The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1916-06-30

| %hA' NOAtWAI6uC uau oouL LUZ DEOuH"
lard.
Pull up chair and have a cigar"
said the great man when BrouiIlard
had penetrated to the nerve-center of
the Metropolitan activities in the Metro
pole suite and the two stenographers
had been CURLY dismissed. Have
you heard the talk of the street? There
is rumor that the railroad grading
has been stopped"
Brouillard, busy with the work of
setting the third series of forms on
his great wall, had heard nothing.
I've noticed that they haven't been
blasting for two or three days. But
that may mean nothing more than a
delayed shipment Of dynamite" was
his rejoinder.
ut looks bad-deviIish bad" The
promoter was planted heavily In his
pivot chair, and the sandy-gray eyes
dwindled to pin points 1--WE are up
against it, that's all Read that" and
the promoter handed a telegram
across the desk.
The wire was from Chicago, was
signed Alderman" and was still
damp from the receiving operators
copying press. It read:
Work on P. S-W.'s Buckskin ex
tension has been suspended for the
present. Reason assigned, shrinkage
in securities and uncertainty of bust
ness outlook in NiQuoia.
Mr.. Cortwright's frown figured as q
fleshly mask Of irritability. Let Il
once get out that the railroad people
don't believe in the future of Mirapo
lis and we're done"
Brouillard's retort was the express
sion of an upfash Of sanity.
"Mirapolis has no future; It has
only an exceedingly precarious pres
emit"
For a moment the sandy-gray eyes
became inscrutable. Then the mask
Of irritation slid aside, revealing the
face which Mr.. ]. Wesley Cartwright
ordinarily presented to his world
the face of imperturbable good nature
You're right, Brouillard; Mirapolit
is only a good joke. after all. Some
times I get bamfoozled into the idea
that it isn't-that it's the real thing
That's bad for the nerves. But about
this railroad fizzle; l don't relish the
notion Of having our little joke sprung
on us before we're ready to laugh, d.
you? What do you think?"
ut is not my turn to think, Mr.. Cort
wright"
ooh, yes, it is; very pointedly. You're
one Of US, to certain extent; and i
you were not you would still be inter
ested. A smash just now would ham
per the reclamation service like thu
mischief; the entire works shut down
no cement, no lumber, no power;
everything tied up in the courts unit
the last creditor quits taking appeals
Oh, no, Brouillard; you don't want tt
see the end of the world come before
it's due"
It was the consulting engineer o
the power company rather than thu
reclamation service chief who ross
and went to the window to look down
upon the morning briskness Of Chi
gringo avenue. And it was the mar
who saw one hundred thousand dol
lars, the price Of freedom, slipping
away from him who turned after
minute or two of the absent street ga2
ing and said: what do you want mi
to do, Mr.. Cartwright? / did put m!
shoulder to the wheel when Ford wa
here. told him if were in his place
I'd take the long chance and build thu
extension"
did you-and before you had
stake in the game? That was whit'
mans boost, right! Think you coulC
manage to get Ford on the wire ant
encourage him a little more?"
ct isn't Ford; 1t is the New Yorl
bankers. You can read that between
the lines in your man Ackerman's tele
gram"
The stock gentleman in the pivo
chair thrust out his jaw and tilted hi
freshly-lighted cigar to the aggressive
angle.
Say, BrouilIard, we've got to throw
a fresh piece of bait into the cage
something that will make the railroad
crowd sit up and take notice. B!
George, If those gold hunters up OF
Jacks mountain would only stumble
across something big enough to adver
tise-"
Brouillard started as If the wishfu
magic had been a blow. Like ho
wave from furnace mouth it sweep
over him-the sudden realization tha
the means, the one all-powerful, earth
moving lever the promoter was Sc
anxiously seeking, lay in his hands.
"The Buckskin people, yes" he said
making talk as the rifieman digs a phi
to hold his own on the firing line. IT
they should happen to uncover a golc
reaF inst now II would simplify mat