"Of course we can't marry unless you help him along. Justin has been wanting to go to Denver. He thinks he could do well there by and by, after he became acquainted and had a start. Doctor Clayton knows a man there to whom he will give him a letter. But expenses are something terrific in a city, and we should have to wait a long time before Justin could work up to a salary that would justify us in getting married."
"So it's you that wants to get married, is it?"
"I am one who wants to get married; Justin is the other."
"I don't demand anything, I simply suggest."
"Then what do you suggest? He had the nerve to say that he thinks he is capable of managing the new ditch."
"I simply suggest that you help him in some way, as a father who is able to should. He has worked for you a long time for very small wages; wages so small that he could save nothing out of them, as you know. I think that you ought to start him on one of the farms you have recently bought, or else give him some good position, with a salary that isn't niggardly. It seems to me he is capable and worthy."
"If I don't give him a position, that will postpone this most important marriage?"
A smile wrinkled Davison's face and lighted his blue eyes.
"You are a good girl, Lucy; and Justin is a--is a Davison! And that means he is hard-headed and has a good opinion of himself. I'll think about it. Now run down and see that the cook doesn't spoil the dinner. She burnt the bread yesterday until it was as black as coal and as hard as a section of asphalt pavement. By the way, I don't suppose you could cook or do housework?"
And she departed, for she did not yet trust the new cook.
The next day Davison offered Justin the position of ditch rider, at a salary that made Fogg wince and protest, though he believed Justin to be the very one for the place. That Justin should be given this position seemed even to Fogg advisable, as a business consideration. The "rider" of the canal and ditches comes into closer relationship with the water users than any other person connected with an irrigation company. He sees that the water is properly measured and delivered, and he makes the equitable pro-rata distribution when the supply is low or failing. Justin had the confidence of the farmers; and, as there were sure to be many complaints, he would be a good buffer to place between them and the company.