Semi-weekly herald. [volume] (Durango, Colo.) 1907-1917, 1911-02-20

close beside this maid of the valley
stirred his blood to the danger point.
1t was only by ar effort of the will
that he kept In touch with the CONVEX
sation.
II hadn't the least thought of seeing
you here" said Virginia. How did
you happen to Gomez"
"Redfield telephoned me at the mill,
and I came at once. l haven't been
here since May, ard Just thought I'd
take half day of. Luckily my I'M
derstudy was with me. left him 'on
the job"
He did not tell her that she was the
principal reason for this sudden de-
scent upon Elk Lodge, and no one but
Redfield knew the killing ride he had
taken In order to be in at the begin
ming of the dinner. The girls face
and voice, especially her voice, had
been with him night and day as he
went about his solitary duties. Her
life problem had come to fill his mind
to a disturbing degree. and he was
eager to know more of her and of her
struggle against the vice and vul-
garity of the Forks.
How is your motherr he asked a
few minutes later.
Not ut all well. Mr.. Redfield is to
take the doctor back. with us tomor-
row." The ecstasy died out of her
face, and the flexible lips dropped with
troubled musing. 81 am afraid she
suffers more than she will admit"
L., .I,-
should get away from her seat at that
cash register and return to the open
air. A touch of camp life would help
her. She sticks too close to her work"
81 know she does, but she won't let
me relieve her, even for an hour. 1t
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. 81 have
done something, but not as I'd like to
do. really think II mother wishes
to sell she could do so now to much
better advantage
"Ive no doubt of it. Really, I'm
not being funny, Miss Wetnerford,
heroic. It's no easy thing to go into
place like that and make 1t hab-
liable. 1t 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
1t was a great pleasure to hear her
small self praised for courage and self
reliance by one whose daily work was
heroic All things conspired to make
a conquest of her heart, for the ranger
bore himself with grace and dealt with
his silver deity. His face, seen from
the side, was older and sterner than
she had thought It, but 1t was very at
tractive in line.
Redtield appealed to the ranger.
"Ross, you're all sorts of reactionary
What do you say to this2 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 state game?
What makes them so? They are lands
which the whole people purchased and
which the whole people defended"
"Heah, heahv cheered Enderby.
Bridges bristled with anger and went
of into long harangue on state rights
and the dangers of Capitalization, to
which Enderby replied: "Bosh! The
whole trouble with your bally gov
eminent is its lack of cohesion. II !
had my way I'd wipe out the senate.
You're such blooming asses over here.
You don't know enough to keep real
ly big man In your presidential chair.
This fusslng about every four years is
plain rot. Here's Roosevelt gets In
the midst of lot of the finest kind of
reforms, you know, and directly you
go and turn him out. Then II you get
a bad man you've to wait four years
till you can fetch him a whack. Why
not arrange 1t SO you can pitch your
president out the minute he goes
wrong? l say your old rag of con
stitution is ball and chain on your
national leg. England is immeasura-
bly, better off so far as that goes"
Ross turned to Virginia, leaving the
political discussion to go on over his
head. 81 was back in the old island
couple Of years ago, and you've no
idea how small 1t seemed to me. 1t
surely is a right little, tight little
island couldn't help wondering
whether the men In parliament were
as important as they seemed to think
they were and whether England is not
really an empty shell of empire. a
memory Of what 1t once was.
couldn't settle down there some way.
1 was homesick for the mountains In
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. Il guess I'm an American /
said to my sisters"
To Lee Virginia the talk of 1.-THE
curse of democracy" and 1.-The decay
of empire" was unexciting. but when
Va a.xk, col 81 a