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+Project Gutenberg's The Winning of Barbara Worth, by Harold B Wright
+#5 in our series by Harold B Wright
+
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+Title: The Winning of Barbara Worth
+
+Author: Harold B Wright
+
+Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6997]
+[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule]
+[This file was first posted on February 20, 2003]
+
+Edition: 10
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH ***
+
+
+
+
+This eBook was produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: Barbara. Often as Barbara sat looking over that great
+basin her heart cried out to know the secret it held.]
+
+
+
+
+THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH
+
+BY
+
+HAROLD BELL WRIGHT
+
+
+
+
+
+ACKNOWLEDGMENT
+
+While this story is not in any way a history of this part of the
+Colorado Desert now known as the Imperial Valley, nor a biography of
+anyone connected with this splendid achievement, I must in honesty
+admit that this work which in the past ten years has transformed a
+vast, desolate waste into a beautiful land of homes, cities, and
+farms, has been my inspiration.
+
+With much gratitude for their many helpful kindnesses, I acknowledge
+my indebtedness to H. T. Cory, F. C. Hermann, C. R. Rockwood, C. N.
+Perry, E. H. Gaines, Roy Kinkaid and the late George Sexsmith,
+engineers and surveyors identified with this reclamation work; to W.
+K. Bowker, Sidney McHarg, C. E. Paris, and many other business
+friends and neighboring ranchers among our pioneers; and to William
+Mulholland, Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Aqueduct.
+
+I am particularly indebted to C. K. Clarke, Assistant Manager and
+Chief Engineer of the California Development Company, and to Allen
+Kelly, whose knowledge, insight and observations as a journalist and
+as a student of Reclamation in the Far West have been invaluable to
+me.
+
+To my friend, Mr. W. F. Holt, in appreciation of his life and of his
+work in the Imperial Valley, this story is inscribed. H. B. W.
+
+Tecolote Rancho, April 25, 1911.
+
+
+
+
+  "Give fools their gold, and knaves their power;
+   Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall,
+  Who sows a field, or trains a flower,
+   Or plants a tree, is more than all."
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+      I. INTO THE INFINITE LONG AGO
+
+     II. JEFFERSON WORTH'S OFFERING
+
+    III. MISS BARBARA WORTH
+
+     IV. YOU'D BETTER MAKE IT NINETY
+
+      V. WHAT THE INDIAN TOLD THE SEER
+
+     VI. THE STANDARD OF THE WEST
+
+    VII. DON'T YOU LIKE MY DESERT, MR. HOLMES?
+
+   VIII. WHY WILLARD HOLMES STAYED
+
+     IX. THE MASTER PASSION--"GOOD BUSINESS"
+
+      X. BARBARA'S LOVE FOR THE SEER
+
+     XI. ABE LEE RESIGNS
+
+    XII. SIGNS OF CONFLICT
+
+   XIII. BARBARA'S CALL TO HER FRIENDS
+
+    XIV. MUCH CONFUSION AND HAPPY EXCITEMENT
+
+     XV. BARBARA COMES INTO HER OWN
+
+    XVI. JEFFERSON WORTH'S OPERATIONS
+
+   XVII. JAMES GREENFIELD SEEKS AN ADVANTAGE
+
+  XVIII. THE GAME PROGRESSES
+
+    XIX. GATHERED AT BARBARA'S COURT
+
+     XX. WHAT THE STAKES REVEALED
+
+    XXI. PABLO BRINGS NEWS TO BARBARA
+
+   XXII. GATHERING OF OMINOUS FORCES
+
+  XXIII. EXACTING ROYAL TRIBUTE
+
+   XXIV. JEFFERSON WORTH GOES FOR HELP
+
+    XXV. WILLARD HOLMES ON TRIAL
+
+   XXVI. HELD IN SUSPENSE
+
+  XXVII. ABE LEE'S RIDE TO SAVE JEFFERSON WORTH
+
+ XXVIII. WHAT THE COMPANY MAN TOLD THE MEXICANS
+
+   XXIX. TELL BARBARA I'M ALL RIGHT
+
+    XXX. MANANA! MANANA! TO-MORROW! TO-MORROW!
+
+   XXXI. BARBARA'S WAITIN' BREAKFAST FOR YOU
+
+  XXXII. BARBARA MINISTERS TO THE WOUNDED
+
+ XXXIII. WILLARD HOLMES RECEIVES HIS ANSWER
+
+  XXXIV. BATTLING WITH THE RIVER
+
+   XXXV. NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE
+
+  XXXVI. OUT OF THE HOLLOW OF GOD'S HAND
+
+ XXXVII. BACK TO THE OLD SAN FELIPE TRAIL
+
+XXXVIII. THE HERITAGE OF BARBARA WORTH
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+_Drawn by_
+F. GRAHAM COOTES
+
+OFTEN AS BARBARA SAT LOOKING OVER THAT GREAT BASIN HER HEART CRIED
+OUT TO KNOW THE SECRET IT HELD.
+
+HE HAD LIFTED THE CANTEEN AND WAS HOLDING IT UPSIDE DOWN.
+
+"BUT I DON'T RIDE, YOU KNOW."
+
+MORE TO REGAIN HIS COMPOSURE THAN BECAUSE HE WAS THIRSTY, HELPED
+HIMSELF FROM THE EARTHEN WATER JAR.
+
+"ADIOS. TELL BARBARA I'M ALL RIGHT."
+
+WITHOUT A WORD--FOR NO WORD WAS NEEDED--THEIR HANDS MET IN A FIRM
+GRIP.
+
+
+
+
+The Winning of Barbara Worth
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTO THE INFINITE LONG AGO.
+
+
+Jefferson Worth's outfit of four mules and a big wagon pulled out of
+San Felipe at daybreak, headed for Rubio City. From the swinging red
+tassels on the bridles of the leaders to the galvanized iron water
+bucket dangling from the tail of the reach back of the rear axle the
+outfit wore an unmistakable air of prosperity. The wagon was loaded
+only with a well-stocked "grub-box," the few necessary camp cooking
+utensils, blankets and canvas tarpaulin, with rolled barley and
+bales of hay for the team, and two water barrels--empty. Hanging by
+its canvas strap from the spring of the driver's seat was a large,
+cloth-covered canteen. Behind the driver there was another seat of
+the same wide, comfortable type, but the man who held the reins was
+apparently alone. Jefferson Worth was not with his outfit.
+
+By sending the heavy wagon on ahead and following later with a
+faster team and a light buckboard, Mr. Worth could join his outfit
+in camp that night, saving thus at least another half day for
+business in San Felipe. Jefferson Worth, as he himself would have
+put it, "figured on the value of time." Indeed Jefferson Worth
+figured on the value of nearly everything.
+
+Now San Felipe, you must know, is where the big ships come in and
+the air tingles with the electricity of commerce as men from all
+lands, driven by the master passion of human kind--Good Business--
+seek each his own.
+
+But Rubio City, though born of that same master passion of the race,
+is where the thin edge of civilization is thinnest, on the Colorado
+River, miles beyond the Coast Range Mountains, on the farther side
+of that dreadful land where the thirsty atmosphere is charged with
+the awful silence of uncounted ages.
+
+Between these two scenes of man's activity, so different and yet so
+like, and crossing thus the land of my story, there was only a rude
+trail--two hundred and more hard and lonely miles of it--the only
+mark of man in all that desolate waste and itself marked every mile
+by the graves of men and by the bleached bones of their cattle.
+
+All that forenoon, on every side of the outfit, the beautiful life
+of the coast country throbbed and exulted. It called from the
+heaving ocean with its many gleaming sails and dark drifting steamer
+smoke under the wide sky; it sang from the harbor where the laden
+ships meet the long trains that come and go on their continental
+errands; it cried loudly from the busy streets of village and town
+and laughed out from field and orchard. But always the road led
+toward those mountains that lifted their oak-clad shoulders and
+pine-fringed ridges across the way as though in dark and solemn
+warning to any who should dare set their faces toward the dreadful
+land of want and death that lay on their other side.
+
+In the afternoon every mile brought scenes more lonely until, in the
+foothills, that creeping bit of life on the hard old trail was
+forgotten by the busy world behind, even as it seemed to forget that
+there was anywhere any life other than its creeping self.
+
+As the sweating mules pulled strongly up the heavy grades the man on
+the high seat of the wagon repaid the indifference of his
+surroundings with a like indifference. Unmoved by the forbidding
+grimness of the mountains, unthoughtful of their solemn warning, he
+took his place as much a part of the lonely scene as the hills
+themselves. Slouching easily in his seat he gave heed only to his
+team and to the road ahead. When he spoke to the mules his voice was
+a soft, good-natured drawl, as though he spoke from out a pleasing
+reverie, and though his words were often hard words they were
+carried to the animals on an under-current of fellowship and
+understanding. The long whip, with coiled lash, was in its socket at
+the end of the seat. The stops were frequent. Wise in the wisdom of
+the unfenced country and knowing the land ahead, this driver would
+conserve every ounce of his team's strength against a possible time
+of great need.
+
+They were creeping across a flank of the hill when the off-leader
+sprang to the left so violently that nothing but the instinctive
+bracing of his trace-mate held them from going over the grade. The
+same instant the wheel team repeated the maneuver, but not so
+quickly, as the slouching figure on the seat sprang into action. A
+quick strong pull on the reins, a sharp yell: "You, Buck! Molly!"
+and a rattling volley of strong talk swung the four back into the
+narrow road before the front wheels were out of the track.
+
+With a crash the heavy brake was set. The team stopped. As the
+driver half rose and turned to look back he slipped the reins to his
+left hand and his right dropped to his hip. With a motion too quick
+for the eye to follow the free arm straightened and the mountain
+echoed wildly to the loud report of a forty-five. By the side of the
+road in the rear of the wagon a rattlesnake uncoiled its length and
+writhed slowly in the dust.
+
+Before the echoes of the shot had died away a mad, inarticulate roar
+came from the depths of the wagon box. The roar was followed by a
+thick stream of oaths in an unmistakably Irish voice. The driver,
+who was slipping a fresh cartridge into the cylinder, looked up to
+see a man grasping the back of the rear seat for support while
+rising unsteadily to his feet.
+
+The Irishman, as he stood glaring fiercely at the man who had so
+rudely awakened him, was without hat or coat, and with bits of hay
+clinging to a soiled shirt that was unbuttoned at the hairy throat,
+presented a remarkable figure. His heavy body was fitted with legs
+like posts; his wide shoulders and deep chest, with arms to match
+his legs, were so huge as to appear almost grotesque; his round
+head, with its tumbled thatch of sandy hair, was set on a thick
+bull-neck; while all over the big bones of him the hard muscles lay
+in visible knots and bunches. The unsteady poise, the red, unshaven,
+sweating face, and the angry, blood-shot eyes, revealed the reason
+for his sleep under such uncomfortable circumstances. The silent
+driver gazed at his fearsome passenger with calm eyes that seemed to
+hold in their dark depths the mystery of many a still night under
+the still stars.
+
+In a voice that rumbled up from his hairy chest--a husky, menacing
+growl--the Irishman demanded: "Fwhat the hell do ye mane,
+dishturbin' the peace wid yer clamor? For less than a sup av wather
+I'd go over to ye wid me two hands."
+
+Calmly the other dropped his gun into its holster. Pointing to the
+canteen that hung over the side of the wagon fastened by its canvas
+strap to the seat spring, he drawled softly: "There's the water.
+Help yourself, stranger."
+
+The gladiator, without a word, reached for the canteen and with
+huge, hairy paws lifted it to his lips. After a draught of
+prodigious length he heaved a long sigh and wiped his mouth with the
+back of his hand. Then he turned his fierce eyes again on the driver
+as if to inquire what manner of person he might be who had so
+unceremoniously challenged his threat.
+
+The Irishman saw a man, tall and spare, but of a stringy, tough and
+supple leanness that gave him the look of being fashioned by the
+out-of-doors. He, too, was coatless but wore a vest unbuttoned over
+a loose, coarse shirt. A red bandana was knotted easily about his
+throat. With his wide, high-crowned hat, rough trousers tucked in
+long boots, laced-leather wrist guards and the loosely buckled
+cartridge belt with its long forty-five, his very dress expressed
+the easy freedom of the wild lands, while the dark, thin face,
+accented by jet black hair and a long, straight mustache, had the
+look of the wide, sun-burned plains.
+
+With a grunt that might have expressed either approval or contempt,
+the Irishman turned and groping about in the wagon found a sorry
+wreck of a hat. Again he stooped and this time, from between the
+bales of hay, lifted a coat, fit companion to the hat. Carefully he
+felt through pocket after pocket. His search was rewarded by a
+short-stemmed clay pipe and the half of a match--nothing more. With
+an effort he explored the pockets of his trousers. Then again he
+searched the coat; muttering to himself broken sentences, not the
+less expressive because incomplete: "Where the divil--Now don't that
+bate--Well, I'll be--" With a temper not improved by his loss he
+threw down the garment in disgust and looked up angrily. The silent
+driver was holding toward him a sack of tobacco.
+
+The Irishman, with another grunt, crawled under the empty seat and
+climbing heavily over the back of the seat in front, planted himself
+stolidly by the driver's side. Filling his pipe with care and
+deliberation he returned the sack to its owner and struck the half-
+match along one post-like leg. Shielding the tiny flame with his
+hands before applying the light he remarked thoughtfully: "Ye are a
+danged reckless fool to be so dishturbin' me honest slape by
+explodin' that cannon ye carry. 'Tis on me mind to discipline ye for
+sich outrageous conduct." The last word was followed by loud,
+smacking puffs, as he started the fire in the pipe-bowl under his
+nose.
+
+While the Irishman was again uttering his threat, the driver, with a
+skillful twist, rolled a cigarette and, leaning forward just in the
+nick of time, he deliberately shared the half-match with his
+blustering companion. In that instant the blue eyes above the pipe
+looked straight into the black eyes above the cigarette, and a faint
+twinkle of approval met a serious glance of understanding.
+
+Gathering up his reins and sorting them carefully, the driver spoke
+to his team: "You, Buck! Molly! Jack! Pete!" The mules heaved ahead.
+Again the silence of the world-old hills was shattered by the
+rattling rumble of the heavy-tired wagon and the ring and clatter of
+iron-shod hoofs.
+
+Stolidly the Irishman pulled at the short-stemmed pipe, the wagon
+seat sagging heavily with his weight at every jolt of the wheels,
+while from under his tattered hat rim his fierce eyes looked out
+upon the wild landscape with occasional side glances at his silent,
+indifferent companion.
+
+Again the team was halted for a rest on the heavy grade. Long and
+carefully the Irishman looked about him and then, turning suddenly
+upon the still silent driver, he gazed at him for a full minute
+before saying, with elaborate mock formality: "It may be, Sorr, that
+bein' ye are sich a hell av a conversationalist, ut wouldn't tax yer
+vocal powers beyand their shtrength av I should be so baould as to
+ax ye fwhat the divil place is this?"
+
+The soft, slow drawl of the other answered: "Sure. That there is No
+Man's Mountains ahead."
+
+"No Man's, is ut; an' ut looks that same. Where did ye say ye was
+thryin' to go?"
+
+"We're headed for Rubio City. This here is the old San Felipe
+trail."
+
+"Uh-huh! So _we're_ goin' to Rubio City, are we? For all I know that
+may as well be nowhere at all. Well, well, ut's news av intherest to
+me. _We_ are goin' to Rubio City. Ut may be that ye would exshplain,
+Sorr, how I come to be here at all."
+
+"Sure Mike! You come in this here wagon from San Felipe."
+
+At the drawling answer the hot blood flamed in the face of the
+short-tempered Irishman and the veins in his thick neck stood out as
+if they would burst. "Me name's not Mike at all, but Patrick
+Mooney!" he roared. "I've two good eyes in me head that can see yer
+danged old wagon for meself, an' fwhat's more I've two good hands
+that can break ye in bits for the impedent dried herrin' that ye
+are, a-thinkin' ye can take me anywhere at all be abductin' me
+widout me consent. For a sup o' wather I'd go to ye--" He turned
+quickly to look behind him for the driver was calmly pointing toward
+the end of the seat. "Fwhat is ut? Fwhat's there?" he demanded.
+
+"The water," drawled the dark-faced man. "I don't reckon you drunk
+it all the other time."
+
+Again the big man lifted the canteen and drank long and deep. When
+he had wiped his mouth with the back of his hairy hand and had
+returned the canteen to its place, he faced his companion--his blue
+eyes twinkling with positive approval. Scratching his head
+meditatively, he said: "An' all because av me wantin' to enjoy the
+blessin's an' advantages av civilization agin afther three long
+months in that danged gradin' camp, as is the right av ivery healthy
+man wid his pay in his pocket."
+
+The teamster laughed softly. "You was sure enjoyin' of it a-plenty."
+
+The other looked at him with quickened interest. "Ye was there?" he
+asked.
+
+"Some," was the laconic reply.
+
+The Irishman scratched his head again with a puzzled air. "I
+disremimber entire. Was there some throuble maybe?"
+
+The other grinned. "Things was movin' a few."
+
+Patrick Mooney nodded his head. "Uh-huh: mostly they do under thim
+circumstances. Av course there'd be a policeman, or maybe two?"
+
+"Five," said the man with the lines, gently.
+
+"Five! Howly Mither! I did mesilf proud. An' did they have the
+wagon? Sure they wud--five policemen niver walked. Wan av thim
+might, av ut was handy-like, but five--niver! Tell me, man, who else
+was at the party? No--howld on a minut!" He interrupted himself,
+"Thim cops stimulate me mimory a bit. Was there not a bunch av
+sailor-men from wan av thim big ships?"
+
+The driver nodded.
+
+The other, pleased with the success of his mental effort, continued:
+"Uh-huh--an' I was havin' a peaceful dhrink wid thim all whin
+somewan made impedent remarks touchin' me appearance, or ancestors,
+I disremimber which. But where was you?"
+
+"Well, you see," explained the driver in his slow way, "hit was like
+this. That there saloon were plumb full of sailor-men all exceptin'
+you an' me. I was a heap admirin' of the way you handled that big
+hombre what opened the meetin' and also his two pardners, who aimed
+to back his play. Hit was sure pretty work. The rest of the crowd
+sort o' bunched in one end of the room an' when you began addressin'
+the congregation, so to speak, on the habits, character, customs and
+breedin' of sailor-men in general an' the present company in
+particular, I see right there that you was a-bitin' off more 'n you
+could chaw. It wasn't no way reasonable that any human could handle
+that whole outfit with only just his bare hands, so I edged over
+your way, plumb edified by your remarks, and when the rush for the
+mourners' bench come I unlimbered an' headed the stampede pronto.
+Then I made my little proposition. I told 'em that, bein' the only
+individual on the premises not a sailor-man nor an Irishman, I felt
+it my duty to referee the obsequies, so to speak, and that odds of
+twenty to one, not to mention knives, was strictly agin my
+convictions. Moreover, bein' the sole an' only uninterested
+audience, I had rights. Then I offers to bet my pile, even money,
+that you could handle the whole bunch, takin' 'em two at a throw. I
+knowed it were some odds, but I noticed that them three what opened
+the meetin' was still under the influence. Also I undertook to see
+that specifications was faithfully fulfilled."
+
+"Mither av Gawd, fwhat a sociable!" broke in the Irishman. "An' me
+too dhrunk to remimber rightly! Did they take yer bet? Ye sun-burned
+limb av the divil--did they take ut?"
+
+"They sure did," drawled the driver. "I had my gun on them all the
+time."
+
+"Hurroo! An' did I do ut? Tell me quick--did I do ut? Sure I could
+aisy av nothin' happened."
+
+"You laid your first pair on top of the three, then the police
+called the game and the bets were off."
+
+"They pinched the house?"
+
+"They took you an' me."
+
+"Sure! av course they would take us two. 'Tis thim San Felipe police
+knows their duty. But how could they do ut?"
+
+"I forget details right here, bein' temporarily incapacitated by one
+o' them hittin' me with a club from behind. I woke up in a cell with
+you."
+
+The Irishman rubbed the back of his head. "Come to think av ut, I
+have a bit av a bump on me own noodle that 'tis like helps to
+exshplain the cell. But fwhat in the divil's name brung us here in
+this Gawd-forsaken Nobody's Place? Pass me another pipeful an' tell
+me that av ye can."
+
+The driver passed over the tobacco sack and, stopping his team for
+another rest, rolled a cigarette for himself. "That's easy," he
+said. "This here is Jefferson Worth's outfit. He wanted me to start
+home this morning, so he got me off. I don't know how he done it;
+mostly nobody knows how Jefferson Worth does things. There was a man
+with him who knowed you and, as I was some disinclined to leave you
+under the circumstances, Mr. Worth fixed it up for you, too, then we
+all jest throwed you in and fetched you along. Mr. Worth with the
+other man and his kid are comin' on in a buckboard. They'll catch up
+with us where we camp to-night. I don't mind sayin' that I plumb
+admired your spirit and action and--sizin' up that police bunch--I
+could see your talents would sure be wasted in that San Felipe
+country for some time to come. There'll be plenty of room in Rubio
+City for you, leastwise 'till you draw your pay again. If you don't
+like the accommodations you're gettin' I reckon you'd better make
+good your talk back there and we'll see whether you takes this
+outfit back to San Felipe or I takes her on to Rubio City."
+
+The Irishman spat emphatically over the wheel. "An' 'tis a gintleman
+wid proper instincts ye are, though, as a rule, I howld ut impolite
+to carry a gun. But afther all, 'tis a matter av opinion an' I'm
+free to admit that there are occasions. Anyhow ye handle ut wid
+grace an' intilligence. An', fists er shticks, er knives, er guns,
+that's the thing that marks the man. 'Tis not Patrick Mooney that'll
+fault a gintleman for ways that he can't help owin' to his improper
+bringin' up. Av ye don't mind, will ye tell me fwhat they call ye?
+I'll not be so indelicate as to ax yer name. Fwhat they call ye will
+be enough."
+
+The other laughed. "My name is Joe Brannin. They call me Texas Joe--
+Tex, for short."
+
+"Good bhoy, Tex! Ye look the divil av a lot like a red herrin', but
+that's not sich a bad fish, an' ye have the right flavor. How could
+ye help ut? Brannin an' Texas is handles to pull a man through hell
+wid. But tell me this--who is this man that says he knows me?"
+
+Texas Joe shook his head and, picking out his lines, called to his
+team. When they were under way again he said: "I didn't hear his
+name but I judge from the talk that he is one o' them there civil
+engineers, an' that he's headin' for Rubio City to build the
+railroad that's goin' through to the coast. Mr. Worth told me that
+there would be another man and a kid to go back with us, but I know
+that Mr. Worth hadn't never seen them before himself."
+
+Pat shifted his heavy bulk to face the driver and, removing his pipe
+from his mouth, asked with deliberation: "An' do ye mane to tell me
+that this place we're goin' to is on the new line av the
+Southwestern an' Continental?"
+
+"Sure. They're buildin' into Rubio City from the East now."
+
+The Irishman became excited. "An' this man that knows me--this
+engineer--is he a fine, big, up-standin' man wid brown eyes an' the
+look av a king?"
+
+"I ain't never seen no kings," drawled Tex, "but the rest of it sure
+fits him."
+
+"Well, fwhat do ye think av that? 'Tis the Seer himsilf, or I'm not
+the son av me own mither. I was hearin' in Frisco, where I went the
+last time I drawed me pay, that he was like to be on the S. an' C.
+extension. 'Twas that that took me to San Felipe, bein' wishful to
+get a job wid him again. Well, well, an' to think ut's the Seer
+himsilf!"
+
+"What's that you call him?"
+
+"The Seer. I disremimber his other name but he's got wan all
+shtraight an' proper. He's that kind. They call him the Seer because
+av his talk av the great things that will be doin' in this country
+av no rain at all whin ignorant savages like yersilf learn how to
+use the wather that's in the rivers for irrigation. I've heard him
+say mesilf that hundreds av thousands av acres av these big deserts
+will be turned into farms, an' all that be what he calls
+'Reclamation.' 'Twas for that some danged yellow-legged surveyor
+give him the name, an' ut shtuck. But most av the engineers--the
+rale engineers do ye mind--is wid him, though they do be jokin' him
+the divil av a lot about what they calls his visions."
+
+"He didn't _look_ like he was locoed," said Texas Joe thoughtfully,
+"but he's sure some off on that there desert proposition as you'll
+see before we lands in Rubio."
+
+"I dunno--I've seen some quare things in me time in the way av big
+jobs that nobody thought could be done at all. But lave ut go. 'Tis
+not the likes av me an' you that's qualified to give judgment on
+sich janiuses as the Seer, who, I heard tell, has the right to put
+more big-manin' letters afther his name than ye have teeth in yer
+head."
+
+"All the same it ain't the brand on a horse that makes him travel. A
+man'll sure need somethin' more hefty than letters after his name
+when he goes up against the desert."
+
+"Well, lave ut go at that. Wait 'til ye know him. But fwhat's this
+yer tellin' me about a kid? The Seer has no family at all but
+himsilf an' his job."
+
+Texas grinned. "Maybe not, pard; but he's sure got together part of
+a family this trip."
+
+"Is ut a gurl, or a bhoy?"
+
+"Boy--'bout a ten-year-old, I'd say."
+
+The Irishman shook his head doubtfully. "I dunno. 'Tis a quare thing
+for the Seer. Av it was me, or you, now--but the Seer! It's danged
+quare! But tell me, fwhat's this man, yer boss? 'Tis a good healthy
+pull he must have to be separatin' us from thim San Felipe police."
+
+Texas Joe deliberated so long before answering this that Pat glanced
+at him uneasily several times. At last the driver drawled: "You're
+right there; Jefferson Worth sure has some pull."
+
+Pat grunted. "But fwhat does he do?"
+
+"Do?" Tex swung his team around a spur of the mountain where the
+trail leads along the side of a canyon to its head. Far below they
+heard the tumbling roar of a stream in its rocky course.
+
+"Sure the man must do something?"
+
+"As near as I can make out Jefferson Worth does everybody."
+
+"Oh ho! So that's ut? I've no care for the cards mesilf, but av a
+man's a professional an'--"
+
+"You're off there, pardner. Jefferson Worth ain't that kind. He's
+one o' these here financierin' sports, an' so far as anybody that I
+ever seen goes, he's got a dead cinch."
+
+"Ye mane he's a banker?"
+
+"Sure. The Pioneer in Rubio City. He started the game in the early
+days an' he's been a-rollin' it up ever since. Hit's plumb curious
+about this here financierin' business," continued Tex, in his slow,
+meditative way. "Looks to me mostly jest plain, common hold-up, only
+they do it with money 'stead of a gun. In the old days you used to
+get the drop on your man with your six, all regular, an' take what
+he happened to have in his clothes. Then the posse'd get after you
+an' mebbe string you up, which was all right, bein' part of the
+game. Now these fellows like Jefferson Worth, they get's your name
+on some writin's an' when you ain't lookin' they slips up an' gets
+away with all your worldly possessions, an' the sheriff he jest
+laughs an' says hits good business. This here Worth man is jest
+about the coolest, smoothest, hardest proposition in the game. He
+fair makes my back hair raise. The common run o' people ain't got no
+more show stackin' up agin Jefferson Worth than two-bits worth o'
+ice has in hell. Accordin' to my notion hit's this here same
+financierin' game that's a-ruinin' the West. The cattle range is
+about all gone now. If they keeps it up we won't be no better out
+here than some o' them places I've heard about back East."
+
+"'Tis a danged ignorant savage ye are, like the rest av yer thribe,
+wid yer talk av ruinin' the West. Fwhat wud this counthry be without
+money? 'Tis thim same financiers that have brung ye the railroads,
+an' the cities, an' the schools, an' the churches, an' all the other
+blessin's an' joys of civilization that ye've got to take whither ye
+likes ut or not. Look at the Seer, now. Fwhat could a man like him--
+an engineer, mind ye--fwhat could the Seer do widout the men wid
+money to back him?"
+
+The Irishman's words were answered by a cheerful "Whoa!" and a crash
+of the brakes as Texas Joe brought his team to a stand near the
+spring at the head of the canyon. "We camp here," he announced.
+"This is the last water we strike until we make it over the Pass to
+Mountain Springs on the desert side. Jefferson Worth will be along
+with the Seer and his kid most any time now."
+
+A little before dusk the banker, with his two companions, arrived.
+
+"Hello, Pat!" The man who leaped from the buckboard and strode
+toward the waiting Irishman was tall and broad, with the head and
+chin of a soldier, and the brown eyes of a dreamer. He was dressed
+in rough corduroys, blue flannel shirt, laced boots, and Stetson,
+and he greeted the burly Irishman as a fellow-laborer.
+
+A joyful grin spread over the battered features of the gladiator as
+he grasped the Seer's outstretched hand. "Well, dang me but ut's
+glad I am to see ye, Sorr, in this divil's own land. I had me
+natural doubts, av course, whin I woke up in the wagon, but ut's all
+right. 'Tis proud I am to be abducted by ye, Sorr."
+
+"Abducted!" The engineer's laugh awoke the echoes in the canyon. "It
+was a rescue, man!"
+
+"Well, well, let ut go at that! But tell me, Sorr"--he lowered his
+voice to a confidential rumble--"fwhat's this I hear that ye have
+yer bhoy wid ye? Sure I niver knew that ye was a man av family." He
+looked toward the slender lad who, with the readiness of a grown
+man, was helping the driver of the buckboard to unhitch his team of
+four broncos. "'Tis a good lad he is, or I'm a Dutchman."
+
+"You're right, Pat, Abe is a good boy," the Seer answered gravely.
+"I picked him up in a mining camp on the edge of the Mojave Desert
+when I was running a line of preliminary surveys through that
+country for the S. and C. last year. He was born in the camp and his
+mother died when he was a baby. God knows how he pulled through! You
+know what those mining places are. His father, Frank Lee, was killed
+in a drunken row while I was there, and Abe showed so much cool
+nerve and downright manliness that I offered him a place with my
+party. He has been with me ever since."
+
+Pat's voice was husky as he said: "I ax yer pardon, Sorr, for me
+blunderin' impedence about yer bein' a man av family. I'm a danged
+old rough-neck, wid no education but me two fists, an' no manners at
+all."
+
+The engineer's reply was prevented by the approach of Jefferson
+Worth who had been talking with Texas Joe. The banker's head came
+but little above the Seer's shoulders and in comparison with the
+Irishman's heavy bulk he appeared almost insignificant, while his
+plain business suit of gray seemed altogether out of place in the
+wild surroundings. His smooth-shaven face was an expressionless gray
+mask and his deep-set gray eyes turned from the Irishman to the
+engineer without a hint of emotion. The two men felt that somewhere
+behind that gray mask they were being carefully estimated--measured
+--valued--as possible factors in some far-reaching plan. He spoke to
+the Seer, and his voice was without a suggestion of color: "I see
+that your friend has recovered." It was as though he stated a fact
+that he had just verified.
+
+Laughing at the memory of the Irishman's San Felipe experience, the
+engineer said: "Mr. Worth, permit me to introduce Mr. Patrick Mooney
+whom I have known for years as the best boss of a grading gang in
+the West. Pat, this is Mr. Jefferson Worth, president of the Pioneer
+Bank in Rubio City."
+
+The Irishman clutched at his tattered hat-brim in embarrassed
+acknowledgment of the Seer's formality. Jefferson Worth, from behind
+his gray mask, said in his exact, colorless voice: "He looks as
+though he ought to handle men."
+
+As the banker passed on toward the big wagon the Irishman drew close
+to the Seer and whispered hoarsely: "Now fwhat the hell kind av a
+man is that? 'Tis the truth, Sorr, that whin he looked at me out av
+that grave-yard face I could bare kape from crossin' mesilf!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+JEFFERSON WORTH'S OFFERING.
+
+
+When day broke over the topmost ridges of No Man's Mountains,
+Jefferson Worth's outfit was ready to move. The driver of the
+lighter rig with its four broncos set out for San Felipe. On the
+front seat of the big wagon Texas Joe picked up his reins, sorted
+them carefully, and glanced over his shoulder at his employer. "All
+set?"
+
+"Go ahead."
+
+"You, Buck! Molly!" The lead mules straightened their traces. "Jack!
+Pete!" As the brake was released with a clash and rattle of iron
+rods, the wheelers threw their weight into their collars and the
+wagon moved ahead.
+
+Grim, tireless, world-old sentinels, No Man's Mountains stood guard
+between the fertile land on their seaward side and the desolate
+forgotten wastes of the East. They said to the country of green
+life, of progress and growth and civilization, that marched to their
+line on the West, "Halt!" and it stopped. To the land of lean want,
+of gray death, of gaunt hunger, and torturing thirst, that crept to
+their feet on the other side, "Stop!" and it came no farther. With
+no land to till, no mineral to dig, their very poverty was their
+protection. With an air of grim finality, they declared strongly
+that as they had always been they would always remain; and, at the
+beginning of my story, save for that one, slender, man-made trail,
+their hoary boast had remained unchallenged.
+
+Steadily, but with frequent rests on the grades, Jefferson Worth's
+outfit climbed toward the summit and a little before noon gained the
+Pass. The loud, rattling rumble of the wagon as the tires bumped and
+ground over the stony, rock-floored way, with the sharp ring and
+clatter of the iron-shod hoofs of the team, echoed, echoed, and
+echoed again. Loudly, wildly, the rude sounds assaulted the
+stillness until the quiet seemed hopelessly shattered by the din.
+Softly, tamely, the sounds drifted away in the clear distance;
+through groves of live oak, thickets of greasewood, juniper,
+manzanita and sage; into canyon and wash; from bluff and ledge;
+along slope and spur and shoulder; over ridge and saddle and peak;
+fainting, dying--the impotent sounds of man's passing sank into the
+stillness and were lost. When the team halted for a brief rest it
+was in a moment as if the silence had never been broken. Grim,
+awful, the hills gave no signs of man's presence, gave that creeping
+bit of life no heed.
+
+At Mountain Spring--a lonely little pool on the desert side of the
+huge wall--they stopped for dinner. When the meal was over, Texas
+Joe, with the assistance of Pat, filled the water barrels, while the
+boy busied himself with the canteen and the Seer and Jefferson Worth
+looked on.
+
+"'Tis a dhry counthry ahead, I'm thinking'," remarked the Irishman
+inquiringly as he lifted another dripping bucket.
+
+"Some," returned Tex. "There are three water holes between here and
+the river where there's water sometimes. Mostly, though, when you
+need it worst, there ain't none there, an' I reckon a dry water hole
+is about the most discouragin' proposition there is. They'll all be
+dry this trip. There wasn't nothin' but mud at Wolf Wells when we
+come through last week."
+
+Again the barren rocks and the grim, forbidding hills echoed the
+loud sound of wheel and hoof. Down the steep flank of the mountain,
+with screaming, grinding brakes, they thundered and clattered into
+the narrow hall-way of Devil's Canyon with its sheer walls and
+shadowy gloom. The little stream that trickled down from the tiny
+spot of green at the spring tried bravely to follow but soon sank
+exhausted into the dry waste. A cool wind, like a draft through a
+tunnel, was in their faces. After perhaps two hours of this the way
+widened out, the sides of the canyon grew lower with now and then
+gaps and breaks. Then the walls gave way to low, rounded hills,
+through which the winding trail lay--a bed of sand and gravel--and
+here and there appeared clumps of greasewood and cacti of several
+varieties.
+
+At length they passed out from between the last of the foot-hills
+and suddenly--as though a mighty curtain were lifted--they faced the
+desert. At their feet the Mesa lay in a blaze of white sunlight, and
+beyond and below the edge of the bench the vast King's Basin
+country.
+
+At the edge of the Mesa Texas halted his team and the little party
+looked out and away over those awful reaches of desolate solitude.
+The Seer and Pat uttered involuntary exclamations. Jefferson Worth,
+Texas, and Abe were silent, but the boy's thin features were aglow
+with eager enthusiasm, and the face of the driver revealed an
+interest in the scene that years of familiarity could not entirely
+deaden, but the gray mask of the banker betrayed no emotion.
+
+In that view, of such magnitude that miles meant nothing, there was
+not a sign of man save the one slender thread of road that was so
+soon lost in the distance. From horizon to horizon, so far that the
+eye ached in the effort to comprehend it, there was no cloud to cast
+a shadow, and the deep sky poured its resistless flood of light upon
+the vast dun plain with savage fury, as if to beat into helplessness
+any living creature that might chance to be caught thereon. And the
+desert, receiving that flood from the wide, hot sky, mysteriously
+wove with it soft scarfs of lilac, misty veils of purple and filmy
+curtains of rose and pearl and gold; strangely formed with it wide
+lakes of blue rimmed with phantom hills of red and violet--
+constantly changing, shifting, scene on scene, as dream pictures
+shift and change.
+
+Only the strange, silent life that, through long years, the desert
+had taught to endure its hardships was there--the lizard, horned-
+toad, lean jack-rabbit, gaunt coyote, and their kind. Only the hard
+growth that the ages had evolved dotted the floor of the Basin in
+the near distance--the salt-bush and greasewood, with here and there
+clumps of mesquite.
+
+And over it all--over the strange hard life, the weird, constantly
+shifting scenes, the wondrous, ever-changing colors--was the
+dominant, insistent, compelling spirit of the land; a brooding,
+dreadful silence; a waiting--waiting--waiting; a mystic call that
+was at once a threat and a promise; a still drawing of the line
+across which no man might go and live, save those master men who
+should win the right.
+
+After a while the engineer, pointing, said: "The line of the
+Southwestern and Continental must follow the base of those hills
+away over there--is that right, Texas?"
+
+"That'll be about it," the driver answered. "I hear you're goin'
+through San Antonio Pass, an' that's to the north. Rubio City lies
+about here--" he pointed a little south of east. "Our road runs
+through them sand hills that you can see shinin' like gold a-way
+over there. Dry River Crossin' is jest beyond. You can see Lone
+Mountain off here to the south. Hit'll sure be some warm down there.
+Look at them dust-devil's dancin'. An' over there, where you see
+that yellow mist like, is a big sand storm. We ain't likely to get a
+long one this time o' the year. But you can't tell what this old
+desert 'll do; she's sure some uncertain. La Palma de la Mano de
+Dios, the Injuns call it, and I always thought that--all things
+considerin'--the name fits mighty close. You can see hit's jest a
+great big basin."
+
+"The Hollow of God's Hand." repeated the Seer in a low tone. He
+lifted his hat with an unconscious gesture of reverence.
+
+The Irishman, as the engineer translated, crossed himself. "Howly
+Mither, fwhat a name!"
+
+Jefferson Worth spoke. "Drive on, Texas."
+
+And so, with the yellow dust-devils dancing along their road and
+that yellow cloud in the distance, they moved down the slope--down
+into The King's Basin--into La Palma de la Mano de Dios, The Hollow
+of God's Hand.
+
+"Is that true, sir?" asked Abe of the Seer.
+
+"Is what true, son?"
+
+"What Texas said about the ocean."
+
+"Yes it's true. The lowest point of this Basin is nearly three
+hundred feet below sea level. The railroad we are going to build
+follows right around the rim on the other side over there. This
+slope that we are going down now is the ancient beach." Then, while
+they pushed on into the silence and the heat of that dreadful land,
+the engineer told the boy and his companions how the ages had
+wrought with river and wave and sun and wind to make The King's
+Basin Desert.
+
+Wolf Wells they found dry as Texas had anticipated. Phantom Lake
+also was dry. Occasionally they crossed dry, ancient water courses
+made by the river when the land was being formed; sometimes there
+were glassy, hard, bare alkali flats; again the trail led through
+jungle-like patches of desert growth or twisted and wound between
+high hummocks. Always there was the wide, hot sky, the glaring flood
+of light unbroken by shadow masses to relieve the eye and reflected
+hotly from the sandy floor of the old sea-bed.
+
+That evening, when they made camp, a heavy mass of clouds hung over
+the top of No Man's Mountains and the long Coast Range that walled
+in the Basin. Texas Joe, watching these clouds, said nothing; but
+when Pat threw on the ground the water left in his cup after
+drinking, the plainsman opened upon him with language that startled
+them all.
+
+The next day, noon found them in the first of the sand hills. There
+was no sign of vegetation here, for the huge mounds and ridges of
+white sand, piled like drifts of snow, were never quite still.
+Always they move eastward before the prevailing winds from the west.
+Through the greater part of the year they advance very slowly, but
+when the fierce gales sweep down from the mountains they roll
+forward so swiftly that any object in their path is quickly buried
+in their smothering depths.
+
+In the middle of the afternoon Texas climbed to the top of a huge
+drift to look over the land. The others saw him stand a moment
+against the sky, gazing to the northwest, then he turned and slid
+down the steep side of the mound to the waiting wagon.
+
+"She's comin'!" he remarked, laconically, "an' she's a big one. I
+reckon we may as well get as far as we can."
+
+A few minutes later they saw the sky behind them filling as with a
+golden mist. The atmosphere, dry and hot, seemed charged with
+mysterious, terrible power. The very mules tossed their heads
+uneasily and tugged at the reins as if they felt themselves pursued
+by some fearful thing. Straight and hard, with terrific velocity,
+the wind was coming down through the mountain passes and sweeping
+across the wide miles of desert, gathering the sand as it came.
+Swiftly the golden mist extended over their heads, a thick, yellow
+fog, through which the sun shone dully with a weird, unnatural
+light. Then the stinging, blinding, choking blast was upon them with
+pitiless, savage fury. In a moment all signs of the trail were
+obliterated. Over the high edges of the drift the sand curled and
+streamed like blizzard snow. About the outfit it whirled and eddied,
+cutting the faces of the men and forcing them, with closed eyes, to
+gasp for breath.
+
+Of their own accord the mules stopped and Texas shouted to Mr.
+Worth: "It ain't no use for us to try to go on, sir. There ain't no
+trail now, and we'd jest drift around."
+
+As far from the lee of a drift as possible, all hands--under the
+desert man's direction--worked to rig a tarpaulin on the windward
+side of the wagon. Then, with the mules unhitched and securely tied
+to the vehicle, the men crouched under their rude shelter. The
+Irishman was choking, coughing, sputtering and cursing, the engineer
+laughed good-naturedly at their predicament, and Abe Lee grinned in
+sympathy, while Texas Joe accepted the situation grimly with the
+forbearance of long experience. But Jefferson Worth's face was the
+same expressionless gray mask. He gave no hint of impatience at the
+delay; no uneasiness at the situation; no annoyance at the
+discomfort. It was as though he had foreseen the situation and had
+prepared himself to meet it. "How long do you figure this will last,
+Tex?" he asked in his colorless voice.
+
+"Not more than three days," returned the driver. "It may be over in
+three hours."
+
+The morning of the second day they crawled from their blankets
+beneath the wagon to find the sky clear and the air free from dust.
+Eagerly they prepared to move. Against their shelter the sand had
+drifted nearly to the top of the wheels, and the wagon-box itself
+was more than half filled. The hair, eye-brows, beard and clothing
+of the men were thickly coated with powdery dust, while every sign
+of the trail was gone and the wheels sank heavily into the soft
+sand.
+
+Three times Texas halted the laboring team and, climbing to the
+summit of a drift, determined his course by marks unknown to those
+who waited below. Again they stopped for the plainsman to take an
+observation, and this time the four in the wagon, watching the
+figure of the driver against the sky, saw him turn abruptly and come
+down to them with long plunging strides. Instinctively they knew
+that something unusual had come under his eye.
+
+The Seer and Jefferson Worth spoke together. "What is it, Tex?"
+
+"A stray horse about a mile ahead."
+
+For the first time Texas Joe uncoiled the long lash of his whip and
+his call "You, Buck! Molly!" was punctuated by pistol-like cracks
+that sounded strangely in the death-like silence of the sandy waste.
+
+As they came within sight of the strange horse the poor beast
+staggered wearily to meet the wagon--the broken strap of his halter
+swinging loosely from his low-hanging head.
+
+"Look at the poor baste," said Pat. "'Tis near dead he is wid
+thirst." He leaped to the ground and started toward the water barrel
+in the rear of the wagon.
+
+"Hold on, Pat," said the colorless voice of Jefferson Worth. And his
+words were followed by the report of Texas Joe's forty-five.
+
+The Irishman turned to see the strange horse lying dead on the sand.
+"Fwhat the hell--" he demanded hotly, but Texas was eyeing him
+coolly, and something checked the anger of the Irishman.
+
+"You don't seem to sabe," drawled the man of the desert, replacing
+the empty shell in his gun. "There ain't hardly enough water to
+carry us through now, an' we may have to pick up this other outfit."
+
+No one spoke as Pat climbed heavily back to his seat.
+
+For two miles the tracks of the strange horse were visible, then
+they were blotted out by the sand that had filled them. "He made
+that much since the blow," was Texas' slow comment. "How far we are
+from where he started is all guess."
+
+As they pushed on, all eyes searched the country eagerly and before
+long they found the spot for which they looked. A light spring wagon
+with a piece of a halter strap tied to one of the wheels was more
+than half-buried by the sand in the lee of a high drift. There was a
+small water keg, empty, with its seams already beginning to open in
+the fierce heat of the sun, a "grub-box," some bedding and part of a
+bale of hay-nothing more.
+
+Jefferson Worth, Pat and the boy attempted to dig in the steep side
+of the drift that rose above the half-buried outfit, but at their
+every movement tons of the dry sand came sliding down upon them. "It
+ain't no use, Mr. Worth," said Texas, as the banker straightened up,
+baffled in his effort. "You will never know what's buried in there
+until God Almighty uncovers it."
+
+Then the man of the desert and plains read the story of the tragedy
+as though he had been an eye witness. "They was travelin' light an'
+counted on makin' good time. They must have counted, too, on,
+findin' water in the hole." He kicked the empty keg. "Their supply
+give out an' then that sand-storm caught 'em and the horses broke
+loose. Of course they would go to hunt their stock, not darin' to be
+left afoot and without water, an' hits a thousand to one they never
+got back to the outfit. We're takin' too many chances ourselves to
+lose much time and I don't reckon there's any use, but we'd better
+look around maybe."
+
+He directed the little party to scatter and to keep on the high
+ground so that they would not lose sight of each other. Until well
+on in the afternoon they searched the vicinity, but with no reward,
+while the hot sun, the dry burning waste and the glaring sands of
+the desert warned them that every hour's delay might mean their own
+death. When they returned at last to the wagon, called in by Texas,
+no one spoke. As they went on their way each was busy with his own
+thoughts of the grim evidence of the desert's power.
+
+Another hour passed. Suddenly Texas halted the mules and, with an
+exclamation, leaped to the ground. The others saw that he was
+bending over a dim track in the sand.
+
+"My God! men," he shouted, "hit's a woman."
+
+For a short way he followed the foot-prints, then, running back to
+the wagon and springing to his seat, swung his long whip and urged
+the team ahead.
+
+"Hit's a woman," he repeated. "When the others went away and didn't
+come back she started ahead in the storm alone. She had got this far
+when the blow quit, leavin' her tracks to show. We may--" He urged
+his mules to greater effort.
+
+The prints of the woman's shoe could be plainly seen now. "Look!"
+said Tex, pointing, "she's staggerin'--Now she's stopped! Whoa!"
+Throwing his weight on the lines he leaned over from his seat.
+"Look, men! Look there!" he cried, as he pointed. "She's carryin' a
+kid. See, there's where she set it down for a rest." It was all too
+clear. Beside the woman's track were the prints of two baby shoes.
+
+The Seer, with a long breath, drew his hand across his sand-begrimed
+face. "Hurry, Tex. For God's sake, hurry!"
+
+The Irishman was cursing fiercely in impotent rage, clenching and
+unclenching his huge, hairy fists. The boy cowered in his seat. But
+not a change came over the mask-like features of Jefferson Worth.
+Only the delicate, pointed fingers of his nervous hands caressed
+constantly his unshaven chin, fingered his clothing, or--gripped the
+edge of the wagon seat as he leaned forward in his place. Texas--
+grim, cool, alert, his lean figure instinct now with action and his
+dark eyes alight--swung his long whip and handled his reins with a
+master's skill, calling upon every atom of his team's strength,
+while reading those tracks in the sand as one would scan a printed
+page.
+
+It was all written there--that story of mother love; where she
+staggered with fatigue; where she was forced to rest; where the baby
+walked a little way; and once or twice where the little one stumbled
+and fell as the sand proved too heavy for the little feet. And all
+the while the desert, dragging with dead weight at the wheels,
+seemed to fight against them. It was as though the dreadful land
+knew that only time was needed to complete its work. Then the hot
+sun dropped beyond the purple wall of mountain and the mystery of
+the long twilight began.
+
+"Dry River Crossing is just ahead," said Tex, and soon the outfit
+pitched down the steep bank of a deep wash that had been made in
+some forgotten age by an overflow of the great river. Occasionally,
+after the infrequent rains of winter, some water was to be found
+here in a hole under the high bank a short way from the trail.
+
+With a crash of brakes the team stopped at the bottom. The men,
+springing from the wagon and leaving the panting mules to stand with
+drooping heads, started to search the wash. But in a moment Texas
+shouted and the others quickly joined him. Near the dry water hole
+lay the body of a woman. By her side was a small canteen.
+
+[Illustration: He had lifted the canteen and was holding it upside
+down.]
+
+The engineer bent to examine the still form for some sign of life.
+
+"It ain't no use, sir," said Texas. "She's gone." He had lifted the
+canteen and was holding it upside down. With his finger he touched
+the mouth of the vessel and held out his hand. The finger was wet.
+"You see," he said, "when her men-folks didn't come back she started
+with the kid an' what water she had. But she wouldn't drink none
+herself, an' the hard trip in the heat and sand carryin' the baby,
+an' findin' the water hole dry was too much for her. If only we had
+known an' come on, instead of huntin' back there where it wasn't no
+use, we'd a-been in time."
+
+As the little party--speechless at the words of Texas--stood in the
+twilight, looking down upon the lifeless form, a chorus of wild,
+snarling, barking yowls, with long-drawn, shrill howls, broke on the
+still air. It was the coyotes' evening call. To the silent men the
+weird sound seemed the triumphant cry of the Desert itself and they
+started in horror.
+
+Then from the dusky shadow of the high bank farther up the wash came
+another cry that broke the spell that was upon them and drew an
+answering shout from their lips as they ran forward.
+
+"Mamma! Mamma! Barba wants drink. Please bring drink, mamma. Barba's
+'fraid!"
+
+Jefferson Worth reached her first. Close under the bank, where she
+had wandered after "mamma" lay down to sleep, and evidently just
+awakened from a tired nap by the coyotes' cry, sat a little girl of
+not more than four years. Her brown hair was all tumbled and tossed,
+and her big brown eyes were wide with wondering fear at the four
+strange men and the boy who stood over her.
+
+"Mamma! Mamma!" she whimpered, "Barba wants mamma."
+
+Jefferson Worth knelt before her, holding out his hands, and his
+voice, as he spoke to the baby, made his companions look at him in
+wonder, it was so full of tenderness.
+
+The little girl fixed her big eyes questioningly upon the kneeling
+man. The others waited, breathless. Then suddenly, as if at
+something she saw in the gray face of the financier, the little one
+drew back with fear upon her baby features and in her baby voice.
+"Go 'way! Go 'way!" she cried. Then again, "Mamma! Barba wants
+mamma." Jefferson Worth turned sadly away, his head bowed as though
+with disappointment or shame.
+
+The others, now, in turn tried to win her confidence. The plainsman
+and the Irishman she regarded gravely, as she had looked at the
+banker, but without fear. The boy won a little smile, but she still
+held back--hesitating--reluctant. Then with a pitiful little gesture
+of confidence and trust, she stretched forth her arms to the big
+brown-eyed engineer. "Barba wants drink," she said, and the Seer
+took her in his arms.
+
+At the wagon it was Jefferson Worth who offered her a tin cup of
+water, but again she shrank from him, throwing her arms about the
+neck of the Seer. The engineer, taking the cup from the banker's
+hands, gave her a drink.
+
+While Mr. Worth and the boy prepared a hasty meal, Texas fed his
+team and the Irishman, going back a short distance, made still
+another grave beside the road already marked by so many. The child--
+still in the engineer's arms--ate hungrily, and when the meal was
+over he took her to the wagon, while the others, with a lantern,
+returned to the still form by the dry water hole. At the banker's
+suggestion, a thorough examination of the woman's clothing was made
+for some clue to her identity, but no mark was found. With careful
+hands they reverently wrapped the body in a blanket and laid it away
+in its rude, sandy bed.
+
+When the grave was filled and protected as best it could be, a short
+consultation was held. Mr. Worth wished to return to the half buried
+outfit to make another effort to learn the identity of the Desert's
+victim, but Texas refused. "'Tain't that I ain't willin' to do
+what's right," he said, "but you see how that sand acted. Why, Mr.
+Worth, you couldn't move that there drift in a year, an' you know
+it. I jest gave the mules the last water they'll get an' we're goin'
+to have all we can do to make it through as it is. If we wait to go
+back there ain't one chance in a hundred that we-all 'll ever see
+Rubio City again. It ain't sense to risk killin' the kid when we've
+got a chance to save her--jest on a slim chance o' findin' out who
+she is."
+
+Returning to the outfit they very quietly--so as not to awaken the
+sleeping child--hitched the team to the wagon and took their places.
+As the mules started the baby stirred uneasily in the Seer's arms
+and murmured sleepily: "Mamma." But the low, soothing tones of the
+big man calmed her and she slept.
+
+Hour after hour of the long night dragged by. They had left the sand
+hills behind three miles before they reached Dry River and now the
+wide, level reaches of the thinly covered plain, forbidding and
+ghostly under the stars, seemed to stretch away on every side into
+infinite space. Involuntarily all the members of the little party,
+except Texas Joe, strained their eyes looking into the blank, silent
+distance for lights, and, as they looked, they turned their heads
+constantly to listen for some sound of human life. But in all that
+vast expanse there was no light save the light of the stars; in all
+that silent waste there was no sound save the occasional call of the
+coyote, the plaintive, quivering note of the ground-owls, the
+muffled fall of the mules' feet in the soft earth, and the dull
+chuck, creak, and rumble of the wagon with the clink of trace chains
+and the squeak of straining harness leather. And always it was as
+though that dreadful land clung to them with heavy hands, matching
+its strength against the strength of these who braved its silent
+threat, seeking to hold them as it held so many others. The men
+spoke rarely and then in low tones. The baby in the Seer's arms
+slept. Only Texas, and perhaps his team, knew how they kept the
+dimly marked trail that led to life. Perhaps Texas himself did not
+know.
+
+At daybreak they halted for a brief rest and for breakfast. The
+child ate with the others, but still clung to the engineer, and
+while asking often for "mamma," seemed to trust her big protector
+fully. From the shelter of his arms she even smiled at the efforts
+of Texas, Pat and the boy to amuse and keep her attention from her
+loss. From Jefferson Worth she still shrank in fear and the others
+wondered at the pain in that gray face as all his efforts to win a
+smile or a kind look from the baby were steadily repulsed.
+
+It was Texas who, when they halted, poured the last of the water
+from the barrel into the canteen and carefully measured out to each
+a small portion. It was Texas now who gave the word to start again
+on their journey. And when the desert man placed the canteen with
+their meager supply of water in the corner of the wagon-box under
+his own feet the others understood and made no comment.
+
+At noon, when each was given his carefully measured portion from the
+canteen, Jefferson Worth, before they could check him, wet his
+handkerchief with his share of the water and gave it to the Seer to
+wipe the dust from the hot little face of the child. The eyes of the
+big engineer filled and Texas, with an oath that was more reverent
+than profane, poured another measure and forced the banker to drink.
+
+As the long, hot, thirsty hours of that afternoon dragged slowly
+past, the faces of the men grew worn and haggard. The two days and
+nights in the trying storm, the exertion of their search among the
+sand hills, the excitement of finding the woman's body and the
+discovery of the child, followed by the long sleepless night, and
+now the hard, hot, dreary hours of the struggle with the Desert that
+seemed to gather all its dreadful strength against them, were
+beginning to tell. Texas Joe, forced to give constant attention to
+his team and hardened by years of experience, showed the strain
+least, while Pat, unfitted for such a trial by his protracted spree
+in San Felipe, undoubtedly suffered most.
+
+After dinner the Irishman sat motionless in his place with downcast
+face, lifting his head only at long intervals to gaze with fierce
+hot eyes upon the barren landscape, while muttering to himself in a
+growling undertone. Later he seemed to sink into a stupor and
+appeared to be scarcely conscious of his companions. Suddenly he
+roused himself and, bending forward with a quick motion, reached the
+canteen from under the driver's seat. In the act of unscrewing the
+cap he was halted by the calm-voice of Texas: "Put that back."
+
+"Go to hell wid ye! I'm no sun-dried herrin'."
+
+The cap came loose, but as he raised the canteen and lifted his face
+with open parched lips he looked straight into the muzzle of the big
+forty-five and back of the gun into the steady eyes of the
+plainsman. "I'm sorry, pard, but you can't do it."
+
+For an instant the Irishman sat as if suddenly turned to stone. The
+water was within reach of his lips, but over the canteen certain
+death looked at him, for there was no mistaking the expression on
+the face of that man with the gun. Beside himself with thirst,
+forgetting everything but the water, and utterly reckless he
+growled: "Shoot an' be domned, ye murderin' savage!" and again
+started to lift the cloth-covered vessel.
+
+At that instant the baby, catching sight of the canteen, called from
+the rear seat: "Barba wants drink. Barba thirsty, too."
+
+As though Texas had pulled the trigger the Irishman dropped his
+hand. Slowly he looked from face to face of his companions--a dazed
+expression on his own countenance, as though he were awakening from
+a dream. The child, clinging to the Seer with one hand and pointing
+with the other, said again: "Barba thirsty; please give Barba
+drink."
+
+A look of horror and shame went over the face of the Irishman, his
+form shook like a leaf and his trembling hands could scarcely hold
+the canteen. "My Gawd! bhoys," he cried, "fwhat's this I was doin'?"
+Then he burst suddenly upon Tex with: "Why the hell don't ye shoot,
+domn ye? A baste like me is fit for nothin' but to rot in this Gawd-
+forsaken land!"
+
+The fierce rage of the man at his own act was pitiful. Texas dropped
+his gun into the holster and turned his face away. Jefferson Worth
+held out a cup. "Give the little one some water, Pat," he said, in
+his cold, exact way.
+
+With shaking hands the Irishman poured a little into the cup and,
+screwing the cap back on the canteen, he returned it to its place.
+Then with a groan he bowed his face in his great, hairy hands.
+
+Just before sun-down they climbed up the ancient beach line to the
+rim of the Basin and the Mesa on the east. Halting here for a brief
+rest and for supper, they looked back over the low, wide land
+through which they had come. All along the western sky and far to
+the southward, the wall-like mountains lifted their purple heights
+from the dun plain, a seemingly impassable barrier, shutting in the
+land of death; shutting out the life that came to their feet on the
+other side. To the north the hills that rim the Basin caught the
+slanting rays of the setting sun and glowed rose-color, and pink,
+and salmon, with deep purple shadows where canyons opened, all
+rising out of drifts of silvery light. To the northwest two distant,
+gleaming, snow-capped peaks of the Coast Range marked San Antonio
+Pass. To the west Lone Mountain showed dark blue against the purple
+of the hills beyond. Down in the desert basin, drifting above and
+woven through the ever-shifting masses of color, shimmering phantom
+lakes, and dull, dusky patches of green and brown, long streamers,
+bars and threads of dust shone like gleaming gold.
+
+Texas Joe, when he had poured for each his portion of water, shook
+the canteen carefully, and a smile spread slowly over his sun-
+blackened features. "What's left belongs to the kid," he said. "But
+we'll make it. We'll jest about make it."
+
+The Irishman lifted his cup toward the Desert, saying solemnly:
+"Here's to ye, domn ye! Ye ain't got us yet. May ye burn an'
+blishther an' scorch an' bake 'til yer danged heart shrivels up an'
+blows away."
+
+Then he fell to amusing the child with loving fun-talk and queer
+antics, until she laughed aloud and permitted him to catch her up in
+his big hairy hands and to toss her high in the air. Texas and Abe,
+joining in the frolic, shared with Pat the little lady's favor,
+while the Seer looked smilingly on. But when Jefferson Worth
+approached, with an offering of pretty stones and shells which he
+had gathered on the old beach, she ran up to the engineer's arms.
+Still coaxing, the banker held out his offering. The others were
+silent, watching. Timidly at last, the child put forth her little
+hands and accepted the gift, shrinking back quickly with her
+treasures to the shelter of the big man's arms.
+
+It was just after noon the next day when the men at the wagon yard
+on the edge of Rubio City looked up to see Jefferson Worth's outfit
+approaching. The dust-covered, nearly-exhausted team staggered
+weakly through the gate. On the driver's seat sat a haggard,
+begrimed figure holding the reins in his right hand; and in his lap,
+supported by his free arm, a little girl lay fast asleep. Then as
+one of the mules lay down, the men went forward on the run.
+
+Texas stared at them dully for a moment. Then, as he dropped the
+reins, his parched, cracked lips parted in what was meant for a
+smile and he said, in a thick, choking whisper: "We made it, boys:
+we jest made it. Somebody take the kid."
+
+Eager hands relieved him of his burden and he slid heavily to the
+ground to stand dizzily holding on to a wheel for support.
+
+One of the men said sharply: "But where's Mr. Worth, Tex? What have
+you done with Jefferson Worth an' what you doin' with a kid?"
+
+Texas Joe gazed at the questioner steadily as if summoning all his
+strength of will in an effort to think. "Hello, Jack! Why--damned if
+I know--he was with me a little while ago."
+
+The engineer, the banker, the Irishman and the boy were lying
+unconscious on the bottom of the wagon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MISS BARBARA WORTH.
+
+
+Mrs. Worth, sitting on the wide veranda of her home after a lonely
+supper, lifted her eyes frequently from the work in her lap to look
+down the street. Perhaps it was unusual for a banker's wife to be
+darning her husband's socks; it may be, even, that bankers do not
+usually wear socks that have been darned. But Mrs. Worth was not
+sensible that her task was at all strange.
+
+A group of dust-covered cow-boys, coming into town for an evening's
+pleasure, jogged past with loud laughter and soft-clinking spurs and
+bridle-chains. "There's Jefferson Worth's place," said one. "D'ye
+reckon he'll make good corralin' all the money there is in the
+world?"
+
+Now and then a carriage, filled with well-to-do citizens out for an
+evening ride, drove slowly by. The people in the carriages always
+saluted Mrs. Worth and she returned their salutations with a prim
+little bow. But no one stopped to chat or to offer her a seat. In
+this, also, there was nothing strange to the woman on the porch of
+the big, empty house. Sometimes the people in the carriages,
+entertaining visiting friends, pointed to Jefferson Worth's house,
+with proper explanations, as they also called attention to the
+Pioneer Bank--Jefferson Worth's bank.
+
+When dusk came and she could no longer see, Mrs. Worth laid aside
+her work and sat with folded hands, her face turned down the street.
+Inside the house the lights were not yet on; there was no need for
+them and she liked to sit in the dark.
+
+The Indian servant woman came softly to the door. "Does the Senora
+wish anything?"
+
+"No, thank you, Ynez; come and sit down."
+
+Noiselessly the woman seated herself on the top step.
+
+"It has been warm to-day, Ynez."
+
+"Si, Senora."
+
+"It is nearly three weeks since Mr. Worth left with Texas Joe for
+San Felipe, Ynez."
+
+"Si, Senora."
+
+"Do you know how far it is across the Desert to San Felipe?"
+
+"Si. I think three--four day, maybe five, Senora."
+
+"It will be very hot."
+
+"Si, Senora. Las' year my sister's man--Jose--go for San Felipe. No
+much water. He no come back."
+
+"Yes, I remember. What is it your people call The King's Basin
+Desert? The Hollow of God's Hand, isn't it?"
+
+"Si, Senora. La Palma de la Mano de Dios."
+
+"I wish they would come."
+
+"He come pretty quick, I think. Mebbe so he not start when he think.
+Mebbe so what you call 'beesness' not let him come," said the Indian
+woman, soothingly.
+
+"But Mr. Worth expected to be back two days ago and he is always on
+time, you know, Ynez."
+
+"Si, Senora. But mebbe so this one time different"
+
+"I do wish they would---Look, Ynez, look! There's some one
+stopping!"
+
+A carriage was turning in toward the house.
+
+"It is Senor Worth," said the Indian woman.
+
+"Someone is with him, Ynez. They have a child."
+
+As Jefferson Worth and the Seer came up the walk--the engineer
+carrying the little girl--Mrs. Worth rose unsteadily to her feet.
+"Run, quick, Ynez--quick! The lights!"
+
+That night when the Seer, with everything possible done for his
+comfort, had retired, and the baby--bathed and fed--was sound asleep
+in a child's bed that Ynez had brought from an unused room in the
+banker's big house and placed in Mrs. Worth's own chamber, Jefferson
+Worth and his wife crept softly to the little girl's bedside.
+Silently they looked at the baby form under the snow-white coverlet
+and at the round, baby face, with the tumbled brown hair, on the
+pillow.
+
+Mrs. Worth clasped her hands in eager longing as she whispered: "Oh,
+Jeff, can we keep her? Can we?"
+
+Jefferson Worth answered in his careful manner: "Did you look for
+marks on her clothing?"
+
+"There was nothing--not a letter even. And all that she can tell of
+her name is Barba. I'm sure she means Barbara." As she answered,
+Mrs. Worth searched her husband's face anxiously. Then she
+exclaimed: "Oh you do want her; you do!" and added wistfully: "Of
+course we must try to find her folks, but do you think it very
+wrong, Jeff, to wish--to wish that we never do? I feel as though she
+were sent to take the place of our own little girl. We need her so,
+Jeff. I need her so--and you--you will need her, when--" There was a
+day coming that the banker and his wife did not talk about. Since
+the birth and death of their one child, Mrs. Worth had been a
+hopeless invalid.
+
+Several weeks passed and every effort to find little Barbara's
+people was fruitless. Inquiry in Rubio City and San Felipe and
+through the newspapers on the Coast brought no returns. The land in
+those days was a land of strangers where people came and went with
+little notice and were lost quickly in the ever-restless tide. It
+was not at all strange that no one could identify an outfit of which
+it was possible to tell only of a woman and child and one bay horse.
+There were many outfits with a woman and child in the party and many
+that had among the two, four, six, or more animals one bay horse.
+
+In the meantime, little Barbara, in her new home, was growing
+gradually away from all that had gone before her long ride in the
+big wagon with the men. Already she was beginning to talk of her
+"other mamma and papa." Mrs. Worth slipped into the other woman's
+place in the childish heart, even as little Barbara filled the empty
+mother-heart of the woman.
+
+Toward Mr. Worth, though she no longer shrank from him in fear, the
+little girl maintained an attitude of questioning regard. With Texas
+or Pat or the boy Abe, who often went together to see her, she
+laughed and chattered like a good little comrade and play-fellow.
+But when the Seer came, as he did whenever his duties and his
+presence in town would permit, she flew to him with eager love,
+climbing on his knee or snuggling under his arm with entire
+confidence and understanding.
+
+Public interest in Rubio City, keen at first, died out quickly.
+Rubio City, in those days of railroad building, had too many things
+of interest to retain any one thing long. Still, because it was
+Jefferson Worth, Rubio City could not altogether drop the matter. So
+it was one evening in the Gold Bar saloon, where Pat, coming into
+town for a quiet evening from the grading camp on the new road, and
+Texas Joe, who was just back from another trip across the Desert,
+were having a friendly glass in a quiet corner.
+
+"Is there anythin' doin' in that San Felipe I don't know?" was Pat's
+natural question. "Things is that slow in this danged town I'm
+gettin' all dead on me insides."
+
+Texas grinned in his slow way. "There'll be another pay day before
+long."
+
+"Yes, an' 'tis ye that'll be 'round agin to kape me from proper
+enjoyment av the blissin's av civilization wid yer talk av the gold
+that's to be found in thim mountains that nobody but ye knows where
+they are. 'Tis a fool I am to be listenin' to yer crazy drames."
+
+"Just keep your shirt on a little longer, pard," returned the other
+soothingly. "We've most enough for a grub-stake now. When we're a
+little mite better fixed we'll pull out of this sinful land o'
+temptation an' when we come back"--he drew a long breath--"we'll do
+the thing up proper."
+
+Pat dropped his glass with a thump. "We will," he said. "We will
+that. An' it's to San Felipe we'll go. Tell me, did you see no wan
+there inquirin' afther me good health this last thrip?"
+
+"I kept away from Sailor Mike's place, not wishin' to deprive you of
+your share o' the sport. But I met a big policeman who said: 'Tell
+that red-headed Irish bum that it'll be better for his health to
+stay away from San Felipe.'"
+
+"He did, did he? He towld ye that? The big slob! He knows ut will be
+better for him. Fwhat did ye tell him?"
+
+"I said you'd decided to locate here permanent."
+
+Pat gasped for breath. "Ye towld him that! Ye did! Yer a danged sun-
+baked herrin' av a man wid no proper spirit at all. Fwhat the hell
+do ye mane to be so slanderin' me reputation an' two or three
+hundred miles av disert between me an' him? For a sup av wather I'd
+go to ye wid me two hands."
+
+Texas Joe laughed outright. "Let's have another drink instead," he
+said.
+
+In the silence occasioned by the re-filling of their glasses the two
+friends caught the name of Jefferson Worth. Instantly their
+attention was attracted to a well-dressed, smart-looking stranger,
+who stood at the bar talking loudly to a man known to Rubio City as
+a promoter of somewhat doubtful mining schemes. Pat and Texas
+listened with amused interest while the two in concert cursed
+Jefferson Worth with careful and exhaustive attention to details.
+
+"Go to it, gentlemen!" put in the bar-keeper, as he returned to his
+place from the table in the corner. "We-all sure endorses your
+opinions. Have one on the house." He graciously helped them to more
+liquor.
+
+"Brother Worth sure stands high with this here congregation,"
+drawled Texas Joe to his companion.
+
+"Hst!" whispered Pat. "They're askin' afther the kid." The casual,
+amused interest of the two friends became intense.
+
+"They sure tried everything to find her folks," the saloon man was
+saying, "but there ain't no thin' doin' so far. They say if nobody
+shows up with a claim Jefferson Worth is goin' to adopt her an'
+bring her up like his own."
+
+This statement of Jefferson Worth's intentions called forth from the
+stranger an exhaustive opinion as to the banker's fitness to have
+the child and her probable chances for right training and happiness
+in the financier's hands. His remarks being cordially commended by
+the promoter and the man in the white apron, the speaker was
+encouraged to strengthen his position in reference to the future of
+this poor, helpless orphan and to point out freely the duties of
+Rubio City in the matter. He was interrupted by a light hand on his
+shoulder. Turning with a start that spilled the liquor in his glass,
+he looked into the lean face of Texas Joe. Behind the plainsman
+stood the heavy form of the Irishman, a look of pleased anticipation
+on his battle-scarred features. There was a sudden sympathetic hush
+in the room. Every face was turned toward the group.
+
+"Excuse me, stranger," said Texas, in his softest tones; "but I sure
+am moved to testify in this here meetin'."
+
+The man would have made some angry, blustering reply, but a warning
+look from the promoter and a slight cough from the bar-tender
+checked him.
+
+Tex proceeded. "That you-all has rights to your opinion regardin'
+Mr. Jefferson Worth's character I ain't denyin', an' there's plenty
+in Rubio City that'll agree with you. Mebbe you has reasons for
+feelin' grieved. I don't sabe this here business game nohow. Mebbe
+you stacked the deck an' he caught you at it. You sure impresses me
+that a-way, for I've noticed that it ain't the sport who plays fair
+or loses fair that squeals loudest when the cards are agin him. But
+when you touches on said Jefferson Worth an' the future of that
+little kid, with free remarks on the duties of Rubio City regardin'
+the same, you're sure gettin' around where I live. Me an' this gent
+here"--he waved his hand toward Pat with elaborate formality, to the
+huge delight of his audience--"me an' this here gent is first uncles
+to that kid, an' any pop-eyed, lop-eared, greasy-fingered cross
+between a coyot' an' a jack-rabbit that comes a-pouncin' out o' the
+wilds o' civilization to jump our claim by makin' insinuations that
+we ain't competent to see that the aforementioned kid has proper
+bringin' up an' that Brother Worth ain't a proper daddy for her, had
+best come loaded for trouble. For trouble'll sure camp on his trail
+'til he's reformed or been safely planted."
+
+In the significant pause that followed no one moved. Texas stood
+easily, looking into the eyes of the stranger. Pat shot fierce,
+watchful glances around the room, from face to face.
+
+"I trust you get's the force o' my remarks," concluded Texas
+suggestively.
+
+The stranger moved uneasily and looked hurriedly about for signs of
+sympathy or assistance. Every face was a blank. Texas waited.
+
+"I suppose I was hasty," said the stranger, sullenly. "I beg your
+pardon, gentlemen."
+
+"Consider the meetin' dismissed, gentlemen," said Texas, easily. "Me
+an' my pardner trusts that the congregation will treasure our
+remarks in the future. Now, you bar-tender, everybody drinks on us
+to the health and happiness of our respected niece--Miss Barbara
+Worth."
+
+On the street a few minutes later Pat growled his disappointment.
+"The divil take a man wid no bowels."
+
+Ignoring his friend's complaint, Texas returned meditatively; "Do
+you think, Pat, that there might be anything in what that there gent
+said? In spite o' what we seen of him on that trip, Jefferson Worth
+is sure a cold proposition. Give it to me straight. What will he do
+for the little one?"
+
+"An' it's just fwhat we see'd on that thrip that makes me think ut's
+a question av fwhat the little girl will do to him," answered Pat,
+thereby sustaining the reputation of his race.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+YOU'D BETTER MAKE IT NINETY.
+
+
+Fifteen years of a changing age left few marks on Rubio City.
+Luxurious overland trains, filled with tourists, now stopped at the
+depot where, under the pepper trees, sadly civilized Indians sold
+Kansas City and New Jersey-made curios--stopped and went on again
+along the rim of The King's Basin, through San Antonio Pass to the
+great cities on the western edge of the continent. But the town on
+the banks of the Colorado, in an almost rainless land, had little to
+build upon. Still on the street mingled the old-timers from desert,
+mountain and plain; from prospecting trip, mine or ranch; the
+adventurer, the promoter, the Indian, the Mexican, the frontier
+business man and the tourist.
+
+But there were few of the citizens of Rubio City now who knew the
+story of the baby girl whom Jefferson Worth and his party had found
+in La Palma de la Mano de Dios. For, though Rubio City was changed
+but little since that day when Texas Joe brought the outfit with the
+child safely out of the Desert, the people came and went always as
+is the manner of their moving kind. The few "old-timers" who
+remained had long ceased to tell the story. No one thought of the
+young woman, who rode down the street that afternoon, save only as
+the daughter of Jefferson Worth.
+
+As she passed, the people turned to follow her with their eyes--the
+"old-timers" with smiles of recognition and picturesque words of
+admiring comment; the townspeople with cheerful greetings--a wave of
+the hand or a nod when they caught her eye; the strangers from the
+East with curious interest and ready kodaks. Here, the visitors told
+themselves, was the real West.
+
+"How interesting!" gasped a tailor-made woman tourist to her escort.
+"Look, George, she is wearing a divided skirt and riding a man's
+saddle! And look! quick! where's your camera? She has a revolver!"
+
+That revolver, a dainty but effective pearl-handled weapon, was a
+gift to Barbara from her "uncles," Texas and Pat; and though
+ornamental was not for ornament. The girl often went alone, as she
+was going to-day, for a long ride out on the Mesa, and the country
+still harbored many wild and lawless characters.
+
+But the tailored woman tourist did not need to urge George to look.
+There was something about the girl on the quick-stepping, spirited
+horse that challenged attention. The khaki-clad figure was so richly
+alive--there was such a wealth of vitality; such an abundance of
+young woman's strength; such a glow of red blood expressed in every
+curved line and revealed in every graceful movement--that the
+attraction was irresistible. To look at Barbara Worth was a
+pleasure; to be near her was a delight,
+
+At the Pioneer Bank the girl cheeked her horse and, swinging lightly
+to the ground, threw the reins over the animal's head, thus tying
+him in western fashion. As she stood now on the sidewalk laughing
+and chatting with a group of friends, who had paused in passing to
+greet her, her beautiful figure lost none of the compelling charm
+that made her, on horseback, so good to look at. Every movement and
+gesture expressed perfect health. The firm flesh of her rounded
+cheeks and full throat was warmly browned and glowing with the
+abundance of red blood in her veins. Though framed in a mass of
+waving brown hair under a wide sombrero, her features were not
+pretty. The mouth was perhaps a bit too large, though it was a good
+mouth, and, as she laughed with her companions, revealed teeth that
+were faultless. But something looked out of her brown eyes and made
+itself felt in every poise and movement that forced one to forget to
+be critical. It was the wholesome, challenging lure of an unmarred
+womanhood.
+
+"Oh, Barbara, how could you--how _could_ you miss last Thursday
+afternoon at Miss Colson's? We had a perfectly lovely time!" cried a
+vivacious member of the little group.
+
+"Yes indeed, young lady; explanations are in order," added another.
+"Miss Colson didn't like it a bit. She had an exquisite luncheon,
+and you know how people depend upon your appreciation of good things
+to eat!"
+
+"Well, you see," answered Barbara, turning to pat her horse's neck
+as the animal, edging closer to her side, rubbed his soft muzzle
+coaxingly against her shoulder, "Pilot and I were out on the Mesa
+and he said he didn't want to come back. Pilot doesn't care at all
+for afternoon parties, do you old boy?"--with another pat--"so what
+could I do? I didn't like to hurt Miss Colson's feelings, of course,
+but I didn't like to hurt Pilot's feelings either; and the day was
+so perfect and Pilot was feeling so good and we were having such fun
+together! I guess it was a case of 'a bird in the hand,' or
+'possession being nine points,' you know; or something like that.
+Only for pity's sake, girls, don't tell Miss Colson I said that."
+
+They all laughed understandingly and the vivacious one said: "I
+guess it was possession all right. Could anything on earth induce
+you to give up your horse and your desert, Barbara?"
+
+Inside the bank Jefferson Worth, with his customary careful, exact
+manner, was explaining to a small rancher that it was impossible to
+extend the loan secured by a mortgage on the farmer's property.
+Personally Mr. Worth would be glad to accommodate him. But the loan
+had already been extended three times and there were good reasons
+why the bank must call it in. The farmer must remember that a bank's
+duty to its stockholders and depositors was sacred. It was not a
+question of the farmer's honesty; it was altogether a question of
+Good Business.
+
+The farmer was agitated and presented his case desperately. Mr.
+Worth knew the situation--the unforeseen circumstances that made it
+impossible for him to pay then. Only two months more were needed--
+until his new crop matured. He could not blame Mr. Worth, of course.
+He understood that it was business, but still--The farmer searched
+that cold, mask-like face for a ray of hope as a man might hold out
+his hands for pity to a machine. He was made to feel somehow that
+the banker was not a man with human blood, but a mechanical
+something, governed and run by a mighty irresistible power with
+which it had nothing to do save to obey as a locomotive obeys its
+steam.
+
+Jefferson Worth began explaining again in exact, precise tones that
+the loan, wholly for business reasons, was impossible, when Barbara
+entered the bank. As the girl greeted the teller in front, her
+voice, full and rich, with the same unconscious power that looked
+out of her eyes and spoke in every movement of her body, came
+through the bronze grating at the window and carried down the room.
+Jefferson Worth paused. With the farmer he faced the open door of
+his apartment. Every man in the place looked up. The desk-weary
+clerks smilingly answered her greeting and turned back to their
+books with renewed energy. The cashier straightened up from his
+papers and--leaning back in his chair--exchanged a jest with her as
+she passed.
+
+"Oh, excuse me, father, I thought you were alone. How do you do, Mr.
+Wheeler? And how is Mrs. Wheeler and that dear little baby?"
+
+The man's face lighted, his form straightened, his voice rang out
+heartily. "Fine, Miss Barbara, fine, thank you. All we need in the
+world now is for your father to give me time enough on that blamed
+note to make a crop."
+
+Barbara Worth was just tall enough to look straight into her
+father's eyes. As she looked at him now the banker felt a little as
+he had felt that night in the Desert, when the baby, whose dead
+mother lay beside the dry water hole, shrank back from him in fear.
+
+"Oh, I'm sure father will be glad to do that," the girl said
+eagerly. "Won't you father? You know how hard Mr. Wheeler works and
+what trouble he has had. And I want some money, too," she added;
+"that's what I came in for."
+
+The farmer laughed loudly. Jefferson Worth smiled.
+
+"But I don't want it for myself," Barbara went on quickly, smiling
+at them both. "I want it for that poor Mexican family down by the
+wagon yard--the Garcias. Pablo's leg was broken in the mines, you
+know, and there is no one to look after his mother and the children.
+Someone must care for them."
+
+They were interrupted by a clerk who handed a paper to the banker.
+"This is ready for your signature, sir."
+
+Jefferson Worth's face was again a cold, gray mask. Methodically he
+affixed his name to the document. Then to the clerk: "You may give
+Miss Worth whatever money she wants."
+
+The employe smiled as he answered: "Yes, sir," and withdrew.
+
+Barbara turned to follow. "Good-by, Mr. Wheeler. Tell Mrs. Wheeler
+I'm going to ride out to see her soon. I haven't forgotten that good
+buttermilk you see."
+
+"Good-by, Miss Barbara, good-by! I'll tell the wife. We're always
+glad to see you."
+
+The farmer could not have said that Jefferson Worth's face changed
+or that his voice altered a shade in tone as they turned again to
+the business in hand. "I guess we can fix you out this time,
+Wheeler. Sixty days, you say? You'd better make it ninety so you
+will not be crowded in marketing your crop."
+
+Quickly the black horse carrying Barbara passed through the streets
+to the outskirts of the city, where the adobe houses of the earlier
+days, with tents and shacks of every description, were scattered in
+careless disorder to the very edge of the barren Mesa. Beyond the
+wagon yard Barbara turned Pilot toward a whitewashed house that
+stood by itself on the extreme outskirts. Her approach was announced
+by the loud barking of a lean dog and the joyful shouts of three
+half-naked Mexican children; and as the horse stopped a woman
+appeared in the low doorway.
+
+"Buenas dias, Senorita," she called; then, still in her native
+tongue: "Manuel, take the lady's horse. You Juanita, drive that dog
+away. This is not the manner to receive a lady. Come in, come in,
+Senorita. May God bless you for a good friend to the poor. Come in."
+
+Everything about the place, although showing unmistakable signs of
+poverty, was clean and orderly, while the manner of the woman,
+though quietly respectful and warmly grateful, showed a dignified
+self-respect. In one corner of the room, on a rude bed, lay a young
+man.
+
+The girl returned the woman's greeting kindly in Spanish and, going
+to the bedside, spoke, still in the soft, musical tongue of the
+South, to the man. "How are you to-day, Pablo? Is the leg getting
+better all right?"
+
+"Si, Senorita, thank you," he replied, his dark face beaming with
+gladness and gratitude and his eyes looking up at her with an
+expression of dumb devotion. "Yes, I think it gets better right
+along. But it is slow and it is hard to lie here doing nothing for
+the mother and the children. God knows what would become of us if it
+were not for your goodness. La Senorita is an angel of mercy. We can
+never repay."
+
+The people were of the better class of industrious poor Mexicans.
+The father was dead, and Pablo, the eldest son, who was the little
+family's sole support, had been hurt in the mine some two weeks
+before. Barbara visited them every few days, caring for their wants
+as indeed she helped many of Rubio City's worthy poor. For this work
+Jefferson Worth gave her without question all the money that she
+asked and often expressed his interest in his own cold way, even
+telling her of certain cases that came to his notice from time to
+time. So the banker's daughter was hailed as an angel of mercy and
+greatly loved by the same class that feared and cursed her father.
+
+For a little while the girl talked to Pablo and his mother
+cheerfully and encouragingly, with understanding asking after their
+needs. Then, placing a gold piece in the woman's hand and promising
+to come again, she bade them--"Adios."
+
+For a short distance Barbara now followed the old San Felipe trail
+along which, as a baby, she had been brought by her friends to
+Jefferson Worth's home. But where the old road crosses the railroad
+tracks, and leads northwest into The King's Basin, the girl turned
+to the right toward the end of that range of low hills that rims the
+Desert.
+
+As her horse traveled up the long gradual slope in the easy swinging
+lope of western saddle stock, the view grew wider and wider. The sun
+poured its flood of white light down upon the broad Mesa, and away
+in the distance the ever-widening King's Basin lay, a magic,
+constantly changing ocean of soft colors. Nearer ahead were the
+hills, brown and tawny, with blue shadows in the canyons shading to
+rose and lilac and purple as they stretched their long lengths away
+toward the lofty, snow-capped sentinels of the Pass. Free from the
+city with its many odors, the dry air was invigorating like wine and
+came to her rich with the smell of the sun-burned, wind-swept
+plains. The girl breathed deeply. Her cheeks glowed--her eyes shone.
+Even her horse, seeming to catch her spirit, arched his neck and, in
+sheer joy of living, pretended to be frightened now and then at
+something that was really nothing at all.
+
+At the foot of the first low, rounded hill Barbara faced Pilot to
+the northwest and bade him stand still. Motionless now the girl sat
+in her saddle, looking away over La Palma de la Mano de Dios. It was
+to this point that Barbara so often came, and as she looked now over
+the miles and miles of that silent, dreadful land her face grew sad
+and wistful and in her eyes there was an expression that the Seer
+sometimes said made him think of the desert.
+
+Gentle Mrs. Worth had lived just long enough to leave an indelible
+impression of her simple genuineness upon the life of the child, who
+had come to take in her heart the place left vacant by the death of
+her own baby girl. Since the loss of her second mother the girl had
+lived with no woman companion save the Indian woman Ynez, and it was
+the Seer rather than Jefferson Worth to whom she turned in fullest
+confidence and trust. The childish instinct that had led the baby to
+the big engineer's arms that night on the Desert had never wavered
+through the years when she was growing into womanhood, and the Seer,
+whose work after the completion of the S. and C. called him to many
+parts of the West, managed every few months a visit to the girl he
+loved as his own. To Mr. Worth who, as far as it was possible for
+him to be, was in all things a father to her, Barbara gave in return
+a daughter's love, but she had never been able to enter into the
+life of the banker as she entered into the life of the engineer. So
+it was the Seer who became, after Mrs. Worth, the dominant influence
+in forming the character of the motherless girl. His dreams of
+Reclamation, his plans and efforts to lead the world to recognize
+the value of that great work, with his failures and disappointments,
+she shared at an early age with peculiar sympathy, for she had not
+been kept in ignorance of the tragic part the desert had played in
+her own life. Particularly did The King's Basin Desert interest her.
+She felt that, in a way, it belonged to her; that she belonged to
+it. It was _her_ Desert. Its desolation she shared; its waiting she
+understood; something of its mystery colored her life; something
+within her answered to its call. It was her Desert; she feared it;
+hated it; loved it.
+
+Often as Barbara sat looking over that great basin her heart cried
+out to know the secret it held. Who was she? Who were her people?
+What was the name to which she had been born? What was the life from
+which the desert had taken her? But no answer to her cry had ever
+come from the awful "Hollow of God's Hand."
+
+Before Barbara had left her home that afternoon a man, walking with
+long, easy stride, followed the San Felipe trail out from the city
+on to the Mesa. He was a tall man and of so angular and lean a
+figure that his body seemed made up mostly of bone somewhat loosely
+fastened together with sinews almost as hard as the frame-work. His
+face, thin and rugged, was burned to the color of saddle leather. He
+was dressed in corduroy trousers, belted and tucked in high-laced
+boots, a soft gray shirt and slouch hat, and over his square
+shoulders was the strap of a small canteen. His long legs carried
+him over the ground at an astonishing rate, so that before Barbara
+had left the Mexicans the pedestrian had gained the foot of the low
+hill at the mouth of the canyon.
+
+With remarkable ease the man ascended the rough, steep side of the
+hill, where, selecting a convenient rock, he seated himself and gave
+his attention to the wonderful scene that, from his feet, stretched
+away miles and miles to the purple mountain wall on the west. So
+still was he and so intent in his study of the landscape, that a
+horned-toad, which had dodged under the edge of the rock at his
+approach, crept forth again, venturing quite to the edge of his boot
+heel; and a lizard, scaling the rock at his back, almost touched his
+shoulder.
+
+When Barbara had left the San Felipe trail and was riding toward the
+hills, the man's eyes were attracted by the moving spot on the Mesa
+and he stirred to take from the pocket of his coat a field glass,
+while at his movement the horned-toad and the lizard scurried to
+cover. Adjusting his glass he easily made out the figure of the girl
+on horseback, who was coming in his direction. He turned again to
+his study of the landscape, but later, when the horse and rider had
+drawn nearer, lifted his glass for another look. This time he did
+not turn away.
+
+Rapidly, as Barbara drew nearer and nearer, the details of her dress
+and equipment became more distinct until the man with the glass
+could even make out the fringe on her gauntlets, the contour of her
+face and the color of her hair. When she stopped and turned to look
+over the desert below he forgot the scene that had so interested him
+and continued to gaze at her, until, as the girl turned her face in
+his direction and apparently looked straight at him, he dropped the
+glass in embarrassed confusion, forgetting for the instant that at
+that distance, with his gray and yellow clothing so matching the
+ground and rock, he would not be noticed. With a low chuckle at his
+absurd situation he recovered himself and again lifting the glass
+turned it upon Barbara, who was now riding swiftly toward the mouth
+of a little canyon that opened behind the hill where he sat.
+
+Suddenly with an exclamation the young man sprang to his feet. The
+running horse had stumbled and fallen. After a few struggling
+efforts to rise the animal lay still. The girl did not move. With
+long, leaping strides the man plunged down the rough, steep side of
+the hill.
+
+When Barbara slowly opened her eyes she was lying in the shadow of
+the canyon wall some distance from the spot where her horse had
+stumbled. Still dazed with the shock of her fall she looked slowly
+around, striving to collect her scattered senses. She knew the place
+but could not remember how she came there. And where was her horse--
+Pilot? And how came that canteen on the ground by her side? At this
+she sat up and looked around just in time to see a tall, gaunt,
+roughly-dressed figure coming toward her from the direction of the
+canyon mouth.
+
+Instantly the girl reached for her gun. The holster was empty.
+
+The man, quite close now, seeing the suggestive gesture, halted;
+then, coming nearer, silently held out her own pearl-handled
+revolver.
+
+Still confused and acting upon the impulse of the moment before,
+Barbara caught the weapon from the out-stretched hand and in a flash
+covered the silent stranger.
+
+Very deliberately the fellow drew back a few paces and stretched
+both hands high above his head.
+
+"Who are you?" asked the girl sharply.
+
+"A white man," he answered whimsically, adding as if it were an
+afterthought, "and a gentleman."
+
+"But why---What---How did I get here? Where did you come from?"
+
+"I was up on the hill back there. I saw your horse fall and went to
+you the quickest way. You were unconscious and I carried you here
+out of the sun."
+
+"I remember now," said Barbara. "We were running and Pilot fell. He
+must have stepped into a hole." She put up her free hand to her
+forehead and found it wet. Her eyes fell on the canteen and the
+color came back into her face with a rush. "But you haven't told me
+who you are," she said sternly to the man who still stood with hands
+uplifted.
+
+"I'm a surveyor going south with a party on some preliminary work.
+We arrived in Rubio City this morning expecting to find the Chief,
+who wrote me from New York to meet him here with an outfit. He has
+not arrived and there was nothing to do so I walked out on the Mesa
+to have another look at this King's Basin country."
+
+Barbara knew that the Seer had been called to New York by some
+capitalists who had become interested in the financial possibilities
+of the reclamation work. At the stranger's explanation of his
+presence she regarded him with excited interest. "Do you mean--Is it
+the Seer whom you expected to meet? Are you--with him?"
+
+The young man smiled gravely. "I was sure that it was you," he
+answered. "You are the little girl whom we found in the desert."
+
+"And you"--burst forth Barbara, eagerly--"you must be Abe Lee!"
+
+The surveyor answered whimsically: "Don't you think I might take my
+hands down now? I'm unarmed you know and you could still shoot me if
+you thought I needed it."
+
+In her excitement Barbara had forgotten that she still held her
+weapon pointed straight at him. She dropped the gun with a confused
+laugh. "I beg your pardon, A--Mr. Lee. I did not realize that I was
+holding up my"--she hesitated, then finished gravely--"my only
+brother."
+
+A quick glad light flashed into the sharp blue eyes of the surveyor.
+"You have not forgotten me then?"
+
+"Forgotten! When father and the Seer and Texas and Pat and you are
+all the--the family I have in the world." Her lips quivered, but she
+went on bravely: "The Seer has told me so many things about you and
+I have thought about you so much. But I did not realize, though,
+that you were a big, grown-up man. The Seer always speaks of you as
+a boy and so I have always called you my brother Abe as I call Texas
+and Pat my uncles. But I think you might have come to see me
+sometimes. Why didn't you come straight to me this morning instead
+of tramping 'way out here alone?"
+
+Abe Lee was silent. How could he explain the place in his life that
+was filled by the little girl whom he had known for the two years
+that the building of the railroad had kept him with the Seer in
+Rubio City? How could she understand the poverty and grinding
+hardship of his boyhood struggle when the only time he could snatch
+from his work he must spend on his books, while she was growing up
+in the banker's home? He was more alone in the world than Barbara.
+Save for the Seer he had no one. Texas and Pat he had met at
+intervals when they came together on some construction work, and
+always they had talked about her; while the engineer had often told
+him of Barbara's interest in her "brother"; and sometimes the Seer
+even shared with him her letters. But all this had only served to
+emphasize the distance that lay between them. It was not a distance
+of miles but of position--of circumstances. The nameless little waif
+of the desert had become the daughter of Jefferson Worth. The child
+of the mining camp was--Abe Lee. So when, at last, his work had
+brought him to Rubio City again he shrank from meeting her and had
+gone out on to the Mesa to look away over La Palma de la Mano de
+Dios--to be alone.
+
+Barbara, seeing his embarrassment at her question, guessed a part of
+the reason and gently sought to relieve the situation. "I think we
+had better find my horse and start for home now," she said.
+
+The thin, sun-tanned face of the surveyor was filled with sympathy
+as he replied: "I'm sorry, but your pony is down and out."
+
+"Down and out! Pilot? Oh! you don't mean--You don't---"
+
+Abe explained simply. "His leg was broken and he couldn't get up.
+There was nothing that could possibly be done for him. He was
+suffering so that I----It was for that I borrowed your gun."
+
+For a long time she sat very still, and the man, understanding that
+she wished to be alone, quietly went a little way up the canyon
+around the jutting edge of the rocky wall. Deliberately he seated
+himself on a boulder and taking from the pocket of his flannel shirt
+tobacco and papers, rolled a cigarette. A deep inhalation and the
+gray cloud rose slowly from his lips and nostrils. Stooping he
+carefully gathered a handful of sharp pebbles and--one by one--
+flipped them idly toward the opposite side of the canyon. Another
+generous puff of smoke and a second handful of pebbles followed the
+first. Then rising he dropped the cigarette and went back to her.
+
+"I think we should be going now"--he hesitated--"sister."
+
+She looked up with a smile of understanding. "Thank you--Abe. Can we
+go back over the hill there, do you think? I--I don't want to see
+him again."
+
+Together they climbed the low hill at the mouth of the canyon from
+which he had seen the accident, the girl resolutely keeping her eyes
+fixed ahead so as not to see the dead horse on the plain below. When
+the top of the hill was between them and the canyon she made him
+stop and together they stood looking down and far away over the wide
+reaches of The King's Basin.
+
+"Isn't it grand? Isn't it awful?" she said in a low, reverent tone.
+"It fairly hurts. It seems to be calling--calling; waiting--waiting
+for some one. Sometimes I think it must be for me. I fear it--hate
+it--love it so." Her voice vibrated with strong passion and the
+surveyor, looking up, saw her wide-eyed, intense expression and felt
+as did the Seer that somehow she was like the desert.
+
+"Do you come out here often?" he asked curiously.
+
+"Yes, often," she answered. "I could not get along without my Desert
+and this is the finest place to see it. The Seer always comes out
+here with me when he can. Do you think that land will ever be
+reclaimed?" She faced him with the question.
+
+"Why, no one can say about that, you know," he answered slowly.
+"There has never been a survey."
+
+"Well," she declared emphatically, "I know. It will be. Listen!
+Don't you hear it calling? I think it's for that it has been waiting
+all these ages."
+
+The surveyor smiled as one would humor a child. "Perhaps you are
+right," he said.
+
+"Now you are laughing at me," she returned quickly. "They all do;
+father and the Seer and Texas and Pat. But you shall see! I believe,
+though, that the Seer thinks that I am right, only he always says as
+you do that there has never been a survey; and sometimes I think
+that even father--away down in his heart--believes it too."
+
+All the long walk to Barbara's home they talked of the Desert and
+the Seer's dreams of Reclamation; and Abe told her how at last those
+"stupid capitalists," as Barbara called them, had opened their eyes.
+The great James Greenfield himself had read an article of the Seer's
+on "Reclamation from the Investor's Point of View" and had written
+him. As a result of their correspondence the engineer had gone to
+New York; and now a company organized by Greenfield was sending him
+south to look over a big territory and to report on the
+possibilities of its development.
+
+When they arrived at Barbara's home they found the Seer himself. The
+fifteen years had made no perceptible change in the general
+appearance of the engineer. His form was still strongly erect and
+vigorous, but his hair was a little gray, and to a close observer,
+his face in repose revealed a touch of sadness--that indescribable
+look of one who is beginning to feel less sure of himself, or rather
+who, from many disappointments, is beginning to question whether he
+will live to see his most cherished plans carried to completion--not
+because he has less faith in his visions, but because he has less
+hope that he will be able to make them clear to others.
+
+When the evening meal was over the surveyor said good-by, for the
+expedition was to start in the morning and he had some work to do.
+When he was gone Barbara joined her father and the engineer on the
+porch. "Here they are," she said. "Haven't I kept them nicely for
+you?" She was holding toward the Seer a box of cigars.
+
+"Indeed you have," returned the engineer in a pleased tone, helping
+himself to a cool, moist Havana. "You are a dear, good girl."
+
+Jefferson Worth did not use tobacco, but it was an unwritten law of
+the household that the Seer, when he came, should always have his
+evening smoke on the porch and that Barbara should be the keeper of
+supplies. She liked to see her friend's strong face brought suddenly
+out of the dusk by the flare of the match and to watch the glow of
+the cigar end in the dark while they talked.
+
+"And what do you think of your brother Abe, Barbara?" the big
+engineer asked when his cigar was going nicely. "Didn't he talk you
+nearly to death?"
+
+The girl laughed. "I guess he didn't have a chance. I always do most
+of the talking, you know."
+
+The Seer chuckled. "Abe told me once that most of the time he felt
+like an oyster and the rest of the time he was so mad at himself for
+being an oyster that he couldn't find words to do the subject
+justice."
+
+"I think he is splendid!" retorted Barbara, enthusiastically.
+
+"He is," returned the engineer earnestly. "I don't know of a man in
+the profession whom I would rely upon so wholly in work of a certain
+kind. You see Abe was born and raised in the wild, uncivilized parts
+of the country and he has a natural ability for his work that
+amounts almost to genius. With a knowledge of nature gained through
+his remarkable powers of observation and deduction, I doubt if Abe
+Lee to-day has an equal as what might be called a 'surveyor scout.'
+I believe he is made of iron. Hunger, cold, thirst, heat, wet, seem
+to make no impression on him. He can out-walk, out-work, outlast and
+out-guess any man I ever met. He has the instinct of a wild animal
+for finding his way and the coldest nerve I ever saw. His honesty
+and loyalty amount almost to fanaticism. But he is diffident and shy
+as a school girl and as sensitive as a bashful boy. I verily believe
+he knows more to-day about the great engineering projects in the
+West than nine-tenths of the school men but I've seen him sit for an
+hour absolutely dumb, half scared to death, listening to the cheap
+twaddle of some smart 'yellow-legs' with the ink not dry yet on
+their diplomas. Put him in the field in charge of a party of that
+same bunch, though, and he would be boss to the last stake on the
+line or the last bite of grub in the outfit if he had to kill half
+of them to do it. I guess you'll think I'm a bit enthusiastic about
+my right hand man," he finished, with a short, apologetic laugh,
+"and I am. It's because I know him."
+
+He struck another match and Barbara saw his face for an instant. As
+the match went out she drew a long breath. "I'm glad you said that,"
+she said softly. "I wanted you to. I'm sure he has earned it."
+
+Then they talked of the Seer's new expedition that would start south
+at daybreak, and it seemed to Barbara that the very air was electric
+with the coming of a mighty age when the race would direct its
+strength to the turning of millions of acres of desolate, barren
+waste into productive farms and beautiful homes for the people.
+
+At daybreak the girl was up to tell the Seer good-by. "I wish," she
+said wistfully, as she stood with him a moment at the gate, "I wish
+it was _my_ Desert that you and Abe were going to survey."
+
+The engineer smilingly answered: "Some day, perhaps, that, too, will
+come."
+
+"I know it will," she said simply.
+
+And as she stood before him in all the beautiful strength of her
+young womanhood, the Seer felt that sweet, mysterious power of her
+personality--felt it with a father's loving pride. "I believe you do
+know, Barbara," he said; "I believe you do."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+WHAT THE INDIAN TOLD THE SEER.
+
+
+In the making of Barbara's Desert the canyon-carving, delta-building
+river did not count the centuries of its labor; the rock-hewing,
+beach-forming waves did not number the ages of their toil; the
+burning, constant sun and the drying, drifting winds were not
+careful for the years. Therefore is the time of the real beginning
+of what happened in this, the land of my story, unknown.
+
+Somewhere in the eternity that lies back of all the yesterdays, the
+great river found the salt waves of the ocean fathoms deep in what
+is now The King's Basin and extending a hundred and seventy miles
+north of the shore that takes their wash to-day. Slowly, through the
+centuries of that age of all beginnings, the river, cutting canyons
+and valleys in the north and carrying southward its load of silt,
+built from the east across the gulf to Lone Mountain a mighty delta
+dam.
+
+South of this new land the ocean still received the river; to the
+north the gulf became an inland sea. The upper edge of this new-born
+sea beat helpless against a line of low, barren hills beyond which
+lay many miles of a rainless land. Eastward lay yet more miles of
+desolate waste. And between this sea and the parent ocean on the
+west, extending southward past the delta dam, the mountains of the
+Coast Range shut out every moisture-laden cloud and turned back
+every life-bearing stream. Thus trapped and helpless, the bright
+waters, with all their life, fell under the constant, fierce,
+beating rays of the semi-tropical sun and shrank from the wearing
+sweep of the dry, tireless winds. Uncounted still, the centuries of
+that age also passed and the bottom of that sea lay bare, dry and
+lifeless under the burning sky, still beaten by the pitiless sun,
+still swept by the scorching winds. The place that had held the glad
+waters with their teeming life came to be an empty basin of blinding
+sand, of quivering heat, of dreadful death. Unheeding the ruin it
+had wrought, the river swept on its way.
+
+And so--hemmed in by mountain wall, barren hills and rainless
+plains; forgotten by the ocean; deserted by the river, that thirsty
+land lay, the loneliest, most desolate bit of this great Western
+Continent.
+
+But the river could not work this ruin without contributing to the
+desert the rich strength it had gathered from its tributary lands.
+Mingled with the sand of the ancient sea-bed was the silt from
+faraway mountain and hill and plain. That basin of Death was more
+than a dusty tomb of a life that had been; it was a sepulchre that
+held the vast treasure of a life that would be--would be when the
+ages should have made also the master men, who would dare say to the
+river: "Make restitution!"--men who could, with power, command the
+rich life within the tomb to come forth.
+
+But master men are not the product of years--scarcely, indeed, of
+centuries. The people of my story have also their true beginnings in
+ages too remote to be reckoned. The master passions, the governing
+instincts, the leading desires and the driving fears that hew and
+carve and form and fashion the race are as reckless of the years as
+are wave and river and sun and wind. Therefore the forgotten land
+held its wealth until Time should make the giants that could take
+it.
+
+In the centuries of those forgotten ages that went into the making
+of The King's Basin Desert, the families of men grew slowly into
+tribes, the tribes grew slowly into nations and the nations grew
+slowly into worlds. New worlds became old; and other new worlds were
+discovered, explored, developed and made old; war and famine and
+pestilence and prosperity hewed and formed, carved and built and
+fashioned, even as wave and river and sun and wind. The kingdoms of
+earth, air and water yielded up their wealth as men grew strong to
+take it; the elements bowed their necks to his yoke, to fetch and
+carry for him as he grew wise to order; the wilderness fled, the
+mountains lay bare their hearts, the waste places paid tribute as he
+grew brave to command.
+
+Across the wide continent the tracks of its wild life were trodden
+out by the broad cattle trails, the paths of the herds were marked
+by the wheels of immigrant wagons and the roads of the slow-moving
+teams became swift highways of steel. In the East the great cities
+that received the hordes from every land were growing ever greater.
+On the far west coast the crowded multitude was building even as it
+was building in the East. In the Southwest savage race succeeded
+savage race, until at last the slow-footed padres overtook the
+swift-footed Indian and the rude civilization made possible by the
+priests in turn ran down the priest.
+
+About the land of my story, forgotten under the dry sky, this ever-
+restless, ever-swelling tide of life swirled and eddied-swirled and
+eddied, but touched it not. On the west it swept even to the foot of
+the grim mountain wall. On the east one far-flung ripple reached
+even to the river--when Rubio City was born. But the Desert waited,
+silent and hot and fierce in its desolation, holding its treasures
+under the seal of death against the coming of the strong ones;
+waited until the man-making forces that wrought through those long
+ages should have done also their work; waited for this age--for your
+age and mine--for the age of the Seer and his companions--for the
+days of my story, the days of Barbara and her friends.
+
+The Seer's expedition, returning from the south, made camp on the
+bank of the Rio Colorado twenty miles below Rubio City. It was the
+last night out. Supper was over and the men, with their pipes and
+cigarettes, settled themselves in various careless attitudes of
+repose after the long day. Their sun-burned faces, toughened figures
+and worn, desert-stained clothing testified to their weeks of toil
+in the open air under the dry sky of an almost rainless land. Some
+were old-timers--veterans of many a similar campaign. Two were new
+recruits on their first trip. All were strong, clean-cut, vigorous
+specimens of intelligent, healthy manhood, for in all the
+professions, not excepting the army and navy, there can be found no
+finer body of men than our civil engineers.
+
+Easily they fell to talking of to-morrow night in Rubio City, of
+baths and barbers and good beds and clean clothes and dinners and
+the pleasures of civilization and prospective future jobs. Much
+good-natured chaff was passed with hearty give and take. Jokes that
+had become time-worn in the many days and nights that the party had
+been cut off from all other society were revived with fresh
+interest. Incidents and accidents of the trip were related and
+reviewed with zest, with here and there a comment on the work itself
+that was still fresh in their minds.
+
+Abe Lee, sitting with his back against a wagon-wheel and his long
+legs stretched straight out in front, listened, enjoying it all in
+his own way, taking his share of the chaff with a slow smile,
+exhaling great clouds of cigarette smoke and only at rare intervals
+contributing a word or a short sentence to the talk. Abe was at home
+with these men out there in the desert night. Under the Chief he was
+their master--respected, admired and loved. But the old-timers knew
+that to-morrow, in town with these same men, dressed in conventional
+garb, on the street or in the hotel, the surveyor would be as
+bashful and awkward as a country boy. So they joked him about his
+numerous sweethearts in Rubio City and related many entirely
+fictitious love adventures and romantic experiences that he was said
+to have passed through in different parts of the country during the
+years they had known him. Not one of them but would have been
+astonished beyond words had he known of Abe's adventure the
+afternoon before they left Rubio City, and how, through every day of
+the hard, grilling labor with the expedition, the image of the girl
+he had watched through his field glass was before him.
+
+When the fire of the wits was turned on another mark Abe slowly
+arose to his feet and slipped out of the circle. Going quietly to
+the cook-wagon where the Chinaman sat smoking in solitary grandeur,
+he asked: "Wing, where is the Chief? I saw him talking to you a
+little while ago."
+
+"Me no sabe, Boss Abe. Chief, him go off that way." He pointed
+toward the river with his long bamboo pipe. "Wing sabe Chief feel
+velly bad, Boss Abe; damn."
+
+The white man regarded the Chinaman silently for a moment, then:
+"You're a good boy, Wing. Good night."
+
+"Night, Boss Abe," came the plaintive answer, and the surveyor went
+on to where a group of Cocopah Indian laborers made their rude camp.
+These he greeted in Spanish and asked: "Has the Chief been with you
+since supper?"
+
+"No, Senor. He by river there little time past," said one, pointing
+to a clump of cottonwood trees that rose above a fringe of willows.
+
+"Buenos noches, hombres," said Abe.
+
+"Buenos noches, Senor," came the chorus of soft voices in the dusk.
+
+On the high bank under the cottonwoods the Seer sat with bowed head.
+He did not heed the broad yellow tide of silt-laden water that swept
+by him so silently; he did not see the myriad stars in the velvet
+sky, nor notice the golden moon climbing slowly up from the dark
+level of the land. The jovial voices and merry laughter of his men
+came to him from the camp, but he did not hear. To-morrow the
+expedition would be over, the party disbanded. He would make his
+report to the capitalists who had sent him forth. His report!--the
+Seer groaned. Few words would be needed to sum up the work of the
+last two months but it would not be easy to frame them. His ear
+caught the snap of a twig and a whiff of cigarette smoke floated to
+him. He turned his head quickly. "That you, Abe?"
+
+The long figure of the surveyor settled on the bank by his side. For
+a little neither spoke, while the Seer, with slow care, filled and
+lighted his pipe.
+
+"Well, lad," he said at last, "we have about reached the end of
+another failure."
+
+"Will you go to New York, sir?"
+
+"No, it will not be necessary. I can write in fifty words all there
+is to say."
+
+"Perhaps they will send you out again," offered the surveyor.
+
+"Their interest is not strong enough. They only tackled this because
+some other fellows were considering the proposition. That made them
+think there might be something in it. If I had the capital to make
+surveys and could go to them with data for some other project they
+might consider it, but--"
+
+Abe rolled another cigarette and with the first cloud of smoke came
+the slow words: "Well, then, let's get the data."
+
+Even at what seemed a hopeless suggestion the discouraged heart of
+the old engineer beat more quickly. He turned his face toward the
+younger man. "Where?"
+
+Abe stretched forth a long arm toward the broad Colorado at their
+feet and toward the desert beyond. "The King's Basin. You've often
+told me about that country. If I sabe the lay of the land we're
+somewhere at the southern end of it, at the beginning of the high
+ground of the delta that shuts out the ocean. There's water enough
+here for five times that territory."
+
+"Do you mean--" the Seer began quickly and stopped.
+
+"I mean this: you already know the north and northeastern part of
+the Basin from the railroad. You have been through it from the west
+on the San Felipe trail. Send the outfit in to-morrow with the boys.
+Give them orders on the bank for their pay and let them go. You and
+I can scout around the delta end of that country over there for a
+week or two and if it looks good, with what you have already seen,
+you have enough to talk on. Then go on to New York and when you
+report on the southern project turn loose on 'em with this."
+
+"Abe," said the engineer thoughtfully, "if anyone but you were to
+propose that I go before these capitalists to interest them in a
+project without ever having put an instrument on it I would knock
+him down. Such recklessness would ruin any civil engineer in the
+world, if--"
+
+"If he guessed wrong," finished Abe dryly.
+
+"If he guessed wrong," admitted the Seer reluctantly.
+
+"If it looked good enough for you to risk an opinion you would have
+some strong talking points," ventured Abe. "There must be five
+hundred thousand acres in that old sea-bed. The Colorado carries
+water enough for five times that area. There's the railroad already
+built along one side; there's San Felipe and the whole Coast country
+within easy reach. It beats the other proposition a hundred to one,
+if it can be done at all."
+
+The Seer rose and paced up and down in the bright moonlight.
+Presently he said: "If you accept the position with Hunt up north
+you should go on at once. That job would be the best thing you ever
+had. Don't you want to take it?"
+
+"You know what I want, if you can use me."
+
+"I could manage your present salary for this trip but beyond that
+you know how uncertain it all is. Hunt can't wait any longer."
+
+"Look here," said Abe, angrily, "I understood when I made my
+proposition that our salaries would stop when we cut the outfit. Do
+you think I meant for you to take all the risk? I'm only a surveyor
+and you an educated engineer but this thing means as much to me as
+it does to you. Let me share the expense and I'm with you but not on
+any other terms. Hunt and his job can go hang. I don't see why you
+should assume that it's only my pay that I work for." It was a long
+speech for Abe.
+
+The engineer put his big hand on the young man's shoulder. "Thank
+you, Abe," he said. "That does me good. I've always known that it
+was there. But it's a hard road, lad, a mighty hard road!" Then: "I
+wonder if we have an Indian in the outfit who knows this country."
+
+"Yes, sir," Abe answered promptly. "Jose knows it well. I've been
+pumping him for a month. I'll get him."
+
+As the tall figure of the surveyor disappeared in the direction of
+the Oocopah camp the Seer smiled to himself. "Been pumping him for a
+month," he repeated. "That means that he saw almost before I did
+that the other proposition was no good. Humph!"
+
+He faced toward the river and looked away into the night where The
+King's Basin lay--a weird dream-country under the light of the moon.
+And because it was impossible to think of Barbara's Desert without
+thinking of Barbara he smiled again, musing that there would be
+little sleep that night for the girl in Rubio City if she knew what
+he and Abe were considering. From across the river came the shrill,
+snarling, yelping coyote chorus and the engineer saw again the body
+of a dead woman at the dry water hole, an empty canteen, and a big-
+eyed, brown-haired baby stretching out her arms to him.
+
+While the Seer was too careful an engineer to take quickly the
+suggestion of Abe, he had seen too many tests of the desert-bred
+surveyor's genius not to consider his proposition seriously. He was
+also too much of a dreamer not to be influenced by thoughts of
+Barbara and her association in his mind with this particular
+project. Could it be that the land which had so tragically given the
+child into his life was now to realize his dreams of Reclamation.
+
+He was interrupted by the return of Abe, who was followed by an old,
+grizzly-haired Cocopah.
+
+"Tell the Chief what you have told me, Jose," said the surveyor and,
+stepping aside, he rolled the inevitable cigarette with an air of
+taking himself wholly out of the matter under consideration.
+
+"You sabe that country over there, Jose?" asked the Chief.
+
+"Si, Senor," came the soft answer, and reaching out, the Indian
+gently turned the engineer so that the latter stood with his back
+squarely to the river. Taking the Seer's right hand and holding it
+outstretched with open palm upward in one of his own and tracing
+with the other dark-skinned finger, as one might trace on a relief
+map, he continued in Spanish, as he drew his finger carefully along
+the white man's thumb from the wrist: "Here are the mountains that
+shut out the country by the Big Sea where is San Felipe. I go there
+once, long time ago. My people live there." He indicated the space
+between the first and second joints of the thumb. Next he touched
+the base of the Seer's little finger. "Here is Rubio City." Then
+tracing the outer rim of the palm toward the wrist: "Here are the
+hills, and the railroad that the Senor made." His finger paused in
+the depression between the base of the thumb and the outer edge of
+the palm at the wrist. "The Senor's railroad goes through the Pass
+in the high mountains here." Next, from the outer edge of the hand
+he traced across the palm at the base of the fingers. "The river
+goes this way to the big water that comes in from the sea here." He
+indicated the open space between the extended thumb and the inner
+edge of the palm.
+
+"We stand now here." He touched the base of the Seer's index finger.
+"It is The Hollow of God's Hand, Senor--La Palma de la Mano de
+Dios," he repeated reverently. He dropped the engineer's hand and
+stood quietly waiting to be questioned.
+
+Again the Seer put forth his hand and pointing with his own finger
+to the inner edge of the palm between the base of the index finger
+and the thumb, he asked: "The land is high here?"
+
+"Si, Senor, a little. Just like the hand. It is much low here." He
+touched the deepest part of the palm. "And a little high here where
+we stand. Sometimes when much water comes the river goes all over
+here." He indicated the extreme inner edge of the palm. "Most always
+this water go all this way"--toward the open space between the thumb
+and palm. "Sometimes a little goes here." He traced the lines that
+cross the palm towards the wrist.
+
+"You can show us this country?"
+
+"Si, Senor." "How long will it take?"
+
+"What you like. From here to Lone Mountain straight--maybe one day
+go, maybe two day go."
+
+"There is water?"
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF LA PALMA DE LA MANO DE DIOS (THE HOLLOW Of
+GOD'S HAND) DRAWN BY ALLEN KELLY TECOLOTE RANCHO 1911]
+
+"Si. Much water left from the river last time big water come."
+
+The Chief looked at the silent Abe, then back to the old Indian.
+"All right, Jose; we go in the morning--you, Senor Lee and I. Be
+ready."
+
+"Si, Senor. Buenos noches, Senores."
+
+"Good night! Good night!" returned the two white men.
+
+There was much conjecturing among the surprised surveyors next
+morning, when the Chief gave to each man his pay check and placed an
+old-timer in charge with instructions as to the disposition of the
+outfit when they should arrive in Rubio City.
+
+Two loaded pack-mules and three saddle ponies were ready when the
+Seer had finished his business with the men. Good-bys were spoken
+all around and the Seer and Abe, with Jose in the lead, turned back
+toward the south.
+
+"Looks like they had forgotten something," said one of the recruits
+as the group stood watching the little party jog steadily into the
+distance, apparently retracing the tracks the expedition had made
+the day before.
+
+"Sonny," remarked the veteran left in charge, "what one of that pair
+forgets the other is dead sure to remember. All the signs say that
+they're makin' big medicine. All we have to do with it is to push
+for Rubio City pronto and cash our pay checks. Lord! but wouldn't I
+like to be in it," he added regretfully as he turned away.
+
+With provisions for three weeks on the pack-animals and the
+assurance of Jose that there was feed and water in the overflow
+lands for the horses, the Seer and Abe proposed to cover most of the
+territory lying between the Rio Colorado and Lone Mountain. It was
+here that the great river, in the ages long past, had built the
+delta dam, thus cutting off the northern end of the gulf that was
+now The King's Basin Desert. It was their plan to follow this high
+land that separated the ocean from the Basin to the mountains, then
+to work back as far out in the Basin from water and feed as they
+could. They would then follow the river on the Basin side to Rubio
+City.
+
+They had barely passed beyond sight of the main party when Jose
+turned directly toward the river. At that stage of water a long bar
+put out into the stream and from its point the current set strongly
+toward the opposite bank.
+
+"Here we cross," said the Indian briefly.
+
+Constructing a rude raft for their supplies and swimming the
+animals, they reached the other shore some distance below the point
+of launching with no accident, and that night camped well back from
+the river on the delta land.
+
+Day after day they rode from sunrise until dark; studying the land,
+estimating distances and grades, observing the courses of the
+channels cut by the overflow and the marks of high water, noting the
+character of the soil and the vegetation; sometimes together,
+sometimes separated; with Jose to select their camping places and to
+help them with his Indian knowledge of the country.
+
+And always at night, after the long hard day, when supper--cooked by
+their own hands--was over, with pipe and cigarettes they reviewed
+their observations and compared notes, summing up the results before
+rolling in their blankets to sleep under the stars.
+
+Some day, perhaps, when the world is much older and very much wiser,
+Civilization will erect a proper monument to the memory of such men
+as these. But just now Civilization is too greedily quarreling over
+its newly acquired wealth to acknowledge its debt of honor to those
+who made this wealth possible.
+
+But the Seer and his companion concerned themselves with no such
+thoughts as these. They thought only of the possibility of
+converting the thousands of acres of The King's Basin Desert into
+productive farms. For this they conceived to be their work.
+
+They had worked across the Basin to Lone Mountain and back to the
+river to a point nearly opposite the clump of cotton woods where
+they had left the expedition. To-morrow night they would be in Rubio
+City.
+
+"Abe," said the Seer, "our intake would go in right here. We could
+follow the old channel of Dry River with our canal about twenty
+miles out, put in a heading and lead off our mains and laterals."
+
+For two or three hours they discussed plans and estimates, then the
+engineer shut his note-book with a snap. "If those New Yorkers don't
+listen to what I can tell them of this country now they're a whole
+lot slower than I take them to be."
+
+"Then you think you will make a guess on the proposition," asked Abe
+slyly.
+
+The Seer laughed like a boy. "I start for New York to-morrow night,"
+he answered.
+
+In the afternoon of the next day they struck the San Felipe trail a
+few miles from Rubio City. Perhaps it was the sight of that old
+road, with its memories for the Seer and his companion, that led the
+engineer to say: "It's curious, Abe, but I can't shake off the odd
+feeling that Barbara's life is somehow wrapped up in that country
+out there." As he spoke he turned in his saddle to look back toward
+the Basin. "She seems to belong to it somehow as, in a way, it
+belongs to her. There is a look in her eyes sometimes that makes me
+think of the desert and the desert always reminds me of her. I know
+one thing," he finished with a short laugh, "if I was to let out
+some of the fancies that have come to me in this connection it would
+ruin me forever so far as my profession goes."
+
+Abe made no reply, possibly because he also had fancies--fancies
+that he could not tell even to the Seer.
+
+It is astonishing what a great cloud of dust five animals can stir
+up on a desert trail. As the little outfit jogged slowly along, the
+great yellow mass rolled up into the air high above their heads and
+hung--a long, slow-drifting streamer--above the trail until it
+vanished in the distance.
+
+Barbara, who was riding out from town on the Mesa, saw that cloud
+and stopped to study it intently for a few moments as if debating
+some question. Then touching her animal with the spur, she set off
+rapidly in the direction of the approaching horsemen; while the two
+men watched the dust that arose from the single horse's feet with
+the interest that travelers in lonely lands always feel in any life
+that chances to come their way.
+
+"Abe, that's a woman," exclaimed the Seer after a time.
+
+Abe said nothing. He had discovered that interesting fact some
+moments before.
+
+The engineer rose in his stirrups. "Abe, I'll bet a month's salary
+it's Barbara."
+
+"I'm not gambling," returned the other, smiling at his companion's
+excitement. "I know it is."
+
+The big engineer dropped into his saddle with a grunt of disgust.
+"Young man, you've got eyes like a buzzard," he said, twisting about
+to face his companion. "By all traditions I suppose I should say
+'eagle,' but you certainly don't look much like that noble king of
+birds. You're carrying dirt enough to bury a horse."
+
+The Seer took off his sombrero and began beating the dust from his
+own shoulders, while the surveyor looked on in silent amusement.
+
+"She'll think by the dust you're a-raisin' that there's some kind of
+a scrap goin' on and that she'd better head the other way."
+
+"Not much she wouldn't head the other way from a scrap. She would
+come on all the faster. I thought you knew Barbara better than
+that." He replaced his hat. "Why Abe, one time when she was--"
+
+The surveyor interrupted his Chief by standing up in his stirrups in
+turn and swinging his hat in greeting, while the Seer, in waving his
+own sombrero and whooping like a wild man, forgot what he was about
+to relate.
+
+The girl came on at a run and--guiding her horse between the two
+dust-covered men--held out a hand to each.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+THE STANDARD OF THE WEST.
+
+
+Three days after the Seer's letters to Abe and Barbara telling them
+that James Greenfield and his associates would finance an expedition
+to make the preliminary surveys in The King's Basin Desert, the
+west-bound overland dropped a passenger in Rubio City from New York.
+
+The stranger was really a fine looking young man with the appearance
+of being exceptionally well-bred and well-kept. Indeed the most
+casual of observers would not have hesitated to pronounce him a
+thoroughbred and a good individual of the best type that the race
+has produced.
+
+A company of men and women--traveling acquaintances evidently--
+followed him from the Pullman to bid him good-by and to look at the
+Indians, who with their wealth of curios spread before them,
+squatted in a long row beside the track--objects of never failing
+interest to travelers from the East.
+
+"Ugh!" said a tall blonde, who displayed more bracelets, bangles,
+chains and charms--both natural and manufactured--than any blanketed
+squaw in the party of natives, "I suppose if we ever see you again
+you'll be the color of that thing there." She pointed to a smoky,
+copper-colored Papago in a green head-cloth and decorated shirt, who
+posed in a watchful attitude near his thrifty help-meet.
+
+"How perfectly romantic!" gushed a billowy divorcee, clinging to the
+young fellow's athletic arm with little shivers of delight. "To
+think of you in this great, savage, wild land, among these strange
+people. Aren't you just a little bit frightened?"
+
+"By George, I half wish I was going to stop with you. You'll get
+some great shooting, don't you know!" exclaimed one of the men,
+while the chorus joined in: "You'll die of loneliness!" "You'll find
+nothing fit to eat!" "And do take care of yourself!"
+
+Then as the warning, "All aboard!" and the clang of the engine bell
+came down the platform, there were quick good-bys and a rush for the
+car. The colored porters tossed their steps aboard and followed.
+Smoothly the long, dust-covered coaches slid past. There was a
+waving of handkerchiefs and caps from the rear of the observation
+car, and the young man turned to look curiously about.
+
+"Hotel?"
+
+The stranger glanced doubtfully at the tough-looking citizen who
+reached for his suit case, and without replying stepped into the
+questionable looking hack standing nearby. The driver threw the
+suitcase into the vehicle after his passenger and climbing to his
+seat, yelled to the team.
+
+There was no rush of brass-buttoned bell-boys to meet the guest at
+the door of the hotel, and the room was well-filled with a group
+strange to the eyes of the young man from New York. Bronzed-faced
+men in flannel shirts and belted trousers talked to men well-dressed
+in more conventional business clothes; others in their shirt sleeves
+sat smoking with companions in blue overalls; two or three wore guns
+loosely belted at their hips. Here and there was the pale-faced,
+white-collared, tied and tailored tourist. In the corner near the
+big window a group of women, some in white duck, some in khaki or
+corduroy, sat chatting and enjoying the scene. No one paid the least
+attention to the newcomer. The tough-looking driver of the hack
+dropped the suit case near the desk with a bang and turned to reply
+to a good-natured remark addressed to him by a jovial, well-dressed
+man standing near. Only the clerk regarded the stranger.
+
+"Have you a room with bath?"
+
+The clerk smiled. "Certainly, sir." Then to a young fellow talking
+over the cigar counter to a man in high-heeled boots and spurs:
+"Jack, show this gentleman to forty-five."
+
+In the well-furnished room the guide threw open long French windows
+and pointed to a cot on the screened-porch outside. "Better sleep on
+the porch," he volunteered.
+
+"Sleep on the porch?"
+
+"Suit yourself," came the answer as the independent one turned away.
+
+"Look here!" The employe of the house paused. "I want my trunk sent
+up immediately."
+
+"Sure Mike! Let's have your checks. So-long!"
+
+The stranger stood staring at the door, which the breezy young man,
+as he disappeared with a cheery whistle, had shut behind him with a
+vigorous bang.
+
+In the dining room the man from New York found the same easy freedom
+in the manner of dress, the same lack of conventionalities and the
+same atmosphere of general good-fellowship; yet he could not say
+that there was any lack of real courtesy and certainly there was no
+rude and boisterous talk. It was, to say the least, unsettling to
+the exceptionally well-bred and well-kept stranger, accustomed to
+the hotels and restaurants in the East frequented by his class.
+
+Early that evening the Easterner sallied forth, clearly bent on
+sight-seeing. He had dressed for the occasion. The gray traveling
+suit had been put aside for a tailor-made outfit of corduroy. The
+coat--worn without a vest over a fine negligee shirt of silk--was
+Norfolk; the trousers were riding trousers and above the tan shoes
+were pig-skin puttees. All this, with the light, soft hat, neat tie
+and the undeniably fine figure and handsome face, would have made
+him attractive on any stage. The tourists turned to look after him
+with expressions of admiring envy; the natives--white, red, black,
+yellow and brown--accepted him with no more than a passing glance as
+a part of the strange new life that the railroad was constantly
+bringing to Rubio City.
+
+Calmly conscious of himself and openly interested, in a mildly
+condescending way, the young man strolled down one side of the main
+street to the end of the business section, then back on the other.
+Twice he made the round, then, seeking scenes of further interest,
+pushed open the swinging doors of Rubio City's most popular place of
+amusement--the Gold Bar saloon.
+
+At a table in one corner two men--one tall, darkfaced, coatless,
+with unbuttoned vest, leather wrist-guards, and a heavy gun loosely
+buckled about his slim waist; the other thick-set, heavy, red-faced
+--were holding animated conversation over their glasses. That is to
+say: the thick, red-faced man was animated. Glaring at his companion
+he banged his huge, hairy fist on the table until the glasses
+jumped.
+
+"Ye're a domned owld savage wid yer talk. Fwhat the hell is yer
+counthry good for as ut is? A thousan' square miles av ut wouldn't
+feed a jack-rabbit. 'Tis a blistherin', sizzlin', roastin',
+wilderness av sand an' cactus, fit for nothin' but thim side-
+winders, horn'-toads, heely-monsters an' all their poisonous
+relations, includin' yersilf."
+
+The New Yorker, standing at the end of the bar nearest the table
+occupied by Barbara's "uncles," who had just arrived from the Gold
+Center mines, heard the words of Pat and turned toward the two
+friends with amused interest.
+
+Texas Joe silently lifted his glass and with a look of undisguised
+admiration for his belligerent partner, waited for more. More came
+with another thump of the huge fist.
+
+"'Tis civilization that ye need, an' 'tis civilization that we're
+bringin' to ye, an' 'tis civilization that ye've got to take whether
+ye like ut or not. Look at the Seer, now! Wan gintleman wid brains
+an' education like him is wort' more to this counthry than all the
+hell-roarin' savages like yersilf between the Coast an' Oklahoma,
+which is not so much better than it was. We've brung ye money; we've
+brung ye schools; we've brung ye railroads; an' we'll kape on
+bringin' ye the blissin's an' joys av civilization 'til ye mend yer
+ways an' live like Christians."
+
+He paused. Texas was staring with child-like simplicity at the
+immaculate figure of the stranger in puttees. Pat turned to follow
+the gaze of his companion just as the plainsman drawled softly: "And
+you've brought us that." The Irishman's heavy jaw dropped. He gasped
+and gulped like an uncouth monster. Then--speechless--he drained his
+glass.
+
+The stranger's face flushed but he did not move.
+
+"Pardner," drawled Texas, "your remarks is sure edifyin' a heap an'
+some convincin'. But I'm still constrained to testify that the real
+cause an' reason for the declinin' glory of this yere great western
+country is poor shootin'. That same, in turn, bein' caused by the
+incomin' herds from the effete East bein' so numerous as to hinder
+gun-practice."
+
+"Guns is ut?" interrupted the other with a roar. "A man--mind ye: a
+man--should be ashamed to go about all the time wid a cannon tied to
+his middle. 'Tis the mark av a child. Look at ye, now, wid all yer
+artillery an' me wid fingers that niver pushed a thrigger." He held
+out his great paws and studied them admiringly. "Why, ye herrin',
+wid thim two hands I could break ye, gun an' all, like I've--"
+
+He was interrupted by a wild-eyed individual who rushed into the
+room from the street and, springing toward them, burst forth with:
+"Give me your gun, Texas, quick! I ain't got mine on and that damned
+Red Hoyt is a layin' for me at the corner!"
+
+Texas Joe dropped his slim hand caressingly on the big forty-five at
+his side, leaned easily back in his chair and eyed the excited
+citizen in a manner calmly judicial. "Bill, you're comin' is some
+opportune. You're sure Johnny-on-the-spot."
+
+"Le' me have yer gun, Tex. Jes' loan her to me! I'll be back in a
+minute."
+
+"Oh, I ain't doubtin' that you'd be back all right, Bill. That's
+jest the p'int. When you blew in so promisc'us an' interrupted the
+meetin', me an' my friend here was jest resolvin' that there's too
+much bad shootin' bein' done in this here Rubio town. It's a
+spoilin' the fair name an' a ruinin' the reputation of this country.
+For which said reason us two undertakes to regulate an' reform
+some." He turned with elaborate politeness to Pat. "I voices yer
+sentiments correct, pard?"
+
+The Irishman's fist struck the table and his eyes flashed. "To the
+thrim av a gnat's heel," he roared.
+
+Texas bowed and continued: "Therefore, Bill, this here's our
+verdict. You camp right here peaceable while I go out an' fetch this
+Red Hoyt person what's been annoyin' you. We'll stand you up at
+fifteen steps, with nothing between to obstruct ceremonies, an' drop
+the hat. Me an' my friend referees the job an' undertakes to see
+that the remains is duly and properly planted with all regular
+honors. Sabe?"
+
+The blood-thirsty one, growling something about attending to his own
+funeral and finding a gun somewhere else, went quietly and quickly
+out.
+
+Before the pugnacious Pat could voice his disgust and disappointment
+at the disappearance of the trouble-hunting citizen, a low,
+contemptuous laugh from the well-built stranger at the bar drew the
+attention of the two friends. The young man was watching them with
+an amused smile.
+
+Texas Joe and the Irishman regarded each other thoughtfully. "Pard,"
+said Tex in a low, earnest tone, "do you reckon that there hilarity
+was in any ways directed toward this corner of the room?"
+
+The stranger, receiving his change from the bartender, was moving
+leisurely toward the door when his way was barred by the heavy bulk
+of Pat. There was no misunderstanding the expression on the battle-
+scarred features of the Irish gladiator. Eyeing the athletic
+Easterner fiercely, he growled with deliberate meaning: "Ye same to
+be findin' plenty av amusement in the private affairs av me friend
+an' mesilf. D'ye think that we are a coople av hoochy-koochy girls
+to be makin' sphort for all the domned dudes that runs to look at us
+whin their mammas don't know they're out?"
+
+The other regarded him with well-bred surprise. "Stand aside," he
+said curtly.
+
+"Oh, ho! ye will lave widout properly apologizin' for yer outrageous
+conduc' will ye? 'Tis an ambulance that ye'll nade to take ye home
+whin I've taught ye manners, ye danged yellow-legged cock-a-doodle!"
+
+He lifted his fists and the stranger, without giving back an inch or
+exhibiting the slightest suggestion of fear, but rather with the
+calm self-confidence of a trained athlete, squared himself for the
+encounter.
+
+Eagerly the patrons of the place--miners, cowboys, ranchers,
+adventurers, Mexicans, Indians--had gathered around the two men,
+delighted with the prospect of what promised to be no tame
+exhibition. Already several bets had been placed and critical
+estimates and comments on the comparative merits of the two were
+being made freely when a hand fell on Pat's uplifted arm. Turning
+with an oath of rage at the interruption, the Irishman faced Abe
+Lee.
+
+"Hello, Pat! Amusing yourself as usual?" To the angry protests from
+the crowd the tall surveyor gave not the slightest heed.
+
+For a moment the Irishman, looking up into that thin, sun-tanned
+face, was speechless as though he faced some apparition. Then with a
+yell of delight he caught the lank form of the Seer's assistant in a
+bear-like hug. "For the love av Gawd is ut ye, ye owld sand-rat?
+Where the hell did ye drop from, an? fwhat are ye doin' in this
+dishreputable company? Look at Uncle Tex, there! The sentimental
+owld savage is fair slobberin' wid delight an' eagerness to git at
+ye. Come, come; we must have a dhrink."
+
+As quickly as it had risen the storm had passed. The crowd, as if
+moved by a single impulse, separated and the room was filled with
+loud talk and laughter. Glancing around, Pat's eye met the still
+defiant look of the stranger who had not moved from his place but
+stood calmly watching the Irishman and Abe as if waiting the
+pleasure of the man who had challenged him.
+
+The Irishman grinned in appreciation. "Howld on a minut," he said to
+Abe who was moving away with Texas Joe toward a vacant table. Then
+to the stranger: "I axe yer pardon, Sorr, for goin' off me head that
+way. 'Tis a habit I have, worse luck to me--bein' sensitive, do ye
+see, about me personal appearance an' some wishful for a bit av
+honest enjoyment. Av ye'll have a dhrink wid me an' my friends here
+I'll take ut kindly until we can find some betther cause for
+grievance."
+
+The young man's tense figure relaxed. A smile broke over his face.
+"And I beg your pardon," he said heartily. "The fact is I was not
+laughing at you at all but at the way you two men called the bluff
+of that fellow who wanted the gun. I should have said so and
+apologized but I, too, was a little upset and thrown off my guard."
+
+"Faith, ut looked to me that ye were thrown on your guard. 'Tis the
+science ye have or I'm a Dutchman." He eyed the athletic limbs, deep
+chest, broad shoulders and well-set head, with eyes that twinkled
+his approval. "Some day--But niver mind now! Come." He led the way
+to the table.
+
+As they seated themselves Pat regarded the surveyor with pleased
+interest. "Well, well! 'tis a most unexpected worrld. Av 'twas the
+owld divil himsilf that clapped his hand on me arm I'd be no more
+surprised than I was to see the lad here. Tell us, me bhoy, fwhat
+'tis that's brung ye here."
+
+"Haven't you two been to see Barbara yet?" the surveyor demanded as
+though charging them with some neglected duty.
+
+"We have not; an' by that ye will know that we've been in this town
+less than an hour by Tex's watch that Barbara give him an' that he
+lost down the shaft at Gold Center."
+
+When the surveyor had explained his presence in Rubio City and Texas
+and Pat had agreed to join the King's Basin party, the stranger
+said: "I think it is quite time now that I introduce myself. You are
+Mr. Lee, I believe."
+
+Abe assented and with his two companions regarded him with interest.
+
+Taking a letter from his pocket and handing it to the surveyor, the
+young man continued: "I am a civil engineer. I have instructions
+from the Chief to report to you. My name is Willard Holmes."
+
+The next morning the young engineer from the East presented his card
+at the Pioneer Bank and asked for Mr. Worth. The man who received
+the correctly engraved bit of pasteboard merely nodded toward the
+other end of the long partition of polished wood, plate glass and
+bronze bars. "You'll find him back there, Mr. Holmes."
+
+The New Yorker smiled at the provincialism but sought the banker
+without further ceremony.
+
+Closing the door with one hand Jefferson Worth with the other
+indicated the chair at the end of his desk. "Sit down."
+
+"You have a letter from Mr. Greenfield relative to my coming?" asked
+Willard Holmes.
+
+The banker lifted a typewritten sheet from his desk, glanced at it
+and turned back to his visitor. "Yes," he said.
+
+The involuntary movement was the instinctive act of one who
+habitually verifies every statement. Then, as those expressionless
+blue eyes were fixed on the stranger's face, the engineer's
+sensation was as though from behind that gray mask something reached
+out to grasp his innermost thoughts and emotions. He felt strangely
+transparent and exposed as one, alone in his lighted chamber at
+night, might feel someone in the dark without, watching through the
+window. Presently the colorless, exact voice of Jefferson Worth
+asked: "This is your first visit West?"
+
+"Yes sir. My work has been altogether in New York and the New
+England states."
+
+"Five years with the New York Contracting and Construction Company?"
+said Jefferson Worth exactly, laying his hand again on the letter on
+his desk.
+
+"Yes. For the past two years I have had charge of their more
+important operations." The engineer's tone was a shade impressive.
+
+But there was not the faintest shadow of a hint in the face or
+manner of that man in the revolving chair to intimate that he was
+impressed. The visitor might as well have spoken to the steel door
+of the big safe in the other room. "You are well acquainted with Mr.
+Greenfield and his associates?"
+
+"My father and Mr. Greenfield were boyhood friends and college
+classmates," the engineer explained. "Since the death of my father
+when I was a little chap, I have lived with Uncle Jim. He was my
+guardian until I became of age."
+
+The young man did not think it necessary to add that the death of
+his father had left him penniless and that his father's friend, who
+had never married, had reared and educated the child of his old
+classmate as his own son. Neither did he explain that his rapid
+advancement in his profession was due largely to the powerful
+influence of the capitalist and those closely associated with him,
+together with the strength of the proud social position to which he
+was born, rather than to hard work and experience. Probably Willard
+Holmes himself did not realize how much these things had added to
+his own native ability and technical training. He had never known
+anything else but these things and he accepted them as unconsciously
+as his voice was colored with the accent of the cultured East.
+
+"How do you size up this King's Basin proposition?" questioned the
+banker.
+
+Again Willard Holmes smiled at the western man's words. "Sizing up"
+and "proposition" were pleasingly novel forms of expression to him.
+"Really," he answered, "I haven't gone into it very thoroughly as
+yet. Mr. Greenfield asked me to come out because he and his
+associates felt"--he paused; perhaps it would be just as well not to
+say what Mr. Greenfield and his associates felt--"that with my
+experience in connection with large corporations I could be of value
+to them in certain phases of the work," he finished. He wondered if
+the man, who listened with such an air of carefully considering
+every word and mentally reaching out for whatever lay back of the
+verbal expression, had grasped what he had been about to say.
+
+Jefferson Worth waited and Holmes continued: "Mr. Greenfield and his
+friends are very anxious that you should come in with them on the
+organization of this company, Mr. Worth; that is, of course,
+providing the scheme proves to be practicable. They instructed me to
+urge you personally to consider their proposal favorably and to ask
+you, by all means, to represent them on this expedition if possible.
+They realize that a man of your recognized ability and standing in
+the financial world, particularly in the West, in close touch as you
+are with Capital and conditions in this part of the country and no
+doubt familiar with the Reclamation work, would be a valuable
+addition to their strength. In fact I may say they would depend
+largely upon your judgment as to whether the scheme was practicable
+from a business standpoint. On your side I am sure you recognize the
+advantage of allying yourself with such a group of capitalists, who
+are strong enough to finance any undertaking, no matter how great.
+Their interests are already enormous. As you know, they operate only
+on the largest scale and, if this survey justifies the report
+already made, they will make a big thing out of this for everyone
+interested."
+
+The cold, exact voice of Jefferson Worth came as if from a machine
+incapable of inflection. "I have written Mr. Greenfield that I would
+look into the proposition for him. I will go out with the outfit.
+Have you seen Abe Lee?"
+
+"I met him last night and we had a little talk over things. I
+confess I was a little surprised."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Well--that he is in charge. I was instructed to report to him. I
+find that he has had no schooling whatever; that, in fact, he is
+nothing but a kind of a self-educated surveyor. I have no doubt that
+he is a good, practical fellow, but it seems to me somewhat reckless
+to put him in such a responsible position."
+
+Jefferson Worth did not say that he himself had had no more
+schooling than the Seer's lieutenant. Perhaps that, also, was not
+necessary to explain. He did say: "We have only one standard in the
+West, Mr. Holmes."
+
+"And that?"
+
+"What can you do?" came the words as if spoken by cold iron.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+DON'T YOU LIKE MY DESERT, MR. HOLMES?
+
+
+After his noon-day meal, Willard Holmes, following the example of
+others, sought the shade of the arcade in front of the hotel.
+Helping himself to a chair and moving a little away from the general
+company, he sat enjoying his cigar, musing on the novelty of his
+surroundings and reviewing his impressions of the last few hours.
+
+It was natural that he should make comparisons--that he should see
+men and things in the light of the only men and things he had ever
+known. Abe Lee he measured by the standing of his own school-trained
+engineering friends, demanding that the desert-born and desert-
+trained surveyor exhibit all the hall-marks of Boston. He might as
+consistently have demanded that the flood of sunlight that fell in
+such blinding glory upon the new world before him should shine as
+through the smoke-grimed city atmosphere of New York. One was no
+more impossible than the other. Jefferson Worth he compared with the
+college and university friends of his father--with Mr. Greenfield
+and the New York-bred business men of his class, demanding that the
+western pioneer banker show the same characteristics that
+distinguished the cultured capitalists whose great-great-
+grandfathers were pioneers. Rubio City he saw in the light of those
+eastern cities that were founded in the days when men knew not that
+there was any world west of the Alleghanies.
+
+Turning his head now and then to look over the typical groups that
+sat in the shade of the arcade, dressed--or undressed--with all the
+easy freedom of a land too young as yet to have conventions, he
+recalled his favorite hotels in his home cities and smiled to think
+what would happen if some of these roughly clad individuals were to
+appear there among the guests. He did not know yet that some of
+these roughly clad individuals were as much at home in those same
+favorite hotels as was he himself. Likewise as he watched the
+passing citizens in the street he recalled the scene from the
+windows of his club at home--a famous club on a famous avenue.
+
+That young woman, for instance, with her khaki divided skirt, wide
+sombrero, fringed gauntlets and the big western saddle coming there
+on a horse whose feet seemed scarcely to touch the ground as he
+plunged and pranced impatiently along, springing side-wise, with
+arched neck and pointed ears, at every object that could possibly be
+made into something frightful by his playful fancy! What a sensation
+she would create at home! By Jove! but she could ride, though. He
+watched with admiring eyes the strong, graceful figure that sat the
+high-strung, uncertain horse as easily and unconsciously as any one
+of his women friends at home would rest in a comfortable chair.
+
+As the horsewoman drew nearer he fell to wondering what she was
+like. Could she talk, for instance, of anything but the homely
+details of her own rough life? He shrugged his shoulders as he
+fancied her crude attempts at conversation, her uncouth language and
+raw expressions. The girl turned her horse toward the hotel
+entrance. As she drew still nearer he saw that she was not pretty.
+Her mouth was too large, her face too strong, her skin too tanned by
+the sun and wind.
+
+At the sidewalk the girl swung from the saddle lightly, and throwing
+the bridle reins over the horse's head with a movement that brought
+out the beautiful lines of her figure, she turned her back upon the
+pawing, restless animal with as little concern as though she had
+delivered him to a correctly uniformed groom. No she was not pretty;
+she was--magnificent. The adjective forced itself upon him.
+
+All along the arcade people were smiling in greeting, the men
+lifting their hats. Two cowboys in high-heeled boots and "chaps"
+paused in passing. "That new hawss of yours is sure some hawss, Miss
+Barbara," said one admiringly, sombrero in hand.
+
+The girl smiled and Holmes saw the flash of her perfect teeth. "Oh,
+he'll do, Bob, when I've worked him down a little."
+
+She passed into the hotel, followed by the eyes of every man in
+sight including the engineer, who had noted with surprise the purity
+and richness of her voice.
+
+The New York man had turned and was watching a company of Indians
+farther down the street when that voice close beside him said: "I
+beg your pardon. Is this Mr. Holmes?"
+
+He turned quickly, rising to his feet.
+
+She smiled at his astonished look. "The clerk pointed you out to me.
+I am Barbara Worth. You met father at the bank this morning. Texas
+Joe and Pat told me about your being here and I could scarcely wait
+to see you. I'm afraid you must have thought them a little rough
+last night but really it's only their fun. They're as good as gold."
+
+As she stood now close to him--the red blood glowing under the soft
+brown of her cheeks--Willard Holmes felt her rich personality as
+distinctly as one senses the presence of the ocean, the atmosphere
+of the woods or the air of meadows and fields. But by all his
+conventional gods, this was the unconventional limit! that this
+girl, the daughter of a banker, should openly seek out a total
+stranger to introduce herself to him on the public street before a
+crowd of hotel loungers! And the way she spoke of those rough men in
+the saloon, one would think they were her intimate friends.
+
+He managed to say: "Really, I am delighted, Miss Worth. May I escort
+you to the hotel parlor?"
+
+She looked at him curiously. "Oh, no indeed! It is much nicer out
+here in the arcade, don't you think? But you may bring another
+chair." Dumbly he obeyed, feeling that every eye was on him and
+flushing with embarrassment for her.
+
+"When Texas and Pat told me that you were one of the engineers going
+out with The King's Basin party I could scarcely wait to see you. It
+makes it all seem so real, you know--your coming all the way out
+here from New York. I have dreamed so much about the reclamation of
+The King's Basin Desert; and you see I consider all civil engineers
+my personal friends."
+
+"Indeed," he said. It is always safely correct to say "indeed" as he
+said it, particularly when you have nothing else to say.
+
+She regarded him doubtfully with an open, straight-forward look
+which was somewhat disconcerting. She was so unconscious of the
+strength of her splendid womanhood and he felt her presence so
+vividly.
+
+"I suppose you must find everything out here very strange," she said
+slowly. "Father says this is your first visit to the West and of
+course it _can't_ be like your part of the country."
+
+"It is all very interesting," he murmured. This also was sane and
+safe.
+
+"I know that Abe is very busy and father never leaves the bank
+except on business, so there is no one but me to look after you"--
+she smiled--"that is--no one of our King's Basin people."
+
+Willard Holmes was of that type of corporation servant who
+recognizes no interests but the financial interests of the capital
+employing him. His services as a civil engineer belonged wholly to
+those who bought them for their own profit. Barbara's innocent words
+aroused him. What the deuce did she mean by "our King's Basin
+people"? Greenfield and his friends thought that _they_ were The
+King's Basin people. In the interests of his employers he must look
+into this.
+
+[Illustration: "But I don't ride, you know."]
+
+"It is very kind of you, I am sure," he said with a little more
+warmth. "To tell the truth I _was_ feeling a bit strange, you know."
+
+"I'm sure you must be nearly dead with lonesomeness. Wouldn't you
+like to go for a ride? I would so like to show you my Desert."
+
+"_Her_ Desert!" he mentally observed. Indeed he must look into this.
+Fully alert now he answered heartily: "I should be delighted, I'm
+sure. You are more than kind. When could we go?"
+
+"Right now," she said quickly. "Here comes Pablo Garcia. I'll send
+him for another horse." She called to the passing Mexican: "Here
+Pablo."
+
+The young fellow came to her quickly and stood, sombrero in hand,
+his dark eyes shining with pride at the recognition. In Spanish she
+directed him to fetch a horse for the Senor.
+
+"Si, Senorita." With a low bow the Mexican turned to obey.
+
+The eastern man, not understanding the words, but awakening suddenly
+to the meaning of the action, broke forth with--"Here, wait a
+minute."
+
+"Wait," repeated Barbara in Spanish. Pablo paused.
+
+"You are sending him for a horse and saddle?" asked Holmes.
+
+"Yes; it will take only a few minutes."
+
+"But I don't ride, you know."
+
+"You don't ride?" The girl looked at him in blank amazement. "I
+don't think I ever saw a man before who didn't ride."
+
+He laughed indulgently. Something in her voice and manner touched
+his sense of humor. "I'm very sorry. I know I ought to," he said in
+mock humility.
+
+"Oh, well; we can drive. I'll have Pablo bring a rig." She explained
+what she wanted to the Mexican in his native tongue, and this time
+he mounted her horse and rode away.
+
+When the man returned a little later with a span of restless, half-
+wild broncos hitched to a light buggy, the girl stepped into the
+vehicle and took the reins as a matter of course. With a low chuckle
+of amusement the engineer took his place at her left. He was
+beginning really to enjoy the situation. Shying and plunging the
+team demanded all of Barbara's attention but she managed to steal a
+look at her silent companion now and then, as if expecting him to
+show signs of nervousness. Willard Holmes, on his part, was wrapped
+in silent admiration of her strength and skill.
+
+"They'll cool down in a little while," the girl volunteered, as if
+to reassure her guest, after a particularly wild break on the part
+of the horses. But on the extreme edge of town, where the wagon road
+runs closest to the railroad track, a passing switch engine proved
+too much for the excited team. In a moment the frightened animals
+were running toward the Mesa at full speed. With all her strength
+Barbara struggled to regain control, but her arms were a woman's
+arms and the horses, quick to recognize their advantage, put back
+their ears and ran the faster in mad defiance.
+
+The girl was not frightened; she was annoyed. "I--I'm afraid they
+are running away," she gasped at last.
+
+To her surprise a hearty laugh was the only answer to her
+confession. She shot a quick glance over her left shoulder. Her
+companion was leaning back in his seat, his merry face expressing
+the keenest enjoyment.
+
+Then the girl felt a big hard shoulder pressing against her; long
+powerful arms stretched over hers; and two masterful hands closed on
+the reins above her cramped fingers. She relinquished her hold and
+shrank back out of the way with a sigh of relief and--yes, a look of
+admiration as the horses, with a few wild leaps and ineffectual
+attempts to run again, settled down to a more rational gait.
+
+"My!" she gasped, at the exhibition of the engineer's strength, "I
+believe you could pull their front feet off the ground."
+
+Her companion was still smiling.
+
+"Why didn't you tell me you could drive?" she demanded.
+
+He chuckled maliciously, for he had understood her reason for taking
+the reins at the start and he had not been insensible of the meaning
+of her glances at the beginning of the ride. "You didn't ask me, and
+besides I enjoyed seeing you handle them."
+
+"But you told me you couldn't _ride_," she said reproachfully.
+
+"I can't," he returned. "That is I never did; not as you people in
+this country ride." Then he laughed again. "Confess now. Didn't you
+expect me to jump, back there?"
+
+"I shall confess nothing," she retorted, sharply. "And hereafter I
+shall take nothing for granted."
+
+On the high ground near the foot of the hill at the canyon's mouth
+she asked him to turn around and stop. Willard Holmes had been too
+much occupied with the team and the girl to notice the landscape;
+and now that wonderful view of the Mesa, The King's Basin and the
+mountains burst upon him without warning. No sane man could be
+insensible of the grandeur of that scene. The man, whose eyes had
+looked only upon eastern landscapes that bore in every square foot
+of their limited range the evidence of man's presence, was silent--
+awe-stricken before the mighty expanse of desert that lay as it was
+fashioned by the creative forces that formed the world. Turning at
+last from the glorious, ever-changing scenes, wrought in colors of
+gold and rose and lilac and purple and blue, to the girl whose eyes
+were fixed questioningly upon him, he said in a low voice: "Is it
+always like this?"
+
+Barbara nodded. "Always like that, but always changing. It is never
+the same, but always the same. Like--like life itself. Do you
+understand?"
+
+He turned again to the scene in silent wonder.
+
+"Do you like my Desert?" she asked, after a little time had passed.
+
+His mind caught at the expression. "Do you mean to say that that is
+The King's Basin--that we are going _there_ to work?"
+
+"Why, of course." She laughed uneasily. "Don't you like it?"
+
+"Like it?" he repeated. "But is there anyone living out there?"
+
+She was amazed at his words. "Living there? Of course not. But you
+are going to make it so that thousands and thousands can live there
+--you and the others. Don't you understand?" Her voice expressed a
+shade of impatience.
+
+"I'm afraid I did not realize," he answered slowly.
+
+"That's just it!" she cried, thoroughly aroused now and speaking
+passionately. "That's just the trouble with you eastern men; you
+don't realize. For years the dear old Seer and a few others have
+been trying to make you see what a work there is to do out here, and
+you won't even look up from your little old truck patches to give
+them intelligent attention. You think this King's Basin is big? Why,
+the Seer says that if every foot of that land was under cultivation
+it wouldn't be a posy bed beside what there is to do in the West. I
+suppose you must have done some great things in your profession, Mr.
+Holmes, or those capitalists wouldn't have sent you out here; but
+you can't have done anything that will mean to the world what the
+reclamation of The King's Basin Desert will mean one hundred years
+from now, because this work is going to make the people realize,
+don't you see?"
+
+The young engineer's face flushed under her words, and as he watched
+her strong face glowing with enthusiasm for the Seer's dream, he
+felt the sweet power of her personality sweep over him as he felt
+the breeze from off the desert. He was held as though by some magic
+spell--not by the lure of her splendid womanhood, but by that and
+something else--something that was like the country of which she
+spoke so passionately. And he remembered wondering if this girl
+could talk!
+
+He relieved the tense strain of the situation by holding out the
+reins and saying, with a whimsical smile:
+
+"Here, you can drive."
+
+She caught his meaning and smiled in acknowledgment. "Thank you, but
+I don't want to drive. That's really the man's part, you know. I
+suppose," she added, "that you think me bold and mannish and coarse
+and everything else that a girl ought not to be, but I"--she turned
+away her face and her voice trembled--"but you can't understand, Mr.
+Holmes, what this desert means to me."
+
+"Perhaps I don't understand," he said seriously. "But I am sure of
+this: somewhere back of every really great work that has ever been
+accomplished in any age there has been a woman like you."
+
+Then they drove back to the hotel where she left him and drove to
+the barn herself. A few minutes later he saw her pass again, riding
+her own quick-stepping horse.
+
+During the two weeks that followed before the Seer's return, while
+Abe Lee was busy getting ready for the work in Barbara's Desert,
+Willard Holmes and the girl were often together. The man from New
+York admitted somewhat proudly, Barbara thought--as if the very
+confession somehow established the superiority of the East--that he
+was shockingly ignorant of all things Western. But apparently
+overlooking the subtle assumption in the manner of his confession,
+she laughingly undertook his education. For one thing he must learn
+to ride.
+
+"Really," he demurred, "I don't think I care for that particular
+amusement. I have never taken it up at home, you know, but of course
+if it is the thing to do, why--"
+
+"Amusement!" she laughed. "Riding isn't an amusement; it's a
+necessity. The horse is our street car and railroad and steamboat.
+Where you think city blocks and squares we think miles; and where
+you think miles we think hundreds of miles. Two legs are not enough
+in this country, so we double the number and go on four. You'll find
+yourself wishing for eight before you get back from The King's
+Basin."
+
+So, at her bidding, Texas Joe secured a horse for him and almost
+every afternoon the two were in their saddles. And every night over
+his evening cigar at the hotel the engineer found himself reviewing
+the incidents and conversations of the ride; forced to wonder at
+some new and unexpected revelation of the mind and character of this
+western girl who was so interested in the reclamation work and so
+unconscious of her womanly power. He came quickly to look forward to
+their hours together and to plan and carry out many conversational
+experiments. Invariably he had his reward.
+
+One afternoon he tried skillfully to shape the conversation to the
+end that he might tell her--quite without ostentation--of the proud
+history and social position of his family and of his own rank in the
+upper eastern world.
+
+She humored him patiently, helping him out with questions and
+artless, admiring exclamations and comments, until he was quite sure
+that she was properly impressed. Then she said, in a tone of honest
+sympathy: "But you mustn't let all this worry you, you know."
+
+"Worry me?" he echoed in amazement.
+
+She nodded seriously, but with a glint of mischief in her eyes.
+"Yes, I can understand that it must be hard for a man to do his work
+handicapped as you are but no one away out here will count it
+against you. Every man here has a chance no matter what his past has
+been. You see, we don't care what a man has been or what his fathers
+were; we accept him for what he is and value him for what he can do.
+So all you need to do is to forget and go straight ahead with your
+work and you'll easily live it down. Only, of course," she added
+gently, "I wouldn't advise you to tell _everybody_ what you have
+told me. Some might not understand."
+
+He retorted warmly: "Of course you cannot understand our point of
+view. Everything is so new and raw out here that you have no social
+standards."
+
+"New and raw?" She laughed again. "Why, Mr. Holmes, you are the only
+new thing in this country. Do you see that man over there?"
+
+They were riding south on the road that follows the river and she
+pointed to an Indian who sat idly in the shade of his pole and mud
+hut.
+
+"What's the matter with him?" asked the engineer.
+
+"Nothing. Only he, too, has ancestors. Ages and ages before your
+forefathers knew that this continent existed, that man's people
+lived in a city not far from here--a city with laws, customs,
+religions, social standards--yes, and civil engineers, for you can
+easily trace the lines of their canals, in which they brought water
+from the river and carried it through a tunnel in the mountains to
+irrigate their land, just as you modern engineers are planning to
+do. The Seer and I rode over there once and he told me about it.
+I'll show you, if you like. _New_! Why the West was ages old before
+the East was discovered! The Seer says that if Columbus had come
+first to the western coast New England to-day would still be an
+uninhabitable, howling wilderness."
+
+"But I don't see what all this has to do with social standards," he
+said, nettled at her reply.
+
+"Simply this. If a man's position in life is to be fixed by the age
+of his family or the number of years that they have occupied a
+certain section of the country, then that Indian is your superior.
+His ancestors lived here long before yours settled in New England."
+
+"But we are proud of our ancestors because of what they were and
+what they accomplished. We have a right to be. Think of what the
+world owes them!"
+
+"Oh, I must have misunderstood you. You seemed to place so much
+emphasis on their having come over in the Mayflower. They _were_
+grand--those brave old pioneers. I am proud of them too for what
+they were. And did they have social positions by which they fixed a
+man's place in life, I wonder?"
+
+"Of course they could not have had a society with the wealth and
+culture that we have now. The country was all new--something like
+the West is to-day, I suppose."
+
+She laughed aloud. "And you are proud of them! How fine! Isn't it
+splendid to think that in two or three hundred years, when the West
+has been civilized and the Desert reclaimed as your pioneer
+forefathers civilized and reclaimed the East, when wealth and
+culture have come, a man's social standing will be determined by his
+relation to _us_ and people will be proud of what _we_ are doing?
+After all, Mr. Holmes, the only difference between the East and the
+West seems to be that you _have_ ancestors and that we are _going to
+be_ ancestors. You look back to what has been; we look forward to
+what will be. You are proud and take rank because of what your
+forefathers did; we are proud and take rank because of what we are
+doing. And we are doing exactly what they did! Honestly now, which
+would you rather--worship an ancestor or be an ancestor worshipped?"
+
+When they had laughed together over this he said: "I am beginning to
+understand, Miss Worth, that the ideal American, whom we are always
+hearing about but never meet, must be a Westerner; he couldn't
+possibly be of the East, could he?" His words were almost a sneer.
+
+"The ideal American is neither Eastern nor Western in the way you
+mean, Mr. Holmes. He is both."
+
+"Indeed? You admit that we of the East could give him something,
+then?"
+
+"You could give him all that your forefathers have given you."
+
+"And what could the West give him?"
+
+She looked at him steadily a moment before answering slowly: "I
+think you will have to find that out for yourself."
+
+He was taken a little aback by her answer. It sounded as though she
+wished to end the conversation. But her talk had stirred him
+strongly, though he tried to hide this under cover of a cynical
+tone. He said triumphantly: "But you see, after all, you admit that
+one is not altogether hopeless because he happens to come of a good
+family!"
+
+"Certainly I admit it!" she cried, "but don't you see what I mean?
+Ancestors are to be counted as a valuable asset, but not as working
+capital."
+
+As she spoke she turned toward him again with that steady look, and
+the man felt the strange, mysterious power of her personality, the
+challenging lure of her young womanhood--that and more. What was it
+back of those steady eyes that called to him, inspired him, that
+almost frightened him; that made him feel as Barbara herself felt in
+the presence of the Desert.
+
+There was no trace of cynicism in his voice now, nor any hint of a
+sneer on his face, as Willard Holmes straightened unconsciously in
+his saddle.
+
+"By George!" he said, "it's good to hear you say those things.
+Nobody talks that way nowadays. I suppose our great-great-
+grandmothers did, though."
+
+She colored with pleasure, but answered lightly: "That puts me a
+long ways behind the times, doesn't it?"
+
+"Or a long way ahead," he offered.
+
+In the meantime, while the education of Willard Holmes progressed,
+the party that was to make the first survey in Barbara's Desert was
+being formed and equipped under the direction of Abe Lee. Horses,
+mules, wagons, camp outfits and supplies, with Indian and Mexican
+laborers, teamsters of several nationalities and here and there a
+Chinese cook, were assembled. Toward the last from every part of the
+great West country came the surveyors and engineers--sunburned,
+khaki-clad men most of them, toughened by their out-of-doors life,
+overflowing with health and good spirits. They hailed one another
+joyously and greeted Abe with extravagant delight, overwhelming him
+with questions. For the word had gone out that the Seer, beloved by
+all the tribe, and his lieutenant, almost equally beloved, were
+making "big medicine" in The King's Basin Desert. Not a man of them
+would have exchanged his chance to go for a crown and scepter.
+
+The eastern engineer met these hardened professional brothers
+cordially. He listened to their reminiscences of life and work in
+mountain, plain and desert with interest, discovering to his
+surprise that most of them were eastern born and bred, with
+technical training in the schools with which he was familiar. But
+their almost boyish enthusiasm over the work ahead, their admiration
+for the Chief and for Abe Lee he viewed with cold indifference.
+
+With all his duties Abe found frequent opportunity to report to
+Barbara, for the girl's interest in every detail of the preparations
+was never failing. Her friends protested that they never saw her now
+at their little social affairs, for she was always off somewhere
+with some engineer, and that when they did chance to catch her alone
+she would talk of nothing but that horrid King's Basin country.
+
+Every evening, early after supper, the surveyor would slip away from
+his companions at the hotel to spend an hour on the veranda at the
+banker's home talking in his straightforward way with Barbara and
+her father, of the work that was so dear to the heart of the girl.
+And because it was his work and in the nature of a report to one
+who, he felt, had in some subtle way authority to hear, Abe talked
+with a freedom that would have astonished many of his friends who
+thought they knew him best.
+
+Three times while Abe was there Willard Holmes appeared, and each
+time, at the engineer's presence, the surveyor's painful diffidence
+became apparent and he soon--with some stammering excuse--left.
+
+The last time this happened Barbara walked down to the gate with the
+painfully embarrassed surveyor. Everything was in readiness for the
+coming of the Chief, who would arrive the next day, and the
+following morning the expedition would start for the field.
+
+"Buenos noches, hermano--Good night, brother," called Barbara, as
+the tall surveyor walked away down the street.
+
+"Buenos noches," came the answer.
+
+Willard Holmes heard and frowned. "You seem to be very fond of
+Spanish, Miss Worth," he said, when the girl came back to the porch.
+"I notice you use it so often with our long friend there."
+
+Barbara laughed at his evident displeasure. "The language seems to
+belong so to this country. To me its colors are all soft and warm
+like the colors of the Desert. I never thought of it before, but I
+suppose I use it so often with Abe because he, too, seems to belong
+to this country."
+
+The engineer looked at her curiously. "I don't think I quite see the
+connection. You mean that he has Spanish blood?"
+
+"Not at all," said Barbara quickly. "But he is desert-born and
+desert-trained. He has the same patient stillness, the same natural
+bigness and the same unconquerable hardness."
+
+"Oh, but you say the desert is not unconquerable; that it will be
+subdued. Your analogy is at fault."
+
+"No, Mr. Holmes, it is you who do not understand. There is something
+about this country that will always remain as it is now. Abe Lee is
+like that. Whatever changes may come, he will always be Abe Lee of
+the Desert."
+
+"Your views are really poetical and your character analyses very
+clever, Miss Worth, but after all men are men wherever you find
+them. Human nature is the same the world over."
+
+"Oh, I'm sure that is so, Mr. Holmes. I know there must be many
+western men in the east, only they haven't found themselves yet."
+
+He laughed heartily as he rose to go. "Will you ever bid me good
+night in your language of the desert?" he asked.
+
+"Perhaps, when you have learned that language," she said with an
+answering smile.
+
+"By George, I shall try to learn it," he answered.
+
+"Oh, I wish you would," came the earnest answer. "I know you could."
+
+And again the engineer felt strongly, back of her words, that
+unvoiced appeal. As he went down the street he knew that she did not
+refer to the Spanish tongue when she wished him to learn the
+language of her Desert.
+
+Alone in her room that night Barbara's mind was too active for sleep
+and she sat for a long time by the open window, looking out into the
+vast silent world under the still stars.
+
+Until she introduced herself to Willard Holmes, Barbara had never
+known eastern people. Tourists she had seen and, at rare intervals,
+met in a casual way. But they had always examined her with such
+frankly curious eyes that she had felt like some strange animal on
+exhibition and had repaid their interest with all the indifference
+she could command. Occasionally also she had been introduced to
+eastern business men, whom she chanced upon talking with her father
+in the bank, but they had turned quickly away to the matters of
+their world after the usual polite nothings demanded by the
+introduction. The home-land and life of Willard Holmes were as
+foreign to her as her land and life were strange to him.
+
+So it happened in this instance also that in the education of the
+eastern engineer the teacher learned quite as much as the pupil.
+
+The traits that stood out so prominently in the western men whom
+Barbara knew and so much admired were, in Willard Holmes, buried
+deeply under the habits and customs of the life and thought of the
+world to which he belonged--buried so deeply that the man himself
+scarcely realized that they were there and so was led to wonder at
+himself when his blood tingled with some strong presentation of this
+western girl's views.
+
+But Barbara knew. Beneath the conventionalities of his class the
+girl felt the man a powerful character, with all the latent strength
+of his nation-building ancestors. She wanted him--as she put it to
+herself--to wake up. Would he? Would he learn the language of her
+Desert? She believed that he would, even as she believed in the
+reclamation of The King's Basin lands.
+
+And she was glad--glad that the Seer and Abe and Tex and Pat and her
+father--the men who had brought her out of the Desert--were going
+now back into that land of death to save that land itself from
+itself. And--she whispered it softly under the stars--she was glad--
+glad that Willard Holmes had come to go with them--to learn the
+language of her land.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+WHY WILLARD HOLMES STAYED.
+
+
+Slowly, day by day, the surveying party under the Seer pushed deeper
+and deeper into the awful desolation of The King's Basin Desert.
+They were the advance force of a mighty army ordered ahead by Good
+Business--the master passion of the race. Their duty was to learn
+the strength of the enemy, to measure its resources, to spy out its
+weaknesses and to gather data upon which a campaign would be
+planned.
+
+Under the Seer the expedition was divided into several smaller
+parties, each of which was assigned to certain defined districts.
+Here and there, at seemingly careless intervals in the wide expanse,
+the white tents of the division camps shone through the many colored
+veils of the desert. Tall, thin columns of dust lifted into the sky
+from the water wagons that crawled ceaselessly from water hole to
+camp and from camp to water hole--hung in long clouds above the
+supply train laboring heavily across the dun plain to and from Rubio
+City--or rose in quick puffs and twisting spirals from the feet of
+some saddle horse bearing a messenger from the Chief to some distant
+lieutenant.
+
+Every morning, from each of the camps, squads of khaki-clad men
+bearing transit and level, stake and pole and flag--the weapons of
+their warfare--put out in different directions into the vast silence
+that seemed to engulf them. Every evening the squads returned,
+desert-stained and weary, to their rest under the lonesome stars.
+Every morning the sun broke fiercely up from the long level of the
+eastward plain to pour its hot strength down upon these pigmy
+creatures, who dared to invade the territory over which he had, for
+so many ages, held undisputed dominion. Every evening the sun
+plunged fiercely down behind the purple wall of mountains that shut
+in the Basin on the west, as if to gather strength in some nether
+world for to-morrow's fight.
+
+Always there was the same flood of white light from the deep, dry
+sky that was uncrossed by shred of cloud; always the same wide,
+tawny waste, harshly glaring near at hand--filled with awful
+mysteries under the many colored mists of the distance; until the
+eyes ached and the soul cried out in wonder at it all. Always there
+were the same deep nights, with the lonely stars so far away in the
+velvet purple darkness; the soft breathing of the desert; the
+pungent smell of greasewood and salt-bush; the weird, quavering call
+of the ground owl; or the wild coyote chorus, as if the long lost
+spirits of long ago savage races cried out a dreadful warning to
+these invaders.
+
+And in all of this the land made itself felt against these men in
+the silent menace, the still waiting, the subtle call, the promise,
+the threat and the challenge of La Palma de la Mano de Dios.
+
+To Barbara, who rode often in those days to the very rim of the
+Basin, there to search the wild, wide land with straining eyes for
+signs of her friends, the white glare of the camps was lost in the
+bewildering maze of color. The columns, clouds and spirals of dust--
+save perhaps from a near supply wagon coming in or passing out--
+could not be distinguished from the whirling dust-devils that danced
+always over the hot plains. The toiling pigmy dots of the little
+army were far beyond her vision's range. It was as though the fierce
+land had swallowed up horses, wagons and men. Only through the
+frequent letters brought by the freighters did she know that all was
+going well.
+
+Perhaps the gray lizard that climbed to the top of a line stake
+wondered at the strange new growth that had sprung so suddenly from
+the familiar soil; or perhaps the horned-toad, scuttling to cover,
+marveled at the strange sounds as the stakes were driven and man
+called to man figures and directions. Perhaps the scaly side-winder,
+springing his warning rattle at the approaching step, questioned
+what new enemy this was; or the lone buzzard, wheeling high over
+head, watched the tiny moving figures with wondering hopefulness,
+and the coyote, that hushed for a little his wild music to follow up
+the wind this strange new scent, laughed at the Seer's dream.
+
+These lines of stakes that every day stretched farther and farther
+into and across the waste seemed, in the wideness of the land,
+pitifully foolish. Looking back over the lines, the men who set them
+could scarcely distinguish the way they had come. But they knew that
+the stakes were there. They knew that some day that other, mightier
+company, the main army, would move along the way they had marked to
+meet the strength of the barren waste with the strength of the great
+river and take for the race the wealth of the land. The sound of
+human voices was flat and ineffectual in that age-old solitude, but
+the speakers knew that following their feeble voices would come the
+shouting, ringing, thundering chorus of the life that was to follow
+them into that silent land of death.
+
+With the slow passing of the weeks came the trying out and testing
+of character inevitable to such a work. The concealing habits of
+civilization were dropped. Kindly, useful conventionalities were
+lost. Face to face with the unconquered forces of nature, nothing
+remained but the real strength or weakness of the individual
+himself. In some there were developed unguessed powers of endurance
+that bore the hard days without flinching; cheerful optimism that
+laughed at the appalling immensity of the task; strength of spirit
+that made a jest of galling discomforts; courage that smiled in the
+face of dangers. These were the strength of the party. Some there
+were who grew sullen, quarrelsome, and vicious in a kind of mad
+rebellion. These must be held in check, controlled and governed by
+the Seer with the assistance of Abe Lee and his helpers. Some became
+silent and moody, faint hearted and afraid. These were strengthened
+and guarded and given fresh courage. Some grew peevish and fretful,
+whining and complaining. These were disciplined wisely, forced
+gently into line. Some staggered and fell by the way. These were
+sent back and the ranks closed up. But the work--always the work
+went on.
+
+To Willard Holmes the life was a slow torture, a revelation and an
+education. He found himself stripped of everything upon which he was
+accustomed to rely--family traditions, social position, influential
+friends, scholarship, experience in the world to which he was born--
+all these were nothing in The Hollow of God's Hand. Slowly he
+learned that the power of such wealth is limited to certain fields.
+New York was very far away. He felt that he had been hopelessly
+banished to a strange world. Many times he would have thrown it all
+up and turned back with other deserters, but there was red blood in
+his veins. Stubborn pride and the thought of the girl who had hoped
+that he would "learn the language of her country" enabled him to
+hold on.
+
+Once he ventured to speak to the Chief in a hopeless voice of the
+evident impossibility of ever converting that terrible land into a
+habitable country, and the Seer, strong in the strength of his
+dream, had looked at him from the still depth of his brown eyes
+without a word--looked until the younger man had turned away, his
+cheeks flushed with shame and his spirit doing homage to the
+strength of the master spirit of the work. And the eastern engineer
+remembered with new understanding his talks with Barbara Worth.
+
+When they pulled the dead coyote from the only water hole within two
+days' travel and Holmes nearly fainted at the sickening sight, it
+was Texas Joe who saved the day for him by remarking, with an air of
+philosophical musing, after a deep draught of the tepid, tainted
+water: "Hit ain't so bad as you might think, Mr. Holmes, onct your
+oilfactory nerves has become somewhat regulated to the aroma and
+your palate has been eddicated to the point of appreciatin' the
+deliciously foreign flavor. In the judgment of some connysoors, it
+has several points the lead of them imported fancy drinks you get in
+Frisco."
+
+When a Mexican died horribly from the bite of a rattlesnake, and
+Holmes himself was barely saved from a like fate by the prompt
+action and ready knowledge of Abe Lee, it was the slow smile of the
+desert-bred surveyor that stiffened him to go on.
+
+And when he was nearly beaten by a three days' sand-storm so
+searching that even the flap-jacks and bacon gritted in his teeth
+and his blood-shot eyes smarted in his head like coals of fire and
+his skin felt as though it had been sand-papered, when he would have
+sold his soul for a bath and actually began to get his things
+together in readiness for the next wagon out, it was Pat, who, with
+the devilish ingenuity of an Irish imp, mocked and jeered at him for
+a quitter, "fit to act only as lady's maid or to serve soft dhrinks
+in a corner drug-sthore," until his fainting heart took fire and,
+cursing his tormentor with all the oaths he could muster, he offered
+to whip, single-handed, the whole grinning camp and stayed.
+
+Thus he was advanced to the second degree, when he began to sense
+the spirit of the untamed land and of the men who went to meet it
+with sheer joy of the conquest; when he began to glory in the very
+greatness of the task; and the long dormant spirit of his ancestors
+stirred within him as he caught glimpses of the vision that inspired
+the Seer or, perhaps it should be written, the vision that tempted
+his employers, James Greenfield and his fellow capitalists.
+
+He was still far from ready for the final degree; but even that
+might come.
+
+Through all those hard days Jefferson Worth moved with the same
+careful, precise, certain manner that distinguished him in his work
+at home. Even the desert sun that so tanned, blistered and blackened
+the faces of his companions could not mark the gray pallor of that
+mask-like face. No disturbing incident or unforeseen difficulty
+could wring from him an exclamation or change the measured tones of
+his colorless voice. He seemed to accept everything as though he had
+foreseen, carefully considered and dismissed it from his mind before
+it came to pass. Day after day he rode in every direction over the
+land within easy reach of the many camps; familiarizing himself with
+every detail of the work, observing soil, studying conditions,
+poring over maps and figures with the Seer, verifying estimates,
+listening to and taking part in the many councils of the leaders.
+But not once did anyone catch a hint of what was going on behind
+those expressionless blue eyes that seemed to see everything without
+effort and to be incapable of expressing the emotions of the soul
+within.
+
+To the men he was the visible representative of that invisible power
+that willed their going forth. He was Capital--Money--Business
+incarnate. They set him apart as one not of their world. In his
+presence laughter was hushed, jests were unspoken. Silently they
+waited for him to speak first. When he conversed with them they
+answered thoughtfully in subdued tones, seeming to feel that their
+words were received by one who placed upon them undreamed-of values.
+Filled as these men were with the enthusiasm of their work, they
+were never unconscious of the knowledge that but for the power
+represented by Jefferson Worth their work would be impossible.
+
+Small wonder, then, that there was consternation in the headquarters
+camp that night when Pat appeared, hat in hand, before the company
+of leaders in the Seer's office tent. "I beg yer pardon, Sorr."
+
+"What is it, Pat?" asked the Seer, and all eyes were turned upon the
+burly Irishman, whose face and voice as well as his presence at that
+hour betrayed some unusual incident. "'Tis this, Sorr. Has anywan
+seen Mr. Worth this avenin'?"
+
+Every head was shaken negatively.
+
+"Was he not at supper wid you gintlemen?"
+
+"Why no, he was not," returned the Seer. "But it is nothing unusual
+for him to be late. Have you asked the cook?"
+
+"We have, Sorr. Ye see, whin ut come time to turn in an' he hadn't
+shown up an' Tex seen that his horse wasn't wid the bunch, we got a
+bit unaisy like. We axed the cook, an' we've been to his tent, an'
+we've axed the men."
+
+"Perhaps he has put up at one of the other camps," suggested a
+surveyor.
+
+"That's not like, Sorr, for he rode northeast this mornin'. Me an'
+Tex watched him go; an' there's divil a camp in that direction as we
+all know."
+
+"He surely intended to return here or he would have told us," said
+the Seer. "You know how careful he is. What do you think, Abe?"
+
+Before Abe could answer a Mexican ran up, and Pat, turning, hauled
+him into the tent by the neck. "Fwhat the hell is ut, ye greaser?"
+
+"Senor Texas send me quick," the little brown man panted, bowing low
+to the company, sombrero in hand. "Senor Worth's horse, he just
+come. In the saddle is no one. Senor Worth he is not come. I think
+he is gone."
+
+Before the Mexican finished speaking there was a rush of feet and he
+was alone. With a shrug of his shoulders and a flash of his white
+teeth, he turned leisurely to follow, saying half aloud: "It is all
+in La Palma de la Mano de Dios, Senor Worth. Maybe so you come back,
+maybe this time not." He stood for a moment looking into the black
+vault of the night; then, with another shrug, retired to his blanket
+to sleep.
+
+Abe Lee was first to reach the corral where Texas Joe, by the light
+of a lantern, was examining Mr. Worth's horse. No word was exchanged
+between them while the surveyor in turn looked carefully over the
+animal. The others, coming up, stood silent a little apart, waiting
+for the word of these two.
+
+"What do you make of it, Abe?" asked the Seer when the long surveyor
+turned toward him.
+
+Deliberately rolling a cigarette, Abe answered from a cloud of
+smoke: "He is left afoot too far out to walk in, likely. We'll go
+for him in the morning."
+
+A startled exclamation came from Willard Holmes, but no one heeded
+as the surveyor turned to Texas Joe. "How do you figure it, Tex?"
+
+"The same," came the laconic answer. "This here cayuse wasn't broke
+to stand. He must have been tied somewheres, 'cause the reins are
+busted." He pointed to the pieces of leather hanging from the bit.
+"The canteen is gone. Jefferson Worth is too old a hand on the
+desert to leave it on the horse. He likely tied the pony to a bush
+and went to climb a hill or something. Mr. Hawss breaks loose and
+pulls for home. It happened a good way out, 'cause the pony's pretty
+well tired, which he wouldn't a-been, travelin' light, if Mr. Worth
+hadn't ridden some distance before it happened. An' if he was nearer
+the pony would have been in earlier. He'll likely show us a smoke in
+the morning and even if he don't it'll be easy to trail him, 'cause
+there ain't no wind. Will I go, sir?" He looked at the Chief.
+
+"Yes; you and Abe, don't you think?"
+
+Abe assented and the men turned toward the tents while Texas led the
+tired horse away.
+
+The New York engineer approached the Chief. "Do I understand, sir,
+that you propose to do nothing until morning?"
+
+The Seer faced him. "There is nothing to do, Mr. Holmes," he said
+simply.
+
+Willard Holmes was amazed at the man's apparent unconcern. "Nothing
+to do?" he exclaimed. "Why don't you arouse the men and send them in
+every direction to search? Why man, don't you realize the situation?
+Mr. Worth may be hurt. He may even be dying alone out there! I
+protest! It's monstrous! It's cowardly, inhuman, to do nothing!"
+
+The company, attracted by the loud words, paused. Abe Lee, standing
+beside his Chief, rolled another cigarette while the engineer was
+speaking.
+
+The Seer answered patiently: "But Mr. Holmes, we could accomplish
+nothing by such a search as you suggest. The territory is too large
+to cover with a hundred times the number of men we have in camp. At
+daylight, when they can follow his trail, Abe and Tex will ride to
+him as fast as their horses can go. Granting that the worst you
+suggest may be true, our plan is the only sane way." "But I protest,
+sir. You should make the attempt. I will not submit to idly doing
+nothing while a life is in danger--particularly that of a man like
+Mr. Worth. I shall go alone if no one will help me, and"--he
+straightened himself haughtily--"I shall report this to Mr.
+Greenfield and the men interested with him in this work."
+
+At the last words one of those rare changes swept over the big
+engineer, and the witnesses saw a side of the Chief's nature that
+was seldom revealed. His eyes flashed and his face hardened as he
+burst forth in tones that startled his hearers: "Report me? You!
+Report and be damned, sir. I was old at this work when you were a
+sucking babe. These men were learning the desert when you were
+attending a fashionable dancing school. Why, you damned lily-
+fingered tenderfoot, you couldn't find your way five hundred yards
+in this country without a guide or a compass. Now, sir, I'm running
+this outfit and if you have any protests against my cowardly
+inhumanity I advise you to smother them in your manly breast, or, by
+hell! I'll ship you out on the first wagon to-morrow morning and let
+you report to Greenfield that you were fired because you didn't know
+your work yourself and hadn't intelligence enough to listen to those
+who did!"
+
+The Chief paused for breath, and Willard Holmes, whose experience
+with large corporations was expected to make him peculiarly valuable
+to the capitalists who sent him out, turned away with what dignity
+he could command.
+
+"Howly Mither!" came a hoarse whisper from Pat to Abe; "I made sure
+the poor bhoy wud shrivel up. Sich a witherin', blistherin' tongue
+lashin' wud scorch the hide av the owld divil himsilf." He looked
+admiringly after the Seer. "D'ye think, now, that the poor lad will
+be afther tacklin' the job alone, like he said? Sure, ut's nerve he
+has all right but he lacks judgment."
+
+"Yes, he has the nerve all right," returned Abe slowly, "and we'd
+better keep an eye on him. Tell Tex."
+
+Willard Holmes knew that he owed his Chief an apology and he
+promised himself to make it in the morning. But neither the
+explanation of the Seer nor the bitter humiliation that he had
+brought upon himself could turn his thoughts from Mr. Worth alone on
+the desert. To sleep was impossible. The banker might be----As he
+tossed in his blankets the engineer pictured to himself a hundred
+things that might have happened to Barbara's father.
+
+It was some two hours later when Pat touched Abe Lee on the
+shoulder.
+
+"All right, Pat," said the surveyor, fully awake and in possession
+of all his senses in an instant.
+
+"There's a light bobbin' off into nowhere an' the lad's blankets are
+impty."
+
+Fifteen minutes later a quiet voice within three feet of Willard
+Holmes asked: "Shall I go with you, sir?"
+
+The eastern man jumped like a nervous woman. He had not heard the
+approach of the surveyor, who walked with the step of an Indian. "I
+couldn't sleep," he explained. "I thought I would follow the tracks
+a little way out at least. He may not be so far away as you think."
+
+After Abe had taken time to make his cigarette he spoke
+meditatively. "Mr. Worth rode a horse."
+
+"I understand that," returned the man with the lantern tartly. "I
+saw him go this morning and I saw the horse to-night. This is the
+track."
+
+From another cloud of smoke came the quiet, respectful answer: "But
+this is a mule's track, Mr. Holmes. It is Manuel Ramirez's mule.
+See, he has a broken shoe on the off fore-foot. I noticed it
+yesterday when I sent Manuel to hunt a water hole. Besides, Mr.
+Worth rode northeast; not in this direction."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THE MASTER PASSION--"GOOD BUSINESS."
+
+
+When Jefferson Worth left headquarters camp that morning, his
+purpose was to ride over a part of the territory lying southeast of
+the old San Felipe trail between the sand hills and the old beach-
+line. He had covered practically all of the land on the western side
+of the ancient sea-bed, from the delta dam at the southern end north
+to the lowest point in the Basin, and southward again on the eastern
+side as far as the old trail. There remained for him to see only
+this section in the southeast.
+
+It was nearly noon when the banker, from a slight elevation that
+afforded him a view of the surrounding country, recognized the group
+of sand hills and, by the general course of Dry River, distinguished
+the spot where the San Felipe trail crosses the deep arroyo.
+Occupied with his thoughts, he had ridden farther from camp than he
+had realized. He should turn back. But the distant scene of the
+desert tragedy called him. He became possessed of a desire to visit
+once more the spot that was so closely associated with the child,
+who had so strangely come into his life and whom he loved as his own
+daughter.
+
+An hour later he dismounted to stand beside the water hole where,
+with his companions, he had found the dead woman with the empty
+canteen by her side. The incidents of that hour were as vivid in the
+banker's memory as if it had all happened only the day before. He
+remembered how Texas Joe had lifted the canteen and, inverting it,
+had held out to them his finger moistened with the last drop of
+water in the cloth-covered vessel; and how he and his companions,
+standing by the dead body of the woman, had turned to each other in
+startled awe at the coyotes' ghostly call in the dusk. He heard
+again with thrilling clearness the baby's plaintive voice: "Mamma,
+mamma! Barba wants drink. Please bring drink, mamma. Barba's
+'fraid!"
+
+Going a short way up the wash, he stood with uncovered head on the
+very spot where he had knelt with out-stretched hands before the
+big-eyed, brown-haired baby girl, who, crouching under the high
+bank, shrank back from him in fear. He saw the frightened look in
+her eyes and heard the sweet voice cry: "Go 'way! Go 'way! Go 'way!"
+Then he saw the expression on the little face change as Pat and Tex
+and the boy tried to reassure her; saw her hold up her baby hands in
+full confidence to the big engineer; and felt again the pain and
+humiliation in his heart.
+
+Why had the baby instinctively feared him? Why had she turned from
+him to the Seer? Why, he asked himself bitterly, had she always
+feared him? Why did she still shrink from him? For Barbara did
+shrink from him, unconsciously--unintentionally--but, to Jefferson
+Worth, none the less plainly now than when he knelt before her that
+night in the desert. And it hurt him now as it had hurt him then;
+hurt the more, perhaps, because Barbara did not know--because her
+attitude was instinctive.
+
+Still living over again the incidents and emotions of that hour in
+the desert night, he walked back to the crossing and, leading his
+horse, climbed the little hill out of the wash to the spot where,
+with Texas and Pat, he had rendered the last possible service to the
+unknown woman, who had given her life for the life of the child--the
+child that was his but not his. Long ago he had marked the grave
+with a simple headstone bearing the only name possible--the one
+word: "Mother"--and the date of her death.
+
+Then mounting again, he rode swiftly along the old trail toward the
+sand hills in the near distance. The great drifts, in the years that
+had passed, had been moved on by the wind until the wagon and all
+that remained of the half-buried outfit were now hidden somewhere
+deep in its heart. But the general form of the sand hill was still
+the same.
+
+Dismounting, Mr. Worth tied his horse to a scraggly, half-buried
+mesquite and, taking his canteen from the saddle, climbed
+laboriously up the steep, sandy slope. He would look over the
+country from that point and then make straight for camp, for it was
+getting well on in the afternoon. From the top of the hill he could
+see the wide reaches of The King's Basin Desert sweeping away on
+every side. At his feet the bare sand hills themselves lay like
+huge, rolling, wind-piled drifts of tawny snow glistening in the
+sunlight with a blinding glare. Beyond these were the gray and green
+of salt-bush, mesquite and greasewood, with the dun earth showing
+here and there in ragged patches. Still farther away the detail of
+hill and hummock and bush and patch was lost in the immensity of the
+scene, while the dull tones of gray and green and brown were over-
+laid with the ever-changing tints of the distance, until, to the
+eyes, the nearer plain became an island surrounded on every side by
+a mighty, many-colored sea that broke only at the foot of the purple
+mountain wall.
+
+The work of the expedition was nearly finished. The banker knew now
+from the results of the survey and from his own careful observations
+and estimates that the Seer's dream was not only possible from an
+engineering point of view, but from the careful capitalist's
+standpoint, would justify a large investment. Lying within the lines
+of the ancient beach and thus below the level of the great river,
+were hundreds of thousands of acres equal in richness of the soil to
+the famous delta lands of the Nile. The bringing of the water from
+the river and its distribution through a system of canals and
+ditches, while a work of great magnitude requiring the expenditure
+of large sums of money, was, as an engineering problem,
+comparatively simple.
+
+As Jefferson Worth gazed at the wonderful scene, a vision of the
+changes that were to come to that land passed before him. He saw
+first, following the nearly finished work of the engineers, an army
+of men beginning at the river and pushing out into the desert with
+their canals, bringing with them the life-giving water. Soon, with
+the coming of the water, would begin the coming of the settlers.
+Hummocks would be leveled, washes and arroyos filled, ditches would
+be made to the company canals, and in place of the thin growth of
+gray-green desert vegetation with the ragged patches of dun earth
+would come great fields of luxuriant alfalfa, billowing acres of
+grain, with miles upon miles of orchards, vineyards and groves. The
+fierce desert life would give way to the herds and flocks and the
+home life of the farmer. The railroad would stretch its steel
+strength into this new world; towns and cities would come to be
+where now was only solitude and desolation; and out from this world-
+old treasure house vast wealth would pour to enrich the peoples of
+the earth. The wealth of an empire lay in that land under the
+banker's eye, and Capital held the key.
+
+But while the work of the engineers was simple, it would be a great
+work; and it was the magnitude of the enterprise and the consequent
+requirement of large sums of money that gave Capital its
+opportunity. Without water the desert was worthless. With water the
+productive possibilities of that great territory were enormous.
+Without Capital the water could not be had. Therefore Capital was
+master of the situation and, by controlling the water, could exact
+royal tribute from the wealth of the land.
+
+Knowing James Greenfield and his business associates as he knew
+them, familiar with their operations as he was and knowing that they
+represented the power of almost unlimited capital, Jefferson Worth
+realized that they would plan to share in every dollar of wealth
+that The King's Basin lands could be made to produce. Already, his
+trained mind saw how easily, with the vast power in their hands,
+this could be brought about. And these men, recognizing his peculiar
+value in such an enterprise as this, wanted him to join them.
+
+It was a triumphant moment in the life and business career of the
+western banker, the culmination of long, hard years of unceasing
+toil, of unfaltering devotion to business, of struggle and
+disappointments, of small victories and steady advance gained at the
+cost of sacrifice and hard fighting. This proposed alliance with the
+great eastern capitalists opened the door and invited him into the
+company of the real leaders of the financial world. As one of the
+powerful corporation that would literally hold the life of the
+future King's Basin in its hand, the multitudes of toilers who would
+come to reclaim the desert would be forced to toil not only for
+themselves but for him. A part of every dollar of the millions that
+would be taken from that treasury by the labor of the people would
+go to enrich him.
+
+The financier's thoughts were interrupted by a sound. He turned to
+see his horse tugging at the bridle reins, snorting in fear. The man
+started quickly down the hill, but before he could cover half the
+distance that separated him from his mount the frightened animal
+broke the reins and, wheeling about, disappeared down the trail on a
+wild run. At the same instant a coyote trotted leisurely out from
+under the lee of the sand drift and, with a side glance over his
+shoulder at the banker, slipped around the point of the next low
+ridge.
+
+The man knew that to catch his horse would be impossible. The animal
+would not stop until he reached his companions at the feed-rack in
+camp. He knew also that to attempt to find his way to headquarters
+such a distance and on foot, with night so near at hand, would be
+worse than folly. He would only exhaust his strength and make it
+harder for his friends to find him before his water, which could not
+last another day, should give out. Someone, he knew, would take his
+trail in the morning. The only thing he could do was to wait--to
+wait alone in the heart of this silent, age-old, waiting land.
+
+Somewhere in those forgotten ages that went into the making of The
+King's Basin Desert, a company of free-born citizens of the land,
+moved by that master passion--Good Business, found their way to the
+banks of the Colorado. In time Good Business led them to build their
+pueblos and to cultivate their fields by irrigation with water from
+the river and erect their rude altars to their now long-forgotten
+gods. Driven by the same passion that drove the Indians, the
+emigrant wagons moved toward the new gold country, and some
+financial genius saw Good Business at the river-crossing near the
+site of the ancient city. At first it was no more than a ferry, but
+soon others with eyes for profit established a trading point where
+the overland voyagers could replenish their stock of supplies, sure
+to be low after the hundreds of miles across the wide plains. Then
+also, in obedience to Good Business, pleasures heard the call,
+saloons, gambling houses and dance halls appeared, and for profit
+the joys of civilization arrived in the savage land. Good Business
+sent the prospectors who found the mines, the capital that developed
+them and the laborers who dug the ore. Good Business sent the cattle
+barons and their cowboys, sent the speculators and the pioneer
+merchants. Good Business sent also, in the fulness of time,
+Jefferson Worth.
+
+Of old New England Puritan stock, Worth had come through the hard
+life of a poor farm boy with two dominant elements in his character:
+an almost super-human instinct for Good Business, inherited no
+doubt, and an instinct, also inherited, for religion. The instinct
+for trade, from much cultivation, had waxed strong and stronger with
+the years. The religion that he had from his forefathers was become
+little more than a superstition. It was his genius for business that
+led him, in his young manhood, to leave the farm, and it was
+inevitable that from making money he should come to making money
+make more money. It was the other dominant element in his character
+that kept him scrupulously honest, scrupulously moral. Besides this,
+honesty and morality were also "good business."
+
+Seeking always larger opportunities for the employment of his small,
+steadily-increasing financial strength, Mr. Worth established the
+Pioneer Bank. Later, as he had foreseen, the same master passion
+brought the great railroad with still larger opportunities for his
+money to make more money. And now the same master passion that had
+driven the Indian, the emigrant, the miner, the cowman, the banker
+and the railroad was driving the eastern capitalists to spend their
+moneyed strength in the reclamation of The King's Basin Desert. It
+was Good Business that led Greenfield and his friends to seek the
+co-operation of the western financier. It was Good Business that
+called to Jefferson Worth now as he saw the immense possibilities of
+the land.
+
+As truly as the ages had made the barren desert with its hard,
+thirsty life, the ages had produced Jefferson Worth, a carefully
+perfected, money making machine, as silent, hard and lonely as the
+desert itself. With apparently no vices, no passions, no mistakes,
+no failures, his only relation to his fellow-men was a business
+relation. With his almost supernatural ability to foresee, to
+measure, to weigh and judge, with his cold, mask-like face and his
+manner of considering carefully every word and of placing a value
+upon every trivial incident, he was respected, feared, trusted, even
+admired--and that was all. No; not all. By those who were forced,
+through circumstances--business circumstances--to contribute to his
+prosperity and financial success, he was hated. Such is the
+unreasonableness of human kind.
+
+Business, to this man as to many of his kind, was not the mean,
+sordid grasping and hoarding of money. It was his profession, but it
+was even more than a profession; it was the expression of his
+genius. Still more it was, through him, the expression of the age in
+which he lived, the expression of the master passion that in all
+ages had wrought in the making of the race. He looked upon a
+successful deal as a good surgeon looks upon a successful operation,
+as an architect upon the completion of a building or an artist upon
+his finished picture. But to a greater degree than to artist or
+surgeon, the success of his work was measured by the accumulation of
+dollars. Apart from his work he valued the money received from his
+operations no more than the surgeon his fee, the artist his price.
+The work itself was his passion. Because dollars were the tools of
+his craft he was careful of them. The more he succeeded, the more
+power he gained for greater success.
+
+But extremely simple in his tastes, lacking, with his lack of
+education, knowledge of the more costly luxuries of life, with the
+habits of an ascetic, Jefferson Worth could not evidence his
+success; and success hidden and unknown loses its power to reward.
+It is not enough for the engineer to run his locomotive; he must
+have train loads of goods and passengers to carry to some objective
+point. It is not enough for the captain to have command of his ship;
+he must have a port. Self to Jefferson Worth meant little; his
+nature demanded so little. Nor could Mrs. Worth in this fill the
+need in her husband's life, for her nature was as simple as his own.
+But a child, whose life could be part of his life, filling out,
+supplementing and complementing his own nature; a child who,
+dependent upon him, should have all the training that he lacked, who
+should share his success and for whom he could plan to succeed--a
+child, an heir, would fill the blank in his empty career. For a
+brief time he had looked forward to a child of his own blood. Then
+the death of the baby and the ill health of his wife had left him
+hopeless. He continued his work because he knew no life apart from
+his work.
+
+Then came the little girl so strangely the gift of the desert. The
+banker's mind, trained to act quickly, had grasped the possibilities
+of the situation instantly as he ran with his companions to answer
+the call of that childish voice. From the moment when he knelt with
+outstretched hands and pleading words before little Barbara, he had
+never ceased trying to win her. Mrs. Worth, knowing that she could
+not be with him many years, had said: "You need her, Jeff," and he
+did need her.
+
+But Jefferson Worth knew that Barbara was not his. She shrank from
+him as instinctively and unconsciously as she had drawn back that
+night of her mother's death when he knelt before her in the desert.
+As she had turned to the Seer then, she turned from the banker now.
+And now, far more than then, his lonely heart hungered for her; for
+with the years his need of her had grown. Envied of foolish men as
+men so foolishly envy his class, the banker knew himself to be
+destitute, an object of their pity. The poorest Mexican in his adobe
+hut, with his half-naked, laughing children, was more wealthy than
+he.
+
+Jefferson Worth, that afternoon on the very scene of the tragedy
+that had given Barbara to him, realized that in the land before him
+he faced the greatest opportunity of his business career. He
+realized also that he was as much alone in his life as he was alone
+in the silent, barren waste that surrounded him. Would La Palma de
+la Mano de Dios, which had given him the child that was not his
+child, give him wealth that still never could be his?
+
+At last, from his place on the sand drift that held the secret of
+Barbara's life, he saw the sun as it appeared to rest for a moment
+on the western wall before plunging down into the world on the other
+side. Watching, he saw the purple of the hills deepen and deepen and
+the wondrous light on the wide sea of colors fade slowly out as the
+colors themselves paled and grew dim in the misty dusk of the coming
+night. Slowly the twilight sky grew dark, and into the velvet plain
+above came the heavenly flocks until their number was past counting
+save by Him who leadeth them in their fields. Against the last
+lingering light in the west that marked where the day had gone, the
+mountains lifted their vast bulk in solemn grandeur as if to bar
+forever the coming of another day. Closing about him on every hand,
+coming dreadfully nearer and nearer, the black walls of darkness
+shut him in. In the cool, mysterious breath of the desert, in the
+grotesque, fantastic, nearby shapes and monstrous forms of the sand
+dunes, in the mysterious phantom voices that whispered in the dark,
+Jefferson Worth felt the close approach of the spirit of the land;
+the calling of the age-old, waiting land--the silent menace, the
+voiceless threat, the whispered promise.
+
+And there, alone--held close in The Hollow of God's Hand as the long
+hours of the night passed--the spirit of the man's Puritan fathers
+stirred within him. In the silent, naked heart of the Desert that,
+knowing no hand but the hand of its Creator, seemed to hold in its
+hushed mysteriousness the ages of a past eternity, he felt his life
+to be but a little thing. Beside the awful forces that made
+themselves felt in the spirit of Barbara's Desert, the might of
+Capital became small and trivial. Sensing the dreadful power that
+had wrought to make that land, he shrank within himself--he was
+afraid. He marveled that he had dared dream of forcing La Palma de
+la Mano de Dios to contribute to his gains. And so at last it was
+given him to know why Barbara instinctively shrank from him in fear.
+
+With the coming of the day the banker went a little way back on the
+trail where the vegetation was not entirely covered by the drifting
+sand, and there gathered materials for a fire. Later, when he judged
+his friends would be in sight, he fired the pile and, watching the
+tall, thick column of smoke ascend, awaited the answer. In a little
+while it came, faint and far away, the report of Texas Joe's forty-
+five. Soon he heard the sound of voices calling loudly and,
+following his answer, the swift hoof-beats of galloping horses; and
+Tex and Abe, leading another horse appeared.
+
+But the Jefferson Worth who rode back to camp with his friends,
+there to be greeted and congratulated by the party, was not the same
+Jefferson Worth who had left camp the morning before, though no one
+congratulated him because of that.
+
+It was three weeks later when a portly, well-fed gentleman entered
+the Pioneer Bank in Rubio City and asked of the teller: "Is Mr.
+Worth in?"
+
+The man on the other side of the counter looked through his grated
+window at the speaker with unusual interest. And in the teller's
+voice there was a shade of unusual deference as he replied, "Yes,
+sir."
+
+"Tell him that Mr. Greenfield is here."
+
+At the magic of that name every man in the bank within sound of the
+speaker's voice lifted his head and turned toward the face at the
+window.
+
+"Yes, sir. Come this way, sir."
+
+A door in the partition opened and the visitor was admitted to the
+sacred precincts behind the gratings, the bars and the plate glass.
+As he moved down the room past counters and desks, every eye
+followed him and there was an electrical hush in the atmosphere like
+the hush that marks the massing of the forces in Nature before a
+conflict of the elements.
+
+Jefferson Worth looked up as the imposing figure of the great
+financier appeared on the threshold of his room, and at the name of
+James Greenfield carefully pushed back the papers he had been
+considering and rose. The movement, slight as it was, was as though
+he cleared his decks for action. The clerk, withdrawing, carefully,
+closed the door.
+
+The two men shook hands with much the air of two wrestlers meeting
+for a bout. For a moment neither spoke. Each knew that in the
+silence he was being measured, estimated, searched for his weakness
+and his strength, and each gave to the other this opportunity as his
+right. No time was wasted in idle preliminaries. These men knew the
+value of time. No formal words expressing pleasure at the meeting
+were spoken. They tacitly accepted the fact that pleasure had not
+called them together.
+
+James Greenfield was a fair representative of his class. His full,
+well-colored face with carefully clipped gray mustache, bright blue
+eyes and gray hair, was the calmly alert, well-controlled,
+thoughtful face of power: not the face of one who does things, but
+of one who causes things to be done; not the face of one who is
+himself powerful, but of one who controls and directs power; such a
+face as you may see leaning from the cab of a great locomotive that
+pulls the overland limited, or looking down at you from the bridge
+of the ocean liner. It was courageous, but with a courage not
+personal--a courage born rather of an exact knowledge of the
+strength and duty of every bolt, rivet and lever of the machine
+under his hand. It was confident, not in its own strength, but in
+the strength that it ruled and directed.
+
+Jefferson Worth motioned toward a chair at the end of his desk and
+seated himself. The man from the East found himself forced to make
+the opening.
+
+"Mr. Worth," he said, "we find it very difficult to understand your
+attitude toward our company. We do not see why you decline our
+proposition. Your own report gives every reason in the world why you
+should accept and you suggest no reason at all for declining.
+Frankly, it looks strange to us and I have come out to have a little
+talk with you over the matter and to see if we could not persuade
+you to reconsider your decision, or at least to learn your reasons
+for refusing to go in with us. Your report and your answer to our
+proposition are so conflicting that we feel we have a right to some
+definite reason for your unexpected decision."
+
+As he spoke, the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company tried in vain to see behind the mask-like face of the man in
+the revolving chair. His failure only excited his admiration and
+respect. Instinctively he recognized the genius before him, and his
+desire to add this strength to his forces increased.
+
+"My report was satisfactory?" The words were absolutely colorless.
+
+"Very. It was exactly what we wanted. With your opinion, confirming
+our engineer's statements, we felt safe to go ahead with the
+organization of the Company and have already set the wheels moving
+toward actual work. It is because you so unhesitatingly and so
+strongly commend the project as warranting our investment that we
+cannot understand your refusal to share the profits of our
+enterprise."
+
+He paused for an answer, but was forced to continue. "Let me explain
+more fully than I could outline in my letter just what we propose
+doing. The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company, Mr. Worth, will
+not confine its operations simply to furnishing water for the
+reclamation and development of these lands. That is no more than the
+beginning--the basis of our operations. With the settlement and
+improvement of the country will come many other openings for
+profitable investments--townsites, transportation lines, telephones,
+electric power, banking and all that, you understand. Our
+connections and resources make it possible for us to finance any
+industry or operation that promises attractive returns, while our
+position as the originators of the whole King's Basin movement and
+the owners of the irrigation system will give us tremendous
+advantage over any outside capital that may attempt to come in
+later, and will make competition practically impossible."
+
+"I figured that was the way you would do it," was the unemotional
+reply.
+
+More than ever James Greenfield wanted this man. He considered
+carefully a few minutes, with no help from Jefferson Worth, then
+tried again. "If you feel that our proposition to you is not liberal
+enough, Mr. Worth, I am prepared to double our offer."
+
+If the financier from New York thought to startle this little
+western banker with a proposal that was more than princely he
+failed. His words seemed to have no effect. It was as though he
+talked to a marble figure of a man.
+
+"I appreciate your proposition, but must decline it."
+
+"May I ask your reason, sir?"
+
+"I must decline to give any."
+
+The other arose, the light of battle in his eyes, for to James
+Greenfield's mind there could be only one possible meaning in the
+answer. "That is, of course, your privilege, Mr. Worth," he said
+coldly. And then with the weight of conscious power he added: "But
+I'll tell you this, sir: if you think you can enter The King's Basin
+in opposition to our Company you're making the mistake of your life.
+We'll smash you, with your limited resources, so flat that you'll be
+glad for a chance to make the price of a meal. Good day, sir!"
+
+"Good day."
+
+Before the great capitalist was out of the building, Jefferson Worth
+was bending over the papers on his desk again as though declining to
+accept flattering offers from gigantic corporations was an hourly
+occurrence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+BARBARA'S LOVE FOR THE SEER.
+
+
+Jefferson Worth had not proceeded far with the work before him after
+James Greenfield left when he was again interrupted. This time it
+was the voice of Barbara in the other room.
+
+The banker lifted his head quickly. Again he pushed his papers from
+him, but now the movement seemed to indicate weariness and
+uncertainty rather than readiness for action. His head dropped
+forward, his thin fingers nervously tapped the arms of his chair.
+When the girl's step sounded at the door he looked up the fraction
+of a second before she appeared.
+
+"I don't want to disturb you, father, but they told me that that
+big, fine-looking man just going out was Mr. Greenfield. Is he--did
+he come all the way from New York to see you?"
+
+"He came in here to see me," said Jefferson Worth exactly.
+
+"And the work?"
+
+"He says they have already started the wheels to moving."
+
+"And you, daddy; you?"
+
+Jefferson Worth arose and carefully closed the door. Then silently
+indicating the chair at the end of his desk he resumed his seat.
+
+As Barbara looked into that mask-like face, the eager expectant
+light in her brown eyes died out and a look of questioning doubt
+came. She seemed to shrink back from him almost as she had turned
+away that first time in the desert.
+
+If Jefferson Worth felt that look his face gave no sign; only those
+thin, nervous fingers were lifted to caress his chin.
+
+"Are you--are you going to help, daddy? Will you join Mr.
+Greenfield's company?"
+
+Still the man was silent, and the girl, watching, wondered what was
+going on behind that gray mask, what questions were being weighed
+and considered,
+
+At last he spoke one cold word: "Why?"
+
+Barbara flushed. "Because," she answered, carefully, "because it is
+such a great work. You could do so much more than simply make
+money."
+
+"That is as you and the Seer see it."
+
+"But, father; it _is_ a great work, isn't it, to change the desert
+into a land of farms and homes for thousands and thousands of
+people?"
+
+"Do you think that Greenfield and his crowd are going into this
+scheme because it is a great thing for the people?"
+
+"But don't even capitalists sometimes undertake a great work just
+because it is great and because thousands upon thousands of people,
+through years and years to come, will be benefited even though the
+men themselves do not make so awfully much money?"
+
+If Jefferson Worth felt her unconscious insinuation his face gave no
+sign. Carefully he listened with his manner of considering and
+weighing every word, while to Barbara his mind seemed to be reaching
+out on every side or running far into the future. When he answered
+his words were carefully exact. "Capitalists, as individuals might
+and do, spend millions in projects from which they, personally,
+expect no returns. But _Capital_ doesn't do such things. Anything
+that Capital, as _Capital_, goes into must be purely a business
+proposition. If anything like sentiment entered into it that would
+be the end of the whole matter."
+
+Barbara moved uneasily. "I don't think I quite understand why," she
+said.
+
+There was a shade of color now in the banker's voice as he explained
+by asking: "How long do you think this bank could exist if we made
+loans to Tom, Dick and Harry because they needed help, or put money
+into this and that scheme simply because it was a beneficial thing?
+How long would it be before we went to smash?"
+
+"But don't business men ever do anything except to make money?
+Doesn't Capital, as you say, ever consider the people?"
+
+"This bank is a very substantial benefit to the people. But it can
+only benefit them by doing business on strictly business principles.
+As an individual any officer or stock holder can do what he pleases
+for whatever reason moves him. He can burn his money if he wants to.
+But as officers and directors of this corporation we can't burn the
+capital of the institution."
+
+"But Mr. Greenfield and these New York men, who have organized the
+company--are they not careful financiers?"
+
+"Very."
+
+"It seems to me that they must believe in the Seer and his work or
+they wouldn't furnish him the money, would they?"
+
+"They believe in the Seer and his work from their standpoint. Their
+capital is invested for just one purpose--dividends."
+
+Barbara sighed and moved impatiently. "You always make it so hard to
+believe in men, father. I can't think that all business men--all
+financiers, I mean,--are so cold and heartless."
+
+Again if Jefferson Worth felt the unconscious implication in her
+words he gave no sign. The banker was not ignorant of the public
+sentiment toward himself and the men of his class in his profession.
+He had come to accept it with the indifference of his exact,
+machine-like habit.
+
+Barbara continued: "I feel sure that Mr. Greenfield and the men with
+him are going to furnish the money for the Seer to do this work for
+more than just what they will make out of it. I know that Mr. Holmes
+does, and I had hoped that you"--her voice broke--"that you would--"
+
+If only Jefferson Worth could have broken the habit of a lifetime.
+If he could have laid aside that gray mask and permitted the girl to
+look into his hidden life, perhaps--
+
+His colorless voice broke the silence, coldly exact: "What do you
+figure Willard Holmes is in this thing for?"
+
+Barbara's face lighted up proudly. "He is in the work for the same
+reason that the Seer and Abe are--because it is such a great work
+and means so much to the world. I know, because since he returned he
+has talked to me so much about it. When he first came out--just at
+first--he didn't understand what the work really was. But now he
+understands it as the Seer sees it."
+
+"Did the Seer send him out here?"
+
+"No, I believe Mr. Greenfield sent him."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"I suppose they wanted an eastern man, whom they knew better than
+they knew the Seer, to represent them? It would be very natural,
+wouldn't it?"
+
+"Very natural," agreed Jefferson Worth.
+
+"Have you given the Company your final answer, father?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"And you--you won't have anything to do with the reclamation of my
+Desert?"
+
+"I declined to join the Company."
+
+Blindly Barbara made her way out of the building. The place, with
+its air of business and suggestions of wealth, was unbearably
+hateful to her. At home she ordered her horse and started for the
+open country. But she did not ride toward the Desert. She felt that
+she could not bear the sight of The King's Basin that day.
+
+In her father's attitude toward the Company Barbara saw only his
+seeming desire for selfish gain. He had told her so often that only
+one thing could justify an investment of capital. Evidently he did
+not think The King's Basin project would pay. She felt ashamed for
+him; he seemed so incapable of considering anything but profit.
+Nothing but profit, the sure promise of gain, could move him. He
+believed in the work; he had reported in favor of it to the Company.
+He knew that the Company was going ahead. He was willing enough that
+others should do the work, she thought bitterly. They might take the
+risk. It was even likely that he had some way planned by which,
+without risking anything himself, he would reap large returns
+through their efforts. She thought proudly of the Seer, who had
+given so many unpaid years to the Reclamation work; of Abe and his
+loyalty to the Seer; and of Willard Holmes, who was going to give
+himself to the work.
+
+Utterly sick at heart the girl did not meet her father at their
+evening meal. She could not. Jefferson Worth ate alone and alone
+spent the evening on the porch. On the way to his room he paused a
+moment at her door. He knocked softly so as not to waken her if she
+was asleep. When there was no answer he stole quietly away. But
+Barbara was not asleep.
+
+For three days Mr. Greenfield remained in Rubio City, "on the
+business of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company," the
+papers said in a long article setting forth the greatness of the
+work that was to be undertaken in the desert through the magnificent
+enterprise of these mighty eastern capitalists.
+
+During that time Barbara had not seen either the Seer, Holmes or Abe
+Lee. She understood that they were engaged with Mr. Greenfield. She
+read the glowing articles in the paper, the afternoon of Mr.
+Greenfield's departure, with a thrill of pride. At last it had come
+--the day for which the Seer had hoped all these years. The dear old
+Seer! She was a little disappointed that the papers did not give his
+name more prominence. It seemed to be all Greenfield and the
+Company. But after all that did not matter. It was the Seer's work;
+the Seer had brought it about.
+
+The front gate clicked and Barbara looked up from her paper to see
+her old friend coming up the walk. She saw at a glance that
+something was wrong. She thought he was ill. The big form of the
+engineer drooped with weakness, his head dropped forward, his eyes
+were fixed on the ground and he walked slowly, dragging his feet as
+with great weariness. With a startled cry she ran to meet him, and
+as he caught her hands in both his own she saw his face drawn and
+haggard and his brown eyes filled with hopeless pain. He did not
+speak.
+
+Leading him to the shade of the porch she brought forward his
+favorite chair. He sank into it as if overcome with exhaustion, but
+attempted to smile his thanks.
+
+"What is it? Are you ill? Let me call a doctor?"
+
+"No, no, dear, I'm not sick. It's not that. I'm--I'm upset a bit,
+that's all. I'll be all right in a little while. Only it was rather
+unexpected." He turned his face away as though to hide something
+from her,
+
+"What is it? Can't you tell me? What is the matter?" Barbara had
+never seen the Seer so hopeless.
+
+"They have let me out."
+
+She did not understand. "Let you out?"
+
+He bowed his head slowly. "Yes; the Company, you know. They have
+appointed Mr. Holmes chief engineer in my place."
+
+She cried out in indignant dismay. "But how could they? It is your
+work--all your work! You have given years to bring it before the
+world. They never would have known of The King's Basin at all but
+for you. How dare they? They have no right!"
+
+The engineer smiled. "I was only an employe of Greenfield and the
+men who organized the Company, you know. In their eyes my relation
+to the work was the same as that of a Cocopah Indian laborer. Of
+course it was understood in a general way that I was to have some
+stock in the Company when it was organized, with the chief
+engineer's position at least, but there was nothing settled. Nothing
+could be settled until the actual completion of the survey, you
+know. I never dreamed of this. I can see now that it was planned
+from the first and that this is what Holmes came out here for. He is
+a great favorite of Greenfield's, and I suppose they wanted a man of
+their own kind to look after their interests. But it hurts, Barbara;
+it hurts."
+
+For an hour he stayed with her and she helped him as such a woman
+always helps. But when she would have kept him for supper he said:
+"No, I must find Abe. I want to tell the boy and have it over. You
+can tell your father."
+
+When Jefferson Worth learned from his indignant daughter of the
+Company's action he only said, in his precise way: "I figured that
+would be their first move." There was no feeling in his voice or
+manner. It was the simple verification of conclusions already
+reached and considered.
+
+"Father!" cried Barbara. "Do you mean that you expected the Company
+to put that man Holmes in the Seer's place?"
+
+"What reason was there to expect anything else?"
+
+"But you never said anything all the time the Seer was--" She could
+not continue. It was maddening to think that while she had been
+dreaming and planning with the Seer, her father had foreseen that
+their dreams would come to nought.
+
+"If I had you would not have believed me." The words were merely a
+calm, emotionless statement of fact. "I told you that the Company
+would act only from a business standpoint."
+
+Suddenly a new phase of the situation flashed upon Barbara.
+Controlling her emotions and searching her father's face she asked:
+"Daddy, tell me please: was it because you saw this that you refused
+to join the Company?"
+
+Jefferson Worth considered; then with marked caution answered: "That
+was part of the reason."
+
+"I think I begin to understand a little. I'm glad--glad that you
+would have nothing to do with those men. It would have killed me if
+you had had any part in this now."
+
+Presently the banker asked: "Have you seen Abe Lee?"
+
+"No, why? Do you think--have they discharged him, too? He wouldn't
+stay anyway after their treatment of the Seer. I wouldn't want him
+to."
+
+"They won't let him out if they can keep him. Holmes will need him,"
+said Worth. They he added: "You'd better tell Abe to stay."
+
+Barbara gasped. "What do you mean?"
+
+"Tell him to stay," repeated Worth slowly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+ABE LEE RESIGNS.
+
+
+In obedience to its master passion--Good Business--the race now
+began pouring its life into the barren wastes of The King's Basin
+Desert.
+
+In the city by the sea at the end of the Southwestern and
+Continental there was a suite of offices with real gold letters on
+the ground-glass doors richly spelling "The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company." Behind these doors there was real mahogany
+furniture, solid, substantial and rich; a high safe; many attractive
+maps; and a gentleman who--never having traveled west of Buffalo
+before--could answer with authority every conceivable question
+relating to the reclamation of the arid lands of the great West.
+When there were no more questions to ask he could still tell you
+many things of the wonderland of wealth that was being opened to the
+public by the Company, demonstrating thus beyond the possibility of
+a doubt how many times a dollar could be multiplied.
+
+From this office went forth to the advertising departments of the
+magazines and papers, skillfully prepared copy, which in turn was
+followed by pamphlets, circulars and letters innumerable. In one
+room a company of clerks and book-keepers and accountants pored over
+their tasks at desks and counters. In another a squad of
+stenographers filled the air with the sound of their type-writers.
+Through the doors of the different rooms passed an endless
+procession; men from the front with the marks of the desert sun on
+their faces--engineers, superintendents, bosses, messengers, agents
+--servants of the Company; laborers of every sort and nationality
+came in answer to the cry: "Men wanted!"; special salesmen from
+foundry, factory and shop drawn by prospective large sales of
+machinery, implements and supplies; land-hungry men from everywhere
+seeking information and opportunity for investment.
+
+At Deep Well (which is no well at all) on the rim of the Basin,
+trainloads of supplies, implements, machinery, lumber and
+construction material, horses, mules and men were daily side-tracked
+and unloaded on the desert sands. Overland travelers gazed in
+startled wonder at the scene of stirring activity that burst so
+suddenly upon them in the midst of the barren land through which
+they had ridden for hours without sight of a human habitation or
+sign of man. The great mountain of goods, piled on the dun plain;
+the bands of horses and mules; the camp-fires; the blankets spread
+on the bare ground; the men moving here and there in seemingly
+hopeless confusion; all looked so ridiculously out of place and so
+pitifully helpless.
+
+Every hour companies of men with teams and vehicles set out from the
+camp to be swallowed up in the silent distance. Night and day the
+huge mountain of goods was attacked by the freighters who, with
+their big wagons drawn by six, eight, twelve, or more, mules,
+appeared mysteriously out of the weird landscape as if they were
+spirits materialized by some mighty unknown genii of the desert.
+Their heavy wagons loaded, their water barrels filled, they turned
+again to the unseen realm from which they had been summoned. The
+sound of the loud voices of the drivers, the creaking of the wagons,
+the jingle of harness, the shot-like reports of long whips died
+quickly away; while, to the vision, the outfits passed slowly--
+fading, dissolving in their great clouds of dust, into the land of
+mystery.
+
+In Rubio City Jefferson Worth continued on his machine-like way at
+the Pioneer Bank, apparently paying no heed to the movement that
+offered such opportunities for profitable investment. Barbara rarely
+spoke now of the work that had been so dear to her, nor did she ever
+ride to the foot of the hill on the Mesa to look over the Desert.
+The Seer was in the northern railroad work again, but Abe Lee, with
+Tex and Pat and Pablo Garcia, had gone with the beginning of the
+stream of life that was pouring into the new country.
+
+True to the far-reaching plans of the Company, at the largest and
+most central of the supply camps, located in the very heart of The
+King's Basin, the townsite of Kingston was laid out, and even in the
+days when every drop of water was hauled from three to ten miles
+town lots were offered for sale and sold to eager speculators.
+
+A year from the beginning of the work at the intake at the river,
+water was turned into the canals. With the coming of the water,
+Kingston changed, almost between suns, from a rude supply camp to an
+established town with post-office, stores, hotel, blacksmith shop,
+livery stables, all in buildings more or less substantial. Most
+substantial of all was the building owned and occupied by the
+offices of the Company.
+
+With the coming of the water also, the stream of human life that
+flowed into the Basin was swollen by hundreds of settlers driven by
+the master passion--Good Business--to toil and traffic, to build the
+city, to subdue and cultivate the land and thus to realize the
+Seer's dream, while the engineer himself was banished from the work
+to which he had given his life. Every sunrise saw new tent-houses
+springing up on the claims of the settlers around the Company town
+and new buildings beginning in the center of it all--Kingston. Every
+sunset saw miles of new ditches ready to receive the water from the
+canal and acres of new land cleared and graded for irrigation.
+
+Thus it was that afternoon when, from his office window, Mr. Burk,
+the General Manager of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company,
+watched a freighter with a twelve-mule load of goods stop his team
+directly across the street in front of the largest and most
+important general store in the Basin.
+
+Deck Jordan, the merchant, came out and the Manager easily heard the
+driver's loud voice: "Jim'll be along in 'bout another hour, I
+reckon. We aim to get the rest in two more trips."
+
+"Six twelve-mule loads in that shipment," thought the Company's
+manager; "and that fellow set up business with a two-horse load of
+stuff!"
+
+An empty wagon was driven up to the store and the General Manager
+recognized in the driver one of the Company's men from a grading
+camp six miles away; while another wagon--a Company wagon also--
+nearly filled with supplies moved away toward the open desert.
+
+Deck's business was assuming quite respectable proportions thought
+Mr. Burk. And Deck's business was mostly with employes of the
+Company. Taking a cigar from a box on his desk, Mr. Burk scratched a
+match on the heel of his shoe and, leaning back in his office chair,
+continued thinking. The Manager of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company was paid to think. The Company hired Mr. Burk's
+peculiar talent even as they hired the physical strength of their
+laborers or the professional skill of their engineers.
+
+As he meditated, the Manager still watched from the window the
+activities of the street. Soon from the open desert, beyond the last
+new building down the street, he saw a horseman approaching. At an
+easy swinging lope the rider came straight toward the Company's
+headquarters and, as he drew near, the Manager recognized the chief
+engineer. Greeting the man at the open window as he passed, Willard
+Holmes dismounted at the entrance of the building and, going first
+to the water tank, soon appeared in the doorway of the Manager's
+room. The engineer's clothes from boots to Stetson were covered with
+dust and his face was deeply bronzed by the months in the open air.
+
+Turning from the window Mr. Burk held out the box of cigars.
+
+"No thanks," said the Chief with a smile. "I'm hot as a lime kiln
+now. Wait until after supper."
+
+Throwing his hat and gloves on the floor, he dropped into a chair
+with a sigh of relief at the grateful coolness of the room after
+hours of riding in the dazzling light of the desert sun.
+
+The other, returning the box to its place, tipped back in his chair
+and elevated his well-dressed feet to his desk and, with his cigar
+in one corner of his mouth and his head cocked suggestively to one
+side, looked his companion over with a critical smile. "I say,
+Holmes, how would you like to be in little old New York this
+evening?"
+
+At the question and the manner of the speaker the engineer held up
+his hands with a motion of protest as he commanded, in tragic voice:
+"Get thee behind me, Satan!" Then, at the Manager's laugh, he added
+seriously: "New York is all right, Burk, but I guess I can manage to
+stick it out here a while longer."
+
+Burk looked at the engineer with the same thoughtful expression that
+had marked his face when he watched the wagon-load of supplies
+before the store across the street. "I have noticed that you show
+symptoms of slowly developing an interest in your job," he murmured.
+"You were at the river yesterday."
+
+"No; I was at Number Five Heading. Abe Lee will be in from the
+intake this afternoon. I was there day before yesterday."
+
+"How is the little old Colorado behaving herself?"
+
+"All right so far. Our work is all a guess though. There is not a
+scrap of data to go on, you know." There was a hint of anxiety in
+the chief engineer's answer.
+
+"I suppose you find the talkative Abe cheerfully optimistic about
+the future of our structures as usual?"
+
+Holmes did not smile at the jesting tone of the Manager. "Lee is
+certainly doing all he can to make things safe. He is a fiend for
+thoroughness, and between you and me, Burk, the Company _ought_ to
+spend more money on that intake at least. A few more thousands would
+make it what it should be."
+
+The man who was paid to think held out a hand protestingly. "My dear
+boy, how many times have we gone over that? The Company will spend
+just what they must spend to get this scheme going and not a cent
+more. Later, when the business justifies, they will improve the
+system. Don't get yourself sidetracked by the notion that this whole
+project is for the benefit of the dear people and that the Company
+is made up of benevolent old gentlemen, who have nothing to do with
+their wealth but promote philanthropic enterprises. You should know
+your Uncle Jim better. Dividends, my boy, dividends; that's what
+we're all here for, and you can't afford to forget it. By the way,
+did you have any dinner to-day?"
+
+"I struck Camp Seven on the Alamitos at noon."
+
+"Hum-m. Sour bread, sow-belly, frijoles? Or was it canned corn? I
+say, old man, do you remember some of the places where we used to
+dine at home--flowers and music, and table linen, and real dishes,
+and waiters with real food, and women--God bless 'em!--real women?
+What would you give to-night, Holmes, for something to eat that had
+never been preserved, embalmed, cured, dried or tinned? It's not a
+dream of fairyland, my boy; there are such places in the world and
+there are such things to eat. Come, what do you say? Where shall we
+dine tonight and what will you have?"
+
+"You fiend!" growled Holmes. "You know I'd sell my soul this minute
+for one good red apple."
+
+Lowering his feet to the floor and rising, the Manager of The King's
+Basin Land and Irrigation Company crossed the room stealthily and
+carefully closed the door. Then taking a bunch of keys from his
+pocket, with an air of great secrecy he unlocked a drawer in his
+desk, pulled it open and took out--_an apple_.
+
+The Company's chief engineer fell on the Manager with an exclamation
+of amazement and delight.
+
+"Really," said Burk as he watched the fruit disappear, "your child-
+like pleasure almost justifies my crime. I even feel repaid for my
+self-denial. There were only three in the basket."
+
+"How did you do it?" asked Holmes between bites, gazing at the apple
+in his hand as though to devour the treat with his eyes also,
+thereby doubling the pleasure.
+
+"It was one of our dearly beloved prospective settlers," the
+thoughtful Manager explained with an air of conscious merit. "He
+came in from somewhere yesterday to spy out the land and, being a
+prudent and thrifty farmer, he possesses, or is possessed by, a
+prudent and thrifty wife. Said wife fitted out said farmer for his
+journey into this far country with a market basket of provisions.
+Home-made provisions, Willard, my son; _home made!_ A whole basket
+full! He had one feed left and was finishing it out there on the
+sidewalk when I returned from what we of this benighted land call
+dinner. How could I help looking. I watched him devour the leg of a
+chicken. I watched him eat real bread with jelly on it. Then I
+caught sight of three apples--_three!_ Holmes, such wealth is
+criminal. I considered--I became an anarchist. He was a big husky
+and I dared not assault him, so I talked--Lord forgive me!--how I
+talked. I offered confidential advice, I conjured up visions of
+wealth untold. I laid him under a spell and gently led him and his
+basket into the office even as he finished the pie. I showed him
+maps; I gave him a cigar; I urged him to leave his basket and
+satchel here in my private office for safe-keeping while he looked
+around. Gladly he accepted my invitation. His confidence was
+pathetic. How could the poor, trusting farmer know that I was ready,
+if necessary, to murder him for his fortune? When he had gone I
+locked the door and I--I--I only took two, Holmes; I dared not take
+them all, for he was big and rough, as I say. But I could not
+believe that a man with such wealth could miss a part of it."
+
+"But you said you ate two," said the engineer severely, taking
+another long, lingering bite.
+
+"I did," returned the Manager, with awful solemnity. "When that
+trusting but husky farmer returned later for his possessions he
+thanked me many times for my kindness while I trembled with the
+consciousness of my guilt, assuring him that it was no trouble at
+all--no trouble at all. And then--just as I felt sure that he was
+going and was beginning to breathe easier--he stopped and fumbled
+around in his basket. My heart stood still. 'Hannah put some fine
+apples in my dinner,' he muttered. 'I thought maybe you might like
+some. Reckon I must a-et 'em after all. I thought there was--no, by
+jocks! here she is.' Holmes, as I live he handed me that other
+apple. It was positively uncanny. I was speechless. Not until he was
+gone did I realize that it was prophetic. In like manner shall the
+settlers, the farmers, save this land and us from destruction."
+
+"It's Good Business," returned Holmes. "It exactly illustrates your
+methods of dealing with the confiding public."
+
+"Humph!" grunted the other. "I observe that you do not hesitate to
+enjoy the fruits of my financiering."
+
+A knock at the door prevented the engineer's reply.
+
+"Come in!" called Burk.
+
+The door opened and Abe Lee stood on the threshold. The two men
+greeted the surveyor cordially but with that subtle touch in their
+voices that hinted at consciousness of superior position and
+authority.
+
+Abe addressed himself directly to his Chief, saying: "We finished at
+the intake last night, sir, and moved to Dry River Heading this
+morning as you directed."
+
+"You left everything at the river in good shape, of course?"
+
+The surveyor did not answer. The tobacco and paper that, in his long
+fingers, were assuming the form of a cigarette seemed to demand his
+undivided attention. Burk was thoughtfully watching the two men. At
+the critical moment he handed Abe a match. From the cloud of smoke
+Abe spoke again. "The outfit will be ready to begin work at the
+Heading to-morrow morning."
+
+Before Holmes could speak the Manager said: "You evidently still
+think, Lee, that the work at the river is not satisfactory. Are you
+still predicting that our intake will go out with the next high
+water?"
+
+"I don't know whether the next high water will do it or not. The Rio
+Colorado alone won't hurt us, but when the Gila and the Little
+Colorado go on the war-path and come down on top of a high Colorado
+flood you'll catch hell. It may be this season; it may be next. It
+depends on the snowfall in the upper countries and the weather in
+the spring, but it _has_ come and it will come again."
+
+"How do you know? There have been no records kept and no surveys. We
+have no data."
+
+"There's data enough. The Colorado leaves her own record. I know the
+country; I know what the river has done and I know what the Indians
+have told me."
+
+At the surveyor's words his Chief stirred impatiently and the
+Manager answered: "But we can't spend twenty or thirty thousand
+dollars on a mere guess at what _may_ happen, Lee. When the country
+is fairly well settled and business justifies, we will put in a new
+intake. In the meantime those structures will have to do. The K. B.
+L. and I. is not in business for glory, you know." Abe spoke softly
+from a cloud of smoke. "And are you explaining this situation to the
+people who are coming here by the hundreds to settle? Do they
+understand the chances they are taking when they buy water rights
+and go ahead to develop their ranches?"
+
+"Certainly not. If we talked risks no one would come in. The Company
+must protect its interests."
+
+"Who protects the settlers' interests?"
+
+The Manager stiffened. "I don't recognize your right to criticise
+the Company's policy, Lee. Mr. Holmes is our chief engineer and he
+assures me that our structures are as good as they can be made with
+the money at our disposal. We can only carry out the policies of the
+Company and we are responsible to them for the money we spend. You
+have no responsibility in the matter whatever."
+
+"Oh, hell, Burk," drawled Abe, though his eyes contradicted flatly
+his soft tone. "There's no occasion for you to climb so high up that
+ladder. You've been a corporation mouthpiece so long you have no
+more soul than the Company." He turned to his Chief. "I left Andy in
+charge at camp. He understands that I will not be back. I dropped my
+resignation in your box in the office as I came in. Adios."
+
+Leaving the office, Abe walked slowly down the street through the
+heart of the Company's little town. On every hand he saw the work
+that was being wrought in the Desert. There were business blocks and
+houses in every stage of building from the new-laid foundation to
+the moving-in of the tenants. The air rang with sound of hammer and
+saw. Teams and wagons from the ranches lined the street. The very
+faces of the people he met glowed with enthusiasm, while
+determination and purpose were expressed in their very movements as
+they hurried by.
+
+A mile west of town the surveyor stopped on the bridge that spanned
+the main canal. He paused to look around. He saw the country already
+dotted with the white tent-houses of the settlers, and even as he
+looked three new wagons, loaded with supplies and implements,
+passed, bound for the claims of the owners. Under his feet the water
+from the distant river ran strongly. To the west was a grading camp
+on the line of a Company ditch; to the south was another. Far to the
+north and east, along the rim of the Basin, he knew the railroad was
+bringing other pioneers by the hundreds. He drew a deep breath and,
+taking off his sombrero, drank in the scene. How he loved it all! It
+was the Seer's dream, but the Seer could have no part in it. It was
+Barbara's Desert, but Barbara was shut out--exiled. It was his work,
+but he was powerless to do it. The Seer had told him to stay for his
+work's sake. He smiled grimly, remembering the Manager's words.
+Barbara had told him to stay, but the girl knew nothing of
+conditions--how could she know? Jefferson Worth had told him to
+stay. Why? Barbara, in her letters, never spoke of the work. The
+Seer seldom wrote; Jefferson Worth, never. Every month the situation
+had grown more unbearable. Burk might insist that he had no
+responsibility and Holmes might argue that they could only do their
+best with what funds the Company would supply. Abe was not of their
+school. Well, he was out of it now for good. He was not the kind of
+a man the Company wanted.
+
+Returning to town he had supper at the little shack restaurant and,
+going to the tent house owned by himself and two brother-surveyors
+that they might have a place to sleep when in town, he gathered his
+few possessions together in readiness for departure in the morning.
+
+When the brief task was finished and he had written a note to his
+two friends, who were away, he went out again on the main street,
+because there was nothing else to do. It was evening now and the
+usual crowd was gathered in front of the post-office to watch the
+arrival of the stage, the one event of never-failing interest to
+these hardy pioneers. In the throng there were teamsters, laborers,
+ranchers, mechanics, real-estate agents, speculators, surveyors--
+gathered from camp and field and town. Some were expecting letters
+from the home folks in the world outside; a few were looking for
+friends among the passengers. Many were there, as was Abe, because
+it was the point of interest. All were roughly clad, marked by the
+semi-tropical desert wind and sun.
+
+It was among such men as these that Abe Lee's life had been spent.
+Such scenes as these were home scenes to him. In a peculiar way,
+through the Seer and Barbara, the work that these men were doing was
+dear to him. He felt that he was being cast out of his own place. As
+he passed through the throng Abe heard always the same topic of
+conversation: the work--the work--the work. News to these men meant
+more miles of canal finished, new ditches dug, more land leveled and
+graded, new settlers located. The surveyor thought of the future of
+these people, given wholly into the hands of the Company; of the men
+in the East, who knew nothing of their hardships but who would force
+them to pay royal tribute out of the fruits of their toil; of how,
+even then, they were increasing the value of the Company property.
+
+"Here she comes!" cried someone, and all eyes were turned to see the
+stage swinging down the street. Abe drew back a little--to the thin
+edge of the crowd; he was expecting neither letters nor friends. The
+six broncos were brought to a stand in the midst of the crowd, the
+mail bag was tossed to the post-master and the passengers began
+climbing down from their seats.
+
+As the last man rose from his place he stood for a moment in a
+stooped position, gripping with each hand one of the standards that
+supported the canvas top of the vehicle. Looking out thus over the
+crowd he seemed to be gathering data for an estimate of the
+population before he felt cautiously with his foot for the step.
+
+Abe Lee started forward with an exclamation.
+
+It was Jefferson Worth!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+SIGNS OF CONFLICT.
+
+
+Not a line of Jefferson Worth's countenance changed as the tall
+surveyor, pushing his way through the crowd about the new arrivals,
+greeted him. But Abe Lee felt the man from behind his gray mask
+reaching out to grasp his innermost thoughts and emotions.
+
+"Where is the hotel?"
+
+Abe explained that the rough board shelter that bore that name was
+full to the door. People were even sleeping on the floor. "But there
+is room in our tent, Mr. Worth," he finished and led the way out of
+the crowd.
+
+To the surveyor's eager questions the banker answered that Barbara
+was visiting friends in the Coast city.
+
+When they had reached the tent and Abe had found and lighted a
+lantern, Mr. Worth said--and his manner was as though he were
+continuing a conversation that had been interrupted only for a
+moment--"well, I see you stayed."
+
+At his words the surveyor, who was filling a tin wash-basin with
+fresh water that his guest might wash away the dust of his journey,
+felt the hot blood in his cheeks. Before answering he pulled an old
+cracker-box from under a cot in one corner of the canvas room and,
+rummaging therein, brought to light a clean towel. When he had
+placed this evidence of civilization beside the basin on the box
+that did duty as a wash-stand, he answered: "I quit the Company this
+afternoon."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because I won't do the kind of work the Company wants." The
+surveyor spoke hotly now. The man busy with the basin of water made
+no comment, and Abe continued: "Mr. Worth, they are putting in the
+cheapest possible kind of wooden structures all through the system,
+even at points where the safety of the whole project depends on the
+control of the water. The intake itself is nothing but the flimsiest
+sort of a makeshift. One good flood, such as we have every few
+years, and there wouldn't be a damned stick of it left in twelve
+hours. You remember what the grade is from the river at the point of
+the intake this way into the Basin and you know how water cuts this
+soil. If that gate goes out the whole river will come through; and
+these settlers, who are tumbling over each other to put into this
+country every cent they have in the world, will lose everything."
+
+"The Company takes its chances with the settlers, doesn't it?"
+
+"The Company takes mighty small chances compared to the risk the
+settlers are carrying. As a matter of fact, Mr. Worth, it is the
+people who are building this system; not the Company at all. To
+prove up on these desert claims the government compels them to have
+the water. They can't use the water without paying the Company for
+the right. After they have bought the water rights then they must
+pay for every acre-foot they use. All Greenfield and his bunch did
+was to put up enough to start the thing going and the people are
+doing the rest. The Company knows the risk and stakes a
+comparatively small amount of capital. The settlers know nothing of
+the real conditions and stake everything they have in the world. If
+the Company would tell the people the situation it would be square,
+but you know what would happen if they did that. No one would come
+in. As it is, the Company, by risking the smallest amount possible,
+leads the people to risk everything they have and yet the Greenfield
+crowd stands to win big on the whole stake."
+
+Mr. Worth was drying his slim fingers with careful precision. "I
+figured that was the way it would be done. That's the way all these
+big enterprises are launched. The first work is always done on a
+promoter's estimate. Later, when the business justifies, the system
+will be strengthened and improved."
+
+"Which means," retorted the surveyor, "that when the Company has
+taken enough money from the settlers, whom they have induced to
+stake everything they have on the gamble by letting them think it is
+a sure thing, they will use _a part of it_ to give the people what
+they _think_ they are getting now."
+
+The banker laid the towel carefully aside and disposed of the water
+in the wash-basin by the primitive method of throwing it from the
+tent door. Then he spoke again: "The people themselves could never
+start a work like this, and if there wasn't a chance to make a big
+thing Capital wouldn't. It's the size of the profit compared with
+the amount invested that draws Capital into this kind of a thing. If
+the Company had to take all the chance in this project they would
+simply stay out and the work would never be done. This feature of
+unequal risk is the very thing, and the only thing, that could
+attract the money to start this proposition going; and that's what
+people like you and the Seer and Barbara can't see. Holmes and Burk
+can't help themselves. It's Greenfield and the Company, and they are
+just as honest as other men. They are simply promoting this scheme
+in the only way possible to start it and the people will share the
+results."
+
+"Holmes and Burk are all right, except that they're owned body and
+soul by the Company," said Abe quickly. "But Greenfield and the men
+who engineered this thing look to me like a bunch of green-goods men
+who live on the confidence of the people."
+
+"The people will gain their farms just the same," returned the
+financier. "They wouldn't have anything without the Company."
+
+The surveyor shrugged his shoulders. "Well, you may be right, Mr.
+Worth; but I've had all I can stand of it."
+
+Again Jefferson Worth looked full into the younger man's eyes and
+Abe felt that Something behind the mask reaching out to seize the
+thoughts and motives that lay back of his words: "What are you going
+to do?"
+
+"I don't know. Punch steers or get a job in a mine somewhere, I
+reckon. I'm going somewhere out of this. I've had enough of
+promoter's estimates."
+
+"Suppose you stay and work for me."
+
+Abe Lee sprang to his feet. "Work for you? Here? I thought you had
+refused to go into this deal?"
+
+"I declined to join Greenfield's Company," said the banker exactly.
+
+"Do you mean, Mr. Worth, that you are going to operate in the Basin
+independently, knowing the Company's strength and the whole
+situation as you do?"
+
+"I have decided to take a chance with the rest," was the unemotional
+answer. "I sold out of the bank and cleaned up everything in Rubio
+City last week."
+
+"But what are you going into here?"
+
+"I can use you if you want to stay," came the cautious answer.
+
+"Stay? Of course I'll stay!"
+
+It was characteristic of these men that nothing was said of salary
+on either side. Extinguishing the lantern, Abe led the way out into
+the night. The darkness was intense and unrelieved save by the thin
+broken line of twinkling lights from the windows of the buildings,
+which gave them the direction of the main street, and the few dull
+glowing tent houses, whose tenants were at home. Overhead the desert
+stars shone with a brilliance that put to shame the feeble efforts
+of the earth-men, while about the little pioneer town the desert
+night drew close with its circling wall of mystery.
+
+Did Jefferson Worth think, as he stumbled along by the surveyor's
+side, of that other night in The Hollow of God's Hand, when he had
+faced, alone, the spirit of the land?
+
+"This town needs an electric lighting system," he said in his
+colorless voice.
+
+When Jefferson Worth had finished supper in the shack restaurant he
+proposed cautiously that they look around a little. The street was
+lined with teams and saddle horses, their forms shadowy and
+indistinct in the dark places of vacant lots or where buildings were
+under construction, but standing forth with startling clearness
+where the light from a store streamed forth. The sidewalk was filled
+with men from the ranches and grading camps, who had come to town
+after sunset for their mail or supplies so that no hour of the day
+should be lost to the work that had called them into the desert; and
+these ever-shifting figures passed to and fro through the bands of
+light and darkness, gathered in groups in front of the stores and
+dissolved again, to form other groups or to lose themselves in the
+general throng. Every moment a wagon-load of men, a party of
+horsemen, or a single rider would appear suddenly and mysteriously
+out of the night, while others, leaving the throng to depart in like
+manner, would be swallowed up as mysteriously by the blackness. In
+the center of the picture and the very heart of the activity was the
+general store opposite the office of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company.
+
+Deck Jordan had opened his store in the days when Kingston was still
+a supply camp. No one knew much about Deck or how he had guessed
+that the camp would become the chief town in the new country. He was
+a pleasing, capable, but close-mouthed man, who knew what to buy,
+paid his bills promptly and--with one exception--conducted his
+business on a cash basis.
+
+The exception to the cash rule was in favor of the Company's
+employes. It was on Deck's initiative that an arrangement was made
+with Mr. Burk by which the Company men received credit at the store,
+the amount of their bills being deducted from their wages each month
+by the Company paymaster. It was this plan that, by giving Deck
+practically all of the trade from the hundreds of Company employes,
+had increased his business so rapidly. To the thoughtful Manager,
+also, the plan seemed good. He foresaw how, with the Company thus
+controlling the bulk of the merchant's business, he could, when the
+proper time came, "persuade" Deck to enter into a still "closer"
+arrangement--thus carrying out the Good Business policy of the
+Company. That very afternoon Mr. Burk had decided the time had come
+and had so written Mr. Greenfield.
+
+Leisurely Jefferson Worth and his companion worked their way through
+the crowd and into the store where Deck and his helpers were toiling
+to supply the various needs of a small army of customers. From the
+open doors and from the big implement shed in the rear of the
+building, a steady stream of provisions, clothing, dry goods,
+hardware, blankets, harness and tools flowed forth.
+
+In the midst of the confusion Deck himself was holding an animated
+conversation with a would-be purchaser. "I'd be mighty glad to
+accommodate you, Sam, if I could, but you know we're running this
+store on a cash basis and I can't break my rules. If I begin with
+you I'll have to do it for everybody and I can't."
+
+"You don't make these Company men pay cash. Anybody--Injuns,
+greasers or anything else--gets what he wants and no questions asked
+if he works for the Company."
+
+"But that's different, you see," explained Deck. "We have an
+arrangement with the Company by which they hold out from each man's
+pay the amount of my bills against him."
+
+"I understand that, but you'll find out that it's the rancher's
+trade that'll keep you going. We'll be here long after these
+ditchers an' mule skinners have left the country and we'll have
+money to spend. You'll find, too, that when things _do_ begin to
+come our way we'll stand by the store that'll stand by us now when
+we've got everything goin' out an' nothin' comin' in."
+
+Deck, over the shoulder of the rancher, saw Jefferson Worth and the
+surveyor, who with several others had drawn near, attracted by the
+loud tones of the farmer. Abe thought that he caught a look of
+recognition as Deck's eyes fell on his companion but the banker gave
+no sign.
+
+The merchant, answering his customer, said: "I know you are right
+about that part of it, Sam, and I'd like to back every rancher in
+this Basin if I could. But I can't."
+
+"Why not? Ain't you runnin' this store?"
+
+Before Deck could reply, to Abe's astonishment the quiet voice of
+Jefferson Worth broke in. "You are improving a ranch of your own
+near here?"
+
+The settler turned sharply. "You bet I am, Mister; leastwise, I'm
+tryin' to, and if workin' from sun-up 'til dark an' livin' on
+nothin' til I can make a crop will pull me through I'll make it."
+
+"I suppose the heaviest expense is all in getting started?" asked
+Mr. Worth, as if seeking to verify an observation.
+
+"It sure is," replied the pioneer. "There's the outfit you've got to
+have--work-stock an' tools; you've got to build your ditches and
+grade your land; and you've got to buy water rights and pay for your
+water; and you've got to make your payments to the government. Then
+there's feed for your work-stock and yourself, an' there ain't
+nothin' to bring in a cent 'til you can make a crop. The farmers
+that are comin' into this country ain't got a great big pile of
+ready money stacked away, Mister, an' they're mighty apt to run a
+little short the first year. When our home merchants, who expect to
+make their money off from us, won't even trust us for a few dollars'
+worth of provisions 'til we can get a start, I'm damned if it ain't
+tough."
+
+"But everyone is a stranger in this new country," said Mr. Worth.
+"How can a merchant know whether a man will pay or not? I suppose
+there are ranchers coming in here who would beat a bill if they
+could. The merchants have to pay for their goods or close up."
+
+"I reckon that's all so," returned the other. "And of course
+everybody knows that there never was such a thing as dishonest
+store-keepers. Merchants don't never beat anybody with short weight
+and all that?"
+
+This raised a laugh in which Deck joined as heartily as anyone. Even
+the banker smiled coldly as he asked: "What did you say your name
+was?"
+
+"Didn't say; but it's Sam Warren."
+
+"Where is your ranch?"
+
+"Six miles north on the Number One main."
+
+"Well, Mr. Warren, I've been considering this proposition and I've
+got it figured out like this. We all want to make what we can in
+this new country; that's what we came in for. This store can't get
+along without the ranchers' support and you ranchers can't get along
+without the store. We've all got to pull together and help each
+other. I don't believe that many of the men who come into this
+Desert to actually settle on and improve the land are the kind of
+men who beat their bills. I figured to run on a cash basis only
+until things got started and sort of settled down, you see. I know
+that you people need credit until you get on your feet. From now on
+you come here--for whatever you actually need, you understand--and
+we'll carry you for any reasonable amount until you get something
+coming in. All we ask in return is that you ranchers do as you say
+and stand by us when you do get on top."
+
+At Jefferson Worth's simple and quietly spoken words a hush fell
+over the group of men. Abe Lee looked at his companion in amazement.
+Sam Warren turned from the stranger to the store-keeper and back to
+the stranger. The man behind the counter was smiling broadly as if
+enjoying the situation.
+
+When no one could find a word with which to break the silence, Deck
+Jordan said: "Gentlemen, this is Mr. Jefferson Worth, the owner of
+this store. George!" he called to a passing clerk, "give Sam
+whatever he wants as soon as you can get around to it, and charge
+it."
+
+At this such a yell went up from the bystanders that a crowd from
+the outside rushed in, and as the word passed and others voiced
+their approval as loudly, the Manager of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company in his rooms across the street thought that
+another fight was on.
+
+The Manager was not far wrong in his conclusion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+BARBARA'S CALL TO HER FRIENDS.
+
+
+That night, long after Kingston was still and the Manager of The
+King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company was fast asleep, Jefferson
+Worth and Abe Lee talked in the little tent that, from the lantern
+within, glowed in the darkness, seemingly the one spot of light
+under the desert stars.
+
+The next morning the surveyor left town on the stage, but not as he
+had planned. Abe knew now where he was going and what he was going
+to do. He was bound for the city by the sea and he carried in his
+pocket several letters of introduction, written by his employer and
+addressed to different firms engaged in manufacturing and selling
+things electrical. And more than this, Abe would see Barbara.
+
+Jefferson Worth did not breakfast with Abe that morning nor did he
+see him off on the stage, but a few minutes after the surveyor had
+left town his employer passed down the street in the direction of
+the store.
+
+As Mr. Worth drew near his place of business he saw, posed just
+without the door, one whom the most casual of observing strangers
+would have supposed instantly to be the proprietor of the store, the
+owner of the building--if not, indeed, the proprietor and owner of
+all Kingston and many miles of country round about.
+
+The portly figure, clad in a business suit of gray, with a vast,
+full-rounded expanse of white vest, expressed in every curve opulent
+wealth and lordly generosity. The clean-shaven face, fat and florid,
+beamed upon the world from above the clerical severity of a black
+tie with truly paternal benevolence; while the massive head was not
+in reality crowned but was covered by a hat such as commanding
+generals always wear in pictures. The pose of the figure, the lift
+of the countenance, the kingly mien of eye and brow made it
+impossible to mistake his majesty. In comparison with this august
+personage, the figure and air of Jefferson Worth were pitifully
+inadequate.
+
+The great one welcomed the financier at the latter's own door with
+an air of royal hospitality. Extending his hand as if he stepped
+down only one step from his throne and speaking in a tone that was
+meant to confer marked distinction upon the humble recipient of his
+favor, he said: "Mr. Worth, I am delighted, more delighted than I
+can express, to welcome you to our city. It is a great day for this
+country--a great day!" He wrung the financier's timid hand with two
+hundred and fifty pounds of emotional energy. "Mr. Greenfield and I,
+with our friends and associates in the East, and Mr. Burk and Holmes
+here in the field, are doing what we can for these people, but there
+is a great work here yet for men like you--men of some means and
+financial ability, who will get behind the smaller business
+interests and build them up on a solid foundation. My heart rejoiced
+for the country, sir, when I heard this morning that you had
+purchased this establishment. Deck is a good honest fellow, you
+know, but--" An expansive smile of confidential understanding
+finished this sentence, and the words--"My name is Blanton, Mr.
+Worth--Horace P. Blanton"--seemed to settle at once any doubt as to
+the position and authority of the speaker.
+
+Jefferson Worth did not explain that he had owned the store from the
+beginning and that Deck Jordan was no more than his very capable
+agent. Indeed Mr. Worth said nothing at all. He even appeared to
+shrink with becoming modesty though there was the faintest hint of a
+twinkle in the corners of his eyes--a hint so faint that Horace P.
+Blanton, from his great height, overlooked it.
+
+The big man, in a lower tone of confidential familiarity, asked:
+"Have you heard from Greenfield lately?"
+
+"No."
+
+"I wrote Jim some time ago that he would have to come out here
+himself. There are some conditions developing here that should have
+his personal attention, and I'll be blessed if I'll stand seeing him
+neglect them! I'm a western man myself, Worth; and you know we do
+things in this country."
+
+"You are interested in The King's Basin Company?"
+
+The answer was given in a tone of tolerant surprise that any one
+should think he would toy with a thing of such trifling importance.
+"Me? Oh no!--that is, not directly you understand. But I am deeply
+interested in the development of the country. Let me show you a
+little of what we are doing here. It's amazing how the world outside
+fails utterly to grasp the magnitude of the enterprise. Even the
+newspapers are criminally negligent. Quite recently I had occasion
+to tell my good friend, the editor of the Times, that if he didn't
+give us something like a fair showing I would see to it personally
+that the bulk of our business went to San Felipe. It's a burning
+shame the way they have persistently ignored us."
+
+Mr. Worth made an ineffectual attempt to escape but the white vest
+blocked his move. Pointing to a half-finished building on the
+nearest corner, the great one explained in the tone of a personal
+conductor: "That is our new hotel--one of the finest buildings in
+the southwest. The young man who will run it for us is personally
+superintending the construction. Bright boy, too. You must let me
+introduce you to him."
+
+Jefferson Worth, gazing at the modest building under construction,
+murmured: "You are interested, you say?"
+
+"Oh no; that is--only in a way, you understand. I have a hand in
+most of these enterprises."
+
+"This town needs a good hotel," said Mr. Worth, mildly.
+
+"That building farther down--the one where the foundation is just
+completed--is our Opera House. It is being erected by one of the big
+Coast syndicates and will be a magnificent hall of amusement and
+entertainment as well as a place for public gatherings of all kinds.
+I have been in close personal touch with the men in charge of the
+enterprise and they understand that we will tolerate nothing that is
+not first class."
+
+"The people need such a building," was the quiet comment.
+
+"In the block opposite our bank will be located. They will be
+working on the vault in another two weeks. While the building is
+well under way, as you see, the organization of the institution is
+not yet made public. Only a few of us on the inside, you understand,
+know who is back of the enterprise."
+
+"I see," said Jefferson Worth. "A bank is a good thing for the
+country."
+
+Pointing up the street, the great one in the white vest continued:
+"There you see the office of our paper--The King's Basin Messenger.
+The machinery is being installed now. I'm mighty proud of the young
+man who is starting that work. He will be a credit to us I promise
+you. Directly opposite is The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company building with the offices of the Company. You must let me
+introduce you to the manager, Mr. Burk, and to Holmes, the engineer.
+Come, we will go over there now." He started forward with perspiring
+energy, but Jefferson Worth, seizing the opportunity, gained the
+doorway of the store and vanished.
+
+For two weeks Mr. Worth seemed to devote his time wholly to his
+store. Though Deck Jordan still continued the active management, it
+was generally understood that Mr. Worth, having but recently
+purchased the establishment, retained Deck until, as it was
+generally expressed, he got the run of the business. At an old desk
+in a cubby-hole of an office roughly partitioned off in one corner
+of the room, the financier spent nearly every hour of the day
+apparently poring over his accounts.
+
+Here the Manager from across the street found him when he called to
+explain to Mr. Worth the advantage of an alliance between the store
+and the Company. Mr. Burk did not stay long, but upon his return to
+his office wrote a long, confidential letter to his superiors. The
+thoughtful Manager's letters to his superiors were always
+confidential.
+
+Willard Holmes also called to pay his respects; to inquire whether
+Miss Worth was well; and--as Holmes put it to himself when he was
+again safely outside the building--to turn himself inside out for
+the critical inspection of the man who hid behind that gray mask.
+
+So far as the Manager of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company observed, Jefferson Worth, beside buying the store, made
+only one small investment. He purchased from the Company a small
+tract of land just inside the limits of the townsite. Then almost
+before Mr. Burk knew that it was before them, the town council
+passed an ordinance granting permission to the Worth Electric
+Company to place their poles and to stretch wires on the streets of
+the town, and the first issue of The King's Basin Messenger
+announced with a great flourish of trumpets that Kingston was to
+have lights.
+
+The article explained that Mr. Abe Lee, the well known engineer,
+formerly with the K. B. L. and I. Company, would have charge of the
+construction work and would push it with his usual energy. For some
+time Mr. Lee had been in the city arranging for material, which
+would be shipped immediately. Mr. Worth had stated to the Messenger
+that Mr. Lee would return to Kingston in a day or two and would
+break ground for the power plant at once. The Messenger also gave an
+interesting history of Jefferson Worth's successful career from
+farm-boy to financier with an appreciation of his character and
+congratulated the citizens that a man of such financial strength and
+genius had come to invest the fruit of his toil in the new country.
+
+Mr. Burk read the Messenger's article thoughtfully. Then Mr. Burk
+wrote another confidential letter to his superiors.
+
+Over this enterprise of Jefferson Worth, as set forth in the
+Messenger, the citizens were enthusiastic. Horace P. Blanton was
+more than enthusiastic. Meeting Mr. Burk as the latter was returning
+to his office after dinner he blocked the Manager's way with his
+white vest and, wiping the sweat of honest endeavor from his brow,
+delivered himself. "Well, sir; we landed it. Biggest thing that ever
+happened to Kingston. Double our population in three months. I told
+my friend Worth that they would have to come through with that
+franchise whether they wanted to or not, and by George! we landed
+it. There was nothing else to do."
+
+The Manager thoughtfully flicked the ashes from his cigar. "And what
+is this that you have landed?"
+
+"What! haven't you heard? Have you seen the Messenger?" He drew a
+paper from his pocket and placed a finger on the headlines:
+"Electric Lights for Kingston."
+
+The Manager shifted his cigar to the corner of his mouth and,
+casting his head in the opposite direction, surveyed the excited
+Horace P. as an artist might view an interesting picture. "So you
+are interested in the Worth Electric Company?"
+
+"Oh no; that is, not exactly, you know. My name will not appear in
+the company. But Jeff and I are very warm friends, you understand,
+and for the sake of Kingston I am bound to take an interest in his
+enterprise."
+
+At this the thoughtful Mr. Burk became suddenly confidential.
+Tapping his companion impressively on the arm and speaking in a low
+tone of vast import, he said: "Blanton, be careful; be careful.
+Don't get into Worth's schemes too deeply. A man of your standing
+and influence, you know, can't afford to play into the hands of a
+four-flusher."
+
+Then the Manager of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company
+slipped easily away before the other could reply.
+
+Three minutes later the man in the big white vest overtook the
+Company's chief engineer in the doorway of the restaurant. "Good
+morning, Holmes; good morning." The simple greeting seemed to come
+from a great heart that was fairly staggering under a burden of
+other people's woes.
+
+As the boy placed their dinners before them, Horace P. Blanton,
+shaking his massive head, murmured sadly: "It's a burning shame,
+Holmes; a burning shame."
+
+"The coffee, you mean?" queried the engineer, digging up a spoonful
+of sediment from the bottom of his heavy cup and inspecting it
+critically. "It looks shameful, all right; and it may have been
+overheated some time in past ages, but the temperature doesn't
+appear to be above normal to-day."
+
+The big man did not smile; his burden was too heavy. "I mean," he
+explained, "the way these four-flushers come in here and attempt to
+work their graft right under our eyes. Did you hear about this man
+Worth getting that franchise out of the council? I did my level
+best, but what's the use. It's all as plain as day but you can't
+hammer an idea into the boneheads that run this town. I had a little
+talk with Burk over the matter this morning. He agrees with me
+perfectly. We've got to take hold of this thing, Mr. Holmes, or the
+town will go to the dogs. I wish Greenfield would come on."
+
+The engineer agreed heartily that it might be well to take hold of
+something. But what? That was the rub--what? He gently intimated
+that if Horace P. Blanton could not find a way to avert the awful
+calamity that threatened the public, the public was in a bad way.
+Clearly it was up to Horace P. to save Kingston.
+
+The dinner over the men separated quickly: the man in the white vest
+to carry the burden of Kingston's future on his fat shoulders, and
+the engineer to inspect the work at Dry River Heading.
+
+The evening of the third day after Abe Lee's return to Kingston the
+surveyor and his employer were in Mr. Worth's office. The work of
+excavation for the foundation of the power plant would begin in the
+morning, and Mr. Worth had planned to leave town the following
+morning for a week's business trip to the city.
+
+The two men were interrupted in their conversation by a loud
+familiar voice on the store side of the board partition.
+
+"Busy, be they? Well, fwhat the divil should they be but busy? Do ye
+suppose I thought they was a-playin' dominoes?"
+
+Abe grinned at his employer. They both listened.
+
+Deck Jordan's voice said: "But you better not go in now, boys. They
+will be through in a little while."
+
+"Go in? Who the hell's talkin' av goin' in? Do ye think, ye danged
+counter-hopper, that we've no manners at all? For a sup o' wather
+I'd go over to ye wid me two hands!"
+
+And another softer voice drawled: "Run along Deck. Me an' my pardner
+promises not to turn violent or break into the sanctuary. We'll just
+camp here peaceful 'til the meetin's over."
+
+Abe chuckled. "I knew they would be along as soon as they heard the
+news." He lifted his voice. "Come in, boys."
+
+Instantly Barbara's "uncles" appeared. "We axes yer pardon, Sorr,
+for not comin' before to pay our respects, but we only heard
+yestherday that ye was in the counthry. Ye see, afther we finished
+at the river we was transferred over on Number Three at the tail end
+av nowhere an' knew nothin' at all 'til someone brung into camp the
+paper that towld about yer doin's. An' how is our little girl?"
+
+"Very well," said Mr. Worth. "She told me to be sure and remember
+her to you."
+
+"I saw her the other day," said Abe. "She sent you both her love."
+
+"Well, now, fwhat do ye think av that? Tex, ye danged owld sand rat,
+ut's proud av yersilf ye should be to be the uncle av sich a
+darlin'. An' tell us now, Sorr, fwhat's this I hear about yer
+buildin' a power plant for electric lights, or street cars, or
+somethin'? We thought that the lad here left the danged counthry for
+good, an' sarves thim danged yellow-legs that boss the Company right
+for not knowin' a man whin they see wan."
+
+"We begin work in the morning. Abe is in charge."
+
+"Hurroo!" exclaimed the delighted Irishman. "An' ut's men ye'll be
+wantin' av course; wan to handle the greasers, which is cake to me,
+an' wan to boss the mule skinners, which is pie for Tex. I'm
+thinkin' the Company will be short handed at Number Three in the
+mornin'."
+
+"I have been holding these places open for you," Abe laughed. "If I
+could get hold of Pablo, now, I would be all right. Barbara said to
+be sure and get him too. He's still at Dry River Heading, I hear."
+
+As the two were leaving Texas Joe said to Abe: "Are you plumb
+certain Pablo is at the Heading?"
+
+"That's what one of the crew told me to-day."
+
+"Well, then I reckon he'll be along pronto."
+
+The next morning when Abe went to the site of the work the first man
+he saw was Barbara's friend, Pablo. The Mexican greeted the surveyor
+with a show of white teeth.
+
+"Did you come to work?" asked Abe.
+
+"Si, Senor. Senor Texas he come las' night with two horses. He say
+Senor Abe want you quick, Pablo. La Senorita say you come. So I am
+come pronto, like he say."
+
+"Texas Joe went for you last night?" repeated Abe.
+
+"Si, Senor. If you want me come--if La Senorita want me come--Senor
+Tex he go tell me come. I come. It is no much ride for vaqueros like
+Senor Tex and me."
+
+"But you have your job with the Company?"
+
+The Mexican shrugged his shoulders and his teeth showed. "Senor
+Worth and Senores Lee and Tex and Pat good company for Pablo.
+Beside, is there not La Senorita? She was good to me when I was sick
+with no one to help. Do not we all--Senores Lee and Tex and Pat, and
+Senor Worth and me--do not we all work for La Senorita in La Palma
+de la Mano de Dios? Is it not so? Beside I think sometime La
+Senorita come--then I would be near. In the Company there is no
+Senorita."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+MUCH CONFUSION AND HAPPY EXCITEMENT.
+
+
+As the trying months of the semi-tropical summer approached, the
+great Desert, so awful in its fierce desolation, so pregnant with
+the life it was still so reluctant to yield, gathered all its
+dreadful forces to withstand the inflowing streams of human energy.
+In the fierce winds that rushed through the mountain passes and
+swept across the hot plains like a torrid furnace blast; in the
+blinding, stinging, choking, smothering dust that moved in golden
+clouds from rim to rim of the Basin; in the blazing, scorching
+strength of the sun; in the hard, hot sky, without shred or raveling
+of cloud; in the creeping, silent, poison life of insect and
+reptile; in the maddening dryness of the thirsty vegetation; in the
+weird, beautiful falseness of the ever-changing mirage, the spirit
+of the Desert issued its silent challenge.
+
+It was not the majestic challenge of the mountains with their
+unsealed heights of peak and dome and impassable barriers of rugged
+crag and sheer cliff. It was not the glad challenge of the untamed
+wilderness with its myriad formed life of tree and plant and glen
+and stream. It was not the noble challenge of the wide-sweeping,
+pathless plains; nor the wild challenge of the restless, storm-
+driven sea. It was the silent, sinister, menacing threat of a
+desolation that had conquered by cruel waiting and that lay in wait
+still to conquer.
+
+With grim determination, nervous energy, enduring strength and a
+dogged tenacity of purpose, the invading flood of humanity,
+irresistibly driven by that master passion, Good Business, matched
+its strength against that of the Desert in the season of its
+greatest power.
+
+Steadily mile by mile, acre by acre, and at times almost foot by
+foot, the pioneers wrested their future farms and homes from the
+dreadful forces that had held them for ages. Steadily, with the
+inflowing stream of life from the world beyond the Basin's rim, the
+area of improved lands about Kingston extended and the work in the
+Company's town went on. By midsummer many acres of alfalfa, with
+Egyptian corn and other grains, showed broad fields of living green
+cut into the dull, dun plain of the Desert and laced with silver
+threads of water shining in the sun.
+
+Save for occasional brief business trips to the city, Jefferson
+Worth did not leave Kingston. In the most trying of those grilling
+days of heat and dust, when a man's skin felt like cracking
+parchment and his eyes burned in their sockets and it seemed as
+though every particle of moisture in his body was sucked up by the
+dry, scorching air, Barbara's father gave no sign of discomfort. He
+accepted the most nerve-racking situation with the even-tempered
+calmness of one who had foreseen it and to whom it was but a trivial
+incident, inevitable to his far-reaching plans. When others--their
+tempers tried to the breaking point--cursed with dry, high-pitched,
+querulous curses the heat, the land, the sun, the dust, the Company
+and their fellow-sufferers, Jefferson Worth's cool, even tones and
+unruffled spirit helped them to a needed self-control and gave them
+a new and stronger grip on things. And many a baffled, discouraged
+and well-nigh beaten settler, ready to give up, found in the man
+whose gray, mask-like face seemed so incapable of expression, fresh
+inspiration and new courage; while the store continued its policy of
+helping the worthy, hard-pressed ranchers with necessary material
+assistance.
+
+And so it was that while James Greenfield and his fellow-capitalists
+of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company were taking their
+much needed vacations and seeking relaxation and rest from business
+cares at their seaside and mountain retreats, the desert pioneers
+were coming more and more to Jefferson Worth for advice and counsel,
+for strength and courage and help to go on with the work. By fall
+the financier's position in the life of the new country seemed to be
+securely won. Perhaps only Jefferson Worth himself, alone behind his
+gray mask, knew the real value of his apparent victory.
+
+The Company's thoughtful Manager went out--as the pioneers had come
+to say of those who left the Basin--for over a month, and for the
+rest of the summer spent only a part of his time in Kingston. But
+the Company's chief engineer refused to leave even for a week. To a
+pressing invitation from Greenfield to join him on his vacation,
+Holmes answered that he could not get away. All through the June
+rise of the river, while the settlers, ignorant of the danger that
+threatened them through the Good Business policy of the Company,
+were risking everything that Capital might gain its greater profits,
+the engineer lived in his camp at the intake. Day and night, as he
+watched the swelling yellow torrent that threw its weight against
+his work, he remembered the words of the desert-bred surveyor: "When
+the Gila and the Little Colorado go on the warpath and come down on
+top of a high Colorado flood, you'll catch hell." It had come in the
+past, Abe had declared, and it would come again.
+
+But the flood waters of the Gila and the Little Colorado did not
+come down on top of the larger river that year and the promoter's
+estimate work stood. When the danger was past and the engineer was
+free again to make Kingston his headquarters, his acquaintance with
+Jefferson Worth grew into something like friendship. It became,
+indeed, an established custom for Mr. Worth, Abe Lee and the chief
+engineer of the Company to sit at the same table in the shack
+restaurant and, during their meals of canned stuff, to talk over the
+work that held them from the comforts and pleasures of civilization.
+
+But little work toward extending the Company system could be
+undertaken during the hot summer months. It was difficult for Holmes
+to hold even enough men to maintain that which was already in
+operation. But Jefferson Worth did not fare so badly. Abe Lee was
+steadfast, of course, while Texas, Pat and Pablo would, as the
+Irishman said, "have fried thimsilves on the coals av hell" before
+they would quit their job. Were there not letters every week from
+Barbara with messages to the surveyor and his three helpers? Pablo
+said truly that "there was no Senorita in the Company." So through
+Abe's leadership, Texas Joe's diplomacy, Pat's wisdom and Pablo's
+influence with his countrymen, the Worth enterprises did not suffer
+for lack of laborers but went steadily ahead.
+
+In Kingston the different buildings for the power plant and lighting
+system were nearly completed and several cottages were under
+construction on lots owned by Jefferson Worth, while men and teams
+were busy excavating and hauling materials for a large ice plant. In
+Frontera, a little town that "just happened" to grow from a supply
+camp in the southern end of the Basin, a hotel and a bank building
+were being erected, while between the two communities poles for a
+telephone system were being placed.
+
+Thus far very few women had come into the desert. When the torrid
+summer was past, the first crops on the new ranches harvested and
+more comfortable homes prepared, they would come with the children
+to join the men-folks. Until then the new country would continue a
+man's country--the poorest possible kind of a country, the men
+themselves declared.
+
+Therefore when, late in September, The King's Basin Messenger, with
+an extraordinary blare of trumpets, announced the birth of a child
+and that the first-born of the new country was a boy, the news was
+received with the greatest excitement. In Kingston, in Frontera, at
+grading camps and ranches, as the word was passed, there were wild
+and joyous celebrations. Such a crowd of male visitors closed in on
+the humble tent home to beg for a look at the little pink stranger
+that the matter-of-fact pioneer parents were heard to express the
+wish that they themselves had never been born. Had the baby been
+forced to carry through life all the names that were suggested he
+would undoubtedly have echoed the parents' wish at an early age.
+
+Then came the terrible word to Kingston, brought by Texas Joe, that
+the baby was ill. Tex, returning to town from a trip to Frontera,
+had turned a mile aside to bring the latest news of the baby. It was
+early evening and the light yet lingered in the sky back of No Man's
+Mountains, when the citizens, relaxing after the heat of the day and
+the evening meal, looked up to see him coming, riding like a mad
+man, his horse white with foam.
+
+Jefferson Worth, with Abe and Holmes coming from the restaurant, had
+paused a moment in front of the store before separating when Texas
+leaped from his staggering mount. One thought flashed into the mind
+of each: "The intake! The river!" Holmes went white under his tan;
+Abe's jaws came together with a click; Jefferson Worth's slim
+fingers caressed his chin.
+
+As the word passed quickly through the town, the crowd that followed
+Mr. Worth and Texas Joe into the store grew until it over-flowed the
+building and filled the street. Over all there was a solemn hush,
+save for low-spoken words of inquiry, or explanation, and of advice.
+What to do was the question. What could they do? There was no doctor
+nearer than Rubio City and men who pioneer in a desert land are not
+men experienced with sickness.
+
+On a high shelf in one back corner of the store there was a small
+dust-covered stock of assorted patent medicines. Desperately they
+pulled the bottles down and studied the labels and directions, but
+only to their further confusion and doubt. At last, his pockets
+laden with everything that seemed to promise a possible relief,
+Texas Joe set out on a fresh horse, the first one handy, to be
+followed later by a spring wagon drawn by four fast broncos and
+carrying four women. The entire female population of Kingston had
+been mustered by Abe Lee, whom the ladies declared then and there to
+be the only man of sense in all The King's Basin.
+
+For the first evening since his arrival Jefferson Worth left his
+office in the store to mingle with the restless crowds on the street
+that, in ever-changing knots and groups, discussed in fearful voice
+this public calamity. No one dreamed of retiring. No one had
+thoughts for sleep, nor indeed for anything save the little sufferer
+in the tent house ten miles out on the Desert. They smoked and
+talked and swore softly in hushed tones and waited the return of
+Texas Joe.
+
+It was after midnight when he came again. Before he could dismount,
+the crowd of silent men hemmed him in. From the saddle the old
+plainsman looked down into their eager solemn faces and that slow
+smile broke over his sun-blackened features.
+
+"Boys" he drawled, "I'm sure proud to bring you-all the unanimous
+verdict of the female relief expedition sent out by our illustrious
+fellow-citizen, Abe Lee. The kid's better and is headed straight for
+good health and six or eight square meals a day."
+
+When the joyous chorus of yells that would have startled a coyote
+two miles away subsided, Tex dismounted and approached Jefferson
+Worth. "Mr. Worth, them women commanded me also to return to you
+with their compliments and gratitude the various and sundry bottles
+with which same my clothes is full. One of them angels of mercy, it
+seems, went to the scene of action loaded with a flask of castor
+oil."
+
+Just before retiring that night Mr. Worth said to his
+superintendent: "Abe, I'm going out in the morning. You had better
+push the work on that largest cottage as fast as possible. I'll ship
+in an outfit of furniture and things as soon as I get to the city.
+Let me know when the house is finished and the goods arrive. You can
+stack the furniture up on the porches or anywhere until I get back.
+The hot weather is about over and the hotel will open up next week."
+
+"All right, sir," the surveyor answered quietly and made no comment
+on this unexpected move of his employer, though his nerves tingled
+at the evident purpose of his instructions. Abe Lee could not know
+how the events of the evening had awakened in Jefferson Worth
+memories of another baby in the desert-memories that stirred the
+child-hungry heart of the lonely man and drove him to his daughter
+without an hour's delay.
+
+Did Abe Lee push the work on the house? Did he? Every man in
+Jefferson Worth's employ, who could find a place to lay his hand on
+the building, was put on the job. By the time the house was finished
+the furniture had arrived.
+
+It was quitting time and Pablo, who with four Mexican laborers had
+been at work grading the yard and removing the rubbish that had
+accumulated incident to building, dismissed his helpers. The
+surveyor was gloomily contemplating the pile of boxes, bales and
+crates on the front porch. Evidently there was something not to the
+surveyor's liking.
+
+"Senor Lee."
+
+The surveyor turned sharply to face the Mexican, whose dark features
+were glowing with pleasure. "Well?"
+
+"Pardon, but Senor Lee seems not pleased. Is not the work well
+done?"
+
+"The work is all right, Pablo. You have done well. It is not that. I
+was wishing I had nerve enough to tackle another job."
+
+The Mexican smiled. "Oh, Senor, you make fun. What can not El Senor
+do? He can do everything."
+
+"There is a job here all right I don't sabe, Pablo." Abe turned
+again to the pile of household goods.
+
+"Si Senor, me sabe. It is that La Senorita come pronto an' Senor Lee
+would have the house what you call ready."
+
+Abe started at the tone of quiet conviction. "How the devil do you
+know that La Senorita is coming?" he asked sharply.
+
+The answer came with a flash of white teeth: "For what else does El
+Senor hurry so the house? For what else does he all time cry--
+'Pronto! pronto!' and go not much to the other work but stay all
+time here? And is there not all this--" He waved his hand gracefully
+to indicate the household goods. "For who should it be that Senor
+Lee is hurry so? When Texas Joe come say--'Senor Worth is here,' I
+think quick some time La Senorita come. I work for Senor Worth, as
+La Senorita send word, that I may be near. All time I work I say--
+'It is for La Senorita.' Pretty quick now she come and with Senor
+Lee will be happy to live in the house he make."
+
+A deeper red than the desert color stained the surveyor's thin
+cheeks as he said: "You're a good hombre, Pablo, but you're away off
+on part of what you say. I reckon you're right enough that Miss
+Worth is coming, but she will live here with her father just as they
+did in Rubio City. And listen, Pablo. You must never say to anyone
+what you have said to me. You sabe, Pablo? I am with La Senorita as
+you are, and Tex and Pat; sabe?"
+
+"Si, Senor; forgive me; I am sorry. But sometime it will be if El
+Senor is patient."
+
+The surveyor, annoyed at the Mexican's talk, but unwilling, because
+of the spirit that prompted the words, to speak sharply, sought to
+dismiss the matter by changing the subject. He explained to Pablo
+how he was wishing that he could unpack the furniture and have the
+house all ready when Mr. Worth and Barbara arrived.
+
+"Why not?" asked the Mexican.
+
+Abe shook his head. "It's out of my line. I don't sabe the job,
+Pablo."
+
+"Maybe so Tex and Pat, they would sabe."
+
+"By George, I believe Pat would. Texas wouldn't be any better than
+I, but Pat ought to know something about such things. You go tell
+them I want them at the office to-night. Pat was at the power house
+to-day and Texas will be coming in from the line early."
+
+"Si, Senor. And Senor Lee! La Senorita will want a horse."
+
+"Hell, I forgot that!"
+
+Pablo smiled. "I know where is good one--a beautiful horse, Senor.
+Long time I watch him and think some day he be for La Senorita when
+she come. The man will sell for enough. Shall I go to-morrow?"
+
+"Yes, get him. Tell the man it is for me and that I will pay. No"--
+he corrected himself--"tell him it is for Senor Worth and that he
+will pay. Sabe? You must not speak of me."
+
+"Si, Senor; it shall be as you say. To-morrow night I return."
+
+That evening at the office in the rear of the store Abe laid the
+situation before Pat and Texas Joe. Could the three undertake to
+have the furniture unpacked and the house properly settled? The
+hotel had been opened to receive guests, of course, but--
+
+Texas Joe shook his head solemnly. "I pass, Abe. There ain't no use
+in my affirmin' that I knows anything about such undertakings.
+Household furnishin' such as is proper in a case like this is a long
+way off my range."
+
+But the Irishman waxed indignant. "Sich ignorance as ye two do be
+showin' is heathenish," he declared. "I suppose now ye wud be for
+puttin' the cook stove in the parlor an' settin' up the piany in the
+young lady's budwar."
+
+The strange word caught the attention of Texas instantly. "An' what
+might that be, pard?" he drawled. "What's a budwar?"
+
+Pat snorted. "Budwar, ye ignorant owld limb, is polite for the
+girl's bedroom, which in civilization is not discussed by thim as
+has manners."
+
+Such overwhelming evidence of the Irishman's familiarity with the
+best social customs was not to be rejected. The morning stage
+carried a telegram to be sent from Deep Well to Jefferson Worth, and
+all that day the three toiled under command of Pat. When the evening
+stage brought a message from Mr. Worth saying that he and Barbara
+would arrive the following evening, they decided that a night shift
+was necessary and worked until nearly morning, redoubling their
+efforts the following day.
+
+When the dusty old stage with its four half-broken horses pulled
+into Kingston that night, three tired and anxious, but joyful,
+desert men occupied the front rank of the waiting crowd before the
+new hotel.
+
+With all the grace of generous curves and ponderous dignity, Horace
+P. Blanton was first to alight. When he turned his broad back to the
+"common herd" and, with an indescribable air of proprietorship,
+assisted Miss Worth to the ground, three darkened faces scowled with
+disapproval and three smothered oaths expressed deep disgust.
+
+The excited citizens behind the three crowded closer. Even Ynez,
+climbing down from the stage, was received with another cheer by the
+delighted men. The irrepressible Horace P., quick to recognize the
+spirit of the company and ever ready to do more than his part, burst
+into an eloquent address of welcome in behalf of the entire
+population of The King's Basin. But the ceremony was interrupted and
+the imposing personage in the white vest was thrust roughly aside
+while Barbara, with glad eyes and hands outstretched, greeted the
+rude disturbers of the great man's dignity.
+
+"Texas! Pat! Mr. Lee! Oh, I'm glad! I have been hoping all day that
+you would be here to meet me. It seemed to me that I would never get
+here. It has been the longest day of my life." Which, considering
+that the impressive attentions of Horace P. Blanton had been
+continuous since the moment when he had forced an introduction from
+Mr. Worth on the train that morning, was rather hard on his majesty.
+
+But much experience in similar situations had made Horace P. Blanton
+immune to such thrusts. Even while Barbara was speaking he regained
+his place at her side. With his voice and manner of a "personal
+conductor"--before either of the three could speak--he followed her
+words with: "Ah, Miss Worth, I see you already know some of our men.
+Texas, Pat and Abe here are three of the best fellows we have. They--"
+
+Again he was interrupted. The young woman turned easily aside to
+Abe, and Horace P. found himself very close to and facing the tall
+plainsman and the heavy shouldered Irish boss.
+
+"Excuse me, Colonel," drawled Texas in tones so soft that no one in
+the noisy crowd could hear; "but the welfare of the citizens of this
+here community, as well as the safety of the country, demands your
+immediate presence up the street."
+
+Without hesitation the lordly one exclaimed: "Ah, thank you, Tex.
+Miss Worth will excuse me I'm sure. Please explain my absence to
+her." Then before their startled eyes he faded away--if the
+vanishing of such a bulk can be so described.
+
+A few minutes after the passing of Horace P. Blanton, Tex and Pat
+also disappeared, for it was part of the carefully arranged plot
+that Barbara's "uncles" were to see to the disposal of the girl's
+trunks while she was at supper at the hotel with her father and Abe.
+
+At the table Barbara was all eagerness in her desire to know
+everything about the work; and the surveyor, in answering her
+questions, found himself drawn out of the dumbness that usually
+beset him in such situations.
+
+"And our house?" asked the girl. "When can I begin settling? You see
+I brought Ynez with me. Can we begin in the morning, Abe? And could
+you spare Pat and Tex to help us?"
+
+Abe glanced at his employer. "If you would like to see the house we
+can look at it this evening after supper."
+
+"Can we? Can we go, daddy?"
+
+Jefferson Worth met Abe's look with a twinkle in the corner of his
+eye, but he only answered his eager daughter with a calm, "If you
+like."
+
+They found the house with every window brilliantly lighted, and on
+the front porch, on opposite sides of the wide-open door, Texas and
+Pat standing to welcome them. From one room to another Barbara ran
+in laughing delight, followed by the three, who were perspiring in
+an agony of suspense while Jefferson Worth looked on. The cook stove
+was not in the parlor, nor was the piano--out of place. In the
+proper room Barbara even found her trunks. There was a supply of
+provisions in the pantry and kindlings even ready by the kitchen
+stove for the morning fire. If there were little irregularities here
+and there, Barbara, with graceful tact, did not see them but, to the
+delight of the three men, declared again and again that no woman
+could have done it better.
+
+The climax came when she said that unless her father insisted she
+would not even return to the hotel that evening. Could not someone
+go for the hand luggage and Ynez? Breathless the three waited, and
+when Mr. Worth said he saw no reason why they should leave their own
+home for a hotel Tex and Pat could hold themselves no longer but
+made a wild run for the door.
+
+When Barbara's "uncles" had returned with the Indian woman and the
+grips, Pat stood in the center of the living room and looked
+curiously about, an expression of wonder upon his battle-scarred
+Irish countenance. "Now don't that bate the divil! Tell me"--he
+faced the girl with mock severity--"fwhat's this ye've been doin'
+already?"
+
+"Doing?" exclaimed Barbara, "I haven't been doing anything, Uncle
+Pat."
+
+"Aw, go on, don't be tellin' me that. Aven Uncle Tex here can see
+that ye've changed ivery blissid thing in the place. 'Tis not the
+same, at all, an' afther us a-workin' our fingers to the bone to fix
+ut up. 'Tis quare. I know now that Tex hung that curtain there. Ye
+could have heard him swearin' a mile away, but ut's not that same
+curtain at all, at all. 'Tis mighty quare."
+
+For an hour or more Barbara, at the piano, sang for them the simple
+songs they loved, while many a tired horseman, riding past on his
+way to his lonely desert shack or to some rough camp on the works,
+paused to listen to the sweet voice and to dream perhaps of the time
+that was to come when such sounds would no longer seem strange on
+the Desert.
+
+When the hour came for Texas and Pat and Abe to go, and Barbara with
+shining eyes tried again to express her gratitude while insisting
+that they must always come to her home as to their own, the three
+felt that indeed they had their reward. And when later the girl
+kissed her father good night Jefferson Worth also knew in his lonely
+heart that he had done well.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+BARBARA COMES INTO HER OWN.
+
+
+Jefferson Worth and his daughter had just finished their first
+breakfast in the new home when their Indian servant woman entered
+the room.
+
+"What is it, Ynez?" asked Barbara, seeing that the woman wished to
+speak.
+
+Ynez's black eyes were shining and her voice was eager as she
+answered: "There is someone without waiting for La Senorita."
+
+"Someone waiting outside for me, Ynez?"
+
+"Who is it?" asked Mr. Worth.
+
+"It is Pablo Garcia, Senor, and he say please ask La Senorita to
+come. If La Senorita will go only to the door she can see."
+
+With an expression of excited interest Barbara, followed by her
+father, went out on the porch. In front of the house stood Pablo
+holding a beautiful saddle horse fully equipped and ready for a
+rider. The Mexican's dark face shone with the pride and triumph of
+the moment toward which he had looked forward for months. The horse,
+too, as if sensing the importance of the occasion, pawed the earth
+with his dainty hoofs, arched his neck and tossed his head--proudly
+impatient.
+
+Uttering low exclamations and little cries of delight the girl left
+the porch and ran forward, greeting Pablo and moving about the
+horse, admiring the animal from every point of view. "What a beauty!
+He is perfect, Pablo; perfect! Where did you find him? Is he yours?
+What's his name?" Her questions came tumbling from her lips in such
+eager bursts that Pablo answered only the last.
+
+"He is yours, Senorita. His name El Capitan."
+
+"Mine?" Barbara turned to her father, who explained, Abe having told
+him the night before of the purchase.
+
+When her father finished, the delighted girl announced that she
+"simply couldn't wait" but must go for a ride immediately. Running
+into the house she returned a few minutes later in her riding dress
+and, mounting with--"I'll be back for dinner, daddy," and "Adios,
+Pablo!"--rode away toward the open country, while the Mexican and
+the banker watched her out of sight.
+
+By the time they had passed the last of the tent houses in the town
+Barbara and El Capitan were friends. There is no doubt whatever that
+a worthy horse appreciates a worthy rider and the girl, accustomed
+to riding since childhood, certainly appreciated her mount.
+
+"Oh, you beauty!" she cried, leaning forward in the saddle to pat
+the shining neck. "Oh, you beauty!"
+
+As though to return the compliment and express his pleasure at
+finding such an agreeable companion, El Capitan turned his delicate
+pointed ears forward, arched his neck, and, stepping as on a velvet
+carpet, sprang lightly to the other side of the road in sheer
+overflow of good spirits and confidence in his rider, while the
+girl, at his play, laughed aloud.
+
+But Barbara had eyes and thoughts for more than her horse that
+morning. It was her first day in "her Desert" and there was much for
+her to see. Through her father she had kept in close touch with
+every phase of the work of reclaiming The King's Basin and had often
+begged him to take her with him into the new country. Now at last
+her wish was realized. She was where she could see with her own eyes
+the Seer's dream--the Seer's and her own--coming true.
+
+On either hand as she rode, stretching away until all fixed lines
+and objects were lost in the shifting mirage and many-colored lights
+of the desert, the dun plain with its thin growth of thirsty
+vegetation was broken by the green cultivated fields, newly leveled
+acres, buildings and stacks of the ranches, with canals, ditches and
+ponds filled with water that reflected the colors of the morning.
+Everywhere, in what had been a land of death, life was stirring. In
+one field beside the road a herd of soft-eyed cattle, knee-deep in
+rich alfalfa, lifted their heads to greet her. In another a band of
+horses and colts scampered along with her as far as their fence
+would permit, as if good-naturedly seeking her further acquaintance.
+Everywhere men with their teams were at work in the fields newly won
+from the desert. At one house a woman was hanging her weekly wash on
+the line, while a group of children played in the yard. As the girl
+passed the woman waved her hand and the children shouted a greeting.
+And a little farther on a meadow-lark, perched on a fence-post,
+filled the world with liquid music.
+
+The wine-like atmosphere, the glorious light, the odor of the fields
+and the strength and beauty of the life new-born in the desert, with
+the spirit and freedom of the animal she rode, all appealed with
+almost painful intensity to the girl who was herself so richly
+alive. She felt her close kinship with it all and answered to it all
+out of the fullness of her own young woman's strength. She wanted to
+cry aloud with the joy and gladness of the victory over barrenness
+and desolation. It was her Desert that was yielding itself to the
+strong ones; for them it had waited--waited through the ages, and at
+last they had come.
+
+Busy with her thoughts, Barbara rode on until she had passed out of
+the settled district of which Kingston was the center and found
+herself in the desert. Save for the lightly marked trail she was
+following and the thin line of her father's telephone poles that led
+southward to Frontera, she saw no sign of a human being. Checking
+her horse and turning, she looked back. A tiny spot of thin color--
+the red of brick, the yellow of new lumber and the white of tents--
+marked Kingston. The ranches about the desert town were scattered
+spots of green scarcely seen at that distance. All the rest, from
+the distant snow-capped sentinels of the Pass in the north to Lone
+Mountain in the south and from the purple mountain wall on the west
+to the sky-line of the Mesa on the east, was the same dun plain as
+she had always known it.
+
+Barbara caught her breath. Seen near at hand the work accomplished
+had seemed so great, so brave; seen from even so short a distance as
+she had come, it looked so pitifully small, so helpless. The desert
+was so huge, so masterful, so dominating in its silent grandeur, in
+its awful loneliness. All her life Barbara had seen the desert from
+her home in Rubio City. Many, many times she had ridden into it and
+back a day's ride. But never had she felt the dreadful spirit of the
+land as she felt it now, alone in the still, lonely heart of it. She
+was afraid with an unreasoning fear.
+
+El Capitan, too, seemed to share her uneasiness. Tossing his head,
+tugging at the bridle reins and pawing the ground and starting
+nervously, he turned this way and that, signifying his desire to be
+away. But just as Barbara, on the point of yielding to his
+impatience and her own feeling of fear, lifted the reins to turn
+toward Kingston again, he threw up his head with a loud neigh and
+with ears pointed looked away toward the south, standing rigid and
+motionless as a horse of stone. A cloud of dust rising from the
+trail told her that someone was approaching. Instantly the girl's
+feeling of fear vanished. She laughed aloud.
+
+"Company is coming, Capitan," she said. "Shall we wait until we see
+who it is? We can easily run away if we don't like his looks."
+
+As she finished speaking, the light wind that was just strong enough
+to carry the dust with the coming rider shifted for a moment and
+revealed the horseman clearly. Barbara, not wishing to appear as
+though waiting, started ahead toward Kingston, while the stranger,
+evidently catching sight of a horse and rider on the road ahead and
+desiring company, quickened his pace.
+
+Barbara glanced over her shoulder. "Shall we run, Capitan? No, we'll
+not run yet. But be ready." Again she glanced quickly back. "It's no
+one we know, Capitan. Be ready."
+
+Nearer and nearer came the stranger.
+
+When she heard the sound of his horse's feet on the sand Barbara
+turned again, this time openly. Then she laughed. "I don't think
+we'll run this time, Capitan."
+
+A moment later the horseman had overtaken her.
+
+"Good morning, Mr. Holmes. How do you do?"
+
+"Miss Worth!"
+
+Had the engineer checked his horse so suddenly a few months before
+he would undoubtedly have gone over the animal's head. El Capitan
+also stopped, while the man and the girl sat looking at each other,
+Barbara smiling at the man's surprise.
+
+"Is it really you?" asked Holmes at last, "or is it some new trick
+of this confounded desert?" He rubbed his eyes. "I never saw a
+mirage like this before and I don't think the heat has affected my
+brain." He moved his horse closer. "Could you shake hands?"
+
+Barbara held out her hand. "I assure you that I am very
+substantial," she laughed, "and I am here to stay, too."
+
+"That's great! By George! it's good to see you," cried Holmes so
+heartily that the girl turned away her face and caused her horse to
+move ahead.
+
+The engineer's horse, with a word from his rider, kept his place by
+El Capitan's side.
+
+"It's very nice of you to say that but I didn't see you anywhere
+around last night when the stage arrived. Abe and Pat and Texas were
+there and this morning even Pablo came the first thing after
+breakfast."
+
+Willard Holmes could not altogether hide his pleasure at her hinted
+rebuke. So she had thought of him--had looked for him--had missed
+him. "Indeed, you must forgive me. I did not know you were coming,"
+he said and explained how his work took him away from Kingston much
+of the time.
+
+"Of course, under those circumstances, I must forgive you," agreed
+Barbara, then added seriously: "I think I could forgive anyone who
+belonged to this desert work, anything, except one."
+
+"And that?" He was watching her face. "What is it that you could not
+forgive?"
+
+She returned his look steadily. "Don't you know?"
+
+He drew a little back and she wondered at something in his voice and
+manner as he answered: "Yes, I know. You could never forgive one for
+being untrue to his work--for putting anything before the work
+itself."
+
+"Yes," she returned, "that is it. I could never forgive one who did
+that."
+
+"But how would you know? How could you judge?" he asked almost
+roughly. "Perhaps the very one whom you would call false to the work
+would, in reality, be doing the best thing for the work. I have
+noticed that, after all, those who have the loftiest ideals and the
+highest visions of man's duty to man and all that are seldom the
+ones who accomplish much of the actual work of the world. Look here,
+honestly now: how many of the people who are reclaiming this desert
+--I mean all of us--laborers, business men, ranchers, everybody who
+has come in here to do this work--how many of them do you think see
+a single thing beyond the dollars they have hoped to make on the
+venture? Whether it's the high wage paid by the Company, the big
+profits of the business man or the heavier crop of the rancher, it
+amounts to the same. And yet you would insist that they must not be
+governed by this desire for gain. So far as I can see, it is this
+same desire for gain that has driven men into doing every really
+great thing that has ever been done. Look carefully into every great
+enterprise that is of value to the world and you will find at the
+beginning of it someone reaching for a dollar or its equivalent.
+Your father, for instance--"
+
+Barbara threw out her hand protestingly. "Please don't, Mr. Holmes.
+I know that what you say is every bit true. Father and I have gone
+over it so many times. And yet I know, I know that what I feel is
+true also. Oh, dear! what a muddle it is, isn't it? It seems so
+wrong to spend one's life working for nothing but money. And yet all
+the really good work in the world is done by those who don't work to
+do good at all but for what they get out of it. I suppose now that
+you stayed in the Desert all this past summer and worked so hard
+without any vacation at all just for your salary."
+
+"How did you know that I took no vacation?"
+
+"Father told me. You seem to have made quite an impression on my
+father. He has told me a great deal about you. But I want to know--
+did you stay in the desert for money?"
+
+Holmes wondered if she knew the danger that threatened the settlers
+because of the unsubstantial character of the Company's structures.
+"Perhaps," he said, "it was to save my professional reputation. That
+would amount to the same thing, wouldn't it?"
+
+Barbara laughed. "I don't think that your taking a vacation would
+have lost you your reputation. That won't do, Mr. Chief Engineer."
+For some reason Barbara seemed highly pleased at the turn the
+conversation had taken.
+
+The man thought of those anxious days and nights at the intake, when
+the safety of the success of the whole King's Basin project hung on
+the whim of an uncertain river, but he did not explain to Barbara
+nor did he tell her that a vacation would have made no difference in
+his salary.
+
+"I'll tell you why you stayed with the work in the Desert this
+summer, Mr. Holmes," she said, and in her voice was a note of
+pleased triumph.
+
+"Why?" he asked.
+
+"Because you are learning the language of the country."
+
+For an instant he was puzzled. Then he remembered the evening he had
+said good-by. "Si, Senorita. I suppose one could not help learning a
+little in La Palma de la Mano de Dios, could he?"
+
+"Not if he had ancestors," came the answer.
+
+Holmes flushed. "What a snob I must have seemed to you that day," he
+said in deep disgust at the recollection of his first attempt to
+impress the western girl with the importance of his place in life.
+
+"I don't think snob is just the word," she answered. "I didn't mind
+that ancestor business and all that one bit. In fact I think I
+rather enjoyed it. You were such a tenderfoot! But there was
+something else I did mind. Did you know that there was a time when I
+hated you with my whole heart?"
+
+"Miss Worth!"
+
+"It's so. I even promised myself that I would never speak to you
+again--never! Then I came after awhile to understand how foolish it
+was of me to blame you and father told me so much of your work here
+this summer that I became heartily ashamed of myself. I'm telling
+you now because, you see, I have come here to stay and to be, in a
+way, a tiny little part in this great work you are doing, and I feel
+that I ought to tell you so that we can start square again."
+
+"But, Miss Worth, what in the world are you talking about?"
+
+"I know it was foolish of me for you were not at all to blame. But I
+couldn't help it. It is all over though and we are square now--or
+will be when you have said that you forgive me."
+
+"But I don't know what you mean. What on earth did I do?"
+
+She looked straight at him. "Can't you even guess?"
+
+"I haven't the ghost of an idea."
+
+"Well, I'm glad you haven't," she declared, "even if it does make me
+appear so foolish. It was because the Seer was discharged and you
+were put in his place."
+
+"But I--"
+
+"Oh, I know all about it," she interrupted. "You didn't do it. You
+were not to blame. The Company did it because it was Good Business.
+I told you it was all over now. But please, I don't think we'd
+better talk about it only just for you to say that you forgive me. I
+had to tell you for that, you see."
+
+Then the once carefully proper Willard Holmes did a thing that would
+have astonished his most intimate eastern friends beyond expression.
+Reining his horse close to El Capitan he held out his hand to
+Barbara.
+
+"Shake, pard! You're the squarest girl I ever knew."
+
+It was no flimsy, two-fingered ceremony, but a whole-hearted, whole-
+handed grip that made the man's blood move more quickly.
+Unconsciously, as he felt the warm strength in the touch of the
+girl's hand, he leaned toward her with quick eagerness. And Barbara,
+who was looking straight into his face with the open frankness of
+one man to another, started and drew back a little, turning her head
+aside.
+
+For some distance they rode in silence, then she began questioning
+him about his life in the desert and all the rest of the way home
+made him talk of the work so dear to her heart. As he talked and the
+girl watched his strong bronzed face and listened to his words, she
+found something in his voice and manner that was not there that day
+when she introduced him to "her Desert." There was a self-reliance,
+an enthusiasm, a purpose that was good to hear.
+
+At the door of her new home when he, pleading his work, would not
+stay for lunch but promised to call in the evening, she bade him
+"Adios" in the soft tongue of the Southland and when he had wheeled
+his horse and was riding away, Barbara turned on the porch to look
+after him. Watching the khaki clad figure that was so easily at home
+in the saddle and that, with the loping horse, seemed so much a part
+of the country, the girl wondered at the change that was being
+wrought by the wild land upon the man from the eastern city.
+
+"Indeed," she thought, "he is learning the language of the desert!"
+And she, too, was glad.
+
+When Holmes arrived at the Company headquarters the General Manager
+shifted his cigar to the corner of his mouth and cocked his head to
+one side, looking him over critically.
+
+"Buenas dias, Senor," cried the engineer gaily, throwing his
+sombrero, quirt and gloves on the floor and helping himself from the
+box of cigars on the desk. Holmes was still thinking in the language
+of Barbara's land.
+
+"Humph!" grunted the slender man at the desk, "I said 'hello' to you
+when you passed the office, also I bowed my best New York bow, but
+you were too engaged to see. Were you practicing your greaser lingo
+on her? I suppose she talks it like a native."
+
+"She talks a language you would not understand, my friend," said
+Holmes coolly, lighting a cigar.
+
+"Probably not," agreed the other. "Who am I that I should understand
+the words of a being of such exalted rank? The whole fool town is
+crazy over her already. I've heard nothing but Miss Worth, Miss
+Worth, all morning. You would think the hotel was a ladies' sewing
+circle. Every man on the street is wearing his Sunday clothes and
+walks with his head twisted over his shoulder for fear he will miss
+a glimpse of her. Horace P. Blanton is the man of the hour. He came
+in with her last night and is arranging a public reception, talking
+like the business manager of a Greek goddess. And now here you go
+riding down the street with her, so interested that you can't even
+see me. Permit me to congratulate you. You certainly have lost no
+time."
+
+Holmes scowled. "That fellow Blanton is an officious ass," he
+growled, "and you"--he checked himself.
+
+"Go on; go on!" cried the delighted Burk. "Don't spare me. In the
+name of the goddess, smite!"
+
+The engineer laughed in spite of himself, though he spoke sharply.
+"Cut it out, Burk. I met Miss Worth in Rubio City when I landed
+fresh from New York. She's a mighty charming girl, whom you'll be as
+glad as anybody to know. She was riding over in the West District
+this morning and I overtook her on my way in. Of course we came on
+together. Have you heard from Uncle Jim?"
+
+The Manager dropped his bantering tone instantly and taking an open
+letter from his desk, scanned it thoughtfully as he answered: "He'll
+be here Saturday. He's not at all pleased, Holmes, with my report on
+the Worth operations. Our friend Jeff's getting altogether too
+strong a grip on things. It beats all the way he hops into a game
+and draws all the high cards before you know he is on the other side
+of the table."
+
+The thoughtful Manager of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company was evidently worried. Holmes made no reply.
+
+With his eyes still on the letter in his hand Burk asked: "How are
+you getting on with the survey of the South Central District?"
+
+"Black finished yesterday. I brought in the data."
+
+"What do you think of it?"
+
+"It's no good, Burk. The land is a rough jumble of small hummocks,
+covered with a heavy growth of greasewood and mesquite, and
+practically all of it lies so high that we could never get the water
+on it at all."
+
+Burk considered. "Do you know whether Abe Lee ever went over that
+district?"
+
+Holmes stiffened. "No, he never worked in that part of the Basin at
+all, but what the deuce has Lee to do with it? Black is a graduate
+engineer and as good a man as ever looked over a transit. If you
+can't trust the men I send out, why"--
+
+"Wow, wow!" cried Burk, "keep your shirt on, old man! I'm not making
+insinuations against your pet surveyor. I merely asked for
+information. Now if you please, turn your South Central data over to
+your office force and tell them to get it in shape by Saturday
+without fail. It's an order, my son. Selah!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+JEFFERSON WORTH'S OPERATIONS,
+
+
+The crowd that waited in front of the new hotel for the arrival of
+the stage, the evening James Greenfield came to Kingston, was
+unusually large. The King's Basin Messenger had announced the coming
+of the promoter and president of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company and the pioneers had assembled to see the famous
+capitalist whose power in the money world was making possible the
+reclamation of the desert.
+
+Mr. Greenfield's greeting in the lobby, under the perspiring efforts
+of Horace P. Blanton, soon assumed the proportions of a public
+reception. With his Manager to introduce the prominent citizens, and
+Horace P., who was never farther than a yard from the capitalist's
+elbow to assist in receiving them, the man from New York entered
+graciously into the spirit of the occasion. And when the man in the
+white vest, intoxicated by the atmosphere of greatness, burst forth
+in a speech of welcome, setting forth the wonders of The King's
+Basin, the marvelous growth and future of Kingston, the greatness of
+Greenfield and--quite incidentally--the greatness of Horace P,
+Blanton, all in behalf of the people, the Easterner replied with a
+few modest remarks, in which he hinted at even greater things to
+come, promising by subtle suggestion unlimited wealth for all who
+would invest their money and their lives in The King's Basin
+project.
+
+Then Mr. Greenfield slipped away with Willard Holmes to his room.
+The friendship between the engineer's own parents and his benefactor
+had been lifelong and very close. It was a story, years ago
+forgotten by the world, of how Grace Winton had chosen one of the
+two college chums and why the other had never married. In the
+repeated business failures of his old schoolmate and the consequent
+loss of his fortune the successful financier had proven himself many
+times a friend in need, and through the long illness of the man who
+had been successful in winning the woman they both loved,
+Greenfield, with his wealth, had been steadfast in his thoughtful
+care. When baby Willard's mother died soon after the death of his
+father, she--knowing the heart of the man whose love for her had
+kept him childless--committed to him her only child, and Greenfield,
+accepting the trust, had taken the boy into his life and heart as
+his own son.
+
+After the loss of William Greenfield, his only brother, James
+Greenfield--whose power in the financial world was steadily
+increasing--had no one to intimately share his success but young
+Holmes, and when Willard had finished his school and chosen his
+profession the older man used the influence of his own position to
+give the young engineer every advantage.
+
+As the two men faced each other now after the longest separation
+they had ever known, the Company's president studied his chief
+engineer with interest.
+
+"Well, Willard, my boy," he said at last; "how do you like it? Say,
+but you are looking fine. You always were a handsome youngster but
+you're--you're improving, young man. I'm blessed if you don't look
+like a work of art done in bronze." He laughed with the pleasure of
+his own conceit and the other laughed with him.
+
+"Wait until this sun gets a shot at you, Uncle Jim."
+
+"Humph! I suppose you think it will make me into some sort of an
+hideous old idol. I don't propose to stay long enough to give it a
+chance," he added grimly, and as he finished a shadow fell over his
+face and the laughter died out of his voice.
+
+"What's the matter; don't you like the West, Uncle Jim?"
+
+"I hate it, and with good reason. Don't you get too interested out
+here, Willard. We'll clean up a nice little pile out of this scheme
+and get back home where we belong. I miss you like the deuce, boy!"
+
+The engineer started to say something about the work, but Greenfield
+held up his hand. "Not a word about business to-night, Willard.
+We'll take that up to-morrow. Tell me where I can get a shave and
+then we'll have dinner and after that a quiet evening together."
+
+Holmes laughed. "We have a barber, all right, Uncle Jim. He landed
+with his outfit this afternoon. There was no place for him, and the
+freighter unloaded him on a vacant lot about a block west of the
+hotel. It's been a long time since most of us have seen a real
+barber and the boys couldn't wait. Trade came with such a rush that
+he set up his chair in the street and has been doing a land-office
+business ever since. They say he's all right, too, but it looks
+funny."
+
+Mr. Greenfield, his curiosity aroused and being really in need of a
+shave, sought out the shopless barber. He was easily found, for the
+crowd that had gathered to witness the arrival of the great
+financier, James Greenfield, had already drifted to the scene of
+Kingston's other chief attraction. Piled in a vacant lot was the
+necessary furniture for a well-equipped shop, but only the chair was
+in use. A goods-box nearby held the instruments of the craft while a
+bucket of water, a tin basin, and a supply of towels completed the
+arrangements. The delighted crowd filled the air with good natured
+chaff and laughter as the customers compared notes and attempted to
+express their emotion at finding themselves properly groomed.
+
+Mr. Greenfield, highly amused at the novel sight, pushed his way
+well into the circle.
+
+"Next!" shouted the man with the brush and razors in a voice that
+was heard a block away.
+
+Some joker shouted: "Your turn, Mr. Greenfield," and "Greenfield!
+Greenfield!" chimed the crowd.
+
+Amid yells of delight the president of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company took his place in the chair.
+
+As the barber worked he talked. Never before in all his professional
+career had he been so prominently in the public eye. "Yes sir,
+gents, I'm here to tell you that that there man, Jefferson Worth, is
+a prince--a prince. Let me tell you what he done for me. You see
+things was gone all to the bad. Looked like every way I turned I
+went up against it proper, and first thing I knowed my furniture was
+piled out on the sidewalk and Mr. Sheriff he was a-sellin' it. Well,
+sir, Mr. Worth he happened to come along just as they begun to ask
+for bids and I'm darned if he didn't take the whole works just as if
+he had done nothin' but buy barber shops all his life. I was layin'
+low in the crowd, watchin', you see; and there was somethin' about
+him--the way he stopped and bid the stuff in, or somethin', I dunno
+what--that struck me, so I edged alongside and says, says I: 'Are
+you a barber?' Whew! the minute he looked at me I seen my mistake,
+but he never batted a eye. 'Not yet,' he says. 'This is a pretty
+good outfit, ain't it?' 'You bet it is,' says I. 'It was mine a few
+minutes ago.' An' then I tells him how I was up against it an' asks
+what he was goin' to do with the stuff. 'I'm goin' to ship it to
+Kingston in The King's Basin country,' says he. 'We need a good
+barber down there and I figured that if I got the shop ready I could
+find the man to run it. How would you like to tackle the job? I'll
+send you and your outfit to Kingston and sell you your shop on good
+time, too, for just what it cost me.' An' here I am--Next!"
+
+Mr. Greenfield slipped from the chair and silently tendered the
+talkative barber a five dollar bill. As the barber was counting out
+the change the eastern financier heard behind him murmurs of hearty
+approval and admiration of Jefferson Worth. The barber's story had
+made a deep impression and certainly no one in the crowd was more
+deeply impressed than was the president of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company.
+
+At dinner that evening the boy with the weekly edition of the
+Messenger came into the dining room. Mr. Burk, taking his copy,
+glanced once at the first page, folded it carefully and laid the
+sheet before his employer with the headlines of a leading article
+uppermost.
+
+Mr. Greenfield read: "The Citizens Bank of Kingston--Jefferson Worth
+owns the building opposite the opera house and has organized a
+bank."
+
+Mr. Greenfield did not need to read further.
+
+"Who did you say was building the opera house block?" he asked the
+Manager.
+
+"It is owned by a syndicate. The local man in charge sits at that
+table in the corner"--he nodded toward a clean, solid-looking young
+fellow, who was enjoying his dinner and chatting with Abe Lee.
+
+In the lobby, a few minutes later, Greenfield whispered to Holmes:
+"Introduce me to that young man, Willard."
+
+His order was easily obeyed and soon, in a corner, the president and
+his new acquaintance were chatting pleasantly over cigars furnished
+by the New Yorker.
+
+"That building of yours seems to be a very creditable piece of
+work," offered Greenfield. "The investment ought to pay big later
+on. But isn't it rather heavy for the present size of the town?"
+
+The other smiled pleasantly. "True; but you see we are not building
+it for a town of this size, Mr. Greenfield. We expect Kingston to
+grow rapidly and we realize the importance of being on the ground
+first."
+
+"That's right, too," returned Greenfield. "With the capital to do it
+that is undoubtedly the right plan. I understand you represent a
+Coast syndicate."
+
+Again the young man smiled. "That is the general understanding, Mr.
+Greenfield, and until to-night I have not been at liberty to
+contradict it. I can tell you now, however, that the syndicate which
+is putting up that building is Mr. Jefferson Worth."
+
+Greenfield was too well-schooled to give vent to the slightest
+expression of surprise. His tone was courtesy itself as he replied:
+"Indeed? Mr. Worth seems to be doing a great deal for Kingston."
+
+Then the talk shifted easily into other channels until the president
+found opportunity to leave his companion. Rejoining his Manager and
+Holmes, Greenfield requested Burk's presence in his room and, once
+there, threw aside the mask of politeness, making it clearly
+evident, in words chosen for forcefulness rather than politeness,
+that he did not approve of the situation that had developed under
+the thoughtful Manager's eye.
+
+"And now," he finished, "send the proprietor of this hotel up here."
+
+The uncomfortable Burk obeyed. When the landlord arrived with an
+anxious face, Greenfield was his courteous, affable self again.
+
+"Mr. Wheeler," he said, "there is a little business proposition I
+wish to lay before you while I am here and I thought it better to
+mention it this evening so that you can have time to think it over
+and give me your answer before I leave. I can see, of course, that
+this hotel, building and all, represents quite an investment and
+that, for a time, the returns will not be large. I don't know, of
+course, how much capital you have to swing it, but I can see that
+without good, substantial backing the enterprise might not hold up,
+which would be very bad for the reputation of the town in which, as
+you know, our Company is so heavily interested. Now if we could
+bring about some alliance between you and the Company it would be a
+good thing all around, do you see?"
+
+"Yes sir, I see. This is a big undertaking for Kingston as
+conditions are now, but later it is bound to be a good paying
+investment and we realize the importance of getting in on the ground
+floor. But I am not at liberty to consider or make any proposition
+whatever until I have consulted the owner--"
+
+"The owner?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"I was told that you were the proprietor. Your name is on the hotel
+stationery."
+
+"I have only a very small interest. My associate would not permit
+his name to be used at all. I may tell you, however, confidentially,
+that Mr. Worth owns the building and practically all the hotel
+equipment. You can easily place your proposition before him.
+Whatever he does I am bound to accept."
+
+James Greenfield chewed his cigar in savage silence. Clearly it was
+time that he visited his town.
+
+"Do you know where Mr. Worth is this evening??' he asked as mildly
+as he could speak.
+
+"In his office, I think."
+
+"Would you be good enough to send him a message that I would like to
+see him on a matter of importance? I will wait in my room."
+
+"Certainly, sir."
+
+When the landlord was gone the president of The King's Basin Land
+and Irrigation Company walked the floor, carefully reviewing his
+dealings with Jefferson Worth from the beginning. So this was what
+the banker had "up his sleeve" when he declined to join the Company!
+
+He was interrupted by the boy with Mr. Worth's answer. Mr. Worth
+would be in his office at the store until ten o'clock.
+
+The eastern capitalist made his way to the little room in the store
+where Jefferson Worth sat at his battered old desk. "How do you do?"
+
+"Sit down," came the colorless greeting as the western man with one
+hand closed the door and with the other motioned toward the chair at
+the end of the desk. Then seating himself again in his own chair he
+waited behind his mask.
+
+"Well, Mr. Worth, I see you decided to come into the Basin after
+all."
+
+"I concluded to make a few small investments," came the exact reply.
+
+Greenfield laughed shortly. "Yes--this store, the electric power
+plant and system, the bank building and bank, the opera house block,
+the hotel, the telephone system--" The Company president's tone and
+manner were intended to imply that he understood clearly the other's
+attitude and that he recognized a fellow-craftsman. "Come now,
+Worth; let's get down to good business. It's poor policy for you and
+me to go against each other. You know what there is in it for all of
+us if we hang together and you know as well as I that we can't
+afford, and that we don't want, to fight each other. What sort of a
+deal will it take to get you into the Company? I tell you squarely,
+we are going to make it almighty hot for any independent operator
+who tries to start in here."
+
+"I must decline to consider any proposition at all from the Company,
+Mr. Greenfield."
+
+In the silence that followed Greenfield sought in vain to look back
+of that gray mask. He felt for the first time in his business career
+powerless to make the next move in the game and somewhere back in
+his active brain a warning signal flashed: "Go slow!"
+
+"Very well, Mr. Worth," he said at last, rising to go. "When you are
+ready to consider the matter let me know. In the meantime"--he
+shrugged his shoulders and smiled--"good night."
+
+Outside the store Greenfield paused irresolutely as one hesitates
+whose mind is too preoccupied to direct his steps. Then his eye
+caught the gleam of light from the printing office across the street
+next to the Company building.
+
+A moment later he greeted the young man who edited and published the
+Messenger. "You seem to be pretty well fixed here," offered
+Greenfield after the usual greetings. "Seems to me your prospects
+are mighty good for a young man. Your profits ought to be big if you
+can hold on and grow with the development of the country."
+
+"Yes sir, I feel that our chances are good. Kingston is growing
+rapidly and we are in on the ground floor."
+
+Greenfield looked at him sharply as he uttered the now familiar
+expression. "You have all the capital you need?"
+
+"We are doing very well so far."
+
+"I have been looking your paper over with some care," the president
+went on, "and I believe you have the right idea. A newspaper is a
+powerful factor in a great enterprise like this and of course I am
+anxious that everything that makes for the advancement of our
+project should succeed. I would be sorry to see you crippled in any
+way for lack of funds. If you are open to consider the matter I
+should be glad to take a good big interest with you and to undertake
+to back you handsomely."
+
+"I don't think my partner, who really furnished all the capital,
+would sell, sir."
+
+"Ah! Then you are not alone?"
+
+"No sir. Mr. Jefferson Worth practically owns the plant."
+
+The first thing that met Mr. Greenfield's eye as he stepped through
+the doorway on his return to the hotel was the broad back of Horace
+P. Blanton, who--carried away as usual by the importance of the
+occasion--was "orating" to a group of strangers. It should be said
+that, save when the Kingston citizens were in a certain mood, Horace
+"orated" usually to strangers. In this case so convincing was his
+logic, so eloquent his flights of rhetoric, so irresistible his
+appeals, that Greenfield saw the fat neck of him, where it showed
+between the fat shoulder and the picture-general hat, grow red with
+the fierceness of his eloquence.
+
+"There is no question in the world, gentlemen, that by long odds the
+most able financier in the West to-day is my friend, Mr. Jefferson
+Worth. His startling genius as a captain of industry is equaled only
+by his splendid public spirit and his magnificent generosity to
+everyone who needs a helping hand. Look what he has accomplished for
+Kingston, while only a few of us who were on the inside knew what he
+was doing--our opera house, our bank, our newspaper, our telephone
+lines, our ice plant, and our power plant--which to-morrow night for
+the first time will illuminate the heavens. Think of it! electric
+lights in the midst of a desert that, since God made it, has known
+only the light of the stars. I maintain, gentlemen, that it is the
+duty of every soul in The King's Basin to be present at the
+celebration of the splendid accomplishment and in honor to my
+friend, Worth. Not only has this wizard given us in Kingston the
+blessings of modern civilization, but there is scarcely a rancher
+for miles around whom he has not aided materially by furnishing him
+with needed supplies from the big department store, or by advancing
+him necessary capital. I am proud, gentlemen--proud, to call such a
+public benefactor my friend. Kingston is proud of her most
+distinguished citizen; the whole King's Basin country is proud of
+him. I--Oh, excuse me a minute, gentlemen; as I see my friend, Mr.
+Greenfield, the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company, has just arrived."
+
+Greenfield made an effort to escape. He had heard quite enough. But
+it was useless. The white-vested bulk of the orator barred the way;
+the kingly countenance of Horace P. Blanton compelled recognition.
+"My dear Greenfield, how are you?" The voice was the anxious voice
+of unmistakable disinterested affection. "You have arrived at a most
+auspicious moment. I have promised our people that you would address
+them at the public meeting to-morrow evening in the opera house."
+
+"It is impossible, Mr.--Ah! Mr. Blanton; I never make public
+speeches."
+
+Before Greenfield had finished his curt reply the perspiring one had
+him by the arm in friendly familiarity, and with the president's
+last word the answer came in a low, confidential tone of complete
+understanding. "Of course you understand that I have arranged this
+little affair simply to encourage every one to do his part to boom
+Kingston. It is to our interest, you know, to keep things going."
+
+Until a late hour the president of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company, with his General Manager and chief engineer, in
+the Manager's private office, discussed Jefferson Worth's operations
+and his growing influence in The King's Basin country. James
+Greenfield had evidently forgotten his determination to spend the
+evening with Willard Holmes.
+
+It was notable that the president and his Manager did most of the
+talking. The engineer was, for the most part, a silent listener.
+When appealed to directly he answered briefly, giving such
+information as he had at his command, and several times his answers
+caused Greenfield to look at him with questioning sharpness.
+
+Once the older man remarked: "I believe you wrote me, Burk, that
+Worth's daughter had arrived and that they are to make their home in
+Kingston. Is she likely to prove a factor in the matter of her
+father's popularity and influence? Sometimes a woman, you know--"
+
+Burk's cigar shifted to the corner of his mouth and his head was
+cocked to one side. "Ask Holmes," he muttered with a grin.
+
+"I think you'd better leave Miss Worth out of this, Uncle Jim," said
+Holmes so sharply that Barbara's name was not mentioned again. Which
+does not mean at all that Greenfield had dismissed the matter from
+his mind.
+
+"You have that South Central District survey ready?" he asked.
+
+"I believe the boys have it in shape," answered Burk. The engineer
+laid a map before them, explained the boundaries of the proposed
+district, the line of the proposed canal, and on another sheet
+pointed out the character of the land with the elevations that made
+irrigation of the larger part of the tract impossible.
+
+"You can vouch for the correctness of these figures, Willard?" asked
+Greenfield at last.
+
+"Certainly, sir. Black is one of the best men we have."
+
+"And it is your opinion that it would be a heavy loss to the Company
+to build this canal and attempt to develop this section?"
+
+"I am sure that it would, sir. The district is practically
+worthless."
+
+"All right, boys; that will be all for this evening. We will start
+on that inspection tour day after to-morrow instead of in the
+morning as I had planned. I have a little business with our friend
+Worth to-morrow morning."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+JAMES GREENFIELD SEEKS AN ADVANTAGE.
+
+
+The next morning Jefferson Worth, in his office in the store
+building, again received the president of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company. James Greenfield, with outstretched hand, was
+quite cordial in his greeting.
+
+"I owe you an apology, sir. I did not know until my return to the
+hotel last night of the demonstration to be held this evening in
+your honor and in celebration of the turning on of our new lights,
+or I should have congratulated you sooner. I am glad the people of
+Kingston are recognizing you in this public manner. Permit me to
+express my personal appreciation also."
+
+"Thank you," said Worth from behind his mask. "I figure that my
+interests in Kingston will pan out all right some day."
+
+Greenfield dropped his complimentary manner and came at once to
+business. "Look here, Mr. Worth, I have been thinking over the
+matter I mentioned last night. I can see the strength of your
+position here and I appreciate the value of your operations in the
+development of this country, which mean, of course, an added value
+to the Company's property and interests. We don't want to fight you;
+such things are bad for all concerned. We would all lose money and
+it would have a bad effect on the whole project. If you won't come
+in with us, will you consider a proposition that you can handle
+independently?"
+
+"What is your proposition?"
+
+"It is this. In forming our plans for extending the Company's system
+we have laid out a new district--the South Central. Before placing
+the water rights on the open market, it occurred to me that we might
+make a deal whereby the development of the district would be assured
+and at the same time we would be free to use our forces in still
+further extensions. As you know, the settlers are coming in so
+rapidly now that we need all our equipment to get the water to them
+as fast as they are located. My proposition is this: We will sell
+you the entire amount of water rights covering this South Central
+District--sixty thousand shares--at the lowest figure we can make;
+you to build your own canals and structures. The entire district
+will thus be altogether in your hands to handle as you see fit, we,
+of course, being bound only to deliver into your canals the amount
+of water called for by the regular contract under which the rights
+are sold."
+
+"You have already completed the survey and formed the district?"
+
+"We have. The surveys have just been completed. We are all ready to
+go ahead with our work and to sell the water." Greenfield did not
+say that the Company was ready to go to work on this particular
+district, nor did he say that the stock would be offered for sale
+save to Mr. Worth. The president of course expected Worth to apply
+his statement to the particular tract of land under consideration
+and to accept it as establishing beyond question the value of the
+South Central District. If Jefferson Worth noted the general
+character of Greenfield's answer he gave no sign.
+
+"Where is the land located?"
+
+"If you will step over to our office I can show you the maps."
+
+When Jefferson Worth saw the boundaries of the South Central
+District showing the course of Dry River and the San Felipe trail,
+for the first time his long, tapering fingers, tapping softly the
+arm of his chair, smoothing his gray cheek and caressing his chin
+betrayed emotion. The spot where the San Felipe trail crossed Dry
+River and where the banker and his party had found the baby girl was
+just within the boundary of the district.
+
+Apparently studying the map before him, Barbara's father sat
+motionless save for those nervous fingers; and Greenfield, thinking
+that the man's mind was intent upon the business under
+consideration, spoke no word. But Jefferson Worth was not thinking
+of business. He was seeing again a brown-eyed, brown-haired baby
+girl, who shrank back from his outstretched arms as though in fear.
+
+But that mask-like face betrayed no hint of emotion, and when the
+banker spoke again it was to ask mechanically: "Where is your
+engineer?"
+
+Greenfield looked inquiringly at Burk. The Manager touched a button
+on his desk. To the young man who answered the signal the Manager
+said: "Charlie, if Mr. Holmes is in the building please ask him to
+step in here a moment."
+
+Presently the chief engineer stood before them. An expression of
+surprise flashed over his bronzed face as he saw Mr. Worth. From the
+banker his glance moved swiftly to Burk and Greenfield, then fell on
+the map before the three men.
+
+Instantly he saw Greenfield's purpose. But what did they want of
+him? Surely they would not dare ask him to make a false statement
+regarding the surveys! He could not interfere; it was not his
+business. It was the creed of his type that in business transactions
+every man must take care of himself; but the Company must not ask
+him to lie for them. As these thoughts went through his mind his
+form straightened and his eyes shot a warning--almost a defiant--
+look at his two superiors.
+
+Greenfield saw and signaled caution. Burk saw and smiled. But none
+of the three Company men could have told whether Jefferson Worth,
+who was bending over the map, saw or not. Before the others could
+speak the banker, without looking up, said: "I just wanted to ask,
+Mr. Holmes, whether you can tell me about the character of the soil
+in this new district?"
+
+"The soil, Mr. Worth, is, I believe, as good as there is in the
+Basin."
+
+The three men awaited the next question with breathless interest.
+
+"Thank you, Mr. Holmes. Mr. Greenfield, I will consider the
+proposition."
+
+The president and manager could scarcely believe their ears. The
+engineer vanished.
+
+Jefferson Worth continued: "How long have you planned to be in the
+Basin this trip, Mr. Greenfield?"
+
+"This week only. I start on my inspection with Mr. Burk and Mr.
+Holmes in the morning."
+
+"I asked because I must go out in the morning for a few days, and I
+suppose you wish to close the deal before you leave."
+
+"You think favorably of the proposition, then?"
+
+"If we can get together on the terms"--Worth spoke exactly, as if he
+wished hie words to be remembered--"I will accept it. Suppose you
+put your proposition in writing and mail it to me in the city to-
+morrow. Then when I get back we will be in shape to finish the
+matter one way or the other. If everything is satisfactory and I see
+I can't get home before you leave I will wire you."
+
+Thirty minutes after Jefferson Worth had returned to his office, Abe
+Lee came in. "You sent for me, sir?"
+
+Abe's employer arose and closed the door.
+
+That evening about dusk the surveyor rode out of Kingston on the
+road toward Frontera. And that night, while the celebration was in
+full swing and the new electric lights were sputtering and hissing
+in honor of Jefferson Worth, a loaded wagon, drawn by four mules,
+quietly left the rear of the Worth store. On the driver's seat sat
+Pablo. With little noise the outfit, with its lone driver, left the
+town in the midst of its demonstration and was soon in the open
+country on the road leading south.
+
+An hour later they had passed the ranches and were in the Desert.
+Just beyond where a party of Jefferson Worth's linemen, who were
+stringing the telephone wires, was encamped, the Mexican halted his
+team and the heavy form of Pat came out of the darkness and climbed
+with smothered grunts and curses to his side.
+
+Another hour and they reached the point where the new road crossed
+the old San Felipe trail. Again Pablo halted his team. Ten--fifteen
+--twenty minutes they waited in listening silence, save for an
+occasional grunt from the Irishman. Then from the south came the
+sound of wheels and horses' feet.
+
+"Git under way, Pablo," mumbled Pat. "Ut may not be thim, an' Abe
+will hang yer black hide on the new tiliphone line av anybody goin'
+to town stops to pass ye the time av night."
+
+Pablo swung his team to the left and drove slowly ahead on the old
+trail. A hundred yards farther on they were overtaken by Abe Lee and
+Texas Joe, who were driving a light spring wagon.
+
+"Everything all right, boys?" asked the surveyor sharply.
+
+"Si, Senor," and "Yis, Sorr," came the answers.
+
+"Good. We'll hit the grit good and hard now for we must be in the
+sand hills by morning."
+
+Twenty-four hours after Jefferson Worth left Kingston, the east
+bound overland express came to a full stop in the Desert at a point
+about twenty miles west of Rubio City.
+
+The trainmen and porters ran to the vestibules and, throwing open
+the doors, looked out. Three or four passengers who had risen early
+followed the crew, inquiring anxiously the reason for the delay. The
+big conductor was standing by the rear steps of the Pullman and a
+medium sized man swung down to the ground by his side. Back from the
+track, in the gray of the morning, the watchers saw a tiny fire,
+over which two roughly dressed figures crouched, evidently preparing
+breakfast, while a team, with a light spring wagon, stood tied to a
+nearby mesquite tree. On every hand the great desert stretched its
+vast dun plain without a sign of life save for the train and the men
+and horses by the lonely fire.
+
+"Right, sir?" asked the conductor of the man who alighted by his
+side.
+
+"All right," answered the other in a low tone.
+
+"Good-by, sir."
+
+"Good-by."
+
+The conductor lifted his hand, and, as the train started swung
+aboard. The watchers saw the man walk, without a glance at the
+departing train, straight toward the little group at the fire.
+
+"Well, what do you make of that?" cried an excited tourist as the
+conductor came up the steps into the vestibule and the porter
+slammed down the platform and closed the door. And--"Who is he?"
+"Where is he going?" "What is he doing?" came in chorus from the
+others.
+
+The conductor shook his head with a smile. "Don't ask me. I had
+orders to stop here to let him off; that's all I know."
+
+Jefferson Worth greeted Abe Lee and Texas Joe as coolly as though it
+was his daily habit to meet them at that hour and place. "How is
+everything, Abe?"
+
+"Not a hitch so far," answered the surveyor; and Tex drawled:
+"Coffee and frijoles ready, Mr. Worth."
+
+"Can we make it to the outfit today?" asked Mr. Worth as they
+finished their rude meal and prepared to start.
+
+"Easy," answered Abe. "We have plenty of water with us and this team
+will do it without turning a hair."
+
+Just before sundown at a point on Dry River they found Pat and Pablo
+with the outfit in a comfortable camp.
+
+While Abe Lee, with his helpers, was running his levels over the
+proposed line of the canal staked out by the Company surveyors in
+the South Central District, Willard Holmes was trying to make Mr.
+Greenfield see the necessity of spending more money on the unsafe
+structures and at Dry River heading. He explained, argued and
+pleaded in vain.
+
+"My dear boy," said the Company's president. "You must understand
+that we are not in this country for sweet charity's sake. Burk,
+here, can tell you that we have not yet begun to get our investment
+back. When the returns justify it we will give you the money for
+your construction work, but we can't do it now. The rights of the
+men who are putting up the capital for this project must be
+considered, you know. We can't use a dollar of the Company's money
+except when it is necessary. If I were to let you spend all the
+money you want, we never would pay a dividend."
+
+"But, Uncle Jim, you are forcing these settlers to take terrible
+chances blindly. Have they not rights also? The interest of the
+Company is mighty small compared with the interests of the men who
+are buying the water rights and developing the land."
+
+Greenfield flushed angrily. "Look here, Willard, you have nothing to
+do with the Company's business policy. As the engineer in charge,
+your work is to protect both the settlers and us to the best of your
+ability, but don't get any fool notions into your head. You can't
+afford to go the way of that dreamer who started this work with the
+exalted idea of making it a benefit to the whole human race. That
+line of talk is all right for the boosters like Horace P. Blanton,
+but we've got to make good in dollars and cents or the whole thing
+goes to smash."
+
+With the South Central deal still on his mind and the picture of
+Barbara, as she talked to him of his work the morning he had met her
+in the desert, in his heart, these business discussions with
+Greenfield and Burk were almost unbearable to the engineer. After
+they had inspected the intake, the Dry River heading and the levees
+of the main canal he pleaded an urgent need of his presence at the
+office and left the party, to reach Kingston two days in advance of
+their return.
+
+Barbara was on the porch when he stopped at the gate, tired, hot and
+dusty from his long trip. The girl, dressed in some cool simple
+white stuff and seated in her easy wicker chair in the deep shade of
+the wide porch, made a picture wonderfully attractive to the man who
+had ridden all day in the scorching heat of the desert sun. Of
+course he must come in. What nonsense to talk of his appearance. He
+was not making a fashionable social call. The weary engineer dropped
+into a chair and gratefully accepted the glass of cool lemonade she
+brought.
+
+"I made it myself not five minutes ago, just as if I had known you
+were coming," she said with a laugh that was as refreshing as the
+drink itself. "Ynez is up town shopping for supper. Father is in the
+city. Abe has gone away somewhere. Even Pablo has vanished and I
+haven't seen Texas Joe nor Pat for a week. I was wishing someone
+would happen along. I suppose that's really why I made the
+lemonade."
+
+Holmes set his glass carefully on the porch railing near at hand.
+
+"Won't you have some more?"
+
+"Thank you, no. You are quite deserted, aren't you? How long has Lee
+been gone?"
+
+"Oh, he went the evening before father left and Pablo vanished the
+same night. It was quite tragic, and the next day I was in the
+office when a man from the line came in asking for Pat. He seems to
+have disappeared the same way. I think they might at least have left
+some word or said good-by."
+
+In her innocent talk Barbara had told the whole story. It was easy
+for the Company engineer to guess where the surveyor and his helpers
+had gone and what they were doing. "Are you sure that your father is
+in the city?" he asked jokingly.
+
+Barbara laughed. "Oh, there's no doubt about father. His departure
+was regular in every way."
+
+On his way to the office a little later Holmes chuckled to himself,
+keenly enjoying the situation. He mentally pictured the chagrin of
+Greenfield and Burk when he should tell them what he had learned.
+But would he tell them? He had not told Mr. Worth what he knew of
+the Company's survey in the South Central District. Why should he
+tell the Company what he knew of Worth's surveyors? Once he would
+have considered that loyalty to his employers demanded that he tell
+what he had learned. But now, since he had been assured so very
+emphatically and very recently that the policy of the Company was
+none of his business, let the shrewd Manager and the president find
+out for themselves. Anyway, he told himself, it could make no
+difference, for he knew what the result of Abe's surveys would be
+and he was glad indeed that Barbara's father had not walked into the
+trap set for him. The engineer had concerned himself not a little
+about the probable view Barbara would take of his attitude in
+permitting her father to purchase water rights that he knew to be
+worthless. But now Mr. Worth himself would discover the trick of the
+Company men and it would not matter.
+
+To his surprise and chagrin Jefferson Worth walked into the Company
+office a few days later and, in his exact colorless voice, said: "I
+will accept your proposition Mr. Greenfield. If you wish we can fix
+up the contract and close the deal to-day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+THE GAME PROGRESSES.
+
+
+The purchase of the South Central District water rights by Jefferson
+Worth was immediately announced by The King's Basin Messenger in a
+lengthy article which began with the modest statement that this was
+the largest and most important business transaction that had yet
+occurred in the new country. The article declared that the name of
+Jefferson Worth was a guarantee that the new district would be made
+the richest and most prosperous section of the Basin and that--
+splendid as the undertaking was--it was only the beginning of far
+greater things to be wrought by the wizard of the desert whose
+genius had made him the greatest factor in the reclamation and
+development of The King's Basin country. The work would be begun at
+once--as soon as men and teams could be secured.
+
+The thoughtful Manager of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company read the article with a grin, shifted his cigar to the
+corner of his mouth, cocked his head to one side and sent a marked
+copy of the paper to the Company's president.
+
+James Greenfield read the article with the satisfaction of a good
+business man who sees his competitor heavily over-stocked with a
+line of goods for which there is no market. The pioneers in the
+desert who were not already located, and the newly arriving
+prospectors read and called upon Mr. Worth for further information.
+The article, reprinted in the Rubio City papers, was read by many
+who, familiar with Jefferson Worth's business record, took the San
+Felipe trail for the new district.
+
+The main supply camp for the new work was established at Dry River
+Crossing, the location being ideal, with an abundant supply of
+running water from the waste gate at the heading coming down the old
+channel where Barbara's mother had perished of thirst beside a dry
+water hole. From the camp, the San Felipe trail led in one direction
+straight to Rubio City and in the other to the main road in the
+heart of the Basin half way between Kingston and Frontera. At this
+camp Jefferson Worth made his headquarters. Not a man, whether he
+presented himself empty-handed or with team and tools, but was
+forced to talk with Mr. Worth in his tent office before he was set
+to work under Abe Lee and his three lieutenants--Texas, Pat and
+Pablo.
+
+It was in those days that Willard Holmes reported to the Manager
+that many of his men were leaving the Company and were going to work
+for Jefferson Worth. The news did not appear to alarm Mr. Burk. With
+a grin he advised the engineer, "Don't worry, old man. They'll be
+damned glad to come back to us before many weeks." "I was looking
+out a route for the new central main yesterday," said Holmes, "and
+rode over to Worth's camp at the Crossing. Judging from the size and
+activity of the camp, he is planning to go in good and strong. He
+must have a big force at work now and he is taking on men all the
+time."
+
+"Your Uncle Jim will be delighted to hear of Friend Jefferson's
+enterprise."
+
+The engineer's face did not express appreciation of the Manager's
+wit. "Have you heard the proposition that Mr. Worth is making to
+every man on the job?" he asked.
+
+"No, what is he doing? Giving away one hundred and sixty shares of
+stock with free telephones and electric lights, passes at the opera
+house, unlimited credit at the store and a deposit at the bank as a
+bonus to anyone who will locate in his district? He seems to have
+all kinds of money to throw away."
+
+"It's not quite so bad as that," answered the other with a smile.
+"But he tells every man, when he hires him, to file on any claim in
+the district that he wants and he can have the water rights for it
+without any cash payment and without any interest for five years. In
+a good many cases he is even advancing money to pay the government
+entry fee and promising to carry them for their equipment and
+supplies until they make a crop. But he makes them agree to stay on
+the land and actually farm the claims. He won't let a speculator
+even look in."
+
+Mr. Burk expressed his opinion of Jefferson Worth's ability in the
+strongest terms. The man was insane, childish! Those fellows would
+leave him high and dry.
+
+"That's what I said at first," agreed Holmes. "I asked Bill Watson,
+who quit us with his team at Number Five to go to work in the South
+Central, if he actually thought Worth was going to let his men make
+all the money."
+
+"What did Bill say?"
+
+Holmes smiled. "You know how Bill talks? 'Hell, no,' he said. 'I put
+it to the old man just that way myself. I says, say I: 'That sounds
+good all right, Mr. Worth; but it ain't reasonable that you're
+leavin' yourself out of this deal. Where do you come in?' says I.
+'Who's the joker in this little game?'"
+
+"And Worth explained?" put in Burk eagerly, shaken out of his usual
+thoughtful calm by Holmes's story.
+
+"Bill says that Mr. Worth told him that he owns a big tract of land
+where the camp is located and that he is going to build a town there
+and would make his money by the increased value of his property that
+would result from the development of the district; by business
+enterprises that would depend on the prosperity of the ranchers; and
+by the large increase in the value of water rights that he would
+sell later to those who came in to invest after the district was
+developed. I suggested to Bill that he could see how Worth was
+simply using him to gain his own ends."
+
+"And did Bill see the point?"
+
+"He said: 'You're damned right he is, and so am I usin' Jefferson
+Worth to gain my ends, ain't I? I might work for the Company a
+hundred years and never get a cent more than the wages that you're
+payin' now. Jefferson Worth, he pays me the same wages and gives me
+a chance to get my share of all that comes out of what I do. I don't
+care a damn if he makes ten millions out of the country. I hope he
+will, because he is giving us poor devils, who ain't got nothin'
+now, a chance to get a ranch an' do somethin' for ourselves. Of
+course he uses us to make money for himself. So does the Company use
+us, don't they? The difference is that Jefferson Worth lets us use
+_him_ and the Company just counts us in with the rest of the live
+stock.'"
+
+"How did you get around that?" asked Burk, studying his companion's
+face.
+
+"I didn't get around it," answered the engineer dryly.
+
+Burk leaned back in his chair and spoke with unusual earnestness.
+"Bill is right, Holmes. We consider the men who work for us as we
+consider horses and mules. We feed the stock; we pay wages to the
+men. When an animal is worn out and useless, we kill him and get
+another. When a man is down and out, we fire him and hire another,
+and you and I are no better. The Company looks on us exactly the
+same way. We have no more real interest in this work than the
+skinniest old plug on the job and the Company won't permit us to
+have. They think they couldn't afford it--that it wouldn't be Good
+Business. 'Get up!' 'Whoa!' 'Back!' 'Move, damn you! and here's your
+corn and hay.' That's all we have to do with it. If you balk and
+kick, out you go to rustle your own feed. It's a beautiful system--
+for the Company. I almost wish that Worth had a chance to try out
+his scheme. It would at least be an interesting experiment to
+watch."
+
+"Well, why hasn't he a chance to try it out?"
+
+"You know very well why. Because the deal that your talented uncle
+fixed up for our friend Jeff was loaded for the express purpose of
+blowing that philanthropic promoter into financial Kingdom-come.
+Didn't you report that the development of that South Central
+District was practically impossible because of the elevations?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Well, ordinarily the project would have been abandoned then and
+there. But I suggested to Mr. Greenfield that we go ahead as if
+everything was all right and then unload it on Worth so that he
+would smash himself, as he is doing."
+
+"You should be proud of your scheme."
+
+"I am proud of the scheme, but I'm not proud of myself. I'm being a
+good mule, that's all. Jefferson Worth took our apparent purpose to
+go ahead with the work as evidence that the proposition was all
+right and that's why Jefferson Worth will not finish his intended
+experiment."
+
+"Yes, but the fact is he did not accept the proposition without
+investigation."
+
+"What?"
+
+The engineer told the Manager what he had learned from Barbara. Burk
+whistled softly. "Then you think the old fox sent Abe Lee out to
+check our survey and framed up his trip to the city to gain time?
+Well, I'll be--But look here, Holmes, Worth didn't accept our
+proposition until after he had investigated?"
+
+"No."
+
+"Well; who makes the mistake then, your man Black or Abe Lee?"
+
+"That's exactly what I'd like to know," said the Company's chief
+engineer grimly.
+
+The Manager grinned as he saw the possibilities of the situation,
+then thoughtfully he selected a cigar. "Pretty game, isn't it, old
+man," he said and offered the box to Holmes who declined.
+
+When the weed was going well the Manager's head tipped toward his
+left shoulder and his cigar was in the opposite corner of his mouth.
+"And you knew what Worth was up to before the deal was closed? Why
+didn't you report it, Holmes?"
+
+The engineer frowned. "I didn't tell Mr. Worth what Black's survey
+showed, and you must remember that Uncle Jim rubbed it into me good
+and hard on the question of the construction work that the policy of
+the Company was none of my business. This deal was not in my
+department."
+
+"Dear me," murmured the Manager with another grin. "What a well-
+broken Company mule it is. And you were so dead sure of your man
+Black. Which would you rather, my boy, have Black right and Abe
+wrong--the Company to win; or have Black wrong and Abe right--and
+Jefferson Worth free to go on with his little experiment?"
+
+"Speak for yourself," growled Holmes.
+
+"I will," returned Burk. "I have been a good mule, so my conscience
+is clear. If I knew how and thought it would do any good I would
+pray that Abe Lee made no mistake."
+
+"Well, I won't believe that it's Black's mistake. He comes from too
+good a school," Holmes replied stubbornly.
+
+"And your confidence in your man is no doubt equaled by Worth's
+confidence in his. Interesting, isn't it?"
+
+"You go to thunder!" growled the engineer unable to stand more. The
+Manager's mocking laugh followed him out of the room.
+
+As the engineer passed the open window of the office a moment later
+Burk called to him softly: "Oh, Holmes; I have an idea that may be
+helpful to you in the matter."
+
+Against his will the engineer paused and drew close to the window.
+"Well?"
+
+"Why don't you call on Miss Worth? Perhaps--"
+
+But Willard Holmes fled. And yet that which Burk suggested in jest
+was exactly what Willard Holmes had already determined in his own
+mind to do.
+
+The engineer had not seen Barbara since the conclusion of the South
+Central deal and he was continually asking himself how the girl
+would look upon his part in that transaction, or rather his failure
+to take a part in it. Barbara's frank confession, when she had asked
+him to forgive her for blaming him because of the Seer's dismissal
+that they might start square, had put their friendship upon such a
+ground that the man felt guilty in not confessing at once to her how
+he had aided Greenfield and Burk in their effort to trap her father.
+He could not shake off the conviction that she would undoubtedly
+look upon his attitude as being what she had called untrue to the
+work--the one thing she had declared she could not forgive. Would
+she forgive him? She had been so interested in his work, and the
+engineer was beginning to realize how very much this meant to him.
+At the Worth home the engineer learned from the Indian woman that
+Barbara had left Kingston that morning to visit her father in his
+camp in the South Central District. She had gone with Texas Joe in
+the buckboard and they had taken her saddle horse, El Capitan.
+
+When would La Senorita return? Ynez did not know.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+GATHERED AT BARBARA'S COURT.
+
+
+Barbara's trip to the South Central District was full of interest.
+Riding with Texas Joe in a light buckboard drawn by a span of lively
+broncos with El Capitan leading behind, she was as merry as a
+school-girl out for a long-talked-of holiday. The dark-faced old
+plainsman, whose iron will and marvelous endurance had brought his
+companions and the baby safely out of that land of death years
+before, turned often to look at her now while his keen eyes, dark
+still under their grizzly brows, were soft with fond regard, and his
+voice, gentle and drawling as ever, was filled with tender
+affection. Under his drooping gray mustache, black once, his slow
+smile came in the ready answer of full sympathy with her mood.
+
+Eager as ever to know all about the work of reclaiming her Desert,
+the young woman plied him with questions and Texas exerted himself
+to recall scenes and incidents of which he had not told her before.
+He reviewed the work from that first survey to the present with
+vivid pictures of life in the camps, in the towns, or on the trail,
+with construction gangs and grading crews or freighters' outfits,
+and the glimpses of toil and hardship, discomforts and suffering
+lost none of their reality in the dry humor of his words. Texas Joe
+was of that sort who habitually laugh at hardships, who, indeed,
+could not otherwise live in the wild lands they helped to tame. Nor
+did the shrewd old frontiersman fail to observe how most of
+Barbara's questions required in their answers something touching
+Willard Holmes, or how the incidents that pleased her most were
+those in which the engineer figured. On her part the young woman was
+secretly delighted to see how loyally her companion spoke in
+admiring praise of the desert-bred surveyor, Abe Lee. Whenever the
+name of Holmes was mentioned, Abe was somehow brought into the
+story.
+
+"Mr. Holmes is really a fine engineer, don't you think?" asked
+Barbara mischievously at the conclusion of a story in which both
+Holmes and Abe figured.
+
+"Sure he is. I don't reckon them eastern schools ever turned out a
+better. And what counts more, sometimes, he's all man, he is. But
+you see, honey, he belongs to the Company. Abe now, wal--you see,
+Abe, he sabeys the country like a burro does the cook shack and he's
+just as good a man as the Easterner, though not so pretty to look
+at. And you can bet there don't no Company get a hobble on Abe."
+
+"Do the men who work for the Company like Mr. Holmes?"
+
+"Sure they do. All the men like Holmes fine. But they just naturally
+love Abe."
+
+But when they had turned into the San Felipe trail and were
+traveling eastward, Barbara ceased to question Texas about the
+reclamation work and led him to tell her again the familiar story of
+his journey from San Felipe with Mr. Worth, the Seer, Pat and the
+boy Abe, in the days when that old road was the only mark of man in
+all those miles of desolate waste.
+
+Reaching a point where the sand hills could be distinguished, he
+pointed them out to her, and the young woman, at sight of the huge
+rolling drifts that shone all golden in the desert sun, grasped his
+arm with a low exclamation. In silence, as they drew nearer, they
+watched the low yellow hills lift their naked bulk up from the gray
+and green patches of salt-bush and greasewood that so thinly
+carpeted the plain. When even the desert vegetation could find no
+life in the ever shifting sands and the first of the great drifts
+loomed huge and forbidding against the sky, seeming to bar their
+way, Barbara spoke again. "Now tell me, Uncle Tex; tell me as we go
+just how it was and show me the places."
+
+The plainsman did not answer and she urged again: "Please, Uncle
+Tex, tell me. I want to see it all just as it happened. I feel that
+I must, don't you understand?"
+
+So the old plainsman told her and pointed out the places as nearly
+as he could, explaining how the drifts moved always eastward under
+the winds; how at times, most frequently in the spring months, when
+the fierce gales swept down through the Pass and across the Basin,
+the huge billows of sand would roll forward so swiftly that tents or
+wagons in their path would be buried in a few hours, and how, in the
+calm seasons, with every light breeze they work their silent way
+inch by inch. Even as he spoke Barbara, looking, saw a thin film of
+sand, fine as powdered snow, curl like mist over the edge of a drift
+as a breath of air swept lightly up the western slope and over the
+summit of the hill.
+
+At the point where Mr. Worth's party had camped to await the passing
+of the storm, Texas stopped the team and showed her how they had
+rigged their rude canvas shelter on one side of the wagon to protect
+themselves from the cutting blast. Farther on he pointed out the
+spot where they had found the horse with the broken halter strap,
+and then they came to the great drift where her people had made
+their last camp and where, later, Jefferson Worth had spent that
+night alone with the spirit that lives in La Palma de la Mano de
+Dios.
+
+Again Texas halted his team, and Barbara, leaving her companion in
+the buckboard, climbed to the top of the hill that held buried deep
+in its heart--what? Was the body of her true father buried there?
+Were there brothers, sisters, lying under that huge mound? Could the
+sands, if they could speak, tell her who she was, her name and
+people? Could they, if they would, make known to her relatives and
+friends of her own blood?
+
+Coming slowly down the shoulder of the drift she went around to the
+foot of the steep eastern side and there, in the lee of the billow
+that curled high above her, she tried to dig with her hands a tiny
+hole. At every movement that displaced a handful of sand, a dry
+golden flood poured down from above, covering instantly the mark she
+had made. With sudden, energy the young woman exerted all her
+strength, digging faster and faster. But still, from above her head,
+down the steep side of the drift the sand slid without effort,
+making a faint whispering sound as if to mock her labors. Then Texas
+called and she went back to him, her brown eyes hard and dry.
+
+The old plainsman, quick to feel her mood, would have driven swiftly
+on past the remaining scenes of the tragedy and tried to talk of
+other things. But she would not have it so. She must know all. So he
+showed her where he had first found the tracks in the sand and then
+where the baby feet had left their marks when the tired mother had
+set her down to rest.
+
+Thus they came at last, when the day was almost gone, to the grave
+beside the trail--the trail that had beside its many miles so many
+graves. And Barbara stood before the simple headstone that bore only
+the date and one word "Mother." And the silent man, who had in his
+wild adventurous life witnessed so many scenes of death, turned away
+his face that he might not see the girl kneeling beside the mound of
+earth.
+
+When Barbara, coming back to the buckboard, saw him so, she
+understood; and when Texas, hearing her light steps, turned quickly
+toward her he saw the brown eyes filled now with softening tears
+while her face expressed the gratitude she could not put into words.
+
+Behind them the upper rim of the sun shone blood-red above the top
+of the purple mountain wall; over their heads in the soft still
+depths of the velvet sky an early star appeared. Around them on
+every side the great desert lay under its seas of soft color, its
+veils of misty light and streaming scarfs of lilac and rose. Even as
+they looked the dusk of twilight fell upon the great plain. The
+ground-owl's weird call came from a hummock near the trail, the
+ghostly form of a coyote slipped stealthily past like a shadow
+moving from shadow to shadow until he was lost in the deeper shade,
+out of which, as if in mocking challenge of a spirit band to any
+mortal who would follow, came the wild, snarling, unearthly cries of
+his invisible mates. And still to the eastward the higher levels of
+the Mesa above the rim of the dark Basin, the slow drifting clouds
+of dust that lifted from the tired feet of the grading teams coming
+into the camp from the day's work on the canals, or from freighters
+drawing near their journey's end, caught the last of the light and
+showed long level bands and bars and threads of gold against the
+deep purple of the hills beyond, whose peaks and domes and ridges
+were flaming crimson, burnished copper and gleaming silver on the
+deep background of the sky. Before them on the other side of the
+deep Dry River channel, through which now a generous stream of water
+flowed, they could see the tents of the camp--some glowing brightly
+from lights within, others showing mere spots of dull white in the
+gloom, while here and there lanterns, like great fireflies, flitted
+aimlessly to and fro.
+
+Before two tent houses, some distance apart from the main camp and
+built under a wide ramada made of willow poles and arrow weed
+brought from the distant river, Texas stopped his team. From the
+open door of one of the tents Jefferson Worth came quickly, at the
+sound of their arrival, to receive his daughter, and from her
+father's arms Barbara turned to greet Abe Lee who, following his
+chief from the canvas house, had paused a little back from the group
+in the shadow of the ramada. Later in the evening, when Barbara had
+had her supper with her father and Abe in the big camp dining tent
+and the three were sitting in the dark under the wide brush porch,
+Pat came with Texas, as the big Irishman said, "to see how the new
+boss liked her quarters." And then Pablo came softly out of the
+darkness with his guitar to bid La Senorita welcome and to ask if
+she would care that night to listen a little to the music that he
+knew she loved.
+
+So Barbara held her little court before the rude tent house under
+the arrow weed ramada, in the heart of her Desert, within a stone's
+throw of the spot where they had gathered once before around a baby
+girl whose mother lay dead beside a dry water hole. And not one of
+them thought of the significance of the group or how each,
+representing a distinct type, stood for a vital element in the
+combination of human forces that was working out for the race the
+reclamation of the land. The tall, lean, desert-born surveyor,
+trained in no school but the school of his work itself, with the
+dreams of the Seer ruling him in his every professional service; the
+heavy-fisted, quick-witted, aggressive Irishman, born and trained to
+handle that class of men that will recognize in their labor no
+governing force higher than the physical; the dark-faced
+frontiersman, whom the forces of nature, through the hard years, had
+fashioned for his peculiar place in this movement of the race as
+truly as wave and river and wind and sun had made The King's Basin
+Desert itself; the self-hidden financier who, behind his gray mask,
+wrought with the mighty force of his age--Capital; and a little to
+one side, sitting on the ground, reclining against one of the willow
+posts that upheld the arrow weed shelter, dark Pablo, softly
+touching his guitar, representing a people still far down on the
+ladder of the world's upward climb, but still sharing, as all
+peoples would share, the work of all; and, in the midst of the
+group, the center of her court--Barbara, true representative of a
+true womanhood that holds in itself the future of the race, even as
+the desert held in its earth womb life for the strong ones whom the
+slow years had fitted to realize it.
+
+"Faith," said Pat, when Pablo's guitar was silent for a little, "av
+only the Seer was here the family wud be altogether complete."
+
+"Dear old Seer," said Barbara softly. "How he would love to be here;
+and how we would love to have him!"
+
+But under cover of the darkness a warm blush colored the young
+woman's cheeks, for when Pat spoke she had not been thinking of the
+absence of her old friend, but wishing for the presence of another
+engineer, who also was working for the reclamation of her Desert and
+who was himself in turn being wrought upon by his work, learning as
+the girl had hoped he would learn, the language of the land.
+
+Jefferson Worth spoke in his exact way. "Even if he is not here this
+is all the Seer's work."
+
+And just then from a distance up the old wash came the weird,
+unnatural cry of a coyote. It was as though the spirit of the desert
+spoke in answer to the banker's words.
+
+"Yell, ye sneaking thievin' imp. Yer time in this counthry is about
+up!" exclaimed the Irishman with a growl of deep satisfaction. And
+again out of the shadow the soft, plaintively sweet music of Pablo's
+guitar floated away on the still darkness of the night.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+WHAT THE STAKES REVEALED.
+
+
+James Greenfield, returning to Kingston from his tour of inspection,
+left at once for his own world--a world of offices with mahogany
+furniture, of men with white collars and pale faces, of banks and
+trust companies, and Good Business.
+
+The afternoon of the day he left, Willard Holmes rode into the camp
+at Dry River Crossing. The engineer explained that he was looking
+over the route of a new main canal that was being surveyed by his
+men and that, finding himself in the vicinity of Mr. Worth's
+headquarters, he had taken the opportunity to call.
+
+From Barbara as well as from Jefferson Worth and Abe Lee the Company
+man received a hearty welcome with a cordial invitation to ride with
+them the next day over the line of their work. Although Holmes
+watched with peculiar sensitiveness, there was no sign from either
+of the three that they had yet discovered the real significance of
+the South Central deal or that they knew the part he had played in
+it. His desire to end the whole unpleasant situation by going over
+the work with Mr. Worth and the surveyor, and by confessing to
+Barbara how he had permitted her father to walk into the trap, led
+him to accept the invitation.
+
+The little party left camp early the next morning and following the
+line of Black's survey found a mile or more of the canal already
+completed, while a large force of men and teams was at work clearing
+the ground and pushing the big ditch still farther in a general
+southerly direction toward the Company canal fifteen miles away.
+
+Abe Lee explained to Barbara that other camps were located at points
+farther on, thus dividing the whole district to be excavated into
+several sections. "You see," he said turning to Holmes, "the waste
+from Dry River Heading coming down the old channel gives us water at
+several points so that we can handle this work to a little better
+advantage than we used to do with the first of the Company canals."
+
+"I see," said the Company man. "And how many head of stock are you
+working?"
+
+"About fifteen hundred now, but we are increasing the force right
+along. We expect to handle about twice that."
+
+Instantly Willard Holmes saw that he could still save Jefferson
+Worth from heavy financial loss. But it was to the interest of The
+King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company for Jefferson Worth to lose
+heavily. What should he do?
+
+They had left the first section of the work now and were following
+the line of the survey where the brush had been roughly cleared. The
+engineer, preoccupied in his struggle with the question that
+confronted him, had dropped behind the others, when suddenly
+Barbara, looking back, checked El Capitan. "What's the matter, Mr.
+Holmes?" she called.
+
+The others also looked back to see the engineer kneeling on the
+ground. Jefferson Worth glanced quickly at his superintendent who
+chuckled outright.
+
+"What is it?" cried Barbara at Abe's unusual laugh. "What's the
+joke?"
+
+Before either of the men could answer, Holmes sprang to his saddle
+and, with a quick jab of his spurs in the horse's flanks, rejoined
+them on the run. In his excitement the mental habits of his life
+asserted themselves and he was again the typical corporation
+official dealing with a mere private individual operating on a small
+scale. "Look here!" he burst forth sharply to Abe; "these are not
+our Company stakes. You are not following Black's line."
+
+The surveyor grinned. "We followed it for a half mile this side of
+the cut, then we branched off. You evidently did not notice."
+
+"Where do you strike it again?"
+
+"We don't strike it again."
+
+"Then how do you get to the intake location?"
+
+"We don't get to the intake _you_ located at all. We strike your
+canal three miles farther up."
+
+The Company's chief engineer retorted hotly: "But you can't do that.
+Our survey shows"--he stopped.
+
+"Your survey shows what?" came Abe Lee's sharp challenge. "You are
+undoubtedly familiar with the data turned in by your man Black, for
+you told Mr. Worth the quality of the soil before he closed the
+deal. What else does your survey show?"
+
+Before the engineer could answer, Jefferson Worth's cool voice broke
+in. "You understand, Mr. Holmes, that there is nothing in my
+contract with your Company that binds me to follow the line of your
+survey or accept your location of the intake. The Company contracts
+to deliver the water into my canal, that is all."
+
+The engineer regained control of himself. "I beg your pardon, Mr.
+Worth; and yours, Lee. I forgot myself. I see that my man Black made
+a mistake."
+
+Abe laughed dryly. "In checking over Black's work, Holmes, I found
+his elevations correct at every point."
+
+Holmes himself smiled as he said: "Well, Lee, whether you believe me
+or not, I am very glad you checked over Black's work, and, Mr.
+Worth, with all my heart I wish you success in your project."
+
+"Thank you," said Worth, "I am already indebted to you for a
+valuable piece of information."
+
+"Indebted to me?"
+
+"You remember what I asked you when I was going over this
+proposition with Greenfield and Burk in the Company office?"
+
+"I remember that you asked me about the soil in the district."
+
+"You answered that the _soil_ was all right."
+
+Holmes drew a long breath. "And you let Uncle Jim and Burk think--"
+
+"I let them think what they wanted to think," said Jefferson Worth.
+
+Barbara, who had listened with intense interest to the conversation,
+at Holmes's unfinished remark and her father's reply moved El
+Capitan slowly away from his place beside Worth's horse and went
+close to Abe Lee. All the gladness was gone from the young woman's
+face now, and while she maintained a show of interest it was plainly
+forced.
+
+The banker, at his daughter's movement, retreated behind his gray
+mask and for the rest of the trip spoke only when it was necessary,
+leaving her entirely to the surveyor and Willard Holmes.
+
+Barbara had understood from the talk of the men that her father, by
+using the unsuspecting engineer, had in some way shrewdly gained a
+business advantage over the Company. The incident forced her, as she
+thought, to see with a cruel clearness that to Jefferson Worth this
+splendid work of reclaiming the desert was nothing but the
+opportunity to win larger financial gains; that he was still
+practicing the tactics for which he was famous. She shrank from him
+unconsciously but to the man as plainly as she had drawn back in
+fear that night years before. As the baby had turned from him to the
+Seer then, the young woman turned from him to Abe Lee now.
+
+During the rest of the day Barbara kept so close to the surveyor's
+side that Willard Holmes had no opportunity to talk with her alone,
+and when they arrived again at the headquarters camp the engineer,
+promising to call upon her soon in Kingston, left for one of his own
+camps a few miles away.
+
+That evening Jefferson Worth and his daughter sat alone under the
+arrow weed ramada facing the river. Moving her camp chair closer in
+the dusk--so close that, reaching out she laid her warm young hand
+on the hand of her father--Barbara said in a low tone: "Daddy, I
+wish you would tell me all about this South Central District
+business."
+
+She felt the slim nervous fingers move uneasily. Never before had
+Barbara asked him to explain any of his transactions. The man's
+habit of retiring behind that gray mask whenever the subject of his
+business was mentioned, together with the girl's instinctive
+shrinking lest his answers to such a question should drive them
+farther apart, prevented. But to-night, perhaps because Willard
+Holmes was concerned, perhaps because of her peculiar interest in
+the work involved, Barbara forced herself to ask.
+
+"What do you want to know?"
+
+At his expressionless tone it was to Barbara as though she felt the
+chill of his cold mask coming between them, but she persisted and in
+her voice was passionate earnestness. "I want to know all about it,
+father; I must."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because"--she hesitated. "Because I understood from the
+conversation to-day about the surveys that someone had made a
+mistake. I--I don't want to make a mistake, daddy. Won't you please
+explain it all to me? What was it that you let Mr. Greenfield and
+Mr. Burk think?"
+
+Perhaps because of the memories of the place, or because it was the
+first time Barbara had ever sought an explanation, or again perhaps
+it was because Willard Holmes was interested, Jefferson Worth
+answered: "I let them think I was a fool."
+
+"But why was Mr. Holmes so excited to-day when he found out about
+those stakes?"
+
+"He discovered that I was not such a fool as they thought."
+
+Then Jefferson Worth explained to the girl the whole situation. He
+made clear Greenfield's reason for offering him the water rights;
+why he would have taken the stock without investigation but for the
+hint he received from the Company engineer's manner and the way
+Holmes had answered that simple question about the soil; how he had
+made the survey secretly, because Greenfield would have refused to
+close the deal if he had known that Worth wanted it after he had it
+investigated, and because if Greenfield believed the district stock
+to be valueless he would sell at a very low figure rather than not
+sell at all; and how it was that same low figure that enabled him to
+give the men who were working on the canal a chance to acquire farms
+of their own.
+
+When he had made it all plain, the young woman exclaimed: "And this
+man Greenfield and those with him in the Company are the men who are
+doing the Seer's work; who are making the reclamation of the desert
+possible! I don't--I can't understand it."
+
+"It is a very simple business deal," said Worth. "There is nothing
+unusual about it. Greenfield and his men are good men; they are
+simply defending their interests from a competitor. This Desert
+never could be reclaimed at all without them or others like them."
+
+"Tell me again, daddy; was Mr. Holmes _sure_ that this land was
+worthless?"
+
+"Certainly he was sure of it. He had all of Black's data giving the
+elevations."
+
+"And he knew that they were trying to sell it to you?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"But did he know _why?_ Did he know it was a trap to ruin your
+work?"
+
+"Certainly, he must have known."
+
+The girl's voice trembled. "Oh, why--why didn't he tell you? Why
+didn't he warn you?"
+
+"He did."
+
+"Yes, daddy, but he did not _intend_ to do it, for to-day he did not
+know that he had until you explained. And I thought-I thought--" Her
+voice ended in a sob.
+
+"But Barbara, Holmes did just what he should have done. He is in the
+employ of the Company. He had no right to interfere with their
+business."
+
+"Every man has a right to be a man," she answered hotly. "Abe
+wouldn't have kept still. The Seer would not have helped them in
+their schemes. I don't wonder that the Company discharged the Seer
+to give Mr. Holmes his place!"
+
+Jefferson Worth was silent for a little, then he said: "If I had
+thought that you would blame Holmes I never would have told you."
+
+"But you did right to tell me. I am glad, for I see now that I _was_
+making a mistake--that I was making two mistakes. I misjudged you,
+daddy--forgive me; and I--I have been mistaken about Mr. Holmes."
+
+For an hour or more the two sat silent, the mind of each occupied
+with thoughts that were much the same. Barbara for the first time
+felt that she could enter fully into her father's life. She had at
+last seen behind his gray mask and found herself in full sympathy
+with him. And the lonely man knew that at last he had gained that
+for which his heart hungered--the fullest companionship of the girl
+he loved as his only child.
+
+At last Barbara said softly: "Daddy, I am not going back to Kingston
+to-morrow. I am going to stay here with you. You can have another
+tent house built and Texas can go for Ynez who will bring what
+things I need. I am going to make a home for you. You need me,
+daddy. You are so alone in your work; no one understands you as I do
+now. Let me come and help you."
+
+Awkwardly Jefferson Worth put out his hand and drawing his daughter
+closer said in a tone that Barbara had never heard before: "I was
+wishing that you would want to stay. You--you are not afraid of me
+now, Barbara?"
+
+"Why, no, of course not; what a strange thing to ask! I have never
+been afraid of you; why should I be?"
+
+And Barbara thought that she spoke truly--that she had never feared
+him; though Jefferson Worth knew better.
+
+So another tent house was built and Texas went alone to Kingston, to
+return with Ynez as Barbara had planned, and the young woman set
+about making a home for her father in the rude desert camp.
+
+Every day nearly she rode El Capitan out to some part of the work,
+and the men who were toiling for more than wages learned to know her
+and to hail her presence as a good omen. Many a rough fellow,
+dreaming of wife or sweetheart and the home he would make for them
+in the desert as he drove his team and held the bar of his Fresno,
+worked the harder for a cheery word from the daughter of his
+employer.
+
+And every evening under the ramada Barbara sat with her father,
+often alone, sometimes with one or more of her little court; and
+always the talk was of the work, save for the times when Pablo would
+come softly to make music for his Senorita and then they would sit
+silently, listening to the sweet harmonies that floated away into
+the night.
+
+Often Barbara would go the short distance from the house to the old
+wash; there to sit almost on the very spot where her mother had
+perished beside the dry water hole; and watching the stream that now
+flowed through the old channel, or looking away across the deep cut
+to the sand hills that showed clearly in the distance, she would
+live over the story as she had learned it that day with Texas--
+asking the old, old question, to which there was still no answer.
+
+One afternoon as she was sitting there, two wagons with a small
+party of men appeared on the high bank of the stream opposite. As
+the men climbed down from their seats, someone on horseback rode to
+the edge of the cut and sat for a moment looking across. Even at
+that distance she knew him; it was Willard Holmes. Watching she saw
+him turn and by his motions guessed that he was giving some
+instructions to the men. Then he rode away toward the Crossing.
+
+Quickly Barbara returned to the rude porch of the tent house and in
+a few minutes saw the engineer approach. Dismounting and throwing
+the reins over his horse's head he came to her smiling, sombrero in
+hand. "Buenas dias, Senorita. Please may I have a drink?"
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Holmes; help yourself." She pointed to the olla
+hanging in the shade of the ramada.
+
+The engineer started at her cool reply, given as she would have
+addressed a stranger, and, more to regain his composure than because
+he was thirsty, helped himself from the earthen water jar. When he
+could delay no longer he turned again to her, and forcing himself to
+speak as if he had not noticed the lack of warmth in her greeting
+said: "I was sorry to miss you in town. I called several times."
+
+"I am keeping house here for father," she answered.
+
+"Then we will be neighbors," he said with assumed lightness; "at
+least half-way neighbors. A party of my surveyors will be camped
+over there across the river. I will be with them part of the time."
+
+When she made no reply to this, the man understood. Slowly he drew
+on his gloves and, laying aside all pretense, said simply: "I have
+been trying to see you, Miss Worth, because I wanted to tell you
+myself of the miserable part I took in the shameful trick my uncle
+attempted to play on your father. I see that you know all about it
+and I realize that it is quite useless for me to ask you to forgive
+me."
+
+He paused, but still the young woman was silent.
+
+[Illustration: More to regain his composure than because he was
+thirsty helped himself from the earthen water jar]
+
+The man could not know how she was fighting to keep back the tears.
+
+"You told me plainly that you could never forgive one who was untrue
+to his work," he went on hopelessly, "and you are right. There was a
+time, before I knew you, when I would have defended my action, when
+I would have held that it was right; but I cannot now. Perhaps if I
+had known you longer--But what's the use. I am a sad bungler in this
+great work, Miss Worth. I am out of place in the big desert. I
+should have stayed at home. I wish--I wish you had never wakened me
+to the possibilities of life--real life. You would not need to feel
+ashamed for me now."
+
+When she looked up he was mounting his horse. Almost she cried out
+to him, but he rode quickly out of her sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+PABLO BRINGS NEWS TO BARBARA.
+
+
+All through the long hot months of that second summer Barbara stayed
+in the desert with her father. Many times Mr. Worth insisted that
+she should go to the coast or the mountains for a few weeks, while
+Abe, Texas and Pat added their entreaties. But the young woman's
+answer was always--to her father: "If you must stay, daddy, then I
+must stay to take care of you;" to Abe it was: "Why don't you take a
+vacation? This is just as much my work as it is yours;" to Texas it
+was a laughing question whether he thought she was a "quitter," and
+to Pat she always declared that the desert could not in the least
+hurt her complexion.
+
+"And look at the other women," she would argue. There was Jack
+Hanson's little wife, with their children, in a twelve by fourteen
+tent out there on their claim alone all day and many nights, while
+Jack was on the work. And Mrs. White, who stoutly declared that she
+was "sure going to stand by her Jim if it burned her to a crisp,"
+and that they did not have the money to spend even if they could
+leave the crops they had managed to plant. And Mrs. Rollins and Mrs.
+Baird and Mrs. Cole and the others, who were holding down their
+husbands' claims while the men were earning money on the works to
+help them in getting their start. Surely if these women could stay
+with their men-folk Barbara could. So Mr. Worth let her have her
+way. And the other three strove among themselves, with varied and
+picturesque figures of speech, and--it must be confessed--some
+rather strong language, to express their admiration for her courage
+and endurance, while all four taxed their inventive powers to the
+limit devising ways to add to her comfort.
+
+The work in the South Central District continued steadily with no
+delay through lack of help, and when the canal was finished and the
+water ready, the men who had built it turned to making the ditches
+on their own claims, leveling their land for irrigation, preparing
+for the first crops and making what other improvements they could.
+Meanwhile the new townsite was laid out on the ground already
+occupied by the headquarters camp and the camp itself became the
+town of "Barba."
+
+But, perhaps because--as Pablo said--"there was no Senorita in the
+Company," Greenfield's chief engineer again found it hard to hold
+his men through the hot months and was obliged to discontinue work
+on their Central Main. Holmes himself spent the weeks of the flood
+season at the river, refusing to leave even for a day. Three times,
+when conditions at the intake and heading were most critical and the
+danger that threatened the unconscious settlers seemed imminent, the
+engineer sent for Abe Lee, while Texas, Pat and Pablo were
+instructed by Mr. Worth to be ready at an hour's notice to move the
+entire working force of the district to the scene of the expected
+disaster.
+
+And still, even through those trying times Jefferson Worth continued
+his operations in all parts of the Basin and started various
+enterprises in his new town with the conviction of a born fatalist,
+though he almost constantly now, except when he was with Barbara,
+wore that expressionless gray mask. Abe Lee's thin face, burned dark
+by constant exposure to the fierce desert sun, had a look of
+watchful readiness. And Barbara, seeing, thought that it was all
+because of the strain of their own work, for even Barbara was not
+told of the terrible risk that the Company was forcing the pioneers
+to take.
+
+Meanwhile James Greenfield and the Company officials, from the
+outside, watched the situation with the calmness of professional
+gamblers watching the turn of the cards. Though he did not come into
+the desert during the summer, the Company president spent most of
+his time in the West now, for the Reclamation project launched by
+him was assuming such proportions that his personal attention was
+justified. Only one thing more was needed to bring such a flood of
+land-seekers, speculators and investors that the Company's immense
+profits would be assured. The new country must have a railroad.
+
+To this end, in the city by the sea, the eastern financier was
+bringing every influence he could command to bear upon the officials
+of the Southwestern and Continental that skirted the rim of the
+Basin. But the great man who shaped the destinies of the S. & C.,
+secure in the knowledge that his road controlled the only pass
+through the range of mountains that shut in the new country, for
+some reason refused to build a branch line into the territory in
+which Mr. Greenfield was so deeply interested.
+
+James Greenfield, himself a power of the first magnitude in the
+financial world, was always admitted to the presence of the railroad
+man without delay and was always received by the official with every
+courtesy. His statements as to the extent and value of the lands
+that were being developed by his Company, with his estimates of the
+volume of business that a branch line would bring to the
+Southwestern and Continental, were received without question. The
+railroad man even betrayed unusual interest in the reclamation of
+The King's Basin Desert, with a knowledge of conditions almost as
+complete as Mr. Greenfield's. Frequently he asked of Jefferson
+Worth's operations and of the development of the South Central
+District. But always he shook his head when Greenfield urged
+immediate action. There were certain reasons; he was not at liberty
+to go into details. Some day no doubt the branch line would be
+built, but he could make no promises.
+
+This was the situation in the fall when, with the danger from the
+river past and his canals finished, Jefferson Worth sought an
+interview with the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company at his office in the Coast city.
+
+Mr. Greenfield received the banker cordially, congratulated him upon
+the success of his South Central District work and prophesied great
+things for everybody interested in The King's Basin project.
+
+Jefferson Worth, behind his gray mask, at once made known the object
+of his visit. He wished to secure from the Company the right to take
+water from their Central Main for a small power house to be located
+in the Dry River wash. Mr. Worth explained frankly the advantage it
+would give the new town of Barba, in which he was interested, and
+stated that he had, some time before, laid his proposition before
+the Company's manager in order that Mr. Greenfield might be informed
+of the matter.
+
+Greenfield said that he had heard from Mr. Burk and that he thought
+it might be arranged. Then, while Jefferson Worth listened with his
+usual careful attention, the Company man set forth their great need
+of a railroad. And by the way; was Mr. Worth personally acquainted
+with the man who controlled the S. & C.?
+
+"I know of him," came the cautious reply.
+
+"Well, Mr. Worth," said the president; "I'll tell you what we'll do.
+We need that railroad and we need it now. So far I have failed to
+get any definite promise from the S. & C. that they will give us a
+branch line. If you can secure a railroad for the Basin this year,
+we will give you the right of way for your power canal and a
+contract for the water."
+
+"Is that your only proposition?"
+
+"That is my only proposition."
+
+The president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company would
+have been astonished if he could have witnessed the meeting of
+Jefferson Worth and the railroad man an hour later.
+
+"Hello, Jeff!" came in hearty tones from the official as the door of
+his private office closed behind the banker. "How are you? I hear
+that Greenfield sold you a gold brick."
+
+Mr. Worth smiled while the other laughed heartily. "I tell you,
+Jeff, we little Westerners have got to watch out for these big
+eastern operators or they'll take the whole blamed country away from
+us."
+
+"The gold brick is panning out pretty well so far," said the banker.
+
+"So I understand. Crawford has been telling me all about it. In fact
+the whole King's Basin proposition looks mighty good to me, except
+for that New York bunch. I'm afraid of them, Jeff. Greenfield has
+been camping on my trail for three months, wanting us to build them
+a branch line. I told Crawford yesterday that it was about time for
+you to come around."
+
+"When are you going to build that road?" asked Mr. Worth.
+
+The other shook his head. "Can't do it, Jeff. You know the situation
+as well as I. If the river comes in the whole country will go to
+smash; and with the class of structures they have put in to control
+it and with an eastern engineer in charge, it's too big a chance.
+The S. & C. is not spending money to help out wild-cat projects
+promoted by eastern capital."
+
+"But if you give us the branch line it will insure the success of
+the project, for it will make the Company property so valuable that
+they will spend more money to protect it."
+
+"Or"--added the other--"_we_ would have to spend more money to
+protect it. I'm sorry Jeff, if that's what you have been figuring
+on, but we are not an insurance company--we are in the
+transportation business."
+
+"Then you won't build into the Basin?"
+
+"Not under existing conditions, Jeff."
+
+With as little show of emotion as he would have exhibited had he
+merely proposed to purchase a morning paper, Jefferson Worth said:
+"All right, then I'll build it myself."
+
+The railroad man knew that the quietly spoken words meant that the
+banker had determined to stake everything he had in the world upon a
+chance that even the S. & C., with its unlimited capital, refused to
+take. With his already large investments in the new country, the
+building of the railroad would tax Worth's resources to the very
+limit and the failure of the Company's project would mean for him
+financial ruin.
+
+During the flood season just past Jefferson Worth had seen the
+safety of the Reclamation work hanging on a very slender thread.
+Every hour he had looked for the disaster that would bring to
+nothing all that had been accomplished by the desert pioneers, whose
+ruin he would share, yet he calmly proposed now to throw into the
+venture everything that years of unceasing toil had brought him--his
+capital, his credit, his reputation.
+
+"Don't do it, Jeff," said his friend. "You are in deep enough now.
+Better keep an anchor to windward."
+
+"I figured on taking a chance when I went into that country," said
+Worth simply. It was as if he had foreseen this situation from the
+very beginning and had planned how he would meet it. The railroad
+man's face expressed his admiration for this display of nerve.
+
+"If I can do anything for you let me know, Jeff."
+
+"Thanks. If you would just not mention to anyone that I am connected
+with this for a little while."
+
+"Oh, I see. Greenfield again, I suppose? What are you up to anyway,
+Jeff; buying another gold brick?"
+
+Worth explained his plan for a power plant and Greenfield's
+proposition.
+
+"Hell!" exclaimed the dignified official. "You can't tell me that
+you are going to build a railroad into Greenfield's town just to get
+a dinky little power plant in your own district. I'm not from New
+York, Jeff."
+
+To which Jefferson Worth answered from behind his mask: "The Basin
+needs a railroad."
+
+The next day Greenfield sought the railroad office in haste. "I
+understand that you have decided to build that branch road."
+
+The official, who had received his guest with the dignified courtesy
+befitting one of his position, smiled at the other's manner as a
+gracious sovereign might smile on granting a subject's petition.
+
+Greenfield accepted the smile as an assent. "May I ask when you will
+begin the work?"
+
+"I cannot say exactly, Mr. Greenfield. The survey will probably be
+made at once and the work begun as soon as it is possible to
+assemble men and material."
+
+When The King's Basin Messenger announced that the survey was being
+made for a railroad from the main line of the S. & C. at Deep Well
+to Kingston, it did not mention the fact that Abe Lee was in charge
+of the work. And James Greenfield, who signed the promised contract
+following the announcement, did not learn until the next issue of
+the Messenger that the road was not being built by the S. & C. but
+by Jefferson Worth himself.
+
+Quickly the news that the railroad was building into The King's
+Basin was spread by the papers throughout the surrounding country
+and from every side the swelling flood of life poured in. Every
+section of the new lands felt the influence of the rush. For miles
+around the towns, every vacant tract was seized by the incoming
+settlers. Townsite companies quickly laid out new towns, while in
+the towns already established new business blocks and dwellings
+sprang up as if some Aladdin had rubbed his lamp. Real estate values
+advanced to undreamed figures and the property was sold, re-sold and
+sold again. And Kingston, the heart and center of it all--Kingston,
+Texas Joe said, "went plumb locoed."
+
+The name of Jefferson Worth was on every tongue. Was he not the
+wizard who commanded prosperity and wealth to wait upon The King's
+Basin? Was he not the Aladdin who rubbed the lamp?
+
+Horace P. Blanton, who seemed to increase magically as if, indeed,
+he fed on the stuff of which booms are made, did not lack for
+audience now as he talked in rolling phrases of his friend Worth and
+what "we" had done, with suggestive hints of still greater things
+that "we" again would do. To see the great Horace P. in all the
+glory of white vest and picture-hat, as he escorted parties of awe-
+stricken newcomers about the town and pointed out with majestic
+gestures "our" opera house, "our" bank, "our" power house, "our" ice
+plant, the site of "our" new depot, was an experience never to be
+forgotten. To watch him give orders, when Pat was not near, to some
+laborer in the grading gang at work on the roadbed and yards or to
+see him instructing a merchant in the finer points of his business,
+was a delight. To hear him speak with authority upon every question
+relating to The King's Basin project, from the stage of the water in
+the river two years before the first survey, and the future plans of
+Jefferson Worth, to the chemical properties of the soil, the proper
+grade for irrigating alfalfa and the kinds and varieties of fruits
+and vegetables best adapted to the climate, was as instructive as it
+was interesting.
+
+With the beginning of the work on the railroad, Barbara and her
+father again made their home in Kingston, and Horace P. Blanton,
+whenever he could escape from his arduous duties, endeavored
+earnestly to make himself agreeable to Jefferson Worth's daughter.
+There was no mistaking either his purpose or his perfect confidence
+in his ability to achieve success. Many and ingenious were the
+things that three members of Barbara's court promised each other
+should happen to Horace P.
+
+It was on one of those afternoons, when the man with the white vest
+was making himself very much at home on the front porch of the Worth
+cottage, that Pablo riding in from the South Central District sought
+La Senorita. Dismounting from his tired horse the Mexican, his spurs
+clanking on the walk, approached Barbara, and with his sombrero
+brushing the ground greeted her in his native tongue, turning an
+inquiring eye meanwhile upon the portly Horace P.
+
+Barbara returned his greeting in Spanish, following her words in
+English with: "This is Senor Blanton, Pablo. Mr. Blanton, this is my
+friend Pablo Garcia."
+
+The white man acknowledged the introduction with a lordly gesture.
+
+The Mexican, with a gleam of his white teeth said: "I have the
+pleasure to see the Senor sometimes before. He is what they call
+'the booster.' I have hear him talk many times on street." Then to
+Barbara: "I am come quick, Senorita, to find Senor Worth or Senor
+Lee. You know if it is far to where they are? I ride fast. My horse
+is tired."
+
+Before the young woman could answer, the big man, with a voice of
+authority, said: "You will find them out on the line of the railroad
+somewhere between here and Deep Well. Just follow the grade. You
+can't miss it."
+
+Pablo should have considered himself dismissed but, ignoring
+Blanton, he waited for Barbara's answer. "I don't know just where
+they are, Pablo. You had better wait until they come in. Is there
+anything wrong?"
+
+The Mexican shrugged his shoulders with another glance toward her
+companion. "I cannot say, Senorita. There is no what you call
+accident, but I think better I come."
+
+"What is it, my man?" said Horace P., again interrupting. "I will
+see Mr. Worth about it as soon as he comes in. You have no business
+troubling Miss Worth."
+
+Barbara's slippered toe tapped the floor nervously although Barbara
+was not a nervous young woman.
+
+Pablo, with another shrug, said coldly: "It is to tell Senor Worth
+or Senor Lee that I come. If La Senorita tells me I trouble her that
+is different."
+
+The young woman spoke. "Put your horse in the barn, Pablo, and then
+come in. I know you have had nothing to eat since morning and you
+are all tired out. Ynez is away, but I will find something for you
+and you can rest here until father comes."
+
+Pablo retreated and Barbara rising, said: "You will excuse me, Mr.
+Blanton."
+
+"Are you going to let that greaser spoil our afternoon?" he asked in
+a tone of offended majesty.
+
+The girl laughed outright. "You are so funny when you puff yourself
+up that way and try to look so kingly. Pray how is this _our_
+afternoon? What is left of it belongs to Pablo. I am going to find
+him something to eat and then I mean to talk to him every minute
+until father comes. You may stay if you like, but we shall talk in
+Spanish."
+
+The face of Horace P. Blanton expressed fat anguish. Rising, he went
+closer and stood over her with a look which he imagined to be a look
+of melting tenderness and, in a voice that fairly dripped with
+honeyed sweetness, he began: "Miss Worth--Barbara, I--"
+
+_"Sir!"_ If Barbara had shot the word at him from Texas Joe's forty-
+five it could not have been more effective.
+
+"I--I beg your pardon, Miss Worth," he stammered. "Certainly,
+certainly; by all means, Miss Worth. Good-by."
+
+And that was as near as Horace P. Blanton ever came to achieving the
+success of which he was so confident.
+
+A few minutes later Pablo, without hesitation, told Barbara what had
+brought him to Kingston. A Mexican friend, who worked for The King's
+Basin Land and Irrigation Company, had overheard a conversation
+between the Company Manager and the chief engineer, who were
+together inspecting the work on the Central Main Canal. Dropping
+into his quaint English, Pablo repeated what his friend had told
+him.
+
+"Senor Holmes he say: 'The canal will go here where the stakes are
+set.' Senor Burk say: 'No, you shall go that other way.' 'But that
+will leave the power house away eight miles and the elevation it is
+not the same,' say Senor Holmes. Senor Burk say: 'Power house is Mr.
+Worth's not our. This way is good for us.' 'Senor Holmes no like it.
+He is very mad,' say my friend. He say: 'I will not do it.' Then
+Senor Burk say: 'All right, you lose your job. Greenfield say it
+must go there; it is an order.' Then they go 'way and my friend he
+tell me 'cause he think maybe it is no good for power house. I think
+maybe so Senor Worth like to know."
+
+The next morning Jefferson Worth called upon the Manager of The
+King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company.
+
+"Mr. Burk, I understand that you are changing the line of your
+Central Canal."
+
+"We are."
+
+"But my contract with your Company must be considered."
+
+"We have already considered it, Mr. Worth. It relates only to the
+delivery of a certain amount of water into your canal. There is
+nothing in it that binds us to build _our_ canal on the line
+surveyed."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+GATHERING OF OMINOUS FORCES.
+
+
+Kingston was a boiling, seething, steaming volcano of hot wrath,
+burning indignation and fiery protest. Kingston cursed, raved,
+stormed and resoluted, then stormed, raved and resoluted some more.
+Kingston was tricked, betrayed, cheated, defrauded, insulted and
+mocked. And the unspeakable villain, the sordid wretch, the
+miserable gamester who had ruined Kingston was Jefferson Worth.
+
+It is unknown to this day who first brought the news that all work
+on the railroad for a distance of seven miles out from Kingston was
+stopped and that the camps with their entire outfits had
+disappeared, leaving the scenes of their stirring activity as still
+and lifeless as if they had never existed. Next it was known that
+from Deep Well southward the construction train was still pushing
+its way into the Basin and that the work ahead of the train went on.
+
+Then, while Kingston was wondering, questioning, discussing, the
+word went quickly around that the grading crews were setting up
+their camps twelve miles east of the Company town and that a line of
+stakes led one way to the town of Barba and the other way in the
+direction to meet the construction train working out from the
+junction with the S. & C. at Deep Well.
+
+Then the startled people grasped the truth of the appalling
+situation and awoke from their dream. In the line of the railroad
+survey that had led to Kingston as straight as you could draw a
+string, there was now a curve seven miles away, the tangent of which
+would carry it twelve miles east of the Company town and straight
+into Barba.
+
+Practically all business ceased, while the citizens in knots and
+groups discussed the situation. Jefferson Worth was in the Coast
+city and telegrams to him, all save one, received no answer. To a
+message from Mr. Burk he replied that the line had been changed by
+his orders. As for Abe Lee, they might as well have questioned one
+of the surveyor's grade stakes. Even Barbara, besought by the
+distracted citizens, could tell them nothing except that her father
+would return Saturday. There was nothing to do save to wait for Mr.
+Worth and to prepare for his coming.
+
+When the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company
+arrived on the scene in answer to an urgent wire from his Manager,
+he was at once the center of public interest. But Mr. Greenfield
+escaped quickly from the crowd at the hotel and was very soon
+closeted with Burk in the office.
+
+Then a boy found Horace P. Blanton. Horace P. was not hard to find.
+With the word that Mr. Greenfield desired to see him immediately,
+Horace P. Blanton increased visibly--so visibly that the spectators
+watched the white vest with no little anxiety.
+
+"Tell Mr. Greenfield that I will see him immediately," he said in a
+voice that was easily heard across the street. Then Horace P.
+arrived at the door of the Company office a full length ahead of the
+messenger.
+
+An hour later, when Blanton reappeared to the public eye, the white
+vest could no longer be buttoned over his expanding importance and
+beads of portentous dignity stood on his massive brow.
+
+What did Greenfield want? What was the Company going to do? the
+crowd demanded eagerly.
+
+From his lofty height the great one answered: "Our Company president
+simply desired my opinion and advice in this little difficulty. As
+to what we will do, I am not at liberty to make a public statement,
+but--" That "but" was filled with tremendous potential power.
+
+"Did Mr. Greenfield know that the change in the railroad line was
+contemplated?"
+
+"Certainly not. He learned of it first from the telegram that called
+him to Kingston."
+
+"Why was the change in the road made?"
+
+Horace P. Blanton smiled. It was very easy to understand if they
+would look over this man Worth's operations since he had been in the
+Basin. What had he done? First he had quietly invested heavily in
+Kingston real estate. Next he had as quietly, through his various
+companies and agents, gained control of all the public utilities in
+the new country. Then he had so manipulated things that he gained
+absolute control of the whole South Central District, one of the
+richest sections of the Basin, and had started the town of Barba on
+land owned by himself. His next move was to gain control of the
+railroad, which, as every one knew, was started as an S. & C. line.
+"Remember," said the perspiring master of affairs, "that when this
+man Worth began work on the railroad into Kingston, he still owned a
+large amount of Kingston real estate with buildings and business
+establishments. To-day you will find that--save for the newspaper,
+the telephone line, the power plant, the ice plant, the bank and his
+home--he does not own a foot of land, a building, or a business
+establishment in Kingston. What has he done? He used the railroad to
+start a boom in our beautiful little city, then sold out at an
+immense profit and now, having no further interest in Kingston,
+changes the line of his road to Barba--the town that he owns,
+leaving us to make the most of the situation."
+
+The orator's impressive climax called forth from every hearer
+furious invectives against the absent financier. Following the
+announcement of the coming of the road to Kingston, the name of
+Jefferson Worth had been on every tongue. The same name was on every
+tongue now, but the man that had been hailed as the good genius of
+the reclamation was now cursed for a selfish fiend, who would lay
+waste the whole country for his own greedy ends.
+
+Horace P. Blanton exhausted both himself and the English language in
+a lurid, picturesque and vigorous delineation of the character of
+this monstrous enemy of the race. It was such gold-thirsty pirates
+as Jefferson Worth who, by preying upon legitimate business
+interests and coining for themselves the heart-blood of the people,
+made it so hard for such public benefactors as James Greenfield to
+promote the interests of the country.
+
+It was beautiful to see how the speaker appreciated the splendid
+character, matchless genius and noble life of his friend Greenfield,
+the distinguished president of The King's Basin Company and the
+father of Reclamation. Some day, he declared, the citizens of the
+reclaimed desert, looking over their magnificent farms and beautiful
+homes, would appreciate the work of this man and understand then, as
+they could not now, how he had toiled in their interests. As for
+this fellow Jefferson Worth, dark and dreadful were the hints that
+Horace P. dropped as to his future.
+
+It was Horace P. Blanton who arranged for a public indignation
+meeting in the Worth opera house the afternoon of Jefferson Worth's
+expected return. When the day arrived Kingston entertained the
+largest crowd that had ever gathered within the boundaries of the
+town. For word of the situation had traveled throughout the Basin,
+and from every corner of the new country men came to the scene of
+the excitement to attend the mass-meeting and to be present when the
+man that threatened Kingston with ruin should appear. Teamsters left
+their teams and Fresnos on the Company works, ranchers left their
+crops and cattle, newly located settlers forsook their ditching and
+leveling, zanjeros deserted their water gates and levees. Bold,
+hardy, venturesome spirits these were, with bodies toughened by hard
+toil in the open air and faces blackened and bronzed by constant
+exposure to the semi-tropical sun, for the desert did not yield to
+weaklings who would submit tamely to being skillfully juggled out of
+their own by a slim-fingered manipulator of business. Under the
+natural curiosity and love of entertainment that drew these strong,
+roughly dressed, roughly speaking pioneers to the point of interest,
+there was an under-current of grim determination to protect their
+new country from the schemes of unprincipled corporations. It was an
+old, old story.
+
+At the mass-meeting there were many vigorous speeches by hot-headed
+ones, a masterly address by Horace P. Blanton, and--because he could
+not escape this--a few words by James Greenfield, who was introduced
+by Blanton as "the father of The King's Basin Reclamation work" and
+received by the citizens with generous applause. Acting upon
+Greenfield's suggestion, a committee was appointed to wait upon Mr.
+Worth immediately upon his arrival and the meeting adjourned until
+nine o'clock that evening, when the committee would report.
+
+As the eventful day drew near its close, horsemen from the South
+Central District began to arrive. These were the men who had worked
+for Jefferson Worth on the canals and who, through him, were now
+developing ranches of their own. These South Central men scattered
+quietly through the crowd and soon in every group there was one or
+more of the new-comers, listening attentively. And it was a
+significant, though in that country an unnoticed fact, that every
+man from Jefferson Worth's district wore the familiar side-arms of
+the West. But these attentive ones took no part in the discussions,
+speaking neither in defense nor in condemnation of the man who had
+so stirred the public indignation.
+
+As the hour for the arrival of the stage approached, the crowd
+massed in front of the hotel, filling the lobby, the arcade and the
+street, and still scattered through the throng were the men from the
+South Central District.
+
+When the stage was seen in the distance a low murmur, like the
+threatening rumble of a coming storm, arose from the mass of men
+and, following this, a hush like the hush of Nature before the storm
+breaks. Into and through the strangely silent crowd the driver of
+the six broncos forced his frightened team. As the stage stopped and
+the passengers, looking curiously down into the excited faces of the
+throng, prepared to alight, a murmur arose. The murmur swelled into
+a roar. Jefferson Worth was not there!
+
+When the main line train discharged its Basin passengers at the
+Junction that afternoon, the engine of the construction train on the
+new road brought Mr. Worth as far as the rails were laid. Here Texas
+Joe, with a fast team and light buckboard, was waiting. So it
+happened that while the crowd was massing in front of the hotel
+awaiting the arrival of the stage, Jefferson Worth was at his home
+quietly eating his supper and reassuring his frightened daughter.
+
+When the assembled pioneers learned from the stage driver that the
+man they waited for had left the Junction on the engine, they were
+not long in arriving at the truth. The excitement, inflamed by what
+seemed the fear of Jefferson Worth and increased by the judicious
+efforts of Horace P. Blanton, was intense. From an orderly company
+of indignant citizens waiting to interview a public man, the crowd
+became a mob pursuing an escaping victim. With shouts and yells they
+started for the Worth home. And with them went the quiet men from
+the South Central District.
+
+As the sound of the approaching crowd reached the two at the table,
+Barbara sprang to her feet, her face white with fear. "Daddy,
+they're coming. They're coming!" she whispered, trembling with
+anxiety for her father's safety. "Quick! El Capitan is ready. I told
+Pablo to have him saddled."
+
+But Jefferson Worth, quietly sipping the cup of black coffee with
+which he always finished his meal, returned calmly: "Sit down,
+Barbara. I won't need El Capitan to-night."
+
+As he spoke the crowd arrived at the front of the house and, as if
+to confirm his words, a sudden peaceful silence followed the uproar
+of their coming.
+
+On the front porch, in the red level light of the sun that across
+the desert was just touching the topmost ridge of No Man's
+Mountains, stood the tall, grizzly-haired, dark-faced old-timer,
+Texas Joe; the heavy-shouldered, bull-necked Irish gladiator, Pat;
+and the lean, sinewy, iron-nerved man of the desert, Abe Lee; while
+quietly pushing and elbowing their way to the front were the men
+from the South Central District.
+
+The quiet was broken by the slow, drawling voice of Texas Joe.
+"Evenin' boys. What for is the stampede? We-all trusts you ain't
+aimin' to tromp out the grass none on Mr. Worth's premises."
+
+Within the house Barbara and her father heard the drawling challenge
+and the color returned to the young woman's cheeks as she smiled and
+whispered: "Good old Uncle Tex."
+
+There was in that soft, southern voice an undercurrent of such cool
+readiness, such confident mastery of the situation, that her fears
+vanished. Nor was the crowd in front slow to recognize that which
+reassured Barbara.
+
+For a moment following Texas Joe's greeting there was a restless
+shifting to and fro in the crowd, then the impressive bulk of Horace
+P. Blanton detached itself from the "common herd." With hands
+uplifted and a gesture of mingled command and appeal, he called: "No
+violence, men! No violence! For God's sake don't shoot! Let me talk
+a minute."
+
+Whether he appealed to the three men on the porch or to the company
+behind him was not clear, but Texas answered: "You-all has the floor
+as usual, Senator. I don't reckon anybody here will be so impolite
+as to interrupt your remarks."
+
+"Is Mr. Worth at home?"
+
+"He sure is; altogether and very much to home."
+
+"Could we--ah--see him to ask about a matter that concerns vitally
+every gentleman in this company?" Horace P. was regaining his breath
+and his poise at the same time.
+
+"Mr. Worth, just at this minute, is engaged with his daughter at the
+supper table. His superintendent, Mr. Lee, is present and will be
+glad to hear what you have to say." The exact, formal politeness of
+the old plainsman was delightful. In spite of the gravity of the
+situation several in the crowd chuckled audibly.
+
+"Mr. Worth will see your committee," said Abe crisply.
+
+The citizens had forgotten their committee. Horace P. Blanton had
+made it difficult to remember. Three men now came out of the crowd
+at different points and went forward, James Greenfield's orator
+following them to the porch. But as the men came up the steps Abe
+spoke in a low tone to his companions, and Blanton found his way
+barred by the solid bulk of Pat.
+
+"Were you also appointed to interview Mr. Worth?" asked Abe, dryly.
+"I understood it was a committee of three."
+
+"I'm not exactly a member of our committee, but I'm always glad to
+offer my services in the best interests of the people."
+
+"Mr. Worth will see the committee," said Abe.
+
+"But you have no right, sir--This is an outrage, a disgrace! I--"
+
+A growl from the Irishman interrupted him. "That's just fwhat I'm
+thinkin'. The presence av sich a domned hot air merchant as yersilf
+is a disgrace to any Gawd-fearin' company av honest workin' men. Av
+Abe here will only give me lave-"
+
+Horace P. backed away, and from beyond reach of those huge fists
+said loftily: "My friend Mr. Worth shall hear of this."
+
+"'Tis likely that he will av ye stand widin rache of me two hands,"
+agreed Pat.
+
+Horace P. backed farther away. "I shall let him know that I offered
+my services," he declared with all the dignity he could command.
+
+"Do," called the Irishman. "I think that av ye offered yersilf chape
+enough he might give ye a job wid a shovel on the grade. 'Tis mesilf
+wud be proud to have ye in me gang av rough-necks. Dom' me but I
+think I cud rejuce yer waist line to more reshpectable an'
+presintable deminsions."
+
+At this the crowd laughed outright, for not one of those hardy
+pioneers but knew the real value of Horace P. Blanton to the
+reclamation work and therefore the force of the Irish boss's
+remarks.
+
+While Pat and--against his will--the Company's representative were
+amusing the crowd, Abe led the committee to Jefferson Worth. One of
+these men was a prominent merchant who, for the first eight months
+of his business in Kingston, had occupied a store-room in one of
+Worth's buildings rent free. Another was a real estate man, whom the
+banker had supplied with funds that enabled him to make several
+profitable deals that would otherwise have been lost. The other man
+was a successful rancher, who owned a half-section of improved land
+joining the townsite. Deck Jordan had carried him at the store for
+implements, seed and provisions the first two years.
+
+Jefferson Worth greeted them in his habitually colorless voice, and
+they--striving to see behind that gray mask--felt that there might
+be something in the situation that had not appeared on the surface
+in spite of the fact that the situation had been made so clear by
+Horace P. Blanton after his interview with the president of the
+Company. This quiet voiced, calm-faced man, who had been so ready to
+help every worthy settler in the new country, did not appear at all
+the monster in disguise that the chief speaker at the mass-meeting
+had pictured. The committee, free from the heat of the crowd and the
+eloquence of Horace P., felt just a little ashamed.
+
+"Mr. Worth," said the spokesman with a smile, "we were appointed to
+interview you about this railroad business."
+
+"What do you wish to know, Gordon?"
+
+"Well, first, is it true that you have sold out practically all of
+your property in Kingston?"
+
+"Yes. It was my property." Jefferson Worth did not explain that he
+had sold because he was forced to turn everything he could into cash
+in order to build the railroad so badly needed by the new country.
+
+The committee looked serious. "Is it true," continued the spokesman,
+"that you are changing the line of the railroad so as to take it to
+Barba and leave Kingston out entirely?"
+
+"The line of the road is changed," came the exact, colorless answer.
+
+"Will it be possible to make some arrangement by which you would
+carry out your former plan and build the road into Kingston?"
+
+"You mean a bonus?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I'm not in the market."
+
+"Is there nothing that we can do to change the situation?"
+
+The answer startled the committee. "Tell Greenfield that he had
+better see me himself."
+
+Jefferson Worth's relation to The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company was always a much discussed question among the pioneers. The
+new country was settled by working people of limited means, and if
+there is one belief common to this class it is that all capitalists
+are members of one great robber band, perfectly organized, firmly
+united and operating in perfect harmony against their helpless
+victim--the public. However much they might fight among themselves
+over the division of the spoils, they were a unit in their common
+operations against the masses.
+
+From the first Jefferson Worth was held by many to be the secret
+agent, the silent co-partner, of Greenfield, and the South Central
+District seemed to justify this opinion, for of course the public
+knew nothing of the inside of that deal. The people accepted Mr.
+Worth's personal assistance cheerfully, thankfully, and had come to
+look upon him as a friend. But this did not in the least alter their
+belief that he belonged to the band. He was simply a generous,
+gentlemanly sort of robber, kin to the hold-up man who returns the
+railroad tickets of the passengers and refuses to rob the ladies.
+This railroad situation had seemed to deny the relationship between
+the banker and the Company, and now came Worth's advice: "Tell
+Greenfield that he had better see me himself." It was no wonder that
+the members of the committee looked at each other startled and
+bewildered. Was it, after all, a fight between the members of the
+band over the division of the spoils? It was too deep for the
+committee. They could feel dimly that mighty forces were stirring
+beneath the surface, but they could not fathom what it was all
+about. One thing was clear: the one thing that is always clear when
+capital speaks to business men of their class--they must obey.
+
+"What shall we report to the crowd?" they asked as they arose to go.
+
+"I figured that you would tell them what I have told you," came the
+answer.
+
+The crowd, when the committee briefly reported their interview, were
+as puzzled as the members of the committee, and questioned and
+discussed, affirmed and denied until Pat said to his companions on
+the porch that it sounded like "a flock av domned bumble bees."
+
+When the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company,
+who dared not refuse the request of the committee, stood before
+Jefferson Worth, the man behind the gray mask forced him to speak
+first.
+
+"I understand you wished to see me about this railroad matter, Mr.
+Worth."
+
+"I told the committee that you had better see me," came the answer
+without a trace of emotion in the colorless voice.
+
+"Well, I am here; what do you want?"
+
+"I want a new contract from your Company binding you to build your
+Central Main Canal on the line of the original survey, bringing it
+to a point within four hundred yards of the west line of the South
+Central District where the San Felipe trail crosses Dry River, and
+agreeing to deliver into my power canal without charge a flow of
+three hundred second feet of water, as in the old contract; and in
+addition the exclusive power rights in all of the Company's canals
+in the Basin."
+
+"If I give you this contract you will build the railroad into
+Kingston?"
+
+"When you change the line of your canal back to the original route I
+will change the line of my road."
+
+"Suppose I refuse?"
+
+"My railroad will not come into Kingston and I will explain to the
+crowd out there the reason. You have worked up a pretty strong
+public feeling against me, Mr. Greenfield. Now make good or stand in
+my place and take the consequences."
+
+James Greenfield was not slow to grasp the point. A simple
+explanation of the situation from Jefferson Worth with the old
+contract to back it up would turn the wrath of the people against
+the Company president. Rising, he said with an oath: "You win, Mr.
+Worth. I'll have the contract ready for your signature in the
+morning. Now what will we do with that mob out there?"
+
+"It is your mob, Mr. Greenfield," answered Jefferson Worth.
+
+A few minutes later from the front porch of the Worth cottage, with
+Texas Joe on his right hand and Pat on his left, Horace P. Blanton
+announced: "Our committee will report at the opera house in half an
+hour."
+
+The committee reported that Kingston was saved and the orator of the
+day made another speech so far eclipsing all his former efforts that
+the cheering citizens were evenly divided as to whether it was James
+Greenfield, Jefferson Worth or Horace P. Blanton who saved it.
+
+"Well, boys," remarked one of the men from the South Central
+District as the little party of horsemen set out for the long ride
+home, "one thing is sure. Those Kingston fellows have got the
+railroad, but we still have Jefferson Worth, an' I reckon that Jeff
+can build us a railroad any old time he gets ready."
+
+"That's right," returned another, "but what in hell do you suppose
+it was all about? What's Jeff's game anyhow?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+EXACTING ROYAL TRIBUTE.
+
+
+In spite of the optimistic view of the man who said that Jefferson
+Worth could build a railroad for Barba and the South Central
+District whenever he wished, there was no little disappointment
+expressed in Worth's town when it became known that the Company town
+was to have the road.
+
+When the grading camps had returned to their former locations and
+the construction train drew every day nearer Kingston, with the time
+approaching when regular trains with passengers and freight would
+ply to and from the Company town, the feeling of discontent in Barba
+grew. It even came to be generally understood throughout the Basin
+that the whole movement had been cleverly planned by Jefferson Worth
+to force The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company to make a
+large contribution to the railroad builder's personal fortune. The
+people sensed something in the whole transaction that they could not
+clearly grasp, an intangible, mysterious something, as great as it
+was indefinite. They felt blindly that they were being used without
+their consent in a game played by these master financiers, and they
+resented being sacrificed as dumb pawns in a move, the purpose of
+which they could not know.
+
+In the meantime, while the people were charging him with selling
+them out to gain his own ends, the man whose purpose was known only
+to himself was putting into his enterprise the last dollar of his
+resources, and another flood season with its appalling danger was at
+hand.
+
+Because his laborers on the railroad were not as the men who built
+the South Central canals, working for more than their day's wage,
+and because, though no one knew it, Jefferson Worth's finances were
+so nearly exhausted, work on the road, as on the Company project,
+was discontinued for the summer months, to be resumed in the fall--
+perhaps.
+
+Barbara again refused to leave her father and in the close
+companionship and full understanding of his daughter, the man, who
+lived so much alone behind his gray mask, found inspiration and
+strength.
+
+The telephone now connected the heading at the river intake with
+Kingston, and every hour of those hot days and nights Jefferson
+Worth listened for a call from Willard Holmes, who also had refused
+to leave his work, while three of the fastest saddle horses in the
+Basin were stabled with El Capitan. Texas, Abe and Pablo were ready
+to ride at an instant's notice to rally the pioneers, who were
+developing their ranches, building their homes and planning their
+future unconscious of the real danger that hung over them.
+
+Vague rumors of the dangerous condition of the Company structures
+floated about and there were not wanting prophecies of disaster. But
+not one in a hundred of the settlers had even visited the intake at
+the river, or if they had, what could they judge of conditions
+there? The settlers were ranchers, not civil engineers. The Company
+zanjeros turned the water into their ditches when they asked for it;
+their crops, growing marvelously in the rich soil, demanded constant
+attention; they had neither time, inclination nor ability to
+investigate every flying rumor. As for the prophets of evil, only
+confirmed optimists can reclaim a desert or settle a new country and
+the croakers received little attention. Besides, the great, all-
+powerful Company would surely protect its own interests and, in
+protecting its own, would protect the interests of the settlers. It
+was the business of the Company engineers to look after the river.
+The ranchers were looking after the ranches.
+
+Thus another summer went by and the great river, save for the small
+toll taken by those who were reclaiming the desert it had created in
+the ages of long ago, continued on its way to the sea. Its time was
+not yet.
+
+With the return of the cooler weather and the still further increase
+in the volume of new life that continued to pour into the Basin from
+the great world outside, work on the railroad was begun again, but
+Jefferson Worth knew that the first pay day would mark the end. He
+was as a man with his back to a wall, fighting bravely to the last
+blow, and he stood alone.
+
+Among the hundreds of pioneers with whom Worth had elected--as he
+had told Abe Lee the night of his arrival in Kingston--to take a
+chance, there was not one to take a chance with him now. If he lost
+he would lose alone, for those who had built upon the work that he
+had done would not suffer through his defeat. Had any of them known
+the situation they could have done nothing to help him. But no one
+knew, and this was the financier's one desperate chance--that no one
+did know, not even Barbara.
+
+With his capital exhausted and no resources upon which he could
+realize, he went ahead with the work apparently with the confidence
+of one with millions behind him. It was, in the language of the
+West, all a bluff. But it was a magnificent bluff.
+
+Two weeks of the month were gone when a telegram from the high
+official of the S. & C. summoned him to the city.
+
+The railroad man, in the secrecy of his private office, greeted the
+promoter with his usual, "Hello, Jeff. I see The King's Basin is
+still on the map."
+
+Jefferson Worth smiled, then, as the official's eyes were fixed upon
+his face in a way that he understood, he retreated behind his mask.
+"Things are going very well," he answered.
+
+"Working full gangs on that railroad of yours?"
+
+"We have taken on all the men we can handle. We will be ready for
+that last lot of steel in another two weeks."
+
+The other lay back in his chair and laughed with hearty admiration
+and regard. "Jeff, you are a wonder! How long do you suppose it
+would take Greenfield to start something with your creditors if he
+knew what I know?"
+
+Not a line of Jefferson Worth's face changed, only his nervous
+fingers caressed his chin and the railroad man, noting the familiar
+signal, smiled again. Then leaning forward in his chair he said:
+"Jeff, I have been keeping my eye on you ever since those days when
+our line was building into Rubio City and you handled the right-of-
+way for us. I have never caught you in a blunder yet. When it comes
+to sizing up a proposition all around I don't believe you have an
+equal. Now look here." With a quick movement he took a paper from a
+pigeon-hole in his desk and laid it before the other. The paper was
+a carefully tabulated statement of Jefferson Worth's financial
+condition at that moment. In vain the official tried to see behind
+that gray mask.
+
+"Well." The word was absolutely colorless.
+
+"Well!" repeated the other savagely, "what I want to know is this:
+why in hell you are bucking Greenfield and his crowd to such a
+limit?"
+
+"Because," said Jefferson Worth carefully, "I believe in the future
+of The King's Basin project, providing--" he paused.
+
+"Providing what?"
+
+"Providing someone bucks Greenfield to the limit."
+
+In one instantaneous flash, the man whose clear brain directed
+thousands of miles of a great railroad system caught a glimpse of
+the real Jefferson Worth--the Jefferson Worth who was not, as the
+railroad man had himself said, "doing it all for a dinky little
+power plant."
+
+"Jeff," he said slowly, "when you asked us to build a branch line
+into the Basin I told you that we couldn't do it. As I said then, we
+are not in the insurance business. A railroad's business depends
+upon the actual development of a country, not upon backing promoters
+who open up a new country simply as a speculative proposition. You
+say you believe in the future of The King's Basin country providing
+some one bucks Greenfield and you are sure giving him a run for his
+money. But you have reached the end of your pile and I know it. Now,
+I have been taking up this matter with our people and we are ready
+to take a chance on your judgment. Suppose we take over your road as
+it stands at a fair price--what would be your next move? Get out and
+leave us in the insurance business?"
+
+"I would build a line from Kingston to Barba, tapping the South
+Central District, which is the richest section of the Basin," came
+the instant reply.
+
+"Good! But perhaps you don't want to sell the line you are building
+to the S. & C.," he suggested with a smile.
+
+"I figured that you would be ready to make me a proposition about
+the time I had it in shape for the last shipment of steel."
+
+Worth's bluff had won.
+
+The railroad man said again solemnly: "Jeff, you are a wonder!"
+
+With the passing of his nearly completed railroad into the hands of
+the S. & C. Jefferson Worth began at once to arrange for the
+building of the other line from Barba to Kingston. This new road, to
+be known as the King's Basin Central, connecting with what was now
+the S. & C., would give an outlet to the rich South Central
+District, while the Southwestern and Continental Company announced
+that its new branch would not stop at Kingston but would build on
+south to Frontera.
+
+With a main line branch of a trans-continental railroad building
+straight through the heart of the new country, and their town
+located just half way between the junction and the terminal, The
+King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company saw the value of their
+property increased many times. The day was not far distant now when
+every quarter section of the desert land would be filed on by eager
+settlers, and the once barren waste would rapidly give place to the
+fertile fields of the ranchers, every foot of which should yield
+tribute to James Greenfield and his associates. But the reclamation
+of the desert opened many avenues for profit other than the
+irrigation system.
+
+From these also the Company, obeying the law of Good Business, had
+planned to take toll, but the field for investment most closely
+allied with the fields of the ranchers, and therefore keeping even
+pace with the increasing wealth of the new country, had been
+preempted by Jefferson Worth. The Company desired to add to their
+holdings those enterprises that had come to be known as the Worth
+interests. They had failed repeatedly to bring about a union of
+forces. Their only recourse then was to force the independent
+operator to sell to them or to eliminate him from The King's Basin
+project. To this end Greenfield and Burk watched and planned on the
+well known principle that whatever Jefferson Worth wanted was bad
+for the Company, until the day when the interests of Worth and those
+of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company should be the same
+or Jefferson Worth should be no longer a factor in the new country.
+
+While the Worth enterprises were firmly established in all the
+centers of activity in the Basin, the Company knew that his largest
+interests were in Barba and the South Central District. Worth must
+have railroad connections with the S. & C. line before he could even
+begin to realize on his largest investments. There was every reason
+why he should desire to make Kingston the junction point of the road
+he was now forced to build. James Greenfield was not backward in
+letting Worth understand that he would need to pay well for a right-
+of-way with terminal facilities in the Company town.
+
+For two weeks Jefferson Worth tried to bring the Company president
+to some reasonable settlement but his efforts only served to make
+Greenfield more determined to exact royal tribute. "I tell you,"
+said the president triumphantly to his Manager, "he's forced to
+build that line or go to smash with his town and district. No one
+will settle away off there from the railroad as long as they can
+locate in reach of Kingston or Frontera, and he has got to connect
+with the S. & C. branch at Kingston, for we are the only place
+between the main line and the terminal."
+
+When Mr. Worth reminded them that the proposed road would benefit
+Kingston and that in view of its value to their town it would be
+only just for them to give him the privileges he needed but for
+which he was quite ready to pay a reasonable price, Greenfield
+declared that his Company had already given Worth quite enough. Of
+course, if they could find some basis upon which to unite their
+interests that would be another matter.
+
+Then the evening mail brought to Mr. Worth certain legal looking
+papers and the next morning he called again upon Mr. Greenfield. In
+a spring wagon in front of the Company office Texas Joe and Abe Lee
+waited with a prosperous looking stranger who also had arrived the
+evening before.
+
+"Mr. Greenfield, I have come for your final answer on this railroad
+deal."
+
+On Greenfield's face there was a smile of satisfaction and triumph.
+There were several reasons why he enjoyed seeing Jefferson Worth in
+a corner. "I am ready to listen to any other proposition you have to
+make, Mr. Worth."
+
+"You have the only proposition I shall make."
+
+"Really, I fear that we can do nothing this morning."
+
+The visitor turned on his heel and left the office.
+
+Later, in describing the interview to Willard Holmes, Burk commented
+thoughtfully: "I very much fear your festive Uncle Jim played the
+game a little too fine. You can take some things and most men for
+granted; but a railroad, now, and Jefferson Worth----" he shifted
+his cigar to the corner of his mouth and cocked his head in the
+opposite direction. "I think, Willard, that something is going to
+happen."
+
+What happened was this: When Jefferson Worth left the Company's
+office he stepped into the waiting rig beside the stranger. "Go
+ahead, Abe," he said. Then the surveyor giving Texas the direction,
+the team sped away. Once in the desert they stopped occasionally
+while the surveyor examined the four by four redwood stakes. At a
+point on the S. & C. four miles north of Kingston and therefore
+between the Company town and the main line, Abe directed Texas to
+stop.
+
+The surveyor, taking a note book from his pocket, went to a corner
+stake and indicated with outstretched hands the direction of the
+boundary lines of a tract of land owned by his employer. "Here we
+are, Mr. Worth."
+
+The place was raw desert and except for the railroad without sign of
+life save the life of the hard, desolate land; though in the
+distance could be seen the improved ranches, with Kingston in their
+midst. Standing on the slight elevation of the railroad grade
+Jefferson Worth looked around silently. Then, followed by the
+stranger and Abe, he walked some distance west of the track.
+
+Pausing and striking his boot-heel into the soft earth, he said with
+much less show of emotion than is exhibited by the average school
+boy in laying out a ball-ground: "We will build a hotel here; over
+there a bank. The main street will run toward the railroad. The
+Basin Central from Barba will come in from the southeast."
+
+And this was the beginning of Republic, the town that was built on a
+barren desert almost in the time it would have taken to prepare the
+land, plant and grow a crop of corn.
+
+The stranger was the president of a townsite company organized by
+Jefferson Worth while James Greenfield was congratulating himself
+that he at last had that gentleman in a trap. Worth had given the
+company the land and had entered into an agreement whereby he was to
+build a hotel and several business blocks and furnish them, rent
+free, for one year.
+
+With the railroad to deliver material in any desired quantity, work
+was begun in a few days. The King's Basin Messenger and the papers
+in Frontera and Barba, all owned by Worth, gave full accounts of the
+birth of the new town and the reason why The King's Basin Central
+would not be built into Kingston, with glowing accounts of Worth's
+plans for the future of the Company's rival town. The Worth Electric
+Company moved its plant from Kingston to Republic; the ice-plant,
+the bank, the telephone office and every enterprise controlled by
+Worth followed; while many merchants, lured by the success of the
+Wizard of the Desert in every undertaking and by the promise of rent
+free, went with the Worth industries; and from the world outside
+many, who had hesitated to enter the new country before the
+railroad, rushed in to locate in the new town. The first building
+completed in Republic was a cottage for Barbara and her father.
+
+Meanwhile the work on the road to Barba and the South Central
+District was begun. The "something" prophesied by Mr. Burk had
+happened.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+JEFFERSON WORTH GOES FOR HELP.
+
+
+The winter following the birth of Republic witnessed the greatest
+activities that had been seen in the new country. The freighters'
+wagons that had once seemed so pitifully inadequate, as they crept
+feebly away into the mysterious silences, were replaced now by long
+trains, heavily loaded with building material and goods of every
+kind and drawn by laboring engines that puffed and roared and
+clanged and screamed their stirring answer to the challenge of the
+silent, age-old, desolate land. And still the work that had been
+done was small in comparison with that which was yet to do before
+the reclamation of Barbara's Desert would be complete. The acres of
+land untouched by grader's Fresno or rancher's plow were many more
+than the acres that were producing crops. The miles of canals and
+ditches that were to be built were many more than the miles already
+carrying water. The tent houses and shacks of the pioneers were yet
+to be replaced by more comfortable homes. The frontier towns--big in
+that new country--were yet to grow into cities. From the top of any
+building in any one of the four towns one could look into the barren
+desert.
+
+Tourists on the main line that skirted the rim of the Basin, from
+the car windows saw only the mighty reaches of the dun plain, with
+its thirsty vegetation, stretching away to the distant purple
+mountain wall. Curiously the overland passengers looked at the
+crowds of settlers waiting for the Basin train at the Junction,
+wondering at their hardihood. Curiously they followed with their
+eyes the thin line of rails and telegraph poles leading southward
+until it was lost in the mystic depths of color. To the tourists it
+was a fantastic dream that out there, somewhere in the barren waste,
+people were building towns, cultivating fields, transacting business
+and engaging in all the Good Business activities of the race. It was
+as impossible to them as it had been to Willard Holmes when Barbara
+first introduced him to her Desert and tried to make him see, as she
+saw, the greatness of the work of which he was to become a part.
+
+The latter part of that winter found Jefferson Worth again with his
+back to the wall. James Greenfield, in his attempt to hold up his
+rival in the matter of the King's Basin Central junction, had
+wrought better than he knew. While Worth's enterprises were barely
+as yet paying their way, the railroad, which he was forced to build
+in order to protect his own interests in the town of Barba and in
+the South Central District, would require practically all he had
+realized on the sale of the other line that had so nearly exhausted
+his resources. The Company president, in forcing him to build the
+town of Republic in addition to his heavy outlay on his new
+railroad, forced him to take another desperate chance. For the first
+time he was unable to pay the men, and in thirty days large
+obligations for material would be due; while certain rumors,
+carefully started by Greenfield, made it almost impossible for him
+to raise the funds he must have.
+
+"I'm sorry, Jeff," said his friend the railroad man. "But with
+present unsafe conditions we can't load up with any more property in
+The King's Basin. You know as well as I that if the river comes in
+we will have to get in there to protect our interests, for if those
+ranchers were wiped out our road wouldn't sell for scrap iron. You
+couldn't do it and the Greenfield crowd wouldn't. Why, that New York
+bunch, outside of Greenfield, don't know whether the Colorado is a
+trout stream or a mill pond. Their actual investment doesn't amount
+to half what you have put into your work, for the sale of water
+rights to the settlers is paying all the expense of their extensions
+and they won't put up a cent to rebuild their shaky old structures.
+And look where we stand! We have put more money into that country
+now than the Company and you together, and we won't pay operating
+expenses until the land is developed. And still the public is
+roaring about our rates. We don't want another desert line on our
+hands."
+
+Quietly Jefferson Worth sold his interest in the banks in Frontera,
+Barba and Republic; and as quietly Greenfield, who was watching, set
+about gaining control of these institutions. His South Central
+District water stock was already sold and most of his property in
+Barba. Even his little home in Republic was mortgaged.
+
+Thus Worth held on for a while longer. He dared not stop his work,
+for such a move would not only ruin his chances of negotiating the
+loans he needed, but by bringing upon him a swarm of creditors,
+would make it impossible for him ever to recover his standing in the
+financial world.
+
+Another pay day passed without the men receiving their pay and the
+third was drawing near. Already there was grumbling and complaining
+among the men over the delayed pay checks. It would take but little
+more to start serious trouble.
+
+There were many in the crowd at the depot that day when Jefferson
+Worth waited for the train to the city, who looked with envy upon
+the builder of towns and railroads. Horace P. Blanton proudly
+pointed out to a stranger "his friend, the Wizard of the Desert,"
+with the information that Mr. Worth had cleaned up a cool million in
+the new country. Several went out of their way for a closer look at
+him or for a possible greeting. Others cursed him roundly under
+their breath for a hated member of the class of parasites that live
+on the industry of the laborer, a financier who robbed the people, a
+capitalist who produced nothing.
+
+The train pulled in, and Mr. Worth, with a good-by to Barbara and
+Abe, who had come to see him off, stepped aboard. No one save Abe
+Lee, not even Barbara, knew that her father must raise fifty
+thousand dollars before the first of the month or suffer financial
+ruin. And no one--not even Jefferson Worth himself--knew where he
+could find the money.
+
+Barbara, when her father was gone, though she knew nothing of the
+danger that threatened him, was restless and ill at ease, beset by
+vague and nameless doubts and fears. The little desert town with its
+bustling activity, its clamorous, rushing disorder, its naked
+newness and glaring bareness, offended her. Nothing was completed.
+The streets, the buildings, the very people, seemed so unsettled, so
+temporary. She could not shake off the feeling that it would all
+vanish soon, as she had often seen the phantom cities of the desert
+plain melt and disappear.
+
+The morning after her father left, as she rode El Capitan slowly
+along the little village streets that lay so dusty and flat and that
+ended so quickly in the open country, she caught herself wondering
+how long the dream would endure. The farms, too, with their new
+green fields and their primitive, pioneer shacks, tent houses and
+shelters and their acres of still unimproved land, all lying under
+the white blaze of the semi-tropical sun, were they more than a
+mirage weirdly painted in the air by the spirit of the dreadful land
+to lure foolish men to their ruin?
+
+Near the crossing of a canal she saw a zanjero turning the water
+through a new delivery gate into a new ditch, and checking El
+Capitan, she watched the brown flood rolling down the channel
+prepared for it and heard the dry earth hiss and purr as it sucked
+up the moisture with the thirst of a thousand years. She wanted to
+cry out a protest. The effort was so pitifully foolish. This awful,
+awful land would never yield to the men who sought to subdue it with
+such feeble means. From the little stream of water, no deeper than
+would reach to El Capitan's knees and no wider than his stride, she
+looked away and around over the seemingly endless miles of barren
+waste.
+
+The man at the delivery gate recorded the number of inches in his
+book and, with a greeting to the young woman, mounted his horse and
+rode away along the canal. Barbara, moving on, left the farms behind
+and rode into the barren waste. This at least was real. This in its
+very desolation, its dreadful silence, its still menace, was
+satisfying. But as on that morning when she first rode El Capitan
+into the desert from Kingston, she grew afraid. The dreadful spirit
+of the land so pressed upon her that she turned her horse and fled
+as one might fly from an approaching storm.
+
+Another restless, unsatisfying day and a lonely evening dragged by.
+Texas and Pat she had not seen for a week. Even Abe had not been
+near her since her father left. To-morrow, she told herself, she
+would find them at their work and demand a reason for their neglect.
+
+The next morning she set out on El Capitan to follow the line of her
+father's railroad until she should find her neglectful men-folk. As
+she rode along the right-of-way she watched the hundreds of Mexican
+and Indian laborers at their work on the grade and thought of the
+men who had built the South Central Canal. Those men too had labored
+for her father, but they worked also for themselves. The canal they
+built was to reclaim their own land and to make for them farms and
+homes. These poor fellows on the railroad, she reflected, had no
+share in that which they were doing. There was in their toil nothing
+but the day's wage. She could not feel, as she had felt in the South
+Central District, that she had a part with them in their work. Here
+and there she recognized a Mexican from Rubio City, and these
+returned her greeting pleasantly, for they remembered the young
+woman's kindness to the poor. But by far the greater number gave her
+only sullen glances. She was to them only the daughter of the man
+for whom they toiled and who had not paid.
+
+Passing from gang to gang and camp to camp, watching the dark faces
+of the laborers, listening to their sullen undertone, the young
+woman felt the restless, threatening spirit of the little army as
+one may feel sometimes the heavily charged atmosphere before an
+electric storm. But she did not understand. She had never before
+ridden over the railroad work alone as she had so often done in the
+South Central District.
+
+She grew a little frightened at last at the scowling looks and
+muttered remarks that followed her as she went, and she was wishing
+that she had not come when she saw just ahead Abe Lee and Pat. The
+surveyor was giving some instructions to the Irish boss and both
+were so intent that they did not see Barbara approaching. As the
+young woman drew quite near, a low-browed Mexican who, in watching
+her approach, either forgot the presence of his superiors or, in
+sheer ruffianly bravado, ignored them, uttered a coarse remark to
+his companions about his employer's daughter.
+
+The young woman heard and turned pale as death. Pat heard and,
+turning quickly around, caught sight of Barbara and saw the ruffian
+who had spoken looking at her. With a roar the Irishman leaped
+forward, and with a blow of his huge, hairy fist dropped the Mexican
+a senseless heap in the dirt.
+
+With cries of rage the fellow's countrymen ran toward the white man,
+drawing their knives as they came. Barbara sat leaning forward in
+her saddle breathless. Abe Lee was quietly rolling a cigarette. Pat
+stood motionless, his battle-scarred features set and his eyes
+shining like points of light.
+
+Within ten steps of their boss the little mob stopped. Then the
+Irishman spoke in a voice that rumbled and shook with menacing rage.
+"Ye, Manuel an' Pedro--drag that carrion off the right-av-way, an'
+tell him when he wakes up av he values his life to shtay out av
+rache av me two hands. The rest av ye hombres git the hell out av
+here!"
+
+The two whom he called by name did his bidding and the rest
+scattered like sheep. Pat turned to Barbara. "'Tis sorry I am that
+ye should see ut, me girl, but ut had to be done."
+
+"Oh, Pat! Did you--Is he--" She could not speak the word, but
+followed with frightened eyes the still form of the unconscious man
+as his companions half-dragged, half-carried him to the shade of a
+mesquite tree.
+
+"There, there, don't worry," said her big friend soothingly. "He's
+not as much hurted as he should be. He'll have a bit av a bump on
+his noodle that'll maybe make him a bit careful wid his foul tongue
+for a while, that's all."
+
+Barbara looked down into the face of the old gladiator whose eyes,
+as they looked up at her, were soft as a childs. "Oh, Pat! Are you
+sure? He--he crumpled up so! It was awful!" She shuddered.
+
+"There, there; av course I'm sure. Don't I know? Look at him; he's
+sittin' up now. He'll be on his fate in a minute."
+
+Sure enough, as Barbara looked again she saw the Mexican rising to a
+sitting posture and with his hand to his head look around in a dazed
+manner as though awakening out of a deep sleep. The young woman drew
+a long breath of relief and, with a faint smile, said to the
+surveyor, who had drawn nearer: "I'm sorry I came, Abe. I'm afraid
+you'll think that I'm only in the way to make trouble. But I was so
+lonesome all alone at home."
+
+"Why, Barbara, you know how glad we always are to see you. You must
+not mind this little incident. It's all in the day's work with Pat,
+you see. That fellow there has had this coming to him for some
+time."
+
+The Irishman grinned and the young woman on the horse, with a little
+laugh, said: "All the same I don't think I would like you for a
+boss, Uncle Pat. You're too--too emphatic."
+
+And the big Irishman with twinkling eyes retorted: "Sure av ye was
+boss av a gang ye wud break more hearts wid yer swate face than I
+could heads wid me two hands." Which retort effectually closed the
+incident.
+
+When the three had chatted a while and Barbara had scolded them for
+not coming to see her, Abe said: "I think you had better go back
+now, Barbara. But don't follow the line. Strike west over the desert
+until you come to the road and go in that way. We can't leave now to
+go with you, and some of these greasers might get gay again. I'll
+see you this evening."
+
+It was after nine o'clock that night when the surveyor finally
+reached the Worth cottage. Somewhat awkwardly he entered and seated
+himself in the nearest chair, while Barbara, returning to her
+favorite rocker by the table, said: "It's time you came. I was so
+lonely I don't believe I could have stood it another hour. Really
+you and Pat and Tex have neglected me shamefully. You haven't been
+near since the day father left. Even Pablo has forgotten me."
+
+"Pablo is at the power house at Dry River," Abe said slowly. "We've
+all had our hands full for the last three days. I reckon you know we
+have not stayed away because we wanted to."
+
+Something in the man's tone and manner caused Barbara to look at him
+closely. Was it a fancy in keeping with her gloomy spirit of the
+last few days, or did the surveyor's tall form droop as if with
+discouragement? He was not looking at her with his usual
+straightforward manner. He seemed to be studying the pattern of the
+Navajo rug that lay between them, and certainly his lean, bronzed
+face wore a careworn look that was new. She noticed too that he wore
+belt and revolver, which was very unusual for Abe.
+
+"Of course; I know!" she exclaimed. "It was childish of me to
+complain. Forgive me."
+
+Abe, without answering, looked at her--a straight, questioning,
+challenging look that for some reason brought another flush to her
+cheek. Then the surveyor turned his gaze again upon the Navajo rug.
+
+"I know you are tired," said the young woman again. "You have so
+much to think about with all those men to look after and daddy away.
+Come now; you sit right over here in this easy chair and shut your
+eyes and smoke and forget all about the work and everything, while I
+make a little music for you."
+
+Barbara did not realize how she tried this man of the desert with a
+glimpse of a heaven that Abe knew could never be for him. For a
+moment he sat motionless without answering, his eyes still fixed
+upon the floor. Then with a quick, resolute movement he threw up his
+head and straightened himself. "I'm sorry, Barbara, but I can't stay
+this evening."
+
+"Can't stay?" she cried. "Why, Abe, you just came!"
+
+"Yes, I know. I--I just ran in to ask you--to see if you"--he
+hesitated and stammered, then finished desperately--"to ask you to
+let me send Texas to stay here to-night."
+
+She looked at him in bewildered amazement. "Why, what in the world
+do you mean? Why should Texas stay here to-night?"
+
+Then as a sudden possible explanation came to her mind--"Abe, has
+Uncle Tex--Is he in trouble?"
+
+The surveyor smiled at her words. "It's nothing like that, Barbara.
+Tex is all right. But I don't think that you should be left alone
+here with only Ynez just now. Pat is at the power house and I must
+be at the ice plant, and Tex--" He checked himself in alarm.
+
+Barbara's face was white and her eyes, fixed upon his, were big with
+sudden fear as, rising slowly to her feet, she went towards him.
+With an exclamation he sprang from his seat but she regained control
+of herself and, quietly taking another chair nearer him, said: "I
+think you had better tell me, Abe, just exactly what the trouble is.
+I know something is wrong or you would not want to send Texas here
+to me. You know that I have always stayed with Ynez. Why are you
+afraid for me? Why is Pat at the power house, and why are you going
+to stay at the ice plant? And why do you wear that?" She pointed to
+the heavy Colt's revolver.
+
+Little by little she forced from the reluctant superintendent an
+explanation of the whole situation: how her father had been driven
+by the Company to build the new town of Republic in addition to the
+construction of his railroad to Barba and how conditions in the
+Basin had made it impossible to sell this line to the S. & C. as he
+had sold before. He told her as gently as he could that the men had
+not been paid for nearly two months, and that if her father did not
+succeed in raising the necessary funds quickly he would lose
+everything. The men had been put off from day to day with
+explanations that their employer was away and that they would
+receive their pay when he returned. But ugly rumors were afloat
+among them and their angry uneasiness and discontent were
+increasing. Threats against their employer and his property were
+being made by the hot-headed leaders, who always appear under such
+conditions, and the surveyor feared that serious trouble might start
+at any hour.
+
+To Barbara the situation was almost incredible. Again and again she
+exclaimed with pity for her father, and demanded to know why they
+had all kept her in ignorance of the truth; and as she realized how
+lovingly she had been shielded from every worry that she might feel
+nothing of the burden that weighed so heavily upon them, her woman
+heart cried out that she had not been permitted to bear her share.
+
+"But I know now," she said at last, brushing aside the tears that,
+against her will, filled the brown eyes. "I know now and you men
+shall see that I can do something to help." She stood before him--
+her strong beautiful figure bravely erect, her face glowing with the
+light of a determined purpose.
+
+The surveyor smiled his appreciation as he said: "It's almost as
+good as money in the bank to hear you talk like that, Barbara. But
+you'll let me send Tex over to-night, won't you?"
+
+"You must do whatever you think best, Abe. But you must promise me
+this. From now on you will tell me everything, just as you have
+always told me about the work."
+
+Abe drew a long breath. "I don't know what your father will say but
+I'll do it. I've felt all along that it was hardly square to keep
+you in the dark."
+
+"Of course it wasn't," she agreed. "And now listen! You and Pat come
+here for breakfast with Texas Joe and me. Come as early as you
+like."
+
+He began to protest, saying that they would need to eat at daybreak
+in order to get back to the work by seven o'clock, but she silenced
+him with--"And do you think that I cannot even get up at sun-rise?
+You shall not lose a minute's time and it will do you good to start
+out with one of Ynez's good breakfasts."
+
+So the surveyor was forced to promise this also. Then with a soft
+"Buenos noches, Senorita," he left her.
+
+Later Texas Joe came to sleep in Mr. Worth's room. The night passed
+without incident, and when the first trace of silver gray light
+shone above the eastern mesa beyond the rim of the Basin Abe Lee
+returned with Pat to find the meal ready and Barbara waiting to pour
+the fragrant coffee. While the sky was still aflame with the colors
+of the morning and the desert lay under a curtain of fantastic
+figures and grotesque patterns woven by the light, the three men
+mounted their horses and set out for the field of the day's labors.
+And Barbara at the gate watched them go until, in the distance,
+their forms too were caught in the magic of the desert's loom and
+woven into the airy design.
+
+Before noon Abe came back. The men had struck. The surveyor had
+already sent a telegram to Mr. Worth and in the afternoon they had
+his answer that he was going to San Felipe. But there was no word of
+hope in the message.
+
+All that day the men from the railroad were gathering in the little
+town, and in the early evening the laborers from the power canal at
+Barba joined the throng on the streets. This dark-faced, scowling
+crowd of Mexicans and Indians was very different from the company of
+pioneers that met in Kingston to receive Jefferson Worth a few
+months before. On every hand they were heard cursing the man who
+owed them their wages and threatening to take revenge if they were
+not soon paid.
+
+That night Texas Joe again slept at the Worth cottage, for Barbara
+stoutly refused to leave her home, and Abe and Pat, with the little
+handful of white men from the office force, stood guard at the power
+house, the ice plant and the other buildings that were grouped near
+the railroad on the edge of town.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+WILLARD HOLMES ON TRIAL.
+
+
+Scarcely had the train with Jefferson Worth aboard passed beyond the
+yard limits of Republic when the Manager of The King's Basin Land
+and Irrigation Company in Kingston was called to the telephone by
+the cashier of the bank in the Company's rival town. Ten minutes
+later a Western Union message in cipher went from Mr. Burk to James
+Greenfield in the city.
+
+The afternoon of the following day Willard Holmes, at the Dry River
+Heading, was called to the telephone. Mr. Burk was at the other end
+of the line. "There is a telegram here from your Uncle Jim ordering
+you to go to the city on the first train. If you can make it, catch
+the four-twenty at Frontera. I'll pack your grip and give it to you
+when you go through."
+
+Mr. Greenfield met the engineer at the depot in the city the next
+morning and escorted him to his rooms in a hotel. "I was almighty
+glad to get Burk's wire that you were on the road," said the older
+man. "I was afraid that he would not be able to find you in time;
+you go gadding about the country so. Where did he catch you?"
+
+"Dry River Heading. My gadding takes me mostly there or to the
+intake heading these days. Just now I am trying to patch up the
+spillway which threatens to go out at any time altogether, and the
+heading itself is so shaky I'm almost afraid to touch it for fear it
+will fall down on top of me. No one ever dreamed that these
+structures would ever be called upon to stand the strain they are
+under now. I wish--"
+
+"All right; all right, my boy; I think I've heard you say something
+like that before. I called you in to help me on a little deal that
+will put us in shape to build all the new structures you want."
+
+"You mean that the Company is at last going to make the
+appropriation I have been begging for?"
+
+"Not exactly. They will if we can handle one individual."
+
+"Who?"
+
+"Jefferson Worth."
+
+"Jefferson Worth? What under heaven has he to do with the Company's
+appropriations?"
+
+"He has a lot to do with the Company's profits, which amounts to the
+same thing."
+
+At this Holmes was silent and his uncle was forced to continue: "You
+know what Worth has been doing to the Company, don't you?"
+
+"Yes; and I know what the Company has been trying to do to him."
+
+"Exactly. And do you know his present situation?"
+
+"Only in a general way."
+
+"Well, in a definite way then: he is here in the city trying to
+raise fifty thousand dollars. He must have it before the first of
+the month or go to smash. If he goes to smash the Company will be
+able to get hold of his interests, which will give us control of the
+whole King's Basin project as we planned in the beginning. Then we
+would be able to put what you want into the system. If Worth gets
+the fifty thousand he is safe to make a million or two that would
+otherwise go to the Company and we wouldn't feel justified in
+spending any more money on new structures."
+
+"But Uncle Jim, what on earth have I to do with all this?"
+
+"It happens that you have a whole lot to do with it my boy, or I
+wouldn't have called you away from your beloved headings. You
+remember old George Cartwright, don't you?"
+
+Willard Holmes had grown to manhood with Cartwright's sons and his
+earliest memories were of boyish good times at the old gentleman's
+home. With James Greenfield, Mr. Cartwright had been one of his
+father's oldest and warmest friends. The engineer listened with
+amazed interest as Greenfield told him that his old friend was
+spending the winter on the coast, and that some one, the general
+manager of the S. & C., probably, had introduced Jefferson Worth to
+him.
+
+"And," Greenfield finished, "they have him all lined up to furnish
+Worth with the capital he needs to go ahead. If he gets that money
+we will never be able to block him."
+
+"But why don't you get Cartwright into your crowd, if he is so ready
+to invest in reclamation projects?" asked the engineer.
+
+"I can't on account of White and some of the others. You know how
+cranky the old man is. Besides, we don't want him in the Company.
+What we want is to block Jefferson Worth from getting hold of that
+money. I sent for you because you can do more with Cartwright on
+this proposition than any man living."
+
+"You mean that you have sent for me to influence Mr. Cartwright
+against Jefferson Worth's interests?"
+
+"I mean that I expect you to use your influence in the interests of
+the Company--in my interests. Surely, Willard, that is not asking
+anything unreasonable."
+
+"But Uncle Jim, you just said that if Worth gets this help he will
+clean up a million or two. That looks like it would be safe enough
+for Mr. Cartwright."
+
+"Yes, and I said also that if Worth did _not_ get that money the
+Company would acquire his interests in The King's Basin."
+
+While the Company president was speaking a messenger boy knocked at
+the door. Greenfield read the note and handed it to Holmes, who in
+turn read: "Mr. Cartwright left this afternoon for San Felipe. Will
+probably return in a week. Worth is still in town."
+
+"That means you must take a little vacation, Willard."
+
+"But I can't, Uncle Jim," protested the engineer. "My work is in
+such shape that I--"
+
+The older man interrupted. "Your work! You seem to think that there
+is nothing of importance to The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company but drops and headings and intakes and canals, and the Lord
+knows what else, you mess around with! If you handle old Cartwright
+in the interests of the Company it will be the best week's work you
+ever did. He is likely to return any day, and you've got to stay
+right here and see this matter through."
+
+All that day the engineer roamed about the city, striving to find
+distraction in the amusements offered but feeling strangely alone
+and out of place. Under other circumstances he would have keenly
+enjoyed the brief vacation and the change from the desert life and
+work, but now he could think of nothing but the situation in which
+he so unexpectedly found himself.
+
+Once he would not have hesitated an instant to do Greenfield's
+bidding. Why should he hesitate now?
+
+Why, indeed; save for this--Willard Holmes knew that it would be
+better for the people in the new country if Jefferson Worth
+continued his operations.
+
+Willard Holmes's conception and understanding of his work as an
+engineer had changed materially in the years since those first days
+with Barbara in Rubio City, even as, under his hand, the desert
+itself had changed. It may have been that in his long, lonely rides
+across the great plain in the white light of the wide, cloudless
+sky, something of the spirit of the slow, silent ages that had
+wrought in the making of the desert had touched his spirit as it
+could not have been influenced by the smoke-clouded atmosphere and
+crowded highways of the East; or that in the lonely nights under the
+stars the weird, mysterious voices of the desert had taught him
+truths he had never heard in the noisy cries of the great cities.
+Perhaps, as he had looked day after day across the wide far-reaching
+miles with their seas and scarfs and veils of color to the purple
+mountains, the very greatness of the unpeopled lands forced him to a
+larger thinking and planning and dreaming than would have been
+possible in the limited views of his eastern homeland; or that the
+spirit of the hardy settlers awoke the blood of his own pioneer
+ancestors to a feeling of fellowship; or his constant struggle with
+the river aroused the old conquering spirit of his race. Or again it
+might be that some powerful chord, deep-hidden and silent in his
+nature, had been touched by the spirit of the girl who had bidden
+him learn the language of her country and who had said that she
+could never forgive one who was untrue to the work itself.
+
+On the other hand there was the training of his whole professional
+career. Up to the beginning of The King's Basin work the engineer
+had known no other creed than the creed of those corporation
+servants who have no higher interest than that of the machine they
+serve. There was also his intimate relation with Mr. Greenfield and
+the debt of gratitude he owed the man who had, in every way, been a
+father to him. And there was the prejudice of class, the instinct
+that holds a man to his own peculiar people, and the argument
+cleverly advanced by Greenfield that the protection of The King's
+Basin project would be secured.
+
+As the engineer was wandering, in the aimless and preoccupied manner
+of one whose mind is not on his task, through one of the city parks,
+he saw just ahead a man whose figure seemed familiar. With aroused
+interest he quickened his pace. There was no mistaking that form, so
+strongly upright, so instinct with vigorous power; nor those broad
+shoulders and the finely poised head. It was the Seer.
+
+Overtaking the older engineer, Holmes greeted him eagerly and the
+brown eyes of the old Chief shone with pleasure while he returned
+the young man's greeting heartily.
+
+Had the Seer any engagement that afternoon?
+
+None at all. He had just arrived from the North Country and was
+loafing a day or two. And Holmes?
+
+The younger man laughed. He was a stranger in a strange land, forced
+by circumstances to do nothing.
+
+Good. They would find a quiet corner somewhere and Holmes could tell
+his old Chief about The King's Basin work. Also The King's Basin man
+could tell the Seer about Barbara.
+
+So they found a seat and Willard Holmes told how splendidly the
+Seer's dream was coming true, and in answer to many questions talked
+of Barbara and her life in the new country, of Jefferson Worth and
+his operations, and of some of his own professional difficulties and
+problems. And the Seer, as he led the younger man on and studied the
+strong bronzed face that was all aglow with enthusiasm over the
+work, smiled quietly as he remembered the tenderfoot who had once
+threatened to report his Chief to the Company.
+
+Brave, great-hearted, generous Seer! There was in all his
+questioning not a hint of any feeling against the younger man who
+had been given the place that should have been his. He fell to
+wondering if after all the Company had now in Holmes the man they
+thought they had, or the man they did have, indeed, when they made
+him their chief engineer. If the test were to come now--The Seer did
+not know that Willard Holmes was even then undergoing that test.
+
+The two men dined together that evening and afterwards over the
+cigars in the Seer's room the old engineer talked of the progress
+and future of the great Reclamation work, of its value not only to
+our own nation but to the over-crowded nations beyond the seas, and
+of its place in the great forward march of the race. Then gravely he
+spoke to the younger man of his own efforts to bring the work to the
+attention of the people, of disappointments and failures, year after
+year, until at last the work in Barbara's Desert had been launched,
+and following that several other projects until now at last
+reclamation had become a great national enterprise. And Willard
+Holmes knew that out of the millions that would be realized from
+these reclaimed lands this man, who had seen the vision, would
+receive nothing. The Seer had not even a position with an irrigation
+company or with a reclamation project.
+
+As he listened to the man who had literally given the best of his
+life to a great work, the Company engineer felt as he sometimes felt
+when alone in the heart of the desert itself he heard its call, the
+call that was at once a challenge, a threat and a promise; or as
+when he had felt the sweet power of Barbara's presence.
+
+At his hotel Holmes found the president of The King's Basin Land and
+Irrigation Company anxiously awaiting him: "Look here!" was
+Greenfield's greeting. "This thing is approaching a climax."
+
+He handed the engineer a telegram from Burk. Willard Holmes glanced
+at the yellow slip of paper.
+
+"Strike on the K. B. C. Looks serious."
+
+"Jefferson Worth left for San Felipe this afternoon," Greenfield
+said quickly. "There's another train in thirty minutes. We mustn't
+miss it!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+HELD IN SUSPENSE.
+
+
+George Cartwright, the retired New York capitalist, belonged to that
+older school of American financiers who, having built up large
+fortunes by taking advantage of the speculative opportunities of
+their day, look somewhat doubtfully from the pinnacle of a
+successful old age upon the same adventurous spirit when shown by
+the active younger generation. George Cartwright was ready to take a
+chance, certainly. He had taken chances all his life. But George
+Cartwright distrusted mightily what he called the "slap-dash, smash-
+bang" system of the modern manipulators of capital. Some day, he
+predicted, the manipulators themselves would go "smash-bang" along
+with their methods.
+
+Though retired from the rush and drive of active business, the
+veteran still enjoyed taking an occasional hand in the game, though
+more than ever he played that hand with a dignified leisure
+befitting the stake. "A business transaction," said he, "was not
+something to be put through with a nod and wink or at most a half
+dozen monosyllables between as many bites of a sandwich."
+
+Jefferson Worth was in desperate need of quick action. He was not
+playing a game of business for the mere pleasure of playing. He was
+fighting for his financial life and every hour's delay increased his
+peril. But Jefferson Worth did not need his railroad friend's
+warning that an attempt to rush George Cartwright would be
+disastrous. The old financier was not at all backward in making
+known to Jefferson Worth his opinions of Jim Greenfield and the men
+associated with him in the Company. He had had some experience with
+them not altogether satisfactory to himself. But an investment in
+actual improvement and development enterprises, such as he
+understood Mr. Worth to be promoting, was rather an attractive
+venture. He was going for a week's trip to San Felipe and when he
+returned he would take the matter up.
+
+Barbara's father could not urge his need of immediate relief, for to
+do so would have been to destroy his only hope. So he was forced to
+await the New York man's pleasure. Nor was Mr. Worth ignorant of
+Greenfield's efforts as indicated by the presence of Willard Holmes
+in the city. He knew also the high regard that Cartwright held for
+the engineer and that he would place great value upon the Company
+man's opinion. What would Willard Holmes do?
+
+Abe Lee's telegram announcing the strike and the critical situation
+in the Basin changed conditions instantly. Now Jefferson Worth's
+only hope was to get to Cartwright without delay and to present the
+urgent need of immediate action. For while the chances that the old
+capitalist would come to the rescue were greatly lessened, Jefferson
+Worth's financial ruin was certain if the critical situation at home
+was not relieved instantly. Sending the telegram to Abe Lee he took
+the first train for San Felipe. It was indeed a forlorn hope.
+
+Mr. Worth's train arrived in San Felipe about eleven o'clock in the
+morning. Scanning the register at the principal hotel he found the
+eastern man's name, but the clerk informed him that Mr. Cartwright
+was out for the day sight-seeing with a party of friends from New
+York and would not likely return until late in the evening.
+
+No one observing the quiet, gray-faced man who waited in the hotel
+lobby that evening could have said that there was more on his mind
+than a mild interest in the evening paper. Yet Jefferson Worth was
+reading an account of The King's Basin strike. Finishing the
+article, he dropped the paper on his knee while the slim fingers of
+his right hand sought his chin with a nervous, caressing motion and
+his expressionless eyes moved continually over the crowd in the big
+room. Outside, the depot 'bus had just stopped in front of the hotel
+and a company of newly arrived guests were entering the corridor,
+while the bell-boys were running forward to relieve them of their
+luggage and lead them to the spick-and-span clerk behind the
+register.
+
+First of the group Jefferson Worth saw the portly, well-groomed
+president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company and with
+him his athletic, bronzed-faced chief engineer.
+
+Even as the two were talking with the clerk and, as Worth rightly
+guessed, asking for Mr. Cartwright, the old gentleman with his party
+of friends entered. At a word from the man behind the desk
+Greenfield and Holmes turned to greet the entering capitalist and
+his party. They were all New Yorkers--acquaintances and friends.
+Coming together with the width of the continent between them and
+their homes, their greetings were cordial--joyful--even boisterous.
+And as they parted to follow the waiting bell-boys to their rooms,
+the western pioneer banker heard them agreeing to meet and dine
+together a few minutes later.
+
+Jefferson Worth realized that a business interview with Mr.
+Cartwright that evening was impossible. Without visible interest in
+anything else he raised his paper again and continued reading.
+
+The next morning when the New York capitalist stepped from the
+elevator on his way to breakfast he found himself face to face with
+the man who so desperately needed financial assistance. "Why, how do
+you do, Mr. Worth. When did you land in San Felipe?" Cartwright's
+tone seemed to subtly change his commonplace question into--"Why are
+you in San Felipe?"
+
+Jefferson Worth's answer was straightforward. "I arrived yesterday.
+Conditions have arisen that make it necessary for me to see you at
+once."
+
+The old veteran looked straight into Jefferson Worth's face with the
+understanding of one who had himself passed through many a financial
+crisis when the issue depended upon time gained or lost. Sometimes
+the wheel of Fortune turns with dizzy speed.
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Worth. Come to my room in half an hour," he answered
+quickly and as quickly moved away.
+
+When The King's Basin man had placed the situation fairly before him
+and the old financier had asked a number of pertinent questions, he
+said: "Mr. Worth, I understand that neither the value nor the safety
+of my investment is necessarily impaired because you have a
+situation on your hands demanding immediate relief. I can see that
+the capital you ask me to put into your enterprise will relieve the
+situation at once and enable you to place the whole business upon a
+solid foundation. If you fail to raise this money, or if you get it
+too late, you go to the wall and I lose a chance for what seems a
+profitable investment. As I told you, legitimate promotion of actual
+development projects has always been attractive to me, but I want to
+examine into matters a little further before I give you my final
+answer. Frankly I want to ask the opinion of Willard Holmes. I would
+not place too much confidence in Mr. Greenfield's judgment, or
+rather, I should say, in any advice that he would give me in this
+particular matter. But I have known Willard from babyhood. I knew
+his father and the whole family, and I would be guided by his
+opinion as an engineer of conditions in the new country in which you
+are all interested. Fortunately Holmes is here in the hotel. Let me
+have a little talk with him and I'll give you my answer without
+delay."
+
+Writing a brief note asking the engineer to come to his room, he
+summoned a boy and directed him to deliver the message immediately.
+A few minutes later Jefferson Worth, in the lobby, saw the boy
+approach Holmes, who was with Greenfield. The engineer took the note
+from the boy, glanced at it and handed it to his companion. For a
+moment they stood in earnest conversation; then the engineer turned
+and moved away.
+
+Jefferson Worth saw him enter the elevator, saw the ornamented iron
+door close and the cage glide smoothly upward.
+
+James Greenfield, confident, self-possessed, with the air of one
+whose position and future are secure, jovially greeted one of the
+New York party, who came up on Holmes's departure, and the two stood
+laughing and chatting over their cigars.
+
+Jefferson Worth sat alone in a secluded corner of the lobby.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+ABE LEE'S RIDE TO SAVE JEFFERSON WORTH.
+
+
+The evening that Jefferson Worth spent in the San Felipe hotel
+lobby, apparently absorbed in his paper while Greenfield, Holmes and
+Cartwright with their New York friends were enjoying their dinner,
+Barbara and her court had their anxious supper together in the Worth
+home.
+
+The night that followed was one of wakeful readiness on the part of
+the men who guarded the Worth property. But the strikers seemed
+content to curse and threaten. Breakfast the next morning, in spite
+of Barbara's efforts at cheerfulness, was a gloomy meal. Worn with
+their anxious vigil the men ate in silence, save when they forced
+themselves to respond to their young hostess's attempts at
+conversation. They knew that another day of idleness would fit the
+striking laborers for reckless action.
+
+When the meal was over Barbara insisted that they must get some
+sleep. They protested, but she argued rightly that there was nothing
+else that they could do and that they must keep themselves fit for a
+possible need of their strength later. So she brought comforts and
+blankets for a bed on the floor in the little sitting room and,
+drawing the shades, announced that she would take her sewing to the
+front porch while they slept.
+
+Three hours passed and a boy arrived from the telegraph office with
+a message addressed to Abe Lee. Speaking in low tones that the tired
+men within might not be disturbed, Barbara said that she would hand
+the message to Mr. Lee, who was in the house, and signed her name in
+the book. Then as the boy went down the walk the young woman, with
+trembling fingers, tore open the yellow envelope.
+
+The message read: "Money to-day by wire from Tenth National Bank,
+New York. Pay men and go on with work. I leave for home to-night
+ten-thirty.
+
+Jefferson Worth."
+
+Barbara and her Desert had won against the Company through Willard
+Holmes, but Barbara did not know that.
+
+Behind her, as she stood with the yellow slip in her hand, the
+sitting room door opened softly and turning she saw Abe standing on
+the threshold. The alert surveyor had been aroused by the coming of
+the messenger. Even before she spoke her face told him the good
+news.
+
+Abe went at once to notify the strikers that they would receive
+their pay on the morrow without fail. To several of the leaders he
+exhibited the telegram with Mr. Worth's instructions: "Pay men and
+go on with work," and they in turn verified to their countrymen the
+good news. As the word went around, the dark scowling faces were
+lighted with satisfaction and pleased anticipation, curses and
+threats were silenced in laughter and merry talk. In a short hour or
+two the little army of striking laborers that had for days been in a
+mood for any violence became a good natured crowd bent on enjoying
+to the full their short holiday.
+
+Barbara insisted on serving dinner for her three friends, and with
+the strike practically settled and the weary strain of the situation
+removed the four made the meal a jolly one. When they could eat no
+more they still sat idling at the table, reluctant to break the
+spell of their companionship.
+
+Texas Joe, leaning back in his chair, with his slow smile drawled in
+an inconsequential way: "I reckon, now that the financial obsequies
+of Mr. Jefferson Worth has been indefinitely postponed owin' to the
+corpse refusin' to perform, that Company bunch will wear mournin'
+because said funeral didn't come off as per schedule. Them roosters
+are sure a humorous lot."
+
+"Of course they will be sorry, Uncle Tex," said Barbara. "It's Good
+Business, you know, to want your competitor to fail."
+
+The old plainsman shook his head. "I sure don't sabe this
+financierin' game, honey, but I'm stakin' my pile on your dad just
+the same."
+
+"Well," said Pat, "we're all glad on Mr. Worth's account, av course,
+that ut's over as aisy as ut is. But for mesilf, av ut was all the
+same to him an' to ye Barbara, I'd be wishin' the danged greasers 'd
+kape on a shtrikin' so long as ye wud lave me put my fate under yer
+table."
+
+They all laughed at Pat's sentiments, which the other two men
+endorsed most heartily. Then the surveyor with his two helpers went
+up town.
+
+Stopping at the bank and showing the cashier his message from Mr.
+Worth, Abe asked if he had heard from New York.
+
+Before answering, the man picked up a telegram from his desk and
+scanned it thoughtfully. "No," said Greenfield's cashier, as if
+against his will; "we have heard nothing to-day."
+
+Just before the close of banking hours the surveyor again called at
+the bank. "Any news from New York yet?"
+
+"Yes. We had their wire just after you left."
+
+"Well?" asked Abe impatiently. "Isn't it all right?"
+
+"It's all right, Mr. Lee, except that we were forced to answer that
+we could not handle the business."
+
+The surveyor searched his pockets for tobacco and cigarette papers.
+"I think you'd better explain, Mr. Williams."
+
+Again the cashier hesitated, turning thoughtfully to the telegram on
+his desk. Then he said reluctantly: "It is Mr. Greenfield's orders,
+Lee."
+
+With a cloud of smoke from Abe's lips came the question: "And the
+other banks in the Basin?"
+
+"You would only waste your time."
+
+"Thanks, Williams. Adios."
+
+Abe Lee walked slowly out of the building. Moving aimlessly down the
+street, unseeing and unheeding, he ran fairly into Pat and Texas,
+who were talking with a rancher from the South Central District.
+
+The voice of the Irishman aroused him. "Fwhat the hell! Is ut dhrunk
+ye are?" Then, as he caught a good look at the surveyor's face--"For
+the love av Gawd, fwhat's wrong wid ye, lad?"
+
+The rancher also was looking at him curiously. Abe gained control of
+himself instantly with an apologetic laugh. "Excuse me, Pat. I was
+thinking about the work and didn't see you. There's a little matter
+that I want to take up with you this afternoon. I'll be too busy for
+it to-morrow."
+
+The rancher, with another word or two, turned away. Then Abe, in a
+low tone, exclaimed: "Let's get away from the crowd quick, where we
+can talk."
+
+They started down the street and instinctively their feet turned
+toward Jefferson Worth's home instead of toward the office. As they
+went Abe explained the situation. Pat cursed the bank and James
+Greenfield and the Company with no light weight curses.
+
+"Hell will sure be a-poppin' when them greasers don't get their pay
+checks, as we've been promisin' them," drawled Texas Joe, shaking
+his head mournfully. "For regular unexpectedness this here
+financierin' business gets me plumb locoed. What will you do, Abe?
+Greenfield sure takes this trick, don't he?"
+
+They had reached the gate of the Worth home and had paused as people
+sometimes will when engaged in conversation of absorbing interest.
+Before Abe could answer Texas, Barbara, who sat on the porch, called
+laughingly: "What's the matter with you men? Are you hungry again?
+Why don't you come in?"
+
+In consternation the three looked blankly at each other. Pat growled
+another curse under his breath. Texas shook his head doubtfully. Abe
+groaned: "She'll have to know, boys."
+
+Slowly they went up the walk and Barbara, as they drew near, did not
+need words to tell her that something seriously wrong had happened.
+
+When Abe had explained it in as few words as possible she said: "But
+it will only be for a few days."
+
+"A few days will be too late," said Abe bluntly. "We have promised
+these greasers and Indians that we will pay to-morrow without fail.
+When we don't pay, on top of all the trouble we have had, no
+explanation will stand. They'll go on the warpath sure. If they were
+white men it would be different."
+
+"Well, why don't you telegraph father and let him bring the money or
+send it by express from San Felipe?"
+
+"But he couldn't get the cash started before to-morrow afternoon.
+Then it would have to go around by the city and wouldn't get here
+until three days later. Williams didn't tell me, you see, until he
+knew that the San Felipe bank would be closed before I could, get a
+message through."
+
+They sat in troubled silence--Pat in sullen rage, Texas squatting on
+his heels cow-boy fashion, Abe pulling at a cigarette, Barbara
+leaning forward in her chair. Three hours before they had been so
+merry because the trouble was over; now they faced a situation many
+times more perilous than before.
+
+With a quick gesture of decision Abe tossed aside his cigarette.
+"Tex, where is that buckskin horse of yours?"
+
+"In Clark's stable. Want him?"
+
+"Yes. Give him a good feed and bring him here as soon as he is
+ready. Bring one feed and a canteen, and while the horse is eating
+go around to my room and get my gun."
+
+Without a question the old plainsman left the group and walked
+swiftly away.
+
+Barbara puzzled for a moment then asked: "Are you sending Tex to San
+Felipe for the money, Abe?"
+
+"I am going myself. Tex will be needed here. He's worth three of me
+at this end of the game. To-day is Wednesday. That buckskin will
+make it to San Felipe in twenty-six hours. That will be to-morrow
+evening. If your father can have the money ready I should be back
+here by Friday night."
+
+While speaking he was tearing a leaf from his note book. Quickly he
+wrote a message to Jefferson Worth. "Pat, take this to the telegraph
+office and make them rush it. It must catch Mr. Worth before he
+leaves at ten-thirty to-night."
+
+Barbara sprang to her feet. "Oh, please let me go. Let me do
+something."
+
+Abe handed her the slip of paper with a smile. "If you don't mind I
+will take a nap in your father's room. And will you ask Ynez to have
+a bite to eat ready for me with a sandwich or two that I can slip
+into my pocket. Pat, you stay here and don't let anyone disturb me
+until five-thirty. Then call me sure. Tex will be here with the
+horse by that time." With the last word he disappeared into the
+house.
+
+When Pat called him he was sleeping soundly. Barbara had sent the
+telegram and with her own hands prepared his supper and a lunch.
+While he ate, the surveyor gave brief instructions to his two
+helpers.
+
+Then Barbara went with him to the gate where the buckskin horse, one
+of that tough, wiry, half-wild breed native to the western plains,
+waited, head down with bridle reins hanging to the ground. As Abe
+tightened the cinch and took his spurs from the saddle horn, the
+girl went closer to his side. "I wish you did not have to go," she
+said as he stooped to put on a spur.
+
+He straightened up and looked at her. The brown eyes regarded him
+seriously. "Why, Barbara! you are not afraid? Texas and Pat will be
+here."
+
+"It's not myself, Abe; it's you," she answered. "You have had such a
+hard time since this trouble began and now this long, lonely ride. I
+wish there was some other way."
+
+Stooping quickly so that she might not see his face he adjusted the
+other spur with trembling fingers.
+
+"I shall think of you every minute, Abe," said the young woman
+softly.
+
+The strap of the spur required several ineffectual efforts before
+the man could fasten it on the steel button. At length it was on
+and, rising again, he threw the bridle reins over the horse's head,
+holding them in his left hand on the animal's neck. Barbara came
+still closer and with her finger traced the design carved on the
+heavy Mexican saddle. "You will be careful, won't you, Abe?"
+
+The hand on the horse's neck tightened on the reins as the surveyor
+looked straight into the young woman's eyes a moment as if searching
+for something that he knew was not there. Then he held out his free
+hand, saying in Spanish with a smile: "Adios, sister."
+
+Giving him her hand she answered in the same soft musical tongue:
+"Adios, my brother."
+
+Turning he put his foot in the stirrup and, with the easy graceful
+swing of the western horseman, he mounted and the buckskin, as his
+rider lifted the bridle reins, struck at once into the long lazy
+lope of his kind.
+
+Leisurely Abe Lee rode along the main street of the little town. The
+strikers, idling in front of the stores, leaning against the
+buildings or awning posts, squatting on their heels on the
+sidewalks, or sitting in rows on the curbing, saw him pass without
+interest. If they thought anything it was that the superintendent
+was going to Kingston on some business or other for their employer,
+Senor Worth, or that to-morrow the man on the buckskin horse would
+give them the slips of paper that they would take to the senor at
+the bank, who would give them their money.
+
+Still riding leisurely, Abe left behind the town that Jefferson
+Worth had built in the barren desert and passed the newly improved
+ranches on the outskirts. Without hurry, even checking his horse to
+a shuffling fox-trot at times, he reached Kingston.
+
+From the window of his office in the Company building Mr. Burk saw
+the horseman as he passed, and the Company manager, who was paid for
+thinking, shifted his cigar to one corner of his mouth and, tilting
+his head, grew thoughtful while the buckskin horse carried his rider
+out of Kingston toward the south.
+
+Reaching the old San Felipe trail the surveyor swung his horse to
+the west and, leaving behind all that man had so far wrought in La
+Palma de la Mano de Dios, rode straight toward the mountain wall
+that in grim barrenness and forbidding solitude had stood sentinel
+through the unnumbered ages, shutting out from the land of death the
+world of life that lay on the other side. As that mighty wall had
+from the beginning turned back every moisture-laden cloud from the
+thirsty, starving land, so it seemed now to impose itself as an
+impassable barrier against the man who rode to save the work of
+Jefferson Worth.
+
+The buckskin horse, as if realizing that this was no jaunt of ten or
+twenty miles, held to his steady, machine-like lope that measured
+the distance of each swing with the accurate regularity of a
+pendulum; while the lean, loose body of his rider, resting easily in
+the saddle, yielded without resistance to the horse's every movement
+so that those laboring muscles, working so smoothly under the yellow
+hide, might not be called upon to adjust themselves to the sudden
+strain of unexpected changes in balance. Mile after mile of the dun
+plain slipped away under those apparently slow-measuring hoofs at
+surprising speed. Now and then, at the slightest signal from Abe,
+the gait was changed from a lope to that easy shuffling fox-trot
+that lifted the dust in a great yellow cloud.
+
+Straight ahead the rider saw the sun go slowly down behind the
+mountain wall. He watched the purple shadows that he knew were
+canyons deepen, and the blue that he knew to be shoulders and spurs
+and points change and darken until every detail was lost in the
+slate gray mass, while against the light that lingered in the west
+every tooth, knob and peak of the sky-line showed a sharp, clean-cut
+silhouette. He saw the colors of the desert fade and melt as the
+dark mantle of the night was drawn quietly over the plain. He heard
+the night voices of the desert awakening and sensed the soft
+breathing of the lonely land. And in his nostrils was the
+indescribable odor of the ancient sea-bed that, for uncounted
+thousands of years, had lain under a blazing sun and scorching wind
+and mistless nights, knowing no touch of human life save the passing
+presence of those who dared to follow that one thin trail.
+
+And always with that dogged regularity the sandy miles were being
+measured by those steady hoofs. At Wolf Wells, as the last faint
+tinge of light went out of the sky beyond the black mass of No Man's
+Mountains, Abe drew rein for the first time. Dismounting, he slipped
+the bit from the horse's mouth and the animal plunged his nose deep
+into the refreshing water. The buckskin, with the blood of his wild
+ancestors strong in his veins, was no dainty, tenderly-nourished
+aristocrat that needed to be rested, cooled and blanketed before he
+could slake his thirst. Without pausing he drank his fill and then,
+lifting his head, drew one long, deep breath of satisfaction and
+stood ready.
+
+In the dark Abe felt his saddle girths, then ran his hand over the
+moist warm neck and slapped the strong hips approvingly. "Good boy,
+Buck! Good old boy!" Without thought of further rest they went on--
+on--and on, without pause or cheek save the occasional change in
+gait from the swinging lope to the shuffling fox-trot, until they
+reached the line of the ancient beach, and the buckskin, with head
+down, labored heavily up the steep grade to the Mesa.
+
+It was at this point, years before, that the four men and the boy
+had stopped to look away over the awe-inspiring scenes of wide sky,
+measureless plain, rolling sand hills, dream lakes and ever-changing
+seas of color, all hidden now in the blackness of the night.
+
+In the dark, hall-like Devil's Canyon the sound of the horse's feet
+echoed and re-echoed sharply from the rock walls, while the darkness
+was so thick that Abe could not see the animal's head.
+
+At Mountain Spring, where travelers into the desert always filled
+their water barrels, Abe stopped again. It was a little past
+midnight. Loosing the saddle girth and removing the bridle, the
+surveyor let his horse drink and, taking a sack with his one feed of
+rolled barley, he deftly converted it into a rude nose-bag by
+cutting a strip in each side two-thirds the length of the sack and
+tying it over the horse's head. After eating his own lunch the
+surveyor stretched himself out flat on his back on the ground with
+every muscle relaxed. The sound of the horse munching his feed
+ceased; the animal's head dropped lower, and he too--wise in the
+wisdom of the open country--relaxed his muscles and rested.
+
+For an hour they remained there, then again the bridle was adjusted,
+the saddle girths tightened, and they went on. But the gait was not
+so measured now nor the pace so steady, for they were well into the
+mountains, climbing toward the summit. But still there was no pause
+for breath, no relief for the straining muscles of the horse or for
+the weary aching body of the rider.
+
+Crossing over the summit at last they were on the long western slope
+of the range with much better going, and the buckskin again carried
+his rider swiftly on while the thud and ring of the iron-shod hoofs
+on the rock-strewn road aroused the echoes in the dark and lonely
+hills.
+
+Hour after hour of the long night passed with no sound to break the
+silence save the sound of the horse's feet, the rattle of bridle
+chains, the clink of spur or the creak of saddle leather. And when
+the gray of the morning came they were in the foot hills. Behind
+them the mountains--a bare and forbidding wall on the desert side--
+lifted ridge upon ridge with the green of pine on the heights, oak
+on the slopes and benches, and sycamore in the lower canyons.
+Streams of bright water tumbled merrily down their clean rocky
+courses or rested in quiet pools in the cold shadows. Before them
+spread the beautiful Coast country, sloping with many a dip and
+hollow and rolling ridge and rounding hill westward to the sea.
+
+At the first ranch house they stopped. A short hour's rest with
+breakfast for man and horse, and they were away again. For dinner
+Abe drew rein in a beautiful little village in the heart of the rich
+farming country and at four o'clock, from the summit of a low hill,
+he saw the ocean, with the smoke of San Felipe dark against the blue
+of sky and water. There were yet three hours of riding. The tired
+man straightened himself in the saddle, the horse felt the motion
+and responded with a slight quickening of the movements of those
+wonderful muscles that still worked so steadily and smoothly under
+the buckskin coat. The animal seemed to realize with the man that
+the end of the journey was in sight. Yet it would take another hour
+and another of that steady, measured lope and the easy shuffling
+fox-trot.
+
+The sun was dipping downward now toward the ocean's rim, and sea and
+sky were a blaze of glorious light; while on that dazzling
+background sail and mast and roof and steeple were painted black
+with edges of yellow flame. The horse, with the dogged, determined
+spirit of his breed, was drawing upon the last of his strength--the
+strength that had brought them so many miles without faltering. But
+still he answered gamely to the lifting of the reins with that
+measured, swinging lope.
+
+But as he watched the sun go down, Abe Lee forgot his weariness,
+forgot his aching muscles and stiffened limbs. He remembered only
+that miles away in the little desert town there was a mob of
+striking Mexicans and Indian laborers who, disappointed and enraged
+at not receiving their promised pay, would be ready now for any deed
+that promised to satisfy their blind desire for vengeance. He knew
+that no explanations would be accepted. No plea for patience would
+be heard. They could not understand. In their eyes they had been
+tricked, fooled, cheated, defrauded of their just dues. They knew no
+better way to redress their wrongs than the primitive way--to
+destroy, to injure, perhaps to kill. And Barbara--Barbara was there.
+If only they would let that one night pass! If only Tex and Pat and
+the little handful of white men could hold them off a few more hours
+until he could get back.
+
+Until he could get back! But what if Jefferson Worth had not
+received the telegram before he left San Felipe? What if there
+should be a still further delay in getting the money?
+
+Through the lighted streets of the harbor city the buckskin and his
+rider finally made their way. A policeman, looking suspiciously at
+the dust-begrimed, sweat-caked, trembling horse that stood with legs
+braced wide and drooping head, and at the haggard-faced rider,
+directed the surveyor to the hotel a block away, and then stood
+watching them as they moved slowly toward the end of the ride.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+WHAT THE COMPANY MAN TOLD THE MEXICANS.
+
+
+While Barbara and her three friends at home were rejoicing over the
+message from Jefferson Worth telling them that he had secured the
+money needed to go on with the work, Willard Holmes was alone in his
+room in the San Felipe hotel.
+
+Following the engineer's interview with Mr. Cartwright, he had
+passed through a stormy scene with James Greenfield and the words of
+the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company were
+ringing in his ears with painful monotony: "Discharged--discharged--
+discharged!"
+
+For the first time in his life the engineer had heard those words
+addressed to himself. He could not rid himself of the feeling that
+he had come suddenly to the end of his career.
+
+All his life Willard Holmes had had back of him the powerful
+influence of his foster uncle. Positions and opportunities had come
+to him from the first without effort on his part. Notwithstanding
+the fact that his ability as an engineer was naturally of a high
+order and that his training was of the best, he had never been
+dependent wholly upon these things. Other and stronger
+considerations had always given him his place. For the first time in
+his life he faced the world of his profession with nothing but his
+naked ability as an engineer to speak for him, while his abrupt
+dismissal from the Company compelled him to realize with sudden
+force how over-shadowed his work had always been by outside
+influences and how dependent he had been upon them. He felt lost and
+bewildered, knowing not which way to turn. His future seemed a
+blank. He had been anxious and eager to get back to his work in the
+Basin. But he had not realized how much that work meant to him--how
+his plans, his dreams, his whole life work had become centered in
+the reclamation of The King's Basin Desert.
+
+If his dismissal had come from anything connected with his work, he
+told himself, it would be different. He thought bitterly how he had
+struggled with insufficient equipment and inadequate makeshifts of
+every kind to hold the Company system together that the pioneers
+might have the water, without which the work of reclamation could
+not be done. He knew every stake and pile and plank and crack and
+patch in the whole system. He had learned the tricks of the river
+and was familiar with the conditions peculiar to the desert country.
+He knew the terrible danger of the flood season that was only two
+months away. He had planned and prepared to meet emergencies that
+would be sure to arise.
+
+And now, because he had refused to deliver the settlers wholly into
+the hands of these New York capitalists, who cared nothing at all
+for the real work save as it could be made to increase their money
+bags, he was turned out. There was now no reason even for his return
+to The King's Basin. Why, he asked himself, should he go back? To
+see some other man doing his work? To watch as an outsider the
+development of the land? or perhaps--as was more likely--to stand
+idly by and watch its destruction?
+
+But even as he told himself that he could not do that, he knew that
+he would go back; that, indeed, he must go. The desert called him--
+summoned him imperatively;--the desert, and something else:
+something that was as mysteriously impelling as the spirit of the
+land; something that had grown into his life even as his work had
+grown; something that seemed to him now a part of his work from the
+beginning.
+
+All that day the engineer avoided Greenfield and his eastern
+friends. In the evening he dined alone and after the meal sat alone
+in the hotel lobby with his back to the crowd, watching through the
+big window the life of the street outside--watching without seeing.
+Moodily he pulled at his cigar, his thoughts far away in Barbara's
+Desert where, unknown to him, Abe Lee on the buckskin horse was
+riding--riding--riding to save the work of Jefferson Worth.
+
+His thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Jefferson Worth
+himself, who, seeing the engineer alone, had gone to him. Holmes,
+drawing another chair close to his, greeted Barbara's father with
+eager questions. "Have you heard from home? Is everything all
+right?"
+
+The older man accepted the chair by the engineer's side and answered
+his questions by saying: "Mr. Cartwright instructed his New York
+bankers to wire this money to my account in Republic. I notified Abe
+to pay the men to-morrow and go on with the work."
+
+It was characteristic of Jefferson Worth that he did not attempt to
+thank Holmes for his part in the transaction with Cartwright, but in
+some subtle way the engineer was made to feel his gratitude and
+appreciation. After a pause Worth continued: "I am going to start
+back to-night on the ten-thirty. When are you figuring on going
+back?"
+
+The engineer smiled grimly. "I can't figure on anything definite
+just now, Mr. Worth. I might as well tell you, I suppose, that I am
+no longer connected with the Company."
+
+The announcement did not appear to be unexpected to Jefferson Worth,
+but his slim fingers caressed his chin as he said: "I was afraid of
+that. Have you anything in view?"
+
+Holmes felt that not only had Worth foreseen the situation, but that
+he had already set in motion some movement to relieve it. "No, sir.
+It came so suddenly that I have scarcely had time to think."
+
+"I figured some time ago that the Company would not be able to hold
+you much longer," was the surprising comment. "The S. & C. has been
+looking for a good man to put down in our country for some time.
+Your experience on the river would make you particularly valuable to
+them under existing conditions. I told them about you. They have
+been holding off waiting developments. If I were you I would get in
+touch with them at once. You can go up to the city with me to-night.
+We will stop over and look into the proposition and then if it is
+all right and agreeable to you we can go on home together."
+Jefferson Worth seemed to understand perfectly the engineer's desire
+to return to The King's Basin.
+
+Before Holmes could express his delight and gratitude at the
+unexpected relief, a call-boy, passing among the guests, shouted:
+"Mr. Jefferson Worth! Mr. Jefferson Worth!"
+
+The banker opened the message, read it, then--without a word-handed
+the yellow slip to his companion. The engineer read: "Banks in Basin
+won't accept New York business. Can't handle pay checks. Abe Lee
+starting for San Felipe overland to-night. Have money and fresh
+horse ready. Barbara."
+
+Holmes looked in consternation from the paper in his hand to
+Barbara's father. The face of Jefferson Worth expressed nothing. It
+was perfectly calm and emotionless, only the slim fingers were
+lifted to the chin as if behind that gray mask the mind of the man
+was groping, seizing, searching, examining every phase of the
+situation so suddenly confronting him. In answer to the engineer's
+questioning look he spoke in colorless words, with machine-like
+exactness, as if the matter under consideration were a mere
+mathematical problem presented for his solution. "The Company owns
+the banks. Greenfield went into the telegraph office this morning as
+Cartwright and I came out. Abe would get my message by nine o'clock.
+The banks would get Greenfield's instructions the same time. Abe
+would at once promise the men their money to-morrow. That cashier
+didn't tell him they wouldn't handle the business until too late for
+him to get me before the banks closed here. Greenfield is playing
+for time so that the strikers will make trouble. Abe has it figured
+out right. He can get here and back before I could get the money to
+him by train. He should reach here to-morrow night. There is nothing
+to do except to see Cartwright this evening so that he can wire New
+York to-night and I can get the cash through the bank here before
+Abe gets in to-morrow."
+
+As he grasped the situation and the methods Greenfield had employed
+to injure Worth's interests, the engineer's eyes flashed. "Mr.
+Worth," he cried, "that is the dirtiest trick I ever saw turned."
+
+"It's business, Mr. Holmes. Mr. Greenfield is merely using his
+advantage, that's all."
+
+The methods of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company in La
+Palma de la Mano de Dios were the methods of capital, impersonal,
+inhuman--the methods of a force governed by laws as fixed as the
+laws of nature, neither cruel nor kind; inconsiderate of man's
+misery or happiness, his life or death; using man for its own ends--
+profit, as men use water and soil and sun and air. The methods of
+Jefferson Worth were the methods of a man laboring with his brother
+men, sharing their hardships, sharing their returns; a man using
+money as a workman uses his tools to fashion and build and develop,
+adding thus to the welfare of human kind. It was inevitable that the
+Company and Jefferson Worth should war.
+
+James Greenfield served Capital; Jefferson Worth sought to make
+Capital serve the race. But in the career of each of these men, who
+had been driven by the master passion--Good Business, into The
+Hollow of God's Hand, the dominant influence was a life. In the
+career of Jefferson Worth it was Barbara. In the career of James
+Greenfield it was Willard Holmes.
+
+In The King's Basin reclamation work, the New York financier, whose
+relation to Willard Holmes was a tribute to his love for the
+engineer's mother, felt that in some way--for some cause which he
+could not understand--the younger man was growing away from him.
+Their relation of employer and employe seemed to mar the close
+intimacy of the old ties, and the older man looked forward eagerly
+to the time when his business plans should be carried to a
+successful climax and they would both leave the West for their
+eastern home. That morning in the hotel, when he saw Holmes go with
+Cartwright to Jefferson Worth and by that knew that the engineer had
+used his influence against the interests of the Company, he was
+astonished and hurt. He felt that the boy whom he had reared as his
+own had turned against him. As the president of the Company he
+abruptly discharged the engineer, for he could do nothing else. As
+the foster-father of Willard Holmes, he was still proud of the
+younger man's strength of character, for under all his anger at
+being thwarted in his plan against Worth he knew in his heart that
+the engineer had done right.
+
+As the day passed and the engineer did not seek his company, while
+Greenfield's own stubborn pride forbade him to go to Holmes, the
+older man's heart grew more and more lonely. That evening, when he
+saw Jefferson Worth and Holmes together in earnest conversation and
+through all of the following day saw them apparently associated
+intimately in some plan or enterprise, for the first time personal
+feeling entered into his consideration of the whole situation. He
+felt that his business rival had become his rival for the affections
+of the boy he loved. The business victories of Jefferson Worth he
+could accept without feeling; but that this man--a stranger--should
+come between him and his foster-son, the child of the woman he had
+loved with lifelong fidelity, stirred him to a vicious, personal
+hatred.
+
+At dusk that evening he saw Holmes and Worth dining together. When
+the meal was over he sat in the lobby, ostensibly chatting with
+friends, but covertly watching the two who seemed to be awaiting
+someone. Suddenly he saw them rise quickly and start toward the main
+entrance. A dusty, khaki-clad man of the desert was entering the
+hotel. Tall, lean, bronzed, his face haggard and strained with
+anxiety, his eyes blood-shot through loss of sleep, his figure
+expressing in every line and movement deadly weariness and aching
+muscles, he strode forward into the hotel lobby, his spurs clinking
+on the white tile floor.
+
+Greenfield recognized Abe Lee and grasped the situation instantly.
+The president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company knew
+why the surveyor had come to San Felipe and he knew what he would
+carry back. If the money to pay the strikers reached its
+destination, Jefferson Worth would win; if not--
+
+At half past nine o'clock that evening the thoughtful Manager of The
+King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company received a cipher message
+from his superior that drew a long, low whistle from his lips. For
+almost an hour he considered with an occasional quiet curse. Then,
+because he was a good Company man, he put on his hat and strolled
+leisurely down the street of Kingston, apparently enjoying his
+evening cigar. Once he stopped to greet a belated rancher. Again he
+paused to chat a moment with a citizen. Once more he halted to
+exchange a word with a group of Company men, and later stopped to
+greet three Mexicans who were in from the Company's camps.
+
+The Manager asked of the work--if all was well.
+
+"Si, Senor."
+
+Then naturally Mr. Burk inquired for news of their countrymen, the
+strikers of Republic.
+
+The Mexicans, coming from the distant camp, could tell him nothing.
+They had heard little. Could Senor Burk tell them of the situation?
+
+The Manager was quite sure that everything would be all right with
+the men on Jefferson Worth's railroad day after to-morrow.
+
+That was "bueno."
+
+Yes, Mr. Worth's superintendent was starting from San Felipe that
+very evening with money--thousands of dollars, American gold--to pay
+the men. He was coming alone through the mountains on horseback.
+Without doubt the men would receive their pay. The Manager was glad!
+
+"Si, Senor."
+
+"Gracias, Senor!"
+
+"Buenos noches!"
+
+"Good night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+TELL BARBARA I'M ALL RIGHT.
+
+
+When Abe Lee, after twenty-six hard hours in the saddle, dismounted
+in front of the San Felipe hotel and entered the lobby his usually
+perfect nerves were strained almost to the breaking point. For weeks
+the surveyor had carried the burden of Jefferson Worth's financial
+condition as if it were his own. With the prospect of seeing the
+work he loved better than his life wrecked and taken over by the
+Company, he had for days faced the critical situation of the strike.
+Then, in the very hour of relief, the situation had become seemingly
+hopeless. Abe Lee, better than anyone, knew the temper of the
+Mexican and Indian strikers. He realized fully how great the chances
+were that at the very moment when he finished his ride for relief
+the town of Republic was the scene of tragic violence.
+
+If Jefferson Worth had left San Felipe ignorant of the failure of
+his effort to relieve the dangerous situation at home, or if by some
+chance the money so desperately needed was not ready, Abe knew that
+the cause was lost. The Company would triumph.
+
+As he entered the hotel his eyes, searching eagerly for his
+employer, fell first on James Greenfield. With a movement wholly
+involuntary the hand of the overwrought desert man came to rest on
+his hip close to the heavy Colt's forty-five. Then he saw Jefferson
+Worth and Willard Holmes moving towards him.
+
+When a man feels himself hard-pressed in a fight and is struggling
+desperately to hold his ground, he has small thought for the
+trifling courtesies demanded by custom. Without returning the
+greetings of the two men and instinctively drawing apart from
+Holmes, the surveyor shot a single question at his employer. "Have
+you got it?"
+
+"Everything is all right," answered Jefferson Worth, and with his
+words something of his calm confidence went to Abe Lee.
+
+When the two men reached Worth's apartment the surveyor, without
+hesitation, began stripping off his clothes. "I want a good bath
+first," he said. "And while I am at it will you please have a good
+thick beefsteak cooked rare and sent up here? Then I'll sleep for a
+couple of hours. That buckskin of Texas Joe's is standing in from of
+the hotel. He's about all in. I wish that you would see that he is
+cared for."
+
+As he finished speaking the tall lean figure of the surveyor
+disappeared through the bath room door. Mr. Worth sent the order for
+his superintendent's supper to the cook with a sum of money that
+insured immediate and careful attention. Then with his own hands he
+led the buckskin horse to a barn where the animal would have the
+care he had so well earned.
+
+When Mr. Worth returned to the hotel he opened the door of his room
+softly. There was a tray of empty dishes on the table, an odor of
+cigarette smoke in the atmosphere, and in his employer's bed the
+surveyor, sound asleep. Abe Lee understood the value of every moment
+even in taking rest.
+
+Two hours later Mr. Worth, going again to his room, found that the
+surveyor had just finished dressing. With a smile the financier
+handed Abe a slip of yellow paper. It was a message from Barbara
+saying that so far all was well at home, and concluded with the
+words: "Love to Abe."
+
+Without a word Abe turned away to buckle about his hips the broad
+cartridge belt with its worn holster and his big black gun. But
+Barbara's father did not see him slip the bit of yellow paper into
+the pocket of his blue flannel shirt.
+
+Then Mr. Worth gave the surveyor a black leather bill-book stuffed
+to its utmost capacity and secured with rubber bands. "Here it is,"
+he said.
+
+Abe stored the package in an inner pocket of his khaki coat and was
+ready.
+
+At the barn they found Willard Holmes waiting with two horses. The
+engineer wore a new belt, holster and revolver. When he had greeted
+them he said: "Well, are we all ready? I have a lunch here. Is there
+anything else?"
+
+Abe looked at him questioningly and turned to Mr. Worth.
+
+"Mr. Holmes is going back with you," said the banker.
+
+For an instant the surveyor hesitated. But something in his
+employer's tone caused him to withhold any objection, and with no
+comment he turned to inspect the horses. The animals were of the
+same tough breed as the buckskin. "They're all right, are they?" Abe
+asked of the liveryman.
+
+"You can see for yourself," came the answer. "You know the kind.
+The' ain't nothin' can outlast 'em, an' Mr. Worth said that was what
+he wanted."
+
+"We will need one feed apiece," said Abe. "Put it in two sacks, you
+know."
+
+"Sure," returned the man. "I'd a-had it ready but this here
+gentleman didn't tell me."
+
+While the liveryman was preparing the grain Abe examined saddles and
+cinches. "Are your stirrups right?" he asked Holmes.
+
+"I think so."
+
+"You'd better know. We don't want to stop to monkey around in the
+dark."
+
+The barn man grinned, with a wink at the surveyor, as the engineer
+decided, after trying, that he had better shorten the straps a hole.
+Abe silently assisted him in adjusting them. Then--swinging into his
+saddle--the surveyor said to his employer as the horses moved ahead:
+"Good-by, sir. Wire little sister that I'm coming."
+
+Along the lighted city streets they rode at a pace that seemed to
+Willard Holmes more fitting for ladies' gentle exercise than for two
+men bound on an errand against time. The eastern man urged his horse
+ahead, but his companion held back and Holmes was forced to check
+his speed and wait for the other to come up with him. To the
+engineer's attempts at conversation the other answered only in
+monosyllables or not at all.
+
+There had been no opportunity for Mr. Worth to explain to Abe the
+engineer's part in helping him to secure the money from Cartwright
+and the consequent discharge of Holmes by Greenfield. To the
+surveyor's mind his companion belonged to the enemy. He could not
+understand why--with the victory or defeat of Jefferson Worth in his
+fight with the Company hanging upon his superintendent's mission--
+the Company's chief engineer should volunteer to accompany him. The
+presence of Greenfield and Holmes in San Felipe, the action of the
+banks controlled by the Company, made it clear to Abe that they
+understood the dangerous situation of Mr. Worth and his urgent need
+of immediate relief. The Company had everything to gain if the
+arrival of the money at the scene of the strike could be delayed
+even for a few hours. But Abe had seen that it was Jefferson Worth's
+wish that Holmes go with him and the surveyor could not, in the
+presence of Holmes, discuss the question.
+
+On his part Holmes felt the antagonism of his silent companion but
+could not guess the reason, while Abe's attitude of aloofness
+prevented the engineer from making any explanation. He told himself
+that the surveyor was naturally over-wrought with the mental and
+physical strain of his long ride, and that later, at some more
+opportune time, when they halted for lunch and rest perhaps, they
+would come to a more agreeable spirit of companionship.
+
+But he could not content himself with the slow pace when there was
+such evident need of haste. It was all a mistake, he thought, for
+the man already wearied to undertake the return trip. A fresh rider
+was as necessary as a fresh horse. The surveyor was evidently too
+exhausted to push on at the necessary speed and Holmes felt that it
+fell upon him to set the pace and thus force his companion to the
+exertion required. So he continued urging his horse ahead while
+Abe's mount, held back by his rider, tugged at the reins and grew
+restless, and the horse of Holmes, now started sharply forward, now
+pulled down almost to a standstill, became equally uneasy. So they
+rode out of the city beyond the lights and movement of the streets
+into the stillness and the darkness of the night.
+
+At last as Holmes again touched his horse with the spur, making him
+bound several lengths ahead, and again pulled him down waiting for
+Abe to overtake him, the western man broke the long silence. "You'll
+have to quit that, Mr. Holmes," he said somewhat sharply.
+
+The engineer did not understand. "Quit what?"
+
+"Breaking ahead like that. I'll set the pace for this trip."
+
+"You don't seem to be in any hurry," retorted Holmes, nettled by the
+surveyor's tone.
+
+"I ain't. Not in that kind of a hurry."
+
+"But look here, Abe. Don't you know that Mr. Worth expects us to
+make the trip in the shortest possible time? We've got to get that
+money into Republic to-morrow evening, and before if we can. There
+is too much at stake to poke along like this."
+
+Abe reflected. The Company man certainly understood the situation.
+Aloud he said: "I think I know what Jefferson Worth wants, Mr.
+Holmes, and I reckon you'll have to trust me to carry out his
+wishes. I know the distance; I know this road; and I know horse
+flesh a little. At the rate you're trying to go you'll be afoot
+before noon to-morrow. You can ride your own horse down if you want
+to, but you can't hinder me by fretting mine into unnecessary
+exertion. He'll need every ounce of his strength and I'm going to
+see that he doesn't waste any of it. Either push ahead out of sight
+and hearing as fast as you please, or turn back; but if you ride
+with me you'll quit this monkey business and ride quietly at the
+gait I set."
+
+Willard Holmes instantly saw the force of the western man's words.
+"I beg your pardon, Lee," he said. "Of course you know best. I'm so
+anxious over this business that I'm acting like a fool."
+
+After that companionship was a little easier, but under the
+circumstances the one topic most on the mind of each was carefully
+avoided. At midnight they stopped at the crossing of a stream to
+water and feed, and Abe showed his companion how to make a nosebag
+out of the sack in which his grain was carried.
+
+Daybreak found them in the foothills. At the ranch where Abe had
+been accommodated the morning before they again halted for
+breakfast. With another feed for the horses tied behind their
+saddles, they began the long climb of the western slope of the
+mountains and about four o'clock in the afternoon had crossed over
+the summit and reached the spring at the head of Devil's Canyon--the
+last water they would find until they reached Wolf Wells in the
+desert.
+
+When they dismounted at the watering place some two hundred yards
+off the trail, the surveyor, after slipping the bit from his horse's
+mouth and loosening the saddle girth, moved slowly about the little
+glen, his eyes on the ground. Holmes, standing by the horses which
+had their muzzles deep in the cool water, watched his companion
+wearily. "Lost something?" he asked, as Abe continued moving
+cautiously about.
+
+"Not yet," came the laconic reply.
+
+"Well, what the deuce are you looking for then?"
+
+Abe, coming back to arrange the feed for his horse, looked closely
+at his companion but made no answer.
+
+When the two men had thrown themselves on the grass to eat their
+lunch the surveyor, between bites of his sandwich, carefully scanned
+the mountain side and the mouth of the canyon below. Suddenly
+reaching out his hand he picked up a burnt cigarette butt and
+regarded it intently, while the engineer watched him with curious,
+amused interest.
+
+"What the deuce is the matter, Abe? You act like one of Cooper's
+Leather-Stocking heroes. What's the matter with that cigarette
+stub?"
+
+The man of the desert, knowing nothing of Cooper, did not smile but
+answered shortly, eyeing the engineer as he spoke: "It ain't dry.
+There was a party at this watering place not more than three hours
+ago."
+
+"Well, what of it? This is government property. Probably somebody
+ahead of us going into the new country to locate."
+
+"There's been nobody ahead of us all day."
+
+"How do you know that?"
+
+Abe shrugged his shoulders. "How do I know that a party of five or
+six watered here since noon?"
+
+"Perhaps it's someone going out."
+
+"Did we meet anyone? This is the only trail."
+
+"Well, maybe it was a party of prospectors or hunters. They would
+not follow the road."
+
+"They would have pack burros or mules. Nothing but horses in this
+bunch. They----" The surveyor turned his head quickly to look up the
+hill. His ear had caught the sound of a horse's feet on the mountain
+road above.
+
+Holmes, looking also, saw a horseman ride leisurely around the turn
+and down the grade toward the canyon. Silently they watched and as
+the newcomer came nearer they saw that he was a Mexican. When the
+traveler reached the point where he should have turned aside to the
+water he did not pause but jogged steadily past. "By George!"
+exclaimed Holmes, "I believe that's one of our greasers from the
+outfit in Number Eight."
+
+"I know it is," said Abe. "Perhaps you can make a guess as to what
+he's doing here and why he didn't stop for water." As the surveyor
+spoke he was rolling a cigarette, and from the cloud of smoke he
+watched the Mexican ride down the mountain side and disappear
+between the narrow walls of Devil's Canyon.
+
+"I'm sure I don't know what he's doing. He seems to be going toward
+the desert. There might be a hundred different reasons why he should
+have been out somewhere."
+
+"There's only one reason why he didn't stop for water at this
+place."
+
+"What's that?"
+
+"He had already watered."
+
+"But there has been no chance for miles back!"
+
+"He watered here."
+
+Holmes spoke sharply. Abe's manner irritated him. "I don't see how
+you know."
+
+"Because this is the only water for twenty miles going either way."
+
+"But you said you thought there was a party of five or six."
+
+"I know there are five or six."
+
+"Where are the others, then, if this man was one of the party?"
+
+"I don't know exactly where they are, but I can guess."
+
+By this time Willard Holmes had come to see that to his companion
+there was a great deal more in the common-place incident than the
+surveyor chose to put into words. Abe, throwing away his cigarette
+and rolling another with his long-practiced fingers, seemed to be
+striving to arrive at some conclusion about something that to the
+engineer was all very much in the dark.
+
+Aggravated by the reticence of his companion, Holmes burst forth
+with: "For heaven's sake! Abe, open up. What's on your mind? What's
+the matter anyway? What's all this about?"
+
+Abe faced the engineer with a straight, hard look. "Don't you know
+what it's all about?"
+
+"So far as I can see it's all about nothing at all. Tell me."
+
+"Well, Mr. Holmes, I will. But I'm not sure yet that it will be news
+to you. The rest of the gang that watered here is down in Devil's
+Canyon waiting for us. They were here something like three hours
+ago. After watering, one of them went on over the ridge to watch for
+us and the others went back down the canyon. They knew that we would
+stop here to feed and water and that the lookout could jog along
+past, apparently minding his own business, and tell 'em that we were
+coming."
+
+"You mean it's a hold-up?" cried Holmes, in some excitement.
+
+"That's what I would call it. Your Company would probably call it
+intercepting Mr. Worth's messenger."
+
+"The Company? What has the Company to do with it?"
+
+"Greenfield and you were in San Felipe. You knew what I went after.
+You know that the chances are big that Jefferson Worth will go to
+smash if I don't make it to Republic to-night, and that greaser is a
+Company man."
+
+In a flash Holmes saw the whole situation from his companion's point
+of view and understood the surveyor's suspicions. At the same time
+the engineer realized that it was now too late for him to explain
+his presence or that he was no longer connected with the Company. In
+his perplexity and chagrin and in the suddenness of it all he said
+the worst thing possible. "Well, what are you going to do about it?"
+
+Abe's voice was hard. "I'm not going to take any fool chances. This
+may be a plain ordinary case of hold-up or it may be a job framed up
+by the Company simply to delay me. It's all the same to me, but this
+money goes to Republic to-night. Sabe that?"
+
+The other would have spoken but Abe interrupted.
+
+"We've palavered long enough, Mr. Holmes. The horses have finished
+their feed and it's time to start."
+
+When they were mounted the surveyor said shortly: "Now, sir, you
+just ride ahead and you ride slow until I give the word--then you go
+like hell. If you lift a hand to signal or make any mistakes like
+stopping to fix your saddle girth or checking up to speak to that
+bunch or turning 'round, I get you first and you can't afford to
+have any hazy notions about my not wanting to kill you because
+you're from New York. If you're square you can make good on those
+Company greasers down there and I'll apologize afterwards. If you're
+in this deal with your damned Company, you'll stop drawing your
+salary right here and there won't be any funeral expenses for them
+to pay either! Go ahead."
+
+"Just a word first," and Abe saw that the engineer was as cool as a
+veteran. "Granting that you are right about that crowd being down
+there to stop us, if anything should happen to you tell me how to
+get into Republic with the money. You will be taking no chances with
+that at least."
+
+"Follow the trail to the telephone line. You know it from there.
+There's water at Wolf Wells. Give your horse a drink but don't wait
+to rest. You can push him from now on as hard as you like. You
+should make it to Republic in six hours from here. Give the money to
+Miss Worth. Anything else?"
+
+Holmes replied by turning in his saddle and moving ahead. Abe
+followed, his horse's nose even with the flank of the animal in the
+lead.
+
+Easily they jogged ahead down the grade toward the narrow throat of
+the canyon. A hundred yards from where two points of jutting rock in
+the walls of the mountain hallway leave an opening not more than
+fifty feet wide, Holmes, with the slightest turn of his head, spoke,
+over his shoulder. "I see a man's face looking around that point of
+rock on the right."
+
+"Be ready when I give the word."
+
+"Won't they pot us?"
+
+"Not if they can get the drop. They'll turn us loose on the desert."
+
+"Shall I shoot?"
+
+Behind the engineer's back Abe smiled grimly. "When they halt us and
+I give the word, cut loose if you want to. I'll take all on the
+left."
+
+The distance lessened to a hundred feet.
+
+Suddenly from the left three mounted Mexicans pushed into the road
+and from the right two more.
+
+Even as they threw up their guns and called: "Alto--Halt!" Abe gave
+the word:
+
+"Now!"
+
+The two white men drove their spurs deep into their horses' flanks,
+throwing themselves forward in their saddles with the same motion.
+With mad plunges the animals leaped toward the highwaymen. Even as
+he spoke Abe's gun had cracked thrice in quick succession--the
+Mexicans firing at about the same instant. Two of the horsemen on
+the left went down and the surveyor reeled almost out of his saddle.
+But Holmes did not see. His own revolver barked a prompt second to
+Abe's, and on his side a Mexican went over clutching at his saddle
+horn. The horses of the Mexicans were rearing and plunging. The
+quick reports of the revolvers echoed viciously from the rocky
+walls.
+
+But the white men went through. Down the rocky hallway they raced,
+side by side now, as hard as their maddened horses could run. A
+moment to slip fresh cartridges into his cylinder and Holmes cried
+to his companion: "Good stuff, old man! Go on; I'll hold 'em." And
+before Abe could grasp his purpose he had jerked his horse to his
+haunches and, wheeling, faced back up the canyon and disappeared
+around a turn.
+
+Even as the surveyor was trying to check his own horse--a tough-
+mouthed brute--another rattling volley of revolver shots echoed down
+the canyon. By the time Abe had succeeded in turning his stubborn
+mount Holmes re-appeared.
+
+"All over!" the engineer sang out, as his companion wheeled again
+and rode beside him. "Two of 'em were coming after us. I got one and
+the other turned tail." He winced with pain as he spoke. "They
+presented me with a little souvenir, though."
+
+Abe saw that his left arm was swinging loosely. "You are hurt," he
+said sharply, reining up his horse. "Where is it?"
+
+"Here, in my shoulder. It don't amount to anything. Let's get on to
+water and I'll fix it up." With the word the engineer, whose mount
+had also stopped, started ahead. The horse went a few steps and
+stumbled--struggled to regain his feet--staggered weakly a few steps
+farther--stumbled again--and went down. As he fell Holmes sprang
+clear. The animal raised his head, made another attempt to rise and
+dropped back. Another bullet from the last encounter had found a
+mark.
+
+The dismounted engineer, who stood as if dazed, staring at his dead
+horse, was aroused by the voice of Abe Lee. "It looks like we'd got
+all that was coming to us this trip."
+
+At his companion's tone Holmes looked up quickly. The surveyor's
+lips were white and his face was drawn with pain.
+
+The man on the ground sprang toward him with a startled exclamation.
+"You too; Abe! Where is it?"
+
+"My leg, on the other side."
+
+Quickly the engineer went around Lee's horse to find the leg of the
+surveyor's khaki trousers darkly stained with blood. "Get down," he
+commanded and, reaching with his uninjured arm, almost lifted his
+companion from the saddle. An examination revealed an ugly hole in
+the surveyor's thigh. With handkerchiefs and some strips cut from
+the engineer's coat they dressed their wounds as best they could.
+When they had finished, Holmes straightened up and looked around.
+Behind them was the bold mountain wall, grim and forbidding; on
+either hand the dry, barren Mesa; and ahead the miles and miles of
+desert.
+
+As if in answer to his thoughts the man on the ground said grimly:
+"This is hell now, ain't it? Mr. Holmes, I'll make that apology. If
+you please, would you mind shaking hands with me?"
+
+Willard Holmes grasped the out-stretched hand cordially. "You did
+just right, old man. It was the only thing you could do. But I want
+to tell you quick, before anything else happens, that I'm not a
+Company man any more."
+
+"Not a Company man?'
+
+"Greenfield fired me because I helped Jefferson Worth to interest
+the capitalist who is furnishing him the money he needs."
+
+For a moment Abe Lee looked at the engineer in silence; then his
+pale lips twisted into a smile. "Mr. Holmes, would you mind shaking
+hands again?"
+
+With a laugh the engineer once more held out his hand. Then he asked
+seriously: "How are we going to get out of this, Abe?"
+
+The smile was already gone from the surveyor's face. He answered
+slowly, with dogged determination in his voice. "We've got to get
+this money to Republic to-night. It's the only thing that will stop
+those cholos and Cocopahs. We'll make it to water together, then you
+can go on. Help me up!"
+
+With the engineer's assistance Abe managed to gain his seat in the
+saddle, Holmes mounting behind, and thus they made their way down
+into the Basin and to Wolf Wells.
+
+[Illustration: "Adios. Tell Barbara I'm all right"]
+
+There Holmes helped his companion from the horse and to the shade of
+a mesquite tree near the water hole, where he stood over him as he
+lay on the ground, protesting vigorously against leaving him alone
+in the desert. But the surveyor argued him down. "I couldn't
+possibly make it if we had another horse," he said. "I'm down and
+out. There'll be hell to pay in Republic to-night, even if the boys
+have held them off this long. The money's got to get there this
+evening. You can reach there by ten o'clock and send a wagon back
+for me. Don't you see there's no other way?" He held out the black
+leather bill-book with the rubber bands. "Here, take this and go on.
+Go on, man! What's a night in the desert to me?"
+
+"But those greasers may come this way."
+
+"They won't. But if they should I have my gun, haven't I, and I'll
+see them before they see me. Go on, I tell you. We've lost too much
+time already. Think of that mob and Barbara. You've got to go,
+Holmes."
+
+The engineer turned towards his horse. "Good-by, old man."
+
+"Adios. Tell Barbara I'm all right."
+
+Abe Lee watched the loping horse grow smaller and smaller in the
+distance, then watched the cloud of dust that lifted from the trail
+to hang all golden in the last of the light. Turning he saw the
+summit of the mountain wall sharply defined against the sky. With a
+groan his form relaxed. He closed his eyes. He was indeed down and
+out.
+
+The desert night fell softly over the wide, thirsty plain. The
+snarling coyote chorus came out of the gloom. Out there Willard
+Holmes was riding--riding--riding--along the old San Felipe trail.
+Away over there, somewhere under those stars, Barbara was waiting
+his return. He remembered her parting words and how he had failed to
+find in her eyes that which he had longed to see. He felt for the
+paper in the pocket of his shirt: "Love to Abe." She would never
+have sent that message had her love been other than it was. Abe Lee,
+born and reared in the desert, was not the kind of man to deceive
+himself. For his work and for the woman whose life was so strangely
+and closely bound up with it he had given the utmost limit of his
+strength. And now another man would finish the ride and go to her
+with the prize. Not that it would make any difference to Barbara,
+but somehow it mattered a great deal to Abe.
+
+Willard Holmes, who in spite of his splendid strength had not the
+desert man's powers of endurance, clung grimly to one thought--the
+money must go to Republic. The steady rhythm of his horse's feet
+seemed to beat out the word: "Barbara! Barbara! Barbara!"
+
+The trying scene with Greenfield, the long hard hours in the saddle,
+the excitement of the fight in the canyon, with his anxiety for his
+wounded companion left alone in the desert, were almost too much.
+Could he hold out? Could he make it? He _must_.
+
+The engineer held his seat with the strength of desperation. He
+_must!_ The money must go to Republic that night--to Barbara!
+Barbara! Barbara! The horse's feet seemed to have beaten out the
+word for ages. For ages he had been riding--riding--riding towards
+some point out there ahead in the desert night.
+
+The engineer knew now what it was that called him back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+MANANA! MANANA! TO-MORROW! TO-MORROW!
+
+
+The night when Abe Lee started on his ride from Republic to San
+Felipe passed quietly in the little desert town. Texas and Pat with
+a few faithful white men guarded the Worth property lest, in some
+way, the news that Worth would be unable to pay as his
+superintendent had promised should get out and precipitate a crisis.
+But the strikers continued to enjoy peacefully their holiday,
+looking forward to the morrow when they would be enriched with
+nearly two months' pay. When the morrow came the laborers, their
+dark faces beaming with childish happiness, gathered early in front
+of Jefferson Worth's office. Texas and Pat, with the men of the
+office force who had been up all night, were sleeping, for another
+night of guard duty was before them.
+
+When it was ten o'clock and no one had arrived at the office, the
+crowd of laborers began to show signs of growing impatience. Then
+someone recalled seeing Abe riding on the buckskin horse toward the
+south and suspicion grew. At last a few of the more intelligent went
+in a body to the bank.
+
+"We come to see you about money. You sabe about money?"
+
+"What money is that?" asked the man behind the window shortly.
+
+"Our money for work on railroad. Senor Worth was to pay. El
+Superintendente say pay to-day sure. He no come. You sabe?"
+
+"I sabe that Worth won't pay."
+
+"No?"
+
+"No. He has no money here."
+
+The Mexicans exchanged glances. "No money? You are quite sure,
+Senor?"
+
+"Sure."
+
+"Gracias, Senor. Adios!"
+
+It was a dangerous crowd that filled the streets of Republic that
+afternoon and evening, and all through the night that followed the
+friends of Jefferson Worth expected every hour the fulfillment of
+the strikers' threats. Soon after breakfast, which Pat and Tex
+shared with Barbara, the message came from Mr. Worth telling them
+that Abe was on his way home with the money.
+
+Again the men were told that they would receive their pay on the
+morrow, but this time the announcement was received with black
+scowls and muttered curses of disbelief. "They make us damn fools,
+one time. How we know this time not the same?" asked one of the
+leaders, speaking for the crowd. "Mebbe, Senor Tex, you not know.
+Mebbe they fool you like us. We get money this day, we glad--go
+work. We no get money by this night--" an expressive shrug of the
+shoulders finished the sentence.
+
+The attitude of the citizens of Republic was one of angry
+indifference. They were angry both with Jefferson Worth and the
+strikers because the trouble was unsettling and harmful to the best
+interests of all the business in the town and to some degree turned
+the inflowing stream of settlers and investors towards other points
+of the new country. They were indifferent because of that underlying
+conviction, brought about by mysteriously authoritative rumors and
+whispered statements from supposed inside sources, that the cause of
+the trouble was a fight between Jefferson Worth and the Company.
+Whether capitalists rise or capitalists fall is always a matter of
+indifference to all who are not themselves of the capitalist class.
+For capital continues its mastery of them just the same. No one
+doubted that the railroad would be finished whether Jefferson Worth
+failed or not. Horace P. Blanton was not backward in expressing the
+popular feeling, and the popular feeling often expressed grows ever
+more popular.
+
+Toward the end of the afternoon Pablo, who had been mingling with
+his countrymen all day, came to "headquarters" to report. The
+strikers were planning to attack their employer's property that
+night. Pablo was certain that the mob would go first to the power
+plant and the adjoining buildings.
+
+No help was to be had from the citizens and, save for the few white
+men in Mr. Worth's employ who had been made to understand the
+situation and the reason for the delay, Tex and Pat were alone. They
+knew that there was small chance of Abe's arrival until well toward
+midnight. For a little they considered the situation.
+
+Then the old frontiersman spoke. "Hit stands to reason that Pablo
+here is right an' that the stampede will head toward the works
+first, an' they'll all go together. They ain't a-comin' here 'til
+later, after they've made their biggest play. Now Pablo, you listen.
+Get two horses--sabe, two--one for Ynez and one for yourself, and
+have them with El Capitan for La Senorita ready by the back door.
+You watch. If Senor Lee comes, tell him quick to go to the power
+house. If the men come, take the women on the horses and get out of
+the way. You understand?"
+
+"Si, Senor. I will care for La Senorita."
+
+Texas Joe turned to Barbara. "I don't reckon they'll get here at
+all, for I bank on Pat an' me fixin' somethin' to interest 'em until
+Abe gets here. But it's best to be fixed for what you ain't
+expectin'. You'll be a heap better off with Pablo anywhere away from
+here if they should come this way."
+
+When the night fell, Texas and Pat went to the scene of the expected
+trouble and Barbara was left with Pablo. The Mexican prepared the
+horses as Texas had instructed and then took up his position by the
+front gate, proud and happy that they had so honored him--that they
+had trusted him to guard his employer's daughter. The darkness
+deepened. Watchful, alert--Pablo strove to see into the gloom and
+listened to catch the first sound of approaching friend or enemy.
+The white men should learn that he could protect La Senorita--La
+Senorita who, in Rubio City, had been to him an angel of mercy when
+he was lying injured--La Senorita, whom they all loved.
+
+Behind him the door of the house opened, letting out a flood of
+light; then closed. In the darkness a voice called softly: "Pablo,
+are you there?"
+
+"Si, Senorita. You want me?"
+
+Barbara came quickly down the walk to his side. "It's so lonely and
+still in the house, Pablo; may I stay out here a little with you? We
+can both watch."
+
+Surely La Senorita could stay. Why not? Pablo was to protect her,
+not to keep her a prisoner.
+
+She laughed quietly. "I believe you would do anything for me,
+Pablo."
+
+"I would protect La Senorita with my life," he answered simply.
+
+"I believe you would, Pablo; and so would Tex and Pat and Abe. You
+are all so good to me and I--I feel so good for nothing--so
+useless."
+
+In the darkness the musical voice of Pablo answered: "Our love for
+La Senorita is so great. It is like the desert in the gentle
+moonlight, so big and wide. It is like the soft night under the
+stars, so deep. Everybody so loves La Senorita, and anyone loved
+that way cannot be what you say--good for nothing. Sometime men love
+like the sun on the desert in day time--fierce and hot, and that is
+different; that makes sometimes trouble--sometime make men kill. It
+is not good, La Senorita, but it is so."
+
+They heard a galloping horse coming nearer and nearer. Barbara
+touched her companion's arm and Pablo laid a hand on his revolver.
+Was it Abe? Was it someone to say that the mob was coming?
+
+The horse and rider passed and the sound of their going died away in
+the stillness of the night.
+
+"Pablo, what time will they go to the power house?"
+
+"Any time now, Senorita."
+
+Barbara spoke quickly--eagerly now. "Are there not a good many of
+your countrymen from Rubio City among them, Pablo?"
+
+"Si, Senorita."
+
+"And do they--do they remember me?"
+
+"Surely no one who lived in Rubio City could forget La Senorita, who
+was so kind to the poor."
+
+"Then, Pablo, I have a plan to help. I did not tell Texas and Pat,
+but Ynez is not in the house. I sent her away this evening to stay
+with a friend on the other side of town."
+
+"Si, Senorita." The soft voice was perplexed and troubled.
+
+"Pablo, I am going to the power house to help."
+
+"No, no, Senorita; it cannot be."
+
+"Yes, Pablo, I must."
+
+"But, Senorita, that is not right."
+
+"You will go with me, Pablo--and no one will harm me."
+
+"But if Senor Lee comes?"
+
+"When he finds no one here he will understand and go to us."
+
+"No, no, Senorita; you must not! The father--Senor Texas, and Pat--
+they will kill me. La Senorita does not want Pablo to be hurt."
+
+"Why Pablo, no one can blame you, and don't you see that I must do
+what I can? Come; we are losing time. We must not be too late. You
+get the horses."
+
+She went quickly into the house and when she came out again the
+Mexican, still protesting, held the horses ready.
+
+At the power house Texas and Pat sat just inside the main entrance.
+In the big room beyond them the great dynamos that furnished
+electricity to all the towns for lights and supplied the ice plant,
+the shops and every enterprise needing it throughout the Basin with
+power, hummed and sang their monotonous song of industry. In front
+of the building a large arc light made the immediate vicinity as
+bright as day. On every side of all the buildings in the group where
+the little handful of white men stood guard, similar lights had been
+placed by Abe at the beginning of the trouble.
+
+"Howly Mither, wud ye look at that?" came from Pat as Barbara,
+followed by Pablo, rode into the circle of light. With an oath from
+Texas Joe the two men ran forward, and as they came up to the riders
+the Irishman cried: "Fwhat the hell are ye doin' here? Fwhat's the
+matter? Did thim divils go to the house first, or are ye crazy?"
+
+With a laugh Barbara dismounted and, telling Pablo to tie the horses
+to the hitch rack a short distance away, faced the astonished men.
+"There's nothing wrong at the house, but I knew you must be lonesome
+here so I came to see you. You don't seem a bit glad to see me!"
+
+"Mither av Gawd!" groaned the Irishman.
+
+Texas called to Pablo. "Bring those horses back here."
+
+"Pablo," called Barbara, "do as I told you."
+
+The Mexican leading the horses moved on toward the hitching place.
+Texas scratched his head in a puzzled way, while Pat grinned. "Will
+ye roll that in yer cigarette an' shmoke it, Uncle Tex?"
+
+"I'll have to take a shot at that fool greaser for this," returned
+Texas.
+
+"You'll do no such thing," declared the young woman. "You know he
+couldn't help himself."
+
+"Be the Powers, ut's us that should know that same!"
+
+"But honey, you can't stay here. There's goin' to be trouble--real
+trouble."
+
+"I know it, Uncle Tex, that's why I came to help."
+
+"To help!" The two men looked at her in amazement.
+
+Before they could find words for a question Pablo came running back
+to them: "They're coming, Senorita! Senor Tex! They're coming!"
+
+He was right. Texas Joe caught Barbara by the arm and with the three
+men she ran into the building just as the crowd of Mexican and
+Indian laborers reached the outer edge of the lighted space.
+
+While still in the shadow of the night the crowd halted and the
+watchers in the buildings could see them across the broad belt of
+light--a stirring, restless mass of men, shadowy and indistinct. Now
+and then a single figure in the white canvas jumper, trousers and
+wide sombrero of the Mexicans, or wearing the blue overalls and
+black shirt decorated with many brightly colored ribbons and the
+green, yellow or orange head cloth of the Indians, would detach
+itself from the main company and--coming nearer--would stand out
+with sudden startling clearness, disappearing again as suddenly in
+the dark mass as it again moved farther away.
+
+Here and there in the confusion of dusky moving forms a face would
+appear as someone, looking up at the electric light caught its rays
+full upon his swarthy features; or the watchers would catch the
+gleam and flash from a weapon, a belt buckle or an ornament as the
+mob of men moved uneasily about. Still farther away the restless,
+stirring mass was dissolved in the darkness of the night.
+
+"They're palaverin' about the lights," said Texas to his companions.
+"Can't jest figure the deal under Abe's illumination. They're all
+plumb anxious, but they's nobody wishful to make himself
+conspicuous."
+
+"Oh, why doesn't Abe come; why doesn't he come?" exclaimed Barbara.
+
+"Av the saints will only kape thim cholos considerin', the lad may
+git here yet."
+
+Even as the Irishman spoke the crowd, seemingly agreeing upon a
+plan, moved forward slowly in a body. When they were well within the
+lighted space Texas drawled: "Right here's where I feel moved to
+address the meetin'," and throwing open the door he stepped out upon
+the platform, which was built to the height of a wagon-bed above the
+level of the ground with steps at each end.
+
+Standing thus in the bright light of the arc that sputtered over his
+head, he was seen instantly by every eye in the crowd. As if by
+command they halted, standing motionless, their dark faces turned
+toward the old plainsman.
+
+Texas spoke in their own tongue. "Good evening, men. Why do you come
+here at this time of the night? What do you want?"
+
+There was an angry shifting to and fro in the mass of men, and a
+Mexican standing well to the front answered: "What should we want,
+Senor Texas, but our pay? We have worked four--five--seven weeks
+without money. We must have money to buy food--clothes--tobacco."
+
+"Do not the commissaries in the camps supply you with all that you
+need? Surely you can wait a few hours longer. To-morrow you will be
+paid every cent."
+
+"Manana, manana; always to-morrow! The superintendent promised other
+time--'to-morrow.' The superintendent lied. Now we will not wait for
+to-morrow."
+
+Cries of approval greeted the bold speech.
+
+"But we cannot pay you to-night. We have not the money here."
+
+"That is too bad for Senor Worth, then. If he cannot pay he should
+have told us so that we could work for the Company. The Company can
+pay!"
+
+"But Mr. Worth will pay to-morrow morning."
+
+A chorus of angry, jeering yells greeted this repeated promise, with
+cries of "Pronto!", "Esta dia!", and "No manana!"--"Now!", "To-
+day!", and "Not to-morrow!" The movement toward the building began
+again.
+
+Instantly the arms of the man on the platform were extended and the
+mob saw in each hand the familiar Colt's forty-five of the old time
+West.
+
+The forward movement was checked.
+
+"Men!" cried Texas, in his deliberate way, "you cannot come any
+nearer these buildings. There are Americans here--friends of Mr.
+Worth, who are ready to shoot when I give the word. I can kill
+twelve of you myself before you can get to this platform. Go away
+quietly and in the morning you will get your money. Come one step
+nearer this building and many of you will die."
+
+The moment was intense. A shot, a yell, a sudden movement would have
+precipitated a tragedy.
+
+In the full glare of the light against the blackness of the night,
+the crowd of dusky-faced, picturesque laborers hesitated. Standing
+on the platform under the arc that sputtered and sizzled--his back
+to the building--the single figure of Texas Joe was ready with
+menacing weapons. Behind the brick walls the handful of armed white
+men were waiting--watching. Miles away in the desert, Abe Lee was
+lying wounded and alone under the still stars, and somewhere in the
+night Willard Holmes, desperately holding his seat in the saddle,
+was forcing his already exhausted horse toward the end of his
+mission.
+
+As the muscles of a tiger work and twitch when the beast makes ready
+for its spring, a movement agitated the mob, and a low growling
+murmur came from the mass of men. Texas spoke sharply. "Ready, you
+fellows in there! If they start let them have it."
+
+The murmur swelled in volume into an angry, inarticulate roar. The
+movement increased. An instant more and it would launch the mob in a
+mad rush.
+
+Suddenly, as a beast checked in its spring, they were still and
+motionless.
+
+By the side of the old frontiersman on the platform under the light
+stood Barbara.
+
+"Let me speak to them, Tex."
+
+Without pausing for the astonished man to reply she spoke to the mob
+in Spanish, her voice rising clearly and sweetly.
+
+"Do you know me, friends?"
+
+From different points in the crowd came the answers.
+
+"Si, Senorita." "It is the daughter of Senor Worth." "Among the poor
+in Rubio City La Senorita was an angel of mercy."
+
+"I remember many of you," Barbara continued. "Over there I see Jose
+Gallegos, whose wife and baby were ill. How is the little family
+now, Jose? Manuel Cortes, do you remember when you were hurt by a
+wicked horse and I would come to see the wife and children? And
+Pablo Sanchez, do you know how long you were without work until with
+father's help I found a place for you? Francisco Gonzales, I helped
+you bury your mother and gave money to the priest that masses might
+be said for her soul. And you, Juan Arguello, and Francisco Montez--
+I remember you all, and I am glad to see you. But I am sorry that
+you come to destroy my father's buildings. Why do you wish to do
+that?"
+
+The Mexicans whom she called by name stirred uneasily but did not
+answer. Those who had known Barbara in Rubio City were few among the
+whole number of laborers, and to these others she was only the
+daughter of the man who was robbing them of their pay.
+
+The one who had so far acted as spokesman answered angrily. "Must we
+say again what we want? If you are, as they say, an angel of mercy,
+give us our money and we will go away."
+
+Cries of "Si, si!", "Bueno!", "Muy pronto!", "El Dinero," and "Give
+us our money!" arose on all sides.
+
+"You shall have your money to-morrow--every penny. Cannot you wait
+until to-morrow morning?"
+
+The impatient cries were louder now. "La Senorita also say 'manana.'
+All the rich say all time to the poor 'manana,' and manana never
+come. Give us our money now." The cries were increasing in volume as
+man after man joined in the chorus of threatening protest.
+
+White and trembling, Barbara realized that she could do nothing
+more. Texas said, in a low voice: "For God's sake, honey; get inside
+before they break loose! Go now! NOW!" His voice rose into a sharp
+command, and his steady hands again brought the deadly revolvers
+into position.
+
+The young woman reluctantly drew a step backward in obedience, then
+suddenly, with wide eyes staring over the crowd into the darkness
+beyond and extended hand pointing, she sprang forward to the very
+edge of the platform.
+
+"Texas! Texas! Look, he is coming! Abe is here!"
+
+Overcome with emotion she swayed and would have fallen, but Texas
+caught and steadied her. Every man in the crowd turned quickly
+toward the rear. A horseman, shadowy and indistinct beyond the
+circle of light, was riding toward them. As the newcomer pushed his
+horse nearer and they saw that it was Willard Holmes, Barbara
+uttered a cry and turned away, but the quick eye of Texas Joe had
+seen that the engineer's horse was staggering with exhaustion and
+that the man could scarcely keep his seat in the saddle.
+
+"Wait, honey," he said, delaying the young woman. "This may pan out
+yet."
+
+Barbara paused but did not turn toward the approaching engineer.
+Slowly Holmes forced his horse, reeking with sweat and dust, into
+the crowd that opened for him to pass and closed in behind him with
+excited exclamations as the men saw that the rider reeled in his
+saddle--his face haggard and drawn with pain and his useless left
+arm tied to his side.
+
+But Barbara still turned away her face.
+
+Coming so close that his leg almost touched the edge of the
+platform, the engineer--as though he saw no one but her--held out
+the black leather bill-book.
+
+"Miss Worth! Barbara!"
+
+With a cry she turned as the rider sank and would have fallen had
+not Texas, reaching out, lifted him bodily from the saddle to the
+platform where Holmes sank unconscious.
+
+Barbara, with wonder and horror in her face, stood as if turned to
+stone, while Pat and Pablo quickly carried the still form of the
+engineer into the building. Unable to move, the girl followed them
+with her eyes until Texas, who had caught up the leather bill-book,
+exclaimed with an oath: "Look, it's the money!"
+
+She looked at him as though she did not comprehend and he held the
+bundle of bills toward her. "It's the money, the money! You tell
+them!"
+
+Mechanically Barbara took the money and turned to the crowd that
+stood silently wondering what it all meant--waiting to learn whether
+the incident had anything to do with their pay.
+
+Under the powerful light she held up her two hands filled with
+bills. "Look!" she cried. "Look! Here is the money for your pay. My
+father sent it. Now will you believe?"
+
+Shouts and cheers of understanding burst from the crowd.
+
+"It is for you that it is here," continued the young woman. "Will
+you go away now and come back in the morning--each man for what is
+his?"
+
+"Si, si, Senorita! Gracias, Senorita!" Laughing, talking and
+gesticulating the crowd dissolved and moved away.
+
+Before the dispersing laborers had passed beyond the circle of light
+Barbara was kneeling beside Willard Holmes.
+
+And when they would have taken the engineer to the hotel Barbara
+said "No"; he must be taken to her home.
+
+Texas had just finished dressing with rude surgery the wound in the
+engineer's shoulder, and Barbara--standing by the bedside--was
+looking down into the still face when Holmes slowly came back to
+consciousness. His opening eyes looked up full into the brown eyes
+that regarded him so kindly. For a moment neither spoke, but a slow
+flush of color crept into the girl's face.
+
+By some strange freak of his half awakened intellectual faculties,
+Holmes was living over again the incident of his meeting Barbara on
+the desert the morning after her first arrival in Kingston. "Is it
+really you, or is it some new trick of this confounded desert?" he
+muttered. "I never saw a mirage like this before. I don't think the
+heat has affected my brain!"
+
+To Barbara the words had the effect of suddenly blotting out all
+that had come between them and of putting them both back again to
+the day when they had "started square." So she answered as she had
+answered then: "I assure you that I am very substantial"--and added
+softly, "and I am here to stay, too."
+
+"And you would never forgive one who was false to the work,"
+muttered the engineer, and with the words his mind caught at the
+suggestion of the power that had enabled him to keep his seat in the
+saddle through the seemingly endless hours of torture, and he
+remembered everything up to the moment when he had handed the money
+to Barbara.
+
+With an exclamation he tried to raise himself.
+
+"Don't do that. You must lie still, Mr. Holmes," said the young
+woman.
+
+Texas and Pat in an adjoining room heard and came quickly to
+Barbara's side.
+
+"I must get up, men!" cried Holmes appealingly, making another
+effort to raise himself. "We must go for Abe Lee. He's hurt--alone--
+out there in the desert. Why don't you move? Miss Worth, please--"
+
+Texas Joe quietly forced him back on his pillow. "You've got to take
+it easy for a little while, Mr. Holmes. Get a grip on yourself and
+tell us plain what happened. We'll move fast enough when we know
+which way to go."
+
+When Holmes had told them briefly the story of the fight in Devil's
+Canyon and how he had left Abe at Wolf Wells, Texas said: "Now Mr.
+Holmes, you just keep quiet right here. Barbara'll take care of you
+and we'll have Abe home before noon to-morrow. Also, we'll arrange
+for a little seance with them greasers what put you and Abe in this
+fix."
+
+An hour later a light spring wagon with four horses, accompanied by
+a party of five mounted men, moved swiftly out of Republic toward
+the south.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+BARBARA'S WAITIN' BREAKFAST FOR YOU.
+
+
+Alone on the desert, Abe Lee waited through the long, long hours of
+the night for the morning and relief.
+
+At times the wounded surveyor sank into half unconsciousness when he
+would again be riding--riding--riding, toward San Felipe that seemed
+almost so far away that he could never hope to reach the end of his
+journey. Again he would be at the hotel surrounded by a crowd of
+people, who stared at him curiously as the clerk explained that
+Jefferson Worth had never been there--that there was no money--no
+money--no money. At other times he would be fighting desperately
+with James Greenfield for the possession of a black leather bill-
+book secured with rubber bands, or--with the Company engineer--would
+face a crowd of Mexicans in Devil's Canyon in such numbers that he
+could not count them, but could only fight, and fight, and fight.
+Often Barbara came to plead with him to save her from some terrible
+danger, and when he would struggle to go a great weight held him
+down and he could not--and the brown eyes looked at him full of
+pleading reproach. Then he would curse and cry aloud as Willard
+Holmes came to take her away and he would watch the two riding into
+the distance through the green fields and orchards of a beautiful
+land, in their happiness forgetting him alone in the desert.
+
+At other times, fully conscious, he lay with aching body and that
+sharp pain in his leg, looking up at the stars, calculating the time
+and the distance Holmes had ridden since he left him--how long it
+would be until the engineer would reach Republic--wondering if Tex
+and Pat could hold the strikers or if already it was too late.
+
+Then again, when his mind would be losing its grip and slipping away
+into the land of half-dreams, the sounds made by some animal at the
+water hole or the fancied approach of the Mexicans would cause him
+to start into keen readiness, to listen and watch with straining
+sense and ready weapon. At last all knowledge of time left him. His
+exhausted nerves and muscles no longer responded to suggestions of
+danger, his brain refused to act. A soft, thick cloud of darkness
+that was not the darkness of the night settled down upon him,
+enveloped him, wrapped him as in a sable blanket of many folds--
+thicker and thicker, blacker and blacker. Feebly he struggled
+against it for a little, then with a sigh yielded and lay still.
+
+He did not see the stars pale and the thin streak of light above the
+eastern rim of the Basin widen into the morning. He did not see the
+hills, all rose and purple, develop magically against the sky. He
+did not see the sun burst into view from the world below the line of
+the dun plain and roll its flood of light over the wide desert. He
+knew nothing more until someone was forcing something between his
+lips and a grateful, stimulating warmth crept through his veins. A
+familiar voice drawled: "He ain't a-goin' out this time, boys. Hit
+takes more than one greaser bullet and a little ride to San Felipe
+an' back to send his kind over the line."
+
+And a rich Irish brogue responded: "Ut's thim black hathen that'll
+be goin' over the line in a bunch av I can git widin rache av thim
+wid me two hands."
+
+Abe opened his eyes with a smile. "Mornin' boys! Did Holmes make it
+in time?"
+
+An articulate yell of delight from Pat greeted his speech. The
+grizzled plainsman, with a smile of understanding, answered his
+question.
+
+"Sure he made it. Everything's as peaceful as the parson's blessin'
+after his discourse on the eternal fires of torment. Barbara's
+waitin' breakfast for you, son. Wake up, an' come along."
+
+The surveyor did not need to ask why Texas Joe had brought so large
+a party of mounted and armed friends. He gave Texas and his
+companions all the information he could that would help them in
+their search for the Mexicans.
+
+When they had made him as comfortable as possible on a cot in the
+spring wagon, with Pat beside him and Pablo on the driver's seat,
+the horsemen mounted and Texas riding alongside the wagon drawled:
+"There ain't no tellin' when we'll get back, Abe; but I don't reckon
+we'll be long an' there ain't no use me tellin' you to take things
+easy. So adios!"
+
+"Adios," came the answer, "and good luck!"
+
+Pablo spoke to his team and they moved ahead. For a moment the
+horsemen watched, then Tex spoke.
+
+"All set, boys?"
+
+"All set," came the answer.
+
+Wheeling about, the five men rode rapidly in the opposite direction
+towards Devil's Canyon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+BARBARA MINISTERS TO THE WOUNDED.
+
+
+Willard Holmes, after a few hours of refreshing sleep and a good
+breakfast prepared and served by his hostess with her own hands,
+announced himself as well as ever.
+
+"But you need some fixing just the same," declared Barbara as the
+Indian woman entered the room carrying warm water, towels and
+bandages. While the young woman bent over the engineer and with
+firm, deft fingers removed the wrappings from his shoulder,
+carefully cleansed the wound and applied fresh dressing and clean
+bandages, he watched her face, so near his own, and wondered that he
+had ever thought her plain. Her skin, warmly browned by desert sun
+and air, was fresh and glowing with the abundance of the rich red
+life in her veins; her brown hair, soft and wavy, tempted him to
+reach up his free hand and put back a rebellious lock. He moved
+slightly and the brown eyes, full of womanly pity, met his.
+
+"Does it hurt?"
+
+He smiled and shook his head. "Not at all. In fact I think I rather
+enjoy it."
+
+Her cheeks turned a deeper red and he felt her fingers tremble as
+she went on with her task.
+
+"If you laugh at me I shall turn you over to Ynez," she threatened,
+at which he promised so pitifully to be good that she smiled and he
+stirred again impatiently.
+
+"I _am_ hurting you!" she cried. "I'm so sorry, but I'm almost
+through--There now." She finished with a last touch and,
+straightening, put back herself that rebellious lock of hair.
+
+As she stood before him beautifully strong and pure and fresh and
+clean in mind and heart and body, her sweet personality, the spirit
+of her complete womanhood swept to him--appealing, calling,
+exhilarating, invigorating, strengthening, as he had often felt the
+early air of the sun-filled morning sweeping over mountain and mesa
+and desert plain.
+
+The man drew a long deep breath.
+
+"Tired?" she asked softly, looking down upon him with almost a
+mother's look in her eyes.
+
+"Heavens, no!" he exclaimed, his voice ringing out strongly. "I feel
+as though I had been made over, re-created."
+
+She laughed gladly.
+
+"Do you know," he asked earnestly, "how wonderful you are?"
+
+"Nonsense!" she retorted. "You are growing delirious. You must be
+quiet. I'm going to leave you alone for a little while now and you
+must sleep."
+
+She followed the Indian woman from the room and he heard her voice
+speaking in soft musical Spanish as they went.
+
+An hour later Barbara, moving quietly toward his room to see if he
+was asleep or wanted anything, found him fully dressed in a big easy
+chair in the living room.
+
+"Oh!" she exclaimed, in joyful surprise. "What are you doing out
+here? I thought I told you to sleep."
+
+"Your orders were inconsistent," he returned lazily. "You can't cure
+a patient and still continue treating him as if he were an invalid.
+I don't need sleep. I need--Bring your chair and sit over here and
+let me tell you what I need," he finished.
+
+She did not answer, but going to his room returned with a pillow,
+which she arranged deftly behind his head; then, kneeling, adjusted
+the foot rest of the reclining chair. "There; isn't that better?"
+
+"Bring your chair," he insisted.
+
+Again she left the room, returning this time with a bit of old soft
+muslin. Drawing her easy chair to a position facing him she seated
+herself and began converting the material in her hands into
+bandages. "The men will be here with Abe any time now," she
+explained. "I have everything ready except these."
+
+For a little while he watched her in silence as she tore the white
+cloth into long strips and rolled them neatly.
+
+"Don't you care to know what it is that I need?" he asked at last.
+
+She bent her head over her work and answered softly: "Whenever you
+are ready to tell me."
+
+"Before I can tell you I must know something."
+
+Carefully she rolled another white strip, her eyes on her task.
+"What must you know?"
+
+"That you have forgiven me."
+
+The color rushed into her cheeks as she answered: "Don't you know
+that?"
+
+"But I must hear you say it so that we can start square again; don't
+you see?"
+
+"I suppose that we will be always starting over again, won't we?"
+Then as she saw his face she added quickly: "I mean--I--I was
+thinking of the Company--and--father's work."
+
+"But you forgive me this time?" he insisted.
+
+"Yes; I forgive you, and I am glad--so glad that I can."
+
+"And we are square again?"
+
+"Yes; we are square again--until next time." She added the words
+sadly.
+
+"But there will be no next time."
+
+She shook her head with a doubtful smile. "The Company will make a
+'next time.'"
+
+He laughed aloud with a sudden sense of freedom that was new to him.
+"But you do not know," he said, "and I would not tell you until we
+were square again. I am not with the Company now."
+
+She dropped her roll of bandages and looked at him. "Not with the
+Company? When did you resign?"
+
+"I didn't resign. They discharged me."
+
+"Discharged you?"
+
+"Yes; disgraceful, isn't it? I felt pretty bad at first; then I came
+to take it as a compliment; and now--now I am glad!"
+
+Then he told her why Greenfield had sent for him; how he had met the
+Seer; and how he had advised Cartwright to supply the money her
+father needed.
+
+"And you--you did--that, knowing it would cost you your position?"
+she exclaimed. "Oh, I _am_ glad! That was fine; that was big--worthy
+your ancestors!" In her interest she was leaning towards him with
+flushed cheeks and bright eyes, and her voice was triumphant as if
+in some subtle way she was vindicated through his victory. The
+engineer felt her attitude and knew that she was right. It _was_ her
+victory.
+
+"Barbara," he said, holding out his hand; "Barbara, may I tell you
+now what it is that I need?"
+
+Before she could answer they heard a team and wagon coming into the
+yard beside the house. Barbara sprang to her feet. "It is the men
+with Abe!" she exclaimed, and ran out of the room on to the porch.
+
+From where he lay in his chair, the engineer saw through the open
+door Pablo and Pat coming up the steps of the porch carrying the
+surveyor on the canvas cot, and Barbara with mute, frightened face
+watching. The two men with their burden entered the room, followed
+by the young woman, and carefully lowered the cot to the floor. The
+long form of the surveyor lay motionless, his eyes closed.
+
+With a low cry Barbara threw herself on her knees beside the cot.
+With one arm across the still form of the only brother she knew, and
+the other pushing back the rough hair from his forehead, she bent
+over, looking appealingly into the thin rugged face--her own face
+alight with loving anxiety.
+
+"Abe! Abe! Abe!" she called softly; then again: "Abe! See dear; it's
+Barbara."
+
+As if only that voice had power to call him back, the man's eyes
+opened, a slow smile spread over his unshaven, dust-stained
+features, and his voice expressed glad surprise. "Why, hello,
+Barbara!"
+
+Willard Holmes, who had half risen from his chair and was leaning
+forward watching them with burning interest, sank back with a groan
+and covered his face with his hands. But they did not see.
+
+Still kneeling Barbara took a glass from Ynez and turned again to
+the injured surveyor. "Here, Abe; drink this."
+
+The Irishman lifted him in his huge arms and he obeyed. Then as he
+lay looking up into Barbara's face, again that slow smile came and
+he said: "Well, little girl; Holmes made it, didn't he? That
+buckskin horse of Tex's is all right, and Holmes--Holmes is a man!
+He sure made good! How is he?"
+
+Holmes rose dizzily and came forward. "I'm all right, old man, and
+so will you be when Miss Worth has had a chance at you."
+
+Quickly the surveyor glanced from the engineer's face to that of the
+young woman, whose brown eyes still regarded him with loving
+solicitude. "I reckon you're right," he said slowly.
+
+Then Barbara directed them to carry him into the room she had
+prepared, while Willard Holmes returned to his chair to lie with
+closed eyes, suffering a deeper pain than the pain in his shoulder.
+
+When his wound had been dressed and he had eaten the tempting meal
+Barbara brought, Abe fell asleep. But the young woman would not
+leave him for long, so that Holmes saw very little of her all the
+rest of the day. Occasionally she would run into the room where the
+engineer lay to ask if he needed anything, but only for a moment.
+Sometimes, seeing him so still, she thought that he was asleep and
+withdrew softly without speaking; but he always knew.
+
+The next morning Holmes was just established in the big reclining
+chair in the living room when a peremptory knock called Barbara to
+the front door. It was James Greenfield.
+
+The president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company was
+greatly agitated and he scarcely noticed the young woman as he
+greeted the engineer with affectionate regard that was genuine;
+explaining how he had returned to Kingston the night before and,
+learning of Holmes's injury that morning, had hurried to him at
+once. "But I can't understand," he exclaimed half angrily, "how
+_you_ ever came to be mixed up in this affair. When I missed you
+from the hotel I supposed of course that you had taken the train
+back to Kingston and came on expecting to find you there. What on
+earth possessed you to go off on this wild ride over the mountains
+with that man Lee? You might have been killed, and I--I--" He could
+not put into words the horrid thought that was in his mind--how, had
+the Mexican's bullet gone true, he himself would have been
+responsible for the death of the man he loved as his own son.
+
+Holmes--understanding the man's thought--was touched by the
+capitalist's unusual agitation, and for the moment did not attempt
+to reply. Then with an attempt at lightness he said: "Oh, well; it's
+all coming out right, Uncle Jim, Thanks to Miss Worth's care I am
+nearly well now. The wound really didn't amount to much."
+
+As he spoke he looked at Barbara, and the older man also turned
+quickly toward the young woman who, at the engineer's words, was
+blushing rosy red.
+
+"Father and I owe Mr. Holmes a debt we can never pay," she said
+quietly. Then, excusing herself on the plea that her other patient
+needed her, she left the room.
+
+When the two men had watched her go, Greenfield said gently: "This
+is a bad business, Willard; a damned bad business; I'll admit that I
+was angry when you turned against us in that Cartwright deal, but
+confound it, boy! I admire you for it just the same. Your father
+would have done just as you did. It was that finer kind of honesty
+that made him a failure in the business where the rest of us made
+fortunes, but we all loved him for it, and your mother--" he looked
+away through the window toward the distant mountains. "You
+understand, don't you Willard, that I was forced to let you go when
+you turned the Company down? My directors would never stand for
+anything else, you know. You don't feel hard toward me, lad, because
+I had to let you out?"
+
+"Certainly not, Uncle Jim. I was hurt just at first, but when I had
+taken time to think it over I did not blame you."
+
+"You are sure, Willard?"
+
+"Sure, Uncle Jim."
+
+The older man was studying the engineer's face intently. "I don't
+know what it is, Willard, but something has changed you since you
+came into this country. You know, my boy, that I have no one in the
+world but you. All that I have will be yours. I have dreamed and
+planned for you as for my own flesh and blood. I am telling you this
+now because I have felt that something was taking you away from me.
+Something that I cannot understand has come between us. I felt it
+the moment I met you in Kingston and it has been growing ever since.
+It was that that made me so angry over the Cartwright business. You
+know how I hate the West; you know what it cost me years ago. I feel
+now that in some way I am losing you too. What is it, Willard, that
+has come between us? Let's clean it up and get back in our relations
+to where we were before we left home."
+
+As James Greenfield made his appeal the engineer's eyes turned
+involuntarily toward the door through which Barbara had left the
+room. And when he did not answer immediately the older man was sure
+that he understood what it was that had come between himself and the
+son of the woman he loved, and why Holmes had used his influence in
+behalf of Jefferson Worth.
+
+"Is it that girl, Willard?"
+
+The younger man faced him squarely and his answer meant much more to
+the engineer himself than he could have explained to Greenfield.
+"Yes sir, it is this girl."
+
+"You love her?"
+
+"As my father must have loved my mother."
+
+At the simple words Greenfield controlled himself, but his hatred
+for Jefferson Worth was very bitter. That he should fail to win in
+the business warfare with the western man was nothing, but that
+Worth--through his daughter--should rob him of the son that was more
+than a son to him was more than he could bear.
+
+"But, my dear boy," he said; "think what this means! Think of your
+family--of your father and mother--of your friends and your future
+back home. Who are these people? They are nobodies. This man Worth
+is an ignorant, illiterate, common boor with no breeding, no
+education--nothing but a certain native cunning that has enabled him
+to make a little money. We have nothing in common with his class."
+
+"Mr. Worth is an honest, honorable man who is doing a great work,"
+answered Holmes stoutly; "and his daughter is--Uncle Jim, she is the
+most wonderful woman I ever knew!"
+
+As Willard Holmes spoke, Barbara, coming from the kitchen into the
+dining room, could not help hearing the words that came through the
+partly opened door of the living room where the men were talking.
+Involuntarily at the sound of the engineer's voice the red blood
+crept into the young woman's face and her eyes shone with pleasure.
+The next moment Greenfield's voice held her motionless.
+
+"But don't you know that she is not Worth's daughter?"
+
+"Not his daughter?" exclaimed Holmes.
+
+"No, not his daughter. She is a nameless waif whom he picked up and
+adopted. No one knows her parentage--not even her name. She may even
+have Mexican or Indian blood in her veins for all that anyone
+knows."
+
+It was not strange that Willard Holmes had never heard the story of
+how Barbara was found in the desert. In the new country, where most
+of the engineer's life in the West had been spent, comparatively few
+beyond Worth's most intimate associates knew that she was the
+banker's daughter only by adoption. Greenfield, who had learned the
+story while inquiring for business reasons into the history of his
+competitor, told the young man briefly of the finding of the unknown
+child.
+
+"Don't you see, my boy," finished the financier, "how impossible it
+is that you should give your name--one of the oldest and best in the
+history of the country--to a nameless woman of unknown breeding,
+whose connection with this man Worth even is merely accidental? It
+would ruin you, Willard. Think of your friends back home! How would
+they receive her? Think of me--of my plans for you! I--I should feel
+that I had been false to your mother, Willard, who gave you to me on
+her death-bed, if I permitted such a thing as this. It's--it's
+monstrous!"
+
+Slowly the engineer raised his head and with a smile on his white
+face that hurt the older man, he said: "I can at least relieve your
+mind on that score, Uncle Jim. You need not fear that I will marry
+Miss Worth."
+
+At his words from beyond that partly closed door, Barbara made her
+way blindly to her own room and, throwing herself face downward on
+her couch, strove with clenched hands and throbbing veins to keep
+her self control. She must not--she must not let them know, she
+whispered to herself--moaning in pain. She must go to them again in
+a moment--and they must not know.
+
+While the woman whom Willard Holmes loved fought for strength to
+hide her pain, James Greenfield, in the other room, was leaning
+eagerly toward the engineer. "She has refused you?"
+
+"I have not asked her. But don't misunderstand me. What you have
+told me--what my friends at home might think or do--could make no
+difference. Barbara Worth is worthy any man's love; and I love her
+and would make her my wife. I would give up even you for her, Uncle
+Jim. It's not that. It's because I know that she loves someone else
+too well to listen to me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+WILLARD HOLMES RECEIVES HIS ANSWER.
+
+
+When Barbara returned to the living room with some trivial excuse to
+explain her rather long absence, she found Holmes determined to go
+with Mr. Greenfield to his rooms in the hotel in Kingston.
+
+When she protested he answered: "Really, Miss Worth, my shoulder
+troubles me so little that I am ashamed to offer myself as an
+invalid; and now that Uncle Jim is with me I haven't the shadow of
+an excuse for burdening you any longer."
+
+"I am sorry if I have made you feel that you were a burden," she
+returned with a brave smile.
+
+He answered warmly: "You know I did not mean to imply that. I shall
+never forget your kindness--never."
+
+Greenfield too expressed his appreciation of her kindness but she
+answered the engineer as if she had not heard the older man. "And I
+can never thank you for what you have done for us."
+
+As they stood on the porch while Greenfield went on ahead to the
+buggy, Holmes held out his hand. "And we are square again?"
+
+"Yes, we are square."
+
+"Then adios, Senorita."
+
+"Adios, amigo."
+
+Bravely she stood watching until the carriage disappeared down the
+street. Then she went slowly into the house to Abe's room.
+
+The surveyor lay propped up in bed with pillows, looking quite
+cheerful. "Well, sister," was his greeting; "you have lost one
+patient and you are going to lose the other one before long. I feel
+like a new man already."
+
+For a little she made no answer and, as she stood before him silent,
+those eyes that were trained to let nothing escape their notice
+studied her face and noted her hands clasped in nervous pain. "Why,
+Barbara! What is it, sister? What has gone wrong?"
+
+At his words the brown eyes filled.
+
+"Barbara!"
+
+She dropped into the chair by the bedside and, throwing herself
+toward him, buried her face in her arms in the pillow by his side,
+her form shaking with sobs.
+
+The surveyor's face was white now under its bronze--white and set.
+Lightly he placed his hand upon the soft brown hair so near his
+shoulder and his eyes seemed now to be looking far away. When her
+grief had spent itself a little he said quietly: "Don't you think,
+sister, that you had better tell me about this?"
+
+When she did not answer he said again gently: "Do you care for him
+so much, Barbara?"
+
+The brown head nodded her confession and for a moment the man closed
+his eyes and turned away his face. Then: "Won't you let me help
+you?"
+
+Slowly, with many pauses, she told him what she had overheard. When
+she had finished Abe said simply: "But he has not told you of his
+love, Barbara. Perhaps you are mistaken."
+
+"No, Abe; I'm not mistaken. He has not told me--not in words, but I
+know; I know!"
+
+"Then," said the surveyor, "he will tell you. Listen, Barbara. The
+man who went through those Mexicans in Devil's Canyon with me is not
+the kind of a man who gives up the woman he loves for what others
+think. Wait a little, dear, and you will see that I am right. You
+have been too quick. Be patient a little and you shall see."
+
+"But Abe, Mr. Greenfield is right. I am a nameless nobody; and he--
+he is--"
+
+"He is a man and you are a woman, and this is La Palma de la Mano de
+Dios where nothing else matters," said Abe Lee almost sternly.
+
+A few minutes later, when Barbara was gone, the surveyor slipped
+lower on the pillows and wearily turned his face to the wall.
+Several times that day Barbara looked in on him and at last, when he
+had not moved for so long, called him softly. He answered with a
+smile, but when she had arranged his pillows for him he closed his
+eyes again with a word of thanks.
+
+Jefferson Worth arrived that evening and with him came the Seer, who
+had joined him in the city by the sea. But Barbara's joy at their
+coming was overshadowed by her anxiety for Abe, who seemed to have
+fallen into a half-unconscious condition that was alarming. When
+they entered his room the surveyor, who still lay with his face to
+the wall, did not look up.
+
+"Daddy is here, Abe," said Barbara; "Daddy and the Seer."
+
+Slowly the man turned toward them and held out his hand with a word
+of greeting for each. "I'm mighty glad you have come," he added;
+"Barbara has had rather more than her hands full."
+
+But the old engineer noticed that he did not look at Barbara as he
+spoke.
+
+While the three were at supper Barbara told the men the whole story,
+and when they had finished the meal the Seer said: "Now Jeff, I know
+you have important business needing your immediate attention and our
+girl here must have a good night's rest--she has been through enough
+to kill an average woman. I'm going to take care of Abe to-night
+myself."
+
+When his old chief was alone with the surveyor he drew a chair to
+the bedside and sat for some time looking at the man on the bed.
+Then he said: "I think, son, that you and I had better get to the
+bottom of this. First, I'll have a look at that leg."
+
+When the examination was over the big man eyed the surveyor. "Humph!
+This is not a scratch beside what that greaser did to you with his
+knife in Arizona. You didn't even stop work for that. Your ride to
+San Felipe and back ordinarily would call for about twelve hours
+sleep and that's all. Come, lad, what's the matter? Out with it."
+Abe smiled. "I'm down and out, I reckon."
+
+"Down and out, hell!" returned the big man. "That won't do, Abe. You
+forget that you are talking to me." Then he leaned forward and spoke
+in a low tone. "I know what it is, my boy. It's Barbara." By the
+pain in the surveyor's eyes the Seer knew that he was right.
+
+Then the Seer in his own way did for Abe what Abe had done for
+Barbara.
+
+When the young woman brought in his breakfast the next morning Abe
+greeted her with his old cheery "Hello!", and declared facetiously
+that the Seer had talked him into a sleep from which he had awakened
+as hungry as a bear and ready to go to work.
+
+Two days later Texas Joe, who had ridden in from somewhere late the
+night before, came to report.
+
+"We were beginning to think that you were not coming back at all,
+Uncle Tex," said Barbara, who with the others was curious to hear of
+the old-timer's adventure.
+
+"I 'lowed once mebbe I wouldn't come back no more neither," he
+drawled. "You see, Mr. Worth, after we-all got Abe at Wolf Wells I
+figured that--bein' so far on the way--I might as well go on over to
+Felipe an' get that ol' buckskin hawss o' mine what Abe had left."
+He paused, and, turning his head to one side, looked meditatively
+down at the spur on his high-heeled boot. "That there buckskin is
+sure some hawss, Barbara; he sure is."
+
+"Did you get him?" asked Barbara.
+
+Texas looked up, mildly surprised. "Sure we got him. That's what I'm
+a-tellin' you."
+
+Then he laughed softly as though mildly amused at some incident
+suddenly remembered. "Abe, you know that greaser that tumbled into
+the Dry River Spillway when we-all was puttin' in Number Five Gate?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I 'lowed you'd know him. I heard somethin' funny about him when I
+was in San Felipe after that buckskin."
+
+"What was it, Texas?"
+
+"He's daid."
+
+The recovery of the two wounded men was rapid. For a while Holmes
+came over from Kingston every day to see Lee, and the two, with the
+Seer and Barbara, spent many delightful hours on the big front
+porch.
+
+Jefferson Worth's enterprises pushed steadily toward completion. The
+power plant in Barba was finished and The King's Basin Central had
+stretched its steel length from the junction at Republic to within
+three miles of the terminal.
+
+When Abe was able to go back to his work, Holmes did not go so often
+to the Worth home; but the presence of the Seer still enabled him to
+excuse to himself his quite frequent visits. But while the young
+engineer continually sought the Seer, not only because of their
+growing friendship but because he was always sure of meeting
+Barbara, he avoided seeing the girl alone for he felt that he could
+not trust himself; and the young woman, feeling his attitude toward
+her, was convinced against her will and Abe's protest that the man
+who loved her guarded himself against her for the reasons that she
+had overheard Greenfield urge upon him.
+
+Then Holmes received a letter from the Southwestern and Continental
+Railroad Company offering him a position that would place him at the
+head of the engineering department of the district that included The
+King's Basin. The letter stated that the position was tendered on
+recommendation of Jefferson Worth and, in view of the fact that the
+flood season was at hand and that conditions seriously threatening
+to the Company's property might be expected at any hour, urged him
+to accept by wire and take charge immediately.
+
+With the letter in his hand a sudden desire to go with it to Barbara
+mastered him. He knew that the Seer had planned to go that morning
+with Abe Lee to Barba and that the young woman was alone.
+
+An hour later he dismounted in front of the Worth home. Barbara
+herself met him at the door. "The Seer is not at home to-day" she
+said, as they entered the living room. "I thought you knew."
+
+"I did not come to see the Seer to-day. I came to see you," he
+answered bluntly.
+
+"To see me?"
+
+"Yes; to ask you how I shall answer this." He handed her the letter.
+
+She read it slowly, gaining time for self-control. "But I do not
+understand why you should come to me."
+
+He studied her face a moment before he answered. How could he
+explain to her the impulse that had prompted him, as every man is
+prompted to take the big things of his life to the one woman who--if
+she be really the one woman for him--is more than all? "I thought--I
+hoped that you would be interested," he said.
+
+"And I am!" she cried eagerly, feeling that which he could not put
+into words. "Of course I'm interested. I was only surprised that you
+should hesitate a moment to accept. Don't you want to continue your
+work? Don't you want to stay with us?" She added the last words
+wistfully and the heart of the man longed to tell her that which she
+longed to hear.
+
+"Yes," he said slowly, "I want to stay, but I--I am afraid." The
+words slipped out unbidden.
+
+Barbara interpreted his answer in the light of his conversation with
+Greenfield, which she had overheard, and her woman's pride was
+aroused. He should be made to understand that he was in no danger
+from her. Her next words were a challenge. "Afraid of what?"
+
+"Afraid of you," he burst forth savagely. "Afraid of myself. Because
+I love you. From the first day when you showed me the desert you
+have been so closely associated in my mind with this work that I
+cannot think of it without thinking of you. Everything I have done I
+have felt was done for you. I would have given it all up a hundred
+times but my thoughts of you would not let me. When I have been
+untrue to the work I have felt that I have been untrue to you. If I
+have accomplished any good here it has been through you. Everywhere
+I have gone in this country you have seemed to me to be there.
+Everything I see speaks to me of you. The desert--the mountains--the
+farms and homes and towns; it is all you--and you--and you. I did
+not realize it at first, but I felt it, and then as I came to love
+my work I came to love you. I did not intend to tell you this. I
+hate myself for telling you--but I love you. I love you! Do you
+understand now why I came to you with this letter? Do you understand
+why I am afraid to stay?"
+
+At the man's passionate outburst that came as if dragged from him
+against his will, Barbara shrank back as if he threatened her. He
+had not asked if she loved him; he had only spoken brutally--
+savagely, of his passion for her. She repeated insistently, blindly,
+to herself: "He must not know! He must not know!"
+
+The man spoke again. "Forgive me, Miss Worth; I did not mean to let
+go of myself. I know how you love this work--how hard you have tried
+to hold me true to it. I could not bear that you should think of me
+as leaving it without reason. But you see--you see how impossible it
+is now for me to stay."
+
+As he spoke, a running horse stopped suddenly in front of the house
+and through the open door they saw Pablo leap from the saddle and
+run swiftly up the walk toward the house.
+
+"Senorita!" the Mexican cried, as Barbara sprang towards him; "the
+river! the river! It has come. The Company works--it is all gone!
+Senor Worth send me quick to tell Senor Holmes. I go to Kingston; he
+not there. They say he ride this way. I come to you, Senorita; I
+think maybe you know where I find him." He turned to the engineer.
+"Senor Holmes, the river has come again into La Palma de la Mano de
+Dios like the Indians say it was long time ago. Senor Worth say you
+come please pronto!"
+
+Barbara wheeled on the engineer with flushed cheeks and blazing
+eyes.
+
+"This is your answer!" she cried. "Not for me; not for yourself; but
+for the work--_your_ work--_our_ work!"
+
+For an instant he looked into her eyes, then turned and ran towards
+his horse with Pablo at his heels.
+
+Barbara saw them spring into their saddles and disappear in a cloud
+of dust, and the engineer, as he rode, remembered what Abe Lee had
+once told him of Pablo's saying: "In the Company there is no
+Senorita!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+BATTLING WITH THE RIVER.
+
+
+Some day, perhaps, the history of that River war will be written. It
+can only be suggested in my story.
+
+It was a war of terrific forces waged for a great cause by men as
+brave as any who ever fought with weapons that kill.
+
+The attacking force was the Rio Colorado that with power
+immeasurable had, through the ages past, carved mile-deep canyons on
+its course and with its mountains of silt had built the great delta
+dam across the ancient gulf, thus turning back the waters of the sea
+that sun and wind might lay bare the floor of the Basin and work the
+desolation of the desert.
+
+Using the Seer's open hand for his map of La Palma de la Mano de
+Dios, Jose, the Indian, had traced the course of the river along the
+base of the fingers flowing toward the gulf which lies between the
+edge of the palm and the thumb--this same inner edge of the hand
+representing roughly the high ground that shuts out the waters of
+the sea. The thousands of acres of The King's Basin lands lie from
+sea level to nearly three hundred feet below. The river at the point
+where the intake for the system of canals was located is, of course,
+higher than sea level, for the waters that pass the intake flow on
+southward to the gulf.
+
+It was the river flowing thus on higher ground that made irrigation
+and reclamation of the desert possible. It was this also that made
+possible the disaster that was now upon the hardy pioneers, who had
+staked everything in their effort to realize the vast potential
+wealth of the ancient sea-bed. The grade from the river at the
+intake to the lowest point in the bottom of the Basin is much
+steeper than the established fall of the river from the intake to
+the gulf. The water in the canals on this steeper grade was
+controlled by headings, spillways, gates and drops, while the
+structure at the intake, with gates to regulate the flow into the
+main canal, prevented the river from leaving its old channel
+altogether, pouring its entire volume into the Basin and in time
+converting it again into an inland sea.
+
+The dangerously cheap and inadequate character of the vital parts,
+built by the Company upon the usual promoter's estimates, had led
+Abe Lee to protest against the risk forced upon the settlers and had
+finally caused him to resign. Later, as the Company system of canals
+was extended and more and more water was needed to supply the
+rapidly increasing acreage of cultivated lands, Willard Holmes came
+to appreciate the desert-bred surveyor's view of the danger and
+insistently urged his employers to supply him with funds to replace
+the temporary wooden structures with safe and lasting works of
+concrete and steel.
+
+But the hunger of Capital for profits forbade. Some day the work
+would be done, the directors promised. In the meantime, without
+increasing the original investment by so much as a dollar but with
+the revenues derived from the sale of water rights, they were
+extending the system to supply the ever increasing fields of the
+settlers, thus shrewdly forcing the people, who were ignorant of the
+terrible risk they were carrying, to supply the funds to build the
+canals and ditches that belonged to the Company; while for the water
+carried to the ranches the farmers continued to pay the Company
+large rentals. The original investment of the Company was very small
+compared with the thousands invested by the pioneers who had been
+induced to settle in the new country. And yet from every dollar of
+the wealth taken from the land the Company would receive a share.
+
+But the Rio Colorado gave no heed to the decree of the New York
+financiers. The forces that had made La Palma de la Mano de Dios are
+not ruled by Wall street.
+
+Willard Holmes, who had come to understand that his work was not
+alone to safeguard the property of his employers but to protect the
+interests of the pioneers as well, had been discharged because he
+would not deliver the people wholly into the hands of the Company. A
+new engineer out of the East, as faithful to the interests of
+Capital as he was unfamiliar with conditions in the new country, was
+placed in charge.
+
+It was as if the river, in the absence of the man whose constant
+readiness had held it in check, saw its opportunity. Swiftly it
+mustered its forces from mountain and plain. Hundreds of miles away
+it gathered its strength and hurried to the assault. The sources of
+information established by Holmes on the tributaries and headwaters
+wired their reports: a foot rise on the Gila; three feet coming down
+the Little Colorado; two feet rise in the Salt; five feet on the
+Grand. The New York office-engineer received the messages with mild
+interest. The daily reports from the weather bureau covering the
+countries drained by the Rio Colorado lay on his desk unnoticed.
+
+Mr. Burk warned him, but the thoughtful Manager of the Company was
+not an engineer. Willard Holmes tried to help him, but Holmes had
+been discharged by the Company and the words of discharged men have
+little weight with those who succeed to their positions.
+
+The daily reports from the gauge at Rubio City showed an increase in
+the river's volume of twenty thousand second feet; then thirty
+thousand more; and on top of that came another twenty thousand. The
+assistants of the new chief engineer tried to tell him what it
+meant, but the assistants were subordinates and friends of Willard
+Holmes. The man from New York, who was privileged to write several
+letters after his name, was supposed to know his business.
+
+Then the assembled forces of the river reached the intake, and the
+trembling wooden structures that stood between the pioneers and
+ruin, besieged by the rising flood, battered by the swirling
+currents, bombarded by drift, gave way under the strain and the
+charging waters plunged through the breach.
+
+Too late the Company's forces were rushed to the scene. Before their
+very eyes the roaring waters, as if mad with destructive power,
+wrenched and tore at the Company's property, twisting, ripping,
+smashing, until not a trestle, plank or stick was left in place and
+the terrific current, rushing with ever increasing volume and power
+through the opening, plowed into the soft, alluvial soil of the
+embankment, undermining and carrying it away until nearly the entire
+river was admitted.
+
+As quickly as men and material could be assembled, the Company's
+chief engineer began the battle to regain control of the mighty
+stream. The warfare thus begun meant life or death to the greatest
+reclamation project in the world.
+
+Millions already invested by the settlers in farms and towns and
+homes and business enterprises were at stake. Many more millions
+that were yet to be realized from the reclaimed lands depended upon
+the issue of the fight.
+
+Against the efforts of the engineers and the army of laborers the
+river massed from its tributaries in the regions of heavy rains and
+melting snows the greatest strength it had assembled in many years.
+
+Five times, with piling and trestles and jetties and embankments,
+the men who defended The King's Basin were in sight of victory. Five
+times the river summoned fresh strength--twisted out the piling,
+wrecked the trestles, undermined the jetties and embankments and
+swept the nearly completed structures, smashing, grinding, crashing,
+away--a twisted, tangled ruin.
+
+While the engineers and men of the Company were waging this war with
+the river, the situation of the pioneers in the Basin grew daily
+more perilous. Without a well-defined channel large enough to carry
+the incoming stream, the flood spread over a wide territory in the
+southern and western portions of the Basin, filling first the old
+channels and washes left by the waters ages ago, forming next in the
+areas of nearly level or slightly depressed sections shallow pools,
+lakes and seas, out of which the higher ground and hummocks rose
+like new-born islands, growing smaller and smaller as the rising
+tide submerged more and more of their sandy bases. Meanwhile the
+whole flood, eddying slowly with winding sluggish currents in the
+shallow places, moving more swiftly in the deeper washes and
+channels, swept always onward toward the north where, miles away,
+lay the deepest bottom of the great Basin.
+
+Many of the settlers in the flooded districts were forced to abandon
+farms they had won with courage and toil, for the sweeping waters
+covered alike fields of alfalfa and grain and barren desert waste.
+The towns of Frontera and Kingston were protected from the
+inundation by earthen levees, in the building of which men and women
+toiled in desperate haste, and night and day these embankments were
+patrolled by watchful guards, who frequently summoned the weary,
+besieged citizens from their rest to protect or strengthen some
+threatened point in their fortifications.
+
+The eastern side of the Basin being higher ground, the settlers in
+the South Central District and east of Republic, with the two towns
+built by Jefferson Worth, were in no immediate danger, but the old
+Dry River channel became a roaring torrent, bank-full; and it was
+only a question of time, if the river were not controlled, when
+every foot of the new country with its wealth of improvements and
+its vast possibilities would be buried deep beneath the surface of
+an inland sea.
+
+The situation was appalling. The remarkable development of the new
+country, the marvelous richness of the reclaimed lands, with the
+immense possibilities of the reclamation work as demonstrated by The
+King's Basin project had attracted the attention of the nation. The
+pioneers in Barbara's Desert were, in fact, leaders in a far greater
+work that would add immeasurably to the nation's life--that would,
+indeed, be world-wide in its influence. Because of this the
+attention of the nation was fixed with peculiar interest upon the
+disaster that had fallen upon The King's Basin. Throughout the land
+civil engineers watched intently the efforts of the Company men to
+regain control of the river and to force it back into its old
+channel. Many declared that, because of the alluvial character of
+the soil, the absence of anything like a rock floor to build upon
+and the great volume and terrific velocity of the current, the feat
+was an engineering impossibility. In the eyes of the engineering
+world The King's Basin project was doomed. The settlers were advised
+to abandon the work they had accomplished and to move out. But those
+strong ones who had forced the desert to yield its wealth to their
+hands did not move. Those whose farms were in the flooded district
+were forced to go. There was the inevitable sifting of the timid-
+hearted and the weak, but the great majority stood fast.
+
+Jefferson Worth, in the face of almost certain ruin, went steadily
+on with his work on the railroad and continued pushing his other
+enterprises toward completion--making improvements, erecting new
+buildings, planning further investments and developments with a
+confidence and conviction that was startling. Not once throughout
+that trying period was he heard to express the slightest doubt as to
+the ultimate triumph of the settlers. His business friends and
+associates outside urged him to stop--to wait at least until the
+issue was certain. He answered calmly that the issue was already
+certain and went on with his work.
+
+His confidence and courage were the inspiration that fired the
+hearts of that threatened people. Had he given ground, had he
+weakened and drawn back it would have started a panic that nothing
+could have checked and that would have resulted inevitably in the
+abandonment of the cause forever. The King's Basin lands with the
+wealth of effort that had already been expended would have been
+given over to the river, lost irretrievably to the race.
+
+Hundreds went to him when they felt their courage failing and their
+spirits weakening under the strain. And always they returned to
+their farms or to their business with renewed strength to go on. As
+one, who passed through that ordeal, long afterwards expressed it:
+"In those times we all just lived on his nerve."
+
+Through all the Company's war with the river and its repeated
+defeats Willard Holmes was forced to stand a mere observer, an idle
+looker-on. Foreseeing the catastrophe that was now upon them, he had
+prepared himself by careful study of every factor in the problem and
+by thorough knowledge of the situation to meet the crisis when it
+came. With every means at his command he had planned and worked that
+he might be ready and so far as possible equipped for the struggle
+and now, when war was declared and the battle being waged, he could
+only watch the ruin of the work he loved while a stranger, who
+ignored his preparatory efforts, took the place that should have
+been his.
+
+But the great man of the S. & C., with whom the engineer had many a
+counsel in those days, warned him always to be ready for the time
+when--as the western man put it--"The Company should throw up its
+hands."
+
+The waters moving northward reached the lowest point in the Basin
+and there formed an inland sea that, without an outlet and receiving
+the full volume of the river, grew ever larger and larger. Flowing
+towards the sea the flood developed swift currents in the
+depressions and washes that led in the general direction of its
+course, seeking thus to make for itself a well-defined channel. The
+largest of these ancient washes, scarcely noticeable in the desert,
+led from the south to Kingston, passing through the edge of the
+town, curved slightly to the west and extended on northward,
+becoming deeper and more clearly defined with higher ground on
+either side as it neared the lowest point of the Basin. The general
+lay of the land drew the flood toward this channel and developed a
+current that moved with increasing velocity as the waters, nearing
+the sea, were concentrated more and more by the greater depth of the
+old channel and the steeper grade of the land on both sides.
+
+Then a new and alarming phase of the river's destructive work
+developed and everyone saw that the war at the intake must be forced
+to a speedy finish or the cause would be lost. The immense volume of
+water, flowing with increased strength and velocity as it defined
+for itself a more distinct channel down the steeper grade of the
+Basin, began cutting in the soft soil a vertical fall that from the
+foot of the grade moved swiftly up-stream; a mighty cataract from
+fifty to sixty feet in height and a full quarter of a mile wide,
+moving at the rate of from one to three miles a day and leaving as
+it went a great gorge through which a new-made river flowed quietly
+to a new-born and ever-growing sea. The roar of the plunging waters,
+the crashing and booming of the falling masses of earth that were
+undermined by the roaring torrent were heard miles away. Acres upon
+acres of the soft fertile land fell, melted and were swept away down
+the gorge as banks of snow fall and melt in the spring freshets. Day
+and night, night and day, the immeasurable power of the canyon-
+cutting river drove the cataract southward toward the break at the
+intake through which, by this time, the entire Colorado at its
+highest flood stage was turned.
+
+The imminent danger that threatened the Basin was not the danger
+from the ever-rising sea. Long before the waters could fill the old
+sea-bed, that mighty cataract, moving ever upstream, would pass the
+intake; and with the floor of the river lowered thus some fifty feet
+it would be impossible to take the water out for irrigation. The
+lands reclaimed by the pioneers would go back to desert years before
+they would be buried once more under the surface of the sea.
+
+The complete destruction of all that the settlers had gained and the
+utter desolation of the land was now a question of weeks.
+
+The Company town of Kingston was directly in the path of that moving
+Niagara. While the Company's men were making a last desperate effort
+to close the break, the great falls were eating their way nearer and
+nearer the little city. When the roar of the water and the crashing
+and booming of the falling banks could be heard on the streets and
+in the offices of the Company, the people left their homes, their
+stores and their shops; the town realizing that no human power now
+could avert the disaster.
+
+Heroic efforts were made to direct the course of the new river away
+from the little city, but the waters with savage, resistless power
+chose their own way. The pioneers, who built the first town in the
+heart of The King's Basin Desert, saw that mighty, thundering
+cataract move upon the work of their hands and felt the earth
+trembling under their feet as they watched homes, business blocks,
+the hotel, the opera house, the bank and finally the Company
+building undermined and tumbled, crashing into the deep canyon.
+
+In a few short hours it was over. The falls moved on and where
+Kingston had once stood was that great gorge, with a few scattered
+houses only remaining on each side.
+
+That same day the last attempt of the Company men to close the break
+failed.
+
+With every hour the awful ruin drew nearer the point which, if
+reached, would place The King's Basin forever beyond the reclaiming
+power of men. Frantic appeals for help were made to the government,
+but before the ponderous machinery of state, with its intricate and
+complicated wheels within wheels, could unwind a sufficient quantity
+of red tape the work of the pioneer citizens would be past saving.
+
+It was at this time that a telegram from Jefferson Worth to the
+great man of the Southwestern and Continental brought a special
+train of private cars into the Basin. At Deep Well Junction
+Jefferson Worth, Abe Lee, the Seer and Willard Holmes boarded the
+train and entered the car of the general manager, where the
+officials representing the highest authority in the great
+transcontinental system had gathered to meet them in consultation.
+
+At Republic the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company with his manager and chief engineer joined them, and the
+train moved on until, at a word from Holmes, the conductor gave the
+signal to stop. From the windows and platform of the car the party
+could see the water extending to the south and west mile after mile,
+and nearer the huge plunging cataracts with leaping columns of
+spray, while the roar of the falls, the crashing and booming of the
+caving banks shook the air with heavy vibrations and the earth
+trembled with the shock of the plunging waters and the falling
+masses of earth. Just ahead, where Kingston had stood, the track
+ended on the bank of the deep gorge. From here the party was driven
+in comfortable spring wagons to the scene of the Company's defeat.
+
+Save for the camps of the laborers, the boats, pile-drivers,
+implements and materials of their warfare and the debris of their
+wrecked structures, not a sign of their work remained, while through
+the breach--widened now to nearly a quarter of a mile--the great
+river poured its hundred and fifty thousand second feet of muddy
+water with terrific velocity and solemn, awful power.
+
+When the party had viewed the situation, the railroad men with Mr.
+Greenfield retired to the tent of the Company's chief engineer.
+
+A little apart from Jefferson Worth and his two companions, Willard
+Holmes stood alone on the brink of the broken embankment looking
+down into the swirling muddy waters. He knew that his time had come.
+He knew that at that moment the railroad officials were concluding a
+deal with The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company through its
+president, by which the S. & C. would assume control of the
+situation and attempt to save the reclamation work. His chief had
+told him to be ready. He was ready.
+
+In the railroad yards at Rubio City and on every available side-
+track for several miles east and west were standing train-loads of
+ties and rails. In the yards at the Coast city were cars loaded with
+machinery, implements and supplies. In the yards at the harbor were
+other train-loads of timber and piling. With the readiness of a
+perfectly equipped and organized army the forces of the S. & C.,
+backed by the resources of that powerful system, waited the word,
+while every moment the disaster that threatened the pioneers drew
+nearer. From the roaring river at his feet Willard Holmes turned to
+look toward the tent. Why were they so slow?
+
+Then his face lighted up and he took an eager step forward as the
+private secretary of the general manager came out of the tent and
+hurried toward him.
+
+"They want you, Mr. Holmes," said the young man. The engineer went
+quickly to answer the call.
+
+When he entered the tent every man in the party turned toward the
+engineer. "Holmes," said his chief, "we will attempt to close the
+break. You will take charge at once."
+
+Within an hour the forces of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company already on the ground were set to work under the Seer
+preparing the grade for a spur-track that would leave the main line
+near the river fifteen miles north of the break, and Holmes, with
+Abe Lee, set out on horseback for Rubio.
+
+With the return of the general manager and his party to their train,
+the movement already planned began. Without hurry but with ready
+promptness the orders, voiced by the hundreds of clicking telegraph
+instruments covering the district affected by the operations, were
+obeyed. Special trains carried Jefferson Worth's force of railroad
+builders with teams and equipment to the point at which the spur-
+track would connect with the main line where, under Abe Lee, they
+began pushing the grade southward to meet the forces that, under the
+Seer, were working northward from the front.
+
+Throughout the Basin the call for men and teams was issued by
+Jefferson Worth, and the pioneers, answering as the Minute Men of
+old, were hurried to the scene where they found trainloads of
+equipment waiting ready for their use, while every hour brought
+reinforcements--laborers of many nationalities gathered in the
+cities of the coast by the agents of the railroad company.
+
+The waiting trains loaded with ties and steel began to move and the
+construction gangs followed close on the heels of the graders. And
+when the last spike in the track to the scene of the decisive battle
+was driven, the track-men with their sledges stepped aside to clear
+the way for the panting engines that drew the first train loaded
+with piling and timbers for the trestle.
+
+Hour by hour now, without pause or halt, the men under Willard
+Holmes working in shifts met the Rio Colorado in a hand-to-hand
+fight for The King's Basin lands. By day under the white, semi-
+tropical sun, by night in the light of locomotive headlights that
+gleamed strangely over the dark swirling floods, the trestles were
+forced further and further out into the plunging current that
+wrenched and twisted and tugged with terrific strength in a mad
+wrestle with those who dared attempt to check its sullen destructive
+will, while steadily, irresistibly, the canyon-cutting falls drew
+nearer and nearer. It was not alone the magnitude of the task
+directed by Willard Holmes that made the work heroic. It was that
+this seemingly impossible work must be accomplished against time. In
+his fight with the river the engineer raced against a destructive
+force which, if it reached the scene of the struggle before the
+battle was won, would make final defeat certain and place the
+Colorado, so far as The King's Basin reclamation was concerned,
+beyond control of men.
+
+As the engineer stood on the trestle above the mad, whirling
+currents, directing his men in their efforts to drive the piling in
+thirty feet of water that--as one veteran expressed it--"ran like
+the mill tails of hell," he fancied he could hear above the roar of
+the river against the structure, the blows of the heavy driver, the
+rattle of cable and chain and windlass, the grinding and squeaking
+of the straining timbers and the shouts of the men--the menacing
+thunder of that moving cataract a few miles away. While he paced the
+embankments, studying the set of the currents, observing the form
+and action of the eddies or receiving the hourly reports from the
+river gauge at Rubio City, and held consultation with his
+assistants, he often turned his head involuntarily to look anxiously
+away in the direction of the racing falls.
+
+Only when his exhausted body and wearied brain refused to respond
+longer to his will would he throw himself fully dressed upon a cot
+in his tent for an hour's sleep. His face grew haggard and deeply
+lined with anxious care, his hollow eyes--dark-rimmed--were
+bloodshot and burning as if with fever, his jaws were set as if by
+sheer power of his will he would beat the river into submission. And
+he barked his orders shortly in a hoarse strained voice that told of
+nerves stretched almost to the breaking point. In critical moments,
+when it looked as though the river in the next instant would reduce
+their work to a hopeless wreck, the engineer, standing on the
+trembling timbers or clinging to the swaying pile-driver itself,
+seemed to those who did his bidding to become the very incarnation
+of human courage and power.
+
+The Seer and Abe Lee, remembering the man who had come out from the
+East to go with them on that preliminary survey, wondered at the
+transformation. Then Willard Holmes was the servant of Capital that
+used people for its own gain. He saw his work then only as a means
+to the end that his Company might make money. Now, though employed
+still by a corporation, he was a master who used the power at his
+command in behalf of the people. He had come to look upon his work
+as a service to the world and through that service only he served
+his employers. It was as if in this man, born of the best blood of a
+nation-building people, trained by the best of the cultured East--
+trained as truly by his life and work in the desert--it was as
+though, in him, the best spirit of the age and race found
+expression.
+
+At last the trestles were pushed across the break, the track was
+laid and the gigantic work of filling the channel was begun. In
+every rock quarry reached by the S. & C. within two hundred and
+fifty miles of the battle, men were drilling and blasting and with
+steam shovels and derricks were loading cars with material for the
+fill. At the word from Willard Holmes these rock trains steamed
+swiftly to the front, everything giving them the right of way.
+Merchants and manufacturers east and west cursed the railroad
+because their shipments were delayed. Passengers, held for hours on
+the sidings, complained, scolded, protested and threatened. It was
+an outrage! declared the tourists in their luxurious Pullmans that
+they should be forced to give up an hour of their pleasure in order
+that a train load of rock might make better time. But, unheeding,
+the great battleships, each with its fifty cubic yards of stone, and
+the flats and gondolas, each with its tons of material, thundered
+away to the scene of the struggle. Every five minutes, night and
+day, from the moment of the completion of the trestles until the
+fill was above the danger point a car of rock was dumped into the
+break.
+
+So the task was accomplished; the fight was won. The Rio Colorado
+was checked in its work of destruction and beaten back into its old
+channel. The thousands of acres of The King's Basin lands that would
+have been forever lost to the race through one corporation were
+saved by another; and the man, who--without protest--had built for
+his employers' gain the inadequate structures that endangered the
+work of the pioneers, led the forces that won the victory.
+
+The afternoon of the day on which the break was finally closed three
+private cars came in with the rock trains. The passengers were the
+general manager and the general superintendent with their wives,
+Jefferson Worth and a small party of friends.
+
+Leaving their cars the party walked toward a point below the rock
+embankment where they could look down into the now empty gorge. With
+this visible evidence of the river's power before them, the visitors
+exclaimed with wonder.
+
+When the superintendent had explained the magnitude of the work, the
+difficulties encountered and how the task had been accomplished, the
+general manager, who--here and there--had added a word, said: "After
+all, friends, taking into consideration money, equipment and
+everything, the whole question of a work like this, or of any great
+enterprise, resolves itself into a question of men. It's up to the
+_man on the job_. We have the system, the machinery without which
+this work could not have been done. We have the capital to supply
+material and labor--but that man up there closed the break."
+
+As he spoke he pointed to a figure standing on the upper trestle
+above the fill--outlined against the sky.
+
+Then the party climbed the grade to the tracks again and walked to
+the end of the upper trestle. Turning, the engineer saw and came
+towards them. Silently they stood to receive him. From boots to
+Stetson his khaki trousers and rough shirt were stained with mud and
+grime, his eyes were sunken in dark hollows, his worn face was
+unshaven and his hair, when he removed his hat, was unkempt. He did
+not look like a hero; he looked more like some ruffian just from a
+prolonged debauch. But the little party burst into applause.
+
+The engineer smiled as his chief went forward from the group to
+grasp him by the hand. For a moment they talked of the work. Then
+the official, placing his hand on the engineer's arm, said: "Come,
+Holmes, we have some women here who want to meet the man who
+mastered the Colorado."
+
+The engineer protested. He was "not presentable."
+
+"Presentable! You're the most presentable man I know of this minute.
+Come along, there's my wife making signs to me to hurry right now."
+
+There was nothing for Holmes to do but to go. A moment later he was
+face to face with the rest of the party and--with Barbara Worth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+NATURE AND HUMAN NATURE
+
+
+Two weeks after the victory of Willard Holmes in the River war the
+engineer arrived in Republic on the evening train from the city by
+the sea.
+
+At the hotel he was quickly surrounded by the pioneer citizens, who
+were eager to greet him with expressions of appreciation for his
+work. But it was Horace P. Blanton who did the talking.
+
+Horace P., in his brave picture-general hat, his impressively
+swelling front of white vest and his black clerical tie, was the
+personification of economic, financial and scholastic--not to say
+ecclesiastic, dignity. His greeting of the engineer was majestic.
+But, as a royal sovereign might welcome the returning general of his
+conquering armies with sadness at the thought of the lives his
+victories had cost, the countenance of Horace P. expressed a noble
+grief.
+
+"Willard," he said, his voice charged with emotion, "I congratulate
+you. You are the savior of this imperial King's Basin. When we saw
+that Greenfield's Company was not able to handle the awful
+situation, I told my friend the general manager and our other
+officials of the S. & C. that they must _come_ to the rescue without
+an instant's delay and that you must be put in charge of the work. I
+knew that if any man on earth could stop that river, you could. So
+we decided to let you go ahead. You have justified my confidence
+nobly, Willard; you certainly have. I'm proud of you, old man; I am
+indeed."
+
+The engineer tried manfully to appreciate the spirit of the
+speaker's words. With that white vest and black tie before him, to
+say nothing of the picture hat that crowned the massive head, it was
+impossible for Holmes not to wish that he could appreciate Horace P.
+Blanton's spirit--it hungered so for appreciation.
+
+"I am very grateful to you, Mr. Blanton," said the engineer. "But
+really I feel that you over-estimate my part in the work. I--"
+
+"Not at all; not at all, my dear boy. I knew my man and I was not
+disappointed. But the cost--" he shook his kingly head sorrowfully
+and heaved a majestic sigh. "Confidentially, Willard, I estimate
+that the financial losses of Greenfield and myself alone are close
+on to a million. I haven't a thing left. Wiped me out clean."
+
+Holmes looked really sympathetic. He knew that every dollar that
+Horace P. Blanton ever spent was a dollar belonging to someone else,
+but even mythical losses of mythical property, when suffered by
+Horace P., demanded sympathy. The man in the white vest felt them so
+keenly and strove with such noble courage to bear them bravely.
+
+Encouraged by the engineer's interest and the presence of the little
+crowd of pioneers, the speaker continued: "When I saw our beautiful
+town--the town that we had built with our own hands--falling in
+ruins into that terrible chasm, I cried like a baby, sir." Even as
+he spoke his eyes filled with manly tears which he made no attempt
+to hide. Then he lifted his majestic bulk grandly and looked about
+with kingly countenance. "But I shall stay with it, Willard. I shall
+stay and help these people to regain their losses. We _can't_ desert
+them now. If my creditors will give me a little time, and I am sure
+they will, not a man shall lose a penny, no matter what it costs
+me."
+
+The sentence was a bit ambiguous but it was a noble resolution,
+worthy of such a lofty soul.
+
+At this moment a boy with the evening papers approached the group.
+"Here son, my paper," called Horace P.
+
+The boy gripped his wares with a firm hand. "I got to have my money
+first. You ain't done nothin' but promise for a month."
+
+"Boy! Give me my paper. You shall have your money to-morrow," he
+thundered from the depths beneath the white vest.
+
+The boy backed away, "I dassn't do it. I can't live on hot air."
+
+With an imperial air, as if tremendous stakes hung upon the trivial
+incident, the great man said to Holmes: "Excuse me, Willard; I must
+see about this," and with a firm and determined step he left the
+hotel.
+
+A hush fell upon the company of pioneers. Not one of them but would
+have gladly--had he dared--offered the outraged monarch the price of
+a paper. The King's Basin settlers were proud of Horace P.
+
+But that night Horace P. Blanton boarded the north-bound train and
+was never seen in The King's Basin again. His creditors--and they
+are many, from the newsboy to the hotel manager, the barber, the
+laundry agent, the liveryman and boot-black--are still "giving him
+time," as he was confident that they would. The pioneers miss him
+sorely, but they manage to struggle along without him, living
+perhaps in the hope that he will some day come back.
+
+In the silence that followed the passing of Horace P., Willard
+Holmes slipped away from the group of men and approached the Manager
+of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company, who was sitting
+alone with his cigar in a far corner of the room.
+
+"Hello, old man," was Burk's greeting as the engineer approached.
+The thoughtful Manager of the Company had been an interested
+observer of his friend's reception and of the newspaper incident. As
+the two men shook hands the Manager's cigar shifted to one corner of
+his mouth and his head tipped toward the opposite shoulder. "How
+much did Horace P. touch you for, Willard?"
+
+"I gave him my admiration and sympathy."
+
+The other shook his head wonderingly. "A special providence watches
+over you, my son. After that, nothing could have saved your pocket-
+book if that kid had not been sent by your guardian angel to your
+rescue. When did you leave the river?"
+
+"Last week. The S. & C. called me into the city. I'm on my way back
+to the work now. What's the news?"
+
+Burk grinned. "The first train over the King's Basin Central went
+out this morning with a special party of distinguished citizens--
+Jefferson Worth, the Seer, Abe Lee and Miss Worth. The lady will
+spend a week or two in the town of Barba and with friends in the
+South Central District. Texas Joe and Pat left this morning in a
+rig, leading Miss Worth's saddle horse, El Capitan. It's all in The
+King's Basin Messenger." He handed the paper to Holmes who
+mechanically stuffed it into his pocket.
+
+"How's Uncle Jim?"
+
+"He is at the office, I think. You know he is winding up the affairs
+of the poor old K. B. L. and I."
+
+"So I understand."
+
+The two men were silent for a moment, then Burk said thoughtfully:
+"It's hard lines for the Company, Willard, but the mules, including
+your humble servant, don't seem to care much. That's one advantage
+in being a mule. I will be glad to get back to civilization and so
+will your Uncle Jim I fancy. Take it altogether I don't think he has
+enjoyed watching the success of Jefferson Worth's little experiments
+as much as we have. The same beneficent power that has knocked out
+the Company seems to have taken good care of friend Jeff."
+
+"You are not going to stay in the West?" asked the engineer.
+
+"I go Monday. I understand there is still a demand for good mules
+back home."
+
+The president of the wrecked Company received his former chief
+engineer warmly, and heartily congratulated him on the success of
+his battle with the river.
+
+"I suppose you know, Willard," he said, "that The King's Basin Land
+and Irrigation Company has virtually passed into the hands of the S.
+& C.? We owe them a good half million for closing the break, which
+means that they will have to take over the property. We knew when we
+went into the deal how it would end, of course. If you had remained
+with the Company the river never would have had a chance to get in
+at all."
+
+The younger man did not remind Mr. Greenfield of the many times the
+Company had been urged to make the improvements that would have
+prevented the disaster, nor did he suggest that he would have
+remained with the Company had not the president himself discharged
+him. "Your engineer did all that any man could do after the break
+was made," he said warmly. "It was the equipment and organization of
+the S. & C. that put the river back in its channel, and no other
+power on earth, under the circumstances, could have done it in time
+to head off that back-cut."
+
+The older man smiled. "We all know who closed the break, my boy. I
+suppose you are planning to stay with the railroad?"
+
+"They have offered me the management of the irrigation work here in
+the Basin. They are going to put in permanent structures and
+reconstruct the whole system in first-class shape."
+
+"And you accepted?" There was a note of anxiety in the older man's
+voice.
+
+"Not yet. I asked for a few days to consider."
+
+James Greenfield did not speak for several minutes, then he said--
+hesitating as if searching for words: "Don't do it, Willard. Don't
+do it, for my sake. Let's go back home. You know how I hate this
+cursed country. I ought never to have gone into this deal after what
+I had already suffered in the West. But it looked as if I could
+clean up a good thing and get out. Personally, my money losses don't
+amount to anything. I have enough left for both of us, and you know,
+Willard my boy, that it's all yours when I go. Come back home with
+me and leave this damned hole! We don't fit in here; let's go back
+where we belong. I'm coming along now to the time when I must begin
+to think of getting out of the game; and I need you, my boy, I need
+you."
+
+Willard Holmes was strongly moved by the appeal of this man for whom
+he had a son's affection. "I wish I could say yes, Uncle Jim," he
+answered. "I owe you more than I can ever repay, and if it was only
+the work here I would go. But--there's something else--something
+that I cannot give up if I would--that I have no right to give up."
+
+"You mean that girl? I thought that was all settled."
+
+"So did I," returned the other grimly. "When I talked with you about
+it I thought there was no possible chance for me, and perhaps I was
+right. But I can't let it go now without absolute certainty."
+
+"You don't mean, Willard, that you are going to offer yourself to a
+woman whose love you have every reason to think belongs to another
+man?"
+
+The engineer rose to his feet and walked up and down the room. When
+he spoke there was in his voice a suggestion of that which marked
+his speech in the days of the river fight. "I mean this: that no man
+on earth shall take this woman from me if I can prevent it. I would
+deserve to lose her if I gave her up on the mere guess that she
+cared for another man. I am going to know from her own words. If
+there is still a chance for me I am going to stay and fight for it.
+If I have no chance"--he dropped into a chair--"then I'll go back
+with you, Uncle Jim."
+
+James Greenfield's face flushed hotly at the younger man's words and
+then, in the silence that followed, grew pale and stern while his
+fingers gripped his pencil nervously. "Very well, Willard," he said
+at last. "You are a man and your own master. If your love for me
+cannot influence you--"
+
+"Uncle Jim!" The engineer's cry was a protest and an appeal, but the
+other continued as though he had not heard: "I can urge no other
+consideration. But you must understand this. I will never receive
+this nameless woman of unknown parentage as your wife. If you prefer
+her with that illiterate, low, cunning trickster whom she calls
+father, you need never expect to come back to me. I have been true
+to your mother in my care for you. I have done all in my power to
+give you the place in life that you are entitled to fill by your
+birth and family. You have been my son in everything but blood. But,
+by God, sir! if you, with your breeding and raising--if you can turn
+your back upon the memory of your mother and father and upon me and
+all that we stand for--if you can turn your back upon us, desert us
+for these--these damned cattle, you can herd with them the rest of
+your life."
+
+He was on his feet now, pacing the floor angrily. The engineer had
+also risen and stood waiting for this storm of wrath to spend
+itself.
+
+"Understand me," the older man continued. "If she refuses you, you
+can come back. If she accepts you, you need never show your face to
+me again, and I shall take good care that your friends at home
+understand the reason. Probably if you let these people know what
+the result will be if you are accepted it will make a great
+difference in the woman's answer."
+
+Willard Holmes dared not speak. Nothing but his life-long love for
+the man whose devotion to the engineer's mother had stood the test
+of years enabled the younger man to control himself. When he could
+speak calmly he said: "I am sorry, sir, that you said that; for you
+must see how you have made it impossible for me now ever to go back
+with you. If Miss Worth does not care for me, I would have been glad
+to go home with you, for next to her, Uncle Jim, you are more to me
+than anyone in the world. When you say that my relation to you shall
+depend upon her answer you make it impossible for her answer to make
+any difference so far as you and I are concerned. Won't you--won't
+you reconsider, Uncle Jim? Won't you take back your words?"
+
+"No, sir; I have said exactly what I mean."
+
+"Good-by, sir."
+
+"Good-by."
+
+When the office door had closed behind the engineer, James
+Greenfield stood motionless in the center of the room. Once he took
+a step toward the door but checked himself. Then turning slowly,
+wearily, he sank into the chair before his desk. For a few moments
+he fumbled aimlessly over the papers and documents, then from his
+pocket took a flat leather case and, opening it, held in his hand a
+portrait of the engineer's mother. As he looked at the face of the
+woman who had never ceased to hold the first place in his heart, his
+lips framed words he could not speak aloud.
+
+Slowly his form drooped, his head bowed. Then, with the picture held
+close, he buried his face in his arms among the business papers on
+his desk.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+OUT OF THE HOLLOW OF GOD'S HAND.
+
+
+The first train from Republic to Barba over the new King's Basin
+Central arrived in the town by the old Dry River Crossing shortly
+after noon. Later in the day Jefferson Worth with his daughter, his
+superintendent and the Seer went to the power plant on the bank of
+Dry River.
+
+When the plant was built it was placed as low in the old wash as the
+depth of the ancient channel would permit, so that the greatest
+possible fall from the Company canal above might be secured. As
+Jefferson Worth and his companions stood now on the bank of the
+river they saw the waste-way from the turbine wheel that ran the
+generators nearly thirty feet above the bottom of the channel. The
+flood that had cut the deep canyons through the heart of the Basin,
+destroying Kingston on its course, had worked on a smaller scale in
+the old Dry River wash, cutting a narrow gorge nearly fifty feet
+deep from its outlet at the new sea past the power plant at Barba
+and nearly to the spillway of the main canal.
+
+Standing almost on the very spot where they had found the baby girl
+years before, the Seer asked Barbara's father: "Jeff, does your
+contract with The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company call for
+a certain amount of water, or for water to develop a certain amount
+of power?"
+
+Jefferson Worth answered in his careful, exact voice: "The first
+contract called for water to develop a certain amount of power. This
+new one is a contract for three hundred inches of water. There's
+nothing in it about the amount of power, but it gives me the sole
+rights to all the power privileges on the Company property. You see,
+when Greenfield tried to change the line of their canal so as to cut
+me out, Abe and I had begun to figure that some day the water from
+the spillway might cut down the channel and give us a little more
+drop. But we never counted on this, of course. I simply figured that
+I might just as well make the new contract safe."
+
+The Seer smiled. "You made it safe all right, Jeff. Do you know what
+this cut means to you?"
+
+"In a way, yes. That's why I wanted you to look at it."
+
+"It means," said the Seer, "that you have rights here worth a
+million dollars at least. By lowering your turbine to the bottom of
+this cut you can, with the same amount of water that you are now
+using, develop power enough to run every electric light system and
+turn every wheel in all The King's Basin for years to come."
+
+"You mean that the river breaking in and doing this has made daddy's
+property worth a million dollars?" asked Barbara breathlessly.
+
+The Seer turned toward her. "Yes, Barbara. The same force that
+destroyed Kingston and wrecked the Company has increased the value
+of your father's holding to fully that amount. A million is very
+conservative."
+
+The young woman looked down into the gorge at their feet. Slowly she
+said: "The Indians must be right. This must be indeed La Palma de la
+Mano de Dios. Such things could happen nowhere else."
+
+She had just finished speaking when the sound of wheels behind
+caused them to turn toward the desert and the old San Felipe trail.
+It was Texas and Pat in the buckboard with El Capitan leading
+behind.
+
+Catching sight of the group on the river bank, the men turned aside
+from the road and went to them. "Howdy folks," drawled Tex. "We
+'lowed we'd jest about meet up with you-all somewhere about here."
+
+"Sure, 'tis a family reunion we do be havin', wid no empthy chairs
+at all," declared the Irishman, looking from face to face with
+twinkling eyes. "Well, well, who'd a thought now that the little kid
+we found under the bank here, shcared av the coyotes an' more
+shcared av us rough-necks, wud av growed up like this? An' wid me a
+shwearin' by all the saints I knew that I wud niver set fut on the
+disert again. Here we are once more altogether, wid Barbara an' Abe
+bigger than life. 'Tis the danged owld disert itsilf that's a-lavin'
+niver to come back at all." He drew the back of his huge hairy hand
+across his eyes.
+
+Barbara's eyes too were wet, and the others turned away their faces.
+Pat's words had recalled so vividly the scene at the dry water hole
+with the changes that the years had brought both to them and to the
+desert.
+
+It was Texas Joe who broke the silence. "Mr. Worth, Pat and I would
+like to see you some time this evenin' if you ain't engaged."
+
+"What is it, Tex?" As he spoke Jefferson Worth looked straight into
+the eyes of the old plainsman. Texas Joe, gazing steadily into the
+face of his employer, drawled easily: "Jest a little matter we
+'lowed maybe you'd like to know about, sir. What time shall we
+come?"
+
+Something--the memories of the place, perhaps, aroused by the words
+of Pat a moment before--caused Jefferson Worth to lift those nervous
+fingers and softly caress his chin. "I guess I can go now. We're all
+through here." He turned to the others. "I'll go on to the hotel
+with Tex and Pat and you folks can come along later when you are
+ready."
+
+He stepped into the buckboard and with the two drove away. At a
+livery barn where they stopped to leave the horses, Texas took from
+under the seat of the buckboard something that was wrapped in a sack
+that had held a feed of grain for the team and El Capitan.
+
+When they had reached the privacy of Mr. Worth's room, the old
+plainsman and the Irishman stood as if each waited for the other to
+begin.
+
+"Well, men," said Jefferson Worth. "What is it?"
+
+"Go on, ye owld oysther," growled Pat to Tex. "Why the hell don't ye
+tell the boss what we've come to tell him. Shpake up."
+
+Texas Joe cleared his throat and began formally: "I don't reckon,
+Mr. Worth, that you-all has forgot that outfit we left in them sand
+hills back yonder on the old San Felipe trail the time we found the
+kid."
+
+At the words Jefferson Worth's face became a gray mask from behind
+which his mind reached out as though to grasp what Texas would say
+before the man put it into words. "Well?" The single word came with
+the colorless sound of dull metal.
+
+"Also I reckon you know how them big drifts are allus on the move,
+so that when they covers up anything, say an outfit like that one,
+it stands to reason that some day they'll drift on an' leave it
+clear again."
+
+Jefferson Worth's hands were gripping the arms of his chair. His
+gray lips could frame no sound.
+
+"I've allus kind a-kept an eye on that there particular ridge,"
+continued Texas, "an' so to-day me and Pat stopped for a little look
+around an'"--slowly he unwrapped the grain sack from a long tin box
+--"an' we found this." He laid the box carefully on the table before
+Barbara's father. "Hit was a-layin' with what was left of a bigger
+wooden box or trunk, which same had gone to pieces, and there was a
+part of that old wagon with that same piece of a halter-strap you
+remember fastened to a wheel. There ain't no sort of doubt, Mr.
+Worth, that hit's the same outfit an' hits mighty likely that
+there's papers in here that'll tell us what we tried so hard to find
+out at first, but what"--he paused and looked around, then finished
+in a low tone--"I don't reckon any of us wants to know now."
+
+Jefferson Worth sat motionless in his chair, his eyes fixed upon the
+tin box.
+
+The heavy voice of the Irishman broke the quiet.
+
+"Av Tex wud a listened to raison, Sorr, I'd a-dumped the danged
+thing into the river, sayin' nothin' to nobody. Fwhat good can we do
+rakin' up the past that's dead an' gone? The girl is as much yers as
+if she was yer own flesh an' blood, an' who can say fwhat divil's
+own mess may come out av this thing? Lave it alone, I say; an' fwhat
+nobody don't know can't hurt thim. 'Twas wrong intirely to bring ut
+to ye afther all ye've been sich a father to the little one. Lave it
+to me, Sorr. Give me the word an' I'll"--he reached eagerly for the
+box, but Jefferson Worth held up his slim, nervous hand.
+
+"Wait a moment, Pat. I--I don't think that would be right."
+
+Never before had these men seen Jefferson Worth hesitate. The will
+of the man, whose cold decision had carried him through so many
+critical situations and upon which the pioneers had relied in the
+recent time of peril, seemed to fail him at last. The spectacle told
+the men more clearly than words could have done what he suffered.
+"I--I don't know what to do," he finished weakly. "Give me time. Let
+me think." He bowed his face in his hands.
+
+Pat growled an oath under his breath and Texas turned his eyes from
+his companions to the box and from the box back to his friends in
+bewildered uncertainty. At last he said in his soft southern drawl:
+"Mr. Worth, hit's dead sure that me an' Pat ain't helpin' you none
+in this. I reckon I was all wrong to bring hit to you at all. But
+hit seemed like I was plumb balled up an' couldn't rightly say what
+was best. There ain't really no call to crowd this thing as I can
+see. Suppose you takes your time to think it over. Me an' Pat'll let
+you alone, an' if you decides to fergit all about hit, you can bet
+your last red we'll be damn glad to help. Nobody but us three will
+ever know. 'T ain't as if it was a-doin' anybody any harm."
+
+Jefferson Worth raised his head. "Thank you boys," he said. "I'll
+have to figure on this thing a little."
+
+Left alone, Jefferson Worth faced the temptation of his life. Dearer
+to this lonely-hearted man than all the wealth and power that he
+would realize from his King's Basin work was the child who had come
+to him out of the desert. The man knew that it was the influence of
+Barbara upon his life that had prepared him for that night in the
+sand hills and enabled him rightly to weigh and measure and value
+the efforts of his kind. That afternoon at the power house it had
+all been brought before him with startling vividness. He felt that
+in all that he had accomplished in Barbara's Desert he had been led
+by the child, who had come to him out of The Hollow of God's Hand.
+The desert had given her to him; he had given himself in return to
+the work she loved. He could not think of his work apart from her.
+She was his--his--his. His gray lips whispered the words as he stood
+looking down at the box. No one had the right to take her from him;
+to come into her life. And yet--and yet. He reached out and laid his
+hand upon the box, then, turning again, paced the room.
+
+Suddenly he whirled about and approached the table. With cold fury
+he seized the box and placing it upon the floor, broke the light tin
+fastening with his boot-heel. Again he paused and looked dully at
+the thing in his hands. Then with a quick motion lie threw up the
+cover. The box was filled with documents and letters, with four or
+five old photographs.
+
+The address on a large unsealed envelope met his eye and he started
+back with a low cry as though he had looked upon some startling
+apparition.
+
+When Barbara with the Seer and Abe returned to the hotel that
+evening the clerk gave her a note from her father who, the note
+explained, had been called to Republic on business of importance. He
+would be back to-morrow.
+
+The clerk said that Mr. Worth had left only a few minutes before
+with the engine and car that had brought them to Barba that morning.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+BACK TO THE OLD SAN FELIPE TRAIL.
+
+
+In the office of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Company, James
+Greenfield was aroused by a knock at the door. He lifted his head
+from his arms and looked around as if awakened out of a deep sleep.
+
+Another knock, and he slipped the picture he held in his hand into
+his pocket and called, "Come in."
+
+The door opened and Jefferson Worth stepped into the room.
+
+For a moment the president of the wrecked Company sat staring at his
+business rival, then he leaped to his feet, his fists clenched and
+his face working with passion. "You can't come in here, sir. Get
+out!" he said with the voice and manner he would have assumed in
+speaking to a trespassing dog.
+
+Jefferson Worth stood still. "I have business of importance with
+you, Mr. Greenfield," he said, and his air of quiet dignity
+contrasted strangely with the rage of the larger man.
+
+"You can have no business with me of any sort whatever. I have
+nothing to do with your kind. This is my private office. I tell you
+to get out."
+
+Jefferson Worth turned calmly as though to obey, but instead of
+leaving the room closed the door and locked it. Then, placing the
+small grip he carried upon the table, he deliberately went close to
+the threatening president and said coldly: "This is rank nonsense,
+Greenfield. I won't leave this office until I'm through with what I
+came to do. I have business with you that concerns you as much as it
+does me."
+
+"You're a damned thief, a low sharper! I tell you I have nothing to
+do with you. Now get out or I'll throw you out!"
+
+Jefferson Worth answered in his exact, precise manner, as though
+carefully choosing and considering his words: "No, you won't throw
+me out. You'll listen to what I have come to tell you. The rest of
+your statement, Greenfield, is false and you know it. It will be
+just as well for you not to repeat it." The last low-spoken words
+did not appear to be uttered as a threat but as a calm statement of
+a carefully considered fact. James Greenfield felt as a man who
+permits himself to rage against an immovable obstacle--as one who
+spends his strength cursing a stone wall that bars his way or a rock
+that lies in his path. With an effort he regained a measure of his
+self-control.
+
+"Well, out with it. What do you want?"
+
+"Sit down," said Worth, pointing to a chair. Mechanically the other
+obeyed. "You have no reason for taking this attitude toward me, Mr.
+Greenfield," began Worth with his air of simply stating a fact.
+
+At his words the wrath of the other again mastered him. "No reason!
+You--you dare to tell me that? When you and the young woman that you
+call your daughter have come between me and the boy who is more than
+a son to me! When you have broken our close relationship of years'
+standing and robbed me of his companionship! When you have wrecked
+and ruined all my plans for his future! When you have defeated the
+object of my life! No reason? But what can you understand of us?
+You're a nobody, sir, without a place or a name in the world; a
+common, low-bred, ignorant sharper with no family but a nameless
+daughter of unknown parentage whom you found on the desert. How can
+you understand what Willard Holmes is to me?"
+
+"I figured that you would feel this way about it," came the
+colorless words. "That's what I came here for to-night--to fix it
+up."
+
+The angry amazement of Greenfield at what he considered the man's
+presumption could find no expression.
+
+Worth continued: "I know a great deal more about you and your folks
+than you think. When I saw that my"--he hesitated over the word,
+then spoke it plainly--"my daughter was becoming interested in
+Willard Holmes, I took some pains to look up his history. In doing
+that I naturally found out a good deal about you. Later I learned a
+good deal more."
+
+"It is immaterial to me what you know," muttered the other in a tone
+of deep disgust. "What do you want?"
+
+Worth spoke with quiet dignity. "I want you to understand first, Mr.
+Greenfield, that my girl is just as much to me as young Holmes is to
+you. You are right; I am a nobody, ignorant and all that, but you
+must not think Mr. Greenfield that because you belong in New York
+and I belong in the West that this thing is harder for you than it
+is for me. You are not going to lose your boy but I"--for the first
+time he hesitated and his voice expressed emotion--"I am going to
+lose my girl."
+
+The pathos of this lonely man's words touched even Greenfield. His
+manner was more gentle as he said gruffly: "It's a bad business, Mr.
+Worth; a damned bad business for both of us. I wish I had never
+heard of this country."
+
+"You'll feel different about that. Anyway I figure that this country
+and this work will be here long after you and I are gone, and so
+will these young people." Again he hesitated and his slim fingers
+caressed his chin. Then from behind that gray mask he asked: "How
+much do you know about our finding Barbara in the desert?"
+
+"I know the story in a general way, that's all. It does not interest
+me."
+
+"Let me tell you the facts."
+
+In his brief, colorless sentences Jefferson Worth related the
+incidents of that trip across the desert, and as he did so
+Greenfield began to realize that some powerful motive had brought
+this man to him and was forcing him to relate his story with such
+exact care for the details.
+
+"And you never found the slightest clue even to the child's name?"
+he asked, when Worth had finished.
+
+Jefferson Worth hesitated, then: "Mr. Greenfield, you had a younger
+brother who came West?"
+
+The man gazed at the speaker in amazement as he answered
+mechanically. "Yes. He died out here somewhere--in California, I
+believe. I was never able to learn the details. He was an
+adventurous lad and a good deal of a rover. But why--how--" As the
+full import of the question dawned upon him Greenfield started from
+his seat. "My God, man! You don't mean--you cannot mean that it was
+my brother Will who was lost in that sandstorm on the desert? That
+the woman you found by the water hole was his wife, Gertrude, and
+that--that--" His voice sank to a whisper. "Will wrote me that there
+was a child--that she had Gertrude's hair and eyes. I had never seen
+her." He turned fiercely upon his companion. "And you have kept this
+from me all these years? You have kept my only brother's child from
+me? By God, sir! I--But perhaps this is all one of your damnable
+tricks. What proof have you that this is so, and if it is, why have
+you kept it a secret?"
+
+Jefferson Worth opened his satchel and laid the tin box on the desk
+before the president of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation
+Company. "This box was found this afternoon by Texas Joe and Pat,
+who brought it to me. I opened it. It is all here."
+
+When Greenfield had examined the contents of the box--letters, some
+of them written by himself to his brother, papers relating to
+William Greenfield's business affairs and property, and photographs
+of the little family and of the two brothers and their parents, he
+looked up to see Jefferson Worth sitting motionless, his form
+relaxed, his head dropped forward.
+
+[Illustration: Without a word--for no word was needed--their hands
+met in a firm grip ]
+
+Suddenly the words of the man who had been a father to his brother's
+child came back to Greenfield. "My girl is just as much to me as young
+Holmes is to you. You are not going to lose your boy, but I am going
+to lose my girl." In a flash the financier saw it all--saw how
+Jefferson Worth loved Barbara as his own child, as Greenfield cared
+for Willard Holmes; saw how Worth might have destroyed the papers so
+strangely brought to light and kept the secret; saw and realized a
+little what strength of character it had taken to overcome the
+temptation, and felt what the man was suffering.
+
+As Greenfield's hand fell on his shoulder, Jefferson Worth slowly
+lifted his head. Slowly he rose to his feet. In silence the two men
+faced each other. Without a word--for no word was needed-their hands
+met in a firm grip.
+
+After a little while Greenfield asked eagerly: "Where is she now,
+Mr. Worth? Where is the girl? Does she know? I must see her at once.
+Come! And Willard--I wonder if he is still in town. Come, we must go
+to them."
+
+But Jefferson Worth answered: "I've been figuring on that, Mr.
+Greenfield. You had better let me tell Barbara myself. And if I was
+you, after what you have probably said to Holmes on this subject, I
+wouldn't be in a hurry to tell him. For the sake of their future
+we'd better let Barbara handle that matter herself. You can easily
+figure it out that it will be best for them that way."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+THE HERITAGE OF BARBARA WORTH.
+
+
+Barbara, walking quickly, left the little village and, crossing Dry
+River on the bridge that now spanned the deep gorge where the old
+San Felipe trail once led down into the ancient wash, climbed the
+slight grade to the grave that was marked by the simple headstone
+with its one word--"Mother."
+
+That morning Jefferson Worth had told her of the tin box found by
+Texas Joe and Pat. With reverent care she had read the papers and
+letters and had looked long at the portraits of her parents and
+people. She could not at first realize that the desert had at last
+given up the secret that she had so longed to know. It was not real
+to her, the revelation was so sudden, so startling. She could not
+think of herself save as the daughter of Jefferson Worth, whom she
+loved as a father.
+
+As soon as the noon day meal was over she had left her room in the
+hotel, and once out of doors her steps had instinctively turned
+toward her mother's grave beside the old trail.
+
+Standing before the headstone she looked at the one word. "Mother,"
+she said softly. "Mother!" Then, still in a whisper, she repeated
+the unfamiliar names: "Gertrude Greenfield; William Greenfield--my
+mother; my father! I am Barbara Greenfield--Barbara Greenfield!"
+
+Seating herself on the ground beside the grave, she looked about: at
+the sand hills in the distance; at the Dry River gorge and the power
+plant; at the canals shining like silver bands among the green
+fields of the ranchers to the southeast; and at the little town. An
+hour passed; then another; and another.
+
+Across the river she saw Pablo riding out of the town and away along
+the road that follows the canal. Then from the power house came Abe
+Lee with the Seer. She watched them as they walked along the bank of
+the old channel. Once she thought she would call to them, but
+hesitated. If they crossed the bridge and came up the hill they
+would be sure to see her. So she waited, keeping still. They passed
+the bridge and continued on down the bank of the stream.
+
+Barbara knew instinctively that they were talking of her and the
+secret that the desert had at last revealed, for she had asked her
+father to tell them. She thought of her father who had gone to
+Republic. He would return that evening and Mr. Greenfield, her
+uncle, would be with him. "Her uncle"--how strange!
+
+Then Barbara saw on the other side of the river a horseman riding
+from the south toward the town. She could not mistake the khaki-clad
+figure that, while fully at home in the saddle, still lacked the
+indescribable, easy looseness and swinging grace of the western
+rider. It was Willard Holmes, and the young woman's heart told her
+why the engineer had come. Since that meeting at the river in the
+hour of his victory she had known that he would come and she had
+known what her answer would be.
+
+He had evidently ridden from the river, from his work. Did he know?
+No, she decided, he could not know yet. Then the quick thought came:
+he _must not know until_--until she herself should tell him. Quickly
+the young woman walked down the hill across the bridge toward the
+town.
+
+Willard Holmes arrived at the hotel and, learning that Miss Worth
+was out, carried a chair to the arcade on the street to await her
+return. He had not waited long when a voice at his shoulder said
+with mock formality: "I believe this is Mr. Willard Holmes."
+
+The engineer sprang to his feet. "Miss Worth! They told me that you
+were out. I was sitting here waiting for you."
+
+"I was out when you arrived," she confessed; "but I saw you coming
+and hurried back pronto. I knew you had just left the river, you
+see. And of course," she added, as though that explained her
+eagerness to see him, "I wanted to hear the latest news from the
+work."
+
+"There is no news," he answered, as though dismissing the matter
+finally.
+
+"And may I ask what brings you to Barba?"
+
+He looked at her steadily. "You brought me to Barba."
+
+"I?"
+
+"Yes--you. I stopped in Republic on my way back from the city the
+evening of the day you left. I was forced to go on to the river, but
+took the first opportunity to ride out here, for I understood you
+expected to be in Barba several days. Surely you know why I have
+come. The work I stayed in the Basin to do is finished. I have
+another offer from the S. & C. which, if I accept, will keep me here
+for several years. I have come to you with it as I came with the
+other. What shall I do? Please don't pretend that you don't
+understand me."
+
+The direct forcefulness of the man almost made Barbara forget the
+little plan she had arranged on her way to the hotel to meet him. "I
+won't pretend, Mr. Holmes," she answered seriously. "But--will you
+go with me for a little ride into the desert?"
+
+Her words recalled to his mind instantly their first meeting in
+Rubio City, but Holmes was not astonished now. The invitation coming
+from Barbara under the circumstances seemed the most natural thing
+in the world.
+
+The young woman went to her room to make ready while the engineer
+brought the horses, and in a very few minutes they had crossed the
+river and were following the old San Felipe trail toward the sand
+hills.
+
+Very few words passed between them until they reached the great
+drift that had held so long its secret. Leaving the horses at
+Barbara's request, they climbed the steep sides of the great sand
+mound. From the top they could see on every hand the many miles of
+The King's Basin country--from Lone Mountain at the end of the delta
+dam to the snow-capped sentinels of San Antonio Pass; and from the
+sky line of the Mesa and the low hills on the east to No Man's
+Mountains and the bold wall of the Coast Range that shuts out the
+beautiful country on the west.
+
+The soft, many-colored veils and scarfs of the desert, with the gold
+of the sand hills, the purple of the mountains, the gray and green
+of the desert vegetation, with the ragged patches of dun plain, were
+all there still as when Willard Holmes had first looked upon it, for
+the work of Reclamation was still far from finished.
+
+But there was more in Barbara's Desert now than pictures woven
+magically in the air. There were beautiful scenes of farms with
+houses and barns and fences and stacks, with cattle and horses in
+the pastures, and fields of growing grain, the dark green of
+alfalfa, with threads and lines and spots of water that, under the
+flood of white light from the wide sky, shone in the distance like
+gleaming silver. Barbara and the engineer could even distinguish the
+little towns of Republic and Frontera, with Barba nearby; and even
+as they looked they marked the tall column of smoke from a
+locomotive on the S. & C. moving toward the crossing of the old San
+Felipe trail, and on the King's Basin Central another, coming toward
+the town on Dry River where once beside a dry water hole a woman lay
+dead with an empty canteen by her side.
+
+Willard Holmes drew a long breath.
+
+"You like my Desert?" asked the young woman softly, coming closer to
+his side--so close that he felt her presence as clearly as he felt
+the presence of the spirit that lives in the desert itself.
+
+"Like it!" he repeated, turning toward her. "It is my desert now;
+mine as well as yours. Oh, Barbara! Barbara! I have learned the
+language of your land. Must I leave it now? Won't you tell me to
+stay?"
+
+He held out his hands to her, but she drew back a little from his
+eagerness. "Wait. I must know something first before I can answer."
+
+He looked at her questioningly. "What must you know, Barbara?"
+
+"Did you ever hear the story of what happened here in these very
+sand hills? Do you know that I am not the daughter of Jefferson
+Worth?"
+
+"Yes," he answered gravely. "I know that Mr. Worth is not your own
+father, but I did not know that this was the scene of the tragedy."
+
+"And you understand that I am nameless; that no one knows my
+parentage? That there may even be Mexican or Indian blood in my
+veins? You understand--you realize all that?"
+
+He started toward her almost roughly. "Yes, I understand all that,
+but I care only that you are Barbara. I know only that I want you--
+you, Barbara!"
+
+"But your family--Mr. Greenfield--your friends back home--think what
+it means to them. Can you afford-"
+
+"Barbara," he cried. "Stop! Why are you saying these things? Listen
+to me. Don't you _know_ that I love you? Don't you know that nothing
+else matters? Your Desert has taught me many things, dear, but
+nothing so great as this--that I want you and that nothing else
+matters. I want you for my wife."
+
+"But you said once that you would never _marry me_," persisted the
+young woman. "What has changed you?"
+
+"_I_ said that I would never marry you? I said that? That cannot be,
+Barbara; you are mistaken."
+
+She shook her head. "That is what you said. I heard you myself. You
+told Mr. Greenfield at my house that morning he came to see you when
+you were hurt. I--I--the door into the dining room was open and I
+heard."
+
+The light of quick understanding broke over the engineer's face.
+"And you heard what Uncle Jim said to me? But Barbara, didn't you
+hear the reason I gave him for saying that I would not marry you?"
+
+"I--I couldn't hear anything after that," she said simply.
+
+At her confession the man's strong face shone with triumph. "Listen,
+dear, I told Uncle Jim I would never marry you because you loved
+someone else and that there was no chance for me."
+
+Barbara's brown eyes opened wide. "You thought that?"
+
+"Yes. I thought you loved Abe Lee."
+
+"Why--why I _do_ love Abe."
+
+The man laughed. "Of course you do; but I thought you loved him as I
+wanted you to love me; don't you understand?"
+
+"Oh-h!" The exclamation was a confession, an explanation and an
+expression of complete understanding. "But that"--she added as she
+went to him--"that _could not be_."
+
+And then--
+
+But Barbara's words, rightly understood, mark the end of my story.
+
+Rarely is it given in the story of life, to those who work greatly
+or love greatly, to gather the fruit of their toil or passion. But
+it is given those others, perhaps--those for whom it could not be--
+to know a happiness greater, it may be, than the joy of possession.
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Winning of Barbara Worth, by Harold B Wright
+
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