The Lamar register., 1919-01-15
Can't Something Be Done, Smith,"

GU We n;iu experience Ill lntN' llIhEN
Four talk shows it. Have we got to
stand still and be shot TO pieces?'
"The necessity remains to be dem
)nstratcd But you will be shot 10
pieces. 10 a dead moral certainty II
,nu d,n't put somebody on deck with
-lie necessary brains, and do il quick
"" said Smith with frank hluntneSs.
"Hold on" protested the engineer.
Every man 10 h>s trade. When ! said
hat we had nobody hut the neighbors
md our friends in the company, I
lidn't mean TO give the Impression
hat they were either dolts or chucltlc-
reads. As q matter of fact, We have
1 pretty lcvel-headed bunch Of men in
rimanyoni Ditch-though III admit
hat some of them are nervous enough,
lust now. TO want to get out ON almost
any terms. What ! meant To say was
hat they don't happen to be MP in all
he crooks and turnings of the high
nance buccaneers
81 didn't mean To reflect upon
Colonel baldwin and his friends re
loincd the cx-cashier good-naturediy.
1t is nothing especially discrcdltIng
20 theIa that they are not up ia all the
.ricks Of a trade which is not theirs.
The financing of Il scheme like This has
come To be II business by itself Mr..
Williams. and 1t is hardly to be ex-
pected That II group of inexperienced
men could do II successfully"
The construction chief turned alb
-uptly upon his cost-cutter.
'Keeping in mind what you said n
few minutes ago about back numbers
would IT be climbing over the fence too
FAR for me to ask If your experience
mas been such as would warrant you
n tackling "a job Of this kindY"
''That is a fair question, and I can
answer it straight said the man un-
Ter fire. 1--WE had the experience"
II thought 50. If the colonel should
ask you 10. would you consider as II
possibility the taking Of the doctors
Job on this sick project of oursy'
mo" was the brief rejoinder
"Why notT"
Smith looked away out nf the one
square window in the shack at the
busy scene pn the dam staglngs.
"BetHus" I'm not cxnctly a born sim
pleton. Mr.. Williams. There are
number Of reasons which are purely
personal to uie. and at least one which
-uts ice on your side of the pond. Ynnr
financial doctor. rs you call him.
would have 10 be trusted absolutely in
the handling Of the company's money
and It's negotiable securities. You
could. and should. put him under u
fairly heavy bond. IN not 20 Into 1t
my deeper tlnn to say that eau
give y bone"
Williams took his defeat. II Il could
be called II defeat, without further
protest.
Il thought 1t might not be ainiss to
talk IL over with you" he said. "You
say ii is impossible. and perhaps II is.
But it won't do any harm for you to
think II over, and If were you. /
shouldn't burn all the bridges behind
me-"
Smith went back to his work In the
quarry with troubled mind. The
little heart-tO-heart talk with Williams
had been sharply Oppressive 1t had
shown him. as nothing else could. how
iiHllfu lbT All lne remainder bl his NE
his chances must be. That he would
be pursued. that descriptions and pho
tographs of the ex-cashier Of the Law
renceville Bank and Trust company
were already circulating from hand to
hand among the paid man-catchers he
did not doubt for moment While he
could remain as a workman unit in an
isolnted construction camp, there was
some little hope that he might be over
looked. But to become the public char
acter OF Williams suggestion in
peopled city was to run TO meet his
fate.
II is said that the flow OF a mighty
river may owe Its most radical change
In direction to the chance thrusting Of
n twtg into the current at some critical
instant in the rise or fall Of the flood
To the reincarnated Smith. chnrting
his course upon the conviction that his
best chance of immunity lay In isola-
tion and Il careful avoidance OF the
peopled towns. came the diverting twlg
In this wise.
ON the second morning following the
unofficial talk With BARLEY Williams
in the iron-sheeted headquarters office
M the dam. a delayed consignment of
cement, steel and commlsSary supplies
was due AT the sidctracl; mile below