The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1919-09-27
,.o1eR xviII-continued.

rHAP1Ek
-
-. oves glued to the lurching sta
ns auso Babcock took pro"H
30 ,.'Doer.rolled cigarette from inc p
feieu .a ~ > he cried. "There. she'll CO.
se S,ora was splash of splinterins
l i Niagara of spray as the
. u% fell into the food. A minute
S ,.,sr. a wreckage of painted ooarus
ms floating downstream. ,,,s ,,,,,-
a. A. table Babcock resumed MS cam
-. = "The trouble with you all,
s r have cold feet. You're all scared
of too soon.' on ,ooted
IS tho table. "Cold feet? So
. .su'd have If you had been up for
. ~. wetting your feet on the ievee'
's. .or,a Of us have, as Hardin has.
49, arc cold all right" He lifted an
amazed foot. Gold! Look mere,
boys they're wetP Inc men 'o1 nS
!. end the water creeping in-Bab-
.ock climbed on his chair.
sYn,e means the station" cried
wooster. Every man jumped. If the
-,ters had got to them. 1t wouldn't
4 long before they were reaching the
a P. depot The tracks would go
rney were piling out of the door
.Aen the telephone caught them. It
.,s 4 message from Richard. A car
ms to be riggeds up, papers, tickets
md express matter taken from the
d,tion. The river was cutting close
"a fine track. The car would be the
terminal. a half-mile from town.
The situation looked black. Coul'
tr. Eggers, began to pack their stock.
The levee, 1t was said, would not hold
half Of Mexicali was gone. Calexico
sould 70 next. Richards Indians
we're kept stolidly piling brush and
tuffed sacks on the levee. This, the
word ran, would be the fierce night
40 one expected to sleep.
They were preparing for the big
battle, the final struggle, when the
made recession passed the town.
spectacular as was Its coming, there
was an anticIimax In it's retreat. The
water reached the platform of the
DEPOT and halted. The town held its
breath. There was some sleep that
aight.
The next day, the nerves Of the val
lev relaxed. The river was not cut.
ting back. The men at the levee
dropped their shovels, and went back
to the discussion of their lawsuits
Their crops we're ruined; too much
water, or too little. Whatever way
they had been hurt, the company
would have to pay for it!
4 small shift guarded the river
Richard, In his room at the Desert
hotel, and Hardin up the river, slept q
day and night without waking. The
chair-tilters picked up their argument
where they had left it; was the rail.
road reaping harvest Of damage
suits when they should be thanked
Instead? Faraday, the newspapers
reported, was trying to shift his re
sponsibility; he had appealed to the
president Their correspondence was
published. The government was in nc
hurry to take the burden. A tele
graphic sermon, preaching duty, dis
tributing blame, was sent from Wash
lngton. Perhaps not Faraday himself
xss more disturbed than the debaters
II the Desert hotel.
The railroads. no infant In arms
4 wasn't asleep when 1t took ovel
ne affairs Of the d. R." Here spoke
she majority. "A benefaction! L
vas self-interesti When the river 1,
hafnessed, who'll profit the most from
tie valley prosperity? It can AFFORD
g pay the obligations; that is, i
muld It will find a way" the raven.
dcaked, "of shaking the Desert Re
damation company's debts; Of evad
~ the damage suits. Look how
Hardin was tfeated!"
The feeling ran higher. For man,
& the ranchers were ruined; Their
~ no money to put In the mex
ears crop unless the promises Of tn,
urgation company were kept.
nv landowners, and others who ha,
not completed their contracts, dis
uustlng the good faith Of the com
AM or Its ability to pay, had "quit'
Y disgust, to begin again some
mere else. Parrish, and Dowkel
ind others Of the "Sixth" secured dis
alct had secured the promise of en-
poyment at the Heading. Work,
ns expected, would be begun at ono
y" mat the danger to Calexico ha'
/ nssed.