Evening journal., 1891-08-03

with possibility, though no probability, 0
winning Vroni; on the other n clear none
saving Of $50. Greed prevailed As sool
az the lease was approved of and signe,
ana the signatures verified by the squirl
Dry Hole Tim folded the document, place,
1t in his breast pocket, buttoned thecoa
and handed the astonished farmer a fiy,
dollar gold piece,
Old Rabenholtz was at first inclined'tt
take Tins tender of the years rent as ,
Joke. believing himself entitled to 1915
which doubtless he was justified in expect
ing. but his countenance assumed a highl,
tragi-comical aspect when the lease wa.
produced again, which sustained Tim.
action.
The latter flung the gold piece on tn,
kitchen table and walked away whistlino
Joe wanted to follow and knock hin
down, but Nroni held his arm,
| What Fran Rabenholtz had to say +,
| Squire Schaffhouser would make interest
ing reading by itself, but it has nothing to
do with the story.
| SiX weeks passed by. A tall derrick lift
ed its unsightly wooden skeleton in a
| promising corner Of the Rabenhoitz farm
and Joe was drilling the well for Tim
Inc bit had gone TO a depth of eighteen
hudred feet and was expected momen.arj
| ly to reach the sand. Tim rushed excited
ly from the engine room to the tanks. and
from the tanks to the drilling platform
The tools had 10 be hoisted and new steel
bit fastened to them. In cleaning the drill
hole small particles Of whitish gray san0
were brought to the surface The sanp
nad been reached. Everybody was in 1,
hIEh pitch of suspense. The men scarce
dared talk with each other above a whis-
per. This Is one of the peculiarities Of ex
citernent.
The drill was lowered again. The irreo
ular action of the engine betrayed that the
tool had as yet not reached bottom. and il
required some minutes to adjust it proper
ly. A few thumps and the rope worked
up and down regularly. Joe touched the
damp hemp, attentively felt its peculiar
sembiing, and declared that some hard
substance had been struck. The engineer
an Old oli man, came over, shook his head
dnblously and was willing TO bet that "sbe
would be dry" Tim's heart sank within
him and his looks betrayed his feelings
Joe was correspondingly pleased. His
pleasure was short lived, however. for az
ter little over an hours work the biz
sank again rapidly and evenly.
Avolume of gas rushed upward, and Tim
quickly threw away the cigar which h,
nau Deen chewing neryouSly.
'Sheis tiliing" yelled Joe Sure enough
Tim, who had jumped 10 the rope at once
could tell 10y peculiar vibration thereof
that the tool at its lower end was working
IN a liquid. Whether it was salt water ol
oil could not, of course, be determined as
yet, but the ever increasing volume of gas
that rushed up the drill hole made the iat
ter more probable.
a CnEdnu. rr1c liutr oaf94.1 fro,. 1s.1..--
the next moment column Of yellow oi,
shot high up into the air, drenching every
thing for many yards around ere the oil |
saver could be packed tightly over the drill |
hole. Then the golden liquid rushed in |
steady stream through the large pipe int
the tanks with such force and volume thai |
hundreds Of barrels Of oil flowed down tb, /
creek, covering it with an iridescent coat |
ing.
The excitement was intense, and within
an hour hundreds of people came to see the
'gusher." Everybody congratulated Tim |
and every one thought he was the first ano
only one to make a pun on his former so |
briquet which was not SO, and Of cours,
Tim strutted about as if he had done IL al.
by the exercise Of his surprising genius
and superior acumen.
Frau Rabenholtz was furious. but this
time she failed to obtain sympathy even
from her husband. After she had cooled
down she called Vroni into the kitchen
and told her then and there to set her car
all the stronger for Dry Hole Tim. vrom
refused, and there was quite a scene. The
frau had the last word as usual, and poor
Vroni at last gave in for the sake of peace
But she told Joe all about it in the evening
They discussed the matter from every
point Of view for a long time. Finally
seeing no other way out Of the difficulty
they decided to go to Butler and get mar
ried clandestinely. The fair was to be held
there ON the 10th, 11th and 18th of October
and they made it up to go ON the 18th, SC
they looked in the almanac and found that
the 18th would fall on Monday. This was
strange, because then the last day of the
fair would fall on Sunday, which hao
never before been the case. 1t was Ger
tainly an uncommon thing, and they
could not understand it. They sat fol
awhile considering the matter, when al
last Vroni turned to the front page of the
almanac and burst out laughing; it was
last years calendar.
Then she went into the house to fetcI
the latest edition On her return she founo
joel brown study. He grasped the lit
tie book she brought with an eager, trem
bling hand, and nervously began to turr
over the leaves until he came to the month
of August. His eye followed the index
finger that ran down the dates Suddenly
he gave a ringing whoop, and claspinG
Nroni in his arms he commenced a series
Of elaborate dance steps with her, singing
and shouting and laughing at the top OF
his voice as he carried her along despite
her objections. Old man Rabenholtz, at
tracted by the noise, stepped out on tht
porch just in time to see Vroni slap Joe's
face. The latter paid no attention to pleas
antry, but rushed into the house, carrying
The old man and Vroni with him. The ole
lady had arisen with a terrible frown; hel
arms were already akimbo and her moutl
half open.
But this time she did not do the talking
In two minutes Joe had explained his
sudden strange behavior and more He
had discovered that the date on the oil
lease to Dry Hole Tim was correct. August
~ was really Sunday and therefore the
lease was illegal, null and void" having
been signed and dated on a Sunday, which
all could swear to. Accidentally. the old
had been used.
Dry Hole Tim was unceremoniously dis
possessed, and the 'gusher'' gushed hence
forth for the benefit Of the Rabenholtzes,
under the careful management Of Greasy
joe"
was present when Squire Schaffhouser
performed the ceremony that made Veron-
lea Rabenholtz and Greasy Joe" man and
wife.
After the feast Joe took me aside to show
ne the two almanacs in a little box OF in
aid wood with heavy plate glass top and
metal corners, and told me this story. So
t must be true.-Max de Iipman in Pitts
lurg Bulletin.