The evening world. Newspaper, January 22, 1915, Page 21

A New York Man’s Strange In the “Big Gutdoore CIS LYNDE PRAT RAREST ROR wa A Adventures of the West I did about not Penryn J to Breckenridge. That crack head wasn't meant, for met meant Bod you. If it hadn’t dark that night—but it was; dark. And he knew you'd be ooi along it path on your way false and true, in curv: | ing row on the table. The crooking - line took the form of a huge inter. | Rags "CHAPTER | IX,’ van os x. (Continued) 'T..was tho playwright’s turn ‘to gasp, and he did it. “You—you don't believe it, after all? Say, I believe Me you are both stark, staring (ededi” he stammered. And, then, ‘ wwith:-more composure: “Are you in It, teo,.Jerry?” he +“E guess I am,” weaning no more than that he felt vg obliged to stand with the men of his Phopen profession. bd Wingfield drew a | breath, and ..Was himself again. “Of course, its an you please,” he said carelessly. had a notion I was doing you two emse@ervice, but if you choose to take the other view of it—well, ther Paécounting for tastes. I'll find my later on. It's bully material.” “That is another thing,” Ballard went on still more coldly. “If you ‘ever put pen to paper with these fool theories of yours for a basis, I'll bunt ; ypu down as I would a wild beast.” 4 "Bo will I," echoed Bromley. “% Wingfield rose and put the long- stemmed pipe carefully asid “You are a pair of bally idiots,” he femarked, quite without heat, Then bean looked at his watch and spoke ‘pointedly to Blacklock. “You're for- « atling Miss Elsa’s fishing party to the upper canyon, aren't you? Sup- % pose we drive around to Castle 'Cadia “. mothe ear? You can send Otto back after Mr. Bromley.” And young "Blacklock was so dazed by the cool fmpudence of the suggestion that he consented, and went with the play- wright. For a Icag time after the stuttering < purr of the motor car had died away the-two men sat in silence in the Bandergon's rifle, mute proofs of the d's deductions, and to ane Sh rege that “gies edaition iy jdetreck In lor an nal s: eon d. In the fulness of ‘Do you blame me, Li Bromley shook his head. “No: there was nothing else to do. H pt, I couldn't help being sorry for $6 iB.” wi geld rye Leben gyri] We a in by aster! put iomenes you iknow 1} had to, Loudon.” sire you 0. re ts Bo. doubt in your mind that he ted hit upon the true solu- of things?” bes al I Rave qnenected it, oe at all. ter ats teal, a Cre! while, An before Wingfield ree a aberied, hypo Bromley il toying with the ‘cartridges: Th Bale to tell you, Paedes said Biacktovx, jy" tion pol te Then he broke ground again in the old fleld, “Will ye jo know what I begged you to do at first—throw P this job and go away from here?" was an explosiv “That is half half somethi other isfield’s th his throat a little while neo. You are sorry for the daughter.” ‘Through the open door Ballard saw Kirkpatrick coming for him, “You have guessed it, Loudon, In the face of all this—in wre oe of it all— I shall one day m Craig- miles, God willing. Now yor you _kn now why Wingfield mustn't be allowed ny talk; why I mustn’ Speer bigs and give place to a new chie! it live to see the Colonel — “ake @ must be spared at 3 word before patrick Ss in When my time comes, if it does com: you and one other man will know how I passed out. I want your prom- - acent you'll . still, and keep 1d till. acklock = doesn't on x "sure, said Bromley, quiet! And then, with the contracto ts Ay at the ee “You'll do the same Ng me, rec! wre Because —ob, con- found {t all!—I’m in the same t— Sie @ ghost of a show, you jer- nd. Ballard _ put his’ back sddarel Michael Kirkpatrick scraping Rie rant on the puncheon-floored porch of the boty jpadal and gripped Bromley's “It's @ bargain,” he said. “We'll the long chance and stand by her toget! old man. 4 if she chooses the better ike de the end, I'll try not to act II falous fool. Now,- you turn in while. I've got to This time it was the, situation, “What nous donkeys we are “She calls you ‘dear friend,’ ‘ttle Lee decrfil oe we were right rood and tractable we may get cards to her wedding—with’ Wingfield.” CHAPTER X. ‘T. was Miss Craigmiles her- eelf who gave Ballard the exact date of Gardiner’s coming, driving down to the camp in the motor car. A cloudburst in the main range had made the stage road from Alta Vista impassable, leaving the railway—by some unexplained miracle of good for- tbe sedi Neti ‘ ” wv Ose thet Swit sei pms Life, Liberty and— drove Mr. Bromley down in the car and took Mr. Wingfield home. I'd Uke to know what happened.” “Nothing of any consequence. Let's talk of something else. Is your anx- fety—the trouble you won't share with me—any lighter?” yes; just for the moment, per- re you still (9 Ped not to let me efface it for you?” ‘ou couldn't; it can never be ef- His smile was the man's smile of superior wisdom. “Don't we always say that when the trouble is Loot eonal?" She Ignored the query, and her re- Joinder was totally Irrelevant, “You think I came down here to ask you to send for Mr. Gardiner, ‘That was only an excuse. I wanted to ask you not to be vindict! < Again he dissimulated. vindictive; why should I be?’ “You have every reason: least, you believe you havi She leaned toward him. ‘Please tell me how much did Mr. Wingfield find tune—unharmed. Hence, unless Gar+ oye 9 diner could be brought over on the material train, he would be inde’ nitely held on the other side of the mountain. Miss Elsa came ostensibly to beg a favor. “Of course I'll send over for him,” sald Ballerd. “Didn't I tell you he was going to be my guest?” “But he isn’t,” she insisted play- fully. There had been no’ untoward happenings for three peaceful weeks, and there was occasion for light- as heartedness. I didn’t stumble over pron ‘cliff; I was knocked ou know who did it?” make @ pretty good guess. down at the wing dam a me, coming this way. He man, and he was muffled in a raincoat. I know be- lar ‘mackin- knew ii said Ballard. geo me, though I thought wy that he did; he kept looking as if he were expecting some to, follow him, He took the path the right-hand aide of the canyon one I took a few minutes |i all, excopt that I heard t r’ of @ mackintosh just as the fell that knocked me out.” leavens, man! it's incredible! he saved your life, after the P4act! You would have died that ight it he had not let Jerry drive itm down here in the car.” Tit is incredible, as you wget it. isn't, when you sur What is the reason, the reason, why Col. Craigmiles a resort to all these desperate fients ?* SDelay, I suppose: time to get his fight shaped up in the courts.” he 1f ne can hoid us back enough, the dam will never be pleted. He knows it, and Mr. Pelham krows it, too, Unhappily for us, the colonel has found a way “insure delay. The work can't go GRiwithout a boss.” <ofBut, good Lord, Loudon! the man you. Why should he try to kill ~one minute and move heaven ‘and earth to save your life the next?” Bromley shook his ay; and und all head sorrow- “That is what made me say what Ballard stepped down from the bun- galow porch and arbitrarily throttled the motor-car engines to a standstill. “This is the first time I've seen you for a mon he protested, which was not true. “Please come up and sit on the porch. There is a quantity of things I want to say.” “Where is Mr. Bromley?” she asked, making no move to leave the driving ecat. “He is out on the ditch work, luck- Uy for me, Won't you ‘light and come in?—as we say back in the good old blue grass country.” "You don't degerve it. You haven't been near us since Mr. Bromley went back to work. Why?” “I have been very busy.” The com- monplace excuse was the only 0) that suggested itself. He could not tell her that it was impossible for one to accept hospitality of a man who has deliberately planned to murder 'r. Bromley hasn't been too busy.” ‘Bromley owes you all a very great debt of gratitude.” t, you would say. You owe us noth- “No,” he returned gravely. “I can't think of you and of enmity at the same moment.” “If you only knew,” she said half- absently, ai the trouble shadow came quickly in her eyes. “There is no reai cause of enmity or hatred.” “I'm thinking of you,” he reminded reverting to the impossibility of ating that thought with the ‘hank you.” Then, with the unex- pectedness which was all her own: “What did you do to Mr. Wingfleid?” “I don't remember all the things 1 did to him. I believe f made &im welcome—when I had to. He lsasn't been using his welcome much lately, thoagh.” “No; not since the day when Jerry phon forget: Next week's Complete Novel in The Evening World, “The Prince of Graustark,” by George Barr McCutcheon, i: It was blankly im ible to tell her the truth, or anything remotely re- sembling it. But his parrying of the question was passing skilless. “Not being a mind reader, gay. Our falling out turned upon his threat to make literary material out of—well, out of matters that one measure my own privat fairs. “Oh! So there was a quarrel?” “Not a very serious on peuere T called him an ass, and led mi an idiot. There was no bloodshed.” “You are jesting again. You al- Jest when I want to be serious.” might retort that I learned the trick of it of you—in the days that are now a part of another existence.” “Oh!” she said; and there was so much more of distress than of impa- tience in the little outcry that he was mollified at once, “fm going to crank up the car and @end you home,” he averred. “I'm not fit to talk to you to-day.” And he started the engines of the motor car, She laid her hand on the speed lever. “You'll come up and see me?” she asked, adding, “Some time when you gre fit?’ %: come when I'm needed.” alked beside the slowly mov- car as she sent it down the mesa oni thi Mics At the hill bottom turn, he camp street ended and’ the coundabout road led off to the bridge, stopped the car. The tow- ering of the dam, with its dot- ting of workmen silhouetted black against the blue of the sky, be high on the left, and she glanced up at “You are nearly through?” asked. PK: Two weeks more, with no looking straight ahead n. “You know what that means to us at Castle 'Cadia?” “I know I'd rather be a ‘mucker’ with a pick and shovel out yonder in the ditch t to be the boss here when the water is turned on.” “Will Mr. Pelham come out to the triumphal opening of the Areadian reservation?” “Oh, sure. Thera in to he a demon- stration In force, as Major Blacklock would say; special trains from Den- ver to bring the crowd, a barbecue dinner, speeches, a land-viewing ex- cursion over the comgileted porti-a ef the Fallroad and fire uth in the ate ning. You come rm Mr, Pelham t Beat the bia Zrma and to clash the it, she cymbaln vigorously at the psychologi- f cal instant?" “For purely commercial reasons? 1 could go a step further and tell you something else that will happen, There will be a good many transfers of tho Arcadia Company's stock at the tri- umphal climax.’ is eyes narrowed, and he regarded her thoughtfully, with one foot on the car atep and his hands in the pockets of his short working coat. “What do you know about such things?” he demurred, “You know al- together too much for one small bach- elor maid.” “Lam the cow-punching princess of Arcadia, and Mr, Ravesersbod emy, you mua, per» with @ laugh that sounded quite cure- free, ‘I could tell you more about the stock matter. Mr. Pelhum has been very liberal with his friends. He Jus placed considerable quantities of the Arcadia Company's Lat| among them at merely nominal prices, askipg oniy that they sign a ‘gentleman's agroe- ment’ not to resell any ,of it ao that my father could get it. But there is & wheel within that wheel, too, Some- thing more than hal of the capttal stock has been reserved as ‘treasury stock.’ When the enthusiasm reachcs the proper height this reserved stock will be put upon the market, People will be eager to buy—won't they?— with the work all don in readiness to tap wealth.” “That would be the natural infer- nye net engineer, could get in on tne Yrouna ook that ir. Pelham ts al- ways talking Lead couldn't you?" Ballard looked hurt, “Bee here, little girl! I am the com- pany’s hired man and some day I'm erry I hope that de- going to marty Jide, | Mr. Pelham ence.’ “As the com} MC poing to Invest, He te in oneiaimes ined little laugh. Mr. to marry your widow? Or u to be the consolation aries: pripet Doubtless you have arranged tween you.” Having gaid the incendiary thing, he brazenéd it out like a man. but : “I suppose I might Se-siem, sha'n't. You know very well that Bromley te in love with you, and I'm afraid you have been too kind to him. That's a little hard on Saedoe—wnee you are | marry else, But tell me a little more about this stock matter, Why should there be a ‘gentlemen's agreement’ to ex- clude your father? To an outsider ike myself, ia Company would seem to be ut the last thing Col- cant, Adam Craigmiles would wan’ uy.” “Onder Present conditions, I think it 1s," she said. “T shouldn't buy it wait patiently while the rocket is going up, and when the etick comes down I'd buy every bit of it 1 could find.” & ala he her through half-closed eyelids, I said Lefore, re know too much about such things, t's uncanny in a woman.” He valid it half in raillery, but his addenda was serious enough: — “Y¥. « your father will win his lawauit and so break the market?” “No, On the contrary, I'm quite sure he will be beaten. I'm going, now. I've said too much to the com- pany’s engineer, as It is.” “You have sald nothing to ty) com- pany’s eingineer,” he denie¢ “You have been talking to Brecy sbridge Ballard, your future"’—— She set the car in motion (More he could finish, and he stood looking er it as it shot up the first of the clines among the rounded hi 8 quite out of sight befor gan to realize that Elsa’ not been made for the purpose of ing him to send over the range for ly enjoy ¢ will take you in,” ot RA enc, Gardiner, nor to beg him not to be vindictive, Her object had been to warn bim not to buy Arcadia Irriga- tion, “Why?” came the questlo: shot-like; and like all the others’ ite tribe, it had to go unanswered. The assistant professor of geology kept, his Sopola aiaNe was duly met by Ballard’s special ee and a Rane way-car, and was transport- in atate to the Arcadian tastnenees. Bal had it in mind to run down the line on the other engine to meet the Bostonian; but forestalled him by intere: is Ackerman’s wi! motor car and whisking the over the rounda- bout road to Castle 'Cadia. Gardiner walked down to the camp at the dam the following morning to make his peace witb Ballard. “Age has its privileges, Breck ridge, my son," was the form his ony took. when T found might have my visit with y: still be it up at the hal inate hostelry the valley above, I didn't 6 a mom How are you coming on? Am I still in time to be in at the death?” “I hope not,” was the half hu- morous rejoinder. “Because, if there is any death, it’s Ukely to be mine, know." You are tarred with the eu- stick yourself, are you? it you said to me about two eheer accidents and a common- place tragedy? You will remember that I warned you; also, that I was a true prophet. I predicted that Ar- cadia would bave Sts shepherdess, you recollect.” But Ballard was not ready at the moment to dive into the pool of senti- ment with the shrewd-eyed old @choolman for a bath master, and he a walking tour of Gardiner was duly impreased with the magnitude of the irrigation scheme; with the solidity and thor- oughness of the work on the dam. But these matters became quickly subsidiary when he began to examine the curious formation of the foot-hill range or “hog- “These little wrinklings of the earth's crust at the foot of the great foresee a very je vacation for me—if you have forgiven me to the extent of a meal now and then, or possibly a shake-down in your bungalow, if I get caught out too inte to reach the lux- uries yonder,” “If T haven't fo b+ you, monly laughed Ball “Make yourself one of Please and as you please. »reraines accepted the invitation in ‘geat sense, and the afternoon of the carne day ind hi oli in brown duck and | studiously in the ou! hammer and specimen bes, ‘With the completion of t! near at hand, neither of th gineers bad much time to spare for extranéous things. But Gardiner asked little of his secondary hosts, and presently the thin, angular figure in brown canvas, and topped by queer-shaped helmet that might have ine service in the Himalayas, prowl- ing and tapping at the rocks, became ® familiar sight. The masons were setting the coping course on the great wall on the day when Gardiner’s enthusiasm carried him beyond the dinner hour at Castle ‘Cadia, and made him an guest in the engineers’ adobe; and in the attaneenpey talk it transpired that the assistant in geology had merely snatched 4 meagre fortnight out of his work in the summer school, Proposed, inste: the industries, us—when you t and would be leaving for home in an- other day or two. Hoth of the young men protested. They had been too busy to see any- thing of him in the comradely way, the “special” at lege y 3 ) a, wi 5 By Robert Minor|' ) iB and they had been counting on the lull succeeding the opening celebra- ton for more time to go it with ‘ou don't regret it half as ee do,” said the guest. been on more ing ground. summer on without exhausting its resources.” Ballard's eyebrows went up inquir- ingly. He had alighted. logy for 5 the more practical atudies in rtf ol: course. Feaning the broken formations?” e asl “Meaning the by ata iam of all the jt mations, Where you might reasonably ex, to find one stratum, ano! perhaps thousands of years older—or ounger—in the geological sense. An: yy the way, that Cpa me—neith of you yosngners are reaponsible for the eee ons of that dam, are you "No," eald Bromiey, answ: worked under Braithwaite, ‘Bed-rook,’ wald the That ie a workman's w kind of rock is it? "4 take it to be the ol enone, from Kirkpatriok' said Gardiner. ‘Dam-bulld- ing’ {a not exactly in my line, but I py shouldn't care to trust anythin, ng abort gTanites in such a locality as Pit Sa ‘ve seen something,” queried PeNoshin tion of what mi; river emerges fr it be. Where the waeE cut-off tun- nel below th ae eee worn out p pit in o you kno’ The Bottom of this Sete must ‘be below the foundations of the masonry. Had you thought of that?” Ballard nodded. “That ciroumstance si interrogation points, How bas the torrent to dig such @ deep cavity if the true primi- tives underlie its bed? Query tw What causes the curious reverbera- tory sound, as if the water were pluug- ing into @ great cavern? Query three Waste je the most important: this bot-hole ular brown shale, quite unlike agyuilag found higher “, allard” Ne Bromk hi romley excha: glances. “Your deductions, profes sor?” asked the younger man. "I haven't made any, but I might hazard purely speculative guess, Mr. Braithwaite's ‘bed-rock’ may not be the true primitive; it may be un- derbedded in this brown shale.” “Which brings on more talk,” sald Ballard reflectively. “Yes, Granting the hypothesis, the Arcadia Company's dam may stand for @ thousand yeare—or it may not. Ita life might be determined in a single night, if by any means the water of the reservoir lake should And i ‘9 eyes narrowed. “If that for example, ree above the " sald the geologist. “In three minutes after the opening of such a channel your dam might be transformed into a bridge spe y an erosive torrent comps » for flerce and destructive energy, to noth. ing tn all nature.” Silence ensued, and afterward the talk drifted to other matters, chiefly reminiscent, It was while Bromley and Gardiner were carrying the brunt of it that Ballard got up and went out, A few minutes later the crack of a rifle rang upon the outdoor still- three ede + you ever Mareiing? only an indica- }, PO hh lp hin aching eh id a b> Pra abn Shon obo he ine ye Fa THE PRINCE OF SRATARK Se ness, followed immediately by others {th quick succession. Bromley sprang up at the first dis- charge, but lore he could reach the door Ballard came in, carrying a hat- ful of brown er He was a little short of bre eath and his eyes were fashii But he was cool enough to conta y's ane befory it id be ee eee BY GEORGE BARR M’ CUTCHEO! Ballard, number, we the band and the syne, — and rene tin, thelr ‘on no hitch thus far. The tri arrived no more than the ite a threaten’ a's clouds waa suthoring on the i Sona ‘® fully worked up to the the me curious ‘about ie” looked at bg’ brown handful of 1 he ve! song” rejoined the Kentuckian evasively. “Then fortune is made, m: fon, etd “sulla you call it ta the basia of Colonel Craigmiles’s wealth, I hope your vein of it isn’t a part of we Ballard ¢ waste, By % do now about it, Gardiner lave pa any, of It, before?” The geolog! pert Acid ia appl “Pity’s sake! will off and bowl-shaped ‘rally’ Serena el cayon head three | tents. went down t watch is in the room bove the elec- tric Lea at the mouth aol e of rit bad ‘aid; and won & hor of cigars, for which, unhi vliy, 1 fi - no earthi; t! ‘carth-ore w sireontum. Don’ use. It is sirconia; 0 Brecke: Cute & rare metal, and up to p Bobi fow years it been @ natural state, Cyerriosy the. rk lyst, mounting and riding with apparent sest. “A refined uct of sirconia, the earth itsel porte nag ee incand: mantles; . wae 1800 this hogback of Fourer estonishing and ii in excess of any ot! be “But Col. Craigmiles,” sald board: their lading: = ae ing ones jen, climbed’ the. the litte. Te ‘fron’ le ever pace terious mine. nel's idea, commercial festivities eth and Elsa had e: ingenuity 1 Project, ‘For pol oy ay titude had been explaina as hypothesis; one Ballard. “He never ships anything from his wa, mine.” “No? It ten’t necessary, He showed us his reduction plant, run by the water power in the upper It ia quite perfect. You will weatand tl quantity of sirconium ob- almost micruco) oe but since { worth more than {ts weight tn diamonds, the plant does not require °xgain the. tal in the veered away fro Arcadian affairs, fecolutely shunted this time by Ballard. Bromley was making up a shake- down bed for the it in the rear Hey aoe, oncaen mf went: out oa the porch to amoke. It was here that Bromley found him yo the Bos- Preface. | i. cenducuar bine at the entrance to the Golonel’s mine,” “Wei red yo by of re at me one t cet ket vee One of ‘nem ani was uns fear Gardiner’s i ores the hi & mine. Sometimes I've been tempted to suspect that it was amere in the srund, ng. dentened to roast damages.” mt up keroient and eer changed his mind and dealt Tone found you! you haven't sonia cacuat to stay in the house when it’ gussocre! Let me cere + come of ot hat inless to that too, with an “ene “ot athes rioky T CHAPTER Xi. IB fete champetre, ae Mr. Pelham named it tn the Rouncement, to celebrate the laying of the final stone of the great dam, antictpated the a working completion of the irrigation system by some weeks, as such spec- tacular events not infrequently do, Nevertheless, on the auspicious day, when the guest bearing trains began to arrive, matters were well in hand at the focusing point of public inter- eat. The spillway gate, designed to close the cut-off tunnel, was in place and ready to be forced down by the ma- chinery; the camp mesa had been cleared of its industrial litter, and a Platform erected for the orators and the brass band; and, with the excep- tion of camp cook Garou, busy with his little army of assistants over the barbecue pits, the construction force had beey aistributed among the sub- contractors on the canals, In the celebration proper the two engineers had an insignificant part President Pelham, carrying his 200- odd pounds of avoirdupois as jaunt- ily as the youngest promoter of them all, was master of ceremonies; and the triumphal programme, as it had been outlined in a five-page letter to trumpet flourish of an. $ Later on, when } f aah if i E f ah 3 rs ii C ust i sow. dent Pelham signal. Then thee wan Or P- tol ron! ane = aaterion © 1e bh nt hel “Mistuh-ub P rg gentlemen of the to the top of the flagstaf over te ia band-stand and broke out ini broad fag, and Elea saw the turning slowly under Ballard’s The clapping and cheering and Bend oaence drowned all uns Elsa, rising to stand wide Wingti, felt rareee, than heard geared power-screw: (To Be Continued.) is the best and latest of the great “Gra k” series. dts is also one of the cleverest stories published in the past year. Don't overlook its first instalment, Monday. That will insare your read at a apes ELAM