THE RAI.STON TRIBUNE. RALSTON. OKLAHOMA
“JULE8 RONDEAU."
Synopsis.—Pioneer In the Cnllfor-
nla redwood region, John Cardigan,
at forty-seven, Is the leading citizen
of Sequoia, owner of mills, ships,
and many acres of timber, a wid-
ower after three yearn of married
life, and father of two-day-old
Bryca Cardigan. At fourteen Bryce
makes the acquaintance of Shirley
Sumner, a visitor at Sequela, and
his Junior by a faw years. Together
they visit the Valley of the Giants,
aacred to John Cardigan and his
aon as the burial place of Bryce's
mother, and part with mutual re-
gret While Bryce la at college
John Cardigan meets with heavy
business losses and for the first
time views the future with uncer-
tainty. After graduation from col-
lege, and a trip abroad, Bryce Car-
digan comes home. On the train he
meets Shirley Sumner, on her way
to Sequoia to make her home there
with her uncle. Colonel Pennington.
Bryce learns that his father's eye-
sight has failed and that Colonel
Pennington Is seeking to take ad-
vantage of the old man’s business
misfortunes. John Cardigan ts de-
’ spalrlng, but Bryce Is full of fight.
Into the (listslit inurta of men—ure de-
I _»n<!int upon me; and my father used
to tell me pot to fail them. Must my
father have wrought all this in vain?
CHAPTER V.—Continued.
extent the redwood chips under which
it had lain hidden had served to pro-
tect It, and the writing on the face
was still legible. The envelope was
And must I stand by am. see all this empty and addressed to Jules Iton
...    .....    .    M A k. -- V n .w a a n n fla■ a ii a a
' to sutisfy tli*' overwltelming unibltloti
of a stranger?” Ills big hands clench-
ed. "No!" he growled savagely. “(Jive
me your last five annual statements,
Mr. Slnclnir, please."
The old servitor brought forth the
documents In question. Ilryce stuffed
them Into his pocket and left the office.
Three quarters of an hour later he en-
tered the little amphitheater In the
Valley of the Giants and paused with
au expression of dismay. One of the
giants had fallen and lay stretched
across the little clearing. In Its de-
scent It had demolished the little
white stone over his mother’s grave
and had driven the fragments of the
stone deep Into the earth.
The fact thnt the tree was down,
however, was secondary b> the fact
dean, care of the I.nguna Grande
Lumber company, Sequoia, California.
Bryce read and reread thnt address.
"Rondeau I" he muttered. "Jules
Rondeau I I’ve heard that name be-
fore—ah, yes! Dad spoke of him last
night. He’s Pennington’s woods-hoss
and-"
An enemy had done this thing—and
In nil the world John Cardigan had
but one enemy—Colonel Seth Penning-
ton. Hud Pennington sent Ids wowls-
hoss to do this dirty work out of
sheer spite? Hardly. The section of
hurl was gone, and this argued thnt
the question -if spite had been purely
a matter of secondary consideration.
evidently, Bryce reasoned, someone
h".J desired that hurl redwood greatly,
and that someone had not been Jules
development Into a congenial and
wholly acceptable comrade to a young
lady absolutely lacking In other means
of amusemeut.
She finished her breakfast In
thoughtful silence; then she went to
the telephone and cal let, up Bryce,
lie recognized her voice Instantly and
called her name before she hud oppor-
tunity to announce her Identity.
“Thank you so much for the beauti-
ful roses. Mr. Cardigan." she began.
“I’m glad you liked them. Nobody
picks flowers out of our garden, you
know. I used to, but I’ll he too busy
hereafter to bother with the garden.
Ii. the way, Miss Sumner, does your
uucle own a car?"
"I believe lie does—a little old rnt-
tletrnp which he drives himself.”
"Then PH send George o\'er with
the Napier this afternoon. You might
care to take a spin out Into the sur-
rounding country. By the way. Miss
Sumner, you nre to consider George
and that car r.s your personal prop-
erty. I fear you’re going to find
John Cardigan shook his bend. ‘Tin
mortgaged to the Inst penny,” he con-
fessed, “and Pennington bus been buy
lug C&rdlgan Redwood Lumber corn
pany first-mortgage bonds until he is
In control of the issue. He’ll buy In
the San Hedrln timber at the fore-
closure sale, and In order to get It
back and save something for you out
of the wreckage. I’ll have to make an
unprofitable trade with him. I’ll have
to give him my timber adjoining his
north of Sequoia, together with my
Valley of the Giants, in return for the
Ban Hedrln timber, to which he’ll have
a aherlfTs deed. Rut the mill, nil my
old employees, with their numerous
dependents—gone, with you left land-
poor and without a dollar to pay your
taxes. Smashed—like that l” And he
drove bla fiat Into the palm of his
hand.
"Perhapa—but not without a fight."
Bryce answered, although he knew
their plight was well-nigh hopeless.
•Til give that man Pennington a run
for his money, or I’ll know the reason.’’
The telephone on the table beside
him tinkled, and he took down the
receiver und said “Hello !’*
“Mercy!” came the sweet voice of
Shirley Sumner over the wire. "Do
you feel as savage as all that, Mr.
Cardigan.”
For the second time In Ids life the
thrill that was akin to pain came to
Bryce Cardigan. He laughed. "If 1
had known you were calling, Miss
Sumner," he said, “I shouldn’t have
growled so."
“Well, you're forgiven—for several
reasons, but principally for sending
roe that delicious blackberry pie.
Thank you ro much."
"Glad you liked It, Miss Sumner. I
dare to hope thnt I may have I he
privilege of seeing you soon again."
“Of course. One good pie deserves
auother. Some evening next week,
when that dear old dnddy of yours
can spare his boy, you might he In-
terested to see our burl-redwood-
pnneled dining room Uncle Seth N
proud of. Would Thursday night be
"cavenleut?”
"Perfectly. Thank you a thousand
times."
She hade l.ttn good-night. As he
turned from the telephone, his father
looked up. “What ore you going to do
to-inorrow, Ind?" he queried.
"I have to do some thinking to-
morrow," Bryce answered. “So I’m
going up Into Cardigan’s redwoods to
do It."
"The dogwoods sad rhododendrons ore
bloointng now," the old man murmured
wistfully. Bryce knew what lie was
Blinking at. "I’ll attend to the flow-
ers for Mother." he assured Cardigan
end be added fiercely: "Ar.d I’ll at-
tend to the battle for Father. We
may lose, hut that man Pennington
will know he’s been In a fight before
we fin-"
He broke off abruptly, for he had
Just remembered that he was to (line
at the Pennington house the follow ing
Thursday—and he was not the sort of
man who smilingly breuks bread w ith
his enemy.
• • • • • • • -
All shout Bryce were scenes «»f
rctlvlty, of human endeavor, and to
him In that moment came the thought.
* "My father brought all this to pass—
and now the tnsW of continuing It t*
mine I All ihoee men who earn u
I lug in Cardigan's mill nnd on Cnrdl
fan's dock—those sailors who soil the
attva that tarry Cardigan's lamWer
nuwpver, won surwuinr.v v* I”*?    unci timi Miuunmtr nun hui    .luice
that neither wind nor lightning ha'*%Rondeau, since n woods-hoss would not
brought It low, but rather the. Impious ,ie n^e|v f0 upend five minutes of Ills
hand of man; for the great Jagged |e|K,ire time In consideration of the
stump showed nil too plainly t,,e i hl .ut|es of a hurl fable-top or panel,
marks of cross-cut saw and axe; n ; Hence. If Rondeau had superintended
pile of chips four feet deep Uttered the j the task of felling tlie true, It must
ground.    : have been at the I.chest ft' a superior;
For fully a minute Bryce a»cc»d j „n^ since a woods-hoss acknowledges
dumbly gn;lng upon the sacrilege ce I no superior save the cret U>r of the
fore his rage and horror found vent Id | pay-roll, the recipient of thnt B,'».'en
words. “An enemy has done tlds,burl must have been Colonel Pe-utlng-
thing,” he cried aloud to the wood • ton.
gohlins. "And over her grave!" j Suddenly he thrilled. If Jules Iton-
It was a hurl tree. At the point | ,jeau i„„i stolen that hurl to present
where Bryce paused a malignant it to Colonel Pennington. Ids employer,
growth had developed on the trunk then the finished article must be In
of the tree, for all the world like u rt-nnlngton’s home I And Bryce had
tremendous wart. This wns the burl, been Invited to that home for dinner
so prized for tnbfe-tops und panelling
because of the ftet that the twisted,
wavy, helter-skelter grain lends to t*ie
wood nn extraordinary beauty when
»he following Thursday by the Colonel’s
piece.
“I’ll go. after all,” he told himself.
‘Til go—and I’ll see what I shall see.”
CHAPTER VI
“He Can Whip Any Man In the
Country."
Bryce Stood Dumbly Dazing Upon the
Sacrilege.
Itolished. Bryce noted that the work
of removing this excrescence had been
accomplished very neatly. With a
cross-cut saw the growth, perhaps ten
feet In diameter, had been neatly
sliced off much ns a housewife cuts
slice after slice from a loaf of bread.
He guessed thnt these slices, practi-
cally circular In shape, had been rolled
out of the woods lo some conveyance
uniting to receive them.
What Bryce could not understand,
however, was the stupid brutality of
the raiders h. felling the tree merely
for thut section of hurl. By permit-
ting the tree to stand and merely
building ft staging up to the burl, the
latter could have been removed with-
out vital Injury to the tree—whereas
b, destroying the tree the wretches
l„id evidenced all too clearly to Bryce
„ wanton desire to add Insult to hi-
J,,“Poor old Dad I" he murmured.
•Tin glad now he has been unable to
get up- her j and see this. It would
have broken his heart. I’ll have this
tre» made Into fence posts and the
slump dynamited and removed this
manner. After lie Is operated on ami
|,„rk his sight, lie will come up
here—and he must never know. Per
i.nns he will have forgotten how many
'    !» tin. dm..-
He paused. Peeping out from un
,ler o chip among the litter at his feci
was the noddy comer of a white
envelope- •" «n,,ntlt Hryce
lr. his hand. The envelope
and westAerbeAten, but •» •
When Shirley Sumner descended to
the breakfast room on the morning
following her arrival In Sequoln, the
first glance at her uncle’s stately
countenance Informed her thnt during
(lie night something hnd occurred to
Irritate Colonel Seth Pennington nnd
startle him out of Ills customary bland
composure.
“Shirley,” he began, “did I hear you
calling young Cnrdlgan on the tele-
phone after dinner Inst night or did
my ears deceive me?”
"Tour ears nre all right. Uncle Seth.
1 called Mr. Cardigan up to thnnk him
for the pie lie sent over, and Incident-
ally to Invite him ovef here to dinner
on Thursday night."
”1 thought I heard you asking some-
body to dinner, and ns you don’t know
a soul In Sequoia except young Cardi-
gan, naturally 1 opined thut he was to
le the object of our hospitality."
“I dare say It’s quite ull right to
hrve Invited him. Isn’t It, Uncle Seth?”
“Certainly, certainly, my denr.
Quite nil right, hut, er—ah, slightly
Inconvenient. I am expecting other
company Thursday night—unfortunate-
ly, Brnyton, the president of the Bank
cl Sequoln. Is coming up to dint nnd
discuss some business a Hairs with me
afterward; so If you don’t mind, my
dear, suppose you call young Cardigan
up and ask him to defer hla visit until
some laler date."
“Certainly, uncle. What perfectly
marvelous roses! flow did you sue
ceed In growing them, Uucle Seth?*’
He smiled sourly. “I didn’t raise
them." he replied. “Thnt half-breed
Indian thnt drives John Cardigan’s
ear brought them around about un
hour ago. along with a card. There
It Is. beside your plate."
She blushed ever so slightly. “1
suppose Bryce Cnrdlgan Is vindicating
himself." she murmured as she with-
drew the card from the envelope. As
she hnd surmised. It was Bryee Cardi-
gan's. Colonel Pennington was the
proprietor of a similar surmise.
"Fast work, Shirley," he murmured
hanterlngly. "1 wonder what he'll
seud you for luncheon. Some dill
pickles, probably.”
Shirley, left atone at the breakfast-
Hide, picked Illy at the preserved figs
the owlish butler set before her.
Vaguely she wondered at her uncle’s
apparent hostility to the Cardigans;
she was as vaguely troubled In the
knowledge that until she should succeed
In eradicating this hostility. It must
Inevitably act a* a bar to the further
progress of her friendship with Bryce
! Cardigan. Am' she told herself she
did not want to lose that friendship.
She wasn’t the least hit In love with
idtu slhelt she realized he was rather
1 Swvnnle. And lastly he was a good, de-
voted soa and was euaceptlblA of
I
Sequoia n dull place; so whenever you
wish to go for n ride. Just coll mo up,
and I’ll have George report to you."
"But think of all the expensive guso-
llnc and tires I"
"Oh, hut you mustn't look at things
from that angle after you cross the
Rocky mountains on your way west.
What are you going to do this after-
noon ?”
“» don’t know. I haven’t thought
thnt far ahead."
"For some icnl sport I would sug-
gest that you motor up to Laguna
Grande. That’s Spanish for Rig La-
goon. you know. Take n rod with
you. There nre some land-locked sal-
mon In the lagoon.
“But I haven't any rod.”
“I’ll send you over a good one."
“But I have nobody to tench me
how to use It.” she hinted daringly.
“1 appreciate thnt compliment," he
flushed hack at her. “but unfortunate-
ly my holidays are over for n long,
long time. I took my father’s place In
t! :> business this morning.”
“So soon?"
"Yes. Things have beea happening
while 1 was away. However, speak-
ing of fishing. George Sen Otter will
prove an Invnluahle Instructor. He Is
u good boy nnd you may trust Min
Implicitly. On Thursday evening
you can tell what success you had
with the sultnou."
“Oh, thnt reminds mo, Mr. Cardigan.
You can’t come Thursday evening,
after all." And she explained the ren-
son. “Suppose you come Wednesday
night Instead."
"We’ll call that a bet. Thank you."
Rhe chnckleo at Ids frank good hu-
mor. "Thank you, Mr. Cnrdlgan. for
all your kindness nnd thoughtfulness;
and If you will persist In being nice
to ine, you might send George Sea
Otter and the car at one-thirty. I’ll
be glad tc avail myself of both until
I can get a car of my own sent up
from San Frnrclsco. Till Wednesday
night, then. Good hye."
As Bryce Cardlgnn hung up. ho
heaved a slight sigh. It wns difficult
to get out -f the Habit of playing; he
found himself the possessor of a very
great desire ‘o close down the desk,
call on Shirley Sumner, nnd spend the
remainder of the day basking In the
sunlight of her presence.
Following his discovery of the out-
rage committed on his father's sanctu-
ary. Bryce wasted consideralil* val-
uable time end effort in a futile en
denvnr to gather some further hint
of the Identity of the vandals; hut
despairing, at hot. he dismissed the
matter from his uilud. resolving only
that on Thursday he would go up
Into Bennington’s woods nnd Interview
the redoubtable Jules Rondeau.
Bryce's natural Inclination was to
wait upon M. Kotideuu immediately,
If not sooner, hut lha recollection or
big dinner engagement At the Penolag-
ton home warned him to process
cautiously; for while harboring no
apprehensions as to the outcome of a
possible clash with Rondeau, Bryce
was not so optimistic as to believe ho
would escape unscathed from an en
counter.
• ••see*
Colonel Pennington’s pompous Itn-
•ported Rrltlsh butler showed Bryce
Into tlie Pennington living room at
six-thirty, announcing him with duo
ceremony. Shirley rose from the piano
where she had been Idly fingering the
keys and greeted him with every ap-
pearance of pleasure—following which,
she turned lo present her visitor to
Colonel Pennington, who was standing
In Ids favorite position with his hack
to the fireplace.
“Uncle Setlt, this Is Mr. Cardigan,
who was so very nice to me the day
I landed In Red HlulT."
The Colonel bowed. “1 hnve ta
tlmnk you. rlr, for your courtesy to
my niece." He lurtl assumed an air of
reserve, of distinct aloofness, despite
his studied politeness.
“Your niece, Colonel, Is one of thoee
fortunate beings the world will ahvoye
clamor to serve."
“Quite true, Mr. Cardigan. When
she was quite a little girl I came un-
der her spell myself."
“So did I, Colonel. Miss Sumner
has doubtless told you of our first
meeting some twelve years ago."
“Quite so. May I offer yon A
cocktail, Mr. Cardigan?"
“H’hnnk you, certainly. Dad nnd I
have been planing one on about thla
time every night since my return."
"Shirley belongs to the Band of
Hope," the Colonel explained. “8he’s
ready at any time to break a lane*
with the Demon Rum. So we will
have to drink her share, Mr. Cardigan.
Pray he seated."
Bryce seuted himself. “Well, wo
lumbermen ure a low lot and naturally
folio of dissipation." he agreed. “I
1 fenr Miss 3umner’s prohibition tendon-
l cles will be still further strengthened
after she has seen the mnd-traln."
“What Is that?” Shirley queried.
“The mnd-traln runs over your
uncle's logging railroad Into Township
nine, where his tlmlier nnd ours Is lo-
cated. It Is the only train operated
on Sunday, nnd It leaves Sequoia at
five p. in. to carry the Pennington and
Cardigan crews buck to the woods
after their Saturday-night celebration
In town. As a usual thing, all hands
with the exception of tlm brakeinan,
engineers, nnd fireman, are slnglngt
weeping or fighting drunk."
“Do they fight, Mr. CardiganT
"Frequently. 1 might say usually.
It’s quite an Inspiring sight to see a
couple of lumberjacks going to It oh
a flat-car traveling thirty miles an
hour."
"Ilow horrible!"
“I'm, Indeed. The right of way Is
lined with empty whisky bottles.”
Colonel Pennington spoke up. "Wo
don’t have any fighting on the mad*
train any more,” he said blandly.
“Indeed! How do you prevent It?"
Bryce asked.
“My woods-hoss, Jules Rondeau,
irtakex them keep the peace.” Penning-
toi: replied with a sinnll sn.lle. ’If
there's uny fighting to he done, he does
It."
"You mean among his own crew, of
course.” Bryee suggested.
“No, he’s In barge of the mad-traln,
nnd whether a fight starts among your
men or ours, he takes a hand. llo‘
had them all behaving mildly for quit*
n while, because he can whip any ifiso
In the country, nnd everybody realizes
It. I don’t know what I’d do without
Rondeau. He certainly makes thous
holiunks of mine step lively."
“Oh-h hl Do you employ bohunkA
Colonel ?’’
"Certainly. They cost less; they
are far less Independent than most
tneti ami more readily handled. And
you don’t huve to pamper them—par-
ticularly In the matter of food. Why,
air. Cardigan, with nil due respect to
your fHther. the way he feeds his men
Is simply ridiculous I Cake and pie
and doughnuts at the same meal I"
“Well. Dad started In to feed hlA
men the same food he fed himself,
and I suppose the habits one forms In
youth are not readily changed In old
age. Colonel."
“But that makes It hard for other
manufacturers." the Colonel protested.
“I feed my men good pluln food and
plenty of It—quite better food than
they were used to before they came to
this country; hut I cannot seem to
satisfy them. Your restarted parent
Is the basis for comparison In this
country. Cardigan, and I find It devil-
Ish Inconvenient." He laughed Indul-
gently and pussed hla clguretle-csse
to Bryce.
"Untie Seth always grows resttem
when some other man Is the leader,"
Shirley volunteered with a mischie-
vous glance nt Pennington. “Don**
you, Nunky-dunk?"
"You know why, of course
—those burl panels In your
dining room.**