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Show Jvfl 5 1 The VALLEY GIANTS I ;. PETER B. KYNE jF AufAer "CappjT RickH Copjrlgbt by Ptr n. Krn. ("SOMETHING NICE" I Synopsis. Pioneer In the California Califor-nia redwood region, John CArdlgan, at forty-seven, In the loading citizen of Fequola, owner of mills, ships, nnd many acre of timber, a widower wid-ower lifter three years or married life, nd father cf .two-yeur-old Iiryce Cardigan. At fourteen Iiryce makes the acquaintance of tJhlrley Humner, a visitor at Sequoia, and his Junior by a few years. Tottotlior tliey visit the Valley of the Qlnnts, sacred to John Cardigan and his on aa the burial place of llryca's mother, arr.1 wsrl with mutual re-tfret. re-tfret. While V.-?' Is at college John Cardigan meets with heavy business losses and for the first time views the future with uncertainty. uncer-tainty. After graduation from col. lege, and a trip abroad, Hryce Cardigan Car-digan comes home. On tho train ho meets Shirley Sumner, on her way to Eequola to make her home there ; with her uncle, Colonel Pennington, llryco learns that his father's eyesight eye-sight has failed and that Colon'! CL tlllllllllllUU is bcgiwiik tu innfi till" Vij9 vantage of the old man's buslnmN flflFjC. misfortunes. John Cardigan Is ilr- limi; Spalrlng, but Dryce Is full of light IUJft) Dryco finds a burl redwood felled iTliLK , across his mother's gravi. He noes IHU, to dinner at Pennington's on Hlilr- RUK, ley's Invitation and finds the dlu- Wln Ing room paneled with burl from IjlBja tho tree. In a diplomatic way, un- JuHpF perceived by Shirley, the two men SJ ft? declnro war, Pennlngtnn refuses HI, ' to renew his logging contract with Jll Z ,,', the Cardigans, believing his action jH J f' moans bankruptcy for the latter, HI : Ilryre forces Hondeau to confess he I fj felled the tree In the Valley of the HI t i Giants, at Pennington's order. After ill L punishing the man Hryce hurls him HK , at Colonel Pennington, who has Httu '- tried to foul him In the right Pen. BM , nlngton Is humiliated, and tho girl, Rv ' Indignant, orders llryco to leave WBfM; And forget their friendship He 2iUEi ' leaves, but refuses to uccept dls- fyT; mlisal. Ileturnlng to Soquola, the xfiiB' logging train on which Shirley and KMn her uncls and Iiryce aro traveling R breaks away from the Inconlotlv, j y HjK and Dryce, who could have escnped, I 9 Jltg at the risk of his Ufa cuts out the I tjlE' caboose and saves them from ccr- UK tain death, being painfully Injured M BhL "i doing so. Shirley tries to put TI2L tne,r frlenjahlp back on Its old ba. I Hut"" "'' l,ut nryc ,elIa her ,ie Intends JplfC to smash her undo at all coats. So Kil&jT It's all off again betweon them. r? Dryce renews acquaintance with St .Molra McTavlsh. daughter of his .ill-' ' I woods-bots, ijf . ' jBf CHAPTER IX Continued. BBff 10 BaRr "I think so, Mr. llryco. I copied It fljl from Colonel Pennington's niece, Miss Bf "Ob," he replied lirlolly. "You've flBj root her, hnvc you? I didn't know she UK wn In Sequoia Ftlll." BBf "She's been away, tint she came BBf fnck Ifint week. I went to the Vulley IB "r tho OlanLs Inst Sntunliiy ufler- HH noon" 'KM llryco InterruptiMl, "You didn't toll B niy futlier nhout thu tree that wtis cut, HIh tlld you?" ho demuuded blmrply. H. "No." BKl "flood plrll n mustti't know, do HT on, Mnlrn. Wlint wni sho (loins In our f tltnbcrr K "Sho told tno thut once, when ho K wns n llttlo girl, you hud taken her Wif for ft rldo on your piny tip to your afc mother's uruvo. And It neeum hIic hml K u jjrent curiosity to feo thut i)t Wttt itRnln." 3k 'Tvo met Miss Sumner three or four III. tlmeg. That wnn when nho flrnt ciinin K to 8eiuoln. Site's u Btunnlne Klrl, E Isn't KltoT BF "Perfectly, Mr. nryce. She's tho Hf first Indy I've over mot. Sho's differ- O tnL" HR" "No douhtl Her kind nrc not n X product of homely little cotumunllleH n llko Sequoia. And for that matter. Hi nolllicr l hor wolf of nn uncle. Whul IB tlld MIhs Sumner huvo lo say to ymi. ML Molrn?" Hj 'filie told me all nhout hernelf and IJ1 Mio hald a lot of nlco thliiRs nhout .vou. Mir ' Mr. Iiryce. after I told her I worked Wfm ' for you. And she lnItctl that I HB Mhould walk homo with her, Sn I tlld Pt find tho butler served us with tea Kll " nnd toast and marmalade. Then who uljft showcil mo nil Jjer wonderful things Blft nnd rovo mo some of them. Oh, Mr. IHas, llryco, she's so sweet." nBl' "I can seo that you and .Miss Hum-Ms Hum-Ms tier evidently Idt It off JtiHt right wllh M3K e(tch other. Aro you roIiik to call on BBBif! , "Oh. yes! She huBted mo to. She Bh "''- sys she's lonexotnc." Hff "I darn say she Is. Molra. I'm ulad WWt you'vo Rotten to know each other. I've M no doubt you Ond llfo n little lonely nil sometimes." Blf "Sometimes, Mr. Uryte." MfK' "How's my father?" Wjm "Splendid. I've taken Komi ettro of Kjl , Vni for you." ift ' ,UsRIolra. you're a sweeilienrt of a W' (J . i ' r K'rl. I don't know how v ever man- H ', "Kf"1 to wlgslo nlouR without you." Ji Fraternally almost patunmlly ho KjHf - rrnB her radluut choek thret llfiltt lit- WjjR- ,le f"'H "" ll0 HtroUo past her to tho Hh4 private ofllce. lie was In, a hurry to Mn get to Ills dusk, upon which he could S1 throueh tho open door n pile of Rlt letters nd ortlcrs, nnd a moment Inter Wn, n,t W08 Ocep in a pcnual of thorn, oh- Tin llvjoui tc, tho fact that over iiml anon i , "o jtlrl turned upon him her brooding, WKLmWWL Mnddann-llUi) Ratw, Wmwmm Tt,,(t 'Kht llryco nnd his father, aa BBB wa" ,Velr custom nrtor dinner, re- wBI ,"d U lUe ,lbrur'' wl,er0 th0 TOffl iiiin i in n I IT III, 'm HI - Iiustllng and motherly Mrs. Tully I served their coffeo. John CurdlRtin opened tho conversation with a contented con-tented grout: "I believe you hnve something on your mind." llryco clipped n cigar nnd held n lighted match while his father "smoked up." Then he slipped Into the ensy chair hcsldo tho old mini. "Well, John Cardigan." ho hegnn eagerly, "fate ripped n big hole In our dark cloud tho other day and showed me some of the sllu-r lining. I've been making hnd medicine for Colonel Pennington." Pen-nington." "What's In the wind, boy?" "We're going to parallel Pennington's Penning-ton's logging-road." "Inasmuch as that will ctut close to three-uunrters of a million dollar. I'm "We're Going to Parallel Pennington's Logging Hosd." of the opinion that wo'ru not going to do anything of tho sort." "Perhaps. Nevertheless, If I can demonstrate to a certain party that It will not cost more than three-iunrters or a million, hu'll loan mo thu money." Tho old mnn shook his head. "I don't believe It, Iiryce. Who's tho crnry mnn?" "Ills name Is Gregory. Hu's Scotch." "Now I know hr's cnusy. -When ho hands you tho money, you'll llnd he's talking real money but thinking of Confcdcrutu greenback " llryco laughed. "ial," ho declared, "If you and I have any brains, they must roll around In our skulls like buckshot In a tin pun. Listen, now, with nil your ears. When Hill Henderson Hen-derson wanted to build the logging railroad which he afturward sold to Pennington, nnd which Pennington Is now using us a club to heat our brains out, did ho huvo the money to hulld It?" "No. I loaned It to him." "How did he pny you back?" "Why, he gavo me a ten-year contract con-tract for hauling our logs at a dollar and a half a thousand feet, ami I merely credited Ids account with tho amount of the freight hills ho sent me until he'd squared up the loan, principal prin-cipal niul Interest." "Well, If Hill HeuilerKOii llnauri'd himself on that plan, why didn't we think of using the same tlme-hoiinrcil plan for llnnnclug a mad to parallel Pennington's?" John Cardigan sat up wllh a Jerk. "Ily thunder!" lie murmured. That (as as close as he ever eume lo uttering utter-ing an oath. "All right. John Cardigan. I forgUe you. Now. then, continue to listen: To the north of that great Moult of timber held by you and Pennington lie the redwood holding of the Trinidad Itedwood Timber company." "Necr hoard of them before." "Well, limber away In there In back of beyond has never been well atUer-tlhed. atUer-tlhed. because It Is regarded as practically prac-tically Innccosslhle. You will remember remem-ber that souio ten years ago a company com-pany was Incorporated with the hlmt of building n railroad from flrnnl's Pass, Onv on the Hue of tho Southern Paellle, down the Orrgnn and California Califor-nia const to tup the redwood belt." "I remember. There was n big whoop and hurrah and then the proposition propo-sition died abornln'. The engineers found that the cist of eonsiruetton through that' mountainous country was prohibitive." "Well, befcro the project dll, (Iregory nnd his associates beltfired that It was going to survive. They quietly gathered together thirty thousand thou-sand acres of good stuff nnd then sat down to wnltsfor tho railroad. And thoy aro still wnltlng. flregory. by the way, Is tho president of tho Trinidad Ilcdwood Timber company. Ho'a an Hdlubtirgh man. and tho tly American promoters got him to put up tho price of tho timber and then mortgaged their Interests to him as security for tho advance. He foreclosed on their notoa five years ago." "And there ho Is with his useless timber J" John Cnrdlgnn murmured thoughtfully. "The poor Scotch sucker suck-er I" "He Isn't poor. The purchnse of that timber didn't oven dent his bunk roll. But ho would like to toll his timber, anil being Scotch, naturally he desires to sell It at n profit In order to creato a market for It, however, how-ever, he has to have an nutlet to tlint market. We supply the outlet with his help: and what happens? Why. timber that cost him llfly and seventy-the seventy-the cents per thousand feet stumpngc ami the luttial timber will overrun tho cruiser's estimate every' time will be worth two dollars and llfly cents perhaps more. "He loans us. the money to build our road We hulld It on through our timber mill Into his. The collat-1 i enu security which we put up will be I a twenly-flve-yenr contract to haul his logs to tidewater on Humboldt liny, at n base freight rate of ono dollar dol-lar nnd fifty cents, with nn Increnie of twenty-live cent per thousand every five years thereafter, and nn option op-tion for it renewnl of the contract upon expiration, at the rate of freight last paid. In addition we sell him, at n reasonable figure. sufUclont Innd fronting on tldewnter to enable him to erect a sawmill, lay out his yards, and build a dock out Into the deep wntpr. "Thus flregory will have that which he hasn't got now nn outlet to his market by water; nnd when Uio mil-road mil-road to Sequoia builds In from the south. It will connect with the road which we havo bidlt from Sequoia up Into Township nine to the north; hence flregory will also huvo an outlet out-let to his market by rnll. He can easily get n good mannger to run his lumber business until ho llnds a customer cus-tomer for It. nnd In tho meantime we will be charging his account with our freight bills ngnlnst him and gradually gradual-ly pay ofT the loan without pinching ourselves." Jolin Cardigan's old hand enmo gropingly grop-ingly forth and rested affectionately upon his boy's. "Vou forget, my son. tlint wo ennnot last In business long enough to get that road built, even though flregory should agree to llnance the building of It The Interest Inter-est on our bonded Indebtedness Is paynble on tho llret " "Wo can meet It. sir." "Aye, but we ain't meet the llfty thousand dollars which, under tho terms of our deed of trust, wo nro required re-quired to pny In on July llrst of each year as a slr-klng fund toward the. retirement re-tirement of our bonds. Hryce, It just can't bo done. We'd have our road about luilf completed when wo'd bust up In business; Indeed, the tnlnuto Pepulngtnn susM'cteil we went paralleling paral-leling his line, he'd choke off our wind, I tell you It can't bo done." Hut Hryce contradicted him earnestly. earn-estly. "It enn bo done." ho said. "If we can start building our road nnd have It half completed before Pen-nlngton Pen-nlngton Jumps ou us, (Iregory will simply hue to come to our aid In self-defense. self-defense. Once he ties up with us, he's committed to the tusk of seeing us through. I cun do It, I tell you." John Cardigan raised his hand. "No," he said llnnly, "I will not nllow you to do this. That way that Is the Pennington method. If we full, nty sou. we pass out llko gentlemen, not blackguards. We will not take advantage advan-tage of this mnn (Iregorj's faith. If he Joins forces with us, wo ny our hand ou the tuhle nnd let him look." "Then he'll neer Join hands with us, partner. We're done." "We're not done, my son. We have one alternative, and I'm going to take It. I've got to for your sake. More owr, your mother would have wished It so." "You don't mean" "Yes. I do. I'm going to sell p,.ti- nlngton my Valley of the Olants. It Is my personal property, and It Is not mortgaged. Pennington can never foreclose ou It nnd until ho gets It, twenty-lle hundred ncres of virgin timber on Squaw creek are valueless-nay, valueless-nay, a source of expense to hlnit Hryce. he has to have It; nnd he'll pay the price, when Tie knows I menu huslhON." Wllh u sut-cpliie gesture he waved aside the arguments that rose to his son's lips. "I isul me to the telephone." he comniaiiiled; nnd Hryce, recognizing recogniz-ing his sire's unalterable determination, determina-tion, ohejed. "Find Pennington's number In tho telephone btMik." John Cardigan commanded com-manded next. Hryce found If and his father proceeded pro-ceeded to gst tho Colonel on tho wire. "Pennington." ho said hoursely, "this Is John Cardigan speaking. I've decided de-cided to sell you that quarter-section that blocks your timber on Squaw creek." "Indeed." tho Colonel purred. "I had nn ItliNi you wero going to present pre-sent It to ttio city for u nntural pnrk." "I've changed my mind. I'vo decided decid-ed to sell nt your lust offer." "rvo changed ray mind, too. Tve dedded not to buy nt my last ofTer. fl'sjd-nlght" 6!owly John Cardigan hung tho re- , tayfcBrfatj-r-'rgssWgMi reiver on the hook, tumed nnd groped for his son. When ho found him, the old mnn held htm for a moment In his anus. "Lend mo upstairs, win." he murmured presently. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed." When Colonel Seth Pennington turned from the telephone and faced his niece. Shirley rend his triumph In his face. "Old Cardigan has enpitu-loted enpitu-loted at last," he cried exultlngly. "He Just telephoned to say he'd accept my Inst ofTer for his Valley of tho Olants. "Hut you're not going to buy It. You told him so. Uncle Seth." "Of course I'm not going to buy It. nt my Inst offer. It's worth live thou-sand thou-sand dollars In the open market, and once I ofTered him fifty thousand fof It. Now I'll give him live." "I wonder why he wants to sell,' Shirley mused. "from whnt Hryce Cardigan fold me once, his father at-I at-I taches n sentimental value to that strip of woods; his wife Is burled there." "He's selling It because he's desperate. desper-ate. If he wasn't teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, he'd never let me niitgumo him." Pennington replied gayly. "I'll wait until he has gone bust nnd sine twenty-live or thirty thousand dollars." "I think jou're tilting ofT your noto to spite your face. Uncle Seth. The I.ngtinn fl ramie Lumber company needs tlint outlet. In dollars and cents, what Is It worth to the com pany?" "If I thought I couldn't get It from Cnrdlgnn n few months from now, I'd go as high ns a hundred thousand for It tonight," he nnswered coolly. "In tlint event, I advise you to take It for fifty thounnd. It's terribly hard on qld Mr. Cnrdlgnn to have to sell It, even nt that price." "You do not understand these nint-tors, nint-tors, Shirley. Don't try. And don't wnsto your sympnthy on that old humbug. He tins to dig up fifty thou-snnd thou-snnd dollars to pay on his bonded Indebtedness, In-debtedness, nnd he's finding It n dllll-cult dllll-cult Job. He's Just sparring for time, but he'll lose out." As If to Indicate that ho considered tho mnttcr closed, the Colonel drew his chair towanl the tire, picked up a magazine, nnd commenced Idly to silt tho pnges. Shirley studied the back of his head for some time, then got out some fancy work nnd commenced plying her needle. And ns she plied It, n thought, nebulous nt first, gradually gradual-ly took form In her head until eventually even-tually she murmured loud enough for tho Colonel to hear: "I'll do It." "Do what?" Pennington queried. "Something nice for somebody who did something nlco for me," she nnswered. nn-swered. About two o'clock tho following nft-ernoon nft-ernoon old Judge Mooro of tho Superior Su-perior court of Humboldt county, drifted drift-ed Into Hryce Cardigan's olllce, sat down uninvited, nnd lifted his long legs to the top of nn ndjaccnt clmlr. "Well, Hryce, my boy," ho began, "a llttlo bird tells mo your daddy Is considering the sale of Cardigan's Itcdwoods, or the Valley of the Giants. How about It?" Hryce stared at hlpi a moment ques-tloulngly. ques-tloulngly. "Yes, Judge," ho replied, "we'll sell, If wo'get our price." "Well," his visitor drawled, "1 hnvo n client who might ho persunded. I'm hero to tnlk turkey. What's your price?" "Hefore we talk price," Hryce parried, par-ried, "I want you to answer u question." ques-tion." "Let her lly," said Judge Moore. "Are you, directly or Indirectly, acting act-ing for Colonel Pennington?" "Thnt's nouo of your business, young man nt least, It would be none of your business If I were, illreeflv or In- i i ' i "The Lord Loveth a Quick Trader," He Declared. illtectly, nctlng for thut unconvicted thief. To tho best of my Information and belief, Colonel Pennington doesn't tlgure In this denl In any way, shape or manner; and ns you know, I've been your daddy's friend for thirty years." Still Hryco was not convinced, notwithstanding not-withstanding tho fact that ho would have staked his honor on the Judgo's veracity. Nobody knew better than ho In what devious ways the Colonel worked, his wonders to perform. "Well," ho suld, "I can name you n price. I will state frankly, however, that I believe It to bo over your head. Wo havo several times refused to sell to Colonel Pennington for a hundred thousand dollars,'' "Nnturally that little dab of tltnbci Is worth more to Pennington than t nn body else. However, my client hai given me Instructions to go ns high ni n hundred thousrid If necessnrj to get the property." "Whnt?" "I said if. One hundred thousnnC dollars of the present stnniliirt weight and fineness." Judge Moore's Inst statement swepl nwny Hryce's suspicions. He requlrei! now no further evidence Hint, regard less of tho Identity of the Judge! client, that client could not possibly b Col. Seth Pennington or anyone nctlnji for him, since only the night befort Pennington had curtly refused to buy the property for llfty thousand dollars For a moment Hryce stared stupidly at his visitor. Then he recovered tils wits. "Soldi" he nlmost shouted, nnd nftei the fnshlon of the West extended hit hand to clinch the bnrgaln. The Jtidgt shook It solemnly. "The Lord lovetli u quick trader." he declared. "Here'i tho deed already made out In favor ol myself, as trustee." H linked knowingly. know-ingly. "CHunt's n bit modest 1 take It," Hryce mtggcstcd. "Oh. very. Of course Vnj only hazarding haz-arding n guess, but that guess Is tlint the Colonel Is In for a rnzoolng nt the hands of somebody with a small grouch against him." "May the Lord strengthen thut somebody's unn," Hryce brenthed fervently. fer-vently. "If your client can nfford to hold out long enough, hcil be uble to buy Pennington's Squaw creek timber nt a bargalu." "My understnndlng Is Hint such Is the program." Hryce reached for tho deed, then reached for his hat. "If you'll he good enough to wait hen, Judge Moore, I'll run up to the hotiFe and get my father to sign this deed. Tho Valley of the Olants Is his personal property, you know. Ho didn't Include It In his ns-sets ns-sets when Incorporating the Cnrdlgnn Itedwood Lumber company." A quarter of an hour later ho returned re-turned with tho deed duly signed by John Cardigan nnd witnessed by Hryce; whereupon tho Judge carelessly careless-ly tossed his certified check for n hundred hun-dred thousand dollars on Hryce's desk and departed whistling "Turkey In the Straw." Hryco reached for tho telephone tele-phone and called up Colonel Pennington. Penning-ton. "Hryce Cardigan speaking," he began, be-gan, but tho Colonel cut him short. "My dear. Impulsive young friend," ho Interrupted In oleaginous 'tones, "how often do you hnvc to be told that I am not quite ready to buy that quarter-section?" "Oh," Hryce retorted. "I merely called up to tell you that overy dollar ond every asset you have In tho world, Including your henrt's blood. Isn't sufficient suf-ficient to buy the Valley of the Olants from us now." "Kb? Whnt'a that? Why?" "ueeause, my near, overcautious nnu thoroughly unprincipled enemy, It was sold five minutes ago for tho tidy sum of ono hundred thousand dollars, nnd If you don't believe me, come over to my ofllce nnd I'll let you feast your eyes on the certified check," He could hear n distinct gasp. After nn Interval of five seconds, however, the Colonel recovered his poise. "I congratulato you," ho purred. "I suppose sup-pose I'll have to wait a little longer now, won't I? Well patience Is my middle name. An revolr." The Colonel hung up. Ills hnnl face was ashen with nige, mid ho stured at a calendar on the wall with his cold, phldlan stare. However, ho was not without n generous stock of optimism, "Somebody has learned of tho low stntc of the Cardigan fortune," he mused, "and taken advantago of It to Induce tho old man to sell nt last, They're llgurlng on wiling to me nt n neat profit. And I certainly did overplay over-play my hnnd Inst night? However, Iherit'it nothing to do now except sit tight and wait for tho new owner's next move." Meanwhile, In the general olllco of the Cnrdlgnn Itedwood Lumber company, com-pany, Joy was rumpnnt. Hryco Cardigan Cardi-gan wm doing a buck and wing diuico mound the room, while Molra McTavlsh, McTav-lsh, with her back to her tall desk, watched him, In her eyes n tremendous Joy nnd a sweet, yearning glow of adoration that Hryce was too happy and excited to notice. Suddenly he paused before her. "Molra, jou're a lucky girl," ho declared. de-clared. "I thought this morning you were going back to a kitchen In n logging log-ging camp. It almost broko my heart to think of fate's swindling you llkn that." He put his arm around her nnd gave her a brotherly hug. "It's autumn In the woods. Molra, tint! all the underbrush Is golden." She smiled, though It was winter In tier heart. |