After deciding in his own mind that he would sink a well in the place he had found, taking the work and debts upon himself when it was all to be for the pecuniary advantage of his friend, Bob was not one to lose any time.

As soon as he got back to the house and could harness his horses, he had started for Bradford to make arrangements for the purchase, on credit, of such machinery as was needed, and all this had been done so quickly that Jim and Dick were not aware he had returned from prospecting until they saw him driving away.

As a matter of course they questioned Ralph as to why their partner had left so hurriedly, and his reply excited them wonderfully.

He told them of what Bob had found, and then he realized how good the evidences of oil were, for the boys were in a perfect fever of delight as he explained what they had seen. Then he told them of what he thought was a mad scheme on Bob's part, his intention to begin sinking a well even before he had any money to carry on the work, and instead of being surprised at their partner's rashness, as he had expected they would be, they seemed to think it a very natural course for him to pursue.

They had quite as "wild" an attack as Bob had had, and although Ralph was surprised at it then, he soon grew accustomed to such phases of the "oil fever," after he had seen more of the business.

Jim and Dick insisted on going out to see what their partner had discovered, not satisfied with Ralph's description, and while they were gone he tried to convince himself that this possibility of his becoming rich, even before he had been obliged to struggle with the world, was true, and not a dream.

He was sitting on the wood-pile, arguing to himself as to whether Bob might not be mistaken, when Mr. Simpson came out of the house with the report that George was sleeping, and he decided to tell him the news, to see if he would be as confident as the others.

But before he could speak, Jim and Dick came up, panting, but triumphant.

"That's the biggest thing I ever saw!" said Jim, as he wiped the perspiration from his face, and then turning to Mr. Simpson, he added, "That wood-lot is worth about a thousand times as much as you got for it."

"Eh? What's that?" asked the old man, with his hand to his ear, as if distrustful that it had performed its duty correctly.

"Why, Bob has found the oil."

"Yes," added Dick, "and it shows up better than anything I ever saw around here.""It is true, Mr. Simpson," said Ralph, as the old man still looked incredulous. "Bob found signs of oil this morning, which he says are wonderfully good. I don't wonder that you can't believe it, for I haven't succeeded yet, and I was with Bob when he found it."

"Oil on the wood-lot!" repeated Mr. Simpson, in a dazed sort of way.

"Yes, sir, and tanks of it!" replied Jim.

"I am more glad than I can say," replied the old man, fervently, "for now you and Mr. Harnett will be rewarded for your generosity to an old man whom you hardly knew or cared for. It was not to be that I should have it, and it wouldn't have done me much good if I had, for mother an' I are most ready to leave this world, an' we haven't a child or a chick to be gladdened by the money. Why, Mr. Gurney, I'm as pleased for you as if it was all mine."

And Mr. Simpson shook the boy by the hand in a hearty way that left no doubt of the truth of what he said.

"But if there is oil there, Mr. Simpson, you own as much as George and I do, for we settled on that yesterday."

"No, no!" and the old man shook his head decidedly. "When I sold the land, I believed I was getting the full value for it, and you didn't care whether it was worth what you paid or not. What you bought is yours, and there's no gainsaying that. I suspected there was somethin' more'n wood on that land when I went to pay Massie the money, for when he found that I had the full amount, he offered to pay me my price for the wood-lot, and when I told him I'd sold it, he offered to give me the whole mortgage just for that piece of land."

"There!" exclaimed Ralph, as if Mr. Simpson had just told him something which it was to his advantage to hear. "Now you can see why we should give you one-third of the land. If you had come to us then, and told us that you had a better offer for it, we should have been only too well pleased to give it up. Now, if what Bob says is true, you shall still own a third of the lot."

Mr. Simpson shook his head, to show he would not permit of such generosity, and Ralph did not care to discuss the matter any further, for he and George had already decided what to do.

"If what Bob says is true!" cried Jim. "Why, there's no question about it, for there the oil is where you can see it for yourself."

"Still, it may not turn out as he expects," objected Ralph, as if determined not to believe in his good fortune; and the moonlighters, really angry at such obstinacy, refused to argue with him any longer.

They insisted that Mr. Simpson should go with them to see the fortune that had been his, without his being aware of the fact, and while they were away Bob returned.

He had two men with him, who appeared as intent on business as Bob did, for all three walked past Ralph without speaking, going directly into the wood-lot.

During fully an hour, Ralph sat on the wood-pile, wondering if it could be possible that he was wrong in refusing to believe what all the others seemed so certain of, and then Bob and the men came back, accompanied by Mr. Simpson and the two moonlighters, all looking as if they could hardly contain themselves because of joy.

"We will start the engine and lumber right up here, Mr. Hubbard," said one of the men, as he passed Ralph, "and you can send for what you want, with the understanding that the owners of the land will ratify all your bargains."

"Well, as for that, you can judge for yourselves, so far as one of the owners is concerned; the other is not able to transact any business," said Bob, turning suddenly toward Ralph, and, greatly to that young gentleman's surprise, saying, "Gentlemen, this is Mr. Ralph Gurney, who owns one-half the property, as Mr. Simpson has told you."

"You are a very fortunate young man," said the gentleman who had been speaking with Bob. "You authorize Mr. Hubbard to act for you, I suppose?"

"Yes, sir," replied Ralph, too much dazed to know exactly what he was saying.

"There! what did I tell you?" cried Bob, as Jim drove away with the men, in order to bring the team back. "They will supply everything we need to open the well, and simply because they have seen what you did not think was of very much account. I have hired the men to build the derrick, and before you go to bed to-night you will have seen the work begun on your oil well."

"But, Bob," asked Ralph, in a tone that was almost piteous, and which sounded so comical, under the circumstances, that even Mr. Simpson laughed heartily at it, "do they think the same about it that you do?"

"Well, you heard what was said about supplying anything we needed, and people don't say such things, even up this way, unless they mean them. Now we shall need some considerable money, and I advise you to write to your father, telling him of what you own, and asking him to come on here prepared to help you. If he won't do it I can get all the money we need; but we shall have to pay considerable for the use of it."

Ralph made no objection, nor advanced any further argument; he was in that condition of mind when he was not capable of any resistance, and he obeyed Bob's orders as meekly as if there was no way by which he could refuse.

Ralph's letter was by no means one of such glowing description as Bob would have written. It was a plain statement of facts, begun by an account of how he and George came to buy the property, of the chase for the thieves, when they had their first intimation of the value of the property, of the accident to George, of Bob's discovery, and lastly of the opinion of the Bradford merchants, who were ready to supply, on credit, everything which was necessary for the opening of the well.

When the letter was read to Bob in its entirety, he did not disapprove of it, nor was he very much pleased. All he ventured to say was:

"It is lucky for you, Gurney, that the oil showed up so plainly that those who know a gold dollar when they see it were not so frightened about giving credit as you are about stating facts."

Then Dick was sent to Sawyer to post the letter, and while he was away the workmen whom Bob had engaged had arrived.

Ralph went with him when he directed them to clear away for the erection of the derrick and engine-house, and by the time the first load of lumber had arrived, he had begun to feel the effects of the oil fever.

The preparations going on everywhere around, the comments of the workmen as they saw the show of oil, the ringing blows of axes, and shouts of the teamsters, all lent an air of realism to Bob's words which Ralph had failed to see or feel before.

It was for him, even though it had been against his wishes, that all these men were working, and for him would accrue the profits, if indeed there were any.

Bob had been as good as his word; before Ralph went to bed that night he had seen the work begun, and already was he beginning to feel that perhaps all Bob's predictions might be verified.

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