THE FOREST RANGER

—hardy son of the pioneers—representing the finer social order of the future, rides his lonely trail, guarding with single-hearted devotion the splendid heritage of us all.


IX

THE FOREST RANGER

I

One April day some years ago, when the rustling of cattle (a picturesque name for stealing) was still going on in one of our central mountain states, Abe Kitsong, a rancher on the Shellfish, meeting Hanscom, the forest ranger of that district, called out: