Putnam patriot., 1916-09-01
CHAPTER XVI.

but he let lie fatigue. and he
 laughed from the pure joy of liv- ns. for his dream seemed coming true.
 Meanwhile there we're strenuous hap. pcaings in Omar The story spread hat 0'Neil was broke. The workers demanded tltlg money. With ali avail ah.e funds ezhag Ted and a crisis at Land Dan and Liza contributed StoQa. the.r life savings. and checked q walk put. The following Iao#iHs there Wis great joy at tbe receipt of l cahlcsfum announcing tha O'Ncil uad His had formed a working agreement Naaie. who haI feea seHt HF Gordon Io Omar ID WaGch Eossl4H 4HUa4is. returned With the news 2f o'Naits lat-t se6set aIli- an=e ahegeat Gaedou de lared that 0-&cil had taa iack of tbe devil
 O.Neas reaH t8 Oman aas tri ImHhaL Ali hts liegteaauGs gathered 9 meet hlm at tae pier. aud the sheer ty of their welcome stirred him deeply. sIis arrangements with Ills had taken time: he had Eeea delayed at Seattle hy 5ridge det'iis and the placing of steel contracts. lie had worked swiftly and Nith such absorption that he had paid title heed to the rHmors of GorIons atest activities. or the new venture which his own success had inspired he .lnew only the bare outline. He had earned enough, however. To arouse his uriosity, and as soon as the first con usion of his arrival at the front was Yer he ask for news.
 Haven't you read the papers?" in uired Happy Tom. He had attached limself 10 Neil at the moment of his topping ashore and now followed him headquarters with an air of melan- holy satisfaction in mere physical earness to his chief
 Barely" ONeil confessed. I've cen working twenty hours a day get. ing that steel under notion
 Dr. Gray s,sid with conviction: Cor Ion is q remarkable man. It's pity res crooked"
 T think it's right lucky declared .'om. Hes smarter than us. and if e wasn't handicapped by total lack Ge. eucy he'd be4t us
 "Afte4 tae storm explained Gray. he moved baci; to Tzcae. and we lhouc h, he'd made lis last bow. but n some WY Ac sot the idea that the trust ysas Lack of Us.
 So l judged from the little 1 read
 Well. VIC didn't gHde eve him. of course. His first move was an attack through the press in the shape Of broadside against the Heidlemanns. l. fairly took our brea.hs. It appeared in the Gortez Courier and all over the states. we hear-a letter of defiance to Herman Heidlemann. It declared that the trust was up to it's old tricks here in Alaska-had gobbled the copper: had the coal tied up under secret agree ments 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 a stir
 T saw it.
 Naturally the Cortez people ate fl up- They're sore at the trust for leav ing their town and at us for building Omar Then Gordon called mass meeting. and some of us went up 10 watch tue fireworks. I've never seen anything quite like that meeting Every man. woman and child in the litv was there and they hiSsed us when we came in. Gordon knew what be was about. and he was in fine voice He told them C0rtez was the logical roiuf of entry to the interior of Alaska and ought fo have all tbe traffic. He fired their animosity toward the trust and accused IS of basely selling out to fl. Then he preached a project 10 build bY local subscription. q narrow gauge electric line from Cortez. utiiiz ing the waterfalls for power. The idea caught on and went like wildfre The people cheered themselves hoarse and pledged him over Sleoooo that night Since then they have subscrib- ed as much more. and the town is crazy. yvsrk has actually begun. and they hope fe reach the first summit by Christmas
 Slater broke in: Hes spellbiuder. all right He made me bate the Hei- 1lemanBs and detest myself for five minutes wasn't even sure liked you. Murray
 Ifs a wild scheme. Of course con timed ttle doctor ~bst he's putting # over The town council has granted him a ninety-nine year lease covering every street. The road1ed is started and thlnGs are booming Lots have been ssaked all over the flats. property values are sonersauiting- everybody is out Of bis bead and Gordon ls a god. Al he does fs organize new ceInfanies. He has bought a sawmilI a wharf. machine shop. acres of real estate He has started q bank and a new hotel He has consolidated the barber shops and he talks about roofing in the streets with glass and making the town q series of arcades-"
 Slater half smiled evidence of A con vuisive mirth within
 They've picked out site for a uni versityr' he said bitterly. -cortez is going to be seat Of learning and cuI- ture. They're planning a park and place for an Alaskan w2rid's fair and | museum and a library. I've always wondered who starts public libraries It's nuts But 1 didn't s'pose more than one or two people got foolish that way
 O'<eil soon found tEat the accounts he had received Of Gerdons Last af- tempt 10 recerp hIs fortunes were .E 10 way exaggerated Corfez. long Eie nIxvtAinx Of the railroad builders. had
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