The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1924-09-10
BY ROBERT STEAD
Novel of the Foothills
ce,,rishs b. ROBERT STEAD
CHAPTER xII-Contlnued


-15-
The two friends discussed at great
length the details of the Big Idea, and
upon arrival in the West, Under lost
NO time in preparing blueprints and
charts descriptive of the improve
ments to be made on the land and the
order In which the work was to be
carried on. Grant bought a tract suit
- able to his purpose, and the wheels
of the machine were set In motion
When this h-I tsen zone Grant
turned to the working out Of his own
individual experiment.
During the period In which these ar
rangements were being made 1t was
inevitable that Grant should have
heard more or less of Transley. He
had not gone out of his way to seek
information of the contractor, but 1t
rather had been forced upon him.
Transley's name was frequently heard
In the offices of the business men with
whom he had to do; 1t was mentioned
in local papers with the regularity Pc
culiar to celebrities In comparatively
small centers. Transley, 1t appeared,
had become something of a power In
the land. Backed by old Y.D.'s capt.
tai, he had carried some rather daring
ventures through to success. He had
seized the panicky moments following
the outbreak of the war to buy heavily
on the wheat and cattle markets, and
increases in prices due to the WORLDS
demand for food had made him one
of the wealthy men of the city. The
desire of many young farmers to enlist
had also afforded an opportunity to
acquire their holdings for small con-
siderations, and Transley had proved
his patriotism by facilitating the am
billions of as many men In this posi-
ton as came to his attention. The
fact that even before the war ended
the farms which he acquired In this
way were worth several times the
price he paid was only an incident In
the transactions.
But no word of Transley's domestic |
affairs reached Grant, who told him
self that he had ceased to be inter- |
ested In them, but kept an alert ear
nevertheless. 1t would seem that |
Transley rather eclipsed his wife In
the public eye.
So Grant set about with the devel-
opment of his own farm, and kept his
mind occupied with 1t and with his
larger experiment-except when 1t
went flirting with thoughts Of Phyllis
Bruce. He had written to Murdoch
to engage Phyllis at any price and
bring her West with him. She would
be needed in the new business. He
had intimated that the change would
be permanent, and that 1t might be
we'll to bring the family.
He selected a farm where a ridgS
Of foothills overlooked a broad valley
receding into the mountains. The
dealer had no idea of selling him this
particular piece Of land; they were
bound for a half section farther up the
slope when Grant stopped on the brow
of the hill to feast his eyes on the
scene that lay before him. 1t burst
upon him with the unexpectedness pc
culiar to the foothill valleys; miles of
gently undulating plain, lying appar-
emily far below. but in reality rising
in a sharp ascent toward the snow
capped mountains looking down silent
" through their gauze of blue-purple !
afternoon mist. At distances which
even his trained eye would not at
tempt to compute lay little round (
lakes like silver coins on the surface ,
Of the prairie; here and there were
dark green bluffs Of spruce; to the .
right a ribbon of river, blue-green
ave where the rapids churned 1t
white, and along its edge fringe OF {
eafy cottonwoods; at vast intervals
SQUARE black plots of plowed land like t
sections on a chessboard of the gods, '
and farm buildings cut so clear in the I
atmosphere that the sense
If space was lost and they seemed '
ike child-houses just across the way.
Grant turned to his companion with T
IN animation on his face which almost t
tartled the prosaic dealer in real b
state. o
wonderful Wonderful" he ex- v
laimed. 1--WE don't need to go any IL
arther II you can sell me this
Sure / can sell you this" said the b
ealer, looking at him somewhat n
ueerly. THAT is, If you want 1t. II
bought you were looking for wheat d
arm" &
The mans total lack Of apprecia- p
lon irritated Grant unreasonably. <
Wheat hlls the belly" he retorted, e.
but sunsets keep alive the soul. What h
the price?" v
Again the dealer gave him queer u
look, and made as though to II
rgue with him, then suddenly seemed
, change his purpose. Perhaps he =,
effected that strange things happened
, the boys overseas NJ
"Tn get you the price In .s~.- he al
lid. you are sure 1t will suit?"
"Suit? No king In Christendom has to
Is palace on a site like this. I'd go
,uud the world for it." OF
You're the doctor" saiu the dealer ca
Irning his car