OCR Text |
Show IB' r THE VALLEY of the GIANTS Wm PETER B. KYNE m Author oE "Cappy Ricks" - Copjrrlght 1)7 Pter D. Kytn N0 QUAnTER' ' H Synopsis. Pioneer In the Cnllfor. ' B nla redwood region, John Cnnllgun, 4B at forty-seven, li the teadlns citizen Tkk of Sequoia, owner of mlllf, ships, i iiB nd manp acres of timber, it will-JMiKlsT will-JMiKlsT otver after tliroo years of married wOmWPi "' nnd 'all,or f two-year-old jf Hryce Crdlan. At fourteen Hryce BWt m mnkes the acquaintance of Shirley (M 1 Sumner, a visitor nt Sequoia, and VSM S M Junlor y a few years. Together yj I they visit the Valley of the Cllanls, JB I sacred to John Cardigan and his StA i cn " the burial place of Ilryce's sin mother, and part with mutual ro-Wpk ro-Wpk i Bret. While llryee Is nt collejje fE3 " John Card I can meets with hcuvy K business losses nnd for the first Hfr time views the future with uncer-V uncer-V tslnty. After nrnduatlon from col-V,'" col-V,'" lege, and a. trip abroad, Dryce Car. ' dlcan comes home. On the train he Pi meets Shirley Sumner, on her way ft to Bequola to make her homo them J-Ur with hor uncle. Colonel Pennington L Dryce learns that his father's eye-Mr; eye-Mr; sight has failed nnd that Colonel Mjm I'ennlngton Is seeking to take ud-Kf ud-Kf vantage of tha old man's business Mr misfortunes. John Cnntlftun Is it-Wof. it-Wof. spslrlnjr. but Dryco Is full of flsl.t ; Hryce duds a burl redwood felled t across his mother's grave. He goes MR to dinner at 1'ennlnnton'a on Him-mW Him-mW ley's Invitation and nnds the din-Vm din-Vm Ina; room paneled with burl from JAt the tree. Dryce and I'jnnlngton ile-M" ile-M" clara war, though Shirley rloos mil 9 know It Dryco bests Jules lion-Wml lion-Wml Ceau, Pennington's lighting logRlnv IB' boss, and forces him to confess that IV. I'ennlnKton ordered ttio burl tree '- - cut. rennlngton butts Into ths H- nh "! Kets hurt Hryce stands JJj off a gang of Pennington's lumber-MB lumber-MB men. Shirley, who sees It all, tells Ymk Dryce It must be "goodby." Dryce IHLr renews acquaintance with Molra yHC McTavlsh, daughter of his drunken IHfc woods-boss. Dryce saves the lives flf or Shirley and her uncle when a EV logging train runs away w W CHAPTER Vlll.-Ccntlnued. Kt1 At tho sound of Hryr voire, Shir-IK? Shir-IK? loy raised lier bend whirled nnd Ifcj .looked up nt lilni. Ho hold IiIm hand-f hand-f 'Korclilof over IiIh gory fnco (lint Hip I ' sight might nor distress, tier; lie muld iftr ' ,mvo w,,00l,p'' w'"' 'Might nt tho Joy IX that flashed through her wet lids. if? "Well, since you Insist." ho replied, MtL find ho slid down tho linnlt. E& "Hrj'co Cnrdlgnn," she rominnnded IK Merrily, "conio down here this InHlnnt." ","' not n l)rol,y "M'1- Shirley. Ilet- mJf' "i ter let mo ro iihout my business." M , Kho stnmped her foot. Toiiip here I" . ( "How illd you Ret up there and aL, whnt do you nienn liy hldliiR Ihere spy- Hfe; W Iiir on me, you youoh, jotil" MM - JL "Cum n little, If It will help nny." he Hf Jr luiRRpstpi!. "I hnd to pet out of jour ' ' wny out of sight nnd up Ihere was Ir Hit1 host plnco. I wns on I ho roof of ?' the enhooso wlien It toppled over, so Sk nil t lint to do was step nshore nnd sit WT down." KL "Then why didn't you stny IheroT" IMttJ. "lie dvtoniided furiously. QQ" "You wouldn't let mo." ho nnswered wWSF cumTy "And when I nnw you weep- nf J ,,II: llcc,!U,e WIN "opposed to he with Jj5 " ' tho niiRelK, I couldn't help eoutchtug to HnBr IK you know I wn still hnugliiR wr n round, ornery ns n hook iiRent." E2t "How did you ruin your fnce, Mr. Wk r, CnrdlRnnV Ink r 'Tried to tnUo n enst of I he front llf f end of tho rnhoose In my cIiikmIc conn. PTfjy 4 tennnce that's nil." fwiPM "llut nu xvcr(i riding tho top log on K J - Clio Inst truck" Wm " "Cortnluly, but I wnxn't IwysetHl BL ' tuough to stay there until wo slrurk HaW- 'his curve. I knew oxnetly whst was H-- potiiR to hnppoti, fo I L'ltmhed down to feliasV ' ijE'y xlW urapr of tho ohIkww. uneJtMl ffipv ItTrmu tho tnivk, cIIuiIhhI up on thu F roof, liMUnunngwl to get the old thing ftZ2f uud,fc wil3& lth the Imnd-bniliu; OT theu t ilaulroaqiMtoto tho hruslt lefHUtw I Jjnw youwfennBiuUde, jmj tyf , ly the wny, Colonel I'enniogtoull mm-L fccre Is jx niewhltti l borrowed I his fSAWJk tfteniPon. Much obliged for Its use. jfMw '" lu,t '('rnlii Is probably waiting KWJ m tfto ildlng at l'reshwater to pass WmUm '"'sllliiiiiir---" A waWaV,"mmmmmwUWmmmmmwSK Iho Into lamented; consequently n walk of nhout n tnllo will bring you a mentis of transportation back to Se-pioln. Se-pioln. Walk leisurely you have lots of time. As for myself, I'm In n hurry, nnd my room Is more grenlly to he desired than my company, so 'l start now." Ho lifted his lint, turned, nnd walked briskly down tho ruined track. .Shirley mndo n little gesture of ills-sent, ills-sent, half opened her lips to enll him back, thought better of It, and let him Ro. When ho was out of wight, It dawned on her thot he had risked tils life to rno hers. article Heth," she sold Mibtriy, "what would have happened to mi If llryee Cardigan had not come up bore today to thrash your woods-hois?" woods-hois?" "We'd both he In Kingdom Come now," ho answered truthfully "Hut before you permit yourself to he carried car-ried awny by the splendor of his nc-Hon nc-Hon In cutting out the caboose mid getting It under control, It might be well to remember that his own precious hide was at Mnko nlsii. He would have cut the cabooxo out even If you nnd I hnd not been In It." "No, ho would not," she Insisted, for Iho thought Hint be had done It for her sake was very sweet to her and would persist. "Cooped up In Iho en. lioooe, wo did not know the train wns running away until It wns too Into for us to Jump, while Hryce Cardigan, riding out on the log, mtixt have known It nlmoit Immediately. Ho would have hnd lime to Jump before Iho runaway gnlhered too much bend-wny bend-wny nnd bo would have Jumped, Uncle Seth, for his father's snke." "Well, he cerlnlnly didn't sluy for mine, Shirley." Sho dried her moist eyes nnd blushed furiously. "Undo Seth," she pleaded. Inking him lovingly by tho nrm, "let's bo friend with Hryce Cardigan; let's get together nnil agree on nn ecpiltablo contract for freighting his logs over our rond." "Vou aro now," he replied soorelv, "mixing sentiment and business; f you persist, tho result will be chaos. -...,.,..,, , inmiiiiiii; ii imiicr now, which makes him n poor huslues rlk, and you'll plenso me grently by Icav. lug him severely nlono by making him keep his distance." "I'll not do that," she answered with ii quiet finality that caused her uncle to favor her with a quick, searching glance. Ile need not have worried, however, for llryro Cardigan wns too well nwnro of his own financial condition to risk tho humiliation of linking .Shirley. .Shir-ley. Huuiner to shnro It with him. Moreover, he hnd embarked upon n war a war which be meant to fight to n finish. I i CHAPTCR IX. fleorge Sea Otter. Mimimmcd by telephone, wime out to freshwater, the Htntlon nearest thu wreck, and trims-ixirted trims-ixirted his haltered young mustor back to Hequola. Hero Hryeo sought thu doctor In tho Cardigan Itedwood Lumber Lum-ber company's little hospital and hud his wrecked nose reorgaulxed and his onto bandaged. It was ehunielerlstle of his father's sou tlmt when this do-tall do-tall had been ntlimdwl to, he should Kn to the olllce nnd work until the sit o'clock whistle blew. Old ('snllKsn whs waiting for him Hi the gate whn he reschod home, nenrjro Sm Otter Imd aheody given the old nwn a more or lew garbled nc-wuuit nc-wuuit of lliv numvvnv log-train, mid t'anlbrsin esiwrly awaited his sou's ar rival in oww to am-ertsln the details of this new disaster which had eonm upon I hew. Kor dlsrtHlor It whn, In truth. The Iims of ihe lugs was ttllllug -HrluiM three or four thmivuml dol-Isrs; dol-Isrs; the tleatruetlnn nr tlw rolllns stork wns tho crowning misfortune. H"'ih OardliHns kuw that IVniMngton ould eagvrty aolio Uhhi tlmt iolut to stint lilii competitor MII further on logfittK oqulpmetit, that there would ho ilolsya iHiriefil hut ptsrvntly uiiavohutbUi baforn this hut rolling stoek would bo replseeJ. And In the lutotlm tho Csnllgan mill, uuuldu to gt n iMilHdmit KUpply of loc to till ortlyrs In hsnd, would be fonts I to alooe down. "Well, mm." said John Cawllgau mildly ss Itryeo unlatrhetl thtt gatu, Mouther biinip. oht" "Ym, sir right on the no." "I ttHwiit HWJlhir bump to your writs g. uty mnu" Tui orryliujt wore about my uitm, jmnn.r. in fact, I'm not worrying about tuy berllnae ut nil. I've come to u deeUlmi on tlmt point : We're going to light and light to the last ; we're going go-ing down lighting. And by tho wii), started the light this afternoon. I whaled the wadding out of that bucko woods-liofui of Pennington's, and us n peclal eompllmunt to you. John Curdl-gau, Curdl-gau, I did nn almighty fine Job of clwmlng. Hven went so far as to mus the Colonel up a little." "Wow. wow. Hrycol Hully for you I laisymjitwl that man Itondeau taken npart "lloshjjsjhjrrorlied our woodsmen woods-men for u iQugtiihiJ. Ho's king of the mad-train, you know." llryee was relloved. Ills father did rfsstiftssstissiiifrrssfcitriiiii nAi n- not know, then, of tho net of uindal-"in uindal-"in In the Valley of tho Giants. This fnct strengthened Bryce's resolve not to tell him. Arm In nrm they walked up tho garden gar-den path together. Tu-st ns they entered the house, Iho telephone In the halt tinkled, and Hryce nnswered. "Mr. Cnrdlgan." came Shirley Sumner's Sum-ner's voice over the wire, "Hryce." he corrected her. Sho Ignored the correction. "I I don't know what to Miy to you," she fnltered. "I rang up to tell you how splendid and heroic your nc-Hon nc-Hon wns " "I had my own lire to snve. Sblrlev." "Vou did not think of that nt the time." "Well I didn't think of your uncle's, either." he replied without enthusiasm "I'm sure we never can hope to catch even with you, Sir, Cardigan." "Don't try. Vour revered relative will tint; so why should you?" "You are making It somewhat hard for the to to rehabilitate our friendship. friend-ship. Mr. Cnrdlgan." "HIcmh your heart," ho murmured. "The very fnct Hint you bothered to ring me up at nil mukes mo your debtor. Shirley, can you stand some plain speaking between friends. I mennr' "I think so, Mr. Cnrdlgan." "Well, then." said Hryce. "listen to this: I am your uncle's enemy until denth do us pnrt. Neither ho nor I rwpect to usk or to give qunrter, nnd 1 1 going to smash him If I can." "If you do, you smash me," she wnrncd him, "Likewise our friendship. I'm sorry, but It's got to bo done If I enn do It. Shall shnll we say good-hy, Shirley?" "Ves-s-s!" Thero was n brenk In her voice. "Onod-by, Mr. Cardlgnn. I wanted to know." "flood-by! Well, Hint's cutting the mustnrd," ho murmured sotto voce, "and there goes another bright day dream." Unknown to himself, he spoke directly Into tho transmitter. ' and Shirley, clinging half hopefully to the receiver nt the other end of the wire, heard him caught every Inflection Inflec-tion of the words, commonplace enough, hut freighted with (he pathos of Ilryce's first real tragedy. "Oh, Hryce !" she cried sharply, nut ho did not hear her; he had hung up his receiver now. Tho week that eiiRiied wns renmrkn-hie renmrkn-hie for the nmoiint of work Hryeo accomplished ac-complished In tho Investigation of his father's affairs also for n visit from Oonahl McTnvlsh. Iho woods-boix. "Hello. McTnvlsh," Hryce minted the woods-boss cheerfully nnd extended extend-ed his hand for a cordial greeting. His wayward employee stood up, took tho proffered hand In both of his huge nnd callous ones, and held It rather childishly. child-ishly. "Weel ! 'TIs the weo laddlo hlsseP," no tioomeii. "I'm glad to see ye. hoy." "You'd hnvo seen mo tho day before jesterday If you had been seeable," Hryce reminded him with a bright smile. "Mac, old man, they tell me you've gotten to bo a regular go-to-boll." "I'll nae deny 1 tnko a wee drnpplo now nn' then," the woods-boss admitted admit-ted frankly, albeit thero was a bar-rled. bar-rled. hangdog look In his eyes. "Mac, did Molrrf give you my message mes-sage ?" "Aye." "Well. I gues wo understand each other. Mae. Wns there something else you wanted to see mo nhout?" MeTmlsh sidled tip to tho desk. "WII no bo Mr-lii' mild Mae not o' baud?" he pleaded hopefully. "Mon, ha yo the heart to do It after a' these yenrs?" Hryeo nodded. "If you hate the luMtrt after all those years to draw iwy you do not earn, then I have the heart to put n better man In your place. It's no good nrgulng. Sine. You're on the pay roll onto the pen-wlou pen-wlou roll your shanty In tho woifTls. your meals at the camp kitchen, your clothing and tobacco that I send out to you. Neither more nor less I" "Who will ye pit In tun place?" "I don't know. However, It won't be a dlllleult task to find a better mini than you." "I'll nae let hlni work." MeTavlsh's voice dseponod to a growl. "You worked that rocket on my f(l. ther. Try It op me. anil you'll nnswor 'o me personally. Lay the weight of your finger on jour successor, Mac, nnd you'll dlo In the county poor farm. No threats, old man! You know the Cardigan: thoy noer bluff." McTnvlsh'8 glnnco met tho joulhful mnster's for several seconds ; then tho woods boss trembled, nnd bis gaita sought tho olllco floor, Hryce knew he hnd his innn whipped nt Inst, nnd McTavlsh tenllzcd It. too, for quite suddenly he burst Into tonrs. "Dlnnn fire mo, lod," ho pleaded. "I'll kho back on tho Job un leave whusky Jilone." "Nothing doing, Muc. Lcavo whisky nlono for a year nnd I'll discharge your successor to give you back your Job. For tho present, however, tuy verdict stands. You're discharged." "Who kens the Cnrdlgan woods ns i ken them J" McTavlsh blubbered. "Who'll fell trees wP the least amount o' breakage? 'Who'll get tho work out o tho men? Who'll Ye dlnnn mean It, hid. Ve ciuma mean it." "On your way, Slac. I loathe arguments." argu-ments." "I maun see yer fnlther nboot this. He'll tine stnnd for sic treatment o an auld employee." Hryco's timper flared up. "You keep nwny from my father. You've worried him enough In the past, you drunkard. If you go up to the house to annoy my fnther with your plead-lues, plead-lues, SIcTavlsh. I'll mnnhnndlo you." He glanced at his watch. "The next train leaves for the woods In twenty minutes. If you do not go back on It and bebavo jonrself, you can neer go hack to Cardigan woods." I will nae take charity from any man," SIcTnvlsh thundered. "I'll nae bother the owd mini, nn' I'll nae go back to yon woods to llvo on yer bounty. I wns never n man to tnke charity," he roared furiously, and left the olllce. Hryce called nfter him n cheerful good-bye, but ho did not answer. an-swer. And he did not remain In town; neither did he return to his shanty I i 1 ill )ktt ffflsVrftrnVrtk I sy3 V 1 riSyii !i5SrJPkvlfc )VmmmmW ML WKBm WH fPt I liksk Ami "I'll Nae Take Charity From Any Man." In the woods, for n month his where-ahouts where-ahouts remained a mystery; then one day Molrn iccelved n letter from him Informing her tlmt he hnd n Job knee-bolting knee-bolting In a shingle mill In Mendocino county. In tho Interim Hryce hnd not been Idle. From bis wood crew ho picked nn old, experienced hand ono Jnhex Curtis to tnku tho plnco of the vanished van-ished SIcTnvlsh. Colonel Pennington, Penning-ton, having repaired In three days Iho gap In his railroad, wroto n letter to tho Cardigan Itedwood Lumber company, com-pany, Informing Hryce tlmt until more equipment could bo purchased nnd delivered de-livered to take tho place of tho rolling stock destroyed In the wreck, the Int. ter would hnvo to ho content with half deliveries; whereupon Hryeo Ir-rlated Ir-rlated tho Colonel profoundly by purchasing pur-chasing ii lot of second-hand trucks from n hnukmpt sugnr-pluo mill In Lassen county and delivering them to tho Colonel's road ln tho deck of n steam schooner. "That will Insuro delivery of nuIII-clont nuIII-clont logs lo get out our orders on flle." Hryce Informed his father. "While wo nro morally certain our mill will run hut one your longer. I Intend tlmt It shnll run full capacity for that year. To he exact, I'm going go-ing to run n night shift." "Our Munucos won't stnnd tho overhead over-head of a night shift, I tell you," his father wnrned. "I know wo haven't suflldent cash on band to attempt It. dsil, hut I'm going to borrow some." "From whom? No bank In Sequoia will lend us a psnny." "Old you sound tho Sequoln linn' of Commerce?" "Cerlalnb not. JYnnluglHii owns the controlling Interest In that hank, and I wns never n man to wastw my time," Hryce chuckled. "I dnn't cure whoro the mnnoy comes from so long as I get It. partner. Desperate ctrcuin-stances ctrcuin-stances require detnernte matisures, you know, nnd the day liefon jester day. when I was quite Ignorant of the fact Hint Colonel I'ennlngton controls tho Sequoia Hnnk of Commurce, I drifted In on tho president nnd cnstml-ly cnstml-ly st nick him for n loan of ono hundred hun-dred thousand dollars," "Well. I'll ho shot, nrycol What did ho say?" "Said he'd toko the matter under consideration und give mo nn nnswor this morning. He nsked me, of course, whnt I wanted that much money for, nnd I told him I was going to run n night shift, double my force of men In tho woods, nnd buy some more logging trucks, which I con get rather chenp. Well, this morning- I calfed for my answer and trot it Tb Bequola riiiifliT SSP?SsaSjHMKBBlfi5MBV Ttffssr Rank of (.'oiiinierce win m.tn me np to a hundred thousand, but It won't elve me the cash In n lump sum. I can have enough to buy the logging trucks now, and on thu first of each month, when I present my pay roll, the bonk will ndwince me the money to meet It." "Hruce, I inn amazed." "I am not slnco you tell me Colonel Colo-nel I'ennlngton controls that hank. That the bank should nccommodnto us Is the most nntural procedure Imaginable. Im-aginable. I'onnlngton Is only plnylng Mife which Is why the bank declined to give me the money In a lump sum. If wo run a night shift. I'ennlngton knows that wo can't dispose of our excess output under present market conditions. It's a safe bet our lumber lum-ber Is going to pile up on tho mill dock; hence, when the smash come and tho Sequoia Hank of Commerce calls our loan nnd wo cannot possibly meet It, the lumber on hand will prove security for the load, will It not? In fnct, It will he worth two or three dollars dol-lars per thousand more then than It Is now, because It will be alr-drled." "Hut what Idea have jou got back of such n pioccduro, Hryce?" "Merely n forlorn hope. dad. Something Some-thing might turn up. The market mny tnke n sudden spurt nnd go up three or four dollars. And w hcther me-tjur-ket goes up or comes down, It costs us nothing to make the experiment." "Quite true," his fnther ngreed. "Then. If you'll como down to the olllco tomorrow morning, dnd, we'll hold n meeting of our board of directors direc-tors and authorize me ns president of the company to sign the note to the hnnk. We'ro borrowing this without collateral, jou know." John Cardigan eutereil no further objection, nnd the following day tho agreement was entered Into with the hnnk. Hryce closed by wire for the extra logging equipment and Immediately Imme-diately set about rounding up a crew for the woods and for the night shirt 111 llw. mill I For a moi.lh Hryce wns ns busy ns tho proverblnl one-nrmed paper-hanger with tho Itch, nml during ntt that time he did not see Shirley Sumner or hear of her, directly or Indirectly. Slolrn SIcTnvlsh. In tho in emit line, hnd como down from the woods nnd entered upon her duties In tho mill office. of-fice. The chnnge from her dull, drab life, giving her, as It did, an opportunity opportun-ity for companionship with people of grenter mentality and refinement thnn sho had been used to, quldkly brought nhout n swift transition In the girl's nature. With tho passing of the coarse shoes mid calico dresses and tho substitution of the kind of cloth-Ing cloth-Ing nil women of Molrn's Instinctive rellnemcnt nml natural benuty long for. tho girl heenmo cheerful, nnlinnt-oil, nnlinnt-oil, nnd Imbued with the optimism of her j ears. Sfolra worked In the general olllce, mid except upon occasions when Hryeo desired to look at the books or Molra brought some document Into the private olllco for his pcrustil, thero were dajs during which his plensant "flood morning, Slolru," constituted the extent of their conversation. Hryeo hnd been absent In San Fran-Cisco Fran-Cisco for ten dnys. He had plnnncd to stny throe weeks, but Mndlng his business busi-ness cniuummnted In less time, ho returned re-turned to Sequoia unexpectedly. Slolrn wns standing nt tho lull bookkeeping desk, her beautiful dnrk head bent over tho ledger, when ho entered the olllce nnd set his nultcasa In the corner. "Is that you, Mr. Hryce?" she queried. "Tho Identical Individual, .Molra. How did VOU eillMlt II una IV She looked up ut him then, nnd Iter wonderful dnrk eyes lighted with a ftnmo Hrjcc had not seen In them heretofore. "I knew you were coming." com-ing." she replied simply. "Vou hnd n hunch, Slolra. Do you get those telepathic messnges very often?" He was crossing the otllc'o to shake hor hand. "Po never noticed pnrtlcuhiily that Is, until 1 enmu to work hero. Hut I nhvnys know whoii you nre returning return-ing nftor n eonsldnrablo nbsenco." She kiivu him bur hand. "I'm so glad you're back." "Why?" ho demanded bluntly. She flushed. "I I m,ny ,,n.r know, Sir. Hryce." "Well, then," he persisted, "whnt do you think makes you glad?" "I had been thinking how nice It would he to have you hack, Sir. Hryce. When jou entei tho ollU'tj. It's llko n hwiie rustling the toi of l0 re,. woods. And your fntlinr iiiIsms you so; he talks to mo a great deal about jxju. Why. of courso. wo miss you; nujhndy would." As he held her hnnd, lie glanced down at It and noted how greatly It had ehHturtsI during the past fow months. From her IihiuI tils glnnco nivwl over the girl, noting the lm-provemenu lm-provemenu In lir druas, mid the wny the thick, wnvy hhtek linlr was piled on top of her slmpuly bond. "It hadn't occurred to me before Molra." he said with a bright imper aoiml smile that robbed his remark of all auggestlon of masculine flattery, "but It seoms to mo I'm unusually glad to see you, nlso. You've been Mx-Ing Mx-Ing your hulr different. Is this now stylo Iho latest In halrdreHlng In Sequoia?" Se-quoia?" An unknown person buys ' tho Valley of the Giants for $100,000. ITO OH CONTINUED ) It la better to wear out than to rust out Bishop CiusberiABd. 7 |