Scott Burton and the Timber Thieves

Seasoned ranger Scott Burton, fresh from a celebrated bust of illegal sheepmen in the Southwest, receives a terse telegram assigning him to halt a gang of timber thieves deep in the pine‑laden Okalatchee forest of Florida. The promise of a new region excites his wanderlust, and he rides the rails from arid desert to the Gulf coast, his mind swarming with both duty and the romantic picture of southern palms.

When he finally reaches a ramshackle three‑room cabin on the forest’s edge, the only guidance is the letter he carries and an empty, unlocked supervisor’s office five miles away. A nervous fox‑squirrel scampers nearby, the Gulf waves thunder unheard, and the locals are scarce, leaving Burton to rely on his instincts, the sparse supplies, and the whispers of the woods to track the elusive loggers. The stage is set for a quiet but tense showdown between a lone ranger and the hidden forces that exploit the timber.