The Washington bee., 1911-09-02
Luck Did 1t
By RUTH GRAHAM


ny, who was but twenty years old,
had nothing laid up, and Kitty's father
I, didn't purpose to support his daughter
and her husband too. So he forbade
| the match. Philip Bowers was farm
er who prided himself on having
made himself comfortable by hard
work and good judgment
you've got to begin" he said to
| his would be sOn-in-law, E'the way
began. was a farm hand, and Of
| every dollar I earned I saved a half.
When l got small lump together
loaned it at big interest till I'd got
enough together to buy this farm,
part cash and part mortgage. l had
to live close to pay the mortgage, but I
Gid it, and now I'm prosperous"
Didn't luck have anything TO do
with it?" asked Johnny.
mot a bit. Never had any luck in
my life. What I've got I've made in
spite Of luck"
Johnny asked Kit to meet him out
on projecting corner Of her fathers
| farm to talk matters over They chose
this spot because it was far from the
house and they were not liable to
| interruption there. It was an unprO-
ductive piece of ground that had been
tackled on to the farm in order to sell
it.
! Johnny and Kit looked at the stu
alton and saw no comfort in it John
had no one to help him, and Kit knew
her father too well to expect any
help from him.
There was not $50 to be scraped
together between the two. Kit said
| she would wait, but John, who
was an impatient fellow, didn't wish
to wait. He said that to go about the
problem Of life as Mr.. Bowers pro-
posed would be impossible to a man
OF his disposition. He told Kit that
he would go out into the world and
do what he could. She could wait for
him or not, as she chose. If he had
any luck he would come back and
claim her; If not, she might marry some
] one else in case she got good offer.
/ Kit bade him goodby with streaming
| eyes and went home, while he stood
| looking after her. When she reached
| a point where she would pass from
! his view she turned, threw him a kiss.
! which he returned. and then she dis
| appeared.
The only consolation Johnny had
was his pipe. He took 1t out Of his
/ pocket, filed it and sat down on the
ground for a smoke. 1t was one of
those warm sultry days that some
times come just before the collapse of
summer. Johnny sank lower and low
er on the ground till at last he was
sprawled at full length. Then he
turned on his side with his nose not
/ two inches above the earth.
"SOme one" he said to himself, must
have spilled kerosene here. can smell
! it." He put his nose fat down on the
surface and shifted. The odOr was un-
mistakable. He moved a short dis
! tance, shifted again and got the same
Odor. After testing several locations
| he found that the Odor was strongest
where he had first smelled it, but it
was so scattered that it could not have
come from the Overturning Of a can of
kerosene. Johnny had discovered coal
! oil on Mr.. Bowers ground.
! That night he returned with a spade
and dug hole where he had first de
tected the OdOr. The deeper he dug
! the more perceptible the Odor When
! J. I,
| liberated the marks OF it, and went
away.
! A few days later Farmer Griggs,
( owning land adjoining the Bowers
| farm, dickered with Bowers for the
| corner Of the farm on which John and
Kitty had parted and bought it for a
song. It was decided to Griggs, who
| decided it to John O'Neil and a man
| he had induced to advance the money
! for its purchase. One morning Mr.
Bowers saw preparations for boring
on the property he had sold. He was
much interested. All day he could hear
: the noise of the boring. Then there
was u stopping of the work for two
months, at the end Of which time it
was recommended. After several of
these stops, covering period of nearly
year, Mr.. Bowers heard something
/ that astonished him. Rushing out to
where the men were boring, he saw
stream Of oil shooting up toward
the sky.
Bowers was much disgruntled that
some one had discovered oil on his
property and had got it from him for
| a paltry sum. He tried to find out
who were the lucky parties, but failed.
Meanwhile the Eagle Oil company was
organized, but the well was soon sold
out to the Universal Oil company and
was merged into its extensive proper
| ties.
One day Johnny O'Neil appeared at
| the Bowers farm dressed in city
! clothes and with Ill appearance Of
| prosperity. Indeed. he drove up in a
/ $500 automobile. He said he came for
Kitty and after showing Of his as
sets to her father had no difficulty
In getting her. Just before the young
mans departure Mr.. Bowers asked:
How did you do it, JOhnny?'
| Luck" replied Johnny as he was