The Marshall republican., 1911-07-27

decided 10 take the children abroad
for q couple OF years. and ns I nm TO
DO over there part OF the time ! don't
feel justified In holding down the 81.
pe~rvisor's position. I shall resign In
your favor. Walt nowr' he called
warningly. The district forester and
I framed all this up rs We rode down
tho hill yesterday. and Il goes. oh.
yes, there's one thing more. Old man
Dunn
81 know"
"How did you learn itT'
"A reporter camc boiling over the
ridge about moor today wanting me to
give him the names which Dunn had
given me. ! was strongly tempted 20
do as he asked M to-you know these
newspaper men are sometimes the
best kind of detectives for running
down criminals-but on second thought
! concluded TO wait until ! hnd dis.
cussed the matter with you. haven't
much faitb In the county authorities
Ordinarily ] would have my doubts
myself" replied RcdHeld. "but the
whole country is reused. and we're
going TO round up these men this time
sure. The best men and the big pa.
pers all " the west are demanding
an exercise Of the law. and the re-
ward we have offered He paused
suddenly. by the way. TINT reward
VIII come 20 you II you can bring
about the arrest Of the criminals"
The reward should 20 10 Dunn's
family" replied the ranger soberly.
Poor chap. he's sacrificed himself for
the good Of the state"
That's true. His family Is left In
bad shape
Cavanagh broke on the conversation
suddenly. II must 90 back to- He
had almost said back 10 wetherford.
my patient needs me! he exclaimed.
How does he seemf"
Hes surely dying. In my judg-
ment he can't last the night, but SO
long m he's conscious It's up to me to
be on the spot"
Redfeld walked slowly back across
the river, thinking on the patient cour-
age OF the ranger.
1T isn't the obvious kind Of thing.
but It's courage all the same" he said
to himself.
Meanwhile Lie. and virginia. left
alone beside the fire. had drawn closer
together.
The girls face. so sweet and so pen.
sive, wrought strongly upon the older
woman's sympathy. Something OF her
own glrlbood came back to her. Be
ing freed from the town aud all Its as-
sociations, she became more consider
ate. more thoughtful. She wished TO
speak, and yet she found II very hard
to begin. At last she said. with q
touch Of mockery In her tone. "You
like Ross Cavanagh almost as wei! as
I do myself. don't your"
The girl flushed n little. but her eyes
remained steady. II would not be here
II I did not" she replied.
Neither would 1. Well. now, | have
got something to tell you-something
I ought TO have told you long ago.
something that Ross ought to know. I
intended TO tell you that FIRST day you
came back. but I couldn't somehow
get to II, and ] kept putting It on til
well. then I got fond of you. and
every day made II harder" Here she
made her supreme effort. "Child, I'm
an old blur. I'm not your mother at
all"
Lee stared ut her in Amusement.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
II mean your real mother died when
you was a tiny little babe. Yon see |
a your fathers second wifc-in
fact, you weren't q year old when we
married. Ed made ma promise never
to let you know. We were 10 brine
you up just the same as II you was q
child to both OF US. Nobody knows
but Reddy. I told him tho day We
started up here"
1As siri's mind ran swiftly over tho
past a. shs listened. Tho truth a. the
SsvelAtlon rsaehsd hee Instantly, ~
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