Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1916-10-12
By Francis Lynde


added: And don't come back with
out it," 1t was said with a laugh, but
behind the laugh there was a menace.
Among the individual TRANSFORMED
tions wrought by the new conditions
the young chief Of the reclamation
service afforded the most striking ex-
ample. From the morning when he had
summarily Cancelled the lease for the
offices in the Niquoia building and had
returned his headquarters to tho old
log buildings on tho government-reser-
walton and thence had issued his first
series OF orders for the resumption of
full-force work on the dam and canals,
those who had not known him best dis
covered that they had not known him
at all. Even to Grislow and the men
of his staff he was curt, crisply manda-
tory, almost brutal. For one and all
there was rarely anything beyond the
shotlike sentence: Drive it, men;
drive it; that's what you're here for
drive it,"
The time he took to eat his hurried
meals at Songras' could be measured
in minutes, and what hours he gave
to sleep no man knew, since he was
the last to leave the headquarters at
night and the first on the work in the
morning. Twice, after the renewed
activities on the great wall had be-
come well-ordered race against time,
and the concrete was pouring into the
high forms in steady streams from the
ranked batteries of mixers, Mr.. Cort-
wright had sent for Brouillard, and on
each occasion the messenger had gone
back with the brief word: TOO busy
during working hours" And when a
third messenger came to inquire what
Mr.. Brouillards working hours were.
the equally blunt answer returned was;
''All the time"
In the face Of such discouragements
Mr.. Cartwright was constrained to
pocket his dignity as mayor, as the
potentate of the exchanges, and as
the unquestionable master of the surly
young industry captain who refused
to come when he was called, and to go
in person. Choosing the evening hour
when he had been assured that he was
likely to find Brouillard alone and at
work, he crossed the boundaries Of the
sacred reservation and made his way
to the door Of the log-built mapping
room.
II came around to see what Is eating
you these days." was the pudgy
tyrant's greeting for the young man
sitting under the shaded desk lamp.
"Why don't you drop in once IN a
while and give me the run of things!"
II gave your clerk the reason" said
Brouillard laconically. I'm too busy"
1.-THE devil you are!" snapped the
great man, finding the only armchair
in the room and dropping heavily into
it. "Since when?"
"Since the first time you sent for
me-and before"
Mr.. Cartwright recovered his work
ing geniality only with palpable eff
fort.
See here, Brouillard, you know you
never make any money by being short
with me. Let's drop 1t and get down
to business. What wanted to say is
that you are OVERRIDING it; you are put
ting on too much steam. You've
brought the boom, all right, but at
the pace you're setting 1t won't last
long enough. Are you catching on?"
I'm listening" was the noncommit-
tai reply. 3
well, enough's enough, and too
much Of good thing scalds the hog
before you're ready to dress it and cut
it up. It's all right for you to run men
in here by the trainload and scatter
'em out over your scaffolding-the
more the merrier, and it's good for the
town-but you needn't sweat the last
shovelful of hurry out of them the way
you're doing. 1t won't do to get your
job finished too soon."
Before congress convenes, you
mean?" suggested Brouillard.
That's just what mean. String II
out. Make 1t last"
Brouillard sat back in his pivot chair
and began to play with the paper
knife.
"And IL don't choose to string II
out'-if even confess that am strain
ing every nerve to do this thing that
you don't want me to doAwhat then
Mr. Cortwripht?"
The quiet retort jolted the stocky
man in the armchair as If 1t had beer
a blow. But he recovered quickly.
I've been looking for that" he said
with nervous twinkling of the little
gray eyes. You've no business being
out of business, Brouillard. II you'd
quit pudding sand and cement and lit
tie rocks together and strike your gait
right in ten years you'd be the richest
man this side Of the mountains. II
be open-handed with you: This time
you've got us where we can't wiggle
We've got to have more time. How
much is it going to cost us?"
Brouillarli shook his head slowly.
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