Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1919-03-21
his papers into the next room tomor-

l WINDOWS IIldL OpGIlCu I'll eAiS
| lawn. A vigorous growth OF WILLOWS
marked the course of New river.
| which had cut SO perilously near the
towns. A letter 3D." picked out in
quick river vegetation, told the story
of the flood. The old channel-there
| il was. the curved arm of the 3d." one
could tell that by the tall willows-had
| been too tOrtuOus, too slow for those
| sweeping waters. The flow had di-
| vided, cutting the stem of the letter,
| carving the flood waters swifter
| down grade. The flow lad divided
| hm divided perhaps the danger too!
| An idea in that! He would see that
| better from the water tower he'd Spled
at entering. Another food, and
| gamble whether MeXicai or CaleXico
| would get the worst OF it. Unless one
was ready. A levee-west of the
| American town!
| excuse me- sir--do you need me?"
| He turned back into the room. He
could see that MacLean was aching to
get out of the room. Ogilvie had Wis
| IDLY withered. A blight seemed to fall
| on him IS his white. blue-veined fin
| gers made a bluff among his papers.
"Thank you" Richard nodded at
! flee.
! Its the new general manager from
TucsOn-Rickard' his name" His
whisper ran around the walls of the
room. where other arrivals We're tilt
| ing their chairs. "The new general
manager! Ogilvie woozed for moth
| ing. You should have seen his face !"
did anyone know that he was com
ing?" Silent, the tanned giant, spoke.
| That's Marshall all over" said
| Wooster, bright-eyed and wiry, re-
moving his pipe. "He likes to move in
mysterious way his wonders to per-
form. (Used to sing that when / was
a kidd No announcement. Simply,
Enter Rickard.'"
"More like this" said Silent. exit
Hardin. Enter Ogilvie. Enter Rick
ard"
"And exit Ogilvie,"I cried MacLean.
cts a--d--d shame" burst out
Wooster. No one asked him what he
meant. Every man in the room was
thinking of Hardin, whose shadow this
reclamation work was.
"What's Richard doing?" asked the
infantile Hercules at the checkerboard.
The force called him Pete, which was
short cut to Frederick Augustus
Bodefeldt.
Taking Ogilvie's measure"-this
from MacLean.
'"Then he's doing something else by
this time. That wouldn't take him five
minutes unless he's a gull" snapped
Wooster who hated Ogilvie as a rat
does snake.
The door opened and Richard came
in. Almost simultaneously the outer
door opened to admit Hardin. Who
would introduce the new general man.
ager to the dismissed one? The
thought flashed from MacLean to ST.
lent, to the telegraph operator. .Bode
feldt doubled over the checkerboard,
pretending not to see them. COnfu-
sion, embarrassment was on every
face. Nobody spoke. Hardin was
coming closer.
"Hello, Hardin"
Hello, Richard"
1t appeared friendly enough to the
surprised office. Both men were glad
that it was over.
mice Offices" remarked Hardin, his
legs outspread, his hands in his peck
cts.
"Ogilvie is satisfied with them"
The men rather overdid the laugh.
Finding the dust pretty tough?' in
quired Hardin.
II spent month in San Francisco
last summer" was the rejoinder.
'This is a haven, though, from the
street. Thought I'd loaf for today
Was Hardin game to do the right
thing, introduce him as the new chief
to his subordinates? Nothing, it de-
yeloped, was further from his inten-
ton. Hardin. his legs outstretched,
kept before his face the bland, i'm
penetrable smile of the oriental. 1t
was clearly not Richards move The
checker players fidgeted. Richards
| SlICHCC was 11dEulIl
still smiled.
The outer door opened.
The newcomer, evidently a favorite,
walked into noisy welcome, the
"boys'" embarrassment OVERRIDING it.
He was of middle height, slender-a
Mexican with Castilian ancestry writ.
ten in his high-bred features, his grace
and his straight, dark hair"
e"Good morning, Estrada" said Har.
din with the same meaningless smile
"Good morning, gentlemen" The
Mexican's greeting paused at Richard.
"Mr. Estrada Mr.. Rickard.'
Everyone in the office saw Hardin
snub his other opportunity He had
betrayed to everyone his deep hurt.
his raw wound. When he had
stepped down, under cover of resig.
nation, he had saved his face by tell.
ing everyone that a rupture with
Maitland, one of the directors of the
reorganized company, had made il
impossible for them to serve together
and that Maitland's wealth and i'm.