"About kidnaping these boys?" demanded Mr. Wilding.
"I didn"t kidnap "em," spoke Captain Needham, "they came aboard and were glad enough to. I had to hold "em a while, and sorry enough I was to do it."
"You"ll be sorrier before we"re through with you," remarked the chief.
"Gentlemen, perhaps I had better explain," said the man whom the boys had seen wearing the gilt crown.
"We"ll give you a chance," said Mr. Wilding.
"In the first place we owe you boys an apology," the man went on.
"We"ll make it a substantial one too, as you will see, but first let me introduce myself. My name is Patrick Ricka, and I am interested in oil wells."
"Oil wells!" exclaimed Mr. Wilding. "There aren"t any around here."
"There wasn"t but there will be very soon," Mr. Ricka added. "My companions are William Hendershot," and he indicated the man with the white beard, "Joseph Gampfer," who was the tramp, "and Andrew Maddox.
They are a.s.sociated with me in this enterprise. Captain Needham, I believe, you boys know," and he smiled.
"Are you crazy or is it a joke about the King of Paprica?" asked Mr.
Wilding, not inclined to let up on the men.
"It was an odd t.i.tle, made up partly from my own name, as you will observe, and adopted to meet the exigencies of the occasion. For some time I have suspected there was oil in this region," Patrick Ricka continued. "I knew if I made any tests openly some one would find out what I was after, and I would have no opportunity of securing the land without paying a fabulous price for it. So I decided to come here with my a.s.sistants and work in secret.
"We thought the best plan would be to pretend one or more of us was slightly insane and that the other was his keeper. This was done. I had the hut (a portable one) built and placed the name above the door to further the idea that we were insane. Then we went through some rather foolish antics, just to keep persons from prying around here. You boys were the more persistent, and saw more of us than any one else. That day Mr. Hendershot was poking his pole down in the river he was testing to see if there was a strata of oil land under the water. You boys thought he was crazy. Again, when you started to cross here and Sandy ordered you away, we were making some microscopic tests of the upper surface, and did not want to be disturbed. We hired Sandy, not because we liked him, but because we heard he was on the "outs" with you boys, and we knew he would not make friends with you and so unintentionally perhaps, give our secret away.
"As it happened the plan was successful in a measure. Then Mr. Gampfer in the guise of a tramp met you and inquired where the cabin was, for he had, up to that time, not been to it. He saw you were rather dangerous boys to have loose, as far as our plans were concerned. Even moving the cabin did not fool you. We saw you with the telescope that day," and Mr. Ricka laughed.
"What did Sandy and Mr. Gampfer follow us for?" demanded Bart.
"Only to see if they could overhear what you were talking about, and learn whether you were still determined to solve our secret," replied the oil man. "They intended no harm, and, I trust, worked none. If they had heard you discussing ways of finding out our secret they would have warned me to hasten matters to a close. I hope they did not annoy you."
"It worried us," Bart replied.
"Of course. We are sorry for that. In the meanwhile we went on with our experiments. We found indications that oil was plentiful under here and made arrangements to buy the property. But we paid a good price for it, and each seller will have a share in the profits. We did nothing dishonest. Mr. Gampfer gave you a tip, once, but you didn"t seem to grasp it."
"What was it?" asked Fenn.
"The day you borrowed the salt," replied the man who had posed as a tramp. "You see I was engaged in going through the country around here with my instruments looking for indications of oil. You asked me what my work was and I said hunting the "Oilander Tincander." If you will say that slowly you"ll see what I mean."
"Oil-ander Tin-can-der," murmured Bart. "Oh! I see. Oil-can!"
"Exactly."
"Well," resumed Mr. Ricka, "everything went along well until that balloon trip. That brought about the climax. Of course it was all an accident, and we had no idea our barge would pick you boys from the river. You see we have a barge to bring machinery to us. It had delivered some and was to bring more. It was on the way after it when the balloon fell. Sandy Merton, whom we kept in our employ, was aboard and recognized you boys. He told Captain Needham, who, knowing how nearly you had discovered our secret, determined to hold you a while until he could let me know. He had no right to, of course, and we will pay you any reasonable damages.
"For you see we have struck oil," Mr. Ricka went on. "Our property which extends for over a mile all around Bender"s hill, is rich in oil. As soon as you boys escaped Captain Needham turned about and came back. I apprehend that is correct, Captain, for, though he sent a telegram to me telling of your--er--of your detention--I have not seen him from shortly before the balloon fell, until this moment."
Captain Needham nodded in a.s.sent.
"The need of secrecy is at an end," Mr. Ricka continued. "Our rights are all secured and we don"t care how soon everyone in Darewell knows about the oil."
"What was Jimmie Nelson doing out there?" asked Bart.
"He"s a friend of Sandy"s," replied the oil man. "We hired him to stay out there and pull the string, which rings a bell in the cabin, as soon as he saw any one. We knew he was lazy, and this was the easiest and safest job we could think of for him."
"He"s asleep now," said Fenn.
"I suppose so. Well, there"s no need for him any longer. I guess we"ll discharge him. Now as to you boys. I realize we had no right to detain you, and you doubtless suffered some hardships. Will a thousand dollars"
worth of valuable oil stock apiece satisfy you?"
"Is the stock any good?" asked Bart quickly.
"I think Mr. Wilding can answer that," and Mr. Ricka showed the bank cashier some certificates.
"That"s as good as gold," replied Mr. Wilding.
"Will you boys accept it?" asked the oil man. "It isn"t stock in these new wells, but in some long established ones."
The boys and Mr. Wilding consulted together for a moment. The boys were only too willing to call the matter square on that basis, and the cashier gave his consent to the deal, as regarded his own son, after demanding that Mr. Ricka also pay the reward, which was done. The other chums were sure their relatives would not object.
"Now that is settled, come and see the first well we have sunk,"
suggested Mr. Ricka. "It is not finished, but we know it is going to be a success, for we have tested it."
He led the way to a little clearing beyond the big one. In front of the cabin was some curious machinery. There were a number of tanks and barrels, which smelled strongly of oil.
"Did you connect the dynamo?" asked Mr. Ricka of Captain Needham.
"Yes, just before I left the barge."
"You see we get our power from a dynamo on the barge," the oil man explained. "A wire runs from here to the boat, through the woods. We didn"t dare risk taking power from town or some one would find out what we were up to. The barge not only brought us our supplies but gave us electricity for an experimental plant. We"ll soon have a larger one."
Then he showed the visitors where a small well had been bored by means of new and improved electrical machinery. It gave a good quality of oil, and there were indications that the under strata was permeated with the valuable fluid.
In fact the new oil company proved a big success, and several land owners in the vicinity made small fortunes. Frank"s uncle was one of the lucky ones, though his share was not as large as was some of his neighbors".
The boys" relatives decided to let the matter drop, in consideration of the settlement made by Mr. Ricka. Soon there was a big boom in town, caused by the knowledge that oil had been struck. A number of persons found employment with the company, Sandy Merton being one of them. Jim Nelson might have been hired, but he was too lazy to ask for a job.
"Letter for you, Ned," said his chums one day about a week later, as they were all in the postoffice, for Bart had glanced in the Wilding box.
"Wonder who it"s from?" spoke Ned.
"Best way to find out is to open it," suggested Fenn, and the hesitating boy forthwith followed his friend"s advice.
It was a short epistle, and Ned had soon finished reading it.
"It"s from my uncle and aunt in New York," he said. "They want me to pay them a long visit next vacation, and I can bring some friends with me.
Will you fellows go?"
"To New York? Well, I guess yes!" exclaimed Bart, and the others nodded in a.s.sent.