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1915
1915
Sons of the rugged, rock-ribbed hills, Far from the gaudy show Of Fashion’s world-its shams and frills Brothers of rain and snow: Kith of the crags and the forest pines, Kin of the herd and flock; Wise in the lore of Nature signs Writ in the grass and rock. Beings of lithe and lusty limb, Breathing the broad, new life, Chanting the forest’s primal hymn Free from the world’s crude strife. Your witching lure my being thrills, O rugged sons! O rugged hills!...
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CHAPTER I—AT THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
CHAPTER I—AT THE PARTING OF THE WAYS
I T was a dear, crisp October morning. There was a shrill whistle of a locomotive, and then a westbound passenger train dashed into the depot of an Iowa town. A young man descended the car steps with an armful of luggage. He deposited his parcels on the platform, and half expectantly looked about him. Just then there was a “honk! honk!” from a huge automobile as it came to a palpitating halt, and a familiar voice called out: “Hello, Roderick, old man!” And a moment later Roderick Warfield was sh
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CHAPTER II—A MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE
CHAPTER II—A MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE
A LLEN MILLER, the rich banker, was alone—alone in the president’s room at his bank, and feeling alone in the fullest sense of the word now that Roderick Warfield had gone, the youth he had reared and loved and cherished as his own child, now turned out of doors by the old man’s deliberate act. For full an hour he walked slowly back and forth the whole length of the apartment But at last he halted once again before the open grate where some slumbering chunks of coal were burning indifferently. H
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CHAPTER III—FINANCIAL WOLVES
CHAPTER III—FINANCIAL WOLVES
O N the very day following Roderick Warfield’s departure from Keokuk there appeared in one of the morning newspapers an item of intelligence that greatly surprised and shocked the banker, Allen Miller. It announced the death of the wife of his old friend General John Holden, of Quincy, Illinois, and with the ghoulish instincts of latter-day journalism laid bare a story of financial disaster that had, at least indirectly, led to the lady’s lamented demise. It set forth how some years before the G
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CHAPTER IV.—THE COLLEGE WIDOW
CHAPTER IV.—THE COLLEGE WIDOW
S TELLA RAIN belonged to one of the first families of Galesburg. Their beautiful home, an old style Southern mansion, painted white with green shutters, was just across from the college campus ground. It was the usual fate of seniors about to pass out of Knox College to be in love, avowedly or secretly, with this fair “college widow.” She was petite of form and face, and had a beautiful smile that radiated cheerfulness to the scores of college boys. There was a merry-come-on twinkle in her eyes
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CHAPTER V.—WESTWARD HO!
CHAPTER V.—WESTWARD HO!
A S the train rumbled along carrying Roderick back to Burlington, he was lost in reverie and exultation. He was making plans for a mighty future, into which now a romance of love was interwoven as well as the romance of a mysterious gold mine awaiting rediscovery in some hidden valley among rugged mountains. Yes; he would lose no further time in starting out for Wyoming. The winning of the one treasure meant the winning of the other—the making of both his own. As he dreamed of wealth unbounded,
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CHAPTER VI.—RODERICK MEETS JIM RANKIN
CHAPTER VI.—RODERICK MEETS JIM RANKIN
I T was seven o’clock the same morning when Roderick left the train at Rawlins. The raw, cold wind was blowing a terrific gale, the streets were deserted save for a few half drunken stragglers who had been making a night of it, going the rounds of saloons and gambling dens. A bright-faced lad took charge of the mail bags, threw them into a push cart and started rumbling away up the street. Warfield followed and coming up with him inquired for a hotel. “Right over there is the Ferris House,” said
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CHAPTER VII—GETTING ACQUAINTED
CHAPTER VII—GETTING ACQUAINTED
R ODERICK spent a few days in Rawlins, improving his acquaintance with Jim Rankin and making a general survey of the situation. The ex-sheriff proved to be a veritable repository of local information, and Roderick soon knew a little about everyone and everything in the district. He learned that Tom Sun, one of his father’s old associates, had from small beginnings come to be the largest sheep owner in the state; he was rich and prosperous. With Boney Earnest, however, the other friend mentioned
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CHAPTER VIII.—A PHILOSOPHER AMONG THE MOUNTAINS
CHAPTER VIII.—A PHILOSOPHER AMONG THE MOUNTAINS
A S THE two young men walked down the brilliantly lighted main street of Encampment, Grant Jones explained that the water had been dammed several miles up the south fork of the Encampment river and conducted in a California red-wood pipe down to the smelter plant for power purposes; and that the town of Encampment was lighted at a less cost per capita than any other town in the world. It simply cost nothing, so to speak. Grant had pointed out several residences of local celebrities, but at last
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CHAPTER IX—THE HIDDEN VALLEY
CHAPTER IX—THE HIDDEN VALLEY
W ITHIN a few days of Roderick’s advent into the camp he was duly added to the cowboy list on the ranch of the wealthy cattleman, Mr. Shields, whose property was located a few miles east from the little mining town and near the banks of the Platte River. A commodious and handsome home stood apart from the cattle corral and bunk house lodgings for the cowboy helpers. There were perhaps twenty cowboys in Mr. Shields’ employment. His vast herds of cattle ranged in the adjoining hills and mountain c
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CHAPTER X.—THE FAIR RIDER OF THE RANGE
CHAPTER X.—THE FAIR RIDER OF THE RANGE
W HEN Buell Hampton left the assayer’s office he felt a chilliness in the air that caused him to cast his eyes upwards. There had been bright sunshine early that morning, but now the whole sky was overcast with a dull monotonous gray pall. Not a breath of wind was stirring; there was just a cold stillness in the air that told its own tale to those experienced in the weather signs of the mountains. “Snow,” muttered the Major, emphatically. “It has been long in coming this winter, but we’ll have a
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CHAPTER XI.—WINTER PASSES
CHAPTER XI.—WINTER PASSES
T HAT night the big snow storm did indeed come, and when Roderick woke up next morning it was to find mountain and valley covered with a vast bedspread of immaculate white and the soft snowflakes still descending like a feathery down. The storm did not catch Mr. Shields unprepared; his vast herds were safe and snug in their winter quarters. The break in the weather marked the end of Roderick’s range riding for the season. He was now a stock feeder and engaged in patching up the corrals and other
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CHAPTER XII—THE MAJOR’S FIND
CHAPTER XII—THE MAJOR’S FIND
W HEN Grant Jones and Roderick arrived at the Major’s home that evening they found other visitors already installed before the cheerful blaze of the open hearth. These were Tom Sun, owner of more sheep than any other man in the state; Boney Earnest, the blast furnace man in the big smelting plant; and Jim Rankin, who had joined his two old cronies after unharnessing the horses from the sleigh. Cordial introductions and greetings were exchanged. Although Roderick had shaken hands before with Bone
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CHAPTER XIV.—THE EVENING PARTY
CHAPTER XIV.—THE EVENING PARTY
T HE night of the big fiesta at the Shields ranch had arrived, and the invited guests had gathered from far and near. And what a bevy of pretty girls and gay young fellows they were! Even the cowboys on this occasion were faultless Beau Brummels; chaps, belts, and other frontier regalia were laid aside in favor of the starched shirtfront and dress clothes of the fashionable East. The entertainment was to consist of dancing and song, with a sumptuous supper about the midnight hour. Roderick of co
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CHAPTER XV.—BRONCHO-BUSTING
CHAPTER XV.—BRONCHO-BUSTING
I T WAS the morning following the big entertainment at the Shields ranch when Roderick and two other cowboy companions began the work of breaking some outlaw horses to the saddle. The corral where they were confined was a quarter of a mile away from the bunk house. Grant Jones had remained overnight, ostensibly to pay Roderick a visit during the succeeding day. He was still sound asleep when Roderick arose at an early hour and started for the corral. Whitley Adams had also been detained at the r
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CHAPTER XVI.—THE MYSTERIOUS TOILERS OF THE NIGHT
CHAPTER XVI.—THE MYSTERIOUS TOILERS OF THE NIGHT
I N A day or two the excitement over the great evening party at the Shields ranch had passed and the humdrum duties of everyday life had been resumed. Whitley Adams had completed his business at Encampment and taken his departure with the solemnly renewed promise to Roderick that for the present the latter’s whereabouts would not be disclosed to the good folks at Keokuk although their anxiety as to his safety and good health would be relieved. Grant Jones had torn himself away from his beloved t
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CHAPTER XVII—A TROUT FISHING EPISODE
CHAPTER XVII—A TROUT FISHING EPISODE
F OR a time Roderick had hung back from accepting the invitation to call at the Conchshell ranch, as the Holden place was called. In pursuing the acquaintanceship with Gail he knew that he was playing with fire—a delightful game but one that might work sad havoc with his future peace of mind. However, one day when he had an afternoon off and had ridden into Encampment again to be disappointed in finding no letter from Stella, he had felt just the necessary touch of irritation toward his fiancée
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CHAPTER XVIII.—A COUNTRY FAIR ON THE FRONTIER
CHAPTER XVIII.—A COUNTRY FAIR ON THE FRONTIER
T HERE was great excitement among the bunch of cowboys on the Shields’ ranch when the local newspapers came out with startling headlines and full announcements in regard to the annual frontier celebration. That night every line of the full page advertisements, also the columns of editorial elaborations on the contests and other events, were read aloud to an eager assemblage of all hands in front of the bunk house. The Dillon Doublejack predicted that this year’s celebration would undoubtedly aff
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CHAPTER XIX.—A LETTER FROM THE COLLEGE WIDOW
CHAPTER XIX.—A LETTER FROM THE COLLEGE WIDOW
Y ES, there was a letter from Stella Rain. Roderick took it eagerly from the hands of the clerk at the general delivery window. A good number of people were already crowding into the post office from the fair grounds. But he was too hungry for news to wait for quieter surroundings. So he turned to a vacant corner in the waiting room and ripped open the envelope. The letter was as follows: “Roderick:— “I am sure that what I am about to tell you will be for your good as well as my own. It seems so
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CHAPTER XX.—THE STORE OF GOLD
CHAPTER XX.—THE STORE OF GOLD
A COUPLE of hours later Roderick arrived at Buell Hampton’s home. The Major was alone; there were no signs of Jim Rankin or Tom Sun; no traces of the recent midnight toil. The room looked just the same as on the occasion of Roderick’s last visit, now more than two months ago, except for a curtain hanging across one wall. Buell Hampton was seated before the great fireplace and notwithstanding the season of the year had a small bed of coals burning. “It takes the chill away, for one thing,” he exp
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CHAPTER XXI.—A WARNING
CHAPTER XXI.—A WARNING
B Y SUBTLE alchemy of thought Roderick’s feelings toward Scotty Meisch had become entirely changed. On the ranch he had treated the rough, uncultivated and at times insolent youth with contempt that was scarcely concealed. He was not of his class; and Roderick by his manner had shown that he counted Scotty as outside the pale of good breeding—a fellow not to be associated with except in the necessary work of roping a steer or handling a mob of cattle. It had been almost an act of condescension o
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CHAPTER XXII.—THE TRAGEDY AT JACK CREEK
CHAPTER XXII.—THE TRAGEDY AT JACK CREEK
A FTER a brief consultation on the hospital veranda, Buell Hampton, Roderick and Grant decided on an immediate consultation with Jim Rankin. They found the ex-sheriff busy among the horses down at the brush stable over the hill from the Major’s home. Jim received the startling news with great complacency. “I’ve been expectin’ tumultuous news o’ this kind for quite a while,” he said. “Oh, I’m up to all the didoes o’ both the cowpunchers and the sheep herders. Never mind how I got to know them thi
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CHAPTER XXIII.—THE FIGHT ON THE ROAD
CHAPTER XXIII.—THE FIGHT ON THE ROAD
D AYLIGHT had not yet broken when the three four-horse wagons were loaded and ready for the road. Not a moment had been lost after Roderick’s arrival at the Major’s. That night he had had a grim glimpse of what western lawlessness among the mountains might mean, and had speedily convinced the Major that his policy of instant departure was the wise one. Bud Bledsoe and his gang would rest at least one day, perhaps two or three days, after their devilish exploit with the sheep-herders, and when th
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CHAPTER XXIV—SUMMER DAYS
CHAPTER XXIV—SUMMER DAYS
W ITHIN less than a year of his leaving Keokuk to play football with the world, as Uncle Allen Miller had phrased it, Roderick Warfield had established himself in a sound financial position. So far he had not been made the “pig-skin” in life’s game. While he was filled with grateful feeling toward Buell Hampton, and recognized the noble generosity of his friend, he had at the same time the satisfaction of feeling that he had done at least a little toward earning a share in the proceeds derived f
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CHAPTER XXV.—RUNNING FOR STATE SENATOR
CHAPTER XXV.—RUNNING FOR STATE SENATOR
A T BREAKFAST table one morning Roderick noticed in the Encampment Herald a featured article about the forthcoming Republican convention. “Oh, yes,” replied Grant, when Roderick called his attention to it, “this convention trouble has been brewing for some time. Personally, as you know, I am a Republican, even though my paper, the Dillon Doublejack , is a dyed-in-the-wool Democratic organ.” “What trouble,” asked Roderick, “can there possibly be about a county convention?” “It’s a senatorial conv
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CHAPTER XXVI.—UNEXPECTED POLITICAL HARMONY
CHAPTER XXVI.—UNEXPECTED POLITICAL HARMONY
I T WAS just such talk as Big Phil Lee’s that kept the Bragdon forces lined up and defiant to the point of an open rupture and a total disregard for the minority, while the Democrats cheered Big Phil Lee’s remarks with enthusiastic hoorays. The individual who really held the destiny of the party that year in the hollow of his hand and within the next few hours proved himself the Moses to lead all factions from the paths of bickering into the highway of absolute harmony, was the newspaper man, Ea
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CHAPTER XXVII.—THE UPLIFTING OF HUMANITY
CHAPTER XXVII.—THE UPLIFTING OF HUMANITY
T HE following evening Roderick called at the Major’s home, and found a visitor there, a stranger yet very well known to him by reputation. This was no other than the Reverend Stephen Grannon, the travelling parson, of whose fame as a doer of good deeds at the cost of complete self-sacrifice and self-denial, Roderick had often heard. “Delighted to see you, Roderick,” said the Major. “Come right in. You know, of course, the most noted man in the camp—the man with the saddle bags. What? Never met
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CHAPTER XXVIII.—JUSTICE FOR THE WORKERS
CHAPTER XXVIII.—JUSTICE FOR THE WORKERS
T HE next morning at ten o’clock, Major Buell Hampton walked down to the smelter office. He was met at the door of the directors’ room by the general manager, Mr. W. B. Grady. Despite a bold front Grady looked careworn and anxious. “Hold on there,” he said as the Major started to enter. “What do you want?” He spoke roughly. “This is a meeting of some gentlemen who are interested in the Smelter.” “Very well,” said the Major. “I came down to attend the stockholders’ meeting.” “Well, you can’t go i
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CHAPTER XXIX.—SLEIGH BELLS
CHAPTER XXIX.—SLEIGH BELLS
T HE morning after the directors’ meeting, when Roderick awakened and looked out of the window, he found the air filled with flakes of falling snow. He wasted no time over his toilet. Immediately after breakfast he bundled up snugly and warmly, went over to the livery stable and engaged a team and a sleigh. Soon after, the horses decorated with the best string of sleigh bells the livery could provide, he was holding the reins taut and sailing down through the main street of the little mining tow
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CHAPTER XXX.—WHITLEY ADAMS BLOWS IN
CHAPTER XXX.—WHITLEY ADAMS BLOWS IN
R ODERICK WARFIELD’S election to a seat on the board of directors of the Encampment Mine and Smelter Company had for him a series of most unexpected consequences. He had had no knowledge that Uncle Allen Miller and a number of his financial followers in Iowa were now large stockholders in the corporation. Nor had he been aware that Major Buell Hampton, after his journey to New York, had visited the Keokuk banker. The Major had learned from his brokers in Wall Street that Allen Miller was on the
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CHAPTER XXXI.—RODERICK’S DISCOVERY
CHAPTER XXXI.—RODERICK’S DISCOVERY
N OTWITHSTANDING their change in fortunes, Roderick and Grant still made the editor’s shack their home—the old place endeared to them by many fond associations. A few days after Whitley Adams’ visit they were seated at the breakfast table, and Grant had proposed that they should go deer hunting. “Excellent weather,” he explained, “as the snow is just deep enough up in the mountains to drive the deer down. Finest sport in the world. Nothing like going after big game.” “You almost persuade me,” sa
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CHAPTER XXXII.—STAKING THE CLAIMS
CHAPTER XXXII.—STAKING THE CLAIMS
S O IT is you who have found my Hidden Valley,” said Buell Hampton as he drew near. His voice had a regretful ring, but as he grasped Roderick’s hand he added cordially: “I thank God it is you, Roderick. When I heard the rifle shots I was afraid it might be Bud Bledsoe or some of his gang.” “Your hidden valley, Major?” murmured Roderick, interrogatively and with emphasis on the first word. “Yes, my son—the valley from which I took the carload of rich ore we sold in Denver.” “Great guns, Major. I
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CHAPTER XXXIII—THE SNOW SLIDE
CHAPTER XXXIII—THE SNOW SLIDE
D URING the night a few flakes of snow had fallen—just the flurry of a storm that had come and tired and paused to rest awhile. The morning broke grey and sombre and intensely still; the mantle of white that covered the ground and clung to bushes and tree branches seemed to muffle every sound; the atmosphere was clear, but filled with brooding expectancy. The three friends at the hunter’s hut were early astir. Roderick, despite the fact that fortune had at last smiled and crowned with success th
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CHAPTER XXXIV—THE PASSING OF GRANT JONES
CHAPTER XXXIV—THE PASSING OF GRANT JONES
E ARLY the following morning several hundred searchers were at the scene of the snow slide in Cow Creek Canyon. Every precaution was taken not to have anyone walk along near the rim of the gorge a thousand feet above. There were still hundreds of thousands of tons of snow on the narrow plateau at the top, which any disturbance, even no greater than a stone thrown by the hands of a child, might start moving. If another slide should occur it would overwhelm and crush the intrepid searchers below.
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CHAPTER XXXV.—A CALL TO SAN FRANCISCO
CHAPTER XXXV.—A CALL TO SAN FRANCISCO
D OROTHY mourned for Grant Jones—for days she wept and would not be consoled. Roderick had not seen her since the disaster; when he had called at the ranch Barbara had brought a message from her room that she dared not trust herself yet to speak to anyone, least of all to the one whom she knew to have been Grant’s closest and dearest friend. Roderick had now taken apartments in the Bonhomme Hotel—it would have been too heartrending an experience to return to the shack where everything was associ
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CHAPTER XXXVI—IN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
CHAPTER XXXVI—IN THE CITY THAT NEVER SLEEPS
A FTER a tedious and delayed trip of three days and nights Roderick’s train steamed onto the mole at Oakland. During the last night he had refused to have the berth in his drawing room made down, and had lounged and dozed in his seat, occasionally peering out of the car window. The hour was late—almost three o’clock in the morning. The train should have arrived at seven o’clock the evening before. There was the usual scramble of disembarking, red-capped porters pressing forward to carry hand bag
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CHAPTER XXXVII—RODERICK RESCUES GAIL
CHAPTER XXXVII—RODERICK RESCUES GAIL
I T WAS but a few seconds until Roderick was again on his feet Hurriedly taking his bearings, he started off through the little park in the direction of the Palace Hotel. In the uncertain morning dawn the people from innumerable bedrooms above the stores were pouring into the streets. They were scantily attired, most of them simply in their night garments, and all were dazed and stunned with a terrible fright Before Roderick had reached Market Street the thoroughfare was almost blocked by this f
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CHAPTER XXXVIII—THE SEARCH FOR RODERICK
CHAPTER XXXVIII—THE SEARCH FOR RODERICK
T HE general shock of horror caused by the San Francisco disaster was intensified at Encampment when the news ran round that three local people had been in the stricken city at the moment of the earthquake shock which had laid the business centre in ruins and prepared the way for the subsequent far-sweeping conflagration. No telegram came from either the Holdens or Roderick Warfield, and their silence, their failure to relieve the anxiety of the friends they must have known were deeply concerned
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CHAPTER XXXIX—REUNIONS
CHAPTER XXXIX—REUNIONS
T EN days before the departure from San Francisco telegrams had been sent in all directions giving forth the glad tidings that General Holden and Gail, Roderick and Buell Hampton, were safe and would soon be on their homeward way to Wyoming. Among those thus notified had been the Shields family at Los Angeles and Allen Miller at Keokuk. But it was a great surprise to find Whitley Adams waiting the arrival of the morning train at Rawlins with his big Sixty Horse Power automobile, and bearing the
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CHAPTER XL—BUELL HAMPTON’S GOOD-BY
CHAPTER XL—BUELL HAMPTON’S GOOD-BY
R ODERICK was prompt to the minute in keeping his appointment. He found the Major seated before a bright log-fire, and his first glance around the old familiar room showed the progress of some unusual preparations. The open lid of a traveling trunk revealed clothing and books already packed; the violin in its case rested on the centre table. Buell Hampton interpreted his visitor’s look of wonderment. “Yes, Roderick,” he said with a smile that was both tender and serious, “I am going away. But le
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CHAPTER XLI.—-UNDER THE BIG PINE
CHAPTER XLI.—-UNDER THE BIG PINE
O N the following afternoon Roderick saddled his pony Badger and rode over to the Conchshell ranch. The Holdens received the news of Buell Hampton’s mysterious departure with deep regret; the Major had become very dear to their hearts, how dear they only fully realized now that he was gone. It was toward evening when Gail proposed that they go riding in the woods. The invitation delighted Roderick, and Fleetfoot and Badger were speedily got ready. “Let us follow the old timber road to the south,
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AFTERWORD
AFTERWORD
Into the warp and woof of my story of the West, “The Treasure of Hidden Valley,” there have been woven a few incidents of the great calamity that some years ago befell the city of San Francisco. Perhaps some of my readers will care to peruse a more detailed description of that tragic happening. I T was on April 18, 1906, that San Francisco was shaken by a terrible earthquake which in its final effects resulted in the city being cremated into cinders and gray ashes. The trembling, gyrating, shaki
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