Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1911-02-16
By HAMLIN GARLAND
Copyright. 1910. by Hamiin Garland
Continued from page b

"Well. the work you've been doing
here this morning is part of it. an
swered Redfield Its kind of house
cleaning. The old west was pictur-
esque and in way manly and fine
certain phases of 1t were heroic-and
/ hate to see it all pass, but some of
us began to realize that it was not all
poetry The plain truth is my com
panions for over twenty years were
lawless ruliians. and the cattle bust
ness as we practiced it in those days
was founded on selfshness and de-
Tended at the mouth of the pistol. We
were all pensioners on Uncle Sam and
fighting to keep the other fellow off
from having a share Of his bounty. 1t
was all wasteful. half savage. We
didn't want settlement; we didn't want
law we didn't want a state. We want
ed free range. We were line Of pi-
rates from beginning to end. and we're
not wholly reformed yet"
Some one at the table accused Red.
field of being more Of town site
boomer than a cattlemap.
He was quite unmoved by this charge
''The town site boomer at least believes
in progress. He does not 60 so far as
to shut out settlement. don't care
to have my children live the life I've
lived. Besides. what right have we to
stand In the way Of community's
growth? Suppose the new life is less
picturesque than the old We don't
like to leave behind us the pleasures
and sports Of boyhood. but we grow
ap nevertheless. I'm far more loyal
to the state as forest supervisor than
was when l was riding with the cat
tlemen to scare up the hester"
At this moment Sam Gregg entered
the room. followed by young man In
an English riding suit Seeing that
1.-The star boarder table" offered cou-
pie Of seats. they pointed that way.
Sam was plainly in u warlike frame of
mind and slammed his sombrero on its
nail with the action of man beating
an adversary.
''That is Sam Gregg and his son Joe.
Used to be ranch cattleman. now one
of our biggest sheepmen." Cavanagh
explained Hes bucking the cattle
men now"
Lee Virginia studied young Gregg
with interest. for his dress was that of
man to whom money came easy. and
his face was handsome. though rather
fat and sullen. In ruth. he had been
brought into the room by his father to
see Lie Wetherford's girl" and his
eyes at once sought and found her. A
look Of surprise and pleasure at once
lit his face.
Gregg was the greedy west checked
and restrained by the law. Every
man in the room knew that he was a
bitter opponent of the forest service
and that he had it in for the ranger.
and some of them knew that he was
throwing more sheep into the forest
than his permits allowed and that a
clash with Redfeld was sure to come.
1t was just like the burly old Irish.
man to go straight to the table where
his adversary sat
Virginia's eyes fell before the gdZe
of these two men. for they had none
of the shyness and none of the indjrec-
ton Of the ruder men she had met.
Redfied did not soften his words on
Gregg's account. On the contrary. he
made them still more cutting and to
the line.
THE mere fact that live near the
open range or national forest does
not give me any rights in the range or
forest" he was saying as Gregg took
his seat Il enjoy the privilege of
these government grazing grounds.
and ought to be perfectly willing to
pay the fee These forests are the
property of the whole nation. They
are public lands and should yield a
revenue to the whole nation. 1t is
silly to expect the government to &c
on enriching a few of us stockmen at
the expense of others. see this. and
I accept the change"
after you've got rich at it," said
Gregg.
"Well. haven't you?" retorted Red
field. Are you SO greedy that nothing
will stop you
Gregg growled out: I'm not letting
any Of my rights slip. I'll have your
head. Mr.. supervisor. I'll carry my
fight to the secretary"
Every WELL" returned Redfield
"carry 1t to the president If you wish
l simply repeat that your sheep must
correspond to your permit. and If you
don't send up and remove the extrs
number will do it myself. l dom
make the rules Of the department. NJ,
Job is to carry them OUT
BY this time every person in the
room was tense with interest They
all knew Gregg and his imperious
methods. Some of the cattlemen in the
-roop had suffered from his greed. and
while they were not partisans OF the
supervisor, they were glad to see h.
face his opponent fearlessly.
Lie delivered parting blow: Bull