The Pulaskian. (Pulaski Heights [Little Rock], Ark.) 1915-1929, 1919-03-07
CHAPTER l..
\
MARSHALL Sends for Richard.

Az The large round clock was striking
nine as Casey" Richards dancing step
Nearried him into the outer Office of Tod
Nalarshall The ushering clerk, coat
toa ess and vestless in expectation of the
hird hot spring day, made critical
Nanpraisement of the engineers get-up
before he spoke. Then he stated that
Mr. Marshall had not yet come.
b For a London tie and white silk
cod shirt belted into white serge trousers
rea were smart for Tucson. The clerks
t W Elm the employ of the Overland Pacific
Pt and of the Sonora and Yaqui railroads
mo stared at Richard as he entered
ION fhey followed his progress through the
ssia room. He was newcomer in Tucson.
y a bic had not yet acquired the apathetic
bNhabits of its citizens. He wore belts,
NNInstead of suspenders. His white
of EtTousers, duck or serge, carried a new
ph BY pressed crease each morning.
lty f The Office had not reached a verdict
min on the subject of X. C. Richard. The
ste shrt-sleeved, collarless clerks would
OH have been quick to dub him dandy
eH were it not for q page of his history
that was puZzling them. He had held
ren 4 chair Of engineering in some eastern
sa city. He had resigned, the wind-toSsed
q mage said, to go on the road as a
u Fireman. His rapid promotion had
Ons been spectacular; the last move, a
fM few years ago, 20 fill an office position
usa in Tucson. The summons had found
tiOlN hin on the west coast of Mexico,
sal where the Overland Pacific was push
pn ing its tracks.
e you can wait here" suggested the
WI clerk, looking covertly at the shoes of
q the man who few years before had
,at been shoveling coal on a Wyoming en-
nd cine. Mr. Marshall said to wait"
orr Ribbons, instead of shoe laces "
cd earped the human machine that must
ever write letters which other men
Esign. "And blue pin to match his
VeEtie call that going some!"
n 1t would never have occurred to
III kickard, had he thought about it at
Hall that morning as he knotted his tie
Of dark, brilliant blue silk, that the
selection of his lapis pin was choice;
81 It was an inevitable result, an instinc-
i've discretion of his fingers. It
II warped, however, the suspended judg-
inent OF MarshalPs men. who had
r. never seen him shoyeling coal, disfig-
urea by a denim jumper. They did
not know that they themselves were
N slovens, ruined by the climate that
e. aulis vanity and Wits collars.
tive him year to change some of
MS line habits!" wagered Smythe, the
stoop-shouldered clerk, as the door of
the inner Office closed.
10 change his habits less" amend
90 the office wit. And then they fell
70 specializing what Marshall was GO
iAg 10 Go with him. What pawn was
ne IN the game that everyone in Tue
son followed with eager self-interested
.oncern? Marshall's was the control
nns hand in Arizona politics; the
maker of governors, the arbiter of big
eofporatons; president of half
dozen railroads. Not move of his
On the board that escaped notice.
On the other side of the door Rick
ara was echoing the Office question
inns play job, where did it lead to-?
ne mad liked his work, under Stratton
iAere had been some pretty problems
81 70 meet-what did Marshall mean to
81 40 with him?
me note had set the appointment
'Ot nlne. Richard glanced at his
@atch and took out his Engineering
eeVleW. 1t would be ten before that
ooor opened on Tod MARSHALL
ne knew that. on the road, Mar
snails work began at dawn. "a man
"oht break from overwork or rust
14oiu underworld if he follows the ex-
a'nple of the sum-" Richard had often
"eafo MIN expound his favorite the
Wy 1t Is only the players, the syba-
'ieeS' who can afford to pervert the
arrangement nature intended for u.s."
our IN Tucson, controlled by the wife
y Soilcitude of his Claudia, he was
Noereed into Il regular pcrversion. His
VGee never saw him until the morn
ne was half gone.
haif-hour later Richard finished
iesdlng a report on the diversion of a
sreat western river. The name of
AAoinas Hardin had sent him off on
tangent of memory. The Thomas
! 7afain whose efforts to bring water
! 70 Inc desert of the Colorado had been
speetacularly unsuccessful was the
sssaa t-asrdd iirs he had iEsnogni The sis