The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1916-06-16
CHAPTER. IV-Continued.

During the weeks which followed
the sap1e trail, and a little later thai
from the Navajo reservation on the
cessions Of laborers pouring into the
shut-in valley at the foot Of Mount
Chigringo. Almost as if by magic 6
populous camp of tents, shelter shacks
and Indian tepees sprang up in the
level bed-bottom of the future lake;
campfires gave place to mess kitch
ems; the commissary became a busy
department store stocked with every.
thing that thrifty or thriftless labor
might wish to purchase; and daily the
great foundation scorings in the but
tressing shoulders of Jacks mountain
and Chigringo grew deeper and wider
under the churning Of the air-drills,
the crashings of the dynamite and the
rattle and chug of the steam shovels.
1t was after the huge task Of foun-
dation digging was well under way
and the work of constructing the small
power dam in the upper canyon had
been begun that the. young chief of
construction, busy with thousand
details, had his first forcible reminder
of the continued existence of Mr.. J..
Wesley Cartwright.
1t came in the form of communi-
cation from Washington, forwarded by
special post-rider service from Que
sado, and 1t called a halt upon the up
river power project. In accordance
with its settled policy, the reclamation
service would refrain, in the Niquoia
as elsewhere, from entering into COM
petition with private citizens; would
do nothing to discourage the invest
ment of private capital. A company
had been formed to take over the
power production and to establish a
plant for the manufacture of cement,
and Brouillard was instructed to gov
ern himself accordingly. For his in
formation, the department letter
writer went on to say, it was to be
understood that the company was
duly organized under the provisions of
an act of congress; that 1t had bound
itself to furnish power and material
at prices satisfactory to the service;
and that the relations between it and
the government field-staff on the
ground were to be entirely friendly.
TITS a graft-a pull-down with a
profit in it for some bunch OF money
Ieeches a little higher up!" was the
young chiefs angry comment when he
had given Grislow the letter to read.
Without knowing any more OF the
details than that letter gives, I'd be
willing to bet months pay thai this
Is the fine Italian hand of Mr.. ]. Wes-
ley Cortwright!"
Grislow's eyebrows went up IN
doubtful interrogation.
fought / to know the gentleman"
ie queried mildly. II don't seem to
.ecall the name"
mo, you don't know him. 1t was
lis motor party that was camping at
he Buckskin ford the night we broke
n here-the night when we saw the
"And you met him? I thought you
Otu luz yOu hOi ely "SAAe ~S"~
ook look-didnt butt in?"
81 didn't-that night. But the next
morning they wanted to see the val
ey, and / showed them the way In.
is the multimillionafre pork
acker of Chicago, and he went up
nto the air like q lunatic over the
chances there were to
e in this Job. / didn't pay much at
ention to his chortlings at the time.
/ didn't seem remotely credible that
nybody with real money to invest
vould plant it in the bottom OF the Nj
uoia reservoir"
"But now you think he is going to
lake his bluff good?" l.
ssThat looks very much like It," said
rouillard sourly, pointing to the let
sr from Washington. THAT scheme
going to change the whole face OF
allure for us up here, Grislow. 1t
ill spell trouble right from the
mp"
"Oh, I don't know" was the depre-
ltory rejoinder. 1T will relieve US
I Z lot OF side-issue fndustrles-cut
m out and bury EN-, so far as we
re- concerned" IL
THAT part Of It is all right, o.
,urse; but It won't end there; not by
hundred miles Jobson says In that
'tter that the relations have got to
. friendly! I'll bet anything you Ike
lat I'll have to 90 and read the riot 7
4 to those people before they've 2
pen twenty-four hours on their job"
0rislov vas trying the point OF his {