THE IMPERIAL ENGINEER Read Online Free

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