Argosy All-Story Weekly, April 7, 1928 — page 36: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

26 Checking over his measurement of the foundation once more so as to avoid any possibility of mistake, he left the dam, and strolled over to the little shack which served as the contracting company’s office. Introducing himself to the foreman in charge, and explaining that he was merely looking around, he fell to dis- cussing various phases of the job, and complimenting the foreman on the manner in which certain obstacles had been overcome. Norman, as has been said, was shy and diffident in conversation. But here he was right in his own field, chatting with some one who talked his language, and before long he and the foreman were on quite clubby terms. He touched on different subjects connected with the work, but careful- ly refrained from any comment on the dam itself. Finally, though, as if it had just occurred to him, he gazed out at the piece of foundation he had measured, and squinted up his eyes. “ Aren’t you cutting that base pret- ty slim for a dam of such height?” he questioned. “What do you mean, height?” re- turned the foreman. Norman named the figures he had used in his calculations on the pumping plant. ‘Oh, you are going by the old speci- fications,” said the foreman. ‘“ Didn’t you know that had all been changed? Weare only making the dam a hundred and seven feet now, and of course we are narrowing the base in proportion.” “ A hundred and seven feet?’ Nor- man stared at him incredulously. “ But that will never—” He caught himself up, turning the exclamation of protest he had been about to voice into a cough. “Why did they make the change?” he asked, when he had cleared his throat. ; “Search me,’ the foreman replied. * All I know is, that after the contract ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. was let, and we'd actually begun on the work, the county commissioners came to the boss and got him to cut down the height of the dam.” “But don’t they know,” frowned Norman, “that they’ll never get enough | water that way to irrigate a foot of Los Chicos County? It would be all right for the other side of the cafion, where the slope is lower, or at least for the bench or plateau over there be- tween the cafion and ‘the mountains. But that is across the line, in Bridger County. “That is the reason why the plans call for that angle in the dam and a high wall over at the far end;-so as to prevent the Bridgerites from benefiting by the improvement that Los Chicos County is paying for.” “Angle and high walls?” repeated the foreman. “ Say, you’re talking an- cient history. That’s all been cut out, too. We're building the dam straight across now.” Norman could scarcely credit his ears. “What?” he gasped. “ Why, man alive, that simply means that all the Bridger County people will have to do is dig trenches, and gravity, owing to the natural slant of the ground, will carry water from behind that dam to any part of their plateau they want, while Los Chicos County can’t get a single drop. “Surely, those fellows up at the courthouse must know that?” He gave an impatient gesture. “‘ They must cer- tainly remember that the big engineer- ing problem in connection with this proposition was to raise the water to a level that would supply the higher ter- rain on this side of the cafion, and at the same time prevent that water from flowing away to the lower land on the Bridger County side. Have they gone crazy, then, or— “Tell me,” he broke off to fix a probing glance upon the foreman, “what's back of all this philanthropy toward Bridger County, anyhow ?” EComicbooks} (E@)