The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1911-05-05
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES

o0naen tr8ft tnah fnft thef nttncn
n ana vainiy tried ~ I'm two settlers
whom thor met on the road German
farmers, with no connection, 70 far ~
known. with the thieves These men
escaped and gave the alarm. N q
few hours TIE whole range was anaiue
with veneefuI Ore Tlse Forks. a. You
nay recall. was like q swarm OF bum
blebccs Every man and hos was
nrmed ana mounted. Tho storekeepers
distributed guns and ammunition,
leaders developed. md The cmbattled
'punkIn rollers rustlers and towns
men rode ont 20 meet the invaders"
Tho girl palcd with memory Of It.
1T was terrible. went NIL day with
ont eating, and for two nights we
were al too excited to sleep II seem
ell MS II the world were coming to an
end. Mother cried because they
wouldn't let her go with them. She
didn't know father was leading the
other army"
"She must have known soon. for 1t
was reported that your father was
among them. She certainly knew when
they were driven 20 earth in that log
fort, for they were obliged to restrain
her by force from going to your fa-
Their. AS run over those furious
days 1t all seems incredible, like a sud
Een reversion to barbarism."
How did 1t all end3 The soldiers
came, didnx they?"
Eyes; the long arm Of Uncle Sam
reached out and took hold upon the
necks of both parties. | guess your
father and bis band would have died
right there had not the regular army
interfered. 1t only required sergeant
wearing Uncle Sans uniform to come
among those armed and furious cow
boys and remove their prisoners"
Il saw that. It was very strange
that sergeant was so young and SO
brave"
He turned and smiled at her. "Dc
you know who that was?v
Her eyes flashed. She drew her
breath with gasp. WAS it Mr.. Cav
anagh?"
Eyes, 1t was Ross. He was serving
in the regular army at the tine He
has told me since that he felt no fear
whatever. Uncle Sans blue coat was
like Siegfrieds magic armor,' he said.
1T was che kind of thing the mounted
police Of Canada had been called upon
to do many time, and ! went in and
got my men, That ended the war,
SO far as violent measures went, and
1t really ended the sovereignty of the
cattleman. The power Of the hester
has steadily increased from that mo-
ment."
but my father--what became of
him? They took him away to the east,
and that is all ever knew. What do
you think became of him2"
II could never make up my mind.
All sorts Of rumors come to us con-
corning 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 it 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, II shall
never think of my father as bad man
-he was always so gentle to me-"
you need not condemn him, my
dear young lady. The people of the
Forks-some Of them, at least--con-
slider him a traitor and regard you as
the daughter of a renegade, but what
does 1t 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 a
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
filed with larger conceptions of life
than her judgment had hitherto been
called upon to meet She knew that
Redficld was right, and yet that world
Of the past-the world Of the swift
herdsman and his trampliDg, long
horned, half wild kine-still appealed
to her imagination. The west of her
girlhood seemed heroic In memory.
Even the quiet account Of It to which
she had just listened could not conceal
its epic largeness Of movement. The
part which troubled her most was her
fathers trcachery to his neighbors.
That he should fight, that he should
kill men In, honorable warfare, she
could understand. but not his recrean-
cy, his lesertion Of her mother aud
herself
She came back 10 dwell az last on
the action Of that slim young soldier
who had calmly ridden through the
Infatuated mob. She remembered that
she had thrilled even then at tho
vague and inpcrsonaI power which lie
represented. TO her childish mind he
seemed to bear y charm, like the he.
roes of hor story books somcfhina
which made him inyuInerabie
After a long pause Redfeld spoke
again. THE niemory Of your fnthcr
viii make life for time a bit hard
for you In Roaring Fork. Perhapa
your pother's advice Is sound. why
not come 70 Sulphur CITY, which 4
almost entirely Of The new spirit7''
IT ! can get MY mother to como.
tn xvlii ". .,lox1 "A. d<,s W. 49, 4 H.. ~