The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1913-03-25
ESTABLISHED 1876

to find the glare of a grass fire red
dening the sky with lurid Pickering
light and outlining the tall, graceful
form of the bad man on his brown
horse.
'WeI, what is it?' he demanded
sharply.
Fire! See it coming? I've come to
help you ditch it around the house or
else get the women away. What do
you want to do?" He asked the ques-
ton impatiently, and indeed there was
little time TO be lost, for the long red
wall of flame was approaching rapidly.
The ranch house was of adobe and
would stand the fierce encircling
flames if they could manage the ditch.
They could turn the contents Of the
water tank into the ditch, Dick was
thinking while he rapidly dressed and
ordered his family from their beds.
Loo Sing had quite disappeared, and
the three Mexicans, who were all the
help Dick had on the farm at this sea
son, were doubtless gambling down at
Cummings saloon, eight miles away.
There was nobody here but the bad
man and Dick Fancher.
First they drove the frightened
horses. to the shed near the house
Then they turned loose the restless
cattle and saw them flee instinctively
to the refuge of the hills to the east.
1t would take days to gather them in
again. The two men fell to work with
shovels and made a wide ditch all
around the little lonely adobe house,
waiting there in the middle Of the
crisp, parched plain to know what her
fate would be- Would the heat of the
flames crack her walls beyond endur-
ance of the women within, or would
the two be able to complete the ditch
and fill it with water, thus frustrating
the cruel tongues of devastating fire2
The ditch was finished while the hot
breath of fame famed their cheeks
They turned the water an all too slen-
der stream, into the ditch, saw the
earth drink it up, drink and drink, and
then when it could absorb no more
saw the ditch slowly fill to half its
depth. Then Gay Ransom, hatless,
coatless, singed by flame and scorehed
beyond recognition, threw pail after
pail of water against the walls of the
house, even while the heated surface
Missed under the contact and the steam
rose in a white drift. Dick Fancher
was everywhere at once, beating back
little incursions of fame, tossing a
bucket of water on a flaming shrub,
chasing bewildered chickens into the
house, soothing first his family and
then his horses until the morning
dawned and found them safe.
Black and grimy beyond recognition,
they stared at each other while the
smoke clouds beloved away to the
northeast Then it was that Loo Sing
emerged from the adobe chicken house,
wild with fright and dragging after
him the evidences Of his own guilt i
the shape of bag of muffled chickens
Il owe you the sincerest apology
Ransom said Dick Fancher frankly
as he grasped the others hand, land
owe you more than can say for the
help you've given me tonight"
Il think you've made a mistake.
Dick, DEAR said Mans soft voice. with
a hint of laughter in it's tone. "This
is not Gay Ransom, the desperate. l
am sure it is Mr. Block himself, for l
met him last summer at the Tetleys'"
"Of course of coursew cried Bleck
excitedly. Il knew I'd seen you be-
fore. 1 took you in to dinner, you
know"
"Please explain" said Dick with
what patience he could muster "Why
are you not Gay Ransom? Why are
you Mr.. Block? Why are you posing
as bad man and sheep herderY
Block laughed heartily. "Pm Bleck
because 1 can't help it. / came out
here to learn the business ON my ranch
from the bottom up, and the bottom
seems to be herding. told my fore
man I'd be incog for awhile, and the
rascal planted on me the name and
reputation of well known bad man
hereabouts. I've just discovered the
fact, and | marvel that I've not been
lynched before this"
This is the story of how the bad man
came to be Dick Fancher's warmest
friend and finally his brother-in-law
and how Nan became her brothers
nearest neighbor and yet lived in the
next county.