The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-22
CHAPTER XVI.


VT was growing light in the east
 when O'Neil returned to his hotel,
 but he felt no fatigue, and he laughed from the pure joy of liv- ing, for his dream seemed coming true.
 Meanwhile there were strenuous hap penings in Omar. The story spread that O'Neil was broke The workers demanded their money. With all avail able funds exhausted and a crisis at hand Dan and Eliza contributed S4,0O0, their life savings, and checked walk out. The following morning there was great joy at the receipt of a cablegram announcing that O'Neil and His had formed a working agreement. Natalie, who had been sent by Gordon to Omar to watch developments, returned with the news of O'Neips latest secret aln- apee, whereat Gordon declared that O'Neil had "the luck of the devtl.''
 O'Nen's return to Omar was tri- umphal All his Heutenants gathered to meet him at the pier, and the sheer ity of their welcome stirred1him deeply His arrangements with His had taken time; he had been delayed at Seattle by bridge details and the placing of steel contracts. He had worked swiftly and with such absorption that he had paid little heed to the rumors of Gordon's latest activities Of the new venture which his own success had inspired he knew only the bare outline. He had learned enough, however, to arouse his curiosity, and as soon as the first con- fusion of his arrival at the front was over he ask for news.
 Haven't you read the papers ?'' in- quired Happy Tom. He had attached himself to O'Neil at the moment of his stepping ashore, and now followed him to headqaqarters with an air of melan- choly satisfaction in mere physical nearness to his chief
 ' "Barelyr' O'Nel confessed. 'I've been working twenty hours day get ting that steel under motion.'' pr. Gray said with conviction: .sGor- don is a remarkable man It's a pity l he's crooked
 'tI think it's right lucky" declared Tom. HHe's smarter than us, and if he wasn't handicapped by a total lack of decency he'd beat us.'
 After the storm explained Gray, 1 .'he moved back to Hope, and we thought he'd made his last bow, but | trust was back of us.'I
 stSo [ judged from. the little read.'' "We1l, we didn't undeceive him, of 1 course. His first move was an attack through the press in the shape of a broadside against the Heidlemanns. It 1 fairly took our breaths. It appeared in the Cortez Courier and all over the states, we hear-a letter of defiance to 1 Herman SHeidleInann. It declared that l the trust was up to it's old tricks here in A1aska--had gobbled the copper; l had the coal tied up under secret agree Inents and was trying to get posses sion of all the coast range passes and defiles-the old story But the man can write. That article caused 9 stir. ; 1 T saw it."
 Naturally the. Cortez people ate it up. They're sore at the trust for leav- ing their town and at us for building l Omar Then Gordon called mass | meeting, and some of us went up to ] watch the fireworks. I've never seen I anything quite like that meeting i Every man, woman and child in tho city was there. and they hissed us I when we came in Gordon knew wha 1 he was about, and he was in fine voice He told them Cortez was the logica
 point of entry to the interior of Alaska | and ought to have all the traffic. Ho l fred their animosity toward the trust
 and accused us of basely selling out te I it. Then he broached a project tc
 build, by local Subscription. a narrow
 gauge electric line from Cortez, utiliz
 ing the waterfalls for power. The
 idea caught on and went like wildfire
 The people cheefed themselves hoarst
 and pledged him over $100,Oo0 tha
 night Since then they have subscrib
 ed as much more, and the town is s crazy. Work has actually begun, ana
 they hope toreach the first summit b!
 Christmas.'
 I (To Be Co.-sssGsd.)
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