The Abbeville press and banner. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, March 28, 1919, Page THREE, Image 3
THE RI\
By EDNA1
SYNOPSIS.
CHAPTER I?K. C. Rickard, a
engineer of the Overland Pacific,_ i
cafied to the office of President Mar ;
shall in Tucson, Ariz. "Casey" is an
enigma to the office force; he wear
"dude" clothes, but he had resigned
, a chair of engineering in the East t j
go on the road as a fireman and hi j
promotion had been spectacular.
While waiting for Marshall Richar j
reads a report on the ravages of the
Colorado, 'despite the efforts of Tho-j .
mas Hardin of th e Desert Reclamation
compapy. This Hardin had beenl;
a student 'under Rickard and had
married Gerty Holmes, with whom
Ridkard had fancied he was in love, i
CHAPTER II?Marshall tells Rick-1
ard the Overland Pacific has got to 1
step in to save the Imperial Valley
and sends him to the break. Rickard
declines because he does not want to
supplant Hardin, but is won over.: :
"Stop the River; damn the expense,"
says Marshall. !',
CHAPTER III?Rickard journeys ,
to Calexico, sees the irrigate a aesert .
and learns much about Hardin and
his work. ,
CHAPTER IV?At the hotel he i
meefe Mr. and Mrs. Hardin and Innes i
Hardin, Hardin's half sister. Disap- ]
pfeinted in her husband and an in- ,
corrigible coquette,"Mrs. Hardin sets <
her cap for her former lover and in-.' ]
vites him to dinner.
t CHAPTER V?Rickard visits the
company's offices and takes control |
He finds the engineersxloyal to Har
din and hostile to him. Estrada, a 1
Mexican, son of the "Father of the ]
Imperial Valley," tells him of the, i
general situation. V ]
~ CHAPTER VI?Rickard attends i
l&eeting of the directors and asserts
his authority. Hardin rages. Estrada ]
tells Rickard of his foreboding that
his work will fail. "I can't see it
finished."
CHAPTER VII?Innes is discover- i
ed in her garden. She tries to cheerj j
up Hardin, who is furious against
Rickard. * ,
/ CHAPTER VIII?A family lunch- ;
eon of the Hardins which throws light j":
V. t I 1
on them. \
CHAPTER IX?Hardin discovers
that Rickard is planning a levee to
protect Calexico and puts him down
as incompetent. Gerty thinks her lord
jealous.
CHAPTER X?The Hardin dinner
to Rickard discloses further the fam-!1
ily characteristics . Hardin is surly
and sulky. Innes is hardly polite. Gerty
plans a "progressive ride" in
Rickard's honor.
j
(Continued From Tuesday)
CHAPTER X . ji
In spite of his haunting sense - of
ultimate failure the growing belief In
the omnipotence of the Great Yellow (
Dragon as the Cocopahs visualized it,
Estrada's work was as intense as
though he were hastening a sure victory.
The dauntless spirit of the elder
Estrada pushed the track over the hot
sands where he must danfe at times
to keep his feet from burning. Many
of the rails they laid at night.
I "RIckard's gone hog-wild," Hardin |;
told his family the.- next morning. I
"Building a levee between the towns! '
The man's off his head."
"There isn't any danger?" Gerty's i,
anxiety made the deep blue eyes look ;
black.
Innes looked up for Tom's answer, i
His face was uclv with wassion.
"Danger! It's a bluff, a big show j
of activity here because he's buffa- j
loed; he doesn't know how to tackle
the job out there."
It had begun to look that way to
more than one. It was talked over
at Coulter's store; in the outer office '
of the D. R. company where the engineers
foregathered; among the-chair
tilters who idled in front of the Desert
hotel. "The man does not know .
how to tackle his job!" A levee, and
the gate held up! What protection to
the towns would be that toy levee if
the river should return on one of its
spectacular sprees? A levee, and the
intake itself not guarded? lie was
whispered of as incompetent; one of
Marshall's clerks. He was given a
short time to blow himself out. A
bookman, a theorist.
"As well put sentinels a few miles
E3 from prison and leave the jail doors
open!" This was woosters gibe. All
saw the Colorado as a marauder at
large. "And a little heap of sand
stacked np to s?are it off! It's a
scream 1"
Mrs. Hardin found It difficult to
meet with diplomacy the confidences
which inevitably came her way. As
Hardin's wife she was expected to enjoy
the universal censure the new man
was acquiring. Gerty's light touches,
too slight for championship, passed as
a sweet charity. _Her own position
.. .. (
'ER
I
A AIKEN
those days was" trying. She did not
yet know her diplomatic lesson.
Apparently unaware of the talk,
Rickard spent the greater part of his
time superintending the levee. Ho
could trust no one else to do It, no
one umess it were c-siruuu, wno was
rushing his steel rails through to tha
front and was needed there.
Things were moving under his constant
goading. The extra pay was
showing results. He should be a( the
Heading now, he kept telling himself,
but he was convinced that the instant
he turned his back, the work on the
levee would stop; and all the reasons
excellent! Some emergency would be
cookcd up to warrant the withdrawal
of the hands. Chafe as he might at
the situation, it was to be guerrilla
warfare. Not a fight in the open, he
knew how to meet that, but that baffling
resistance, the polite silence of
the office when he entered?"Well,
they'll be doing my way pretty soon,
or my name isn't Rickard. That's
flat."
He was fretting to be at work, to,
start the wheels of the O. P., its vast
machinery toward his problem. He
knew that that organization, like wellirilled
militia, was ready for his call,
rhe call lugged, not that he did not
across the desert, whom Ricknrd had
met at the Crossing, deeply had he impressed
him. The river grew into a
malevolent, mocking personality; he
could sco it a dragon of yellow waters,
dragging its slow, sluggish length
across the baked desert sands; deceiving
men by its inertness; luring the
explorer by a mild mood to rise suddenly
with its wild fellow, the Gila,
sending boat and boatmen to their
swift doom.
Rlckard was thinklftsr of the hnlf
breed, Maklonado, as he inspected the
new stretch of levee between the
towns. lie had heard from others besides
Estrada of the river knowledge
of this descendant of trapper and
squaw, and had thought it worth while
to ride the twenty miles from down
the river to talk with him. The man's
suavity, his narrow slits of eyes, the
lips thin and facile, deep lines of cruelty
falling from them, had repelled
his visitor. The mystery of the place
/
need men, but there was no place i
ready for them. The campr that was
unother rub. There was no camp! It j
was not equipped for a sudden infla- j
tlon of men. The inefficiency of the
projectors of this desert scheme had 1
never seemed so criminal as when he
had surveyed 9&S35BS& &
tafce. *vrct rr-iuy lirs?; ^uur {OOIS,
your stoves, your beds." That was the
training of the good executive, of men j
like Marshall and MacLean. Nothing '
to be left to Chance; to foresee einer
[jencles, not to be taken by them un- i
aware... The reason of Hardin's down* j
fall was his slipshod habits. How could 1
lie b? a gcod officer who had never
drilled as a soldier? There was thf
chip at the intake, Hardin's grotesque
folly, widened from one hundred feet
to ten times the original cut; widening
every day, with neither equipment nor
camp adequate to push through a work
half the^riginal magnitude. Cutting
away, moreover, was the island,
"isastpr island; it had received apt
'listening by the engineers, its bapi
-:nal water the Colorado. The last j
' tis had played with it as though it i
'vcrj a bar of sugar. There was no j
.".nek at hand; no rock on the way, no
rock ordered. Could anyone piece to?0?her
such recklessness?
llickard knew where he would get
rock. Already he had requisitioned
the entire output of the Tacna and
Patagonia quarries. He had ordered
steam shovels to be installed at the
quarry back ofv ohl Hamlin's. That
rock pit would be his first crutch, and
the gravel bed?that was a find! as
he paced the levee west of the towns,
he was planning his campaign. Porter
was scouring Zacatecas for men;
he himself had offered, as bait, free
transportation; the O. P. he knew
would back him. He was going to
throw out a spur-track from the Heading,
touching at the quarry and gravel
pit, on to the main road at Yuma.
Double track most of the way; sidings
every three miles. Rock must be
rushed; the trams must be pushed
through. He itched to begin. It never
occurred tt Ma ttetc ttk* Hardly b?
might fail.
"Though it's no pink tea," he told
himself, "it's no picnic." At Tucson
he knew that the situation was a
grave one, but his talk with Brandon,
who knew his river as does a good Indian,
made the year a significant,
eventful one. Matt llamlin, too, whoso
shrewd eyes had grown river-wise, he,
too. had had tales to tell of the tricky
river. Maldonarln. tbo hnlf-lirepd. had
confirmed their portents while they sat
together under his oleander, famous
throughout that section of the country.
And powerfully had Cor'nel, tlio
Indian who had piloted Estrada's nartv
e
which completely surrounded the ^
small, low dwellings? Why the can- q
tlous admittance, the atmosphere of ^
suspicion? Rickard had seen the wife,
a frightened shadow of a woman; had ?
seen her flinch when the brute called
for her. He had questioned Cor'nel Q
about the half-breed. He was remem- ^
bering the wrinkles of contempt on the
old Indian's face as he delivered himself
of an oracular grunt.
"White man? No. Indian? Nol
Coyote!"
Though he suspected Maldonndo a
would lie on principle, though it might
be that two-thirds of his glib tissue r]
were false," yet a thread of truth coincident
with the others, Brandon and
Hamlin and Cor'nel, might be pulled d
out of his romantic fabric.
"When the waters of the Gila run
red look out for trouble!" He doubted
that they ever ran red. He would a
ask Cor'nel. He had also spoken of ^
a cycle, known to Indians, of a hundredth
year, when the Dragon grows
restless; this he had declared was a c]
hundredth year.
Following his talk with Maldonado e
and the accidental happy chance meet- ^
ing with Coronel at the Crossing Rick- e
ard had written his first report to Tod
Marshall. Before he had come to the
Heading he had expected to advise
against tfee completion of the wooden a
headfrnts nt the Crossing. Hamlin jj
had given him a new viewpoint. There ^
was a fighting chance. And he wanted
Maldonado Had Confirmed Their Por., a
? tents, * a
p
to be fair. Next to being successful
he wanted to be fair. r;
"It's time to be heariftg from Mar- h
shall," Rickard was thinking, as he
walked back to the hotel. "I wonder
what he will say." He felt it had
been fair to put it up to Marshall;
personally, he would like to begin with V
a clean slate?begin right. Clumsy ^
work had been done, It was true, yet ^
there were urgent reasons now for
haste; and the gale was nearly half
done! He had gone carefully over ^
the situation. The heavy snowfall, unprecedented
for years, a h'indred, acJ
coraing to the Indians?on the Wind ^
j Rover mountains?the lakes swollen
I Ir?r\ fl\/\ r?!lrt KAoflaeta fha C11TYITTIPI* *
*v.t, uic ui^a icoucoo) tuv/ ?
| floods yet to be met; perhaps, he now
I thought, he had been ovsrfair in em- c
phasizing the arguments for the head- ^
gate. For the hundred feet were now
a thousand feet?yet he had spoken
of that to Marshall: "Calculate for S
yourself the difference In expense
since the flood widened the break. It ~
is a vastly different problem now.
Disaster island, which they figured on
for anchor, is a mere pit of corroding
sugar in the channel. An Infant Colorado
could wash it away. However,
a lot of work has already been done,
and a lot of money spent. There is a
fighting chance. Perhaps the bad year *
is all Indian talk."
? A guess, at best, whatever they did! H
It was pure gamble what tho tricky ?
Colorado would do Anyway, he had f
given the whole situation to Marshall.
In his box at the hotel was a tele- Jl
pram which had been sent over from 9
the office?frofn Tod Marshall. "Take '
the fighting chance. But remember *?? | 1
speak more respectfully of Indians." j
"Marshall all over," laughed his suit j
I ordinate. "Now it's a case of hustle! i
But dollars to doughnuts, as Junior I *
says, we don't do it!" 3
CHAPTER XII. I
? I
Hardin's Luck. $
Two days later there was a shock of 8
earthquake, so slight that the lapping a
! of the water in Illckard's lmth was his ' #
! intimation of the earth's uneasiness. %
' In the dining room later he found ev- $
! eryone discussing it. "Who could re- ?
I member an earthquake in that desert?"
i "The first shake!" $j
During the morning, unfathered, as
rumors are horn, the whisper of disi
aster somewhere spread. Their own g
! slight shock was the et^ge of the con- Jg
; vulsion which had been serious else- iffi
! where, no one knew quite where, or
1 why tliey knew it at all. The men j|
who were shoveling earth on the levee y
began to talk of San Francisco. Some- ifl
one said that morning that the city gj
was badly hurt. No one could confirm fj
rninnr 1 >11 f it mvw with till} dllV. H
i Rickartl met it at the office late in
the afternoon. lie went direct to the
j telegraph operator's desk.
"Get Los Angeles, the O. P. office. (
And be quick about it."
In ten minutes lie was talking to
Babcock. Babcock said that the dam|
age by the earthquake to that city was
j not known, but it was afire. San Jose
; had confirmed it. Oakland hajd.report-1"
$
<T the flames creeping tip the real- ^
ence hills of that gay Western city,
linders were already falling In the &
ransbny town. h<
RIckard dropped the receiver, w
Where's Hardifl?"
Tom Hardin emerged from a knot nj
f men who were talking In a corner
y the door. '
"Where's that machinery?" S
"What machinery?"
RIckard saw the answer to his queslon
In the other's face. ^
"The dredge machinery. Did you
ttend to that? Did you send ?or It?"
"Oh, yes, that's all right. It's all ?
Ight." _
"Is It here?"
Hardin attempted. Jocularity. "I
idn't know as you wanted it here. I
rdered It sent to Yuma."
"Is It at Yuma?"
Hardin admitted that it was not yet
t Yuma; It would be there soon; he
ad written; oh, It was all right. '
"When did you write?"
Hardin reddened under the catetiism
of questions. He resented belg
held up before his men. The othrg
felt the electricity in the air. HarIn
and his successor were glaring at
ach other like belligerents.
"I asked when did you write?"
"Yesterday."
"Yesterday!" Rickard ripped out
n oath. "Yesterday. Why at all, I'd*
If A f A TrnnwO TM/I TTAM H r\ /I Awn4-n n /I
IXC IV ftUV" * -L/1U jruu UUUCIOLUUU
lat you were ordered to get that
ere? Now. it's gone."
"Gone?" The others crowded up.
"San Francslco's burning." He
alked into his inner office, mad clear
irough. He was not thinking of the
uin of the gay young city; not a
lought yet did he have of the human
ragedies enacting there; of homes, i
vee, fortunes swept into that huge
onfire. As it affected the work at the i
iver, the first block to his campaign,
le catastrophe came home to him. He '
ad a picture of tortured, twisted i
on, of ruined machinery, the ma-1
folnery for his dredge. He saw it lying
.ke a spent Laocoon, writhing in its
ist struggle. He blamed himself for
;aving even such a small detail as the
astenlng of the parts to Hardin's"1
are, for Hardin wasn't fit.to be trustd
for anything. No one could tell
im now the man was unlucky; he
:as a fool. A month wasted, and
iljst pictivuo. n. liiuuui i luuuiiia. |
[nrdin's luck. Oh, hell!
Then he began to speculate as he
ooled over the trouble up yonder. A
:hole city burning? They would sure7
get it under control. He began to |
[link of the Isolation; the telegraph !
ires all down. That might happen j
nywheri;! He walked to the door \
nd looked thoughtfully at the Romany's
big water tower. That wasa't
uch a bnd idea! He picked up hia
at, and went out.
(To be Continued Tuesday)
v. "Trrrrr.<<'
V VV^\V vvwv
; v
COLD SPRING NEWS. S.
xxxxxxxvxxxxxxx
\ \
Cold Springs, March 26.?Miss Ola
Vinn spent Saturday night at Mr j
IT. B. -Uldricks.
Mr. and Mrs. A. B. Newell andj
hildren spent Sunday with Mr. and
Irs. Otis Smith. \
Mrs. J. M. Rowe returned home on
aturday after a week's visit with'
, IREAL
EJ
city property. These
100 ACRE TRACT?Six ind
one-half miles from Abbe- .
ville in Sharon neighborhood;
tiuac L u at'iiuui unu vxiui^n*
Three-room house and barn.
Per Acre $32.50
! 32 ACRE TRACT OF LAND?'
4 miles south of Abbeville.
rTenant house, barn, 8 or 10
acres of fine branch bottoms,
35 acres in cultivation balance
in woods both pine and
ash. Rented for this year.
Near school house.
Price per acre $20.00
LOT?on South side of town,
150x150 feet. Price, $150.00
156 ACRE TRACT?Located 4
miles Southeast of Abbeville
S. C. Six room dwelling, 3room
tenant house, barn.
Ahout 2-horse farm rented
for this' year. Good bottom
land, plenty ashe wood and
timber. Price $4,400.
TWO GOOD RESIDENCES?
on North Main Street, for
sale. Ask for prices.
ACRE LOT?In Fort Pickens.
Good location. Price __$600.
231 1-2 ACRES?7 miles South
of Abbeville, two tenant
houses, barn, well; 15 acres
bottoms, 150,000 feet saw i
ome people. Misses Ruth, Eupheenia
Uldrick returned home with
er. They will be gone atout two
eeks. o
Miss Maggie Hagen spent Saturday
ight with Miss Jessie Stroud.
Mr. and Mrs. R. A. Hagen spent
unday at Mr. T. F. Uldrick's.
Cooperation and organization are
le keys to successful country develmlent.
FARM
FOR
87 ACRES?12 mile
jivxc^uriiiiujts. v^uu
of W. D. Morrah
P
40 ACRES?About i
ville, no improve
and thiiber.
79 3-4 ACRES?3 mi
one settlement?
on place. Plenty
running through
227 1-2 ACRES?1
ville. This is a sp
erty?. A lot of sav
P
100 1-2 ACRES?1!
ville. Good resid
ings. Well atere
and timber, Pi
189 1-4 ACRES?V
-mil d A orJorirl
v niv? x jl ojy 1 viiu
provements, abo
torn lands. P
541 ACRES?1-2 m:
' mile from Calhc
farm being oper
Lies well," is well
abundance of w(
Pr
Can Arrar
ROBERT
STATE <$,
are good investmentstimber.
Two horse farm already
rented for 1919.
Price per acre $25.00
6-ROOM RESIDENCE?On S.
Main St., containing 4 acres,
more or less. Good barn, 1
tenant house, rat proof crib,
with branch running through
property. Cheap at $2,100.00
TWO STORY DWELLING?6
room, nan, electric ngnts ana
sewerage, 5 minutes walk
from square. Bargain .at
$1,250.00
120 ACRES?Four miles South
East of Abbeville, dwelling,
tenant house, well, 500 cords
w'ood, ^ome saw timber.
Cheap at $17.50 per acre.
I icfr Vmii" Prnnprfir \A7il
V Ml.
or Exch
Jno. F. Su
Abbeville,
CITY ELECTION..
The regular City Election, will be
held at the City Council Chamber,
Abbeville, S. C., Apql 8thf. I9191, for
four Aldermen. Managers of Election,
T. C. Seal, J. L. Clark: ami G. A.
Botts.
J. MOORE MARS,
Mayor.
T. G. PERRIN,
City Clerk. &-2?-2t. Fri.
LANDS
HE.....
s from Abbeville, in
nty, adjoining lands
i.
rice, $30.00 per acre.
six miles from Abbe3mentsr
all in wood
Price, $25 per acre.
les from Abbeville?
-two horse farm open
wood, and stream
place.
Price, $2,000.00.
L miles from Abbe?lendid*piece
of proper
timber on this place
rice, $17.50 per acre.
2 miles from Abbeience
and out buildd
and plenty wood
rice, $30.00 per acre. .
A *1 - _ J? A 1-1- _ *
if rimes irom Auue- :
id farm but no im- ;
ut 50 or 60 acres botrice,
$18.00 per acre.
ile from Hester, one
rnn Falls. 15 horse j
ated on the place, j
[ watered and has an
>od and timber,
ice, $40.00 per acre.
am
ige Terms
' S, LINK
I
r for immediate sale 1
Mowing country and \
-Ask About Them
166 ACRES?6 miles from Abbeville.
Good dwelling, barn *:
tenant house, located in Leb- j
anon section, close to school
and church. g '
Trice per acre $30.00 !
FOR QUICK SALE?120 Acre
TVor?f rt-f T.nnrl wifh R Paawi 9
dwelling, barn, good pasture, 9
enough to pasture 40 head of ;
cattle. Rents for 5 bales cot- H
ton. Price $60.00 Per Acre
5-ROOM DWELLING? On
South Main Street, at Cotton
Mill. Price, $1,125.00.
5-ROOM COTTAGE? Right at
High School, on Parker St.
Lot 80x198.
Price, $1,600.00.
I
th Me for Sale, Rent
ange. S)|
m
therland
South Carolina