Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-19

DASii't's
old man Hogan, the lumber king, had led the
way. Black wastes dotted here and there
with fallen redwood giants, deserted mills and
empty cabins, marked his progress up the mountain
sides trestled chute Of unprecedented length and
height had enabled him to reach virgin forest hith
inaccessible to the rayages of man. and this hot
afternoon Hogan's Mills, the town, deserted
aspect because Hogans mills themselves running
at full force, even the Chinese cook having been
pressed into service Mrs. OByrne and Mrs. Monag-
han, the feminine element in the place. resting
in their cabins the upper hill In front OF the board
ng-house cooling their bare feet in the dust, sat Mag
gle and Terry OByrne, the sole representatives OF idle
ness and youth in the camp
Almost hour had passed since they had seem
down in the valley, the spiral cloud OF dust that her
aided the approach of the STAGE now they knew it
creaking slowly up the mountain road; in a mo-
ment they would hear the crack of Meierss whip, the
rattle of harness. and tearing around the in
last desperate rush would appear the leaders, the
wheelers and then the weather-beaten, dustbegrmed
stage.
This vehicle itself matter of no importance to
the children. No passengers ever came to the Mills
at the end Of summer and the weekly mail and loads
OF provisions did not interest them, but there was,
nevertheless, momentous question Would Meters
have the white the brown leaders1
The white" asserted Maggie.
Brown" contradcted Terry, just to take the other
side
1t was the brown last week." remembered Maggie.
Yes and it will be the brown this week." persisted
the boy.
Their sharp little voices clashed, and their eyes shot
wrath and defiance. Finally Terry, putting his hand
into his pocket and searching among the treasures
therein, said:
If it's the six it's the brown, as life
A small ivory cube distracted from the sweepngs
of the barroom appeared in his dirty little hand, and
six half-obliteated dots visible. Now there
good and sufficient reason why these six spots did
up and the same accounted for the thing hav-
ing been swept out with the dust from under the bar
Lawrence the starter, who had left the Mills so sud-
denly might have enlightened Terry on the sube
But the boy knew nothing about the small cubes eX-
cept that important questions decided through
their agency and he had heard the triumphant shout
over the six often that naturally it stood for success
in his small mind or least, if not success for sig
nal that things going as he desired or expected
"There! Didn't I tell your" And he staggered
with masculine bravado. "What do girls know about
horses?"
Maggie, though inwardly admitting the augury,
yelled even louder than before.
81 tell you it's the white just the same"
And there might have been O'Byrne the less at
Hogans Mills il Meters had not cracked his whip at
the very instant when Terry standing over Maggie in
ungovernable rage, was ready to annihate her with
words weapons.
But the long lash sang through the air. the dusty
white leaders spurted forward the boarding house,
and then settled dejectedly down into their harness as
though their work in life Beyond the horses
the children did not look but Maggies triumph was
short lived for Terry, lodging the ticng end OF the
lash with which Meters greeted him, saw in the stage
a passenger, two passengers man, dark, stern and
forbiddng and, lying beside him on the seat, child
with white, drawn face and big black eyes
"Hooray!" shouted Terry in greeting, but the little
face was turned resolutely away and the lips did not
move.
"Where's SIM" demanded Meters as the stranger
descended from the stage.
"Over at the chute" answered Terry.
"And both the wimmen lazyin' as usual suppose"
"Never mind" interrupted the roughly. 3" You
can give me a hand, can't you?"
Meiers climbing down from his high seat took from
the top OF the stage thing half stretcher hal-recln-
ing chair On this they put the little crippled lad and
carried him into the dning-room OF the boarding
4 house
A "Old Sin ought to be here" grumbled the driver
AWhere's your mother?" he asked turning to Maggie,
hs voice roughened by sympathy for his uncomplain-
ing little passenger
n She amt my mother" Terry said soto VOce but
aggressively Z" My mothers in heaven"
"Mrs O'Byrne's at the cabin" answered Maggie,
looking at the little boy with hungry motherly eyes,
A " But she amt much good Meters. can do more
y than she can"
q "My mothers in heaven, too" half-whispered the
child ON the chair this bond of sympathy seeming to
draw him toward the touseed little girl Meters an
swered rerrys challenge but spoke to the stranger
"The boys right Their own mother is dead, and
he married this one last spring. l guess she amt
much good"
Then in response to Maggie's womanly interest, he
n added: "Ihis is Mr.. Harris, Bob Harris. He's come
to work at the mills, and he's going to live in the
empty cabin under the slide. Perhaps you can help
him some"
But Mr. Harris took no notice of Maggie. He was
unloading packs and bundles from the back OF the
stage, and shoulderng all he could carry ne started
Gin the direction of the old Slide where diapidated
" cabin presented anything but an inviting aspect