The Better Man
by Robert William Chambers (9780217379113)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: THE FIBE-BIKD AFTER the Fire Warden at Lynxville had held a conference with Burling over the long-distance wire, he came back to the waggon where Rittenfeldt and Kemper sat waiting. "As I was telling you gentlemen," continued the Fire Warden, "the forest fires in this county are largely incendiary. There's no doubt about that But, as I said before, what can / do? As soon as there is an alarm given, I am obliged to call in as fire fighters the very ruffians who set the woods afire; and I am forced by law to pay 'em two dollars a day That's why they set the fires, G-d damn 'em / know, it: the Commissioner knows it; but what are we to do? I can't catch 'em in the act. I haven't any men to patrol the forests. And when the woods are afire I've got to call out people to fight the flames?haven't I or the whole North Woods would go up in smoke and ashes. Now, I ask you, gentlemen, what am I to do?" "I can't see what more you can do," admitted Kemper. "It's up to the State to establish a forest constabulary?a body of trained foresters for patrolduty. And if that isn't done, and done pretty soon, I can see the end of the North Woods." The Fire Warden, standing there in his shirtsleeves, rubbed a stubbly chin with his scarred thumb, reflectively: "I'll admit," he said, "that now and then a fire is started by careless hunters or by fishermen, or fool berry pickers. But the proportion is small. It's the miserable half-starved creatures who try to keep soul and body together in these woods who set fire to the woods so they can earn the only money they ever see from one year to the next " "Lazy pigs," grunted Rittenfeldt, "mit a leedle industry they grow for themselves vat farmers grow; und so iss it they have to eat sufficient." The Fire Warden shook his head: "The s...

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