CHAPTER XVIII.
THE GAME PROGRESSES.
The purchase of the South Central District water rights by JeffersonWorth was immediately announced by The King's Basin Messenger in alengthy article which began with the modest statement that this was thelargest and most important business transaction that had yet occurredin the new country. The article declared that the name of JeffersonWorth was a guarantee that the new district would be made the richestand most prosperous section of the Basin and that--splendid as theundertaking was--it was only the beginning of far greater things to bewrought by the wizard of the desert whose genius had made him thegreatest factor in the reclamation and development of The King's Basincountry. The work would be begun at once--as soon as men and teamscould be secured.
The thoughtful Manager of The King's Basin Land and Irrigation Companyread the article with a grin, shifted his cigar to the corner of hismouth, cocked his head to one side and sent a marked copy of the paperto the Company's president.
James Greenfield read the article with the satisfaction of a goodbusiness man who sees his competitor heavily over-stocked with a lineof goods for which there is no market. The pioneers in the desert whowere not already located, and the newly arriving prospectors read andcalled upon Mr. Worth for further information. The article, reprintedin the Rubio City papers, was read by many who, familiar with JeffersonWorth's business record, took the San Felipe trail for the new district.
The main supply camp for the new work was established at Dry RiverCrossing, the location being ideal, with an abundant supply of runningwater from the waste gate at the heading coming down the old channelwhere Barbara's mother had perished of thirst beside a dry water hole.From the camp, the San Felipe trail led in one direction straight toRubio City and in the other to the main road in the heart of the Basinhalf way between Kingston and Frontera. At this camp Jefferson Worthmade his headquarters. Not a man, whether he presented himselfempty-handed or with team and tools, but was forced to talk with Mr.Worth in his tent office before he was set to work under Abe Lee andhis three lieutenants--Texas, Pat and Pablo.
It was in those days that Willard Holmes reported to the Manager thatmany of his men were leaving the Company and were going to work forJefferson Worth. The news did not appear to alarm Mr. Burk. With a grinhe advised the engineer, "Don't worry, old man. They'll be damned gladto come back to us before many weeks." "I was looking out a route forthe new central main yesterday," said Holmes, "and rode over to Worth'scamp at the Crossing. Judging from the size and activity of the camp,he is planning to go in good and strong. He must have a big force atwork now and he is taking on men all the time."
"Your Uncle Jim will be delighted to hear of Friend Jefferson'senterprise."
The engineer's face did not express appreciation of the Manager's wit."Have you heard the proposition that Mr. Worth is making to every manon the job?" he asked.
"No, what is he doing? Giving away one hundred and sixty shares ofstock with free telephones and electric lights, passes at the operahouse, unlimited credit at the store and a deposit at the bank as abonus to anyone who will locate in his district? He seems to have allkinds of money to throw away."
"It's not quite so bad as that," answered the other with a smile. "Buthe tells every man, when he hires him, to file on any claim in thedistrict that he wants and he can have the water rights for it withoutany cash payment and without any interest for five years. In a goodmany cases he is even advancing money to pay the government entry feeand promising to carry them for their equipment and supplies until theymake a crop. But he makes them agree to stay on the land and actuallyfarm the claims. He won't let a speculator even look in."
Mr. Burk expressed his opinion of Jefferson Worth's ability in thestrongest terms. The man was insane, childish! Those fellows wouldleave him high and dry.
"That's what I said at first," agreed Holmes. "I asked Bill Watson, whoquit us with his team at Number Five to go to work in the SouthCentral, if he actually thought Worth was going to let his men make allthe money."
"What did Bill say?"
Holmes smiled. "You know how Bill talks? 'Hell, no,' he said. 'I put itto the old man just that way myself. I says, say I: 'That sounds goodall right, Mr. Worth; but it ain't reasonable that you're leavin'yourself out of this deal. Where do you come in?' says I. 'Who's thejoker in this little game?'"
"And Worth explained?" put in Burk eagerly, shaken out of his usualthoughtful calm by Holmes's story.
"Bill says that Mr. Worth told him that he owns a big tract of landwhere the camp is located and that he is going to build a town thereand would make his money by the increased value of his property thatwould result from the development of the district; by businessenterprises that would depend on the prosperity of the ranchers; and bythe large increase in the value of water rights that he would selllater to those who came in to invest after the district was developed.I suggested to Bill that he could see how Worth was simply using him togain his own ends."
"And did Bill see the point?"
"He said: 'You're damned right he is, and so am I usin' Jefferson Worthto gain my ends, ain't I? I might work for the Company a hundred yearsand never get a cent more than the wages that you're payin' now.Jefferson Worth, he pays me the same wages and gives me a chance to getmy share of all that comes out of what I do. I don't care a damn if hemakes ten millions out of the country. I hope he will, because he isgiving us poor devils, who ain't got nothin' now, a chance to get aranch an' do somethin' for ourselves. Of course he uses us to makemoney for himself. So does the Company use us, don't they? Thedifference is that Jefferson Worth lets us use _him_ and the Companyjust counts us in with the rest of the live stock.'"
"How did you get around that?" asked Burk, studying his companion'sface.
"I didn't get around it," answered the engineer dryly.
Burk leaned back in his chair and spoke with unusual earnestness. "Billis right, Holmes. We consider the men who work for us as we considerhorses and mules. We feed the stock; we pay wages to the men. When ananimal is worn out and useless, we kill him and get another. When a manis down and out, we fire him and hire another, and you and I are nobetter. The Company looks on us exactly the same way. We have no morereal interest in this work than the skinniest old plug on the job andthe Company won't permit us to have. They think they couldn't affordit--that it wouldn't be Good Business. 'Get up!' 'Whoa!' 'Back!' 'Move,damn you! and here's your corn and hay.' That's all we have to do withit. If you balk and kick, out you go to rustle your own feed. It's abeautiful system--for the Company. I almost wish that Worth had achance to try out his scheme. It would at least be an interestingexperiment to watch."
"Well, why hasn't he a chance to try it out?"
"You know very well why. Because the deal that your talented unclefixed up for our friend Jeff was loaded for the express purpose ofblowing that philanthropic promoter into financial Kingdom-come. Didn'tyou report that the development of that South Central District waspractically impossible because of the elevations?"
"Yes."
"Well, ordinarily the project would have been abandoned then and there.But I suggested to Mr. Greenfield that we go ahead as if everything wasall right and then unload it on Worth so that he would smash himself,as he is doing."
"You should be proud of your scheme."
"I am proud of the scheme, but I'm not proud of myself. I'm being agood mule, that's all. Jefferson Worth took our apparent purpose to goahead with the work as evidence that the proposition was all right andthat's why Jefferson Worth will not finish his intended experiment."
"Yes, but the fact is he did not accept the proposition withoutinvestigation."
"What?"
The engineer told the Manager what he had learned from Barbara. Burkwhistled softly. "Then you think the old fox sent Abe Lee out to checkour survey and framed up his trip to the city to gain time? Well, I'llbe--But look here, Holmes, Worth didn't accept our proposition untilafter he had investigated?"
 
; "No."
"Well; who makes the mistake then, your man Black or Abe Lee?"
"That's exactly what I'd like to know," said the Company's chiefengineer grimly.
The Manager grinned as he saw the possibilities of the situation, thenthoughtfully he selected a cigar. "Pretty game, isn't it, old man," hesaid and offered the box to Holmes who declined.
When the weed was going well the Manager's head tipped toward his leftshoulder and his cigar was in the opposite corner of his mouth. "Andyou knew what Worth was up to before the deal was closed? Why didn'tyou report it, Holmes?"
The engineer frowned. "I didn't tell Mr. Worth what Black's surveyshowed, and you must remember that Uncle Jim rubbed it into me good andhard on the question of the construction work that the policy of theCompany was none of my business. This deal was not in my department."
"Dear me," murmured the Manager with another grin. "What a well-brokenCompany mule it is. And you were so dead sure of your man Black. Whichwould you rather, my boy, have Black right and Abe wrong--the Companyto win; or have Black wrong and Abe right--and Jefferson Worth free togo on with his little experiment?"
"Speak for yourself," growled Holmes.
"I will," returned Burk. "I have been a good mule, so my conscience isclear. If I knew how and thought it would do any good I would pray thatAbe Lee made no mistake."
"Well, I won't believe that it's Black's mistake. He comes from toogood a school," Holmes replied stubbornly.
"And your confidence in your man is no doubt equaled by Worth'sconfidence in his. Interesting, isn't it?"
"You go to thunder!" growled the engineer unable to stand more. TheManager's mocking laugh followed him out of the room.
As the engineer passed the open window of the office a moment laterBurk called to him softly: "Oh, Holmes; I have an idea that may behelpful to you in the matter."
Against his will the engineer paused and drew close to the window."Well?"
"Why don't you call on Miss Worth? Perhaps--"
But Willard Holmes fled. And yet that which Burk suggested in jest wasexactly what Willard Holmes had already determined in his own mind todo.
The engineer had not seen Barbara since the conclusion of the SouthCentral deal and he was continually asking himself how the girl wouldlook upon his part in that transaction, or rather his failure to take apart in it. Barbara's frank confession, when she had asked him toforgive her for blaming him because of the Seer's dismissal that theymight start square, had put their friendship upon such a ground thatthe man felt guilty in not confessing at once to her how he had aidedGreenfield and Burk in their effort to trap her father. He could notshake off the conviction that she would undoubtedly look upon hisattitude as being what she had called untrue to the work--the one thingshe had declared she could not forgive. Would she forgive him? She hadbeen so interested in his work, and the engineer was beginning torealize how very much this meant to him. At the Worth home the engineerlearned from the Indian woman that Barbara had left Kingston thatmorning to visit her father in his camp in the South Central District.She had gone with Texas Joe in the buckboard and they had taken hersaddle horse, El Capitan.
When would La Senorita return? Ynez did not know.