utting and threading condenser pipe so that it
shall be leak proof is not a simple job at all.

April came to the desert with a noon temperature of a hundred degrees in
the shade. Imperceptibly the daily breeze stiffened to a noon gale.
There were no sand storms however for six weeks and the second alfalfa
crop caught toe hold and grew, an amazing patch of green on the thirsty
yellow sand.

The ranch house engine misbehaved, regularly, but Roger developed what
Charley called actual genius for tinkering and somehow the five acres
were watered. When the morning stillness was broken by the first uneven
Put! Put! of the engine, the Sun Planters would pause in their work and
listen intently. If, after due patience, the Put! Put! developed into a
steady throb, they resumed work. But if after a spasm or two, silence
reigned again, Roger would pull his hat over his eyes and start for the
ranch, and eventually that day, water would be given the parching
fields. In the meantime, Dick began to prepare a second five-acre patch
for late sowing.

Early in the month Roger received a check from the Dean for one hundred
and sixty dollars. He resolved to put all but a few dollars of this into
a supply of food and with Charley's help, he made a list that Gustav
filled at Hackett's. There was provision for over three months in this
list and Roger felt sure that this period of time would see the
completion of the plant.

A curt letter had come to Roger from the Smithsonian Institution saying
merely that his case was being investigated and that in due time a
report and decision would reach him. With this, Roger was obliged to be
content. He had little faith, however, that the Institution would go on
with Austin's undertaking and he resolved to push ahead with all speed,
taking advantage of what was left of the golden opportunity Austin had
offered him.

Late in April, the engine reached Archer's Springs. Hackett, who was
properly equipped for heavy freighting, as poor willing Dick was not,
undertook to haul the engine to the camp. He was entirely willing, he
told Roger, to wait for his pay.

"No great loss," he said, "if I don't get it. But I got confidence in
you and though your idea do seem awful nutty, if anything comes of it, I
ain't going to have it said I done something to set back our community
here. We got a great state and a great county and I'm here to promote
'em both."

So the dismantled engine was landed, without too gr