The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1911-01-06
6contlnued IEo@ yesterday.

I However, very curious law of our
own making was our undoing. OF
course the hester or 'punttn roller
as we contempt called the small
farmer, began sitting in here and there
in spite Of our guns, but he was only
mosquito bite In comparison with the
trouble which our eowpunchers stirred
up. Perhaps you remember enough
about the business to know that an
unbranded yearllng calf without It's
mother is called a maverick?'
YES; remember that. II belongs
to the man who finds him and brands
him" tu
Precisely. Now, that law worked
very nicely 80 long as the poor cow
boy was willing to catch and brand
him for his employer, but It proved a
Joker when he woke MP and said to
his fellows. why brand these NAV
erIcks at IS per head for this or that
outfit when the law says they belong
to the man who finds them?''
Lee yifgtniai looked up brightly.
.That seems right to me-"
''Ah, yes. but wait! We cattlemen
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 it was his, but the law did
not mean to reward the freebooter.
Yet that is exactly what 1t 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 of
our men, and so at last the range
swarmed with idle cowpunchers, Then
came the breakdown in our scheme.
The cowboys took to 'rnaverIcking' on
their own account. Some Of them had
the grace to so 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. FindiagSe could not suck,
bossy would at last wander away from
his dam and so become maverick. In
short, anarchy reigned on the range"
But surely my, father had nothing
to do. with this?'
mo: your father up to this time had
been on good terms with everybody
he had a small herd Of cattle down
the river, which he owned in common
with az man named Hart
II remember him.,
HE was wen thought Of by all the
big outfits, and when the situation be-
came intolerable 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 I was concerned,
the use Of violent methods revolted
me- Ny training in the east had made
me a respecter of the law. Change
the law, 1 SAID, The law Is all right
they replied; the trouble is with these
rustlers. We'llhang 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
ther as he rode up to the house that
last day before he went south.
/ Redfeld went on. THE whole plan
as developed was silly, ana wonder
still that Ed wetherford, who knew
the hester and the cowboy so we'll,
should have lent his aid to 1t. The
cattlemen, some from Cheyenne, some
from Denver and few from New
York and Chicago, agreed to finance a
a sort Of vigiiante 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"
II wish he hadn't done that MUIR
INJURED the girl.
81 must be frank with you, Virginia.
i 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 it was
his duty, and one fine day the Fork
was startled by messenger who rode
in to say that the cattle barons were,
coming with a 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 wax tinRlin0 now. ssT re-