THE TRAIL HORDE


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CHAPTER I

CONCERNING MORALS


There were fifty thousand acres within view of the ranchhouse--virgin
grass land dotted with sage, running over a wide level, into little
hills, and so on to an upland whose rise was so gradual that it could be
seen only from a distance, best from the gallery of the ranchhouse.

The first tang of autumn was in the sage-scented breeze that swept the
county, and the tawny valley, basking in the warm sunlight that came
down from a cloudless sky, showed its rugged beauty to advantage.

Kane Lawler paused at the edge of the gallery and filled his lungs from
the sage-laden breeze, and then wheeled to face his mother.

She smiled at him.

"Have you seen Ruth Hamlin lately, Kane?"