Wl iKK < .\ A XATK >NAL !'( IREST 



475 



mav have t< > turn around in an h<iur 

 i >r so and hit the back trail-*. ' >ur 

 horses begin to have a chance to keep in 

 condition all summer. That i- one 

 reason why we are doing our be-t to put 

 up more telephone line-. \\ e -till ha\e 

 di-trict centers up here in Sierra, from 

 which il take- a week to -et a reply 

 to a letter! A few da\- ago we had 

 ten lire- all at the same time in our 

 3,OOO,OOO-acre forest. Summer thun- 

 der strm> and lightning-struck trees 

 Parted most of them. ( )ur rangers 

 were toiling everywhere; "dead on our 

 feet," as one boy -aid. "Sixty hour- 



hard place-.. U here llo trail- ran ever be 

 made, for it i- a little and -tnpid thin- 

 to be merely able to follow a plain 

 irail iroiu one point to another. < hie 

 onlv does that bccau-e eiiergv should 

 not be \\a-ted. I'.nt tin-re are time- 

 when you and your hor-e go toother 

 "across lots," following water COUH 

 or rid.^e-. or striking through an en- 

 tirely new country, a- if you had been 

 dropped from an air-ship into the mid-; 

 of a strange continent of Saturn. Then 

 the hor.se draws -trength from your 

 intelligence, and you, if you are wise, 

 learn to use more of hi- than YOU hail 



Rangers and Their Families Breaking Camp 



without a nap." as another reported. 

 Several rangers pushed their hor-es all 

 day and all night, leaving one con- 

 quered tire to ride into ;m ither di-trict 

 and help the men there. So yon may 

 under-tand why one ranger, when the 

 new telephone line reached hi- cabin 

 went out and gave all hi- hor-e- an 

 extra feed of barley, and told them to 

 celebrate the event 



I'.ut all the telephone- on earth will 

 never do away with the need of meet 

 ing men face to face, and so we -hall 

 always use horses , ,11 mountain trail- 

 ami through the 1'orc-ts. \\Y -hall al- 

 wa\ - have that <|uiet and perfect un- 

 derstanding betucen man and hor-e 

 which onlv come- from lonclv ride- in 



before thought possible. i \i least 

 that i- the way that Tiapo and I travel 

 t. '-ether, i 



You and your hor-e go down into 

 some va-t canon where no trail exi-t-. 

 but which you mean to cross. IYctty 

 soon you dismount and pick your \va\ . 

 your hor-e following, uuled. \\itii little 

 |iiestioning murmur-, and with his 

 heart in hi- eye-. It is ea-il\ po--ible 

 for yon to -et him do\\ n place- that 

 he cannot po--ihlv climb up. and. thcrc- 

 fc ire, if \ou <lo n it think out a way 

 back, inch by inch, as you ^, down, you 

 may presently find a hundred feet of 

 sheer -ranite. and SO, being unable to 

 go forward MM- backward except on 



