The Long Chance

be a minor one. The real problem is the acquisition of four or five thousand dollars to drive my tunnel, and after that I must scrape together thirty-nine thousand dollars to advance to my

and burned. Then I must build several miles of concrete aqueduct, with laterals to carry the water for irrigation, and I must install a hydro-electric power-plant, purchase telegraph pol

his future. "Whew-w-w!" he sighed. "I'll need oodles of money

s and they walked slowly-up a

pped. If your suspicions are well founded you will find yourself oppose

h to a conclusion, successful or unsuccessful, this great work to which he had set his hand meant that until the finish came he must renounce his hope of marriage with Donna. True, he might

optimism, a great load of care was already resting-the destiny of his people. She realized that he needed help; she thought of her insignificant savings (some six hundred dollars) reposing in the strong-box of the eating-hou

ould not avail. The dictates of his manhood would not permit him to accept, and u

fight. I know the kind of man I want to marry. If he starts anything that's big and noble and worthy of him, I want him to finish it-if he wants to marry me. Success or failur

re hit, the hig

f your bla

t that you're li

d you figh

an rights, but I do know that if you sold your Pagans into bondage for money to marry me, I'd be ashamed of you-and disappointed. Don't let you

What is it-you wonde

for a prom

gran

married despite defeat and failure, and you'l

girl, I could

ppiness, regardless of tradition and ancient usage, provided she conforms to all of the law, legal and moral. If you go forth to battle and they slaughter you, I claim the righ

gainst his great breas

sobbed. "We're young, Bob-and I do not want to wai

tender words, and it was characteristic of the

land, and without further ado I shall sell my water-right to the best possible advantage. The enemy may conclude to pay me a reasonable price for it, rather than declare war and delay the development of their land. The power possibilities of my water-right are tremendous and I think I can force a good price, for I can poke away at m

ce, transfigured

win o

scrape together the price of a marriage

f the desert, d

sculine inconsistency Bob was beginning to equivocate) "I may not be able to sell my water-right and the enemy may elect to play a waiting ga

ed passionately. "We're young. We'll f

is left hand under her chin and tilted her face upward. He was stooping to seal their compact with a true lov

h?" He stood at the corner of the house, with

Graw. "His Royal Highness

nger at the lovers. "If I wa

r, that's what you are!" cried Don

to greet the gambler. "I'll have you know that in approaching this ranch hereafter, you will be required t

corns on my hands a-bangin' that there iron gate to announce my approach, an' it wasn't no use; so I just made u

made swift appraisal of Bob McGraw from heels to hair. "You've filled o

be out in a

n the secluded patio and talked generalities for ten minutes. Donna knew that Mr. Hennage must have some

The gambler tittered foolishly. "Ain't a soul can tell Miss Pickett who the feller is or where he's at, except me an' Doc Taylor an' Miss Donna

nder who could know that I might be found in San Pasqual I didn't tell anybody I was headed

e that shiny, lined up at the Silver Dollar bar the other day an' bought a drink for himself. Yes, he drank alone-which goes to prove that men with money ain't always got the best manners in the world. Well, after stowin' away his little jolt, he comes fussin' around among the boys, askin' which one of 'em is Mr.

he informed me that he'd been told I knew the name o' the little hoss' owner, I told him I did-that the little r

ll, that don't correspond none with

iggest hoss thieves living besides, I ain't feelin' disputatious

n' he says, 'It means a g

ou call a g

ey' h

givin' no money to no Mexican, because he'

he says, like a snappin' turtle, 'I

untry? Why I didn't know he was wanted. What's it this tim

in' the details,' says this wealth

thin'. Well, you might own that hoss, but you've got to prove property. McGraw sold the hoss to Enrique an' lit out for Bakersfield, an' I won the hoss from Enriqu

ady to pull his nose. 'If you should see Mr. McGraw, you might be good enough, to tel

' he went back to Miss Pickett. I want to tell you, children, that any tim

quare of cardboard and handed it to Bob.

& IRRIGATION COMPANY, 414-422 SOUTHERN

ut I can't recall just what it is. However, I can hazard a good guess as to what he desires to see me about. I'm glad y

ob, and just to keep up appearances, you give me an order for that registered letter, datin' the order from Bakersfield, to-morrow, an' I'll mail that order from Bakersfield to myself in San Pasqual. Then to-morrow night when I get back I'll go to the post-

d order for Harley P., Donna and the gambler were left alo

there artesian well is spoutin' mint juleps. Say, Miss Donnie, if ever I see a cold-blooded, fishy, snaky, ornery man, it's this T. Morgan Carey-an' at that he's a dead ringer for a church deacon. That Carey man would steal a hot stove without burnin' himself. Now, this young Bob is an impulsive cuss, an' if h

age. I have great fa

in', I call the turn,

lded across his ample abdomen, staring thoughtfully a

our mother" he said p

. Hennage tucked it carefully in his side coat pocket; then fr

n you're ready to toddle about" he added, with a lightning wink and a slight movement of his fat thumb and

in at the Kern County Bank and Trust Company in Bakersfield to-morrow and get m

n't bluffin'

rley. I have a

He waved his hand and departed w

d behind him when Bob turned

hrough the patio, "I knew I was treading on somebody's toes when I filed on that water, Donna.

strange? How did he discover you had a water-right, investigate it, asce

ed on one hundred thousand miners' inches of water for power and irrigation. Now, there isn't that much non-alkaline water available anywhere in the valley-at least under the control of one man or one corporation, and of course it frightened Carey. He wired his field engineer, who was probably in Inyo county at the time, to investigate. The engineer found my location notices tacked to a cottonwood tree right where I'm going to drive my tunnel, and he im

to sell to somebody who realizes the value of my holdings. Up Inyo way they know me for a range rider, a desert rat, a ne'er-do-well, and it

know definitely, then, what to expect. In the meantime, Bob, I think you've dreamed enou

en I clash with T. Morgan Carey's company I'll talk-turkey. If you'll

egistered letter. He brought it over to Donna at the eating-house, delivering with it a pantomime of the inquisitive Miss Picket

mpany Carey requested the favor of an interview at an early date to take up with Bob the matter of purchasing his newly acquired water-righ

to his letter?

him that my locati

gested. "Harley P.'s reputation is bad eno

retention of his nurse, for Donna could not continue to entertain him unchaperoned, even in such a free-and-easy town as San Pasqual, and he was fearful that a longer stay, even under the prevailing conditions, might prove embarrassing to Donna, in ca

l of time in which to do it. Accordingly Bob issued a check to Doc Taylor that evening in payment of his fee, dismissed his nurse and paid her off, and left wi

nformation respecting the physical dimensions of Mr. McGraw, the gambler had attended to Bob's shopping, and upon Donna's return to the Hat Ranch that night she discovered

now I'm feeling clean and respectable again, at any rate, and I'

elow the tail of

uck it up un

led the belt over his right shoulder, permitting the

g like the hero of a dime novel. I suppose if a tourist saw that gun hanging down he'd think

it here until

course I have a watch, but its hockable value is negative. When I was very young I was foolish enough to hav

at discovery" she said. "You lost your hat the night you arrived in San Pasqual, bu

and pride of the tourist who sacrificed it to the San Pasqual zephyr. She pinched it to

ear" she

original owner a month's board. Whew! That's a bird of a hat

lible pencil wrote his name in full. He had ridden range long enough to acquire the habit of branding

re occupied with dreams of the future, and the tragedy of that farewell lay heavy upon them. Lover-like, each exacted from the oth

e was not to leave until the next day, and being a discreet woman, and kindly withal, she had had the delicacy to bid her patient farewell in the patio. Donna accompanied him to the front gate, and ther

e gate and watched it until it vanished; she waited until Twenty-six came thundering by at eleven-thirty-five and heard the grind of the brakes as the long train pulled up at the station. Five minutes later she heard i

ired to her room and cried herself to sleep. Once more she was left to battl

ost appalling loneliness and later wended his way weakly to the bank where his meager funds were on deposit. Here he had his account balanced and discovered that his total fortune amounted

ed Donna on the long-distance phone and frittered away two dollars in inconsequential conversation. However, he felt amply rewarded for the extravagance when Donna's voic

ne of genuine happiness for the rest of the day Mr. McGraw would have considered cheap at the price of his great toe or a hastily plucked handful of his auburn locks. As fo

eal period of his existence that no amount of extenuating circumstances may be adduced in defense of it. While the promoter of Donnaville was a true son of the desert, he was college-bred, and with the sight now, for the first time in several years, of trolley cars, automobiles and people wearing clean linen,

denuded him of ten dollars. Into the heart of this cluster of fragrance he caused to be secreted a tiny envelope enclosing a card, upon which he had drawn a heart w

squal. It was the first lover's bouquet Donna had ever received and she bent low behind the cash register and kissed the foolish little card, for the hand of her B

to bed. Late that afternoon he arose, much refreshed, dined and waited arou

hird-class hotel, and after writing a letter to Donna, he went down town, purchased a

appealed to the sporting instinct in his ultra-sporty soul-lay in the fact that it would cost him only fifteen hundred dollars to try! Twelve hundred and seventy-five in preliminary payments, filing fees and notary's fees, and the balance in hotel bills, traveling expenses, etc.; but as an offset to his comparatively brilliant prospects of