The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1924-06-20
CHAPTER V-Continued.

The wind had. gone down as the
afternoon waned, and the fire was
working up the valley leisurely when
Zen set out on her return trip. A
couple of miles from the Lint home
stead she met it's advance guard. 1t
was evening now; the sun shone dull
red through the banked clouds of
smoke resting against the mountains
to the west; the flames danced and
f1ickered, advanced and receded,
sprang up and died down again, along
mile after mile of front. 1t was a
beautiful thing to behold, and Zen
drew her horse to stop on hilltop
to take in the grandeur of the scene.
Near at hand frolicking flames were
working about the base of the hill,
and far down the valley and over the
foothills the TANKS of the fire
stretched like lines of impish infantry
In single file.
Suddenly she heard the sound of
hoofs, and a rider drew up at her
side. She supposed him one Of Trans
ley's men, but could not recall hav-
ing seem him in the camp. He sat his
horse with an ease and grace that her
eye was quick to appraise; ne re-
moved his broad felt hat before he
spoke; and he did not call her
'.ma'am."
pardon mel believe / am speak
ing to Y.D.'s daughter?" he asked, and
before waiting for reply fastened to
Introduce himself. "My name is Dem
nfson Grant, foreman on the Landson
ranch"
"Oh!' she exclaimed 81 thought
/ thought you were one of Mr..
Transley's men," Then, with quick
sense of the barrier between them,
she added, II hope you don't think
that THAT we-had anything to do
with this?" She indicated the ruined
valley with her hand.
"No more than had to do with
those towards stakes" he answered
Neither of us understand just now,
but can we take that much for
granted?"
There was something about him
that rather appealed to her. 81 think
we cam" she said, simply.
For a moment they watched the
kaleidoscope scene below them. ut
may help you to understand" she con-
tinued, "if 1 say that 1 was riding
down to see If 1 could be of some use
to Mrs. Landson when the wind
changed, and l saw / would be more
likely to be needed here"
"And 1t may help you to under
stand" he said, ''if say that as soon
as immediate danger to the Landson
ranch was over rode up to Transley's
camp. Only the cook was there, and
he told me of your having set out to
help Mrs. Lint, so l followed up For
tunately the fire had lost its punch; 1t
will probably go out through the
night
There was short silence, in which
she began to realize her peculiar posi-
! ton. This man was the rival of
Transley and Under in the business
of hay-cutting in the valley. He was
| the foreman of the Landson crowd
Landson, against whom her father
had been voicing something very near
| to murder threats not many hours ago.
Had she met him before the fire she
would have .spurned and despised him.
but nothing unites the factions of
man like a fight against q common
| elemental enemy. Besides, there was
the question, How did the fire start?
That was a question every Landson
man would be asking. Grant had been
generous about it; he had asked her
to be equally generous about the cpl
sode Of the stakes. And there
was something about the man that ap-
peeled to her. She had never felt that
| way about Transley or Under. She
had been interested in them; amused,
| perhaps; out for an adventure, per-
| haps; but this man. Nonsensei II
was the environment-the romantic
setting. AS for Drazk- A quick
sense of horror caught her as the
memory of his choking face protruded
| into her consciousness.
"Well. suppose we ride home" he
suggested. "By jove! The fire has
worked around u.s."
| 1t was true. The hill on which they