The Savannah morning news., 1901-08-22
Our Daily Short Stories
SWILEY'S OIL STRIKE.
BY WILL S. GIDLEY,
lcopyright. 1sO1. BY Authors. sxndioatel

,,ot Smiley was nobody's fool. He
q sbrewd, WELL educated. wide
lie Young man, but somehow he
Ever seemed to have any luck-that
=. until the final grand coup de main
49, ef.d'oeuvre, the story of which is
here set down.
After graduating with high honors
Concluding the degree OF football cham
..ior, from a Northern university, he
- u,ooed fortune under various guises
,,',+ without eliciting even a smile. But
believe she did smile at him,
..sicb is an entirely different PROPOSE
.;an from smiling upon him.
instead of getting discouraged and
showing up his hand, Smiley pluckily
atovad In the game, and kept pegging
ouov hoping that some time things
,,ould take a turn, which they are al
,,,ost sure to do if one can only manage
n hang on long enough.
FINALLY Smiley drifted to Texas-that
MIGHTY empire of the southwest, full
If big men, big ideas and big possibili-
.ios-and invested all of his available
,.o,ldlv wealth (and he hadn't an over
abundance of it just them in q 1000
ocra ranch. with few struggling year
ungs and "a mortgage on it.
One of Simley's neighbors, if people
,,ho live five miles apart can be called
neighbors, was Col. Brandon; another
was Col. Brandon's daughter, Bertha.
who was her fathers housekeper ana
the apple of his eye. His wife had oieo
some years before, and ne hao Deen TOO
busv making money to hunt up an
4 other.
i,innctIon to love your neighbor as
vourself. but however it may have been
with the colonels daughter, the colonel
himself did not reciprocate. In TACT,
that gentleman frowned most decidedly
4 upon Smiley's attempt to ingraClate
himself with the Brandon family. Sml-
4 lev was an outsider, an adventurer, an
intarloper. The colonel wanted moth
4 ing TO do with him. Besides, Smiley
4 was as poor as a church mouse. He
N might succeed in raising a few lone
a some. half-starVed steers, but he WouIo
never be able to raise the mortgage on
his ranch-Col. Brandon felt sure of
Il that ana IL lHEI6 w eh<o oAAS SAAAANo N~-Ue
nlaced a man outside of Texas society
j according to the colonels way of
hooking at tit was the pseudo-owner-
shin of A rundown ranch covered by
a blanket mortgage.
But it is a long lane that has no
turn. The oil fever finally struck
Texas-and struck it hard. Everybody
laid aside their ordinary occupation and
began prospecting for oil, Smiley
among the rest. The air was full of
rumors of big oil strikes. but few OF
them could be traced to any reliable
source. Nevertheless the boom kept
on and now and then rich strike was
made and some fortunate ranch owner
was suddenly elevated to the top wave
of prosperity and rendered independent
for life "
one day In the hight of the oil ex-
j element Jack Smiley arrayed himself
\ in his choicest raiment, mounted his
gallant charger (used chiefly in
rounding w cattle) and rode like a
conquering knight straight into the
Brandon camp.
Col Brandon was not at home-in
4 fact Smiley rather suspected he
wouldn't be when he came over-but
Bertha would do just as well. Smiley
4 assured her. He said that while of
course 1t was great DISAPPOINTMENT
to miss her fathers genial welcome,
Yet ne believed his business was such
that he could readily dispense with the
presence of a third party.
Bertha blushed, and whispered that
the fates were kind; and two hours
later, when young Smiley was riding
homeward with his heart bubbling
over with joy and his head in the
clouds, and CHANGED to meet Col. Bran
don returning to his ranch-well, Smi-
ley bravely smiled and bowed with
the debonair grace of a prince in a
fairy tale.
Feeling mighty clipper, amt your"
growled the colonel. with disapprov-
ing glance at Smileys beaming coun-
tenance.
Got a right to-" chuckled Smiley.
with a grin, the corners of which
threatened to permanently usurp the
place of his ears.
Have, Ell? What's up? Haven't
struck oil, have you?" demanded the
colonel, jealously He, too, was on
the hunt for that commodity, although
ne was wealthy enough without it.
you re right. l have" was the
boastful reply.
looks?"
Biggest that ever happened! /
wouldn't trade places with John D.
rockefeller himself"
wouldn't eh?"