Show c I Ir r I II r WATER e BEARER I I By J. J ALLAN DUNN Author wT f ei f A MA MAN 0 TO HIS InS MATE A TE I TRAIL G D Dy By 1 Dodd M. M Mead fi Co Ca Service II I I I I HERO AND HEROINE Heres Here's a new kind of story of the West West West-a a romance of hydraulic i i lic lie engineering Mining ranchIng ranch ranch- I Ing lumbering and railroad budding have been the favorite of the tho fictionists and mon prang many a good bood story have they liven riven us Heros Hero's a new kind of hero hero hero-a a young youn New hew Englander born orn under the zodiac sign of Aquarius and d destined nEd to be Jn In Bearer er very truth a Water The heroine Is a native da daughter daughter daugh daugh- ShI Sh I ter of California And around I the water bearing exploit of the Eastern man and the tho Western Vestern I girl Irl revolve fascinating adventures adventures I tures by flood and field and a astory astory astory story of true truc love e that runs far I from tram smoothly smooth at times As for tor forthe forthe torI I the author why author why hes he's J J. J Allan AllanI I Dunn whose Western Vestern stories I have havO deservedly won for him a wide popularity And here East m ets West and West and a stirring ro romance t mance monce grows rows out of the meeting CHAPTER I IThe 1 1 The Canyon Caleb Warner conscientiously fished very every foot of the llie looking likeliest be he had seen on Hermanos creek but there came carne no rise no ea eager er tu tug no submerged d gleam of a rainbows rainbow's shimmering shim shim- merino mering flank flank- He waded ashore put up rod and tackle climbed through h the thick tall ferns and brambly undergrowth to o the narrow trail and und turned upstream All AU the day was his iris the tIle next for that matter and he fancied the thc fishing would be better higher up Caleb walked with his coat tucked between the slings of his creel his shirt open at the throat lean lenn lon long well dered and slender-flanked slender tanned of skin springy of action generally good to look at By the canons of ot moving pictures and magazine Illustrations he lie was not handsome New ew En England land an au- ancestry restry had made him too aquiline of feature but he had youth and andt t strength his graj gray gra e eyes es were clear his forehead hl high h to his straight clo close close- e- e cropped hair his lips cut clean-cut and his Ms chin well forward not too narrow I His general up make-up was typically American Yankee American unmarred unmarred un- un marred by Inbreeding Below him Hermanos creek creel sang half halt hidden by the undergrowth His Hs I economic New ew England brain saw potentiality po po- going to waste In Massachusetts Massachusetts Massa Massa- Hermanos creek cleek would long r. r ego o have ha been harnessed Mills and factories would have sprung up along its banks s. Here was water for steam for tor turbines for commercial and domestic domestic do do- u use e for Irrigation all unused Its ener energy seemingly doomed for tor there was a peculiar thing about the creek 7 that hat Caleb as ns an nn en engineer had noted Contrary to the habit of ot most well well- tl mannered watercourses Its volume diminished as i it t flowed lIe He was was' twenty seven seven six years out f the college chr chrysalis that he had at Columbia lIe He had served inthe In Inthe Inthe the war hard practical service In tasks that were low grade but hut necessary necessary sary ary the crude swift work of build- build Ic leg lag and ami repairing roads war and bridges s and in it Caleb Warner arner had In la large measure found himself He lIe had bad acquired Initiative resource com command corn com mand Inand of men if nothing e else And he lie had come out unscathed d unwounded reduced to an acme of ot coordination coordination co co- ordination sane mind and sound hod body He lIe had bad been granted ranted wider horizons So he lie had come west vest to find his its oyster oster and to open it Swiftly the woody cave of the canyon can cnn yon fan became a tunnel tire tilt creek creele now fJ fir far b below lo him In a water chiseled gorge eorge The tunnel became a gut e A suspension bridge e a u shivery thing of Wire rope rOIe and short planks anchored I i with Mth wire cables to hi high h walls of rock crossed the gorge It shook under his tr tread nd and hung trembling as heE he lie E stopped midway to look 1001 at the gush of compressed wat water r surging through the gap twenty feet down There were signs on the rock that at times the creel creek rose rase close to lo the flooring I Before him to the south In lay Iler- Iler t alle valley a green bowl lipped by byE E rolling rollIn hills their crests bronzed by bythe bythe the summer sun blazoned with great J Patches of ot golden olden poppies with S lumps dumps of purple lupine lurlne the lower i ale Mopes furred thick with wild oats f n Caving f in Ir the wind oats as high as C Caleb's Calebs lebs leb's fend hend a shimmering sea sen of emerald em- em erald and bad silver lIe He stood for a while undecided hether to adventure on to the waterfall waterfall water water- fall or to sta stay where he lie was until it was vas time to fish h down the can canyon on with the hope of better results than the three trout his persistence had lured from the creek lIe He had a book tucked Into nto his Ms pocket b but he lie t was not tired A l An he lie had lunched an hour before The view held him Looking down ht- ht saw aw that thein the stream t was a n vagrant L s that In the rains ruins one bed was riot not bought to convey come Its waters A second second sec- sec ond course conrEe now Ir dr dry 3 and partly grown rown over O eI erratically paralleled the actual reek creek Willows Willow bordered ed It It Along Aloof this tills Idle water track racing po 0 o fast it seemed a gray gy In ray streak head headon do on WD- WD n lowered n a co coyote ote ran at atI iii hll lP sp sh d d pursued not Hunting cov- cov I erin ln- ln C at ar a frantic pate pace pc to tn i Its utmost b by f fear flur ar AI sit 1 It a. a t. t perhaps fifty yards ord own away I. I t but gaining nt at every bound sped a t beautiful hound white coated coated te-coated taper taper ed bearing Its tall tail like It great reat Plume ng the with coyote co ote tremendous leaps leups going nt at a terrific terrific ter- ter rate yet et so S 'S toothily smoothly that S speed p eed seemed I Its ts effortless n Russian t wolfhound Be Beyond ond the willow fringe came her mate e bound for bound level with v the bitch known Unseen though perhaps not unknown uno un- to the co coyote ote Then Cn from a n thicker growth of or trees outmatched but traveling tra fast a Pinto flashed Into Calebs Caleb's view a n boy crouched low on the withers w welded W to the horse urging i It t on an Caleb thrilled th to the clime chase as It swept sept f on beneath him admiring admiring- the horsemanship Of the e fit figure re In breeches puttees and fluttering blouse a little envious of It t. t Gad he lie can ride he lic muttered A cap blew off oil a long tress of chestnut chestnut chest chest- nut hair toddy ruddy as a flame whipped out was reached for and tucked in by its owner only to stream errant again The boy was a girl i The bitch was almost up with the co coyote ote the do dog watchful through the gaps In the willows came circling in Jaws agape ready for the kill The coyote made a last desperate effort The rhe bitch with one enormous lea leap came came abreast She lunged her white te neck like a snakes snake's for speed and sin sin- less her teeth clamping down on 01 the forefoot of the coyote coote Caleb saw the latter checked ed tumbling heard a brok broken n snarl of defiance and then the second hound sprang In a n white gleam of fury too swiftly for him to catch the action Its powerful jaws bred for the work crunched through the vertebrae of the coyotes coyote's neck The hunt was ended The girl rode up at a gallop checked the pony in and slid to the turf while the two hounds thrust their muzzle at her With one 1 r A w The Boy Was a Girl hand she patted them while with the theother theother other she strove to coil up her hair now fairly down her shoulders reaching reach reach- reaching ing to her belt Good bo boy i 1 Good girl I Siva I J Caleb heard her faintly but hut plainly and shouted down his own meed of applause He lie had left most of his Innate Innate In- In nate reserve behind him in lu Europe and the stir of the hunt still held him Bully for bo both h of them he lw cried and waved his lint hut as ns the girl looked up She smiled waved back hack an un un- friendliness friend frIend- gloved hand at him In western loess liness and amI finished the tt 1 of her hel hair without embarrassment Caleb CaI Caleb Ca Ca- through the oats He Ie down I leb b started loved do dogs dohs s He lIe did not know so much seemed dif dif- this one about girls nut But ferent And he hud bud left the conventions conventions conven conven- behind in Massachusetts She smiled at him again as he came out on the level half halt waded half haIr Jumped the creek creel and went toward her The wolfhounds looked ed at him with their dark darl brown eyes sniffed accepted his pats pat and turned their The aloof pointedly heads aa away girl laughed at hi his evident e chagrin borT borzois bor bor- disdainful beasts m my T hey are must excuse she said You zois 11 They are man marvelous marveloUs clous run runners Hers I Idid Idid anything could overhaul overhaul overhaul over over- did not suppose an haul a coyote But It t hardly seemed fair up there on the hill Two to toone toone one 1 mean menn She She looked looked at him quizzically frankly survey sur surveying In him him lIe He noted was about six Inches shorter that hat than lhnn she he t was was was which mode made her fire once she was at that that feet fee six that she had a rounded and slim nose and d mouth that lint straight short neither small nor large ge neither ryas wa nc round chin narrow a u lipped full nor full In n one cheek cheel and that her here a n dimple the exact color colo of ot the lupines lu lu- e eyes eves es were there was no nonsense non non- that pines ee about Also her A part of Calebs Caleb's sense of his experience expert expert- majority a curriculum dice had consisted In the thc theof traIning ence observation In the thc or of ot of his powers had permitted himS him him- he be brief glances self he lie rod had done ver very S well There are not very many coyotes where you OU come from she queried How do you ou know She laughed and he lie added that and tier her teeth to I the catalogue Both were to his taste perfect How do T know lenow I am sure now Does an anyone but a Yank Tank reply to a question with another mother one Sank ank Are you a southerner There ere you go n again aln Wait I must answer your our charge charse against my dogs If If you rou think It was not sportIng sporting sport sport- Ing Ine- to set Sara and Siva 8 against one Otic Co coyote ote how about my helpless calf that was butchered last night And half halt a n dozen others this summer I And a colt There are probably fifty co coyotes otes who make this valley their larder Gabilan shelters scores of ot I them And these two have accounted for nine of them It Is sheer Justice administered mercifully l The he coyote alwa always s 's has hns the start It Is killed Instantly instantly In in- not worried not touched afterward My borzois dont don't eat car car- non rion Acquitted answered Caleb I Iben 1 beg ben their pardons I am a Yankee from Massachusetts I am a civil engineer engineer engineer en en- come west to seek seel my fortune M My name Is Caleb Warner I live In Golden and I was recommended to Hermanos reek greek for trout fishing She had a trick of ot looking through long lashes that was a bit unfair Caleb Caleb Caleb Ca Ca- leb thought But nut they did not hide a twinkle that l lurked behind them Did you ou catch any trout Mr Warner Warner War War- ner she asked He showed her his basket baske We Ve have trout In New England h hp said I III was hoping to do better later Inter In the afternoon Did you OU say you OU were from the South 1 I am a Californian He was certain certain certain tain that she knew he had hoped hopel she would give him her name In return The best fishing Is In the canyon ba back k of the waterfall at the head of ot our valley she said You can easily climb the cliff You own It The valley She opened her eyes a bit in acknowledgment m ment nt of ot his persistence and speed to take the opening My Iy father does His name Is Clinton Clin Clin- ton She had evaded It erl cle cleverly Miss Clinton That was as far as ns she would go Caleb bowed to his defeat Well then Miss Clinton do you yon think your fath father r would have an any objection ob ob- to my fishing through his meadows later after I have been above the fall I am quite sure he would not Perhaps Perhaps Per Per- haps you would like to meet him The house Is not very far from here Caleb laughed and she with himI himI him I should be deJl delighted he said And I am very glad to have met you Miss Clinton She took his hand and shook it as a boy might have shaken en It ft More strongly with fingers that were firm first and anel cool There was Vas nothing nothing noth noth- ing of coquetry about her Her suggestion suggestion suggestion sug sug- that Caleb meet her father I held he felt no hint of flirtation It showed that she liked him a little I sufficiently to dispense a n measure of I hospitality that he lie had come to recognize recognize rec ree- I as a n western attribute I The house Is there she said pointing Back Bach of ot those eucalypts I Father planted them for a n wini wine I break breal The girl Irl had left the pinto pluto piny I standing with Its reins hanging I straight from bit to soil soli an effective haltering Now she placed them about Its neck their theil buckle back of ot the saddle-horn saddle and as she and anti Caleb walked along the stream toward the I house the pony lOn followed as closely arid and sedately as the wolfhounds Evident t Miss Clinton Is what we Americans call a nice girl with Individual attractions Does Docs the Yankee measure up TO BE DE CONTINUED |