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Show Eu J.ALLAN DUNN ' A J AUTHOR. Y "A MAN TO HIS MATE -tJ. (Ajti copyright sSS,4" e:i:S-1 r OODD. MEAD and CO. itQSf' S w.N.u, service, --ncf yAV J possible by his talents. And the sex Instinct, the desire of one woman, wrestled with the offspring of his Intellect. In-tellect. Brain and heart were at odds. But 'two things had come plainly out of the muddle. He wanted to carry out the work. That was a thing that should be done If he did not someone else would, sooner or later, make the same discovery. And he wanted Betty Clinton. It was not that he merely did not want to lose her respect and friendship he wanted her. The desire of her continually lh-hibited lh-hibited concentration on his project. He woke before dawn, moved his horse to a better patch for browsing, took his probe and geologist's hammer and started to work, resolutely dismissing dis-missing any aftermath of the night's problem. He bad not brought wading boots with him and he took off shoes and socks and puttees, turned up the laced ends of his riding breeches and niembering the girl's declaration. But he did not forego his present purpose. He was firm in his belief that public service was greater than private sentiment sen-timent and he hoped that he could overcome the feelings of the father and daughter when the time came. If this obstacle had to be surmounted, it should be. He was strong In his conviction that he would overcome all hindrances to his great project, that already promised too much to be abandoned. aban-doned. It was nearing twilight when he came to the gorge. He considered It best not to risk a fire. He did not want his operations observed until he had come to a conclusion concerning them. He believed himself outside the bounds of the Clinton property, but he was not certain. If he wxis trespassing, he felt that Clinton and his daughter, in their present moods of resolution regarding any disposition of Hermanos valley, might resent what he was about, if they guessed its Import, as .a breach of hospitality. He felt a little uneasy about his ethics. What he was about was for the public weal ; it outweighed private considerations, he told himself, hammering ham-mering home the argument. Hermanos Herma-nos valley was a private holding, yet, if public necessity demanded it for a " dam site, public pressure, leading perhaps per-haps to legislative procedure, might insist upon condemnation proceedings. But, if Clinton did not yield gracefully, grace-fully, the affair would create quite a stir, and Caleb would appear to Betty and her father in the light of a treacherous treach-erous guest who had taken advantage waded out into the gut where the pent-up pent-up waters of Hermanos, when the valley val-ley was a lake, had broken through. The sun was two hours high before he came out of the creek, his pockets filled with rock, samples, wet, tired, his purpose accomplished. He had still to refer to certain geological reports, to analyze his samples, but he was sure of the result. flis Jaw was set and his face grave from concentration, but it shone with a certain satisfaction. "That problem Is solved," he said aloud as he mounted his horse at last and rode the willing steed down canyon can-yon toward the breakfast that both craved. He did not notice the man who came out on the suspension bridge and watched him until the foliage fo-liage shut him from view. It was Padilla. The Mexican's face was puzzled, suspicious. He could not understand why el senor should have stayed the night at the head of the canyon. He descended to the creek bed, readily finding evidence of what Caleb had been doing, evidence that a day or so would have erased. He saw where Caleb had gone down into the stream and his quick eyes noted where the rocks had been chipped. A convulsion came over his face with the sudden conviction that the guest had been up to no good. "The dam' Gringo, Yankee spy !" he muttered. But his thoughts were twisted. He remembered Caleb's gallant gal-lant action with the bull. He could not Justify the two affairs. And he could not comprehend what Caleb had been up to. Unless it was mining. And there was no gold on Gabilan, no silver or cinnabar. Save that, whatever what-ever he had done, he had accomplished secretly, deliberately giving out the impression that he had gone down the canyon the night before. He decided to talk the matter over with Maria. For four days Caleb worked day and night, almost unceasingly. Every night he practiced his qualities as Water Diviner. He cut his own hazel twigs and, as soon as the moon was up, he went out on the desolate surface of the Sink, with results that Justified his first impressions. There was water wa-ter everywhere. It backed up to the southern border and the presence of the water proved that clay lay under it. This he verified by finding clay on the side hills with his boring probe. His cistern had walls as well as bottom, a lining that was Impervious. Imper-vious. It was a giant clay saucer holding hold-ing water for the population of a whole city. At the end of the time he was worn lean and tired in body. Sleep had been snatched in catnaps through the day, before the moon came up and in the early hours of dawn. He returned to the hotel, gave up his horse and slept luxuriously for thirty hours. But, before he went to bed, he dispatched dis-patched a telegram. It was to his lawyer law-yer in the East, to whom he had given certain powers-of-attorney concerning the possible sale of his house. In the message he urged an instant sale, even at some slight sacrifice, and asked for the wired remittance of the price through his Golden bank. Quick with enthusiasm, he went back to Golden, fully rested, to complete com-plete plans for submission to Cox. The latter, he found, was out of town and not expected for two weeks. This suited Caleb, who had much to do. He hired a small office and equipped it with drafting table, desk, a small filing cabinet and two stools. He had to set his plans on paper, to make drawings, put together rough estimates, es-timates, and he resolved to make a working model of the whole project. He did not anticipate being able to do more than suggest the magnitude of the affair and its cost. What he mainly hoped for was to prove its practicability, and the model would go far toward that. (TO PK CONTINUED.) CHAPTER VIII 11 Prospects Caleb secured an amiable, steady-gaited steady-gaited saddle horse for his trip the next morning. He carried his creel, an awkward . -thing to a rider of his lack of experience. experi-ence. In it he packed his lunch and a survey instrument or two with notebook note-book and drawing materials. In his rod case, another cumbersome thing for him to carry, he included besides the Joints of his pole a steel rod that he had secured at a blacksmith's in the upper valley, a tempered probe to be used for investigating depths of deposits. de-posits. He had a geologist's hammer in one pocket, in another pipe and tobacco. His camera was tied to the saddle. Leisurely he . rode down the valley, diverging sometimes and climbing a ridge, probing with his steel rod, taking tak-ing photographs, making a contour sketch where the camera would not serve his purpose, marking closely the lip of strata, the character of rock formations, the general lie of the country. coun-try. Finally, close to noon, he rode down a wash, the sides of which were clothed in buckeye and oak, and lunched by the side of Boca creek, where the two sycamores made an archway for its waters. He took the pendant from its packing pack-ing and laid it in the palm of his hands. The artificer had done well. The tiny fishes, united by the ribbon, were delicately yet sharply cut. Two fish united. A symbol of two living things that lived and moved in the same medium water. Joined by a ribbon. Tisces and Aquarius. A swift suggestion came to him that the symbol might indicate more than he had intended when he ordered the trinket. He flushed a little as he wondered won-dered whether the girl might devise some intimate intention in the design. Then he laughed at his 'own presumption. presump-tion. It was her sign. Its connection with that on his own seal was fanciful, fanci-ful, far-fetched. He put the pendant back, got up, rolled his blanket, saddled and rode out into Caliente Sink, turning south along the creek, on through the canyon can-yon to the suspension bridge. There lie dismounted and led his horse down the bank to the edge of the creek. He took off his roll and thrust the blanket and raincoat into the hollow of a tree that was masked with ferns, together with his creel and rod case. Unencumbered, Unen-cumbered, he loped on to El Nido. "This is my party call," he announced an-nounced to Betty, who came to meet him, after Padilla, with a smile of greeting, had led away his mount for a grain feed and a promised rub-down and Maria had shown him into the patio. The girl looked grave, seemed quiet, he fancied. But she brightened at the gift and accepted it without reserve. "Is this really my sign?" she asked. "One would think that I was a twin. "It was very thoughtful and original origi-nal of you to choose this. I shall like it best of all my gifts. Something made for me, something that belongs, If we are to credit the astrologers. Do you know, we have an old volume that treats of such nonsense. Father will be pleased, too." Her own pleasure pleas-ure was so open and earnest that Caleb Ca-leb felt his satisfaction growing. He was glad she appreciated his taste. They discussed the picnic and her friends, in friendly fashion. Thurston had returned to his Fresno vineyards. The Vedders, It seemed, had liked Caleb Ca-leb and wanted to see more of him. Carmen had reiterated her determination determina-tion to Insist upon a new beret from him. "If it was only a souvenir of the occasion," she had said. Betty appeared ap-peared inclined to tease him a little about the Impression he had made on Carmen. "I am afraid I shall not see much of Miss Wilson," he said. "I expect to be very busy shortly." She did not Inquire specifically what he meant and be did not volunteer It. He did not mean to discuss his dls- "1 Am Not in Love With Her," Caleb Said Half Aloud. of their hospitality to spy out the land. They would hold him responsible respon-sible for ultimate condemnation and the desecration of the little graveyard. The" face of Betty Clinton, hurt, indignant, in-dignant, scornful, rose up before him. Perhaps he might be able to argue them to his standpoint, though he knew that idea was hardly tenable. He wanted her good will. Some instinct, in-stinct, entirely foreign to what he would have described as good Yankee common sense, whispered that his sentiment sen-timent toward her was deeper-rooted than he imagined. That It might ripen into love. A love that might be reciprocated re-ciprocated and that would be well worth while. "I am not in love with her," Caleb said, half aloud. And. us he said it. he knew that the girl could not be dropped out of his life without leaving leav-ing a wound that would ache long after it had become a scar. He was in the grip of complex emotions. Brain pointed out the Importance of the project, born of his own talents, made covery with anyone until It was an accomplished ac-complished fact unless it became necessary nec-essary in the order of business. Later he might have to broach the subject to Betty and her father. At the end of an hour he rose to go and the girl ordered his horse saddled. She gave him her hand, cool and 8llm but with the grip that told of efficiency, and he rode oft", lie left the direct trail to the canyon and mounted to a low rolling ridge that paralleled the stream. His eyes roved the valley, looking again for the benchmarks be h.nd noted on his first visit. And then lie saw from the heirl'.t what his previous trails bad lihhlm from him (he grove of jodars about a low while railing and. within the fence, some while headsiones the throe-generations cemetery of the Clin:. ns t Ho Crowned a little ot the sight, re- |