The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1922-10-20
The Mardi Cras Mystery
CHAPTER ix-continued.

bending farther over. "Such a thing
happens too rarely"
His heart pounded violently ex-
element sent the blood rushing 10 his
brain In binding swirls. He was
gripped by the gold fever that comes
upon a man when he makes the as
founding discovery of untold wealth
lying at his feet, passed over and dis
regarded by other and less-discerning
men for days and yearsl
IL was oil, no question about II. An
extremely slight quantity. true; so
slight a quantity that there was no
film on the water, no discernible taste
to the water. Gramont brought 1t to
his mouth and rose, shaking his head.
Where did 1t come from? 1t had no
connection with the gas bubbles-at
least, 1t did not come from the dome
of water and gas. How long he stood
there staring Gramont did not know.
His brain was afire with the possibili-
ties. At length he stirred into action
and started up the bayou bank. from
time TO time halting to search the wa
W XIV iAbhs ~ AidhC quiz hiot IN
could still discern the faint rides
cence.
He followed II rod by rod, and
found that ii rapidly increased in
strength. II must come from some very
tiny surface seepage close at hand,
that was lost In the bayou almost as
rapidly as 1t came from the earth
depths. Only accidentally would a
man see it-not unless he were search
ing the water close TO the bank, and
even Their only by the grace of chance.
Suddenly Gramont saw that he had
lost the sign. He halted.
No, not lost, either! Just ahead Of
him was q patch of reeds, and a re-
cession Of the shore. He advanced
again. Inside the reeds he found the
oily smear, still so faint that he could
only detect II at certain angles. Glanc-
ing up, he could see a fence at a little
distance, evidently the boundary fence
of the Ledanois land the bushes and
trees thinned out here, and on ahead
was cleared ground. He saw, through
the bushes. glimpses of buildings.
Violent disappointment seized him.
Was he to lose this discovery, after
all? Was he to find that the seepage
came from ground belonging to some
n else? No-lie stepped back hastily,
barely In time to avoid stumbling into
a tiny trickle of water, a rivulet that
ran down into the bayou, a tributary
so insignificant that It was invisible
ten feet Distant And on the surface
a faint iridescence.
Excitement rising anew within him,
Gramont turned and followed this riv-
ulet, his eyes afiame with eagerness.
1t led him for twenty feet, and ceased
abruptly, in a bubbling spring that
welled from a patch of low tree-in-
closed land. Gramont felt his feet
was a dip in the ground h~ereabouts, a
swampy little section all to itself. He
a dry spot and lay down on his
face, searching the water with his
eyes.
Moment after moment he lay there,
watching. Presently he found the
slight trickle OF oil again-a trickle so
amt anu Siliu iHdl tNtu EtIt. III int
of the tiny %rivulet. 1t could be
discerned only with great difficulty. A
very thin seepage, concluded Ora
mont a thin oil, of course. SO faint
D little thing. to mean so muchi
1t came from the LedanOis land. no
loubt of it. What did that matter,
His eyes widened with fam
ng thoughts as he gazed down at the
slender thread OF water. No matter
II all where this came from-the
main point was proven by it, There .
vas oil here for the finding. oil down
n the thousands of feet below. oil so
ilck and abundant that ii forced it. Il
up through the earth assures to :,
nd an outleti II
Instead Of going down five or six h
feet" he thought, exultant- n
'. I'VE may have TO go down only as II
Amy hundred. But first we must get h
n option or a lease on all the land $
pundahout-alI we can secure There n
ill he a tremendous boom the min
re this news breaks. If we get those h
ptions. we can sell them over again ~
a million per cent profit. an4 ever 81
we don't strike oil in paying quanti- %
RS. wen regain the cost of our drill n,
igl And-to think of the years this II
rs been here. waiting for some nj
le-" =,
Suddenly he started violently. An II
,rupt crashing of feet among the &C
lshes. an outbreak of voices, had M
'unded not far away-just the other m
of the boundary fence. He was cl
from his dreams. and started 10
rise. Then he relaxed his muscles OF
ID lay quiet. astonishment Selling
for he heard his own name men r.,
med In a voice that was strange TO an
N. -.
CHAPTER X. -"