Hallett Herald (Hallett, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 19, 1917 Page: 2 of 8
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THE HALLETT HERALD
The Citu of
Numbered
Daus
Bu FRANCIS LYNDE
Illustrations by C.D. Rhodes
*
Copyright by Charles Scribner's Sou*
CHAPTER XX—Continued.
—14—
The chance did not materialize. The
llght« in a certain upper office in the
Niquoia building were still turned on
long after M. Poudrecaulx had given
up the hope of the deep sea sounding
for that night. Some time after the
lobby crowd had melted, and before
the lower avenue had begun to order
•mall-hour suppers of Bongras, the two
high windows In the Niquoia building
went dark and a few minutes later the
man who had Bpent half the night
tramping the floor or sitting with his
head In his hands at the desk In the
upper room came out of the street
archway and walked briskly to the
telegraph office across the plaza.
"How is the line tonight Sanford—
pretty clear?" he asked of the night
manager, killing time while the Bleepy
night receiving clerk was making his
third attempt to count the words In
the closely-written, two-page govern-
ment cipher.
"Nothing doing; a little A. F. stuff
drizzling In now and then," said the
manager; adding: "But that's like the
poor—always with us."
"All right; there is no particular
rush abcoit- this matter of mine, Just
so It Is sure to be In the secretary's
hands at the opening of business in
the morning. But be careful that It
goes straight—you'd better have It
checked back before It is put on the
through wire from Denver."
"Sure, Mr. Brouillard. What you say
In this little old shack goes as it lays.
We'll look out and not bull your mes-
sage. Good night."
CHAPTER XXI
An Evening Call
Notwithstanding the preliminary ru-
mors which Bongras and many others
had sought so anxiously to verify, the
Mlrapolltan awakening to a realization
that once more the tide had turned to
bring new billows of prosperity tum-
bling Into the valley of the Niquoia
came with a sudden and triumphant
•hock.
I The flrBt of the quickening waveB
fell upon the government reservation.
Between sunrise and nightfall, on ft
day when the cloud of depression had
grown black with panic threatening^,
the apathy which had lately character-
lied the work on the great dam disap-
peared aa If by magic. The city found
Its billboards posted with loud calli
for labor; the Idle mixers were put In
commission; the quarries and crush-
ers began to thunder again; and the
stagings once more shook and trembled
under the feet of ft busy army of pud-
dlers.
1 While the revival was as yet only In
the embryonic period, fresh labor be-
gan to come in gangs and In carloads
and presently by special trains. Swarm-
ing colonies of Greeks. Italians and
Bulgarians were dumped upon the city
through the gate of the railroad sta-
tion, and once more Chlgrlngo avenue
at night became ft cheerful midway
answering to the speech of all na-
tions.
Change, revivification, reanlmatlon
Instantly became the new order of
the day; apd again Mlrapolls flung It-
self Joyously Into the fray, reaping
where It had
those who had not known him best dis-
covered that they had not known him
at all. Even to GrlBlow and the men
of his Btaff he was curt, crisply manda-
tory, almost brutal. For one and all
there was rarely anything beyond the
shotlike sentence: "Drive It, men;
drive It; that's what you're here for—
drive It!"
The time he took to eat his hurried
mealB at Bongras' could be measured
In minutes, and what hours he gave
to sleep no man knew, since he was
the last to leave the headquarters at
night and the flrBt on the work In the
morning. Twice, after the renewed
activities on the great wall had be-
come a well-ordered race against time,
and the concrete was pouring Into the
high forms in steady streams from the
ranked batteries of mixers, Mr. Cort-
wright had sent for Brouillard, and on
each occasion the messenger had gone
back with the brief word: "Too busy
during working hours." And when a
third messenger came to Inquire what
Mr. Broulllard's working hours were,
the equally blunt answer returned was;
"All the time."
In the face of such discouragements
Mr. Cortwright was constrained to
pocket his dignity as mayor, as the
potentate of the exchanges, and as
the unquestionable master of the surly
young Industry captain who refused
to come when he was called, and to go
in person. Choosing the evening hour
when he had been assured that he was
likely to find Brouillard alone and at
work, he crossed the boundaries of the
sacred reservation and made his way
to the door of the log-built mapping
room.
"I came around to see what Is eating
you these days," was the pudgy
tyrant's greeting for the young man
sitting under the shaded desk lamp.
"Why don't you drop In once In a
while and give me the run of things?"
"1 gave your clerk the reason," said
Brouillard laconically. "I'm too busy."
"The devil you are!" snapped the
great man, finding the only armchair
In the room and dropping heavily Into
It "Since when?"
"Since the first time you sent for
me—and before."
Mr. Cortwright recovered his work-
ing geniality only with a palpable ef-
fort.
"8ee here, Brouillard, you know you
never make any money by being short
with me. Let's drop It and get down
to business. What 1 wanted to say Is
that you are overdoing It; you are put-
ting on too much steam. You've
brought the boom, all right, but at
the pace you're setting It won't last
long enough. Are you catching on?"
"I'm listening," was the noncommlt-
.tal reply.
"Well, enough's enough, and too
much of a good thing scalds the hog
before you're ready to dress It and cut
It up. It's all light for you to run men
In here by the tralnload and scatter
'em out over your scaffolding—the
more the merrier, and It's good for the
town—but you needn't sweat the last
shovelful of hurry out of them the way
you're doing. It won't do to get your
Job finished too soon."
"Before congress convenes, yon
mean?" suggested Brouillard.
"That's Just what I mean. String It
out. Make It last"
Brouillard sat back In his pivot chair
and began to play with the paper-
knife.
"And If I don't choose to 'string It
out'—if I even confess that I am strain-
ing every nerve to do this thing that
you don't want me to do—what then,
Mr. Cortwright?"
The quiet retort Jolted the stocky
man In the armchair as If It bad been
a blow. But he recovered quickly.
"I've been looking for that," he said
with a nervous twinkling of the little
gray eyes. "You've no business being
out of business, Brouillard. If you'd
quit puddling sand and cement and lit-
tle rocks together and strike your gait
right in ten years you'd be the richest
man this side of the mountains. I'll
be open-handed with you: This time
you've got ub where we can't wiggle.
We've got to have more time. How
much Is It going to cost us?"
Brouillard ihook his head slowly
"Odd as it may seem to you, I'm out
not sown and sowing
only where the quickest crop could be your tnar*tet time, Mr. Cort-
gathered. For now the dullest of the
reapers saw that the government work
was really the Mlrapolltan breath of
life.
This new and never-mentioned con
vlctlon wrought an eager change in
men and In methods. Credit vanished
•nd Bpot cash was tacitly acknowl-
edged to bo the only way to do bull-
Hess in a live community. Fortunes
changed hands swiftly, as before, but
now there was little bargaining and,
with hot baste for the foreword, little
time for It. To the western motto of
"Go to It and get the money" was
added. "And don't come back with-
out it." It wan said with a laugh, but
behind the laugh there was a menace
Among the Individual tranBformft-
tlons wrought by the new condition!,
the young chief of the reclamation
service afforded the most striking ex-
ample From the morning when he bad
summarily canceled the lease for the
wrlght—quite out of It."
"Oh. no. you're not. You've got
property to sell—ft good bit of It We
can turn It for you at a figure that
will—"
"No; you are mistaken," was the
quick reply. "I have no property in
Mlrapolls 1 am merely a aquatter on
government land, like everyone elae
In the Niquoia valley."
"For heaven's sake!" the promoter
burst out. "What'a got Into you?
Don't you go around trying to stand
that corpse on Its feet; lt' a dead one.
I tell youl The Coronlda titles ftre all
right!"
There are no Coronlda titles. You
hftve known It ail along, and I know It
- now I have it Btralght from the bu
reau of land statistics. In a letter from
n man who knows. The neareat
boundary of the old Spanish grant la
Latlgo peak, ten milea south of Chl-
grlngo The department knowa this
king of the pact. "We've got to get
out alive and wt're going to get out
alive. What'a your price?"
"I have anawered that question once,
but I'll make It a little plainer If you
wish. It Is beyond your reach; if you
should turn your money-coining bouI
Into cash you couldn't pay it this time
Mr. Cortwright."
"That's guff—boy-talk—play-rant-
ing! You want something—is It that
damned Masslngale business again? I
don't own the railroad, but If you think
do, I'll sign anything you want to
write to the traffic people. Let Mas-
slngale sell his ore and get the money
for it. He'll go gamble it as be did
yours."
Brouillard looked up under the
shaded electric globe and hlb hand-
some face wrinkled In a sour smile.
"You are ready to let go, are you?"
he said. "You are two late. Mr. Ford
returned from Europe a week ago, and
I have a wire saying that tonight's
"How h the Line Tonight,
Clear?"
Pretty
through freight from Brewster Is chief-
ly made up of empty ore cars for the
Little Susan.'"
The sandy-gray eyes blinked at this,
but Mr. Cortwright was of those who
die hard.
Whftt I said still holds good. Mas-
slngale or his son, or both of them,
will gamble the money. And If they
don't, we've got 'em tied up In a hard
knot on the stock proposition."
"I was coming to that," said Brouil-
lard quietly. "For a long time you
have been telling me what I should do
and I have done It. Now I'll take my
turn. You must notify your associ-
ates that the 'Little Susan' deal is off.
There will be a called meeting of the
directors here In this room tomorrow
evening at eight o'clock, and—"
"Who calla It?" Interrupted the
tyrant.
"The president."
"President nothing!" was the snort-
ed comment "An old, drunken gam
bier who haan't got sense enough to
go in when It rains! Say, Brouillard,
I'll cut that pie so there'll be enough
to go around the table. Just leave
Maaalngale out of It and make up
your mind that you're going to sit In
with us. We've bought the mine and
paid for It I've got the stock put
away where it's safe. Masslngale
can't touch a share of It or vote It,
either."
Brouillard shook his head.
"You are stubbornly hard to con-
vince, Mr. Cortwright, but I'll try one
more time. You will come here to-
morrow evening, with your confeder-
ates In the deal, prepared to take the
money you have actually spent In bet-
terments and prepared to release the
stock. If you fail to do so you will
get nothing. Is that explicit enough?"
"You're crazy!" shouted the promo-
ter. "You talk as If there wasn't any
law In thlsfcountry!"
"There Isn't—for such men as you;
you and your kind put youraelves
above the law. But that Is neither
here nor there. You don't want to go
into court with this conspiracy which
you have cooked up to beat David Mas-
slngale out of his property. It'a the
laat thing on earth you want to do.
So yeu'd better do the other thing-
while you can."
CHAPTER XXII
The Sunset Gun
office* In the Nlqupla building and had ' and Is prepared to prove it And in
returned his headquarters to the old the very beginning you and your bbo
log buildings on tho government re«er-1 elates were warned that you could not
ration and thence bad laaued hla first acquire homestead or other rights In
r< rj"x of orders for the resumption of the Niquoia."
full 'uree work ou the dam and canals j "Let it go!" snapped the gray eyed
Mr. Cortwright sat back In his chair,
and once more Brouillard saw In the
sandy gray eyes the look which had
been in the son's eyes when the dere-
lict fought for freedom to &nlah killing
Stephen Maaslngale.
"It'B a pretty dangeroua thing to try
to hold a man up unleas you've got the
drop on him. Brouillard," he said sig-
nificantly. "I've got you covered from
my pocket; I've had you covered that
way ever since you began to buck and
rear on me a couple of months ago.
One little wire word to Washington
fixes you for good and all. If 1 say the
word, you'll stay on your Job Just a«
long &• It will take another man to get
here to supersede you."
Brouillard laughed.
"The pocket drop Is never very safe,
Mr. Cortwright You are likely to lose
too much time feeling for the proper
range. Then, too, you can never be
sure that you won't miss. Also, your
assumption that I'm taking au un-
armed man's chance la wrong. I can
kill you before you can pull the trig-
ger of the pocket gun you speak of—
kill you so dead that you won't need
anything but a coroner's Jury and a
coffin. How long would It take you to
get action In the Washington matter,
do you think?"
"I've told you; you have Just about
a week longer to live, at the farthest"
"1 can better that," was the cool
reply. "I have asked you to do a cer-
tain thing tomorrow night if you don't
do it, the Spotlight will print, on the
following morning, that letter I spoke
of—the letter from my friend in ths
bureau of land statistics. When that
letter Is printed everybody In Mlrapo-
lls will know that you and your accom-
plices are plain swindlers, amenable to
the criminal law, and from that mo-
ment .aere will never be another real
estate transfer In the Niquoia valley."
The promoter rose slowlir out of hlB
chair and stood leaning heavily with
his fat hands, palms downward, on the
flat-topped desk. His cheeks were
pufTed out and the bitten mustaches
bristled like the whiskers of a gray old
leader of the timber wolves.
"Brouillard," he grated huskily,
"does this mean that you're breaking
with us, once for all?"
"It means more than that; It means
that I have reached a point at which I
am ashamed to admit that there was
ever anything to break."
"Then listen: You've helped this
tiling along aB much as, or more than,
anybody else in this town; and there
are men right here in Mlrapolia—
plenty of 'em—who will kill you like a
rat In a hole If you go back on them
as you are threatening to. Don't you
know that?"
The younger man was balancing the
paper cutter across his finger.
"That is the least of my worries,"
he answered, speaking slowly. "I am
all sorts of a moral coward, I suppose;
I've proved that often enough In the
past few months, God knows. But I'm
not the other kind, Mr. Cortwright"
"Then I'll take a hand!" snarled the
tyrant at bay. "I'll spend a million dol-
lara, If I have to, blacklisting you from
one end of this country to the otherl
I'll fix it so you'll never build any-
thing bigger than a hog pen again as
long as you live! I'll publish your rec-
ord wherever there is a newspaper to
print it!" He pounded on the desk
with his fist—'Til do It—money can
do It! More than that, you'll never get
a smell of that Chlgrlngo mine—you
nor Dave Masslngale!"
Brouillard tossed the paper-knife In-
to a half-opened drawer and squared
himself at the blotting pad.
"That Is your challenge, 1b It?" he
said curtly. "So be It Start your
machinery. You will doubtless get
me, not because you have money, but
because for a time I was weak enough
and wicked enough to climb down and
stand on your level. But if you don't
hurry, Mr. Cortwright I'll get you first
Are you going? One thing more—and
it's • kindness; get your son out of
town before this Masslngale matter
comes up for adjustment It will be
safer."
"Is that all you have to aayT
"Pretty nearly all, except to tell you
that your time Is growing abort and
you and thoae who are In with you had
better begin to Bet your houaea In or-
der. If you'll come over here at eight
o'clock tomorrow night prepared to do
the square thing by David Masslngale,
I'll withhold the publication of that
letter which will stamp you and your
associates as criminals before the law;
but that Is the only concession I shall
make."
"You've got to make at least one
more!" stormed the outgoing magnate.
"You don't have to set any dates *c
anything of that kind for your damned
drowning act!"
"In Justice to a good many people
who are measurably Innocent 1 shall
have to do that very thing," returned
the engineer firmly. "The notice will
appear In tomorrow's Spotlight."
It waa the final atraw in the stocky
promoter's cruahlng wrath burden. Hla
fat face turned purple, and for a aeo-
ond or two be clawed the air, gasping
for breath. Brouillard sat back In his
chair, waiting for the volcanic up-
heaval. But It did not come. When he
had regained a measuro of self-control,
Mr. Cortwright turned slowly and went
out without a word, stumbling over th«
threshold and slamming the door
heavily as he disappeared.
For a time after the promoter's
wordless departure Brouillard sat ftt
his desk writing steadily. When ths
last of the memorandum sheets was
filled he found his hat and street coat
and left the office. Ten mlnutea later
he bad penetrated to the dusty den on
the second floor of the Spotlight office
where Harlan was grinding copy for
his paper. Brouillard took a chair at
the desk end and laid the Bheeta of
penciled government paper under th«
editor's eyes.
(TO UK CONTINUED.)
FEVERISH, IK
Look, Mother! If tongue is
coated, give "California
Syrup of Figs."
Children love this "fruit laxative,"
and nothing else cleanses the tender
stomach, liver and bowels so nicely.
A child simply will not stop playing
to empty the bowels, and the result Is
they become tightly clogged with
waste, liver gets sluggish, stomach
sours, then your little one becomes
cross, half-sick, feverish, don't eat,
sleep or act naturally, breath is bad,
system full of cold, has sore throat,
stomach-ache or diarrhea. Listen,
Mother! See If tongue Is coated, then
give a teaspoonful of "California
Syrup of Figs," and In a few hours all
the constipated waste; sour bile and
undigested food passes out of the sys-
tem, and you have a well child again.
Millions of mothers give "California
Syrup of Figs" because it is perfectly
harmless; children love It, and it nev-
er falls to act on the stomach, liver
and bov/els.
Ask at the store for a 50-cent bottle
of "California Syrup of Figs," which
has full directions for babies, children
of all ages and for grown-ups plainly
printed on the bottle. Adv.
Wolfe's Sash to a Museum.
A new and valued addition has just
been ruude to the museum of the
Chnteau de Ramezay. It consists of a
cabinet containing a portion of the
garnet silk sash worn by Gen. James
Wolfe on the day he became the "vic-
tor of Quebec* In 1750. In addition to
the sash are the original letters that
prove unmistakably the authenticity
of the relic.—Montreal Star.
THE BLUE THAT'S TRUE.
Red Crosa Ball Blue gives to clothe*
ft clear, dazzling white, whiter than
•now, not a greenish yellow tinge like
cheap bottle blue. Buy Red Cross Ball
Blue for next washday. You will be
happily surprised. Large package ftt
your grocers, 5 centa.—Adv.
A Bit of "Old" Canada.
There exists at Unionvllle, Ontario,
a pioneer house 124 years old. This
is probably a unique record for a Ca-
nadian log house, and it is said to be
the oldest log house of similar dimen-
sions In the Dominion. Some of the
logs are from 80 to 36 Inches in diam-
eter. It is still occupied, and It is in-
teresting to note, as a testimony to the
comfort of the house, that its occu-
pants, numbering 13, took first prize
in 1012 at a political picnic as the
"heaviest family attending the event."
DON'T GAMBLE
that your heart's all right. Make
sure. Take "Renovine"—a heart and
nerve tonic. Price 50c and $1.00.—Adv.
Customer Had Change Coming.
A man bearing a small bnsket of
potatoes on his arm went Into a gro-
cery store to make a purchase. He
could not produce enough change by 5
cents and, handing the clerk a med-
ium-sized potato, started out. The
clerk called to him, saying. "You have
forgotten your change," and, walking
back to a sack, picked out two lima
beans and passed them to the custo-
mer—Cleveland Plain Dealer.
CUTICURA HEALS ECZEMA
And Rashes That Itch and Burn—Trial
Free to Anyone Anywhere.
In the treatment of skin and scalp
troubles bathe freely with Cutlcura
Soap and hot water, dry and npply
Cutlcura Ointment. If there is a nat-
ural tendency to rashes, pimples, etc.,
prevent their recurrence by making
Cuticura your dally toilet preparation.
Free sample each by mall with Book.
Address postcard, Cutlcura, Dept. L,
Boston. Sold everywhere.—Adv.
Candles High in Paris.
Candles have risen In price In
France since the adoption of numer-
ous measures respecting the consump-
tion of gas, electricity and petroleum
for Illuminating purposes. Retail gro-
cers throughout Paris generally now
charge seven to eight cents for tnllow
candles that previously sold for three
or four cents each. Small solid can-
dles five Inches long, which formerly
retailed at two cents each, now cost
the consumer six or seven cents.
The Principles of Big Busineaa.
First Surgeon—Do you think $1,000
Is too much to charge for taking out
Bulger's nppendlx?
Second Surgeon—No. But why
dou't you wait? He's making money
so fast that you can get $5,000 out of
him In six months.—Life.
THIS 16 THE AGE OF YOUTH.
You will look ten years younger if yon
darken your ugly, friiily, gray haira by
using "La Creole" Hair Dressing—Adv.
Many good-looking people are not aa
good ua they look.
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Hallett Herald (Hallett, Okla.), Vol. 9, No. 24, Ed. 1 Thursday, April 19, 1917, newspaper, April 19, 1917; Hallett, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc180793/m1/2/: accessed April 19, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.