Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1919-02-28

behind him. His exit released a cho-
rus of indignant voices.
"An outraged"
"a id shamel" This from
Wooster.
"Hardln's luck!'
| On the other side of the door Rick
ard deliberated. The hotel and its Curl
Gus loungers, or his new office, where
Ogilvie was making a great show of
occupation. He had not seen Estrada.
He was making sudden dive for his
hotel when the gentle voice of the
Mexican hailed him.
"Will you come TO my car? It's on
the siding right here. We can have
little lunch and then look over some
maps together. l have some pictures
of the river and the gate. They may
be new to you"
RicSard spent the afternoon in the
car. The twin towns did not seem so
hostile. He thought he might like the
/ Mexican.
Estrada was earning his fathers
mantle. He was the superintendent
of the road which the Overland Pa
cific was building between the twin
towns and the Crossing; a director of
the Desert Reclamation company, and
the head of small subsidiary COM
pany which had been created to pro-
tect rights and keep harmonious rela-
tion with the sister country. Rickard
found him full of meat. and heard, for
the first time cOnsecutively, the story
Of the rakish river. Particularly in
teresting to him was the relation of
Hardin to the company.
"He has the bad luck. that man "
exclaimed Estrada's soft, musical
voice. Everything is in his hands.
capital is promised. and he goes to
New York to have the papers drawn
up. The day he gets there the Maine
Is destroyed. OF course capital is shy
He's had the devils own luck with
men: Clifford, honest but mulish
Satlier, mulish and not honest-oh
there's string of them. Once he
went to Hermosillo to get an option on
my fathers lands. They were already
covered by an option held by some
! men in Scotland. Another man would
have waited for the three months tC
pass. Not Hardin. He went to Scot
land. thought he'd interest those mer
with his maps and papers. He owned
oil tie data then. He'd made the sur
: vey."
Estrada repeated the story Brandon
and Marshall had told. with little dis
! crepg ncy. A friendly refrain followed
: the narrative. "He has the bad luck
$ that mani"
"And the Scotched option?" remind
$ ed Rlckard, smiling at his own poo
y joke.
ut was just that. A case of Hardil
p luck again. He stopped off in Londo
= to interest some capital there; follow
g Ing up q lead developed on the steam
4 er. He was never q man to neglect
chance. Nothing came of it. though
= and when he reached Glasgow h
s found his man had died two days bt
fOre--or been killed, I've forgotte
3 which. Three times Hardin's crosse
q the ocean trying to corner the oppO
II tunity he thought he had found.
S isn't laZiness, is his trouble. It's ju:
1t Internal luck"
'e "Or Over-astuteness, or procrastini
E. tion," criticized his listener to himsel
e He knew now what it was that ha
ie so changed Hardin. A man cam,
d travel, even though he be houndir
ct down a quick scent, without meetir
strong Influences. He had been throw
s. with hard men, strong men. 1t W.
IN an inevitable chiseling, not miracl
h. II want to hear more of this son
r day. But this map. / don't unde
stand what you told me of this b
" pGss. Mr. Estrada.