elf. But
here's the joke."

He handed the second bill to Thorne:

"_To saddle horse Big Baldy to McClintock claim, $2._"

"Why," said Martin, "when we got to Big Baldy he put his saddle on one
of the driving horses and rode it about a mile over to McClintock's. I
remember objecting on account of his being so heavy. Say," reflected the
livery-man after a moment, "he's right out for the little stuff, ain't
he? When his hand gets near a dollar, it cramps!"

In the sheaf of vouchers Thorne ran across one item repeated several
hundred times in the two years. It read:

"_To M. Aiken, team, $3._"

Inquiry disclosed the fact that "M. Aiken," was Minnie, Plant's niece.
By the simple expedient of conveying to her title in his team and
buckboard, the Supervisor was enabled to collect three dollars every
time he drove anywhere.

Thus the case grew, fortified by affidavits. Thorne found that Plant
had been grafting between three and four thousand dollars a year.

Of course the whole community soon came to know all about it. The taking
of testimony and the giving of affidavits were matters for daily
discussion. Thorne inspired faith, because he had faith himself.

"I don't wonder you people have been hostile to the Forest Reserves,"
said he. "You can't be blamed. But it is not the Office's fault. I've
been in the Land Office a great many years, and they won't stand for
this sort of thing a minute. I found very much the same sort of thing in
one of the reserves in Oregon, only there was a gang operating there. I
got eleven convictions, and a new deal all round. The Land Office is all
right, when you get to it. You'll see us in a different light, after
this is over."

The mountaineers liked him. He showed them a new kink by which the lash
rope of a pack could be jammed in the cinch-hook for convenience of the
lone packer; he proved to be an excellent shot with the revolver; in his
official work he had used and tested the methods of many wilderness
travellers, and could discuss and demonstrate. Furthermore, he got
results.

Austin conducted a roadhouse on the way to the Power House Number One:
this in addition to his saloon in Sycamore Flats. The roadhouse was, as
a matter of fact, on government land, but Austin established the shadow
of a claim under mineral regulations, and, by obstructionist tactics,
had prevented all the red tape from being unwound. His mineral claim was
flimsy; he knew it, and everybody else knew it.