The Daily Alaska empire., 1934-04-21
Chapter 35 PACIFYING scoGGINs

WELL, sir, then we looked in a
 W store window and there was a dress all shimmerin' like it had fish scales on it." Scoggins went on.
 "Sequins, they're called" said Judith, little metal things that dovetail into each other"
 Well this one was a green one and Mamie she looked at it and then she looked at me and her eyes were chockfull of tears, just bein' happy. 'Ain't it grand? she says.
 Next mornin' l made like l was goin' up to buy me a ceegar and went to that store aimin' to buy that dress for Mamie if it took my roll Whatcha think they asked for it? Two hundred and fifty dollars. didn't get it."
 Judith appeared to be as shocked as Scoggins had hoped she would be, but beneath her sympathetic ex- pression was worry. What in the name of goodness was the man lead ing up to?
 Miss Judith, I got a chance to git them things for Mamie, an git Tommy a car and send him to col lege, without waiting for trees to grow and him too old to go and Mamie too old to enjoy things got a chance right now.
 You know that piece a land l got that juts into your flood basin? There's oil there and I'm here to tell you, you cain't use it for water"
 One trick that Judith had learned during her years as secretary to Big Tom Bevins was to maintain si- fence in a crisis, to let the other person speak first.
 Judith felt that the fate of the Rio Diablo Dam hung in precarious balance as she sat watching Scog- gins. Without his land there could be no dam, it formed queer shaped snakes figure jutting far out into the flood basin.
 Big Toms faith in scoggins had been so complete he had neglected to gain his consent to its use ill writing. Judith remembered calling his attention to it the night of their first vigil, but he had insisted such a procedure would be jeopardizing Scoggins trust in him, after Seog1 gins had refused such a big price for his land.
 Don't reckon you understood, Miss Judy he began again, trou- bled shame in his voice, I'm going to git oil on my land and cain't if its flooded, see?"
 What makes you think there is oil on your land?" she inquired, with nothing but sympathetic inter- est in Ter voice.
 THERE'S been a man there with
 l divinin' rod working about the place. To tell you tn truth, Miss Judy" he leaned close and half whispered, there's a great lake of oil underneath this here valley, yes sir, just like they've got up to Long view"
 Strange the man didn't want to purchase it from you" she unused.
 'He did" was the quick answer, then Loyalty, but I promised Big Tom I wouldn't sell to nobody"
 Judith repressed a smile at the unintentioned satire of his re- mark land then what did he say ?'
 That he'd sink a test we'll and take percentage for the sinkin' if I'd see the place didn't get flooded"
 And how was that to be brought about?"
 ''He said he'd go to court for me and git an in-an in"
 Injunction, offered Judith to whom the word was fast becoming a nemesis.
 "Yes that's it, court order he ex- plained, keepin' you from going ahead with your work until we could prove there's oil there"
 ''Is he going to do that?" Judith asked, as calmly as she could.
 Not unless he has to-"
 "But MT. Scoggins you know as well as I do that the construction of the dam as it is going along now, won't harm your land. The gates will be kept open for the very sake of the dam until it is completed. There isn't much chance of having a flood like you had here last year and if you did your oil land would be flooded anyway, wouldn't it?"
 "Yeh. but he says once you get it built we can't stop you, if we're