I Married a Ranger

another girl out to work with me. The poor Superintendent was speechless! But his agony was

b or else be just "pore white trash," but in time she learned to bathe quite luxuriously in a three-pint basin. It took longer for her to master the art of lighting

use. White Mountain gave us a wonderful phonograph and plenty of records. If one is inclined to belittle canned music, it

allads, and I secretly applauded his choice. Of course I had to praise the Harry Lauder selections that Ranger Fisk toted in. White Mountain favored

ured, he was witty and traveled. His game of bridge was faultless and his discussion of

." That was all. Somewhere he had a family that stood for something in the world, but where? He was a striking person, with his snow-white hair, bright blue eyes, and erect, soldier-like bearing. White M

Inside the volume I found a note: "I am going away. This is my favorite book. I want you to have

Rim of the Canyon. We sank above our shoes in mud every time we left the cabin. The days were disagreeable, but the evenings were spent in the cabin, Ranger Winess with his guitar and the other

ently, but one unlucky day he took her down Bright Angel Trail. He provided her with a tall lank mule, "By Gosh," to ride, and she had never been aboard an animal before.

ginia what

d him with the stick she carried. Which was the logical thing to do. Unfortunately Ranger Winess teased her a little about the incident, and a slight coolness arose.

ng Virginia around and around among the big pine trees while she yelled like a calliope. Seeing the door open she knocked a few of us over i

ned not to remain permanently, and settled down for th

as buried, ostrich-wise, in the blankets, while her feet beat a wild tattoo in the air. Stell woke up and joined the chorus. The cause of it all was a bewildered Navajo buck who stood mutely in the doorway, staring

, nor does the question of propriety enter into

s to appear. He had silver bracelets and rings beaten out of Mexican coins and studded with native turquoise and desert rubies. We eac

e bring these semi-precious stones to the top. Others contend that they are not found underneath the ground but are brought by the ants fro

ile she was still with us. We gave a dinner at El Tovar, with the rangers and our closest friends prese

laugh. He raised his glass solemnly and said: "Well, here's wishin' you joy, but I jest want to say t

ce of a fourteen-year-old mother whose baby was ill. Bad food and ignorance had been too much for the little nameless fellow, and

ia gave a silken scarf to line the coffin. Ranger Winess tacked muslin over the rough boards so it would look nicer to the young mother. There were enough of my flowers left by Dollar Mark to make a wreath, and that afternoon a piteous procession wended its way to the cemetery. And such a cemetery! Near the edge of the Canyon, a mile or so from Headquarters it la

rning with a few wild flowers to put on the mound. Ranger Winess managed to ride that way and keep her in sight until

sk was burdened with the responsibility of the wedding-ring, license, minister's fee, and flowers for the occasion. He herded us into the clerk's office to secure the necessary papers, and the girl clerk that issued them was a stickler for form. We gave our

ing into a chair. Ranger Fisk produced the ring, with a flourish, at the proper moment, gave the minister his money, after all the "I do's" had been said, and the wedding was over. So we were married. No wedding

years ago, other newly married couples had set up housekeeping and built their dreams

abin filled with our friends and their gifts. They spent a merry evening with us a

ging. Horrors! The cook was on another vanilla-extract jamboree!! But-drums boomed and bugles blared. Ah, of course! The Indians were on the warpath;

less than our friends serenading us. They came inside, thirty strong; the walls of the cabin fairly bulged. They played all sorts of tricks on us, a

in the land of the shivaree," I told White

locked for hours in the old bear cage on the Rim, and his wife was loaded into a wheelbarrow and rolled back and forth across

ke us at all hours of the night. Once she came bursting into our cabin, hysterical with fright. A bunch of coyotes had been racing around and around her tent trying to get into the garbage can. They yelped and barked, and, finally, as she so

see Dollar Mark come charging at us. We had stopped at the cookhouse and begged a pot of hot coffee to take to our cabins. Stell was carrying it, and she stood her ground until the mean old bull was within a few feet of her. Then she dashed the boiling-hot coffee full in his gleaming red eyes, and while he snorted and bellowed with pain we shinnied up a juniper tree and hung there like some of our ancestors until the road crew came along and drove him away. We were pretty mad, and made a few sarcastic rema