Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1915-09-25
know about anything here till otbs.
people have forgotten It."

1
people have forgotten It."
Norcross followed. her into the oftica
curious to know more about her. sba
was so changed from his previous con
ception of her that he was puzzlod
She had the directness and the brevitv
of phrase Of business man as she
opened letters and discussed their con.
tents with the men.
Truly she is different" thought Nor.
cross, and yet she lost something hv
reason of the display Of her proficiency
as clerk Il wish she would leava
business to some one else" he inward.
J ly grumbled rs he rose to 30.
She looked up from her desk. Coma
in again later. We may be able to
reach the mill"
He thanked her and went back to his
hotel. where he overhauIed his outfit
and wrote some letters His dsgust
Of the town was lessened by the pres.
ence of that handsome girl, and the
hope that he might see her at luncheon
made him impatient of the clock.
She did not appear in the dining
room. and when Norcross inquired Of
Nash whether. she took her meals az
the hotel or not the expert replied:
No; she goes home The ranch Is
only few miles down the valley. Oc-
caslonally we invite her. but she don't
think much of the cooking"
One of the young surveyors put in
word; Il shouldn't think she would.
Id ride ten miles any time to eat one
Of Mrs. Mcl'arIane's dinners"
"Yes," agreed Nash, with reflective
look in his eyes. "She's a mighty fine
girl, and join the boys in wishing her
better luck than marrying Cliff Bel
den"
as II settled that wayY asked Nor
cross.
"Yes. The supervisor warned us all,
but even he never has any good words
for Belden. He's surly cuss and viO-
lently opposed to the service. His
brother is one Of the proprietors of the
Meeker mill, and they have all tried to
bulldoze Landon, our ranger over there.
By the way, you'll like Landon. He's
a Harvard man and good ranger.
His shack Is only half mile from
Meeker's house. It's pretty well
known fact that Alec Belden Is part
proprietor of saloon over there that
worries the supervisor worse than any
thing. Cliff swears he's not connected
with 1t, but he's more or less sympa-
thetic with the crowd"
Norcross, already deeply interested
In the present and future of girl
whom he had met for the first time
only the day before, was quite ready
to give up his trip to Meeker.
Early OH the second morning he went
to the postofiice-w was also the
telephone station-to get letter or
message from Meeker. He found nei-
ther. But as he was standing in the
door undecided about taking the stage
Berea came into town riding fine bay
pony and leading blaze faced buck
skin behind her.
Her face shone cordially as she call
ed out, "Well, how do you stack up
this morning?"
"riptop," he answered, in an attempt
to match her CHEEKY greeting.
do you like our town better?'
mot a bitl But the hills are magni6-
cent"
Anybody turned up from the mill?"
mo, haven't heard word from
there. The telephone is still out Of
commission"
'"They can't locate the break. Uncle
Joe sent word by the stage driver ask
ing us to keep an eye out for you and
send you over. I've come to take you
over myself"
That's mighty good of you, but it's a
good deal to ask"
81 want to see Uncle Joe on business,
anyhow, and you'll like the ride better
than the journey by stage"
Leaving the horses standing with
their bride relns hanging on the
ground, she led the way to the Office.
when father comes in tell him
where I've gone and send Mr.. Nor
cross packs by the first wagon"
You'd better take my bay" said
Berea. "0ld Paintface there is little
notional."
Norcross approached his mount with
a caution which indicated that he had
at least been instructed in range horse
psychology, and as he gathered his
reins together to mount, Berrie re-
marked:
Il hope you're saddle WISE"
Il had a few lessons in riding
school," he replied modestly.
Young Downing approached the girl
with low voiced protest. "You
oughtn't to ride old Paint. He nearly
pitched the supervisor the other day."
I'm not worried" she said and
swung to ber saddle.
The ugly beast made Off In tear
Ing sidewise rush, but she smilingy
called back, "All set" And Norcross
followed her In high admiration.
Eventually she brought, her broncho TO
subsection, and they trotted or togeth-
er along the wagon road quite comfort