Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1924-06-21

Z
lowed up In the tawny sameness of
the ranges; the vision catches only
the higher levels, and one may gallop
to the verge of a precipice before be-
coming aware of its existence II was
to this that Zen had referred III speak
Ing of Transleys precipitateness.
Drazk followed the gully up into
the hills, letting his horse drop back to
walk in the hard going along the
dry bed of a stream which flowed only
In the spring freshets. Pete had to
pick his way over powders ana across
stretches of sand and boggy patches
Of black mud formed by little springs
leaking out under clumps of willows.
Here and there the white ribs of a
steers skeleton peered through the
brush; once or twice an overpowering
stencil gave notice of a carcass not
wholly decomposed.
1t was not a pleasant environment,
but in an hour Drazk was out again
on the brow Of the brown hills, where
the sunshine flooded about and fresh
breeze beat up against his face. After
all his winding in the gully he was
not more than a mile from the cut
bank.
II reckon I could get a great view
from that cutbank Of what Landson is
doln'," he suddenly remarked to him
self He took Off his hat and scratched
his tousled head In reflection. hinder
said to beat It," he ruminated, "but |
can't get back tonight anyway. an 1t
might be worth while to do a little
| sCoutin'. Here goes 7"
He struck smart gallop to the
southwark, and brought his horse up,
spectacularly, yard from the edge
of the preciplce. The view which his
t~pOsition commanded was superb. Up
the valley lay the white tents Of Trans
ley's outfit, almost hidden In green
foliage; the ford across the river was
distinctly visible, and stretching south
from It lay, like great curylng snake,
the trail which wound across the val
ley and lest itself in the foothills far
to the south across the western hori-
zon hung the purple curtain OF the
| mountains, soft and vague in their
monday mists, but touched with set
tings Of ivory where the snow fields
| beat back the blazing sunshine; far
down the valley was the CLEAN Of
Landson's whitewashed buildings, and
nearer at hand the greenish-brown of
| the upland meadows which his hay
makers had already cleared of their
| crop OF prairie wool This was now
| arising In enormous stacks; 1t must
! have been three miles to where they
| lay. but DraZk's keen eyes could dis
| tingulsh ten completed stacks and two
| others In course of building. He could
even see the sweeps hauling the new
| hay, after only a few hours of sun
| drying. and sliding It up the inclined
| platforms which dumped 1t into the
| form OF stacks The foothlll rancher
makes hay by horse power, and almost
without the aid Of a pitchfork, Even
rs Drazk watched he saw load skid
| ded up; saw It's apparent momentary
| poise In air; saw the well-trained
horses stop and turn and start back to
| the meadow with their sweep. And
up the valley Transleys outfit was at
a standstlll.
Drazk employed his limited but ex-
| pressIve vocabulary. It was against
| all human nature to look on such a
scene unmoved. He recalled Y.D' s
| half-spoken wish about a random
cigar Then suddenly George Drazk's
mouth dropped open and his eyes
rounded with a great idea.
OF course It was against all the
rules of the range-it was outlaw
buslness-but what about driving iron
| Stakes in a hay meadow? Drazk's
| philosophy was that the end justifies
the means. And If the end would win
| the approval of YD.-and of Y.D.' s
| daughter-then any means was justi-
/ fed Had not Under said. Burn the
| grass on the road2" Drazk knew well
enough that LInder's remark was a
figure of speech, but his eccentric
mind found no trouble in converting It
/ into literal Instructions.
Drazk shifted the air and looked at
| the sun. A soft breeze was moving
slowly up the valley; the sun was Just
past noon. There was every reason
to expect that as the lowland prairfes
| grew hot with the afternoon sunshine
a breeze would come down out Of the
mountains to occupy the area of great
atmospheric expansion Drazk knew
nothing about the theory OF the thing /;
all that concerned him was the fact
that by mid-afternoon the wind would
/ probably change to the west.
Two miles down the valley he found
a gully which gave access to the wa
/ ter's edge. He descended. located a
/ ford, and crossed. There were cattle
trails through the cottonwoods; he
might have followed them. but he
feared the telltale Shoe-prints. He
/ elected the more difficult route down
1 the stream Itself. The South YaD. ran
I mostly On a wide gravel bottom; It
was possible 70 pick out a course
which kept Pete IN water seldom
Nf,~h-r fNar SIS Enans An hny7r ~