Imperial Engineer
by Judith B. Glad

Prologue

If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd's tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee and be thy love.

Sir Walter Raleigh

~~~

Cherry Vale, Idaho Territory, 1872

They had known each other for half their lives. They had fought and played and dreamed together, had slept in a heap of children while winter winds howled around the eaves, had splashed naked in the river on hot summer afternoons. They were friends, comrades, family.

"It's not going to be the same, is it, Micah?" Lulu King said, as they watched their almost-cousins ride across the pasture one afternoon in June. "What with Gabe all grown up, and now Merlin staying Back East for the summer."

"Wisht I was with Gabe," Micah said, "goin' around the world 'stead of stayin' here and milkin' cows."

"If you don't learn to speak proper English, you'll never even graduate college, let alone go off adventuring." Lulu tweaked his wooly hair. "You know what Mama says about first impressions."

"I speak impeccable English, sister mine. I simply do not choose to at this moment." The sly grin her younger brother gave her showed that he had, as usual, been doing his best to get her goat. Papa was forever telling her she took life too seriously.

Well, and why not? She was all but grown up now, and would go away to school in another year. One final summer of childish irresponsibility, and then she would willingly accept the burdens and privileges of adulthood.

"Just this one last summer," she whispered, not quite sure why being a child a little longer seemed so important.

The small party on horseback came through the last gate. Tao Ni led them, sitting tall and sober and responsible on his wiry dun gelding. The three Lachlan children straggled along behind him.

Lulu ran to meet them.

Dust sparkled like gold in the sunlight and the river's song had changed from spring's flood-roar to summer's lazy chuckle. Still, everything looked different, now he knew he was seeing it for the last time. Tony Dewitt had almost not come this summer. He had cramming to do so he'd be free to travel with his parents one last time before he entered college. Somehow he couldn't imagine that his education, gleaned from books instead of absorbed in a classroom, would be sufficient preparation for matriculation at one of the nation's most prestigious universities.

"Go, and enjoy being carefree one last time," his father had advised him. "You'll spend the rest of your life being sensible and grown-up."

And so he had come, for the temptation to capture a few last precious moments of childhood had been too great to resist.

Instead of dismounting the moment they rode into the yard, Tony sat on horseback and watched the others, laughing, hugging, rejoicing. For one small moment he gave thanks for the great good fortune he'd had in being adopted into this big, loving family. A thickness grew in his throat as he thought of what might have been--a life of near slavery, without hope, without love. Without family.

"You look so sad. Aren't you happy to be here?"

Tony looked down into a familiar, smiling face, into eyes the color of winter rain. "I was just thinking about how this is the last summer I'll come here like this," he said. He dismounted and pulled her into his arms for a hug, as he had so many times before. "Hello, Lulu. Saved any worlds lately?"

"Hello, Tao Ni," she responded in their ritual greeting, "built any bridges lately?" But there was a catch in her voice, and she pulled away quickly.

Tony felt heat rise in his face, ashamed of the betrayal of his body, its involuntary reaction to the feel of a girl, the smell of a girl, the thought of a girl. Uncle Emmet said all men went through this, that his body's extreme sensitivity to anything even hinting of female would lessen as he grew older, but he wasn't sure he'd survive that long. "I sure wish you'd learn to call me Tony, like everybody else does," he complained, to cover his embarrassment.

"Why?" she said, as she lifted his saddlebags across her slender shoulder. "There's nothing wrong with your real name. I like it. Tony is so...I don't know. Mundane."

"Mundane is good," he told her. "There's nothing exotic about me. Remember that." He looked into her eyes for a moment, saw a flash of something that looked like...disappointment?

* * * *

They finished stacking timothy hay late on a hot August afternoon. Dried sweat and dust and tiny fragments of grass had them all scratching, driving them to the hot spring down by the river. Clean, cool and tired, they started for home, riding single file along the narrow trail through the woods. As last in line, Tony was responsible for making sure all the gates were left as they'd found them. When he closed the gate in the fence between the Lachlan pastures and her parents' land, Lulu waited for him, letting the others pull ahead. "Look at that moon," she said when he rode up beside her. "It looks so close."

The moon, full and round, was just above the crest of the hills to the southeast. Even though the western sky was still lit with the fading glow of daylight, the moon was surrounded with velvety black. Only a few of the brightest stars were visible. "Look! There's a shooting star."

"Make a wish."

"I wish... I wish everything would stay just the way it is now. Perfect." Keeping her face turned away from him, she clucked at her horse.

"Wait. Don't go."

Lulu pulled her horse to a halt after only two steps. "What?"

"It's not late. Let's go up to the Aerie. We can count the stars."

"But the others...?"

"They'll be fine. Reggie has the rifle, and they're almost home. I'll go tell them." He urged his horse into a trot.

Lulu waited until he returned. "Mama will probably give me the dickens tomorrow."

"We're through with the haying. Your pa said we could have tomorrow off. So if we don't get in until late, we can sleep in."

From the high, rocky outcrop, they could see all of Cherry Vale. Moonlight gave the valley below an unearthly appearance, as if it were somewhere far removed from their familiar world.

Tony reached for her hand, clasped it tightly. "Lulu, I'm going to miss you this coming winter." He felt her tense, then relax.

After a long silence, she said, "Maybe this is why I hate the thought of growing up. Our lives will go in different directions. Oh, we'll see each other sometimes, when we come home for Christmas, but that's all." Her voice broke, and he heard a sound almost like a sniffle.

He pulled her into his arms, as he'd been wanting to do since the day he'd arrived.

She melted against him, warm and soft, and smelling of something flowery. Honeysuckle? He didn't think so.

Afterward he was never sure who had moved first, but the next instant he was kissing her. Clumsily at first, because he'd never kissed a girl he cared about before. Their noses got in the way, and their teeth scraped. Then, after some initial fumbling, everything worked. Her lips parted under his, her tongue met and parried with his, her sigh mingled with his.

Under her ugly dress, she was naked. Her breasts, small and firm, flattened against his chest, and her nipples poked at him. His cock strained against his britches, until he had to wriggle to ease the pressure.

They pulled apart, gasping for breath. Then their lips met again, this time perfectly. Her hands pulled his shirttails free and found the sensitive skin along his spine. Her fingernails scraped lightly across his shoulder blades. He thought he'd explode with the pleasure of it.

He pushed her away, even though she clung. "Let me--" he growled, and laid his hands on her thighs, inched the heavy, soft linen upwards until her exposed knees gleamed in the moonlight.

Lulu caught his hands. "Wait!" she said, her voice so breathless and weak she might as well have been begging him to touch her. "Wait, Tao Ni. Stop this, right now!"

His hands clenched around her thighs, but he stopped pushing at her dress. With a deep, broken inhalation, he slumped, leaning his forehead against hers.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Great God, Lulu, I'm sorry."

"I am too." If she was going to give herself to a man, there was no other she'd choose for her first. "Even if I wanted to, we couldn't. I--"

"Even if you wanted to? You mean you didn't? You could have fooled me." He sounded angry, but she had a feeling there was more frustration in him than anger.

This was what Mama had warned her against. Men were far less able to control their instincts than women, and she had tempted him almost beyond self-restraint. "I didn't say that well, did I? What I meant was that I don't want to risk my future. Tao Ni, it only takes one time to make a girl pregnant."

"I'd be careful. Silas told me--"

"The only certain way to prevent conception is abstinence." She wondered if her words sounded as priggish to him as they did in her own ears. But she believed what Mamma had told her, and had vowed to herself that she would never, ever do anything to put her dreams at risk, no matter what pleasures she had to forego. "I think we'd better go back now."

But he caught her wrist when she started to rise. "Wait!"

She paused, not pulling against his hold.

"I love you, Lulu." His voice was low and throbbing, and she knew he spoke from the heart. "I love you so much."

His hair was like coarse strands of silk under her hand when she laid it atop his bowed head. "I love you, too, Tao Ni, but not the way you need. You're my best friend, my brother. But not my lover." Oh, but you could be! her heart cried. If only....

His arms enclosed her again, this time with a desperate strength. He buried his face against her breasts. "I want you to marry me," he said, a hint of desperation in his voice. "Now. This summer. Before I go with Silas and Soomey. You could come too. It would be our honeymoon." His arms tightened, until she could hardly draw breath.

She pushed lightly at his shoulders. In a calm tone she said, "Let me go, Tao Ni. You're squeezing me to death."

His embrace loosened a little. Enough.

She took his face between her hands, lifted it so she could look into his eyes. "And if we married? What then? I'm sure Oberlin College doesn't admit married women. And it's a long way from Boston to Ohio."

"You wouldn't need to go to college. I've got enough money put aside so we could live comfortably while I attend Harvard. Or you could stay here, with your folks, if you don't want to go to Boston with me."

Shocked, she stepped away from him. "Not attend college? What do you mean? Why wouldn't I?"

"Hell, Lulu, a married woman doesn't need a college education. Look at your ma. Soomey. Aunt Hattie. They're all intelligent and well-read, and none of them has much formal schooling. I doubt if Soomey's had any." He got to his feet and seemed to loom over her. "Marry me, Lulu. Please."

She didn't know him at all. Tears clogged her throat as she stared up at the boy she'd loved since first sight. But he was no longer a boy. He'd become a man, a stranger, with ideas and beliefs so foreign, so frightening, she felt her heart shatter in her breast.

And yet he was Tao Ni, whom she loved.

"No," she said, holding the tears back as best she could. "No, Tao Ni, I can't...I won't marry you."

The next morning he rode away at dawn.

He didn't say goodbye.

Chapter One

THE LAST SPIKE

At exactly half-past 10 o'clock this morning the last spike was driven at the Hailey end of the Wood River Branch Railroad.
Wood River Times

~~~

Tony Dewitt stepped down from the stage in the small town of Hailey on the first day of May in 1883. Idaho Territory was experiencing another mining boom, only this time lead and silver were the minerals prospectors sought, not gold. Hailey was one of the new towns to grow up around the mines. It had a great future, everyone said, and there were fortunes to be made.

He sure hoped so.

The downtown was a busy place, with plenty of foot and vehicle traffic. Big freight wagons fought for street room with carriages and bicycles. The sidewalks were narrow and folks dodged one another as they hurried along. He checked the address of the man he was supposed to see. On the corner of Main and Croy. "Pretty much the center of town," his friend's father had told him. That way then. He turned left and strolled along the block, looking into the storefronts and saloon doors.

The office occupied the lower floor of a wood frame building on the corner. Gold lettering proclaimed its proprietor's business to all and sundry. Abner C. Eagleton & Co., Real Estate and Investments. He swiped his shoetops against the backs of his pantlegs, checked to make sure he'd brushed the last of the travel dust from his clothing, and went inside.

"Help you?" The fellow behind the paper-strewn desk was broad but not fat, clean-shaven except for extravagantly bushy sideburns, and dressed in clothing that showed its fine tailoring in how it fit.

"Mr. Eagleton? I'm Tony Dewitt." He held out his letter of introduction. "Mr. J.P. Winter sent me."

"Old Jamie? How is he? I haven't seen him for a coon's age." He leaned forward to accept the papers. "Sit down, boy." With total concentration, he read the letter, making all but inaudible comments to himself as he did so.

Tony wished he'd speak a little louder.

"Well, now, he writes that you're about as good an engineer as anybody he can send me. But I'm not looking for some high-falutin' expert. What I want is an all-round man who can turn his hand to pretty much anything I need him to do." He eyed Tony's suit, the expensive bowler he'd bought to celebrate the completion of his first major project. "Can you dig a ditch? Drive a team? Are you afraid of getting your hands dirty?"

"No sir, I am not. I was raised on a farm and know what hard work is." Tony dreaded the next question, for he would not lie.

"Well, then we ought to get along just fine. Now, tell me, what do you know about telephones?"

"Only what I've read, I'm afraid," he said hesitantly, surprised--and relieved--that Mr. Eagleton had not asked him about his prior engineering experience. "I do know a bit about electrical systems, though. I supervised the installation of one at a dam site back East."

Eagleton rubbed his hands together. "Good. Good! I don't reckon anybody knows much about telephones. They ain't been around all that long. Tell you what. We'll learn together. Now here's what I plan..."

In the next hour Tony sat speechless as Abner Eagleton built an empire with words. The man's dreams had no limit. And somehow he was convincing enough that Tony believed he'd accomplish all he dreamed of.

"But say," Eagleton said, finally, "you just got to town, didn't you? I'll bet you ain't had dinner or anything. Why didn't you say something instead of letting me jabber on? Got a place to stay yet?"

"No, I haven't. I came straight here from the stage depot."

"Talk to Mrs. Slossen. She runs a boarding house up the street a ways. Upstairs of the Kansas Headquarters Saloon. Tell her I sent you," He motioned Tony out the door.

"But...but Mr. Eagleton, you haven't said you'd hire me."

"I didn't? Well, dadgummit, I guess I got so busy telling about all the work I want you to do that it plumb slipped my mind. You're hired, boy. You and me's gonna get along just fine."

Still speechless, Tony let Eagleton lead him along Main Street to the Nevada Chop House. In between being introduced to half the businessmen in town, he even got to eat his dinner.

Each time Eagleton introduced him as "My new engineer, Mr. Tony Dewitt," he felt some of the burden of shame and guilt lift from his soul.

* * * *

"I have a letter here from Mrs. Duniway, in Oregon. She says both Idaho and Montana Territories will be applying for statehood in a few years and reminds me that we need to be working to get women's suffrage written into the state constitutions. She is very optimistic about the possibility, particularly since Washington Territory's enfranchisement of women this spring." The woman behind the desk turned to the next sheet and paused, reading ahead. She seemed to be undergoing an internal debate, for she was silent for a full five minutes.

Lulu forced herself to sit quietly. She desperately wanted there to be a place for her with the American Woman Suffrage Association. Unfortunately, like most organizations, there were few paid positions, and she simply could not afford to dip into her investment principal for living expenses.

"Our organization is short on women who are familiar with the West," Mrs. Ainsworth said, "women who can go there and speak to the women who haven't come East to school, who may not understand that suffrage is as important for a farm wife or a seamstress as it is for a single woman in a career."

Lulu had to smile. "But I came East to school, and I am single, with a career."

"Of course, but you didn't grow up here. And you still sound as if you came from the West. Your speech will not put off women whose only schooling was in one room in the wilderness. I'm sure they have very peculiar ideas about those of us who live in the great cities of the East." She leaned back in her chair and gazed across the desk at Lulu. Her expression showed some disquiet.

"I admit I have some reservations about offering you this position, Miss King. I realize your appearance speaks nothing of your heritage, but still..." Her shoulders lifted in a shrug that said she hoped Lulu understood her dilemma.

Lulu did. She had encountered it before. "I cannot believe I would be in any danger. After all, I've worked in the South for the past four years, and my race was never an issue." She wasn't about to admit the nightmares she still had of pointing fingers and taunting voices. And worse.

"Yes, but by your own admission, your work was behind the scenes. This position would require you to make frequent public appearances. I don't know--"

Lulu decided to push. "It seems to me that denying me a position for which I am qualified simply because of my race goes against every principle the Association stands for."

"Well, of course you do look as white--" Mrs. Ainsworth's cheeks flamed. "That was thoughtless of me, wasn't it? Let me tell you what the situation is, Miss King. Perhaps you will find it more than you want to take on."

Lulu crossed her fingers and listened.

"Apparently the woman who has been in the forefront of The Movement in Idaho Territory is expecting a baby." A moue of disapproval clearly showed Mrs. Ainsworth's opinion of such poor judgment. "She asks us to send someone who can assist her until such time as she is able to resume her normal activities, a period of a year, at least. Her assistant will be required to live in the same area as she, a rather isolated part of Idaho Territory. An apartment will be provided, and a small travel stipend. All speaking fees will be yours to keep. Are you still interested?"

Excitement bubbled inside while Lulu strove to appear composed. "Absolutely."

Ever since the episode in North Carolina, when she had narrowly escaped with her life, she had dreamed of going home, but had not admitted it to anyone. The nightmares that tore her sleep asunder with increasing regularity were a secret she chose to keep. Now Mrs. Ainsworth was offering her what she most wanted.

Three weeks later, on June 1, 1883, she boarded a train for Hailey. Her task was to muster support and funds for the suffrage movement in Idaho and Montana Territories, and to give Mrs. Duniway whatever assistance she could in Oregon and elsewhere.

It was like a dream come true. Abigail Scott Duniway was one of her heroes.

* * * *

Tony had taken to meeting each days' train, hoping the equipment he'd ordered would arrive. Until it did, he couldn't get a start on the telephone system. Of course, Eagleton kept him so busy on other projects that he probably wouldn't have had time, if he'd had the wire and the batteries.

He didn't mind. Every new task his boss set him was a challenge, and he was enjoying it. Eagleton was talking about building a steel truss bridge across the Wood River to replace the existing wooden structure on the Croy Creek road. He had suggested that in his spare time Tony find a site for it and draw up some initial plans.

A far-off whistle told him the train was coming. He folded his newspaper and tucked it into his coat pocket. Along with half a dozen others, he went to the platform to wait. Since its official arrival three weeks ago, the coming of the daily train was an event. He supposed eventually folks would stop coming to the depot, just to see it pull into town. For now, though, it was the day's biggest excitement.

"Mornin', Dewitt."

Tony turned to see Frank Correy, one of the clerks at the bank he patronized, approaching. "Morning, Correy. Meeting someone?"

"Mrs. Axminster has been down to Denver, visiting her sister. Mr. Axminster is in a meeting with some fellows from the smelter up in Ketchum, so he asked me to meet her."

Tony smiled. One of the more important things he'd learned in his first job was that junior members of the firm--any firm--were expected to be messenger boys, chauffeurs, and all-round handymen for their bosses. And their bosses' families.

He and Frank exchanged opinions on the day's news, the possibility of rain on the weekend when the Miners' Union picnic was to be held, and the fire alarm that had sounded in the wee hours of the previous night. "I heard it was the stovepipe at the Bon Ton," Frank said, "but when I came by, they were open, so it couldn't have been serious."

"A good thing it wasn't worse." A shiver stole up Tony's spine. He didn't like to even think about fires in wooden buildings like so many of Hailey's were. "Here it comes."

The train, its brakes squealing and steam hissing from its boiler, eased into the station. Tony stood where he was, for he couldn't retrieve his equipment--if it had arrived--until all baggage and freight was unloaded.

"There she is," Frank said. "I'll see you later." He went to meet the imposing woman in black silk. Tony had never met the banker's wife, but he imagined she'd be a force to be reckoned with, if looks were any indication.

Then his gaze was caught by the woman who was revealed as Mrs. Axminster stepped down from the railcar. Her dress was a demure navy blue, with rich purple trim and an extravagant bustle. A silly little feathered hat in matching colors perched on a cluster of curls the color of old bronze. A wide mouth with full lips, a pert nose, and eyes he knew would be the color of winter rain all fit together in a face that, while not classically beautiful, was charmingly feminine. An old yearning flooded through him, a yearning he'd thought long banished.

What is she doing here?

She stepped daintily to the ground, smiling at the Conductor who had lent his arm to support her. For his own peace of mind, he wished he could pretend he hadn't seen her.

Instead he stepped forward. "Miss King, welcome to Hailey."

Her eyes widened when she recognized him, but she said nothing. After a moment's hesitation, she tucked her hand into his proffered elbow and let him lead her into the depot. Only when she'd sat on one of the wooden benches did she demand. "Did Mamma tell you I was coming?"

"I haven't heard from your mother since Christmas. I thought she was off to Australia."

"She is, but I wrote her as soon as I knew...of course she couldn't have gotten the letter and written to you. It's only been three weeks."

"Why would she tell me anyhow? Why not one of the Lachlans?"

"Because she's worried...oh, never mind. It was just a thought. Maybe I should ask why you are here? Hailey isn't exactly the sort of place I'd expect to find an up and coming young engineer."

Tony was rescued from making a reply by a wave from the station agent. He said, "Excuse me a moment."

"There's a big coil of wire for you Mr. Dewitt. Looks to me like it got misshipped to somewheres in Texas." The agent scratched his head. "Houston? That don't sound anywheres near like Hailey, does it?"

Tony followed him into the freight office. The spool of wire sat in the middle of the big room. He read the label. "Tarnation! This is the wrong gage. And it's iron, not copper. How do I send it back? And I'll want to send a telegram to the supplier, to see if they can ship the right wire before they get this." He looked into the lobby, to tell Lulu he'd be a few minutes, but she was nowhere to be seen.

Just as well. Maybe they wouldn't have to fraternize during her visit. He sure hoped it was to be a brief one.

As soon as his back was turned, Lulu went to the baggage claim counter and picked up her small valise. Until she knew where she would be lodging, there was no sense in bothering with the rest of her luggage.

Tao Ni! What on earth was he doing here? And how was she going to avoid him in a town this small?

Not that it mattered. Now that she'd seen him, all the old memories had come flooding back, making it impossible for her to go on thinking of him merely as one of her almost-cousins. Now she'd have to start all over again, teaching her unruly heart not to yearn for him.

Outside only a small dogcart remained at the hitch rail. An elderly Chinese sat dozing in the seat. She went to the side of the cart and cleared her throat. He looked up. "I'm supposed to be met by someone who will take me to the home of Mrs. Jacob Teller. Are you he?"

He woke with a start, then jumped down to bow before her. "Yes, Missie. I take. You have trunk?"

"No, not at this time. I have everything I need in here." She handed him her valise. Shortly she was on her way to meet the woman who'd arranged for her to come to the Wood River valley. She wasn't sure living here was a good idea. Hailey seemed awfully out of the way, and she'd been told to expect to travel extensively.

"I am Miss King. You are?" she said to her driver as they rode along a bumpy road heading north.

He glanced sideways, but said nothing.

"Oh, come now, sir. I'm sure you understand English very well. All I asked was your name."

Again that sideways glance. In a soft voice he said, "Lee Shi Dan. But Missus call me John."

"Some people call everyone of your race 'John.' But I will not, Mr. Lee. You are as entitled to your name as I am to mine."

This time the glance that came her way held just a hint of friendliness.

She spoke little to her driver on the hour-long journey, for he was plainly uncomfortable to be conversing with her. Just as well, because she was busy gazing at her surroundings. This long, narrow river valley was nothing like Cherry Vale, where she had grown up. The mountains here were sagebrush-covered, for the most part, although she could see pines on the higher slopes. The river meandered through the bottomlands, swerving from side to side, now cutting away at the foot of a mountain, now splitting to create a cottonwood-covered island. As the valley narrowed, they crossed the river and its tributary streams more often, on echoing wooden bridges often made of unpeeled logs paved with rough-cut planks.

The Teller holding, some miles north of Hailey, was near a little settlement named Gimlet. As they approached, she noticed that most of the pastures along the road held sheep, instead of cattle. Her mother had written, some while back, of the growing sheep industry in Idaho Territory and the importation of Basque herders to tend them. She wondered if the Basques were any more welcome than the Chinese. Or the Negroes.

If this were a perfect world, there would be no work for me to do. How wonderful it would be to live in a world where every human being was valued equally and accorded the same rights.

"There pretty quick," Mr. Lee said, as he turned the cart off the main road and into a winding lane leading toward the west. They forded a creek and passed along a drive lined with young Lombardy poplars. Obviously the sheep industry was profitable.

The Teller house was not ostentatious, being constructed of logs, with a plank roof still half devoid of shingles. Five or six rooms, she estimated, with glass in all the windows. Despite its size and touches of extravagance, it somehow reminded Lulu of the first home she had known, bringing a sentimental lump to her throat.

The woman who came to the door as the dog cart drove into the yard was about her age, with braided blonde hair and a body rounded with pregnancy. She waved, but waited at the top of the steps for Lulu to climb from the cart. "Welcome, Miss King! I'm so happy you're here. I am Imajean Teller."

"I'm happy to be here." Lulu took her valise from Mr. Lee's hands and gave him a dime. "Thank you very much," she told him, smiling at his look of surprise.

"You shouldn't tip him," Mrs. Teller told her as she ushered Lulu inside. "His salary covers all he does for us."

"He provided the same service that the porter did," Lulu said, keeping all emotion out of her voice. "I felt he deserved the same tip."

"That was very nice of you." She led the way into a large parlor, furnished with modern sofa and chairs and several skirted tables. "I have water hot. Would you like some tea?" When Lulu admitted she was thirsty, she clapped her hands. A young Chinaman came to the door. "Tea, John. For two."

He bowed and disappeared.

She really does call them all 'John.' How very peculiar. Obviously Mrs. Teller did not view the Chinese in the same light of equality as she did members of her own sex. "I understand you have been active in the suffrage movement for some years. Tell me more about it," she said, putting aside the urge to educate the other woman in the doctrine of equal rights for all. Many of her sister suffragists were incredibly short-sighted and narrow minded.

* * * *

Knowing he would brood about the past if he stayed in his room that evening, Tony went downstairs to the Kansas Headquarters Saloon. Frank Correy was there, sipping at a beer and watching some checker players. When he saw Tony, he waved.

Tony went to join him. The two checker players were obviously well matched, for neither could gain an advantage, and they cogitated for long minutes between moves. After a while Tony grew bored. "How about a game of cribbage?" he asked Frank. "I believe the bartender keeps a board."

"As long as we play for points. I'm not much of a gambler," Frank replied in a soft Scots burr.

"Me neither." He fetched the board and they took a small table near the back wall, far enough from the piano to be able to talk without shouting. For a while they played quietly, speaking only to count points.

Then Frank said, "Who was that ravishing young woman who got off the train today? She didn't seem happy to see you."

"She's..." He wasn't sure how to describe Lulu. As children they'd been family. Until one night everything changed. "She's just someone I knew as a child. I think she was more surprised than unhappy that I was here."

"So she's not your sweetheart?" Frank moved his peg twelve holes, putting him almost thirty points ahead.

"Not at all." Carefully Tony picked up the cards Frank had dealt. Before he could decide on a winning strategy, someone spoke behind him, "Hello, Frank. I've been looking for you."

The young man who, uninvited, pulled an empty chair from the next table and sat at theirs was a stranger to Tony. Frank introduced him.

"Pleased to meet you, Dewitt," Patrick Newell said, holding his hand out. From his tone of his voice, he was anything but pleased.

Tony took it, wondering what it was the fellow found distasteful. In the next instant, he told himself he was imagining things. Newell's smile seemed genuine. "You must be new in town."

"I arrived just last week, and am already feeling at home. Hailey is an up-and-coming little burg."

"Are you another banker, like Frank, here?"

"Not on your life. I'm in mining. Great future." Newell waved the waiter over and asked for a beer. "Join me?"

"I've had enough," Tony said.

Frank nodded, and Newell ordered for the two of them. Tony and Frank played the hand with Newell looking on. Tony found his presence distracting. Glumly he laid down his cards, knowing he'd played poorly. "Fifteen-two, fifteen-four, fifteen six, and a pair for eight." Frank pegged fourteen points. Tony was skunked.

As they gathered up the cards, Newell said, "Frank tells me you work for Eagleton. My boss calls him a sharper, always coming up with get-rich-quick schemes." There was a note of challenge in his voice.

"I've found him honest and straightforward. So far the schemes I've seen seem to pay off, so maybe your boss is wrong."

Newell didn't quite sneer.

If I didn't know better, I'd say he was trying to pick a fight. Tony pushed his chair back and rose. "I've got a big day tomorrow, so it's time for me to turn in. Good night, Frank, Mr. Newell."

He had the strangest feeling Newell had deliberately set out to make himself disliked.

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