Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1909-09-15
THE TREASURE OF THE STREAM.

soe the stone ofhceS OF the Land Co.;
the one stout, oyerdressed, flushed
with prosperity; the other. hat in
hand, as one who pleads.
My good man, you're wasting my
time" said the president OF the COM
pany affa5ly. He could afford to be
affable. Il can't help it if you've no
water ON your farm. Take my price
two hundred and ffty-and it isn't
worth the fifty alone-or stay hero
9nd rot"
The lands-irrigated lands, they
called them, with fine irony-had been
first settled by miners. who had come
there attracted by marvellous stories
OF a lost gold mine. They had labor
iously scraped the thin illuvial from
the banks OF the stream and then de-
parted Afterward the settlers came.
Homesteads sprang up beside tho
stream which made all the land fer
tile for seven miles on either side OF
IT, But they were outwitted by cap
italists from the east. John Bascom
had seen. with the eye OF an expert,
the marvellous possibilities OF the dry
.
/ the river had been. before the courses
% the stream changed. He had ac-
quired rights on the hillside and be-
gun TO build the great dam which
was to divert the river into it's ancient
bed and irrigate thousands of acres
now nothing but a sandy desert.
. Meanwhile the settlers. finding their
water supply gradually diminishing,
had one by one sold out TO the Land
Co., till only Gregson and his wife
remained
1t was not Bascom's intention to
/ divert the entire stream. lie calcu,
lated, By leaving the end Of the dam
/ open, he could divide the flow, and
thus acquire possession of two tracts
of fertile soil. one along either tribu-
/ tary. But first he must brighten Greg
son away. Thus it was that. as the
dam drew to completion, the river
shrank daily until it was nothing but
/ a rivulet
God help us, Mary, well have to
/ so" Gregson muttered, staring out
| over his parched acres. Ten years
a homestead built and prosperity fac
/ luS uS-dnu now -
/ II bad been worth twelve thousand
the preceding year. Now the desert
I had crept in, and where the broad riv-
er had been man could wade across
The stream had been diverted and the
Land Co. was growing rich.
We'll, Gregson are you ready to
mover" asked Bascom pleasantly the
following week. as he rode by.
Curse you, no." Gregson cried to
him, IN rot first You'll never get
this place-never.
Wait till next month"; said Bas-
com pleasantly.
Well, there was nothing but to
complete the dam and shut off the
entire stream. IL would cost cool
thousand to tear down the masonry
again hut Gregsons farm was worth
i times that-would be worth forty
thousand when properly divided up
into settlers lots. SO, in due course
OF time, Gregson and his wife were
left high and dry upon the face of
the desert.
H. GTegsol drew his last penny from
the bank. He had 5000 left in the
world, beside his worthless homestead.
1t was too little to take them east,
even.
We'll fight him while we are
alive" said his wife DO you re-
member what that travelling surveyor
said two years ago. that there might
be an underground stream? Sink a
well, dear"
1t cost all that he had to run down
TO rock level and board the sides
against the sand. And. when this
was done, there was no water
Oregon, I'll give you seventy-fve
for your house, to use for lumber"
said Bascom. Come, I'll make it a
couple Of hundred, so that you can
get away. Don't be a fool, man.
Think of your wife. You've got 10
go; mouse couldn't earn a living
here. Or, I'll sell you five lots in the
company's land, fifty down and five a
month"
And Gregson flung back his defiance
nj him and still remained.
Now they had only food for a week
remaining. They scoopcd up water
for drinking out of the wet sand with
difficulty. And even that failed them
We've got to co." said Gregson at
last But wen leave them nothing.
Let us fill i'm the well, at any ratio,
before we leave"
For three days they worked inces-
sanity, shoveling sand from the bed
OF the stream and filling up the well.
On The fourth day Gregson tripped in
the excavation and sat up with a cry.
holding his foot He had siubbed il
against boulder. His wife ran up 10
him. She saw his face freeze sud
denly; saw his features distorted,
heard the laugh OF madman come
from his throat lie pointed into the
sand Round him lay boulders. each
OF them vrincd with favgod etrira4