Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1916-05-04


ton of some sort. nst's the basis.
Then you're going to need ces@eat.
lumber and steel 1t 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
the millionaire There are fine ore
beds in the Hophras and a. pretty good
/ quality Of coking coal. Ten or twelve
miles Of narrow-gauge railroad would
/ dump the pig metal into the upper end
of your valley, and there you are
With small reduction plant you could
tell the big steel people to go hang"
'Unquestionably But this is case
Of can'thelp-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 it
/ will go down under two hundred feet
of water"
"The-what?' queried Miss Cort-
wright.
The Niqoyasteadje- Place-where-
| they came-up" said Brouillard, eluci-
dating for her. That is the Navajo
name for this valley. Our map max
ers shortened it to 'Niquoia' and the
! cOwmen Of the Buckskin foothills have
! cut that to fNick-wire' "
This bit of explanatory place lore
was entirely lost upon Mr.. J. Wesley
Cartwright. He was chewing the ends
of MS short mustaches and scowling
thoughtfully out upon the possible site
! OF the future industrial city of the
rounds higher up on the authority lad.
der to close a deal like that. I'm not
sure it wouldn't require an act OF
congress-
Well by George, we might get even
that if we had to-" was the optimistic
assertion. sYou think about it."
Il guess it isn't my think" said
Brouillard, inclined to take the retired
pork packers suggestion as the mere
rawlings of a money-mad promoter
las the government engineer in
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 a way ominously familiar
to his antagonists in the wheat pit.
Then he glanced at MS watch and
changed the subject abruptly We'll
have to be struggling back to the
chug-wagon. Much obliged to you,
Mr.. Brouillard. Will you come down
and see us OFF,"
At the final descent in the trail, with
the Buckskin blanknesses showing
holly beyond the curtaining pines,
they passed at step from romance to
the crude realities
The realities were basing themselves
upon the advent of two newcomers,
riding down the Chigringo trail to the
ford which had been the scene of the
. fish slaughtering; a sunburnt young
man in goatskin CHAPS" flannel shirt
and a Tapping Stetson, and a girl
whose face reminded Brouillard of one
Of the Madonnas, whose name and
painter he strove vainly to recall Ten
seconds farther along the horses of
Il the pair were shifting suspiciousIy at
the automobile, and the young man
i. under the tapping hat was telling Van
l. DJ.1JoR -
cartridge f1shermen.-in general, and
OF this present cartridge fisherman In
4 particular.
t. Which the same, being translated
into Buckskin English, hollers' like
this, he concluded. Don't you tote
any more fish cartridges into this here
reservation; not no more, whatsoever.
Who says so? Well, if anybody should
ask, you might say it was Tig Smith,
foreman O. the Tri'Circ' outfit No, /
amt no game warden, but what l say
goes as she 1ays:=: :Savez?'
Brouillard walked his companion
down to the car and helped her to a
seat in the tonneau. She repaid him
with nod and smile, and when he
saw that the crudities were not
troubling her he stepped aside and I'M
consciously fell to comparing the two
/ the girl on horseback and his walk
ing mate of the canyon passage
They had little enough in common,
apart from their descent from Eve, he
decided-and the decision itself was
%SubconseiOus: The milliOnaires daugh-
ter was. q warm blonde, beautiful,
| queenly, finished product of ciViliza-
ton, and high-priced culture; WON
an of the world. And the girl on horse
| back? A rather slight figure, a face
W1nsome, masses Of copper;brown hair,
eyes He caught himself won
dering if her cowboy lover-he had
| already jumped to the sentimental
conclusion-had ever been able to look
| into those steadfast eyes and trifle
with the truth ~.
/ When the fsh-slaughtering matter
was finally settled-not by the tender
of money that Mr.. Cartwright had
made-the man Smith and his pretty
riding mate galloped through the ford
and disappeared among the barren
| hills
Au revoir, Mr.. Brouillard," said the
/ princess, as the big car righteds itself
for the southwark flight into the des-