The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1919-04-03
CHAPTER L
Msr,haII sends for RIekard.

's-1 D. .lf' ~ l.. 80,
MarphaIl Sends for RIekard.
The ldrge 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 vestless 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
- the employ Of the Overland Pncifc
and Of the Sonora and YaQui railroads
had stared at Rickard as he entered;
they followed his progress through the
room. He was newcomer In Tucson
He had not yet acquired the apathetic.
habits Of Its citizens. He wore belts,
instead Of suspenders. His white
trousers, duck or serge, carried,a new
" pressed crease each morning.
The Office had not reached verdict
on the Subject of X. G. Rickard. The
shlrt-sleevyJ. collarless CLERKS would
have been. quick to. dub ~ dandy
were Il not for page Of his history
that was puzzling them. He had held
Z chair Of engineering in some eastern
city. He had resigned. the wind-t0ssed
page Siid. TO 20 on the road as a
fireman. His rnpid promotion had
been, spectacular: the last move. q
feWySears ago. to Ill an Office position
IN Tucson. The summons had found
him on the west coast of Mexico,
where the Overland Pacific was push
ing Its tracks.
''You can walt here" suggested the
clerk, looking covertly Mt the shoes Of
the man who few years before had
been shoseling coal on n Wyoming en-
CINE. "Mr. Marshall said to watt"
"Ribbons. instead of shoe laces! 7"
earped the human machine that must
ever write letters which other men
sign. "And blue pin to match his
tie ] call that going somer'
It would never have occurred to
Richard. had he thought about 1t at
all that morning as he knotted his tie
OF dark, brilliant blue silk, that the
selection Of his lapis pin was a choice;
II was an inevitable result. an instinc-
tive discretion Of his fingers. II
warped, however. the suspended judg-
ment Of Marshalls men. who had
never seen .iim shoveling coal. disfig-
ured by q denim jumper. They did
not know that they themselves were
slovens. ruined by the climate that
dulls vanity and willis collars.
"Give him year to change some Of
his hne habitsl" wagered Smythe, the
stoop-shouldered clerk, as the door OF
the inner Office closed.
ITO change his habits lessl" amend.
cd the Office wit. And then they fell
10 speculating what Marshall was 60
Ing to do with him. What pawn was
he In the game that everyone In Tue
son followed with eager self-interested
concern? Marshall's was the control
ling hand In Arizona politics; the
maker Of governors. the arbiter Of big
corporations; president of q half.
dozen railroads. Not a move Of his
on the board that escaped notice.
On the other side Of the door Rick.
ard was echolng the office question.
This play job, where did It lead, 70? ?
He had liked his work, under Stratton.
There had been some pretty problems
to meet-what did Marshall mean to
do with himf
The note had set the appointment
for nine. Rickard glanced at his
watch and took out his. Engineering
Review. II would be t4p before that
door opened on Tod Marsha!ll
He knew that, on the road, Mar
shall's work began at dawn. "A man
won't break from overwork or rust
from underworld II he follows the ex.
ample of the sum-" Rickard had often
heard him expound his favorite the.
ory. ut Ii only the players. the syba.
rites, who can afford to pervert the
arrangement nature intended for u.s.
But In Tucson, controlled by the wife
y solicitude Of his Claudia. he was
coerced into a regular perversion. Hia
once never saw him until the morn
ing was half gone.
A half-hour later Rickard finished
reading = report on the diversion Of q
great western. river. :. The. name OF
Thomas Hardin had sent him on on
Z tangent Of memory. The Thomas
Hardin whose efforts to bring water
% the desert Of the Colorado had been
r oneefnenIaElX nnepcceesfuI yas ths