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Show THE SPANISH pnpir FORK. UTAH. ppp.SS SPANISH hog-bac- :By: CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY and CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY, Jr. Author and Clergyman Civil Engineer t Coprrtcht br'Flnioi H. Rav.0 Co. TRY AS HE WILL TO CONCEAL HIS EXPERT KNOWLEDGE OF ENGINEERING, MEADE ' FAILS AND PROMOTION COMES TO HIM RAPIDLY AT THE DAM Following tho collapse of a groat bridge which his father, a noted engineer, had planned, and the old inuns sudden death from disgrace and shock, Ilertrum Meade takes the blame for the disaster which cost ninny lives and disappears from his home In New York. lie goes to the Southwest, gets a Job under the name of Roberts On an irrigation dam proJ et and makes good. Meunwhlle Helen Illingworth, Meades sweetheart, and Rodney, an old friend, are quietly working to clear the young mans nnme and to learn his whereabouts. They are nnxlous to get possession of a letter written by the elder Meade to assume responsibility for the accident. This paper Is secret ly held by Shurtllff, who hud been the old muns devoted privute sec rotary for ninny years. par-tieulnr- ly so suddenly reduced to the ranks, would have chafed against the I believe you are right," anld Rod- position of subordination and would ney, leaning back In his chair and have resented the humble duties with taring at her through his glasses. If which he was charged. But Meade we can only make him apeak Cut wus happy to be following, even In this where Is he? extremely modest way, the profession that he loved. And he did Ids unim"Working for my father," portant work with zeal and care. It "What do you mean? "I mean that I suspected him from Is not much to sny, but he was the the first, and as there was an. opening most efficient of the Junior engineering for a private confidential man, who un- force on the dam. It was not because Meade was understood engineering a vacancy made social that he kept to himself not at the of fathers by primy promotion vute secretary I prevailed upon him all. From his own galvanlzed-Iro- a to give the position to Sliurtllff. Fa- quarters he used to stare longingly at ther hates the nume of Meade, but he the men grouped around the big campworships efficiency and he knows that fires, for the nights were growing chill, Shurtllff Is the very Incarnation of the smoking and laughing, exchanging exIMirtlrulnr kind of ability that he de- periences and telling stories. Nothing would have pleased him better than to sires, so he la with my father and I have him always under have Joined In, and ho could have told my eye. When we go away In the car, stories and related experiences that would have been unique even la that die grow along. gay crowd of young adventurers. But "What are yon going to dor Win his confidence, Ids affection If lie did not dare. He feared to betray himself. What he wanted above ev;I can, appeal to him, was to preserve his Incognito. "By Jove," anld Rodney, "I believe erything would be fatal to his chances of ever It can do lb You cant drive that old .you working up to anything worth while .man." out who he was. If found they "1 know it," said the woman. And he had a tremendous pride to "You havent told him that you sustain him. They respected him now. thought It was his fault?" As a matter of fact, they put his with"No." drawal of himself down to vagaries of "I couldnt do anything with a mun or causes they could not aike Shurtllff. You can. You can win temperament and they grew rather to like This devotion, you can let him see how Imagine, him even as they left him alone. And much the reinstatement of Bert Meade a few of the men of the humbler sort tin honor again means to you. You can to w hom he had been kind on occasion, do lb" and helpful, were stoutly devoted to "Meanwhile you win help me, wont him. .you?" The Idleness of an aimless life did "In any way. In every way. Do you not appeal to him even in his y know where he has goneY" periods. Doing nothing had no attrac"I havent the slightest Idea, ne tion. He could not get relief that way. , might be la Africa, or South America, Even rambling alone about the hills or out Wesb or up North. Do you see would not serve.' So quick and active those flowers?" she pointed to a great a man, so vigorous and buoyant a twnch of American Beauty roses, spirit, so strong a body and mind were which had been forced for her nppar-entl- not calculated for aimless Pandering. and which she had received on Meade was a very accomplished enthat very day "Dards, you know, the gineer Indeed. There was no branch Madison avenue flortsb sends me a box of the art about which he did not know of magnificent blossoms roses, vio- a little, although hydraulics and struclets, orchids, always different every tural steel were the things that most week. They speak to me of him." appealed to him. He got relief In the "Have you ever tried to trace them?" duality of his affections for these "No. I know whence they come and brauches of his profession. Neither one that Is alb We will hear from him of them ever palled on him because he some somehow. did not work monotonously at either of somewhere, day, them. He had a natural Instinct for topography, and Instead of purposelessly strolling about the country, he made a careful Inspection of the valley which wus to be converted Into a huge reservoir by the dam. The dam Itself was, perhaps, an eighth of a mile long at the bottom and touched the receding hill on one side and the spur of Spunlsh mesa on the other at the top a huge mound of earth with a eluy core extending from side to side at the narrowest part of the valley. When completed It would be 123 feet high ubove the old river bed, with a roadway 20 feet broad on top of it. Below the dam and on the low ground between the mesa and Baldwin's knob the camp, with Its galvanized Irou shops, bunkhouses, dining halls, kitchens and ofllcers' quarters, had been erected. The configuration of the ground was such that, although It was unusual to put them there, convenience had rendered It desirable In this case. It was Intended to complete the dam before tlie early spring of next yeur, which was. If any time In the country could be so characterized, the raluy Ha Had a Natural Instinct for Topog-- , season. Of course, Just as soon as the dam had begun to rise, the flow of the raphy. llcket Wire below It had been stopped, Meanwhile we n 111 work, work, work I" except w hen an occasional freshet had "Aud you will allow me to suy be- been allowed to pass the uaderslulcc. fore I go thut since I huve had this It was known thut the run-of- f of the con versa tlon with you I do not see river In the rainy season of some years how even love for bis father or hla was so small ns scurcely to fill the resfamily name would have led Meade to ervoir, and it hud been decided to store do lb" all the flow of the autumn and winter "Dont say anything ogntnst him," so that even If the spring rainy season said Helen Illingworth quickly. "He were deficient, the beginning of the was mad with anxiety, shame, regreb next summer would find the reservoir Whatever be did, I love htm just the full and the new Irrigation system could ' commence operations successsame," fully. CHAPTER XIII. Vandeventer, like the lost Abbott of the International, was also a driver, who spared neither his men nor himWorking Up. rhe autumn weut by as a dream, self. The work had proceeded with asnter, warm and mild In that far tonishing rapidity, although this was ithern clime, was at hand before partially accounted for by the fact ado realized lb An ordinary eugi-- r that the spillway, which should have of half tho ability of Bertram occupied their attention, had as jet CHAPTER XII Continued. Meade, con-.stnnt- ly and" off-dut- -- y, t 9 Good ; the Instrument Is yours.' next That was the first step and the when, after, shortly step came very his cahaving further demonstrated was givMeade ways, pacity in other east end en charge of the work on the of the dam. "I don't care who he Is," said Vandeventer to bis rldef subordinate, "he knows whut hes about, and If you watch him youll see. He's keen on forehandling men. The other section men will be hard put to keep up with him. ne keeps watch on himself. Hes He got some secret he won't betray. but the crowd, with doesn't mingle every once In a while something slips out Whut he doesnt know about en1 11 gineering nobody needs to know, wager." "How do you account for his being out here?" "Oh, Its the old story, I suppose; he's come a cropper somewhere down and out and wants to begin ngnln, and ennt do anything but this. Its not our business, Stafford ; he does good work for us and were satisfied." the bollJflr to go out and Inspect with elevation Its and ascertain Of courw tho on- to Sneers who planned the great Irrlgawanthe hut Son works had done that, e, one pln At himself. cd to do It for between what where the distance the edge of the vulley might be called was narrow-es- t ravine the of head the and after pacing estimated Indeed, he over twenty not nieusured It It that discovered that the feet across--he lower rounded earth crest was slightly of the top of level Intended than the k he When he returned to the office, construction found oa examining the dike was drawings that an earth so been only partially excavated. Now, planned to run along the hogback be higher should level to those ignorant of engineering, an thut the top would earth dam may seem a temporary ex- than thut of the dnm. This dike feet long and Irfifty hundred be only a pedient, although most of the greut coutd be built and of high, feet world are that few a of the dams and rigation on the main character; and everybody knows that In a few days time. Work If the water should rise high enough to dnm being more Important, nothing overflow an earth dam It would not last had as yet been done on the dike, Meade hnd been promoted toward longer than It takes to describe Its flood would A utter giving way. sweep the end of the fall and In a rather It out of the way at once. unusuul way. One of the trunslt men, CHAPTER XIV. The device whereby possible floods a young engineer, got a better Job Vandeventer Instrument. averthis left such and are controlled and dungers The Former and tha Latter Rain. ed, consists of a broad channel at one called Meade before him. vaa The work on the dnm was progressdis"theres be a such said, and at of side the dam, "Roberts, tance below Its crest that If, through cancy for a transit mun. Youve done ing splendidly. Vandeventer, driving furiany mischance or natural happening, such gisd work so far and shown such his men hard, shared In all their such as the failure of the sluice gates, excessive rains, cloadbursts, or floods, the height of the water Is increased until It promises to overflow the dam, this opening will carry off the surplus harmlessly. An earth dam without a spillway would presage almost certain destruction to all who lived la the val ley below It In the case of the Ticket Wire dam, the spillway had to be cut and. In part, hlusted out of the mountain side that Is, through the spur of the mesa, which reached down from Its high wall towards the narrows. There bad been a series of blunders and mishaps, which Included the explosion of a shipment of dynamite on the railroad, with very disastrous consequences to accompanying rock crushers and mixers, and other machinery. The spillway hid not beea completed. Its opening should have been about twelve feet below the level of the dam. Vandeventer was not responsible, of course. The chief eng! neer had fumed and protested, but had been directed by headquarters to go aheud with the other work and tackle the spillway later. There was. Indeed, little reason to hold up the building of tlmt particular dam because of the noncompletion of the spillway. That was a country, so the most devoted Inhabitants freely admitted. In which It was always safe to bet that It would not rain, no matter how threatening might be the appearance of the sky ; for lu ninety-nin- e times out of a hundred the negative would win the bet. Said Inhabitants did not say the hundredth time might compensate for all the other failures. The weather was like the little girl with the proverbial curl when It did rain there was no doubt In anybody's mind as to the fact. Sometimes the fountains of the great deep, which. In noly Scripture at least, extended overhead, would be broken open and the violence of the fall and the quantity of It, and suddenness of It, would be such that the Westerners would graphically call It a "cloudburst," which, Indeed, It seemed to be. Outside the rainy season cloudbursts were unheard of, and even In that season extremely rare. For the valley of the Ticket Wire and In the plain beneath carefully tabulated reports of the rainfall for years had been considered by the engineers. They had chosen the right season for the building of the dam, but when Its crest begun to rise above the designed level of the spillway the delay la opening the channel gave cause for some alarm. It Is not the probable or certain that Is fenred. An old version that, of "omne Ignotuin pro magnlflco" It Is only the unknown of which men are afraid, or only the unknown to be fenred I Still there was nothing Vandeventer could do but obey orders and go ahead. The danger, after all, was trifling. Another consequence of the watting was that In his Inability to work on the spillway, he had more hnnds to devote to the dam and It rose the quicker. The shape of the country behind It was such that when the Ticket Wire flowed with sufficient volume to fill It, a long lake going buck through the valley, or canyon, and twisting among the bills for some ndles would result. Iu other words, the dnm would make a beautiful artificial sheet of water bordered on one side by a high runge of hills, on the other by the dam, and on the third by tho hills and the low hogback above Spanish mesa, which separated the Ticket Wire valley from the d Kicking Horse gorge up which tho rall-rou- ran. Burled la his own thoughts, communing with himself, considering cease-lessl- y his position, dreundng of the woman he loved, planning a new r, Meade yet explored every foot of the valley and ravine. He climbed to the top of Spanish mesa, and from lu height the whole country clear up the volley to the main range wus visible to him. He could look down Into the deep ravine of the Kicking Horse, and note the mnrvelous beauty anil airiness of the arrh bridge for all It so solidly carried the heavy freight trnlns of the rnllway. He could see far up and around the crooked course of the Ticket Wire, The but otherwise bure big and treeless hogback, that ran from the upper end of tho stone Island of the mesa was equally vlslblo to him. As It wus the low tide of the new reservoir, he descended to It aud studied It carefully. On another occasion, hnv-In- g said nothing to anyone about hla excursion, he took advantage of a half-grass-covere- d, famlllnrlty with fieldwork, thut TJ Idea that give It to you If I hnd any Inyou knew anything about handling struments." "I think I may be trusted with one, sir," answered Meade, his eyes brightening. "Yes, perhaps; but you in odd hours. I have watched The young men around here are constantly practicing with the transits. I've never seen you put a hand to one. How about It?" "Im not exactly a youngster, Mr. Vandeventer, returned Meade, "and I really didnt think It necessary to practice, but If you trust me with one I believe I can mannge It Old Vandeventer leaned back In hla chair In the. office and looked carelessly away from Meade to all appearances. He clasped Ids bands back of his head and seemed lost la thought Suddenly he began humming a little scrap of verse about another college which Cambridge men sing with zest : ous efforts. He was not only their leader, but their Inspiration. He had surrounded himself with a body of uble assistants, and his teamsters and workmen had been culled until they bad become a small army of picked men of which to be proud. Among all these Meade stood very high. Ia the four months be had been with Vandeventer he had shown such a grasp of things, such an ability to handle men, in one or two Instances when, with Intention to try him, the resident engineer hail given Llm He Btopped abruptly, whirled about In his swingchulr, and shot a quick glance at Meade. It was a trap. And as he sprang It Vandeventer surprised the ghost of a smile, repressed quickly but there, on Mende'a lips. The chief engineer was satisfied. Before this, little things hnd betrayed a fellow alumnus, or at least a fellow student of the old Lawrence Scientific school. Vandeventer was pleased at his adroitness. lie did not, however, refer to e I inS S w J ' J river bed was rapidly fear of undermining ' rs h? was dtflk bet, TIi n lln mill ry m Ha Had Accompanied the Younger Man on On of Hla Ramble. charge of some special work, that Vandeventer unconsciously looked to him in any emergency. He actually found himself consulting Meade on occasion. He had accompanied the younger man on one of those rambles which he had hitherto taken alone. He had not broken down Mendea reserve, but he had won his admiration and regard. Vandeventer was not unknown In engineering circles. In earthwork he was by way of being an authority. His experience had been varied and extensive. Meade's reserve and reticence rather hurt the older engineer. He had invited confidence and had even given his affection. He Intimated delicately that If the other were under a cloud Vandeventer might be la a position to help him. It was fortunate for Meades purpose of concealment, for his that most of his engineering Incognito, work had been dime abroad and that he had been out of touch with American engineering for pructlcully the whole of his career. Vandeventer was a liar-vur- d man, too, and that made it especially hard for Meade to keep from betraying himself. As a matter of ract, the younger man actually longed brcn8t 1 PnMke.a ut he not quite bring himself to do It yet lhat might com later. Three months ought to see the com- Eh1 wasf to dum un'1 tl,e Iou8 canal, curry the stored water o the irrigation ditches below. Van- levcnter was already making plans for another big Job, and he had I'8 "'n mIn1 that nmng suhor' The al cln i hom lnaUS 1,0 Would uM should the first lve chance. Vandeventer t Proud and satisfied when surveyed nccomPllshed t T be sure ,n completion of tha spillway disquieted him a UtUe n-i- .ltd, lliirv five fe,! ? rnubor in'lW.,,.0n lh0 fifth ordr Of Jan- - !mllUo.rs Ing Ims But a mi the ussl y ible t red the, bur ;rol bad finally by mntinL FOCk whShn?, l,Pen Si .J T the !l,,nil,ny t st b iselj yo a ist d SI or'lrod a te Go idc ting uld Irt 1 ya idily watchfulnes s was somewhat alarming, it wu i The men were advised desperate. put In all the time In their bnnbi as to be good and ready for the battle which might come in the ing, and as they were all tired with their daya work the tittle r soon broke up and each man will hls qunrters. Vandeventer, however, could sleep. The rain kept up steadily i The resident night engineer fojK K got up and dressed himself, tected by high rubber boot wM cowboy slicker and a gouVeSteT. his quarters and went out to the dam. He carried a lantern, course, for It was pitch dark possible, the rain dropping f black sky made It more difficult to lie was surprised when be got to dam to see on the other side lantern. Closing the slide of W lantern to prevent observation, Ing on familiar ground, be straight toward the other side. noise of the rain subdued any 5 that he made, and he was able to quite close to the other light J being noticed. B , How young Roberts, the W his tale" wipe out all disgrace, '0 0 the any lie terioua engineer, uses and knowledge to good sdv tags la told In the next lnt menthe gets the opportunity Vns ote led real fancied. (TO BIS CONTlN't0' 1 Alexandria. .j There are few cities that ctu AhMD back to a pust like that of and fewer still with such a ra i can contrive to keep up with tlie --J and look forward to the futurjO relics of 23 dead centuries ondrinn history hnve to be In tbo guide books. In the city j they are covered up by the A ern Improvements. n, atei itrli , j tai iad 8 1 'ofe 0Q tu 001 Igl 0 Hi ki Ini drl118 W.nWJoyOUWWjjj' and Marlon was given a DCBUl"Ii0i 8 P(W,llle to work on Chrlstmns eve. She wo 0 , $ i succeeded In m)euiaVinfllt,V?Dtcr ba!l but changed It from one "ree one olcr"J wtiirh entir no other all evening. r Obout thnt evening, but she kept seven fw-- below fin the tbo dam; thaUs top of next morning. Iler mother, t w bout two the ring, comber, 1 ciall, .wr0 within Alexandrians may argue about but nationality of Cleoputra, r th them ore talking about lvol of the valley Vev 'n(l Plunned cotton and the lutest project fo to run tho .T?0 nrounJ bo cast-n- d ing tbo hurbor. dyUamite 1 ratio dam it wus necessary partially close the sluice once more. The water was rising, first it rate of three or four inches in hi then half a foot, and finally neartit foot By six o'clock that night I had risen two feet It was still tu lug hard at that hour, although quite so furiously as It bad been I It did rain until morning at the n ent rate, there would still be I K gin of safety of perhaps fonrteaj fifteen feet at dawn. Although d situation required eni s, scoured on I the r ry dedWi toe - ilecc open the undersluice gate about L wuy, but when this was done tlx, ume of water It was capable ef charging was too small to help much, and on opening It to infii extent the velocity of the water Ing through was so great that I physical wreck. From the grand old Tach', of an ongineerl Put a h "There's a new transit la that box on the floor there, he said, resuming hla Indifferent manner. "Ive had the case opened, but I haven't taken it out Get It sod well go outside and Bee what you can do with It Now a transit for all It Is used In rough fieldwork, Is one of the most expensive and delicate of Instruments. It is capable pf the most accurate adjustment and if It Is to be of any real use, the refinement of these not be Impaired In any degree by unskilled and reckless packing. The boxes la which the Instruments are shipped are very carefully constructed In accordance with the principles which experience has shown to be necessary, and each one Is especially fitted to the particular Instrument to be contained therein. The box Is a complicated thing and the transit cannot be tnken out or replaced except la one way, With a knowledge f the combination, so to speak, It is comparatively simple to take a transit from the box ; without thnt knowledge, which none but an expert transltman, or the packer himself can have, It Is rather difficult without running a risk of ruining the Instrument. This command was another of tests, therefore. Meade knew this as well as his superior. In spite of himself, he would hnve to betray his familiarity. Well, he hnd brought himself to the conclusion thnt he could not continue his work without very soon disclosing the fact thnt he had been nn engineer. And lu case of the Inevitable, the sooner tho better. So long as lie hnd to betray himself, he would have till the ndvnntuges as well as the dlsnd vantages. He unlocked the door of the box, slid the Instrument out quickly, accurately, without a moments hesitation, and rapidly unscrewed the head from the slide-boarand screwed It carefully oa the tripod, Vandoventers eyes sparkled. "Come outside," lie said, lending the way to the side of tlie hill, "and set It up there over tlie tack In thut stake and level It." Beginners hnve been known to tnke ten minutes to get a transit set leveled and centered. It Is good up work If It Is done Inside of a minute; thirty seconds Is very fast. In forty-flvonds Meade reported, ull ready, sir He could have duue It In less, hut he was a little out of practice, he suhi to himself. "Look here," sold Vandeventer, "eon cant pull any more bluff on mo, Rob. erts; you're an engineer, nil right." "I know something about the pr'netl-ca- l aide of it, sir," answered Meade turning a little pale and wondering how far Vnndeveuter would press his questions and what he would learn. But the engineer was a man. "Practical, yes, and theoretical too Ill be bound, but I dont seek to ury Into your antecedents. Its for me If you do good work forenough me here." "Ill do my best, air." plete the dnm and the n ' year, however, there very unusual rains during the water back of the feet deep, which mu'deV. the level to which the and 20 feet below the "PUtway. wus much more water'th"7' hnd dreamed would be voir at that time, and the, wTtui. more thun should have Still there was a safety feet, which Vandeventer would be ample. The Ilaanri.t ters of the project were vm to have the reservoir fun Irrigating season opened, glneers Judgment hud beea jH by their eagerness to get t The broad sheet of water Into the valley for many fact, the dum had transfer country Into a beautiful iw A times It rained In the mountain, It did not ruin down in and there was a constant 1 small, rise In the level. personally carefully gauged the 5 everyday. Naturally he had tlmt it rose gradually, but at hJj rose proportionately more ranldlTa was not uneasy. Yet, M aZJ glueer, he was watchful and u, because of the unfinished apiiw urged the men to the veryu The wentherwise from the who sometimes rode up to im, work, assured Vandeventer tha could not possibly ruin before lb and the mere fact that so uiuqiiw had fallen rendered It more hip able that any more would come But at three on the afternoon at uary sixth It suddenly began to k hard without warning and tith'l premonition on the part ol ujJ It was not one of those terrible dJ pours known as cloudbursts, te was an excessively hard, Mead; is The heavens over the range V black with clouds and so far ua one at the dam could see, ltnu Ing from the crest of the mom down. There were some amloui cusslons in the dining room ldent engineer and hls Americas sistants. At four oclock It Im a It r: ami ie tl tpc If lial t feet of the dam, bit ti, i I Im!' croHt Marion would loso "Why donIt you put yur ring finger and keep -"- there, Well, I dont like to be nic"". I keep it ou one Huger I I'M era." 00 ) 0 , tf (C(l 'l |