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Show f - , , , I .1 I I I I. Illl - I I PETE R. IS K Y E Copyright, by P.Ur B. Kyna. SYNOPSIS At the close of the Mexican war, Robin Kerahaw, with hla bride, rode Into northeastern California. Here he found an Ideal valley for cattle raising. rais-ing. They christened It Eden Valley. Below Eden Valley 1b a less valuable tract which Kershaw's wife name Forlorn Valley. Joel Hensley settles in the lower half of the valley. There la bad blood over fences and water. Kershaw kills Hensley and the blood-feud blood-feud la on. By 1917, Ranee Kershaw, his son Owen, and daughter Lorry are ell that remains of one clan. Nate Tichenor Is the sole survivor on the Hensley side. He goes to help Lorry In her car and finds her father has died of heart disease. Silas Babson, banker, schemes to control the Irrigation Irriga-tion and hydro-electric possibilities of Eden Valley. Nate tells Lorry he and Owen, Lorry's brother, met Jn France Just before Owen was killed, and Nate promised that if he survived Owen he would look after Lorry as a brother might do. Babson makes legal application appli-cation for the allocation of flood waters wa-ters to the Forlorn Valley irrigation district. With money advanced by Kate, Lorry clears up her indebtedness to Babson. Nate finds he Is falling in love with Lorry. Babson discovers Nate Is behind a rival power project. Kate tells Lorry he loves her. She admits ad-mits she loves Nate, and they become engaged. CHAPTER VIII Continued 10 "He was ready for me, but he didn't pull. And when Rookby picked him-eelf him-eelf up Owen said. 'That's right, Henry. This Is the closed season in Eden Valley' and he gave Henry Rook-by Rook-by the great-grandfather of all the kicks under the coat-tail, and walked away from me." "Poor Owen." "So I'll make a wholesale job of cleaning out that rat's nest in the Bank of Valley Center, if I can. And after I've smashed the bank I'll buy the wreck, saving the depositors, and have myself elected president." "You've got to promise something else before I'll marry you, Nate. Help me with the branding you're a top hand and I can use you but as soon as the branding's finished go away and complete your business and come back to me as soon as you can." "I promise. But let me give you a Email warning. Don't crowd me with too many demands for promises." "The only promise I'll ever exact from you again, Nate Tichenor, will be to love, honor, and cherish me until death do us part." "And endow you with all my worldly goods Including the Eden Valley water, wa-ter, I suppose. Funny sweetheart I I'll race you back to the house for a dollar." "You'd win. That horse you're riding rid-ing can step." "Make It a kiss then." "Well, you'd still win, so I might as ' well pay the bet here and now." And Bhe did. CHAPTER IX Joe Brainerd, editor of the Valley Center Register, had been summoned to the Bank of Valley Center. Babson led him Into his private oflice. And then, for the last time, he disclosed his plan for the organization of the Forlorn For-lorn Valley Irrigation district. "Here's the copy for a full-page ad." he finished. "It's a call for a mass meeting of the citizens, to be held next Saturday afternoon in the plaza, for the purpose of discussing the water situation and the appointment of a committee to investigate the possibilities possibili-ties of leading surface irrigation Into the valley. I'll plant the Idea good and strong in their minds at that mass meeting, but in the meantime you get out a good rousing editorial that will give tliem something to think about. Warn 'em that this Mountain Valley Tower company Is about to grab the water for power purposes. Tell 'era Nate Ticheuor's the Mountain Valley Tower company. Give Tichenor h 1 In a quiet way, but be firm. If we tackle Tichenor now the chances are we can euchre his company out of a contract to sell water to Forlorn Valley. Val-ley. Get the idea? lie told me his company wouldn't consider selling us water and why. If we threaten his source of water supply, chances are he'll change his mind and do business with us. And that's what we're after." Brainerd, remembering his recent experience with Tichenor, needed no urging to enlist In Babson's cause. Within two hours he was back In Babson's Bab-son's office with a copy of his editorial. edi-torial. "That's certainly a rousing editorial." edi-torial." Babson complimented him, "but there'd toe a lot more punch to It If you tied Into Nate Tichenor more vigorously." vig-orously." "Why, Tichenor hasn't done anything any-thing out of the way, has he?" "lie's swiped our water, hasn't he or he's trying to swipe it?" "He's perfectly within his rights, Mr. Babson. How did he know we wanted the water?" "The rights of the people are paramount para-mount to those of the individual, but whether they nre or not. It suits me to have yon tie Into tliio fellow. Attack III m. Impute tilings to him. Run a history of his family and the Kershaws Ker-shaws continued from week to week. 1 want to Incite the community against lilm. This a a war we're about to j engage In, Joe and In war you've got to make people hate or they won't fight well. We'll have to fight for the Eden Valley water, but we can win, although to do so we may have to buy both the Circle K and the Bar H In order to acquire their water rights. But If we tackle the owners now hold them up to obloquy and ridicule and public hate, they Just can't live In this country, understand, and they'll be glad to sell and get out." Brainerd replied: "Mr. Babson, It's a Job I don't like for two reasons. One business ; the other ethical." "Bear in mind, Joe, that the continued con-tinued prosperity of Forlorn Valley is a matter of profound Interest to you and me." "I'm on the horns of a dilemma, Mr. Babson. If I attack Tichenor In the manner you suggest he will start an opposition newspaper in this town and ruin me." "How can he? He can't get any local advertising. I'd see to that, even If the local people were fools enough to support their natural enemy by giving giv-ing him advertising." "But he promised me he'd do it, Mr. Babson." "A mere bluff." "I think you've got that man wrong. I sized him up as one who will go through. I understand none of his people peo-ple have ever made a promise they didn't keep. Bad as they were and bad as the Kershaws were, both clans had the courage of wounded grizzly bears. I'm afraid of him." Babson smiled patiently. "The Hens-leys Hens-leys and the Kershaws never had their courage tested outside Ed.en Valley, Joe. Let Tichenor come projecting around Forlorn Valley and he'll find a man to call his bluff." "I tell you, Mr. Babson, It's a job I do not want. Tichenor will fight back and the only way a man can fight the only newspaper that's attacking him is to start an opposition newspa- "You've Got to Promise Something Else Before I'll Marry You Nate." per and mail his copies gratis to his enemies. And I tell you further I dislike dis-like the fight because It's dirty. I'll fight Tichenor all over the lot for the sake of Forlorn Valley and Its crying needs; but I'll fight him on the issue Involved and not his family history." "I see," Babson murmured sadly, "you're an Idealist, too." "I hope I haven't lost all my Ideal-Ism." Ideal-Ism." "I see. Well, Joe, I hate to remind you of It, but you owe this bank three thousand dollars and the bank holds a chattel mortgage on your plant. And you haven't got the building you're housed In paid for yet. I hold a deed of trust on that." "Is that a threat, Mr. Babson?" "Suppose we call It a gentle hint, Joe." "Then let's quit arguing. I'll not wage a mean, dirty, personal war against Nathan Tichenor and that Kershaw Ker-shaw girL That's final and I suggest that If and when you get surface irrigation irri-gation Into Forlorn Valley, you go out to the main canal. Jump In and drown yourself." "Well, that fixes your clock Brainerd." Brain-erd." Babson commenced to rearrange his pens and pencils on their rack and to shuffle the unanswered correspondence correspond-ence on his desk. "I'll just take over the Valley Center Register and put In a man who's loyal." Joe Brainerd stood up. He was s small man, but like most small men he lacked neither courage nor conceit He struck, silently and savagely furious furi-ous blows, left and right, to Babson's sneering face; as the banker sprawled back of his desk the quondam proprietor pro-prietor of Valley Center's lone palladium palla-dium of liberty walked out of the bank and back to his oflice, where he seized a pad of copy paper and wrote: "With this Issue the present editor of the Valley Center Register sings his swan song. Because he wouldn't take orders from Silas Babson and do the latter's dirty work, the Bank of Valley Center, which holds a chattel mortgage mort-gage oa the Register's plant, but not on the editor's soul, will kick ye sole editor and proprietor out into the geometrical center of Valley Center boulevard and put In an editor who will lick the hand that feeds him, even If he doesn't relish the dirty diet "The editor desires to express his gratitude to the citizens of Forlorn Valley who have so loyally supported him and his policies. Of course we have found It expedient at times to tread on somebody's toes, but we haven't held mean little grudges, and when the fight was over we were always al-ways willing to shake hands. And we have not always won. Hence, we hope to be forgiven our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us. "The editor, eventually, may be forced to buy himself a tin bill and compete with the birds for a livelihood, liveli-hood, but never let It be said of him that he existed at the price of another's an-other's shame and humiliation, in order or-der that ruthless and powerful Interests In-terests might feed a personal grouch. "Joseph P. Brainerd, "Sole Editor and Proprietor, "Pro Tem, "Valley Center Register." When Tichenor and Lorry Kershaw came in for luncheon the next noon, following a hard morning's work In the branding corral, Editor Brainerd's swan song and rousing editorial promptly came ,to their attention. Indeed, In-deed, there was no escaping either, for the editorial In black brevier type filled the first two columns on the front page and In the center of the same page, boxed and also in brevier, the swan song appeared. Lorry read the articles first and, without comment, handed the paper to Nate. When he had finished reading It he looked up at her whimsically. "How stupid that fellow Babson is," he commented. "He's hog-wild with power. pow-er. One could cash every bet that when there's something constructive to be done Babson will choose the wrong way of doing it. Hurran for Joe Brainerd !" "It takes a man to accept ruin rather than orders that conflict with his sense of justice. I wonder what sort of dirty work Babson wanted him to do." "I don't know. I can't even suspect, but I'm willing to agree with Brainerd, on suspicion, that the work was dirty." He commenced to chuckle with a certain cer-tain Joyous malevolence. "Well, sweetheart, sweet-heart, in line with my policy of becoming becom-ing the big man of this district and also in line with my promise to tease the animal, I believe it's up to me to save the sole editor and proprietor pro tem of the Valley Center Register." . About two o'clock that afternoon Nate walked In on Joe Brainerd and solemnly proffered that suffering individual indi-vidual his hand. "Where can we talk privately?" he asked. Brainerd Indicated his den. Tichenor Tiche-nor sat in at the desk, where he filled In a check to Joseph P. Brainerd and signed it. "You fill in the figures," he said, "and my bank will-pay the check." Brainerd stared at him. "What do I have to do for this?" "Just continue to fight for the best Interests of Forlorn Valley." "Walt a minute, Tichenor. Who told you that you were the man I was ordered or-dered to attack?" "Why, nobody told me. I didn't even suspect it. I decided to get behind you merely after my own heart" "Sit down," Brainerd commanded. And he related to Tichenor every detail of his conversation with Babson. "I could stand up under that insect's in-sect's tensings, Brainerd," Tichenor told him when the tale was done, "but I shouldn't like to see Miss Kershaw put to that extremity. Well, you can give me your note If you care to, or you may consider this advance as a donation dona-tion to the cause of good men and true. But I have a request to make of you. The Valley Center Register Is the mouthpiece and the champion of Forlorn Valley and I desire that It continue to be Just that The war for the water is on and It's going to be some war. I ask you, therefore, to print the news from the front honestly honest-ly and impartially. It may be that '.v.v.v.v-v.vv.'.v.w-vj'.vi from time to time Miss Kershaw and I and the Mountain Valley Power company, which Is me will have something to say to your subscribers. I'll expect you to print It and I don't care two hoots In a hollow how yon ridicule or condemn It In your editorial edi-torial column. That's your privilege." "There must be something wrong with your head," Brainerd protested, "but whatever the trouble is, I like It However How-ever before I fill In this check and you'll take my gratitude for granted it is my duty to Inform yon that from this day forward the Valley Center Register Is going to operate In red Ink. I mean that I can never hope to repay this loan from the profits of a losing enterprise." "Just make certain you can draw a living out of it, and If you can't, see me." "I owe the bank three thousand, and there's a deed of trust on this building for fifteen hundred. I'd like to pay that all up and have a balance for operating capital. But there's one more point you've overlooked. When I bank this check In Babson's bank everybody will know you're back of me and It will be said that you control me editorially." "Well, that will be fine. It will automatically prevent you from showing show-ing me any editorial preferment." "You be mighty careful somebody doesn't kill you oft In the shank of your callow youth, my friend. You're a temptation. With you out of the way there wouldn't be any water war, because the Kershaw girl couldn't put up a winning fight Do you realize that?" "Who'd have that much enterprise?" "Babson might Instigate it." Joe Brainerd was very earnest now. "That man's private fortune and the future of his bank hinges on the future of Forlorn Valley, and I don't think he would give an Icicle In Iceland for a human life If It stood between him and his desires. The battle for water In this state Is as old as the state and It Is unending. There is more drama and more tragedy In It than most people realize ; enough men have died with their boots on beside a stream to fill my obituary column for the next ten years. Needs must when the devil drives, Nate Tichenor, and the devil is up on the front seat driving driv-ing through Forlorn Valley and Silas Babson was the first man to recognize him. Now he'll point him out to the others and the job of exorcizing him will commence at the mass meeting in the plaza next Saturday afternoon." "I shall atteno that mass meeting, and I shall address it." "Provided you're permitted. Babson will call it to order and address It first, and when he finishes you'll have a hostile audience on your hands." "They'll listen to me. I'm going to make them a proposition they've got to listen to. I've about made up my mind not to Install the power station, but build my dam good and high and store water for sale to Forlorn Valley. I'm not going to stand selfishly selfish-ly by and see those old settlers leaving leav-ing their abandoned farms. But I'm going to smash that blood-sucker Babson, Bab-son, by smashing his bank." "How ?" "By starting a new bank here. In return for the lifegivlng water I shall have to sell them, the people will have to do business at my bank. I'll rent money at six per cent I'll take up every loan they have with the Bank of Valley Center, and when they switch their deposits to my bank Babson will be left with Insufficient capital to meet the withdrawals." "now about the minority stockholders? stockhold-ers? They're rather decent, substantial substan-tial citizens." "When the smoke clears away I'll settle with them privately so they'll not lose a dollar." "You may not be able to secure a state charter for your bank." "Then I'll operate a national bank." TO BE CONTINUED. |