The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-06-24


will know he's been In fight before
we fin"
He broke off abruptly, for he had
just remembered that he was to dine
at the Pennington house the following
Thursday-and he was not the sort Of
man who smlllngly breaks bread with
his enemy.
All about Bryce were scenes of
activity. Of human endeavor and to
him in that moment came the thought
MY father brought all this to pass
and now the task of continuing IL is
mine All those men who earn n
living in Cardigan's mill and on Cardl-
gnn's dock--those sailors who sail the
ships that carry Cardigan's lumber
into the distant maI-ts of men-are de-
pendent upon me; aad my father used
to tell me not to fail them. Must my
father have wrought all this in vain?
And must | stand by and see all this
go to satisfy the overwhelming ambition
of stranger?" His big hands clench.
ed. "No!" he growled savagely. Give
me your last five annual statements,
Mr. Sinclair, please"
The old servitor brought forth the
documents in question. Bryce stuffed
them into his pocket and left the Office.
Three quarters Of an hour later he en-
tered the little amphltheater in the
Valley Of the Giants and paused with
an expression of dismay. one of the
giants had fallen and lay stretched
across the little clearing. In its de-
scent II had demolished the little
white stone over his mothers grave
and had driven the fragments az the
stone deep into the earth.
The fact that the tree was down,
however. was secondary to the fact
that neither wind nor lightning had
brought II low, but rather the impious
hand of man; for the. great Jagged
stump showed all too plainly the
marks OF cross-cut saw and axe; a
pile of chips four feet deep Uttered the
ground.
For fully a minute Bryce stood
dumbly gazing upon the sacrilege be-
fore his rage and horror found vent In
words. AN enemy has done this
aohl,ns nAnd o,.ar hor ,ravew
-, A, ,ha noin,
where Bryce paused a malignant
growth had developed on the trunk
t..,. -. nut ,,.os ,ha hur,
90 nr,zod for ,oh,a-tons and nanellInp
sp ~ p.e 49, co., tnot ,ho tv,,s,od
- -. sI,o,,a. c,roin Lands 10 the
- -, o,,t,a,,.,,rar,, haoutv ,vher
o,,s,,, - 80, ,ha, tha ,yorl,
., "a. ..,,,.,',,,,,,,o,, hod haar
oooou,n,,shea varv neatly with f,
-, a.. .,,, ,,,o ,,,h norbons tar
90. T., ,na,',o,o,. ho, haon neotl,
1t, 80 ,,u,,, as a ho,sa,vifa cut,
s,ioo as,ar slico from +. loaf of broad
"a ,,,,os..,,, ,h., ,hasa e,,ces nr.cti
cal,v circuIar In shane had been role,
ont of tho woods to some conyeyanc,
u,oi,,n, 10 race,ye them
whot p,.roo cou,d nor understand
,ov,a,ar wos tho stu,,Id brutality n
en-, rotdo,.. T., fal,,rg tho traa marel,
Co.. ,ha, soo,,on 90 hurl Pv nermit
,,no ,ha ,roa to stand and merel,
hn,I,,n s,oo,uo mn IN the hur, m,
latter Gould Rave haen removad with
ont vital injury 70 the tree-wherea
hv destrov,ng the tree tbe wretche
had evidencad all too clearly ~ Bryc
n w,pton es.-,r so add insult TO in
iurv
"poor old Dadi" he murmuret
"pm glad now he has been unable L
get nm here and see this. 1t woul
have broken his heart. I'll have thi
tree made into fence posts and tn
stump dynsmited and removed thi
summer After he is operated on an
gets hack his sight. he will come u
here-ond he must never know. PEI
hans he will have forgotten how man
trees stood in this circle"
uo o,sod paaninp out from M
dar chin among the litter at his fe,
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