The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1924-06-25

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looking for a husband3 Not Zen. No
no. certainly not Zeu.
Then there was George Drazk.
whose dey0tions huctuated between
that Pefe-horse" and the latest fe
male 10 cross his orbit At the thought
Of George Drazk Zen laughed outright
She had played with him. She had
made a monkey Of him, and he de-
served al he had got Il was not the
first occasion upon which Zen had let
herself drift with the tide. always
sure Of justifying herself and discom-
fitting someone by the swift, strong
strokes with which. at the right mo
ment, she reached the shore. Zen
liked to think Of herself as careering
through life in the same way as she
rode the half-brOken horses Of her IA
Tiers range. How many such a horse
had thought that the 1.-the body on his
back was something TO race with, toy
with, and. when tired OF that, fling
precipitately to eartbl And not one
of those horses but had found that
while he might race and toy with his
rider within limitations, at the last
that light body was master, and not
he. Yet Zen loved best the
horse that raced widest and was hard
est to bring into subsection.
That was her philosophy of life so
far as a girl Of twenty may have
philosophy of life. 1t was to 90 on and
see what would happen, supported IL
ways by a quiet confidence that in any
pinch she could take care of herself
/ She had learned to ride and shoot. 10
sleep out and cook in the open, to
ride the ranges after dark by instinct
and the stars-she had learned these
things while other girls Of her age
learned the rudiments of fancywork
and the scales of the piano.
Her father and mother knew her
disposition, loved it, and feared for it. |
They knew that there was never a
rider so brave, so skillful, so strong, /
but some outlaw would throw him at /
last. So at fourteen they sent her /
east to 2 boarding school In two 1
months she was back with L letter Of |
expulsion, and the boast ef having |
BACKED the eyes of the principals
daughter.
They couldn't teach Iue any more
Mother" she said. They admitted il
SO here am"
Y.D. was plainly perplexed. "It's
about time you was halter-broke," he
commented. who's goin' to do it?"
'If girl has learned to read and
think, what more can the schools do
for herr" she demanded
And Y.D., never having been to
school, could not answer
The sun was Gaping the Rockies
with molten gold when the rancher
and his daughter swung down the foot
hill slopes to the camp on the South
Y.D. Strings of men and horses re-
turning from the upland meadows
could be seen from the hillside as they
descended.
Y.D's sharp eyes measured the
scale of operations
They're hittin' the high spots" he
said, approvingly. THAT boy Transley
is a hum-dinger."
Zen made no reply.
81 say he's a hum-dinger," her ia
Their repeated.
The girl looked up with a quick flush
Of surprise. Y.D. was no puzzle to
her. and if he went out of his way ,
20 commend Transley he had a pur. |
pose. I
Mr.. Transley seems TO have made |
hit with you, Dad" she remarked, I
I
well. do like TO see a man who's '
rot the goods in him. ! like a man !
hat can get there, just as l like a I
lorse that can get there. I've often q
wondered, Zen, what kind you'd take '
p with, when it came to that. an =
Oped he'd be a live crittur. After
m dead an buried l don't want no
Their dead one spendin' my simoleOns-"
How about Mr. Under" said Zen,
aively.
Her father looked up sharply. "Zen.'
e said, you're not serious?7
Zen laughed. 81 don't figure you're
zactly serious, Dad. in your talk about
ransley. You're just feeling out
ow about Linder?"
"Linders all right Y.D. replied
Better than the average, admit. But
IS not the man Transley is. If he
us, he wouldn't be workin' for Trans
Y. You can't keep man down. Zen.
he's got the goods in him. Under
mes up over the average, SOS you
n notice it, but not like Transley
eS."
Zen did not pursue the subject. She
derstood her fathers philosophy
~ well indeed. and. TO large de
ee, she accepted 1t as her own. The
" quality YD. took of his hat TO
IS the ability TO do things. And
DIS idea of things was very con.
tie; it had to do with steers and
ID. with hay and money and men,
was by such things he measured
cess And Ter was disposed to
zee with hin. Why not? 1t was