The Huttig news., 1916-03-18
CHAP FER XXVi.
The spirit of the East

company H. uh01f captain Donald son, they trotted swiftly up with the quickstep ot nard-trainea infantry and stood in column or fouYs while the officers sought the head Of al fairs. Daily promptly sent fer the young forest ranger. and in less than 1t takes n the relliGg these two keen Witted Westernefs, tae w0odsman and the soldier. were ready 10 grap Die with the enemy. Light-marehing kits were dumped upon the ground and the har7-UUseiea r.en tcok 10 the hills and the t1nt.f gsaer quick decisive orders. Two nsHrs later wagons arrived with commiasary sup plies and the smoky @ciaekeped val ley tock on a military air.
 It was Titar struggle, and it was indicative of t.e force that mas con quered rature-the human ateras toil- ing in semi3arkness beneath the threatening forest choked ny the smoke, fayea v the almost ureear. able heat menaced " the flames that at any moment Hfaht sweep here or i of the uneven hills arf cut of escape
 That was the great danger they guarded agaiest-the possibility ef getting hem~1sd in Guards were ee- tailed to watch the varguards q the foe, to note the speed ef the flames the lie of the tiraher, the ines chat were iikety to aJ fastest. following the different gfowtEs, hut in the mysteri. oas dusk aaf the silence of vast mingled soua3s they were iTp9tent and each man had t3 take care of him. self
 The mighty boora of falling pqtri- archs ot the forest, hcary with thou sand years of age crashing through obstructing Sreacaas. shook the earth each moment. With each such stu pendons fall wealth and werla-eccn omy and prudence tren nble9 at the sacrilege. 1t was a carnival sf waste. a sacrifice of tho gifts of God-ana among all those who fought it witr heart and hand and traln there was none who knew it's worldwide import so well who lamented it so keenly as the lean brown forest rangers whose special fee it was
 And to think a dozen niles of g-v ernment trails would have prevented 1t! cried the leader with an oath.
 Out in the valleys beyond, the heavy smoke had cbseured the setting sun entirely. Over the crest of tho Coast Range it had spread up to the heav. ens, drifted afar on the changing wind ahd all the distant valley ef the Will ianette knew that the forest fires were burning in the hills
 The papers throughout the state told of it that day. and it awakened ne more interest than would have at tended the announcement of a heavier run Of sal2.on than was usual ia tie Colurahia
 Ttey were too common, those fires that spcrtei with the national wealth each year, to ruch part of every day life, and they did net ksow that this WIS te be a marker of tir4e in the coast eountry.
 Time was when they were uakr9wn. these monsters cf dostrueticn-a long. past tine it was, when those first for est rangers, tEe silent Rcd Met ot tie sills, had burned out the under brush each year so that a pony might go anywhere unhiudercd
 Tie silent rangers had gone with tho years-passed tc the Hunting Grcuras a1i the reservations, via civ ilizatioa. and new the great timber had shed it's dry foliage and it's pitch the little grcwths had sprung up sea sci after season, the vines had crept between and a man might not pene. trate the fastnesses without built trails.
 So Destiny took up the land and played with it that hot, dry August.
 All through the early hours of the long night they labored, dirty. black eHed, tattered scarecrows of men, run ming here and there. digging like mad in the wide trench that was to stop the surface flames, saving unceas- ingly at the towering trees. while the guards brought twenty-ainute tidings of the approaching fire
 IflSU aSdlHSt Iuc Cun, SIlOAe-l2Nt. ered sky the dark canopy of the East Belt whispered and moaned as if in fear, and from time to time Sandry haggard, grirl-hpped speeter of a man, lifted his bloodshot eyes toward it. It was still his own his future of the Dillingworth, despite the tangle of Hampden's threats, the unrecorded deed and the unfinished trail of the Yellow Pines at the south. and it pulled at his heart pathetically.
 There was still a stretch of almost impenetrable timber near the summit of the big ridge which must be cut through before the flames reached it. or all would be lost.
 Shall we make it, John?" asked the owner desperately of Daily, who ran by in the smoke with wet rags to tie over the moHths of the n4en
 Ought to If tEe wiGI stays wtere it ls
 It was two o'clock ard that hour in the sleeping world sutsiea wien all tfl= eler1e1.ts are at an eh5.
 Thap au cndaa--iv 0Gsfffy laupIe5