Beyond the fact that the drills had struck the rock, and that it was of such a nature that they could not work in it, but would necessitate the use of glycerine, but little more remained to be told after that first announcement.

But yet all the boys crowded into George's room and insisted on trying to tell him something new regarding the important fact.

The drills had struck the rock very shortly after Ralph and George had started out, and in their rejoicing that the work was so nearly over, Mr. and Mrs. Simpson had insisted that all hands should come to the house, where a generous luncheon of preserves and bread and butter was passed around in honor of the happy event.

That was all any of them could tell, and then came the question of shooting the well, Jim and Dick looking anxiously at their former partner to hear him retract those words so traitorous to moonlighting generally.

Both Ralph and George were as glad as they were surprised to hear Bob exclaim against having moonlighters open "The Harnett." They would have opposed any such proposition had he made it; but since he himself objected to it, the matter was simple enough.

"I will drive down to town to-night and arrange with Roberts Brothers to send a man up here to-morrow," said Bob, "and before to-morrow night we will know just what 'The Harnett' is worth."

"But, Bob," cried Dick, "you don't mean to say that after we have shot the well that you're goin' to pay them more than it's worth for doin' it no better than any of them can."

"That's just what I do mean to tell them, my son," replied Bob, with a mingled air of authority and patronage.

"Why?"

"Well, in the first place, it will avoid any trouble. In the second place, it don't look well to be sneakin' 'round as moonlighters have to do, and in the third place, we want 'The Harnett' opened square."

"But you always said moonlighting was square, and that you wouldn't even let the regular men come near a well of yours," urged Jim.

And from his tone it was easy to understand that this opening of "The Harnett" was a matter upon which he and Dick had quite set their hearts.

"That was before I owned an interest in a well myself, boys," replied Bob. "Mind you, I don't say now that moonlightin' isn't square, for I believe it is; but when it's such a stunner of a well as this that's to be shot, I say that it hain't best to give anybody a chance to raise a question about it."It was evident to all from that moment that Bob Hubbard, the oil producer, was to be a very different sort of a party from Bob Hubbard, the moonlighter, and all save his old partners were delighted at the change.

"Then have you given up moonlightin' entirely, Bob?" asked Dick, with a world of reproach in his voice.

"Indeed I have," was the emphatic reply. "I'm still ready to say that it's all right and legitimate; but I'm through with it."

"Then, just for the sake of old times, Bob, an' seein's how we haven't come into possession of quarter of an oil-well, let us open your well for you," pleaded Jim.

And all present understood that he and Dick, having been interested in the well from the time it was first discovered, were anxious to do something toward opening it.

"I'll tell you how it can be done," said George, desirous of granting Jim and Dick the very slight favor which they asked, and yet quite as unwilling as was Bob that the work should be done in any way which could be called illegal. "Bob can go to the torpedo people, pay them for the charge, get the cartridges and glycerine, with the express understanding that he is to do the work himself. That would make matters right all around, and you can fancy that you are moonlighting again."

It was a happy thought, this one of George's, and every one present, even including Mr. Simpson, hailed it with joy. It was an arrangement which would please all of them very much better than to have any strangers doing the work, and Bob would have started at once to attend to it, if Ralph had not stopped him by telling him of the examination which he would be obliged to attend next day.

"Since you will be obliged to go with us, you had better wait until to-morrow. You can have the tubing started on the road at the same time, and on the next day we can shoot the well," suggested George.

Bob was not at all inclined to wait forty-eight hours when half that time would suffice to decide whether "The Harnett" was a wonderful success or a dismal failure; but since he would be obliged to be present at the examination, which would occupy a portion of the day, he tried to content himself as best he could.

The remainder of that day was spent in discussing plans for the future, Bob entering into a profound calculation of the amount of material they would need to build a tank, for he was so certain they would strike oil, that he would have had no hesitation in beginning work on the tank even before the well was opened.

On the following morning, George was feeling so well and looking so bright that there could no longer be any fear he had over-exerted himself the day before, and preparations were begun at once for the ride into town.

Ralph and George were to drive in with the latter's team, while the old firm of moonlighters, with Mr. Simpson, were to go in Bob's double-seated wagon. Everything was taken which it was thought the invalid might need, and the party started, all of them wishing the journey had some other motive than that of assuring punishment to others, even though they were guilty.

On arriving in town, they were met by the officer whom they had spoken with the day before, and he told them, after they had found a comfortable seat in the court-room, of all that had been learned of the prisoners.

Their names were William Dean and Henry Ramsdell, and they had worked for some time in Oil City for a civil engineer there. By this means they had learned the oil business, and had shown an especial aptitude for prospecting. There they committed what may or may not have been their first crime, for no one knew where they had lived before they appeared in Oil City. They robbed their employer of nearly two hundred dollars, and it is probable that it was after that money was spent that they had stolen George's team.

The examination did not last very long. George told of the theft of his team, of his pursuing the thieves, in company with Ralph and Bob, and of all that occurred up to the time he left his companions to go to Mr. Simpson's for his instruments.

"Then," he said, "when I had got nearly half way from where I had left my friends at the house, these men stepped from among the bushes directly in front of me, and one demanded the paper which I held in my hand. I refused to give it to him, and as I did so, before I had time to act on the defensive, the elder of the men struck me full in the face. I at once began to defend myself, but it was two to one, and in a very short time a blow on the head from some hard substance felled me to the ground, unconscious."

That was all George could tell, and Ralph and Bob were both called to the stand to testify to what they knew, both of the theft of the team and of the finding of George.

Mr. Simpson, Jim and Dick were also ready to testify as to the condition of George when they found him and when they carried him into the house, but their evidence was not needed then, nor was the doctor's, who had examined and attended the wounded youth.

Beyond asking one or two unimportant questions of each witness, the accused had nothing to say for themselves, or in contradiction of what had been testified to, and the judge committed them without bail for trial at the next term of court.

As soon as the examination was over, Bob went to the office of the torpedo works, and there contracted for the necessary amount of material to "shoot" the well, and also stipulated that he be given permission to do the work.

At first this was refused peremptorily, on the ground that it was a dangerous operation, and that he would probably succeed only in killing himself.

Bob understood at once that he was not recognized, and he asked if Mr. Newcombe was in the building. That gentleman was in, and appeared very shortly after he was sent for, greeting Bob as heartily as if they had always been the best of friends rather than enemies.

"Mr. Newcombe, I have come for an eighty-quart charge, with the stipulation that I can work it myself in the well on the Simpson farm, of which I own one quarter. This gentleman refuses, because he is afraid I may kill myself. Won't you vouch for my skill in the matter?"

"Indeed I will," was the hearty reply; "and if you will buy all your charges in the same manner, I shall have very much less work to do."

"I've stopped all that work now," said Bob, solemnly, "and so far as I am concerned, you won't have another night's drive for moonlighters."

Of course, after Mr. Newcombe's introduction, Bob had no difficulty in gaining the desired permission, and he joined those who were waiting for him outside, happy in the thought that, as he expressed it, "'The Harnett' would have a chance next day to show what she could do."

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