8 ACORN As the Twig is Bent (Continued from last Issue.) The slanting rays of the afternoon sun shone bright and hot over the tops of the Saw-tooth Mountains. Not a breath of wind stirred the branches of the tall pines, while the bare rocks seemed to reflect back waves of intense heat. Down in the valley below, the cowboys of the Three-Star ranch worked away unconcernedly, seemingly unmindful of the heat. They knew that in an hour's time the sun would sink to rest behind "Old Bald Mountain," and the cool evening would come on, bringing rest and recreation, consisting of varied games and sports at the ranch house, where by order of the new owner, space had been laid out for tennis, croquet and other branches of outdoor athletics; while one large room of the ranch house was fitted up as an indoor gymnasium. Though a little amused at first, the cowboys soon entered with enthusiasm into the different games, and in the evening it was no uncommon sight to see them pitted against each other in contests of various kinds, seldom seen outside a college campus. At this hour in the afternoon, the ranch house seemed the only cool spot in the valley. It was surrounded by tall poplar trees, which afforded a pleasant shelter from the sun. On one side was a small flower garden, in which the ranch owner, a tall well-built man of about thirty years stood conversing with one of his men, and incidentally training a vine to climb up the side of the house. In his bronzed face is shown the rugged health that comes from living in the open, and the happiness of a life close to nature, though at times in his bearing and serious expression, one can almost read traces of a secret hidden sorrow. Yer, dear reader, this is Tom Weston. It is five years since we last saw him, and this is where he hid from the world, with his "fair-haired Josie," when she loyally stood by him, though branded by his college friends as a thief. Leaving college, he came west and engaged as a cowbow on the Three-Star ranch. A year found him ranch foreman and he wrote to Josie the letter he had promised. Against the wishes of her parents, and unheeding the protests of all her friends, this daughter of a college president born and reared in luxury, gave up the social life of the college, left behind all her friends and journeyed west to share the hardships of a ranch life with the man to whom she had given her heart. Not a shadow of regret had followed the move, however, and the complete happiness which filled their lives before he became owner of the ranch had lately been crowned by the arrival of a sweet-faced baby, with his mother's sunny smile and the deep earnest eyes of his father. Loved by his wife; idolized by his men, Tom cer- ACORN 9 tainly had made good in his new life, and seemed entitled to all the happiness that came to him. "Where is Ellis today, Dan?" he inquired of the man beside him "He and four of the boys rode over Skull Valley way," answered the man. "That blamed mysterious rustler has showed up again and rounded up another bunch last night. Ellis and the boys went out to see if they could corner him. Said they'd let us know if anything happened." "There's some one coming now," he continued, pointing up the road, but he rides too slow for one of the boys. Looks like one of them Easterners. You'd better go down to meet him." "Very well, I'll see him," answered Tom. "Better ride out and see how the boys are getting on with the branding." After "Sleepy Dan," his assistant foreman, had left him, Tom strolled slowly down to the gate. He always liked to meet strangers from the East, who often gave him news of some of his old friends, and there was something to admire in the way this man sat his horse. As Tom drew near, the stranger inquired: "Could I get accommodation here for myself and horse? It's a long way to the next town, and Tom Weston!" he broke off sharply, "Is it really you?" "Mr. Mack!" exclaimed Tom astounded, "Why what can have brought you west?" Never mind that now," cried Mack sliding to the ground and shaking Tom's hands warmly. "For a whole year I've been wondering what had become of you, and determined to spend my vacation this year in the west, find you, if possible, to ask your pardon, and to try to do something to atone for the wrong I did you in driving you from college. For your innocence has been proven, Tom, do you hear? The real thief was discovered. Oh, Tom, why did you make such a sacrifice? He wasn't worth it." "Did did he confess?" asked Tom. "Not until he was forced to," answered Mack." I half suspected him all along, and was just about to bluff it out of him, when your hasty departure hushed the thing up! He kept straight for awhile, then things began to be missed again. We tried several times to trap him, and one night about a year ago, we caught him red-handed in an attempt to rob the safe in the "gym" office. He broke down and confessed. 'Twas only two weeks before his commencement, but the president dismissed him and he slipped away in the might; no one knows where. Let us hope that this was the turning point, and that somewhere in the world he is living an honest life." "Amen to that," answered Tom. "But come on in," he added, "Josie will be as pleased as I to hear this, as I know she'd like to visit the folks back east, and after the fall round-up is over, we'll go." (Continued on Page 20)