The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-02-01

He went on. II hate all this scrap
heap quite as heartily as you do, but
up there are sweetness and sanity. The
streams are germless. and the forest
cannot be devastated. That is why
am a ranger. I could not endure life
IN town like this"
He turned up the street toward the
high hill to the south. and she kept
step with him. As she did not speak,
he asked, What did you expect to do
out hereT'
81 hoped to teach" she replied, her
voice still choked with her emotion.
II expected to find the country much
improved"
"And so 1t is, but it is stin a long
way from an eastern state. Perhaps
| you viii find the people less savage
than they appear at first glance"
| cit isn't the town or the people: it is
my motherv' she burst forth again.
TEL me! A woman in the car yester-
| day accused my mother Of selling
whisky unlawfully. Is this so? Tell
mer'
She faced him resolutely. and. per
ceiving that she could not be evaded,
he made slow answer ct don't know
that she does, but I've heard it charged
| against her"
."Who made the charger"
"One of the clergymen, and then it's
| common talk among the rough men of
the town"
But she's my motherv' walled the
girl. coming back to the central fact.
'She has sent me money-she has been
kind to me. What am l 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 highway filed with splen-
did cavaliers. 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 a western manw
Not In the sense Of having been
born here" he replied. 81 am, in fact
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 it
mean? It's all new to me-"
ut is new to the west" he answered
smflingly. glad of 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"
Il shouldn't care to be like some OF
is quite logical. l went into the cattle
business like many another, and
went broke. l served under Colonel
Roosevelt in the Cuban war and after
my term was out naturally drifted
back. l love the wilderness and have
some natural taste for forestry, and
can ride and pack a horse as well as
I'm not the best forest ranger in the
service, I'll admit, but fancy I'm
fair average"
"And that Is your badge-the pine
treeY
yes. and am proud Of It. Some Of
the fellows are not, but so far as l am
concerned I am glad to be known as q
defender Of the forest. A tree means
much to me. l never mark one for
telling without sense Of responsible
fly to the future"
Her questions came slowly, like
those of child. where do you liver"
Directly up the South Fork about
twenty miles,
what do you dor
He smiled. Not much. 1 ride the
trails, guard the game, put out fires,
scale lumber, burn brush, build bridges,
herd cattle, count sheep, survey land
and few other odd chores. It's sup
posed to be a soft snap, but I can't
see it that way"
do you live aloneT
Eyes. for the larger part of the time.
have an assistant, who is with me-
during part Of the summer months
Mostly 1 am alone. However, am
supposed to keep open house, and
catch a visitor now and then"
do you expect to do this always?"
He smiled again. There you touch
my secret spring. l have the hope OF
being chief forester some time-I mean
we all have the prospect Of promotion