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Research Series on the Chinese Dream
and China’s Development Path
Guangjin Chen
Jianhua Yang Editors
Chinese Dream
and Practice in
Zhejiang—Society
Research Series on the Chinese Dream
and China’s Development Path
Project Director
Xie Shouguang, President, Social Sciences Academic Press
Series Editors
Li Yang, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Li Peilin, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
Academic Advisors
Cai Fang, Gao Peiyong, Li Lin, Li Qiang, Ma Huaide, Pan Jiahua, Pei Changhong,
Qi Ye, Wang Lei, Wang Ming, Zhang Yuyan, Zheng Yongnian, Zhou Hong
Drawing on a large body of empirical studies done over the last two decades, this
Series provides its readers with in-depth analyses of the past and present and
forecasts for the future course of China’s development. It contains the latest
research results made by members of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. This
series is an invaluable companion to every researcher who is trying to gain a deeper
understanding of the development model, path and experience unique to China.
Thanks to the adoption of Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and the
implementation of comprehensive reform and opening-up, China has made
tremendous achievements in areas such as political reform, economic development,
and social construction, and is making great strides towards the realization of the
Chinese dream of national rejuvenation. In addition to presenting a detailed account
of many of these achievements, the authors also discuss what lessons other
countries can learn from China’s experience.
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13571

Guangjin Chen Jianhua Yang
•
Editors
Chinese Dream and Practice

in Zhejiang—Society
123
Editors
Guangjin Chen Jianhua Yang
Institute of Sociology Institute of Public Policy Studies
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences
Beijing, China Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China
Published with support of Zhejiang People’s Publishing House
ISSN 2363-6866 ISSN 2363-6874 (electronic)

Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path
ISBN 978-981-13-7405-0 ISBN 978-981-13-7406-7 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7406-7
Jointly published with Social Sciences Academic Press, Beijing, China
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Series Preface
Since China’s reform and opening began in 1978, the country has come a long way
on the path of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics, under the leadership of the
Communist Party of China. Over thirty years of reform, efforts and sustained
spectacular economic growth have turned China into the world’s second-largest
economy and wrought many profound changes in the Chinese society. These his-
torically significant developments have been garnering increasing attention from
scholars, governments, and the general public alike around the world since the
1990s, when the newest wave of China studies began to gather steam. Some of the
hottest topics have included the so-called China miracle, Chinese phenomenon,
Chinese experience, Chinese path, and the Chinese model. Homegrown researchers
have soon followed suit. Already hugely productive, this vibrant field is putting out
a large number of books each year, with Social Sciences Academic Press alone
having published hundreds of titles on a wide range of subjects.
Because most of these books have been written and published in Chinese;
however, readership has been limited outside China—even among many who study
China—for whom English is still the lingua franca. This language barrier has been
an impediment to efforts by academia, business communities, and policy-makers in
other countries to form a thorough understanding of contemporary China, of what is
distinct about China’s past and present may mean not only for her future but also
for the future of the world. The need to remove such an impediment is both real and
urgent, and the Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development
Path is my answer to the call.
This series features some of the most notable achievements from the last 20
years by scholars in China in a variety of research topics related to reform and
opening. They include both theoretical explorations and empirical studies and cover
economy, society, politics, law, culture, and ecology; the six areas in which reform
and opening policies have had the deepest impact and farthest-reaching conse-
quences for the country. Authors for the series have also tried to articulate their
visions of the “Chinese Dream” and how the country can realize it in these fields
and beyond.
v
vi Series Preface
All of the editors and authors for the Research Series on the Chinese Dream and
China’s Development Path are both longtime students of reform and opening and
recognized authorities in their respective academic fields. Their credentials and
expertise lend credibility to these books, each of which has been subjected to a
rigorous peer review process for inclusion in the series. As part of the Reform and
Development Program under the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio,
Film, and Television of the People’s Republic of China, the series is published by
Springer, a Germany-based academic publisher of international repute, and dis-
tributed overseas. I am confident that it will help fill a lacuna in studies of China in
the era of reform and opening.
Xie Shouguang
Contents
1 Introduction: Zhejiang’s Social Development and the Chinese

Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Guangjin Chen
2 The Change in Social Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Feng Tian
3 Urban-Rural Integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chunguang Wang
4 The Social Programs and Equal Access to Public Services . . . . . . . . 97
Jinjun Wang
5 Ensuring and Improving the People’s Well-Being . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Zhijun Liu and Huanhong Ying
6 Primary-Level Social Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Youxing Lang
7 Migrant Population Services and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Xiumei Zhang
8 The Building of a Safe Zhejiang . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Jianhua Yang
9 Zhejiang’s Experience in Social Development and Inspirations . . . . 257
Jianhua Yang
Postscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
vii
Chapter 1
Introduction: Zhejiang’s Social
Development and the Chinese Dream
Guangjin Chen
The Chinese dream covers the following three basic connotations: China has become
a stronger and more prosperous country; the national rejuvenation has been achieved;
the people’s happiness has been realized. These connotations represent the lofty ide-
als which have always been pursued by the Chinese people since modern times. Since
the reform and opening-up, Zhejiang has unceasingly tapped local resources, espe-
cially local social and cultural resources, to strive for common prosperity, Zhejiang
has ranked No. 1 among the provinces and autonomous regions (except munic-
ipalities directly under the Central Government) across the country in economic
aggregate, Zhejiang has stayed ahead nationwide in the per capita income level of
urban and rural households and the income gap between urban and rural residents
in Zhejiang is the smallest nationwide. In an effort to continuously develop the
local economy and incessantly improve the living standard of urban and rural resi-
dents, the Party committees and governments at various levels, the primary-level self-
governing organizations, enterprises, public institutions, urban and rural residents,
and the non-governmental social organizations in Zhejiang have coordinated at differ-
ent levels, made great experiments and innovations through extensive participation
to preliminarily achieve economic modernization, promote social modernization,
make remarkable achievements in modern social development, gradually improve
the modern social governance system and make sure that it constantly delivers ben-
efits; thus, from the perspective of social development, laying a good foundation for
and providing new driving forces for gradually realizing the Chinese dream in Zhe-
jiang, and offering the successful experience from vivid social and living practice
for gradually realizing the Chinese dream nationwide.
G. Chen (B)
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, China
© Social Sciences Academic Press and Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 1
G. Chen and J. Yang (eds.), Chinese Dream and Practice in Zhejiang—Society,
Research Series on the Chinese Dream and China’s Development Path,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7406-7_1
2 G. Chen
1.1 Social Development is an Important Part of Efforts

to Realize the Chinese Dream
The substance of the Chinese dream lies in achieving the great rejuvenation of the
Chinese nation; the Chinese dream is defined at the following three levels: China has
become a stronger and more prosperous country; the national rejuvenation has been
achieved; the people’s happiness has been realized. “A stronger and more prosperous
country” means that China enjoys great comprehensive national strength and has
really become one of the major countries and great powers in the world, China, a
country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, enjoys a say in an increasingly
multipolar world that is commensurate with a country of that size. “The national
rejuvenation” means that the Chinese nation has risen again, is restoring its past
brilliance, and has even reached a new height, and so once again it stands tall and
firm in the world through modernization. “The people’s happiness” emphasizes the
common interest and coordination among the Chinese people of all ethnic groups
and means that common prosperity has been achieved for everyone, and that the
Chinese people live more well-off, are safer, have happier lives and have become
more confident and vibrant. These three definitions constitute a whole, and the priority
and purpose are as follows: The people’s happiness has been realized. In particular,
as economic development enters an era of new normal, the people’s happiness is
not only the achievement made through economic development, but also the motive
force for boosting further economic development.
The Chinese dream cannot be realized in one stroke. The 18th National Congress
of the Communist Party of China vowed to finish building a moderately prosperous
society in all respects at the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist
Party of China. This is the first step towards realizing the Chinese dream. The second
step is that, as stressed by Deng Xiaoping since 1987, China will basically achieve
modernization and reach the level of the moderately developed countries at the 100th
anniversary of the founding of the new China, which means that, as mentioned by
the report delivered during the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of
China, China will become a prosperous, democratic, culturally advanced and har-
monious modern socialist country. The third step is that after China reaches the level
of the moderately developed countries, China will be close to and reach the level
of the most developed country in the world by the end of the 21st century through
continued hard work. Comrade Xi Jinping pointed out, “The 18th National Congress
of the Communist Party of China charted a grand blueprint for finishing the building
of a moderately prosperous society in all respects and more rapidly pushing forward
socialist modernization, and made the clarion call of the times for moving towards
achieving the two centenary goals—to finish building a moderately prosperous soci-
ety in all respects by the time the Communist Party of China celebrates its centenary
in 2021 and to turn China into a modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong,
democratic, culturally advanced, and harmonious by the time it celebrates its cente-
nary in 2049”. According to the guiding principles adopted during the 18th National
Congress of the Communist Party of China, we vow to realize the Chinese Dream
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1 Introduction: Zhejiang’s Social Development and the Chinese Dream 3
of the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The Chinese dream is a vivid expression
highly acceptable to the people and is the “biggest common denominator”.
Therefore, the fundamental connotation of the Chinese dream has formed through
a long period of half a century though it is a summary, recently put forward, of a
developmental strategy having a vital bearing on China’s future and destiny. Now we
have the preliminary foundation for realizing it since China ranks No. 2 in the world
in economic aggregate, the modern economic structure and social structure have
preliminarily taken shape, and the modern political, economic and social systems
commensurate with the modern economic and social structures are in the making.
With hard work for a century on the basis of the above foundation, China will ulti-
mately become one of the developed countries in the world; this is a glorious and
realistic dream. The Chinese dream is shared by the Chinese people; it inherits Chi-
nese history, takes root in China’s reality and signifies China’s future. The Chinese
dream is historical, realistic and future-oriented. The Chinese dream contains the
unremitting efforts made by countless dedicated patriots; it carries the common aspi-
rations of the entire Chinese population; it presents the bright future that the country
will become stronger and more prosperous, the national rejuvenation will be achieved
and the people’s happiness will be realized.1 Based on such an understanding, at the
closing ceremony of the 1st Session of 12th National People’s Congress, comrade Xi
Jinping stressed that we must venture down the Chinese path, carry forward the Chi-
nese spirit and gather Chinese strength. These three aspects stressed by comrade Xi
Jinping are the fundamental conditions or principles for realizing the Chinese dream.
The Chinese dream is rich in connotation. The building of a stronger and more
prosperous country, the realization of both a national rejuvenation and the people’s
happiness encapsulate its connotations. According to the 18th National Congress of
the Communist Party of China, the overall plan for promoting the cause of socialist
modernization with Chinese characteristics consists of making coordinated progress
in the political, economic, cultural, social and ecological fields. This systematically
sheds light on the Chinese path and Chinese experience resulting from gradual the-
oretical clarification and continuous practical experiments since the founding of
the new China, especially the reform and opening-up; this represents the historical
advancement along the fundamental path towards realizing the Chinese dream. Social
development has a vitally important status in this framework and plays an extremely
important role in it. In the contemporary era, the essence of social development lies
in achieving social modernization.2 A society is not considered a modern society
unless it has a modern social structure and social organizational system which are
fit for it and serve as its structural foundation, and based on the above foundation,
actions are being taken according to the requirements of a modern society to con-
stantly strengthen and improve the people’s wellbeing, establish and improve the
modern social undertaking and social service system, the modern social security
system and the modern social governance system, promote social integration, social
fusion, social security and achieve social harmony; this is the main part of efforts to
1 Xi (2013).
2 Lu (2011).
4 G. Chen
push forward social development; this is also the social foundation for making the
country prosperous and strong and for making sure that the people live happy lives.
Since the reform and opening-up, under the leadership of the Communist Party
of China, China has constantly advanced the cause of modern social development
and has made tremendous achievements. With an increasing economic aggregate,
continuous adjustment of the economic structure and constant improvement of the
socialist market economic system, the modern transformation of China’s social struc-
ture has been expanded continuously, the urban-rural structure has been optimized
incessantly and the proportion of the urban population has increased continually; as
the social class structure has been adjusted constantly, the proportion of the middle
class is on the increase, a modern social structural system has preliminarily taken
shape3 ; the ways to organize the members of the society have ceaselessly under-
gone modern change, a social organizational system dominated by social groups,
private non-enterprise units and foundations has developed rapidly, and a modern
social organizational structure in which the government, the market and the society
support each other has preliminary taken shape; the labor employment system has
been improved constantly, labor employment has shown steady growth; the income
of urban and rural residents has grown rapidly year by year, the people’s living stan-
dard has been on the rise; the social undertaking system has been improved gradually,
the quality of social public services has been enhanced continually, the level of equal
access to basic public services has been increased constantly; a modern social secu-
rity system has been preliminarily set up, and thus China is steadily moving towards
the goal of extending social security to all possible groups and providing moderate
security; social governance philosophies keep pace with the times through continu-
ous innovations; China has gradually developed a modern social governance system
with Chinese characteristics which is led by the Party committee, spearheaded by the
government, features social coordination and public participation and is guaranteed
by the rule of law.
When it comes to social development, Zhejiang also shows the same general trend,
a more outstanding performance and has made more significant achievements; Zhe-
jiang has gathered a great amount of experience which offers very important inspi-
ration and reference for promoting social development in the rest of the country.
Scientifically studying Zhejiang’s practice in social development, thoroughly ana-
lyzing and fully summarizing Zhejiang’s experience in social development is of very
significant theoretical and practical value for us in promoting the great cause of
realizing the Chinese dream.
3 Lu (2010).
1.2 The Adjustments of the Modern Social Structure

and the Development of Social Organizations
Social structure has rich connotations; population structure, urban-rural structure,

labor employment structure, social class structure, social organizational structure fall
within the scope of social structure.4 From the perspective of social development,
the adjustments of the structure of the distribution of the urban-rural populations,
labor employment structure, social class structure and social organizational structure
are the fundamentals exerting a decisive impact on the modern transformation of the
social structure. This section focuses on analyzing the modern transformation of
Zhejiang’s social structure in these respects.
Zhejiang has stayed far ahead among most provinces and autonomous regions
(except municipalities directly under the Central Government) in the adjustment
of the structure of its urban-rural population, and Zhejiang’s level in this regard is
about 10 percentage points higher than the national average level (see Fig.1.1). The
time when the rate of Zhejiang’s urbanization exceeded 50% was 10 years ahead
of the time when the same scenario occurred nationwide. In 2013, Zhejiang ranked
No.4 among 28 provinces (autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the
Central Government—except Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai which are the first three
municipalities designated directly under the Central Government) in the proportion
of urban population, Zhejiang’s proportion of urban population was slightly lower
than that in Guangdong, Liaoning and Jiangsu. Moreover, internationally, there are
four main indicators for measuring the degree of industrialization, including the rate
of urbanization. Based on the rate of urbanization, the stage at which the urban
population accounts for 40–60% is the stage of industrialization; the stage at which
the urban population accounts for more than 60% is the later stage of industrialization.
According to such criterion, Zhejiang entered the later stage of industrialization in
2010. Urbanization is not only the structure or manifestation of economic and social
development, but it is also a motive force for economic and social development. This
is a consensus reached in the academic circles.
The structure of labor employment is the basic part of the social structure. With
respect to China’s transformation from a traditional social structure to a modern one,
it is crucial that the structure of labor employment changes from the traditional one
dominated by agricultural employment and manual occupations to the one dominated
by non-agricultural employment and semi-manual, non-manual occupations. Since
the reform and opening-up, both the industrial structure and the occupational structure
in employment have tended to be upgraded in China,5 showing such a change. The
modern transformation of the structure of labor employment in Zhejiang is more
apparent than that across the country, and it has become more prominent since the
21st century (see Table 1.1).
4 Lu (2010)
5 Lu (2004).
6 G. Chen
Zhejiang Nationwide
Fig. 1.1 Comparison of the rate of the urbanization of the population between Zhejiang and the
country as a whole. Source China Statistical Yearbook (over the years)
Table 1.1 Comparison of the industrial structure in labor employment between Zhejiang and the
country as a whole
Zhejiang Nationwide
The The The The The The
primary second tertiary primary second tertiary
industry industry industry industry industry industry
35.58 35.45 28.97 50.0 22.5 27.5
窗体顶端
2000
窗体底端
2001 33.44 36.10 30.46 50.0 22.3 27.7
2002 30.97 37.44 31.59 50.0 21.4 28.6
2003 28.30 41.20 30.50 49.1 21.6 29.3
2004 26.06 43.61 30.33 46.9 22.5 30.6
2005 24.50 45.07 30.43 44.8 23.8 31.4
2006 22.63 45.78 31.59 42.6 25.2 32.2
2007 20.07 46.78 33.15 40.8 26.8 32.4
2008 19.22 47.61 33.17 39.6 27.2 33.2
2009 18.32 48.05 33.63 38.1 27.8 34.1
2010 16.00 49.79 34.21 36.7 28.7 34.6
2011 14.57 50.86 34.57 34.8 29.5 35.7
2012 14.14 50.96 34.90 33.6 30.3 36.1
2013 13.67 49.97 36.36窗体 31.4 30.1 38.5
底端
Source China Statistical Yearbook (2014), Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014)
According to Table 1.1, the industrial structure in labor employment has changed
fundamentally in Zhejiang in more than a decade since the beginning of the 21st
century; in 2013, the proportion of agricultural employment was less than 14%,
being 18 percentage points lower than that across the country; the proportion of
non-agricultural employment exceeded 86%, being 18 percentage points higher than
that across the country. Of course, in non-agricultural employment, the proportion
of employment in the secondary industry approached 50%, being near 20% points
higher than that across the country; that in the tertiary industry was more than 2%
points lower than that across the country, suggesting a high degree of development
of the industrial economy in Zhejiang.
Regarding the occupational structure in labor employment, semi-manual and non-
manual occupations developed rapidly and were optimized constantly. According to
statistics, in late 2013, the people at and above the undergraduate level and those at the
junior college level accounted for 18.6 and 15.5% of the people employed by urban
units in Zhejiang, respectively. With wide adoption of the practicing qualification
system, vigorous development of vocational education and year-by-year improve-
ment of workers’ professional quality in Zhejiang, various types of professional and
technical personnel made up an increasing proportion in urban units. In 2013, the
ratio of management personnel, technical personnel and workers in the post structure
of the employed people became 1:2.4:7.5; in other words, management personnel
and technical personnel accounted for nearly 1/3 of the employed people in urban
units.
The modern transformation of the social class structure is noticeable in two
respects. First, profound social differentiation has arisen from economic and social
development and the changes in the pattern of interests, while new social classes
have emerged and rapidly developed in this process. The most important change
is the growth of two new classes, those of private business owners and individual
businesses. Zhejiang has stayed ahead nationwide in the development of individual
private economy, resulting in two new social classes on a large scale, those of private
business owners and individual businesses. Second, the middle class has expanded
continuously. The middle class generally includes two parts: various kinds of small
and medium-sized business owners with certain assets (including urban and rural
small and medium-sized business owners, individual business owners and agricul-
tural specialized households, and they are classified as the old middle class) and
the new middle class including operational management personnel, professional and
technical personnel and working staff. According to such a definition, the middle
class accounted for about 15% in the Chinese society in the late 1990s, and after-
wards, that proportion increased by about 1 percentage point each year; currently it is
probably about 30%.6 In 2013, in Zhejiang, small and medium-sized business own-
ers, individual business owners within the class of private business owners accounted
for 12%, while management personnel and technical personnel within the new mid-
dle class accounted for more than 1/3; if the personnel in the Party and government
departments, white collar workers in enterprises and public institutions and large
6 Lu (2010).
8 G. Chen
specialized households in rural areas are considered, it is estimated that the propor-
tion of the middle class could exceed 45% in Zhejiang; furthermore, with the further
development of the new and hi-tech industries in Zhejiang, that proportion might
further increase. In this sense, Zhejiang has the foundation of and conditions for
developing a social class structure that is dominated by the middle class.
In Zhejiang, social organizations have developed rapidly and have been highly
dense. According to the statistics from the Department of Civil Affairs of Zhejiang
Province, in 2013, there were more than 120,000 social organizations registered and
put on file, including social groups, private non-enterprise units and foundations in
Zhejiang, among which 40,201 social organizations were officially registered. With-
out regard to the social organizations put on file, there were 8.4 officially registered
social organizations for every 10,000 people in Zhejiang. According to the statistics
from the Department of Civil Affairs of Zhejiang Province, in the same period, there
were 547,245 officially registered social organizations nationwide, with 4 social orga-
nizations for every 10,000 people. The density of social organizations in Zhejiang was
2.1 times that of the social organizations across the country. The fast-growing social
organizations serve as the new forces for promoting self-service and self-governance
in the society in Zhejiang’s urban and rural areas.
1.3 The Work on Strengthening and Improving

the People’s Wellbeing
Work should be done to ensure and continuously improve the people’s wellbeing,
make the people live better material and cultural lives, make sure that the people
have access to employment, old-age care, medical services and housing so that they
really live and work in peace and contentment. This is the realistic and genuine part
of the Chinese dream for every Chinese person. Overall, Zhejiang has also been at
the forefront of the country in the development of programs relating to the people’s
wellbeing, laying a solid foundation for finishing building a moderately prosperous
society in all respects in advance.
Employment is fundamental to the people’s wellbeing. Since the beginning of
the 21st century, Zhejiang’s labor employment has grown steadily and the rate of its
registered urban unemployment has been significantly lower than the national aver-
age level (see Fig.1.2). For the growth of aggregate employment, during the period
2001–2013, employment grew annually by an average of 2.71% in Zhejiang, and
before 2009, the growth of labor employment was more prominent; after 2010, the
growth of aggregate employment declined, possibly because of such factors as indus-
trial transfer. In the same period, the nation’s aggregate employment grew annually
by an average of 0.58%, equivalent to 21.4% of Zhejiang’s growth. As Zhejiang
achieved noticeable growth of employment, on the one hand, Zhejiang guaranteed
the employment of local population better. After 2004, the rate of registered urban
unemployment declined steadily and was obviously lower than the national average
(a)
Zhejiang Nationwide
(b)
Zhejiang Nationwide
Fig. 1.2 a Comparison of the growth of employment between Zhejiang and the country as a whole.
(Source China Statistical Yearbook (2014), Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014)), b Comparison
of the rate of registered urban unemployment between Zhejiang and the country as a whole. Source
China Statistical Yearbook (2014), Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014)
rate. On the other hand, Zhejiang absorbed the employment of a massive external
population. For instance, according to the analysis conducted by the Zhejiang Bureau
of Statistics, a population of about 11,824,000 flowed from other provinces into Zhe-
jiang in 2010, accounting for 21.7% of the entire permanent resident population, up
8,135,000 or 220.5% over 2000, an average annual increase of 12.4%. Among the
external population, the population working, doing business in Zhejiang or going to
Zhejiang due to a job transfer constituted the majority; that population accounted for
84.7% of the entire migrant population in 2010.7
7 Zhang (2012).
10 G. Chen
The increasing income of urban and rural residents is an important material foun-
dation for ensuring and improving the people’s wellbeing. In this process, it is also
necessary to achieve social fairness. Since the reform and opening-up, like the rest of
the country, Zhejiang has always witnessed the rapid growth of the income of urban
and rural residents. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the base of the grow-
ing income of urban and rural residents has expanded constantly; after the growth
effect from the initial reform, especially the rural reform, was unleashed to the great-
est extent, the difficulties in realizing a rapid growth of urban and rural residents’
income mounted; the Party committees and governments at various levels in Zhejiang
attached more and more importance to this problem and made great efforts at raising
the income of urban and rural residents, delivering significant outcomes. During the
period 2000–2013, the per capita disposable income of urban households increased
from 9,279 yuan to 37,851 yuan in Zhejiang, following that in Shanghai and Beijing,
an average annual increase of 9.33%; the per capita net income of rural households
rose from 4,254 yuan to 16,106 yuan (Zhejiang ranked No. 1 among provinces,
municipalities and autonomous regions across the country in this regard for 29 con-
secutive years, an average annual increase of 8.68%, see Table 1.2); both figures
were higher than the national average annual growth rate involving the per capita
disposable income of urban households (9.16%) and the national average annual
growth rate involving the per capita disposable income of rural households (7.44%).
As the income of urban and rural residents increased year by year, their material
and cultural level also rose steadily; as from 2000, the Engel coefficient of the per
capita living consumption expenditure in urban households was lower than 40% in
Zhejiang, suggesting entry into the stage of affluence,8 basically being in sync with
the country as a whole; the Engel coefficient of the per capita living consumption
expenditure in rural households was lower than 40% as from 2003, a time being nine
years ahead of the time (2012) when that in rural households across the country was
lower than 40%. Besides continuous increase in income and the level of consumption
expenditure, the per capita housing area of urban and rural households also increased
significantly (see Table 1.2). During the period 2000–2013, the per capita housing
area of urban households grew by 95.3%, much higher than the national average
growth rate in the same period; the per capita housing area of rural households grew
by 31%, possibly lower than the national average growth rate, but the per capita
housing area was much larger than the national average housing area—in 2012, the
national per capita housing area of rural households was 37.1 m2 , 60.3% of the per
capita housing area of rural households in Zhejiang.
It is worth noting that the resident income gap in Zhejiang was small compared
with the national income gap. As from 2000, the ratio of the per capita disposable
income of urban households to the per capita net income of rural households in
Zhejiang increased and then decreased (see Fig. 1.3), but the ratio of the income of
8 According to the criterion developed by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization,
the Engel coefficient above 59% means poverty; the Engel coefficient between 50 and 59% means
ample food and clothing; the Engel coefficient between 40 and 50% means a well-off life; the Engel
coefficient between 30 and 40% means affluence; the Engel coefficient below 30% means the most
affluent life.
Table 1.2 The growth trends of the income of urban and rural residents, the Engel coefficient and
the housing area in Zhejiang
Regional Per capita income The Engel coefficient Per capita housing area
GDP growth rate (%) (%) of households (m2 )
growth Urban Rural Urban Rural Urban Rural
rate (%) areas areas areas areas areas areas
2000 11.0 9.1 7.8 39.2 43.5 19.87 46.42窗
体顶端
2001 10.6 13.3 6.9 36.3 41.6 20.3 47.82
2002 12.6 13.4 8.4 37.9 40.8 21.12 49.53
2003 14.7 11.9 7.8 36.6 38.2 21.6 50.73
2004 14.5 7.4 7.4 36.2 39.5 23.9 51.29
2005 12.8 10.4 6.4 33.8 38.6 26.1 54.98
2006 13.9 10.9 9.3 32.9 37.2 26.44 55.57
2007 14.7 8.4 8.2 34.7 36.4 34.73 57.06
2008 10.1 5.4 6.2 36.4 38 34.33 58.5
2009 8.9 9.7 9.5 33.6 37.4 35.09 59.29
2010 11.9 6.9 8.6 34.3 35.5 35.29 58.53
2011 9.0 7.5 9.5 34.6 37.6 36.85 60.8
2012 8.0 9.2 8.8 35.1 37.7 37.07 61.51
2013 8.2 7.1 8.1 34.4 35.6 38.8窗体 60.82
底端
Source China Statistical Yearbook (2014), Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014)
urban residents to that of rural residents in Zhejiang was apparently lower than the
national average ratio, its increase was much smaller and it declined earlier compared
with the national situation. For the overall resident income gap in Zhejiang, the Gini
coefficient rose, and reached 0.403 in 2005,9 much lower than the national Gini
coefficient 0.485 in the same year. Zhejiang was the province with the lowest Gini
coefficient among the provinces across China.
The modern social security system is an important part of security for the people.
The development of the modern social security system is conducive to meeting the
basic needs, adjusting the income distribution gap and promoting social fairness.
Internationally, the role of the social security system in adjusting the income distri-
bution gap even much exceeded that of the tax system in adjustment. For instance,
in some OECD countries, if both tax and social security are considered, the public
transfer payment mainly aimed at providing social security contributed about 2/3
to the adjustment-induced decrease in the Income distribution Gini coefficient of a
country. To fulfill the Chinese dream with the realization of the people’s happiness as
one of the main goals, it is undoubtedly necessary for China to establish and improve
9 Lu (2006).
12 G. Chen
Zhejiang Nationwide
Fig. 1.3 Comparison of the urban and rural resident income ratio between Zhejiang and the country
as a whole. Source China Statistical Yearbook (2014), Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014)
Table 1.3 The number of people covered by social insurance in Zhejiang

Endowment Unemployment Medical Work-related Maternity
insurance insurance insurance injury insurance
insurance
2006 1052.59 504.38 730.59 603.94 382.72
2007 1167.10 584.75 854.97 1002.90 504.96
2008 1386.91 731.10 1053.92 1261.84 689.98
2009 1527.43 784.46 1173.73 1331.09 750.67
2010 1702.22 874.95 1344.42 1475.11 863.73
2011 1821.76 980.59 1514.39 1610.76 979.79
2012 2083.30 1065.56 1670.97 1731.68 1084.78
2013 2272.50 1144.53 1791.08 1826.06 1173.17
Source Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014)
a modern social security system. Since the middle of the 1990s, especially during
the 21st century, China has rapidly developed a social security system, and has intro-
duced a number of systems concerning social insurance, social assistance and social
welfare. So far, China has preliminarily established a relatively systematic social
security system. Zhejiang has carried out extremely solid work on building a mod-
ern social security system, continuously made relevant social security systems cover
more people and it has endeavored to increase the level of benefit (see Table 1.3).
In the social assistance system, the urban and rural subsistence allowances are
the most important assistance programs, designed to provide basic income security
for the poor and low-income people in urban and rural areas. Zhejiang has pro-
vided security to all possible people in need in this respect. According to the data
from the Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook, the rural population covered by subsistence
allowances peaked at 623,300 in 2011, excluding the rural childless and infirm pop-
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ulation provided with assistance in the form of food, clothing, medical care, housing,
and burial expenses; the urban population covered by subsistence allowances peaked
at 93,300 in 2009, afterwards, it decreased. More importantly, the level of subsis-
tence allowances was raised. According to statistics, the level of the per capita annual
subsistence allowances payments for the urban population covered by subsistence
allowances was 2,184 yuan in 2007, it increased to 6,100.3 yuan in 2013, up 1.79 times
in nominal terms, an average annual nominal increase of 19%; in the same period, the
level of the per capita annual subsistence allowances payments for the rural popula-
tion covered by subsistence allowances increased from 1,018.9 yuan to 3,387.1 yuan,
up 2.32 times in nominal terms, an average annual nominal increase of 22.3%. The
average annual nominal growth rate involving the per capita payment from Zhejiang’s
public finances for urban and rural populations covered by subsistence allowances
was much higher than the nominal growth rate involving the per capita annual income
of urban and rural residents in the same period. Moreover, the level of subsistence
allowances payments for urban and rural populations in Zhejiang was higher than
the average national level. According to relevant research, in 2010, the level of the
national urban subsistence allowances payments was 267.47 yuan/person/month,
while the level of Zhejiang’s urban subsistence allowances payments was 366.98
yuan/person/month; in the meantime, Zhejiang ranked No. 4 among 31 provinces
across the country in the level of subsistence allowances payments, following Shang-
hai, Tianjin and Beijing.10
1.4 The Development of Social Programs and Equal Access

to Public Services
The development of social programs, especially educational, medical and health

programs, is an important indispensable part of social development. The resource
input and allocation for the development of social programs has a direct impact on
the realization of equal access to public services. Thus the healthy development of
social programs and equal access to public services are essential for realizing the
Chinese dream.
Zhejiang has pushed forward the development of the educational programs in
an all-round way; educational development at various stages has been relatively
balanced and has reached a higher level. As early as 2005, in Zhejiang, 86.5% of
3-5-year-old children with registered permanent residence were enrolled in kinder-
gartens. The enrollment rate at primary schools reached 99.99% in 2002. The rate of
admission of primary school graduates into higher schools reached 99.99% in 2005.
In Zhejiang, the enrollment rate and consolidation rate at junior middle schools were
99.59 and 99.93; 91.02% of junior middle school graduates entered high schools
and secondary vocational schools, the gross enrolment rate in the high school and
secondary vocational education reached 86% in 2005. The national gross enrolment
10 Yao (2012).
14 G. Chen
Zhejiang Nationwide
Fig. 1.4 Comparison of the gross enrolment rate involving the population of the right age for the
stage of higher education between Zhejiang and the country as a whole
rate of high school and secondary vocational education did not reach 86% until 2013.
As a population of more than 10 million migrated from other areas to Zhejiang, local
authorities of Zhejiang generally attached importance to the education of the children
of the external population. In 2004, the enrolment rate of the children of the migrant
population at the stage of compulsory education reached 96.9% in Zhejiang, more
than 60 percentage points higher than the average national level in the same period;
about 2/3 of the children of the external population who attended schools in various
parts of Zhejiang entered public schools.11
Higher education developed very rapidly in Zhejiang. According to statistics, dur-
ing the period 2000–2013, the number of the institutions of higher learning increased
from 35 to 106, and the number of students enrolled rose from 93,500 to 283,400 in
Zhejiang. With the development of higher education, the gross enrolment rate involv-
ing the population of the right age for the stage of higher education increased rapidly
year by year in Zhejiang, it soared from 20% in 2002 to 51.7% in 2013 (see Fig.1.4),
Zhejiang really transformed higher education from being elite-oriented to being a
kind of widespread education among the entire population. As shown by Fig.1.4, the
gross enrolment rate involving the population of the right age for the stage of higher
education in Zhejiang was apparently higher than the average national level, and that
gap widened year by year before 2011; after 2012, it narrowed to some extent, but it
was still large; in 2013, it was 17.2% points.
Zhejiang also made great progress in the development of medical and health
programs. The population density of technical personnel relating to medical and
health services and that of beds at medical and health institutions are two relatively
stable basic indicators for measuring the level of development of medical and health
programs. According to statistics, during the period 2002–2013, in Zhejiang, the
number of beds at medical and health institutions increased from 119,522 to 230,056,
11 Zhang and Zhu (2004), Xiao (2013).

(a)
Zhejiang Nationwide
(b)
Zhejiang Nationwide
Fig. 1.5 a The number of healthcare-related technical personnel per 1000 people. Source China
Statistical Yearbook (2014), Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014), b The number of beds at med-
ical and health institutions per 1000 people. Source China Statistical Yearbook (2014), Zhejiang
Statistical Yearbook (2014)
up 92.5%, an average annual increase of 6.15%; the number of beds per 1000 people
rose from 2.63 to 4.77. In the same period, the number of healthcare-related technical
personnel increased from 163,205 to 352,393, up 1.16 times, an average annual
increase of 7.27%; the number of healthcare-related technical personnel per 1000
people rose from 3.6 to 6.4. As indicated by Fig.1.5, the number of healthcare-related
technical personnel per 1000 people and the number of medical and health beds per
1000 people in Zhejiang were also apparently larger than the average national levels;
in particular, the gap in the number of healthcare-related technical personnel per
1000 people between Zhejiang and the country as a whole tended to widen.
Social programs also cover many other fields, such as culture, sports, social old-
age care, social welfare, public transportation and infrastructure. Since the reform
and opening-up, especially during the 21st century, Zhejiang has made great efforts
16 G. Chen
and continuous progress in developing social programs in these fields, Zhejiang has
achieved rapid development in some fields. For instance, the development of mass
sports in Zhejiang is typical. According to the Zhejiang Statistical Yearbook (2014),
the number of mass sports activities at the provincial, municipal and county levels
increased from 7300 to 14,687 and the number of participants rose from 8.39 to
21.67 million during the years 2009–2013.
Zhejiang constantly promoted equal access to basic public services while vigor-
ously developing social programs. In this process, Zhejiang paid particular attention
to narrowing the urban-rural gap in the supply of basic public services. Quantitatively,
in Zhejiang, the urban-rural gap was not apparent in many fields involving the supply
of basic public services. In such a circumstance, the gap in the quality of life and the
access to opportunities for development between urban and rural residents narrowed
continuously in Zhejiang. As mentioned above, the income gap between urban and
rural residents in Zhejiang was smallest nationwide, the Engel coefficient of the living
consumption was very close between urban and rural residents; nine-year compul-
sory education was achieved at a level of almost 100%; Zhejiang basically made
high school and secondary vocational education universal, the enrollment rate at the
stage of higher education exceeded 50%; the social security system basically fully
covered urban and rural areas; the urban-rural gap in social assistance, especially
the level of subsistence allowances payments, narrowed year by year, and was much
smaller than that in most provinces across the county; Zhejiang basically built a new
social security system characterized by urban-rural integration, network-based orga-
nization, socialized management, security under the rule of law and commensurate
with the level of economic and social development, and a social assistance system
covering urban and rural medical assistance, aid for students from the families with
financial difficulties, economically affordable housing and low-rent housing security
as well as judicial assistance. Zhejiang also continually narrowed the urban-rural gap
in the construction of infrastructures. According to the second agricultural census
in Zhejiang, as early as 2006, in Zhejiang, 100% of the administrative villages and
99.6% of the natural villages got access to electricity; telephones were made avail-
able to 99.4% of the administrative villages and 95.6% the natural villages; cable TV
was made available to 91.2% of the administrative villages and 86.8% of the natural
villages; roads were built for 97.6% of the administrative villages and 88.6% of the
natural villages (91.8% were cement or asphalt roads).
1.5 The Innovations in Social Governance

and the Development of a Safe Zhejiang
Social governance is an important part of social development. As social development

becomes better, the modern changes in the social structure are achieved to a higher
degree, and the people’s wellbeing is further improved, social inequality can be better
controlled within the reasonable range of better reflecting social fairness and justice
without affecting economic efficiency and social vitality; as the social security system
becomes more sound and the level of equal access to basic public services increases,
social contradictions will decrease and the level of social security will become higher.
However, no matter how successful the work in these respects may be, social contra-
dictions remain unavoidable. This means that any society needs effective governance
at any time; importantly, social governance is necessary to continuously resolve social
contradictions, mediate social disputes caused by contradictions, and make sure that
social contradictions and disputes will not become antagonistic contradictions and
conflicts, thus promoting social harmony and security, and providing a good social
environment for social development and for work on other fronts.
Therefore, social governance is also an important part of efforts at building a safe
Zhejiang. The building of a safe Zhejiang is an important move made by the Party
Committee of Zhejiang Province for carrying out the principles adopted during the
16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and promoting Zhejiang’s
social harmony and stability. In 2004, the 6th Plenary (Enlarged) Session of the
11th Party Committee of Zhejiang Province officially put forward the strategy of
building a safe Zhejiang, in which comrade Xi Jinping, the then Secretary of the
Party Committee of Zhejiang Province, delivered a report Building a Safe Zhejiang,
Promoting Social Harmony and Stability. In the report, comrade Xi Jinping pointed
out that the “safe” in a safe Zhejiang not only meant “safe” in a narrow sense—good
public security and few crimes, but also covered the wide-ranging “safe” in a wider
scope and at multiple levels in the economic, political, cultural and social fields;
its overall plan was as follows: The economy would be further developed, politics
would become more stable, culture would become more prosperous, the society
would be more harmonious and the people would live better lives. Based on such
an understanding, comrade Xi Jinping put forward six specific goals for building
a safe Zhejiang, namely, guaranteeing social and political stability, good security,
sound economic operations, stable and better work safety, social public security, and
making sure that the people live and work in peace and contentment. As the initiative
of building a safe Zhejiang was put forward, the discussions about economic and
social issues were conducted in a deeper and pragmatic way, and were focused more
on the people’s life, and the discussions were richer and more complete in content.
Except for the goal of ensuring sound economic operations, the remaining five goals
are directly related to social governance.
Unlike the traditional social ruling and control, modern social governance is based
on its basic philosophy and mode. Regarding modern social governance with Chi-
nese characteristics, as mentioned by comrade Xi Jinping when he served as the
Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhejiang Province, equal emphasis is placed
on strengthening government administration and promoting social self-governance,
and actions are taken to build and improve a pattern of social management in which
the Party committee plays the leading role, the government assumes the respon-
sibility, and there is social coordination and public participation.12 These remarks
and thoughts of comrade Xi Jinping’s provided enormous guidance for Zhejiang’s
12 Xi (2005).
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‘Where’s Pete?’ he asked Spike, after they had finished their
drink.
‘I dunno. He must have pulled out early this mornin’. Didn’t say
anythin’ about goin’. Fact of the matter is, he didn’t wait for breakfast.
When Briggs got breakfast ready, we found that the old man was
gone. His horse and saddle were missin’; so we decided he left
early. We thought we’d find him here in town. Did you just come from
the Lane place, Lem?’
‘Yeah,’ nodded the sheriff.
‘Didn’t see anythin’ of Pete Morgan?’
‘Nope. Did he intend goin’ over there?’
‘You heard about Pete and old man Lane havin’ a fight yesterday,
didn’t yuh, Lem?’
Lem hadn’t. He listened to the details according to Dave Morgan,
who had seen it all.
‘But that wouldn’t send Peter Morgan over to Lane’s place early
this mornin’, would it?’ queried Lem. ‘Seems to me that he’d keep
away. I understand that Lane has homesteaded that ranch.’
‘Well, he drew a deadline on the 6X6,’ laughed Dave. ‘If Joe Cave
hadn’t acted real quick, Lane would have shot Pete.’
‘I suppose,’ said Spike thoughtfully, ‘it wouldn’t do me and Bert a
damn bit of good to deny that we hit this young Morgan, would it,
Lem?’
‘I dunno,’ smiled the sheriff. ‘It might, if you’d tell me why you and
Bert were fightin’ each other out there.’
‘That was a mistake,’ said Bert quickly. ‘It was dark, and we didn’t
recognize each other, Lem.’
But further than that neither of them was willing to commit
himself.
‘Found any trace of Long Lane?’ asked Dave Morgan.
‘Not any,’ said the sheriff.
‘Lookin’ for any?’ asked Spike sarcastically.
‘That’s my business, Spike. And I don’t need any bushwhackin’
help from the 6X6. You fellers better keep away from Lane’s place.
Accordin’ to law he owns that ranch, and he’s given yuh plenty of
warnin’.’
Spike subsided. He knew Lem Sheeley to be a two-fisted fighter
and a fast man with a gun; so there would be little satisfaction gained
in starting trouble with him.
‘You evidently don’t consider Long Lane a murderer, do yuh,
Lem?’ asked Dave Morgan.
‘Why should I? Ben Leach followed him, didn’t he? He didn’t have
any idea of kissin’ Lane when they met, did he? No, I don’t consider
it murder, Dave.’
‘But Lane took his gun and horse. Yuh might at least arrest him
for stealin’ the horse,’ said Spike.
‘Do you know he took the horse?’
‘Well, the horse is gone, ain’t it?’
‘Does that prove Lane took it?’
‘Oh, hell!’ snorted Spike. ‘You talk in circles and ask questions all
the time. C’mon, Bert.’
Bert was willing to leave, and a few minutes later Dave Morgan
and Cal Dickenson left the saloon.
In the meantime Nan Lane had put a fresh bandage on Rex
Morgan’s head, and he sprawled back in a rocker, watching her
working around the room.
‘Where is your father?’ he asked suddenly.
Nan shook her head. ‘Out in the hills somewhere.’
‘With your brother?’
‘I can’t answer that question.’
‘Have you a sweetheart?’
Nan turned quickly. He was not joking. His eyes were deadly
serious.
‘Of all things!’ she exclaimed. ‘You’re feverish again.’
‘Nothing of the kind. Please answer the question.’
‘Nothing of the kind,’ she mimicked him. ‘Why did you ask such a
foolish question?’
‘Most girls do have sweethearts, do they not?’
‘I really don’t know—possibly.’
She laughed and listened intently. From down at the stable came
the cackle of a hen, announcing to the world that she had produced
an egg. Following this came the hoarse crow of a rooster. Nan
laughed and turned to Rex.
‘Cut, cut, cut goes the little brown hen

She cut, cut, cuts a warning,
Then the rooster crows and everybody knows
We’ll have eggs for breakfast in the morning.’
‘Is that what it means?’ laughed Rex.

‘Didn’t you ever hear that before? That was the first poem I ever
learned. We have only a dozen hens, and only six are laying; so I
better get that egg before a coyote or a bob-cat finds it.’
She went out through the kitchen door, and Rex heard her going
toward the stable. She had not invited him to go with her, but he
decided to go anyway. His head was a bit light, he found, and his
knees were weak, but otherwise he felt all right.
Nan went down to the stable, searching for the nest, but was
unable to find it. The chickens were in the willows beyond the corral;
so she crawled through the corral fence. The corrals of the Lane
ranch surrounded one side and the rear of the stable, being almost
an L in shape, with a cross-fence separating it into two units.
Nan entered the smaller corral and walked back to the cross-
fence near the corner of the stable, intending to go through the gate,
but as she glanced through the fence she stopped short.
On the ground, at the corner of the stable, she could see part of a
shoulder and the left arm of a man. The fingers were splayed out in
the dirt; the sleeve drawn back sharply showed a hairy wrist.
Nan flung the gate open and stepped to the corner of the stable,
her eyes filled with horror. The man was lying close against the rear
of the stable, as though he had been leaning against the wall, and
had hardly moved after falling. His right arm was twisted back,
almost under his right leg, and Nan could see the butt of a six-
shooter.
Forgetting her fear for a moment, she stepped forward, took hold
of his shoulder and gave a slight pull. The body turned over easily
and she looked down into the contorted features of Peter Morgan.
With a stifled scream she stepped back, staring down at the
corpse, looking dazedly at the earthly remains of the man who had
been her father’s enemy.
‘What do you suppose happened to him?’ asked a voice, and she
jerked around quickly to face Rex Morgan, who had stepped through
the gate and was looking at the body.
‘My God!’ she whispered. ‘That is Peter Morgan!’
‘Was Peter Morgan,’ corrected Rex unemotionally. ‘Dead, isn’t
he? I never saw a dead man before. He must have been struck over
the head, too. Queer, isn’t it?’
‘Queer?’ Nan struggled to keep her voice calm. If she ever
needed self-possession she needed it now.
‘Queer about him getting hit on the head, I mean. It seems to be
sort of a habit around here.’
Nan leaned against the wall of the stable, trying to think just what
to do.
‘Who do you suppose killed him?’ queried Rex. It was rather
strange that he wasn’t at all excited.
‘Oh, don’t you see what it will mean?’ whispered Nan. ‘This is
Peter Morgan. He hated my father, and my father has threatened to
kill any of his outfit that came here.’
‘Your father threatened him? Do you suppose he killed him?’
‘I—I don’t know. No! Why, if he killed him, he wouldn’t leave the
body there—here. But they won’t believe it. My father left here early
this morning. Why—why he and Morgan had a fight in Mesa City
yesterday. This is terrible!’
‘I begin to understand,’ said Rex slowly. ‘If they find the body
here, they will say your father killed him.’
‘Yes, yes! Oh, what can I do?’
‘Well, the first thing to do is to get rid of the body, I suppose. Of
course the man is dead, and it won’t make a particle of difference to
him. I think we——’
Nan had stepped to the gate and was looking down toward the
willow-lined creek, where a saddled horse stood, barely visible to
them. It was a tall roan; the riding horse of Peter Morgan.
‘That was his horse,’ she told Rex. ‘He must have tied it down
there, and then——’
‘Came looking for trouble.’
‘Oh, I suppose,’ wearily. ‘But what can we do, Rex?’
It was the first time she had called him Rex.
‘I was just wondering what would be the proper thing to do,’ he
replied. ‘You see, I haven’t many ideas on the subject. My idea of it
would be to get the body away from here and let them find it
elsewhere. That would, at least, turn the finger of direct suspicion
from your father; and that seems to be the primary idea, doesn’t it?’
Nan nodded quickly. ‘But how can we, Rex? Suppose some one
saw us?’
‘I don’t know anything about what they would do, Nan. I just had
an idea. I—you wait here a minute.’
He crossed the corral, climbed through the fence and came back
shortly, leading the saddled horse.
‘We would have to dispose of the horse, too,’ he said, eyeing the
body. ‘Suppose you get some rope.’
‘Do you mean to—to tie the body on the horse?’
‘Something like that, I think it can be done.’ Nan secured a length
of spot-cord lariat and came back to him.
‘I was just thinking again,’ smiled Rex. ‘The body is very stiff, and
I wonder if—no, I guess we better just drape him across the saddle.
Do you feel capable of helping me lift him up, Nan?’
She shut her eyes tightly, but nodded in the affirmative. It was a
tough job. Rex was none too strong, and Nan’s natural aversion to
touching the body did not add any material strength to her arms.
But they finally managed to place the body across the saddle,
face down, and together they roped it tightly. Rex knew nothing
about knots; so he let Nan tie off the ropes. Luckily it was a gentle
horse.
‘Now, that is done,’ said Rex thankfully.
‘But what next?’ asked Nan anxiously, scanning the hills. She was
mortally afraid some one would come before the coast was clear.
‘Would this horse go home?’ asked Rex.
‘It might. Oh, that would——’
‘Let’s try it, Nan.’
Slowly he led the horse through the rear gate. They had tied the
reins to the saddle-horn. Pointing the animal away from the ranch,
he gave it a slap with his open palm, and the animal went trotting
away, heading back toward the 6X6.
For a long time they stood there together, watching the hills, and
once they saw the animal with its grisly burden, a mile away, still
going. Nan’s face was very white as she turned to Rex and held out
her hand.
‘Thank you, Rex,’ she said simply.
‘You are welcome, Nan. It was nothing.’
‘But if it was known, we would both go to jail for a long time.’
Rex shuddered slightly. ‘Is that a fact, Nan?’
‘Yes—we must never tell. The law would blame us equally with
the one who killed him.’
‘Well, that is all right. I—I mean—it does matter. You see, I don’t
want anything to happen to you. I never did touch a dead man
before, and my head hurts now, but it is all right. You see, I—I——’
His hands slipped off the fence and he fell in a heap at her feet.
Quickly she knelt in the dust of the corral and took his head in her
lap. His face was bloodless. She knew she could not carry him to the
house. For a moment she hesitated on just what to do, but finally
lowered his head to the ground and got quickly to her feet, intending
to go to the house after some water, but as she turned toward the
gate she saw the sheriff riding up to the corral. It was evident he had
seen her, and was coming there instead of to the house.
He rode up along the fence, swinging his hat in his hand, a smile
on his face.
‘Howdy, Miss Lane,’ he said pleasantly, and then saw Rex on the
ground. He dismounted quickly and came over to the fence.
‘He—he fainted,’ faltered Nan, fearful that the sheriff had seen the
horse and its burden leave the corral.
‘Shore looks white, ma’am.’
‘I was just going after some water.’
‘I’ll get yuh some,’ he said quickly. He walked to the open gate,
but stopped and picked up Peter Morgan’s revolver.
Nan’s heart sank when she saw it. Would he recognize the gun,
she wondered? But he merely gave it a sharp glance and went on to
the house, carrying it in his hand.
But she noticed when he came back that the gun was not in
evidence, nor did he mention finding it. He poured some of the water
over Rex’s head, and the shock of the cold water brought him back
to consciousness. He sat up, blinking foolishly.
‘This is the sheriff,’ said Nan. ‘You’ve met him before.’
‘Kinda went down and out, didn’t yuh?’ smiled the sheriff.
Rex nodded quickly. ‘Foolish of me to faint. I guess my head isn’t
very good yet.’
He looked searchingly at Nan. ‘Did you find them?’ he asked.
‘Find what?’ asked the sheriff, before Nan could reply.
‘The eggs,’ said Rex. ‘The hen called, you know; and we went
hunting the egg. Queer, isn’t it? And I fainted.’
The sheriff smiled thinly. He had seen the look which passed
between them.
‘Can yuh navigate all right?’ he asked.
‘Oh, I am all right now.’
‘I just dropped in to tell you that the horse you rode last night was
picked up at the 6X6 ranch and brought back to Mesa City. The
horse came from there, yuh see; so that would be where he’d go.’
‘Well, I am glad they got it back, and thank you for telling me.’
‘Oh, you’re welcome.’
He climbed the fence and mounted his horse.
‘I’ll see yuh later,’ he said.
‘Come any time, Lem,’ called Nan.
‘Thank yuh, Nan—I shore will.’
‘Whew!’ exclaimed Rex weakly. ‘That was a close call. You don’t
think he saw what we did, do you?’
‘I’m sure he didn’t. But somehow I don’t feel that he believed
about the eggs.’
‘Well, we are not in jail,’ grinned Rex.
They walked back to the front of the house, and Rex stood there
quite a while, thinking over the events of the night before. He
distinctly remembered that there had been a big gate. Where was
that gate now, he wondered? There was no big gate at the Lane
ranch. In fact, there were no fences around the place, except the
corral, and he was very sure he did not come through the corral.
Finally he went over to the house and sat down on the porch, trying
to reconstruct the locale, as well as he could, of the place where he
had been knocked out.
And while Rex Morgan pondered over these things, Lem Sheeley
rode back to Cañonville, also thinking deeply. From inside his shirt-
bosom he removed a heavy Colt revolver and examined it closely.
It was of forty-five caliber, with white bone handles, and on one
handle had been carved the initials ‘P. M.’
‘“P. M.,”’ he said to himself. ‘That’s Peter Morgan’s gun; I
remember them bone handles. But what was Peter Morgan’s gun
doin’ in the Lane corral? I’ll betcha he was over there tryin’ to raise a
little hell with Lane and lost the gun. Serves him right, and I’ll shore
tell him so when I give him the gun.’
CHAPTER VII: HASHKNIFE AND SLEEPY DRIFT IN
Along a sandy road, which leads northward from Cañonville,
came two cowboys that afternoon. They were not traveling fast,
because of the fact that both horses were footsore and weary. The
fact of the matter was, they were cowboy ‘tourists,’ heading south for
the winter.
The one on the tall, gray horse whistled unmusically between his
teeth and surveyed the landscape through a pair of level, gray eyes.
He was also tall, thin, with a long, rather serious face, generous nose
and a wide mouth. His well-worn Stetson was tilted forward over his
eyes, shading his face from the western sun. He wore a pale blue
shirt, a nondescript vest, which was little more than a drape on each
side of his chest, and a pair of bat-wing chaps. Around his waist was
a weathered, hand-made cartridge belt, supporting an old holster,
from which protruded the black handle of a big Colt gun. His boots
were extra high of heel, and his spurs had been dulled until there
was little left except a circle of steel.
The other man was shorter, broader of shoulder, with a deep-
lined, grin-wrinkled face, out of which looked a pair of innocent blue
eyes. Their raiment was about the same, their riding rigs much alike.
The shorter man rode a chunky sorrel, which was forced to
singlefoot in order to keep up with the swinging walk of the tall gray.
‘Ain’t seen a cow for forty miles, Hashknife,’ said ‘Sleepy’
Stevens, the short one of the duo, breaking a long silence.
‘Hashknife’ Hartley turned in his saddle and smiled at Sleepy.
‘Mebby it’s a lucky thing for the cows, cowboy. Any cow that could
live in the country we’ve gone through would have to imagine a lot.
But we didn’t come lookin’ for cows—we came for the climate.’
‘Shore,’ admitted Sleepy.
‘And this is climate.’
‘In the daytime,’ admitted Sleepy. ‘Last night I dang near froze.
When we hit a town, I’m goin’ to have at a reg’lar bed. Didn’t that
shepherd tell us it was only twenty miles to Cañonville?’
‘Sheep-herder’s miles, Sleepy.’
‘I reckon that’s right.’
They rode in over the crest of a hill and saw the town of
Cañonville ahead of them.
‘That’s her,’ proclaimed Hashknife. ‘The first thing on my
programme is to wrap m’self around about four eggs and a couple o’
slices of a hawg’s hind leg.’
‘Yea, brother. And set on somethin’ besides a saddle or a cactus.
Man, I’m plumb rode out. When we talked about comin’ to Arizona
for the winter, I took a look at a map, and I seen a couple of two-inch
squares, pink and orange, which represented what we has to cover
in order to reach this here destination.[’]
‘It looked easy, Hashknife. There wasn’t a danged thing difficult-
lookin’ about it; no hills, no cactus, no sand; jist pink and orange.
And only two inches of it. I’d like to meet the jigger that drew the map
I looked at.’
Hashknife smiled and shook his head.
‘We shore earned a rest in a sunny land, Sleepy. I’ll bet these
broncs will be glad to lean up ag’in’ a load of oats. They wasn’t
raised to browse off a Spanish dagger.’
Cañonville looked exactly like several of the Arizona towns they
had passed through; a typical Arizona cow-town on a railroad. Many
of the buildings were of adobe, the rest weathered frame, with false
fronts.
They rode straight to the livery-stable, where they put up their
horses, and then went hunting a restaurant. It was there that they
met Noah Evans, the deputy sheriff, humped in a chair as he waited
for his meal to be served.
He gave Hashknife and Sleepy a sharp glance, noted their
general appearance, and nodded a welcome. Noah needed some
one to talk with, and a stranger would be a boon. Hashknife and
Sleepy slid into chairs across the table from Noah and gave their
order to the waiter.
‘Jist got in, didn’t yuh?’ asked Noah.
‘Not fifteen minutes ago,’ said Hashknife. ‘How’s everythin’ down
here?’
‘Kind of a broad question, stranger.’
‘Crime, for instance.’
Hashknife had noticed the badge of office on Noah’s shirt-bosom.
‘Crime? Huh! Ain’t none,’ gloomily. ‘Ain’t been none since me and
Lem Sheeley’s been runnin’ the office.’
‘Lem’s the sheriff, eh?’
‘Y’betcha. And he’s a dinger, too. Was a dinger,’ he corrected
himself sadly.
‘Somebody plant him?’
‘Na-a-aw! Yuh see,’ Noah rested his skinny elbows on the table
and considered the sugar-bowl thoughtfully, ‘I figure a sheriff ort to
be heartwhole and fancy-free. Otherwise he ain’t capable.’
‘Fell in love, eh?’ smiled Hashknife.
‘Accordin’ to all signs of the Zodiac—he has. I’m here in town,
runnin’ the damned office, while he lallygags. By Gad, I hope t’ be
my own boss some day.’
‘And if yuh was, you’d be out to see the same girl, eh?’
Noah looked up quickly, and his ears grew red.
‘How do yuh make that out, stranger?’
‘Observation. If it wasn’t true, you wouldn’t give a damn where he
was.’
‘Uh-huh.’
The waiter deposited Noah’s food in front of him, and the
conversation lagged for a few minutes. Their orders came along, and
the three men busied themselves with the meal.
‘Goin’ to stay around here?’ asked Noah.
‘Dunno yet,’ replied Hashknife. ‘We’re down here to spend the
winter, but we’ve got to hit a cow country, where we can get work.’
‘Uh-huh. From up north, eh? I used to punch cows up in the Milk
River country. Used to be around Pendleton, Umatilla, and then I
was over in Idaho.’
‘We’ve been up in that country,’ nodded Hashknife. ‘I was born
over on the Milk River.’
‘Thasso? What’s the name?’
‘Hartley.’
‘Hartley, eh? Any relation to Jim Hartley, of the Bar 77 outfit?’
‘I guess so; he’s my brother.’
‘Well, I’ll be damned! Why, me and old Jim—say! Yore dad was a
preacher up in that country. Rode an old white horse and packed the
gospel. No, I didn’t know him, but I heard a lot about him. They said
he was the only preacher they ever had that didn’t try to convert
somebody. Wasn’t tryin’ to show folks how to die; he showed ’em
how to live straight. And you’re Jim’s brother! You’re Hennery, ain’t
yuh? I’ve heard him tell about you. My name’s Evans—Noah Evans.’
They shook hands solemnly, and Hashknife introduced him to
Sleepy.
‘Well, well!’ marveled Noah explosively. ‘She’s a small world,
gents. I ain’t seen Jim Hartley for three or four years. Spent a winter
up there, and I ain’t thawed out yet. Wish it was jist before dinner, I’d
shore like to buy yuh both a drink.’
‘We’ll be here just before supper,’ grinned Sleepy.
‘You betcha.’
They finished their meal, and Noah invited them to come down to
the office, where he talked with Hashknife about the Milk River
country, naming over people whom Hashknife remembered,
although it had been many years since he had been home.
While they were talking, Lem Sheeley rode in. Noah lost no time
in introducing the two cowboys to the sheriff.
‘Hear anythin’ of young Lane?’ asked Noah.
Lem shook his head wearily. ‘Nothin’, Noah. Probably out in the
hills. Didn’t see anythin’ of the old man, so I reckon he’s out there,
too.’
‘How about the girl?’
‘She’s home.’
Lem tried to act indifferent.
‘Alone?’ asked Noah.
‘No-o-o.’
‘Well, who in hell is with her?’
Lem slowly rolled a cigarette, as he told about Rex Morgan and
his experiences. Hashknife leaned forward on his chair and
absorbed every word of it, while Sleepy scowled over his cigarette,
sighing wearily.
Lem told them of old man Lane discovering Spike Cahill and Bert
Roddy, fighting in the dark, and Noah seemed greatly amused over
that incident. Knowing that Hashknife did not know of the incidents
which led up to this, Noah explained about the coming of the nester
family, the persecutions of the 6X6, and the killing of Ben Leach.
‘And this young feller says his name is Morgan, eh?’ queried
Noah. ‘I wonder if he’s any relation to Pete or Dave.’
‘I dunno.’ Lem shook his head. ‘Bunty Smith says he’s loco, but I
don’t see anythin’ wrong with him, except that he talks like a
dictionary and ain’t never been out in the sun very much. Didja ever
see this?’
He took the Colt from inside his shirt and placed it on the table in
front of Noah, who examined it quickly.
‘That’s Pete Morgan’s gun, Lem. I’d know it by them handles.
Spike Cahill shaped ’em for him. Said he’d make me a pair like ’em
as soon as he got time. That was a year ago, which leads me to
believe Spike has been pretty dang busy. Where’d yuh get it, Lem?’
‘I picked it up in Lane’s corral this mornin’.’
‘Oh-ho-o-o-o! So old Pete went over to clean-up on old man Lane
and lost his gun. I’d keep it, if I was you, Lem. Serves him right.’
‘Pete Morgan and old man Lane had a fight in Mesa City
yesterday, and Pete knocked him down. They tell me that the old
man drawed a deadline against the 6X6. He tried to draw a gun on
Pete, but Joe Cave blocked him. I reckon he’d have killed Pete.’
‘By golly, they’ll monkey with that old buzz-saw until he does kill
some of ’em. You ort to go and have a talk with that 6X6, Lem.’
‘That would do a hell of a lot of good.’
‘Tough outfit?’ asked Hashknife.
‘No tougher than the rest, I don’t suppose. But Peter Morgan has
kinda bossed things around the Mesa City country until his punchers
think they can do just as they please. This nester shore slipped one
over on old Pete when he homesteaded that place.[’]
‘I dunno yet why Pete didn’t have somebody homestead it for
him. I reckon it was because Pete thought he could keep anybody
off, anyway. He’s shore scared a lot of nesters off that side of the
road. But Lane was jist as tough as Pete; so he’s still there.’
‘With his son hidin’ out,’ added Noah sadly.
‘And the rest of the country givin’ us hell because we don’t smoke
him out,’ sighed Lem.
‘What kind of a feller was this Leach?’ asked Hashknife.
‘Tough hombre,’ replied Noah. ‘We figure he got what he went
lookin’ for.’
‘The only bad move Lane made was to take Ben’s gun and
horse,’ said the sheriff. ‘I reckon he was just drunk enough to take
’em. Kind of an Injun idea; kill ’em and take everythin’.’
Sleepy was humped up in a chair, looking sadly at Hashknife.
Sleepy knew what this would mean. Hashknife was leaning forward,
an eager expression in his gray eyes, his long, lean fingers
caressing the knees of his worn chaps. Gone were all the signs of
weariness from their long journey.
Fate had again thrown them into a troubled range; Hashknife
Hartley was in his element. But Hashknife was not a man-hunter. He
had no interest in the outlaw, on whose head was a price.
‘This young Lane ain’t got Injun blood, has he?’ asked Hashknife.
‘No-o-o,’ drawled Lem. ‘But he was drunk enough to be a fool that
day. He probably knew we’d be on his trail; so he heeled himself with
Ben’s gun and horse. Me and Noah was at his ranch when he came
home, and he said he had fixed one of the 6X6 gang.’
‘And when the 6X6 gang came after him, he wasn’t in the house,’
added Noah. ‘Must ’a’ went straight through the house, cut out
through the hills, and picked up Ben’s horse, ’cause he left his own
bronc at the corral.’
‘If it was self-defense, why didn’t he give himself up to the law?’
asked Hashknife.
‘Because he’s a nester,’ said Lem quickly. ‘He had an idea that
the law wouldn’t give him an even break.’
‘I can understand that,’ agreed Hashknife. ‘And since the killin’,
the 6X6 has been hangin’ around the nester’s place at night, eh?’
‘Y’betcha. They want young Lane. And Peter Morgan backs their
play, Hartley. Some day him and old man Lane will meet for a show-
down.’
‘And what kind of a girl is this nester’s daughter?’
‘She’s all right,’ said Lem slowly. ‘Square as a dollar.’
‘And no shrinkin’ vi’let,’ added Noah.
‘Is Peter Morgan a married man?’
‘No.’
‘What did Ben Leach and young Lane fight about?’
‘I dunno. I heard that Ben called him a damn nester. Mebby it was
mostly liquor. But Ben had no right to follow him unless he was
prepared to shoot. The 6X6 contend that Lane saw him comin’ and
bushwhacked him. Can’t prove it. Ben got a bullet through his head. I
dunno what Lane’s story would be, but he’s got a good chance to
prove self-defense.’
‘Looks thataway,’ admitted Hashknife. ‘I reckon we better get us a
room at the hotel, Sleepy.’
‘I’ll go along,’ declared Noah. ‘I know the jigger who runs the hotel
and I’ll see that he gives yuh a good room. Some of ’em has got
cracked pitchers in, yuh see.’
They secured the room and spent an hour or two looking over the
little town, after which they drifted back to the sheriff’s office. Lem
stretched out on a cot and snored audibly, while Noah talked Milk
River with Hashknife.
CHAPTER VIII: REX USES HIS BRAINS
After due deliberation Rex Morgan decided that the blow on his
head must have left him slightly hazy on things in general; so he
gave up trying to puzzle out what had become of the gate. He did not
speak to Nan about this. She sat on the porch steps with him,
looking toward the 6X6, and he knew she was worrying over what
had taken place at the corral.
‘You saw the sheriff find that gun, didn’t you?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’
‘That was Peter Morgan’s gun, Rex; and I’m afraid the sheriff
recognized it. If he hadn’t, I think he would have mentioned picking it
up, and would have given it to us. They cost about thirty dollars
apiece.’
‘But he doesn’t know Peter Morgan is dead.’
‘He will. And he’ll wonder how that gun got in our corral. Rex,
we’ve got to forget it. No matter what happens, we must keep this a
secret. They would hang my father, as sure as fate.’
‘Well, I’m not going to tell,’ declared Rex. ‘I’ve been rather weak
in the stomach since then, but I’m all right now. I don’t want to go to
jail, and I’d do anything in the world before I’d tell. But I wish we had
picked up that gun.’
‘If wishes were horses, beggars might ride,’ quoted Nan seriously.
‘And be welcome to them,’ smiled Rex wryly. ‘I’d rather walk.’
It was an hour or so later when Paul Lane rode in and stabled his
horse. Nan was in the kitchen, preparing a meal, and Rex was sitting
on the front porch, reading an old magazine.
Rex had never seen the old man, but he knew it must be Nan’s
father. The old man came up to the porch and looked Rex over
quizzically.
‘How’s yore head?’ he asked.
‘It is much better, thank you,’ replied Rex. ‘You are Mr. Lane? My
name is Morgan.’
The old man did not offer to shake hands with him.
‘What Morgan?’ he asked coldly.
‘What Morgan? I don’t know just what you mean, Mr. Lane.’
‘Any relation to the Morgans of Mesa City?’
Rex shook his head quickly. ‘I guess not. At least, I don’t believe I
am.’
Nan heard them talking and came out to the porch.
‘Yore patient recovered kinda quick, Nan,’ said the old man.
‘Yes,’ she said softly. ‘How is Walter?’
‘All right. I asked him about that horse and gun. He never took
’em, Nan. He swears he never seen Ben Leach after he left the
saloon.’
Nan was watching her father closely, and Rex noticed that her
face was rather white, her lips compressed tightly.
‘Dad,’ she said hoarsely, ‘what happened down by the stable this
morning?’
‘Eh? Down at the stable? Why, I dunno—nothin’ that I know
anythin’ about, Nan.’
‘Didn’t you meet Peter Morgan?’
‘Meet Peter Morgan? No! I dunno what you’re talkin’ about.’
He turned to Rex.
‘What about you, young man? Who hit you over the head?’
‘That is something I cannot tell you, Mr. Lane.’
‘Mm-m-m-m. Kinda funny.’
He turned from Rex and looked at Nan closely.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ he asked. ‘What makes yuh look at
me like that, Nan? Don’tcha feel well?’
‘You swear you didn’t meet Peter Morgan at the stable this
morning?’
‘I told yuh I didn’t. Was he here?’
‘He was here,’ she said. ‘I found him in the corral, near the corner
of the stable—dead.’
‘What?’ The old man came closer to her, his eyes wide. ‘Nan, you
don’t mean that! Not Peter Morgan!’
‘He had been hit over the head,’ she said slowly. ‘His horse was
back in the willows; so we tied him on the saddle and turned the
horse loose. He had drawn his gun, and we were so anxious to get
him away from here that we forgot the gun, and the sheriff came
along——’
‘My God! he didn’t see you, did he, Nan?’
‘No, he didn’t see us—but he picked up the gun and took it with
him.’
The old man sat down heavily on the bottom steps and tried to
get it all clear in his mind.
‘We had to do something,’ said Nan wearily.
The old man nodded thoughtfully.
‘This young man helped you?’ he asked.
‘Yes, Dad; I couldn’t have done it alone.’
He turned his head and looked at Rex closely.
‘Where’d you come from?’ he asked.
Rex explained how he happened to be in that country, and what
had happened to him since he started.
‘No idea who hit you last night?’ asked the old man.
‘Not the slightest, Mr. Lane. I don’t remember a thing from the
time that man stepped out to speak to me until I woke up in your
home.’
‘You had been hit hard, Morgan. You’ve got a hard head, young
man. That blow would have killed most men. I dunno,’ he said
wearily. ‘I almost wish I hadn’t tried to buck the 6X6. My son is a
fugitive, you know. I’ve tried to induce him to leave the country, but
he won’t go. Swears he never killed Leach. He won’t get a square
deal with a Mesa City jury, nor a jury from any other part of this
range; and if the 6X6 outfit catch him, they’ll lynch him on the spot;
so what can he do?’
‘But who killed Peter Morgan?’ asked Nan.
‘I don’t know,’ replied her father. ‘If he was killed here, he could
only blame himself. I told him what would happen. I drew a deadline
for the 6X6. Morgan knocked me down on the street in Mesa City.’
‘They’ll swear you killed him, Dad. Don’t you see what it means?
No matter where they find the horse with the body, the sheriff found
Morgan’s gun in our corral.’
‘That’s true, Nan. We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out.’
He turned to Rex. ‘If I was you, young man, I’d head for Mesa
City as quick as possible. This is a dangerous place to be found. You
haven’t any interests here. I’m just telling you this for your own
benefit.’
‘But we haven’t done anything, Mr. Lane. I don’t know anybody in
Mesa City—and I’m not afraid.’
‘That’s because you’re ignorant of what it might mean. This is my
home. I’m too old to stand trial for murder. My best days are behind
me. I’ve got to fight.’
‘I never have fought,’ said Rex slowly. ‘I don’t know how well I
could fight. But I’m not going to run away and leave you and Nan
here.’
‘They know he’s here,’ said Nan quickly.
Her father looked at her quizzically.
‘Calls yuh by yore first name—and you don’t want him to go, eh?’
Nan got quickly to her feet. ‘I think I better start supper.’
The old man filled his pipe and smoked slowly for a while,
stealing an occasional glance at Rex. Finally he got to his feet,
stretched wearily.
‘I dunno,’ he said, as though talking to himself. ‘Soft-handed
tenderfoot and a nester’s daughter. I had hopes she’d pick a man.’
Then he went slowly into the house, leaving Rex to wonder what
he meant. He looked at his hands. They were undeniably soft, but
just now not very clean. Finally he went back through the house and
stood in the doorway between the living-room and kitchen, watching
Nan prepare a meal. His head ached a little and he suddenly
remembered that it had been a long time since he had eaten
anything.
Paul Lane came past him and entered the kitchen where he
glanced at the woodbox, discovered it almost empty, and started for
the back door. But he did not open it. He stopped suddenly and
listened. Nan turned from the stove, holding a skillet in her hand.
It was the sound of horses’ hoofs on the hard-packed ground of
the yard. Unconsciously Rex crossed near the old man.
None of them said a word. Suddenly the old man reached out and
flung the door open, almost swinging it back against Rex, who
stepped back. In the doorway stood Spike Cahill and Dell Bowen,
guns in hand, while behind them were Bert Roddy, Dave Morgan,
and Red Eller.
‘Gotcha, Lane!’ snapped Bowen.
But before any one else made a move, Rex flung himself against
the door, crashing it shut in the faces of the cowboys. Then he
darted out of the room, and a moment later they heard the crash of
glass, as he went out through a window.
One of the cowboys yelled a warning, and they went pounding
around the house, while Nan and her father stood there, looking
foolishly at each other. Then the old man ran through the living-room
and barred the front door, picking up his Winchester on the way
back.
They could hear the cowboys yelling at each other, as they
crashed through the brush, searching for the man they believed to
be Paul Lane. Nan ran to a window and looked out. The chase had
taken the men quite a distance from the ranch-house, but it would be
only a matter of minutes until they would find Rex.
‘I reckon I’ll slide out for a while, Nan,’ said the old man coldly.
‘Looks like my best chance.’
He kissed her quickly, ran out, mounted one of the horses, and
rode swiftly down past the stable. Nan heard several shots fired, and
her heart sank. Had they shot Rex Morgan, she wondered?
She unbarred the door and went out on the porch, but could not
see anybody. Acting on the impulse of the moment, she ran into the

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Chinese Dream and Practice in Zhejiang

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More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13571

Chinese Dream and Practice

Published with support of Zhejiang People’s Publishing House

ISSN 2363-6866 ISSN 2363-6874 (electronic)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019935831

1 Introduction: Zhejiang’s Social Development and the Chinese

1.1 Social Development is an Important Part of Efforts

1.2 The Adjustments of the Modern Social Structure

Social structure has rich connotations; population structure, urban-rural structure,

1.3 The Work on Strengthening and Improving

Table 1.3 The number of people covered by social insurance in Zhejiang

1.4 The Development of Social Programs and Equal Access

The development of social programs, especially educational, medical and health

11 Zhang and Zhu (2004), Xiao (2013).

1.5 The Innovations in Social Governance

Social governance is an important part of social development. As social development

‘Cut, cut, cut goes the little brown hen

‘Is that what it means?’ laughed Rex.

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