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Show Cavanagh, - Forest Ranger The, Great Conservation ; Novel By HAMLIN GARLAND , Copyright. 19 10. by Hamlin G&rl&nd ' CHAPTER III. IJZK AND UEn DADQnTEH. THEY parted on tho llttlo porch of tho hotel, and her eyes followed fol-lowed his upright figure till ho entered ono of tho shops. IIo had precisely the look and bearing of a young lieutenant In tho regular nrmy. Sho returned to her own room strangely heartened by her talk wltli tho ranger. She was still pondering when her mother caino In. "How'd you sleep Inst night?" Leo Vlrginln could not bring herself to lie. "Not very well," sho admitted. "Neither did I. Fact of the matter Is your coming fairly upset mo. I'vo been kind of used up for thrco months. I don't know what alls me. I'd ought to go up to Sulphur to seo a doctor, but there don't seem to bo any free time. I 'pear to havo lost my grip. Food don't give mo any strength. I saw you talking with Ross Cavanngh. There's a man. And Roddy Roddy is what you call a fancy rancher; goes In for nl-falfy nl-falfy nnd fruit and all that IIo Isn't In tho forest sorvlco for tho pay or for graft lie's got n regular palace up thcro aboro Sulphur hot and cold water all through the bouse, a furnace In the cellar and two bathrooms, so they tell me; I uever was In tho place. iYou better keep out of tho caffy. It ain't a lit plnco for you. Fact Is, I wasn't expecting anything so fine as you nrc. I laid awake till 3 o'clock last night figuring on what to do. I reckon you'd better go back and glvo this outfit out-fit up as a bad Job. I used to tell Ed you didn't belong to neither of us, and you don't I can't see where you did come from anyhow, I don't want the responsibility of having you hero. Why, you'll have half tho men in tho county bitching to my corral. You're too good for any of them. You Just plan to pack up and pull out tomorrow." Sho went out with n dragging step that softened tho girl's heart. LIze's fc daughter camo nearer to loving bcr at this moment than at any time since her fifth year. In truth, Llzo had risen that morning morn-ing Intending "to whirl In and clean up tho house," being suddenly conscious con-scious to somo degree of tho dirt and disorder around her, but sho found herself physically unequal to tho task. Her brain seemed misted, und her food had been u source of keen pain to her. She gave sharp answers to nil tho men who camo up to nsk after ,hcr dnughter, nnd to one who remarked on the girl's good looks and demanded an Introduction she said: "Got along! You fellers want to understand I'll kill tho man that sets out to fool with my girl. 1 tell, you that!" ' . While yet Leo Virginia was wondering wonder-ing how to begin ihu day's work somo ono knocked on her door, and In answer an-swer to her Invitation n woman stepped In-n thin bloud hag with a weak smile and watery bluo eyes. "Is this llttlo Loo Vlrglnny?" she asked. Tho girl rose. "Yes." "Well, howdy?" Sho extended her hnnd. nnd Leo took It. "Sly name's .Inekson Mrs. Orlando Jackson. I knew yore pa and you beforo 'tho 1 war.' Aro yo bad; ht to stay?" "No, I don't thi-ik so. Will you sit down?" Mrs. .Inekson moIc a scat. "Come back to sou h yore ma was. 1 reckon? reck-on? Found li-i- pretty porely. Uldn't ye?" Sho loi. 1 red .her voice. "I think she's got rn itccr of tho stummlck now that's i"v guess." Virginia M.trted. "What makes you think so?" "Well, I knew n woman whn went Just that way. Hud linn Mime lliibby. funny look-und 1 lint mime distress after rutin". I told her thl luoriiln' sjie'd better go up to Sulphur and see that now doctor." "What did you mean by "the war?" "' naked Virginia. "Why, you remember tho rustler war? Wo dato everything out hero from thnt year. You was here, for I saw ye." "Oh!" exclaimed Virginia. "I understand under-stand now. Yes, I wns here. I saw ray father nt the hend of tho cowboys." "They weren't cowboys. They wero f I hired killers from Texas. That's what W let yore pa out o' the state. He wero on tho wrong side, and if It hadn't 'a' been for the regular soldiers ho'd 'a' been wiped out right liyer. As It was he had to skip the range and hain't novcr been back. 1 don't s'poso folks will lay It up agin you-belri' 11 glrl- but the couldn't no sou of Ed Weth- ' orford come back heio nnd settle, not I for n minute. Why, yoro urn has had to bluff the whole county n'most-not ; that I lay anything up ngln her. 1 tell I folks sho wns that bowltcbed with Ed sho couldn't seo things nny way but t his way. IIo fought to save his ranch nnd stnwk, but sho couldn't do nothln' and then to havo him go back on her tho way ho did slip out 'twixt two days nnil Dover wrltei that Just about cJ'Ot her to pieces. I uever could und.-r-land that lu Ed: bo 'penred so mortally mortal-ly fond of you and of her too. He sure was fond of you!" She shook her bead. Jso. can t anybody make me believe Ld Wethcrford Is alive." Lee Virginia started. "Who says he's nllvc?" "Now. don't get excited, girl. He ain't alive, but yet folks say we don't know he'ii dead, no Jest dropped out jo far as yoro ma is concerned nnd ho far as the county is concerned, hut Borao drought you was wltfi him In tho cast Tho girl wns now awnro that bur visitor was hoping to gain some further fur-ther information nnd so curtly answered: an-swered: "I've novcr seen my father since that night tho soldiers camo and took blm away to tho fort And my mother told mo he died down la Texas." Tex-as." Mrs. Jackson rose. "Well, I'm glad to 've had n word with ye; but. you hear me, yoro ma has got to havo doctor's help or she's a-goln' to fnll down some day soon." Every word tho woman uttered, every ev-ery tono of her drawling voice, put Leo Virginia back into tho past. Sho heard ngnln tho swift gallop of hoofs, saw onco moro tho long lino of nrmed ranchers nnd felt tho hush of fear that lay over the llttlo town on that fateful fate-ful day. Tho situation became clearer in her mind. She recalled vividly tho words of nstonlshment nnd hnto with which tho women had greeted her mother on tho morning when tho news camo thnt Edward Wethcrford wns nmong the Invading cattle barons-was barons-was Indeed ono of tho leaders. In Philadelphia the Rocky mountain tfi&tcs wero synonyms of picturesque lawlessness, tho theater of reckless LIZE WA8 IN VIOLENT ALTEnCATION WITH A WA1TKKSB. romance, and Vlrglula Wethcrford. loyal daughter of the west had defended de-fended It, but lu the coarso phrase of this lean ranchcrcss was pictured u land of border warfare as ruthless as that which mnrked the Scotland of Rob Roy. Commonplace ns tho llttlo town looked look-ed nt the moment it had been tho scene of many n desperate encounter, ns the girl herself could testify, for she bad seen moro thnn ono man killed therein. Then her mind camo back to her mother's nllment Eliza Wetherford hnd never been ono to complain, nnd her groans meant real suffering. Her mind rcsalvcd upon one thing. "She must see a doctor," she decided. And wllli this In mind sho re-entered the cafe, where Llzo was lu violent altercation al-tercation with 11 waitress. "Mother," called Lee. "I want to see you." With a parting volley of vituperation vitupera-tion Mrs. Wetherford followed her daughter back Into the lodging house. "Mother," tho girl began, facing her and speaking firmly, "you need help, and if tho doctor hero can't help you you must go to Sulphur or to Kansas City. I can run tho boarding house until un-til you get back." Eliza eyed her curiously. "Don't you go to counting on this 'chlvnlry of tho west' which story writers put into books. These men out here will eat you up If you don't watch out. 1 wouldn't dare to lenvo you hero nlone. No: what I'll do Is mII the place. If I can, nnd both of us get out." "Hut you need 11 doctor this minute." "I'll be nil right lu n llttlo while: I'm always ihe worst for an hour or two after I eat. TI1I1 little squirt of a local doctor gave me some dope to ease that pain, hut I've got my doubts I don't v 1 fir morphine habit lu mine. No, 1' 11 'I v'lrglnny. It's mighty whlto it 1 mi in offer, hut you don't know iiint ,nii re up against when you con-fuel con-fuel to step Into my shoes." Vision-" of reforming methods about 1 he limine passed through tho girl's mind "There must bo something I can do. Why don't you havo tho doe-tor doe-tor come down hero?" "I might do that if I get any worse, but I hate to have you stay in tho house another night It's only fit for these goats of cowbojs and women like Ilctt Jackson. I don't caru till somebody llko you or Roddy or Ross fomes nlong. "No, child; you get ready and pull out on tho Sulphur stage tomorrow. I'll pay your way back to Phllndol-phy." Phllndol-phy." "I can't lenvo you now, mother. Now thnt I know you're ill I'm going to stay and take cro of you." Llzo rose. "Seo here, girl, don't you go to idealizing mo neither. I'm what tho hoys call an old battleax. I've been through tho wholo war. I'm nhlo to feed myself nnd pay your board besides. be-sides. Just you Hud somo decent boarding place In Sulphur, and I'll seo that you havo $10 n week to live on Just becnuso you're n Wethcrford." "Rut I'm your daughter!" Again Eliza fixed n musing look upon her. "I reckon UiUft truth. was.known your Aunt Sella was nlgher to being your mother than I ever was. They always snld you wns nil Wetherford nnd I reckon they were right" CHAPTER IV. TIIK NEW WEST AND THE OLD. THE knowledge thnt sho mut spend another night lu the Inn led Lee Vlrginln to active measures of reform. She hurried hur-ried from one needed reform tn another, an-other, ate drew others into the ror-tex. ror-tex. She organized the giggling waiters Into a tfnrrlng party nnd ndvnuced upon the files. Ily hissing nnd shooing nnd the nutter of newspapers they drove the enemy beforo them, and n carpenter was called In to mend screen doors nnd windows, thus preventing their return New shades were hung to darken the room and new tuhle-cloths tuhle-cloths purchased to replace tho old ones, nnd the wholo plnce hnd such n elenning ns it had not known beforo in five years. in this work the tlrao passed swiftly, swift-ly, and wheu Redfleld nnd Cavanngh camo ngalu to lunch they exclaimed in nstonlshment, ns, indeed, every ono did. "How's this?" queried Cnvanagh humorously, hu-morously, "lias tho place 'changed hands?'" Llze was but grimly responsive. "Seems llko It has." "1 hope tho price has not gono up." "Not yet." Redfleld nsked, "Who's rcsponslblo for this your new daughter?" "You'vo hit it She's started right in to polish us all up to city standards. She can run tho whole blame outfit if sho's a mind to oven If I go broke for It Tho work sho got out of them girls is a wonder." Leo Virginia came In flushed nnd self conscious, but fnr lighter of spirit than at breakfast, and stood beside tho tablo whllo the waitress laid tho dishes before her guests with elaborate assumption as-sumption of grace aud design, Hither-to Hither-to she had bumped them down with n slash of slangy comment. Tho chnngo was quite as wonderful as tho nbscuco of tho flics. "Do we owe these happy reforms to you?" asked Cnvanagh. admiring Virginia's Vir-ginia's neat dress nnd glowing checks. "Partly," she answered. "I wns desperate. des-perate. I hnd to do something, so I took to ordering people nround." "I understnnd," ho snld. "Won't you sit nt our tablo ngaln?" "Please do." said Redfleld. "I want to tnlk with you." Sho took 11 scat n llttlo hesitatingly. "You see, I studied domestic science nt school, nnd I've novcr had n chance to apply it before." "Hero's your opportunity," Redfleld assured her. "My respect for tho science of domestics is growing. I marvel to think what another week will bring forth. I think I'll have to como down again Just to obscrvo tho Improvement in tho plnce." "It can't last" Lize interjected. "Sho'll catch the western habits. She'll sag. same as wo all do." "No, sho won't," declared Ross, with Intent to encourage hen "If you glvo her n frco hnnd 1 predict sho'll mnko your plnco tho wonder nnd boast of the county-side." "When do you go buck to tho mountains?" moun-tains?" Lee Virginia nsked n llttlo later. , "Immediately after my luncheou," ho 1 replied. She experienced a pang of regret and could not help showing It a little. "Your talk helped me." sho said. -I've 1 decided to stay and bo of use to my mother." Redfleld overheard this nud turned toward her. "1 wqnt Mrs. Redfleld to know you. I'm sure her advice will bo helpful. I hope you'll como up aud seo us if you dccldo to settlo in Sulphur or If you don't." "I should llko to do so," sho said, touched by the tono as well as by the words of his Invitation. "Rcdllcld's house is ono of tho few completely civilized homes in tho 1 state," put in Cavanngh. "When I get so wenry of cuss words und poaching and graft that I can't llvo without j killing some ono I go down to Elk 1 Lodgo and smoko and read tho super-I super-I visor's Loudon and Paris weeklies nnd 1 recover my tone." I Redfleld smiled. "When 1 got weak-1 weak-1 kneed or careless in the service nnd feel my self respect slipping away I go up to Ross' cabin and tnlk with n mnn who represents tho Impersonal, oven handed Justice of tho federal law." Cuvauagh laughed. "Thero! Having Hav-ing handed each other reciprocal bouquets, bou-quets, we can now tell Miss Wetherford Wether-ford tho truth. Each of us thinks very well of himself, nnd we'ro both believers be-lievers In tho uow west" "What do you mean by tho now west?" asked tho girl. "Well, tho work you've bceu doing here this morning Is part of It," answered an-swered Redfleld. "It's n kind of house-cleaning. house-cleaning. The old west was picturesque pictur-esque and lu n way manly und flno-ccrtulu flno-ccrtulu phases of it wero heroic and I hnto to see It all pass, but somo of us began to renllzo that it was not all poetry. The plain truth is my companions com-panions for over twenty years were Inwh'sy ruffians, and the cattle business busi-ness as we practiced it in those days was founded on selfishness nnd defended de-fended nt the mouth of the iitol. We wero all pensioners on Unclu Sam und fighting to keep the other fellow off from hnUng n share of his bounty. It wns all wasteful, half savagi. We didn't want settlement; we dldu t want law; wo didn't want n state. Wo wanted want-ed free range. Wt- wero n line of pirates pi-rates from beginning to end. and wo'ro not wholly reformed yet." Some one jytbe table, accused Red- Hold of being more of n (own site j boomer than n cnttlemnn. I He wns quite unmoved by this charge. j "The town site boomer at ieast believe j in progress. Ho does not go so fnr ns to shut out settlement. 1 don't enro 'to hnve my children live the life I've lived. Resides, whnt right hnve we to stand In the wny of 11 community's growth? Suppose tho new life Is les picturesque thnn the old. We don't like to leave behind us the pleasure and sports of boyhood, but we grow op nevertheless. I'm far more loyal I to the stato ns forest supervisor than I I wns when I wns riding' with tho cut-I cut-I tlemen to scare up tho uester." I At this moment Sam Oregg entered tho room, followed by n young man In nn English riding suit Seeing that "tho star boarder tablo" offered n cou-plo cou-plo of seats, they pointed that wny. Sam was plainly in n warlike frame of 1 mind and slammed his sombrero on Its nail with the action of 11 man beating nn adversary. "That is Sam Gregg and his son Joe. Used to bo much cattleman, now ouo of our biggest sheepmen." Cavanngh explained. "He's bucking tho cattlemen cattle-men now." Lee Virginia studied young Gregg with Interest for his dress was that of n mnn to whom money camo easy, und his fnco was handsome, though rather fat nud sullen. In truth, ho had been brought into tho room by his father to seo "Lize Wcthcrford's girl." nnd his eyes nt onco sought nud found her. A look of surprtso nnd plcnsuro nt onco lit his face. Gregg was tho greedy west checked and restrained by tho lnw. Every man in tho room knew thnt ho wns n bitter opponent of tho forest scrvlco nnd thnt ho "hnd it in" for tho rnngcr, nnd somo of them know thnt ho was throwing moro sheep Into tho forest than his permits allowed and that a clash with Redfleld was suro to como. It was Just llko tho burly old Irishman Irish-man to go straight to tho tablo whero his adversary sat Virginia's eyes fell beforo tho g!rzo of these two men, for they had nono of tho shyness nnd nono of tho Indirection Indirec-tion of the ruder men sho hnd met Redficld did uot soften his words on Gregg's uccount On tho contrnry. ho mndo them still more cutting nnd to tho line. , "The mere fact thnt I llvo nenr tho open range or n uatlounl forest docs not glvo me nny rights In tho range or forest." ho was saying as Gregg took his seat. "1 enjoy the privilege of these government grazing grounds, and I ought to be perfectly willing to pay tho fee. These forests are tho property of tho wholo nation. They aro public lands nud should yield n roveuuo to tho wholo nation. It Is silly to expect tho government to go on enriching n few of us stockmen nt tho expense of others. 1 seo this, nnd I nccept tho chnnge." "After you've got rich nt it," snld Gregg. "Well, haven't you?" retorted Red-field. Red-field. "Aro you so greedy that nothing will stop you." Gregg growled out: "I'm not letting ! nny of ray rights Blip. I'll bnvo your j bend, Mr. Supervisor. I'll enrry my ' fight to tho secretnry." I "Very well," returned Redfleld, I "enrry it to tho president If you wish. I I simply repeat that your sheep must I correspond to your permit, nnd If you don't send up and remove the extrn j number I will do It myself. I don't 1 mnko tho rules of tho department. My ' Job is to enrry tbAm out." Ily this tlino every person in tho room wns tense with Interest. They ! nil knew Gregg nnd his Imperious j methods. Somo of tho cattlemen In tho room hnd suffered from his greed, nnd, , whllo they wero not partisans of tho supervisor, they wero glad to seo him 1 face his opponent fearlessly. I Llzo delivered a parting blow: "Hull-, "Hull-, frog, you nnd mo nro old timers. Wo'ro on the losing side Wo belong to the 1 'good old dnys' when tho Fork wns n I 'mnn's town' nnd to be 'shot up' onco n week kept us In news. Uut them times nro past. You can't run tho range that wny nny more. Why. mnu, you'll havo to buy aud fenco your own I pasture lu a few years more or else I pay rent same as I do. You stockmen kick like steers over paying n fow old cents n head for five months' rnugo: you'll bo mighty glad to pay 11 dollar ono of these days. Tako your medicine I -that's my advice." And sho went back to her cash drawer. : Retinoid's voice was cuttingly contemptuous con-temptuous as he said quite calmly: "You're nil kinds of nsses, you sheepmen. sheep-men. You ought to pay tho fee for your cnttlo with secret Joy. So long ns you cun get your stock pastured (and in effect guurdcdl by tho government govern-ment from Juno to November for 20 I cents or wen CO cents, per bend you'ro t In luck. Mrs. Wetherford Is right I Wo'vo nil been educated In n bad ' school. Undo Sam has been too lazy to keep any supervision over his public pub-lic lands. He's permitted us grass pirates pi-rates to fight nnd lynch nnd burn one ! another on the high range (to which neither of us hnd nny right), holding back tho real user of tho land the farmer. Gregg was silenced, but not convinced. con-vinced. "It's n long Inno thnt has no , turn," ho burst out. "You think you'ro tho wholo United States nrmy! Wno gives you nil tho authority?" . "Congress nnd the president." I "There's nothing in thnt bill to war-I war-I rant theso petty tyrannies of jours." "What you cnll tryunnles I call defending de-fending the public domain." replied Redfleld. "If I had my wny I'd give my rangers ;ho power of tho Cnnndlan mounted police. Is there nny other state in this nation where the roping of sheep herders nnd tho wholesale butchery of sheep would bo permitted? From tho very first tin public lands of thjsjlatc. iuive-bcenn refuge for tho t crrmlnnT. 11 Inwlesn m mnn's lnntl. but I now. thanks 10 Roosevelt nnd the chief j forester, wo nt lenst have n force of men on the spot to see thnt some sem blnnco of lnw nnd order is nmlntnlnei You fellows may protest nnd run t Wnshlngton. nnd you mny send your pnld representatives there, but you're sure to lose. As free range monopolists monopo-lists you nre cumberers of the enrth. nnd all you represent must pnss before this state can he nnythlng but tho byword by-word it now is." Tho whole dining room wns still nn h'o "finished, nnT'l.06 vTrgfnln. with n girl's 'vngue comprehension of tho mnn's world, apprehended In Redflold's speech 11 largo nnd daring purpose. Gregg sneered. "Perhaps you intend to run for congress on that lino of tnlk." Iledflcld'H volco wns placid. "At nny rate, 1 intend to represent tho policy that will chnngo this stntc from the spnrscly settled battleground of a lot of mounted hoboes to n stnto with an honnrnblo plnco nmong tho other commonwealths. com-monwealths. If this bo treason mnko the most of It." Cnvanagh was disturbed, for. while ho felt tho truth of his chief's words, ho wns In doubt ns to tho policy of uttering ut-tering them. IIo rose. "I must bo going," go-ing," he snld, with n smile. Agnln tho pnng of loss touched her henrt. "When will you come ngnln?" sho nsked In n low voice. "It is"hnrd to say. A ranger's placo Is in tho forest. I nm very seldom In town. Just now tho danger of fires Is great, nnd I nm very unensy. 1 mny not bo down ngnln for n month." Tho tnblo wns empty now, nnd they wero standing In comparative isolation, isola-tion, looking into eneb other's eyes in sllcnco. At last sho murmured: "You'vo helped me. I'm going to stny n llttlo whllo nnywny nud do what I can." "I'm sorry I enn't ho of actual service, serv-ice, but I nm n soldier with n work to do. Even if I wero hero I could not help you ns rcgnrds tho townspeople. They nil hnto mo quite cordlnlly, but Redfleld, hnd cspeclnlly Mrs. Redfleld, can bo of greater aid nnd comfort no's quite often here, nnd when you nro lonely nud discouraged let him tnko you up to Elk Lodge." IIo extended his hnnd. nnd ns sho took It ho thrilled to the soft strength of It "Till next time," he snld, "good luck." To Uo Continued. |