itiimt-mi'titf wmmt C?ilMWiwiifo HSifHitm t r u v u . as rCMr4MiJi,MullM.a'MrrWM'UMitl RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA, CHIEF i R 1 The Real Man By FRANCIS LYNDE (Copyright by Cbas. J. MONTAGUE SMITH, LATE OF LAWRENCEVILLE, DISCOV ERS THAT AS "JOHN SMITH," A CONSTRUCTION CAMP WORKER, HE CANT CONCEAL HIS PAST LIFE 8ynopsl J. Montague Smith, cashier of the Lawrenccvlllo Hank and TruHt company, bachelor society leader engaged to marry Verda Itlchlander, heiress, Is wrongfully accused of dishonesty by Wntrous Dunham, bin employer, and urged to be a scapegoat for the crooked accuser. Smith Htrlkes Dunham, leaves hlui for dead and flues the Rtute. He turns up " tramp some time later at un Irrigation dam con Htructlon camp In the llocky mountains and as John Smith gets a rough Job. CHAPTER IV Continued. 'Tin afraid he'd have to loosen up on his record a little before we could bring him In here. Badly as we're needing a money man, wo enn hardly afford to put a 'John Smith' Into the Hnddlc at least not without knowing what his other name used to be." "No; of courso not. I guess, after all, he's only a 'lame duck,' like a good many of tho rest of them. Day beforo yesterday, Burdell, tho deputy nherlfT, was out at tho camp looking the gangs over for tho fellow who broke Into Lannlgan's plnco last Saturday night. When ho came Into tho olllce Smith was busy with nn estimate, and Bur dell went up and touched him on the shoulder, Just to let him know that It vns time to wako up. Suffering cats t It took three of us to keep him from breaking Burdell In two and throwing him out of the window I" "That looks rather bad," was the president's comment. Col. Dexter Bald win had been the first regularly elect ed sheriff of Tlmanyont county In tho early days and ho knew tho symptoms. "Was Burdell wearing bis star where It could be seen?" Tho engineer nodded. "What explanation did Smith make?" "Oh, ho apologized like a gentleman, and said he was subject to little nerv ous attacks like that when anybody touched him unexpectedly. He took Burdell over to Pete SImm's shack sa loon and bought htm a drink. Perkins, the timekeeper, says he's going to get a megaphone so he can give duo notice In advance when he wants to call Smith's attention". Tho colonel pulled out a drawer In the desk, found his box of diplomatic cigars and passed It to tho engineer, saying: "Light up a sure-enough good one, and tell mo what you think Smith has been doing back yonder In tho other country." Williams took tho cigar but he shied ut the conundrum. "Ask me something easy," he said, "I've stacked up a few guesses. He's .from tho middle West as tho Blblo says, his 'speech betrayeth' him and he's had a good Job of some kind ; the kind that required him to keep nbrenst of things. If there's anything In looks, you'd say he wnsn't a thief or nn em .bezzler, and yet It's pretty apparent that he's been used to handling money In chunks and making It work for Us living. I've put It up that there's a woman In It. Perhaps tho other fel low got In his way, or came up behind him nnd touched him unexpectedly, or something of that sort. Anyway, I'm not going to believe he's n crooked crook until I have to." Colonel Baldwin helped himself to ono of his own cigars, nnd the talk went back to business. In the Irri gation project, Wllllnms wns a stock 'holder as well as chief of construction, nnd Baldwin had more than once ifound him a safe adviser. There wns need for counsel. The Tlmauyonl Ditch company was In a rather hazard ous condition financially, and the presi dent and Williams rarely met without coming sooner or later to a threshing out of tho situation. Tho difficulties were those which ore apt to confront n small and local enter prise when It Is so unfortunato as to get In tho way of larger undertakings. .Colonel Baldwin, and a group of his neighbors on the north sldo of the Tlver, were reformed cattlemen and liorso breeders. Instead of drifting farther west In advance of tho Incom ing Udo of population following tho coming of the railroad, they had availed themselves of their homestead rights and had taken up much of tho grass land In the favorablo valleys, Ir rigating It at first with water taken out of tho river In private or neighbor hood ditches. Later on camo tho sheep-feeding period, and after that the utilization of larger crop-raising arcus. Tho small ditches proving tnndequnto for these, Colonel Baldwin had formed a stock company among his neighbors in tho grass lunds nnd his friends In Brewster for tho building of n substantial dum In tho eastern hills, Tho project had seemed simple enough In the beginning. Tho stock was sold for cash and each stockholder would bo a participating user of tho water. Williams, who had .been a United Slates reclamation man beforo ho camo to tho Tlmanyonl, had tando careful estimates, and tho stock subscription provided money enough to cover tho cost of tho dam and tho main ditch. Scribner's Sons) After some little bargaining, tho dam site nnd the overflow land for the reservoir lake had been secured, nnd the work was begun. Out of n clear sky, however, came trouble and harass ment. Allen holders of mining claims In tho reservoir area turned up nnd demanded damages. Some few home steaders who hud promised to sign quitclaims changed their minds nnd sued for relief, and after tho work was well under way It appeared that there was a cloud on tho title of tho dam site Itself. All of these clashlngs were car ried Into court, nnd the rancher pro moters found themselves confronting Invisible enemies and obstacle-raisers at every turn. The legal fight, as they soon found out, cost much money In every phase of It; nnd now, when the dam was scarcely more than half completed, n practically empty treasury was star ing them In tho face. There wns no disguising the fact that a crisis wns approaching, a financial crisis which no ono among tho nmnteur promoters was big enough to cope with. "We've got to go In deeper, colonel; there Is nothing else to do," wns the engineer's summing up of the mntter nt the close of the conference. "Tho snow Is melting pretty rapidly on the range now, nnd when we get the Juno rise we'll stand to Ioso everything wo hnve If wo can't keep every wheel turning to get ready for tho high water." Baldwin was holding his cigar be tween his fingers and sco.wllng nt it as if it had mortally offended him. "Assessments on the stock, you mean?" ho said. "I'm afraid our crowd won't stand for thnt. A good pnrt of It Is ready to lie down In tho harness right now." "now about a bond Issue?" asked the engineer. "Whnt do we, or nny of us, know about bond Issues? Why, we knew barely enough about the business nt the start to chip In together nnd buy us a charter and go to work on n plan n little bit bigger than tho neighborhood ditch Idea. You couldn't ilont bonds In Tlmanyonl Pnrk, and we're none of us foxy enough to go East and float 'em." "I guess that's right, too," admitted Williams. "Besides, with the stock gone off the way It has, It would take a mighty tlnc-hulred financial shnrp to sell bonds." "What's thnt?" demnnded the presi dent. "Who's been selling nny stock?" "Buck Gardner, for one; and thnt man Boiling, up nt the head of Little creek, for another. Maxwell, tho rnll road superintendent, told mo nbout It, nnd ho says that tho price offered, and accepted, was thirty-nine." "Dad burn u cuss with a yellow streak In him I" rasped tho Missouri colonel. "We hnd a fair nnd squnro ngreement among ourselves thnt If nny body got senred ho wns to glvo tho rest of us a chance to buy him out. Who bought from these welshers?" "Maxwell didn't know that, no said It was done through Klnzlo's bank. From whnt I'vo heard on the outside, I'm Inclined to suspect that Crawford Stanton was the buyer." "Stnnton, the real-estate man?" "The same." Agnln the president stared thought fully at the glowlug end of his cigar. "There's another of the confounded mysteries," he growled. "Who Is Craw ford Stanton, nnd what Is ho hero for? I know what he advertises, but every body In Brewster knows thnt he hasn't mndo a living dollnr In rcnl estate slnco ho camo here last summer. Wil liams, do you know, I'm beginning to suspect that there Is a mighty big nigger In our little wood pllo?" "You mean that all these stubborn holdups have been bought and paid for? You'll remember that Is what Billy Starbuck tried to tell us when tho first of tho missing nilnlng-clnim owners began to shout at us." "Starbuck hus n long head, and what he doesn't know about mining claims In this part of tho country wouldn't fill n very big book. I remember ho said thcro had nover been any prospecting dono In tho upper Tlmanyonl gulches, and now you'd think half tho peoplo In tho United States had been nosing around up thero with n pick and shovel nt ono time or another. But it was a thing thnt Starbuck told mo no longer ago than yesterday that set mo to thinking," Baldwin went on. "Ab you know, tho old Escalauto Spanish grant corners over In tho western part of this park. When tho old grants wcro made, they wcro ruled off on tho map with out reference to mountnln ranges or other nntural barriers." Williams nodded. "Well, as I say, ono corner of the Es calantc reaches over the Hophras and out Into the park, covering about eight or ten square miles of tho territory Just beyond us on our side of the river. Starbuck told me yesterday that a big Eastern colonization company had got a hill throuch congress alienating that tract." The chief of construction bounded out of his chair nnd began to walk the llnor. "By George 1" he snld; nnd again: "By George! That's what we're up against, colonel l Where will those fellows get the water for their land? Thcro Is no site for n dam lower down thnn ours, nnd, anyway, that land lies too high to be watered by any thing but a high-lino ditch I" "Nice little brace game, Isn't it?" growled Baldwin. "If wo hadn't been n lot of hayseed amateurs, we might have found out long ngo that someone was running In n cold deck on us. Whnt's your notion? Are we doue up, world without end?" Williams' Inugh was grim. "Whnt we need, colonel, Is to go out on the street nnd yell for n doctor," he said. "It's beginning to look ns If we hnd acquired a pretty bad case of ma llgnnnt strangle-ltls." Baldwin ran his fingers through his hair and admitted that he had lost his sense of humor. "This Eastern crowd Is trying to freeze us out, to get our dam nnd reser voir nnd ditch rights for their Esca lante scheme. When they do, they'll turn nround nnd sell us water nt fifty dollars an Inch, or something like thnt I" "Whnt breaks my heart Is that we haven't been nble to surround the sure enough fact while thero was still time to do something," lamented the ex reclamation man. "The first thing we know, S-tnnton will own n majority of the stock and bo voting us all out of n Job. You'll have to come around to my suggestion, nfter nil, and advertise for a doctor." It was said of the chief of construction that he would have Joked on his death-bed, nnd, ns n fol lower for the Joke, he added: "Why don't you call Smith In and glvo him tho Job?" "You don't renlly mean that, Wil liams, do you?" growled the colonel. "No, I didn't mean It when I snld It," was tho engineer's admission; "I was only trying to get a rise out of you. But really, colonel, on second thought, I don't know but It is worth considering. As I say, Smith seems to know the "and Yell for a Doctor." money gnmo from stnrt to finish. Whnt is better still, ho Is a fighter from the word go whnt you might call a Joyous fighter. Supposo you drive out tomor row or next dny and pry into him n little." Tho rnncher-presldent had relapsed once moro Into tho slough of dlscour lgement. "You are merely grabbing for hand holds, Bnrtley as I was n minute ago. Wo nre in n bad row of stumps when we enn sit here nnd talk seriously about roping down a young hobo nnd putting him Into the flnnnclnl harness. Let's go nround to Frascatl's and eat before you go back to camp. It's bread time, anyway." Tho chief of construction said no more about his Joking suggestion nt the moment, but when they were walking nround the squnro to, the Brewster Del monlco's he went bnck to tho dropped subject In all seriousness, saying: "Just the same, I wish you could know Smith nnd slzo him up ns I have. I can't help believing, some way, that he's all to the good." CHAPTER V. The Specialist. Though tho matter of calling In an expert doctor of finance to diagnose tho nlnrmlng symptoms In Tlmanyonl ditch hnd been left indetermlnnto In the talk between Colonel Baldwin nnd him self, Wllllnms did not let It go entirely by default. On tho day following the Brewster office conference the engineer sent for Smith, who wns checking the output of tho crushers at tho quarry, and a llttlo later tho "botterment" mnn presented himself nt tho door of tho corrugated-Iron Bhack which served as a field office for tho chief. Williams looked tho cost-cutter over as ho stood In tho doorway. Smith was thriving and expanding hnndsomcly la the now environment. IIo had let hlu beard grow nnd It was now long enough to bo trimmed to a point. Tho tnvel broken clothes had been exchanged for working khaki, with lnce-boots and leg gings, and tho campaign hat of the en gineers. Though ho had been less .han a month on tho Job, ho was already be ginning to tau nnd toughen under the healthy outdoor work to roughen, as well, his into fellow members of tho Lawrcncovlllo Cotillon club might havo af0ty 111 111 said, since he had fought three plt.hed battles with ns many of the camp bill lies, and had In each of them proved himself a niati of his hands who could not only take punishment, but could hummer an opponent swiftly nnd neat ly Into nny desired state of subjection. "Come In here and sit down; I wnnt to talk to you," was tho way William'? began it; and nfter Smith had found n chair tho chief went on: "Say, Smith, you're too good a man for anything I'vo got for you here. Haven't you realized that?" Smith pulled a memorandum book from his hip pocket nnd ran his eye over the private record he had been keeping. "I've shown you how to effect n few Uttle savings which totnl up something like IB per cent of your cost of produc tion nnd operation," he snld. "Don't you think I'm earnlug my wages?" "That's nil right; I've been keeping tab, too, and I know what you're do ing. But you nre not beginning to earn what you ought to, either for yourself or the company," put In the chief shrewdly. And then: "Loosen up, Smith, nnd tell me something nbout yourself. Who are you, and where do you come from, and what sort of a Job have you been holding down?" Smith's reply wns as surprising ns It was seemlugly Irrelevant. "If you're not too busy, Mr. Wllllnms, I guess you'd better make out my time check," he said quietly. Wllllnms took n retlectlve half-mln-ute for consideration, turning the sud den request over deliberately In his mind, as his habit was. "I suppose by that you mean that you'll quit before you will consent to open up on your record?" he assumed. "You've guessed it," said the man who had sealed the book of his past. Again Williams took a little time. It wns discouraging to hnve his own nnd the colonel's preflgurlngs ns to Smith's probable state and standing so prompt ly verified. "I suppose you know the plain Infer ence you're leaving, when you say a thing like that?" Smith made the sign of assent. "It leaves you entirely nt liberty to finish out tho story to suit yourself," he ad mitted, adding: "The back numbers my back numbers nre my own, Mr. Williams. I've kept a file of them, as everybody does, but I don't have to produce It on request." "Of course, there's nothing compul sory about your producing It. But un less you nre what they call In this country a 'crooked' crook, you nro standing in your own light. You have such a staving good head for figures and finances that It seems a pity for you to bo wasting It here on nn under graduate's Job In cost-cutting. Any young fellow Just out of a technical school could do what you're doing in the way of paring down expenses." The cost-cutter's smile wns mildly Incredulous. "Nobody seemed to be doing It be fore I came," ho offered. "No," Williams allowed, "that's the fact. To tell the plain truth, we've had bigger things to wrestle with; and we have them yet. for thnt mntter enough of them to go all around the Job twice and tie In a bowknot." "Flnnnces?" queried Smith, feeling some of the bnck-number Instincts stir ring within hlra. The chief engineer nodded; then he looked up with a twinkle In his closely set gray eyes. "If you'll tell me why you tried to kill Burdell the other dny, maybe I'll open up the record our record for you." This time the cost-cutter's smile wns good-nnturedly derisive, und It ignored the reference to Burdell. "You don't hnve to open up your record for me; It's the tulk of the camp. You people nre undercnpltal Ized to boll It down Into one word. Isn't that ubout the way It sizes up?" "That Is tho way It has turned out; though we hnd capital enough to begin with. We've been bled to death by damage suits." Smith shook his head. "Why haven't you hired u ilrst class attorney, air. Williams?" "We've hnd the best we could find, but the other fellows have beaten us to it, every time. But the legal end of It hasn't been the whole thing or the biggest part of It. What we are need ing most Is a man who knows a little something about corporation fights and high flnnnce." And at this tho engi neer forgot the Smith disabilities, reul or Inferential, and went on to explain In detail the peculiar helplessness of the Tlmnnyonl company as tho antag onist of the as yet unnamed land and Irrigation trust. 8ome real opportunities come to "John Smith," but the fear of detection and capture worries him deeply. Some big develop ments are given In the next In stallment. (.TO BE CONTINUED.) Servants as Hosts. A curious custom exists In tho town of Port of Spain, In tho Island of Trin idad. Every year tho servants, who nro all black, glvo a grand ball for their masters nnd mistresses. Tho Princes building, a hugo place whero all public entertainments are held, Is engaged, and everything Is done In tho best style. Thero are two halls foi dancing, ono for tho servants and tho other for their guests, both of which aro beautifully decorated. Tho best band In tho Island is en gaged, and tho guests aro given o champagne supper. Etiquette Is vory strict and prcccdenco rigidly observed by tho servants, tho governor's butler and bis lady going In beforo tho chief ) jostlco'B groom, and so on SCIENCE BAFFLED BY HUSKY BABY Weighs One Hundred Pounds at Less Than Three Years of Age. MAULS BIG BROTHER Moves Buffet or Piano, Rides In Car riage With Auto Springs and Eats'ao Much as Two Grown Persons. Philadelphia. "Billy" McCarthy, Philadelphia's prize baby, Is two years and nine months old und weighs 100 pounds. Ho moves the furniture nround in the home of his parents, Mr. nnd Mrs. W. E. McCarthy, eats as uiuch us two (rown persous und lina perfect health. Medical science ad mits that it Is bullied by the baby's growth. Science has put tho "O. K." mark on "Billy." It snys that ho la nil right nnd advises the parents to let him eat and grow. His growth Is not duo to nn accumulation of fat, for he has bones ns lnrge as those of a pep son five feet seven Inches tall, and weighing 154 pounds. Medical men say his growth Is all right, but they have failed to explain It. Mauls Big Brother Around. "Billy" plays with his flvyear-oId brother Frank nnd mauls him nround ut will. He holds Frank on his lap and pushes him nround the yard on an "Irish mall." And Frank wears "eight year size" suits. If u bull rolls behind a piano or other piece of furniture "Billy" moves the furniture, nnd It keeps his pnrents busy getting It bnck In plnce. He eats meat, principally chicken, steaks nnd chops. His moth er orders chicken for him three times a week. Every morning the milkman leaves four quurts of milk at the Mc Carthy home. When the youngster 0oos out for a ride ho sits In a cnrrlage that has reg ular automobile springs. The cnrrlugo was built specially and cost $42. He Is now outgrowing It, but, luckily, ho started to walk a couple of months ago. "Billy's" shoes ulso are made to "Bill' Moves the Furniture. order and cost $12 n pair. In fact, all his clothes have to bo made specially. Ills last shirts eopt $4 each. Then lif ter running up this big bill for cloth ing, "Billy" outgrows the entire out lit In three months. His Mind Also Above Normal. Tho mnmmoth baby's mind hns not been stunted by his great growth, In fact, his mentality Is greatly above nor mnl. IIo learned to walk quickly when he started, and In u couple of months has become nblo to walk ns good as u child two or three years older. When he was born In a New York flty hospital, August 23, 1014, "Billy" weighed less than ten pounds. When ho left the hospital with his mother, three weeks later, ho weighed 80 pounds. At nlno months he tipped tho scales at 89, and now touches tho hun dred mark. He stands three feet, six Idchcs tall. MUST CUT OUT WAR TALK Dispatch Over Alleged Suicide of Kai ser Causes Trouble in a Chi cago Home. Chicago. "My husband said tho kai ser would commit suicide within nlno months nnd I snld he would not, and the argument grew so hot I took our six-year-old son and left him," Mrs. Ilnrvey J. Barnctt Informed Judge Stelk In tho court of domestic rela tions. "Tho kaiser can take caro of him self," tho Judge replied. "You go back to your husbund and If I hear of either one of you discussing tho war again I'll send you both to jail." They'ro talking about tho weather In tho Barnctt homo now. Bonnet String Hung Baby. Temple, Kan. A bonnet string hung Roweua Jazek, nineteen months old, when she tried to climb a fenco near her homo hero, Tho baby fell, nnd tho etrlng caught on a wire, strangling her, ga spscJWsias I Ml lMCARONl V T" i Von lYimr ruwiiy MADE FBOH TOE RICHEST MADE DURUM WHEAT COOKS IN1ZMINUTES.0 COOKBOOK FREE SKINHERMFG.C0. OMAHA. U.S.A. Ur&cjf Mox&rooi tWonj in America. low Froll Won't Spoil If Yon Ute fiflOD lUCK RED RUBBERS Thru PI Mi Standard Jan Specufljr recommended for cold pact canntny. Send 2c (tamp for new book on preKrrin I oe I Oe in Umptfor one doxen rinn if you cannot get them at jroutdealts'a. Addr$ Dpartmnt 54 BOSTON WOVEN HOSE & RUBBER CO. Cambridge, Matt. 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The financial loss to Brazil through Its decreasing exports has be come a serious matter. New York Times. The Hemstitched Handicap. Oldfoge Doesn't Swlftpace's wlfo object to his staying out till two or three every night? Newfangle She would If she knew It. So far he has always managed to ?et home llrst. Judge. Subject to It "Is your husband subject to draft?" "Yes, Indeed. IIo catches cold at tho slightest thing." Many a woman who thinks herself a henuty never succeeds In convincing her mirror. For Building Up Quickly Erobably the very est food you can eclect is Grape-Nats. It contains the mineral salts and energy values all the nutriment of whole wheat and barley digests easily and quickly, and the flavor is delicious. "There's a Rtason" foe Grape-Nuts 4 i - i ?AimMiuemMMauifMUtr',!v$(t r.gif -Jagj