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Show WATER B J.ALLAN DUNN ' AUTHOR. " "A MAN TO HIS MATE" LSfQL 1 " RIM ROCK TRAIL jjj & -v- x?, - Mi IT F COPYRIGHT Xy"""!!-. DODO. MEAD CO. , ' Wn JL She went through the open door field for her by an attendant. Baxter had been with them. lie had gone ahead to the car. Baxter must have been sitting beneath the alcove where Caleb and Mary Morgan had held their interview. And Betty Clinton had seen the pale face and shrinking figure of the stenographer on the stairs behind Caleb. He was sure of that as Clinton advanced toward him threateningly while the thoughts shuttled shut-tled swiftly through his brain. He faced Clinton coolly. "You are impudent, sir," said Clinton, Clin-ton, his breath almost fuming with the temper he held in uncertain leash. "I have only one arm left, sir," went on Clinton, "but, If you have the impertinence im-pertinence to again salute me or my daughter, I shall find It sufficient to horsewhip you, you sneaking Yankee !" Caleb did not flinch. His voice gritted. "You will apologize to me some day, sir. I . ." "Pah !" Clinton wheeled, his straight, spare form marching with military precision through the door. Caleb watched him, his blood seeming to boil. Before he could follow Mary Morgan touched him on the elbow. He whirled, In no mood for her. "Don't snarl at me," she said. "Snarl at Ted Baxter. I want to tell you something. That girl doesn't ed business, but many might consider It merely smart and consider that Caleb should have protected his otto Interests. But, to treacherously rise stolen knowledge from the "Water company com-pany to undermine Caleb with Betty Clinton her father did not seem to enter Into the Immediate problem to proclaim Caleb as an abuser of hospitality hos-pitality worse to make him out a scoundrel in the eyes of the girl he loved for Baxter to endeavor to gain for himself the love of that girl, was beyond all forgiveness. It clamored for punishment, physical, amply sufficient. suffi-cient. The recollection of many times when he had pulled Baxter out of a scrape, often to his own detriment, added fuel to the fire of his resentment. resent-ment. For the first time he saw his friend clearly selfish, unprincipled, spoiled to use Mary Morgan's stronger strong-er term, "rotten." Marlin stopped opposite to him and broke Into his musings. "Hinckley ' wants to get In touch with you," he said. "Promised him I'd tell you If I ran across you.' He's probably home by now." "All right." Caleb's answer was apathetic. For the moment business seemed a dead issue but he roused himself and went to the telephone booths. Hinckley's voice came to him, eager, stimulating. "I want to go over the ground with you right away," he said. "Just a preliminary, personal survey. We haven't any time to lose. Will tomorrow tomor-row morning be convenient?" Caleb responded to the engineer's energy. "Surely," he replied. "Make It noon." "Then the Ferry building for the one o'clock Broad Gauge boat. It connects with the Coyote Canyon train." Caleb went back to his seat. The clubrooms began to thin out and he ordered his dinner. There was no sign of Baxter. When the meal was announced he called the head boy. "If Mr. Baxter comes in, let me Know. I shall be at-dinner." "He won't be in, sir. . He telephoned a little while ago to 'tell Mr. Henley he'd meet him at ten o'clock. They had an appointment outside." Henley was a man patterned to Baxter's Bax-ter's caliber. Caleb had met him and never cared to press the acquaintance. Henley had been Baxter's companion on trips with Mary Morgan and Henley's Hen-ley's own special flame. Tonight meant some similar expedition. It probably meant also that Baxter would get drunk. He finished his dinner with a cigar and walked up to Semaphore hill. There were a few unimportant letters waiting for him, and a small package. He opened it. The jade pendant was inside, the sign of 4 Pisces, returned from Betty Clinton without a word. He held it for a little in the palm of his hand, his thoughts bitter, before he put the trinket away in his desk drawer, which he locked. Baxter did not materialize. Caleb was up before the night man went off and made certain of that fact. After he had taken his bag to the office and added to It what he needed, he dropped in at the club before he went to the bank. And he met Doctor Fields coming com-ing up from the dining room. The physician phy-sician stopped him. "Suppose you know about Baxter?" "No. What?" "Nothing serious, though this might be a good chance to make him think so. You share a suite with him, don't you? And lie didn't show up last night? For cause. Henley brought him home from the beach poisoned that's the only word for It. They are selling the crudest kind of stuff out at the resort. It's got to be stopped. Baxter arrived literally blind drunk. Eighty-eight per cenl crude alcohol with glycerin, a little carbolic acid to give it the bite, burnt sugar for coloring. color-ing. "And I'm going to try and put the fear of God and whisky into his heart or his liver while he's here In the club under my eye. Let Ted Baxter keep up this game and he'll practically lose his reason, be purely bestial, he might commit any crime even murder. mur-der. You're his friend. Do what you can. He'll be fairly fit by tomorrow. The stuff hasn't really got him yet We'll keep him quiet today with bromides, or something stlffer. You're closer to him than any one else just now, I fancy." "I'm sorry, doctor," said Caleb, "but we've had a row. Pretty serious one. And I don't know. . . . I've got to go out of town on urgent business busi-ness for a day or two. . . ." "Hah ! Had a row? Then you can't do a thing. Just aggravate him. Confound Con-found him, he's rowing with all Ills best friends. Not quite responsible perhaps. Good-by. Warner." (TO BE CONTINUED.) CHAPTER XI Continued 16 Her face blazed dull crimson, the glitter in her eyes concentrated to flames of jealousy. Here was the real reason aside from mercenary interest in-terest for her revelation. "How do you know he Is In love with her?" "How do I know?" She laughed scornfully. "Because I am a woman. Because I know Ted Baxter. Because Be-cause I know that he never loved me, has never loved any girl. We've been amusements for him. But he's in love now. He couldn't deny it when I taxed him with it. "Baxter's rotten, clean through. I'll tell you what your 'best friend' did. Not because you wouldn't lend film money or couldn't. But because he saw n chance to do away with you as a rival and a chance to make money at the same time. Ile couldn't resist that combination. "So he told her and her father all about your schemes, that you had made friends with them to cover your prospecting, your surveys and your photographing. It seems that one of their men, a Mexican, had been watching watch-ing you. He saw you early one morning morn-ing where you had been testing rock. He reported to "Mr. Clinton and that made Clinton suspicious. The girl stuck up for you at first. But now you know better than I do the kind of man Clinton Is. But he was furious. He says you abused his hospitality, that you Intended to desecrate the graves of his dead. He called you a Yankee spy. And he gave Ted Baxter a purchase option for agricultural purposes. Principally, of course, as a protection for himself against condemnation. con-demnation. "Now Ted is laughing at you. The representative of the colony Is in town. Ted takes him to Hermanos valley tomorrow. And you are the fool. Unless . . ." "Unless what?" "Baxter thinks he is going to marry that girl. I don't know what kind of a girl she is. She may take him on the rebound, if she was in love with you. But she won't marry him. Baxter Bax-ter i's going to marry me." "I thought you were going away." "After he marries me. After he makes our child honest." The flame leaped again In her eyes. "He dared he dared to pretend that he was not the father of my baby. And he knows oh, he knows different. I was a little fool when I met him but I was a good girl. I wanted fun and I got It. But, If I pay, he'll pay, too. I'm not going to live with him. He's a liar and a cheat. My baby may inherit in-herit that. If It does I hope it dies. "I've got to give up my position soon, the girls are beginning to notice things. I'll go away. I can get another an-other place after it's all over. But I'll not go on his money. Even if he came through. Now, Mr. Warner, have I earned my fifteen hundred dollars?" "You shall have it," said Caleb slowly. Resentment was swift, mounting mount-ing to rage, within him but he kept a grip on himself until he met Baxter. "You've earned your money. You shall have It tomorrow." She saw little muscles bunched about his lower Jaw, the clean, firmest line of it, light like that reflected from polished steel in his eyes. Into her own eyes admiration entered. "You've got something up your sleeve," she said knowingly. "I'd like to watch your session with Baxter. Don't kill him." She laughed, off key, recklessly. "I won't," Caleb promised grimly "How'll I get the money to you?" She took out a pencil and a card and scribbled. "Here's my address. Send It there. Now, let me go away first while you settle the cheek. It might spoil your reputation if we were seen going out together," she added, bitterly. "Good-by." "Good-by." She parted the curtains and was gone as Caleb touched the bell. The waiter came promptly and he paid the The Waiter Came Promptly and He Paid the Bill and Started for the Street. quite believe all she has heard. And the reason is, because she doesn't want to. Now go." As Caleb crossed the street a car went by, Baxter driving. Clinton and his daughter were in the tonneau. Caleb's hands balled into fists, opened with clutching fingers. He ached to spring for the footboard and drag Baxter from behind the wheel. Baxter Bax-ter saw him standing to let them pass and shrugged his shoulders as he gave Caleb a short smile of gleeful malice. Caleb made the curb, trembling with rage. He had shaken before like that, waiting for the zero hour in the trenches, before he lunged over the top with righteous murder in his heart. If he had had the instant opportunity op-portunity he would 'nave smashed Baxter to a pulp or choked him. He swung off uptown, revenge deferred, anger master of his brain. Caleb had no Immediate means of tracing Baxter. But, sooner or later, the other must show up at the apartment-house to change his clothes or at the club. Caleb went to the latter place first. He held only one fixed desire, to come face to face with his false friend and have a reckoning with him. Baxter's actions had been deliberate, despicable. Caleb niight have passed over the land deal with contempt. It was shyster, underhand- bill and started for the street. As Caleb entered the foyer the swinging doors from the main cafe opened and Clinton and his daughter emerged. Automatically, without thought, he raised his hat. Betty Clinton was looking In Ills direction and she did not evade his glance. Neither did she answer It. But Caleb saw a faint color stealing up from neck to brow, saw her eyebrows contract in annoyance. annoy-ance. Then her father saw him. Clinton's Clin-ton's eyes blazed while Caleb bit his lips as he replaced his hat, furious at his action yet not certain that he would not have repeated it. lie was unconscious of anything that he had done that should cause him to retract ) courtesies towards the Clintons. To . do so would be an acknowledgment of h shamefacedness he was far from feeling. I "Go on con Join Baxter," Clinton I aid In a iow voice to his daughter. |