The Ordway new era., 1919-04-11
CHAPTER !.
Marshall Send. for Rlekard.

Marshall Sends for RIekard.
The large round clock was striking
nine as Casey" Richards dancing step
carried him into the outer office of Tod
Marshall. The ushering clerk, coat
less and vestiess In expectation Of the
third hot spring day. made critical
appraisement of the engineers get-up
before he spoke. Then he stated that
Mr.. Marshall had not yet come.
For q London tie and a 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 Rickard as he entered |;
they followed his progress through the
room. He was a newcomer in Tucson.
He had not yet acquired the apathetic
habits of its citizens. He wore belts,
instead of suspenders. His white
arousers. duck or serge. carried a new
zy pressed crease each morning.
The Office had not reached n verdict
on the subject of X. C. Rlckard. The
shirt-sleeved, collarless clerks would
have been quick to dub him a dandy
were 1t not for page of his history
that was puzzling them. He had held
a chair of engineering In some eastern
city. He had resigned. the wind-tossed
page said. to go on the road as a
fireman. His rapid promotion had
been spectacular; the last move. a
few years ago. to fill nn office position
In Tucson. The summons had found
him on the west coast of Mexico
where the Overland Pacific was push
ang Its tracks.
"You can walt here" suggested the
clerk. looking covertly at the shoes OF
the man who a few years before had
been shovelIng conl on Wyoming en-
gine 'Mr. Marshall said to wait"
ribbons. instead Of shoe laces u
carped the human machine that must
ever write letters which other men
Sign. "And a blue pin to match his
tiei call that going some!"
It would never have occurred to
Rickard. had he thought about 1t at
all that morning as he knotted his tie
Sf dark, brilliant blue silk, that the
selection Of his lapis pin was choice ;
1t was an inevitable result, an instinc-
Give discretion Of his fingers. II
warped. however. the suspended judg-
ment Of Marshall's men. who had
never seen him shoveling coal. disfig-
0red by denim jumper. They did
not know that they themselves were
slovens. ruined by the climate tina,
dulls vanity and willis collars.
"Give him year to change some Of
his fine habitsl" wagered Smythe, the
stoop-shouldered clerk. as the door OF
the inner office closed.
-'To change his habits less I" amend
ed the office wit. And then they fell
to speculating what Marshall was go
ting to do with him. What pawn was
he in the game that everyone in Tue
son followed with eager self-interestet
concern7 MarshalPs was the control
ling hand in Arizona politics; tht
maker of governors. the arbiter Of biz
corporations; president Of half
dozen railroads. Not a move of hi.
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 1t lead to
He had liked his work. under Stratton
There had been some pretty problems
to meet-what did Marshall mean t
do with him?
The note had set the appointment
for nine. Rickard glanced at hi
watch and took out his Engineering
Review. 1t would be ten before tina
door opened on Tod Marshalll
He knew that. on the road. Mar
shail's work began at dawn. "a mai
won't break from overwork or rus
from underworld II he follows the ex
ample of the sum-" Rickard had oftel
heard him expound his favorite the
ory. at Is only the players. the syba
rites, who can afford to pervert tn
arrangement nature intended for US.
But In Tucson. controlled by the wife
~ soiicitude of his Claudia, he wa
coerced Into a regular perversion. Ell
office never saw him until the morn
fig was half gone.
A half-hour later Richard finishe
reading report on the diversion Of
great western river. The name o
Thomas Hardin had sent him on ol
a tangent of memory. The Thoma
Hardin whose efforts to bring waite
to the desert of the Colorado had bee
20 spectacuiarly unsuccessful was tn
Tom Hardin he had knownl The sii