Putnam patriot., 1911-04-14
CavdndQh, The Great Conserva-
 tion Novel


 was markedly vesteru Sc was his wife. who looked rather uneasy and hot
 Virginia and Ross. being the only young folk at fhe table were seated together. and Enderhy remarked pri- yately. Ross. you're tn luck
 T know l am" he replied heartily.
 He was. as Redheld had said. high ly susceptible made 90 by his solitary life in the mountains. and 10 be seated close beside this maid of tue valley stirred his blood 10 the danger point. IT ias only by au effort of the will that he kept in touch with the couver= safloB
 T hadn't The least thought of seeing you here said Virginia How did you happen 10 comet3
 aRedheld telephoned me at the mill, and came at once haven't been here since May. and just thought Id take bali day off Luckily my un- derstndy was with me 1 left him on the Job
 He did not tell her that she was tbe principal reason for this sudden de scent upon Elk Lodge. and no one but Eedfeld EHew the killing ride he had taken fin order To bc in ut the begin niHe of the dinner The girls face aud voice. especially her voice. had been with him night and day as he went about his solitary duties Her life problem had cone to fT b1s mind to fl disturbing degree, and be was eager to know more ef her and of her struggle against the vice and yui= garlty of the Forks
 How is your mefher?' he asked few minutes later
 eNot at atl well Mir Bcdtield is 10 take the doctor back with us tnmor TOW The ecstasy died out of her face. and the flexible lips dropped with troubled musIng T am afraid she suffers more than she will admit
 She needs rest and change. She should get away from her sent at that cash register and return to the open air A touch of camp life would help her. She sticks too close 10 her work. '
 "I know she does. but she won't let me relieve her, even for an hour IL isn't because she doesn't trust me; she says it's because she doesn't want me sitting here-so-publicly She doesn't oppose my housekeeping any more"-
 You certainly have made the old hotel into place of miraculous neat ness"
 She flushed with pleasure. .'I have done something. but not as I'd like to dc. l really think if mother wishes to sell she could do so now 10 much better advantage
 Eve no doubt of It. Really, I'm not being funny, Miss Wetherford, when say you've done something heroic It's no easy thing to go into n place like that and make fl hab- itable. II shows immense courage and self reliance on your part It's pre- cisely the kind of work this whole country needs "
 His praise. sincere and generous, re paid her for all she had gone through. II was great pleasure 10 hear her small self praised for courage and self reliance by oue whose daily work was heroic All things conspired to make q conquest of her heart. for the ranger bore himself with grace and dealt with his silver deftly His face. seen from the side. was older and sterner than she had thought it. but II was very at tractve in line.
 RedGeld appealed to the ranger. Ross. you're all sorts of a reactonary. What do you say 10 this? Senator Bridges Is opposed to all federal inter ference with state forests and state game"
 The forester's eyes lit up "But are they state forests and stale game2 What makes them SD? They are lands which Inc whole people purchased and which the whole people defended
 "fIeah. heah.' cheered Euderby.
 Bridges hrissled with anger and went off into a hong haransue on state rights and the dangers of standardization, to which Endetby replied "gosh, The whole uoubie with your haiiy gov ernmout k it~ lack of cohesion IT had my way I'd wipe out the senate. You're such blooming asses oYer here. Noa donf kuoW enough to keep a reai. ly big man iu your prcsideutial chair This fu~siue about every four years is pam rot Here's Roosevelt gets in the midst of T iot of the finest kiud of reforms. yon know and directly you go and eHea him out Then If you get bad mau you've to wait four years tiil you can fetch him WhaCb Why not arrange f SD yeu can pitch your president out he minute he goes wrong? say your old rag of a con sututiou is hall and chain on your national leg. England is immeasura- bly better of 50 far ss that goes"
 Ross turned to Virginia, leaving the political discussion to go on over hIs head T was back in the old island a couple ef years ago. and you've mo idea how small it seemed to me. It surely is d right little, tight little island l couldn't help wondering whether the men iH parliament were as important as they seemed 10 think they were and whether England is not really an empty shell of empire, a memory of what it once was. couldn't settle down there some way. was homesick for the mountains iii a month. But what scared me most was the pauper population of the old place-one in every thirty seven must be helped came back to the States gladly, I guess I'm an American. said to my sisters"
 To Lee Virginia the talk Of 'the curse of democracy" and the decay