Western Kansas world. [volume] (WaKeeney, Kan.) 1885-current, 1886-03-27

sweet voice in the doorway. It was Miss
Peach. Sands felt like king. At din
ner he ordered champagne for everybody
and gracefully proposed the health Of
the "Young lady who has come so mys-
teriously but like ray of sunshine into
our midst"
Il have such desire to know some.
thing of these awful bold men you cal
'moonshiners.' she was saying.
.'It will be hard to introduce you to
one, fear" was the answer, coming
was surprise to hear, from Gallop, a
reticent, surly man, one of the wealthiest
wild-catters in the district.
lizard! Why sop
"He decent live long enough in his
profession to make acquaintance. That
loud report we heard last evening was
the 'knen of four men. They were tax
ing sixty gallons of glycerine to the iron
safe in the middle of the field. All that
has been discovered of them, their horse
and wagon, are several bits of wood and
about half pound of flesh up tree
The question remains, is this flesh horse
or human"
Two days passed, and I saw little OF
''The PEACH" as she was now called
Garfield was in a frenzy, and men had
not the time to think of such women
Once or twice we asked each other, curl
ously, "Who is she?" and "What is she
here for?" One thing was noticeable
Sands had contrived to meet 1.-THE Peach
a great deal in the two days before he re-
turned to Warren. He took her to a
ball given by the oil men, and she came
back charmingly enthused over the
characters" she had met there and the
''local color" she had caught.
AS I said, Garfield was wild. A thous-
and conflicting rumors were afoat con-
corning the discovery of new fields, which
kept quotations fuctuating in the most
perplexing manner. Already the report
was current that the mystery wells y
which Sands and man named Culp were
sinking, had respectively turned out a
"gusher" and ''duster'' So the mar
ket fell and rose again Thus matters
stood on the afternoon of the third day
after Miss Peach's arrival. 1 had just
come from the woods feeling tired from
my tramp, and was lounging on the
porch at the time, when L heard voices
above at the parlor window. One was
'.The Peach's''
''How jolly! wish you would tell
me more. 1 want to know all about
wild eating Mr.. Sands explained a
great deal, and he is going to take me to
his mystery tomorrow. Won't you
take me to yours?"
81 have no mystery al present. But I
would give $4,000 to be in your place
to- morrow"
SIN mine! You mean Mr. Sands
placer
'.Not at all. 1t is cupidity, not COM
pliment With the information could
get might make fifty-a hundred thous-
and"
Cant bring you back the informa-
tom" She asked this laugbingly, but his
reply, which could not hear, was ut
tered, after an interval, in such low,
earnest tone that I thought to myself
there is trouble brewing for Sands
He came the following afternoon, sure
enough, and took the Pet, as the scouts
called her, away in falling-top I
watched them depart, and kept my eye
also upon Gallop, but he was as hard Wis
aged and inscrutable as ever. I shall al
ways remember the next day. 1t was
Friday, and I was at Warren, of course,
in the exchange. The brokers were fran
tic, screaming themselves hoarse and
leaping into the air like mad men, for the
scouts were sending in bushels of tele-
grams from Garfield and the region
round about, all relating to the two
mysteries"
The only calm man in the town was
Sands. He was selling it rate that
meant only one of two things absolute
financial ruin or the knowledge on his
part that his we'll was ''gusher." The
counteracting influence was Culp, who
bought as though he were assured that
his own and Sands well we're both "dust-
ers," and consequently the new field
they were working in was not prolific.
Between these two the market danced
wildly. Sands sold with an impurtable
air of confidence. Culp bought at first
with manner no less sure, but toward
the close of the afternoon session he
weakened; Sands cool assurance terrified
him; he became wary; tried to hedge;
his followers deserted him; the startling
news came that Culps' well was indeed
a cluster" and the market dropped with
a crash. Then it was that Sands accom-
plished his end The man looked in
spired. He turned quickly around and
in five minutes had bought at the bot
tom prices to more than the full amount
of his enormous sales. The exchange
fairly gasped; eyed him with distrust;
for quarter of an hour all was uncer-
tainty and pandemonium. Then came
the first dispatch from Garfield, and fol-
lowing it dozens of Others, all to the
same effect. Sands mystery" was in
deed flowing gushing at the rate of
2, 500 barrels. When the session closed
he was worth several hundred thousand
dollars more than he had been in the
morning, and Culp with many others,
was ruined man.
Twas present at the impromptu dinner
given that night by Sands. He was
never SO clever before. We baptized him
with bottle of Cicquot, and he insisted
that each guest should have half dozen
widows placed before him. Then he
dumbfounded us.
Drink bumpers!' he cried, to the