The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1922-10-12

you're nor n fisherman, or we might
get a fresh fish u Of the bayou
~ got some tackle in town n
Hammond grinnei widely.
Good work, Then make yourself
mt home ana 20 to it. We've most Of
the afternoon before u.s.
Gramont left the house, and headed
down toward the bHyOu shore.
He took Il letter from his pocket,
opened it, ana glanced over It anew. 1t
was an old letter. one written him
nearly two years previously by Lucie
LedanolS. It had been written mere
~ in the endeavor 10 distract the
thoughts of n wounded soldier, 10
bring his mind to Louisiana, away
from the stricken fields of France. In
the letter Lucic had described some of
the more interesting features Of Bayou
Terrebonne-the oyster and shrimp
fleets. the Chinese and Filipino vii
lagcs along the gulf, the far-Sprcad
cypress swamps; the bubbling foun-
tains. natural curiOSlties. that broke
up through the streams and bayOus of
the whole wide parish-fountains that
were caused by gas aecplng up from
the earth's interior, and breaking
through.
Gramont knew that plans were al
ready afoot to tap this field Of natural
gas and pipe it to New Orleans. OH
had been found, roo, and all the state
was now oil-mad. Fortunes were be
Ing made daily, and other fortunes
were being lost daily by those who
dealt with oil stocks instead of with
oil.
"'Thosp gas fountains did the work -
reflected GramOnt. And according to
his letter there's one of those foun-
tains here In the bayou. close to her
property. Just opposite the dock, she
says. The first thing is to find the
dock. then the fountain. After that,
wen decide II it's true mineral gas
If II Is, then the works dOne-fOr I'll
sure take a chance on finding oil near
IT."
GrnmOnt came TO the bayou and be
u 1T III ~ way hl'llE nc ll4l'h
and high fringe Of bushes and Saplings
that girded the waters edge. Present
ly he came upon the ruined evidences
Of what had once been a small boat
shed. No. far from this he found the
dock referred to in the letter: nothing
was left Of II except "A few spiles pro
truding from the surface Of the water.
But he had no need to look farther.
Directly before him, he saw that
which he was seeking.
A dozen feet out from shore the wa
ter was rising and falling In n continu-
Gus dome or fountain OF highly
charged bubbles that rose a foot above
the surface. GramOnt stared at It,
motlonless. He watched II for II spaC2
then, abruptly, he started. II was a
violent start, Il start Of sheer amaze
ment and ~incredulity.
He leaned forward, staring no longer
nj the gas dome, but at the water
closer Inshore. For a moment he
thought that his senses had deceived
him, then he saw that the thing was
there indeed, there beyond any doubt
IA very faint trace OF iridescent light
that played over the surface Of the
water.
1T cant be possible - he muttered,
bending farther over. "Such a thing
happens too rarely"
His heart pounded violently; ex-
element sent the blood ] to his
brain in binding swi, lie was
grlpped by the gold fever ,..at 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 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 it 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 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
ter below him, to make sure that Ire
could still discern the faint rides
cence.
He followed II rod by rod. and
found that it rapidly increased in
strength. 1t must come from some very
tiny surface seepage close at hand,
that was lost in the bayou almost MS
rapidly as 1t came from the earth
depths. Only accidentally would a
man see mot 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 n re-
cession of the shore. He advanced
again. Inside the reeds he found the
oily smear, still so faint that he could
only detect 1t at certain angles. Glanc.
ing up, he could see a fence at a little
distance. evidently the Ounda fence