Show If J J I When th the e Colorado C lo TX Burst durst Its Banks J 0 Flooded Hooded and The Th RIVER By the Valley Malley o of California Imperial Imperial e 11 V Ednah AIken Cap Copyright Bobbs Com Company r When Man and Nature Clashed It was but a short time ago that the whole nation was thrilled by news of a mighty struggle In which mans man's Ingenuity and strength were pitted against the seemingly Irresistible forces of nature The Great Greata a Yellow Dragon as the Indians termed the tricky Colorado river for many years had defied all efforts to control It Finally It threatened to toI I overwhelm the rich Imperial valley of southern California In a last desperate battle man triumphed The raging waters were curbed The valley was saved Ednah Aiken a daughter of the West realized that thata a a wonderful story could be woven about this thrilling chapter of western j history and this Is the story that she ehe he has given to the world In The Thet t River It is a story of the out out doors a story astory of strong men who forget forget for for- get their own differences in the battle for their lives and property a astory astory astory story of women who place love and loyalty above comfort and conveniEnce conven- conven l nce and of other women wh who n n the smallness of their souls fall fail to meet the test It Is a story that you will enjoy from start to finish Editors Editor's Note ote CHAPTER I. I 1 1 1 Marshall Sends for The large round clock was strIking striking Nor nine as ns Casey RIckard's dancing step carried him into the outer office of Tod Marshall The ushering clerk coatless coat cosit- c less and in expectation of th the third hot spring day made a critical appraisement of the engineers engineer's getup get before he spoke Then he stated that Mr Marshall had not yet et come ome S Jor For a London tie and a a. a white silk shirt shirt belted Into white serge tr trousers Users were smart for tor Tucson The c clerks clerics erl erlIn in the employ of ot the Overland Pacific and of the Sonora and Y railroads had stared at Rickard a as he enter entered d they followed his through through the room He was a newcom newcomer r In Tucson n. n He JIe had not yet acquired tI the apathetic habits of ot its citizens He wore belts In instead tead of suspenders His white trousers duck or serge carrl carried iI a newly newly newly new new- new new- ly pressed crease each morning The office had not ren reached ed a v verdict dl t ton t on the subject of K C C. Rickard The sleeved shirt collarless collarless- clerks clerks' Would have been quick to dub dab him a dandy andy were it for a page of his hiS' history that was puzzling them th m. m lie had helda held helda a chair of engineering ering in n some e st fn city He had resigned the wind tossed 3 page said to go on the road as as a J a a. fireman His IUs rapid promotion had been spectacular th last afew n a few years ago to fill it an office position I in Tucson The summons summons s had found fourd him bim on the west coast of Mexico l where the Overland Pacific was push push- ing lag its tracks the You can wait here suggested clerk looking covertly at the sho shoes s of the man who a few years before had been shoveling coal on a Wyoming en er en 1 gine Mr Marshall said sald to wait wait j Ribbons instead of shoe l laces ces I carped the human machin machine that must t ever write letters which other othe men 5 5 5 sign And a blue pin to his Ws 5 tie i 1 I call that going some I 1 f 0 It would never have occurred to 5 5 m Rickard ka d had ad he thought about It l at atoil t oil nIl that morning as he knotted his tI tie of of- dark brilliant blue silk silk that the thea selection of his n was a choice a it was an inevitable result an in Instinctive tiac- tiac tive Uve discretion of his fing rs It warped however ever the suspended judgment j judg judg- gm g- g m meat ment nt of Marshalls Marshall's men who who had hadS S Jl never never ver s seen seen en him shoveling coal disfigured tired Ired by a denim jumper They They did SS S not not know that they themselves were we're ruined by bythe the climate th that t dulls vanity and wilts collars ollars G Give Give ve him him a year to change some of his Ills fine habits I wag wagered Smythe e the f stoop shouldered clerk as the door of S the I Inner mer office closed dosed To change his habits less amend d the office e wit And then they fell r 4 to peculating what Marshall was goIng goin go- go go- go In Ing to do with him What pawn was wash F Jt h in the game that everyone in Tucson Tucson Tuc son followed w with Ith eager self self interested interested reste 4 Ico concern Marshalls Marshall's was was as the controlling control control- l- l ling hand in Arizona politics the them m maker ker of governors the arbiter of big corporations president of a n b half half- dozen dozen railroads Not Nota move a a move ot of his A one the board that escaped notice On the other side of the door lUck hick r the office question nr ar l was echoing Tl This Tills ls play job where did it it lead to 5 5 5 had liked his work under Stratton mere had bad been some pretty problems to meet what meet what did Marshall Marshal mean to toc tod c d dc lc with him he note had set the appointment at att athis his fo nine vine Rickard glanced w. w wh t h and took out our his Engineering It view lew It woul be bc ten before that a d r opened on Tod lod Marshall I dEr r flUe e knew that on oa the road ilar- ilar sl II's work worl began at dawn Aman tt nt tnt nt break from overwork or rust fl film ii if If f he lie follows the tire the ex ex- n pie of the sun Rickard had bad often his hi favorite the the- h heard and him expound o ory It is only 14 A r. r t rt L e q p syba syba- can afford to pervert t the r rues res es who q g arrangement nit nature re Intended for us Blit ut In Tucson con controlled r by the tM wife wife- wl f S ll l solicitude e of his Claudia Cl udIa he wase was perversion Ills His Is e coerced erred into a regular perv until the copra t o 0 c ce never saw him 1 i Ii g was half gone j f. f a j A I A hour half la later er Rickard ard finished ed diversion ton of neat n a reading a n report great eat western The e. e name of ot Thomas Har Hardin In had had sent him off on f of memory memory y The Th Thomas tangent o efforts to bring water v vl whose of ot the tie Colorado had bad been t t desert unsuccessful uns c was was th the theu l spectacularly r u Tom TOH n he be had la kl n TLe sis i A tS aS i Eer ter hind had iad told hI him so the girl with the theo theod o od Irone e eyes es opal matrix they were with glints glint of gold or was It green She herself was as unlike the raw Jaw boor r of his memory as a moun moun- mountain mountain tain lily is like the coarse rock of Its background background Even a sister half to Hardin as Marshall their host at dInner dinner dinner din dIn- ner the week eek before had explained Ined no It-no It no even that did not explain It Th That t an of the Hardin blood should be shared by the veins of that girl why It it was vas incredible 1 I The name Hardin suggested crudity loudmouthed loud mouthe mouthed t bragging conceit He could un understand the failure of the river project since the sister had assured him aim that It was the same Tom Hardin wl who o had gone to tv college at Lawrence had married harried Gerty Holmes Queer business life that he should cross ey even even n. n so so remotely their orbits again That was a chapter he liked to skip He rI walked wailed over to the windows shielded by bright awnings and looked down on the city where the next feW years of his life might b be caught Comforting to reflect that an nn engineer Is is like a soldier ne never er con cnn be certain about tomor tomorrow ow Time enough to know that tomorrow meant Tucson 1 t What wa war that threadbare i proverb In the- the Overland Pacific that Tod Marshall always keeps his men until they lose losel their teeth That defined defined defined de de- de- de fined the men who made themselves necessary necessary 1 Ills Ills' eyes w were re resting on the banalities banalities' ties tIe o of or the modern city that had robbed old told town of its flavor Were it not for the beauty of the distant hills the jar and Sand rumble of the trains whose roar roar cal called ed to near-by near pleasure cities twinkling t lights and crowded theaters stretches of parks and recreation grounds he who loved the thrill and c confinement of an engine who had found enticement ement in a desert a chapter chapter chap chap- ter of ot adventure in the barrancas of M Mexico w would stifle In Tucson 1 American Amer Amer- American ican progress was as yet too thin a veneer on l Ie Mexican can Indifference to tomake make the place endurable endurable endurable-as as a city Im rm good for a lifetime here If II I want pit vit t his thoughts would work ba back k to the starting place If I knuckle kie down to It let him grow to depend on me its as as' good as settled that I am burled buried In Tucson I 1 Hadn't he hel Marshall himself say that he k keep ep a kIn kindergarten that kindergarten that his office office wasn't a training school for form formen formen m men n 1 He pe wanted his men to s stay ay That one of the reasons of the great greatman's greatman's tn mans man's ns n's power power er detail rested on the shoulders of his bis employees It kept his o own n brain clear receptive to big achievements Perhaps as as' the work unrolls as I Isee Isee Isee see see more more of what he wants of me why he e wants wants s' s mel meI may like Jt it I may may get r I I f I 1 tir He W Walked to the the Window t to shout shout fO for Tucson 1 l It was I Impossible poSsible poS poS- sible enough to smile over overl 1 Childs Child's work compared to Mexico l The distinction of serving M Marshall well certainly b had d Its drawbacks He lie wanted to sw sweep ep on Whether he bad had bada hada a definite terminal a concrete goal had he ever stopped to think Specialization Specialization had always a fascination for him It was that which had thrown him out of or his into luto the firebox o of w Ste-rn Ste engine It had bad governed his course cours at college college- to know one thing well and then to prove prove that he Knew It well l I Contente Content Content- e l 4 in S Mexican barracks h here re h hj he j S. S S I I t I was chafing restive after a few weeks of Tucson For what was he ho getting here Adding what scrap of experience to the rounding oL bis profession pro pro- profession Retrospectively engineering co could Id hardly be said to be the work of his choice Rather had It appeared to choose him From boyhood engineers had always ms been to him the soldiers of modern modem civilization To conquer and subdue mountains to shackle wild rivers to suspend trestles over dizzy heights to throw the tracks of an advancing ad- ad ad advancIng advancing civilization along a newly blazed trail there would always aIwas be a thrill in it for him It had changed hanged the best quarterback of his high school Into the primmest of students at col col- college lege Only for a short time had he let lethis Ills his vanity sidetrack him when the honor of teaching what he had learned stopped his own progress A rut rut rut rut- 1 He lie remembered the day when it had bad burst on him the realization of the rut he was was in He lIe could see his Lawrence Lawrence Law Law- rence schoolroom could see yet the face under the red haired mop belonging belong ing to Jerry J erry- erry queer Matson Matson queer he remembered remembered bored the name after all those years I He lie could picture the look look of consternation consternation consternation conster conster- nation when he threw down his book and announced his desertion He had handed in n his r resignation the next day A month later and he was shoveling coal on the steep grades of Wyoming Marshall keeps his men with him 1 I IThe The engineers engineer's glance traveled around the office A stranger to Marshall Marshall Marshall Mar Mar- shall would would get a wrong idea of theman theman the theman man who worked in It 1 I Those precise files the desk orderly and polished the gleaming linoleum and linoleum and then the theman theman theman man who made the negro jan janitors janitor's tors tor's life a proud burden 1 I His clothes always crumpled spots crumpled spots too unless his bis Claudia Clau Clan dia dla had had a chance at them Black string tie askew all the outward visible visible vis vis- ible signs of the southern gentleman of assured ancestry Not even a valet would ever keep Tod Marshall up to the standard of that office What did he have servants for he had demanded demand demand- ed of Rickard If it were were not to jump after him m picking up the loose ends he dropped Curious thing magnetism That mans man's step step stepon on the stair and every man-jack man of them would j jump mp to attention attention attention at at- from Ben the colored janitor who would not swap his post for a n sl si sinecure sinecure si- si so long as Tod Mashall's one lung kept him in Arizona to Smythe the stoop stoop shouldered shouldered clerk who had followed cough from San Francisco It was said In Arizona Arizona- Arizona Arizona- he hIm himself elf had met the statement in n Tucson Tucson that that any man who had ever worked for Marshall Tod-Marshall would rather be warmed by the reflection of his greatness than be given posts of personal personal per per- onal distinction Was it office routine Marshall intended In ln- tended him mm for He lIe admired without stint Tod Marshall but he preferred to work by the side of the other ther kind the strong men without physical handicap handicap han han- the men who ta take e risks the themen themen themen men who live the life of soldiers That was the life he wanted He would wait vait long iong enough to get Marshalls Marshall's Intention Intention intention In In- and then If it meant this meant this I he would break leose loose He would go goback goback back to the front where fie lie belonged belonged- back to the firing I line ne As the hands of the round clock lock In Inthe Inthe inthe the outer office were pointing to to ten the door opened and Marshall ent entered red His clothes of indefinite blackish hue would have disgraced an eastern man man His string tie had bad a starboard list and his hat was ready for a rummage sale But few would have looked at athIs athis athis his clothes Th The Ther latent energy of f the dynamic spirit spIr t that would frequently turn that quiet iet office into a amael- amael maelstrom mael mael- strom gleamed In those Indian-black Indian eyes Beneath the shabby cloth doth one suspected the dally polished skin under under under un un- der the old slouch hat was th the mouth of purpose the the- lips that na woman even his his Claudia had kissed without the thrill of fear ar l' l i Marshall gl glanced back at the theY clock and then toward his yI visitor On time he observed ed 1 t- t J.- J. I Rickard Smiling put his book In his pocket f CHAPTER CHAPER If If II f fA tJ jJ A Bit Sit of Oratory ti s. s lMarshall l z Marshall threw his hat on a chair the morning paper on his desk He lIe aimed his burned out burned burned at t i s nearest nearest nearest near- near est cuspidor or but It fell foul the ashes scattering over Sams Sam's lately scoured lIn Instantly appearance appear appear- linoleum leum was appear appearance ance anc of s 's settled disorder Marshall arshan i emptied his l pockets of loose papers spreading them that o out t on on his top top flattop desk f Sit down I 1 Rickard took Jook the chair at the other side of the desk Marshall Ma hall rang a bell belt Instantly the sleeved shirt-sleeved clerk derk entered I shall not see see anyone the chief announced I dont don't want to ta he later later- Take these e t to Smythe H His yes r followed the shutting of offne one me door then turned square upon |