The Cairo bulletin., 1909-07-06
THE TREASURE OF THE STREAM.

Tue one stout, OVefdfeSSeu, nnShed
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 atfably. He could afford to be
atrable, Il can't help It ii you've no
water on your farm. Take my price
two hundred and tifty--and it isn't
worth the fifty alone--or stay here
and rot.
The lands-irrigated lands, they
called them, with fine lrony-had been
first settled by miners, who had come
there attracted by marvellous stories
of lost gold mine. They had labor
iously scraped the thin flluyial from
the banks of the stream and then de-
parted. Afterward the settlers came.
Homesteads sprang up beside the
stream which made all the land fer
tile for seven miles on either side OF
1t, 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
soil two miles eastward, where once
the river had been, before the courses
of 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 its ancient
bed and irrigate thousands OF acres
now nothing but 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 Bascoms intention to
divert the entire stream, He 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 trlbu
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 riyulet
God help us, Mary, wen have to
go" Gregson muttered, staring out
over his parehed acres, Ten years
a homestead built and prosperity fac
ing us-and now
1t had been worth twelve thousand
the preceding year, Now the desert
had crept in, and where the broad riv-
err had been man could wade across.
The stream had been diverted and the
Land Co. WAS growing rich,
well, Gregson are you ready to
moYe?' asked Bascom pleasantly the
following week, as he rode by.
Curse you, no." Gregson cried to
him, I'm rot first. You'll never get
this place-never
walt till next month"; said Bias
com pleasantly.
Well, there was nothing but to
complete the dam and shut off the
entire stream. 1t would cost cool
thousand to tear down the masonry
again, but Gregsons farm was worth
II 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.
Gregson 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.
Wen 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
well, dear"
by God, ! wilt" creid Gregson.
1t cost all that he had to run down
to rock level and board the side
against the sand. And. when this
was done, there was no water.
"Cregson. III give you seventy-fiye
for your house. TO use for lumber"
said BaScom. Come, III make it
couple OF hundred. so that you can
get away Don't be a fool, man.
Think of your wife. You've got TO
go; a mouse couldn't earn a living
here Or III sell you five lots in the
company's land, fifty down and five a
month"
And Gregson flung hack his defiance
at him and still remained.
Now they had only food for week
remaining They scooped 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 we'll leave them nothing.
Let us FIJI in the well, at any rate,
before we leave"
For three days they worked inces-
sanity. shoyeling 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 cry,
holding his foot. He had studied ii
against a boulder His wife ran up 10
him She saw his face freeze sud
denly. saw his features distorted.
heard the laugh Of Il mailman come
from his throat He pointed into the
sand Round him lay boulders, each