Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1916-07-20
CHAPTER II-contInued.

II was just telling Van Bruce that
his laundering fish cartridge would
raise the neighbors," the trail climber
went on with stout mans chuckle.
And then: you're one of the reclama-
tion engineers? Great work the gov
eminent is undertaking here. You
are connected with 1t, aren't you?"
Brouillard's nod was for the man,
but his words were for the young
woman whose beauty refused to be
4uenched by the touring handicaps.
Eyes. am in charge of it." he said.
"Ha!" said the stout man, and this
time the exclamation was purely ap-
probative. "Chief engineer, Ell? That's
fine, fine! My name is Cartwright
j. Wesley Cartwright Of Chicago. And
yours is-?"
Brouillard named himself in one
word. Strangers usually found him
bluntly unresponsive to anything like
effusiveness, but he was finding it Gu
riously difficult to resist the good
natured heartiness which seemed to
exude from the laxative gentleman,
OVERLAPPING him like the honeydew on
the leaves in droughty forest.
If Mr.. J. Wesley Cortwright's sur
prise on hearing the Brouillard sur
name was not genuine 1t was at least
an excellent imitation.
well. we'll, well-you don't say!
Not of the Brouillards If Knox county,
Indiana?-but, Of course, you must be. y
"Yes," said Brouillard. "our branch
of the family settled near Vincennes,
and my father was on the bench, when
he. wasn't in politics."
What? Not Judge Antoine! Why,
my dear young man! Do you know
that l once had the pleasure Of intro
ducing your good father to my bank.
ers in Chicago? It was years ago, at
a time when he was interested in float
ing bond issue for some growing in.
dustry down on the Wabash. And to
think that away out here in this howl
ing wilderness, thousand miles from
nowhere. as you might say, should
meet his son!"
.Brouillard laughed and fell headlong
into the pit Of triteness.
"The world isn't so very big when
you come to surround it properly, Mr.
Cartwright" he asserted.
"You are wondering what fool no
ton chased us away out here in the
desert when we had comfortable no
tel to stop at" he ratified on. "I'll
tell you, Mr.. Brouillard-in confidence
1t was curiosity-raw, country curios
ity. The papers and magazines have
been full of this Buckskin reclamation
scheme, and we wanted to see the
place where all the wonderful miracles
were going to get themselves wrought
out. Have you got time to put us
nextT"
Brouillard, as the son of the man
who had been introduced to the Chi
cago money goes in his hour of need
could scarcely do less than to take the
time. The project. he explained, con
templated the building of high dam
across the upper end of the Niquoia
canyon and the converting of the in
land valley above into a great storage
reservoir. From this reservoir series
of distributing canals would lead the
water out upon the arid lands of the
Buckslkin and the miracle would be 6
fact accomplished.
"Sure, sure!" said the cheerful quer
fist, feeling in the pockets of the au
tomobile coat for a cigar. At the
Misunderstanding instant he remembered
q thing neglected. "By George! you'll
have to pardon me, Mr.. Brouillard; In
always forgetting the little social dew
dabs. Let me present you to my
daughter Genevieve. Gene. shake
hands with the son of my good ole
friend, Judge Antoine Brouillard o.
Vincennes."
It was rather awkwardly done, ant
somehow Brouillard could not helI
fancying that Mr.. Cartwright could
have done II better. But when the
uncomfortable beauty stripped hel
gauntlet and gave him her hand, will
q dazzling smile and word Of &C
acknowledgement which was not Dor
rowed from her fathers ELUSIVE vo
cabulary, he straightway fell into an
other pit Of triteness and his saving
first impressions Of Mr.. ]. Wesley Cort
wright's character began to fade.
I'm immensely interested" wal
Miss Cortwright's comment on the out
lining Of the reclamation project. "Dt
you mean to say that real. farms witt
green things growing on them can b,
made out Of that frightful desert W.
drove over yesterday afternoon?"
Brouillard smiled and plunged fatu