The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-02-18
w 0w
= Forest IS
$ Ranger
BY HAMLIN GARLAND
Copyright. 1910. by HOmlin Garland

Ntli IfNRISlO't W Dhi
'iiow did 1t all end? The soldiers
came, didn't they?"
"Ycs; the long arm OF Uncle Sam
reached out and took hold upon the
necks OF both parties. ] guess your
father and his band would have died
right there had not the regular army
interfered. II only required sergeant
wearing Uncle Sans uniform to come
among those armed and furious COW
boys and remove their prisoners"
II saw that 1t was very strange
that sergeant was so young and 81
brave"
He turned and smiled at her. 40
you know who that was?"
Her eyes flashed. She drew her
breath with Q gasp. WAS it Mr. Cav
anagh?"
Yes. 1t was Ross. He was serving
In the regular army at the time. Hc
has told NE since that he felt no fear
whatever Uncle Sans blue coat was
like Siegfried's magic armor,' he said
Ii was the Kind of thing the mounted
! police Of Canada had been called upon
10 do many a time, and | went ia aud
got my men. That ended the war,
50 far as violent measures went, and
II really ended the sovereignty Of the
cattleman. The power OF the hester
has steadily increased from that mC.
| ment"
But my father-whGt became OF
himl They took him away to the east.
and that is all | ever knew What do
| you think became of himT
II could never make up my mind
| All sorts of rumors come to us con
cerning him. As matter Of fact. the
state authorities sympathized with the
cattle barons, and my own opinion Is
that your father was permitted to es-
cape. He was afterward seen In Tex
as, and later 1t was reported that he
had been killed there"
The girl sat still, listening to the tire
less whir OF the machine and looking
out at the purpling range with tear
mist eyes, At last she said, IL shall
never think OF my father as a bad man
he was always so gentle to me-"
| "You need not condemn him. my
dear young lady. The people Of the
| Torks--some of them, at least-con
slider him traitor and regard you as
the daughter of Il renegade, but what
does It matter? Each year sees the
old west diminish, and already, In the
work Of the forest service, law and or.
der advance. Notwithstanding all the
shouting of herders and the beating
to death of sheep, no hostile shot has
ever been fired within the bounds OF Il
national forest. In the work of the
forest rangers lies the hope OF ultimate
peace and order over all the public
lands.
| The girl fell silent again, her mind
| hlled with larger conceptions of life
than her judgment had hitherto been
called upon to meet. She knew that
Redheld was right, and yet that world
| of the past-the world OF the swift
herdsman and his trampllng, long
horned, half wild kine-still appealed
| to her imagination. The west of her
| girlhood seemed heroic In memory.
Even the quiet account OF 1t to which
she had just listened could not conceal
its epic largeness OF movement. The
| part which troubled her most was her
fathers treachery to his neighbors
That he should fight, that he should
| kill men in honorable warfare, she
| could understand, but not his recrean-
| cy, his desertion OF her mother and
| herself.
4 Sha hack HUall al In 81 nn
the action of that slim young soldier
| who had calmly ridden through the
| infuriated mob. She remembered that
she had thrilled even then at the
vague and lmpersenal power which he
| represented. 10 her childish mind he
| seemed TO bear u charm, like the he
roes Of her story books-somethlng
which made him invulnerable.
After long pause Redheld spoke
again. '"fhe memory Of your father
will make life for time bit hard
for you In Roaring Fork. Perhaps
| your mothers advice Is sound Why
| not come to Sulphur City, which Is
almost entirely OF the new spiritY
III | can get my mother to come,
wv wiz bc Biuu w uc So loI uult
the Fork. But / VIII not leave her
there, sick and alone"
"Much depends upon the doctors
examination tomorrow"
They had topped the divide now he
tween the Fork and Sulphur creek
basin, ana the green fields, the alfalfa
meadows and the painted farmhouse es
thiokened beneath them. Strange hsw
significant all these signs were now !!
A few days ago they had appeared
doubtful improvements; now they rep
resented the oncoming dominion of the
east They meant cleanliness and de.
cent speech, good bread and sweet
butter
Redield swept through the town,
tlien turned up the stream directly 10.
ward the high wall of the range, which
was ragged and abrupt at this point.
They passed several charming farm.
houses, and the western sky grew ever
more glorious with its plum color and
SAFFRON, and the range reasserted It's
mastery over the girl At last they
came to the very jaws OF the canyon,
and there. In n deep natural grove OF
LOFTY cottonwood trees, Redneld passed
before hloh rustic onta which n,a,.I,