The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-02-12
PENSACOLA JOURNAL,

their own account S0me Of them had
the grace TO 20 into partnership with
some farmer and 70 claim Z small
bunch Of cows. but others suddenly
and mfracuiousiy 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
mothera Finding b could not suck.
bossy would at last wander away from
his dam and 20 become q maverick. In
short anarchy reigned On the range"
But surely my father had nothing
10 do with thisr'
enc; your father up to this time had
been On good terms with everybody.
He had . small hsrd Of cattle down
tho river. which hs owned IN common
with . man named Hart"
II remember him"
He was well thought Of by all the
big outfits. and when the situation be-
eams intolerabie and We got together
to weed out the rustleEs,' ~ these eat
do thieves wero called, your father
was approached and converted 10 q
belief in drastic measures He had
suffered less than the rest o1 NJ be-
cause Of his small herd and tho fact
that hs was very popular among the
eowboyx 90 far 40 I was concerned,
the use Of violent methods revolted
me. Ny training in the east had made
me . rsspecter Of the law. Change
the law said. The law b an right
they replied: the trouble II with these
rustlefA Wen hang few Of 'em, and
that WIN break up the buEness.'"
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
''maver1cking," and she saw her ia
Their ~ he rode up to the house that
last day before he went south.
- developed was SHY. and I wonder
still that Ed Wetherford. who knew
the hester and the cowboy 20 well.
should have lent his aid TO t. The
cattlemen, some from Cheyenne. some
from Denver and 4 few from New
York and Chicago, agreed TO finance q
q sort Of vigilante corps composed Of
men from the outside on the under
standing that this policing body should
b 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"
VI wish he hadn't done that" muir
INJURED the girl.
II must be frank with you. Virginia.
I can't excuse that In him. It was
kind Of treachery. He must have been
warped by his associates. They con-
WINGED him by some means that 1t was
his duty. and one fine day the Fork
was startled by q messenger who rode
In to say that the cattle barons were
coming with 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 was ttngling now. Il re
member! I remember the men who
rode into the town to give the alarm.
I was scared almost breathless."
II was In Sulphur City and did not
hear Of It tin 1t was nearly all over"
Redfield resumed. his speech>showing
4 little Of the excitement which thrill
Cd through the girls voice. well the
first act of vengeance was % Ill con-
sidered that It practically ended the
whole campaign. The invaders fell
upon and killed two ranchers. one Of
whom was probably not .rustler at
all, but q peaceable settler. ana the
other one they most barbarously
hanged. More than this. they attack
ed and vainly tried to kill two settlers
whom they met on the road-German
farmers, with no connection. % far as
known. with the thieves. These men
escaped and gave the alarm. In q
few hours the whole range was afame
with vengeful fire. The Forks. as you
may recall. was Ike . swarm Of bum
blebees. Every man and boy was
armed and mounted. The storekeepeFs
distributed guns and ammunition,
leaders developed. and the embattled
'punkin rollers rustlers and towns
men rode out to meet the invaders"
The girl paled with memory Of It.
ut was terrible. went all day with
out eating, and for two nights We
were all too excited 10 sleep. It seem
ed az II the world were coming to IN
end. Mother cried because they
wouldn't let her 90 with them. She
didn't know father was leading the
other army"
'She must have known soon. for It
was reported that your father was
among them. She certainly knew when
they were driven to earth In that log