THE NEW WELL--CONCLUSION
Carson Davenport was halfway up the steps of the car when Jake Tate and
another man hauled him backward to the station platform.
"They've got him!" exclaimed Jack, as he and his cousins, along with the
rest of the gathering crowd, came closer.
"Hi! Hi! Let me alone!" yelled Davenport. "Don't shoot! What is the
meaning of this, anyway?"
"You know well enough what it means!" bellowed Tate, still clutching him
by the arm. "You come back here. You are not going to take that train or
any other just yet."
"And you're not going to carry off that bag, either," put in Jackson, as
he wrenched the Gladstone away.
By this time the crowd completely surrounded Carson Davenport, and the
pistols which had been drawn were speedily thrust out of sight. The oil
well promoter was pushed in the direction of the little railroad
station, and in the midst of this excitement the train pulled out.
"What's the rumpus about, anyway?" exclaimed one man in the crowd.
"Never mind what it's about," broke in Tate hastily. "This is our
affair."
"That's right--maybe we had better keep it to ourselves," muttered
Jackson.
"I don't believe in shielding him," cried one man who had chased
Davenport and who wore several soldier's medals on his vest. "He's a
swindler, and it's best everybody knew it. He was on the point of
lighting out for parts unknown with all the money that was put into his
oil wells up on the Spell ranch."
"Is that right?" burst out another man.
"It is. And Tate and Jackson know it as well as I do. I guess Davenport
came to the conclusion that those wells he was putting down were no
good, and rather than sink any more money into them he was going to run
off with it."
"I wasn't running off with anything," declared Carson Davenport. "I was
going to put the money into the bank at Wichita Falls. I had a perfect
right to do that," and as he spoke he glared at Tate and Jackson.
"Say, if you're going to talk that way, I won't stand in with you any
longer!" cried Jackson, in a rage. "That money is going to stay right
here, where I and all the rest of us can keep our eyes on it!"
"That's right--don't let him get away with a dollar of it!" burst out
another man in the crowd.
"We'd better examine this bag first and make sure that we've got what we
came after," declared the man who wore the medals on his vest.
Davenport tried to demur, but none of the crowd would listen to him.
Although the Gladstone bag was locked, the oil well promoter was
compelled to give up the key, and then the others looked over the
contents of the bag.
"Twenty-six thousand dollars here," announced Tate, as he counted the
money in the presence of the others.
"What's this package?" demanded the man who wore the medals. "Hello!
Look here!" he exclaimed an instant later, after he had glanced at one
of several documents held together by a rubber band.
"What have you got?" questioned Tate curiously.
"You let those alone!" bellowed Davenport, his face turning pale. "Give
them to me! They are my private property!" and he endeavored to snatch
the documents from the other man's hand.
"Not much!" answered the man with the medals, Corporal John Dunning, who
had served over a year in France. "These papers belong to Mr. Richard
Rover, and he is the one who is going to get them."
"Richard Rover!" burst out Jack, who was close enough to catch the
words. "Why, that's my father!"
"I tell you I want those papers! They are mine!" screamed Carson
Davenport, and now he made another struggle to get them.
In the melee which followed Corporal Dunning was hit by the oil well
promoter, who in return received a blow full in the mouth which loosened
several of his teeth.
"If those are my father's papers they must be the same that were stolen
from him while we were stopping at a hotel here," said Jack. "Several
men entered one of our rooms and my father was knocked down from behind,
and while he was unconscious the men took the papers and ran away. They
were papers relating to the Lorimer Spell claim."
"Then tell your father that Corporal John Dunning, who is stopping at
O'Brian's Hotel, has them and will give them up to him just as soon as
he can prove his property," said the ex-soldier, as he placed the
documents in an inside pocket.
By this time two under-sheriffs had arrived on the scene, and they were
wanting to know if their services were required. Tate, Jackson, and one
or two others, for purely personal reasons, were in favor of hushing the
matter up, but not so Corporal Dunning or the Rover boys.
"If he is the man who knocked my father down and robbed him, I want him
arrested," declared Jack.
"He ought to be arrested if he did anything like that," acquiesced
Dunning. "I'm through with him! No more work for me at his place!"
"If you want another job I guess my father's foreman, Nick Ogilvie, will
be glad to take you on," answered Jack quickly. "You know, my dad is an
ex-service man, too. And so are my cousins' fathers," he added,
motioning to the other boys.
Carson Davenport blustered and tried to protest, and so did Tate and
Jackson. But it was all of no avail, and in the end the oil well
promoter was marched off by the under-sheriffs to the local lockup. Then
Tate and Jackson hurried away, looking anything but pleased.
"If he's exposed, he'll expose us too," said Tate sourly.
"Right you are, Jake," answered Jackson. "Maybe we'd better clear out."
And they did, the next day. They tried to get hold of some of the funds
of the oil company, but Dunning and others were on guard, so this little
plan was frustrated.
Of course Dick Rover was astonished when the boys burst in on him with
their story. He quickly sought out Dunning and proved to the
satisfaction of that individual that the documents taken from Davenport
were his property. Then Davenport was put through the "third degree," as
it is called by the authorities, and finally broke down and admitted
that he, Tate, and Jackson had committed the assault and theft, and that
he had likewise tried to abscond with the remaining funds of his new oil
company. As a result of all this he was later sentenced to a term of
years in prison. About three months later still Tate and Jackson were
caught, and also made to do time at hard labor.
With Davenport, Tate and Jackson out of it, the management of the new
oil company fell upon Gabe Werner's father. Mr. Werner went ahead with
the two wells as planned by the others, and in them sunk not only a
large amount of his own funds, but also funds belonging to the Martells
and Browns. But in the end these wells proved to be little better than
dry holes, so all of the money was lost.
"It's a terrible blow for all three families," said Dick Rover, when
this occurred. "It will make Mr. Werner quite a poor man."
"Well, I don't particularly wish them any hard luck," remarked Andy.
"Just the same, I guess Nappy, Slugger and Gabe got what was coming to
them."
On the day following the arrest of Davenport the first of the wells on
the Franklin farm was shot off. It proved to be an immense success, the
flood of oil carrying away almost everything before it.
"Jumping toothpicks!" exclaimed Randy, when the excitement was over.
"Nick Ogilvie says she will go six thousand barrels a day!"
"Just to think of it!" cried Jack, his eyes gleaming with pleasure. "Six
thousand barrels! Isn't it wonderful? Six thousand barrels at two
dollars and a half a barrel amounts to fifteen thousand dollars! Why,
it's a fortune and more!"
"We'll all be rich! We'll all be rich!" sang out Andy, and, grabbing his
brother, both set up a wild dance, knocking over the chairs as they did
so.
It was certainly a gala event, and the Rovers lost no time in
telegraphing the news to the folks in New York and also to a number of
their friends. Then preparations were made to bring in the second well,
and this proved almost as good as the first, running between four and
five thousand barrels per day at first, and then settling down to
fifteen hundred, while the first well for a long while never ran below
twenty-five hundred.
"They sure are a pair of peaches!" declared Dunning, who had come to
work for The Rover Oil Company. "A pair of peaches, as good as any in
this district."
"Do you know, I can scarcely believe it's true," said Phil Franklin to
the Rover boys. "Why, my father will have more money than he ever
dreamed of."
"We're as glad as you are, Phil," declared Jack. "Glad on your account
as well as our own. Now maybe you can go to Colby Hall with us."
"Say, that would be immense!" exclaimed Phil with pleasure.
And how Phil Franklin went that Fall with the Rovers to Colby Hall will
be related in a new volume, to be entitled, "The Rover Boys at Big Horn
Ranch; or, The Cowboys' Double Round-Up." In that book we shall learn
more concerning the doings of Jack and his cousins, and also learn the
particulars of a most remarkable trip to the far West.
Two weeks after the coming in of the first well the four Rover boys
returned to their homes in New York City. There an agreeable surprise
awaited them. Gif and Spouter had come down from Lake George to pay them
a visit.
"Say, this is just all right!" cried Jack, as the lads shook hands all
around.
"There is another surprise coming this evening," said Mary. "But we're
not going to tell you what it is."
That surprise proved to be the coming of Ruth and May. As yet Ruth had
to wear dark glasses, but she said that the eye specialist had told her
that these could be discarded in a week or two.
"You don't know how thankful I am that your eyes are coming around all
right," said Jack, as he caught both her hands. "It's the best news in
the world, Ruth--far better than that big oil well coming in on our
place in Texas."
"I am thankful, too, Jack," she answered. "And doubly thankful that you
haven't had to go through what I did with your eyes."
"I guess Gabe Werner has got his deserts," put in Randy. "His father is
sinking all his money in those good-for-nothing wells on the Spell
claim."
That night the young folks had something of a party, and it is perhaps
needless to say that every one of them enjoyed it thoroughly. Ruth, of
course, had to be careful of herself, and could not dance, but Jack gave
her a good deal of his company, and with this she seemed quite content.
Then followed a week or more in which the young folks went out on
numerous outings, both in the city and elsewhere. Then all motored up to
Valley Brook Farm, there to spend some time with Grandfather Rover and
Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph before returning to school.
"Well, it's certainly been a great Summer, after all!" remarked Fred.
"It sure has!" returned Andy.
"And we got quite a lot of fun out of it," added his twin.
"Fun, and a good deal of information," said Jack. "It certainly paid us
to visit The Land of Luck."
THE END
BOOKS BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
(Edward Stratemeyer)
THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES
THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR
* * * * *
THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES
THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
* * * * *
THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES
THE PUTNAM HALL CADETS
THE PUTNAM HALL RIVALS
THE PUTNAM HALL CHAMPIONS
THE PUTNAM HALL REBELLION
THE PUTNAM HALL ENCAMPMENT
THE PUTNAM HALL MYSTERY
By JAMES CODY FERRIS
WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS
Each Volume Complete in Itself.
Thrilling tales of the great west, told primarily for boys but which
will be read by all who love mystery, rapid action, and adventures in
the great open spaces.
The Manly boys, Roy and Teddy, are the sons of an old ranchman, the
owner of many thousands of heads of cattle. The lads know how to ride,
how to shoot, and how to take care of themselves under any and all
circumstances.
The cowboys of the X Bar X Ranch are real cowboys, on the job when
required, but full of fun and daring--a bunch any reader will be
delighted to know.
THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH
THE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON
THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER
THE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAIL
THE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UP
THE X BAR X BOYS AT NUGGET CAMP
THE X BAR X BOYS AT RUSTLER'S GAP
THE X BAR X BOYS AT GRIZZLY PASS
THE X BAR X BOYS LOST IN THE ROCKIES
THE X BAR X BOYS RIDING FOR LIFE
THE X BAR X BOYS IN SMOKY VALLEY
THE X BAR X BOYS AT COPPERHEAD GULCH
THE X BAR X BOYS BRANDING THE WILD HERD
By FRANKLIN W. DIXON
THE HARDY BOYS SERIES
Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself
The Hardy Boys are sons of a celebrated American detective, and during
vacations and their off time from school they help their father by
hunting down clues themselves.
THE TOWER TREASURE--A dying criminal confessed that his loot had been
secreted "in the tower." It remained for the Hardy Boys to clear up the
mystery.
THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF--Mr. Hardy started to investigate--and
disappeared! An odd tale, with plenty of excitement.
THE SECRET OF THE OLD MILL--Counterfeit money was in circulation, and
the limit was reached when Mrs. Hardy took some from a stranger. A tale
full of thrills.
THE MISSING CHUMS--Two of the Hardy Boys' chums disappear and are almost
rescued by their friends when all are captured. A thrilling story of
adventure.
HUNTING FOR HIDDEN GOLD--In tracing some stolen gold the trail leads the
boys to an abandoned mine, and there things start to happen.
THE SHORE ROAD MYSTERY--Automobiles were disappearing most mysteriously
from the Shore Road. It remained for the Hardy Boys to solve the
mystery.
THE SECRET OF THE CAVES--When the boys reached the caves they came
unexpectedly upon a queer old hermit.
THE MYSTERY OF CABIN ISLAND--A story of queer adventures on a rockbound
island.
THE GREAT AIRPORT MYSTERY--The Hardy Boys solve the mystery of the
disappearance of some valuable mail.
WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT--The boys follow a trail that ends in a
strange and exciting situation.
WHILE THE CLOCK TICKED--The Hardy Boys aid in vindicating a man who has
been wrongly accused of a crime.
FOOTPRINTS UNDER THE WINDOW--The Smuggling of Chinese into this country
is the basis of this story in which the boys find thrills and excitement
aplenty.
ZANE GREY BOOKS FOR BOYS
Packed with all the thrill and color and action that have made this
author famous!
THE "KEN WARD" STORIES
The Young Forester
Kenneth Ward, a young eastern lad just out of preparatory school, goes
west on his summer vacation to join a friend, Dick Leslie, a government
forest ranger in Arizona. Ken, honest, loyal but hot-headed runs into
plenty of excitement and trouble when he finds that a big lumber steal
is going on.
The Young Lion Hunter
Ken Ward and his kid brother, Hal, spend a summer on a forest preserve
in Utah with Ken's pal Dick Leslie. The government rangers are out after
the mountain lions and the boys from the east are glad to share in the
thrilling work.
The Young Pitcher
When Ken Ward entered Wayne College to pursue his study of forestry he
discovered that as a freshman he was on the bottom rung and had to fight
to win his way to recognition. His first claim to fame comes when he
pummels a prominent sophomore in self-defense.
Ken Ward in the Jungle
Ken Ward and his younger brother Hal take a trip into the wilds of
Mexico--Ken to try his hand at field work in the jungle and Hal, who is
ambitious to become a naturalist, to collect specimens. The boys set out
to solve the mysteries of the Santa Rosa River, an unknown course of
about a hundred and seventy-five miles through uncharted jungle.
* * * * *
STORIES OF BASEBALL
_Zane Grey's baseball is as real, as dramatic and as thrilling as the
western stories that made him famous._
The Redheaded Outfield
The Redheaded Outfield--three fiery-pated players who introduce a little
boxing and plenty of comedy into the game will delight you. The
Rube--who is all that a rube should be--appears in a whole series of
these stories and is a character you won't forget.
The Short-Stop
Chase Alloway developed a mean curve that had the small town players
buffaloed. They called him "Chaseaway", the "Hoodoo" and "crooked eye"
and one small town team was all for having him tarred and feathered! A
story crowded with hard and fast baseball--and a dash of romance!
* * * * *
STORIES OF THE GREAT WEST
The Last of the Plainsmen
"He'd rope the devil and tie him down--if the lasso didn't burn," it was
said of "Buffalo Jones," one of the last of the famous plainsmen who
trod the trails of the old West. Killing was repulsive to him and the
passion of his life was to capture wild beasts alive.
A real hunting trip--with constant danger threatening from wild beasts,
Indians and the hazards of wild country untouched by civilization.
Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon
A true story of Zane Grey's experiences capturing lions alive, which
makes ordinary hunting with guns seem, in contrast about as exciting as
a Sunday-school picnic. The account of how they captured six of the
tawny, fiery-eyed demons which infest the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
and got them into camp alive and growling, will enthrall the great host
of Zane Grey's boy readers.
The Last of the Great Scouts
_The life story of "Buffalo Bill" by_
HELEN CODY WETMORE
_With Foreword and Conclusion by Zane Grey_.
"Buffalo Bill"--scout, pathfinder, hunter and Indian fighter is the most
famous of all that great company of frontiersmen who opened up the West
for civilization. Indeed no character in history makes a stronger appeal
to the imagination than this daring hero of the old west.
By FRANK A. WARNER
BOB CHASE BIG GAME SERIES
In these thrilling stories of outdoor life the hero is a young
lumberjack who is a crack rifle shot. While tracking game in the Maine
woods he does some rich hunters a great service. They become interested
in him and take him on various hunting expeditions in this country and
abroad. Bob learns what it is to face not only wildcats, foxes and deer
but also bull moose, Rocky Mountain grizzly bears and many other species
of big game.
BOB CHASE WITH THE BIG MOOSE HUNTERS
BOB CHASE AFTER GRIZZLY BEARS
BOB CHASE IN THE TIGER'S LAIR
BOB CHASE WITH THE LION HUNTERS