The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-02-18
Cd'vldn1dgh, \
The Great Conserva-
ton Novel
[ooNrfruED.I
CHAPTER VI.
IN rnt yIotExr PAS,

were mostly on the road dn the man
ner Of the careful auto driver, but
when he did look up 1t was TO admire
the color and polse OF his seat mate
who made the landscape of small ac
count rs
She Kept the conversation TO the de-
sired point "Mr. Cavanagh's work
tnrerests me very much. II seems very
important, and 1t must he new, for
I mas o child"
"fhe forester is new, at least In
America" he answered. nv dear
young lady, You are returned just In the
most mOmentous period la the history
OF the west The old dominion the
cattle rhneeA-is passing The suprem-
aey Of the cowboy Is ended The COW
boss is raising oats. The cowboy is
pitching alfalfa and swearing horribly
a. be blisters bis hands. Some Of the
rangers at the moment are men OF
western training, like Ross, but whose
allegiance is now to Uncle Sam. With
others that transfer Of allegiance is not
quite complete; hence the insolence of
men like GreGs, who think they can
oribe or intimidate these forest guards
and so obtain fayors. The newer men
are college bred, real forestefs. But
you can't know what II all means till
you see Ross or some other ranger on
tbs own heath. Well make up little
party some day and drop down upon
hm and have him show us about. It's
q lonely life, and 50 the ranger keeps
open house Would you like to go?''
''0h, yes, indeed. I'm eager to get
into the mountains Every night as
see the sun 60 down over them won
der what the world is like up there"
tphen, he began very delicately to In
quire about her eastern experience.
There was not much to tell. In a love
" old town not far from Philadelphia,
where her aunt lived, she had spent
TN years Of happy exile. 81 was hor-
ftbly lonely and homesick at first" she
sdad. Mother wrote only short let
ters, and my father never wrote at all.
Ididn't know he was dead then. He
Vas always good to me. He wasn't
hAd man, was he:"
"No," responded RedAeld without
Hesitation. HE was very like the rest
or us, only little more reckless and
4, little more partisan, that's all. He
was a dasbing horseman and dead
shot. and so naturally leader OF
desc daredevils. He was popular
With both sides Of the controversy up
80 the very moment when he went
south to lead the invaders against the
rhstlers."
what wss It all about? never un-
Aerstood It, What were they fighting
About?
In a sense II was all very simple.
You see, Uncle Sam In his careless, do
nothing way has always left his range
20 the man who got there first. That
was the cattleman. At first there was
bbilt sheds and corrals about water
ing places we came to claim rights on
the range We usually secured by
fraud homesteads In the sections con
taining water and so, gun In hand,
stood on the man who came after.
Gradually. after much shooting and
iawing, we parceled out the range and
settled down, covering practically the
Whole state. Our adjustments were
not perfect. but our system was work
fag smoothly for us who controlled the
range. We had convinced ourselves
.ana s.aftu nao.Iy aya.sl.na., aIaa sbat
the state was only ut for cattle graz
Ing and that We We're the most com
petent grazers; furthermore, we were
In possession, and no man could come
IN without our consent.
t-However. a very curious law of our
own making was our undoing. OF
course the 'nester' or 'punkln roller
AZ we contemporary caiied the small
fprmer began String IA here ana there
IN spite OF our guns, but he was only a
Lnosquito bite In comparison with the
trouble which our cowpunchers stirred
up. Perhaps you remember enough
sebht the business to know that an
unbranded yearlIng calf without its
mother is called maverickT
"fes; remember that. II belongs
tSstbe man who finds him and brands
bint"
S"Frecisely Now, that law worked
very nicely so long as the poor COW.
b6yI was willing TO catch aud brand
5aim for his employer, but II proved
5oker' when he woke mp ana said to
his fellows, why brand these nav
sticks at $5 per head for this or that
outfit when the law says they belong
10 the man who fnds themY
Lee Virginia looked up brightly.
'oAhat seems right TO me-"
'AAh, yes, but wait! We cattlemen
had large herds, and the probabilities
were that the calf belonged to some
ona Ofus, whereas the cowboy, having
NO herd at all, knew the maverick be.
longed TO some ones herd. True, the
law said It was his, but the law did
mot mean TO reward the freebooter
Yet that Is exactly what 1t did. Al
first only few outlaws took advan-
tAgs OF II, but hard years came on, the
cattle business became less and less
Nrpftable, we were forced TO lay OF
on men, aud 40 Ut last the range