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FAIR PLAY. STE. GENEVIEVE. MISSOURI. . in, ,i ii ni ir n..j wwmin MUi inn i imiw ni miini ir - r , JLmmii a . : , ! Winers, tlxe Colorado Burst Its Banks and Hooded, tiie Imperial Valley of California Ednah Aiken CopyTlpM, Bobbs-Mcrrlll Company - I T"H T 7TE By When Man and Nature Clashed. tt was but a short time ago that the whole nation was thrilled by news of a miflhty struggle in which man's Ingenuity and strength were pitted agstast the seemingly Irresistible forces of nature. The Great Veilavv Dragon, as the Indians termed the tricky Colorado river, for rsriaty years had defied all efforts to control It. Finally It threatened to overwhelm the rich Imperial valley of southern California. In a last desperate bnttfei man triumphed. The raging waters were curbed. The vaJley vrass saved. Ednah Aiken, a daughter of the West, realized that a wonderful otory could be woven about this thrilling chapter of western history, and this is the story that she has given to the world In "The River." It is a story of the out-of-doors, a story of strong men who for get: their own differences va the battle for their lives and property, a siory f women who place love and loyalty above comfort and conven feireef and of -other women who, in the smallness of their souls, fail to meet -the test. It is a story that you will enjoy from start to finish. Editor's Note. .CHAPTER 1. Marshall Sends for RicVtara. The intse round clock was striking nine ns "Casey" Richard's dancing step carried him into the oater office of Tod XOirhliiilt. The ushering clerk, co.it less iwl vcstlc;?3 in. ex-peclation of the thlni- L-wt sprint: day. utade a critical jappi-aSsessest f the-, engineer's get-up &.fore he sjjuhc Tbea he stated that 3&r. 3-IarshalI .had not sxst cumc For -a London tic and a white silk shirt. . wit cd into white serge trousers wen; smart for Tucson. The -clerks fin tlu ompltry of the Overland Pacific tand of the Sonora anil Yaqul railroads tttad atariil at Uickard as lie entered; tliey foKuwod his progress through thn Toor.u He was a newcomer in Tucson. Hd bad not yet acquired the apathetic "Sinlms of its citizens. lie wore belts, dnsu-ad of suspenders. Ilio white trousers; 3c3ior serge, carried a new Jy pnsstvesi crease each morning. The office had not reached a verdict ua the .subject jor K. C. Rtckard. The Khirt-a'ecved. ebllarless clerics would 3tave ben tirfcfc to dub him a dandy -wcra It uot for a page of his history ttltaC was puwilsng; them. ITe had held chair of eajdaotrlng fn some eastern cify. He Iiad resigned, the wind-tossed jjjskp- i&m, to 70 oa the road as a uarezntus. IH& rapid promotion had ftcen. spectacular; tlie last move, a fcw wars ago, to fill an. office position 3n Tucson. Tho summons had found fhim an the- west coast of Mexico, where lie Oreciand PaclQe was iiush .In Its trucks. "You can wait here," suggested the 'desk, Ici'V-to covertly at tiie slioes of 'the vans, who a Tew years before had "il)eea shoveling coal ou a Wyoming on line. "Mr. -VirsliaJl said to wait." "ttinbons. Instead of shoe laces!" 'carpsai tMe human machine that must evtc- vcxim lirterb -which other men sfsa. nd a .blue jpln to match his vSJo! I call Unit Roing some!" It wouU'i newer have occurred to "JRicfcanJ. Iwtf te thought about It at ail iha-t cnorii'.nR as he knotted his tie rtf dark, bri.'Hant blue silk, that the BdectJoa of i-.is Is pis pin was a choice; tKt may lav toeriiable resalt, an instlnc tlt discretion of his Ongcrs. It Wi-arpfX luv.vpver, the usjicnded judg Tsvutii. "uT "JJaTshaTTs Taeo, vho had 1 nevr 3ji him shoveling coal, dlsflg ' urtvl by a. dcidm jumper. They did "not kciiffw tttvt they themselves wore slowns. raia-ed toy the climate that clails vaiity and -wilts collars. Xtvu hlsa a year to change some of '3xlft fia habits!" wagered Sraythe, (lie yacjtjw.'ioaIdcred clerU, as the door of "ithe 'SraK'.r office closed. "To change his habits less!" omend Mul the office wit. And then they fell to speculating: whnt Jlarshall was go 'Jcs ii an with .him. What pawn was jho la Wit i-iimc 'that everyone in Tuc fioa SwWovvc-d with -eager self-interested 'concern? Marshall's was the control--'illnif JUncid to Arizona politics; the ymaiwer sjt aAwernors, the arbiter of big vvrpovatlons; president of a half Sfoxen railroads. No a move of Ids on Ihn lKiard that escaped notice. Tta the oilier side or the door Illck ard was cclioing the ollice question. This play job, where did it lead to? ifie '.i'.ul llkgti his work, under Strattou. XJsore liad lm?n some pretty problems i-u truest Tvhvit did ilarshaU jucan to jilo v.'jfh 'tiha"l TIe note had Bti tfhe appointment fVvw tiiioj'. JLIcknrd glanced at his witch aud todi: out his Engineering SRevlmr. It would be ten Ijcforc that rf(ior opacd on Tod Maraball ! Hit Jfncw that, on the road, alar-v.hj-llV wii lc bogan at dawn. "A man won't Uee3!H from overwork or rust Irwn undCTWoa'i: tf he follows the ex .sample yf the iisn," lllckard had often Cticavd .Iilra expound bis favorite the--bry. "it la only Ihc players, the syba Kii4 who can afford tt pervert the arr&rjBtesi ttiiture Intended for us." Bat in Tucson, controlled by the wife ay Botfdtude of his Claudia, he was coerced into -a regular perversion. Ills office never saw him nniU the morning- vraa haif gone A fcair-hoor later Kiaara .ftulshed rseadlnsa. w;K5rt on tho dlvoruian of a Xreat weatwrn lvei Tlw tusne of 'inwoBaa- Hardin iisad txait ttUa off -on wwijwt of nieraory. ICIio Thmtas Uar&.i wlwse efforts io ZuSng; -vater Jt tIRjfect of the ColwSo fcwl tt-cn iso snetrfctCKlarfy unsuceeusfut was the 4(4 HkrdlH he had kiwani lUishi- ter had told hlin so, the girl with the odd bronze eyes; opal matrix they were, with glints of gold, or was it green? She herself was as unlike the raw boor of his memory as a moun tain lily Is like the coarse rock of Its background. Even a half-sister to Hardin, as Marshall, their host at din ner the week before, had explained It no, even that did not explain It. That any of the IJardln blood should be shared by the veins of that girl, why It was Incredible 1 The nlime "Hardin" suggested crudity, loud mouthed bragging; conceit. He could understand the failure of the river project since the sister had nssurcd him that It was the same Tom Hardin who had gone to college at Lawrence ; had married Gerty Holmes. Queer business, life, that he bhould cross, even so remotely, their orbits again. That was n chapter he liked to skip. He walked over to the windows, shielded by bright nwnlngs, and was chafing, restive, after a few weeks of Tucson. For what was ho getting here? Adding what scrap of experience to the rounding of his pro fession? Retrospectively engineering could hardly be said to be the work of his choice. Rather had It appeared to choose him. Prom boyhood engineers had always been, to him, the soldiers of modern civilization. To conquer nnd subdue mountains, to shackle wild rivers, to suspend trestles over dizzy heights, to throw the tracks of an ad vancing civilization along a newly blazed trail, there would always be a thrill in It for htm. It had changed the best quarterback of his high school Into tho primmest of students nt col lege. Only for a short time had ho let his vanity sidetrack him, when tho honor of teaching what he had lenrned stopped his own progress. A rut! He remembered the day when It had burst on liini, tho realization of the rut ho was Jin. lie could sccjds Law rence" schoolroon?, could" see "yet the face under the red-haired mop belong ing to Jerry Matson queer ho remem bered the name after all those years ! lie could picture the look of conster nation when ho threw down his book and announced his desertion He had handed in his resignation the next day. A month later nnd he was shoveling coal on tho steep grades of Wyoming, "Marshall keeps his men with him I" The engineer's glance traveled around theJleckless office. A stranger to Mar shall would get a wrong iden of tho man who worked In It! Those precise files, the desk, orderly and polished, the gleaming linoleum and then tho man who made the negro janitor's life a proud burden! His clothes always crumpled spots, too, unless his Clau dia had had a chance at them ! Black looked down on the city where tho next few years of his life might bo strln tf ,., . t,, nl,t.vnr(, vls. caught. Comforting to reflect that an . , - smlthprn nMpmn engineer is like a soldier, never can L, ,., nnrf1.v Knt M.pn n vnint be. certain about tomorrow. Time enough to know that tomorrow meant Tucson! What was that threadbare provevb In tho Overland Pacific that Tod Marshall always keeps his men until they lose their teeth? That de fined the men who made themselves necessary! nis eyes worn resting on tho bannll tles of the modern city that had robbed "old town" of Its flavor. Were It not for the beauty of the distant hills, tho jar and rumble of the trains whose roar called to near-by pleasure cities, would ever keep Tod Marshall up to the standard of that office. What did ho have servants for, he had demand ed of Rlckard, if it were not to Jump after him, picking up the loose ends he dropped? Curious thing, magnetism. Thnt man's step on tho stair, and every man-jack of them would jump to at tention, from Ron, tho colored janitor, who would not swap his post for a si necure so long as Tod Mashall's one lung kept him in Arlzonn, to Smythe, the stoop-shouldered clerk, who had them. I'm going to send you down to stop it." "The Colorado!" exclaimed Rlckard. It was no hose to be turned, simply, off from a garden bed. 'Of. course you've been following It? It's one of tho biggest things that's happened In this part of the world. Too big for the men who have been trying to swing It. You've followed it?" "Yes." Queer coincidence, reading that report just now! "I've not been there. Rut the engineering papers used to get to mo In Mexico. I've read all the reports." His superior's question was unchar acteristically superfluous. Who had not read with thrilled nerves of that iwiijkhub ngius unu crowuuu uiuaiura, fn,in,VPf, Al,-sl,nl1'M much from Snn stretches of parks and recreation t oi,i in A-i,nn grounds, he, who loved the thrill and ,,e hllnsc,f ,md ,net the statement ,n confinement of an cnno. who had Tucsonthnt nny man who hnd ever found enticement n a desert, a chap- workc( fm. To( MarsImI1 would ratllcr tor of adventure n the barrancas of bo varmca by th0 reflectlon of his Mexico, would stifle In Tucson! Amer- tness tnnn bo lven ts o 11.au juub-iTOo u u pi iu u". " jsonal distinction. veneer on Mexican Indifference to Wns ,fc offlce routInc Mnrsnnll m. make tho place endurable as a city. tnm1.f1 irim fnp? n. I1(1mIrm1 ,v,thrmt. I'm good for a lifetime here, If I stint 1'1 Mnrshall, but ho preferred want It," his thoughts would work to work by tho side of the other kind, uacic to the starting place, "if 1 tno strong men, without physical linn knuckle down io It, let Tilm grow to (UcaPi the mell who tal;o rIskS( tIl0 depend on me, It's as good as settled ,nen wno uvo tnc lfo of soldiers. That that I am buried in Tucson 1" Hadn't Wns tho life he wanted. Ho would he heard Marshall himself say that ho wait iong enough to get Marshall's in "dldn't keep a kindergarten that his tentlon. and then. If It meant this ! Offico wasn't a training School for lin would hrenlr Innso. Ho wnnlil 00 men !" He wanted his men to stay 1 i,nck t0 tno front wi,ero fie belonged That, one of tho reasons of the great Dnci t0 jle firjng uno man's power; detail rested on the .,. nf th ' ,,., ln.k ... shoulders of his employees. It kept the ouUr onco wcro polntIng to tcn his own brain clear, receptive to big tho door openu(1 and Mnrahnl, cntCrcd. achievements. tii -iiur.- in,iodnit 1,1.11-11, .,, "Perhaps as (he work unrolls, as I would have disgraced an eastern man! see more of what ho wants of me, why nis string tie hnd a starboard list, ho wants rae.tl may like it, I may get and his hat was ready for a rummage sale. Rut few would have looked at his clothes. Tho latent energy of tho dynamic spirit that would frequently turn that quiet office into a mael- 1 strom gleamed In those Indlnn-black eyes. Beneath the shabby cloth one suspected tho dally polished skin ; un "I Am Going to Send You Down to tho Break." wild river which men had been trying to put under work harness? Who, even among the stay-at-homes, had not followed tho newspaper stories of tho failure to make a meek servant nnd water carrier of tho Colorado, that wild steed of mountain and desert? What engineer, no matter how remote, would not "follow" that spectacular struggle between men and Titans? "Going to send me to Salton?" he Inquired. Tho railroad had been kept jumping to keep its feet dry. His Job to bo by that Inlnnd sea which last year had been desert! "No. Bralncrd Is there. Ho can manage tho tracks. I am going to send you down to the break." Rlckard did not answer. Ho felt tho questioning eyes of his chief. The break where those Hardlns were how In thunder was he going to get out of that, and save his skin? Marshall liked his own way "We'll consider It settled, then." "Who's in charge there?" Rlckard was only gaining time. He thought he knew tho name ho would hear. Marshall's first word surprised him. "No one. Up to a few months ago it was Hardin, Tom Hardin. He was general manager of the company. Ho was allowed to resign, to save his face, as the Chinese say. I may tell you that it wns a case of firing. He'd made a terrible fluke down there." "I know," murmured Rlckard. It was growing more difficult, more dis tasteful. If Marshall wanted him to supplant Hardin! It had been Incred ible, that man's folly! Reckless gam bling, nothing else. Mako a cut In tho banks of a wild river, without put ting In hend gates to control It; a child would guess better I It was a problem now, all right; the writer of tho report he'd Just read wasn't the only one who was prophesying failure. der the old slouch hat was tho mouth Let tho river cut back, and tho gov of purpose, tho Hps that no woman, even his Claudia, bad kissed without the thrill of fear. Marshall glanced back at the clock, and then toward his visitor. "On time!" ho observed. Rlcknrd, smiling, put his book In his pocket. He Walked to the Window. CHAPTER II. A Bit of Oratory. Marshall threw his hat on n chair, the morning paper on his desk. Ho aimed his burncd-out'clgaratthe near est cuspidor, but it fell foul, the ashes scattering over Sam's lately scoured linoleum. Instantly there was appear ance of settled disorder. Marshall emptied his pockets of looso papers, spreading them out on his flat-top desk. "Sit down!" Rlckard took tho chair ut tho other to shout for Tucson !" It wns lmpos slblo enough to smile over! Child's work, compared to Mexico. The distinction of serving Marshall side of tho desk, well certainly had Its drawbacks. Ho Marshall rang a bell. Instantly tho wanted to sweep on. Whether ho had shirt-sleeved clerk entered, a definite terminal, a concrete gonl, "I Bhall not seo anyone," tho chief had ho ever stopped to think? Spo- announced. "I don't want to bo inter riallzatlon had always a fascination rupteti. TaKe theso to smytne." for him. It was that which had thrown hlra out of his lnstructorshlp Into tho firebox of a western engine. It had governed his coursu at college to know one thing well, nnd th to prove that Iiq kucw It well ! Coptent--od la tho Mcxlcuu barracks, hero ho His eyes followed tho shutting of tho door, when turned square upon Rlckard. "I need you. It's a h 1 of n mess!" Tho engineer wnnted to know what ernment works at Laguna woulQ bo useless; a pickle Hardin had made, Still to gain time ho suggested thnt Marshall tell him tho sltuntion. "I've followed only the engineering side of It. I don't know tho relationship of tho two companies." "Where tho railroad cnino In? Tho Inside of that story? I'm responsible I guaranteed to Faraday the closing of that brenk. There was a big dis trict to save, a district that tho rail road tapped but I'll tell you that later." He was leisurely puffing blue, perfectly formed rings Into tho nlr, Iris eyes admiring them. "Perhaps you've heard how Estrada, tho general, took a pnrty of men into tho desert to sell a mine ho owned. After the deal was made ho decided to let It slip. He'd found something bigger to do, more to his liking than tho fiale of a mine. Estrada was ,a big man, a great man. Ho hnd tho Idea Powell nnd others had, of turn ing tho river, of saving tho desert. Ho dreamed himself of doing It. If sick ness hadn't come to him the Colorado would bo meekly carrying water now Instead of Hooding a country. Pity Edunrdo, the son, Is not like him. He's like his mother you never know what they are dreaming about. Not nt all alike, my wife and Estrada's." kind of u "mess" ltwaB, tors, famous beauties of Guadalajnra. He began to plcco together tho per sonal background of the story. "It was a long tlmo before Estrada could get It started, and It's a ldbg story. As soon ns he began ho was knocked down. Other men took hold. You'll hear it all In tho valley. Har din took a day to tell it to me! Ho sees himself us a martyr. Promoters got In; tho thing swelled Into a swindle, a spectacular swindle. They showed oranges on. Broadway .before a drop of water was brought In. Har din has lots of grievances I He'd made tho original survey. So when he sued for his back wages he took the papers of the bankrupt compnny In settle ment. He's a grim sort of Ineffectual bulldog. Do's clung with his teeth to the Estrada Idea. And he's not big enough for It. Ho uses the optimistic method gives you only half of a case, half of the problem, gets started on a false premise. Well, ho got up anj otner company on tnni metnoa, me Desert Reclamation company, tried to whitewash tlio desert project; It wns hi bad odor then, and ho mnnaged to bring n few drops of water to the desert." 'wtL ..u!JT "It was nardin who did that?" ."But he couldn't deliver enough, Tho cut silted up. He cut again, the same story. He was In a pretty bad hole. He'd brought colonists In al ready; he'd used their money, 'c the money they'd paid for Innd with wn ter, to make the cuts. No wonder he was desperate." It recalled the man RJckard had disliked, tho rough-shod, loud-voiced student of his first class in engineer ing. That was tho man who had made the flamboyant carpets of the Holmes' bqardlng house Impossible nny "longer to him. He had a sudden disconcert ing vision of a large unfinished fnce" peering through tho honeysuckles nt a man and a girl drawing apart in confusion from their first and last kiss. He wanted to tell. Marshall he was wasting his time. "Overwhelmed with lawsuits," Mar shall was saying. "Hardin had to de liver water to those colonists. It wns then thnt ho ran over Into Mexico, so as to get a better gradient for his canal, and made his cut there. You know tho rest. It ran nway from him, it mnuo tne aaiton sea." "Did he ever give you any reason," frowned Rlcknrd remlnlsccntly; "any reasonable reason why ho made that cut without any head gate?" "No money!" shrugged Marshnll, getting out another cigar. "I told you he's a raw dancer, always starts off too quick, begins on the wrong foot. Oh, yes, ho has reasons, lots of them, that fellow, but, ns you say, they're not reasonable. He never waits to get ready." Why wns It that tho face of the half-sister came to Rlckard then, with that look of sensitive high breeding and guarded reserve? And she a Har din! Sister to the loud-spllling mouth: Queer enrds nature deals ! And pretty enrds Marshall was trying to deal out to him. Go down there and finish Hardin's Job, show him up to bo the fumbler he was, give him orders, give the husband of Gerty Holmes or ders ! "It was nardin who came to me, but not until he'd tried everything else. They'd worked for months try ing to dam tho river with a few lace handkerchiefs, and perhaps a chiffon veil!" Marshall was twinkling over his own humor, "nardin did put up n good talk. It was true, as ho said; we'd had to move our tracks three, no, four times at Salton. It was true that It ought to bo one of tho richest districts tnpped by tho O. P. But ho clenched me by a clever bolt to put out a spur In Mexico which would keep nny other railroad off by a flfty mlle parallel, and thero the sandhills make a railroad impossible. "Tho government must eventually come to the rescue. Their works at Laguna hang on the control of the river down nt tho heading. Once, ho told me I don't know how much truth there wns In It the service, rec lamation service, did try' to buy up their plant for a paltry sum. Ho wouldn't sell. Tho short Is, I recom mended long-sighted asslstnnco to Faraday. I promised to turn that river, savo tho district. We expected before tho year was out to have tho government tnko tho responsibility off our hands." Rlckard mado an Impatient ehrug, A nice problem Mnrshall had taken unto himself. Ho wanted none of It Hardin tho thing wns Impossible. Ho met lnggardly Marshall's story. He heard him say: "Agreed with Far aday. Tho Desert Reclamation com pany was as helpless as a swaddled Infant. We rando tho condition that we reorganize tho company. I was put In Hardin's plnco ns president of the corporation, and ho was made gen oral manngcr. Of course wo had to control tho stock. Wo put up two hundred fjhousnnd dollars nardin had estimated It would cost us less than half that! It's cost us already a million. Things haven't been going -right. Faraday's temper burst out, and nnrtlln a while back was asked to resign.' you want mo to imr 1113 voich sounded queer to himself dry, mock ing, ns if anyone should know what an absurd thing' he wns being asked to do. no felt Marshall's sharp In dlnn eyes'on hlnl, ns If defecting a pet tiness. Well, he didn't care how Mnr shall interpreted It." That place wasn't for him. "I want you In control down there." Rlcknrd knew lie was being appraised, balariccd nil over again. It made no difference "I'm sorry," he was beginning, when Marshall cut In. "Good Lord, you are not going to turn it down?'-' He met Marshall's . incredulous stare. "It's n job I'd Jump at under most circumstances. But Innt go, sir." Tom Marshall loancd back the full swine of his swlvol chair, blankly 'astounded. His eyes told Rickard that ho had been found wanting ho had white blood In bis veins. "It is good of you to think of me pshaw! it Is absurd to say these- things.. You know that I know It is nn honor to bo picked out by you for sucli- a piece, of work. I'd like to but fcaftZ'' f(,. , , -'M , The president of railroads, who knew men, had been watching tho nlny of feature. "Take, your time," ho said. "Don't answer too hastily. 'J.aKo your time." Ho was playing the fool, or worse, before Marshall, whom he respected, whose partisanship meant so much. But he couldn't help It. Ho couldn't tell thnt story ho knew that Marshall would brush It aside as a child's epi sode. He couldn't mako it clear to the man whose stare was balancing him why ho. could not oust Tom Har din. "Is It a personal -reason?" Mar shall's gazo had returned to his ring making. Rlcknrd admitted It was personal. . "Then I don't nccept it. I wouldn't bo your friend If I didn't advise you to disregard the little thing, to take tho big thing. Maybe you are going to be marr1ed." He did not wait for Rickard's -vigorous negative. "That Then It carao to Rickard that ho had heard somewhere that Marshall That river. It's ruaulnfl away fromaiul General lktrada .bad married 6hj- "And It Is Hardin's position that "Just Stop That Rlverl" can wait. Tho river won't. There's a river running away down yonder, raining the valley, ruining tho homes of 'families men have carried In with them. I've asked you to save them. There's a debt of honor to bo paid. My promise. I have asked you to pay it. There's history being written in that desert. I've asked you to wrlto it. And you say No ' " "Nol I say yes!" clipped Rlckard. The Marshall oratory had swept hlra to his feet. The" dramatic moment was chilled by their Anglo-Saxon self-conscious ness. An awkward silence hung. Then : "When can you go?" "Today, tomorrow, the first train out." "Good!: "Any Instructions?"" "Just stop that river!" "Tho expense?"- demanded the engi neer. VHow far can I go." "D n "the expense'-!" cried Tod Marshall. "Just go ahead." Rlckard, "goes In" and as ho goes he begins to comprehend something of the difficulties of the Jobthat he has undertaken. He learns why tho valley dis trusts, the D. R as 'the valley calls the company which Hardin fathered and which peopled the desert. "Go In" with, Rickard In the next Installment , (TO BE CONTINUED.) Virtue Can B Overdone. Selflessness nnd corapluisanco ore beautiful virtues, but do not forget that a virtue carried to excess may be come the most Irritating aud difficult 0 tellings.