. if -A - J; Ts
"MucLean's attention was deferential,
lie had always liked Hardin ; all the
fellows did. But he was Jumping oft
,wrong this time. He'd brought it all
Ion himself.
"He wild something about a levee for
Ihe towns. He's got to Investigate that
before he goes to the front."
"A levee? Well, wouldn't that Jar
you?" Hardin addressed the stenog
rapher in the transparent shirtwaist
'Does lie tfllnk we're going to have
another flood this season? Thinks It's
i'oing to reach the hotel and wet his
clothes? Take the starch out of his
shirts?" He flung out of his chair,
throwing the papers back Into the
drawer.
He stamped out of the ofllce, mad
cleiir through. To this crisis they had
nent down a dandy, a bookman who
wanted to build a levee. Oh, hell I
"They'll come crawling after me to
help them after this fellow's burled
'himself under river mud, come calling
to me as they did after MalUand Mled.
Please, Mr. Hardin, won't you come
back and finish your gate!" I'll see
them dead first. No, I'll be fool enough
to do It. I can't help myself. I'm a
Hardin. I have to finish what I've be
gun." It was not because this was a pet
enterprise, the great work of his life,
that he must eagerly eat humble pie,
take the buffets, the falls, and come
whining buck when they whistled to
him. He told himself It was because of
his. debt to the valley, to the ranchers.
The colonlHts were about desperate.
Who could blame them? The last year's
floods had worked havoc with their
crops; this year had been a horror.
The district they culled No, 0 was a
screaming irony of ruin. The last do
luiueh of the river had made great
fashes through the ranches, had
scoured deep gorges which had under
mined the canals on which the water
supply for No. C depended, The suits
.were piling tip against the D. K dam
Jige suits, and they hold up his gate,
while he gets the curses of the val
ley. And Mr. Klckard thinks he'll
build a levee I
He flung himself on the couch In the
tent, Gerty was laying a careful
cloth for supper. A brave, determined
smile was arranged on her lips, The
noon storm had passed. She hummed a
jrny little tune. If there was anything
Hardin hated' It was humming.
"You'll have your dude to dinner all
right," her husband announced. "He's
in town."
"Yes, I know," rejoined bis spouse.
"I had a letter from him yesterday.
From Imperial."
Tom sat up glaring. "He wroto to
you from Imperial?"
His wife misplaced the accent. She
misunderstood Tom's scowl. It was
the old story over again. Whenever
those two men enme together the old
feeling of Jealousy must be revived
hguln! It was unpleasant, of course,
,very unpleasant, to have men enre like
that, but it made life exciting. Life
bad been getting a little stale lately
like a book of obvious, even plot.
Itlcltard's entrance Into the story gave
u now Interest, a new twist. She
hummed nn air from a new opera that
bad set the world waltzing.
Hardin's thoughts did not touch her
at the hem. Ho was at the headgate,
bis gate. What the deuce had Klckard
pone to Imperial for? If he wasn't tho
darnedest ass I . Imperial I And the
Sate hung upt
"For God's sake stop that buzzing!"
The happy little noise was quenched,
lnnes, entering at that moment, heard
the rough order. She looked Implor
ingly at her elster-ln-luw.
"Supper's on the table," cried Oerty,
the fixed, determined smile still on her
lips.
CHAPTER X.
A Desert Dinner.
Inues Hardin was completing her
simple toilet. Not even to please
Oerty would she "dress up" for the
dinner. It would have been easy for
Iier sister-in-luw to postpone It. How
could she expect Tom to go through
with itl She couldn't understand
Oerty 1
An hour ago, hearing distinctly tho
whir and splash of egg-beating, she
Imd run over to the neighboring tent.
The clinking of the cake tins had sud
denly silenced. "Excuse me, won't
you?" Gerty's voice had come from
Hie lean-to, the little kitchen shod.
"I'm lying down."
"Mollis, yes!" grimaced the nardln
mouth to its reflection in the mirror.
How many times that week had she
lieen repulsed by a locked door, a snd
ibu curtain of silence or a "Run away
tor a while. I'm trying to catch a
imp." Ensy now to see why Gerty
!iad wanted to "hold the reins" that
jveek!
SUe didn't need to pierce those can
v.4a Wiiils to know that there had
liO-a fevcriji, activity to -Usls Jllwux
! If A 1. 7
' W If 11 (i
THE
EDMH
AIKEN
A"new gown "would appear" tonight;
made secretly. An exquisite , meal,
and no one must comment on its elab
oration. Twice Tom and she had
been asked to take their lunch at the
hotel. "Because of a headache!" A
headache !
Tom's wife could not even shop
openly ! ' Pundles had always the air
of mystery, never opened before Tom
or herself. She must have yards of
stuff laid away, kept for sudden emer
gencies. "She can't help It. It's her disposi
tion. She can't help being secretive.
Look at your face, lnnes Hardin!"
What was it to her, the pettiness of
a woman whom an accident of life had
swept upon the beach beside her?
Gerty was not her kind, not the sort
she would pick out for a friend. She
was an oriental, one of the harem
women, whose business It Is in life to
please one man, to keep his home soft,
Ills comforts ready, keep him con
vinced, moreover, that It is the desire
of his life to support her. Herself dis
satisfied, often rebellious, staying by
him for self-interest, not for love ah,
that wus her Impeachment. "Not lov
ing!" Soberly she covered her plain bras
siere with a white waist of cotton
ducking, A red leather belt and crim
son tie sho added self-consciously.
"Where Is my bloodstone pin?"
, Hadn't she spent an hour at least
matching that particular leather belt?
But he was a man, lu battle. The
headgate held up; it was too bad.
Silent, Bodefeldt, Wooster, Grant, all
of them fighting mad because of the
deadlock at the Heading. All up in
arms, at last, against Marshall, be
cause of this cruel cut to their hero,
Hardin, Her eyes glowed like yellow
lamps as she recalled their fervid par
tisanship. "Only one man who can save the
valley, aud that's Tom Hardin." Woos
ter had euld that; but they ull be
lieved It. The loyalty of the force
made her ashamed of her soft woman
fears. For there were times when
she questioned her brother's ability.
He had a large, loose way of handling
things. He was too optimistic. But
those men, those engineers must know.
It was probably the man's way of
sweeping ahead, ignoring detail. Tho
verdict of those field-tried men told
her that the other, the careful, plan
ning wuy, was the office method, Klck
ard, as a dinner neighbor, she had
found interesting; but for great un
dertakings a man who would let a
Gerty Holmes Jilt him, ruin his life
for him I The whole story sprang at
last clear from the dropped lnnucndos.
She adjusted a barrette in her
smoothly brushed hair, Slowly she
walked over to the neighboring tent.
Gerty frowned nt the white duck.
Gerty Frowned t the White Duck.
"You might at least have worn your
blue!"
"You're elegant enough for the two
of us. Isn't that something new?"
Gerty said carelessly that the had
had It for a long time. For she had
had the material a long time! It
wasn't necessary to explain to her
htisoaiul's sister that it had been
mado up that week. She hoped that
she didn't look "fussed up." Would
Mr. Rlckard think she was attaching
any importance to the simple little
visit? For It was nothing to him, of
course, A man of his standing, whom
the great Tod Marshall ranked so
high, probably dined out several times
each week, with white-capped maids
and candelabra! If Tom had only
made the most of his opportunities,
What a gamble, life to a woman!
Chn ,.,la thin lii r. ha. hMnm
mirror. The lingerie frock would look
simple to a man who would never
l l,.n,l.n,,l. ,lll.,lt
Her glass declared the hand-whipped
medallions casual -' :
DAILY CAPITAL JOURNAL,
a long time ago, a lifetime ago, Klck
ard had told her that she always
should wear blue, because of her eyes.
lnnes from the next room could hear
Gerty teasing Tom to-wear his Tux
edo.
"Isn't one , dude enough for you?"
growled her surly lord. lnnes recog
nized the mood and shrank from the
ordeal ahead. It was the mood of
the Hardin in the rough, the son of
his frontier mother, the fruit of old
Jasper Gingg, whose smithy had been
the rendezvous for the wildest roughs.
the fiercest cattlemen In Missouri.
"I'd let him see you knew what's
what, even if we do live like gipsies."
The answer to that was another
growl. lnnes could hear him dragging
out the process, grumbling over eacn
detail. That confounded laundry had
torn his shirt. He hadn't a decent
collar to his name. Where was his
black string tie? If Gert would keep
his things In the lowest drawer ! Hang
that button! Gerty emerged from the
encounter, her face very red. lnnes
could see her biting her lips to keep
the tears back as she put the last
touches to the table.
"She's tired out," thought the sister
of Torn Hardin. "She's probablj
fussed herself to death over this din
ner."
A few minutes later Klckard ar
rived In a sack suit of tweeds. Gerty's
greeting was a little abstracted. How
could she make lnnes understand tc
tell Tom to chance his coat? Thf
duty of a host, she suddenly remem
bered, was to dress down rather that
up to the chances of his guest. . She
reeretted bitterly her Insistence. Was
ever anyone so obtuse ns lnnes? Mr.
Rlckard would see that they thought
It a big event. She was watching the
curtain where Tom would emerge.
And his coat was a style of several
seasons ago and absurdly tight! She
made an unlntelllclble excuse and
darted behind the portiere.
Tom's face was apoplectic. He was
wrestling with a mussed tie; the col
lar showed a desperate struggle.
Gerty made wild signals for hlra to
change his clothes. She waved a
hand Indicating Klckard; she pointed
to Tom's sack suit lying on the floor
where ho had walked- out of It.
"What is it all about?"
"Ssh," whispered his wife. Again
the wild gestures.
"Well, aren't you satisfied? Don't
I look like a guy"
IIo could be heard distinctly in the
next room. Gerty gave It up in do-
spalr. She dnbbcd some more powder
on her nose and went out looking like
a martyr -a very pretty martyr!
.Klckard praised tho miracles of the
tent. Gerty's soft flush reminded In
nes of their old relation. "Exit lnnes,"
she was thinking, when Tom, red and
perspiring, brought another element
of discomfort Info the room.
Gerty ushered them Immediately td
the table. She covered the first min
utes which might be awkward with
her small chatter. Somewhere she
hud read that it was not well to make
apologies for lack of maid or fare,
Besides Mr. Rlckurd remembered
Lawrence! That dreudful dlulng
room, the ever-set tablet How she
had hated It, though she had not
known how fearful it wus until slio
had escaped.
We are simple folk here, Mr. Kick'
aid," she aunouueed, as they took
their places around tho pretty table,
That was her only allusion td deficien
cies, but It covered her noiseless move
ments around tho board between
courses, filled up tho gaps when sho
made necessary dives Into kitchen or
primitive Ice chest, and set the key
(or the homeliness of the meal itself.
The dinner was a triumph of apparent
simplicity. Only lnnes could guess
the time consumed lu "the perfection
of detail, details dear to the hostess'
lieart. Tho almonds sho hod blanched,
of course, herself ; hud dipped nnd
salted them. The cheese straws were
ber own. She did not make the mis
take of stringing out endless courses.
An Improvised buffet near at hand
made the serving a triumph.
Klckard prnlsed each dish ; openly
he was admiring her achievement,
limes, remembering tho story Oerty
had told her In dots and dashes, tho
story of the old rivalry, glanced cov
;rtly at Tom sulking nt the bond of
his own table, ,
"Poor sulky Achilles," she thought.
'Dear, honest old bear!"
"lnnes!" cried Mrs. Hardin.
She turned to find that the guest
AOS staring at her. She had not heard
ills effort to Include her lu tho con
versation. "Mr. Klckard asked you if you like
It here?"
"Thank you why, of course !" Her
inswer sounded pert to herself.
Her sister-in-law hastened to ndd
;hat Miss Hardin was very lonely, was
really nil alone In tho world ; that they
Insisted on her making her-home with
. tliem.
lnnes had with difficulty restrained
denial. After all, what other homo
had she? Still the truth hud been de-
fleeted. Sho recalled the sacrifice it
had been to cut her collego course In
order to mako a homo In tho desert
for the brother who had always so
gently fathered her, who had helped
her Invest her small capital that it
might spell a small Income. She ro-
called his resistance when she had
called In a mortgage ; who could watch
that mad scapegoat of a river playing
pranks with desert homes and not
yearn to help? Not a Hardin. She
till gloried in remembering that she
Imd at least driven one pile Into that
.....,. ,,.. -i.,
left the valley It would be as a bread-
winner. She was prepared. & M
Htftomn. Kim vnuM
til iUJKe.tltlc.e in an architect's ofno.
SALEM, OREGON. SATURDAY, MARCH 1, 1919.
She had already settled oa the archi
tect! ,
"Are you going to Los Angeles
soon?" She heard the new manager
address his host.
"I'm taking orders!"
There was another awkward mo
ment when Hardin pushed back his
plate declaring he had reached his
limit; it was too big a spread for him !
It was the stupid rudeness of the
small bad boy ; even lnnes flushed for
her slster-ln-Jaw.
With resolution Gerty assumed con
trol of the conversation. Her role
sounded casual; no one could have
suspected It of frequent rehearsal.
They must not talk of the river; that
was taboo. Railroad matters were
also excluded. Squally difficult
would be reminiscences of Lawrence
days. So she began brightly with a
current book. - The theater proved a
safe topic, and by that netaral route
they reached New York. lnnes, who
hod never been farther east than Chi
cago, was grateful to play audience.
Hardin, who knew his New York per
haps better than either, refused to be
drawn into the gentle stream.
Things must be kept sprightly. Had
Mr. Rlckard met many of the valley,
people? And It was then that she
threw her bomb toward the listening,
silent Hardins. She would like Mr.
Rlckard to meet some of their friends.
He said that he would be delighted,
but that he was planning to leave
shortly for the Heading.
"Of course." She did not give her
husband time to speak. She meant
afterward ! Sho was planning to give
something a bit novel In his honor.
Sho refused to see the glare from the
angry man In his outgrown dinner
coat. She did not glance toward the
sister. What did Mr. Rlckard think
about a progressive ride?
"It sounds very entertaining, but
what do you do?"
There was a loud guffaw from Tom,
With deepened color Gerty told her
idea. A drive, changing partners, so
he could meet all the guests.
"I think It will surprise you to find
so many nice people In here; It cer
tainly did me. One doesn't expect to
find congenial people In a new country
like this." .
Rlckard remembered that he had
to get back to his hotel. He had let-
tors to write. It had been a splendid
dinner t And what a wonderful home
sho had made out of a sand-baked lot,
out of a tent ! He spoke of the roses
and Jhe morning glories. His eyes
fell on the open piano, the reading
table with the current magazines.
Now he couldn't understand why they
ever went to that hotel !
Gerty's eyes were shining as deep
pools of water on which the sun plays,
She looked almost Infantile as she
stood by tho two tall men, her head
perched birdlike. "Good-by! and I
hopo you'll come again!"
Of courso he'd come again !
"And you will let me know when
you return, so that I may set the date
for my party?"''
lnnes did not get his answer. She
had been observing that he was not
taller than her brother. He looked
taller. He was lean, nnd Tom was
growing stocky. She wished he would
not slouch so, his hands in his pock
ets ! In Tucson, before she knew that
she must dislike Rlckard, she had had
an Impression of virile distinction, of
grace, a suggestion of mastered mus
cles. He had known that it was her
brother he was supplanting did he
get any satisfaction from the fact that
It was tho husband of the woman who
had Jilted him? Anyway, she did not
like him. Sho could never forgive a
hurt that was done to her own. She
was a Hardin.
"lnnes! Mr. Rlckard said good
night 1"
Sho gave him the tips of her cool,
browned fingers, ner eyes did not
1 '
Her Eyes Did Not Meet His.
meet his; she would not meet that
laughing scrutiny. .
"Good night, Mr. Rlckard."
CHAPTER XI.
The Fighting Chance.
"Casey's tmck, spying 1" announced
Wooster at mess one evening. By that
time the feeling against "Marshall's
man" was actively hostile. There had
been a smudge of slumbering fires be
fore Rlckard had left the towns.
, nnI bjr talk during bis ab-
! ' " had V.'
They were ready to show their resent-
!"V .hTwi
, " "
l"el" I'""- "I
j the cause of the desert was as com-
...;,--
.wi - jcu -
I ns were
'
the lily banners" of France to the" fol
lowers of the Little Corporal.
Rlckard was not expected. He had
been gone less than a week. The ef
fect of his return was that of a per
son who returns suddenly into a room,
hushing an active babel of tongues.
He knew what he would find, ample
reasons why! He was not given the
satisfaction of locating any particular
act of disobedience. The men pre
sented a blank wall of politeness, rea
sonable and Ineffectual. Silent ex
plained briefly that he had not been
able to collect enough men. Most e
the force was busy in the No. 6 dis
trict, trying to push the shattered Wis
taria through by a new route before
that year's crops were entirely ruined.
A gang was at Grant's Heading; the
floor needed bracing. Another squad.
Irish's, was In the Volcano Lake re
gion, where they were excavating fsr
the new headgate.
"No hurry for that" Rlckard was
glad to pick a flaw in such a perfect
pattern. "Yon might have withdraw
those men and put them to work
the levee."
"I was given no authority to is
that"
The chief pretended to accept ths
reason; else it were a case of chang
ing horses In midstream. Whot he
had seen at the Heading, his peep at
the exposed valley, his gleaning sf
the river's history had convinced him
that in haste and concentration lay
the vaHey's only chance. He must re
fuse to see the Insubordination of the
engineers, the seasoned desert sol
diers. He needed them, must win
their confidence if he could. If not,
they must save the valley anyway!
The imperturbable front of Silent, his
bland, big stare, exasperated him;
easier to control the snapping terrier
of a Wooster. He had told Silent dis
tinctly to gather his men and rush the
levee. A good soldier had made a bet
ter guess than his, and had stopped
the casual work at Black Butte, or
had found Tndians! Thoughtfully
Rlckard followed that last suggestion
across the ditch Into Mexlcall.
He gatheced all the recruits he
needed that morning. The Indians,
lazy Cocopahs, crept out of their huts
to earn a few of the silver dollars held
out to them by the new white boss.
A few Mexican luborers were bribed
to toss up earth to the west of the
town. Estrada, at his request, put a
squad of his road force at the service
of the manager. He could not spare
many men.
The railroad had already started
the line projected by Hardin to Mar
shall the year before, a spur across
the desert, dipping into Mexico be
tween the lean, restless sandhills,
from Calexlco to Yuma. The Mexican
government had agreed to pay five
thousand dollars a mile were the road
completed nt a certain period. Estrada
was keplng his men on the Jump to
fill the contract, to make his nation
pay the price. The completion of the
road meant help to the valley; sup
plies, men, could be rushed through to
the break. .
In spite of his haunting sense of
ultlmnte failure the growing belief in
the omnipotence of the Great Yellow
Dragon as the Cocopahs visualized. It,
Estrada's work was as Intense as
though he were hastening a sure vic
tory. . The dauntless spirit of the elder
Estrada pushed the track over the pot
sands where he must dance at times
to keep his feet from burning. Many
of the rails they laid at night.
"Rlckard's gone bog-wild," Hardin
told his family the next morning.
"Building a levee between the towns!
The man's off his head."
"There isn't any danger?" Gerty's
anxiety made the deep blue eyes look
black.
lnnes looked up for Tom's answer.
His face was ugly with passion.
"Danger! It's a bluff, a big show
of activity here because he's buffa
loed; he doesn't know how to tackle
the Job out there."
It had begun to look that way to
more than one. It was talked over
at Coulter's store; In the outer office
of the D. R. company where the engi
neers foregathered; among the-chair
titters who Idled in front of the Des
ert hotel. "The. man does not know
how to tackle his Job !" A levee, and
the gnte held up 1 What protection to
the towns would be that toy levee if
the river should return on one of Its
spectacular sprees? A levee, and the
Intake itself not guarded? He was
whispered of as incompetent; one of
Marshall's clerks. He was given a
short' time to blow himself out A
bookman, a theorist.
"As well put scntlncl3 a few miles
from prison and leave the Jail doors
open I" This was Wooster's gibe. All
saw the Colorado as a marauder at
large. "And a little heap of sand
stacked up to scare It off! It's a
scream!"
Mrs. nardln found It difficult to
meet with diplomacy the confidences
which Inevitably come her way. As
Hardin's wife she was expected to en
Joy the universal censure the new man
was acquiring. Gerty's light touches.
too slight for championship, passed as
a sweet charity. Her own position
those days was trying. She did not
jet know her diplomatic lesson.
Appnrently unaware of the talk,
Rlckard spent the greater part of his
time superintending the levee. He
could trust no one else to do It, no
one unless It were Estrada, who was
rhsbing his steel rails through to the
front and was needed there.
Things were moving under his con
stant goading. The extra pay was
showing results. He should be at the
Heading now, he kept telling himself,
but he wu convinced that the Instant
he turned his back, the work on the
levee wouia stop; ana an tne reasons
excellent i oouie emergency wouia oe
fpofcoi,! up to werrent the-withdrawal
or the liands." Chafe as he" might" at
the situation, it was to be guerrilla
warfare. Not a fight in the open, he
knew how to meet that, but that baf
fling resistance, the polite silence pf
the office when he entered "Well,
they'll be doing my way pretty soon,
or my name isn't Rlckard. That's
flat."
He was fretting to be at work, to
start the wheels of the O. P., its vast
machinery toward his problem. He
knew that that organization, like well
drilled militia, was ready for his call
The call lagged, not that he did not
aeed men, but there was no place
ready for them. The camp, that was
another rub. There was no camp ! It
was not equipped for a 6udden infla
tion of men. The lnefflcrency of the
projectors of this desert scheme had
never seemed so criminal as when he
bad surveyed the equipment at the in
take. "Get ready first; your tools,
your stoves, your Deds." That was tho
training of the good executive, of men
like Marshall and MacLean. Nothing
t be left to chance; to foresee emer
gencies, not to be taken by them uo
awsre. The reason of Hardin's down
fall was his slipshod habits. How could
he be a good officer who had never
drilled as a soldier? There was the
gap at the Intake, Hardin's grotesque
folly, widened from one hundred feet
to ten times the original cut ; widening
every day, with neither equipment not
camp adequate to push through a work
of half the original magnitude. Cut
ting away, moreover, was the Island,
Disaster island f it had received apt
christening by the engineers, Its bap
tismal water the Colorado. The last
floods had played with it as though it
were a bar of sugar. There was no
rock at hand ; no rock on the way, no
rock ordered. Could anyone piece to
gether such recklessness?
Rlckard knew where he would get
his rock. Already he had requisitioned
the entire output of the Tacna and
Patagonia quarries. He had ordered
steam shovels to be installed at the
quarry back of old Hamlin's. That
rock pit would be his first crutch, and
the gravel bed that was a find! As
he paced the levee west of the towns,
he was planning his campaign. Por
ter was scouring. Zacatecas 'for men;
he himself had offered, ns bait, free
transportation ; the O. P. he knew
would back him. He was going to
throw out a spur-track from the Head
ing, touching at the quarry and gravel
pit, on to the main road at Yuma.
Double track most of the way ; sidings
every three miles. Rock must be
rushed; the trains must be pushed
through. He itched to begin. It never
occurred to him that, like Hardin, he
might full.
"Though It's no pink tea," he told
himself, "It's no picnic." At Tucson
he knew that the situation was a
grave one, but his talk with Brandon,
who knew his river as does a good In
dian, made the year a significant,
eventful one. Matt Hamlin, too, whose
shrewd eyes had grown river-wise, he,-
too, naa naa tales to ten or tne incity
river. Maldonado, the half-breed, had
Maldonado Had Confirmed Their Por.
tents.
confirmed their portents while they sat
together under his oleander, famous
throughout that section of the coun
try. And powerfully had Cor'nel, the
Indian who had piloted Estrada's party
across the desert, whom Rlckard had
met at the Crossing, deeply had he im
pressed him. The river grew Into a
malevolent, mocking personality; he
could see it a dragon of yellow waters,
dragging Its slow, sluggish length
across the baked desert sands; dccelv-
lng men by its inertness; luring the
explorer by a mild mood to rise sud-
den y with its wild fellow, the Gila,
ispnilinp nnflt" and nnntmen tn tholi
,
swift doom.
Rlckard was thinking of the half-
breed, Maldonado, as he inspected the her, at last appealing to her sympa
new stretch of levee between the thy or amusement, separating her
towns. He had heard from others be- from all those boisterous students, her
' sides Estrada of the river knowledge
f thls descendant of trapper and
j squaw, and had thought It worth while
' ? rl!,e ?e ?t7,le dow?
I tne r'ver talkJlth ,T"6 ma" 8
' ,s,unv ' hls .n f ts ?' eesJ tte
I PS thin and facile, deep lines of cru-
.yeueu
his visitor. The mystery of the place
followed him. Why the 'dobe wall
which completely surrounded the
small, low dwellings? Why the can-
tlous admittance, the atmosphere of
suspicion? Bard bad seen the wtfe.
a frightened shadow of a woman; had
seen her flinch when the brute called
V i li rVv ""J1"''"'
, nbOTlt the haif.breed. He was remem.
i icwRni.
j tbrtlnkles of
old Indian's "f ace as he"3enverei Km- '
self of an oracular grunt
"White man? No. Indian? No !
Coyote!"
Though he suspected Moldonado)
would lie on principle, though it might
be that two-thirds of his glib tissue
were false, yet a thread of truth co- ;
incident with the others, Brandon and ;
Hamlin and Cor'nel, might be pulled
out of his romantic fabric.
'When the waters of the Gila runt t
red look out for trouble!" He doubt- j
ed that they ever ran red. He would :
ask Cor'nel. He had also spoken of j
a cycle, kuown to Indians, of a hunt- j
dredth year, when the Dragon grows i
restless', this he had declared was a 1
hundredth year. .
Following his talk with Maldonado
and the accidental happy chance meet
ing with Coronel at the Crossing Rlck
ard had written his first report to Tod
Marshall. Before he had come to the
Heading he had expected to advise
against the completion of the wooden
headgate at the Crossing. Hamllto
had given him a new viewpoint. There
was a fighting chance. And he wanted
such a bad Idea! He picked up W9
hat, and went out (!
CHAPTER XIII. jj
The Wrong Man. "j
Mrs. Hardin heard from every
source but the right one that Rlckard
had returned. Each time her tele
phone rang, it was his voice she ex
pected to .hear. She began to rend a
meaning Into his silence. She could
think of nothing else than the strange
coincidence that had brought their
lives again closa. Or was it a coinci
dence? That Idea sent her thoughts
far afield.
She was thinking too much of him,
for peace of mind, those days of wait
ing, but the return of the old lovcf
had made a wonderful break In her
Sne Spent M0St 0f Her Days at tho
Sewing Machine.
life. Her eyes were brighter; her
smile was less forced. -She spent most
of her days at the sewing machine. A
lot of lace was whipped onto lingerie
frocks of pale colors. She was a dis
ciple of an Eastern esthete. "Women,"
he had said, "should buy lace, not by
the yard, but b the mile."
As her fingers worked among' the
laces and soft mulls, her' mmd' roved
down avenues that should have been
closed to her, a wife. She would have
protested, had anyone accused her of
Infidelity in those days, yet day by day,
she was straying farther from her hus
band's side. She convinced herself
that Tom's gibes and ill-humor were
getting hnrder to endure.
It was Inevitable that tho woman of
harem training should relive tho Law
rence days. The enmity of those two
men, both her lovers,1 was pregnant
with romantic suggestion. The drama
of desert and river centered now in the
story of Gerty Hardin. Rlckard who
had never married 1 The deduction,
once unveiled, lost all its shyness. And
every one saw that he disliked her hus
band! She knew now that she had never
loved Tom. She had turned to him la ,
those days of pride when Riekurd'a
anger still held him aloof. How many
times had she gone over those unrenl
hours! Who could have known that
his anger would last? That hour in
the honeysuckles ; his kisses ! None of
Hardin's rougher kisses had swept her
memory of her exquisite delight de
lirious as was her Joy, there was room
for triumph. She had seen herself
clear of the noisy boarding house. Her
self, Gerty Holmes, the wife of a pro-
'fessor: able to have tl, thlnL-s ha
craved, to have them openly ; no longer
having to scheme for them,
It was through RlcUard.s eyes tnat
she hnd seen the 8hortconlin s of the
i . .. . .
I colege ooaruing nouse. sne nnd ac
quired keen consciousness of those
quizzical eyes. When they had isolnted
dream of bliss had begun,
in those days, she had seen Hardin
through the eyes of the young Instruc-
tor omZet 8ever"1 '" !
PUP"- Her ' disjoin" d ,.n;;er.
dWlke. when the Ace of Hardin
peered through the leafy screed To
nnve wmtea, prayed for that mo:unt.
Bnd to have it spoiled like thai! Tl are
had been days when she had wept be-
cause she had not shown her an;!
How could she know that everything
would end there; end. just beginning!
Her boarding-house training had
taught her to be clvit It was sUU
vh-kl to her, her onxletv, her treran-
lousness with Hardin talking forever
or a play he had Just seen; Rickard
growing suffer, angrier, refusing to
look at those lips still warm with his
klsscsJ (Continued next Saturday)
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