Produced by Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. [Illustration: Barbara. Often as Barbara sat looking over that great basin her heart cried out to know the secret it held.] THE WINNING OF BARBARA WORTH BY HAROLD BELL WRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGMENT While this story is not in any way a history of this part of the Colorado Desert now known as the Imperial Valley, nor a biography of anyone connected with this splendid achievement, I must in honesty admit that this work which in the past ten years has transformed a vast, desolate waste into a beautiful land of homes, cities, and farms, has been my inspiration. With much gratitude for their many helpful kindnesses, I acknowledge my indebtedness to H. T. Cory, F. C. Hermann, C. R. Rockwood, C. N. Perry, E. H. Gaines, Roy Kinkaid and the late George Sexsmith, engineers and surveyors identified with this reclamation work; to W. K. Bowker, Sidney McHarg, C. E. Paris, and many other business friends and neighboring ranchers among our pioneers; and to William Mulholland, Chief Engineer of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. I am particularly indebted to C. K. Clarke, Assistant Manager and Chief Engineer of the California Development Company, and to Allen Kelly, whose knowledge, insight and observations as a journalist and as a student of Reclamation in the Far West have been invaluable to me. To my friend, Mr. W. F. Holt, in appreciation of his life and of his work in the Imperial Valley, this story is inscribed. H. B. W. Tecolote Rancho, April 25, 1911. "Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall, Who sows a field, or trains a flower, Or plants a tree, is more than all." CONTENTS I. INTO THE INFINITE LONG AGO II. JEFFERSON WORTH'S OFFERING III. MISS BARBARA WORTH IV. YOU'D BETTER MAKE IT NINETY V. WHAT THE INDIAN TOLD THE SEER VI. THE STANDARD OF THE WEST VII. DON'T YOU LIKE MY DESERT, MR. HOLMES? VIII. WHY WILLARD HOLMES STAYED IX. THE MASTER PASSION--"GOOD BUSINESS" X. BARBARA'S LOVE FOR THE SEER XI. ABE LEE RESIGNS XII. SIGNS OF CONFLICT XIII. BARBARA'S CALL TO HER FRIENDS XIV. MUCH CONFUSION AND HAPPY EXCITEMENT XV. BARBARA COMES INTO HER OWN XVI. JEFFERSON WORTH'S OPERATIONS XVII. JAMES GREENFIELD SEEKS AN ADVANTAGE XVIII. THE GAME PROGRESSES XIX. GATHERED AT BARBARA'S COURT XX. WHAT THE STAKES REVEALED XXI. PABLO BRINGS NEWS TO BARBARA XXII. GATHERING OF OMINOUS FORCES XXIII. EXACTING ROYAL TRIBUTE XXIV. JEFFERSON WORTH GOES FOR HELP XXV. WILLARD HOLMES ON TRIAL XXVI. HELD IN SUSPENSE XXVII. ABE LEE'S RIDE TO SAVE JEFFERSON WORTH XXVIII. WHAT THE COMPANY MAN TOLD THE MEXICANS XXIX. TELL BARBARA I'M ALL RIGHT XXX. MANANA! MANANA! TO-MORROW! TO-MORROW! XXXI. BARBARA'S WAITIN' BREAKFAST FOR YOU XXXII. BARBARA MINISTERS TO THE WOUNDED