234 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



" A square deal for all " was the motto that the knights of this grassy 

 kingdom wrote across their breasts. If a horse disappeared from the 

 corral a hurried call was sent forth and a small mounted committee was 

 soon scouring the hills. If the wrong man was found riding away 

 astride the missing animal, he was jerked down, tried before this quickly 

 constructed bunch-grass court, found guilty of horse stealing and was 

 speedily strung up to a tree with a lariat rope, long before a single jury- 

 man could be summoned in a region possessed of a " higher standard of 



Fig. 17. The Deserted " Soddt " is Common in the Sand Hills. 



ethics and a solemn regard for the law." Such was justice on the range, 

 especially in the earlier days. Even in this late day the dove of peace 

 does not nest in all the nooks of this great sand-hill domain. There is 

 romance and chivalry of the real western sort in abundance. Only a 

 few weeks ago four stalwart sons of the hills were sent to the state 

 prison for life because of a deed that they thought was merely chivalrous. 

 They went to the ranch house of a neighbor one night, took him from 

 his bed, threw a rope over his head and pulled him up to a telephone 

 pole. They had not intended to take the man's life, but simply sought 

 to intimidate him and cause him to leave the country. He had made 

 certain threats unbecoming to an inhabitant of the hills. He was 

 allowed to dangle at the end of the lariat from the telephone pole too 

 long, and as a consequence the four young men are in prison for the 

 rest of their days. 



From these statements the reader must not infer that life in the 

 Sand Hills is dangerous or even uncongenial because of man's relation 

 to his fellows. Naturally these people have individual rights which they 



