Menocal once more!  He had been very quiet all this while; he apparently had made no effort to dissuade the Mexicans who, following Saurez’s lead, had come in increasing number to work on the canal or the dam; the man had almost passed from the engineer’s mind.  But he had not been idle.  He had had shrewd legal talent seeking a deadly weapon for him among the musty statutes, with which he could deal the irrigation project a coup de grace.  And as the import of the letter penetrated Bryant’s brain, his heart seemed to turn to ice.  Ninety days—­finish dam and canal in ninety days!  As well fix a limit of ninety hours!

Finally he rushed off to Pat Carrigan superintending scraper work and dragged him aside.

“For God’s sake, read that, Pat!” he cried.  “Read what the Land and Water Board are going to do.  They’re going to cut the heart right out of us!  Kill the project!  All for a law nobody ever heard of!  Read it!”

Pat knit his brows and slowly extracted the meaning from the state engineer’s formal, involved announcement.  That something serious had occurred he guessed before Bryant had opened his lips.  He had never seen the engineer so wrought up, so white, so agitated.

“Let me get this right,” the old contractor said, at length.  “They’re going to cancel your water right.”

“Yes.”

“But not at once.  You’ve ninety days to——­”

“Ninety days!  We can’t do a year’s work in ninety days, and in winter time at that!” Lee cried.

“Of course not,” was the answer.  “But it gives you time to argue with ’em and fight this thing.  My advice is to go see this Board at once.  Maybe if you explain the situation, they’ll call off this fellow Rodriguez.”

Bryant, however, remained depressed.  Clearly the officials had no liberty of action in the matter.

“I don’t know that it will do any good,” he said, “but it’s all that’s left to do.  Pack your grip, Pat; I want you to go with me.  Leave Morgan in charge.  Can you start in half an hour?”

The ride to Kennard was made at high speed, and on the way the men did little talking.  Both wanted to weigh the disaster confronting the project.  In town they sought out McDonnell, who promised to have his attorney go into the matter at once and who appeared very grave at the news.  Then they returned to the hotel to await their train.

Here Lee was surprised to encounter Ruth in company of Gretzinger, Charlie Menocal, and a Kennard girl with whom he was not acquainted.  Ruth and Imogene, he learned, had come down the day before with the New Yorker and were staying at the McDonnell home.

“We’re just roaming around and amusing ourselves,” Ruth said, slipping her arm within Lee’s.  “Come on and join us.”

Lee smilingly shook his head.

“Can’t possibly do it,” said he.  “I’m leaving for the capital soon.”

Ruth drew him aside.