Nogales international., 1936-02-22
First lnstaIlment

DEN FURLONG came to the South
AD ern oil fields looking for work. He
was very dusty and quite hungry when
at last he stopped in at the Durham
House. :
This was a rather etter-looking
place than the average Texas home
stead, and when he knocked at the
kitchen door a girl appeared who was
very much better-looking than the
average Texas homesteader. She was,
in fact, a very pretty girl.
She readily fetched Ben a drink of
water, and while he rested she talked
to him. That was, no doubt, because of
his smile He informed her that he had
been raised in the Pennsylvania fields
and was a good, practical oil man.
There being no chores to do, Ben sat
IN the kitchen and chatted with the girl
while she cooked something for him,
and in the course of their conversation
he learned that her name was Betty
Durham, that her parents were dead
and that the farm belonged to her aunt
with whom she had lived ever since she
was little girl The aunt had gone to
Opportunity in the family fivver.
Funny, you cooking for tramp
driller like me and your aunt owning
acreage like this" Ben remarked
'Tsn't this land on the structure?"
Sure! It's worth lot of money.
That we'll over yonder fork in hand,
Miss Durham indicated derrick not
far away belongs to u.s."
From where he sat Furlong could
see that the timbers of the tower were
still bright and unstained, thus adver-
tising the melancholy fact that the well
itself was not producer, so he in
quired:
whats wrong with it Dry?"
DRY nothing They're not down yet.
They've got fishing job-been at it
for couple of weeks"
"GeeW The visitor shook his head.
"That's running somebody in debt"
'When the first oil talk commenced
we'd of been glad to get the farm
drilled on most any kind of royalty,
but nobody would lease it. When they
finally got ready, Aunt Mary wanted a
bonus-two bits an acre-and she
wouldn't listen to Uncle Joe's argu-
ments By and bye they offered two
bits, but by that time she wanted dol
lar. Then the companies got together, o.
the boom kind of petered out, or some
thing, and it began to look as if Uncle
Joe would be lucky to make any kind
Of deal. He finally laid his ears back
and leased small block. Then he up
and got killed"
That's too bad"
1T was an accident. A powder wagon
let 60" The speakers face grew wist-
full, she stared out across the arid coun-
tryside for moment or two. Uncle
Joe loved me, but-Aunt Mary's his
second wife; we're not really kinsfolks
1t might just as we'll have been Mad
dox who got killed; he was as close
to the wagon as Uncle Joe and yet he
wasn't touched. Funny, too, because he's
always been afraid of the stuff and has
a hunch he'll be blown up. All you
have to say to him is powder and"
How'd your aunt come to put down
this new well?"
Maddox drilled the we'll on the lot
we leased, and after Uncle Joe was
killed he quit the company and sort of
took charge of things for Aunt Mary
1t wasn't big we'll, but the royalty is
enough to pay for this one. l won't
cook any more ham and eggs, 80 you'd
better make the most of these Yes,
and you'd better come and get them !;
they re done" Miss Durham set plate
on the table and Furlong drew up his
chair.
With the curiosity natural to his
calling, the visitor inquired more spe-
officially about the nature of the mis-
hap that had halted Maddox's prog
ress but he learned little He inferred,
however, that the royalties from the
first well were dwindling at an alarm
ing rate and that any considerable de-
lay in completing the new we'll might
therefore result in ruin to the owner.
1t was a prospect that naturally gave
Betty and her aunt grave concern.
When Ben had finished eating he
said Maybe can give this driller of
yours some help. I've worked on good
many fishing jobs. Dyou think he'd
let me try?"
A4C Will IL lSll illIH 10, the girl
declared. "He's tried everything any
body has told him to try. Who knows?
Maybe you can do it."
The speaker put on her sunbonnet
and together she and Furlong went
across the valley to the we'll
Tiller Maddox was a swarthy man of
about thirty-fve; his eyes were bold
and black and set close together. He
greeted the Durham girl with an easy
familiarity, suggestion of proprietor
ship that gave the visitor cause for
thought, but towards Furlong he was
none too cordial and when Betty ex-
planned the reason for the latter's pres
ence Maddox frowned.
Another wise guy Ell? Every rope
choker in ten miles has been tryin' to
show us how smart he is. What d'you
know about fshin', stranger?"
Not much" Ben confessed, ''but
I've had some luck"
"Oh. I've had plenty of luck, my