Ford's mess of pottage was a deed of half-ownership in the Little
Alicia, executed and recorded in the afternoon of the day of stop-overs,
and he was far enough from suspecting that he had exchanged for it all
that a man of honor holds dearest. But, as a matter of fact, the
birthright had not yet been handed over: that came later.

XIV

THE DRAW-BAR PULL

Attorney Kenneth had many more object-lessons in the study of "open
camps" on the three-day return ride to Saint's Rest. The day of
stop-over in Copah chanced to be the MacMorrogh Brothers' monthly
pay-day, and until the men's money was spent pandemonium reigned along
the line of the extension.

Some of it they dodged, riding wide to pass the larger camps, and
hearing from afar the noise of carousal, the fierce drinking songs of
the Magyars, the fusillades of pistol-shots. So far as they could see,
all work appeared to be suspended; and Major Benson, whose camp of
engineers they picked up in one of the detours around a gulch head,
confirmed that conclusion.

"It was the same way last month," raged the major, twisting his fierce
white mustaches and looking as if he would like to blot the name of
MacMorrogh from the roster of humanity. "It'll take a full week to get
them into the swing again, and MacMorrogh will be up with his estimates
just the same as if he had been working full time. I'll cut 'em; by the
gods, I'll cut 'em! And you must stand by me, Mr. Ford."

There was the same story to be listened to at Brissac's tie camp; and
again at young Benson's headquarters, which were on the mountain
section. This last was on the third day, however, when the madness was
dying down. Some of the rock men were back on the job, but many of the
gangs were still grievously short-handed. Ford said little to Kenneth.
The pandemonium spoke for itself. But on the third night, when the long
ride was ended, and Pietro, Ford's cook and man-of-all-work, was serving
supper in the caboose office-on-wheels, some of the bitterness in Ford's
heart slipped into speech.

"Can you see now how it takes the very marrow out of a man's bones,
Kenneth? You may think of an engineer as a man of purely bull-headed
purposes, merely trying, in a crass, materialistic way, to get a
material thing done. I want to do a big thing, and I'd like to do it in
a big way. It _is_ a big thing--the building of this extension. If it
doesn't add another star to the flag, it will at least make one state