Show div alft RE lo 10 L F S bymal poster a aj copyright by W A wild oo ON sardis SYNOPSIS mary daughter of a millionaire has th the e idea that her personality to la ob ac toured u r ed by the fact that she eh to la the child of the he t rich david brown and determines d 0 ter in mines ines to make her way in life unaided aid ed she has a million bollara do llara which she ehe insists her father invest in the wildest dream imaginable and ab about out which she sha must know nothing she I 1 la a graduate engineer As ai M brown mary secures a position as engineer with the paradise valley project IL a development concern she sha la Is engaged by letter on the train on her way y to her job she meets dents denis craig wa who h 0 immediately antagonizes her alighting from the train mary Is left at a way tation station practically penniless craig coming to tier her assistance Is also left behind jie ile befriends her despite her coldness toward him enabling abling er her to continue her journey arriving at the project she Is accused ly by john stark st ark chief engineer of deception in concealing her sex and again meets cr cragg a ig who Is the promoter 0 of the project oct CHAPTER in III continued 5 r beautiful 1 P mary cried beauty demanded her companion no money in it I 1 another person whose god was money I 1 you must mast a been the kingpins king pins blarney I 1 here as they turned off the road into a private arl drive Is the old james ranch house the oft offices ices contemptuously of the paradise valley project where facing her belligerently are you calca latin on livin young lady he sounded like a crabbed old bachelor mary asked curiously have you a family mr johnson my cifes dead I 1 shortly you told me where you figure you can live where do the engineers live single ones live in camps on the ranch you cant live there the only girl married ones lives in foggy gulch since the kingpin wont have no woman in his paradise 11 then I 1 shall live in foggy gulch how would you get back and forth how do the others get back and forth have cars mary thought of this she intend to think of it now that was a were mere detail to be taken up later now just before bedora her lay a crucial moment she flung aung up her head straightened her shoulders to bolster up her courage and stepped from the car walt wait please mr johnson debbe I 1 will debbe not if I 1 do ill charge you plenty with this comforting assurance mary left her bristling taxi man parked under a live oak and went across the veranda of the veteran ranch house she paused in the hallway and looked about her over their drawings or blueprints blue prints or estimates leaned kha kl ki clad engineers one of them camo came quickly forward something I 1 can do for you may I 1 see mr stark this way mary ran the gamut of curious eyes through two rooms toward a smaller one at the rear she mind the curiosity these boys would get used to A girl in the profession just as her classmates had bad done but she walked among them threatened to be overcome with inner disturbance it had seemed such a trivial trivia thing at home the bit of information about this job the she had withheld from her father trivial across the continent and as something to be faced in the future it did not seem trivial now it loomed even though her father had assured her ber john stark was the right sort her guide tapped at the door which bore the sign in important letters john stark chief engineer cornel comel came the command so sharp charp and brusque as to make mary jup jump ju p she entered A large rugged man with gray hair ominous gray brows and a bri bristling bristlin Etlin g stub of mustache sprang to his bis feet in a soldierly fashion and regarded her with his piercing eyes mary produced his letter and handed it to him silently the chief glanced it through and looked at her with inquiry what his unspoken question have you to do with this letter I 1 wrote to one M brown 1 I said mary unfalteringly am M brown I 1 have reported for work according to orders work I 1 A gurll A girl engineer A girl on this mans job ile he laughed at the sheer monstrosity it was in tho the days before girls generally had discovered that they can do other things than teach school and pound typewriters As A I 1 told you to in my application I 1 am a graduate of a technical school and you thought get yourself a mans job by signing merely your initial an engineering job mary corrected deliberately you deceived me what good did you think bink it could possibly do you just what it did it got me a job id tried in vain for one divulging that hat I 1 was a girl I 1 was justan just an interesting anomaly so I 1 tried this scheme it worked you hired me you know mr dr stark all right he answered crisply have it no 0 o it if you will but demera ber this I 1 can hire and I 1 can fire and youre dismissed U M drown brown mary paled she shifted she oh she expected thought he really would do this I 1 her eyes roamed the room desperately pera tely she used to cutting inconsideration I 1 she was used A little smile came to her lips why she ehe could make this towering man right about face in a second 1 all she needed to do was to tell him that she was the daughter of his old friend david brown that annihilated all defenses always she opened her lips and closed them suddenly fearfully just in time she ehe remembered that she no longer was using that sesame the fire came back to her eyes you do that mr stark 1 you be so unfair as to dismiss me without notice I 1 have to have a job cobl I 1 I 1 need the money you can give me a trial why co condemn me without a hearing maybe I 1 really do know my stuff you must know too that this sternly Is no place for a girl ive worked with male engineers all th through rough school Scho school oll 1 mere childs play this Is a job ne he laughed 1 I suppose you figure on some soft berth in the office well my pink ears have to be ready to go into the field whenever sent my specialty said mary quietly Is design but I 1 dont mind going into the field I 1 can do anything a man can do im big strong my health is perfect he motioned her to desist that Is beside the point miss brown you dont understand its against my precedent to have a girl on the job my the complications a girl could introduce I 1 we have plenty of grief without the upsetting influence of the fair sex the promoter of this estate he now thought to argue wont so much as let an engineers wife live on the job until the travail chaos la Is over what do you think hed say to you tell him placidly that im here cere not in the capacity of an engineers wife but of an engineer suppose with a triumphant narrowing of his eyes at her you tell him that hes coming down the path now I 1 I 1 an outside door opened mary turned toward it gasped denis craig had halted in surprise upon the threshold CHAPTER IV 1 I 1 can do anything a man can dol doi craig came forward na aa he be credited what hla his eyes told him hand outstretched his face flooded with his charming smile mary browns head was in a whirl dents denis crafa the tha of this project denis craig who hank johnsons expression rang in her ears who was raking in the dough from suckers how interesting she managed to discover that this Is your real estate game I 1 craig threw back his head and laughed ignoring the little edge of sarcasm on her voice id have told you all about it it if you would have let me you know but what eagerly do you think of the project it all its name claims for it ive seen only a little corner of lt it but you will see more of it 1 I hope so mr stark and I 1 were just discussing that possibility silently john stark handed young craig the letter craig cragg glanced it through quickly noticed the noncom non com initial in the heading and looked up at mary ill M brown ile hu whistled grinned so youre an engineer A girl engineer who I 1 take it concealed her sex in order to land her job A stowaway route of sorts to her destination mr stark mary said calmly had bad just suggested that I 1 ask you what you thought of a girl on the job I 1 understand that women are not allowed in your paradise til ill welcome them with open arms arm S he be assured herp her in due course for the present ive had to rule them out understand we cant be bothered ere d with settlers while the project Is nothing but virgin wilderness we take care of them decently ive even asked the engineers not to bring their wives yet we men can get along roughing it in camps but so far as hiring a girl as one of the engineers theres no reason why mr stark should consult me iles hes ruler of his own domain marys eyes went from one to the c ther other of them passing the buck she told herself uncomfortably the soldierly john stark walked to the end of the room then whirled suddenly to demand young lady you told me you needed the money I 1 how true la Is that how much money have you 1 I have minus three hundred dollars she ebe answered defiantly denis craig came to her rescue 1 I happened to bs be present at the unfortunate moment when miss brown lost her purse on the way out mr stark it contained all I 1 had mary ex pla ined 1 I had to wire for a loan why im in debt john stark threw out his hands ir desperation 1 I cant turn you outs out ol of course in such straitened circumstances jobs are scarce weve plenty of work here still lf if you were a man TO LZ as continued |