Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-05-31

merce commission and one for him
self. You haven't heard, them" con-
tinued Callahan. returning to his rid
die about McCloud's Job. why. Lance
Cunning has gone into the United
States court and got an injunction
against US ON the Crawling Stone line
tied 10 up tighter than zero. No
more construction there for year
at least. Cunning comes in for him
self and for . cousin who Is his
ward, and three or four little ranchers
have fled bills-so IT'S up to the law
yers Tor 80 per cent. Of the gate re-
ceipts and peace. Personally, I'm glad
Of It. Il gives you chance to look
after this operating TOR . year your.
self. We are going to be swamped
with freight trafhc this year, and
want II moved through the mountains
like checkers for the next six months.
You know what mean, George"
To McCloud the news came. In spite
Of himself, az blow. The results he
had attained in building through the
lower valley had given him q name
among the engineers Of the whole line
Tho splendid showing Of the winter
construction, on which he had de.
pended to enable him to finish the
whole work within the year. was by
this news brought to naught. Those
of the railroad men who said he could
not deliver completed line within
the year could never be answered now.
And there was some slight bitterness
In the reflection that the very stun
bling-block to hold him back, to rob
him of his chance for reputation
with men like Glover and Bucks,
should be the lands Of Dieksie Dun.
ming.
He made no complaint On the d.
vision he took hold with new en-
ergy and bent his faculties on the op-
Grating problems. At Marion's he
saw Dicksie at intervals, and only to
fall more hopelessly under her spell
each time. She could be serious and
she could be volatile and she could be
something between which he could
never quite make out. She could be
serious with him when he was serious,
and totally irresponsible the next min.
ute with Marion. On the other hand,
when McCloud attempted to be flip-
pant, Dicksie could be confusingly
grave. Once when he was bantering
with her at Marion's she tried to say
something about her regret that COM
piiiicattiio ns ever the right of way
should have arisen; but McCloud made
light OF 1t, and waved the matter aside
as II he were cavalier. Dicksie did
not like it, but 1t was only that he
mere railroad superintendent with
hopes Of n record for promotion quite
blasted. And as If this obstacle to q
greater reputation we're not enough, a
wilier enemy threatened In the sSring
to leave only shreds and patches of
what he had already earned.
The Crawling Stone river is said to
embody, historically, all OF the de-
ceits known to mountain streams. Be-
low the Box Canyon It plows through
great bed Of yielding silt, its own
deposit between the two imposing
lines Of bluffs that resist its wander
ings from side to side Of the wide val.
ley. This fertile soil makes up the
rich lands that are the envy of less
fortunate regions in the Great Basin /;
but the Crawling Stone is not a river
to give quiet title to one acre OF Its
own making. The toll OF its centuries
spreads beautifully green under the
June skies, and the unsuspecting set
tier, 1ulled into security by many
years of the rivers repose, settles on
its level bench land and lays out his
long lines of possession; but the Sioux
will tell you in their own talk that this
man is bat tenant at will; that In
another time and at another place the
stranger will inherit his fields; and
that the Crawling Stone always comes
back for its own.
The winter had been an unusual one
even in q land Of winters. The sea
sons fall of snow had not been above
an average, but 1t had fallen in the
spring and had been followed by ex.
cessively low temperatures throughout
the mountains. June came again, but
strange June. The first rise Of the
Crawling Stone had not moved out
the winter frost, and the stream lay
bound from bank to bank and for hun.
dreds of miles, under three feet of ice.
When June opened, backward and
cold. there had been no spring. Heavy
frosts lasting until the middle of the
month gave sudden way to summer
heat, and the indians on the upper.
valley reservation began moving back
into the hills. Then came the rise.
Creek after creek in the higher noun.
toins, ice-bound for six months. burst
without warning into food. Soft winds
struck with the sun and stripped the
mountain walls of their snow. Rains
set in on the desert, and far in the
high northwest the Crawling Stone
aftng its four-foot cap of ice like
bed Of feathers began rolling it end
over end down the valley. In the Box,
10 feet Of water struck the canyon
walls and ice-foes were hurled like
torpedoes against the granite spurs:
the Crawling Stone was starting aftor
It's own.
When the river rose. the earlier talk
of Cummings men had been that the
Crawling Stone would put an end to
the railroad pretensions by washing
The $50 miles Of track back to the
Peace river, where 1t had started. This
much In the beginning was easy to
predict: but the railroad men had
turned out in force to fight for their
holdipuu opd rvhi,a +ha r,,oh..,