Alice B. Emerson

“ But of course I have a bunk out at the field. Accommodations are extremely limited, Betty, I will admit. The few houses that take in travelers are over-crowded and dirty. If some one had enterprise enough to start a good hotel he'd make a fortune. But like all oil towns, the fever is to sink one's money in wells."
Betty's eyes turned to the horizon where the steel towers reared against the sky.
"Can we go to see the oil fields now?" she asked. "We're not a bit tired, are we, Bob?"
Mr. Gordon surveyed his niece banteringly.
"What is your idea of an oil field?" ”

“ Miss Charity was almost in a state of collapse, and her sister and Betty both saw that she must be taken home. It was hard work, going back without Bob, and once in the kitchen. Miss Charity was hysterical, clinging to her sister and sobbing that first Faith had died and now her boy was missing.
"But we'll find him, dear," urged Miss Hope. "He can't be lost. A strong boy of fourteen can't be lost; can he, Betty?"
"Of course we'll find him," asserted Betty stoutly. "I'm going to ride to the Watterbys in the morning and telephone to Uncle Dick. He will know what to do. ”

“ All was uproar and confusion in the coaches through which Bob had to pass to reach the car where he knew Betty was. Distracted mothers with frightened, crying children charged up and down the aisles, excited men ran through, and the wildest guesses flew about. The concensus of opinion was that they had hit something!
"Oh, Bob!" Betty greeted him with evident relief when he at last reached her. "What has happened? Is any one hurt? Will another train come up behind us and run into us?" ”

“ You won't mind staying alone for a couple of hours, will you?"
"Not in the daytime," quavered Miss Charity. "But my, I'm glad you're here to-night, Betty. Sister and I never used to be afraid, but you and Bob have spoiled us. We don't like to stay alone."
Betty slept very little that night. Aside from missing Bob's protection—and how much she had relied on him to take care of them she did not realize until she missed him—there were the demands made on her by the old ladies, who both suffered from bad dreams. ”

“ Ten to one she won't have heard of the oil boom, or if she has, it's easy enough to pose as a government expert and tell her her land is worthless for oil. We'll offer her a good price for it for straight farming, and we'll have the old lady grateful to us the rest of her life.'
"If that doesn't sound like the scheming of a couple of rascals, I miss my guess," concluded Bob. "You see the trick, don't you, Betty? They'll take care to find a farm that's right in the oil section, and then they'll bully and persuade some timid old woman into selling her farm to them for a fraction of its worth." ”

“ Three spirals of tobacco smoke curled above the seats, and when Bob lifted his gaze from the paper he could see the round, good-natured face of the fat man beaming through the gray veil.
"What you want to go to that trouble for?" he drawled, after a pause. Clearly he was never hurried into an answer. "Seems to me, Jack, this is a case where the youngster shows good judgment. Where you fixing to operate?"
"Oklahoma," was the comprehensive answer. "Oil's the thing to-day. There's more money being made in the fields over night than we used to think was in the United States mint." ”

“ I want to get where we are going, Bob!"
"Sure you do," responded Bob sympathetically, frowning with annoyance as another hoarse burst of laughter came from the corner table. "But I'm afraid Flame City isn't going to be much of a place after all."
"I don't care what kind of place it is," declared Betty firmly. "All I want is to see Uncle Dick and be with him. And I want you to find your aunts. And I'd like to go to school with the Littell girls next fall. And that's all."
Bob smiled, then grew serious.
"I'd like to go to school myself," he said soberly. ”

“ And, Bob, both your aunts are very sick, and they have no one to take care of them or get them anything to eat. There aren't any neighbors around here, you know; all the women are too old or too busy like Mrs. Watterby, and the men are crazy about oil. You and I have to go there to-night."
"Betty, are you sure you are not crazy?" demanded Bob uneasily. "How do you know they are my aunts? How can we go there and stay? They must need a doctor."
Betty was impatient of explanations, but she saw that Bob was genuinely bewildered, so she hastily sketched the proceedings of the afternoon for him. ”

“ Imagine a person who has lived in this oil country and hasn't seen a well!"
The program was carried out, and the Misses Saunders thoroughly enjoyed the long day spent among the wells. They thought the machinery wonderful, as indeed it was, and marvelled at the miles of pipe line.
Grandma Watterby, as might be expected, was delighted with the turn of events, and Betty and Bob spent a day with her, telling her all that had happened.
"It's better than a book," she sighed contentedly. "If Emma would only go around more, I'm sure she could find interesting things to tell me. ”

“ A woman of your age should have more strength of character than to believe in every fairy tale. Of course Bob and Betty think there is oil on the farm—they believe In rainbows and all the other pretty fancies that you and I have outgrown. Besides, I never did take much stock in this oil talk. I don't think the Lord would put a fortune into any one's hands so easily. It's a lazy man's idea of earning a living. ”

“ If Betty should live to be an old lady she would probably never cease to recall the peculiar circumstances under which she made friends with the three Littell girls and their cousin from Vermont and came to spend several delightful weeks at the hospitable mansion of Fairfields. The Littell family had grown to be very fond of Betty and of Bob, whose fortunes seemed to be inextricably mixed up with hers, and when the time came for them to leave for Oklahoma, fairly showered them with gifts. ”

“ Goodness knows, there's nothing worth stealing in the house."
"Those sharpers," whispered Betty. "They might have come back and be hanging around hoping they can make your aunts sell the farm to them."
"I'd like to see them try it," bristled Bob. "Isn't it funny, Betty, we can't make the aunts believe there is oil here? I think Aunt Charity might, but Aunt Hope is so positive she rides right over her. Well, I hope that Uncle Dick comes back from the fields mighty quick and persuades them that they have a fortune ready for the spending." ”

“ Poor tools are the height of folly for any business or worker, Betty. As for Flame City, the place is literally swamped. People poured in from the day the first good well came in, and they've been arriving in droves ever since. You can't persuade any of them to take up the business they had before—to run a boarding house, or open a restaurant or a store. No, every blessed one of 'em has set his heart on owning and operating an oil well. ”

“ Betty, who would be kind to any one in distress, had gone in for a glass of water and brought it out to him.
"Thank you, my dear," he murmured gratefully, gulping it down in one long swallow while Fluss shook his head impatiently in answer to Betty's mute interrogation. "My, that tasted good," Blosser added, handing back the glass, "I don't suppose you know whether your aunts want to sell?" he shot at Bob. "Must be kind of hard for them to run the farm all alone." ”

“ She hoped that Grandma would find a car to her liking, one whose springs would be kind to her rheumatic bones, and that there would be enough left of the little legacy to buy the valiant old lady some of the small luxuries she liked.
"Ki's home," volunteered the boy. "He's working 'way out in the cornfield. Want to see him? I'll call him for you."
"No thanks," said Betty, uncertain what to do next. "I don't suppose there's a telephone at your house, is there?" she asked, smiling. ”

“ Betty Gordon, breakfasting in the dining-car of the Western Limited, smiled happily at Bob Henderson, seated on the opposite side of the table. This was her first long train trip, and she meant to enjoy every angle of it.
"I wonder what kind of cowboy you'd make, Bob?" Betty speculated, studying the frank, boyish face of her companion. "You'd have to be taller, I think."
"But not much thinner," observed Bob cheerfully. "Skinny cowboys are always in demand, Betty. They do more work. ”

“ Bob and I have never ridden this far, and from the looks of the country I don't think it is what the geographies call 'densely populated'. Mercy, what a lonesome place!"
Clover had gone contentedly to cropping grass, and that reminded Betty that she was hungry.
Far away she saw the outlines of oil derricks, but the horse seemed to have taken her out of the immediate vicinity of the oil fields. Not a house was in sight, not a moving person or animal. The stillness was unbroken save for the hoarse call of a single bird flying overhead. ”

“ Bah!"
"Keep your temper," counseled Fluss in a low tone. "Well, rather than see two ladies lose a sale," he said with forced cheerfulness, "We will make you an offer of three thousand dollars. Money talks louder than fair words."
"I'll give you five thousand, cash," Mr. Gordon spoke quietly, but Betty bounced about on the sofa in delight.
Fluss leaped to his feet and brought his fist smashing down on the table.
"Six thousand!" he cried fiercely. "We're buying this farm. We'll give you six thousand dollars, ladies."
"Seven thousand," said Mr. Gordon conversationally. ”

“ Even if none of my seed grows near the railroad, the wind may carry some off to some lonely farm home and then they'll give the farmer's wife a gay surprise. Let's fling the seed from the observation car, shall we?"
"All right; though I must say I don't think a bit of it will grow," said Bob. "But first, come back into our coach with me; I want to tell you about those two men who sat back of you."
"Is that what you were staring about?" demanded Betty, as they found their seats and Bob picked up his camera preparatory to putting in a new roll of film. ”

“ The post-office was a yellow-painted building that leaned for support against a blue cigar store. Like the majority of shacks in the town, it boasted of only one story, and a long counter, whittled with the initials of those who had waited for their mail, was its chief adornment. ”

“ She is reputed gentle and used to being ridden by a woman. Then, if we can pick up some kind of a nag for Bob, you two needn't be tied down to the farm. All the orders I have for you is that you're to keep away from the town. Ride as far into the country as you like."
"But, Mr. Gordon," protested Bob, "I don't want you to get a horse for me! I'd rather have a job. Isn't there something I can do out at the oil fields? I'm used to looking out for myself."
"Look here, young man," came the reply with mock severity, "I thought I told you you had a job on your hands looking after Betty. ”

“ Obediently Betty sat her horse and fixed her gaze on the small group of men who were moving about with more than ordinary quickness and a trace of excitement. There is always the hope that a well will "come in big" and offer substantial payment for the weeks of hard work and toil expended on it. ”

“ Betty dismissed the school question lightly from her mind. She would certainly enjoy going to school with the Littell girls, and boarding school was one of her day-dreams, as it is of most girls her age. After she had seen her uncle and spent some time with him—he was very dear to her, was this Uncle Dick—she thought she might be ready to go back East and take up her education where it had been dropped somewhat unceremoniously. But there was the subject of the probable cost—something that never bothered the Littell girls. ”

“ In cars, and on horseback. They say more wells have caught."
"Do you think Uncle Dick is in danger?" faltered Betty. "Aren't the fire fighters surrounded sometimes and suffocated with smoke?"
"What have you been reading?" demanded Bob with a stoutness he was far from feeling. "Uncle Dick knows too much to be caught like that. No, he may not get home for a couple of days more, but there is no need for you to lie awake and worry. Take my advice and go to bed the minute you've had supper; you look tired to death, Betty." ”

“ Losing one of the cows is serious, for the aunts count every pint of milk; they have to, poor dears. I wish to goodness they would admit that there might be oil on the farm. I'm sure it irritates Bob to be told so flatly that he is dreaming day-dreams every time he happens to say a word about an oil well."
Betty searched painstakingly, even going out into the road and hunting a short stretch, lest the cow should have strayed out on the highway. ”

“ You can fight fire in a single well, but let half a dozen of 'em flare up and there'll be more than oil lost.
"What a croaker you are, Dave," said Mr. Gordon lightly. "Don't lose sleep about any section. A night's rest is far too valuable to be squandered. These young folks want to see the sights, and I'll take them around for an hour or so. Then I'll go over that bill of lading with you. Come, Betty and Bob, we'll leave the machine and take the trail on foot. Mind your clothes and shoes—there's oil on everything you touch." ”

“ She knew where the Flame City doctor lived; that is, the country doctor who had practised long before the town was the oil center it was now. There were good medical men at the oil fields, but Betty knew that they were liable to be in any section and difficult to find. She trusted that Doctor Morrison would be at home.
He lived about two miles out of the town and a mile from the Watterby farm, and, as good luck would have it, he had come in from a hard case at dinner time, taken a nap, and was comfortably reading a magazine on his side porch when Betty wheeled into the yard. ”

“ The two poor sisters seemed to have been the prey of unscrupulous sharpers since the death of their parents, and Betty fervently hoped that Bob would be able to stave off the pseudo real-estate men till her uncle could advise them.
A few days after the doctor's call Betty decided that what she needed was a good gallop on Clover. She had had little time for riding since she had been nurse and housekeeper, and the little horse was becoming restive from too much confinement.
"A ride will do you good," declared Miss Hope, in her eager, positive fashion. ”

“ Gordon suddenly. Then he laughed.
"It's in the very air," he explained. "We talk oil, think oil, and sometimes I think, we eat oil. Leastways I know I've tasted it in the air on more than one occasion."
Betty had been silently turning something over in her mind.
"Isn't there danger from fire?" she asked presently.
"There certainly is," affirmed her uncle. "We've had one bad fire this season, and I don't suppose the subject is ever out of our minds very long at a time. Sandbags are always kept ready, but let a well get to burning once, and all the sandbags in the world won't stop it." ”

“ Betty and I have a job cut out for us right here."
The lad on the motorcycle had no time to waste in arguing. He was eager to get to the scene of excitement, and if Bob chose to throw up a chance to see a spectacular fire, why, that was his business. With a loud snort and a series of back-fires, the machine shot up the road and in less than a minute was out of sight.
"I hope, oh, I hope that Uncle Dick is all right," worried Betty, walking back to the house. "You needn't have stayed with me, Bob. Still, of course, I'm glad you did. I might be a little nervous at night." ”

“ Now Bob was no coward, but there were five men arrayed against him with a probable sixth in the form of the counter-man who was watching the turn of affairs with great interest from the safe vantage-point of his high counter. It was too much to expect that any men who had dealt with a defenceless and handicapped stranger as these had dealt with the Chinaman would fight fair. Besides, Bob was further hampered by the terrified Betty who clung tightly to his arm and implored him not to fight. ”