Jerome County times. (Jerome, Idaho) 1919-1920, 1919-03-20
cHAPT Err l.
Marshall Sends for Richard.

nine as Casey" Richards dancing step
carried him into the outer office of Tod
Marshall. The ushering clerk, coat
less and vestless in expectation Of the
third hot spring day, made critical
before he spoke. Then he stated that
Mr.. Marshall had not yet come.
For London tie and white silk
shirt belted into white serge trousers
were smart for Tucson. The clerks
in the employ Of the Overland Pacific
and OF the Sonora and Yaqui railroads
had stared at Richard as he entered;
they followed his progress through the
room. He was ii newcomer IN Tucson.
He had not yet acquired the apathetic
habits OF its citizens. He wore BELTS
instead Of suspenders His white
trousers. duck or serge. carried new
ly pressed crease each morning.
The Office had not reached verdict
on the subject Of X. c. Richard. The
shirt-sleeved. collarless clerks would
have been quick to dub him dandy
were II not for page of his history
that was puzzling them. He had held
d chair OF engineering In some eastern
city. He had resigned, the wind-tOssed
page said. to go On the road AS Ii
fireman. His rapid promotion had
been spectacular; the last move,
few years ago. TO fill an office position
In Tucson. The summons had found
him on the west coast Of Mexico.
where the Overland Pacific was push
Ing Its tracks.
"You can wait here" suggested the
clerk. looking covertly at the shoes OF
the man who a few years before had
been shoveling coal on Wyoming en-
CINE. Mr.. Marshall said to wait"
Ribbons instead OF shoe laces :"
carped the human machine that must
ever write letters which other men
sign. And a blue pin to match his
tel ! call that going some :"
II would never have occurred to
Richard. had he thought about il at
all that morning Ms he knotted his tie
OF dark, brilliant blue silk. that the
selection OF his lapis pin was choice
II was an inevitable result. an instinc-
tive discretion OF his fingers 1t
warped, however, the suspended judg-
ment Of Marshalls men. who had
never seen him shoveling coal. disfig
ured by denim jumper. They did
not know that they themselves were
slovens. ruined by the climate that
dulls vanity and willis collars.
"Give him year to change some Of
his fine habits" wagered Smythe the
stoop-s houldered clerk. as the door Of
the inner Office closed.
ITO change his habits less" amend
ed the Office wit. And then they fell
to specializing what Marshall was go
ing to do with him. What pawn was
he in the game that everyone in Tue
son followed with eager self-interested
concern? Marshall's was the control
ling hand In Arizona politics; the
maker OF governors. the arbiter of big
corporations; president of a half
dozen railroads. Not a move of his
on the board that escaped notice.
On the other side Of the door Rick
ard was echoing the office question
| This play job. where did II lead TOT
He had liked his work. under Stratton
There had been some pretty problems
to meet-what did Marshall mean 10
do with him?
The note had set the appointment
for nine. Richard glanced at his
watch and took out his Engineering
Review. II would he ten before that
door opened on Tod Marshall
He knew that, on the road. Mar
shalls work began at dawn. "A man
won't break from overwork or rust
| from underworld II he follows the ex-
ample of the sum-" Richard had often
heard him expound his favorite the
DRY. ut is only the players. the syba-
rites. who can AFFORD to pervert the
arrangement nature intended for us"
But In Tucson. controlled by the wife
| ly solicitude OF his Claudia, he was
coerced into a regular perversion. His
office never saw him until the morn
ing was half gone.
A half-hour later Richard finished
reading report on the diversion of a
great western river. The name Of
ih'ihhS hhruln ndu sent MIN OH on
tangent OF memory. The Thomas
Hardin whose efforts to bring water
to the desert of the Colorado had been
so spectacularly unsuccessful was the
Tom Hardin he had known The sis
ter had told him so, the girl with the
odd bronze eyes; opal matrix they
were, with glints OF gold. or was 1t
green2 She herself was as unlike the
raw boor OF his memory as noun
tain lily is like the coarse rock of its
background. Even half-sister to
Hardin. as Marshall, their host at din
ner the week before. had explained
it-no, even that did not explain il.
That any OF the Hardin blood should
be shared by the Yeins OF that girl,
why 1t was incrediblel The name
| "Hardin" suggested crudity. loud.