No summer cyclones, no winter blizzards, no cloudbursts or bad thunderstorms.

It was a country that, once lived in, could never be left.
There were no poor inhabitants in that great area of twenty-five hundred miles; and there were many who were rich.

Prosperous little towns dotted the valley floor; and the many smooth, dusty, much-used roads all led to Ruxton, a wealthy and fine city.
* * * * * Anderson, the rancher, had driven his car to Spokane.

Upon his return he had with him a detective, whom he expected to use in the I.W.W.
investigations, and a neighbor rancher.

They had left Spokane early and had endured almost insupportable dust and heat.