CHAPTER VI—A MAN MAKES PLANS

Within an hour after his arrival in Dawes, Carrington was sitting in

the big front room of his suite in the Castle Hotel, inspecting the

town.

A bay window projected over the sidewalk, and from a big leather chair

placed almost in the center of the bay between two windows and facing

a third, at the front, Carrington had a remarkably good view of the

town.

Dawes was a thriving center of activity, with reasons for its

prosperity. Walking toward the Castle from the railroad station,

Carrington had caught a glimpse of the big dam blocking the

constricted neck of a wide basin west of the town—and farther westward

stretched a vast agricultural section, level as a floor, with a carpet

of green slumbering in the white sunlight, and dotted with young trees

that seemed almost ready to bear.

There were many small buildings on the big level, some tenthouses, and

straight through the level was a wide, sparkling stream of water, with

other and smaller streams intersecting it. These streams were

irrigation ditches, and the moisture in them was giving life to a vast

section of country that had previously been arid and dead.

But Carrington’s interest had not been so much for the land as for the

method of irrigation. To be sure, he had not stopped long to look, but

he had comprehended the system at a glance. There were locks and

flumes and water-gates, and plenty of water. But the irrigation

company had not completed its system. Carrington intended to complete

it.

Dawes was two years old, and it had the appearance of having been

hastily constructed. Its buildings were mostly of frame—even the

Castle, large and pretentious, and the town’s aristocrat of

hostelries, was of frame. Carrington smiled, for later, when he had

got himself established, he intended to introduce an innovation in

building material.

The courthouse was a frame structure. It was directly across the

street from the Castle, and Carrington could look into its windows and

see some men at work inside at desks. He had no interest in the post

office, for that was of the national government—and yet, perhaps,

after a while he might take some interest in that.

For Carrington’s vision, though selfish, was broad. A multitude of men

of the Carrington type have taken bold positions in the eternal battle

for progress, and all have contributed something toward the ultimate

ideal. And not all have been scoundrels.

Carrington’s vision, however, was blurred by the mote of greed. Dawes

was flourishing; he intended to modernize it, but in the process of

modernization he intended to be the chief recipient of the material

profits.

Carrington had washed, shaved himself, and changed his clothes; and as

he sat in the big leather chair in the bay, overlooking the street, he

looked smooth, sleek, and capable.

He had seemed massive in the Pullman, wearing a traveling suit of some

light material, and his corpulent waist-line had been somewhat

accentuated.

The blue serge suit he wore now made a startling change in his

appearance. It made his shoulders seem broader; it made the wide,

swelling arch of his chest more pronounced, and in inverse ratio it

contracted the corpulent waist-line—almost eliminating it.

Carrington looked to be what he was—a big, virile, magnetic giant of a

man in perfect health.

He had not been sitting in the leather chair for more than fifteen

minutes when there came a knock on a door behind him.

“Come!” he commanded.

A tall man entered, closed the door behind him and with hat in hand

stood looking at Carrington with a half-smile which might have been

slightly diffident, or impudent or defiant—it was puzzling.

Carrington had twisted in his chair to get a glimpse of his visitor;

he now grunted, resumed his former position and said, gruffly:

“Hello, Danforth!”

Danforth stepped over to the bay, and without invitation drew up a

chair and seated himself near Carrington.

Danforth was slender, big-framed, and sinewy. His shoulders were broad

and his waist slim. There was a stubborn thrust to his chin; his nose

was a trifle too long to perfectly fit his face; his mouth a little

too big, and the lips too thin. The nose had a slight droop that made

one think of selfishness and greed, and the thin lips, with a downward

swerve at the corners, suggested cruelty.

These defects, however, were not prominent, for they were offset by a

really distinguished head with a mass of short, curly hair that

ruffled attractively under the brim of the felt hat he wore.

The hat was in his right hand, now, but it had left its impress on his

hair, and as he sat down he ran his free hand through it. Danforth

knew where his attractions were.

He grinned shallowly at Carrington when the latter turned and looked

at him.

He cleared his throat. “I suppose you’ve heard about it?”

“I couldn’t help hearing.” Carrington scowled at the other. “What in

hell was wrong? We send you out here, give you more than a year’s time

and all the money you want—which has been plenty—and then you lose.

What in the devil was the matter?”

“Too much Taylor,” smirked the other.

“But what else?”

“Nothing else—just Taylor.”

Carrington exclaimed profanely.

“Why, the man didn’t even know he was a candidate! He was on the train

I came in on!”

“It was Neil Norton’s scheme,” explained Danforth. “I had _him_ beaten

to a frazzle. I suppose he knew it. Two days before election he

suddenly withdrew his name and substituted Taylor’s. You know what

happened. He licked me two to one. He was too popular for me—damn him!

“Norton owns a newspaper here—the only one in the county—the _Eagle_.”

“Why didn’t you buy him?”

Danforth grinned sarcastically: “I didn’t feel that reckless.”

“Honest, eh?”

Carrington rested his chin in the palm of his right hand and scowled

into the street. He was convinced that Danforth had done everything he

could to win the election, and he was bitterly chagrined over the

result. But that result was not the dominating thought in his mind. He

kept seeing Taylor as the latter had stood on the station platform,

stunned with surprise over the knowledge that he had been so signally

honored by the people of Dawes.

And Carrington had seen Marion Harlan’s glances at the man; he had

been aware of the admiring smile she had given Taylor; and bitter

passion gripped Carrington at the recollection of the smile.

More—he had seen Taylor’s face when the girl had smiled. The smile had

thrilled Taylor—it had held promise for him, and Carrington knew it.

Carrington continued to stare out into the street. Danforth watched

him furtively, in silence.

At last, not opening his lips, Carrington spoke:

“Tell me about this man, Taylor.”

“Taylor owns the Arrow ranch, in the basin south of here. His ranch

covers about twenty thousand acres. He has a clear title.

“According to report, he employs about thirty men. They are holy

terrors—that is, they are what is called ‘hard cases,’ though they are

not outlaws by any means. Just a devil-may-care bunch that raises hell

when it strikes town. They swear by Taylor.”

So far as Carrington could see, everybody in Dawes swore by Taylor.

Carrington grimaced.

“That isn’t what I want to know,” he flared. “How long has he been

here; what kind of a fellow is he?”

“Taylor owned the Arrow before Dawes was founded. When the railroad

came through it brought with it some land-sharks that tried to frame

up on the ranch-owners in the vicinity. It was a slick scheme, they

tell me. They had clouded every title, and figured to grab the whole

county, it seems.

“Taylor went after them. People I’ve talked with here say it was a

dandy shindy while it lasted. The land-grabbers brought the courts in,

and a crooked judge. Taylor fought them, crooked judge and all, to a

bite-the-dust finish. Toward the end it was a free-for-all—and the

land-grabbers were chased out of the county.

“Naturally, the folks around here think a lot of Taylor for the part

he played in the deal. Besides that, he’s a man that makes friends

quickly—and holds them.”

“Has Taylor any interests besides his ranch?”

“A share in the water company, I believe. He owns some land in town;

and he is usually on all the public committees here.”

“About thirty, isn’t he?”

“Twenty-eight.”

Carrington looked at the other with a sidelong, sneering grin:

“Have any ladies come into his young life?”

Danforth snickered. “You’ve got me—I hadn’t inquired. He doesn’t seem

to be much of a ladies’ man, though, I take it. Doesn’t seem to have

time to monkey with them.”

“H-m!” Carrington’s lips went into a pout as he stared straight ahead

of him.

Danforth at last broke a long silence with:

“Well, we got licked, all right. What’s going to happen now? Are you

going to quit?”

“Quit?” Carrington snapped the word at the other, his eyes flaming

with rage. Then he laughed, mirthlessly, resuming: “This defeat was

unexpected; I wasn’t set for it. But it won’t alter things—very much.

I’ll have to shake a leg, that’s all. What time does the next train

leave here for the capital?”

“At two o’clock this afternoon.” Danforth’s eyes widened as he looked

at Carrington. The curiosity in his glance caused Carrington to laugh

shortly.

“You don’t mean that the governor is in this thing?” said Danforth.

“Why not?” demanded Carrington. “Bah! Do you think I came in with my

eyes closed!”

There was a new light in Danforth’s eyes—the flame of renewed hope.

“Then we’ve still got a chance,” he declared.

Carrington laughed. “A too-popular mayor is not a good thing for a

town,” he said significantly.