tragedies were shock enough for anyone to stand.
"You're being a very brave girl, Sally. You'll make some lucky man a good wife."
"I hope to," she said.
"Anybody can take the easy times," he said. "It's when the going gets rough that the quality shows. Now, when we've had breakfast, we're riding over to the Hatfields'. You already know them, so there's nothing I can say except that they are the salt of the earth.
"The Hatfields know who they are, they know what they believe in, and their kind will last. Other kinds of people will come and go. The glib and confident, the whiners and complainers, and the people without loyalty, they will disappear, but the Hatfields will still be here plowing the land, planting crops, doing the hard work of the world because it is here to be done. Consider yourself fortunate to know them."
When breakfast was over he took them to the saddled horses. Then he walked back inside, and when he returned he carried an old Sharps rifle. He held it in his hands for a moment, looking at it, then he held it up to Jack.
"Jack," Trent said, "when I was fourteen I was a man. Had to be. Well, it looks like your father dying has made you a man, too.
"I'm giving you this Sharps. She's an old gun but she shoots straight. I'm not giving this gun to a boy, but to a man, and a man doesn't ever use a gun unless he has to. He never wastes lead shooting carelessly. He shoots only when he has to and when he can see what it is he's shootin' at.
"This gun is a present with no strings attached except that any man who takes up a gun accepts responsibility for what he does with it. Use it to hunt game, for target practice, or in defense of your home or those you love.
"Keep it loaded always. A gun's no good to a man when it's empty, and if it is settin' around, people aren't liable to handle it carelessly. They'll say, 'That's Jack Moffit's gun and it is always loaded.' It is the guns people think are empty that cause accidents."
"Gosh!" Jack stared at the Sharps. "That's a weapon, man!" He looked at Trent with tears of gratitude in his eyes. "I sure do promise, Mr. Trent! I'll never use a gun unless I have to."
Trent swung into the saddle and led the way into a narrow game trail through the forest. He was under no illusions as to what lay ahead. In this remote corner of southwestern Idaho the law was far away and Hale was a widely known and respected man. The natural assumption of any law officers would be that Hale was in the right. He was known as a respectable, law-abiding citizen always prepared to help with any good cause. Those opposed to him would have to prove their case.
"You know, Jack," he commented, "there's a clause in the Constitution that says the right of an American to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged; The man who put that clause there had just completed a war that they won simply because seven out of every ten Americans had their own rifles and knew how to use them. They wanted a man to always be armed to defend his home or his country.
"Right now there's a man in this area who is trying to take away the liberty and freedom from some men. When a man starts that, and when there is no law to help, a man has to fight. I've killed men, Jack, and it's a bad thing, but I never killed a man unless he forced me into a corner where it was me or him.
"This country is big enough for all of us, but some men become greedy for money or power and come to believe that because they have the money and the power, whatever they do is right. Your father died in a war for freedom just as much as if he was killed on a battlefield.
"Whenever a brave man dies for what he believes, he wins more than he loses. Maybe not for him but for men like him who wish to live honestly and decently.
"Hale showed no interest in this land until we moved here. He's got plenty of land, and every man jack of us filed on our land and we have all built cabins and put in crops. Our part of the bargain with the government has been
"You're being a very brave girl, Sally. You'll make some lucky man a good wife."
"I hope to," she said.
"Anybody can take the easy times," he said. "It's when the going gets rough that the quality shows. Now, when we've had breakfast, we're riding over to the Hatfields'. You already know them, so there's nothing I can say except that they are the salt of the earth.
"The Hatfields know who they are, they know what they believe in, and their kind will last. Other kinds of people will come and go. The glib and confident, the whiners and complainers, and the people without loyalty, they will disappear, but the Hatfields will still be here plowing the land, planting crops, doing the hard work of the world because it is here to be done. Consider yourself fortunate to know them."
When breakfast was over he took them to the saddled horses. Then he walked back inside, and when he returned he carried an old Sharps rifle. He held it in his hands for a moment, looking at it, then he held it up to Jack.
"Jack," Trent said, "when I was fourteen I was a man. Had to be. Well, it looks like your father dying has made you a man, too.
"I'm giving you this Sharps. She's an old gun but she shoots straight. I'm not giving this gun to a boy, but to a man, and a man doesn't ever use a gun unless he has to. He never wastes lead shooting carelessly. He shoots only when he has to and when he can see what it is he's shootin' at.
"This gun is a present with no strings attached except that any man who takes up a gun accepts responsibility for what he does with it. Use it to hunt game, for target practice, or in defense of your home or those you love.
"Keep it loaded always. A gun's no good to a man when it's empty, and if it is settin' around, people aren't liable to handle it carelessly. They'll say, 'That's Jack Moffit's gun and it is always loaded.' It is the guns people think are empty that cause accidents."
"Gosh!" Jack stared at the Sharps. "That's a weapon, man!" He looked at Trent with tears of gratitude in his eyes. "I sure do promise, Mr. Trent! I'll never use a gun unless I have to."
Trent swung into the saddle and led the way into a narrow game trail through the forest. He was under no illusions as to what lay ahead. In this remote corner of southwestern Idaho the law was far away and Hale was a widely known and respected man. The natural assumption of any law officers would be that Hale was in the right. He was known as a respectable, law-abiding citizen always prepared to help with any good cause. Those opposed to him would have to prove their case.
"You know, Jack," he commented, "there's a clause in the Constitution that says the right of an American to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged; The man who put that clause there had just completed a war that they won simply because seven out of every ten Americans had their own rifles and knew how to use them. They wanted a man to always be armed to defend his home or his country.
"Right now there's a man in this area who is trying to take away the liberty and freedom from some men. When a man starts that, and when there is no law to help, a man has to fight. I've killed men, Jack, and it's a bad thing, but I never killed a man unless he forced me into a corner where it was me or him.
"This country is big enough for all of us, but some men become greedy for money or power and come to believe that because they have the money and the power, whatever they do is right. Your father died in a war for freedom just as much as if he was killed on a battlefield.
"Whenever a brave man dies for what he believes, he wins more than he loses. Maybe not for him but for men like him who wish to live honestly and decently.
"Hale showed no interest in this land until we moved here. He's got plenty of land, and every man jack of us filed on our land and we have all built cabins and put in crops. Our part of the bargain with the government has been