Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-06-19

They take no thought of their music,
The bird and the shepherd lad;
But the bird voice thrills with rapture,
And the human note is sad.
Graham r. Tornson in LongiAan's Magazine.
THE "GUSHER."
Old man Rabenholtz was good natured
German, who owned farm in the oil
country, and he talked mostly with his
hands, because he did not have a ready
command Of words. His frau" on the
contrary, planted her fists in her sides and
kept them there when she had anything
to say. which was the case most of the
time. The old man once told me conf
dentially that she even talked in her sleep.
She used the German and the English
idiom in grotesque mixture of her own
invention, with which to express views
that were strictly individual, very en-
phatic, and evidently uncontradictable, for
everybody agreed with her beforehand
Their daughter Veronica, or Vroni for
short, had beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes
and a saucy dimple in her chin.
Greasy Joe loved Vroni and Vroni re-
turned his affection-Sundays. On week
days she had no regard for him, though he
boarded with the Rabenholtzes, because he
was very, very dirty. He drilled oil wells,
and his working clothes shone with every
known variety of grease, from crude petro-
leum to machine oil, while odd streaks
and patches of plumbago and axle grease
smeared his nose and cheeks.
On Sunday he disguised himself in clean
clothes and washed his face and hands.
Then he was quite presentable, and Vroni
liked him. Everybody else in the oil fields
liked Joe because he was honest and good
natured, and liberal with his tobacco.
Frau Rabenholtz had noticed the attach
ment between the young people, but,
though she did not approve of it, she did
not care to say so in the fear of losing her
boarder.
One day, however, she was bending over
the kitchen fire, when Vroni asked her:
"Ma, can I drive over to Butler today?
Joe wants me to go with him."
Ma knit her brows, placed her arms
akimbo, examined her daughter critically
from top to toe with a sharp, searching
look. and wanted to know "What Joe?"
though she knew well who was meant.
Vroni told her, and she retorted:
ffNein, you cannot go. WANT to hat you
ride away quick here to hellup cook der din
ner nit me. You vas got no time to run
der goundry apout nit dot greasy Tchoe.
He vas holdings, he hef got holdings, und
ouf you hat der choice for him oder his
boss, you pedder take der Won vat has der
most money. Money alone don't made you
happy onless you vas got som0," with
which she handed the wooden cooking
spoon to poor Vroni and left the kitchen.
Now it happened that Joe's boss, "Dry
Hole Tim," drove up to the house about
ten minutes later and wanted to know "Ef
he could take my O. the folks down Butler
way'' Strange enough, Mrs. Rabenholtz
seemed to forget entirely that she needed
Vroni in the kitchen, and insisted upon
her going to Butler with Tim to get some
baking powder and new dashboard.
Vroni would have much preferred to go
with Greasy Joe, and she kept thinking of
him all the way, though her companion
tried his very best to be entertaining. She
certainly did not like Tim, albeit he was
very much better looking than Joe, wore
good clothes every day, and wore an i'm
mense imitation diamond in his necktie.
But he had the reputation of being a
tees. One of the stories told of him was
that, when informed that well he was
drilling had struck hard sand and no oil,
he said, ''Well, then, the division will be
so much easier, because there are twelve
eighths of this well Sold" He had disposed
of an eighth interest to twelve different
men, and in the end, of course, no one re-
ceived any benefit except himself.
10 -
Tim, despite his Vaccinations, for out of
seventeen wells which he had drilled no
less than thirteen proved unproductive-
dry holes. as they are called. Hence his
nickname.
Vroni laid her plans for giving her escort
the slip while he was talking, and she did
it beautifully. And Tim saw her no more
that day after once they had put up the
horse at the livery stable.
Doc Stewart tells me that at dusk he
met two very happy young people driving
toward the RabenholtZ farm. One of them
was Vroni; the other was not Dry Hole
Tim, but might have been Greasy Joe
The doctor does not know the latter when
dressed up, because he had only seen him
in working clothes.
When it is stated here that old man Rab-
enholtz remained strictly neutral in the
matter concerning his daughters prefer
ence, then the foregoing will suffice to de-
fine the mutual feelings of the actors in
the story which follows.
The Rabenholtz farm of 175 acres was
considered desirable property by oil men,
being situated on what operators call the
oil belt. But the old man had SO far re-
Trained from leasing the right to prospect
for oil thereon, until Dry Hole Tim, with
the assistance of Frau Rabenholtz, had pre-
vailed upon him to lease it for considera,
ton of five dollars an acre annually, with
Tim as lessee.
They used to have barrel dwell, they
had barrel over at the farm every Sun
day, and Squire Schaffhouser, of Butler,
made it point of honor to assist in empty
Ing the aforesaid barrel,
So one Sunday the old farmer asked him
after dinner to draw up the lease. Tim in
sisted upon the date of the contract being
changed to a day or two ahead in order to
make it legal. AS nobody knew what day
of the month it was Vroni fetched the
'farmers' Almanac and Crop Adviser"
from the wall pocket in the kitchen.
The lease was dated Aug. 10, which, ac-
cording to the almanac, would be the Tues
day following.
Squire Schaffhouser had been rather
assiduous In the matter Of emptying the
barrel, and consequently things in gen.
eral, and the oil lease in particular, APP
peared to him utterly frivolous and unina-
portant He scarcely knew what he was
writing, and neither he nor old Raben-
holtz, nor Joe, who stood by, noticed that
the paper read, land agrees to lease his
farm, situate in - township, county of
Butler, state of Pennsylvania, consisting
OF T75 acres, at rental OF five COLLARS per
annum' instead Of ''five dollars per acre
per annum."
Tim noticed the mistake,
Quick as fash he revolved the alterna-
tive of losing the good will Of the Raben-
holtzes, OF saving money on the one hand
with possibility, though no probability, Of
winning Vroni; on the other clear money
saving Of $S70. Greed prevailed. As soon
as the lease was approved Of and signed
and the signatures verified by the squire
Dry Hole Tim folded the document, placed
it in his breast pocket buttoned the coat
and handed the astonished farmer five
dollar gold piece.
Old Rabenholtz was at first inclined to
take Tins tender of the years rent as a
joke. believing himself entitled to Ss75,
which doubtless he was justified in expect