Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1915-12-10

went white beneath his CRIME at
sound of it.
s"My Godl" he cried hoarsely, it's
goin' away from u.s."
And Sandry, halted a pace away
by that cry of despair, looked upon
the first really great sight of his life.
more meni" shouted the foreman
hoarsely. you Harris, go telephone
to Corvallis for more men,"
Its done, Johnny" said Ma Daily,
painting in the light, her sleeves
rolled up from brown, capable arms,
81 sent S'letz some time back. She's
calm fer all the stations between"
The valley was as light as day, illu.
mined all up and down its length, and
three horsemen were Looping up its
level floor. Lean, 1.-THE men they
were, clad in sober khaki, and they
leaped from their horses with bust
nesslike alacrity, dropping reins owe
saddle horns instead of on the ground.
Those three horses were well trained,
intelligent aids, ready TO stand for
hours in one spot, to come at a
whistle, and they wanted no drag
cling straps to hinder.
We're forest rangers" announced
the spokesman, a quick-eyed, steady
young chap, to Sandry, give me your
men"
Thank tn Lord!" said Daily fer
vently, take command"
The newcomer talked a moment
with his two companions, motioning.
dividing localities, sketching a quick
plan. Then he turned to the owner and
his foreman.
Where's your best timber?" he
asked.
Right over that first ridge to tn
east an south-an' there's a big fire
burnin' back toward it,"
Come along. / want to climb that
east ridge"
In hurrying silence the three men
climbed the mountain, standing at last
on a narrow crest between two roll
licking areas Of flame that leaped and
ate and roared in a hundred places,
The stranger questioned ~pointedly-
how long they had been burning. how
many fires there were at the start,
how it had all begun, and Sandry no.
ticed his thoroughness.
Daily gave every detail freely.
"It's ben set" he said bitterly, AN
fer tn life of me l don't know why
We'd a-had it all under by now but
fer this one up here-an' tn start
an'-but, oh Lord, what's tn use?
They ben springin' us EASTERN we'd
get 'em out"
"Got any enemies?"
"Only the Yella Pines, an they're
rich as us-off to tn south there"
The ranger studied the hills. the lie
of the land, the trend of the valleys,
and held up his hat to get the force
and direction of the wind.
NORTH" said Daily, ben whippin'
up from tn backwater like hell all
day. That's what's done tn business"
Wrong" said the ranger, north
by-northeast. Worse, for it's going to
change. Then it'll go back toward
that heavier timber there
He nodded toward the East Belt and
Daily groaned.
Sandry only shut his lips.
He began to see why his foreman,
himself a born woodsman and familiar
with the region, had so heartily
turned over his command to this
stranger, popped up from nowhere.
He recognized trained ability, a man
Of business handling his business.
They hastily returned to the valley
and the ranger gathered twenty men,
putting them under one of his aides.
go up over that ridge" he direct
ed briefly, land cut a forty-foot fall
straight across the dip behind the
fire. Go on and cut it up over the big
ridge. Don't stop to fight"
AS the men hurried off with cross
cuts and axes, he plunged into the
smoke and fire, shouting terse COM
mands, taking men from what seemed
imperative tasks to put them at work
in places removed from the fire-dig-
ging trenches, cutting a great pine
here, a towering spruce or fir there.
Good man." painted Sandry to his
foreman as they passed with axes
and dripping sacks.
BEST thing in the timber. They
know tn woods an tn fires an tn
air currents. Wish't we had a hun
dred of EN-. They'd save tn country
is goin' to hell with these fires"
The one-horse railroad redeemed it.
self that night, for it tent a special
train from the Summit with all the
men from the stations along the iso-
lated mountain line. That was no
great load, for the few tiny towns lost
in the wilderness had little to boast
of in population, yet what they sent
was good, live stuff-timbermen and
fire-fighters by instinct.
Dawn came over the mountains In
blood-red haze. The sun was a ball of
copper shining dimly through a can
opy of dun-white smoke. The wind,