1
f
THE
Ne'er-Do-Weli
fnitaniiiiiy
Br
FEX BEACH
Ajxhar st
The Spoilera," Tr Par.
The Siivcr Horcio," Eta.
Copyright, lao, uit. br
Brat hot.
"V, Ililt t.-lilllllet
"When l'nuama seceded. She manln
tinted ttiiit, nr nt least Stove Cortlandt
did under her direction. It was one of
the cleverest t-xplolts on record. Co
lombia wouldn't let us build the cannl
so Panama seceded. War was declared
but the United States Interfered In
time to prevent bloodshed. Ry the tinit
the excitement had diod nut we had
begun dipirinp. She knows Central
America like the palm of her hand.
When she gays Kirk Anthony wants a
position, we hirelings jump about and
see that he gets It. Oh, you'll have any
Job you want."
The two passed through the railroad
pates and took their places In the lit
tie car. When they were under way
Runnels went on: "I am supposed to
show you tills end of the- work and tell
you what it all means. The ditch
. bemud these fjriJrf powerful steam
i shovels which rooted and granted quite
. like Iron hoes. Along the tracks at va-
nous levels flowed a constant current
; of traffic; long lines of empty cars
j crept past the shovels, then, filled to
overflowing, sped away northward up
the valley, to return apaln and again
Nowhere was there any idleness, no-
- here a cold machine or a man at rest
On every hand was smoke and steam
tu:d sweat. The drills chugged stead
lly. the hungry Iron bogs gouged out
the trails the drills h:id loosened, the
trains rolled past at Intervals of a mo
ment or so. Lines of electric wire, car
ried upon low wooden "shears," paral
leled the tracks, bearing the white hot
sparks that rent the mountain. At ev
ery switch a negro fireman, crouched
beneath a alantlng sheet of corrugated
iron, seeking shelter alike from flying
fragments and the blazing sun. From
beneath the drills came occasional aub
terranean explosions: then geysers of
muddy water rose in the air. Cnder
the snouts of the steam shovels "done"
shots went off as bowlders were riven
Into smaller fragments. Now and then
an excited tooting of whistles gave
warning of a bigger blast as the flag
men checked the flow of traffic, indi
cating with arms upraised that the
ground was "coming up." Thereupon a
brief lull occurred; men hid themselves,
the work held Its breath, as it were.
But while the detonations still echoed
and before the flying missiles had
ceased to shower the human ants were
moiling at their hills once more, the
wheels were turning again, the Jaws of
the iron hogs were clanking.
Through this upheaval the motorcar
penetrated, dodging trains of "flats."
which moved sluggishly to afford them
passage up and down over the volcanic
furrows at the bottom of the gorge
or along some shelf beneath which the
foundations were being dug. At times
a shovel reached out its five yard steel
1nw and gently cleared the rnils of
will lie about fifty miles long, and. debris, or boosted some bowlder from
roughly speaking, the work is in three j the path with all the skill of a giant
parts the dredging and harbor build-j hand and fingers. Cp and down the
Ing at sea level on each end of the i canyon rolled spasmodic rumblings, like
canal, the lock work and the excava- i broadsides from a fleet of battleships.
tions on the upper levels. That dam
you saw building at f!atnn will form
a lake about thirty miles long quite a
fishpond, eh? When a westbound ship
arrives, for Instance. It will le raised
through the Ontun locks, three of them
anu men sail along eignry-nve reet I exclaim:
above the ocean, across the lake and; "I had no Idea it was so big. It
into a channel dug right through the i doesn't seem ss if they'd ever finish
hills until it reaches the locks at it."
Mile after mile the sightseers rolled
on. past scenes of never varying ac
tivitypast more shovels, more groups
of drills, more dirt trains, more regi
ments of men Runnels explaining,
Kirk marveling until he was forced to
Pedro Miguel. Then it will he lowered
to a smaller lake five miles long, then
down again to the level of the, racifle.
An eastbound ship will reverse the
process, (let the idea?"
"Sure. It sounds easy."
"You will start in with the P. R. R..
Mr. Anthony, under my despotic sway."
"I know a little about railroading."
"So much the bettor. There's a hi
railroad, man by your name In tl
states. Are you related?"
"I believp so." Kirk answered, quie"
ly. "(Jo ahead with the lesson."
"The canal rone Is a strip of Ian
' tm miles wide running across tli
f isthmus really an American colony
you know, for we govern"lt, police it
and all that. As for the work itself,
well, the follows at the two ends of
the cuual are dredging night and day
to complete their part, the lock build
ers are laying concrete like mad to
get their share done first, the chaps in
the hlg cut are boring through the hills
like moles and breaking steam shovel
seords every week, while we railroad
- men take care of the whole shooting
match. Of course, there are other de
' partmenta sanitary, engineering, com
missary, and so forth all doing their
share, but that ia the general scheme.
Everybody is trying to break records.
Lurd! It's fierce."
"Why didn't you quit 7" suggested An
thony. "Quit! What for? Good Lord! We
; Hke it. Here we are at I'edro Miguel,
br the way. . We'll be into the cut
shortly
To his left ADthony beheld another
scene somewhat similar to the one at
Oatun. Other movable steel cranes
with huge wide flung arms, rose out of
another chasm in which were extensive
concrete workings.
"Oh, we'll finish it if we're let alone.
Vou see there Is too much polities In
it: we never know how long our Jobs
will last If some senator whose vote
is needed on an administration matter
wanted my position for his wife's
brother, he could get It"
"I suppose I'm an example."
Runnels looked at hlin squarely be
fore answering. "You are." said he,
"although I wasn't thinking of you
when I spoke. It's something we all
feel, however."
Anthony flushed as he answered: "1
don't remember ever taking anything
I wasn't entitled to, and I didn't think
when I was shoved in here that I'd
shove some other fellow out 1 suppose
there is room at the bottom, and a fel
low can work up?"
"If he has It In him."
"I think I'll start there."
"I'm afraid you're a poor business
man." said Runnels.
-Rotten :M Kirk admitted. "Hut I've
an Idea I can make good If I try."
"If you feel that way I certainly will
help you," said the other warmly. "Of
course I'll try to help yon anyhow, but
I like your spirit. With Mrs Cort
landt to back me up. I'll see yon go
forward as fast as you deserve."
By now they were out of the cut and
once more upon the main line at Bas
Obslpo. beading back toward the Pa
cifle.
"Yon asked me to tell yon something
about her," Runnels continued. "I'm
not sure my information Is entirely
correct, but. knowing who lit Is, I
think I understand why she Is In Pan-
south M en in--" our f.irstghtcn gov
eminent is smoothing fie way, anc
there's nobody better Httel for the pre
liminary work than Mr. Stephen Cort
land of Washington. l. C. husband
and clerk of the smartest woman in
tbe business of chaperoning adminis
trations. He's the figurehead behind
which she works. She's a ri.h woman,
she loves the game her father was the
greatest diplomat of his time, yon
know-and she married Cortlandt so
she i iiiild play It. Any other man would
unve served as well, though I've heard
that he showed promise before she
blotted him out and absorbed him. But
now hes merely her power of attor
ney."
Anthony pursed his lips Into a whis
tle of astonishment.
"It's been good thing for him.'
Runnels ran on, evidently warmed to
his subject. "She's made his reputa
tion: he has money and position. For
my part, I'd rather remain iDslgnifi
cant and have a real wife."
"Don't they love each other?"
"Nobody knows. She's carved out of
Ice, and as for him, well, gratitude Is
a good deal like rust In time it de
stroys the thing It clings to. I suppose
I'm talking too much, but others would
tell you the same things."
It was with quite a different eye that
Klrk looked upon his host and hostess
that evening. To his genuine liking for
the iHtter was now added a worshipful
admiration and a boyish gratification
at her regard, which rather put her at
a distance
"It's all settled." said he. "I'm go
ing to work In a few days as train collet-tor."
"What?" Mrs. Cortlandt turned upon
him sharply. "Runnels didn't offer
you that sort of position?" Her eyes
were dark with Indignation. Klrk
promptly came to the defense of his
new friend.
"No. I asked for It."
"Oh, I Bee. Well, he will do ninch
better by you than that."
"I don't want anything better to
start with."
"But niy dear boy, a collector is
merely a conductor. He takes tickets."
"Sure! I can do that I might full
at something bard."
"No. no, uo! I'll see that you don't
fail. Don't you understand?"
"I understand a lot more than I did,
Mrs. Cortlandt. That's why I don't
want to rob some chap of a Job he's
entitled to. and I sha'n't There's a
collector quitting shortly."
"Is that really the reason, or do you
think the work will be easier?"
Klrk stirred uncomfortably. "Oh.
I'm not trying to dodge anything." he
maintained. "On the contrary, the
most amazing thing hns happened -something
1 can't quite understand.
I I really want to work. Funny, Isn't
It? I didn't kuow people ever got that
way. but I'd like to help build this
canal."
"But a conductor! Why, you're a
gentleman."
"My dad was a brakeman."
Continued next weak '
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i We are equipped with steel drilling outfits, turning
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,,Kl."c'-"
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ENDOLANE ORCHARDS
Phone Farm 2514, Independence
raiTffviumu
Burk's Cafe
In Gain'slPool Hall
The Best Meal in Polk County
for 25c. Quick Service and Plenty
to eat. Try our Dinner meal when
In Town
Remember the Place T Street
Next Door to Monitor Office
mi. It W politics big politic. To
8plRgotlea have an election next year,
and It la necetisary to get our wire
well laid before it romps off. General
From a distance j Alfarea will probably be the next prea-
the towers resembled parts of a half , Ment"
constructed cantilever bridge of tre
mendous height Arother army was
tolling at the bottom of the pit, more
ears shunted back and forth, more
rook crushers rumbled: but, before
Kirk's eye had phntosrraphed more
than a small part, the motor car had
sped pa it and was rolling out npon a
bridge spanning the cannl Itself. To
the northward api-sred an opening
cat through the hills and Runnels wild,
tin: ply:
"lulebraT
A moment later he announced: "We
leave the P. R. R tracks here ami
switch In on the I. C. C. Now you'll
beirin to ee soniethlnz
I'oi a Into the nit the little ear went
;vi f n-t Anthony saw the active
pu:siL.flir heart of this stupendous un
dertallnir. The low range was severed
by a gortre bl istxi ont by human hands
It wis a m.Mii t'n valley In the mak
ing Filch up n its aides were dirt
and rwk trains. dmcM of compressed
air r,-M the r symrs resembling the
-Alfaret! Not Karaon?"
"Ilia father. You know w Ameri
cans occupy a peculiar position here,
set down as we are In the ruldnt of an
alien people who tmte us. Oh. they
bate us, all right all except a few of
the better class"
"WhyT
"There are a gwd many reasons.
For one thing, there's a sort of racial
antipathy. Resides, when we stole
Panama we made the CnlomWnns sore,
and all Central America besides, for
they realized that once we Yankees
gut a foothold here we'd nana on and
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for a Reliable
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If you want good Service, good
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Rsmsmbar Our Prices are as Low as Constant with good
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not only d"'?
ail the nei-v,
"I t.-.d K:V
ort-bnt I
mii. h In It II
Junirle count -U
That's we-'
by well nei-d
who that Hr
innte this 'ountry. but
''tie repuh I -a as well."
!! sm: : t,ir of the
! f!' !d'-l t.V-:,- -, .; S S1
iit we dnu't waut thee
," said Kirk.
you're w rong By and
room to expand, and
enme) we'll tnovs
THE
v, J,
s Q .i iv y
Mf J
PHARMACY
Frcqr., IndepanJence, Oregon
I of a nee of rathae. ft ft