Semi-weekly herald. [volume] (Durango, Colo.) 1907-1917, 1911-02-13

ericks at IS per head for this or that
outfit when the law says they belong
t. the man who finds them?"
Lee Virginia looked up brightly.
THAT seems right to me-
"Ah, yes, but wait. We cattIemen
had large herds, and the probabilities
were that the calf belonged to some
one Of US, whereas the cowboy. having
no herd at all, knew the maverick be-
longed to some ones herd. True. the
| law said 1t was his, but the law did
not mean to reward the freebooter.
Yet that is exnctly what It did At
first only few outlaws took advan-
tage Of 1t. but hard years came on, the
cattle business became less and less
profitable. we were forced to lay Off
our men. and SO at last the range
swarmed with idle cowpunchers Then
came the breakdown In our scheme
The cowboys took to 'mavericking' on
their own account. Some OF them had
the grace to go into partnership with
some farmer and so claim small
bunch of cows. but others suddenly
and miraculously acquired herds of
their own. From keeping within the
law they passed to violent methods.
They slit the tongues of calves for the
purpose of separating them from their
mothers. Finding he could not suck.
bossy would at last wander away from
his dam and so become maverick In
short, anarchy reigned on the range"
Ix, 60 l,.I
to do with this?"
mo; your father up to this time had
been on good terms with everybody.
He had small herd OF cattle down
the river. which he owned In common
with "A man named Hart"
81 remember him"
He was well thought of by all the
big outfits. and when the situation be-
came iDtolerable and we got together
to weed out the rustlers,' as these cat
| tie thieves were called. your father
was approached and converted to a
belief In drastic measures. He had
| suffered less than the rest of us be-
| cause of his small herd and the fact
That he was very popular among the
| cowboys. So far as | was concerned,
| the use of violent methods revolted
me. My training In the east had made
me respecter of the law. Change
| the law said. The law Is all right
they replied: the trouble is with these
rustlers. Wen hang few Of 'em, and
that will break up the business
| Parts of this story came back to the
girls mind. producing momentary
flashes Of perfect recollection. She
heard again the voices of excited men
arguing over and over the question of
"mavericking," and she saw her IA
Their us he rode up to the house that
last day before he went south.
Redfeld went on. 1.-THE whole plan
as developed was silly. and l wonder
still that Ed Wetherford. who knew
I, the hester and the cowboy so well.
| should have lent his aid to 1t. The
cattlemen. some from Cheyenne. some
from Denver and a few from New
York aud Chicago, agreed to finance a
sort Of vigilante corps composed Of
| men from the outside on the under
standing that this policing body should
be commanded by one Of their own
number. Your father was chosen Sec
ond in command and was to guide the
party. for he knew almost every one Of
the rustlers and could ride directly to
their doors"
81 wish he hadn't done that" muir
INJURED the girl.
~,uot t,a fr~pk NTH vnrr VtrOipta
can't excuse that in him. 1t was
kind Of treachery. He must have been
warped by his associates. They con-
WINGED him by some means that 1t was
his duty. and one fine day the Fork
was startled by a messenger who rode
in to say that the cattle barons were
coming with hundred Texas bad men
to clean out the town and to put their
own men into office. This last was
silly rot to me. but the people believed
It,"
The girl was tingling now. 81 re-
memberi l remember the men who
rode into the town to give the alarm.
/ was scared almost breathless."
II was in Sulphur City and did not
hear of 1t till 1t was nearly all over"
Redfield resumed. his speech showing
little of the excitement which thrill
ed through the girls voice. well, the
first act Of vengeance was SO Ill con
sidered that 1t practically ended the
whole campaign. The invaders fell
upon and killed two ranchers, one of
whom was probably not rustler at
all, but a peaceable settler, and the
other one they most barbarously
hanged. More than this. they attack
ed and vainly tried to kill two settlers
whom they met on the road-Gernan
farmers, with no connection, 80 far as
known, with the thieves. These men
! escaped and gave the alarm. In
few hours the whole range was afiame
with vengeful fire. The Forks. as you
may recall. was like a swarm of bum
blebees. Every man and boy was
armed and mounted. The storekeepers
distributed guns and ammunition.
leaders developed, and the embattled
'punkin rollers rustlers and towns
men rode out to meet the invaders."
The girl paled with memory Of 1t.
"It was terrible. went all day with
out eating, and for two nights We