The Huttig news., 1916-05-13


 from camp to investigate a strange Hght and finds an automobile party eamped at the canyon portal CHAPTER II-Brouillard meets I Wes- ley Cartwright and his daughter Gene Vieye Of the auto party and explains the reclamation work to them
 Brouillard's eyebrows went up in a little arch of surprise. Harding, the typographical engineer who had made all the preliminary surveys and had spent the better part of the former summer in the Niquoia, had reported on the Massingales, father and son, and his report had conveyed hint of pos sible antagonism on the part of the mine owners to the government prof ect. But there had been nc mention of woman.
 The Massingale mine, eh?" broke in the appraiser of values crisply. They showed us some ore specimens from that property while we were stop ping over in Red Butte. It's rich good and plenty rich-if they have the quantity. And somebody told me they
 
 far from the railroad-couldnt jack freight it protitably over the Timan- yonis."
 Tn which case it is one of many Brouillard said. taking refuge in the generalities.
 But MT. Cartwright was not to be sc easily diverted from the pointed par Io ha ri Tor hau te q with the pursuit of the market trail. I'm begiLhi to get my feet On bottom, Brouillard," he said, dropping the courtesy prefix and showing his fat hands deep into the pockets of the dust-eoat There's business prcpo- sition here, and it looks mighty good to me. tell you, I can smell money In this valley of yeurs-scads of it" Brouillard laughed. Tt is only the fragrance of future reelamation-sery ice appropriations" he suggested. There will be a good bit of money spent here before the Buckskin desert gets it's maiden wetting."
 q don't mean that at a'l," was the impatient rejoinder. Let me show you: you are going to have a popula- tion of some sort. That's the basis. Then you're going to need cement, lumber and steel It can be manufac- tured right here on the spot"
 "The cement and the lumber can be produced here, but not the steel, Brouillard corrected.
 That's where you're off" snapped hr beds in the Hophras and pretty good quality of coking coal. Ter or twelve miles of narrow-g gauge railroad would dump the pig metal into the upper end of your valley. and there ycu are. With small reduction plant you could tell the big steel people te go hang" "Unquestionably But this is a case of ean't-help-it," Brouillard argued. You couldn't begin to interest private capital in any of those industries you speak of"
 Why not?" was the curt demand
 Because when the dam is complet- ed and the spillway gates are closed, the Niqoyastcadje and everything in 1t will go down under two hundred feet of water"
 "The-what?" qaeried Miss Cort wright.
 "The Niqoyastcadje- - 'Place-where- they -came-up'" said Brouillard, eluci- dating for her. That is the Navajo name for this valley. Our map mak- CTS shortened 1t to 'Niquoia' and the cowmen of the Buckskin foothills have cut that to 'Nick-wire.
 This bit of explanatory place lore was entirely lost upon MT. J. Wesley Cartwright. He was chewing the ends of his short mustaehes and scowling thoughtfully out upon the possible site of the future industrial city of the plain
 Say, Brouillard, he cut in, you get me the right to build that power dam, and give me the contracts for what material you'd rather buy than make, and I'll be switched if I don't take a shot at this drowning proposition my self. tell you, 1t looks pretty good to me. What do you say?"
 'I say" laughed the young chief of
  man. You'll have to go good few rounds higher up on the authority lad der to close a deal like that. I'm no' sure 1t wouldn't require an act oi congress-"
 Well, by George, we might get ever that if we had to-" was the optimistic assertion. You think about 1t.
 T guess 1t isn't my think, saic Brouillard, inclined to take the retired pork packers suggestion as the mere rawlings of money-mad promoter "As the government engineer ir charge of this work. couldn't afford to be identified even as friendly in termediary in any such scheme as the one you are proposing"
 "Of course. l suppose not" agreed the would-be promoter. sucking his under lip in way ominously familiar to his antagonists in the wheat pit Then he glanced at his watch and changed the subject abruptly. Well