The Freebooters of the Wilderness - Forgotten Books

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land," he ripped out in hammer raps,. ' l the fate of this land,boys, with all time lookin' on since ever. Time began! Y're the fieryfurnace of all the world's hopes and.
T H E FRE E BO O T E RS

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C ONTE NT S PART I

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C A M E UN A NN O U N C ED

T O A LO S I NG FIGH T S TACK I NG T HE C ARD S TH E C H O IC E T H AT C OM E S T O ALL MEN WHERE I N ON E P LAY S A N UN CO N S CIO U S P ART WH ILE LAW MARK S TI M E C RIM E S C ORE S A V ICT I M OF L AW S DELAY RI GH T I N T O MI GH T TH E H A N DY MA N G E T S B U S Y S E TT I NG OUT O N T HE LO NG TRAIL TH E MA JE S TY OF T HE LAW V E IL S I T S EL F TH E MA N O N T HE JOB ON TH E G A M E TRAI L TH E DE S ER T B I TT ER WA T E RS WHE RE T HE TRAC K S ALL P O I N T ON E WAY TH E

C H ALLENGE

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PART II

XVIII WI TH OUT MAL ICE XIX B ALL OT S XX

XXI

243

LLET S A FAI T H WO RK AB LE FOR M EN O N T HE JOB TH E H AP PY AND TR IU M PH AN T H OM E C O M IN G FOR

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DOWNY-LI PPED Y O UT H I N G RAY F LA NNEL S 3 23

AI N T T HE TRUTH I M TELL I N YOU : ONLY WH A T I VE H ERED I A M UN C LE S AM “ — WH IC H UN C LE S AM ? TH E ! U E S T I O N IS TH E AW A K EN I NG TH E AW AK EN I NG C O N T I N UE D TH E UN I T ED S T AT E S OF T HE WORLD IT

AG E









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S

FO RE WO RD HA VE been

a sk e d

h ow much

of

this

tale In exactly o f modern f reebooters i s tru e ? Which S t a t e s have such episode s o ccurred ? Have vast herds Of sheep been run over battlements ? Have animals been bludgeoned t o death ; have men been burned alive ; have the criminal s not only gone unpunished but been protected by the “ law makers ? Have she ri ff s hidden under the “ ” ” bed and handy men bluffed the pres s ? Hav e vast domains of timber lands been stolen in blo ck s o f thousands and hundreds of thousands O f acre s “ through dummy entrymen ? Have the federal law O ffi cers been shot to death above stolen co al mines ? Have R eclamation E ngineers and Land Offi c e field men and F o rest R angers undergone such hardships in Desert and Mountain a s por t r ay e d here ? Hav e they not only undergone the hardship but been crucified by the Government Which they served fo r carrying out the laws o f that Government ? In a word are latter day free b o ote r s of our We stern Wildernes s playing th e same game in the great transmontane domain as the Old time pirates played on the high sea s ? Is “ ” this a true story of the Man on the Job and ‘

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FO RE WO R D “

the Man on the F iring L ine and the Man ” Higher Up and the Looters ? I answer first that I am no t writing Of twenty years ago , or yesterday or the day b efore yester — h day but to day t e Year Of our Lord 1 9 09 1 9 1 0 in the mo st highly civilized country the world ha s ever known ; in a country where self government has reached a perfection of pro sperity and power not dreamed by po et o r prophet The menace t o self government from such national influences a t work need not b e described Th e triumph of such factors in nation al life means the wresting Of self government from the people into the hands of the f ew a repetition Of the struggle between the R ob ber B arons of the Middl e A g e s and the Com mon er S It seems almo st incredible that such lawle ssne ss and outrage and chicanery can exist in America many of th e outrages would disgrace R us sia o r T urkey— yet every episode related here has ten prototypes in L ife in F act ; not of twenty years ago or ye sterday or th e day before yesterday F o r instance the number o f sheep but to da y destroyed is given a s fifteen thousand The num ber destroyed in two countie s which I had in mind when I wrote that chapter by actual tally o f the Stock As sociation f or the past S ix years i s sixty thousand Last year alone five thou sand ih one State su ff ered every form of hideous — mutilation backs broken entrails torn out ; fifteen hundred in an adj oining State had their ,

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FO RE WO R D throats cut ; three men were burned to death ; on e herder in a still more N orthern Stat e wa s riddled to death with bullets Or t o take the case Of the timber thefts I refer I t o t w o hundred thousand acres in C alifo rnia might have referred to a million and a half in Washington and O regon Or refer rin g to the mineral lands I mention I might have tol d tw o thousand acre s Of co al another story of fifty thousand acres or yet a n other of three hundred thousand acres of gold and S ilver lands When I narrate the S hooting Of a man at the head Of a co al S haft the stealing O f Government timber by the half million dollar s a ” “ year through the hatchet trick or the theft Of “ ” two thousand acre s by dummie s I am stating facts known t o every Westerner out on the S pot In which States have these episodes occurred ? T a k e an ima gi nary point anywhere in C entral Utah Describe a circle round that point to in c lu d e the timber and grazing sections Of all th e R ocky Mountain States from N orthern Arizona to Montana and Washin g ton The episode s related here could be tru e of any State inside that circle except ( in part ) on e Such forc e s are at work in all the Mountain States except ( in part ) on e T hat one exception i s Utah Utah has had and is having tribulations of he r ow n in the working out of self government ; but for reasons that need not be given here sh e has kept comparatively free of recent range wars and timber steals .

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FO RE WO R D story wa s suggested to me by a Land O ffi ce — — man on e Of the men on the firing line who has stoo d the brunt o f the fight against the freebooters for twenty years and wrested many a victory I may state that he is s till in the Service and will I hOp e remain in it for many a year ; but thes e episode s are hinged round the R anger rather than the Land O ffi ce o r R eclamation men bec a use though the latter are fighting the same splendid fight their work is Of it s very nature transitory —d ealin g with the beginning of things while the ; R anger is the man out on the j ob who remains o n the firing line ; unles s — as my Land O ffi ce “ ” — friend suggested unle s s h e gets fired As to the hardship s suffered by the fighters to quote “ ” Y ou bet : only more S O on e o f them Just a s this volume goe s to pres s comes word o f fires in Washington O regon Idaho and Mon tana destroying dozens of villages hundreds o f lives and mi llion s Of dollars worth Of property “ in the N ational F orests ; and it i s added— the ” fires are incendiary Why this incendiarism ? Th e story narrated here endeavors to answer that question Th e international incidents thinly di sguised are equally founded on fact and will b e recognized by the dear but fast dwindling fraternity Of good Old timer s The mother Of the boy still lives her steadfast beautiful creed on the Uppe r Missouri ; and the Old frontiersman still lives on the S a s k a t ch ew a n on e of the mo st picturesque and he Thi s

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FO RE WO R D figure s in the West t o day I may s ay that both mis sionaries support their sc ho ols a s inci dentally revealed here without Government aid through their own efforts Also it was the stal wart man from Saskatchewan who was sent searching the heirs to the e state of an embittered Jacobite Of 1 7 45 ; and tho se heirs refused to a c cept either the wealth or the po sition fo r the very reasons s et f orth here C alamity s story t oo — is true tra gi cally true though thi s is not all no t a fraction of her life s tory ; but her name wa s not Calamity r oic

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P A RT I T H E M A N ON T H E JOB

F RE E B OOT E RS OF T H E

W IL D E RNE S S C H A P TE R

T O ST RADDL E

I

OR F

I G HT



Well sh e asked are you goin g t o str ad dl e o r fight ? H ow like a woman how like a child , how typ ical Of the outsider s shallow view Of any struggle ! As if all on e had to do — w a s stand up and fight ! — Mere fi g h tin g that was easy ; but to fight to th e last di tch only to find yourself beaten ! T hat gave a fellow pause about buckin g the challenge o f everyday life Wayland punched both fists in the j acket p ock ets of his sage green Service suit and kicke d a log back to th e camp fire that smouldered in front of hi s cabin If she had been hi s wife he would have explained what a fool thing it was to argue that all a man had to do was fight O r if — she had belonged to the general cla ss women h e could have met her with the condescending si — lence Of the general clas s man ; but for him she had never belonged to any general clas s She savored Of his ow n E astern World he knew ,

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? FREE B OOTER S

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WILD E RNE SS

that , tho u gh he had met her in this We stern

B ack

Of B eyond half way between sky and earth on the Holy Cro s s Mountain Wayland could never quit e analyze his ow n feelings H e r presence had piqued his interest from the fir st Whe n we can measure a character we can forfend against sur — prises discount virtues exaggerate faults strike a balance to our ow n ego ; but when what you know i s only a faint margin Of what you don t know a S iren Of the unknown beckon s and lures and retreats She had all Of what h e used to regard a s cul ture In the Old E astern life th e j argon of the col leges the smattering of things talked about the tricks and turns Of trained motions and emotions ; but there w a s a difference The r e w a s no pre t ence The r e was none Of the fi r e proof s elf — complacency Self s uffi cien cy she had but not self righteousnes s Then mo st striking contra distinction of all to the Old land culture there — w a s unconsciousnes s of s elf face to sunlight ra diant Of the joy Of life not a n mmic and putrid Of its ow n egoism She didn t talk in phrases thread bare from use She had all the naked un a shamed directnes s Of the West that thi nk s in t erms Of life and speaks without gloze She never S ide stepped the facts O f life that S he might not wish to kn ow Yet her intrusion on such facts gave the impre ssion Of the touch that heals Th e F orest R anger h a d heard the Valley talk Of Ma c Don ald, th e C anadian sheep ranch e r b e .

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longing to some f amou s fur trade clan s that ha d intermarried with the Indians generations b efore ; and Wayland used to wonder if it could be that strain Of life from the outdo ors that never pre tends nor lie s that had given her E astern culture the red blooded di rectnes s o f the West T o be sure such a character study wa s n ot les s inter esting becaus e he read it through eye s glo ssy as an Indian s under lashes with the curve Of the Celt with black hai r that ble w changing curls to — every w ind Indian and C elt was that it he wondered ? —reserve and pas sion sel f control and yet the abandonment Of force that bursts it s ow n barriers ? She had n ot wormed under the surface f or s ome indirect answer that would betray what he in tended to do She had asked exactly what S he wanted t o know, with a slight accent on the you “ Ar e you goin g to straddle o r fight ? Wayland flicked pine needles fro m his moun t a in eer in g boots He answered his ow n thoughts more than her question “ All very well to s a y— fi g ht ; fight f o r all the fello w s in the Land and F o rest Service when they s e e a steal being sneaked and j obbed ! B ut s up po se you do fight and get licked and g e t your self chucked Out O f the j ob ? Suppos e the fellow who takes your place sells out to the enemy— well then ; where a re you ? Lo s t e v erything ; g a in ed ” nothi ng ! -

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F RE EB OO TER S

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OE TH E

WILD ERNE SS

She laid her panama sunshade on the timbered seat that spann ed between tw o stumps Men must decide th a t sort Of thin g every day ” I suppo s e “ ” agreed the R anger with Y ou bet they must a burst Of boyis hn es s through his Old man ai r “ and the Lord pity the chap who ha s wife and kiddies in the balance “ DO you think women tip the scale wrong ? — O f cours e not ! They d advis e right right —right fi ht— fi ht— fi ht just a s u u t o b do ; g ; g g y — the point i s can a fellow do right by them if he chucks his j ob in a lo sing fight ? The Old mannish air had returned She fol lowed the R anger s glance over the edge Of the R idge into the Valley where the smoke st a cks of the distant Smelter C ity belched in ky clouds against an evening S ky “ ” Smelters need timber Wayland waved his hand towards the pall o f smoke over the R iver Smelters need co al T he s e men plan to take theirs free Yet the la w arrests a man f or steal ing a scuttle of co al o r a cord Of wood O ne la w for the rich another f o r the poor ; and who makes ” the la w ? T hey could see the Valley below encircled by the R im R o cks round as a half hoop terra cotta red in the sunset Wh ere the river leaped down a white fume stoo d the ranch houses — the Mis s ion a ry s and her F ather s on the near side the Senato r s acros s the stream Sounds o f mouth .



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Have you room on the Graz ing R ange f or s o ” many cattle ? “ No t without crowding ” Y ou mean crowding the sheepmen Off S he said ” What is the us e Of talking ? demanded Wa y “ land petulantly N either you no r I dare Open our mouths about it ! T ell the sheri ff ; your ranch houses will be burnt over your ears some night ! E verybody knows what has happened when a sheep herder h a s been killed in an accident o r hustled back to foreign parts ; but speak Of it o u u had better have cut your tongue F ight t o ! y it : you kn ow what happened to my predecessors ! O ne had a sudden transfer Another got what is known a s the bounce you E nglish p eople would call it the sack T he third go t a j ob at three time s bigger salary— down in the Smelter “ — It s all very well to preach right right — — right E lean or ; and fi g ht fi g ht fi g ht ; and He who fights and runs away M a y live to fight a n o ther day ; but what are y ou going to do about it ? I sweat till I lay the dust thinking about it ; but w e never seem to get anywhere When we had Wild B ills in the Old days we formed Vig i lant Committees and went out after the la w break ers with a gun ; but n ow we are a la w abid ing people We are a la w abiding age don t you forget that ! When you S kin a skunk n ow days you do it according to law slo wly judiciously n o matter what the skunk do es to you meant ime ,

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even tho it get away with the chickens F ac t is we re s o busy straining at legal gn ats just n ow that we re swallowing a whole generation Of camels We don t risk our necks any more to — put things right not w e ; we get in behind the skirts Of law and yap yap yap about law like a rat terrier when w e should be bul l dogs getting o ur teeth in the burgl ar s leg “ You know who se drovers are rustling cattle up N orth from Arizona ? You know w ho pays the gang ? S O do I ! Y ou don t know whos e cattle those are : s o don t I ! T O morrow when they are branded fresh they ll be the Senator s ; and what are you sheep people going to do with this crowd coming in from the outside ? T he la w says — equal rights to all ; and you s ay fi g ht ; but who is going to s e e that the la w is carried out unles s the people awaken and become a Vigilan t Com mitte e for the N ation ? T e ll Sheri ff F lood to go out and round up tho s e rustlers : he ll hide under the bed f or a week or allow he don t like the job Senato r Moy e s e got him that berth H e s going to hang on like a leech to blood “ N ow look down this side ! D O you know a quarter s ection of that big timber is worth from to to its owners the people Of the United States ? Do you know you can build a cottage Of s ix rooms out Of on e tree the very size a workman needs ? The workmen who vote ow n tho s e trees ! D O you know the Smelter Lumber Company takes all f or nothin g half a ’

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million Of it a year ? DO you know that Smelter itself is built on tw o thousand acres Of co a l lands stolen— stolen from the Government as clearly a s i f the Smelter teams had hauled it from a Government coal pit ? D O you know there isn t a man in the Land O ffi ce who hasn t urged and urged and urged the Government t o s ue f or resti tution of that steal and headquarters pretend to be d oubtful s o that the Statute Of L imitation s will intervene ? O n the inner side the R idge dropped to an Alpine meadow that billowed up another S lope through mo s s ed forests to the snow line Of the Holy C ro s s Mountains What the girl s a w was a sylvan world Of spruce then the dark green pointed larches where the jubilant rivers rioted — down from the snow What the man s a w was a Challenge “ See tho s e settlers cabins at a n angle Of forty fi v e ? N eed a sheet anchor to keep em fro m sliding down the mountain ! F ine farm land isn t it ? Makes goo d timber chutes fo r the land loot We ve to pas s an d approve a ll homesteads e rs ! in the N ational F orests Y ou may not know it ; but tho se a r e homesteads You ask S enato r Moy e s e when he weep s croco di le tears bout the po or po or homesteader run Off by the F o rest R angers ! If the homesteader got the profits there d be some excuse ; but he do esn t He gets a hired man s wages while he sits on the home s tead ; and wh en he perjure s himself a s to date ,

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fi lmg ,

he may get a five o r ten extra while your claim go es to Mr F at Man a t a couple of hundreds from Uncle Sam s timber limits ; and the S me lt er C i ty H e ra ld thunders about the citizen s right to homestead f ree land about the F ederal Government putting up a fence — to keep the settler Off That fellow that fellow in the first shack can t speak a wo rd Of E nglish Smelter brought a tr ain load Of em in here ; and they ve all homesteaded the big timbers a thou sand Of em foreign ers given homesteads in the name o f the free American citizen Have you seen anything about it in the newspaper ? Well —I gues s not It isn t a n ew s feature We re all full up about the great migration to C anada We like to b e given a gold brick and the glad hand O f course they ll farm that land O ne man couldn t clear that big t imber fo r a home stead in a hundred years O f cours e they a re not homesteading free timber f o r the big Smelter O f cours e no t ! They didn t loo t the redwoods — Of Califo rnia that way two hundred thousand acres Of em seventy fi ve millions Of a steal “ ” Hm ! muttered Wayland C all s himself Moy — es e Mo ses ! Senator Smelter ! Senato r Thief ! Senato r B eef Steer “ She laughed I like your rage ! Look ! ” What s that mountain behind the cabin doing ? ” Shine on pal e mo on don t mind me laughed Wayland ; but suddenly he stopped storming T he s lant sunlig ht struck the Holy C ro s s Mo un of

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tain turning the snow gullies pure gold against the luminous p eak Just f or a moment the white cornice of snow forming the bar Of the apparen t cro ss flushed to the Alpine glow flushed blood red and quiverin g like a cro s s poised in mid air An invisible hand of silence touched them both The sun set became a topa z gate curtained by fire and lilac mist ; while overhead of c louds acros s the indigo blue of the high rare mountain — zenith slowly spread and faded a light ashes Of ro ses on the sun altar of the dead day ’

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C H A P TE R AN I N TE L U DE

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THAT CA M E U N A N N OU N C E D

Wayland stopped sto rming His cynical laugh c ame back an echo hard to his ow n hearing Was It S peaking the same mute language to her It had spoken to him since first he came t o the Holy Cro ss ? The violet shadows of twilight slowly filled with a primro s e mist with a rapt hush as of the d ay s vespers T he great quiet of the mountain world wrapped them round a s in an invisible robe of worship Always a s the red flush ran the S pectrum gamut of the yellows and oranges and greens and blues and purples to the solitary star above the Opaline peak he had wanted to wait and s e e what ? He did n ot know It had always seemed if he watched the primro s e veil would lift and releas e some phantom with no iseles s tread on a ripple Of night wind In his lonely vi gi ls he used t o listen f or all the little bells o f the nodding purple heather to begin ringing some sort of pixie music or f or the flaming tongues o f the painter s flower to take voice in some chorus that would beat time to the rhythm of woodland life fluting the age Old melodies of Pan .

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You would look and look at the winged flames o f light s wimmin g and S himmering and melting outlines in the opal clouds ther e till almo st it became a sort of Mount o f T ransfiguration of free uncabined roofles s night dreams camped b e neath the S heen Of a million stars Y ou would listen and li sten to the mountain — — silence rare hushed silver silence till a l mo st you could hear ; but until t o night it had always been like the f a ll Of the snow flake You could never be quite sur e you heard though there w a s no mistaking a mas s Of s everal million years of snow flakes when they thundered down in avalanche or broke a ledge with the bo om O f artillery ,

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Now , at last —

it the end of a million year s Of pre existence waiting fo r this thin g ? N ow at last Wayland rea lized that the quiet fellowship the common interests the satisfaction of her pres ence the aptitude their minds had O f always rushing to meet halfway on the same subj ect had somehow mas sed to a something within himself that s et his blo od coursing with jubilant swiftness He looked at the rancher s daughter What had happened ? She was the s ame yet not the same Her eyes were awaiting hi s They did not flinch They were wells Of light ; a strange n ew light ; depth o f light Had the veil lifted at last ? Th e welter o f sullen anger s ub The wrapped mystery Of th e side d wit hi n him was



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withdrew her eyes from his and watched the long shadows creep like gho sts acro ss the Valley What he said aloud in the nonchalant voice of twentieth century youth keeping hold of hims elf .

was “

N ot bad

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it ? nodding at the opal fl ame “ Pretty goo d s how turned on free ”

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win ged peak every night ? A meadow lark w ent lifting above the R idge dropping silver arrows Of s ong and a little flutter o f phantom wind came rustling through the pine needles “ ” — I don t suppo s e h e had s he wa s s aying n ever heard tho s e notes in her voice before : they were gold gold flute notes to m elt rock hard self control and touch the timbre Of unknown cho rds “ — within I don t suppo s e anything ever was a c complished without somebody being willing to ” fight a lo sing b attle Do you ? Wayland stretched out on the ground at her feet E leano r do you know do you realize ” Yes I know S he whispered An d somehow unpremeditated and half way their hands met Somethi n g wonderful ha s happened to us both ” to night Th e sheen Of the stars had come to her eyes She could not trust her glance to meet his A compulsion w a s sweeping over her in waves drawing her to him— her free hand lay on hi s hair ; .

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A N I NTE RLUD E her averted face flushed to the warmth of hi s nearness “ I don t suppo se Dick that right ever did tri umph till somebody was willing to be crucifi e d M en die Of vices every day ; women snuff out like candles What s S O heroic about a man more or less going down in a goo d game fi g ht He felt the tremo r in her voice and her hands in her deep breathing ; and his manho od came to rescue their balance in words that sounded foolish enough : “ S O my Old mountain talks to you t oo ? I ll think Of that when I m up here in my hammock alone O h you bet I ll think Of that hard ! What do es the Old mountain lady s a y to y ou any way ? L OOk— when the light s on that long preci pice you can sometimes s e e a snow slide come over the edge in a pu ff of spray They are worst at mid day when the heat sends em down ; and they re bigger on the back of the moun tain where s h e shelves straight up and down And her thought met his poise half way “ What does the old mountain s a y ? Don t y ou — know what science says h ow the snow flake s fall to the same music Of law as the snow slide and it s the snow flake makes the snow S lide that set s the mountain free the gentle quiet beautiful snow flake that sculptures the granite “ ” — Th e gentle quiet beautiful thing slowly “ That sounds repeated the R anger in a dream ” pretty good to me .



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TH E

He said no more ; f o r he knew that the veil had lifted and the voiceles s voices of the night were shouting riotously The w ind came s uff in g through the swaying arms Of the b earded waving — hemlocks Druid priests O fficiating at some age old sacrament Then a night hawk swerved past with a hum Of wings like the twang O f a harp string “ ” s h e s aid poking at th e s o d with her Lo ok “ foot All the little clover leav es h av e f olded ” their wings to sleep ,

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O ld C alamity pass ed in and out O f the R ang e ’ cabin Wayland couldn t remember h ow from the first they had slipped into the habit of calling each other by Christian name s It wa s the Old half breed woman who had first told him tha t the Canadian Donald M a cDon ald the rich sheep man had a daughter travelling in E urop e O ne day when he had been signing grazing p ermits in the Ma cD on ald ranch hous e he had caught a glimps e Of a piano that had been packed up the mountains on mules standing in an inner s it ting ro om ; and the walls wer e decorated with long necked swan necked Gibson g irls and Watts photogravures and Turner color p r ints and naked Sorolla boys bathing in Spanish s eas That was the beginning She had come in s ud d e n ly intro duced herself and sh ak en hands .

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A N I NTER LUD E the world they tw o I n the cours e of half an hour —the first half hour t hey had ever been alone in “ their lives— had come to deciding strad dl e or ” fight ; but that was the unusual thing about her She got under surfaces ; but until to n ight on the Holy Cro s s Mountain he had been able to laugh at his ow n new sensations to laugh even at an occasional s ense of hi s tongue turning to doug h in the roo f Of his mouth “ Look what is that behind your shoulder ” Dick ? “ “ ” O h that said the F orest R anger that is a well known game Old elderly spinster lady commonly called the Mo on ; and that other on the branch chittering swear words is nothing in the world but a Douglas squirrel hunting— I think — he is really hunting a flea to mix in hi s spru ce ” tips as salad “ DO you know what he is saying ? O f cours e ! Cheer up ! Cheer up ! Chirrup ! H e s our Master F orester— caches the best seed ” cones f o r us to steal B ut when he turn ed back s he had freed her hands and slipped to the other side Of the slab — seat ; and Wayland inconsistent fellow— went all abash when they had both got ho ld Of thems elves and were once more back to life with f ee t on solid earth “ — r And is it straddle o fi g ht ? She had put on her panama sunshade and w a s looking straight and steadily in hi s eyes The .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

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WILD ERNE SS

R anger met the look the eager look slowly ,

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deliberately giving plac e to determined master dom “ ” If that is a challenge I ll take it ! Then he “ added ; and his face went hot as her ow n : As to the freebooters Of the Western Wilderness ripping the bowels out o f public property out here I ll accept that challenge t oo ! We ll put ” up a blu ff Of a fight anyway ! “ ” I didn t mean that Dick She was looking “ over the edge Of the R idge I couldn t give a precious gift conditionally if I wanted to Dick It would surely give its elf befor e I could stop it Isn t that always the way ? I wanted you to feel I would be with you in the fight if I could They are late F ather and the mis sionary Mr Willi ams and his boy were to hav e been here an hour ago I heard them talking Of your struggle against the big steals , and came up here befo re them to wait They are coming to s e e abou t changing the sheep from the Hol y C ro ss R ange ” t o the R im R ocks “ ” I can hear em coming Wayland leaned “ T hey are coming up the over the precipice sw itch back n ow They have a turn or tw o to — — take w e have a f ew minutes yet E leano r best gifts come unasked : perhaps also they go unsent Listen I couldn t hope to keep the gift unles s I jumped in this fight fo r right ; but it s a man s ! I mustn t desert becaus e of the gift I b o ! j mus tn t take the prize before I fin ish the j ob ! .



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AN I NTER LUD E

I want you to always that I mind my and and don t swerve from that resolu s s q p tion If I deserted and wen t down from the R idge to the Valley from hard to easy I wouldn t b e worthy of — do you understand what I am try ” ing to s ay to you ? N ot in the least You wouldn t be worthy O f ” what ? “ O f you said Wayland ” Gift s ? It was the falsetto Of a boy s voic e “ f rom the trai l below the R idge Who s talkin ” O f gifts and things ? They heard the others ascending Her woman instinct caught at the first straw to hand “ Photogravures F o r die three more to d ay T hey are Watts “ He has to round the next tu rn ! N ever mind ! ’ H e didn t hear , interj ected Wayland ir — that

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All the s ame sh e s aid I m going to send on e O f tho s e pictures up t o you f o r the cabin T here i s Hope sitting on top of the World eyes bandage d harp strings broken “ Don t send that one ! Jim jam s enough Of my ow n up here ! I w ant my Hope clear eyed e ven if she has t o go it blind f o r a bit a s to you “ Then there s F aith sheathing her sword ” Not putting away the B ig Stick interrupted Wayland “ Then you ll hav e t o take the Happy War “





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WILD ERNE SS

I forget that on e : I ve been up here four years you kn ow ? “ It s th e Soldier a sleep on the B attle F ield You mean the picture Of the girl kissing the — man in his S leep Yes that will do all right fo r me Y ou can send that on e And the Mis sionary s boy came over the edg e Of the R idge trail in a hand spring ’

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Of the R idge bloused and white vested and out Of breath a b un ch Of mo untain flower s in on e hand his felt hat in the other ; and three men bobbed up behind Indian file over the crest Of the trail the Missionary Williams stepping lightly M a cDon a ld swarthy and clo s e lipped taking the climb with the eas e Of a mountaineer B at B rydges the S enato r s newspaper man hat on the back Of his head co at and vest and collar in hand, b low mg with the zest of a p uffin g loco motive “ ” Whew ! T he S enato r dilated expansively “ and sank again Here we are at last ! — Y ou here Mis s E leanor ? E vening Wayland ! N ight to y ou Calamity ! H ow is the world using ” u since you stopped tramping over the hills o ? y “ Calamity shrank back t o the cabin I thought this trail hard as a climb to P aradise Now I ” know it w a s and the gentleman wheezed a bow t o E leanor that sent his neck creasing to hi s flowing colla r and s e t his vest chortling “ — Wh a t ! NO fl ow e r s either of you ? You leave an old fellow like me to gather flowers and quote What s o rare a s a day in June and a ll that ? What s that lazy rascal Of a F o rest fel lo w doing ? I would have spouted y a rds of good po etry when I was his age a night like this Hasn t Wayland told y ou the flower s are the best part O f the mountains in June ? P shaw ! — Like all the rest Of them from the E ast stu ffed — full O f college chuck can t tell a daisy fro m an -

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TH E

C HA LL EN G E

a ster ! Takes an Old stager w ho never had your dude Service suits on his back to know the secrets Miss E leano r Ha s he told y ou o f these hills about the echo ? NO I ll bet you not ; no r the gorge in behin d this Old Holy Cro ss ; no r the cave ? Pshaw ! See here S howing his bunch “ — if you want to know what a o f wild fl ow e r s s ly Old sphinx Dame N ature is and how she s up to tricks and wiles and ways snow o r S hine you get these little flower people to whisper their secrets ! Whenever I find a n ew kind on the hills I mark the place and have ro ots brought down in the fall Now this little mountain anemone is still blooming on upper slopes Lit tle fool Of a thing thinks it s April S tead Of — June paints her cheeks s e e ? like an Old girl trying to look young ” B ut sh e has a royal whi t e heart , interp o sed E leanor T he Senato r looked up to the face O f the rancher s daughter and laughed a big soft noise les s laugh that sho ok down inside the white vest “ Typical Of a woman eh ? Here take em ! Why am I an Old bachelor ? Now here s the wind flower ; Opens to touch 0 the wind like woman to love ; find em like stars on the bleakes t — slopes that s like a woman too eh ? And lik e a woman they wither when you pick em eh ? And s e e these little cheats — pale people— catch ’ — fl ie s know why they call em that ? Stuck a ll — over with false honey to snar e the moths ste w .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

24

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WILD ERNE SS

— sweetness

the poor devils to death in eh n ow ” isn t tha t a woman fo r you ? Spreading hi s broad palms the Senator sho ok noiselessly at his own facetiousness “ T hey keep the real honey for the royal but ” terflies , suggested E leanor “ E xactly ! What chance On earth fo r an Old bumble b ee of a drudge like me without any wings and f rills and things a ll weighted down with ” care s O f state ? And Moy e s e mopped the moist ure from a good natured red face that looked anything but weighted do wn by the cares of state “ “ ” he added th a t th e You kn ow don t you ’ flie s actually do prefer white flowers ; bee s t th blue ; butterflies red ; and the moths w hite ? ,

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this was the mann e r O f man representing the forces challenging to the great national fight a lover Of flowers paying tribute to all things beautiful ; good natured smiling easy going soft speakin g ; the embodiment Of vested rights d one up in a white waist coat Soldiers Of the firing lin e had fought dragon s in the shape Of savages and white bandits in th e early days ; but this dragon had neither horn s nor hoofs It was a courtly glo s sy faced pursuer of gainful o c c up a tion s acco rding to a limited ligh t and very much according to a b elief that freedom meant f reedom to make and take and break in dep en d ent Of the other fellow s rights In fact as E leanor looked over the dragon with its wide O

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strong j aw and plaus ible eyes and big gripping hand S he very much doubted whe ther the con c e p tion had ever dawned on the big dome head that the o ther fellow had a n y rights The man w a s no t the baby eating monster of the muck — rakers N either was he a gentleman h e had — had a narro w escape from that the next gen He gave e r a tion of him would probably b e on e the imp r ession of a pas sion for only on e thing — getting If p eople or things o r laws came in the way Of that getting S O much the worse fo r them Strident laughter blew up on the wind from the c ow camp of the Arizona drovers in the Vall ey “ ” Rough rascals ej aculated Moye s e f anning “ himself wi th his hat I wish you wouldn t wander round to o much alone when thes e drover fellows are here from Arizona B irds of pas sage you know ? Sheri ff can t pursue em into another State ! When it s pay day whiske y — flows pretty free pretty free ! Wish y ou wouldn t wander alone to o much when they re up ” this way “ Mr Senator I move we come to busines s and leave poetry and flowers a n d palaver out O f .

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Senato r turned suavely and faced the im patient sheep ran cher “ To be sur e ! !Le t us g e t d own to busines s Ma cDon ald b y a ll means ; b ut before w e go any The

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farther let me ask you a straight question ! Clearing the field before action Miss E leano r ! B at come over here and entertain Miss E leano r Mis s Ma c Don a ld this is my man F riday B rydges Mis s Ma cDon a ld : it s B rydges you know s ets us all down fools to po sterity by r e porting our speeches f or the newspapers B rydges winked a s he got his limp collar back t o his neck It wa sn t his pa rt to tel l how many speeches came in reported befo re delivered ; how many were never delivered at all T he Senato r had stopped fanning himself He was cares sing hi s sh a ven chin and taking the measure Of the rancher ; a tal l man straight and lithe a s a whip , lean and clean limb ed and swarthy ’ “ Ma cDon a ld why don t you take o ut your naturalization papers s o you can vote at ele c tion ? In the eyes Of the la w you re still a n alien “ Alien ? What has tha t to do with paying ” grazing fees f or sheep on the F o rest R ange ? Ma cD on a ld s black eyes clo sed to a tiny S lit Of ” “ shiny light Mr Sena to r he said tersely ” “ how much do you want ? Mr Senato r refused to be perturbed by the edge Of that question Y o u a s k Wayland how much the grazing fee is Y ou know it s my belief there ought to be We stockmen can take care Of n o grazing fee ourselves without Washington worrying ,

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u o Yes interrupted Williams to ok such y good care of the S heep herders last spring some ” Of you put them to eternal sleep “ We re not living in P aradise o r Utopia “ assented Moye s e We can take care Of our ow n Men who won t listen to warning must look out for stronger arguments ; and it s a great dea l quicker than carrying long drawn legal cases up to the Supreme C ourt You sheepmen are a sk ing us to take care Of you I m a sking Mac Donald to vote s o he can take care o f us Maj o r ity rules What I m trying to get at is which side you are on ! We re not taking care Of neu t ra ls and aliens “ ” The low tens e voice bit int o the Aliens “ word like acid And I suppo se you re not tak ing care Of pea nut politicians either My a n c e s to r s have lived in this country since 1 7 5 9 Mr Senator how many genera tions have your ” people lived in this country ? E leano r became conscious that a que stion had been a sked fraught with explo sion ; but the S en ator smiled the big soft voiceles s smile down in his waist coat as if not on e o f the group knew that memories of the ghetto had n ot faded from his ow n generation “ ” We re not strong on ancestry o ut We st he “ rubbed his whiskerles s chin It go es back to o Often t o he looked up quietly at M a cD on a ld “ to b ow and arrow aristocracy scalps in fact ; ” but as for mysel f i f a little oily, still the smile ,

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em ained genial fo r mys elf from what my name means in F rench I should judge we were — — s n t what do you call em ? Psalm S ing H ug e o ing lot that cam e over in that big boat growing bigger every year ; bo at that brought all the true — blues over here ; M a yfl ow e r that s what I m tryin g to s ay— all our ancestors came over in the Ma yfl ow e r T he sheep rancher s thin lip s slowly curled in “ Then I g ues s my a n a contemptuous s mi le c e s to r s on on e s ide Of the hous e were chanting war whoops to welcome y ou B at B rydges uttered a snort E leanor puck ered her brows a s at news The Senato r w a s fanning hims elf again with his hat E ven Way land wa s smiling He had heard political op s n o o e s s a that dynamit e wouldn t o e n t f M e y p y “ disturb the S enato r O nly way you could rais e h im was yeast cake stamped with S : tw o stick s ” through it — — C ertainly E leanor w as thin kin g ther e wa s some goo d in the worst O f dragons St George had put his foot on on e ancient beast Wasn t it po ssible to tam e this on e to tame all modern dragons put a bit in their mouths and harnes s them to good nation building ? Girt ro und with mine enemies Mis s E leanor “ he laughed and I slay them with the j a w bon e ” o f an as s T he white waist co at chortled ; and S he laughed This dragon didn t spout flame but gentle ridi r

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

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eyes the craft th at would undermine what the hands could not crush An aemic teachers and preachers might a s well throw paper wads at a w a ll a s attempt to dislodge this man with argu ment R ight was an empty term t o him Migh t he understo od ; no t right He s a t waiting f or them to go on She remem bered afterwards how he made them play down from the first ; and h ow all the time that he wa s watching them plan s Of his Own were busy as shuttles in behind the plausible eyes “ “ ” Th e point continued Wayland i s to get ” fi f t een thousand sheep up there “ ” F ifteen thousand It wa s the n umber n ot the getting there that touched him “ A deep ston e gully runs between the Holy Cro s s and the bench Of the R im R o cks ex “ — plained the Mis sionary Look behind the — cabin you can s e e where the cut run s through the timber a notch right in the saddle Of the s ky ” lin e “ H ow many of tho s e fi f te en thousand are ” yours Mr Mis sionary ? Th e Senator was gazing do w n in the Valley Just for a second E leano r thought the geni a l look hardened and centred “ About tw o thousand Senator ! I ve just brought a thousand angoras in to see if we can t teach weaving to the Indian s It would mean a go od deal i f we co ul d teach them t o b e self supporting ,

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It would mean the lo s s o f a lot of po ssibl e ” p a tronage to this Valley said the S enato r a h “ Are you still determined no t to accep t s en tly ” Government aid ? “ Absolutely sir : my work is to Christianiz e thes e Indians not just leave them educated sav ages “ “ ” Hm from the Senator What do you sup ” po se they think we are ? “ I don t s e e very well how I can train them to be honest men if out o f every dollar as signed to aid the Indian school sixty cents go es to G OV ” e rn men t contracts and party heelers ? “ ” ! Moy e s e wa s stroking his bare chin Hm “ with a cr ookt forefinger I suppo se if I were the story book villain I d s a y yes you must teach em to b e honest ; but I don t F act is Mr Missionary if you go into the ethics Of things you re stumped the first bat : who gave us their land in the fir st place ? This whol e busines s isn t a golden rule j ob : it s an iron propo sition ; and if I were an under dog beaten in the game by the la w that r ules all life I d take half a bone rather than no meat I mak e a point of never quarreling with the condition s that existed when I came into the world I a c cept em and make the best Of em ; and I advis e o u to do the same y “ Y ou can t take the contracts Of a bargain counter to regulate the things Of the spirit Mr ” S enato r ,

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O h a s fo r things Of the spirit deprecated the Senato r smiling the big soft smile that lo st itself down in his vest ; and he spread his broad “ palm s in suave protest don t pleas e quote spirit t o me ! I have all I can do managing things right here on earth To put it briefly far as this sheep busin es s is concerned, if you can t get the sheep acro s s the saddle between the Holy C ro ss and ’ the R im R ocks you want to bring em along the ” trail through my ranch ? “ “ ” That s it a ssented Wayland I ve issued grazing permits f or the Upper R ange : and it only remain s to get your permis sion to drive ” them acro s s the land that is not F orest R ange The Senator cro s sed his legs and hung hi s hat on on e kn ee “ A s I make it out h er e s our situation ! I a sk Ma cDon a ld here who is the richest sheep man west Of the Mississippi what s he willing F ar a s I can see without t o do for the party a telescop e or micro scop e he do esn t rais e a — fin g e r won t even take out papers s o h e can vote ! I a sk P arson Williams here what he is willing to do f o r the party ; and he Obj ects to his copper gentry taking a free for all forty cents on the dollar T hen you both come ask ing me to pa ss fi f te en thousand sheep acro s s my ranch to the R im R ocks though they ruin the pasture and there isn t room enough for all the cattle let alone sheep I hate em ! I m free to E very cattleman hates the S heep s a y I hate em ! ”

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busines s We haven t R ange enough f o r our cattle let alone sheep and this fo ol busines s of fencing Of f free pasturage in F ores t R eserves And your sheep herders never make s ettlers ’ You know how it is We d run your sheep t o Hades if we could ! We aren t all in the mis s ion a r y busines s like Williams We a re in f or what we can get ; and this natio n is the biggest nation on earth becaus e all men are free to g o in for all they can get The sheep destroy the R ange : and I m cattle ! Y ou neither of you rais e a hand to help the party ; and I m a plain — party man ; ye s I guess Mis s E leano r I m a s poilsman all right ; and you come asking favors of me It isn t reasonable ; but I ll tell you what I ll do I ll show you that I m ready to meet you in a fair half way ! Ma c Don a ld you and Williams and the K id there g o along an d s e e if that s addle can b e cro s sed her e to the R im R ocks If it can t you can come down through the Valley and pas s you r sheep up through my ranch I gues s it s light enough yet fo r you to s e e The gully is n ot five minute s away B at you go O ff and entertain Mis s E leanor I want to talk to Wayland here ’

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Wayland w a s in n o moo d f or straddlin g f or “ ” palaver for carrying water on both shoulders He was weary to death Of talk and compromis e and temporize and dis c r etion iz e and all the othe r “ ” izes by which the politicians were hedging ,

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right and wrong and somehow euchring the many in the interest s Of the few and transforming democracy into plut ocracy B esides memory that merged to conscious realization wa s playing m lambent flames through his whole being round the form Of the figure against the skyline Of the R idge .

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light of the cow b oy camp blinked through the lilac mist of the Valley A veil impalpabl e a s dreams hovered o v er the R iver T he boom an d roll of a snow co rnice falling s omewhere in the Gorge behind the Holy Cro s s came in dul l r olling mufli e d thunder through the spruce forests Had her eyes flashed it in that recog n it ion o f love ; or had S he said it ; o r had the thought been born O f the peace that had come ? It kept coming back and back to Wayland as the bo om Of falling snow faded a s if on e ma n or e t n a r k i n s h e r t i o n m e n l t t h o o e o c o u d s a e w g g f y f law s of e tern a l rig ht eous n es s by r efus ing t o h e e d -

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t o he e d the la w of t he s n ow fla k e ! f He heard the wordles s chant that the sufi o f the even ing wind sang ; that the sto rm wind Of the mo unta in s shouted in spring as from a million trumpets ; that the dream winds Of the gho s t mornings forerunner Of fresh life f o r the s ons of men w hi spered singing chanting trump e tin g the mes sage that snowflake and avalanche told : yet beside him on the slab seat s a t a ma n r e us in g

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who heard none of tho se voices and knew no la w but the law Of his ow n desire to g e t The R anger drew a deep breath Of the per vading fragrance a tang Of resin and balsam a barky smell Of clean earth mould and mo s s an O do r a s of some illusive frankincens e proffered from the vesper chalices and censer cups of the flower world “ Great thing to b e alive nigh t like this opened the Senator Then h e p ulled down his waist co at and pulled up his limp S pine an d wheeled on the slab seat facing the R anger Very quietly in a s oft even voice he w a s reason mg We have been fighting each o ther fo r four ” years n ow ? “ We certainly have Mr Senator You re a goo d fighter Wayland ! I like the way you fight ! You fight square ; and you fight hard ; and you never let up N 0 answer from the F orest R anger “ I wouldn t really have enough respect fo r you to s ay what I am going to s a y if y ou hadn t fought exactly a s y ou have fough t What Wayland was saying to hims elf w a s what Moye s e would not h a ve understoo d : i t was a foolish quotation about the Greek s when they come bearing gifts “ B ut my dear fellow we difi e r on funda men tals You are for F ederal autho ri ty I am f o r the F ederal authority everlastingly minding ,

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busines s mo st s e ver ely and the States man ag ing their own business ! I am f or States R ights The F ederal Government is an exp en sive l uxury Wayland It wastes tw o dollars f or every dollar it gives back to the country There s an army Of petty grafters and party heeler s to b e paid o ff at ever y turn ! All the States want i s to b e let alone “ F o r three years Wayland you have been fighting over tho s e two thousand acres Of coal land where the Smelter stands You say it was taken illegally I k now that ; but they didn t take it ! It was jugged through b y an E nglish promoter “ Just as foreign immigrant s are jugging ” through timber steals to day thought Wayland ; “ but he answered ; I acknowledge all that Sen ator ; but when goo ds are stolen the owner h a s the right to take them back where found ; and that land wa s stolen from the U S R es erves nin ety million dollar s worth of it “ I know ! I know ! B ut what have y ou gained ? T ha t is what I a sk ! F ederal Govern ment has blocked every move you have made to take action for thes e lands hasn t it ? Very soon the Statute O f Limitations w ill block y ou altogether The Senato r shifted a knee Wayland waited — Y ou have gained nothing les s than nothing you have laid up a lo t Of ill will for yourself that will block your promotion B een four years here , ow n

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

38

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

C ome over to the right S ide and build up big industries big development ! I ve watc hed you fighting f o r four years Wayland ! Y ou are the squarest pluckie st fighter I ve ever known B ut you can t do a thing ! You can t get anywhere ! You re wasting the best years of your life mouthing up here in the Mo untains at the moon ; and who Of all the public you are fighting fo r my boy who Of all the public gives on e damn for right o r wrong ? If we turn you down who is goin g to rais e a finger for you ? An swer th a t my boy ! They are paying you poorer wages n ow than we pay any ignorant foreigner down in the Smelter ; that s a w a y the dear p eople have o f caring f or their own e s t ! Chuck it W a yland ! Chuck it ! Waken up man ; look out f or num ber on e ; and in the words of the illustrious Van — — d e rb ilticu s let the public b e d e e d ! C ome down to my ranch where you ll have a chance to carry ou t your fine ideas of R ange and F ores t ! Hell what are you gaining here man ? A sort 0 — mo ral hyste rics that s all ! It s all very well f or tho s e Down E asterners w ho have lot s Of money and are keen on the lime light t o go spouting all over the country about running the ” Government the w a y you d run a Sunday School Th e Senato r had become S O tens e that he had “ rais ed hi s voice Chuck tho s e damfool theo ries Wayland ! Chuck them I tell you ! Get down to business man ! What are you howlin g a bou t timber f or po sterity fo r ? If you don t ’

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TH E

C HAL L EN G E

look a live you ll go lean frying fat for po sterity ! Oh ro t the thing makes me S O tired I can t talk about it ! Come down to my ranch I want a thorough man ! I want a man w ho can fight lik e the devi l if he has to and h a ndle that gang in the c ow camp with branding irons ! I want em run out do you hear ? They re blackguards ! I want a man that s a man ; and fo r pay you can name your ow n price I ll want a partner as I grow Older And do n t you do any fool rash thing that I ll have to fight and down y ou f o r ! I like y ou Wayland Then three things happened in stantaneously Wayland glanced up E leano r M a cD on ald w a s looking straight into his eyes An d the sheep rancher s choppy voice wa s saying to the Mis “ s ion a ry Some men go up in the mountain s to fi s h fo r trout ; but others stay right down in the ” Valley and grow rich catching suckers “ ” We can t cros s that gully shouted the b oy We c a n t cro s s it nohow ! We g ot to cro s s the ” ranch trail to go up to them R im R ocks “ ” Why all right F ordi e the S enato r ro se kicking the folds from the knees of his trousers “ if you b oss the j ob F ordie I ll let you cro ss the ranch ! You ll take a few Of the herders up with you ? And you ll not let the S heep spread over the fields ? B etter do it towards evening when it s cool fo r the climb ! All right we ll call that a bargain ! F o r die s on the job to pass the sheep up the trail ; and j us t to S how you I m ’

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F R EEB OO T ER S

40

OF

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

fair here is Miss E leano r f o r my witnes s you Go od c a n drive the whole bunch over my ranch ! E verybody coming n ow ? Come on ! n ight all ! We ll lead the way Mis s E leano r It s getting dark I ll pad the fall if anybody behind trip s Good night Wayland ; think that O ff er Of mine over ? Not coming B rydges ? All right give Wayland a piece of your mind as a newspaper man about this business ! N ight ! Goo d night ” C alamity ! ,

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C HA P TE R

STACKI N G T HE

IV C

AR DS

B at straddled the slab and lighted his pipe

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O ld man been giving you some good advice ? I don t know whether you d call it goo d or not Let s heap the logs on B rydges and mak e ” the shadows dance B rydges did som e hard thinking and let the R anger do the heaping “ Sort Of razzle dazzler Ma c Don a ld s da ug h ter ; she s a winner ; but you can t get at her ! Sort Of feel when she s talking to you a s if her other self was w ay down E as t Wonder what the Old curmudgeon brought her back here for ? If S he d let down her high airs a peg she d have every fellow in the Valley o n a stri ng She could — have Moye s e s scalp now if s he wanted it all ” that s left of it ? “ Y ou can bunk inside ! I ll take the ham moc Wayland emerged from the cabin trail ing a gray blanket and a l yn x skin robe B at continued to emit smoke in p ufi s and curl s and wreaths at the top of th e trees “ How many acres do you patrol Dickie ? About a hundred thousand ’





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41

F RE EB OO TER S O F

42

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

Is th at all ? H ow many horses do es the G ov ” ment allow ? “ N one ! B uy our ow n ! Great Guns ! And you re loyal to that kind O f S ervice ? It s bally loyal I d be ! Why M oy e s e allows me the use of any bronch on his ranch ; and when there s a quick turn to b e made it s a moto r car Why don t you let me s end you up a couple of Moy e s e s nags ? You could past ure em here and get their us e fo r nothin g I could do that right off my ow n responsibility ” N eed b e no conn ection with the Old man “ “ ” B at said the R anger did you stay up her e t o s a y that to me ? “ I don t know whether I did or n ot ; but n ow that I a m here I s a y it anyway ; and I say a — whole lot mor e don t be a bally f ool and buck into a buzz s a w ! Wh y don t you take the Sen a to r s O ffer ? Holy Smoke ! What are y ou gaining stuck up here in a hole of a S hack that s snowed ten feet deep all winter ? What s th e use Of fighting the Smelter thieve s and the Timber thieves and the Dummy homesteaders and all that ? You c a n t buck the combination Dick ! It isn t only M oy e s e ! H e s a mere tool himself in this game It s the R ing you re up a gainst and you can chas e yourself all your lif e r ound that R in g and never get anywhere Th e big dubs at Washington the politicians they are only S pokes themselves in that wheel If you buck into that wheel , you g e t yours elf tangled ’







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S T A CKI N G

TH E

C A RD S

into a pulp ; and if any of tho s e dub s down in Washington thinks he won t fit into the R ing w hy he ll find himself broken and j erked o ut S O quick he won t know what ha s happened till he sees the Wheel going round again with a n e w ” spoke in his place “ B at did you stay Up here to s a y that to me ? ” With a twig B at pushed NO I did not “ down the tobacco in his pipe I stayed up here if you want to know becaus e we were o n our way to the c ow camp when the parson and his kid j oined us I guess every man has his limit That cow camp gang is mine I want to live a little longer ; and I don t want to know things that might make it us eful for me to die When M oye s e wants to deal with that gang he can go ” it alone “ “ u B rydges said Wayland have given o y me some frank advice I m going to reciprocate Y ou kn ow what is going on out here You know why that Arizona gang comes up here You — know why w e can t touch them they are Off the R ange O f the F orest Y ou know about the stolen coal fo r the Smelter R ing thousands Of acres o f it ; and the stolen timber limits fo r the Lumber R ing mi llions Of acres Of them If the public knew B at we d win our fight It would be a walk over E very man j ack Of them would lie down and stay put Why don t you tell in your paper ? Why don t you tell the t ruth when you s end the dispatch es E ast ? If you did B at , w e ’

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

44

TH E

WI LD ERNE SS

could clean out the gang in a month Why don t you play the game a man should play ? E very newspaper man likes a clean sporty fight ; and n o kn ifi n g in the back Why don t you p ut up that fight f or us , n ow , B rydges and stop giving ” us side j ab s ? B rydges pipe f ell f rom his teeth — — — Wayland what in hel l do you think I m working for ? ’

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T here w a s a big silence T he lo ok of masterdom came back to Wayland .



s

f ace ; but he p aused lo oking s traight ahead in space P erhaps he w a s looking fo r the hard gri p ,

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Of the next grapple He had a curious trick at such times of clinchi ng his teeth very tight b e hind Open lip s ; and the pupil of his eye becam e a blank ” You are at least sin c ere B rydges he s aid B at gathered up hi s shattered pipe “ “ ” I m not a past master y e t he s aid I haven t reached the point where I can believe my I ve own lies ; s o I don t tel l em and get caught dug down in the mortuaries of other men too — Often long a s a man do esn t believe h is ow n lies he s on guard and do esn t g et caught It s when he comes ping against a buzz s a w and finds it s a fact that he has t o pay or back down or lo s e out ’ Y ou can t budge a f act , damn it ! Thing always ” shows the same ! B at had found the pieces of his pip e F itting .

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F REE B OOTER S O F

46

TH E

WILD ER N E SS

a bun co game a bunco game with marked cards ; while we Service and L a nd f ellows act the decent S ign f or a blind pig “ Hullo he s com ing up interrupted B rydges S eems your night f or deputations Wayland ! Lo oks like a p a rson ! B y George I didn t know Senato r had his drag net o ut fo r parsons as dummy entrymen ! N othing l ike imparting qual — ! ity B y George hanged if I know he looks l ik e — a peddler has a pack hors e “ Peddler 0 th Go spel S on ! Go od e é— ven ” ing to you Gentlemen The newcomer sang out greeting in a high thin fals etto that belied the ruddy youth Of shaven cheeks and accorded more with his mas ses of white ha ir “ Is this the R anger place perched on top 0 th ’ w a rld ? Y r workmen in the whi te tent told me A d find a short trail here b y t th next Valley ’ Tis y r Mis sionary Williams A m s e ek in ; A thought if A d push on push on an cat e r corner mountain here A strike R iver by moon d r r y y light ! S 0 A have ! S O A have ! B ut it s Satan s windfal l mong thes e big trees ! o w n waste 0 Such a leg breakin trail A have na beaten since A p eddled T exas tickler done up in Go spel hymn bo oks filled w i whiskey — — — Well I ll b e hanged slowly ej aculated ” “ Mr B at B rydges C ome far ? he asked aloud f umbling his brain fo r a clue The Old man emerging from the timbers took ,



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S T A CKI N G

TH E

C AR D S

his hat and swabbed the sweat from his br ow Then he righted the s addle on his broncho “ This to C alam E h woman do A scare ity j ust turning down the R idge trail with a dun gray blanket filled with Odds and ends on her shoulders when the padded thud Of the pack hors e coming through the heavy timber was followed by the stalwart fo rm O f the newcomer F ace and form were frontiersman ; vesture clerical ; but O ld Calamity trotted back to the R ange cabin Come far did y a sk ? More or les s more or les s A ve come farther on unholier mis sions We d call it a nice bit snow S ho e run in the old days Tw o months since A left Sas k a tch ew an ! We ve taken our time B es sie a n me caressing the mare with resounding slaps “ We re not so young as we were B es sie an me when we s e rved Satan hot foot back an forth thes e s ame trail s till by the Grace 0 G od we broke halter from Hell f or holier trail “ B etter loo s en up and berth here f or to n ight “ suggested the R anger Th e R idge trail is steep going down grade after dark for a stranger “ ” Th e Old man trumpeted a laugh Str an ger ? that w ould have done credit to a megaphone “ Stranger my kid di e boy ? A ve known these R ocky Mountain States when if ye owned thes e i a r s t an had a homestead in Hell y d rent y r p residence here and take up quiet life the other place ! A knew these trail s b efore y were born from Mexico to Ma cK en zie R iver wherever men

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

48

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

had a thi rst A ve travelled these trails w i c ook stoves packed full 0 Scotch d ew an the Mounted Police hangin t m tail till A s cuttled the B ound — ary Goo d days rip roaring days for the mak in O f strong men ! We were none 0 y r cold blooded reptile c a lcula tin kind ! May we fight valiant f or Go d now as we wrestled f or the Devil then ! O h to b e young again an not S pill life in was sail ! to give the blows f or right instead of — wrong ! Man what a view y have here what a view ! Minds me of the days A wa s b ridge build mg I n the R ockies Then you ve been in thes e mountain s be f o re ? asked B rydges ; but the old frontiersman re fused to take the bait and rambled on in his reverie “ What a view ! Th vera kingdom of earth — at y r feet ! The river w implin w implin w implin w i a silver lau gh over the stones an ’ the light violet as a Scotch las s s eye ! An the green fields of alfalfa Have y ever noticed hOW ’ th light above the alfalf a turns purple ? An y r ’ R im R ocks roa sted fire red by the heat Tis the same view A ve gazed on many a time when A Wa s ” young He drew a deep sigh Of the longing that Tis like only the pas sing frontiersman kn ows if the Devil came tempting to day t would b e such a place a s this ! Many s the time He came ’ to us in th em Old d a ys lawles s days ! Tis dif f e r e n t to day He d not bait men s avage naked now Th e kingdoms Of the earth he d O ffer — — wealth a h succes s wealth an su cces s the fet ’



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S T A CKI N G

TH E

C A RD S

T would n ot be simple i sh 0 sons O men to day — cards for drink y d play ! B igger stakes bigger stakes boys ! He d bait men s souls w i bigger ’ stakes ! If I w ere young I d take his bet an play f or the biggest stakes outside 0 Hell ” “ Hey ? What is that ? queried B rydges ; and “ he winked at Wayland We d bee n talking of a ” bunco game when you came up ” “ ’ The Old f rontiersman Y had had you ? “ measured B rydges through and through Well ’ judging f rom y r bras s an the up and coming kind Of it A m t hi nking y r stake s w ould be pea Tis bigger stakes I d nuts under little shells ! ’ play for if I had m life to live over ” “ What ? asked Wayland curiously Mr B at B rydges wa s revising his inventory of ” “ the Old duffer Wayland wa s laughin g openly T he Old man had become oblivious of both with a t ria n g lin g of sharply intersected lines between his brows and tens e compres sion of the lips “ ” — — — — Th e f at e o this land he ripped out in “ hammer raps the fate of this land boys with all ’ time lookin on since ever Time began ! Y r e the fiery furnace of a ll the world s hopes and fears ’ dreams ; an o f all earth s people of all poets God only knows what a mes s O slag y re turning o ut ! Y r muck rakers are belching y r failures to the fou r corners of earth ! Justice perverted ! Courts in fee to the highest bidder ! Mo re mur ders murders in this fresh new clean land than all the stew pots O filth the Old nation s hav e ’





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F RE EB OO TER S O F

W ILD ERNE S S

TH E

bre we d in a thousand year s ; and murders un pun ’ — h i s e d ! Y r Government the great world exp e ri — ment is it the wull O the people , or the wull of a ’ gilded clique O tricksters ? Th e old man stretched out his hands above the “ Valley Wh at are ye doing with y r freedom the freedom that the children 0 light prayed f or and f ought for and died fo r ? When there s on e law f or the rich and another f or the po or when ye ha v e to brib e y r own s elf elec ted rulers to do y r wu ll where i s y r f reedom di fferent from the freedom in F rance before the R evolu tion ? Is it ‘ not written my hous e shall b e f or all nations ; but ye have made it a den Of thieves ? Ye have what a ll the nation s of the earth have bled f o r wha t prophets have prayed fo r and p atriots died for ; and all the world is looking on asking sneering s aying ye p ervert the Ark o the Cov s c offin g e n a n t O f God, saying lawles sness stalks under y r banners s aying y wrest the judgment to the highest bidder aye t o the supreme fountain head l this and boys 0 ! courts T he fate 0 r ! y ’ Them s the stakes I d play f o r if I had lusty blows ’ — — to S pa re I d up I d up I d strip me naked Of every back thought and expediency and self in — in the t e r e s t and hold back ! I d hurl the lie ’ — — teeth Of a s c ofling wo rld I d S how all nations tim e that the people the plain common goo d 0 peopl e can keep the law sound as the Ark O the — — Coven a nt Of God ; and and I d hurl y r traitor — leaders y r Judas Iscariots huckstering the ’



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— silver I d

land s good fo r paltry hurl y r graft ers an y r heelers an y r bo ss es an y r strumpe t justices who sell a verdict like a harlot I d hurl them t o the bottom of Hell ! An may Hell b e — both deep and hot Old fashioned extra fo r the ” pack of them ! He S hook his trembling fist at the vacuous air — — F ight right might ! I d paint the wo rds in letters 0 blood till they awakened this land like — — the fiery cro s s of old ! I d fi g ht fi g ht fi g ht til l they had to kill every man 0 my kind befor e I d down ! B efore I d s e e y r la w outraged y r ’ court s perverted y r justice bartered and hawked and peddled from huckster to t rickster from heeler to headman f rom blackmailer to hi gh judge — but A didna mean to break loo se Y r fair s cene stirred m blood ; and A m an Old man ; and A love the land A was born West A m none Of ’ o s e r s immigration b o m t who go es I n a P lma r u l n y — car then tells the world all abou t Now which ” w ay to y r Missionary Williams ? B at flushed ; but he did not laugh O ddly he forgot the feature sto ry Wayland e nough r o s e and came forward and involuntarily held out his hand ’ “ ” I wish you d stay fo r the night he said A good many Of us feel the way you do ; but like u o we re all up in air Sawing the air do esn t y s a w woo d A good many of us are in the fight ri ght n ow ; but unles s w e get somewhere we re going to feel a s if we were c arving wind mills ’



















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F RE EB OO TER S O F

52

TH E

WILD ERN ES S

Suppo s e y ou put up here f or the night ? B e sides it s pretty late to go down T rail switches sharply The old frontiersman heard abs ently ” An Old man s broodings he ruminated “ ” I d call em D T s muttered B rydges ” Don t fear for my bones on the trail He came back from his reverie a s from a j ourney “ A m the Old breed that doesn t break Ti s you young brittle fellows all bred to pace and speed a nd style needs look to y r goin s Which way do — A turn at the foot of the R idge ? O ne tw o — three A s ee four lights Which is the Mission ? “ If you insist on leaving Sir there i s an In dian woman here going down to the Ma cDon ald ranch M a cDon ald did you s a y ? Th e next pl ace along the R iver is the Mission Here C alamity S how this stranger which way t o ” go will you ? B ut C alamity had already bolted f or the R idge trail Stranger ? She do esn t look to me exactly like a stranger Looks precious like on e of our Sas Haven t A seen you b e a n half breeds ! k a tcheW f ore my go od woman ? A m Jack Matthews who car ried the mail f or the C ompany at the B ig Hous e ; by an by contracto r then by the Grace 0 G o d missionary to the Cree ! Haven t A seen you girl ? Was it 85 at the Agency Hous e when — Wandering Spirit ’

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F REEB OO TER S O F

54

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

T he Old frontiersman to ok hold bridle

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hi s

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har dl y what you d look fo r in a Mis s ion a ry outfit B essie “ You ll leave f or the South at once ? T he question co mmanded The Old frontie rs man listened “ Hoof expres s Sir pro mi s ed the S heep skin leggings “ An d mind you I know nothing about it Jim I m not to be told I take care Of you without you kn ow mg about it I exp ec t y ou to take care o f us the whi te waist co at becam e at once im pres sive and anxious “ T hat s all right C olonel I understand ! We ll crowd em to beat Hell ; and they ll g o it blind If it s coming dark they ll shut their eyes and go over blind I defy Sheri ff F lood himself if h e s standing on the S pot t o make a cas e You need have no fear of Sheri ff F lo od ever being on the S pot He ll be busy under his bed that night ; but look out fo r thes e F ederal puppy b oy F orest R anger fellows ! F inish up o ff th e confounded N ational R ange F inish up before they reach the N ational R ange “ And the Mexican herders ? asked the shee p skin chaps with a flourish of his hand a bove the fire that S howed the flash of a diamond on the lit tle finger The white vest spread deprecating han ds That s your busines s Jim ! Make a clean ’

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S T A CKI N G sweep Of the herd ; but the boy

TH E s ee

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that no harm comes

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back on the trail “ N ight birds hatching snake eggs A m really between tw o minds to go back an d crack thei r ” addled heads .



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C HA P TE R TH E

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ALL M E N



Did you notice anything ? demanded B rydges a s the Old stranger went down the R idge trail “ S he knows E nglish a s well as you do ; and S he i s a F rench breed Why did s he put on to b e Mexican ? What did sh e sneak for ? Whole thing cus sed queer What do you make Of it ? Mat thews ? Matthews ? I rec a ll that name F ellow by that name wrote our pape r t o know i f any C an adian settlers had come here ! Say Wayland the Old man pri cked up his ears at Ma cDon ald s nam e — spoke of R ebellion Days ” “ O h shut it O ff, B at ! What in the world has a travelling half cracked ranting Old evangelist to do with the Ma c Don a ld family ? He ll land on the Mis sion f or a week or t wo free like the rest Of em ! He ll lik ely preach Hell fire to Indians , who ll not know a word Of what he says till Mr Williams gives him a call to move on “ ” All the same retorted B at dis app e a rmg 1 n S ide the cabin , .

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Wayland pas sed a bad night the wo rst he had known on the Holy Cro s s contending with wha t ,

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56

C H OIC E

TH E

comes to all l ives and to many lives many times Th e R anger had absorbed the average a mount of Sunday school pabulum that float s round in the mental atmo sphere Of all youth that if you keep o n doing right and doing it hard things will tur n o ut all right in the end Well he told himself bluntly he ha d been doing right and doing it hard just as hundreds Of the Land O ffi ce field men and Land O ffice attorneys had been doing right in their vain endeavour to stop public loot ; —an d things ha d tu rned out all wrong What did his ’ four years fight stand for anyway ? Marking time that was all N othing accomplished except the wasting o f four year s of his ow n life ; and while that may be sm a ll enough in the sum total of thin gs where a thousand s eeds go to wast e f o r one that bears fruit , it is overwhelmingly big to the individual man I f he had been the on e and only failure of th e Civil S ervice workers he co ul d have accused himself and taken the Sena “ ” tor s advice to chuck the fool theo ry of men in public s ervice fighting fo r right ; but he was only on e Of a multitude Of men paid public money t o prevent the looting of public property ; who s e work was blocked non suited pigeon holed blu ff ed hampered or worst Of all carried up to investigating committees who se sole purpo s e was t o conceal and wear the public out with in te rmin able wrangles over technicalities that were irrelev .

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B etter men than he had f o ugh t dogge dly only

58

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

to be downed There w a s the Land O ffice man in Oregon dismiss ed for the slip Of a wrong entry in his field bo ok becaus e he had quite un i n t en tion ally unearthed the frauds Of a member of the land loo t ring who h a ppened to be a congressman There was the F ederal attorney hounded from his home city because he pro s ecuted bribe givers and obj ected to being shot while on duty in the court room There wa s that other F ederal Law man S hot at the shaft o f a co al mine stolen from public lands There was the Army E ngineer demoted from his life work becaus e he fought f or a free harbo r fo r a great city and Ofi en d e d the rail ro ad fighting to keep that harbor clo s ed Ther e were the two F orest S ervice men dismissed for givin g facts to the public T hen there was the Alaska C ase— Wayland laughed ; and the laugh wa s a little bitter Surely the crowning farce o f all : that had gone up easily to investigation with a blare of trump ets and a flare of news headlines That was the easiest Of all It made goo d politics y e t — it w a s s o involve d in technicalities whi le it O ffered a bit of b y play to the gallery that there had never from the first even fo r the fractio n Of an in stant been the fain t e st hop e of anything but confusion emerging from the in vestigation ; but it played into the game with o ut hurting anybo dy If they had really wanted ’ t o investigate why didn t they take a case in whi ch there were no techni c alities of la w the looted red lands of C a lifornia f or in st ance ; o r the half .

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TH E

C H OIC E

million O f timber openly s tolen each year for a certa in smelting ring ; o r the tw o thousand acres o f coal where Smelter City itself was built ; o r the shooting of the F edera l L a w O ffi cer down at that other co al mine ? Thes e case s involved no “ ” twilight zone of dispute a s to la w in which the ” “ system and the ring could hide E very Govern ment man knew the evidence was plain and complete in thes e cases : yet they were pigeon holed let laps e f o r th e Statute of Limi tations to bar action Why ? Wayland s a t down on the slab s eat and the personal reason s came trooping a g a ms t his reso lutions like the scout s o f an oncoming ho st T o begin with he could make more money o ut side the Service The Govern ment men were paid les s than foreign ditch diggers ; but then which of the men remained in the Service for money ? He r a n his mind over half a dozen fellows in the Agricultural Department w ho ha d increased the nation s wealth by hundreds Of million s a year They were working at s al a ries les s than a Wall Street Junior clerk or o ffice girl The question of ’ s alary didn t come in as an argument That could be dismissed B ut there wa s the bitter fact he w a s accomplishing ab solutely nothin g by continu ing the struggle nothing more than a woman yoked to a Silenus hoping to reform him when he daily grew wors e under her eyes The Govern ment had blo cked him The party had blocked him What w a s the pith of it all anyway ? ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

60

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

S hould thos e w ho ha d the p ow e r b e g iven the leg a l rig ht t o ta k e w ha t t h ey c a r e d to s eize ? It was the same old question that had split every coun try up into revolution And clo sest of all , keen .

est of all arguments the n ew influenc e that had come into his life po ssessing it ob sessing it He might put her out of his thoughts as a po s sibility T hat would n o t dull the edge O f his ow n hun ger B y s taying on he barred all po ssib ility O f ul tim a te happines s perhaps her happines s : yet if he abandoned the fight fo r right he w oul d be un worthy of her Sooner or later she w ould know a n d though s h e might remain mute w a s s h e the on e t o make semblance of what s h e di d n ot f ee l ? If the light died from her eye it would die f rom hi s life He w a s not a Silenus to guzzle hog like ov er husks when the life had gone B esides —Wayland laughed aloud— the idea o f her na ture permitting a Silenus near enough to breathe the same atmo sphere that s h e breathed w a s in — conceivable There was on e chance on e chance — o nly Get the issue before the P eopl e squarely fairly openly before the P eople ; awaken the P eople ; mas s the law o f the snow flake to the mighty rush of the avalanche ; le t the P eople know force the P eople to pronounce the verdict Wayland thought of B at inside the cabin and laughed bitterly He ro se and began pacing the edge of the R idge T h e re he was , back in the O ld hopeless circl e ,

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F RE EB OOTER S OF

62

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

the public gives on e damn f or right or wrong ? Had it really come t o that ? Was that the seat of the trouble ? Did the public care ? Go lean fry ing fat fo r po sterity ? All tho s e v oices strident sco ffing ; then part of the night s voiceless voices that other undertone — N othing accomplished without somebo dy fight ing a lo sing battle What s o heroic about a fighter more or less going down beaten ? It was nothing heroic at all unles s y ou happened to b e the fighter And what w a s the s ens e of accepting a challenge to a lo sing battle ? I want a man w ho can fight like the Devil Well that was what — the whole world wanted always had needed and w anted ; and he and hundreds of other Government fellows were applicants fo r just such a fighting j ob Wh at was it that comical Old s e r mon izin g duffer had ranted about ? O h y e s ! If the D evil ( of cours e there wasn t a Devil ) if the Devil came tempting t o day t would be such a place as this R iches he would p r ofi e r as of ’ Old the biggest gambl e Of all play for the biggest stake outside Of Hell The F ate with all T ime looking on o f th e Land ’ all the World s ince ever T ime began , look ing on asking keep sacred a s the Covenant Of Go d T he stakes I d play for I d up if I w er e youn g I d up I d up stripped naked of very hold back I d hurl the lie I d hurl y r in the teeth of a sco ff ing world







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C H OIC E

TH E

traito r leaders hucks tering the land s good f or s il ver F ight migh t I d paint the words in letters of blood till they awakened the land I d fight fight fight till they had to kill every man of my kind before I d down The Old man had been like the storm wind of the mountains hurling Off the dead leave s of thought Wayland paused in his pacing The Opal peak emerged from pearl gray cloud wrack ; a S ilver cro s s translucent unreal luminous a thing Of dreams winged with S ilver light beneath a solitary star eternal a s God And the night wind through the pines that had s ounded s o dole ful but a moment before became the jubilant click ing of countles s castanets the castanets of the long pine needles sounding a triumphant chant t o the touch of invisible hands ’

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Wayland stopped pacing He almo st stopped thinking T he consciousnes s the realizing sens e o f her presence o f her touch of a something mor e than her touch , o f her being enveloping his in some ethereal fire went over the R anger in fiercely tender floo d tides ; this time not in tumultuous c on fused desire but in waves of strength in visions f rom which the mists had vanished daring that laughed with gladnes s over life There were no longer two Waylands in conflict with one sneering “ an d looking on A house divided agains t itself .

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64

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE S S



There was only on e with the blood hall fall O f mothers in his veins whelmed by a conscious n es s that reached back far a s the consciousness of the race Somehow his simple manhood the in heritance in hi s blood of men and women who had loved fu sed the conflict of his nature to a s mg le n e s s of purpo s e and w on peace now “ What he said w a s : C ome on my friend th e enemy ! I m right here on the j ob ; nailed you bet long a s s he do es it ! Just to come alive is worth ” being crucified “ ” Hullo bawled a t ow s le d head through the “ cabin window Aren t y ou going t o turn in ? It s exactly twelve O clock ! Darn it all ! Don t make a S leep walking Lady Macbeth tragedy out o f it ! Chuck the bally thing and come on down t o the Valley ! Why do you waste your life pretend ing you are P rovidence steering the whole earth ? C huck it Dickie ! I f you were in town I d give o u a cocktail anything up here ! o ? G t y Wayland went to sleep to dream on e of tho s e dreams that envelop day with rain b ow mist H e dreamed that the amethyst gates of the sun had s wung aj ar flooding life with countles s chariot e er s each carrying a golden S pear and as they a dv anced over the clouds to earth all the littl e purple heather bells that had hung their heads during the night t o keep out the d ew all the waxy chalices of the winter greens pale an d faint with pas sion all the bells nodding to the wind — began ringing ringing ten thousand golden s

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TH E

bells ; and th e painter s brush multicolored daz fl a un te d z lin g knee deep in the Alpin e meadows countles s torches of carmine flame to welcome ’ back the day T hen suddenly it wa sn t a sound Of bells at all It w a s her v o ice her voice with the golden note and the liquid break that came when he had surprised Love in her eyes ; and it ’ wasn t the warmth of the S un s fan S haped shaft s at all ; it was the warmth of her lips in the f ac e o f the picture s h e had promised — the face above “ ” the Warrio r When he awakened a sprig o f everlasting that he had s t uck in the band of hi s Alpin e hat ha d blo wn acro s s hi s f a c e ’

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C HA PTE R

WH E R E I N

ON E P LAY S AN

VI

U N C ON SCI OU S

P

AR T

Watch a snow flake a s it falls ! Gentle is too rough a wo rd for the motion It floats a crystal cob w eb shot with the glint of s un j ewels ; tangible but melting to your touch evanescent and trans lucent a s light ; conceived Of the wind that bloweth where it listeth and the go ssamer clouds of a vague somewhere Waveringly nois elessly s o noiseles sly it comes that you do n ot catch the rustling flutter with your ear but with a S ixth sens e o f motion And it transforms bewitches b e a utifi e s what it touches I suppo s e if such an evanescent thing were told that it and it alone had been the age Old time immemorial sculptor of the granite rocks ; that it — and it alone to paraphras e the wo rds of the — scientist s had rolled away the doo r from the sepulchers of the eternal rocks and turned a planet — into a sensate earth pulsing with growth I suppo s e if a snow flake were told such heresy it would die of it s ow n amaze Thi s a p r op os of nothing in particular unles s you happen to understand from the c a ta g ory of your ow n experiences .

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A N U N CO N SCIOU S

PART

It was her first love letter ; and because she did not know She was writing a love letter sh e wrote Als o out of the fulnes s of an overflowing heart the hour w a s the precise hour when consciousnes s of her p resence had gone over Wayland in floo d tides Of fierce tendernes s That may have been a mere coincidence I s et it down because such coincidences daily touch life Here is the letter -

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Tw e lve O c loc k ’

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Are you a vision fugitive O R anger Man ? DO you know that I have s een you les s than t en times and really known you les s than a month ? Is it a dream ? What happened ? I did n ot mean to do it I did not want it I did n ot ask it Why has it come ? You said best gifts came un asked ; perhaps they also go unsen t ! This on e ’ can never go Dick I ve been weaving it in and out f or three whole hours ( no n ot thin king I t hin k o f other people ) weaving it in and out o f every strand of me I know n ow I have been waiting for it a billion years ; ages and age s ago when you an d I were cave p eople o r des ert run ners like the B C skeleton in the B ritish Mus eum ; and in the shuffl e of atoms we g ot apart We shall never stray again ; for I have locked last night i n my heart Y esterd a y I could look up at the Mountain and what I s aw w a s the snow cro s s col d and far away To night I look up Th e Mountain is still there but not the same — what I feel is y ou ; and you are n ot far away I am warm with happines s delirious when I let myself s top thinking I h av e tried to slee p but cannot Your old ’



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68

F RE E B OO TER S O F

WILD ERNE S S

TH E

Mountain has been talking again I can see the Cro s s here from my win dow and the lone star a bove the pe a k ; and I know that you s e e too If I touched the telephon e I might speak to you ; but I can write more fran kly than I d ever have courage t o speak an d I must s a y it It i s a ll tumult I do not understand but Hop e is strum ming her strin gs — I hear them every time the wind comes down from the R idge Here is th e — — Watts Happy Warrio r and Dick listen I didn t mean it as a token when I O ffered to s end it up I meant it a s a rallying cry ; but no w that you take it as a token I c an t s a y th a t it isn t ; only I really di dn t mean to push you over the edge of things a s I did I didn t mean to go over the edge myself If I had he a rd Senato r Moy e s e talk I couldn t have been so childish and ignorant It was like urging you to jump a preci pice and break your neck I know n ow what the fight me a ns It isn t just the Valley It s the N ation I hadn t any right to let my ( her e a word was cro ssed and blotted ) feeling shove o u over Yet if you jump yours elf I ll not pull y a go s samer thread to draw back I haven t any r ight Y ou k now how it has always been with me whisked away to the conven t at Quebec when I was four s ent to that Ne w York fin ishing scho ol t o get what F ather called world s ense knocked into my religion Well they were knocks all right Then E ngland and Switzerland and my F ather s order s to come back and how lonely and apart he a lways seems I don t understand What did Moy e s e mean to n ight when he spoke of b ow and arrow aristocracy ? Will you believe me that i s the first I have ever heard of it ? .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

70

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

bathing S leep Of the great mountain ozone world Wa s it a dream ; or had C alami ty come stealing through the F rench window to stand at the foo t Of her bed ? Waking to a burst o f sunlight acro ss her face E leano r could not tell in the least whether the memory Of the half breed woman standing in the shadows were dream or reality The s un wa s coming over the R im R o cks in a fan shaped shield o f spear shafts ; and every single S haft wa f ted down thoughts that refus ed to lie quiet Shafts that have a trick of turning your heart into a ta r get can t b e shut out by armo r proof Daylight restored her poise Her first instinct w a s to recall the letter ; but Calamity had already s e t O ff f o r the R idge The thought hardly took f orm but the shadow haunted her If It were true he would surely never let her work round the ranch hous es of the Valley B reakfast passed a s usual alone in the big raftered dining ro om after the ranch hands had gone the lame German cook f o r the camp wagons hobbling in and out with the dishes Stage had pas sed long since and the mail lay at her place where the German had S pread a white square above the Oil cloth of the long bench table ; but letters and p apers remained un opened Perhaps afte r all tho se midnight thoughts had been morbid a s midnight thoughts Often are It might be that the Valley w a s apart from them not they apart from the Valley Wh o were the neig hbors fro m whom her father s to od aside ? -

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AN

UNC ON SCIOUS

P A RT

T here w a s the Senato r in the white house acro s s the R iver Well the Senato r spent the mo st of .

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his time in Smelter City forty miles away and in Washington Then there were the Williams o f the Mission Hous e with their only boy and eighty o r a hundred I ndian children ; gentlefolk keepin g u p the amenities of refined life spreading the con t a g ion of b eautiful example like an irrigation plo t widening slowly over arid sage brush Surely her father was held in esteem by them ; and they stood f or all that w a s bes t in the Valley B e low the ranch hous es came what w a s kno wn as ” “ the E nglish Colony a scattering O f young bachelo rs playing at ranchin g who s e rendezvous “ wa s the pretty Swis s chalet known a s the R ook ery where a wonderful little young O ld lady with red wig and hectic flush dispensed lavish hos i l i a t n and ca ned music and Old port behind the t y p eminent respectability Of a stool pigeon in the per s on of a card loving husband The lady s hus “ ” band called himself colonel The Valley called “ ” him on e o f tho s e n o good E nglishmen ; but the Valley may have been mistaken ; f or even to the ranch hous e had come tales of outraged honor in “ ” the perso n of the n o goo d husband bursting in on games of cards with wild charges which only — the payment of big money could suppres s sup press you understand purely for the sake of the lady : outraged honor could accept no atonement Then the lady would flit for the winter t o tho se be auty doctors of P aris and Ne w York , w ho o p er ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

72

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

ate on wrinkles and lay up muniments fo r fresh “ ” campaigns ; and the colonel would be take him s elf to reso rts where balm is accorded wounded honour ; while loo se mouthed, simple eyed young fellows went E ast for the winter lighter as to purs e, wi ser a s to the ways of paying for pleas ure Al together it was not surprising her father “ ” kept apart from the E nglish Colony E leanor reflected She pa s sed out to the piazza spanning all side s of the ranch house -

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It w a s a s un bathed s un kis sed s un fused world Th e R iver flowed liquid silve r j ubilant and singing T he morning mists ro ll ed up prim ro s e spangled with j ewels while over all lay such light as hypnotized the sen ses into a sort of daz zle d dre a m world Ashes of ro s es ! There were n o ashes here It was the ro se itself ; a world veiled in gold mist wind blown fl a me fi re d of j oy little cr e ss et s Of fire edging every ridge The sheep browsing in the Valley the fl e e ce cloud s herding mid the winds of the upper p eaks you hardly kn ew which shone whiter The burnished mountain with its silver cro s s and wings o f light opal about the peaks melting in fading lines about the bas e with the middl e distances lo st in ga shed purple shadows might have been a thing Of airy fancy S O might the dark forested R idge where the evergreens stood sentin els among wisps o f And everyw her e all pervasive sifting c loud t hroug h the Sh adow s of silv ered p ine ne edles an d -

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A N U N CO N SCIOUS P A RT trembling poplars permeated the cinnamon smell resinous of b a lsam o f the barky forest world spicy with the tang of life She could s e e the mountain streams where they laughed down the R idge in wind t a ttered spray With the gla ss too she could s e e a little blue wreath of man made smoke curling up from th e evergreens ; and waves of happines s ab surd warm glowing happ iness broke over her the sheer glad nes s of being alive Whatever sinister thing kept — h her father apart it was here s e belonged s he — kn ew it n ow to the great spacious life s timula t ing West ; to the world resinous with imprisoned sunbeams ; not to the lands of sky shut out by tw enty sto ry roo f s and pea soup fogs and sickly anaemic views of life Life wa s good She drank ’ o f it and called it goo d a s in creation s prime O nce s h e called C entral up on the telephone C entral answered that the R idge line had been cut Such duties as men s h ands could n ot do round ranch houses she finished in a dream turning with a touch the hou s e into a home ; flowers for the middle o f the big table dishes pitchforked down replaced in order corner cobweb s speared with a duster on a bro om N avaj o rugs uncurled and squared stale co oking expelled from littered shelves flie s pur sued to the last ditch breaks in the mo squito wire r ound the piazza tacked up heap s of mended so ck s and overalls sent out t o the bunk house for the ranch hands milk ca ns — buri ed it ha d always bee n one of the ab su rdities ,

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F REEB OO TER S O F

74

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

going to reform that people used canned milk in a cow country ; but unfortunately the obstacle to that reform w a s that cows could not be mi lked on horseback After mid day meal , sh e ensconced hers elf in a steamer chair on the piazza facing the moun tain ; but her book lay f a ce downward It w a s a book on coniferous trees She had thought the Valley monotonous when she had first come back Now s h e knew it never remain ed the same for tw o whole hours T he dazzling white of morning had given place to the yellow glow of afternoon The R iver that had flowed quicksilver n ow swept s e a ward pure amber rilled with gold The fleece clouds herded by wandering winds had massed to towering cumulus where the sheet lightnings played ; and the Mountain where the silver snow cro s s had glistened in the morning s eemed to have changed perspective to have retreated and with drawn to a weird upper world You no longer Purpling shad s a w the wind blown cataracts p alpable sabling mournful gho st fo rms ow s folded and wrapped the R idge with here and there shafts of slant light yellow a s bars Of gold You could no longer hear the rampant ro ar of streams disimprisoned from snow by mid day s un With the S lant ligh t came the si bilant hush the quiet tangible sh e

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She reclined very still in the steamer chair Lif e and lo v e an d mystery wrapped her ro und , .

AN

P A RT

UNCO N SCIOUS

the great reverie of the race the ecstasy of de v o t e e s that sent t o death and crusade m the Mid dle Ages the lovelight of life brooding warm She n o longer s a w the shining a n d radiant p ageant Of sunlight on the argent fields of an in fi n ite univers e ; the sparks and spangles of light in silver cataracts ; a world veiled in gold mist fl a me fi r e d of j oy little cres sets of ro se edg ing every sky line She w a s po sses s ed Obsessed bathed enveloped in a flame of n ew life If she thought at all twas in the symbol of the Old “ Apo stle in Him we live and move and have ” She recalled that God had been de o ur being fined in the consciousnes s of the race a s Love Deep draughts of n ew existence whelmed her NO longer life cours ed somnolent through un conscious veins Life ran riotous Of gladnes s tingling to a living j oy s o poignant it became pain Was it fool —j oy born Of swifter puls e and time o ld inheritance in the flesh ? Was it the rhap sody o f self hypnotism which ancients would have called vision ? O f such dreams do es creation S pring full bo rn and e n fl e s h e d O f such dreams do es heroism laugh at death O f such dreams does life invest the daily round with rain b ow mist with the spectrum gamut of all the colors that blend to the pure white light of daily life As a lense splits up light s o love had brought o ut the hidden colors of existenc e of eternity ; a s s h e d reamed eternity itself s eemed short T hen came the restlessness that had shaken ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

76

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

Wayland on the R idge the night before the fi re that tests the ves sel ; and whether the life go to pieces depend on whether the vess el b e both strong a n d clean Yet sh e wa s not afraid She remem bered their talk the night befo re Of the snow flake f all in g to the same law a s the avalanche ; and w a s s h e n o t also a part o f the Great L a w ? She kne w he co ul d not be free till s ix She must n ot g o up to th e R idge Last night she ha d gone heedles sly She could never go s o again Then sh e realized why the Mis sionary s wife had — linked her f at e with Williams a frail bit of chin a putting itself to the coarse uses o f earthen — ware wa shing scrubbing sandpapering thre e generations of mor al s and bodies to make an ideal real It was Wayland who had first described a piece of B is Mr s Williams in that metapho r “ ” an d what tho s e que or Dresden he had said lousy Indian s need i s a wo oden wash tub with lot s ” o f soft so ap T hen s he wanted to s ee Mr s Williams to study her with thi s n ew knowledge A picket fence in imi tation of a home in th e E a st ran round the Mis sion House P itiful a t tempts a t gardenin g lined the gravel entrance p eriw ink le dried up in the bla z ing Western s un sickly scented geranium s that shrivelled to the night fro st althea s that did better but refused to “ bloom They don t transplant E as t to West any better than they do West to E ast B etter fol lo w the S en a tor s advic e and domesticat e our ,

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F R EEB OO TER S O F

78

WILD E RNE S S

TH E

ner till his figure towered above the little woman “ — — SO this is E leanor Ma cDon ald ? Well ” well well ! “ He wa s shaking hands at each word A knew your grandfather well Many s the time we hav e raced the dog tra in s down Ma cK en zie R iver an ’ the cano es down the Saskatchewan ! Twas you r grandfather s e t the bagpipes skirling when Gover nor Simp son us ed to come galloping down the C olumbia in the forties with his paddler s splitting the wind a dark fearsome man child but a brave on e tho his heart w a s hard as his hand and his hand wa s iron— B ras de F er Arm of Iron the Indians called him ; fo r his left hand he lo st in a duel ; and his fals e hand wa s a true hand of iro n metal that made many a lazy voyageur bite the dust B les s me but you are a Ma cD on a ld to your dain ty feet holding her off from him at arm s “ length E yes true to pedigree and the curly hair and the short upper lip the only on e o f all ’ the Ma c Don ald s that s kept the race typ e T is good to s e e you ! A m right glad to s ee you ! A m gladder than you know E leano r did not wait f or any second thought And did you know my mother s people to o ? “ NO A The Old man s a t back in his corn er cannot s ay A did ! A had left the Company an w a s building railway bridges in the R ockies when your father left C anada She felt the hot flush moimt ” Mrs Will Such a n absurd thing , E leanor .

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UN CO N SCIOU S P A RT

AN iams



explaining Mr Matthews came by the Holy Cro ss last night Mr Wayland told Calamity to S how him which way to turn ; and she s ent him the wrong way to the c ow b oy camp you know ! He had to S leep out all night at our very doo r Such a shame ! That put him so late that he missed Mr Williams You know they have gone to the Upp er Pas s and can t pos sibly — be back fo r weeks excuse me some of my school ” people seem to want me and she fl itte d from the room T o E leanor her life seemed a constant flitting at the beck of bootless duties nagging duties that only an expert time keeper of Heaven could credit “ Yes ! Sent me a mile along the ro ad in the — wrong direction into a nest o f mid night birds A nice bunch O beauties too hatching some Devil plot to ruin the poo r sheepmen ! A man in a white vest wa s there who by the same token didn t belong ; tho A m n o s o sure he wa s any better than his company They didn t s e e me ! A didna just speak to th em but A heard th em plain enough leave fo r th e South at once ; and ‘ crowd em to beat Hell and s end em over with ou t a push an see that no harm comes to the ” boy E h why what i s the matter ? E leanor had S prung forward with white lips “ It s F ordie ! He s t a king the sheep to the R im R ocks with the Mexican herders Don t frighten his mother ! It ma y not be to o late ! He may n ot ha ve reached the R im w as

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F RE EB O OTER S

80

W ILD ERNE S S

OF TH E

Let s telephone that R anger fellow ? ’

it all dawned on her the deadly suave incredibly malicious pre planned thing ! ” “ s he The wi res had been cut since morning s a id Then ,

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C H A P TE R

VII

W HI L E LAW M ARKS TI M E They

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C

RI M E SC O RES

did no t tell the boy s mother Th e German cook hitched the fastest broncho s to the yellow buckboard with the front wheel brake ; and the Old frontiersman flourishing the reins they had whisked Off fo r the R idge trail befo re Mrs Williams could return to the Mis sion Parlo r “ Th e R anger wi ll be able to tell whether the ” s h e ex sheep have pas s ed down the R idge plained Th e old man caught the light on her face as s he spoke the name It was like the flash in the dark that betrays a diamond o r the scintilla of light through the leaves that tells Of an Alp i n e lake ; but he made no comment except to the ponies “ Go it little ones ! Make time ! S plit the wind ! Show y r heels ! T ear the air to tatters ! ” there ! And he whirled the whip with the skill o f all the Old Adam stirring within him whi le the buckboard went forward with a bounce “ We can t tak e the wagon up yon R idge trail ’

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82

F RE EB OO TER S O F

WILD E RNE SS

TH E

NO, but I can climb straight up

an d n ot

mind



the s w itch back if you ll wait He muttered some commonplace about true ” Westerner ; and springing out she had gone s crambling up the slop e avoiding delay of the zig zag by climbing almo st straight Quizzically the old man gazed after her ; the first hundred f eet were easy a mo ssed slop e with padded foot hold T hen came steep ground slip p ery with pin e needles ; but the mountain laurel and ground juniper gave hand grip ; and she swung herself up past the third tier of the switch back where the R idge aro s e a rock face and trees with two notches and on e blaze marked the lower bounds of the N ational F orests Here he s aw her run along the bridle trail marked by on e notch and on e blaze : then s he wa s swingin g over mo rain e l p e s to the fifth bench o f the trail There — S he disappeared round a jut o f rock he remem bered a mountain S pring trickled out at this place bridged by S pruce poles Then he noticed that the cumulous clouds which had been flashing sheet lightning all afternoon were mas sing and darken ing and lowering clo s er over the Valley with zig z a g j ags of live fire down to the ground and sounds more like the crack of a whip o r splinter woo d than thunder The cli ff swallows of dipped almo st to the grass ; and the flowers were hanging their heads in miniature umbrellas All the trembling poplars and cotton wo ods seemed to be furled waiting Then the lower side of the ’

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C R I M E SCO RE S slate clouds frayed in the edge of a sweepy gar ment to sheets and fringes of rain A little tremo r ran through the leaves The horses lai d back their ears “ We ll get it said the Old man tightenin g the reins '

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She had paused f or breath round the buttress of a gray crag when she noticed the churn o f yeasty blacknes s blotting out the Valley and felt the hushed heat of the air A j ack rabbit went whip ping past at long bo unds The last rasp o f a j ay s scold j angled out from the trees Then she heard from the hushed Valley the low flute trill of a blue bird s love song E ver afterwards either of thos e bird notes the s our! of the j ay or the golden melody Of the blue warbler brough t her j oyous terrible thoughts t o o keen to the very quick of being fo r either w ords or tears ; fo r a horseman had turned the crag leading his broncho It w a s the R anger in his sage green Service suit wearing a sprig Of everla sting in his Al pine hat “ Why I ve been tryi ng to get you by telephone ” “ all day he said but the wires are cut I n the light of the sudden strength on his face s h e forgot the brooding sto rm the impending horror “ Has F ordie brought the sheep down ? Yes ages ago ; he passed at noon with the whole bunch fifteen thousand of em strung along the trail from the t op of the R idge to the bottom .

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F RE EB OO T ER S O F

84

Don

WILD ERNE SS

how they ski nn ed every branch ? T hat s why the cattlemen hate em ! F ord will be on the Rim Mesas n ow Why ; anything wrong ? She did n ot rememb er till afterwards h ow it was s he had met both his hands with her ow n as she repeated the Old frontiersman s report She knew if time stopped and storm S plit the welkin it would be all the s ame She felt the heat hush co me up from the Valley felt the quivering paus e o f the waiting air the nois eles s flutter of the foliage the awed quiet then the exquisite tingling pain of her Ow n b eing E leano r look at me ! Look in my eyes ! Loo k up at me She felt the r ush of her being to meet and blend and fuse in the flame of his love Then S he looked up His eyes drank hers in one poised moment of delirious recognition of temp estuous tendernes s Th e world swam out of ken All but the fluted melody o f the blue bird ; and she kn ew they must always sound together the tril l and the ra sp the blue bird and the j ay the true and the false love and its counterfeit “ ” We go into this fight together he said very “ ” quietly And fo rever ! He placed the sprig “ o f everlasting in her hand Y ou can co un t m e o n the firing line Then he had thrown the reins over h is broncho s neck headed the ho rs e back up the R idge and w a s s lithering down the steep slop e giving her h a nd ’

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TH E

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

86

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

the old man whirling the whip they were OR f o r the R im R ocks The breaking sto rm the whipping winds the wild pace the rush o f the fringed rain s eemed a part of the furious ex a lt a ti on breaking the bounds o f her ow n con o ut,

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Cr os s th e ford Sir shouted the R anger “ ” bendin g fo rward it s shorter than the bridge ; and her hair to s sed in his face a s the buckbo ard splashed into the R iver and bounced up the far side with hind wheels swaying ” “ Are y all right there ? called the Old driver over his shoulder “ “ Stay with it yelled Wayland s traight ” ahead where the road cuts the R im R ocks ” “ We re S plitting the air all right shouted the “ Old man Ye mind y t a lked Of s awing air ” Split it man an y ll get somewhere Up a hummock down a ravine over a fallen log with a hurdle jump that threatened to break the buckboard s back “ ” Are ye there yet ? called the Old man ” Split the wind Sir shouted Wayland ; and the rig went rattling up the red earth ro ad Of the R im R ocks no t a wheel s width from the edge We re leaving the storm behind ; look b a ck s h e said Up the Valley swept the rain s in a wall o f whipped spray j agged by the zi g zag streaks of lig htning ,

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C R I M E SCO RE S Hold on till we turn the next s witch back warned the R anger The buckboard wheeled a point as he spoke and the broncho s fl oun de re d to a fagged trot They s aw it co mi ng : the rai n wall frayed at the edge t o a fringe the wind lashing their faces the red ro cks of the battle ments jutting through the cloud wrack spectral and ominous A toothed edge of rock above then a belt of cloud cut by the darting wings of the countless swallows The trees of the R idg e acro s s the Valley seemed to bend and snap There wa s a funnelling roar sucking up earth and air trees and brush woo d ; whips and lashes and splintering cra shes rain and win d and j agged light lines ; the of broncho s cowering against the inner wall Of the trail Then the funnellin g wind tore the pin n a cle d rock tops clear of the billowing mist “ ” There go es your hat Sir cried Wayland a s the black felt went sailing down the precipice “ ’ ” What s that ! demanded th e old man spring ing f rom the seat and pointing u p ward with his ,

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O ve r the edge of the sky line on the r immed red b a ttlements jumping jumping jumping ; as sheep jump at shearing time from the ho t center t o the cool outside o r over the backs o f on e another in winter cold when the outer line j umps to the huddled center ; came the herd in a gray wooll y s ha p eless wh irlin ss r ies hr l l m a i c ! s h S u s o t g , , ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

88

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

b leatings , storm muffled bang , b a ng and thud O f uns Just for an instant emerged f ro m h ! t e , g

mist on the skyline Of the b attlements the figur e a riderles s white of a man in sheep skin chap s horse shadows of other men the sheep in a living torrent pouring over into the nothingnes s of mist ; then a boy a little boy riding hatle ss craning far f orward over the neck of his pin to pony Shout in g waving screaming trying to head the sheep back from the precipice edge ! “ The dastard coward blackguard Hell ” h atched hounds ! roared the old man shaking his impotent fist T hen he funnelled his hands and s houted the lad s name It happened in the twinkling of an eye The man in the sheep skin chap s clubbed his rifle a t the galloping pony T he pinto reared flung back pitched over the edge of the R im R ocks Then the cloud blot earth and air sponged into the wet blur of a wa shed slate shrieking furie s of pelter ing rain a roar of the hurricane wind a blinding flash the air torn t o tatters ! T he cloud burst hurled down in sheets the red clay road run nel ling flood torrent s Wayland had caught her un der shelter of the ro ck wall The old man hurtled t o the heads O f the shivering broncho s gripping both bridles A S plintering crash that r o ck e tte d from crag to crag and rumbled below their feet ; and the thing w a s over quick a s it had come The funnelling whirl of clouds eddied over the Pa ss b ehind the Holy Cro ss Mountain ; the opal peak -

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

90

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

While the L aw marked time the swif t f eet O f crime had not paused no r slackened pace While the Law argued learnedly disputatiously with the handing up and the handing do wn of inan e decisions C rime scored ; and Who or What tal lied ? T he men round the fire the night before in “ ” the cow camp the men Of the bunco g a me had stack ed cards and played trump ; but un f or t un a t ely they had jumble d the white vested The ca ttlemen fi g hter s orders about the b oy had taken care of themselves after a c o de n ot hon ored by the la w of nations ,

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Al s o, they had gone int o the fight together t he

w ho

the right but did n ot un d ers ta n d the fight ; the on e who understoo d th e fight but sometime s lo st his vision of the right ; and the on e who s aw in the fight fo r right not the quarrel of a Valley o r a F ac tion o r a R ing but the saving of the N ation the repudiation of a world lie the welding of right and might into an etern a l harmony on e

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C HA P TE R VI II VI C

TI M



OF L AW s

E

D L AY

For years , E leano r could not let herself re member the details o f that night We like to .

persuade ourselve s that by some miraculou s chance some trickery of fate goo d may come in a vague somehow o ut Of e v il ; contrary to the pro ofs from the beginning of t ime that good frui t never yet grew from evil s eed The girl w a s t oo honest f o r such fetish faith She could n ot turn up the whites of her eyes in a pious resignation that it had been the will O f Go d evil should tri umph S O s h e shut out the details of the ho rro r f rom mind s memory and s et her teeth knowing well that when lewd horrors triumph it is n ot becaus e the G od of the Univers e is a fool but because the powers fo r right have n ot fought v aliant as the power s for evil She remembered the R anger h ad to ssed a re volver to the old frontiersman and Matthews had gone tearing up the slippery clay of the Mes a road ripping out o aths of his unregenerate days “ that he would have the scoundrels scalps if he ” had to te a r them off with his own hands S ome ,

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F REEB OO TER S O F

92

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

Wayland had headed the draggled horse s roun d on the narrow Rim R ock trail “ G O down and break the news to hi s mother I ll get the body he had said ; and s h e had driven the buckboard down with her foo t on the wheel brake N ot a soul appeared around the Senator s place a s s h e pas s ed the white square of f enced buildings All the mo squi to doors were hooked E verything looked des erted ; branding iron s ly ing in disorder round the k raal Th e R iver had swollen too turbulent fo r fording and s h e had — cro s sed the white bridge she rememb ered she had cro s sed at a g a llop contrary to the little notice tacked on the board railing Then the hors es steaming from rain had stopped in front o f the Mission gate and M r s Williams had come “ ” o ut wondering about F ordie in the storm With her back to the waiting mother E leanor h a d spent an unconscionable time tyin g the ponies trying t o control her ow n trembling lips and threshing round f or some way to tell the untell able She remembered the ro il of the raging waters the flo ating star blo ssoms on the muddy swirl the light sifting in beaten r a in dust through the silver pine needles the curve and dip of the j oyous swallows Then s he had followed the little whi te haired lady into the Mission Parlor

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Almo st hysterically that saying of an old p ro “ fane writer came to mind God tempers the wind ” and all her inner being w a s t o the shorn lamb ; ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

94

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

again s he had to shut the doo r Of memory ; f or when we break the news it isn t the news we break ; it s the news breaks us Af ter what s eem ed an interminable quiet Mrs Williams was asking through dry te a rles s s ob s “ Wha t do es it all mean ? Have we no t given our whole lives t o G o d ? H ow could thi s thing — happ en to an inno cent child ? There isn t an y ” j ustice o r right in thi s whole world “ We must n ot be qu i escent any more Mrs Williams We must fig ht We have such a habit letting things go and things let g O— g o of wrong It isn t God s fault at all : it s us u s humans : it s ou r fault E very on e of us ought to have b een ready to die to prevent crime ; and we ve been letting things go We mustn t be quiescent any more We mus t figh t wrongs and ” evils And much more ; the girl in tears the little woman fevered red eyed gaz ing wi th glazed look into dark spaces kneading h er clasped h a nds together O nce the do or opened and the s hawled head Of the old half breed woman poked m ” F ord ? C alamity asked ” G o w a y Calamity whispered E leano r She s a w the little woman ris e slowly “ ” He is murdered Mrs Williams said he is murdered just as tr ul y a s if M oy e s e had cut his ” thro at with his ow n hand It w a s not fo r months after, that E leanor recalled the look on ,



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A VIC T IM O F

L AW



S D E L AY

Calamity s f ace as the Indian woman heard tho se frenzied wo rds Then Mr s Williams broke in uh “ — controllable sobbing Leav e me ! G O out all ” o f you Leave me alone ! E leanor shut the doo r and led the dazed Indian children from the outer hall In the Library op the Mission P arlor she found Old C alamity o s i t e p sitting on the flo or with the shawl over her head Th e half breed woman s a t p eering through the shawl as E leano r lighted the hanging lamp NO Indi a n will mention the name of the dead She fastened her eyes on E leanor snakily sinister never shifting her glance “ What is it Calamity ? Is dat true ? Senator man he keel heem ” keel leetle boy ? S h e asked slowly E leano r thought a moment “ ” Y e s it is entirely true she s aid never heed ing the import of her words t o the superstitious mind of the Indian woman A little his s of breath came from the crouching fo rm She ro se drew the shawl round her head and at the doo r turned “ ” “ Dey take mi ne she said, and now dey keel — — heem an whit e man he y a ppy yappy yappy — not do no t do any t ing ! He send f or Mount ’ P lice mabee n o do a n yt ing unless Indian man ” he keel T he little his s of breath again and a cunning mad look in the eyes “ ’ G O w ay Calamity ! G o home to our r an ch house ! ’

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

96

TH E

B y and by came Wayland

WILD E RNE SS

She knew why he had come after dark carry ing the slender body against his shoulder A white handkerchief had been thrown over the face ; and s he s aw t hat h e held the arms tightly to hide the fac t th a t both had been broken in the fall The rain s had ma t ted the curly hair and brought a strange ros e — T glow to the cheeks here again E leano r had to shut the doors of memory ; fo r they had carried him in togethe r The w ind was not tempered to the sho rn l amb ; and it is the living n ot the dead who beat against the P or tal s Of Death They kept w atch toge ther , sh e and Wayland in the Library acro s s f rom the clo s ed do o r of the Mis sion P arlor black eyed Indian urchins peep ing furtively from the head of the stairs till bells ran g lights out T hen silence fell stabbed by the creak of floo r the swing Of doo r the click a n d rustle of the cotton woo d leaves outside T here was a slight patter of rain drip from the A gate swung t o the wind ; e ave s somewhere and from acro s s the hall they could hear the driven footstep s pacing U p and down the parlor — — drip w a s broken by longer Then the drip blanks and stopped The cotton woo d leave s ceased to r ustle and flutter O nly the twang of the night hawk s wing hummed through the still ness ; and the distracted tread no longer paced the Mission P arlor When E leanor came back from a cros s the hall sh e shut the Library door softly “ ” She is praying sh e said ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

98

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

over it Then somewhere from the dark came a — night s ound heard only in June the broken dream trill Of a bird in its sleep When sh e S poke her voice wa s low keyed a s the dream voice f rom the dark “ Where did the spray of flowers you gave me ” come from ? “ Sprig I d stuck in my hat b a nd Wa s that all ? Didn t you mean to tell me ” more ? It s a p earl everlasting blo ssom answered Waylan d She wai ted He heard the slow ticking of his o w n watch “ ” I w a s dreaming of your face he blundered “ o ut and when I wakened the thing had blown — down ou the h a mmoc It wa s a clumsy s ub t e rf ug e ; and he knew that her thought meeting his half way divined his dream Th e wind pas sed whisp ering into silence He felt the quiver Of the pine needles outside trem bling to the touch of wind and night Th e sens e Of her nearnes s of her trust of the warm living fire of her love swept over him unstemmed ; and When sh e turned and looked in his eyes he caught her in his arms and held her there with a fierce t endernes s her face thrown back the veins of her throat pulsing t o the touch of wind an d night her lip s parted her lashes hiding her eyes ” T ell me that you are mine he whispered She did not answer fo r a moment Then s he .

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A

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L AW

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S D E L AY

lifted her eyes He drank their lig ht a s a thirsty man might drink waters of life N either spoke The June Th e rustling wind pas sed whispering dark enveloped them in the warm caress Of the night B y the dim flare of the library lamp he s a w her lip s trembling ” T ell me he commanded ” DO I need to tell you ? Yes yes ! I must have a s eal of memory for ” the dark future and his tongue poured forth such utterances as he had n ot dreamed men could “ use but in prayer I must know from your ” ow n lips He felt the tremor felt the two hands rise to frame his face felt the catch and take of breath heard the broken notes of gold “ ” Then take it s h e said He bent over her lip s in an exquisite torture that could neither give nor take enough till she st ruggled to free herself when he crushed her th e clo ser and kiss ed the clo sed eyes and the for e head and the hair and the pulsing thro at Then he opened his arms She sank on the morri s chair and hid her face in her hands They neither o f them spoke no r heard very much but the po un ding of their ow n hearts Wayland gazed out in the dark at the shin y fl o od tides Of the river She had not meant sh e had meant alw a ys to be free ; s h e had not meant to mingle her life currents in the destin y Of others .

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F REE B OO TE R S O F

1 00

TH E

The doo r open e d suddenly

WILDERNE S S It

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old C ala

mity red shawled and sto oping “ Mis s a Vellam s a y not fo r va it no longer Mademoiselle ! She aw righ t She s ay t ank ” u n o o w home f or o ! t o y g E leanor ro se with a shuddering sigh ” Come then C alamity s h e said Wayland walked with her to the ranch hous e the Old half breed woman pattering behind Th e gray dawn light lay on the river mistily At the gate s he turned “ Has Mr Matthews come back yet Calamity ? Calamity gave a vigorous shake of her head I am go ing up to the R im R o cks a t once to s e e what s bec ome of him G O on in C alamity ; I want to speak to Mis s M a cDon a ld ! F o rgive ” “ me he pleaded I had no right I have no right to an ything till I have cleaned up this dam nable hell wo rk I must n ot leave duty til l I have fought this thing o ut ; and I must not drag “ he paused ; I couldn t y ou in ; but I wanted help it She trembled b ut sh e took refuge in n either the subterfuge n o r the pretence of the E astern woman “ ” It was yours s he said “ Wayland s eyes flashed their gratitude ; It s s o God bles sed b eautiful E leano r ; it s so wonder fully beautiful I mustn t spoil it with my man hands ! I couldn t believe it true without th e memory you ve given me ; but you must keep me -

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C H A P TE R

IX

RI G HT I N T O M I G HT

Don t wait f o r Mr Matthews and me We are s etting out on the Long T rail I t is the L ong T rail this N ation will have to travel befo re De mo cra c y arrives It is the T rail Of the Man b e hind the Thing ; and we ll no t quit till we g e t him You remember what our Old visito r said about ” splitting the air to get somewhere We are “ ” “ going to quit sawing the air and split it to ” get somewhere We are going to s e t out after the Man ; the little codger first as a foot print ( I the Long T rail to the lair Of the M a n Higher p You cannot stab a lo t Of things to life as you did last night and the night before and then ex p e et them to lie quiet and b e the same Y ou have s ent me forth on the Long T rail E lean o r ; and I shall hunt the better becaus e you have st a bbed me alive and will never let me go to S leep again I thank you ; and yet I can t thank you mine — t look up and s e e what that means Ald e r L i ef es — in Old Saxon Yours in Lif e and Death and Always and O ut B eyond DICK ’

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I have o rdered a wreath from Smelter City for F ordie F ind it hard to stop writing and go from you ; but the darned Old Mountain do esn t “ look the s ame ; it s all draped out in such dam ” f o h OO l a i n s that I am glad in the shadow s e p pp DI CK ( 2n d ) Death .







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R IG H T I NT O M IG H T Don t f orget every d a y dawn and s un s et I come to renew the Seal E ver study Algebra in college ? Then look up what this means D I C K ( nth ) ’

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An d becaus e

had graduated from girl to woman between sunset and daydawn Of that Death Watch s he kissed the last signature right in the midst of the German cook s dishes s et all hi g f o the Oilcloth top instead the i l d n e l d e o g y p gg y linen cover owing to the distraction Of the night s tragedy It wa s his first love letter ; and becaus e it was his firs t he did not know it was a love letter He had written it on the pag es of a field note book O n the revers e side were figures of triangulations and scaled t imber s which E lean o r fin gered lovingly becaus e the dumb signs seemed — s befor e what ? to connect her life with hi before Ask tho s e w ho kn ow ! Th e note w a s lying at her breakf ast place w hen s h e came out from a sleeples s night a nigh t that seemed to pass swinging between the gates of Life and the gates of Death with phantoms on the trail between of Love s o terrible its glory blinded her of Crime s o dark its shado w obscured her faith in God F o r hours she had la in q uiver ing to the consciousnes s of that moment when Lif e leaped up to meet and blend with L if e in Love F or hours sh e had lain quivering to the consciousnes s of Crime stalking satyr faced amid the shadows of L ife Greed and Murder and L ust hi din g beneath s u ave words , beh ind convent io n sh e

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

1 04

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

ality draped in all the broad ph a la c te rie s of la w ready to leap fanged at the thro at of Innocence in a Land of Let Alone ; and s h e emerged from the conflict Of thes e tw o forces no longer what would b e called a Ch ristian no longer a Quiescent n o longer a Let Alone She emerged k n o w ing that Demo cracy must become a joke and Chris t ia n ity th e laughing stock o f the ages unles s R ight could b e made over in to Might Then s he foun d the R anger s note a t her late — breakfa st it was a shockingly late breakfast it — the note saying tha t w a s after the noon hour he had set out on the Long T rail that the N ation must travel the trail of the Man behi nd the Thing the Man Higher Up It was as it had been from the fir st with him the meeting half w a y of their thoughts from d ifi e ren t beginnings ; an d s h e kiss ed the S ignature with a gesture that played havo c with the breakfa st dishes and s ent C alamity snivelling and muttering f rom the kitchen Th e ignorant half breed s knowled ge o f life among the miners of the B lack H ills and the shingle men of the B itter R oot s aw mills didn t admit explanations Of love th a t kis s ed S i gnatures and impelled tears ,

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An d y e t whi le revolution convulsed tw o souls

could have gone from end to end Of the Valley that week or to every cabin on the Home stead Claim of the R idge an d not heard a liv in g soul s p eak on e word of the traged y on the u o y

1 06

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE SS



are safe What more she added I do n o t re late ; for an angered mother has a way of utterin g terrible truths T O day if y ou visit that grave on the crest Of the s addle b a ck you wil l fin d it flanked by tw o o thers a m a n s on one sid e with the figure Of a trader carved in sandstone by the Indi an s ; o n the other Old C a lamity s with a plain granite s lab ; though I have heard strict people say her body ought not to have been laid there because of the v agrant character of her early life .

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Indian boys f rom the school had shaped the c oflin and carved the figure fo r the stone A girlish teacher read the Church S ervices for the dead ; and the children s voices ro se a thin tremul ous treble in the funeral hymn around the grave Wild flowers covered the casket pearl everlas ting and the wind flower and the whit e Canada v iolet and the painter s brush vari colo red as a flame ; and a wreath had come up from Smelter City Sights and sounds that have been a s etting for s orrow haunt the mind After th a t day E leano r could n ever hear the hammer Of the wo od pecker the lone cry of circling hawk the w his tling of the solit a ry mountain marmot without hearing also the thin treble of the I ndian pupils breaking and silencing on that funeral hymn till only th e mother s voice sang clarion to the end S he he a rd the low meltin g trill O f the blue bird ‘

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R IG H T I NT O M IG H T —

and the wrangling rasp of the j ay true and — counterf eit peace and discord had G od put right an d wrong 111 the world fo r the friction Of the co nflict between to develop souls ? Had on e been s e t over against the other like light and shadow to train the spiritual eye to know ? ,

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the Indian boys began to lower the casket O ne young pall bearer faltered and slipped his hold ; it was the little white haired mother s hand steadied the rope that lowered and slowly lowered out Of sight for ever Then on e o f the girl teachers dropped in a great bunch o f mountain laurel E leano r succeeded in leading the mother away Were the amethyst portal s still a j ar to the in finite life ; or did the shadow of the Cro ss of the time Old ever rec u rring crucifixion darken the vist a O f a glad future ? The Indian children filed in through the gat e of the Mis sion school At the gate the mother lo oked up the Saddle back She had no time fo r the pampered luxury of sel f conscious grief She had directed the making of the co ffin and the carving of the sand stone and had led the funeral hymn to the end ; but now S he looked back Ashes of ro ses acro s s the sky creeping phantom shadows a n d in her heart the sombre presence of the after desola tion which neither faith nor fortitude cast s out She would go to sleep dull with the w o e of it and dream de p ress ed of its l oneliness , to w ake n Then , .



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F RE EB OO TER S O F

1 08

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

heavy with the memory Then by and by would come the peace that the dead s end which is n ot forgetfulnes s B ut n ow s he looked back looked back with the wrench that was the tearing of flesh and spirit asunder Above the n ew mad e grave acro ss thos e topaz sunset gates stoo d th e figure of the native woman shawl thrown from her head reaving the long black hair ; and from the hill crest came such a long low cry a s might have been a gho st echo O f all the age O ld world sorrows E leano r felt the quick tw itch on her arm Without a wo rd without a tear the boy s mother had fainted .

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We ought to have looked

for that ex plained on e of the girl teachers from the school We ought to have left Calamity home She h a s ” always done that since they took her child awa y ” “ Had sh e a child ? a sked E leano r Ye s ; and they to ok it aw a y when she w en t ” insane E le anor slep t with the leaves of the fi eld book under her pillow that night ; but sh e slept th e he avy dreamless sleep of baffl ed hope out

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

110

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TH E

WILD ERNE S S

a pars on he explained with an irritable snap Of his black eyes towards B at “ B at smiled sleepily Thinks you re hunger ” ing and thi rsting f or news of his flock do es he ? ” N o blank it snapped the news editor It s another kind of flo ck that s worrying us ” this mo rnin g B at s smile f aded to a sly haze in his sleepy e yes “ What ha s the old boy go t to say ? ” H ow do you kn ow he is Old ? snapped the n ews edito r B at didn t volunteer on that point “ Ask him what hi s name is suggested B rydges “ What did you say the n a me wa s ? Matthews ” - Matthews -is T he that it ? Wait plea se ! news editor put his hand over the mouth piece Of the telephone Know anything about hi m B at ? I should s ay I do ! Choke it Off He s stay ing with Missionary Williams at the I ndian School and you know about how much love is ” lo st between William s and M oy e s e “ B ut we can t po s sibly suppres s this B at It ” w ill be all over the coun try ” “ B etter s e e who s e ox is gored advi sed B rydges “ B ut we ve g o t to get this B rydges ! Th e stage driver s told on e of my men , alre a dy ! ’

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TH E

HA N D Y MAN G ET S B US Y

E very bar —room bu ff er in the country side will ” know it by night ” “ advised Then you had better get it straight B at The news man looked in space through eye s narrowed to an arrow B at watched sleepily “ If we choke this old chap s account off can ” you give on e to us ? “ Got it in my pocket ! I ve just come in on ” the stage ! “ I thought you came down in a moto r with the Senator ? Didn t he take the morning limited f or Washington ? “ Well , the darn thing broke down s o often it ’ was bad as the stage Anyway, I ve got the story for you ” “ T h e news man hung the Senato r O K it ? telephone receiver up still keeping his han d over the mouth piece ” “ Lord no ! B at slid Off the table tore the sheets from his note book and handed the story o f the R im R ocks acro ss to the editor What do you take the Senator for ? He knows nothing about it ; but it s in his c on s titu ency and I guess his ow n paper should see th a t ” the account which go es in is straight Th e news edito r hoisted his foot to the seat of a chair and stood racing his eyes through sheet after sheet of B rydg e s s copy B at lighted a cigar put his hands in his pockets and pivoted .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

112

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WILD ERNE S S

heels There was the squeak ; squeak squeak of a child s n ew boo ts coming up the firs t flight Of stairs ; and a squeak squeak squeak up the second flight o f stairs ; and a little girl n ot twelve years old resplendent in such tawdry finery as might have stepped out of an E a st E nd London pawn shop pres ented hersel f framed in the doo rway of the reporter s ro om She plainly belonged to the immigrant s ection Of Smelte r City The news edito r never took hi s eyes from B at s copy They were eyes made f or drilling holes into the motives behind facts B at emit ted a whistle that was a laugh “ ” Hullo he said I knew they were co ming o n younger every year ; but I didn t know we had gone into the kindergarten busin es s yet You don t want a j ob ? N ow don t tell me you ” want a j ob ? The little person li f ted a pair of very sober eyes beneath the b rim Of some faded plush head gear “ Is thus th rha p orthe r s room ? ” Sure ! you bet ! B at wheeled on both heels The little person looked at him very steadily and solemnly “ ” she said in that mongrel dia A w a nn t lect of German Am erican and Cockney E ngl i sh “ ” A w a w n t an ite em ” “ Sure says B at nothing easier ” Wull thur b e eny ch a a rg e ? on

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114

F RE EB OO TER S O F

WI LD ERNE S S

TH E

She dances f or the bar ro om b ufi er s n ow ; s he 11 dance later like you and me B at f o r bigger bluffers F reedom of the press ! D amn it I m sick of the bunco game B at “ ” “ Draw it easy drawled B at If you re S l ck of it , it s dead easy to get o ut I gues s the kid is doing the s ame thing a s y ou and me Give us this day our daily bread How s the ” story ? Will you give it a flare head ? “ ” Will there b e any charge ? ironically re e a the news man d t e p “ N ot fo r Moy e s e smiled the handy man “ sleepily and s ay if I were you I d do on e of tw o things get rid O f my conscience o r g e t a ton i c ” fo r my nerves The telephon e rang Th e n ews man ran to the receiver an d a moment later slammed it back on the hook “ Old fr ump giving namby p a mby talks on ” woman s influence in politics without votes Th e news edito r spat aimles sly B at tapped the story of the Rim R ocks with “ ” his p encil Well he asked ” “ We ll give this flare The news man put heavy underscores in blue b eneath the words TE N T H OUS A N D D OL L ARS RE WA RD B Y TH E VALL E Y C A T TL E AS S OC IA T I ON F O R P ROOF O F T H E P E RP E TRAT ORS O F L A S T N I G H T S VI L E C RI M E “ We ll put this in re d ! G od ! T he Senator is ’

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HA N D Y M AN G E T S B US Y

TH E

an artist ! I like having to lick the hand that leashes me ” “ And feeds you eh ? added B at B eneath the flare heading followed a statement of facts ( more o r les s ) to the e ff ect that in an altercation between the drovers of some outsid e cattlemen and the herder s belonging to the Mac Donald ranch the S heep herd had bee n hustled “ I like your alliterations B at it gives flavo r of ( ” quality commented the news man with a snap of his black eyes ) to o clo se to the edge of the R im R ocks with the unintended and tragical r e sult that s everal hundred sheep had been shoved “ over the battlements What I like specially ( is what you don t give commented the news man ) There was not a word about broken backs and slashed lambs and disemboweled ewes ; n o r of what had been found on the Upp er Mesas As a sort of addendum it w a s stated that a boy b e longing to the Mis sio n school had lo st his lif e in the melee “ Anyway we re in style ! Way to tell a thing now adays is to turn all around it and not tell ” anything at all Auto suggestion eh B at ? B at s fat cheeks blew up in the explosion Of a “ bursting paper bag Y ou bet it s auto all right I f you d heard the Old man talking all the way down on the iniquity of the thing : he kept it ” g oing harder than the buzz wagon .

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116

F REEB OO TER S O F

TH E

WI LD E RN E S S

B etter info rm a breathlessly eager public ”

that he s gone to Washington ? “ Here I ve got that too ! He dictated that straight fo r the expres s purpo se of taking up the whole question of eliminating the grazing areas from the N ational F o rests when it will b e po s sible for the State authorities to protect the ’ live stock interests B at handed acro s s the s econd item “ What in thunder have the N ational F orests ” to do with the R im R ock ma s sacre ? The news man looked up thr ough his glas ses “ And who in thunder is going to ask tha t ? B at tapped the last item sharply with his “ Th ey l l read tha t and they ll read the pencil other and I ll bet dollars to doughn uts nine men o u t of ten will begin j awing a n d S pouting and arguing that i f there were n o N ational F orest s there would b e n o R ange Wars If they draw a false impression that s the public s look out If we weren t dealing w ith damphools we coul dn t fool em ’ “ B ut it didn t happen on the N ational F o rests “ B ut it s only the tenth man who wi ll sto p You put in one of tho se big t o think that ou t middle page cartoons— N ational F orests with the F ederal sign board KE E P O FF the sheep b e ing massacred inside the S ign board and the ” — State sheri ff unable to go in and sto p it ’



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F RE EB OO TER S O F

118

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

down the speaking tub e f o r the pres s man put on the old carto on

to

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Th e

Oppo sition paper required more finess e o n the part Of the handy man B at strolled a s if it were a matter Of habit into the telegraph editor s ro om where he lolled back in on e Of the tw o empty chairs It was still early and the wires were S ilent B at l a id on e cigar at the editor s place and took a fresh on e for himself “ ” Hullo B at bubbled the t elegraph man dashing from the compo sing ro om in his shirt “ sleeves We ve just been having a yell o f an ” argument about the elements o f succes s He s eated himself and whipped out a match to light the cigar B at wa s clicking his cigar cas e Open and shut This editor was all nerves to o N erves s eemed to go with the j ob ; but thes e nerves were not j angled He leaned back in his swing chair with on e boot against the desk “ What makes a man succes sful anyway ? I t i sn t ability Your news man acro ss the way could buy our O ffi ce out with brains ; but gee Whitaker he s wors e than a do s e of bitters ! N ow take your Senato r he hasn t either the e d u c a tio n o r the brains of lots of our cub reporters ” here ! He paused nibbling his cigar end Yet he s successful We aren t except in a sort Of d og g on hack hors e way Y ou re next to the Old man B a t what do you s a y makes him s ucces sful ? .



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HAN D Y MAN G E T S B US Y

TH E

a nd

B at clicked th e cigar ca se shut

put it in

his pocket ’ “ Tw o things : h e s a specialist ; he delivers the goods n o other man can deliver ; a n d he doesn t fool any time away by bucking into a buzz s a w fighting windmills and that so rt of thing way ’ you fellows agin the Government do Th e telegraph man removed his cigar What do you mean by delivers the goods no other man can deliver ? Do you mean the ” pork barrel ? “ ” “ No said B at I don t though the pork — — barrel i s a d e e d es sential part of the game Here s what I mean ; when you came to thi s Valley t here w as nothing doin g We had mines ; but we hadn t a smelter ! Well , S enator got the coking co al f or a smelting S ite and the big devel Opers came in O ther men coul dn t woul dn t or didn t dare to do it ! He did it He delivered ” the goods and got the big fellows interested “ ’ He stole em tho se co al lands He jugged ” em thro Land O ffi ce records with false entries T he telegraph man had lowered his voice “ ’ We don t c a ll em stolen when it s been the ” making of the Valley “ N 0 becaus e the Smelter i s a sa cred co w ” mustn t be touched f or the sake Of the grease Then there was nothing doing in lumber ; big fellows woul dn t come in and develop Well Moye s e got em the timber tracts for a s ong .



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1 20

F RE EB O O TER S O F

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

O ther men couldn t woul dn t o r didn t dare He delivered the goods “ Th e cour a ge of the highwayman com men te d the wire edito r with a pu ff “ We don t call it that when it helps the V al ” ley corrected the handy man “ NO it s another sacred bovine ; mustn t b e t ouched f o r fear Of the a xle greas e See ? I ve — o f got a list em public lands through freights ” water power , smelter lumber deals the tele graph man opened his table drawer and held out “ a s crawled list I f you call that delivering the goods I c all it filling the barrel What s the ” other f actor fo r succes s ? “ T he world i s Not bucking into a buzz s aw mo stly made Of barkers and builders You fel lows spend all the time barking Then you w on ’ der there s nothing to show in the w ay of a ” building The telegraph wi re s began t o click and the girl operato r came in with some tis sue sheets “ ” — F ight in F risco th a t go es commented the “ ” telegraph editor das hi ng in the ands and “ ” buts and the p unctuation He stuck the slip ’ “ on the printer s hook Wedding in N ew port “ ” That go es laughed the handy man There s ” n o sacred c ow about that The telegraph man wrote headin gs fo r the dispatches and stuck them on the hook fo r the printer s boy ’





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F RE EB OO TER S O F

1 22

WILD ERNE S S

TH E

ort of thi ng had to stop ; the West would n o t stand f or interference from outside cattle men who were trying to wrest the range away from local grazers There followed the names of S ix men concerned in the R im R o ck fray Who se names they were neither B at nor any on e els e knew Also Mr Sheri ff F loo d w a s not “ ” described a s a guy nor pictured a s repo sing un der his bed He might have been a walking arsenal Of defence fo r the Valley According to Mr B at B rydges Sheri ff F lo od wa s busy on the cas e and h a d wired the authorities Of the adj oin ing States to b e on the look out fo r the guilty parties There followed a des crip tion of the guilty parties photographed accurately from Mr B at B rydg e s s retina this

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T he third n ewspaper O ffi ce was the least easy f or the handy man s tactics

Th e

editor w a s an independent of the fiery order B at avoided the edito r and tackled a young repor ter at the noon hour “ What do you s ay to a spin in the 40 h p to ” night ? he a sked “ ” What s on ? The youth was read ing an ink smudg ed galley proof B at s a t down on the desk where he could read over the o ther s shoulder The proof reeked of “ “ ” “ gore and shambles and heavily a rmed ” masked men and rifle shots thick as hail stones ’

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HA N D Y MA N G E T S B US Y

TH E

with a S heri ff careen ing over the Mesas at break neck S peed slathered with zeal f or law “ What reforms are you j ollying along n ow ? asked B at “ We ll j olly you fellows when this comes out “ I ve always said if I were his Satanic Maj esty and wished to defeat the goody go odies I I d take an after w ouldn t bother fight in g em ! noon nap and let them buck themselves by their ” lies and bickerings The youth ran his eye down the galley pr o o f ” Who filled you up wi th this dope ? B rydge s lowered his voice to an altogether amused and very confidential key What s the matter with it ? M a tter ? There s nothing right about it Goes all the same Got snap ! It s go od ” stu ff “ Stuffin g you mean corrected the handy man Say where ever did you get it ? T alk of stuff ? Somebody has mistaken you for a spring chicken “ G ot it straight It s all right ! F ellow from the E nglish colony “ — T E nglish Colony ? ho s e Rook e r Ie s Mother Carey s chickens DO you know what that Rook ery gang is ? A lot of gambling toughs remit tance doug hhe a d s “ That do esn t spoil a ripping goo d story ! ” I m going to wir e a column to Chicago “ ” N o you re not, contradicted B rydges .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

1 24

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

kind of thing hurts the State more than ten thousand dollars will advertise it Y ou go over your advertis ing columns my boy ” “ All right ! It s up to you ? B at whistl ed and swung the galley pro ofs b e t w een his knees “ Do esn t matter what you s a y out here E verybody knows your rag shee t will contradict t o morrow what you s a y t o day in heading s red and long as a lead pencil You ll contradict in a little hidden paragraph tucked away among the ads and I gues s we know which ar e the ads o ut here ; but if y ou wa n t any more dope on in side stuff don t y ou s end that E ast ! Y ou have applied fo r a j ob On our paper twice If you want on e don t you s end that E a st ! What do ” they p ay y ou anyway ? The youth paused t o estimate ; and youth s hopes are ever high ” “ That s worth a hundred t o me ! NO you don t ! They pay you S ix and ten and sometimes two but it s worth a hundred if yo u keep it out nice crisp little bills my boy C all for you to n ight at five ; but don t you play that ” story up It w a s then and there B at showed himself a past master He sauntered out of the ofi c e hum ming “ “ Say B rydges called the youth what s ” wrong with this account anyway ? “ ” reiterated B rydges stepp ing Al l wrong That

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C H A P TE R

SETTI N G

XI

O N T HE

OU T

L ON G

T R AI L

In the half light O f mist and dawn the R anger ascended the R idge trail Life w a s at fl oo d tide Thought focus s ed to o n e point Of consciousnes s s e t on fire of its Ow n rays He walked a s on e uns eeing unhearing hardened to singleness of purpo s e heedles s of the steepnes s O f the climb Of his bloo d leaping like a mo un tain cataract of his muscles moving with the eas e Of piston rods ; heedles s Of al l but the warmth o f the glow enveloping hi s outer body from the flame burning within He did not follow the zig zag R idge trail but clambered straight up the face of the slope fol lowing pretty much the short cut off they had taken the night before He came to the crag where the spruce logs s panned the tinkling wate r cours e There wa s a gos samer scarf of cloud hanging among the mo ss es of the trees The peak came out opal fire above belts of clouds T h e sage green mo s s spannin g the spruces turned to a j ewel dropped thing in a sun bathed rain washed world o f flawless clouds and jubilant waters He drew a deep breath The air w as ,

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tonic Of imprisoned sunlight and resinous heal ing Wa s each day s birth the dawn to n ew b e ing ? ’

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It was her e he had met her the night be f ore Waves of consciousnes s tender delirious con s c iou s n e s s flooded and surprised him He had asked fo r a s eal of memo ry He knew now it w ould never be a memo ry : it would be conscious ness ever living ever pres ent ; a compulsio n not t o b e control led because it was not his ow n ; and never t o be quenched because it burned within If he had been a weakling the s eal would hav e been a seal to s el f ; but becaus e an elemental w a r for right was winnowing the s el f out of him h e knew it was a s eal to service Day dawn marked the creatio n of a new w orld ; and That had opened the doors f o r him t o a lif e that n o telling could have revealed Would it be the same with the N ation ? Would this strug gle open the do ors to a n ew life ; or would th e powers that stood f or la w and right go on mark ing time inside the firing line while the powers that stood fo r wrong and outrage held thei r cour se rampant unchecked ; straining the law not to protect right but to extend wrong ; p er verting the courts ; stealing where they cho s e t o steal ; killing where they cho s e to kill ; deluging the land with anarchy by sweeping away la w just a s surely as the removal of the sluice ga tes would s et loo s e flood waters ? .

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He ascended the rest o f the dripping R idge trail in a swing that wa s almo st a run .

B elow the R anger cabin

Homestead Slop e stood the large Oblong canva s bunk hous e o f the road gang employed by the F orest Serv t he

on

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fellows shouted Wayland shaking the “ ” t ent flap All hands up ! And he o rdered the f o reman to s end the ro ad gang to skin and burn and bury what lay at the foot of the battlements As the R im R ocks lay a f e w feet outside the bounds Of the N ation al F orests it will be s een that Wayland ha d s topp ed ma r king time b ehin d If t h e la w a n d g on e out b ey on d th e fi ring lin e it isn t clear to you how the R anger wa s exceed ing the authority of the law then read the Sen “ a to r s speeches about the F orest and Land S e r vice men goin g outside their jurisdictio n em ploying Government men to do work which was ” n o t Government Service at all T he R anger s addled his ow n broncho f o r him s e lf and a hors e belonging t o on e of his assist ants f or the old f rontiersman who must b e some TO each s addl e he Where on the uppe r Mesas fastened a Service hatchet and a cased rifle Then he caught on e O f the mules of the ro ad gang fo r the pack saddle Going inside the c abin he furbished together such provisions as his b is cuit b ox shelves a fi or d e d a s ack containing half a ham, a quarter bag of flour, on e tin of canned ,

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logs scaled and marked with the U S stamp la y where the slightest topple would s end them over a natur al chute into the R iver He had not scaled tho se logs : n either had his as sis ta nts There wa s n o record of them on the books O f cours e he had heard the chop and slash at the s ettlers cabins but homesteaders don t farm on the edg e of a vertical precipice unless they are a l umber comp a ny ; and logs to ssed over that precipice to the R iver were destined fo r only on e market Smelter C ity T hen he remembered givin g a per mit t o a Swede settler Of the Homestead Slope t o take out windfall and dead tops fo r a little portable gasolin e e n gine ; but the p ermit di dn t cover this area “ Having stopped stealing half a mi llion from th e B itter R oot they ve started their dummies in ” here He looked at the ga shed timber slash as a thrifty man looks at wantonnes s and waste ; it w a s a gaping wound in the forest side Old and young trees alike hacked down the stump s of the big trees not eighteen inches low as the regu la tion s provided but three and four and five feet high of waste t o rot an d gather fungus the big gest O f the giant spruce cut from a s ca ff olding nine f eet from the ground leaving wasted lumber enough to build a house “ T his wa s done when I was away on my last ” long patrol reflected Wayland The slash o f b r ushwood and w a sted tops lay higher than his “ hors e s head A fine fi re trap for the fall .

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drought thought Wayland ang rily O ne spark in that tinder pile in a h igh wind ; and there ” would be no forests left on Holy Cro s s What did it mean this Open defiance , n ot of hi mself ( he was a mere cog in the big wheel ; s o n the entire F o res Service this o e defiance t a s w ) p of la w ; this open theft of Gover nment property ? C onnected with the outrage of the R ange War and the Senator s advice fo r him to stop suing for restitution of the two thousand acres of co al lands and the handy man s urgent arguments for “ him to chuck the fight and come down to the ” Valley the R anger kn ew well enough what the pile of stolen logs stamped with a counterfei t Government hatchet meant ; stamped of cours e by some poor ignorant dummy foreigner Th e R ing were setting their hired to ols on to the fight — And far away in the E ast yes it w a s the E ast s — s business t o ee what went on in the Wes t wer e myriads o f wage earners forced to p ay e xorb i t an tly for coal and woo d and lumber and hous e rent becaus e of this wanton waste ; this seizing fraudulently by the f ew of the property belong ing to th e many If they had thrown down the challenge as suredly he w a s taking it up ! What would the people do about it he wondered w hen they came to know ? Would any power on earth waken the peopl e up to do something and stop talking ? A R oma n rule r ha d fiddle d w hile his .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

1 32 en e

mi es bu rn e d

TH E

a n d c u t a n d s la s h e d a n d

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in w a n t on n es s th e p rop e r ty e n r i c hmen t of th e Ring ? Th e

WILD ERNE S S

o

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th e

R anger touched his ho rs e to a gallop and

jumped all three animals through the criss cro s s o f wind fall and slash coming out on the edge of the rock chasm that cut the Upper Mes as o ff from the Holy C ros s T he gully crumbled on the near side and shelved on the f ar twenty feet deep and fifty wide altogether n ot very jump able the R anger thought He zig zagged in and out among the larches along the margin O f the “ ” rock cut w a y noting dead tops ripe f or th e axe pines where the squirrels had cached cone seed at the root, S pruce logs gon e to punk with alien s eedlings coming up from the dead trun k y ellow ant eaten woo d rot ripped open by som e bear hunting the white eggs ; noting above all the wonderful flame of the painter s brush spike s with the tints Of the rainbow like Indian arrows dipped in blo od knee deep multi colored fiery dyed in the very ess ence of sunglow humming with bees and alive with butterflies lives of a summer in the 3301 1 Of ages that the snow flakes had taken manuf acturing soil out of granit e silt o ut o f sno w “ Th e littl e sno w flak e gets there all right “ reflected Wayland It takes time ; but s he carves out her little snow flake job all the same Guess if w e a n d the rocks go down befo re her ! -

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1 34

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a moment the light blinded Wayland s s igh t ; fo r the s un had come up in an o range fan ; a n d the s ky was not blue : it shone the dazzling silver of mercury Against the high rarefied air came in V iew the figure Of a man gro tesquely e xaggerated head and shoulders first then body riding a heavy horse saddleles s hatless co atless white of hair heels pres sed to his hors e s flanks bent far over the animal s neck as Indians ride galloping f or the R im R ock trail or a s econd j ump f rom the battlements Wayland stood up in hi s stirrup s an d with The rider hands trumpeted uttered a yell j erked his hors e to a rear flounder , w aved f ran tically then split the air F or



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Glory be to the powers but— A m glad to see u A ve headed them ff from the South trail o ! O y We ve got them Wayland the low dastard scoundrels ! We ve got them trapped lik e rats ’ in a trap ! They re in the P a s s if you v e a man in the Valley with spirit enough to get out with ” a gun ! He stopped f o r breath as the tw o horses fl oun de r ed together ” ’ “ We haven t answered Wayland ’ T hey jumped the gully ! Man alive y ought ’ t seen them jump the gully ! A slammed them A would to right down into the bottom of it ’ T he sam e G od t had been to the bottomles s pit gentry A s aw that night under your R idge sav T he evil f ello w wi the ing hi s High Mightiness —





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sheep hide leggings an the one armed black guard in the c ow boy slicker an the corduroy dandy w i the red tie an four mo re o f them same card S harp gentry A ro de long the top poured six bullets after em ! o f y r gully an Man alive ! A heard the f ellow in the yellow slicker yell bloody murder when A fired ! A m — — hopin Go d forgive me A ve nipped him in the other arm an brought him winged t th throne 0 Grace ! They followed the gully bed behind y r Mountain the white hors e same as yon night under y r R idge limpin the on e armed man rockin in the saddle an s p ittin out bla s A ve kept ph emou s filth f or th others to w a it guard all night y e llin an howlin like a V ig i la n t e e kn ow in they re not the gentry to run into the arms of them good Old time neck tie com tees ; an not dreamin A hadn t another cart ” The Old ma n swabbed the ridge to my name ! sweat from his brow “ A left m coat and t ogs back at y ou chuck ” wagon ! Wayland noticed he was riding sto ck ing soled ” I have an extra h a t fo r you here Wayland tossed the soft felt from the pocket of his leather coat “ Oh A s a w em plain enough ; same ill lookin s ix that y r hell kite laws hatch on a bad frontier ! Make no mistake Yon white vest is at the bot ” tom O this deviltry ! Who is he Wayland ? Wayland related the v isit of a white vest t o ’

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his R idge cabin ; a n d they trotted forward to wards a S heep wagon “ ” H ow did y come up here ? asked the Old frontiersman “ Where did you get that hors e ? retorted the R ange r “ O ne o f the chuck wagons teams ” Herders all right ? asked Wayland He knew wh a t the answer mus t be ; the s a me answer that had been disgracing the West thes e twent y years Th e old man j erked his hors e to a dead stop drew himself erect and lo oked straight at the R anger “ — Wayland man is this R ussia or Hell ? Is there an other country in the world call s itself civilized would allow four herder men to b e burned to death ? Does the country kn ow what is doing ? DO you know what happened ? DO u know that last wagon is left there only b e o y cause the rains put out the fire ? Y ll find the iron tires of the other wagons with skeletons Of men chained to the wheels A came up just a s they were s ettin aboo t fi rin the s econd wagon T hey d ripped all the flour b ags open and loo sed the horses This one A caught full p elthe r down ” the trail The old man shook his head They trotted their horses acro ss the Mesas in s ilence towards the g larin g whi te c an v as wa g on .



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F or a little time neither man spoke B ut was it not the natural ending of brutality unleashed o f la w ; o f crime left alone by the goo d ? .

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mutilate thousands of sheep was damnable ” “ ” — enough said Wayland ; but this ? Th e old frontiersman had picked up co at and boots flung a side the night before He stood “ holding by his hors e s mane looking down An d ” “ T o this this is a white man s land he s aid have y pro stituted freedom bought by th bloo d o f s aints an martyrs ? N ot in th heat O pas sion but f o r filthy gain has a f ree p eople come to this ? T he hea ds 0 king s f ell on the bloody b lock f or les s c rime in d ays n ot s o s of t s p o k en Is y r freedom freedom t o right or to a s t he s e wrong ? Is it to s end y r N ation smash over the ” precipice ? Wayland is this D emoc ra cy ? Th e R anger did no t answer for a moment “ ” he s aid quietly it isn t Democracy any NO more than your R obber B arons were Monarchy ! Don t you make that mistake ; this i s Anarchy the Anarchy of unrestrained greed ! You fought it in your plundering Scotch R obber B aron s long ago ! We have to fight it to day in our plundering plutocrats ,

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M AJESTY

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XII

L AW

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EI L S

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the old f rontiers man drew himself up to the full height of B ritish superiority to eve rything outside the island of its “ ow n circumscribed knowledge do you mean me t o believe that i f any o f thes e poo r herders ha d escaped as witness es w e d not have been able to ” send thes e blackguard murderers to the gallows ? T he R anger had signalled f or some of the road gang to a scend from below the battlement s to keep guard till the coroner could come Th e little pack mule to the fore , Wayland and Matthews wer e p icking the way slowly down the terra cott a trail O f the R im R o cks It do es no t make the slightest difi e r en c e in the world what you or I believe Sir ! T he fa cts are unless you could o ffer a witnes s money enough t o take him out the United States and to keep hi m for the rest of his life he would develop — a good forgetter or else the s ame Old gag been blind folded di dn t s ee and s o on and on and on ; you can t blame them ! I ll bet if eve ry one o f the herders had escaped instead o f festering there in the ash heap they d all be legging it Do you mean me to believe ,

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o f the country far and f ast as they could g o The little mule came t o a stand at a bend in the switch back ; and the old evangel ist s a t rumi nating silently on hi s broncho “ ” Y have a sheriff ? Wayland laughed “ H e s like the Indian flies ; a no s e e hi m He ll ride ove r the hills for weeks and if he tumbles o ver the t op O f his pris oner he c a n t find his ” man ! The Old B ritisher looked doubtful ly at Way “ ” land a s much a s to s a y I don t believe y ou “ You re n o t emp tin me to take the law into ” o ur ow n hands ? Again Wayland laughed “ My dear sir you don t understand ! I don t want to drag y ou into this at all ! F or ten years t h e p ow e rs tha t s ta n d f or la w in this coun try ha ve b een ma rking time b e hin d the firing lin e w hile They t he o th e r f e llow g o t a w a y w i th the g o ods have been marking time while Crime scored and ” what you call the Devil kept tally T he old man nodded his head approvingly ” That s all true ! “ Y ou ask me i f I inten d to break the la w ? N o Sir I do n ot ; but I d o in ten d to c a rry th e la w ou t Th e thi ef s t r a ins the la w b ey on d the fi rin g lin e t o g e t a w a y w ith the g oods ; I a m g oing t o s tra in The murde r e r s tra ins t he la w t o g e t them b a c k t he la w t o p r ot ec t his d a mn ed us eles s n eck I m o ut

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

1 42

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

The

man in the knickerbockers tilted his hat at a rakish angle stuck a tooth pick in the corner o f his mouth put his thumb s in his j acket arm holes shot Wayland a quick look of questioning grinned at the Old man and no dded towards a white pe rgol a st anding apart from the veranda o f the ranch hous e ” “ F ind it there he indicated drop a nickel then ring ! “ ” Did y ou see that look ? gritted the Old B rit isher between his teeth as the fellow sauntered away with elaborate indi fference “ Yes but looks don t g o with a jury N eck tie was e ffective with the likes of him ” in my day ! F o r the third time Wayland uttered the same sardonic laugh What was happening to the Old B ritisher to change h is point of view ? “ I ll g o on down to the R iver and prepar e grub What Wayland wa s thinking he did not say ; but w ha t was passing in the brain of the law lovin g Old B ritisher that the rakish tilt of the hat the insolent angle of the to oth pick , the — spread of a man s thumbs and feet could break through hide bound respect f o r la w and elicit reference to the court of the Old time neck tie ? At the R iver the R anger loo s ened the saddle girths and put a small kettle to boil above a fire Then he took out of cottonwoo d chip s and gras s his note book and w rote the note to E leano r -

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which he gave to on e of the road gang for C alam “ ity The note said : We are setting out on the Long T rail the Long Trail this N atio n will have to travel befo re Demo cracy arrives the trail o f the Man behind the T hing ” the Man Higher Up H ow did th e R anger know what w a s going on up at the tele phone in th e pergola where B ritish respect fo r law was at one end o f the wire and the handy man Of the Valley at the other ? There wa s no bitternes s in the quizzical smile with which he awaited the old man s return ; f o r as he lay back on the ground watching the fire burn up the letter brought agai n not memory but consciousnes s of that s eal to s ervice He wondered half vaguely could she know could s h e realize did a woman eve r realize what her love meant to a man She could surely never have given such full draughts Of life of wondrous n ew reveal ing consciousnes s unles s they were drink ing together from the same perennial ever n ew ever surprising spring ! He did not hea r the footstep s till the old man spoke “ — — — A somehow didna seem to get them — T ! clear hey answered ; then they didna a n — e swer ! S m lt e r Ci ty H e ra ld ye s aid ? Twa s — — strange twas vera strange A got an answer — plain asking my name then central said ring Off ring o ff ! can t get them wire out Of o rder This time Wayland did not laugh Had no t the wire s been out of order since first he began .

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ring the bells of hi s little insign ificant plac e a N ation s alarm ? ’

T hey ate their bannocks

R ocky Mo un tain —

dead shot Westerners ca ll the slap j acks in silence While the Old man still pondered mazed and dumb the R anger dabbled the cup s and plates in the R iver and r ecin ch e d the pack s a d d le the little mul e blowing out hi s sides and gro aning to eas e the girth the broncho s wisely eating to the proces s of reharnes sing Th e B rit Wayland i she r s reverence f or law dies hard A deep low s aw the wrestl e and kept silent boom rolled dully through the earth in smoth ered rumblings and tremblings like distant thun ’

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Wh a t s that Wayland ? O nly the snow slides loos ened by the noon ” thaw slithering down the Pas s of Holy C ro s s ; and somehow he could n ot but think of what s h e had said the law of the sno w flake sculpturing the rocks The hors es cropped audibly over the grasses — waiting The little mul e looked back also wait ing A whelming imp ul se part of the spirit to drink of her inspiration p art Of the flesh to drink — came over him to ride down to o f her touch the ranch hous e the Ma cDon a ld ranch hous e to once before setting out on the s e e her— just Long T rail “ ” “ W ell he said ; which way Mr Matthews ? ’

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a sifted gold dust of sun light At intervals cam e the dull rumbl e Of the snow slide the far rever beration the echo of the law of the snow flake rolling away the stone ; the smash of the great law drama , the titans behind the mountains .

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It w a s on e of thos e f requent mountain fo rma tion s where a Valley seems to terminate in a blank wall You turn a buttres s of rock and you find the sheer wall opening before you in a trail that climb s to a notch on the s ky line between forested flanks T he notch O f blue is a P ass “ An yway Mr Matthews we are splitting the ” air n ow ! We are doing more than s aw ing air They had put their hors es to a sharp trot along the trail winding up the R iver The water wa s gurgling over the polished pebbles with little leaps and glints o f fire P resently the mountains had clo s ed behind them Th e R iver was tumbling with noisy rush in a succes sion Of casc a des and the trail wound back from the rocky bank through circular fla t s o r what were locally known as bottoms ” “ Sheri ff live this way ? shouted Matthews f or the roar Of the little stream filled the canyon ” “ Ha s a ranch at the foot of the P a ss ” It won t be wasting time anyway said the Old B ritisher Again Wayland smiled If it would n o t be wasting time ; then they were already in purs ui t Wh at was it in the insolent look of the outlaw s .

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the Senator s ranch hand that had suddenly dashed the doughty B riton s reverence f or the instrument of the la w ? A barb wire fence tacked t o spindly cottonwoo d trees marked the line Of an irregular homestead ; and the R anger swung into a gate extemporized from barb wire on two adjustable po sts B ehind the gate stood a log shack ; on the windows cheap lace curtains ; behind the lace curtains a vag ue movement Of peeping faces and a querulous ter mag an t voice : I ain t a goin to have you mixed ” up in no scrap ; s o there Dan F lo od ! Wayland dismounted and kno cked on the doo r with his riding stock It opened on an an ae mi c sulphur face with blond hair s crewed in curl papers over a full r ow of gold headlights where an enterprising dentist had engrafted as much of K londike a s po s sible “ ” Sheri ff Floo d in ? the R anger raised his hat ” O h how j do Mr Wayland All the curl papers nodded like clover tops in the w in d whil e the coy brows arched and an inviting smile played “ round the simpering headlights N 0 he ain t ! ” The curl p apers nodded again Dan ain t in ! and the gold teeth simpered again “ ” IS h e— h ome ? The word home came out with the fo rce Of a bullet “ NO he ain t home ! Mr F lood ain t home ! The sheri ff was called way ! Is there any mes sage ? Wayland stood back and watched the fray ’

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Old

man gazed full at the frowsy apparitio n in the doorway If dagger looks could have stabbed her the lady would have dropped dead stuck full of as many daggers as a cushion is of pin s Th e gold headlights suff ered eclipse b e hind a pair of tightly perked lips ; and on e hand darted hold of the door knob “ ” Yes he s aid lo c k in g fixedly at the deep V o f ash colored skin where the lady had turned back the neck of h e r pink wrapper in imitatio n “ Th e O f gown s s een in the Sunday supplement of “ Smelter City Herald There was murder done on the R im R ocks last night ! Ther e s festering Tis a j ob for bodies lyin g on top of yon Mes as ! the sheri ff n ot fo r an outsider “ “ ” Yes Sir said the gold headlights I think ” h e s gone to s e e about it He had looked her slowly over again from the blondine hair and the ash colored V of unclean skin and waistles s slop of slattern wrapper to clock work stockings and high heeled slippers “ A ha ma doubt s he s sp rin tin fr the back door this mi nute ! Ar e ye the sheri ff S ” woman ? and O ddly enough the lady didn t flush ; but the faintest glo s s came over the sa ffron skin — of wh a t ? It w a s the same nonchalant word less insolence that had played in the eyes of the man who had come out from the S enato r s ranch “ Y e s Sir I ll deliver your mes sage a right flickered the headlights reassuringly .

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do it ! T ake the lead ! A ll f ollow ! This trail g o behind the mountain ? Yes it brings us round behind ! They have the start O f us by three hours ; but they ll camp t o night somewhere along the Lake B ehi nd the P eak B eyond that there are some mighty bad slides Thes e ra ins have loo s ened snows T hey ll har dl y cros s the slides beyond the lake but by daylight If w e can reach the lake to day ” we ll have a chanc e at em “ Wayland A m on the last lap of my trail ! It do esn t matter what happens to me ; but h a ve u o thought what might happen when we catch y U p on them ? Tho se fellows are out to kill We are out to arrest Have you thought what that might mean at clos e quarters ? “ It s clo se quarters I m s eeking said Way “ land though it s hardly fair to drag you into the fight All I want i s a man as a witness who s got red bloo d that won t turn yellow Thi s N a tion has b een cowering behi nd the line of law, while the looters and S kinners have disa rmed o ur very firing line It s tim e somebody risked hi s n eck to reverse the order ” “ Git epp said the Old man roughly to his broncho The little pack mul e took to the trail ears back at an easy lope ; and the riders s e t o ff up the Pas s at the rocking chair trot of the plains horseman Gradually the mountains crowded clo ser in weather stained rock walls with a far whish as ’

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wind or waters coming up from the canyon bottom ; the sky overhead narrowing to a cle f t of blue with the frayed pines and hemlo cks h ang ing from the granite blocks fragile a s ferns against the sky You lo oked back ; the ro cks had clo sed to a solid wall ; you looked down ; the ri v er filling the canyon with a hollow hush had dwar f ed to a glistening silver thread with the f ore st dwarfed banks of mo s s It was a sombre world all the more shadowy from that cleft Of blue over head where an eagle circled w ith lonely cry The P ass wa s like the pas sage of birth and death from life to larger life O n the other side o f the mountain lay the s un bathed Valley and the R idge w ith it s silver cataracts and the opal peak with the glistening snow cro ss T his side the Mountain in the Valley O f the Shadow became giant beveled masonry tier on tier cris s cro ssed a n d scarred by the iced cataracts o f a b illion years —n o sound b ut the raucous scream Of the lon e eagle the hollow hush of the far R iver the tink ling of the water drip freezing as it fell T hen where the cleft of blue smote the rocks with s un light the door s Of the mo un tain s would open again to larger life in another Valley Th e horses were no longer trotting T hey were climbing and blowing and pausing where the trail of the Pas s took sharp turns back and forward up and up till the eagle was circling below B oth men had dismounted and w ere walking In dian file to the rear Wayland carry ing hi s own of

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

1 52

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cased rifle T he trail wa s n ow running along the edge Of an escarpment no wider than a saddle sheer drop below sheer wall above “ H OW would they come out from the gully on this trail Wayl and ? I have been watching fo r ” the tracks They re n ot ahead of us “ Gully ends in a blind wall above As I make ’ it they d push their nags up and come down on the P as s trail somewhere below the precipice ahead We can take our time ; I have been watch ing There are no tracks ahead The trail above is wors e than this Devil takes care of his ow n ; o r they would have broken their necks long a g o coming back and forward We ll let em go down to the lake first They ll go into the trap It s a lake mo stly ice this time of the year There s an Old punt sometimes us ed by hunters It ll take them an hour to cro s s with their horses We ll let them camp at the lake We could pot them there , i f we had a sheri ff worth his salt Tis a great trail Wayland ! Minds me Of my days building bridge s in the R o ckies ! Tisn t just a matter 0 courage to follow thes e precipic e trails : it s t emperament ! Tis something in the pit O the stomach ! A mind one of our best engin eers ; he could meet Chinese navvies with their kn ive s out : couldn t cro s s one Of the preci i to s ave his life without blinders like a ho rs e c e s p we had to blindfold him s o he wouldn t know till he d cro ssed H ow deep do you call it here ? “ About feet drop I think Thi s is the .

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— out

w renched

shot into mid -air with crash and — sharp clappering echo es Then the Pas s was filled with the thundering roll They s aw it sink — sink sink and fade while the echo still rock — — e tt e d amid the ro ck tops sink sink — sink— no larger than a s ppol in the purple shadows till with a plunge it di sappeared “ Whew it w ould be going if on e went over T he Old man mowed the swea t f rom his forehead and drew a breath O n the in stant the hollow chasm Of the canyon split to the crash of a rifle shot that r o cke tte d and quaked and repeated in splintering echo es ; and a bullet pinged at Wayland s feet “ ’ — That s spli tting the air for you Wa yland ” Drop down Sir urged the R anger pulling the old frontiersman to shelter of the upper rocks “ T hey have come out above They have heard that curs ed stone That s only a chance S ho t to learn where we are T hey can t come behind They have g ot to g o down ahead “ And the fat s in the fire ; f or my rifl e s gone ” with the hors e deplo red the old man wo efully ; fo r mul e and broncho s had galloped along the trail with the clatter of a cavalcade through the canyon Wayland handed the Old man his ow n rifle and to ok the s ix shooter from his belt beneath the leather co a t “ They won t understand this pursuit at all “ explained W a yland Sheri ff F lo o d is the guar antee Of safety f or any criminal in the countr y .

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side T hey ll think it a citi z en s po s s e Wh ere this trail comes down at the end of the pr ecipice is a crag Will y ou hide behind that , s ir ? I ll go above and head them down I m not asking you t o risk your life They ll n ot s e e you till they gallop down “ B ut you are risking you r ow n li f e if you go ’



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So do es the fellow who h a s s li pped ” banana peel said Wayland ,

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C H A P TE R TH E M AN

XIII

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T he two men pro ceeded along the precipice trail of the P as s Th e shouting river below :

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f rom

the full flood of noon day thaw began to hush B y the shadows the R anger k new that the afternoon w a s waning The echo es from the shot still ro cked in sharp crepitating knocks as of stone against stone fainter and fading Then a quiver of wind met their faces The chasm opened to the fo re like a gate o r a notch in the serrated ridge of the sky lin e ; and the precipice trail dropped over the edge of the crag to the sco oped hollow of a mp e where rock slide or avalanche had plowed a gro ove in the bevelled masonry Of the precipice “ This is the place indicated Wayland F rom the shoulder of the higher slope came a little narrow indurated trai l scarcely a hand s width marked by the cleft fo ot prints of a mount ain go at Where the path came down to the main trail of the P as s jutted a huge ro ck lef t high and dry on it s slide to the bottom of the gorge -

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foothold and b eg m slowly climbing almo st ver tically At first it was going up th e tiers of a broken ston e stair Then the weathered ledge gave place to slant shale He s a w Wayland dig his heel s for grip grasp a sharp edge overhead and hoist himself to the overhanging bran ch Of a recumbent pine ; then scramble along the fallen trunk to a ledge barely wide enough fo r fo oting Along thi s he cautiously worked face in hand over hand from r ock block to rock blo ck sticking fingers among the mos sed crevices fumbling the pebbles from the slate edge s and s o round out of sight behind a flying buttres s of masonry and back in view again a tier higher Just once the watcher felt a tremor f or the rash climb er Wayland s head was on a level with the crest of another ledge h is face to the rock his left hand gripping a shoot Of mountain laurel his right groping the upper ro cks Th e Old man s a w the shrub j erk loo se mo s s ro ots — and all h e held his breath for the coming crash —it was all over Wayland s left arm flung out to ward Off the spatter of small stones ; then the right arm had clutched the spindly bole of a — creeping junip er his bo dy lurched out hung swayed lif ted ; and the R anger disappeared among the shrubbery of the upper trail The old man took a deep breath ” And this is the Man on the Job he said He “ The same drew behind his shelter and waited ” breed 0 men after all , in di fl er en t harnes s .

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He had not noticed before but there , ahead where the black chasm of the Pas s opened por tals to the sunny blue Of another valley lay a lake the Lake B ehind the P eak spangled with light marbled like onyx or malachite with the sheen o f a j ewel Almo st at his feet below the near end of it lay He could have to s s ed a p eb ble in to it seven thousand f eet belo w, where th e white fo aming river came ramping through a great pile of morain e that dammed up this end of the Pas s to the width of a bridle trail The c ut laws would have to cro s s the lake to es c a pe from the Pass ; and almo st he thought he s aw the O ld punt at the far end which Wayland had s aid hunters sometimes used Th e white butterflies fl itt e d past his hiding place out to the light of the sun The eagle was so aring strong winged swervi ng and lifting and falling in an insolence of languid power The silent Pas s quivered to the throb o f waters B ut what was doing with the R anger ? No t a soun d came from the upper trail but the tinkle o f hidden springs down the rocks He knew if he uttered a shout the echo would take up his call An hour p assed : two hours Gho s t shadows came creeping into the canyon Th e butterflies had fluttered out to the blue portal where the ro cks opened doors to the s un Th e rampant ro ar of the river wa s quieting to the hollow hush The old man ros e walked along the precipice came back to his shelter “s a t, stoo d ,

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up examined the rifle looked ahead where the ho rses had wandered on fi dg e te d and bemoaned the years that prevented pursuit up the rock face He knew by the light and the hush that it mus t b e almo st five o clo ck ,

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And at five o clock in the ranch hous e back in the Valley E leano r was lying in her room with her face buried in Wayland s note praying a s only the yo un g pray with the wo rst and the best o f their n a ture in the prayer ; fo r where such love comes all go es into the incens e Of the fi r e that — go es up from the altar the best and the worst “ ” of the inmo st heart : an apoth e o sis of give me “ and an utter abandonment Of let me give B y and by when we grow Older we leave both “ “ ” ” the give me and the let me give to G od ,



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Old man knew it must be almo s t six O clock ; f o r the light came aslant the gap and the chill o f the upper sno w crept down from the mount ain A pretty busines s this it s eemed to him twenty miles back of beyond ; ho rses sent on at random ahead ; a gang of murderers in hiding — above Matthews walked boldly along the preci pice trail s aw th e eagl e below circling still cir cling ; heard a hawk skirr and scold from a dead — branch Then he deliberately pointed his voice to the rock wall o f the echo acros s the gorge — and let out a yell that split the welkin A — — thousand ten thousand multitudinous eldritch ’

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F RE EB OOTE RS O F

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leggings hat far back came round the rock at break neck pace looking over his shoulder as if — — pursued O ne j ump the Old frontiersman had th e hors e s b ridle ! Th e shock threw the beast s hind legs clear over the edge j arring the rider — almo st to the animal s neck N ext the Old man wa s looking down the barrel of the outlaw s — big repeater With a mighty swing Matthews clubbed his rifle on the other s wrist He might have s cruples a s t o law and conscience ; but he knew h ow and when and where to hit did the B riton with the Scotch C anadian blo od Also — he knew when to let g o There wa s a fl a sh the rock splintering crash O f echo the whinn y ing scream and leap Of the hors e shot by the — falling weapon R ider and bea st hurtled back wards , the man s foot caught to one stirrup — T here was the crackling of slate and shale the gash and rasp and wrench Of loo sening rock — — — mas ses sliding d own down down and yet down with kno cking echo es ; with laughter of terrified scream from the echo ro ck acro ss the — gorge pound and plunge from ledge to ledge — the horse s bo dy turning twice as it struck — — and bounced out a cloud of dust the shout the blasphemy the cry of rage then the shrill scream of death terro r that echo ed and echo ed —The old man looked down ! There was a pounding of the stones a faint far rebound and the darknes s below swallowed over a fading swirl at the bottom of the canyon He heard ,

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he thought he heard the engulfing g urgl e of the waters while the shrill scream still j ibbered a n d f aded along the echo ledge — B y violence ye lived by violence ye die Over the precipice ye go a s ye sent the mangled ” boy to the bloody death ! Then the R anger was tumbling down the go at track in a slither of shale “ — C ome on that was well done s ir ! Wish we d s ent them all over to the very bottom of Hell I d stalked that fellow apart from the — — others when you signaled come on we ll catch — the rest at the lake there s a fellow wounded —you must have nipped one when you shot this ” — morning j oin me at the lake and leaving Mat thews to follow by the fo ot trail the delirious R anger went tearing exultant down the stone slide Water muffle d shots sounded from the lake Wayland paused in his head long descent The five outlaws were shoving the punt from the shore with the broncho s swimming in tow The stolen wagon horses lay shot on the shore O n e of the outlaws wa s being supported by the others It w a s the man in the yellow slicker ,

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A great wave went over Wayland of somethin g he had never before known It pounded at his temples I t s e t his heart going in a force pump It blew his lungs ou t and s e t the whip cord mus — — cles itching to g O to g O h e wanted to shout with — O f joy power power that pursued and caught and .

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— crushed

and trembled with overplus of in toxi — c a t e d strength H e knew if he could lay his hand on Crime at that moment he could crush the life out of the thing s throat ; and there was a parch e dn e s s that wa s not thirst a tingling to clinch that Criminal Thing menacing the N ation to clinch and strangle it to a death not honored in the code of whit e c orpu s cle d a nwmic study chair reform ’

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Well he said as the o ther came limping “ down to the S hore I didn t think there could be enough of the savage in me to enj oy a man ” hunt The Old B riton l ook e d queerly at the yo un g fel low “ ’ “ A m b eg inn in he s aid slowly A m b e i n i to understand lynch in this coun n n l a w r g y ” — try an the w hy ” Wh a t d o you make Of it ? asked Wayland t oo e x cited t o notice the other s abstraction “ A m b eg inn in to under stand if y monkey with the la w much longer in this land the whole — N ation w ill go loco ed lik e you Wayland with a — blood thirst for righteousnes s a white passio n ” — fo r the squ a re deal a n Go d pity— that day ! Th e fugitives had reached the far shore Of the lake landed and were riding o ff when a s econd thought s eemed to bring on e man back to the water s edge He stooped heaved up a rock threw it through the bottom of the Old punt ,

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not have to wait long ; no longer than it takes you s ir to find our pack mule and the stray b r on ch s while I build a r a ft We can t cro s s the lower end fo r the moraine ; and we can t cros s the upper end for the ice ; and it s t oo cold ” to risk swimming ,

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Matthews had headed the hors es and pack mule back from an open glade and hobbled their fore f eet Then Wayland began chopping do w n sm a ll trees They s a w the figures Of the outlaws against the twilight of the gap ride away from the far margin Of the lake Then only did the R anger build a little fire behind the biggest hem “ lo cks an Indian s tiny chip fire n ot the big ” white man s blaze O n this they cooked their supper lake trout hauled out while they waited and flap j acks with a tin plate f or a frying pan “ ” Anyw ay said the R anger wiping the smoke “ tears from his eyes the s m oke keeps off the mo squitoes “ Mo squito es pah ! That shows y r e Yale fo r all y r go od work this day ! A have n o seen o n e yet “ Wayland s answer was to light his pipe It s ” either bear s grease o r smoke between bites he l a ughed .

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had unsaddled horses and were sitting on a log watching the animals crop through the deep g rasses .

MAN ON

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T he f rontiersman uttered a sigh

Tis

like a taste of the go o d old days the days w ell nigh gon e f or ever ; the smell of the b ark fire ; an th tang Of the kinnikinick ; an the cinnamon cedar s ; and the air like champagne ; a n the stars p rickin the crown O the ho ary old p eaks like diamonds ; an the little waves l a ppin an lavin an w his ’ perin an tellin of the woman y luve An ’ care ? Care man ? T here wa sna a care heavie r Twas sleep l ik e a deep than dandelion down ’ drink an up an away in the morn in chasin a young man s hopes to the end 0 the T rail ! ’ A S uppo s e th Almighty meant t ancho r men ’ or He w ouldn a permit the b uildin of toons ! ’ O nce A w a s in N ew York ! A did na s ee but on e patch 0 sunlight t w enty sto ries overhead ! T h car things screeched an rulled an the fo lks —the wi mmen w i awfu stern wheeler hats — — — h u rr 1 n an the men Wayland ( 1 hurryin y they get it ? There s only twenty four hour s in — a day they can t catch any more by hurry in —what are they hurr in f o r ? D O they get it y what they re hurryin f or ? DO they get any where ? D they sit down j oyous at night ? A — heard some laugh It was n ot j oyous ! Do they ” get anything down there in the awfu heat ? “ ” Wayland laughed I don t know, he said Care isn t light a s dandelion flu ff ! I ll bet on ” that The ro ar of waters below the moraine soft en ed and quieted T h er e w a s a chor u s of littl e ’

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and

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whispering among the reeds A whole w on Of resinous sunbeams breathed their es sence through the dark from the S picy evergreens O ne need n ot attempt to gues s of what Wayland was thinking He had forgotten his companion s presence till the Old man spoke “ A suppo s e Wayland you are only on e Of an ” a rmy of kiddie boys on the j ob ou t here ? Wayland ab sently roused himself “ Land Service and R eclamation men have tougher j obs and les s glory All we have to do i s s it tight and it s a pretty good place to sit — tight in this out do o r world Di fferent with the other fellows ! They re hamstrung by the r e d tap e of o ff ice o r blackguarded by some pea politician who is scoring an opponent ! n ut T here w a s Walker down at Durango S hot ex a min ing a coal fraud He wa s a Land O ffi ce man ; and his murderer s have n ot even been pun Then there were the two chaps who i sh ed ran the rapids before the Gunnison Tunnel could b e built ; though that s been exaggerated with a lot o f magazine h og wash to make a fellow sick ! B iggest j ob there w a s the engineer s work Do you know he drove that s ix mile tunnel from both ends and when the tw o ends met they were no t tw o inches OH ? Hog wash and dish water hacks S pread themselves in the magazines all over thos e ’ chaps running the rapids ! You ve run ten times worse rapids yoursel f on Saskatchewan and Ma cKen zie hundreds O f time s Yet t ho se chaps .

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land paused lo st in thought They got the body out a ll right ; but the horro r of it C a rrin g t on went Off his head ! Know an engineering chap tramped the Sierras for a hundred miles dogged by a spotter from on e of the railro ads but what s the us e O f talking about it ? T hes e things have to b e do ne ; and thes e are the men ” o n the j ob “ ” Th e Men on the Job slowly repeated Mat “ thews the men we make e a rls and premiers o f in B ritain ; but who Of your big public cares ” T ime you wakened up as a N ation on e j ot ? “ You are us in g almo st the same words as Moye s e He says the public do esn t care a damn wouldn t rais e a hand to stand fo r the rights of on e of u s pays us les s than dago es earn I gues s Moy e s e doesn t understand ou r point ” of vi ew can t take in why we keep at it T he wind came through the trees a phantom harper The little waves lapped and whispered Th e pine needles clicked pixy castanets ; and the moon beams sifted through the trees a silver dust “ Why do you ? Why do you keep on the job ? a sked the Old man “ Hanged if I know a n swered Wayland un co mfortably “ A s a w a man on the j ob to d ay risk his life twice and think no more about it than if he h a d b een out f or a w al k If a man in E ngland , if a ,

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man in Germany if a man in It al y yes by thunder Wayland i f a man on the j ob in pagan Turkey had done what you did to d ay he d b e given a V C a cc ordin t o the Turk and a title ” and a pension f or life “ I don t desp a ir of a cros s mys elf when Moye s e hears what happened to d ay It ll be a double cro s s with a G B ; but speaking of cro ss don t y ou think a s we have to cro s s the lake ” you d better snatch a little sleep ? And s o the tw o men on e representing the chivalry of the old West the other the chivalry stretched out to sleep w ith co ats for of the n ew pillows while the fl ood waters went singing through the stones and the little waves came lip ping and whispering and the low boom of the snow slides rolled through the chambered hol lows of canyon and gorge Absurd wasn t it but the R anger wa s not dreaming about the bev elling trowel of the titan mountain gods ? H e went to sleep dreaming of the star visible f ro m the other side Of the Holy C ro s s dreaming dreams that men and women have dreamed S ince time began ; of drinking drinking and drink ing e t again of life and love and bles sednes s fro m y the fount of human lips ; o f the seal that should be the seal to s ervice not to self ; Of the gates ajar to a n ew life like the notch of sk y where the rocks o f the P ass Opened portals to the blue valley Wo ul d he h ave dreamed les s j oyousl y if ,

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he had known that the portals of the P a s s led to the avalanche and the desert and the a lkali de a th ? Who shall s a y that love did n ot pay the toll ? And in him rioted the savagery of the fighter w ho w anted to sei z e his f oe by the throat '

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They

may take water ; but they ll n ot sink ; ” and they ll n o t tip declared Wayland R eed s and willows had been used in place of nails Tw o or three Of the logs were spliced to grip the end cottonwo ods firmly T he two men s tepped on the raft “ Why didn t you g o round the upper end ? Ice answered Wayland ” T oo deep f or poli ng in the mi ddl e ? asked Matthews “ ’ That s why I m going t o creep along shore ’ ’ It ull keep y in the shadows With a pro d of his pole Wayland shoved OH a n d the frontiersman lengthened out the leading lines fo r the hors es T he R anger smiled w hims i cally to find the revers e side of Holy Cro ss peak up s ide down in the water and he s e t t o fi guring o ut what s ort of triangular lines thought waves must follow to connect his thought o f that peak etched in the bottom Of the lake with her thought on the other side of a peak up in the sky “ Steady man ! Slow U p ! T here s a fallen tree with its rump stuck ashore ! A don t want t o warp ye in by s n a g g in round an that mule ’ ’ brute is think in O sittin down T he broncho s had plunged to the cold dip with deep grunts but the mule braced hi s legs and brayed at the morning Th e frontiersman said thi ngs between set teeth that might have been Ob j urgations to the soul of Satan or the race of ’



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mules Wayland shoved on the pol e T he mul e pulled Th e logs of the raft began t o creak “ Look out s ir we re splitting ! Let that dog O brute n o g g And the raft swerved out the hors es swim ming the freed mule plunging along the wooded shore Wayland thrusting hi s long pol e deep almo st to his hand grip to find bottom “ There s a nasty under current from the upper ” he said riv er “ Let her g o ther e let her go t th current —tack her an the current wull swerve ye int the other side ! More men lo s e their lives by poling too hard than lettin g o ! C atch the cur ” rent and let her g o The old man had twi sted the halte r ropes nu der his feet He s eized a pole and swerved the !raft to the current pointing in t o the other side They could hear the ro ar Of the wild mountai n stream pouring a maelstrom down from the glare ice and snow o f the upper meadows Th e next plunge of the pole miss ed bottom There was a yielding creak of logs The raft po ised and spun round “ Let her go man ! We ll wriggle her in b e .

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low ! “ Then

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heard the mule squealing at the head of the lake “ She can t sink— wriggle her round Way ” land ! The raft spun twice t o the under pull took a n inch or tw o of w ater and swirled into the quie t s hadows o f the f a r shore “ Minds me of that story O f N apoleon ! DO you ” carry bridges in y r pockets too Wayland ? a sked the Old man as the R anger gave a long pro d that sent the raft grating ashore “ ” What story ? asked Wayland O h B oney came to a river t oo deep f or swim ming cavalry General o rdered engineer fellow to get em acro s s ! Man began to draw maps When he came to N apoleon with his blue prin t plans he found a common soldier fellow had pon ” t oon ed em all acro ss ! “ Did the big fellow get a leg up on his j ob ; or did the soldier fellow get the bounce fo r going ” o utside regulations ? ” “ The old man wa s T hat is pos sible too h anding Off the s addles and camp kit “ If you ll wait here sir I ll go along for the horses ! I don t kn ow the trails along on this ” s ide ! It s outside the N F ! .



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guide him ; but there w a s the wall Of blue s ky where the mountains Opened ; and he followed U p the lake sho re with a s ens e o f feel more than sight for on e o f tho se little indurated game tracks that would lead back to

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have followed away from the lake He stooped to examine clo ser There were ho rs e tracks Had his ow n hors es st umbled up from the lake along this trail ? It would lead back t o the camp fire of the night before B etter reconnoitre while there was still the hiding of the mist He looked back The lake was obliterated by the mist curling up ; but above he could s e e the black ro cks o f the precipice trail as i f the P as s behind had clos ed it s doors again st retreat ; and was it imagination o r did he s ee an eagle so ar ing strong winged maj estically o ut from the rocks in curves of insolent power ? Memory of the naus eating horror came over h i m I n a phys ical wave ; and curiously enough he kept hear ing the soft voice of the Senato r s s coffin g ques ” “ tion : Who of the public gives on e damn ? It was easier sitting smug inside the firing line He knew men in the Service who would call him a fool for go ing out on this pres ent quest ; and he knew o thers who se j ealousy would s a y it was all done fo r self advertising ; and he knew also that he might be dismis sed fo r going out beyond the letter in order to fulfil the spirit of the la w ; but preceding the horror of the precipice trail was that other memory Of the dead boy lying at the foot of the R im R ocks beside the writhing mas s o f mutilated sheep Th e R anger followed along the game trail Who wa s it had said that the only di fference b e tween charco al and diamond was that one was .

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soft and the other hard ? Was that what ailed the N ation ? Had the fine edge of citizenship dulled ? Was the N atio n lo sing the fine edge of distinction between right and wrong ? Another little flutter o f wind se t the restles s mist s boilin g “ ” Strange it is hot s o early thought Way F ir trees stood out from the shifting gray land haze Among them did he s ee shadows moving ? They might be deer coming down to water In voluntarily he stepped behind some alder brush O ff the trail Another flutter Of wind thinning the turbid mist There was a whiff of camp smoke Through the mist he could make out — figures not a hundred yards away fi v e horses ready for travel four men clumsily lifting a fel low in c ow boy slicker into his saddle Th e man fell fo rward over the pummel The group s eemed — undecided what to do Then picked out dis tinct— deliberate— coming over the stones from — the lake side leisurely lazily careful soft foot — steps with rests between The R anger would not have been surprised to s ee the missing outlaw — limp from the mist Then the head of his ow n errant mule bobbed forward and another roll o f mist cam e up from the lake Wayland caught the trailing halter headed the am a zed little ani mal back down the go at track with an urgent kick and sprang after it to a clatter of rolling stones Wh en the clamo r sank he heard the pound o f hoo f s a s the outlaws galloped in the other dire c .

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tion F ive paces farther he found both the broncho s no sing consolingly round the mule Wayland emitted a deep breath o f relief If he had waited five minutes longer at the raft they w ould have had his hors es It was all in the dif ference between being on the wrong and the right s ide of five mi nutes .

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don t need t tell me we re goin South — an down We might be goin to the bottomless ” pit The W ind s like a furnace ” explained the R anger Off the Des ert T he s un had risen high above the peaks The mists had receded to belts and wisps o f cloud against the forests Waters tumbling wind blown from the ledges were swelling t o a chorus Little cro s s bills and j ays that had come round the breakfast camp still followed the pack train “ As this is O ff y r N ational F orests A s up po se y couldn t have jumped into the b unch an ” arrested every man j ack of em ? “ Not without being a target fo r five shots while ” they would have been targets fo r only one “ We d have strung em up in the go o d Old days an sent for the sheri ff t o clean up the rem ” nants They had left the goat track and dipped down a shaggy green hollo w between mountain s that s eemed to s lope to lakes of pure light above a blue open plain “ An y cit iz en can arrest a law breaker where ’









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man rode along in S ilence ” And from what you s a y finished Wayl a nd he evidently didn t mean any harm to come to the boy ; but that is always the way with this cursed system You re law breaking la w mak e rs your divin e right king crooks out here don t p la n crime They only plan to have their own w a y It s like a man breaking down a dam to get a little water When the floods burs t ” through th e break he thi nks it isn t his fault “ That s what some of our Scotch kings ” thought ; we took their heads o ff just the same “ Well if we can get our people wakened up we ll take a f ew heads Off too at election t ime He touched his pony to a brisk trot acros s the meadow following the mule as it dodged in and out among the larches up over a saddle back an d down again thwarting a long bare hollow Old

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Wayland s aw the light come sifting in gold dust Somehow the warmth Of it swept round him in a consciousnes s of that night on the R idge It w a s like the snow flakes s h e talked about sculpturing the rocks shaping destiny Would the day ever come when they tw o coul d rid e forth adventuring happines s together ? The hamme r the resinous tang of the gold o f a woodpecker dust air the shaking of the evergreen needles — like gyp sy tambourines fi lled him with an absurd s ense of the j oy of life ; and he could n ever drink the j oy of thes e things without thin king of her ; f o r .

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the consciousnes s o f her presence o f the warm glow of her love enveloped all n ow permeated his being a life in side his life blended of his ,

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A don t like the way that mule o your s keep s lookin ahead with both ears Wayland ! It s all fi re d quiet here for noon hour when the streams should be shouting There is something mighty queer and still in this air Yon saucy wo o d pecker ha s quit drillin Hold back a bit ! A m goin ahead ! A ve known these mountains longer than you have and curving through the brush wo od the Old frontiersman came out ahead of th e pack leader The little mule had undoubtedly followed a kind T hough the gras s es were saddle-hi gh o f trail punky logs showed the fresh rip of sho d hors es Little mo ssy streams betrayed roiled water and stones over turned Then the path emerged from the tree s s o abruptly you could have drawn a line along the edge of the timber out to a great hollowed slope wind blown bare Of ro cks clear of trees as if levelled by a giant trowel ; hushed preternaturally hushed the R anger thought as he came up abreast and glanced to the top of the long slope where the snows glistened over the edge o f the ro cks heavy and white This is what we heard last night ! See Way land the snow up there has been breakin It s ag s ! G ot its fore feet fo rward f or a rac e do wn ” one Of thes e days ! ’





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B oth men became aware Of something porten tous and heavy in the silence : it was mid day ; but there w a s no noon time S hout of dis imp ris on e d waters No t a cro ssbill n ot a j ay neither eagle no r hawk showed a gainst the azure fields of s ky and snow A little rifile as of waiting flut t e r ed through the gras ses and leaves Wayland w a s looking with d umb amazement at the great field Of l aurel in bloom acro ss the S lope ; three o r four mi les of it leaves of green wax in the sun flowers pas sion pale motionles s waiting ; what wa s it he mi ssed ? The in sect life ; there were neither butterflies no r bees rifl ing the fields of honey blo om ; the flowers acres and acres of them — stoo d pas sion pale motionles s waiting waiting what ? T hen there w a s a singing in his ears a weird strange undertone to the hush Of the for e s t behind them His breath came heavy The Old man wa s speaking in a muffled voice See boy there are three men on the other ” side ! They are signalling Wayland came alive out Of his stran ge trance “ It isn t to us they are signalling Move back quick out Of sight s ir ; s e e ! there s a man half w a y acro s s the fellow in the yellow slicker ! T here s some on e on foot hold ing him in his s a d dle ! What ever are they waving s o frantically fo r ? Involuntarily both men had wheeled the ponies back in the screen of trees when the Old man cried “ ” o ut : What in blazes ails your mule ? -

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frontiersman lay clinging to a prone trunk spitting blo od an d gasping fo r a m The animal s were scrambling to their feet saddles twisted bridles broken ’ Twas the concussion of the air ! A m not hurt not a feather O my head hurt ! A ve seen it ” before in the R o ckies ! Look back h e p anted When the R anger turn ed the clouds of dust w ere settling though the earth still rocked A hundred f eet of snow lay acro s s the trail in a wall Huge trees had been to rn f rom the roots , sucked in twisted and torte d like straws “ ” Look reiterated the Old frontiersman Against the rock trail on the other side of the snow slide three men sto o d waving frantically F rom the time the falling cornic e of snow had to ss ed up in a puff of smoke ten miles away to the fell stroke of the titanic leveller Of the ages — not ten seconds had passed It would have been an even bet that the men on the o ther side had been caught in the middle of their sentences in the middle Of their signall ing As for the in — jured man a n d his companion Wayland looked down the mountain slope Th e snow slide had shot to the bottom and gone quarter way up the other side Twill be safer n ow to cro s s t o the o ther side ! We can go up above the sno w slide an d cro ss by ” the bare rocks ! B ut Wayland was unheeding What w a s it about snow flakes massing to a momentum tha t Old

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bevelled the granite and rolled away the rocks for the resurrection to a new life ? Would it b e Would the quiet s o some day with the N ation ? workers the pure thinkers the faithful citizen s mass some day to sweep away the lawlessnes s the outrage the crime the treachery the trickery the shame the S ham o f self government s f ailures ; to roll away the stone fo r the resurrection t o a n ew ‘ Democracy ? High brows dreamers gho st ’ ’ walkers barkers biter s muck rakers ! Oh he knew the choice names that l a wless greed cast at such as he ; b ut a greater than he had said something about the meek and the inheritance o f the earth ; and there lay th e work of the snow flake acro s s the trail ” “ ’ I suppo s e he remarked absently it s our ” duty to go down and dig tho se dead du ff ers out “ N othing 0 the kind They ll keep cold stor age till the crack 0 doom and after that tis an ice pack they ll need The snow s t oo clean a grave for the likes O them ! The Lord has hewn out a path through the s e a ! S ound the loud tim ” brel and on ! ,

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C H A P TE R

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XV

ESE R T

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F our days had pas sed since they stood on the edge of the snow slide and gazed acro s s at three outlaws on the far side un der the crag waving frantically where their belated comrades had been buried under the avalanche When the outlaw drovers had turned and galloped into the blue slashed gully of the oppo site mountain the R anger had Observed that their only remaining pack horse w a s white , an Old dappled white run ning with a limp It had taken the better part of three days to cro s s above the wreckage of snow s and forest T hey had camped fo r two nights within a stone s throw Of the upp er glaciers Wayland could see the r eflection of the s ta rs in the ice at night and count the layers of the century s snow fall ’ that harked back each laye r a year s fall to the eras before Christ “ The little snow flake ha s been on the j ob ” a long time he said to the Old preacher “ ’ Matthews di dn t understand Can t make out why it s so hot when we re high up “ ” The wind is Off the Des ert said Wayland ” Mountains in a desert ? .

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belladonna eyes from starlight ; and he knew what his being craved was not carrion It w a s wha t harmonizes both flesh and spirit and lifts the temporal to eternity E ternity he laughed again E ternity was too S hort ; and that wa s what renunciation meant giving up a citadel a gainst all the harking cares and hells o f hate in life .

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Where they had picked up the fugitives trail again on the fourth day from the snow slide the R anger had taken stock of provi sions We none Of us know just how long the Trail i s to b e when we s e t out F lour and tea enough fo r a month s travel : of bacon and canned bean s only a day s supply remained ’ Yes on your life forward long as ther e s a ” mouthful lef t push on Matthews had urged “ Wayland expo stulated : DO you know wha t ” Desert travel means ? “ NO an care les s ! If y want to get any where ye don t s et out to turn back ! Dan t e s inner circle wa s ice ! A ve had that ! Now A ll take a nip o f hi s outer circl e and try your blue ” blazing D esert “ It ll be blue all right s ir ! You ll know it when you come to it by the shadows being blue in ” stead of black ’

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forests more scattered the tree s scan tier and dwarfed till the way led from clump to clump o f scrub pinon amid red buttes and sand hummo cks And always the valleys widened and lif ted to higher table lands blasted and shrivelled and tremulous o f heat till the mountains lay on the far s ky line silver strip s fl e ck e d w ith purple like shores to an ocean of pure light An d always it was the trail O f fleeing horsemen they fol lowed with on e track running aside from the others picking the softest places “ ” Only one pack hors e and that lame Way “ land pointed to the foot prints That mean s they must have provisions cached s ome where on the way If we can tire them out before they can reach their cache w e ve go t em ,

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where the way led between flanking foo t hills the tracks dipped into a mountain strea m ” “ and didn t come up on the o ther side Hoh ! “ commented the Old man that s easy ; you ll tak e the right and A ll take the left ; and where the ’ hills lift up ahead A m thinking you ll find the ” tracks plain All the same Wayland noticed Matthews f r e quently moistening his parched lips ; and the lake s of light ahead lay a wavering looming veil A mile farther on the ripped punk of a dead pinon betrayed the passing of the fugitives When Wayland dismounted to examine the marks he stepped on a small cactus They picked up a ,



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trail that led over rocky mesas and dipped sud d e n ly into the deep dug w a y o f a dry gravel bed The sand walls Of the dead stream a ff orded shelter from the s un and the two riders spurred their broncho s to a canter led by the pack mule Th e sand banks spread widened opened ; and the mule stopped both ears po inting forward like a hunting dog They rode forward to find them s elves lo oking down on an o cean of light shim m ering o range colo red light with the mountains trembling on the far sky line silve r strip s fl eck e d by purple and opal Th e Old frontiersman mowed the sweat from his brows and gazed from under shade of his level hand “ ” Sun s like a shower 0 red hot arrows he s aid Th e s and lay fine as S ifted a shes dotted with clumps o f bluish green sage brush and grea se wood A bleached ox skull fo cuss ed the light with a glaze that stabbed vision Th e a shy earth the dusty sage brush the o range sand hills the silver strip on the far s ky line fl e ck e d by the purple and opal loomed and wavered and writhed in a white flame “ Do you s e e the bluish shade to the shadows ? asked Wayland Th e old man was still shading his eyes from the “ white heat D O A see mountains Wayland ? “ Certainly you do ! Did you think the Des ert ” flat as the s e a ? -

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smoking s and hills the S ifted volcanic ash the burnt Oil smell of shrivelled growth mean t to unprepared travellers “ ” “ I wish s ir said Wayland I wish you would turn back here and let me go on alone ; I ’ really do ! “ What ! turn tail like a whipped dog an scuttle at first danger ? G O t o blazes my b oy ! ’ Do you think y r beasts will stand cro ssing before sunset ? “ It s about a s easy going ahead a s standing still I f we only had a water canteen it wouldn t ” be such a fool thing to risk Th e wind flayed them with hot peppering s and If w e to ok time to go back for one n ow this ” wind would wip e out the tracks “ What s yon splash o dust goin over the roll ” 0 th hill ? B eyond the quiver of the dusky heat they could s e e the drift of ash dust eddying to the wind lik e dirty snow “ I wish sir you would turn back here urged Wayland ; but Matthews was not heeding He had gathered up the broncho s reins “ ” Ti s my Ob Time to b e moving he said s ervation Wayland that the devil gets away from the saint becaus e he ll always ride one faster Many s the time when A ve been pressed in the Old days when if the man behind had just ridden the one bit harder that he thought he couldn t j ust not sagged where he flagged he d ha got me, ,

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Wayland ! When y pace two men , one ridin with the devil behind him and the other j og trot ting with a dumpy comfortable con science tis ” a safe bet which will win There was th e clitter clatter of the horse s hoofs over the lava rocks ; the padded beat of the easy plains lop e a s they left the lava f or the ashy silt ; then no sound but the swash Of s addle leather along trail marks that cut the crusted silt like tracks in soft snow The wind had been fl a r ing a steady torrid white flame Now it b ega n to come in puffs and whirls that beat the air to dust of a shes and sent the sand foaming in the wave lines of a yellow se a Th e mule n o longe r ambled ahead with ears pointed He shu ffl ed through the a sh with dragging steps ; and the sage brush crackled brittle where the trail led out from the silt acro ss the baked earth The heat waves writhed and throbbed through the a t mos p he r e a flame through a sieve with a scorch of burning from the ground and clouds of dus t like smoke “ ” I think I ll get O ff and walk said Wayland “ suiting the action to the word I hope tho s e blackguards are counting on camping at a spring ” to night They plodded on for another half hour before Matthews answered “ DO you think they did it intentionally ? A mean do y think they lured us here to get rid of ’



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Wayland paused and thought “ It s all the same whether they did o r not now ! Wha t was it you said about a man chased by the devil setting a goo d live p ace ? T hey have t o find water They know where ’ water is We don t ! O nly safety is to f ol .



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Queer h ow y keep ima g inin ye hear wimp ’ lin brooks ! When A let myself go A keep hearin the tinkle O y r rill s back in the moun tains ! A keep s e e in the blue false water w a v erin up to my feet an r e ce din again ! I sn t there a fellow in mythology Wayland died 0 thirst in water because w hen he reached to drink ” it it kep t w a v e rin away ? “ That fellow had travelled in the Desert an s w er e d Wayland He aimed his revolver at a green rattlesnake lying under a s age brush The s un glinted from the steel barrel T he snake coiled and raised “ “ its head See s aid Wayland the snake takes aim The light sort Of hypnotizes it Th e ” greenest tenderfoot couldn t mis s it ” “ H ow far d y call it acro s s ? T wo to four days straight : eleven to twenty As I make it they are if you take it di a gonally steering due West fo r one o f the deep cut ways ” t o take em South under shade Shade would taste pretty go od to me Way land Wayland looked back at his c ompanion What ’



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axe Wayland ? Th e R anger pointed to the wide cracks in the baked earth dry a s flour dust deep as they could s ee The mule led th e way at a run up the next s and roll “ Think he smells water Wayland ? Another bro ad mesa rolled away to the silver s trip of mou n tain on the sky l ine ; but the fore ground broke into slabs and blocks o f red stone Wayland examined the trail It twisted in and o ut among the ro cks towards more broken coun ,

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may be a can yon leading S outH over ” there he pointed “ Y might try f or a spring b eneath that big ” r ock Looks green at the b ottom A mist a s of primro s e or fire tin ged the lakes O f quivering light lying on the ochre colored mesas The s un hung clo se to the silver strip of mountain exaggerated to a huge dull blood red shield “ Wayland is this desert light red or 1 s it that A m s eein red ? The R anger looked a third time at h is com panion Th e Old man s a t more erect ; but his eyes were bloo d shot A pu f f o f wind a lift and fall and drift of sand the wind met them in a peppering shower of hot shot “ I s that a rain cloud comi n up ? Wayland glanced b a ck The heavy du s t ro s e There ,

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TH E

D E S E RT fl a me -crested

red black curtain above the ridges O f orange sand “ You re a churchman s ir ! You should know ! E ver read in Scripture of the cloud by day and the pillar by night ? E ver think what that might mean on the sco rching R ed Sea j ob when Mo ses led ” a personally conducted tour through the desert ? ” “ Dust ? queried the preacher “ ” B y Harry cried Wayland that mule d oes ” smell water T he little beast had s et Off fo r t he red rock at a canter Wayland s hors e followed at a long gallop The broncho of the Old clergyman with the heavier man lurched to a tired lope They felt the eddies of dust a s they tore ahead s aw the rainles s clouds gathering low and gray f a r behind s a w the s un lurid through the whirls O f red silt s aw the dust to s s up among the lava beds like snow in a blizzard then the sand sto rm broke the dry storm Of rainless clouds and choking dust fl ayin g the air in rainles s lightning They gave the ponies blind rein and shot round the sheltered s ide of the great red ro ck into on e o f tho s e hidden river b eds that trench below the surface of the desert in cutw ay s and canyons It wa s dry “ The shadow Of a great rock in a weary land quoted the Old man sliding from his hor se ex han sted F oot prints of men and horses punctured the moist silt of the river bottom The little mule was kicking and squealing where the r ed r ock a

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 00

TH E

WILD ERN E SS

came through the clay b ank Down the terra cotta ledge trickled a tiny rill not S O large a s a pencil Wayland w a s chopping a deep mud hole in the river bottom up whi ch slowly oozed a yel low pool “ ” Don t drink that sir he ordered The Old frontiersman wa s stooping to la ve Up a handful o f the muddy fluid “ Don t drink that if you want to get out al ive ! ” Wait I have somethi ng in the pack ! He threw the cinch rop es free from the mul e pulled out the sacks of flour an d bacon and eof “ ” f ee Here we are He drew out the only can o f beans and p unctured the end wi th his knife “ If you will s ati sfy your thi rst with that juice I ll catch the trickle down the rock while we rest ; but you must never drink this alkali sink stu ff Leaving the horses nuzzling the muddy pool the R anger stuck his j ack kn ife into a crevice of the ledge and hung the s m a ll kettle where it would catch the drip Matthews w a s examini ng the tracks ’ “ N ot more than an hour or tw o Old an A m thi nking Wayland we ve f o oled them out of w a ” ter ! “ They ll keep t o the shelter of the outwa y long ” a s this dust storm lasts Waylan d w a s following down the tracks The s un had s u nk b ehin d the silver strip of .

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F REE B OO TER S O F

202

v at s with spik es

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

keep intruder s off ; and the greasewoo d stops evaporation by a varnish o f gum I m sun veneered all right I don t swea t a ll my moisture out “ B etter varnish me then before ye take me out ” again Les s than a pint of water had seeped in to the little kettle ; and this they us ed f or their tea mix ing the flour with the stale water from the mud pool Then they lighted pipes and lay back to rest Wayland had placed the kettle back under the drip of the ledge “ A can understand Mo ses smitin the rocks fo r a spring ; and such a wind a s we had to day ” observed the Old ma n b low in the R ed Sea dry dreamily “ I gues s if you get any miracle down to clo se quarters you ll sort it out all right without bust returned Wayland in g common sense He wasn t thinking of the day s hardships Th e silver strip o f the far mountains had faded ; first the purple bas e ; then the melting opal summit At last the restless wind had sunk Th e red ro cks o f the mes a darkened to spectral shapes The heat the scorch the torrid pain of the day had calmed t o the soft velvet cares s o f the indigo Desert night Twice the R anger dozed Off to wake with a s tart with a sens e of her hand warning danger Always befo re the thoug ht of her had come in an involuntary con ’

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D E S ERT

whelmed of happines s ; but to n ight was it fear ? He ro se and looked about Tw o of the horse s lay at rest The mule stoo d munching near The O ld frontiersman slept heavily his face trou bled and upturned to the s ky Wayland noticed the livid tinge of the lip s the shadows round the eye sockets the protuberance Of veins on the backs of the old man s hands The s ky s eemed t o come down lower as the red twilight darkened ; a n d he could hear not a sound but the crunch of the gra z ing mule and the slow drop drop drop of the water seeping from the terra cotta ledge Th e stars were beginning to prick through the indigo darkness In another hour it w ould b e bright enough t o travel by starlight ; and the R anger lay back to rest slipping into a dusky realm as of half consciousnes s and sl eep ; but fo r the nervous ticking Of his watch and the slow drop drop drop ; then sleep with a dream face wavering through the dark ; then the watch tick scurrying on again ; then a hand touched him ! Wayland sprang t o his f eet half a sleep He could have sworn she was standing there ; but the form faded The pack mule had fl oun ce d Up with a cough A white horse stoo d between the banks Of the a rroyo There w a s a steel flash in the dark the rip of a quick shot and the kettle bounced from the ledge with a j angling S pill “ ” What s that ? yelled the Old f rontiersman , j umping for the horses s c iou s n e s s

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204

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

Wayland was pumping his repeater int o the darknes s ; b ut the clatter of hoof beats down the dry gravel bed answered the question ” answered the It s the signal fo r us to get Up “ R anger I don t mind the blackguard s bad aim s o much a s I do the upset o f that kettle E very ” drop of water i s spilled “ A m thin kin twa s the kettle they aimed at ” a n d n ot u s my b oy ! .



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F R EEB OO TER S O F

WILD ERN E SS

TH E

mak e it in this high rare air ; an they re goin ” mi ghty slow ! We ve played em out “ Yes ; but they have played us out ! Let us get Off and have breakfast I f that small wren co ming out Of the cactus could speak it might ” tell us where to find water ’









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had camped on e no on hour at a Des ert po ol beneath a cottonwood where the putrid carcass Of a dead ox polluted air and water Th e R anger whittled the cottonwoo d branches fo r a small chip fire and he boiled enough water to fill the skin bag for the next day s travel ; but a high w 1 n d w a s blowing re stless nagging gusty p elting ash dust in their eyes and not to lo s e the trail they had pres sed on through the swelterin g heat of mid day Wayland s muscles had begun to feel hardened to the dryness o f knotted whip cords H i s S kin had bronzed swarthy as an Indian s He was beginning to rejoice in the vast S pacious relentles s Des ert with its fierce struggle Of life again st death ; the cactus the greas ewood the b ri ttle sage brush all match ing themselve s against the heat death Was there a thing b eas t o r bush not armed with the fangs o f protection and onslaught ? Wayland looked at his leather coat It had been j agged to tatter s by thorn a n d spine Silent too ; the s truggle was S ilent and insidious and crafty a s death Who could gues s where the water pools lay beneath the dry gravel beds ; o r why the cac ,

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BI TTE R WA TE R S tus fortified its storage

moisture in bristling S p ear points ; the greasewo o d and pinon with thorns and resin ; the sage brush with a dull gray varnish that imprisoned evaporation ? Th e very crust above the earth Of ash and silt conspired to hide the trail of wolf and cougar ; and wolf and cougar wren and condo r masked in colors that hid their presence Twice Wayland had almo st stumbled on a wolf S itting motionless gray a s the ash watching the horsemen pas s ; pass where ? Wa s it down the Long T r a il where the tracks all point on e way ? Yet the fi erc en e s s the craft the relentless cruelty of the silent struggle matched his ow n mo od He felt the stimulus of the high dry s un fused tireless air He began to understand why the Des ert prophets of the E ast who camped on sand plains rimmed round and round by an unbroken s ky line had been the first of the human race to grasp the idea O f the Oneness of Go d And w a s it not the Des ert prophets who had preached a Go d relentles s a s he was merciful ; and the retribution that wa s fire ? Well Wayland ruminated who should s a y that they were wrong ? If the G o d who created the Desert was the God of life ; but there his thought had been broken by coming on the withered car cass beside the yellow pool “ They can t keep going on in this heat ! We ll ” run em down if w e can only keep going Way land had said ; as they s e t Out again in the blister ing wind ; but to his dying day he will never for of

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F RE E B OOTER S

208

OF TH E

WI LD ERNE S S

get the trav ers e of the Des ert in that mid day s un To his dying day he Wl ll never s e e the s pectrum c olors of white light split by a prism o r the spectrum colors Of a child s soap bubble without living over the to rt ures of th at afterno on ; f o r the air whippe d to dust by the hurr icane wind acted as a prism splitting the white flame of light t o lurid reds and oranges and yellows and v io lets -

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this second morn ing be fore the star s had faded to the orange sunris e com ing up through the lavender air in a half fan the heat h a d thrown riders and horses in a sweltering s we a t ; and the nagging wind had begun driving a sh dust in eyes and skin like p epper on a r aw Matthews ru ddy face had turned livid ; s ore his bloo d shot eyes were dark ringed The ho rs es travelled with heads hung low Spite of the s un it wa s a cloudy sky but whether r a in clouds or dust clouds they could not tell T o wards noon they could s e e against the purple mountains the red tinged clouds fraying out to a fringe that swept the sky “ A thought it never rained in the Desert in ” Wayland ? s ummer ” “ It do esn t What s that ahead ? R ain ; but if you look again you ll s e e it do esn t reach the s k y line ! It s sucked up and evaporated be fore it hits the dust on

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

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TH E



NO,

an swered Wayland I m going to k eep on e hor s e f resh R est thi s on e to d ay : then we ll change off and rest yo u rs to morrow T ho s e fel lows can t g o any faste r than w e do T his heat will bea t them out if we can t I ll make tho s e blackguards glad to d rink hors e blo o d Then they moved forward again Wayland leading on foot the little pack mule to the rear both horses stumbling clumsily raising clouds o f dust ; breathing hard with he aving flanks ’

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they h a lted in broken country more red buttes ; hummocks of red ; silt crust trenched by the crumbly cutw a ys Of spr ing freshets ; sand hills billowing to a bri ck red sky where the sun hung a dull blaze There were tracks of the fleeing drovers having paused f or a rest in the same place It w a s a pebble bottom hot and dry Wayland s co oped under with his Servi ce axe and an ooze of clay water s eeped S lowly up forming a brackish po ol He had to hold the little mule back from fighting the hors es f or that water When the animals had drun k he filled the water bag with the settlings T owards three in the morn ing the soft velvet pansy blue Desert dark broke t o a sulphur mist Wayland saddled horses and mule and wakened the old f rontiersman “ ” E h where s this ? He came to hi mself b eav “ Wayland i s this hell broth of a sulphu r ily ,

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B I TTE R WA TER S

stew doin me ? Has y r Desert g ot me Way land ? “ hen the Desert gets you it gets you NO sir W raving mad with fever Chains won t hold you ! Long as you sleep , This soggy sleep is all right ” you ll keep your head ! All the same the R anger notic ed that the old man ate scarcely any breakfast F or tho se p eo ple who think that the R anger s life consists Of an easy all day j og trot it would be well to s e t down exactly of what that breakfast consisted It consisted of slap j acks made with water sedi ment B oth men were afraid to draw on the water from the skin bag fo r tea ’



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passed dead pools that day places wher e Desert travellers had stuck up po sts to mark a spring ; but w here the Service axe failed to find water below the saline crust Then Wayland knew why the sulphur dust drift moved so slowly against the horiz on Th e outlaws ha d n o t found water Horses and men were fagging A vel veteen coat had been throw n aside to lighten weight ; from the dus t markings one ho rs e s eemed to have fallen ; and the load had been lightened still more by casting Off half sacks of flour and some canvas tenting ; but the tracks of the lame horse picking the soft places along the trail showed drops Of bloo d Had it cut its el f on the glas sy lava rocks ; or w a s it the hoof ? A little farther ahead the same horse had fallen again to ,

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21 2

F RE EB O O TER S O F

TH E

WI LD ERNE SS

its knees rolling over headlong ; and the other tracks doubled back conf usedly where the riders had come to help The R anger smiled though the yello w hea t danced in bloo d clots befor e his blistered vision He had had to put the old f rontiersman back on his ho rs e three times The stirru p w a s w rong ; o r the saddl e w a s slipping ; or what alarmed Wayland was each time he h ad stopped , the old man was stooping as if to follow the wavering outline Of invisible water Then when the R anger tried to count how many days they had been out he found he coul dn t He had lo st track : the days had slipp ed into nights and the night s into days ; and he suddenly realized that his head po un ded like a steel derrick ; that the crackling of the dry sage brush le a ves s napped something strung and irritable in his own nerve s T here wa s no longer a drowsy hum in hi s ears It wa s a wild rushing O nce the hors es shuffl ed to a dead stop Way land lo oked up from the dancing sand at his feet He rubbed hi s eye s and looked again “ I keep thinking I s e e a white hors e lagging behind th a t dust drift What puzzles me i s whether they are trying to g e t out of the Desert o r los e us in it While w e are seeing them you can bet they are seeing us ! There hasn t been a yard for a mile back where the ho of tracks weren t bloo dy They ll lo se a hors e if they keep on to d ay : then they ll be without a packer ; but if ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

21 4

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

side stepped the trail for a di ff erent angle o f re fraction The Obj ect blurred then reappeared a lea f from a note book no t thirty yards away Wayland went quickly fo rward He w a s aware a s he walked that the shrivelled earth heaved and s ank s o that he h a d the sens ation Of staggering It was a dirty leaf from a note book fouled by the Des ert winds and lo dged in the sage brush Then he looked twice It wa s not lodg ed I t w a s stuck down in the branches secure against the wind T he ranger pulled the thin g Off Th e O n the Upper un de r side showed tobacco stains w ere s crawled in heavy pencil ; Ry 2 0 ml du es t if i n i r t n i m t a e t h h i t tt es t a d e f u o t o a u d pp fi gg y -

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R ailway twenty miles due E ast



translated That is probably true Wayland I think there I s a branch line runs a hundred miles in to Min e City If y o u don t catch up hit it E ast flag the midnight fre ight she ll carry you to Mine City Well ? What do you make of it ? Did they leave it ; or did some bo dy else ? If it had been there long the w ind would have torn it to ” tatters ” Let me s ee it The Old man turned it over “ in his hand E vidently left to direct the man ” back in the Pa ss ; they don t believe he s dead “ The R anger took it back and read it over If they re lagging back for the missing man why di dn t they leav e a mess age sooner ? Trail .

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B I TTER W A TE R S d oesn t fork here

Why di d they leave word



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here ? “ There r e ally is a railway somewhere here ” Wayland ? “ T here must b e if one knew where to find it “ Matthews smiled Then A take it this is a gentle hi nt to go o ff and los e ourselves trying to fin d it Wayland s eyes rested on the slow moving dust cloud against the horizon ” “ He Then it is a case of who lasts out ! “ looked at his whi te haired companion B ut ’ there s n o call f or you to risk y our life on the last lap of the race It s no t your j ob It means another day ; perhaps tw o If you d take my horse it s fresher and the water bag you could ride out to the railro ad to night Tho se fellows are not goo d fo r many miles more unless they hit ” a spring Let me go on alone sir “ ” Al o n e ? The Old man s face flushed furious “ livid Git epp ,

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Up a sand bluff heaving to the heat waves ; down a slither of ash dust ; then acro s s the pet r ifi e d black lava roll ; down to a saline sink white and blistering to the sight ; over a silt bank crumbly as flour ; and on and yet on ; acro s s the dusty sage smelling parched plain they moved ; always following the tracks ; tracks con fused and doublin g back a s if the hind hors e ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

21 6

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

l a gged ; with blood drip and shuffling dragging hoofs ; always keeping the dust whirl Of the fore ho rizon in view ; on and on but speaking scarcely at all ! The R anger again had that curious sensation of the earth slipping away from h i s foo t steps He had thrown away his leather co at early in the mo rning N ow he found himself tearing off the loo se red tie round the flannel collar of the Serv ice suit ; and he pulled hims elf sharply toge ther reco gnizing the fevered instinct to strip off a ll hampering clothin g It w a s as much a heat death symptom as sleep forbodes fro st death He did not walk in a daze as the old man rode half numb nes s hal f drows e He walked with a throb —throb— throb in hi s temples like the fall of water He wanted to run ; to strip himself a s an athlete f or a race ; and all the time he kept walking as if the heaving earth went writhing a way f rom each step “ Don t y think ye better Open that pack an ” get a drink fo r y r s elf my boy ? Wayland w a s pausing in the shadow of a sand butte and the Old man had ridden up “ Want it for yourself ? N ot a drop B etter keep it f or the ho rs es then ; if we can k eep them going to the n ext spring they ll carry us o ut Anything the matter with me that y ou ” a sk that ? ,

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F RE EBO O TER S O F

21 8

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

and the padded chug o f dragging feet an d the hum the hypnotic hum of the heat tha t drowsed from delirium to sleep ,

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I think said Wayland this seems a pretty ” go od jumping OH place f or a rest The afterno on was waning They were under shelter of a sand bank from the wind and ,

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A think Wayland this is nearly my jumping ” Off place altogether Matthews spoke feebly O n pretense Of steady ing the fagged broncho the R anger helped him to dismount T hen Wayland un saddled and drew the water bag from the p ack trees He handed it over to the Old man Matthews pushed it a side : “ K eep it for yourself to morrow If y find no spring y ll need the water to morrow ; but A ll ” t ake y r fl a sk of brandy if y don t mind ? “ That s a fo ol thing to take in the heat s ir T is if y intend to live Wayland ; but A m at the end of this Trail A d like a bit strength t tell y a thing o r tw o before as we ” rest ! Don t waste any water on flap j acks Th e The mule lay rolling in the sage brush tw o hors es stoo d with lowered heads chacking Wayland s a w the brandy on the bit and pawing flush mount to the purplish pallor o f the old man s face “ Wayland this I s my jumping Off place ! ’ A m at the end O f the T rack The T rail where ,

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B I TTER W A TER S the tracks all point on e way Tis n a s ensible I l l hangin back f r me ! f take the fresh o r y y horse an go on alone y ll get out ! If the rail road is only thirty miles due E ast y can make that We ll rest a bit here then after sundown we ll ride on ; an in the dark A ll drop back If it hurts y t think Of it A ll head my horse due E ast for the railroad ! Y ll g o on Wayland ! Y ll not turn back fo r me ! It took the R anger a momen t t o realize what “ the old frontiersman was trying t o s ay I think you d better take another drink of that “ ” brandy he said It seems to me a f ool thing to let a good man die fo r the sake of c atching ” three outlaw blackguards Tis not for the s a ke 0 three blackguards ! ’ The words came out wi th a rap Tis to vindi cate justice tis to U phold la w an till every go od citizen is willin to lay down his life hounding out rage to th very covert 0 Hell t die protectin law an justice an innocence an right y r N atio n ’ wull be ruled by p altroon s an cowards an white vested blackguards ! G O ; go on ; g o on t o the end till ye fall and rot ! If th Devil takes to the Open an the saints take to cover who s e goin t fight the battle for right ? T he Armageddon ’ o r N ation ? Tis easy t b e a g o o d citizen y ’ when the bands a re pla yin an th e canno n ’ Tis harder in times 0 peac e to fight roarin the battle 0 the lone man ! Thes e outlaws thes e blackguards thes e out throats , they re only the ’



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220

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

tools of the Man Higher Up ! Get them then go on f or the Man Highe r Up ! Leave me when A drop back in the dark to night ; if A m in my s ense s A ll shout a bravo and give y a wave ! Y r the Man on the Job the N ation s j ob ! Tis not by bludgeons and b ayonets tis by ballots and brain s y ll fight this battle out ; and fight y must or y r freedom will g o the way 0 the Old wo rld despotisms down in a welter A wish y d ’ o t o the t op 0 the bank and h a ve a look ahead g ,

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An ab surd s ense of power of resolution from — desp air of will to do suddenly swept over the R anger He forgo t his fatigue Months after wards a fellow student who had become a pro f e s s o r in p sychology explained to him that it was a cas e Of consciousnes s dipping suddenly down to the sub limal reservoirs of unconscious strength that lie in humanity ; but then Wayland had le f t tw o factors of explan ation untold : first that the dying trumpet call of the Old warrior mis s ion a ry had opened the do ors Of consciousnes s to that night on the R idge of the Holy C ro s s ; second that the s etting s un tingin g all the buttes and hummocks and plains with ro se flame some how tinctured his being with consciousnes s of her consciousnes s of the life drafts he had taken from her lip s that night Of the Death Watch He went acro s s to the p ack trees P icking up the cro s s trees and blankets he laid them on the ground a s a pillow ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

222

TH E

WILD ERN ES S

nes s the will to power to do to fight and over come He ro se and looked acro s s the Desert A pu ff of dust a swirl and eddy of riders resolved its elf through the terra cotta mist to the forms of three men going over the crest of the sand roll against the red s un wrack of the sky line ; three figure s far apart riding slowly crawling against the face Of the distant S ky ; on e man in advance bent over his pummel ; a second rider w ith a pack hors e in tow pulling and drag gi ng on the halter rope the pack horse whi te and lame stopping at every step the man crunched hud dlin g fore done down in his saddle ; then drag ging far to the rear just cresting the sky line a s the other two disappeared swaying from side to side a ragged wreck lying almo st forward on his hors e s neck ; was he being deserted ? Wayland uttered a jubilant low whistle and tumbled down the sand bank to his camp kit ,

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wind was at lull and the velvet air p alpi tating as a human puls e Th e after glow lay on the orange sands cresting all the ridges with cres se ts Of flame Wayland was riding bare backed “ When we sight them I want you to drop back Th e Desert s got them They haven t th e s ir ! resistance Of dead fish left If w e cut acro s s this sink as I m ak e it we ll save a couple of miles and almo st meet them on the other side o f the ” next ridge When Wayland had wakened the Old frontiers -

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B I TTE R WA TER S

man he had babbled inconsequently a bout the Mixing brandy with the last Of the sediment s ea water Wayland got him into the saddle Ther e were queer splotches of blood under the skin on the backs of his hands ; but when the brandy r e lieve d his fatigue he stopped babbling Of the s ea and spoke coherently “ Y mind the man who s e wife died in the ” Desert Wayland ? His hors e stumbled The R an ger snatched a t the bridle and j erked it up “ ” Yes s aid Wayland Vera noble of the woman ; tis all right on h er record Wayland ; but what do y think 0 ” t h man ? B ut in this cas e the man took her in to save ” her life “ A wasn t thinking of his case an swered the ” “ other bluntly A w a s thinking Of y ours Th e hors e stumbled again This time the R anger kept hold Of the bridle rein “ ’ A didna just mean t tell y Wayland ; but A want y t know before A drop back A s a w it in her eyes Wayland yon night she went up the R idge trail and Oh man A was loth to speak : S he would cheer y on in y r work A thought per — haps perhaps the Lord might b e p lay in an ace card an A d no be trump m my partner s tricks ; but tisn t so ; Wayland tisn t s o ! This Deser t hell proves me wrong She i sna f or y man ; no man can ask a woman t o come into a fight tha t ,

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may mean this ! It s a man s j ob Wayland ; an the man who would drag a woman into the suf ferin o f it isn t worthy of her isn t the man to do the jo b O h yes A know a woman s love is ready to jump in the fire an all that H oh ! Th e man s love that ll let her is poor stu ff Wayland base metal kind O love to burn all away to dro s s an ashes when the fires come ! Her s w ill come out pure gold thro it all but man alive Wayland think 0 her when she finds his as dro s s ; an if he lets her sacrifice hers for ” his tis dro s s ! Wayland grew suddenly hot all over He could not bring himself to name her much less indulge in the cheap confes sional of tawdry lo o s e held a ff ection He had heard men discus s their love a ff airs : men who could discus s them h a dn t any ; theirs was the s ense reflex of the frog that kicks when you tickle its nerve end He rode on un speaking ’ “ Y ll b e tellin y r s elf tis to o sacred to mouthe with an Old fellow like me All right ! We ll s a y it is to o s acred ; but that minds me of a C ree rascal on my R eserve an Old medicine man a l ways talkin of hi s sacred medicine bag ; well far away go od on e day when he was goo d an an plenty drunk A took a peep into his medicine bag ; there was nothin inside but a little snake that hi s sed ; an him b e a ti n the big drum ! Hoh ! sacred ? “ me y r pas sion vows are Y ll b e tellin ’





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F RE EB OO TER S

2 26

WILD E RNES S

OF TH E

Angus of P rince Albert an your Donald herel He never s aw his father ali ve T he Lovatt e states have been restored by law ; but the line is bred out down t o a little Old lady who s e w a itin m e up at my Mission on Saskatchewan She came huntin heirs An gus had marri ed an In dian woman ; he ll never go back nor hi s sons ’ T hey re livin under a tent to d ay What would they do w i a castle and liveried s ervants and ’ tenants an things ? Donald y r sheep king man married a white girl Some time after 85 S he left him f o r the part he took in the R ebellion ’ She died a f ter the child s birth ; and the father claimed the daughter H e s known they d have to come f or his daughter s ome day spite of his part in the R eb ellion ; and that wa s n o such shameful thing a s y might think if y ve lived ’ long enough in the West t understand ! He has educated the daughter f or the place As A guess s h e knows nothing of it do esn t know w ho her mother w as or why her father had to leave C an ’ ada A guessed that much when y r Indian woman s ent me the wrong ro ad from the R idge trail that night ! She doesn t even know who ” that Indian woman is “ ” — Y ou came f or her ? repeated Wayland slowly T he n ight on the R idge came back t o him ! C alamity s fear when the Old frontiersman arrived ; B at s threat to expose something ; ’ E leanor s p e rturb e d let ter ; the father s half fur tive defiant existence He wa s too proud to ask ’

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more than the other cared to tell too loyal to pry into any part Of her life that she could n o t willingly share with him H e sat gazing into the mystic afterglow of the Desert a flame of fire over a lake Of light It wa s a s the Old man had said he had asked her to strengthen his resolu tion ; and he drank in the love light of her eyes He had vowed himself to a life apart a s he asked and then his humanity his weakn ess his need had sealed the v ow of renunciation in the fire s th a t f orged eternally their beings into on e B ut this , this was the Hand from O utside on which w e never reckon and which always comes ; the Des tiny Thing which Man s Will denie s wrenching the forging asun der Was it right for him to risk their lives farther in the Desert now ; it a fi e c t e d her life now ; and that wa s exactly what his com mon s ens e had fores een : the fighter must fight alone Love might send forth ; b ut love must not be s ufi ered to draw back “ Why do you tell me all this ? T he old man moistened his lip s before speak “ If A don t g o out Wayland A want y ing t s e e that her father s told that sh e s taken back When A s aw the love light in her face come out like stars and her breath bre ak when A spoke Of you as a R anger fellow when A s a w that A thought no matter what A thought If y married her d y think y could go O ff on the fi rm line d y think y would i f y knew ; g ’ y d left he r in danger ? They d s trike at you ,

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through her Wayland it would b e the end Of free fi g htin A ask no promise Ti s ” enough A ve told y Drive on ! ,





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moved slowly up the s and ridge the R anger a little ahead Ob liviOIi s of the livid blue of the Old man s lips and the drag on the bridle rope till a quick j erk ripped the lin e from his loo se hold ; and he glanced back to see the other s hor se stagger flounder up again waver and sink w ith a sucking groan Wayland sprang just in time to catch the Old frontiersman He tore the saddle from the fallen broncho and cinched it on hi s own horse Then he lifted Matthews pro testing to the fresh mount till we reach the next ” rest place he said tying the halter rop e of the “ pack mule t o the s addle pommel G O on I ll ” come ,

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Wayland waited till the horse and mule pas sed he took o ver the crest of the sand bank ; then A shudder ran through the o u t his revolver fallen hors e The R anger s hand trembled He “ stroked its neck P oor devil ; it s none of your a ff air either I wonder how the Go d of the game ” will square it with the dumb brutes ? He ran his left hand down the white face of the broncho It hobbled as if to stagger up and sank back dumb faithful tryin g to the end one fore kne e bent to ris e the neck ou tstretched Wayland s right hand went swiftly clo se be tween ,

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_

GO

on and see then ! I ll follow ! If there s ” water look out f o r the drovers Wayland let go his hold of the bridle Hors e and mule shot down the sand bank He s a w them shoulder neck and neck along the whit e alkali bottom then break to a gallop the o ld man hanging t o the pommel ; then all disappeared round the end of the bank Wayland slithered down the sand mp e and dashed to the top of the next hill breathl es s B elow lay the glister of water real water and n o mirage glassy gray and sinister T he R anger uttered a yell ; then paused in his head long descent Th e pony had plunged in belly deep ; the mul e had lowered it s head ; the old man w a s kneeling at the brink Wayland s aw him lave the water up with his hand : then throw it violently back All at once the grip of life snapped Matthews The horse wa s w a s lying motionles s on the sand chocking its head up and down ; the mule was stamping angrily with fore feet roiling the po ol bottom It had been one Of the salt S ink s that lie in the depres sion s of the Desert ’



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C H A P TE R

W HE RE T HE

T

RACKS

XVII

AL L

PO

I N T O N E W AY

Wayland poured the last very driblet s of water sediments f rom the skin bag This he forced past the old man s lips T hen he drew the un conscious form back on the saddle blank ets loo s ened the neck of the shirt laved the temples and wrist s with the s a lt w a t er to re strip s of canv a s from the tent square wet that and laid it on the old man s forehead He ran his hand insid e the shi rt and f elt the heart It was still beating beating furiously with f aint flutte rin g s then a o cessions of f resh fury The lips were black and swol len The eye s were sunken ; and the vein s stood out in deadly clear purplish reticulation w ith splotches o f transfused bloo d under the shrivelled skin of the hands T hen he raised th e Old white head from the pack trees — brave Old warrio r f or right going down the T rail where the Tracks Al l Point O ne Way and someho w g o t a mouthful of brandy p ast the clinched teeth The breath came f a st and f aint like the heart beats Once the eyes Opened ; but they were glazed and unseeing Wayland laid the Old head on the pil lowed pack trees fitting rest f or frontiersman of ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 32

WILD ERNE S S

TH E

the wildernes s ; then he stood up to think ! A terrible pas sion of tendernes s o f question o f de fiance to God rushed through his thoughts The animals take their tragedies dumb and un c om plaining Man alone ha s not learned the futility of shouting impotent repro aches at a brazen s ky ,

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R anger unsaddled the pony

The

he tethered the mule and broncho by separate ropes to the boulders He placed the brandy flask by the old man s right hand He thought a moment T hen he laid the loaded rifle clo se to the same hand The eyes were still staring wide open unsee ing The purple lip s began babbling wordles s words words o f the s e a words that ran into one another inarticulate Wayland stoop ed and took the left hand in his ow n palm I t was cold and heavy a thing detached from life ; and the purple swollen lips were still babbling in inarticulate whispers Should he leave him to die there alone ; o r go forth to s eek ; seek what ? Th e R anger stooped and pressed his lips to the bloo d blotched back o f the faithful shrivelled Old hand He did not shed a tear We weep only when we are half hurt .

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Wayland seized the S e rvice axe and uncased his ow n rifle Then in words that were not w o r shipful not bending his knees but standing with h is hat Ofi , h e uttered what may have been a .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

234

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

the railroad but n o t both The Old frontiersman had pa ssed the point of being able to ride ; and a very few hours would probably witne ss the end o f his life He could tie the Old man to the fresh horse but the slow pace that would be necess ary would sacrifice both their lives There was a n other po ssibility : the f re sh man on the fresh horse That way out did n ot enter Wayland s mind ; but he did a sk himsel f w hy the outlaws had not come down t o the f al se pool Why had they gone on ? They were a s near the end of their tether a s he wa s of hi s T hen he became suddenly conscious th a t he had eaten almo st nothing f or twenty f our hour s and that the quivering air darkening t o night ro lle d above the yellow s ands in a way n ot caused by heat Wa s it saddle wear or exhaustion that he stumbled a s he walk ed ? He lo oked at the silver strip o f mountains above the westering sky A fore shortening haze swam into hi s sight There was the mountain fl e ck e d with silver Then it had gone into a milky black and pools po ols of water fringed by the pines of the N orth hung in — the blue haze Of mid air fore shortening s hi ft ing like a blurred sieve into the silver strip Of mountain and milky blo t then back again po ols Of crystal water cool mountain lakes this time with the tree s up S ide down and figures among the trees He knew by the trees being up side down though he wa s dreaming of laughing as he drank and drank , that it must be a mirage ! Then ,

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ALL TR A CKS P OI NT ON E WAY he came to himself wondering how in t he world he wa s sitting on the sand bank And why hadn t he kept the tea leaves t o put on his eyes in case Then it tripped almo st o f heat inflammation ? under his feet you understand he did not trip he — had struck at it with hi s Service axe the wolf thing tracking the red stain of the outlaws trail a long the bas e of the sand bank out acro s s the He watched it pausing a sh colored silt sands where the wind h ad eddied the dust in serpentine line s over the tracks sniffing the air loping acro s s the break and on out again at a run no se down to earth : a blot again st the sky ; the burned out sulphur sky above an earth of embers and ashes Was it a mirage ; or wa s he go ing delirious ; o r had he fallen a sleep to dream her face f ramed in the blur of the purpling ha z e receding f rom him drawing hi m with the shin e of the stars in her eyes d ra w mg him with the warmth Of thei r first pas sion kiss on her lips ? He would ris e from his grave and follow her f rom death i f s h e wove such spells whether of dreams o r de liri um o r mirage ! The R anger found himself stumbling acro s s the baked silt and lava rocks stripped of his hat and his boots stripped like a marathon runner vaguely conscious that he ought to have kept those tea leaves for that burn in his eyes that the silver strip Of the mountain w a s there just ahead ; n ow a crystal pool o f the cool mountain lake in mid air ; now her face had v anished into the blue ha z e Suddenly, winged ’

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 36

WILD ERNE S S

THE

things fl a pp e re d up with raucous protest The coyote had skulked over the edge of the lava dip ; not the burnt oil earth sco rched Desert smell but the shrivelled putridity Of flesh smote and nause ated his s enses Th e white pack hors e of the outlaw drovers lay dead acro s s the trail at his feet a pool Of clotted blo od darkening the ashy sand Its throat had been cut The R anger drew OH rubbed his eye s and lo oked again T he c rumbly silt had been tram pled all ro und the dead hors e S O they too were dying of thirst on the Des ert Whi ch way t o follow n ow ? Ther e were the hoof prints acro s s the open level ; but forking from the main trail was another track : that of a man dragged or dragging o r crawling forward on his hands and kn ees Had they deserted the third man ; o r had the third man dropped back from them to cut his ho rs e s thro at ? Th e R anger laughed aloud a harsh cracked laugh ; he knew h e was delirious Th e Lord had played an ace and he wouldn t trump His trick by going after the trail of the man who had crawled away to die T here was a D eity of retribution at least whether God o r demon : he had vowed he would make thos e black uards drink horse blo od ! g If he ho un ded along the trail perhaps he migh t overhaul the other tw o Then then if he did p erish in the Desert he would not have p erished for naught ! It w as then the earth performed the a cro b atic feat of heaving u p and he f ell ! .

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23 8

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WILD ERNE S S

ign of a water spring beneath the drifted sands Wayland pushed the body aside T he man s f ace w a s red smea red He w a s dead Wayland had to unlock the clutched fingers f rom the po st Somewhere f rom the submerged cons ciousness of forgotten colleg e lo re came memo ry that th e water table lay ten f ee t deep beneath the D esert silt The R anger slid down the s and drift and was chopping hacking digging into the S ide of the bank thanking G od ; G od w a s on the j ob after all ; sco oping the sand drift out with his naked hand burrowing at the earth as the animals o f the wildernes s struggle tear in maddened thirst f or the hi dden life beneath the s and death He heard the suck and gurgl e of the water n ot the j oyous silver laugh of N orthern springs but the sullen coming of water compelled ; and his lips were at the s and ; drinking drinking drink ing Then he suddenly remembered her face He looked up Gone the s il ver strip of shining mountain ; gone the mi rage of the crystal pool ; darknes s velvet pansy darkn es s of the Desert night ; and an earth bat winged pa st hi s face E ven as he drank he felt the pu ff and whirl of the wind rising ; he laughed He felt the cool w a ter trickle and settle an d pool in the sand hole Then he laved his temples and wrist s and laughed softly and called a low long tremulou s call ; that foolish Saxon word he had told her to look U p in the dictionary T he wind might blow great guns and wipe out s

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the fugitive trail He would go n o farther The wind would attend to the other tw o en He had found water : he had found life God had played the trick and he had not trumped the ace ; four of the s ix outlaws dead and the last tw o hastening t o the alkali death acro s s the Desert s ands He drank again this time from the cup s ip by s ip slowly then in deep draughts of G od given waters

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He didn t thank Go d in s o many words or in testimony to pas s muster at a prayer meeting ; but he paus ed twice on his way back to the s alin e “ sink to say : He s on the j ob You bet He s ” on the job ! He spent the rest of the week nursing the O ld frontiersman back to life ’

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C HA P TE R

XVIII

W ITH OU T M ALI C E The

Senato r s a t in his o ffi ce with his hat on the back of his head and a U S Geological Sur vey ma p spread out on the desk in front of him B at stood sleepily at attention on the other side of the desk with his hat in his hand It wa s a sweltering July afternoon in Smelter Ci ty the air athrob w ith the derricks and the trucks and the cranes and the pulleys and the ste am hoists and the cable car tramway run up and down the face Of C oal Hill by natural gravitation The light was dusky yellow from the smelter smoke ; and loafers round the transcontinental railroad station acro ss the street cho s e the shady side of the building where they s a t swinging their legs from the platform and aiming tobacco juice with regularity and precision in the exact cen tre of the gray dusty road The Senator wore a pair of pince nez glasses He looked up over the top of them through the yellow s un light of the Open street do or Declare B rydges the damned rascals are to o ” lazy to brush the flies O ff he Obs erved Of the brigade of loafers acro s s the street .

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244

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TH E

B at threw a glance over his shoulder at the coterie of lo afers and brought his drowsy tor tois e shell glance back to the map lying before the Senato r “ I gues s the flies won t bother em long as ” they vote right Mr S enato r M oye s e was slowly turning and turning the thick stub of a crayon p encil between his thumb and fore fin ger B at knew that trick of ab sent minded motion always presaged s enatorial s e r mon izin g j us t as the s oft laugh down in the crinkles O f the whit e ves t forewarned danger “ l a When I s the tummy wrinkles coming I e e ( ways feel like telling the other fellow to get the — button O ff his fencing sword Y ou bet tha t means ” busines s B at often confided t o the news edito r ) “ B rydges this country i s rapidly lining up two oppo sing sides : fighting lines to o by George ! Mobocracy v ers us Pluto cracy ! I m only a cog in the wheel myself a mere marker f o r the big count ers my boy ; but if I have to put up with the ty ranny of on e o r t other I m damned if I don t prefer the tyranny of the rich to the tyranny of the po o r any day ! Why is any man poo r in this country B rydges ? B ecaus e h e s a damned incompetent unfi t swinish hog too lazy to plant and ho e his ow n r ow ; s o he gets the husks o f the corn while the competent man gets — the cob the cob with the corn on you bet num ber on e Silver K ing Hard seventy cents a ,

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2 46

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

used to conquer with arms ; building up con s t r uc tin g amas sing concentrating in trust and combine all the scattered abilities of men who would b e powerles s individually ; and we use o u r to ol s that parcel Of beauties out there same a s the Old war chiefs used their blackguard mer ’ c en a r ie s ! I t s cheap er fo r us to buy em than b e bo s sed by em a darn sight cheaper B rydges ; ’ fo r us to swing em into a bunch and control em than b e blackmailed by em B rydges ! If every p enny grafter didn t hold up the corp ora tion every damned little squirt O f a county superviso r and ro a d contracto r and town coun if they didn t hold the corporation up c ilma n fo r blackmail way the highw a ymen of old used to hold up the lon e traveller if they didn t hold u s up fo r blackm a il B rydges it wouldn t be necessary f or us to man that gang acro s s the way on voting day ! ” “ Th e Senato r had stopped F reedom pah ! swirlin g th e stub p encil He reached forward “ to a j ar of ro ses on his desk E qualit y ? Pah ! Dream o f fools B rydges ! Doesn t exist ! N ever did exist ! N ever can exist ! Know how w e develo p Silve r K ing Corn that gives ninety bushels to the acre instead Of Old thirty bushel ” yield ? B at had s a t down still sleepily w a tchful through the tortoise Shell eyes but a bit wilted in the heat Some Of the men swinging c ordu r oy and blue j ean legs f rom the s tation platform ,

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WI T H OU T MALIC E evidently perpetrated a pleasantry ; f or there was a loud guffaw and a shower of tob a cco wads into the middle of the road “ Know how we get high grade co rn high grade ro s e like this American B eauty : in fact high grade anything ? Well I ll tell you It s the same pro cess that brings out high grade men You pick out best Y ou go into a field o f corn specimens You keep that f or s eed special care S pecial fine ground special careful cultivation You let the others g o feed em to the hogs un de r s ta n d B at ? It s the same with the ro s es and the same with men ; and n ow where s your ” fin e theory of all men equal ? As B at did n ot care to remin d the Senator tha t his ow n career from the ghetto up contra di cted all this fine philo sophy he l eft the question n u answered Moye s e pushed the glass es up on his no se and returned to the map “ H ow many homesteaders did you succeed in ” nabbing out of that last train lo ad ? “ ’ About a hundred Senator ! I ve got th e list of em here haven t coun ted but ” thi nk it will tally up about a hundred “ ” What are they Germans ? ” N o Swedes “ Moy e s e laughed Thrifty begg a rs will j ob round and earn double while they re Operating ” for us ! Got good big families B at ? It was the turn of the handy man to laugh .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 48

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

I filed on e f ellow and eight kids f o r on e hun ” d red and sixty acres each “ You didn t contract to pay each of the little ” olive branche s three hundred ? “ Lo rd no ! If the dad sits tight till we prove up entry h e s to get three hundred ! N o fear o f hi s blabbing He can t speak a word of E ng lish ; and when I told the woman through the interpreter that we pay their fare out and each o f the kids would get a five why she kissed my ” hand and slobbered gratitude all over me “ Wayl a nd won t be quite s o grateful f or that ” bunch “ ’ O h I didn t file that b atch in the N F Y ou bet that s a little to o obvious ! I put em in the Pas s lower end of the P as s not by a damn sight I didn t put em in the N F ! I thought Smelter p eopl e wanted us to s ecure that Pas s f o r a dam ; and I bunched em all in j ust above the Sheri ff s ” place ! “ T hat s good ! The Sheri ff proves Up this year ; and i f you get thi s bunch in behind that corks the P as s up pretty e ff ectually ! Where are ” the bo un ds of the F o rest there ? B at drew his f o re fin g er along the map Along the r ed lin e here : just to the trail ” through the canyon “ Good : n ow wha t about the timber claim along the Gul ly ? T hat s in the F orests B rydges I want to f o rce a contest on that ; the Swede fel .



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2 50

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

safe down the R iver ; and I guess that will about s e e the finish Of Wayland before the co al case s come up ” “ That s it B rydges Moye s e had lowered “ his voice What about Wayland ? Have you found out anything ? Where the devil i s he ? He isn t on his patrol ! He hasn t been at the R idge fo r three weeks He hasn t been at the R idg e sin ce I left f o r Washington If we co ul d ” prove how he s been using Government time “ T ha t might be sho rtest he paused to reflect way out ! Did y ou fin d out anything at the Mac Donald R anch ? B at threw a precautionary glance over his shoulder towards the doo r o pening on the street Then he ro se walked acro s s the O ffi ce shut the door came back and drawing hi s chair clo s e to the desk oppo sit e the Senator s a t down astride with hi s fe e t tucked back on e round each hind leg Ye s I did ; and n o a gain I didn t ! It s just a s it may strike y ou ! As a news man I know how this kind of yarn wo ul d be taken by the ” public “ O h come on with it B rydges Moyes e had pushed b ack and was holding the edge of the desk with his hands Mr B at B rydges recog ni z ed that while th e creases of good nature c rinkled at the chin the j aws and the hands had locke d “ Your newsman g ot this despatch f rom Min e ’

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WI T H OU T MA LIC E C ity : you see it s p retty vague : bodies of tw o men found forty miles from branch Of P 85 0 Line thought to be dro v ers overcome by heat ’ and thirst I wired f or more particulars ; but the railway hands had shovelled the bodies ” under “ “ B rydges interrupted Moy e s e sharply, I m going to tell you something ; and you put it in ’ yo ur pipe and smoke it ; and don t waste time running ofi on false clues You leave that to women and S is sies— to the s he male man ! N ow listen , a ma n ca n t los e hims e lf in the D e s ert ’ H e c a n t los e hims elf in the Wilde rn es s If he s a d amph ool he can get lo st but he can t lo se him self he can t hide in the wildernes s not ever ! He can lo se himself in a city in one week He could drop out of sight right here in Smelter City ; ’ but he can t go into the wilds and not come out again and people not know it S omebo dy sees hi m go in , and somebody doesn t s e e him c ome ’ out ; and there y ou are ! It s the same in the wilds ’ as at the N orth P ole : y ou can t cook up a fake Man who go es into the wilds i s a marked man till he comes out E very man who meets him t a kes a turn round to lo ok at him ; and he s going to keep looking till the fellow comes out Now y ou take this case Wayland had on his Service B adge If he had been one of tho se tw o the fact would have been flashed right down to Washing ton Now tell me facts , not rumors ; exactly what ” did y ou find out ? ‘



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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 52

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

When his chief began in that dictatorial fashi on B at let his facts go in a running fire “ Well F loo d s a w him with his o w n eyes g o ing up the Pas s with that Old C anadian du ffer ” the morning the morning B at paus ed mani f e s tly unable to specify which mo rning “ ” Yes the morning a f t e r added the soft even “ voice O f M oye s e An d the snow slide filled the P as s up to the neck forty eight hours later Yes I know ; but Wayland was too goo d a moun ” tain man t o be caught by a slide “ I told F loo d to g et out and examine that slide anyway ! He s aid tw a sn t any use this hot weather would clean it up in a couple of weeks He was go ing up the P as s when I left f or the Valley yesterday “ What did you find out at the R idge ? That s where the mi lk is in this coco anut “ answered B at He hasn t passed on e night a t the R idge since the night we were all up ! Y ou remember w h o wa s at the Cabin night we wen t up ? Well keep that in mind ; when I went acros s to M a cDon a ld s R anch to expres s your regret over this accident found Old man wasn t home He s expected back from the Upper Pas s by train this week : seems he has been a r r a n g ing n ew grazing ground fo r another herd up there You know how M a c D on a ld house is laid out ? B ig room as you enter ; then a sor t ” B at smiled queerly o f back sitting ro om fo r a smile that said nothing yet subterraneously ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 54

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

but when he turned to Moye s e hi s chief had whirled in the swing chair and w a s sitting with hands clasped under his hat and th e back O f his head towards B rydges ’ A glo ssy smile had come over B at s face that i s not go od to s e e on man w oma n child or beast ; and it is the same kind of smile on all four n ot laughter nor light not definite enough t o b e malicious nor pointed enough to b e self accusa tory n or direct enough to be challenged and r e — u d i a d a smile untellably familiar Sa yr t e a t p ; faced thought looking through a veil somehow sinuously suggestive s aying nothing at all yet conveying the physical sensation of pus from an ulcerous thing ; and strangely enough there are blow fly natures that prefer pus to nectar If B rydge s had n ot been s o absorb ed in the jocularity of his ow n s ensations he would have Obs erved that his chief remained singularly silent ’ ’ “ O h I don t suppose he s there all this time B at rushed to the defence Of the ab sent ( Heaven “ ble ss such defenders ) That Old Canadian duf fer who s eems to have hitched up with him on the R im R ocks accident your ranch foreman s aw em pas s togeth e r at noon ; tried to telephone ’ Her ald but I choked tha t off ; that Old f ello w once wrote our paper to know about C anadian settlers here He recognized Calamity and talked about old N orth West R ebellion days It s my theo ry he s here about something that s ,

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WI T H OU T MA L IC E ”

been hushed U p ! Like dad like daughter B at pronounce d “ It s my theory when Ma cDon a ld comes back from the Upp er Pas s Wayland and the Old fel low will turn up about the same time Haven t been able to learn what it is ; but I ll bet dollars to doughn uts they are all absent on the same trail If we let go a bro adside they ll have to come out with the truth to shut u s o fi and there i s where w e are going to get him ; s e e ? I v e g ot ” another theo ry too ” “ What s that ? asked the Senato r without turn ing “ It is if he see s we re going to involve her ” he ll quit Moy e s e didn t answer He ro s e from his chair and w alked to a rear window where he stoo d looking out Did he credit what he had heard ? Was it a recital of fact s o r a di stortion of facts through a tainted mind ? Did B rydges himself believe what he had t ried to convey ? O r was his job to obtain certain results at a n y co st : and was this part of the co st ? Ask yours elf that of the tainted news you r ead every day Ask why tho se w ho recognize the li e do n ot brand it a s such ; why tho se who are uncertain do n ot verify before th ey repeat and credit ; and y ou will prob ably have som e clue to the little melodrama Of dishonor enacted in the O ffi ce of a legal luminary at Smelter City that sweltering hot Jul y day When you come t o O bserve it B at s recital con ,

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F REEB OO TER S OF TH E WILD E RN E S S

2 56

t a in e d

nothing that might n ot have been p osted in eminent respectability on a church warden s doo r Like fresh fruit pass ed through a mouldy cellar the fact s came from the medium of the narrator with the unclean contagion of cellar mould Th e next narrator would not pas s on the fact s He would pas s on the cellar rot “ If we s e rv e d up tho s e two stories together ” “ hot emphasiz e d B at we d about cut the thro at of any Oppo sition to our interests in the Valley ? He d quit ! I ll bet before he d s ee her involved he d jump his j ob ! When the Senator tu rn ed his face t o the handy man he was very s ober He stood looking over t he top s of his glas ses boring into B at s face ” “ ’ It s a pity he said Yes it s too bad : on e hates to have on e s faith in human n ature all balled out this w ay ; but you never know w hat kind of a fact you re going ping up again st where a woman i s con c erned Something in the Senator s look stopped B at mid way “ B rydges I thought I told you never to med dle with the dampho ol who makes excuses f or what h e s going t o do N ever do anythin g un les s you have some end worth while in view ; then if it s worth while do it damn it and don t waste time e xcusing the means ! Now I ll have nothing to do with this ; mind that B rydges You do it off your ow n responsibility If Mac Donald were on e Of our party I wouldn t make ’

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F RE EB OO TERS

2 58

OF TH E

WI LD ERNE S S

glo s s went to tallow under her look Moye s e knew lo oks that drilled ; and B rydges himsel f could bore behind fo r motives ; but this look was n ot a drill : it wa s a Search Light ; and the handy — — man well perhap s it was the heat the handy man suddenly wilted “ Y ou can go B rydges ordered Moy e s e All right ! S ee you again about that Sen a ” tor ! B rydges grabbed up the lo o s e notes fro m the desk and bolted banging the doo r behi nd him The S enator s face seemed at once to age and trench with lines He motioned her to the vacated chair and remained bending fo rward over hi s desk till sh e had seated herself Then he sat down suddenly remembered hi s hat and laid it Off If s h e had sunk forward on the desk weeping ; if sh e had made a sign of appeal ; he w ould have gone round and caress ed her and petted her and told her s h e must s t op Wayland Hi s w hole manhoo d went out to comfort her to stand between her and what ? Was it the drive of tho se wheels Of which he was a cog ? B ut when she looked acro s s the desk the eyes had no appeal the Search Light had turned on him “ You must excus e me if you heard what I w a s saying when you came in Mis s E leanor ; but it wa s a G dog g on lie ! I had been angered : I had been angered very much ; and that s a bad ” thing on a h ot day He w a s slipping back to the usu al s uavity .

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C HA P T E R B

ALL O TS

XIX

F OR B U LL

ET S

It was Calamity who had carried the trouble making coat acro s s from the Mis sion Library to the Ma cDon a ld R anch House E leanor had found it in the big living room that day after s h e had read the note s aying he was setting o u t “ the trail this N ation will on the Long T rail have to follow before Democracy arrives ; the ” trail Of the Man behind the Thing Somehow s he lo st interest in her reading and her driving and spent the mo st of that first week after the f uneral in the steamer chair o n the R anch Hous e piazza Were the topaz gates Of the suns et still aj ar to a n ew infinite life ; o r did s atyr faces haunt the shadows of the trail s atyr faces o f the Greed that had plotted the bloody villainy Of the R im R ocks ? She had thought s h e kn ew j oy befo re joy that rapt her from lif e in a race reverie Now she knew j oy ten se as pain ; and the consciousnes s never left her It w a s there ; beside inside above all round an enveloping a t mo s phe re to everything s h e thought and said and did She could not read ; for while her eyes passed lines , that consciousnes s danced in ove r the ,

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2 59

2 60

F REEB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

flames b e tw e en the lines She tried to fo rget herself in her work— in the sorting o f the littered shelves in the mending for the ranch hands abs ent with her father in the Upper Pa ss ; but It was there just the same at her elbow ; in behind the commonp lace weaving rain b ow mists a shadowy deity of thought all p e r va sive as ether B efore s h e had been as on e stand ing in front of the up lifted veil N ow S h e knew s h e had pas sed in behind the veil and could not if s h e would come out to the former place Life symbols empty Of meaning before suddenly b e came allegorical Of eternity— the bridal veil the o range wreaths the ring typical Of the infinite the vows of servi ce the angel Of the drawn sword on the back trail Yet s h e knew s h e had promised to keep him resolute standing strong to his work un flinching becaus e o f her It wa s perhaps typical o f tho se ance stral traits that fear fo r him never once entered her thoughts His work was on the firing line ; and had sh e no t on c e said that a life more o r les s did not mat ter ? That w a s b efore his life had become her life That i s fear for him did not enter her wak ing thoughts It was different when s he S lept Then the uncurbed thoughts hovered like the face ” “ On e in the picture o f th e Sleeping Warrior night as she sat in the steamer chair a cold wind came down from the Pas s The cook explained it was becaus e O f the snow slide that ha d filled up the canyon .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 62

WILD ERNE SS

TH E ”

intended to do about it Incidentally he men t ion e d that the F orest R anger had gone through the Pas s that led to the Des ert : there had been “ ” a snow slide ; but he gues sed the R anger wa s “ ” to o cute a mountain man to be caught That night s he shivered a s s h e sat in the steamer chair ; and sh e drew Wayland s coat around her ; but it w a s not to delirious thoughts When sh e fell asleep she s aw him lying on his face in the Desert ; and s h e called him and called him and never could reach him and awakened herself with her ow n calling Wayland s profes sional friend who was a p sychologist explained both incidents as auto suggestion from the co at awak ened by the unea sines s of the uncons cious fears ; an explan ation that explains by s aying x is y At all events s h e never again used the co at ; and having nothing to conceal didn t conceal it which is the mo st damning evidence you can O ff er to a tortuous mind She hung th e coat in the apartment O ff the big living room T hen the despatch came out about the two bodie s f ound in the Desert The same mail brought a letter from her father asking her to meet him a t Smelter C ity ; and there at the R anch House gat e stoo d Mr B at B rydges handy man of the Val ley quizzing th e r a n ch hands quiz zing the Ger man co ok quizzing C alamity at the very foot of rustic slab step s that r an up f rom the basement ” “ What i s he a f ter, C alamity ? .

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B A LLO T S F OR B ULL E T S half breed woman had dashed up the back stairs to E leanor s room — He want t know if Waylan R anga fellah — has ever stay here dis hous e he ever go back — — C abin Hous e tepee on hill nigh t dey keel ” leetle boy ? E ven then E leanor did not realize the drift She thought per o f the handy man s activities haps he too might be anxious about Wayland ” What did you tell him C alamity ? ” I tell heem C alamity dropped her soft ” “ patois to a guttural I tell heem y g o Hell ! “ — — C a lam ity ? rebuked E leanor B ut what was it in the gentleman s j aunty a ir in the smile of the sleepy tortois e shell eyes in the play of a self conscious dimple round the fat double chin ? E leano r had not pas sed from her o w n apartment to the big living room before a repulsion that sh e could not define swept over her in a physical shudder ; and Mr B at B rydges report t o the Senato r Of that interview had been fairly accurate She did no t know that s he had not greeted him with the common courtesy due a caller that s h e had stood lo oking past him to the open door that sh e had left him standing first on one leg then on the other till B at had been forced to terminate the interview ; and s h e had not the faintest conception Of what her ow n feeling of repulsion meant He had s carcely gon e b ef ore she wi sh ed she had asked him abo u t Th e



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F REEB OO TER S O F

2 64

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

tho s e tw o bodies found in the Desert As a mat “ ter of fact sh e called up the Smelter C ity Inde ” The edito r could give her no details pendent H e asked her very particul arly w ho was inquir ing ; and having nothing to conceal she did not conceal it He allayed her fears in almo st the wo rds that the Senato r had used to lay B at s suspicions if the bo dies had been tho s e of Gov the R anger s B adge would have e rn me n t men been found and the news flashed all over America “ O h thank you s o much ! You know the sheep lo st on the R im R ocks belonged to our ranch ; and I wouldn t like to think that he had lo st his life defending our I nterests Then something Odd o ccurred with the tele phone She distin ctly heard the voice a t the “ other end telling somebody that B rydges was ” Then the voice w a s as suring up there n ow “ her They would let her kn ow if they heard any ” t hing more E leano r rang off with a sense of relief ; and yet with a S ickening feeling of what ? It was the same f eeling she had had when B rydges came in with hi s j aunty air .

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She was stan di ng at the R anch Hous e gate waiting for the stage to Smelter City Calamity had carried down the yellow suit case The words came from E leanor s lip s before sh e thought ; o r sh e could nev er have asked the que s ti on .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

26 6

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

beneath the black cart —wheel hat ; S Imp er e d and ended up in a funny little tittering laugh E leano r took a quick glance at her neighbors all men but the cart wheel hat to on e side and a little young Old lady oppo site with a hectic flush an d very protuberant hard mouth and beady lit tle brown eyes E leano r noticed the brown eyes were accompanied by red hair and she re co gnized the presiding genius o f the E nglish Colony “ A beautiful morning fo r a ride down the Val ley r emarked E leanor absently “ What ? I beg your pardon ? Did you spe a k ” to me ? It wasn t the words It was the hard tone of surprise “ We re in luck to have such a morning to ride down amplified E leanor “ ” Yes said the lady with the hectic flush ; and E leano r felt the gold teeth simpering b eneath the undertaker s plumes What wa s it ? E leanor took a second look at the tw o women and recognized both the Sheriff s wife and the E nglish lady They were arrayed gorgeously her neighbo r acro s s in lavender silk her elbow traveller in black with a profusion of cheap lace round the a sh colored V Of expo sed skin : E leanor wished the woman had powd e red a ll the way down She herself had come garbed for the dust of stage travel a bro ad brimmed E nglish s ailor and a kakhi duster motoring coat Wa s it because she was not g arb ed a s the others -

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B ALLO T S F OR B ULL E T S that they rebufi ed her friendly overtures she wondered At the next stop s h e passed out to go up and ride on the driver s s eat manife stly an impo s sible feat f o r ladies in lavender and undertaker s plumes A fat hand reached fo r? ward to shove the doo r open It was B at B rydges She nodded her thanks and the handy man bowed with a sweep Of his hat naming her aloud for the whole stage to hear If a look could have blasted Mr B at B rydges he would have been dissolved in ga seous matter fro m the expres sion that pas sed over the face under the sailor hat She heard the hilarity break bounds inside as s h e mounted the driver s seat ; and felt very much a s you have felt when you have come out of the clatter Of the orchestra pit where you have chanced to s it next to a musk scented neighbor ,

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B ut

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forgot the lavender grandee and the gold teeth and the undertaker s plumes as sh e s a t on the upper seat with the one —armed driver behind the double tandem grays The sun was coming up over the R im R o cks in a half fan of fire ; and the light was on the Ridge ; and all the silver cataracts to s sing down the sheer wall shone wind blown spray again st the evergreens Th e Valley widened a s it dropped to the leap and fume and swirl of the fo aming river ; and the double tandem grays kept step with a proud ch a ckin g up of h ead s a nd b ris tling of a rched ’

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2 68

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

necks and movement of thigh and sho ul der mus cles under s atin skin like shuttles “ You must be very proud O f your beautiful ” ho rses she said to the driver The driver lowed he w a s : that un dappled on the rump there that un was foaled let me s e e ? year 0 the rush to the B lack Hills with a squirt Of chewing tobacco over the front wheel and a da mn t and another squirt and more d a mn t s ; and before E leano r realized the one armed driver had asked her if s h e wouldn t like to learn to drive double tandems ; and S he had the reins in her hands ; and the d ouble tandem grays took the bit in their teeth to S how what double tandem grays and ample o ats could do “ ” How do called the driver with a squirt of tobacco over the front wheel at a rancher loping “ H ow do ; y are up early y acro s s the trail ” What d y know ? son of a gun ! “ Senato r s goin t stand agai n this fall called the man Th e driver emitted another da mn t in true Western style just a s innocently as an E asterner ” “ O h y e s indeed o r an E nglishman says s ays ” “ My wo rd In fact E leanor lo st count Of the da mn t s “ ” H ow ever d o you manage it ? s he a sked shifting the reins “ ” Th e stage With my on e arm y mean ? driver laughed and aimed more chewing tobacco a t tha t i nnocent f r ont w heel ; a nd th e questio n .

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F RE E B OO TER S O F

270

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

I hear ; an I ain t the on e to say Ma cDon a ld don t deserve credit fo r what he s done She ’ saved many a poo r miner s life from the Indians in them 01 days saved em by a shave carried em in on her shoulder to the Deadwood Ho s pit a l o r n u s s e d em well on the spot an all the while s h e w a zn t n o better than she ought t be ; w a zn t there a woman in Scripture like that ? K ind O se e ms to me the church folks for — R a hub gurl ! Wall gets that twa s about tho se days ( More showers Of da mn t s and tobacco “ on that f r ont wheel ) B oys wa s all under B ig lo ad Of ro ck was comin up I waz man at the hoist man on the easy j ob that day Wall — wad y be li eve it the damn thing br uk — bruk plum who op an started s p in n in round back S id e first with the lo ad 0 ro ck an th e boys under comin up the ladder I yelled fo r a kid w e had workin round to get me a j ack wrench a hand spike Hell any Ol thin g to stop her kitin that ’ lo ad 0 ro ck down on the boys ! K id stoo d gopin there an sayin What d y s a y ? Say ’ — d a mn t a n that load 0 ro ck goin plumb down em t o pulp on the boys heavy enough t o smash ’ There weren t nothin handy near cept me s o I jumped this here arm that you find mis s in right into the wheel ! It stopped her all right the lo ad didn t fall on the boys ; and they got — U p all right by the ladder ; but s a y mebbe the ’ cogs 0 that damn wheel didn t do a thi ng to ’







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B A L LOT S

FOR

B ULL E T S

Say the do cto r didn t need to a mpu ” That winch did him out 0 his j ob ” “ said E le a no r slowing the grays Y ou mean to a reluctant walk down grade while the driver clamped the front wheel brake wi th hi s foot “ you mean becaus e there wa s no crowbar o r anything to stop the hoist flying backwards and killing the men under the lo a d Of rock you mean becaus e there wa s no crowb ar you jumped into ” the wheel yours elf ? “ ” Sure s aid th e man astonish e d a t her question ; and becaus e E leanor was a true West erner and di dn t mind the tobacco squids and the da mn t s in the least ( where they belonged ) s h e gave that o n e armed driver a look that would have made any ma n proud : only the one armed driver didn t see it “ They to ok up a purs e an wanted to give me — a p e r s crip tion d a mn t but I told em t turn it in t the H o r sp ita l Any man w d a done same for a yellow dog What d y want t give ” a fellow a medal for n ot bein s tink in coward ? my arm tate it



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E leano r laughed It was a happy silver laugh like the light on the R idge cataracts Somehow the on e a rmed stage driver with his unconscious heroism and equally unconscious profanity gave her a sens e of the big wholesome unconscious outdoo r world just as the lavender S ilks and ’ under taker s plumes and tallo w smile insid e .

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F RE EB O OTE R S

27 2

WILD ER N E S S

OF TH E ,

smothered her with a drugged s ense of he a vy unwholesome musk The on e time mi ner did not know it ; but what E leanor was s aying to herself “ — was S O much bad in the best o f us and so ” Th en she much goo d in th e worst Of us thought of the Senato r and his genial smile and hi s voice soft as a woman s and hi s love of flowers He t oo must h a ve his vein of hero ism if on e could only find it She thought and thought a s the tandem grays arched thei r necks at the sound Of the tramway bells in the nearing city ; thought and thought vague wordles s thoughts full Of hope ; vague womanish thoughts that women have thought since time b egan Of finding th a t magic vein of heroism in the Man that is to transmute slag into gold hog into human and greed into genero sity and lust into love ; thought and thought the gentle womanish hoping against —hope thought s that women have worn out their lives thi nking and ensl a ved their bodies an d pawned their souls If only on e could find tha t v ein in the Senator the battle would be w on without the letting of blood and smashing o f reputations ; as if peace without victo ry were e ver worth while since t ime began Then the stage was rattling over the pres sed brick p avement of Sm elter City ; and the tandem grays were pretending to shy at the electric cars ; and the on e armed driver came near exp ec tora t ing his entire internal anatomy out of shee r j oy and pride in the arched necks and the f ra il driver -

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

2 74

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And o f cours e the transcontinental was late When was it not late when you were in a hurry ? ” How late ? ” F our hours , last report the operator a n ,

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She s ent her suit cas e acro s s to the hotel and shopped and loitered up and down the platfo rm It w a s not until afterwards she remembered on e Of the lo afer brigade dangling legs from the s ta tion platform looking over his shoulder with an evil smile “ ” — Say d y s ee the evening pap er ? he had “ ” That s her ; asked and there was a laugh that somehow s ent her back in side the station feeling vaguely uneasy “ I think I ll telephone them up at the R anch ” not to keep dinn er waiting s he said to the Op ,

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He wa s reading the pap er He looked at her a moment befo re answering If a human face could have been expres s ed in a punctuation mark that agent s face should have been drawn in a big question mark with the eyes put some where in the hook and the neck growing longer and longer as he looked ” “ Public telephone right acro ss the road he s aid In avoidanc e of the loafers looks she had walked unheeding straight into the Senator s o ffi ce Her first instinct w a s to withdraw T hen she s aw B rydges ; an d that curious sens a .

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B A LLO T S F OR B ULL E T S tion of repulsion Obs es sed her She literally shot the handy man in full retreat with one glance Then the j oy Of the ride down the hero P e rhap s it was is m Of the driver came back the j ar of ro s es but the thought c a me what if s h e could find that vein of heroism in the Sen ato r When women risk their souls on that “ ” if and the souls of friends and children ; is it vanity I wonder o r is it the will 0 the wisp light that lights erring feet to darkn ess ? She thought more highly of the Senator that he did no t O ffer to shake hands just as mo st Of us would think more highly o f Juda s I sc a rio t if he had not kis sed Christ B eing a Western er s he had the Westerner s horro r of a maverick sporting the brand o f a thoroughbred Th e Sen ato r took Off his glass es and s a t tapping them above the U S Geological Survey map “ “ ” I trust he began that my man expressed — to you my deep regret my deep distress over ” Don t please don t interrupted E leano r with a pas sionate break in her voice I know you are honest Senato r Moy e s e honest to w hat you believe is right ; and I don t want you to feel that you have to lie because I am a ” woman The Senato r opened his mouth took a breath and shut it again She understood him well enough to k now that if he had to toy with his glas ses fo r a twelve month he would wait for her to play down first .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

276

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Yet she recognized the instinct of his manhood to rescue the confusion Of her embarras sment when he put forward his hand casually and s aid See my ro ses Mis s E leanor ? They are a n ew variety of American B eauties See each petal has a white v eining ? Know h ow tho s e ros es are pro duced ? Ages and ages of poo r trash worthles s common ro ses have been s a cri ” fi ce d to pro duce thi s perfect typ e “ ” T hat s your theory of life isn t it ? s h e a sked vaguely conscious that the dragon was disarming her anger “ ” Isn t it nature s ? asked M oye s e gently The fit survive because they are fit ; the ex cep ” t ion al ; the f e w ; while the worthless go to w a ste ? B efore E leanor realized sh e had lo st all con s ciou s n e s s o f self and wa s pleading pas sionately leaning fo rward acro ss the desk “ Isn t Christ s theory better Sena tor to make I sn t Christ s theory the a ll the unfit into fit ? theory of science ? Science aims to make a whole field of perfect corn ; n o t just one perfect cob I know that ; for I read it in your speech at the Opening Of the A gricultural College I f we keep on sacrificing the interests of the many to the interests Of the f ew aren t we working back to ” savagery S enator ? Th e Senator drew the finest of the ro ses from “ It s a matter of taste p erhaps Miss the j ar E leanor ; but I pre f e r thi s to a whole j arful of ” s crubs ‘

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

27 8

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He handed the ro se to her Yes I know that fellow I w a s in the K ootenay when he lo st his arm torn out all bloody right from the shoulder socket ; had to p ry the cogs up to get him out T hey collected a purs e Of a thousand f o r hi m ; but he wouldn t take a cent : handed it over to the ho spital Something in that fellow bigger than s elf kind O f popped out and surprised him ” sel f S he noticed him lookin g a t the wall clo ck a s h e talked but n o t being a busines s woman did not kn ow what that meant “ ’ There s something bigger than sel f with us ” all S en a tor ; and we have t o work f or it My dear child d o you think y ou need to tell ” an Old stager that ? He wa s kicking the creases o ut Of his trous ers Thi s time sh e could not mistake the signal and felt her womani sh ideal ism of mining f or the hidden v ein of heroism both childish and cheapening She ro s e an d placed the flower back on the desk “ There s something bigger than you or me “ ” my dear he went on something fo r which every man worth his salt must work and fight and which a woman does no t understand “ ” And that is ? ” His party said Moy e s e B ut Senator there is something bigger than party and i f a man works again st That he ll ” injure his party “ ” An d that is ? .

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B ALLO T S F OR B ULL E T S His N ation s aid the girl Moy e s e gave her a quick sh a rp look that w as In fact E leanor could re a d that not unkindly it was lonely irri tated isolated ” “ My dear he said coming round where sh e “ we di ff er on fund a mentals The whole s tood nation to d ay is divided on fundamentals I m no mealy mouth to curs e pluto cracy in o rder to pleas e the mob Plutocracy fills the workman s dinner pail and keeps the mills going and opens the mines and builds the railro a ds Mobocracy your grubby corn cob and tra shy ro ses that w hat doe s it do ? Mouthe and mouthe and try to pull down what is above it ! It will have to be fought out ! NO ? It will not be another F rench R evolution ! Our bulle ts a r e ba llots n ow a days ; and the American people get exactly the form o f Government which they want If they want a n oth e r fo rm it remain s with them to fight f o r it — The um r e o f all is fact Mis s E leanor ; and th e f acts of each side will h a ve to be fought out ; the better man will w in ; be sure Of that ! T he r a t t h t n t t l n n l c s a t a e f a s o i s i i w c c o w w i th ba l f fi lots f or bulle ts F or my part I ll not dodge the issue ; and I hope you ll not think me any the less of the hero fo r that ? He had extended his hand as he talked and to her surp rise sh e found herself taking it when with a wave Of revulsion the memo ry of the R idge and the R im R ocks came back And government is a mere game Of politics ? .

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2 80

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s he

said And politics resolv e s itself into brute force ; and a murder more or les s doesn t matter ? F o rdie I suppo s e would be classed as o n e o f the scrubs sacrificed for this perfection of p a rty ? His hand dropped hers a s if sh e had struck .



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did n o t know that you were overheard ? See that no harm comes to the b oy Y ou did not mean F ordie t o be murdered ; but they were to crowd the sheep over to be a t Hell the sheep — were to g o it blind my father s an d Mr Wil liams prop erty was to be sacrificed to build up the fortune o f the cattle barons : they too I sup po s e are s crub s s acrificed a mong th e m a ny fo r the wealth of the on e who happens to be yourself You broke the la w ; but because you did not order F o r die s murder you think the blo od guiltines s from that broken la w does not rest upon you You s ay it must all be fought out You fo rce the fi g ht H e rais ed his hand to stop her She remem b ered afterwards how ashy white and aged his face became He walked to the door and opened it She p a s sed out S O that w a s to what her womanish mining f or the vein of the ideal hero ism had led She had been politely shown out It w a s as Wayland had said : there w a s no middle cours e ; and it was also as the Sen a tor had said it must b e fought out and the bullets were to be ballots ‘



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2 82

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red faced gentleman pounding the desk tearing at the telephone hurling his chair about the O ffi ce and generally as the saucy little central r e “ ” marked eating the wire up alive ,

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When B rydges chi ef indulged in explo sives that neces sitated the repair of furniture the next day the handy man always stood strictly and silently at attention He knew the mean ing of the stage thunder : it wa s the trick of the Indian medicin e man who fires guns to bring down rain B at knew that the fulminations were O f a piece with all the other orders to do and not to do an effort to get results while di verting the thunderbolt from the rain maker s head ; fo r by on e of tho s e strange contingencies that Shakespeare defines a s an Opportunity of evil when the handy man had gone to the Herald the n ews editor chanced to be out B at cro s sed to the Independent s O ffi ce It lacked but half an hour of the time to lock up the press “ and on condition that the story should be a ” scoop B at was sent out t o the compo sing room to dictate straight to the printer s ta nding over the linotype machine “ ” What was the story that he dictated ? If you know where to look you can s ee its proto type seven times a week It w a s written j ocu la rly ; Oh it wa s exceedingly funny with all sorts Of veiled reference s to naughtines s that couldn t be printed pret ty naughtin ess you understand ’

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B ALLO T S F OR B ULL E T S the kind you wink at as was to be expected f rom a little beauty a br un ette chic etc ( I fo rget h ow many F rench wo rds B at tucked in : he h a d to look em U p in the F rench E nglish appendi x to Webster s Dictionary as the proof came o ff the galley ) the well known daughter of the “ Th e richest sheep rancher in the Valley “ ” sto ry wa s headed : Pretty Scandal in Peace ” “ ” ful Valley B at played the human interest feature fo r all it was worth ; also the trick of suspended interest I t began by info rming the public that a pretty s candal was disturbing a certain Valley not a hundred miles from the R im R ocks the es sential details of which could not be given would probably n e ve r be printed fo r Obvious reasons Then followed a solid paragraph of nonsens e vers e in serted as pro se ; about a R anger man R anger man running away Cause p a pah dear p a pah comes home for to day ; B ut his Lincoln green co atie the R anger forgot ; And p a pah dear p a pah came home raging hot ; The R anger man R anger man w a s still on the run F o r p a pah dear p a pah was o ut with a gun He d heaved up his war club and j angled his spear And swore by my halidom what doth that coat here etc etc Any scho ol boy could have trolled Off yards of the same drivelling cleverness ; and E leanor s innocent telephone call was of course lugged in There followed a garbled account of poo r Calami ty s errant days among the miners of the ,

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2 84

B lack Hills

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account had no reference to her heroism in the early mining days when S he roved in man s attire over the hills to rescue wounded miners from the Sioux It s et fo rth only her blazoning sins ; evidently on the as sumption that carrion is preferable to meat And then tucked ingeniously into this account was veiled mention of a rich sheepman too well known to need naming who was evidently mak ing reparation fo r the errors of his youth by according to the mother as go o d treatment as the da ughter under the s ame roof Not a n am e was mentioned except C alamity s I trust it is Obvious to you that it was n o t libelous because it was without malice In fact if y ou want to “ ” know the ear marks of a h a ndy man s sto ry lo ok out f o r the smart gentlemen in veiled ref e r e n c e s without any facts which can be trans fixed by either a pin o r a handspike When you find the innuendo without the handhold of fact lick your lip s if you are keen on car rion ; fo r I promis e that you have come on a morsel B at did even better than the clever story dictated straight to the typo in the compo sing room Always in the West there flit in and out “ ” what we Westerners used to call floaters gen tlemen ( and l a dies ) who come in on a pullman car and go out on a pullman car and sometimes venture as far away from s afety a s a hotel rotund a , then syndicate their impres sions of the .

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we have your letter answered Mac “ That s why we stayed s o long buying Donald ” grazing ground in the Upper Pas s “ ” Here boy He bought an eveni ng paper ; and helped E leanor inside the stage Then he mounted to the top wi th Williams There wer e only thr e e other o ccupants in the stage the lady of the lavender silks the gold teeth and a work man sodden drun k a n d drowsy in the uppe r corner Th e lady of the lavender silks had a complexion that looked as if it had been dipped in a fountain Of perennial youth She was le an ing over the evening p ap er which the undertaker plumes had evidently shown her The heat had not improved E leanor s sti ff linen collar an d the dust had certainly not added to the style of her kakhi motor coat It was not until afterwards s h e remembered how both the heads fl e w apar t from the evening paper the moment sh e entered the stag e “ H a ve y ou had a pleasant day shopping my ” dear ? It was the lavender silk with the hard mouth actually breaking in a smile It w a s the “ ” my dear that struck E leano r s ear as Odd Th e manner said plainly a s words could s a y ” Y ou weren t before ; but yo u a r e n ow “ ” O h it was rather hot answered E leano r quietly Y r e on the wrong s o id e Y r e in the sun If y ll sit over b s ide Off me my dear gurl E leanor nearly exploded Girl w a s the ,



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l imit : lady would have been wors e ; wom a n wa s good enough for her ; but gurl It was the mann er the proprietary manner you are one Of us n ow : what had happened ? She did not answer She raised her eye lashes and looked the S peaker over from the undertaker s pl umes and the gold teeth and the ash colored V Of skin to the clock work sto ckings and high heeled slippers Then the stage was stopping violently and her father appe a red on the re a r steps at the door She had never seen him look so His eyes were blazing It w a s n o t until afterwards sh e remembered how the lavender silks had crushed the evening paper al l up and s a t upon it There is a little girl up on the s eat with the driver You ll find it pleasanter there going up ” the Valley She rememb ered afterwards while her father gave her a hand up the front wheel a voice in “ side the stage exclaimed : Say thought they wuz goin to be fireworks If Dan d read that in th paper bout me he d a gone on awful O h no he s a thoroughbred all right if it ” is part Indian Then her father and Williams had gone down inside the stage ; and s he was left with the driver and a diminutive little bit Of humanity that looked as if it had escaped from on e of the rag shops Of Shanty T own She wore a tawdry thing on her head with bright carmin e o strich ’







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F RE EB OO TER S O F

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plumes that had lo st their curl in the rain A red plush cape was round her shoulders ; and — E leano r could hardly b elieve her eyes she had not seen them since S he went through the E ast — E nd Of London they were copper to ed boots “ M name is M ee s tr e s s L e e zie O F inn ig an ” What s y rs ? demanded the little Old face E leano r didn t an swer She was trying to think what had changed the driver s friendly manner He had neither greeted her nor prof And now Oh philo sopher of f e r e d the reins the human heart f or each of us is a philo sopher inside answer me : why did the driver who was a bit Of a hero and the lavender silk who w a s an adventures s and the gold teeth who was a slattern neither pure nor simple why did each and all eagerly believe the evil s o vague it ha d written by an unknown black n o t been stated mailer in the face of the reputation Of purity sitting beside them ? ” “ continued the M father uz down inside “ chi ld H e s sleep We re goin t live on th R idge D y know what a R idge iz ? We re ’ — go in t be waal thy m father says s o He says we won t have a thing t do but s it toig ht an w huttle un sput un w huttle un sput fur three year s then the com uy wull huv t pay us what he asks He s a ys they think they ll pay him Off fur three hun r e d ; but he says he kn ow s he do es ; un he s goin t hold em up fur half Unless they give him half he ll tell .

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stand how low the meanin g of mo st o f it is ; but ” I m sorry they hit you to try and hurt me He threw hims elf down in a big leather ch a ir She to ok the paper mechanically and s a t on the arm of the chair to read She read slowly and de liberately to the end Then she r e read both columns ; and the paper fell from her hands She did not know it but the same suppress ed fury w a s bl a zing in her face a s sh e had s een on his at the stage doo r “ S O that is what was doing when I went to the S enato r s o ffice thi s afternoon to plead with h im that thin gs could not go on in the Old plundering way That is what his man s visit meant her e the other day to expres s sympathy with y ou f o r the lo s s of the sheep ? NOW I un d e r s t a n d what the lo afers at the s tation meant and the driver s unf riendlines s and tho se un clean women ; and to think they framed it all out of tha t innocent coat Y ou know father Mr Wayland had carried F ordie down from the ” R im R o cks We carried the body in together “ ” Where is Wayland ? asked Ma cDon a ld ; and s h e poured out the f ull story of all that had happened I hOp e gentle reader you will please to Obse rve that if the father had viewed the fact s Of that recital through the same tainted mind as Mr B at B ry dges a breach would have o ccurred that neither time nor regret could have bridged I confess when I s e e breaches occur that wrench lives and break hearts through love ’

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harboring suspicion I don t think the love is very much worth the name Y ou can t both have your plant grow and keep tearing up the roots to see if they are growing You can t both throw mud in a spring and drink out Of a well of love un de fi le d If love grows by wh a t it feeds on s o does suspicion He did not once look up questioningly to her eyes In stead he reached up and took hold of her hand F o r the first time in their lives father and daughter came together “ B ut there is on e thing you are mistaken about father They did n o t hit me to hurt y ou They hit me to stop Dick Wayland “ Why what difference can you make to Way ” land ? She hid her face on his shoulder ” I love him sh e said ’

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When the German cook came in with the washed dishes father a n d daughter still sat in the big arm chair ; and you may depend on it that flunky carried out to the ranch hands guz zlin g over the evening paper in the bunk house a proper report of a heart broken father and a repentant d a ughter ; fo r when we look out on the world do we see the wo rld at all ; or do w e s e e the shadows Of o ur own inner souls cast out on the passing things o f life ? ,

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W O RKAB L E

XX

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O N T HE

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Th e

point is said Wayland though we have driven out this nest of beauties w e h a ve no guarantee another nest won t take their place ; and s o we re n ot much farther ahead than b e fore with the chances I ll b e called down for ex ” c e e din g my duties “ And y ll keep on bein where y were before ” till y get the Man Higher Up interrupted Ma t thews T hey h a d camped among the red fi rs where the Desert cro s s e d the State Lin e and merged from out rocks to broken timber It was seven weeks since they had s e t out from the Upper Mesas of the R im R ocks four weeks since they had lef t the s a line pool Man and beast fagged to the point o f utter exhaustion retraced steps s lower than fresh hunters on an untried trail Also going down they had followed hard wherever fugitives led Coming back they struck acro s s t o the Wes tern Desert ro ad and travelled from b elt to belt Of the irrigation farms with their orange green cottonwood groves and b luish green alfalfa fields and little match box ,

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broncho stoo d po inting their ears fo rw ard Wayland s mare which he had bough t at on e of the irrigation farms lifted up her neck and whinnied It was at that irrigation f arm oper ated by a retired newspaper man from Chi cago they had got a reading Of the first newspaper seen since leaving the Valley and learned that the bodies Of the two remaining fugitive outlaws had been found by the railway navvies Wayland thoughtfully removed his F o rest Service me da ll ion Men do no t question each other over much in the West T hey had passed on unquestion ing and unquestioned Wayland a disguised figure in his n ew ready to wear kakhi not a S ign of the F orest Service a bout them but the green felt ha t still worn by the Old preacher and the hatchets fastened to th e saddles ’ “ H ow many Holy Cro s s Mo untain s h a ve y in the West Wayland ? “ Three that I know Of That s ours isn t it ? Y e s it s ours : the old priests and explo rer s scattered the name round pretty thick in the old .



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far do y ou make it ? About a hundred miles perhaps more ! B een a pilot to the priests and explorers for centuries “ I gues s s o s ir Wayland may it be so t th N ation n ow ! ’ Y v e g ot a wildern ess an a Red Sea a n a De a d ,

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A WO R KA B L E F A I T H a devilish dirty lot 0 tra vellin to do ’ ’ way t y r promised land ; an A m th on ’ man y ve w asted a lot O time on th e thin kin ’ ’ trail w or s hippin th calf ; an G od knows w ho is Mo ses r y Sea an

















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camped that night among the evergreen s with red fir branches f or beds the firs t beds they had known f or s even weeks with the needled “ end pointing in and the branch end out unles s ” ’ y want t sleep on stumps the old preacher had admonished the bed maker And during the night the wind sprang up shaking all th e pixie tambourines in the pines and the hemlocks and setting the poplars an d cot tonwoo ds clapping their hands A spurt of moisture hit the old man s face “ ” Man alive but is that rain ? he asked “ Wayland laughed Only a drop fro m a broken pine needle ; but rain w ould taste good ” wouldn t it ? “ ’ ’ D s mell i Smell ha li k r d ! I t s t ? e y ” cloves Wayland laughed He had had all thes e s en s a tion s of coming back from South to N orth b e fore The next night they camped beside a cho rus of waterfalls j oyous gurgling laughing silver water not the sullen S ilent bloo d red streams of the Desert that fl ow without a sound but the p lunk of the so f t bank corrodin g and f alling in ,

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296

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could no t talk They lay in quiet listen ing to the tinkle and trill and treble of the silver fl ow over the stones ; to the little waves lipping and lisping and lapping through the grass es ; and when the moon came up every rill showed — a silver light Wayland w a s thinkin g need I tell what he w a s th in king ? Wa s he thinkin g at all ; or was he drinking drinking drinking life from a f ountain of memory immanent as pres ent consciousness ? He to ss ed restles sly He When h e s a t up with his face in his hands turned the old man had ris en and wa s stripping “ A m goin t find a pool an go in Wayland Dry f a rmin may be go od fo r crops ; but this dry bath busines s 0 y r Desert - tis not for a N orth man B etter come along ! If A can find it to my neck y ll need a cant hook to get me out fore d a ylight ! .

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T hey had come back from their plunge and were spreading the slickers above the fir branches f o r bed when Matthews began to talk in a low dreamy voice more a s a man thinking out loud It w a s the than on e uttering a confes sional first wo rd of religion the R anger had heard him utter Wayland had really come to wonder when the Old preacher prayed When he came to kn ow him better he realized that a go od man may pray standin g on his feet or striding to duty readily as on prone knees u ’ Tis lik e the wa ter 0 life Wayland ! Men ,

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could S kin the Devil comes to be a preacher ” Wayland ; a missionary t th Cree ? “ Y e s I have wondered sometimes confes sed “ Wayland I could no t just reconcile y ou with the poverty stricken down in the mouth “ — Don t s ay poverty stricken Wayland ! A m rich A ve n ev e r kn own want ! G od ha s taken care Of me since A put it squarely up to Him ! A ve my wife ! A ve my children ! A ve my ranch ; an my ranch pays f o r the school ! A ve never known want ! Why man thir ty dol lars a year is more than A need fo r m clothes ! A m rich ! What w ud A be doin goin among a lot 0 kiddi e boys t s tudy Hebrew when A know the language 0 the man on the street ; an ’ A know G od ? T was the bishop s idea t have me come t C ollege at forty years 0 age an ’ potter t A B C an white collar an clerics but ” toned up the back an a the rest The old “ P oh ! What f or wud A frontiersman l a ughe d ’ waste m years doin that ? A d wasted forty s e rv in the Devil A d no more years t waste A must be up U p up an doin Wayland the A d earned w a y y r up an doin f o r the N ation ? m livin when A served th Devil ! A would earn m livin when A served God ; an as A ’ spoke th C ree A tackled them first ; an n ow ’ we re b uildin our ho spital “ ” ’ The old fron H ow did it happen y ask ? “ tier sman sat down on a log God knows ! A don t ! A can no more tell y , Wayland , what ,

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A WO R KA B L E F A I T H happened t me than y cud tell a man what c om in Off th Desert an b a thi n in a cool mountain cud tell wh a t s tream was like ; no more than y happened t y when y first looked in her eyes an read love ! God man it w a s love ! That s what happened t me ! A all of a sudden g ot t s e e what life meant when ye bathed in love Go d looked into m eyes Wayland that w a s it ! An all th dirt 0 me shrivelled up an th mud in m manhoo d way yours did when y looked in her eyes ! A n e eded washin Wayland ’ that was it an then A s aw Him on the C ro s s ’ as y s e e tha t yon C ro ss there in the sky S en se 0 s in ! Man alive A d never heard them ” words till that night ” “ What night ? asked Wayland quietly ’ O h twas a hot night Wayland my b oy ; an hot f or more reasons than on e Th tin ho rn s an the plugs an the to o ts had come up t our con struction c amp an Of a Monday morn in after Sunday s spree y cud count fi fty dead navvies ’ Chinks an Jap s an dago es washed down th river after gamblers fights an chucked up in the sands O Kickin Hors e ! Well a lo t 0 big fellows 0 th railway company had come thro that day on the first train There w a s Strath cona who was plain Donald Smith in them days an Van Horn who w a s manager an R o ss who was contractor ! A d been workin m crews on — the high span bridge there y don t know well no m a tter, tis the hi ghest in the R o ckies a n ’



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dangerous from a curv e ! A di dn t want that train lo ad 0 directors to risk cro ssin : wasn t safe ! M crew hadn t one main girder placed ; but R o s s wa s a headstrong dour ma n ; an Smith —Smith wud a sent a train thro Hell in them days to prove that railway could be built F ull lickety smash their train came onto that bridge 0 mine Off the sharp curve : the dago es went yel low as chees e w i fear th Chinks chattered in their j aws an the Japs : well the Jap s hun g on to the girder an the cranes A s aw th bridge ’ heave an swerve an th girder went s ma shin to th bottom 0 yon creek b ed s o far below y could scarcely s e e the water ; R o ss wa s ridin w i th engineer R o ss kept his head ordered them to throw throttle Open All that s a ved that train load O directors wa s th train got ac r o s s before th weight smashed thro ; way a quick skater can cros s thin ice Man alive but A w a s mad risk ’ in m crew O tw o hundred workmen for a train ’ load 0 rash directors ! Th train stopped ! A dashed U p ! R os s Opened out his throttle w a s full Op en : s o was mine ; an th steam an smoke — from yon big mogul well Wayland e s c a p in them was my unregenerate days ! A may as well confes s Wayland A gave him b ack all he d given with sulphur thrown in extra ; till Donald Smi th poked his head o ut 0 th private car ’ callin G O on R o s s ! G O on what are you de layin for ? Well , then three of u s contractors c omp any docto r w a s summoned to th an d th ’

















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true there w a s the white faced fat man ; an there w a s the lit tle clean chopped chap j ump in all ’ ’ over the backs 0 th s eats ; an there was a lot s n ive llin 0 Saints in Israel women that cry an sissie men that get converted an converted at every me etin ! Man Wayland A d like to ’ dump th j ob lot 0 such folks out in a ces spool ! They do religion mo re harm than the Devil ! They re about a s like what fi g h tin Christians ought t o b e as a S pit wad s like a bullet ! Well we went in with a whoop ; but Go d wasn t out for the S issie s tha t night Wayland : he wa s out with a gun f or red blo od men ! He got us Wayland ! T hat s all ! Tw a sn t the poo r puny preachers ’ perhaps t w as th music : th fat one cud sing but ’ when we came out the do cto r w as cryin ; poor ’ fellow he killed hi mself in D T s later ; an A ’ was all plugged up w i cold in m head blow in ‘ m no s e ! B oys s ays I here s where I get o ff ’ ’ Here s y r money back A ve put up a pretty ’ go od fight fo r the Devil s o f ar an A ve earned ’ ’ ’ m way ! Now A m goin t fight f o r God an ’ earn m way ! They didn t want to take the money back They didn t believe it A fin i sh e d my j ob on the railroad then A sl ummed ’ it in th cities this was when the bishop tried to turn me school boy at forty an to dig in y r graveyard O theology ; that w a s before m brother wa s bishop and why A hiked f o r Indians Way land ! A know the Cree tongue an A know the decency in th tepees an A know the n eed 0 ’

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trick 0 puttin Christianity into th end 0 m fist An that s all o n white black g uards ! ” “ Is that all ? repeated Wayland ; and he gave the Old frontiersman the same kind Of a look Matthews had given him that day going up the face of the Pas s precipice “ Y e S that s all there was to it ; an A could no more tell y what happened Wayland than y could tell a man w hat happened when y jumped in that pool an got washed clean ! B etter try it ” Wayland ! They s at late listening to the gurgle and trill and tinkle of the water slipping over the stones N either man said anything more no r mouthed nor kneeled nor amened nor did save a s men among men do and s ay : but somehow Wayland had never felt so sure of the G od who was Love and who se Love washed men clean being a s he told himself on the j ob It may not have been religion ; and it may not have been theology ; but I think it wa s the workable conviction that m a ny a fighting man incorporates into his life P er haps it was what Christians call B elief only w e have s o S limed that go od word over with hypocrisy that it s hard for fighting wo rking men among men women among women people on the job to mine down to the exact business sens e of thos e old religious terms Slimed with hyp oc ’ risy ? Yes good friends S limed with hypocrisy Have you not known men and women legions of them who shouted their fi r e proof B elief B e ’













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lief B elief their fi re insurance B elief that was to ro of them from rain of fire and act as an um brella against the results of their ow n misdeeds ; who underscored their B ibles and prayed long and loud and proclaimed themselves right when every day every act of every day every lea s te r mo st act of very hour shouted blasphemous de nial O f what s o ever is lovely and pure and un s el fish and Chri stlike ; who se i nfl uence damn ed and injured and blighted every life it touched ? You must not blame busines s men and women f or wanting a workable faith a faith that will deliver the goods on the j ob -

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fin d

a great rock pile at the f o ot O f the slope A m thinkin they ll lie quiet till the crack ’ 0 doom Wayland ; but but d o y n o s ee a tent back in yon larches acro s s th slide man where the thing kno cked us both “ B y Geo rge yes I do ! Wonder if they re ” homestea ding this next ? It s Off the N F T hey put their ponies to an easy lope acro s s the slop e and came on a tepee tent with the flap laced tight and n o sign of life but a ho rse lazily flo unde ring up beside a large f allen log an empty whiskey bottle on the log and a man s boo t leg protruding from beneath the tent skirt ’ “ A m w on derin i f there s a leg in that bo ot ” Wa yland ’ “ ’ ” s a id Wayland It s the sher iff s hors e “ It is , is it ? And this is off y r F orest R ange ; ’ ’ r n s f not respo ible w hat A may be an or y ” t empted to do ? T he old frontiersman literally a valanched o fi hi s broncho and made a dash at the tent fl ap , f rapping it loudly with the flat of his hand ’ ‘ — Here you anybo dy insid e ? No respons e came from the owner of the leg ” “ Here you waken U p Matthews caught hold O f the leg and pulled and pulled There w a s a splutter of snorts and what in Hell s and the fat girth of an apple shaped bo dy ripped the tent pegging free and came out unde r the tepee skirt followed by another leg and t wo oozy hands fl abb ily clawing at the gras s roots to stop the .











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O ne hand held a flat flask and the air became flavored with the second h and fumes of a whi skey cask Th e sheriff rolled over after the mann er of apple shaped bo dies and sat up Then o n the end of his spine rubbing his eyes he recollect ed the dignity of his O ffi ce and got groggil y to his feet steadying himself by clutches at the tent flap Then he emitted a hiccough “ he said thickly I m not well tha s i sh n o t really well ! Will on e of y p le a s h gimme a drink 0 water ? I been chasin tho se damn cow boy outlaw s h seven weeks s clea n cro s s Shate Sline I m dead beat out Tha s you ain t it Way land ? Kin d sh 0 you both come after me ! S a w y pash tha day y called t doo r ! Wif e tOl me to hide— not risk m life women re all tha s way skea ry ; skeary Well I bin out ever s hin c e y pashed ! I nearly g ot em to o ! I caught em ri ght in here day after s hn ow slide had em cor n e r e d ! Go sh bullet s w a s pretty thick fur about ” half an hour ; bu I cud n t chr o s s S hta te Line Something in the Old frontiersman s widenin g eyes and glowering brows stopp ed the flow of valo r ; and Sheri ff F loo d dragged his exhausted virtue acro s s to the log with some diffi culty a s to knees and elbows g ot himself turned round and seated “ Y been out huntin them s even weeks ? ” Yes s even weeks ! His articulation had “ cleared a littl e P leas e gimme m gun Wa y ” land !

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

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them ? Y re sure y sa w them ? ” Saw them ? Sheri ff F lood laughed in a thin “ little squeaking laugh Go sh A mig hty I— I — fought them sin gle handed f or a whole half da y ! I think I got on e ! Least ways there s a power ful smell s om pin dead comin up below the Pass T rail It s too steep to g o do wn t o s ee I wish I kn ew “ ’ — Ye wish ye kn ew ? Ye do do you ? T is a wish bone instead of a back bone the likes Of you ” have ; and it w a s to o steep to s e e ? Matthews megaphoned a laugh that echo ed loud and long “ and scornful from the rocks I s aw a man who was n o sheri ff climb both up an down that place too steep for th e likes 0 you to s ee ; and he climbed to do more than s e e ! Twa s half an hour y fought them th first v ersion ? Now tis raised t o half a day A m thin ki n y be apply in to th p ension bureau f or a hero s trifl in r e memb ra n c e ! H oh ! An y saw u s pas s did y ? ’ An y r frowsy dyed haired slattern wife told us y were away ? An t will be a week y fought ’ ’ em when y tell it again ; an y been huntin them s even weeks lyin so dden drunk in y r tent w i a whiskey keg from th cellar O y r whi t e-v ested ” f riend ? H oh ? He caught the flabby body by the collar spin ning the dignity of the la w round face down “ prone upon the log A ll no t take my fist t y as A w ud t a Man ! Y e dastard drunken pol ’ tro on co w ard whiskey s odden lout an s cum o Y





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fall and bru sh There was a bellowing howl and a splash ; and Wayland being altogether human flesh and bloo d doubled up on the ground with laughter “ That ll cool h im remarked Matthews com “ ing back very r e d o f fac e and sober an it s ” n o t deep enough t o drown He tOr e open the tent flap an d rolled out a small keg There wa s a sound of dregs still rinsing round inside T hey could hear the bellows from the brook The maj esty of the law had evidently crawled out on the far side “ H e s the kind 0 brave man will slap children an call a boy a calf an bully timid women an knock down little C hi nks and dago es ! O h A know hi s kind 0 thunder barrel bravery that makes the more nois e the emptier and bigger it — is they re thick as louse ticks under the slimy side Of a dirty board in this world Wayland ; an they re thick in the girth an thicker in the ” skull Matthews had taken on e of the F o rest axes f rom the saddle He le ft the whi skey keg in kin dl ing wood He s camped dead beat on the St a te line all ” right Wayland said the irate old frontiersman “ as they mounted their ponie s He ll have at least some scars to prove his sto ry but A m no think in he ll bo ast round sh ow in them marks 0 Tis some s atisfaction f or my thi rst back glo ry ! ” in the Desert I thoug ht it w as abo ut here, on our w ay out .

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that a law loving B riton I know gave me a mon about exceeding law taking the law in ” ow n hands ? “ ” H oh ! s aid the old man -

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And the Sheri ff s tent w as not the only on e s een on the w ay back to the R idge Where the P a s s widened to the Valley above the S herifi s homestead they came on a huge miner s ten t boarded half w ay up a s f o r winter residence with eight tow headed half clad urchins thumb in mouth staring out f rom the open mo squito wire door T here w a s a smell of onions an d frying pork “ ’ What ! a homestead here Wayland ? D y r homesteaders farm on th perp endicul ar or the level ; an what will they gro w on these ” rocks ? The R anger had reined in hi s pony and wa s running his glance up the precipic e face f or the posts marking the b o un ds “ What do they grow ? Water power I gues s ! I m looking fo r the lin es T he fellow has his po sts in f or a wire fence ; he couldn t get a hun dred and six ty acres on the level ; and the po sts run up the face by George h e s blan keted a cool ” square mile mo stly on the up an d down “ ” Your terri tory Wayland ? Th e R anger had turned loo king back up the Pass “ The trail marks the lowe r boun ds of the N ’

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but this fellow s line run s clear up above the trail If you bunch this fellow s claim with the S h e r ifi s they ve got for ty miles of the Pass corked up : n o way to bring the t imb er above down but by the R iver ; and they ve got the R iver ; and if po sse ssion is nine points in the law they ve our F orest ro ad besides We ll have to give o t g that fellow warn ing and if he do esn t move break ” his fence down “ ” Gutt dae A big burly Swede came f or ward from the min e r s t en t “ ” Are you on e of the new settlers ? asked Way land “ Yaw ! A gott pig — varm ! T ra — vor years mak pig money liflln y ere ! Mae v oma n Ae send her vork citie ; Ae build mae hous e y r e ” “ All thes e children yours ? ” Yaw ! The man smiled bigly incredulous that any on e could doubt “ Have you filed fo r a homes tead f or e ach of ” them ? “ ” Yaw ! T he man smiled more pleased than ever indicating the num erous Olive branches by “ a wave of his hand Gott gutt pig varm ! Pat P at P rydg e s he s a e he pay mae v oma n mae tw o hun tre d ; mae chil en on e hun tre d ; he smiled again bigly and blandl y mab b e e five ten Yaw O ne hundred and sixty acres each : twelve hun dr ed acre s f or the kids n ot on e of age a quarter ’

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31 4

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know what is going on ? A bet the people Of this ” State don t know ! “ It s against the rule t o give out information ” answered Wayland a ny mo re ’ “ Man alive— is this R us sia ? Y mind me O f Indians in the conjurors tent : they tie the medicine man hand and foot and throw him into a tent ; and he s t make the tent shak e O nly the devil Indians c an do it T hey tie y ’ hand an f oot then they expec t y to serv e the ” N ation “ ” “ No corrected Wayland they tie u s h a nd ” and foo t to keep us f rom serving the N ation ’



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And the Swede s tent was not the only on e they s aw as the reader well knows C oming along the Gully on the R idge crest Wayland looked fo r the pile of illegally taken s a w logs They were gone There was nothing left but a timbe r skid and the d ry sla sh and a pile of s a w dust emitting the Odor of imprisoned fragr ance in the after noon heat ; but a f ew yards back from the pile of s a w dust stoo d a tepee tent with the flap hooked up ; and in the Opening a wide eyed diminutive child with a very old face and a ve ry small frame that looked f or all the world t o Wayland l ike a clothes rack in a pawn shop covered with colo red rags ’ Wa z ye w an tin me f a a ther ? As the reader is a ware this little person never lacked spee ch ’

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H s away ! H s gone t th c itie f or th throub le that s comin on about th min e y on d ers ta n d ? He s wan 0 th men t be on hand ” i f there s throuble Are you on e of the new settlers ? ’ Ye s s or ! M name s Me e s tr e s s L e ezie O Fin nigan ! We re come upp t live three years mebba four m f a a th er s ays we may fool em on les s than five ; an we re goin to be wal thy an we won t hev a thing t do but s it toig ht an w huttle an sput it was th e same s to ry s he had t old E leano r “ ” What trouble in the m in es ? asked Wayland In the co al mines s or ! There s a g en leman come from Wa a shin g ton an soon a s the R an ger s been found there s been goin s on s or bad goin s soon as th R anger s back their exp e c tin on s throub le ; un m f a a the r s g one down f o r to be ” there he s a z ’

















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Well ? said Wayland as they rode on to wards the Cabin “ They ve been busy Wayland ! They ve been busy man ! Y ou re in the thick of it ! More power t y r elbow ! We ve got the first licks in ” on th s h e rifi s carcass “ ” And s ix dead men to the goo d added Way “ ’ land dryly only I gues s they don t go into the reports they are mi ssing ! As they appro ached the Cabin a young man in gray fl a nn els and s ailor hat sa t up in the ham ,

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mock looked twice at Wayland got up and came forward ” Are you Wayl and ? he a sked with a c on t emp tuou s glance at the R anger s di s g uised suit “ That s my name The young fellow h anded him a letter stamp ed from the head department at Washi ngton I t stated that the bearer wa s a F ederal attorney s ent out to investigate the Smelter City Coal C laims and any other matters bearing on the con tests Of the Holy Cro s s The letter w a s — — couched Wayland thought with peculiar fri idi a though he and not the co al cl a imants t s y g were the guilty party to an undecided contest T hen he glanced back at the bearer : an incredibly — young and in experienced youth n ot more than twenty two or three barely out of a la w school ” “ “ Glad t o see you s ir said Wayland B ee n ” w aiting long ? The young fellow gave him a side wis e look ” About a week “ I m sorry to have delayed you ; but on e o f the mo st important cases we have ever had call e d me away I had intended to go down to Washing t on and explain the whole situation Th e yo un g man smiled very faintly and was “ it contemptuously ? A good deal needs ex ” plaining he remarked “ I hope you made yourself at home in the ” Cabin ? ’ “ On the contrary I m with Moy e s e ! I hav e ,

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young bureaucrat turn ed short on hi s heel and stroll e d down the R idge T rail with an air that only a bureaucrat a very yo ung bureau e rat and a very cheap o n e could po s sibl wear y — — Well A m A m d danged Wayland burst out laughing “ Do you suppo s e that little kindergar ten a s s ” thought he had come and caught me O ff duty ? The old man sto o d d umfounded It wa s such g f o r a Ma n a happy and triumphant home comin who had risked his life f or s even on the Job succes sive weeks solely in the caus e o f R ight Matthews slammed his hat on the ground and stamp ed upon it , and clenched his teeth to keep in the wo rds that seemed to w ant to hiss out ” Man alive A d like t spank him ! Wayland laughed “ I gues s he s sta yi ng with our white vested ” f riend he said as he pulled the sad dle s o fi the a n imMs and gave them a slap heading down to the drinking trough ; but when he turned Ca la mity s to o d in the door of the Cabin holding out a letter H e fo rgot to greet her ; f o r the hand w riting was E leano r s He tore the envelope open devouring the words in his eagernes s ; then his face clouded “ What in thunder do es it all mean ? Listen ,

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Dear Dick : I don t know when you will come h ome but as soon as you do you will lea rn of s omething abominab le that has been published I m going to send C alamity up with this every ‘



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HAP P Y H O M E C OM I N G -

s o s he

will be sur e to c a tch you first thing “ a It s dated three weeks ago interj ect ed W y ( They have struck at you through me land ) Don t mind Dick They did it to make you stop Y o u will n o t stop will you ? It didn t hurt me O h brave beautiful liar Does the Angel ! ( Gabriel take note Of such lies by women ; and which side of the a ccoun t do es he put them on ?) F ather says a fact is a hard nut to crack You re n ot t o take any no tice of this attack on me You re n ot to flinch from the fight f or my sak e o r deflec t a hair s bre a dth on my a ccount You know what you said T hings have gone S O far that crime is inv a ding d e cent lives Well it has invaded yours and mine ; and you re n ot to slack on e j ot Dick I command it I command it in the nam e O f that s ea l I gave you E MA C D d ay



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What in thunder do es it all mean ? reiterated Wayland “ What seal is that s he speaks of ? A m think in if you ll read that pile of mai l in there o n ” the table you ll find out “ ” Any a n s her ? ask e d C alamity softly b v which you may guess dear reader that an In dian woman has a heart under her r ibs as well a s you “ ” Wait said Wayland He tore a sheet from his field bo ok This is what he wrote .









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I shall Obey yo u implicitly my Alder L iefest I do n t know what it is yet ; but I ll not let it .

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F RE EB OOTER S O F

3 20

THE

WI LDERNE S S

make any di fference in the fight n o matter wha t it is I have thought Of that s eal every day and night since I left y ou and all day and all night ; and I couldn t have pulled through this trip if I hadn t had that well o f memory t o drink from You saved my life tho you don t know it Mat thews will tell you : and y ou saved his too DI C K ( nth ) P S There s a funny little kid up here been l eft by her father in one o f the settlers tents She s the mo s t pitiable little Obj ect I ever s a w I think her father is a drunken tough from Shanty T own She oughtn t to be left up here alone near such a baby eater as I am I wish you d come up and see about her If y ou don t come a lon e get Mrs Williams o r my friend Mat t ll ew s .

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Calamity went on down the R idge and Way land plunged a t h is mail O n the very top Of the pile lay a newspaper in a folder marked with “ ” red Important B efore the pole cat begins Operations he choo ses his target F o r mys elf I think discretion is better than valo r in such a cas e and you would do well to retreat and let the little genus Mephitis Mephitica infect the air fo r his ow n benefit ; but Wayland did not know what was coming and tore the paper open and read Then he flung it from him and stoo d looking with blazing eyes at the thing on the floo r ” “ R ead it he said The old frontiersman got his glass es labori The o u s ly o u t o f the case and began to read s un w a s behind the Holy C ro ss and he stood in .

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322

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the desk kicking furniture eating up the tele phone turning the air blue It fell on the R anger sitting crun ched in his chair gazing through misty eyes at a picture painted by an artist who was an idealist Wa s he down and out ? Wa s R ight the sport of fools ? ,

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C HA P TER A DO

W N Y L IPP E D -

Y OU

XXII

TH I N

G

RAY

FL

AN NE L S

I suppo s e it was ow ing to the fact that s h e w a s woman and he w a s man that s h e spent that first night Of the home coming in dumb hurt w on der that he h a d not come immediately to her ; and that he pas sed the night in restles s fevered fury knowing well that you cannot both control fire and fan it fuse metals molten and expect them not to forge keep a resolution and break it She had listened eagerly to the Old fron t ie r s ma n s account of the adventures on the trail up the P as s precipice cro s sing the snow S lid e and in the desert where the R anger had refus ed to save his own life by abandoning his compau ion ; and the narrative lost nothing in Matthews recital with his S cottish Canadian R s rollin g out sonorous and strong where he was moved to a d mir a tion o r anger The sheep rancher s a t silent through the stirring story with only an occa s i on a l glint of fire from h is black eyes gazing aimlessly at the floor C ast your bread upon the waters and after many days it shall return to you again Minds -

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3 23



F RE EB OO TER S O F

3 24

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

me Of what A s a w you do for this woman you ” call C alamity in our Old R ebellion Days E leano r was si tting on the arm of her father s Th e sheepman glanced up warn leather chair in g ly but Matthe w s was go ing ahead full steam We re both older than we were in thos e days Ma c D on a ld Older an wis er an fo r m s elf A should add a good bit steadier ! You y were always a sober faced s ecret lad M a cD on ald ; an till yon day in front 0 th Agency house A don t think A hardly think we men knew what a devil was in y ! A can s e e y yet a s y kicked th gun out 0 yon blackguard s hand an let him take the lo ad 0 bucksho t square betwe en th Twas a handsome thing O you to shoulders ! take th poo r buddy in an give her a S helter ! ” H ow do es s h e come to call herself Calamity ? M a c Don a ld s foot came down On the flo or with “ a clamp and he ro s e She didn t Twas the miners in the B lack Hills She used to bring in so many hard luck chap s shot up by the Sioux bring em in o n her shoulders from the hills to the camp that the boys go t to calling her Calam ity She had lo st her go od looks and Mac Donald shot a glance of warning in the direction “ — and the same old sto ry I o f his daughter gues s ; she wa s Off the market ! O ne o f my trips to the mining camps Up state I found her in a mes s of rags picking crusts out of the garb a ge ba rrels along a back lane ! I brought her back with me Gave her a week s so ak in .

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F RE EB OO TER S

3 26

OF TH E

WILD ERNE SS

nor sprang up with her heart beating s o that s h e could not speak ; but it w a s only a white hatted youth in light gray fl a nn els asking C alamity at “ the basement door when Ma cD on a ld would be ” back Did E leano r I magine it ; o r did the citi fi e d young p erson in the gray fl a nn els with the red necktie look up towards her hesitatingly with the suggestion Of an ingratiating smile in the pale blue eyes a suggestion which sh e could not define but which somehow infuriated her ? Poor pale an aemic youth ! He was not used to having his waiting smiles met by the blaze of red fury that flashed to her eyes “ Calamity if that person wants anything tell him to go out to the bunkhouse and s e e the fore ” man Then s h e sank back in her chair both glad and sorry in on e breath that Wayland had not been there She shut her eyes to drink again of the memories that had sustained her all thes e weeks ; and felt the lift and fall Of the note his hand had w ritten pulsing to the rhyt hm of her breathing ; but the memorie s failed her Memories were fo r ab sence ; and he was here ; and he had n o t come If only he would come n ow how s h e would greet him holding him unfl in chin g ly to his resolut ion of course and Of cours e ; but as a kind Of second thought in the back of her head the under motive beneath all the clamor of light upper notes sh e kn ew t o the inmo st core of her being th at she w a s wishing he would come now b ecau s e .

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A DOW NY —LI PP E D Y OU T H her father was out and S he coul d greet him a s flesh and spirit heart and mind cried out to greet him ; to touch him ; to spen d themselves upon him in a fierce proud abando n of love and gladnes s ; to give and take and give — and take again till till what ? Was this the way to keep him standing strong to his resolu tions ? And sh a ll we blame her ? Does the beautiful thing we call life spring from po stulates and rule s and mathematics ; or from the S pirit s altar fires ? And I confes s I never s e e the thing w e call vice but I wonder did it not spring fro m the burning of the refuse heap which poo r hu mans have mistaken fo r altar fires ? She heard her father come in late slamming the mo squito do or behind him and pas s acro s s the dark living room to his ow n chamber wit h out saying goo d night O nce S he thought she s a w a white sailor hat through the cottonwoo d hovering along the ro ad Then as she lo oked the white sailor s eemed accompanied by a pan ama ; and S he crept into her ro om with fevered hands and he a vy heart snacking the mo squito doo r behind her There w a s the companion bang of a door being hooked below Old C alamity keep ing watch as usual and only turning in when she heard E lea no r going to bed E leanor waited till all was quiet Then s he drew the burlap portiere acro s s the mo squito doo r and lighted -w n andle and bega riti g ting wh t her c i n a r w ? , , w a s a lon e a n d '

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F REEB OO TE R S O F

32 8

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

Was it some dildo Of o ri ental song she had read in E urope ; was i t the burden Of some Indian chant stirring vaguely In h e r uncon scious blood ; o r w a s it but the simple love cry of primitive Woman Of that woman who wandered round about the streets Of Jerus alem calling her lover ? “ ” My flesh cries out to touch you my b eloved “ s h e wrote ; my hands are hungry to touch you and my spirit i s hungrier than my hands When you were ab sent I drank of memor i es ; but n ow u are back the shadow waters have gone I o y ; mus t have the living If I could s e e y ou but I know this wild longing would lie down o nc e ” and be quiet She stopped writing Would it ? Would it lie down and be quiet with just a look ? A look would b e a de e p drink of living waters sh e knew that ; but would it would it lie down and b e quiet ? She didn t intend ever to stop loving him As long as she loved him and stayed where love could gro w by what it fed on would it lie quiet ? Was this keep ing him strong to his resolution ? She tore the paper to tiny atoms and burned the scrap s bit by bit on her metal p a per knife above the candle T hen S he blew out the candle and dre w his soiled fi eld book le a f from her breast She fell a sleep with her head on h er a rm a n d her lip s press ed to that fo ol thing he “ had signed at the bot tom of his note Dick ( the whatever that meant There w a s n o mistaking it nex t morning at ,

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3 30

WILD ERNE S S

TH E

unspeaking The tears came in a rain She did not hide her f ace after the manner Of tenderly nurtured shrinking women She faced him with wide open lashes and brimming eyes and burn ing defiance “ F ather you don t doubt me too do you ? Doubt you ? My God no child ! It s only I never knew how much I loved you till I realized I might have to part with you H ow strange and non understanding and non understandable thes e men creatures were ! E lea no r looked a t him ; and lo oked at him Then s h e threw her arms round his neck and kissed the dark s a d silent face with a frightened tender fervo r ; and do not laugh dear reader ; for it is only on the stage that the graceful altogether elegant curtain drop comes ; but the Old fron tiers man had somehow got hims elf outside the screen do o r and immediately on that kiss came through the mo squito wire such a thunder clap of pulpit artillery a s i s the peculiar prerogative of some large gentlemen when they blow their no s e Ma c Don ald a nd E leano r both burst out laughing ; and E leanor noticed it w a s a large red cotton on e tw o f o r ten they sold in Smelter City .

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And all the while Wayland s a t crunched in the chair o f the Cabin gazing and gazing at the face “ ” in the picture above the Happy Warrio r till the light faded from the Holy Cro s s an d the moon b eams s t ru ck aslant the timbered floo r, a nd ,

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YOU T H

C alami ty s shado w stoo d in the doorw ay with a basket on her arm ” ’ “ s he s aid Me e sis Villiam send up y supper Wayland ate mechan ically He did not know that he w a s bursting out w ith angry words all through the meal “ To think they d stoop they d dare to spla sh their filth and hog-wash on her skirts to hurt me ? Well they ve got me Calam ity ? They v e got me Old gi rl ! B ut they ve got me in a way they don t expect ! You Indians knew the courts were a fraud and lie The y d have cleared this kind of blackguardism up with a knife Well s o will I ; but it will be another kind o f knife Y ou can t out Herod a skunk ; but you can bury it Calamity eh O ld girl ? We ll bury em s o deep next election they ll n ever s ee daylight then we ll pile this pack o f expo sure on em so high they ll never get up again We re out for scalps Calamity ! NO more fighting in the open eh ? We ll spring it on em the way y ou Indians put a knife in a man s b a ck “ ” Is s it Moy eese heem keel littl e b oy ? asked C alamity softly Something in the soft his s of the wo rds made th e Ra nger turn There was a mad look in the glint O f the black eyes and the hands were knead ing n ervously in and out o f the palms Yes damn him it is M oy e s e w ho is at the bottom Of all this deviltry ; but don t you worry, ” Calamity ! We re g oin g to g e t his s c alp ! ’

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3 32

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

He paced the R idge half the night planning his camp aign He would g o first thing in the morning and get that child s story O f the mine “ and the dummy entryman T hen he would get that Swede s a ffi d a vit befo re the thick tow head realized what he was after Then he would get a trained geologist f or the examination of the mine n ot that fl ann elle d kindergar tner stuck f ull of bureaucratic s elf impo rtance a s he was Of ignorance Then he would surpris e them by doing absolutely nothing till election time then “ ” plunk it all on them through the oppo sition p aper and stand back and take his dismiss al ! O h his mi dnight thought s raced a s yours and min e h a ve raced when we have been struck by s orrow o r blackmail o r motiveless malice ! He could not make sure of it ; but once as he paced near the R idge trai l he thought he s aw w a s it a form in fl an n els accompanied by a figure r esembling B at s sauntering slowly down to the Valley ? When Wayland dwelt a moment on what such a conjunction of Obs ervers might mean his thoughts jumped C ould B rydges h a ve done it ? B ack in the Cabin the face in the picture seemed s entient and shining in the gloom It was an absurd notion Of course ; fo r the picture was a shadowy thing in dark s epia ; and there was no light but the silver reflection Of the moon from the Holy Cro ss T he Holy Cro ss what was it N othi ng worth while ever w on s h e had s aid ? .



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334

F RE E B OO TER S

WI LD ER N E S S

OF TH E

from the face Of the R idge and some spruc e saplings sp an ned a spring trickling down from the rocks Matthews stopped T his was the place ! O ld ra scal ! H ow did he know ? Has age ever been yo ung ? E leanor did not kn ow that he wa s looking at her, did not know that her face w a s wrapp ed in mystery and light Sud d en ly he placed both hands o n her shoulder “ E leano r y r a m a gnificent woman ! Y don t mind me callin y a woman ? I t was his highest compliment “ Y re braver than my wife ; a n she s the bravest O them a ! D y know that my wife came half way round the world t marry me an go penniles s to th Indian R eserve ? D y know when she found the Indians sick d y know s he went E ast an took a full four years medical cours e t b e able to attend them ? D y know she go es all over the R eserve day an night an for three hundred miles among th s ettlers to attend We re rich th sick ? B ut duty with us is easy Duty brought us together ! Duty s goin t push y apart ; an y re not complainin E leano r co ul d no t answer What was there to s ay ? They went on up the R idge T rail Matthews still talking t o let her think her own thoughts There was the story of the last great buff alo hunt at B attleford ; of his first bu ff alo hunt when he had broken away from the other hunters in his early boyhood d a ys and the buf f alo bull had g ot him down in a crack of the o ut

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earth under its f eet And there w a s the story o f his first Syno d Meeting when A came all wild an woolley out O the West ! My five b rithe rs were there ; they were a preachers ! O ne i s the bishop ! O h A gues s they were on needles an pins f or fear 0 what A d do ! A d been in the West s o long A didn t know enough n ot to g o shirtsleeve s down the streets 0 Montreal ! Well Twa s an evenin me etin ! All been a hot day ! the missionaries to th Indian s were givin ex ’ r r e s e i e n ce O n e got up an he wanted t h d a p s is t e rs to raise a little money to build a fence ; a fence y understand ? An another got up an ’ wanted th d e a r s is te rs t have a sewin bee g os s ip buzz A call em to raise a little money f or the Lord t build a scho ol Lo sh ! A sto o d it ’ long as A could ! Then A jumped up ! Twa s ’ a hot night an A d ripped Off m coat ! A m no sure my collar hadn t slumped t a j elly too ! ’ Says I If y r reverences will excus e a plai n Western man s p e a kin plain Western speech A want t s ay A don t like t hear strong well ’ able bodied men w hin in an b eg g in th d e a r s is te rs t help them Says I If th brothers will just peel off their co ats an build their own fences they ll find the Lord ull help the m with out any w hin in an b eg g in ! P eel off y coat s ’ an y r dude duds says I an g o t work an don t insult God Almighty an disgust the women folk w i that milk sop bottle baby rubber ring talk .

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E

WILD ERNE S S

What did the meeting say ? asked E leanor surprised out of hers elf “ O h A dunno that they s aid much at all ! T hey kind 0 stomp ed tho

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

3 38

t o th e Ridg e t o c ha n ce

ma n

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WILD ERNE S S

TH E

tha t lit tle Iris h

s ee

ba ck, w ill y ou ha pp en ’ I ll k eep h er till s ix

a long

run t

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to

s ee

If y ou t he old

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It ain t the tr uth I m tellin y : it s ow nly ” what I ve h e e r d Me e s tr e s s Lizzie O Finn ig an stood in the open mg of the tent flap a lonely little face a lonely little figure in her tawdry rags a lonely little soul in the great lone F o rest like a little mite lo st in the big univers e E leano r thought She “ was telling them about the Thr oub le expected at th moine ; an f a a th e r bein on hand t take a fist ; an th g en lema n from Wa a shin t on w a itin f o r the R anger man t come back ; an th goin s on r a p o rt e d in the p a phe r s Ah h waz a baad man w uz the R anger f a a the r said “ ” Do y ou read the paper little on e ? broke in Matthews “ ’ Nut the print s or but I do th pitchers ; an th murthers ; an thim s all pitchered out plain so I can read ! F a a the r s ez he w un t have his ’ independence propo s ed upon ; if th don t give him tw in ty thous an fur s ettin t oig ht here he ll peach ; but about th mine th R anger man iz expected t make thr oub le an f a a ther iz all powerful quick with hi s fi s t s or specially when h e s in d rink ; an he s t be on hand It ain t ’ th truth I m tellin y s or ; it s ow n ly what I ve ’











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An d i f you sit tight here for five years , you

W HA T

I V E H E ERD ’



are go ing to b e wealthy ? asked E lean or taking her by the hand and leading her out to the wo ods The unwonted act almo st startled the little face “ Y s She looked up at E leanor questioningly “ ” F a a th e r s e z when mam waal thy S he said ’ we re waal thy, he l l b e a g en lema n an O il b e ” a loidy “ All you need to b e a lady or a gentleman is to be wealthy ? Is that it ? a sked the Old fron tiersman laughing “ Y es s or said the child solemnly F a a the r wull shure be a g en lema n DO y ou like living here ? asked E leano r NO mam I don t think much Of it ! In Smelter City there wuz c ur cus e s ; an elephants on a ll the bills o f fare ; an loidie s dancin on th r heads ! F a a th er s e z if I keep on dancin a s foine as I do now meb b ie I ll be able t dance on m head ; but I wouldn t l ik e t o danc e withou t any s k e e rts wud ” N O A wouldn t answered the preacher quickly ; and E leanor laughed It was all so ludicrously pathe tic They asked her if s he would n ot like t o come down with them to the Indian School ; and s h e looked wistful ly and did not an swer O h G o d Of Little C hi ldren where are You ? Are the Lambs outside the fold not Y ours also ? When they pointed out the creatures of the woods to her they found she did not know a squirrel from a chipmunk ; and s he pronounced ,

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340

F RE EB OO TER S O F

TH E



WILD ERNE S S



the merry chatter ing odj us When a cat bird came tittering on hi s tail squeaking out every imaginary note of gladness and the frontiersman expla ined that thi s f ellow sang only a f te r his family had b een r a is ed whereas the other birds “ ’ s ang b ef ore she said he w a zn t a s in teréstin ’ ” a s th elephants on the bill O far e Let s s e e ! T here s three trails here about ! Matthews w a s cogitating with hi s gaze on “ E leano r T here s the on e acro ss t o the Upper ’ ’ Mesas ; an there s on e back behind over th shoulder of the Holy Cro s s down to the Lak e B ehind the P eak ; an there ought t o be on e b e tween r un n in up to the snows ! Think y r good f or climb in over this windfall whil e A ca rry this little pus s on m shoulder ? Steer f or the s n ow a h e a d ! Don t mind my laggin back ! Go wait f or us ! A m goin t s e e if on ahead an A can t mine down 10 some gold b eneath th s l ime 0 th slums ! It s not in the course O t his n ature that any child should b e blind t world Mis s E leanor if A can Open th doors f or her ! G O ahead ; an if y find a goo d sittin down place just rest quiet a n wait f o r us an ’ don t worry if we re long comin ! If A can t make her love Go d s big play ground A m no preacher ! E leano r laughed Her last mining down to veins o f gold h a d not been a particular success She looked back at the two ; the massive thewed frontiersma n with th e sho ck of whi te hair and .

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F RE EB O O TER S O F

3 42

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

listened The vo ices behind had faded away ; and the air was vibrant Of voiceles s voices of pixy tambourin es beating the silence There w a s a hush the sibilant hush of waters ru shing down from the far snows of the Holy C ro s s ; and a — fl utt e r the flutter of all the little leaves clap ping their hands ; and a big voiceles s voice of solemn undertone— the diapason of the pines harping the age Old melodies to the touch Of the W ind s invisible hands melo dies o f the soul Of the s e a in the heart of the tree of strength and power and eternity As s he listened s h e could fancy s ome vast orato r io voicing the themes O f humanity and the universe and God Then all the little people of the wo ods came peeping through the greenery su rveying her weighing her exami ning her testing her spirit of goo d o r ill A little squirrel went scampering up on e huge tree trunk and down another just a p ace ahead scouting f o r the other pixies of the wo o ds , till with a s cur r r r and chitter — chippe r e e he whisked back in his tracks ” “ She s all right people he s aid Then a whisky j ack fl itte d from branch to branch of the — always just a step a head not s a y un der brush ing as much as w a s his custom but peeking a “ ” NO deal with head cocked from side to side “ said E leano r I have no camp cr umb s : you go ” back Th e little red crested cro ss b il l twittered in front of her from S pray to spray of the purple fire weed and fern fronds ; then concluded that .

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W HA T I



V E H E ERD

was only a part of this out doo r world any way and went back about his busin e s s on the trail behind Tw o or three times there wa s a vague rustl e in the leaves that sh e couldn t localiz e — water ouzel in mo s s covert or hawk — babies in hiding or or what ? She couldn t — descry Then suddenly with a his s s s and swear plain as a bird could swear a little male grouse came sprinting down the trail to stop her tail spread to a fan w ings down r uH up “ screaming at her in bad words to stop ! t o ” stop ! or he d pick her eyes out ! E leanor naturally stopped There w as a rustle and a fl ump ; and a mother grouse whirred up with h e r brood— a dozen Of them E leano r counted was it a se cond family ? babies just in feather clumsy and heavy O f wing ; and the little man ducked to hiding amon g the dead leaves E leanor p eered everywhere There was not the glint Of an eye to betray hiding She laughed and looked back for Matthews and his little pupil A turn Of the lane shut OH all view ; and again sh e had that curious s en sation of a vague movement back among the evergreens S he glanced forward Th e light was shut O ff by a huge pile of windfall giant tree on tree mo s s grown with cypres s and alder sho ots from the great bro ad dead trunks a pile the height of a hou se P assage round the ends of the up rooted trunks led back through the brushwood El eanor stepped to the lowes t tr unk and began sh e

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

3 44

TH E

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climb ing over the pile by ascendin g first on e trunk then back up another Almo st on the top s h e paused It w a s that s ame vague rustling movement too nois eless to b e a nois e , t oo evan e s c en t f or a sound She parted the screen of s hrubbery growi ng f rom the prone trunks and p eered f orward The same lanes of gold sifted light leading o ver the edge of the wo rld through the aisled evergreens but at the end a glin t a s of emerald t he sheen of water wi th the metal gli ster of green enamel water marbled like onyx or malachite with the reflection of a snow cro ss and dun gray — shadows shadows Of deer standing motionles s — at the opening of the aisled trees come out from the f orest at sundown to their drinking place Lan e of light ? It had been a lane of delight ; a n d that was what all li f e might b e but for the Satyr shadows lurking along the trail There w er e tw o o r three little fawns j ust turning from n uzzling and wasting a sh co a t to ochre gray th e water ; and on e of the year old deer had turned its head and was sniffing the air looking b a ck a po etry Of motionles s motion all s en ses poised E leanor held her breath If only the other tw o wo ul d come : yet sh e had put back her hand to warn them if they should come ; and stoo d s o looking and listening S he remem bered afterwards by the nodding Of the blue bells sh e had known that the w ind w a s away f rom the deer to her There w a s a quick step ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

3 46

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

Let me go dear ! This w rld happines s is a ” kind of madnes s “ Give me a ll you have fo r me in but on e ” more ! He bent over her face ; when he r e leased her s he w a s faint He O ffered her hand hold down over the tree trunks to the lake ; and when their feet touched solid earth again took a grip of the situation to relieve her embarras sment and began talk ing furiously of the Desert ride and the dream face that had twice s aved his life E leano r stopped stock still “ ” s h e explained ; Why tha t was my dream and their h a nds met half w a y and before sh e had finished telling it had happened all over again ,

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T hey were standing on the margin

the l ak e The s un was behind the peak and the w ine glow lay on the snow cro s s and the topaz gate was aj ar again to the n ew in fi nite life and I think they were both a little bit afraid An Old world po et has said something abou t fools rushing in where angel s fear to trea d The moun taineer expres ses the s ame thought in his o w n more picturesque and I think more po etic vernacular certainly it is a vernacular n ex t to life rather “ than books It is an axiom that only the most bla ta nt tenderfoot the mo st fumble footed green ” horn will monkey on the edge o f a precipice T he marbled wate r S hadows deepened to fire of

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in the Alpine after glow ; and the little waves of the lake came lipping and lisping and laving at their feet “ There I s no us e trying to tell about it o r talk ” it out burst out Wayland “ said E leano r Mr Matthews told us much la st night : and I ll dig the rest out of him the next time I s e e him I m talking I m not talking of the Des ert It s so God blessed beautiful E leanor ! o f you I us ed to think and think in the Desert what this would be like ; and it s s o much more beautiful than one could hope o r gues s Don t you think there must be something in Go d and Heaven and all that ? Love is s o much more beautiful than ” a fellow could po ssibly think ? “ Don t you think they ll b e wondering about ” u s ? asked E leanor Pooh no ! Matthews told me to come on here an d find you ! He s just back there a little ” way “ Did he plan this ? Course ! H ow do y ou suppo se I knew where to fi n d you ? Y ou s e e n ow why I must not s ee ” u o e w if are to keep our resolutions ? y “ ” Yes I s e e ! Let us go back It w a s on the lake side o f the logs that Way land paused “ I don t thin k they could see throug h th ose ” logs ? he s a id .

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TH E

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E leano r burst into a peal of laughter and as c e n d e d the fallen trunks as if they had been stairs T hey came on the other tw o sitting squat in the mi ddle of the trail ; and if the win df all had been opaque on e o f the two wore an expres sion o n his face as if he had gues sed He wa s to ss ing a handful of little p ebbles up from his palm and catching them on the backs of his knuckles “ We didn t make much 0 the wo o ds an ” “ birds , he remarked with a twisted s mi le but ” man alive we can play j acks ! Don t smile , s elf superio r reader ! It takes some little t ime to manufacture a snow slid e out of snow flakes ; and it may b e the la w that it also takes some little time to manufacture a soul out of slime P as sing the C abin , they again encountered a down y -lipped youth in gray fl a nn els a c c om by a fat gentleman with tortoise shell n i d a e p eyes and a tallow s mile ; but the j aunty dimples of the f a t man , the s upercilious lif t of the gray ’ — fl a n n el s eyebrow froze mid w a y at sight o f Me e s tre s s L e ezie O F inn ig an who bowed to B a t with the gravity of a mother superior ’ “ It ain t the truth I m tellin y Lizzie w a s loquaciously going over the story for the twen ’ “ ’ It ain t the truth I m tellin y y on t ie th time ” d e r s ta n d ; i t s o w n ly what I ve h e e r d The R anger dropped out of the group at the C abin .

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C H A P TE R I

AM

XXIV

U N C LE

S AM

So they would examine the mine to morrow ? S O they had sprung the examin ation of the coal veins befo re he could Obtain a Government G e ologis t and the co al would be pronounced worth l es s a s the coal involved in the Al a ska cas es w a s pronounced worthless by another kinder gartner when that contes t was impending Then they would argue and consider and s end up briefs and s end down decisions on the v a lue Of the coal till the statutory time had expired and the la w of limitation s would bar suit for resti Meanwhile Smelter City Coking Com tution pany were using half a million tons a year an d sending away a s much again ; but on the word Of an ignorant bureaucratic cub the co a l wa s to be worthless and the brazen S teal of public prop H ow much mineral e r ty to be sanctioned by la w land had been stolen in the very same way in the la st ten years first homesteaded by the dummy foreigner then fo r five ten one hun dred tw o hundred at mo st three hundred dollars a quarter section on fals e a ffidavit a s to entry, -

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length of residence age of homestea der turned over to the R ing who s e sworn valuation of th e ” coal ran from to an acre ? Per s on a lly Wayland as he thought it over knew O f fi f ty thousand acres Of coal so stolen in Col o rado and as much again in Wyoming ; not to mention three hundred thousand acres of gold and silver lands looted in the South West ,

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An d th e lo o te rs t op “

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Wha t

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va lor

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du e

m?

t he

r o r t e p p y

on

and ”

n a ti o n a l

duci ng

S

t h e ir

a t ta c ks

s p ec t

w e r e t h e p a r ty s houting a t the ” v oices a b out v es t e d r ig h ts and

ou t



d ema g og uery p r o Wher e w a s the r e

hy s t eria ” v es t e d r ig hts b e long in g t o Un cle .

a b ou t

th e p ira cy a n d p lun d er of b e long ing t o Un c le S a m? Why

t o thr o w

by th e

a

n ec k, a n d

burg la r lo o ting Un c le S

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burg la r lo o tin g “

hys t er ia



to g o

r o u y a

f te r

m?

Wayland had once a sked B at B rydges thes e questions B at had looked pained at the R anger s obtuseness “ ” “ Wayland he had exclaimed who is Uncl e Sam ? I am Uncle Sam ! Y ou are Uncle Sam ! We are all Uncle Sam ! That s the be a uty of democracy ! This property you are howling about is yours and mine ; and when w e go in and develop it w e are only taking what i s our own “ What about the fellow who isn t in on a ” share ? “ ” Share ? Quit talking Socialism B at had commanded with a grand gesture leaving Way .



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3 52

OF TH E

WILD ERN ES S

land wondering w ho w ere the real Socialists in the N ation It came t o him a s he watched the panama hat and the White s a ilo r going down the R idge T rail that you can t argufy national problems ; no r compromis e on them ; n or enter on any treaty of peace but the peace that is a victo ry B rydges w a s Uncle S am ; and he thought on e w ay T he R anger was Uncle Sam ; and he thought another way On e wa s fighting f or the vested rights of the fe w T he other was fi g ht in g f or the v ested rights of the many I t would hav e t o b e fought out the fight would have to come ; and this co al case like the R ange War w a s on e of the preliminary skirmishes to the Great N ational Contest Would the p eople w ho were payi ng fifty cents a dollar a dollar and a hal f e xtra f or every ton of coal bought becaus e the coal areas w ere being brought under the domination of on e R ing understand and waken u p and rally to the fight ? O r was it a s Moye s e had declared with the mo st Open a n d genial eyn ” “ ic ism that the public did not give on e damn ? .



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Th e R anger cro s s ed ove r to the t elephone and called up the Ma cDon a ld R anch .

That y ou, Mr Ma c Don a ld ? Matthews back yet ? O h , gone acro ss to the Mis sion School ? .

NO, nothin g wrong : better not pay any attention

the little Irish kid s babble of trouble at th e mine ! They d hardly dare that ! Y es I kn o w ’

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F RE EB OO TER S

354

OF TH E

WILD ERN ESS

N ational F orests of cours e ; but the mining area s ,

must be obtained according to la w and paid f o r and op erated individually not homesteaded by “ ” the dummie s then turned into a consolidated rin g of coal o wn ers What made this violation o f law more flagrant th a n usual w a s the fac t that thes e homesteaded co al lands lay at an angle of almo s t nin ety degrees in a sheer wall ; an d it was an impo ssibility f o r any home s t e a de r ever to have put in residence on them Homestead entry term O f residence proof and t itle all exhibited f raud on the f ace of the records ; and there wasn t a man in the Govern ment S ervice who did n ot kno w that What unseen hand had juggled entries ti tle and proof through ? The homesteaders had s old out long a g o f or a song some fo r as little a s ten dollars T he R ing had po s a hundred and sixty acres s es sion ; and as every man in the Land S ervice knew the Government had pigeon holed a ll rec o mmen d a tion s f or legal action to compel resti Would the wheels o f justice res t inert ? tution Wo ul d the presiding deity Of justice be s o blind if some poor man a poo r man w h o was also Uncle Sam s tol e a ton of coal f rom the R ing Operatin g thes e mi nes ? Why was it po s sible to steal ninety million dollar s worth of co al from t h e people and not permis sible f or on e o f the / people tO s t e a l on e ton of co al from the R ing ? These w ere the questions Waylan d asked hi m ,

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self as he rode do wn the hog s back f or Smelter City ’

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The

trail down the hog s back sloped grad u a lly and cut fifteen miles OH the distance to “ Smelter City by the Valley R oad It wa s the ” show trail of all the N ational F o rests When supe r visors came to inspect or vi sitors from the E ast w ho wanted to give accounts o f hav ing roughed it without lo sing an hour of sleep or carrying any scars of stump beds o r when Congressional committees came from Washing ton for a champagne junket to report on all they — hadn t s een Wayland always conducted them down the hog s b a ck trail that ran along th e He backbone of the Holy C ro ss lower slope had b uilt the trail himself ; much of it with hi s ow n ha nds ; out in the side of the forest mould and rock with a n outer log a s guard rail ; wid e enough f or tw o horses abreast and zig zagging enough to bre ak the descent into a g ra dua l dro p and a Hord n ew vi s tas at each turn of the Val ley below Of the Mesas above the R im R ock s acro s s and of the R ive r looping and sweeping down to Smelter City He used to dream as he ro d e down the bri dl e path of the day coming when all the vast do main of N ational F orests would be like that trail ; not a stick o f underbrush o r slash a s big as your finger ; n ot a stump above eighteen ’

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TH E

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inches high ; all the scaled logs piled n ea t a s card bo ard boxes ; open p ark below the resinous cinnamon smelling lo dge pole line and engle mann spruce hardly a branch lower on the trees than the height of a man ; and such a rain of tempered light from the clicking pine needles and whorled spruces as might have come through ” “ the ro s e W indow Of a cathedral A S how picture o f a prop erly conducted N ational F o rest has gone through all the magazines and news — pap ers It repres ents the piles Of co rdwoo d clean a s piles o f pencils the trees s tanding p a rk lik e with vistas and glades and opens beneath the tall pine ry Wayland knew in his ow n heart “ ” that his F orest was better than that show picture NO pictures could tell Of the pine seed lings stolen from a squirr el c a che scattered on the snows ; the delicate young pinery coming up among a protecting nursery of birch and poplar “ and cottonwood N o picture could S how the “ ” ” dead t Op s cut out ; the cheesy rotten heart wood burning on an altar of sacrifice to the “ deity of the forest ; the markings on the dead ” top s and ripe trees and trees with broken top ” “ leaders for the lumberman to come and har vest NO picture could give the j olly song Of the cro ss cut sa w the musical ripping Of the Oiled blade through the huge logs the Odor of the impris oned sunbeams and flowers from the rain of the yellow s a w dust N o picture could po s sibly tell you the life story o f you big tree , -

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

3 58

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

springing to n e w life f rom the ashes sending f o rth fresh armadas from the p endant purplish cinnamon scented cones s plit Op en by the heat and s o releasing fresh winged seeds ! Wayland used to dream as he ro de down th e hog s b ack trail of the day coming when all the N ational F orests would be a great park the p eo ple s playground yielding bigger annual har vest in rip e lumber than the w heat fields o r th e co rn ; yield ing income fo r the S tate and he alth f or the N ation Germany did it Why couldn t America ? Why not indeed ; except that s he had n ot exterminated her pirates o f the public weal her freebooters of the wilderness her slippery “ fin gered pick pockets who shouted I a m Un c le ” while they picked Uncle Sam s pockets ? S am R iding down the hog s back you first left the larches and the junipers b elow the snow line the j umpers beginning to S how their berries the larches yellowing and shedding their golden shower to the appro ach Of autumn Then a turn o f the trail ; and you were among the hem locks funereal and sombre in the di stance won d e rf ully lightened when you were below them by the sage green mo s s and the pale silver blue lin ing on the under side of the leaves Another turn or tw o there c a me the feathery sugar pine and the Dougla s spruce the monarch s of the — N orth Western F o rests plume decked warriors carrying a glint o f spear s with the scars Of a thousand years and a thousand victories in the ,

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wrinkled bark with cones like ta ssels , and whorls like banners You could co un t thes e whorls or the s cars of the whorls ; and you had their years ; an d the bluish green shade wa s rest ful a s the repos e O f age Th e smell Of them it wa s like incens e ; in cens e to the deity of the woods ; and when the wind blew every old ever green harped the age Old melodies o f P an And Oh y e s there were warriors scarred f rom the fight fellows with corky arms and mottled streaks where the lightning had struck and splintered O nly the cheesy hearted the war riors with maggots and grubs manufacturing punk out Of heart wood fo r all the wo rld like humans infected by evil thoughts onl y the hol low he a rted cam e down to earth with a crash in the fray Another turn you were among the lo dge pole — pure park Way m s e and englemann spruce p land always thought the delight Of a F orester s heart ; w arm human open park places where you kept looking for deer though you knew there weren t any In riding down the backbone of the R idge Wayland always planned to camp under the lo dge pole pines ; it was s o co ol s o rain pro of and sun proof with an almo st cert a inty o f a mountain s tream somewhere near and if you had eyes to see a game trail down to the stream T o night he went on down to the B rulé a cro ss s ection of the mounta in swept by fire years before the F orest Service ha d taken hold in the ,

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F RE EB OO TER S O F

WILD ERNE SS

TH E

days when millmen had been permitted to take out windfall and burn free and all a millman had to do to become a millionaire in free lumber was s e t the incendiary fire going to create windfall In his ow n district Wayland knew two men who had become rich in that way ; but of cours e tha t wa s long ago The F orest men had cleared out the windfall and burn ; and n ow the deity Of the wo ods N ature was at work ! B y the moonlight the R anger could s e e the pale chalky peach bloom b ole s of the gho st birches and the satiny poplar s and cottonwo ods turning gold to the approaching autumn but going down gay twinkling laughing fellows to the year s death actually clapping their hands shaking with glee s ending leaves down in a rain of gold which it i s to be hoped the pixies picked up the pixies sailing the air in feathe r parachutes Of flower and cone seed ! Wayland could s e e thes e airy ships between him and the silver moonlight dropping s eeds — s eeds s eeds ; s eeds of fire flower and golden r o d and hoary evergreen ; shooting them out in tiny catapults ; s ending them up in dandelion flu ff and s ky ro ckets ; catch ing a n d skimming the wind in airy cano es ; tilting the Winged sails to a w hiH and sailing sailing dropping the seeds o f life f or a thousand years ! And beneath the birches with the hundred eyes looking out from the ch a lky faced bark and the poplars laughing and shaking with glee and the cottonwoods showering down a rain o f g old in their death ; ,

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U ESTI O N

B efore it

XXV

—W HICH UN C LE

Is

ha d

S AM

?

been a race reverie ; a waiting puzzled and uncertain f or the ways of life N ow it wa s the j oy of lif e the fulfil ment fo r whi ch life had been created and waited expectant ; and whether the ways were any plainer in the n ew light there wa s no ro om f or wonder in the ful n es s of j oy E lean o r was glad the little bundle of tawdry loquacity toddling between them kept up a constant stream Of idle bo astings on the “ ro ad to the Mis sion Hous e about being waal “ ” thy and Fa a th er shure bein a g en le man when “ ” they were waal thy and herself a s foine a s ” eny loid} in th land and mo re and more of the s ame all the way down the R idge T rail ; which was not s o fatuous as it sounded when it voiced the convictions of a great many more p eo ple than the little unwashed garlicky Shanty T own dancer E leano r wondered i f the sam e arguments applied to the culture O f horses and — pigs and po tato es size instead of sort fuln es s area of po ss es of stomach not quality of head sion not area of service T he garrulous babble continued to the very ,

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3 62

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doors of the Mis sion School and through the formalities o f an ab surdly formal in tr odu c tion to Mrs Williams and during the supper time meal with the little Indian children in the big dining room E leano r noticed how Lizzie s lips pursed with contempt at the o ther children and the little stomach poked out with arrogance and fulness as the boasting waxed ” “ re That kind is the mo st hopeles s o f all marked Mr s Williams in a low voice amused a t the amazement on the f aces of the Indian chil dren Yet E leanor was glad T he b abble gave her opportunity for withdrawal in her own thought s ; and when s he came back t o the R anch Ho u s e with Matthews leaving Lizzie st ill boasting at the School sh e hardly noticed that her father stopped the frontiersman on the threshold but she pas sed out to the steamer chair on her ow n piazza What was It ? E leano r co ul d not have an swered if she had tried She only kn ew tha t s he had drunk of the fulnes s of living and that time could not rob her of that consciousnes s It was there forever wi th her breathin g in every breath pulsing in the rhythm Of her blood “ ” Clo ser than hands or feet , as the Pantheistic po et h a s sung immanent enveloping po ss es so ry Ob s e s sory warm living a floo ding realiza tion of life giving tone to every touch Of exist ence like the strings of the violin to the b ow Of the skilled musician She w anted to sing ; the ,

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3 64

TH E

WILD ERNE SS

long low jubilant chant Of womanhood which no po et has yet s ung B y the j oy o f it s he knew what the sorrow Of it must be B y the purity s h e realized what the poisoning of the f oun tain springs of life could mean B y the triumph s he r ealized what the defeat the debasement could be She thought Of love as a fountain spr ing a spring into which you co ul d not both cast d efi le ment and drink of waters un defi le d ; a s an altar flame fed with incens e lighting the darknes s ; and o n e could no more O ff end love with impurity than cast the dung heap on the altar flame and not e xp ect blastment She wanted to clap her hands a s the gay twinkling cottonwoods were clap ping theirs to the suns et ; to dance and beat gyp sy tambourines as the pines were throbbing and harping and clicking to the age Old melodies — She want e d what was it ? Had the o f P an Israelitish women of old t imed their j oy to the r hythm o f the dance ; or wa s it a later strain the strain from the tribal woman o f the plain s w ho heard a voice in the music Of the laughi ng leaves and the throb o f the river and the shout of the and the little lispings and s un glinted cataract whisperings Of the waves among the reeds ? E ach hung a tiny Th e stars came pricking out censer flame to the altar of night and holines s and mystery She knew s he co ul d never again s e e the st ars come pricki ng through the purple dusk witho u t f eeling th e stab o f j oy that ha d ,

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F RE EB OO TER S

3 66

OF TH E

WILD ERNE S S

what that mean s till w e are to o old to pay tribute a n d they t o whom tribute i s due have pas sed o ur reach “ I oh of course I ll be a ll right ! Would you ” like a lunch or something ? “ NO never mind ! K eep C alamity by you ! ” N ight G O to bed early have a goo d sleep ! he s aid The mo squito doo r clicked and he had gone A moment later the yellow buck bo ard had rattled down the R iver road and her father did what he had never done before he turned and lightly wa v ed hi s hat .



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If E leanor co ul d have known it , he w a s sayi ng a t that moment “ Matthews you can fight the world the flesh ’ and the devil ; but you can t figh t ag a in st the stars ’ The Old frontiersman didn t answer f or a lit tle When he spoke it was very soberly “ ’ ’ NO when it s that you ll work f o r the stars ’ ’ ’ i n ee t S pite O r s e lf Why A contrived the m ! y , ’ ’ myself this vera afternoon ; w ha d y think 0 ’ that f or an old fool ? A ll b e g oin back empty ’ ’ handed an all m ow n doin “ And I ll have built plans for twenty years on - On the sands and Ma cD on ald flicked the broncho s up with his whip T here wa s a long silence but f o r the crun ch O f the wheels through the road dust “ ” Ma cDon ald s a id Matthews abruptly A m ,

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goin t s e e this thing thro A don t mean y r daughter s love ; th angels 0 Heave n have tha t in th eir own charge ! A m r ef e r rin t this mine thing ! There s evil b r ew in ! A m goin t s e e this t hi ng thro ; an A m a ke no doubt y r goin to do th same ! A m no w a n tin t pry into y r — aff a irs Ma c Don ald ; but is y r will made an secure ? T h e sheep rancher flicked his whip at the broncho s and to ok firmer hold of the reins ” “ C opp er rivetted he s aid ’





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We call It clairvoyance ; and we call It intui tion ; and we call It instinct ; and we might as well call it X y z f or all these terms mean We do not know what they mean N either do we kn ow what It i s We hear It and obey It ; and It brings blessednes s In the din o f life s in sistent nois e we sometimes do not hear It T hat i s we do n ot hear It until afterwards when the curs e has come Then we remember that we did hear It though we did not heed it It was s o with E leano r after her father p ass ed from the R anch Hous e that night Af terwards s h e knew that sh e had noticed the wistful look on hi s face ; but the memory of it did not come to the surface of thought till she heard the c lick o f C alamity s doo r in the bas ement and r e c o l “ le c t e d his words ; K eep Calamity by you Also at that very moment a great gray racing motor car swerved out acros s the white bridge ,

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from the Senator s ranch buildings and went spinning down the Valley ro ad the twi n lanterns befo re and behind cutting the dark in the double sword of a great s earch light tha t etched the sheathed pine needles and twinkling cottonwoods in black again st a background of gold E leano r wa s perfectly certain she saw the same tw o hats in the back s eat that had met Wayland at the C abin that afternoon “ ” C alamity s h e called down over the piazza railing The native woman came up the piazza stairs on a pattering run “ Why has everybody gone down to Smelte r ” City to night ? Is anything wrong ? Th e Cree woman s shawl had fallen back from her head She stoo d kneading her fingers in and out of her palms There w a s a strange wild look in the dark eyes and her breathing labored “ “ ” It ees Moye s e said Ca lamity slowly He ” Xa min d mine t morrow “ Why Calamity that i s perfect nonsens e ! M oy e s e won t examine the mine at all ! T hi s young fellow from Washington is the on e to ex ” amine the mine ? C alamity continued to knit her fin gers in and “ “ ” M e s s ieu Waylan All same s h e s aid o ut he telephone Me s sieu M a cDon a l come mine help ” him t morrow ! T elephone my father ? Why how could he ? ” I have been right here, C alamity ? ’

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and s in , with her eyes fixed stonily on the far space s of her wrecked youth the lids Wl de op en the whi tes glistening a mad look in the dilated pupils shining like fire ; and her fingers were knitting in and out of her palms “ ” “ M man s h e whisp ered dey keel heem ’ dey hang heem ! M babee dey take it away d — pries he s ing sing an w ave candle an bury it in snow Leetle F ord d keel heem ! D punish Indian man d hang heem m man ! Moye s e he keel leetle F ord : he go free n ot n g hurt heem She burs t out laughing low voiced cunning “ ” “ s h e said laughter I go s e e I ride down hog s back t d mi ne ! I g o s e e ! Me s s ieu Mac — H e help me ! I help heem ! I g o Donal ” s ee and b e fo re E leano r had gra sped the import o f the words the woman had darted out into the dark ; and a moment later E leano r heard the base — T ment do or clang here wa s the pound pound o f a horse being pulled hither and thither leaping to a wild gallop then the figure of Calamity bare headed riding b areback and astride cut the moonlight ; and the ring of hoof beat s echoed back from the ro cks of some on e going furious heedless up the face of the R idge towards the hog s back trail E leanor called up the Mission Scho ol tele phone : Mr Williams had heard nothing ; he didn t believe there was any caus e f or alarm ; the child was patently and plainly an astounding little liar ! About Calamity ? O h y e s E leanor was not to b e ,

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al a rm e d ! She had gone off in tho se mad fits ever since her baby died up on Saskatchewan It had been very distres sing ; was in winter time and she wouldn t releas e the dead ch ild from her arms ; they had to take it from her by fo rce ; she always came back after a week or tw o of wan dering ! Wo ul d E leanor like some on e to come over an d st ay in the R anch House ? And E leano r being a true descendant of the Man with the Iron Hand fl a un t e d p ersonal fear ; and went back to a sleeples s but not unhappy night in her room Why did the news that C alamity s child had died bring such a sens e of relief ? .

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How simply do es lif e deck out her tragedie s ! T here is n o prelude of low toned plaintive or There is ch e s t ra l music tuned t o expectancy n o thunder barrel ; o r if there is a thunder barrel u may know that the tragedy is theatrical and o y hollow in proportion to the size of its emptines s And there i s no graceful curtain drop between it and real life p ermitting you to rise from your place and g o home happy M a cDon a ld was stepping into the bucket to descend the last shaft of the mine when something on the edge o f the B r ulé arrested hi s glance ; in fact tw o things : on e w a s C alamity coming o ut from the trail of the hog s back through the young cottonwo ods and poplars riding bareback and looking very mad indeed ; the other was O Fin nigan from Shanty Town on foot stagger ing and -

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mad a s whi skey co ul d make hi m comi ng up the n arrow rock trail from Smelter City “ ” said Ma cDon ald curtly t o the other s G o on “ I ll keep the notes safe up here and give S he rifi ” F loo d a hand at the hoist ! All had gone well exceedingly well in the ex amination o f the mine It had begun sharp at twelve o clock when the day shi f t came out with their dinner pails It will be remembered the R idge l p e d down to a burnt area known as the B rulé overgrown with young poplar s and birches and yet younger pines T he B rulé slanted down to a roll of rock and shingle and gravel above the City known a s Co al Hill It was on Y ou th e face of this hill that the mines lay could s ee the black vein s comin g out on the face o f the cli f f and into the cli ff penetrated tw o par allel tunnels Up and down from thes e t unnels rattled the trucks on ae rial tramways to and from the Smelter weaving in and out of the tunn el mouths like shuttles run by gravitation pres sure If the mines were wo rt hless o r worth only the five ten and three hundred dollars that the “ ” R ing had paid the dummy homesteaders these shif ts of a f o r each quarter s ection hundred men at a time and trucks and tram ways would have o ff ered a puzzle t o any on e but the downy lipped youth who had come to ex amine them When Wayland arrived at the mine with Mat th ew s and Ma cDona ld, he found the f ederal in ,

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All sorts 0 things might chance in a mine ” mightn t they ? cut in Matthews with a twinkle o f his eye more merry than goo d natured lowed T he Sheri ff smiled a sickly smi le and they could ; and everybo dy walked into the lowest tunnel leaving the fire guard lantern s outside ; f or thi s tunnel wa s lighted by electricity As they all walked in the S he rifi was to the rear “ ” Here you Mr S h e r ifi Matthews blurted seems ou t going to the rear o f the p roces sion ” to me my place is kin d 0 back 0 behind 0 you Th e Sheri ff smiled a sickly smile and lowed it waz ’ Wayland took the reco rd of the min e s output p er day ( It averaged a net return of forty per cent dividend on a capitalization of ninety mil lion ) Then he took the record o f what the Smelter could consume p er day T he diff er ence must b e used for shipment or storage Wayland did the counting and measuring Ma c Donald j ott e d down the notes The downy lipped youth proceeded along the tunnel with an air of supr eme contempt It w a s a s they were about to enter the second tunnel that hi s superi Matthews afterwards said o rity expre ssed itself it was because the black water drip or co al sweat wa s seeping through the overalls “ I don t s ee what we re delaying to take all ” thes e sp e cific measurements f o r anyway he said “ ” “ Then I ll tell Don t you ? asked Wayland ’

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you ! I have the affidavit of the mo s t of the dummi es that the home stead en tries wer e fraudulent ! Y ou co ul d s ee that i f y ou knew that men can t f arm at an angle of ninety ! In cas e tha t fails I want proof that this coal is so val I want exact pro o f s n able it is being shipped out o f the exact profits being made on the f ra udu ” len tly acquired mines ’ “ What s your idea ? Shut em up from de ” a sked B rydges b ellig e r velopmen t fo r ev er ? e ntly “ ” B rydges said Wayland , when you fin d you the trail by the c an t throw your pursuer ofi s kunk s p eculiar trick of defence I d advise you t o try kicking s and in the public s eyes and draw in g a rotten herring acro s s the trail ! Thi s time I thi nk you ll fin d the public won t g o o ff the ’ trail a fter the rotten herring They ll keep on ” af ter the thi e f It was at that stage B at f ell back abreast of the S h erifi , and Matthews behin d heard on e of “ the tw o s ay, D amn him then let him g o on and It s hi s funer a l ; n ot e xamin e his be ll y full ! ” ours ! Wayland n ot only examined the s econd tunnel a bove the first but he insisted on descending a shaft th a t had been sunk almo st vertically from the crest of Co al Hill to get a measurement o f the veins f o r stoping o r cro s s cutting or d rif t ing or some such techn ical wo rk I forget what ; but the vert ic a l sh a ft a fforded estimate s of the ’



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B ecaus e it was not a regula r d epth of the v e ins avenue of wo rk but only of examination , it had .

been equipped with steam hoist and electri c light but w a s furnished only with such old fash i on e d hand winch a s the stage d river had de scribed t o E leano r A huge bucket depended by cable from the hand hoist It was as they were all lighting lantern s and s tepping in that Mac Donald took a look at the ho is t and noticed tha t the Sheri ff was to give a hand a t the winch “ ” Not coming B rydges ? asked Matthew s w ho w a s alr e ady in the bucket “ O h I gues s I m a p retty heavy man to g o in that ’ Then A gues s you re afraid of what s goin t happen ! We re not goin down without you ’ ” m boy B at winked at the S he rifi and clambered in It w a s then something on the edge o f the B rulé a rrested M a c D on a ld s glance ; Calamity coming through the cottonwoo d s mad and dishevelled O F inn ig an reeling up from the Smelter City trail mad with whiskey waving a bottle and shout “ — ing What s th us e 0 anything ? N othing ! I m Uncle Sam ! Ho orah ! “ ” “ o rdered M a cDon a ld curtly I ll G o on keep the notes safe up here in my pocket Way land ! I ll stay and give Sheri ff F lood a hand ” at the hoist ! The Sheri ff lo oked fo r directions to B rydges ” Let her go ordered B rydges with a glance n ot

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story he had it then and there ; the tenebrous thick co al darkn es s ; the drip —d rip drip of the w a ter so ak through the ro ck walls ; Matthews eye s blazing like coals of fire in the dark his lantern shining full on B rydges ; the news edito r hatchet faced white -of skin with pis tol point eyes his lantern full on B rydges ; the downy lipped youth white terr ified chattering of j aws unable to speak a word clutching to the edge of the bucket to hide his trembling hi s hat had fallen ofi hi s lantern had fallen out of his hand and a great blob of black coal drip trickled from his yellow hair down his cheek in front of his ear ; and the handy man still standing in the barrel his face chalky and soggy like dough with a show of blu ff but un a ble to look a man in the face ga z in g at his feet in the bottom of the barrel Gawd Wayland ! Don t risk it ! Don t climb ! Wait a little ! T hey ll wind her up and drop anoth e r rop e down to us and ,

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T he R anger had begun climbin g

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It s a darned dangerous thing to do, pro n oun c e d the handy man thickly N ot on e of the men an swered a word and the silence grew impres sive by what it didn t s a y ’

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O nce Wayland had turned the bend of the sha ft, the rest o f the way up w a s easy Daylight wa s above and the climb w a s a gradual slant ove r uneven ridged rock ; and with the grip of the pegs in his mo untaineering bo ots he ascended almo s t at a run on all fours “ ” “ Hullo up there he called what s wrong ? There wa s n o answer He a scen ded the r es t o f the way w inged and came out hoisting hims el f from his elbows t o h is knees with a deep breath o f pure air abo v e the surface At first daylight blinded him He threw the lantern from his hat and blinked the darknes s out of hi s eyes “ ’ ” It s all right fellows he roared down the shaft funnelling hi s hands .

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he looked Sheri ff F loo d w a s not to b e seen N either w a s Ma cDon ald There s eemed to be n o on e The day shift were going back in the tunnels below Th e W in dl as s handle hung prone a s a disused well It had not flown back broken T he cable had been cut Then he heard a groan It was C alamity lying on her face at the foot o f the W indlas s weeping and reaving her hair Stretched on the gra s s a few paces ba ck f rom the .

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windlas s with tw o bloody b ul let holes ful l in the soft of the temple la y Ma cDon a ld, the sheep rancher beyond recall Wayland stooped and f elt f o r the heart It w a s motionless The bo dy wa s chilling and sti ffening He looked b a ck at the f ace There was almo st a smile on the lips ; and one hand hung a s i f fallen from the windlas s handle A suspicio n flashed through Wayland s mind He could hardly give it credence It was prepo ster unbelievable lik e a page from the lawles s o us nes s of the frontier a hundred years ago ! Yet hadn t this thing happened in Califo rnia and happened in Ala ska ? They would never dare to murder a man conducting an investigation o r dered by the great Government of the greatest N ation on earth ! Yet had they not tried to a s s a s s in a t e r epres entatives of the gre at F ederal Government down in San F ran cisco and shot to death in Colorado a federal o fficer s ent straigh t from Wa shington ? And thes e murders had not been commit ted by the rabble by the demagogues by the anarchists They had been pre planned and carried out by the vested righter in de fiance of la w in defiance of the strongest Gov e rn me n t on earth and up to the pres ent in de fiance of retribution Wayland tore open the co a t and felt for the notes They were gone He looked at Calamity A darker suspicion came Then he caught the ,

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B y all the tricks o f stage craft and bo ok craft of the copybook headlines and p latitudinous lies which we have had rammed down our thro at s since childhood virtue should have triumphed in the person of the R anger becaus e he fought r egardles s o f cons equences for right M a cD on ald the sheep rancher who went out of his way to enforce the fair deal and the square deal when he co ul d very much more easily have remained safely at home a fi r e in surance bread and butter s afety guarantee Christian of the quiescen t kind Ma cDon ald by all the tricks of the b e goo d and will pro sper do ctrines ought no t to have been o u y shot down a s he stoo d guard at the head of the mine sha f t A very great many years a g o a very great Man in fact the very greatest moral teacher the world ha s ever known declared that the milk — water neither hot no r cold quies cent safety a nd guarantee type of Christianity was a thing to be spewed out of the mouth ; but that w a s a very great many years ago Time has softened the edge of that passion fo r right Perhaps He -

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didn t mean it ! P erhaps we have permitted s entimentality to sand paper do w n the fighting edge of militant righteousnes s that go es out b e yond the Safety Line ! T o b e sure bread and butter goodness is an easier matter than riskin g h ot shot beyond the Safety Lin e ; and perhaps a sentimental Deity may b e persuaded to allow us a little j am on our bread and butter if we s it tight on the safe side with a fi r e insuranc e policy in the shape of a creed ! P ersonally I wonder when we all take to j oining th e s it tight safe ty guarantee brigade who is to stand on the outside guard ? O r is there any modern F ighting Line ? O r do es the F ighting Line belong to the o ld Shibboleth legends o f C anaanite and Jeb us it e “ ” a n d P erizzite and Go d knows what other ite ? I hear these ancient gentry preached about and the hero es who smote them hip and thigh ex tolled P ersonally I am a great deal more in t e r e s t e d in the modern tus sle for a promised land than in tho se old time frays for a fertile patch in a sterile wildernes s ; and I s e e the same call for the hero s fighting edge ; and I like the Mac Donalds who jump out from behind the Safety Line t o fight for right though it bring but the bloody bullet holes in the soft of the templ e ; and I like the Waylands who take up the game trail t o run down crime though it bring the sword o f dismissal dangling over their ow n heads ; and I like b est of all the Matthews w ho throw a side “ ” their skin dica te co ntracts to take up the game ’

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playing as j oyfully fo r right as they have f or “ ” wrong rich ( I wish you could have heard the “ ” full way in which he said that word ) rich on “ ” thirty dollars a year f o r clothes sp ending self without stint j oyfully unknowing o f self pity f o r the making of right into might fo r the mak ing of a patch of human weeds into a garden o f goodness O nly I would put on record the f act that each man s reward was not the hero s crown o f laurel leaves but the crown that their great prototyp e wore upon the Cro s s ,

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E leano r could n ot understand why she had been formally notified to attend the coroner s in quest till the drift of the questions began to in dic a t e that this inve stigation like many another wa s n o t an investigation to fin d out but an in v e s tig a tion t o hus h up not a following of the clues o f evidence but a deliberate attempt to throw pursuit off on fals e clues In fact there were ma ny things about that inquest which E leano r could not fathom Why f or instance was the local district attorney no t present ? Why had the Smelter C oking Company a special pleader pres ent ? Wh y w a s the great F ederal Government not repres ented by an attorney of equal ability instead of this downy lipped silent and in c r e d ib ly ignorant youth ? Why was the first s es sion o f the inq uest adjourn e d till the burial of her father ? Why did the sheri ff act as a mento r a t the e ar of the chief coroner ? Wh y did the ’

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time by Jingo ! It will take more than wind j ammin g to win next f all s elections with this ” against them “ Y ou bet there s an aw akening r eturned — h T another voice e dyed in the woollie s d on t realize yet ; but they will waken up after election ” day ! The ne w s editor had only finished giving evi denc e ; on the whole immaterial testimony ; fo r suspicions do not pas s with juries and coroners “ H ow was it y ou attended the examination of ” this min e ? wa s the last question asked him C onsidering the Smelter City lots f or which “ the n ews edito r had yet to pay and the kiddies which he had to support it would have been an easy matter fo r him to slink that question ” “ A newsp aper man s pursuit of a goo d story would have been answer enough to satisfy any coroner ; but the n ews edito r did n ot give that answer He took off his glass es and polished the lenses with his handkerchief Then he put them b a ck on his no s e and looked straight at the gen t lema n presiding “ May I answer that question in my ow n way “ ” taking plenty of time ? he asked I take it this inquest is being held to get at the real truth “ Th e coroner said Go ahead ! The attorney for the Smelter City Coking C om p any s a t up and whispered something to B rydges ” “ T he handy man turned lazily round Yes he “ ” on e o f our sta ff s aid, ,



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news edito r cleared his throat and a little sha rp intersection of line s bridged above hi s no se “ F or some little time it has been known in the Valley that a quiet contest has been going on Th e attorney for the Smelter C i ty Coking Com pany jumped to his feet “ Th e witnes s should keep to a strict recital of ” fact not rumors he interj ected ; and the downy lipped representative of the F ederal Govern ment said nothing about the privileges of a wit ness o r the impropriety of a special pleader open in g his mouth at an inquest ” ordered the co r C on fi n e yours elf to facts oner heavily Wayland and E leanor suddenly leaned f orward The news editor rubbed his glas s es and resumed in a low clear tens e voice H ow many of the listeners had the faintest idea of wh a t the r e cital co st him ? “ I take it the obj ect of this inquest is to a s c e r tain facts If I am to relate facts , I must repeat that fo r some little time it h a s been known in the Valley that a quiet conte st has been going on b e tween the peo ple and cert a in interests which I do not need to name It was well known in our o ffice that the miners on C o al Hill had openly boasted no Washington man was going to get away with any facts about mining operations O F inn ig a n of Shanty T own had boasted he had “ been brought down from the R idge f or a sur ” p rise party as he called it F or some little time , The

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a s news edito r I had b een dis satisfied with the reports of this whole stru ggle : they struck me as exceedingly bia sed and untruthful ; in fact what th e reporters call doped news ; news doped by outsiders f or special reasons of their ow n B at s boot came down with a clump on the flo or T he attorney was up again glaring at the coroner Th e news editor cleared his thro at “ S o I determined to go and see this thing fo r myself “ “ ” With the result ro ared the at to rney that r u s f o every facility a fo rded the mo st o a w f y thorough examination of the mine There was a shu ffling of feet among the men at the back of the room More men s eemed to b e crowding in “ ” That said the news edito r aloud sitting “ back beside W ayland That e fi e ctua lly cooks my ” dough ! See that you fellows do as well ! E leano r was next questioned mos t consider ately and courteously Twice s h e was inter r up t e d The fir st time wa s when she repeated that her father had said he expected no trouble whatso ever “ I would call your attention to the fact Mr C oroner that the deceas ed gentleman assured his ” daughter he expected no trouble whatsoever called out the attorney Th e She ri ff leaned over an d whispered to the coroner “ Did the half breed woman known as Calamity ‘







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Why is the woman Calamity hers elf n ot here ? ” Can t be found called Wayland So that if A m accused of a crime A kn ow no more about than th bab e unborn all A ve t do t rivet that crime on mys elf f o r life is not to b e found ? Verra well ” Sir interrupted the coroner A w ud a sk why is that little Irish lassi e n ot ” here ? Mrs Williams explained that Lizzie having exhausted the Indian children with her boastings in tw o days had lo st interest in life and run back to the slums “ A always did s a y if y took a pig out o a pen an putt it in a parlor twould feel lone ” s ome fo r its hogwash exclaimed the old front i e r s ma n r unning a puzzled hand through h is mop Matthews also was twice inter of white h a ir He wa s explaining that r up te d in his testimony he anticipated trouble about the mine from what had already happened on the Rim R ocks when Wayland trod forcibly and sharply on his f oot ; and all reference to the pursuit acro s s the Dese rt was omitted Th e coroner it seemed did not want any details about the R im R ocks The s e c o n d in terruption came when he began to quot e Mistres s Lizzie O F in n ig a n s wo rds thos e after noons on the R idge Th e attorney sprang up “ As the child is an incorrigible liar and her father an incorrigible drunkard Mr Coroner I think it only fai r to the Company th at their a s ,

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and reference to us be stricken off the records and the coroner instructed the stenog eras e all reference t o Lizzie s bab r a p he r to bling T h e old frontiersman sat back with a dazed feeling that whil e he had expres sed anticipation of trouble at the mine he had failed to give proof o r reason for that anticipation B rydges evidence w a s inno cuous to the very end The Sheri ff had whispered s omething to the coroner “ IS there any reason why anyone in the Valley might harbo r a grudge aga i nst the sheep ” rancher ? asked the co roner B rydges hesitated as one who could s a y much “ ” if he would Y es there is he answered lower ing his eyes an d flushing dully It was th e attorney again who was on his feet “ Mr Co roner the dead cannot defend them selves O ut of respect to the deceas ed gentleman and the member of his family pres ent I think that line of enquiry ought n ot to b e recorded o r ” pursued “ The second time they have said that ; what do ” they me a n ? E leano r asked Mrs Williams in a whisper Matthews w a s hanging on to his chair to hold himself down and the news editor had leaned “ acro ss E leano r to S peak to Wayland : Good God Wayland ! Don t you s e e the drift ? C an t ” you head that off ?

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Leave t me muttered the old frontiersman gripping his chair “ B ut you have given your evidence : Wayland is our only chance left Don t you s e e h ow ” ’ they ll clinch it ? ” “ Hold y r head S hut ordered Matthews W a ylan d w a s giving his evidence a s little as he could po s sibly give it seemed to E leanor fro m the time he had telephoned down to her father to come and take corroborative proof of the value of the co al mi nes “ You did n ot anticipate any trouble about the examination “ N one whatever answered Wayland He had described the examination of the two tunnel s and the preparation to go down the shaft when the S herifi again whispered to the coroner “ When M a cDon a ld s eemed to change his mind about going down the Shaft w as there anyon e ” visible except the S he rifi ? “ ” N ot that I s aw an swered Wayland ; and he went on to describe the cutting of the cable and the climb up the side of the shaft E leano r became suddenly conscious that tens e stillness reigned in the county court room Some man standing behind the back benches shu ffl ed his feet and cleared his thro at with an o ffensiv e “ ” Th e roomf ul of people looked back hem angrily Th e attorney had pencilled a lin e on a scrap of paper and shoved it acro ss in front of the coroner Through the open windows , E lea ’



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with the o ffi cial examination of the mines The dead c annot defend themselves O ut of respect to the deceas ed and the member of his family ” That interrupted Mat thews breaking from “ his chair is the third time th insinuation has been thrown out that Ma c D on a ld had things in his life that wud n a bear tellin ! A know his life : A k now all his life : a s k me ! B ut the attorney and the coroner were in an endles s wrangle as to la w that wa s Hebrew to the listeners , and gave the roomful of spectato rs ample tim e to imbibe the f al s e impres sion that was meant to b e conveyed and to pas s it to the prurient crowd outside After a half hour of reading from auth orities t o prove that the a n swer w a s inadmis sible a s evidence an d another half hour rattling o fi counter authorities at such a rate the listeners could not po ssibly judge f o r thems elves the coroner res erved decision a s to whether that answer could be admitted a s evidence o r n o t coming as it did from a p erson plainly of un sound mind “ Wh at next happened ? I tied a s tone to the cut end of the cable and unrolled the rope on the hoist and gave it a hard enough pitch to s end the stone past the bend in ” the shaft “ And when y ou turned to work the hoist and ” bring up the others ? “ And when I turned to work the hoist the India n wo man was no where to b e seen The .

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chances ar e s he knew the guilty parti es would try to throw the blame “ ” Mr Coroner shouted the attorney there can be no chances recorded as evidenc e where the reputation of a gentleman who cannot defend ” hims elf is concerned ” “ Goo d Go d said the n ews editor unde r hi s breath “ ’ Humph ! A ll put a crimp in that ! T he Sheri ff man is to give evidence yet ! E leano r y better n ot wait ! A m goin t do some plain t y father s hono r but tis n ot talk f or s p e a kin a wom a n s ears ! Y ve heard y r father de ” fam ed “ ” Then I ll w ait and hear hi m cleared s he “ ” whispered to Mrs Williams Will you stay ? ,

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Sheriff had gone ro und in fron t of the table n ot too near it for obvious reasons ; for the time of his revenge had come and his rotundity protruded full blown and swelling He told h ow M a cD on a ld had refused to g o down the S haft “ Do you kno w any reason f or tha t s udden ” change of mind ? “ I don t know whether it s the reason or not ; but s omethin happened j es as he had his leg up to climb in mig ht a ma de him change his mind ! Th squaw come ridin all bareheaded ’ an mad a s a hornet out 0 th cottonwoo d s wavin her hands roarin crazy ! Minit he se en Th e ,

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her he quit goin down : s aid he d give me a hand at the hoist ! I seen what made him change his ’ mind a l right ! She waz ravin mad come ’ ’ r a mp in out then s h e seen me an kin o hiked back a hi nt the cottonwo od ; but I seen her plain ! Jes a s we commenced unw in din her ” “ You mean the hoist ? ’ Yes j es as we began lett in her down I s ees O F inn ig a n come up from Smelter C i ty trail ‘ ro arin drunk ugly drunk y ellin Hell : he wa z ” Uncle Sam an a ll that “ If y ll n ot admi t the child s s to ry of her ” f ather why d y admit this man s sto ry of him ? demanded Matthews ; but the co roner igno red the interruption and the doughty de f ender o f the law continued “ I put up with his drunken y ellin till I felt the bucket bump the first level Then I s ez Now my g en le ma n hand over that bottle 0 ” tipperary an scat out 0 this ! T here it is the S he rifi laid a black square whiskey bottle on “ the desk He began j awin an cuttin up gin ’ eral T mak e a long sto ry short I took him ’ ’ by the s crufi 0 th neck and helped him down — — an Smelter City trail a n an I jugged him ’ that s all ; an there h e is yet ! When I came back ” up this had happened “ When you arrested O F inn ig a n f or drunken ” n es s where was the woman Calamity ? “ H idin back among th cottonwoods ! She d slid off her horse ! Jes a s I turned down the ’



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he deems b est I wish t o ask on e more question Mr S he ri fi you know this Va lley and the people ” in it well ? I do known it f or twenty years “ Do you kn ow o f any rea son why this woman Calamity would have shot o r wished to shoot her ” employer Ma cDon a ld ? The Sheri ff changed a quid of tobacco from o n e cheek t o the other E leano r leaned fo rward lookin g straight in his eyes B at w a s eyeing E leano r quizzically s o Had he constructed the evidence skilfully that ( he had come to believe it h ims elf ?) Matthews w a s almo st tear ing the arm s out of the chair where he s a t “ ” Well said Sheri ff F loo d cla sp ing his hands “ in rest acro s s his po rtly p ers on I guess squaw is same a s any other woman in on e respect I gues s sh e had same reason f or shootin Mac Donal as any other woman in her place would ” 0 had and he looked up well plea sed with him self a t the roomf ul F or a moment there w a s deadly heavy silence ; then the hum o f the crowd on the step s p ourl n g the word out to tho s e in the street “ ‘ Ye lyin scut ! Ye filthy c e s s pool 0 dirt an ” fal sehoo d ! ,

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can fi d no a uth ority f t h e old f ront i e r s ma n s u s e o f t he w ord bu t i n a c e ta i n El i a b et h a n dramat ist ; a n d a s he uses t he w ord s c ut f or t h e b o bta i l f a fl e ei n g abbit s hee p — Aut ho l e r h a p s t h e m e a nin s o f t he o d as u e d ar e i d e nt i ca w g p 1

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frontiersman had sprun g from hi s place and smashed his chair in twent y atoms on the table between the sh e rifi and the coroner ’ “ Y ll not o ffend the deceas ed gentleman s memory ? Y ll not o ffend his daughter here ? An the dead can t defend thems elves ? An y r e all s verra delicate y re lettin a s tinkin slander — o us unclean unspoken damnable hell spawned ’ lie g o forth unchallenged t blacken a dead man s memory ? O h A know y r kind well ! A ve heard harlots lisp an whisp an half tell and damn by a lie 0 th eye ! Y are in s in ua tin this woman Calamity shot her m a ster to avenge dishono r in her early life ? Tis a lie ! T is a most damnable black an filthy lie ! She wud a died fo r Ma cDon a ld ten thousand times over i f she could because he had long ago befo re ever ” he came here avenged h e r dishono r Th e coroner had sprung back from the table The mighty man of valo r who defended la w had precipitately put the S pace of overturned benches b etw e en himself and the irate old fr ontiersman Matthews su ddenly s w ung to fac e the S pec Th e

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Men he cried f oul murder has been done ; and this slander is t fasten guilt on a po or in nocent outcast woman t send her a scapego at ’ int th wildernes s bearin th sins 0 thos e highe r up that A do na name ; of y r Man Higher Up who is the curs e 0 this land ! Twas in my b oy hood days on Saskatchewan ! This woman , th at ,

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y have seen wander the B lack Hills sinnin un a shamed Wa s but a fair S lip 0 an Indian girl then pure as y r ow n girls in school ! She mar ried a little Indian boy Wandering Spirit 0 the Cree s at F ro g Lake ! T he Indi a n O ffi cer at F rog — Lake wa s a Sio ux half breed he took her for e ibly f rom Wandering Spirit t Agency th Twa s y r sheep rancher M a cD on a ld Hous e ! w h o w a s fur trader then went forcibly to th Agency House thrashed the Agent and brought her back to the Indian Wandering Spirit ! A was p as sin West by dog train to the Mountains when A stopped at the Agency House ! Mac Donald had gone N orth Little Wandering Spirit comes and asks me t interpret something he has ’ — t o s a y t th Master meanin that danged un clean Sioux be a st Says I Wandering Spiri t h a s s omething n o t pleasant t s a y t you : Y ’ The o ffi cer says better get another interpreter ’ Spi t it out ! Y can t phas e me B oys A spit it out A g a ve it to him plain ! The boy Indian ’ stood in the door 0 th Agency House b oldin a loaded dog train whip hidden b ehin d hi s back He was n a but half a s big a s the brute behind ‘ the Government desk ! He s ays T ell the Mas ter he must leave my wife alone ! If ever he comes near m tepee aga i n A do to him like that rolling a dead leaf t powder tween his hands The o fficer let s out a roar o filthy oaths ! I hear the little Indian give a scream like a hur t — He calls me a dog a son of a dog w ild cat ’





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that muzzle loader into the o ffi cer s face ; an he borrows another gun an empties that in hi s face ; and he snatches a knife ; an what he le ft 0 tha t brute y could bury in a co ffin th length 0 y r hand ! Twa s th Indian s way 0 vengeance ; but blame fell on M a c D on a ld ; an when Wandering Spirit wa s hanged for the murder M a cD on a ld fled from Canada ; for his sympathies were with the 1 Indians as every right f e elin man s were ; fo r back a generation there wa s Indian blood on the mother s side ; but the Act 0 Amnesty has been pas sed this many a year ; an A d come to take him back to a fortune w a itin him in Scot land to an inheritance when this happened “ Y know h ow he found her again e a tin garbage In the B lack Hills where the miners had cast her o ff ; how he gave her an a sylum an a home ; an this i s the man y r f ulthy s h e rifi poltroon coward says she d shoot ! Men men 0 th N ation murder has been done here : coward assassin murder on an innocent man ! The notes on the m ine have been robbed from his po cket Who planned this murder ? Who sho t M a cD on ald by mistake ? Who planned th R im R ocks outr a ge ? IS it to this y have let y r ’



























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n ee d s carc el y b e exp la i n e d t h es e ar e t he old f ron tie r s man s s enti m e nt s n ot t he w r i t e r s ; bu t on inves t i g at i on I fo u nd h is s t at e m e nt o f f act s as to w h a t tran sf orm e d l i ttl e Wand e r i n g S pi r it i nt o a b lood t h ir s ty mons t e r w s a bs ol u t el y tr u e T hi s o f co u r se d i d n ot j ustify t he Rebe ll i on bu t h el ps to e xp la in it t o exp la i n w hy a w ort h l ess s cam p l ik e Rie l co u ld ro use t he pe ac e fu l nat i ve s t o bloo d t hi r s t and ra pi n e —Aut h o 1



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Democracy come ? Is this y r self government workin worse outrage than the despotism 0 R ussia ? We d have hanged our kings in Sco t land for les s sin ! F rance would a tanned her rulers hide into moccasins f or les s ! What are ” y goin to do about it Hi s shout rang and “ rang through the court Will ye make of s elf government a farce a screamin shame a ” s h r iekin laughter in th ears 0 th wo rld ? “ There were cries of Sit down ! Sit down ! ” Shut up ! Go on ! Who is the old tow head ? “ ” Then some on e cried out M oy e s e Half the spectators cheered Half his sed Then a voice “ ” yelled Wayland ! Wayland ! and E leanor felt the leap to her bloo d ; f o r the crowd outside to ok “ up the cry Wayland Wayland ? What s the ” matter with Wayland ? Th e Sheriff and Coroner were on the table ” — shouting f or order order w hen some wag heaved under and ups et ta ble , she rifi coroner and all The last E leanor s aw before the news edito r an d Wayland pushed Mrs Williams and herself through a door behind the coroner s s eat to a taxicab that whirled them o ff to the hotel was a wild sprawling of the Sheriff comi ng down in mid air B at B rydges and the downy lipped youth chalky white a s a dead birch tree were letting themselves hastily out through a back window Matthews was being carried down the aisle on the shoulders of a howling rabble of men ’















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boys His head was bare ; hi s coat was almo st torn from hi s S houlders His face was “ passionate with jubilant l a ughter Ye ll boys ! ” Yell f or Wayl and he was urging C ould E leano r have known what happened at the doo r her heart would have beat still faster Th e old frontiersman brought her word tw o hours late r when he j oined them at the hotel “ They hauled me out t o th steps 0 th cour t “ house he said an A says Yell boys ! Yell Yell like Hell f or Wayland ! An they s et me d own on th steps an began y ellin Speech ! Speech ! A held up m tw o hands like this y Men says I , Well A ll a s k f or a word ! A ll give it t y from the door g ive it t y ou 0 y r own sacred court 0 justice which y have an a lie s een profaned this day by injustice an a bribe into th b edlam o a mob ! Y a s k f o r a word A will give it y M en 0 t he Un i te d ’ S ta te s 0 the Wo rld Men 0 Liberty ; Men 0 Strength ; the world has it s eye on ye ! What will y do ? M word i s this t all time M word ’ i s th simpl e word 0 the old prophets that ye Y ha c onned by heart at y r mother s knee crime an outrage an mur s een the autho r 0 der t ryin to wrest the judgment t pervert the court to slander the dead t send into th w il dernes s a poor innocent scapego at 0 S in to de An ye ha seen fi le the ver a presence 0 death a young man single handed fi g htin fo r right ’ to s ave y r land from the looters an y r forests .

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fight like this and tell the counting rooms to g o t o the Devil ! I kn ow a score o f editors would jump fo r the j ob an d work their heads o ff ! You needn t think we are specially keen fo r eating dog on this kind of a j ob ! Tis n t the men in side the o ffi ce bedevil us : tis y r outside interest E leanor gave him a quick queer look She was learning to think fa st and decide quickly B ut the news edito r w a s quite right N ot a word of the disgraceful attempt to perv ert jus tice appeared in either the local or any other paper Ma cDon a ld s death wa s briefly recorded a s accidental and the co roner s verdict given in a four line paragraph Do not ask me the w hy o f this dear reader ; or I shall a s k you the why o f a hundred o ther equally mysterious silences Don t forget a s Wayland ha s already info rmed u o r there other countries besides R ussia a e y where everything is n ot given out to the pres s And do not curs e the pres s ! It is not the faul t I s it here ? of the pres s in R ussia ’









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CHAP TE R XXVII T HE

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It was all over the inquest the coroner s fi n d ing the reading of the will the revelation of the real errand on which the old frontiersman had come from Saskatchewan The parting o f the ways had come to her a s it comes to us all T he death of her father had shut the doo r o n O pportunity in the Valley ; and the little old lady waiting for Matthews up in Prince Albert C an ada to take her back to the inheritance of her father s family in Scotland opened el sewhere another doo r of opportun ity As on e door had swung shut another had swung open Were we creatures of circumstances as the fatalists declared ; or could we master and bend circum stances t o human will ? Wa s her feeling of re bellion but the kicking of ructious heels against the clo sed d oor of fate ? Would time teach the futility of barking one s shins in such fashion ? E leanor s a t in the parlor of the suite of rooms reserved by the Williams and hers elf The Williams and Matthews had gone out f or the evening to some women s club meeting on mis si ons E leanor s nerves were too tension s trung ’

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people to night They had read her father s will that af ternoon Th e quiet man doing the duty next an d making n o profession s had lef t her s ecure ag ainst want ; and after the lawyer w ho read the w i ll had gone the Williams went out and Matthews had drawn his chair near to hers and told h er the same story of her father s people that he had told Wayland in the Des ert “ ” They were a dark fearsome men he had s a id t ellin g her o f the first F raser Ma cDon a ld w ho fought with Wolfe at Quebec and the M a n “ o f the Iron Hand They were a dark fear some men ; but of stainles s hono r child ! N ot a man of them left a bar sinister on th s cutcheon ! E ven the man w ho married th squaw had a priest tie th knot s o th a t children would c om e stainle ss t life ; but they were dark fearsome men un dyin in their hates an unhappy in their loves Y r ow n mother s p eople turn ed against ” r h father for part he to ok in R ebellion t h t y “ ” “ Don t you think asked E leano r it s time ” on e of the race broke the spell of unhappy love ? “ Aye child ! T is why A d tak e y back t ’ th little old lady w a itin in Prince Albert an ’ put y in y r ow n place in th ha ll s 0 Scotland ? ’ D y know there s been none 0 y r race direct t occupy th mano r since th first F razer fled fro m Twas th Jacobite R ebellion to F rench Canada ? part 0 his stubborn spirit that he fought fo r the N ation that had cast him out O h I m not interested in the Jacobites and f or



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early mo rning before bre akfast when he called at the sitting room do o r to arrange their return up the Valley next day The Williams and Matthews would go up in the buckbo ard Would s h e ride back up the hog s back trail w ith him ? He would hire horses and riding togs now if s h e would s ay ? Yes he knew it would be steep up grade ; but then they could g o it slow ; he laughed a s he said that You s e e the hog s back trail wa s fifteen miles shorter than the Valley ro ad and they could a fford t o go it slow ; in fact ,

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Come on in urged E leanor throwing open “ Th e Williams are n ot up the parlo r doo r yet ! That s why I came ! No I ll not come in ” I m keeping resolution s ! n ot much ! She had not understood the wi stfulness b e neath his fo rced gayety until Matthews told he r all that afternoon “ It will be our last ride : you ll come won t ” you ? a sked W a yland She had promis ed Then she had S pent a mo st miserable morning Why was it to be the Though la s t ride ? She had n ot cared to go out the papers had suppres sed all details of the cowardly a ssassination the glare o f publicity had bee n focuss ed too keenly on her f o r com fort by th at explo sion of the old frontiersman in the court room She had remained in all morning watch ing the motley crowds of a fron ,

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tier town surge pa st the hotel windows down the dusty hot main street with it s medley of fine brick blocks and poor shacks and saloons and — false fronts little unpainted restaurants and cigar stands and gambling places of one story w ith a fals e t imber wall running up a couple of sto ries ” “ United States of the World the old fron tiersman had called this country Surely that was the true name o f the wonderful n ew coun try that had defied all tradition s and mingled in her making the races from every corner of the world ! An immigrant train had come in E leano r lifted the parlor window and looked and listened Jap and Chinese and Hindo o strikingly tall fellows with turbaned head gear ; negro and West Indians and Mal a y ; German and R ussian and Poles and Assyrians In half an hour s h e did not hear one wo rd of pure E ng glish or what could be called American O h it w a s good to be alive in this wonderful n ew world un der these wonderful new conditions working out the age old problem of right and wrong that had defied solution since time began ! She did not mind the crudity And if I am to be frank she did not mind the rudity It was not a boiled shirt front kid glove world In fact at that moment S he s a w her hero st age driver shooting out tobacco squids at the innocent granolithic which showed no target because s o many other contributors had preceded the stage ,

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In fact it was not a world for a l a dy with a train though E leano r s a w some trollopy ” “ immigrant la di es emerging from a big ten t o n a back lot decked with tawdry l a ce and sport ing trains in in v ers e proportions to the s uf fi cien cy of their N o r w a s it a p erfumed wo rld She could smell the reek of the whiskey — saloo ns all down the street eleven of them there wer e in a su ccession of twelve build ings ; and the twelfth building if E leano r had known it was a g a mbling j o int of the Chinese variety that had iron shutters and iron do ors and signs “ ” up f or Gentlemen O nly Let us hope dear ” reader that gentlemen only entered behind the dark of tho se iron doo rs ! She could no t help wondering had the old day passed forever in the West Wa s a new day no t dawnin g ? What was to become of all thes e incoming peo ple ? Could the cattle baron s and the shee p kings and the land rings fence them off the va st broad idle a cres forever ? Yet this w a s the world where her father had come penniles s a re fugee from miscarried j u s tice and had w on out It was the world wher e he had been shot down by some miserable crimi nal a ssassin w h o it wa s more than likely had mis taken him f or Wayland I t was Wayland s world a world in the making Well had Mat thews desi gnated it— The United St a tes of the World ! More Jews than in Palestine ; more Germans than in B erlin ; mor e Italians than in .

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She s a w the street lights come twinkling out and s he did n ot turn on the light of the sitting room chandelier Did he love her at all ; o r if he did did he know what this w a iting all day meant to a woman ? Then it came to her in a flash his wistful lo ok in the morning behind the forced gayety his reference to the last ride to keeping resolutions Was that resolution for the sake o f his work at all ; o r f or her ? Of cours e Matthews had told him in the Desert ; and wi th the thought the weight that had o p pressed her rolled fro m her heart She jumped from h e r chai r and uttered a low cry of happy laughter “ O h I ll soon make short work of that resolu ” tion sh e vowed Alas and alas ! Samson straining his manhood f or strength t o shore up a resolution and here was a sharpening of scis sors to shear him well ! She thought There was a knock on the door it the waiter coming up with a late dinner and “ ” had called come in when the door opened and in the glare of light from the hall way stoo d the news edito r embarras sed and hesitating “ ” Pleas e come in She pressed the electric button shook hands with him and Shut the doo r His air was at once apologetic and glad but all the bitternes s and anger s eemed to have gone He stood h olding his soft felt hat in his hand a n d looking thro ugh his glas ses , very steadily a n d kindly E leanor thought ,

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Won t you s it down ? We newspaper chaps S hould pretty nearly apologize fo r coming into your presence Miss Mac “ ” Donald he began I ve wanted to tell you I hope you know h o w w e fellows all regret that that kind of thing do esn t come from inside the ” o ffice It comes from influences outside He had seated himself shading his eyes from the light with his hand an old trick of his c om po sitor days and still loc k e d at her in the same friendly way “ E ver hear of the Down E ast daily that black guarded one o f our greatest presidents the very day he died ? I ve often wondered if the public realized when that item appeared that n o t an e ditor on the staff kne w it wa s coming out tha t when two o f the editors read it they cried and went to pieces right there and then before their men fo r very shame ! Item had been sen t straight to the compo sing room just before the forms were locked up by man who owned the paper President had refused him some publi c concession Such things sometimes happen to ” les ser folks than presidents “ Were you s o kind as to come here to s a y all ” this to me ? asked E leanor “ ” N o Miss Ma c Don a ld I wasn t ! He blushed furiously like a boy caught in the act culpable “ F act is I m keen to s e e Wayland been such a crush o f men round him all day haven t been ” able to get in a wo rd with him ’

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It was her turn t o blush furiously “ I didn t want him to g o ofi up the Valley b e f ore I could g e t hold of him I wanted to h a ve a shake with hi m We re in the same bo at n ow ” Miss Ma c Don ald “ I don t the v e ry least b it in the world un d ers ta n d what you are s a ymg T he news edito r laughed an d laid his hat on the onyx centre table beneath the electric lights “ ” Why we re both fired he said ” F ired ? repeated E leano r “ ’ T his time he laughed aloud : I do n t mean ” “ fi red out of a gun he explained We re fired out o f our j ob I knew after the inquest I d ” get the sack he went on making light of it “ ” but the wire didn t come till this morning T here were a lot of things the news edito r d idn t tell E leano r just here ; and I beg of you d ear reader t o remember thes e things when you ex ecrate the pres s ; f o r they happen every d ay t o plain fellows some of them profane fellows who make no profes sions and blow n o trumpet When the news editor walked out of the o ffice that morning he owned besides the Smelter City lots which were mo rtgaged to the hilt and s ix “ ” kiddies w ho had to be fed precisely the five dollar bill in his pocket the clothes on hi s back and the duster co at that he carried out on his arm It w as a mere detail of course ; but it w a s When on e of the details h e di dn t tell E leanor he ha d gone home and told his wife s he had .



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TH E

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news edito r suddenly lost al l shynes s burst out laughi ng leaned forward and shook hands “ ’ Don t kn ow whether you know it o r n ot “ he went on but about a month a g o on e of tho s e d I beg your pardon Miss Ma cDon ald Down E ast s c ribble re tte s that come out t o s e e the West from a P ullman c a r window and p ut thin gs right pas sed through here Somebo dy o t him and filled him up pretty full with a lot g o f lie s about Wayland ” You mean B rydges gave hi m the fact s ? a sked E leano r “ Well maybe B rydges may h a ve had him out in the f o rty hors e power car ! He s ent a lot of E ast ! That wasn t the wo rst of it a wful r o t You d think the E astern fellows would kn ow the d ifi e r en c e between a maverick and a long horn ! H e s been going round to the E a stern editors giving them doped st uff, lies dated out here written right down in Ne w York ! They ve been hammering the F ore st Service fo r the last month ! I ll bet that dough head never p ut a fo ot in N ational F o rests once whi le he was West r o t about running off settlers and shutting down mines and hampering lumbering operations and low down personal s tufi ! Anyway between lies and dope they ve got Wayland ! H e s fired ! I ve been trying to get hold o f him all day Your old man s phrase United States o f the World kin d of caught on with the crowd ,

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they ve kind of wakened up ! F unny thing the way tha t happens to a crowd ! Your professional wind j ammer can o rate till he busts his head he never kno w s it has happened till the crowd has f o away from him B een a crush men round ! o t g Wayland all day by G I beg your pardon but i f he isn t drowned , tw on t be their faul t ! They a re talkin g of putting him u p a s a ca n di ” date ” “ As a what ? exclaimed E leano r ” R un f or C ongres s explained the news man She had gone quickly forward to the window righting a shade to hide the floo d of j oy that s urged up t o her f ace “ — E x cuse me Mr B ut I don t know ” your name ? “ — My name ? O h my name is Legion the news edito r dryly “ Well what was it you said the other day sh e had mustered courage to turn and face him “ a gain what wa s it you said the other day about a money e d man backing an independent p aper through this fight ? Don t you remember after ” the inquest Mr Legion ? He ut tered a shout of laughter and sh e un d ers tood and laughed t oo “ O h the independent p aper is floundering on the edge of failure They ll have t o s w ing in line with the side that pays them best at election time One could buy up their debts now f or a f ew thousand dollars perhaps n ot twenty tho u ’

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s and Anothe r fi fty or s o would swing her OH o n an independent tack There s been a great awaken ing The people have their ears down to the ground fo r the coming change Miss Mac Donald ; and the poli ticians don t know it ! If we could swing her o ff well she d be a paying concern in a year ; then the politicians could be d I beg your pardon the special interest s could go to the Devil ! That s what I wanted to talk about to Wayland He s the winning hors e ! We haven t either o f us g ot anything left to lo s e but some frayed convictions and by ” God this time he did not notice he had sa i d ( “ it ) we d invest em in an independent f or all we re wo rth ! I m hot ; and I ve an idea Wayland isn t jus t at mi lk and water temperat ure ; and th e public isn t ; and w e d have them ! We d fo rce the other crowd to yell at the top of their voices fo r reform inside of s ix months There s a lot about that R im R ocks affair even the owners o f the sheep don t know ; but why in the Devil am ” I telling all thi s t o a woman ? She had dr a wn her chair up to the table where he s a t “ B ecaus e I suppo se the woman wants to know In case you don t s e e Wayland do you mind giv ing me the exact figures about that independent paper ? We ar e all to go home together to mor L et us put the figures down I can tell him row the rest when the others are not about ; and do s o f u k n ow I think I have heard him peak o , y .



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reach a little a r l r f u l f S is sies and high o t o o p p brows ? You ve got to get the crowd and to educate em up t o s el f government to pelt em t o a pulp with facts ! You ve g ot to get em if you take them by the s cruff of the neck Mis s M a cDon a ld ! Wh ile the churches and the teach e r s and the preacher s s it back s elf superio r and s elf s uffi c ien t Mis s Ma cDon a ld where s the crowd ? They re out in the street ! You ve g ot t o get em ! You ve got to g e t the facts before em ! P eopl e curs e the yellow j ournals ! All right ! B ut they reach an audience of a million a day ; every on e of them ; and your self superior j our n a ls don t touch ten thousand ! Miss Ma c Don ald which is having the t elling influence f or good o r evil ? Wh ich is getting the crowd ? Oh I kn ow they publish pictures o f pugilists big to e s a n d ba se ball pitchers thumb s the size of a half page ; but if I could ram a moral truth or a hard fact down the fool public s throat on the very ’ n ext p ag e by advertising it with a pugilist s big — t o e I d do it you bet ! I d take a lea f out of ’ the Devil s note book and go hi m on e b etter ! You ask whether I d publish a yellow j ournal ? Mis s M a cDon a ld if I could get the facts of ex a c tly what is going on in this country before the public I wouldn t publish em yellow ! I d pub ” li sh tru th b loody red ! ’

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When the Williams and Matthews came in f rom the mis sionary meeting E leano r w a s st a nd ,

TH E

AWA K E NING C ON TINUE D

under the centre light leaning a gainst the table with her back to the do o r ” F eeling better dear ? asked Mr s Williams S o much better that I m going to bed to sleep ” ev ery mi nute f o r the first night f o r a week ” “ Surely cried Williams clapp ing his hands A Ma cD on a ld never had nerves Matthews was trying to read her face as s h e shook hands saying goo d night “ N s h e answered his look shaking her head I must decide f or mys elf Mr Matthews T he three stood talking in the room she had le f t Do you think we ought to have told her ? asked Mr s Williams s olicitously “ No ! Leave Wayland t tell her himself t morrow ! A make n o doubt that buckbo ard won t hold five people ! Is it S IX o clock we s et out ? A m longi n f o r m ow n wee un s ! “ ” O ne thing declared Williams throwing him “ self on a chair if Wayland run s I m going to stump it f or him ! We ve g o t to get busy Mat thews ! T he old o rder changeth ! We ve got to ” k eep up with the procession ! If y ou had n o t kn own her utter conservatism a s t o all things pertaining t o women y o u could n ot appreciate the response of the mi s sionary s wife ( She was an ultra anti su ffragette ) “ “ ” I am sure my dear I kno w a s h e cried couple of hundred people on our summer circuit ” in the Upper Pas s th a t I could make vote right

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C HAP T E R XXVIII U NI

T HE

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OF

W O RLD

Wayland f o r a man who s had his head cut you re a bit o ff y ou look uncommon j oyous tho ” white a b out the chops “ ” Had a shave answered Wayland dryly T he yellow buckbo ard wa s rattling over the pres s ed brick pavement of Smelter City towards the suburbs Williams was in the front seat with Matthews who was driving E leanor and Mrs Williams were in the second s eat with Wayland standing behind a s he had s too d that night going up to the R im R ocks B ehind trotted t w o range po nies with empty s addles “ I thought perhaps you d prefer driving out beyond the suburbs he had explained “ There s a goo d trail up t o the hog s back op ” t l s i r the o e B u é p They watched her leap down from the buck bo ard and mount the saddle a littl e awkward at first whether to put the right knee fore o r aft from her E astern training to a side saddle ; and side saddles in the range country are rare a s low neck gown s and tuxedo co ats ; but once s h e had caught the far stirrup riding w a s riding ’

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ible hands ; the bas e of the lower mountain out lines melting and lo sing edge in the purple shad ow s ; the crown only shining diademed winged with opal light “ ” s h e said pointing with her rid Lo ok Dick “ ing crop do you remember the night on the R idge ? Do yo u remember about the snow flakes — massing to the avalanche ? It h a s ha sn t it ? T he N ation has wakened up Wayland looked ahead He co ul dn t answer R emember the night on the R idge ? He had a lum p in hi s throat a n d an ache at his heart from never letting himself remember it B y that strange perversity whi ch we all know in our s elves he couldn t talk The hundred and on e things he had wanted to ask died on his lips in a dumbnes s of gladnes s O f cours e y ou dear reader on the return of a husband o r wife n pr spective r pres ent the sudden appear o o o ) ( ance o f friend or kith have never been similarly a ff ected You didn t fo rget the questions you had meant to ask till thousands of mi les again s eparated you It wa s go od to leave the Valley road and g o into seclusion a n d shelter on the F orest trail ; f o r a hurricane September wind w a s blowing the kind of Western wind that the E astern woman with a big hat thinks i s po ssessed by t en thou sand devils ; the kind of wind that the E astern o ffi ce man with sen sitive eyes curses with tears that are n ot grief ; the kind of wind that makes ,

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42 7

the Westerner put screw nails in his hat and look stock and out f o r the fire guard round wheat timber Such a di ff erent home going he had planned from this visitation of dumb devils that obse s sed them both ! He used to dream at night in the Desert of the da y perhaps coming when they should s et o ut together adventuring a life j oy in the F orests ; his F orests ; when he w ould S how her the golden cottonwoods and the pale birches nursing the pineries to strong maturity ; and the fire blisters on the firs ; and the sugar blisters on the sugar pines ; and the rain o f green gray tempered light from the under side of the fune real hemlocks ; a nd the park like glades of the w on de rf ully straight and s erried soldier ranks o f the engleman spruce and the lodge pole pines ; and the larche s yellow a s gold dust to the touch of the alchemist autumn He wanted to bring out his violin some day with her and s e e if they could catch the exact tone and pitch o f the pin es when they b egan harp i ng tho se age Old melo di es of P an : they were harping them to d ay in the high wind ; he was sure it was the s ame a s the bas s und ertone of a big orchestr a Had S he ever n o ticed the way the s eeds came fl uflln g out of the cinnamon cones and the a sters and the golden r od and the fire flower in S eptember for all the world like fairies sailing pixie parachutes ? Peo ple said that autumn w a s sad it presaged dea th ! Did it ? A F orester did not s e e it s o ; he s a w the ,

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triumphal proces sion of the year s lighted t o its consummation by the flaming torches of ten thou sand golden twinkling gay reckles sly gay flowers — and trees the cottonwood and the poplar and the larch the cone flower and the golden ro d a n d the aster ! B ut to d ay he could n ot s ay a word They were no longer his F orests He had been — u ca st o t from his life work the continuity of a — N ational Life Work broken because he had dared t o interfere with the petty plans o f peanu t pol iticia n s and public plunderers “ It is level here ! L e t us gallop out of t hi s ” bare burn to the shelter of the evergreens S he “ s a id I don t mind wind but I d j ust a s soo n ” get under cover where it couldn t lash us s o And the hors es came chugging and breathing hard up on the sheltered trail below the ever green s She reined her ho rs e to the slowest of walks “ Did y ou s ee the news edito r before you left ” town ? sh e asked “ Yes he came over to my hotel last night about twelve O clo ck He had the biggest fool scheme u o ever heard f my running fo r Congres s and o y buyin g a paper to boo st o ut the R ing and all that ! Thunder I don t want to run ! I ve no ax to grind ! I prefer to stay a free lance in the fi g ht ” ing ranks ! And do you think the fellows who want t o run an d hav e an ax t o grind , do bes t f or th e ,

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my hat OR the bed po st took out a fiver said Wayland that s my last ! I ll b e t it a hundred o dd y ou do the v ery thing I m outl ining t o ’ n ight “ “ It w a s a s a f e bet said E leano r He had come to s ee me before he went to you ! I w a s the p erson who told him you had a friend who would put up the money I didn t tell him who the friend was ; f o r it happens to b e myself N o u r o needn t blow up Dick o drop dead Of apo y ; plexy ! He didn t come to tell me or ask a woman s money ! He had come hunting you ; and I pump ed it out of him H e s a brick not to men tion my nam e to you I like that in a man ; and I am going to do it Dick ; and you needn t blow u p with rage ! Y ou can swear if it would relieve pres sure ; but I am going to do it ! I am going to do it at once ! Don t you s e e what a cowardly foolish thing it would be of you to give up and slink into a hole just becaus e you re defeated ? It s just what you said would happen that night o n the R idge Don t you remember y ou said it was bound to b e a lo s ing fight ; and I s aid it didn t matter a bit if a man were crucified long a s the cause w on out ? Well yo u sent me the note saying you had s e t out on the T rail and would never quit till you g o t the Man Higher Up H ow are y ou going to get the Man Higher Up i f you dOn t g o right after him in the Hous e and the S enate ? They ve crucified y ou ; and it s going to be the making of you Men don t de ,



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stroy an O pponent unles s they fear him ! If he s a fool they give h im rope enough to hang him self ; but if they fear him they slander him and blacken him and mi srepresent him and try to destroy hi m ! Well they ve done all that to you and tried to destroy you ; and in stead of destroy ing you they ve only made the people call on you fo r a leader ! Don t you s e e what a cowardly thing it would be to slink away n ow becaus e you are defeated ? Wh y that s the very time a man can t a fford to quit and still call himself a man N o don t try to stop me ! I lay awake all l a s t night thinking it out ! They ll n ot have a chance to call you a woman made man ! I ll place a cer tain amo unt with my lawyer fo r Mr Williams You know my father always helped the Mis sion School more or less ; and a woman is suppo sed to be soft on Missions Mr Williams will loan it to the news edito r O nly I may a s well tell you Dick you are not going to be allowed to stop n ow ! You wrote me that a person couldn t stab certain things t o life and then expect them to lie quiet as if nothi ng had happened That cut s both ways Men are pretty good egotists ; but I wonder if you ever thought what that means with me with the peopl e you have prodded up to resent the R ing in the Valley here Do you kn ow Dick if y ou would quit now I d despise ” myself f or ever having loved you Wayland could not answer His eyes had filled He rode with his hand on the pommel of the s a d ’

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dle Her words had fallen like whi plashes It was true Y ou could n o t cut out and disconnect with life He had dreamed of this last ride as a sort of mi d heaven ecsta sy ; and behold instead o f love s dream the lifting kick t o a limp S pine I f only one s friends would Oftener give u s that lifting kick instead of the s oftening sympathy ! If only they would brace our back bone in stead o f o ur wish bone ! Then she turned to him with a sudden tender “ ne ss : What a beast I am to speak s o to you when you ve just had the blow of publi c dis ” missal on top of five years continuous gri lling and he s a w that the flame in her cheeks in her eyes wa s n o t anger but a gust of pas sionate love “ “ ” Thi s I can t thank you E leano r he s aid i s beyond thanks “ And your Old editor man was s o funny about “ ” it s h e went on Y ou kn ow Dick I think he had really come round to the hotel to have a con solation drink with you ; and he almo st let it out ; but just at the last momen t he changed the word “ ” and said he d come to shake with you on b e ing dismis sed together ” When do you leave ? asked Wayl an d dully I don t leave ! I haven t the slightest in t en tion of ever leaving this Valley ! Why Dick would you have me exchange this splendid big free n ew life where men and women do things for a parish existence— wo rking slippers f o r a curate a n d talking dress Dick— dress like the Colonel s .

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if the cause b e w on Now you take a slice of your fortune and slam it into the caus e backing me ; and you renounce everything that gives meaning to life f o r a woman pretending that r e n un c ia t ion i s a privilege “ ” “ It is interrupted E leano r i f it weaves the t hing worth while into the Warp and woof of your life s o it can never be anything but a part of u u T urn your broncho ro nd here and ride o ! y along side o f me Look at our Mountain ahead ! It isn t a Cro s s : it s a Crown ! Do you think I m going to push a crown away from myself f o r the sake of having a lot of fl un keys in a land I d on t know bending themselves in their middle at ” me all my life ? She laughed j oyously flinging her arms wid e to the drive and to ss o f the roll ing W ind funneling up the trail on their backs She had p ulled Off her hat and the wind to ssed f o r ward her hair in a frame o f curls round an enamel “ minia ture that always haunted Wayland I love “ ” it the harder it blows the harder I she said want to ride ! Y ou remember that night coming down the R idge in the storm ? It wa s like Love And smell the air Dick ! It has all the a n d Life ! sunbeams of the summer i mprisoned done up in balsam fir and balm Of gilead and spices ! E x change this life in the open here in the very thick of things doing for that ancient tapestry ” plush upholstery blue bo ok existence ? “ I can t a s k you E leanor ! I haven t a thing on e arth t o o ff e r but a br oken r e pu tatio n a nd a \ .

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plans in the di tch ! I ought never to have let you know I loved you ! I ought neve r to have let you care f or me ! You know what you think and y ou know what I think of a ma n He is n t worthy o f w h o lets a woman give all her You know you have never been out o f my thoughts day o r night since I met you dear ! I couldn t have come through that Desert thing alive without you ; and I ll hold you in my heart ” every day of my life till I die He had taken o ff his hat and kicked the stirrup s free and wa s riding with loo se rein When a man tells a wo m an that he is do w n and out financially and dare no t a s k her to marry him do you think there is an end of it dear reader ? Do you think a Silenus would hesitate and stickle and scruple over a po int of hono r ; though some of us have seen Silenus blunder into a paradise which he promptly tran sfo rmed into a sty ? And do y ou think the descendant o f the Man of the Iron Hand thought anything les s o f her lover for refusing to accept renunciation a s his right ? If Wayland could have trusted him self to look at her he would have s een that s h e wa s riding with a whimsical smile They came to a bend in the upward climbing trail that over looked the Valley and faced the Opal shining peak “ ” There goes the buckboard remarked Way land “ ” “ Dick S he s aid I ll write my lawyer about lo t

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placing the loan in the bank at once You need ” not los e any time “ B ut I can t take that E leanor ! I haven t ” any security on earth t o o ff er you “ O h yes you have ! I ve thought all that out too Y ou have the very best security I eve r want “ ” “ What ? a sked Wayland incredulously Do you mean you trust to my honesty ? Goo d in tentions aren t usually a banking propo sition “ ” You w il l d o a s security s he said Was it the old mountain talking again ; or w a s it the break in her voice ? Their eyes met He had S lipped from his hors e s h e cried averting her eyes with a “ tremor in her voice I coul dn t bear This to be If I were a man you d shake hands o f Self ! with me and call it a bargain Lo ok Dick ! We re in the light Of the Cro s s ! Shake hands with me ! Is it a bargain ? H is hands clo sed over both o f hers T here were tears in his eyes He did not break out with any of the wild terms that had clamored and clamo red for utterance these weeks past He did not s a y any of the things that men and women s ay at such times in books and plays They paus ed s o s h e on horseback he stand ing at he r side on the crest of the R idg e gazing down on the Valley in the light of the Cro ss .

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You are sure he had asked as they came “ ” that you ll never regre t ? o u t o f the evergreens “ Mr Matthews intended to leave to morrow Dick DO you think you could persuade him to ” st a y over a day ? ,



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It w as Mrs Williams w ho sensed so mething unusual as the ponies came down on e of the by paths from the R idge “ My dear look at their faces ! I do believe it “ ” has ! Then to E leano r Will you come in the ” r ig ? Are you tired ? “ ” I think I S hall said E leano r You ve ridden y r nags uncommon hard Way ” observed Matthews land E leanor had a scended to the back s eat Way land had tied the bridle rein of her hors e to the r ear and was riding abreast o f the front s eat “ I wish you could make it convenient to put ” O ff your d e parture f o r a day o r tw o began Way land very red “ ” E h ? What s that ? cried Matthews ; and when he looked to the back s eat E leanor and the little gray haired lady in plain back mourning bonnet were going on as fool women will and Williams w a s risking a fall out leaning over the seat Shaking hands with Wayland Somebod y w a s flourishing a red cotton handkerchief ; tw o f o r ten cents they sell them in Smelter Ci ty I t w a s Williams w h o put a check to wha t “ The wind E leano r called a loa df ul O f idiots .

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is blowing towards the snow he said ; but I d on t like that col umn of smoke rising from the Homestead slope in this high gale That I ris h s o t went home roaring drunk by the stage yester day What will you bet the fire didn t star t in ” the timbe r slash ? “ Wayland gave only on e look It isn t my ” “ o h any more e said but I can t stand s e e b j ” ing tha t He w a s off at a gallop They s a w the sparks strike from the stones a s he t u rned up the R idge Trail ,



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A week had pas s ed T he fire had bee n put out with little damage except from O F inn ig a n s tim ber slash to the lake beneath the upper snows A n ew R anger wa s in charge As f or O F inn ig a n like Calamity he had dropped as completely from the Valley s knowledge as if the earth had sw a l lowed him Th e Valley in f act had given small thought t o the mad squaw or the drunken Irish man The Valley had had other things to talk “ about There was the coming fall campaign and Wa yland s na e as reform candidate and Way land s quiet marriage to the daughter of the dead sheep king E leano r and Wayland had gone round through the Pas s t o the Lake B ehind the P eak where he had dreamed what form of tri angulation thoughts must take from the star in the water to the star on the other side of the Holy Cro s s ; where the little waves lipped and .





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lisped and l aved the reeds ; where they tw o could drink and drink unseen o f the j oy o f the wa ters o f life before the opening of the political battle Make him tell y o f all that happened in th ” P as s when A wa s with him Matthews had called as they rode away up the narrowing trail to the j ub lia n t shouting o f the canyon waters the little mule leading the pack ponies Mr s Williams stood on the upper piazza of the Mis sion School waving and waving The cotton woo ds were raining down showers of gold ; and the pines were clicking their gyp sy tambourines ; and the golden to rches o f countles s yellow autumn flowers lighted the triumphal procession of the year to its c ons ummation Against the opal crown Of the Holy Cro s s Mo un tain the yellowed larches to ss ed flaming torches to the ve ry sky “ They seem to b e riding away to a world o f dreams said the little lady in black .





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Mr B at B rydges and S enato r Moyes e walked slowly and r efl e ctively past the R ange C abin to wards the charred burn and timber slash o f O F innigan s abandoned homestead “ It s that damn ed rant the O ld fello w let Off in the court room said B rydges “ R ant do esn t win elections B rydges ! It ha s to be fough t out ! Sooner w e a c cept the challenge and put em to bed f or good , the better ! Money talks B rydges ! .





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glide on the far end of the log utter a maniacal laugh throw her shawl to the wi nds and bound forward “ G o back y ou sh e devil ! Look out Senator ! T hat log won t stand the weight of tw o There w a s the flash o f a knife in her hand Moy e s e had jumped from the stabbing onslaught — when he lo st his balance : the tree cru nched bent doubled like a j ack knife and plunged in a swirl o f smoke and dust t o the bottom of the Gully It had been burnt through to the green mo ss ed outer bark When B rydge s lo oked fe a r fully over the bank the Indian woman had crushed below the log ; and Moy e s e lay very still hi s fa c e to the sky his left hand in hi s pocket hi s right hand thrown out as if to ward a blow gashed and bloody whether from ro ck or knife cut one co uld n o t tell “ I do n ot intend to repeat the Smelter City “ ” Her ald s flare head announcement o f the de l a and tragical accident that cut short o n Of l or e b e p the mo st promising political careers in the United “ ” States Senator Moy e s e had long been accus t ome d t o search the mountains in autumn fo r seeds and roots of specimen flowers f or his herbarium of which he had made a hobby That reckless disregard of danger f or which he was ” famous etc You ll find the salient feat ” “ ures of it all in Who s Who P ad that out ’ with Mr B at B rydges imaginatio n and devotion ; ,

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will have an idea of the sorrow that con “ ” Smelter City Herald vuls e d the “ The Opposition pape r opined He would hardly have retained the confidence of the Valley had “ ” he lived ; and the Independent — our old fri end the ne w s e ditor— paid him the straight “ out from the shoulder compliment that he had died a s he had lived an uncompromising game ” fighter to the end What became o f Mr B at B rydges ? B les s you my friend do you need t o ask ? He is shouting for R eform a s loudly as hi s kind always shout when the tide turns What became of the scandal story ? What b ecomes of any scandal story ? What becomes of the skunk s contribution to the gayety of nations — B uried in the memo ry of decent folks long ago and forgotten : in the mem still hauled forth and r e ory of indecent folk and fondled under the tongue e t d a e p and

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