The Delta independent., 1911-02-03
Copyright. 1910. by Hamlin Garland

And so it is. but it is still a long
way from an eastern state. Perhaps
you will find the people less savage
than they appear at first glance"
at isn't the town or the people: 1t is
my mother" she burst forth again.
Tell me- A woman in the car yester-
day accused my mother of selling
whisky unlawfuly. Is this so? Tell
me-
She faced him resolutely. and. per-
ceiving that she could not be evaded.
he made slow answer. 81 don't know
that she does. but I've heard it charged
against her.
"Who made the charger"
lone of the clergymen, and then it's
common talk among the rough men of
the town."
But she's my mother!' walled the
girl. coming back to the central fact.
"She has sent me money-she has been
kind 70 me. What am | to do? She
needs me, and yet the thought of stay
ing here and facing her life frightens
me-"
The rotten board walks. the low
rookeries, the unshaven. blear eyed
men sitting on the thresholds of the
saloons. the slattern squaws wander
ing abroad like bedraggled hens. made
the girl stare with wonder and dis
may. She had remembered the town
street as a highway filed with splen-
did cavaliers, a list wherein heroic
deeds were done with horse and pistol
She perceived in the ranger the man
OF the new order, and with this in her
mind she said: You don't belong here?
You're not western MANI"
Not in the sense Of having been
born here" he replied. II am. in fact.
a native of England. though I've lived
nearly twenty years of my life In the
States"
She glanced at his badge. "How did
you come to be ranger-what does 1t
mean? It's all new to me-"
"lt is new to the west" he answered
smilingly. glad of a chance to turn her
thought from her own personal griefs.
1t has all come about since you went
east. Uncle Sam has at last become
provident and is now conserving his
resources / am one of his represent
atives. with stewardship over some
10000 acres Of territory. mostly for
est"
She looked at him with eyes Of
changing light. "You don't talk like
an Englishman. and yet you are not
like the men out here"
II shouldn't care to be like some of
them" he answered. MY being here
is quite logical. l went into. the cattle
business like many another. and
81
Roosevelt in the Cuban war and after
my term was out naturally drifted
back | love the wilderness and have
some natural taste for forestry. and
can ride and pack horse as well as
most cowboys; hence my uniform.
I'm not the best forest ranger in the
service, I'll admit. but l fancy I'm
fair average"
And that is your badge-the pine
tree"
"Yes. and am proud Of it. Some of
the fellows are not but so far as am
concerned l am glad to be known as a
defender of the forest. A tree means
much to me. ! never mark one for
Telling without sense of responsible
fly to the future"
Her questions came slowly. like
those of a child. Where do you live"
Directly up the South Fork about
twenty miles"
What do you doT'
He smiled. Not much. I ride the
trails, guard the game. put out fires.
scale lumber. burn brush. build bridges.
herd cattle. count sheep. survey land
and a few other odd chores. It's sup
posed to be soft snap, but / can't
see 1t that way"
'Do you live aloneT
Yes, for the larger part of the time.
l have an assistant, who is with me
during part of the summer months.
Mostly am alone. However, l am
supposed to keep open house. and l
catch visitor now and then"
do you expect to do this always?'
He smiled again. There you touch
my secret spring ! have the hope Of
being chief forester some time-I mean
we all have the prospect of promotion
to sustain US. The service is SO new
that any one with even a knowledge
of forestry is in demand. By and by
real foresters will arise"
She returned abruptly to her own
problem. II dread to go back to my
mother. but l must. Oh. how l hate
that hotel! l loathe the flies, the
smells. the people that eat there. the
waiters-everythingv' She shuddered.
MANY Of the evils you mention
could be reformed, except. of course,
some Of the people who come to eat.
fear several of them have gone be-
yond reforma ton"
As they started back down the street
she saw the motor stage just leaving
the door Of the office. THAT settles