The Southern herald., 1922-09-15
The Mardi Gras Mystery
CHAPTER Ix-continued.

SIT can't be pOssible" he muttered,
bending farther over. "Such a thing
happens too rarely"
His heart pounded violently; ex-
cltement sent the blood rushing to his
brain In binding swirls. He was
grlpped by the gold fever that comes
upon man when he makes the as
founding discovery of untold wealth
lying at his feet passed over and dis
regarded by other and discerning
men for days and years!
1t was oil, no question about 1t. 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 it 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 afre with the possibli-
ties. At length he stirred into action
and started up the bayou bank from
time to time halting to search the wa
ter below him, to make sure that he
could still discern the faint rides
cence.
He followed 1t rod by rod, and
found that 1t rapidly increased in
strength. It 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 then 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 a patch of reeds, and re-
cesslon Of the shore. He advanced
again. Inside the reeds he found the
oily smear, still so faint that he could
only detect it 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
enc else? No-he stepped back hastily
barely in time to avoid stumbling into
a tiny trickle of water, rivulet that
ran down into the bayou a tributary
so insignificant that 1t was invisible
ten feet distant And on the surface
faint iridescence,
Excitement rising anew within him
Gramont turned and followed this riv
ulet, his eyes aflame with eagerness
It led him for twenty feet, and ceased
abruptly, in a bubbling spring tina
welled from a patch Of low tree-in
closed land. Gramont felt his fee
sinking in grass, and saw that thert
was a dip in the ground hereabOuts, {
swampy little section all to itself. HI
picked dry spot and lay down on hi
face, searching the water with hi
eyes.
Moment after moment he lay there
watching. Presently he found tn,
slight trickle Of oil again-a trickle 81
faint and slim that even here, on tn
surface of the tiny rivulet, it could b.
dlscerned only with great difficulty.
very thin seepage concluded Ora
mont; thin oil, Of course. SO fain
a little thing. to mean so much
1t came from the Ledanols land, n
doubt OF It. What did that matter
though? His eyes widened with fan
ing thoughts as he gazed down at tn
slender thread of water. No matte
at all where this came frOm-th
main point was proven by 1t Their
was oil here for the finding, oil dow
In the thousands of feet below, oil S
thick and abundant that 1t forced /
self up through the earth assures t
find an outlet
"Instead OF going down FIVE or 81
thousand feet" he thought, exultan
ly, 1--WE may have to go down only 8
many hundred But first we must g
an option or a lease on all the Ian
roundabout-all we can secure! Thel
will be a tremendous boom the mi
ute this news breaks. If we get tho'
options, we can sell them over aga
at a million per cent profit, and eve
II we don't strike oil in paying quaint
ties, well regain the cost of our dril
ing! And to think of the years tn
has been here, waiting for son
one"
Suddenly he started violently. 4
abrupt crashing Of feet among Il
bushes, an outbreak Of voices, HI
sounded not far away-just the 9th
side of the boundary fence. He w
Weakened from his dreams, and start,
to rise. Then he relaxed his muscl
and lay quiet, astonlshment seiail
him; for he heard his own name me
toned in voice that was strange
him.
CHAPTER K.