonel purred benevolently. "When lie enn't get what ho wants, he sulks. I'll tell i you what got on his confounded i nerves. I've been freighting logs for the senior Cnrdlgnn over my railroad ; the contract for limiting them wns n heritage from Bill Henderson, from whom I bought the mill nnd timber-Innds; timber-Innds; and of course as his assignee It wns Incumbent upon me to fulfill Henderson's contract with Cardigan, even though the freight-rate was ruinous. ruin-ous. "Well, this morning young Cardigan enme to my office, reminded mo thnt the contract would expire by limitation limita-tion next year and asked me to renew It nnd at tho same frolght-rute. 1 offered to renew tho contract but nt a Uglier freight-rate, and explained to him thut I could not possibly continue! to haul his logs at a loss. Well, right away he flew in a rago nnd called me a robber; whereupon I Informed, him thnt since ho thought mo n robber, perhaps we luid better not attempt to. have uny business dealings with each' other that I really didn't want his' contract nt nny price, having senrcely Bufllcicnt rolling Btock to handle my own logs. Thnt mnde him calm down, but In n llttlo while he lost his head ngnln nnd grew snarly nnd abusive . to such an extent, Indeed, thnt flnnlly' I was forced to ask hlm to leave my' office." I "Nevertheless, Dnclo Seth, I cannot . understand why he should mnko such n furious nttack upon your employee."1 The Colonel laughed with n fair! Imitation of sincerity and tolerant amusement "My dear, thnt is no mjstery to me. Cnrdlgnn picked on Rondeau for tho renson thnt a few days ngo ho tried to hlro Rondeau away from mc offered hlm twenty-five dollnrs a month more than I was paying pay-ing him, by George! Of course when Rondeau came to me with. Cardigan's proposition, I promptly met Cardigan's bid and retained Hondouu; consequently consequent-ly Cnrdlgnn liutes us both nnd took tho earliest opportunity to vent his spite on us." Tho Colonel sighed nnd brushed tho dirt and ienves from Ills tweeds. "Thunder!" bo continued philosophically, philosophi-cally, "It's all In tho game, .so why worry over It? And why contlnuo to I discuss nn unpleasant topic, my denr?" Her uncle took her gently hy the arm and steered her townrd tho en-boose. en-boose. "Well, what do you think of your company now?" ho demanded snyly. "I think," sho answered soberly, "thnt you havo gained nn enemy worth whilo nnd that It behooves you not to' underestimate him.'' CHAPTER VIII Through the green timber Bryce Cardigan strode, nnd there was a lilt In his heart now. Already he hnd forgotten the desperato situation from - - - i . i i i ii . r which he hnd Just escaped ; he thought only of Shirley Sumner's face, tear-stained tear-stained with terror; and because ho i knew that at least some of those tear I had been Inspired by tho gravest apprehensions ap-prehensions ns to his physical well- v being, because In Ills ears there still I resounded her frantic warning, ho realized thnt however stern her dccrc9", of banishment had been, she wuy nevertheless not Indifferent to hlro. The cllmnx hnd been reached and passed; and the result had been far from the disaster ho had painted In his mind's eye ever slnco tho knowledge knowl-edge had come to him thnt ho was doomed to battle to n knockout 'with Colonel Pennington, and that one nt the earliest fruits of hostilities would doubtless be tho loss of Slilrloy Sumner's Sum-ner's prized friendship. Well, he had lost her friendship, but n still small voice whispered to him that tho loss was not lrrepnrnble whereat ho swung his nxe as n bandmaster swings his baton; he was glad thnt tie had started tho war and whs now free to fight It out unhampered. Up hill nnd down dnlo he went Within two hours his ' long, tireless stride brought him out into n clearing In the valley where his own logging-camp logging-camp stood. He went directly to the "Is Mr. McTavlsh at Home?" log-landing, where In a listless and hnlf-henrted manner the loading crew were piling logs on Pennington's logging log-ging trucks. Bryce looked nt his watch. It was two o'clock; at two:flfteeo Pennington's Penning-ton's locomotive would appear, to back, in nnd couple to the long line of trucks. And the train was only half loaded. "Where's McTavlsh?" Bryce de-mnnded de-mnnded of tho donkey-driver. The man mouthed hJs quid, spot copiously, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and pointed. "Up at hi shunty," he mnde unswer, and grinned nt Bryce knowingly. (Continued next week.) |