ive in New York at least part of the
time. With Mr. Gretzinger's friendship you could perhaps form a
connection so that you could be there all the while, and make a big
fortune. You will do this for me, won't you, Lee? It means just that
much more happiness for us."

She slipped her arms about his neck and kissed him impulsively,
eagerly. Lee felt himself tremble at that clasp, at that kiss. Words
seemed futile. His anxiety over the fate of his project gave way to a
profound sickness of soul. That Ruth should thus reveal such a
cloudiness of spiritual vision, such an inability to distinguish
between moral values, such a ready acceptance of Gretzinger's vicious
philosophy, was the final drop in his bitter cup this day.

"It's not a question of either wood or concrete just at present," he
said, rising. "It's whether I'm to have a project at all. I'll not go
with you, Ruth, to your friends; I must think over what I'm to do and
say at Santa Fe to-morrow."

As he rode thither with Carrigan that night it seemed as if he now was
at grapple with forces, invisible, powerful, malevolent, that strove
to dispossess him of everything that was dear. His project! What
means, what help, what law was there of which he could make use to
ward off this deadly assault on it? And Ruth! How should he save
her--save her from herself, clear the mist from her eyes, arouse her
drowsing soul? All that he had aimed at and all that he had striven
for hung on finding answers to those questions.

CHAPTER XIV

By noon Bryant and Carrigan had concluded their interviews with
members of the Land and Water Board. All of them had listened, asked
questions, expressed their regret at the situation in which Perro
Creek project found itself, but stated that the Board had no course
other than that of executing the law evoked in the case. They
suggested that Bryant bring an action in the courts to test the law;
they admitted that his company might be forced into the hands of a
receiver; they inquired concerning the possibility of gaining the
consent of the adverse party to a withdrawal of his application. Their
hands, however, said one and all, were tied in the matter.

The engineer and the contractor went down the steps of the state house
and found a seat on a bench at a shady spot of the grounds.

"Just as I expected it would be," Bryant said, grimly.

He sat humped over, his elbows on his knees and his cheeks between his
fists. His eyes were