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Fine Serial Fiction in a new form. .... Three Prize Short Storiea (of four inatalmenU #
each) by a matter »tory-tellen_^«-^jJI1iey’re_Rci^Bcach^at^hU^be«jt^^g^g^^g^^
FIRST INSTALMENT
Ben Furlng came to the South
ern oil fields looking for work. H<
was very dusty and quite hungry
when at last he stopped in at th<
Durham House.
This was a rather better-looking
place than the average Texas home
stead, and when he knocked at th<
kitchen door a girl appeared whc
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 sh<
talked to him. That was, no doubt,
because of his smile. He informed
her that he had been wised 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 the conversation he learn
ed that he name was Betty Dur
ham, that her parents were dead,
and that the farm belonged to her
aunt, with whom she had lived
ever since she was a little girl.
The aunt had gone to Opportunity
in the family flivver.
Funny, you cooking for a
tramp driller like me and your
aunt owning acreage like this,”
Ben remarked. "Isn’t this land on
the structure?”
"Sure! It’s worth a lot of money.
That well over yonder”—fork in
hand, Miss Durham indicated a
derrick not far away*—"belongs to
us.”
From where he sat Furlong could
see that the timbers of the tower
were still bright and unstained,
thus advertising the melancholy
fact that the well itself was not
a producer, so he inquired:
"What’s wrong with it? Dry?”
"Dry nothing! They’re not down
ror Bad Feeling
Due to Constipation
Get rid of constipation by taking
Black-Draught as soon as you notice
that bowel activity has slowed up or
you begin to feel sluggish. Thou
sands prefer Black-Draught for the
refreshing relief it has brought them.
Mrs. Ray Mullins, of Lafe, Ark.,
writes: “My husband and I both take
Thedford’s Black-Draught and find
it splendid for constipation, bilious
ness, and the disagreeable, aching,
tired feeling that comes from this
condition.” With reference to Syrup
of Black-Draught, which this mother
gives her children, she says: “They
like the taste and it gave such good
results.”
BLACK-DRAUGHT
yet. 1 hey ye got a hshing job—
been at it for a couple of weeks.”
"Gee!” The visitor (shook his
head. "That’s running somebody
in debt.”
"When the first oil talk com
menced we’d of been glad to get
the farm drilled on almost 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 ar
guments. Bye and bye they offer
ed two bits, but by that time she
wanted a dollar. Then the com
panies got together, or the boom
kind of petered out, or something,
and it began to look as if Uncle
Joe would be lucky to make any
kind a of deal. He finally laid
his ears back and leased a small
block. Then he up and got killed.”
"That’s too bad.”
it was an accident, a pow
der wagon let go.” The speaker’s
face grew wistful, she stared out
across the arid countryside for a
moment or two. "Uncle Joe loved
me, but—Aunt Mary’s his second
wife; we’re not really kinsfolks.
It might just as well have been
Maddox 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 well 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. It wasn’t a big well,
! but the royalty is enough to pay
for this one. I won’t cook any
more ham and eggs, so you’d better
make the most of these. Yes, and
I you’d better come and get them;
they’re done.” Miss Durham set a
plate on the table Irnd Furlong
I drew up his chair.
With the curiosity natural to
his calling, the visitor inquired
more specifically about the nature
of the mishap that had halted Mad
dox’s progress, but he learned little.
He inferred, however, that the
royalties from the first well were
dwindling at an alarming rate and
that any considerable delay in com
pleting the new well might there
fore result in ruin to the owner.
It was a prospect that naturally
gave Betty and her aunt grave
concern.
When Ben had finished eating
he said: "Maybe I can give this
driller of yours some help. I’ve
worked on a good many fishing
jobs, D you think he d let me try?
"He will if I tell him to,” the
girl declared. "He’s tried every
thing anybody has told him to try.
Who knows? Maybe you can do
it.”
' The speaker put on her sunbon
net and together she and Furlong
went across the valley to the well.
Tiller Maddox was a swarthy
man of about thirty-five; his eyes
were bold and black and set close
I together. He greeted the Durham
girl with an easy familiarity, a sug
gestion of proprietorship that gave
the visitor cause for thought, but
towards Furlong he was none too
cordial and when Betty explained
the reason for the latter’s presence
Maddox frowned.
"Another wise guy, eh? Every
ropechoker in ten miles has been
tryin’ to show us how smart he
is. What d’you know about fish
in’, stranger?”
"Not much,” Ben confessed,
"but I’ve had some luck.”
"Oh, I’ve had plenty of luck,
myself!” Maddox asserted. "But
I never had any good luck lettin’
strangers monkey with my work.
If you jim up the well, I take the
blame.”
1 won t jim anything.”
"iWhait’ll yout chlarge for this
here miracle of yours?”
Impatiently Miss Durham ex
claimed, "What’s the difference
how much he charges if he can
do—?”
"I’ve been paid for any help
I can give you,” Furlong declared.
"Probably I can’t do anything, but
so far I don’t even know what’s
wrong. Do you mind telling me?”
"We’ve got a bolt in the hole.”
"A bolt?”
"Sure! A six-inch steel bolt. It
worked loose and dropped out of
a tool.”
"That’s a new one,” Ben ad
mitted. "Why don’t you drill it
out, pound it to pieces?”
nounced: "Help yourself, pardner.
You heard the boss.”
When Furlong had fully satis
ed himself as to conditions he took
off his coat and went to work. He
knew of no fishing tool so designed
as to pick up an object so small
and as easily movable as a six-inch
bolt, therefore he made one. He
took a short length of steel casing
of a diameter small enough to slip
into the well, and in one end of
this he cut teeth several inches
long. It was a labor that consumed
time: he was still at work when
Betty reappeared at the well about
dark and advised him that his sup
per was waiting.
ivirs. i/urnam nau returneu zruin
town. She was a woman of inde
terminate age. Her eyes were pale;
her nose was hooked like the beak
of a hawk; her lips were thin and
set in avaricious lines. Immediately
upon meeting Furlong she wanted
to know whether he believed his
experiment would succeed, how he
proposed to go about it, how long
it would take, and the like. Ben
was noncommittal and he refused
to raise her hopes. Before he had
finished his meal he had convinced
himself that the woman stood in
some sort of dreyd of Tiller Mad
dox and that her fear of antag
onizing him almost equalled her
anxiety for Furlong’s success. Ben
wondered why. Another fact he
discovered—Betty and her aunt
were not on the best of terms.
After supper, by the light of a
gasoline torch, Furlong resumed his
work the while Maddox vainly
tried, with the new device which
his employer had brought out from,
town, to grapple that obstinate bit
of steel a fifth of a mile beneath
his feet. But it was blind work,
monotonous work, dispiriting
work; time after time the clumsy
fishing tool was raised and lowered
but its jaws refused to seize the
troublesome bolt. It was a job as
hopeless and as baffling as trying
to pick up a pin with a pair of
fire tongs attached to a string.
The engineer of the rig watched
Furlong’s work with the interest
of a fellow machinist, and of him
the latter inquired finally:
"Say! How come Mr. Durham
to get killed?”
"He was blowed up. It was when
the Planet Company was getting
—
"You’ve been experimenting for two weeks at a hundred dollars a
day—Let Mr. Furlong have a go at it,” said Betty.
Maddox grinned. "That’s what
we been tryin’ to do, but it’s
tempered harder than the bit. It
dulls every tool we use and all we
been doin’ for two weeks is sharp
en- steel.”
"Can’t you drill past it?”
"How you goin’ to sidetrack a
six-inch bolt loose in the bottom
of a hole?”
"You can drive it into the wall.”
"Oh, you can, can you? We’re
into a stratter of iron pyrites and
the rock’s dam’ near as hard as
the bolt. It’s much as ever a tool
will cut at all. That bolt just shifts
around in the bottom of the hole
like it was a steel cup, an’ it’s too
small to grapple. I s’pose we could
get holt of it with some fancy
kind of a magnet that would get
liolt of it.” Again Maddox grinned.
Betty Durham was staring at
Furlong with an apprehensive
pucker between her brows. "Ain’t
that our luck, for a bitty old bolt
to ruin everything? Can you
think of any way—?”
"I can think of one way that
won’t cost much to try.”
"I don’t want any strangers ex
Derimentin’ around—” Maddox be
jan; but the girl exclaimed sharp
y.
"You’ve been experimenting for
:wo weeks at a hundred dollars a
lay, haven’t you? It’s our well.
Let Mr. Furlong have a go at it.”
The driller executed an exag
gerated gesture of acquiescence.
'Right you are, Betty! But if this
eller nuts it on the bum, don’t
>lame me.” Then to Ben he an
ready to put down that well on '
the northeast corner. Maddox was •
workin’ for the company then—
movin’ the rig onto the ground.
A powder wagon came by and the
driver stopped to ask his way.
You’ve seen them trucks—-six hun
dred odd quarts cf nitroglycerine
in square cans all set in felt-lined
racks to keep ’em from jarring. I
alius been scared of ’em, but them
drivers pound their wagons over
these rough roads like it’s so much
molasses they got. Old man Dur
ham went across the road and give
him directions—he stood there
watchin’ the wagon as it drove on.
The driver was trottin’ his hosses,
an’ when he crossed the railroad
track it let go. Jar set it off, I
s’pose. Tiller says he saw it all,
but he don’t remember hearin’ a
sound or feelin’ a shock of any
sort. All he seen was a big black
cloud, an’ when he looked for Old
Man Durham he wasn’t there. The
fence was gone, too.”
"What happened to the driver?”
"What d’you reckon happened?
All the tra,ce they ever found of
him or the outfit was part of a
hoss’s leg hangin’ on a telegraph
cross-arm about a hundred yards
up the grade. There was a hole
thirty foot wide where the wagon
had been and the railroad iron was
corkscrewed for a quarter of a
mile. They found quite a bit of
Mr. Durham—enough to hold a
funeral over.”
"And Maddox wasn’t scratched!
That stuff certainly acts queer at
times!”
"They figured some air current
was responsible. Kind of a Godsend
for Tiller, wasn’t it?”
"Not to be killed? Sure—”
"Naw! To get in with the wid-'
der an’ Betty. Lucky for them, too
that he took to lookin’ out for ’em. j
If he makes this well they’ll be
movin’ into one of them Dallas!
mansions with marble bedsteads.” j
"Humph! He’ll never make a:
wel] if he keeps dropping hardware!
in it. In my country a driller that
careless would lose his job.”
"Tiller won’t lose his job,” the
engineer assented positively. "He
don’t lose anything he goes after.”
In the course of time Furlong
finished cutting the end of his
steel casing into a series of teeth,
and these teeth he then bent slight
ly inward. This done, he attached
the device to a tool and lowered
it into the hole. Even Betty and her
Aunt Mary, who looked on with,
growing suspense, understood now
how he proposed to pick up that
bolt. He had shaped those taper
ing teeth so that they resembled
the curving fingers of a hand, and
his delicate task was to drive the
casing home against the bottom of
the well until those fingers closed,
until he clinched them over the
obstacle. It was a task less difficult
than it sounds.
CONTINUED NEXT WEEK
Farmers Urged Not
To Buy Work Stock
Every year North Carolina
farmers are buying outside the
State approximately $1,000,000
worth of stock that could be
raised at home.
This is clearly a waste of money, =
in view of the fact that it costs
almost nothing to raise a few hor- m
ses or mules for farm use, said
Fred M. Haig, professor of animal
husbandry at State College. j
When a mare drops a colt in
the spring, she need be away from
work for only a few days. In fact,
it is better for the colt and for
the mare to keep her at work, ex
cept for a few days at foaling time,
Professor Haig stated.
On farms cooperating with the
AAA crop adjustment programs,
there is a considerable quantity of
land which has been removed from
the production of cotton, tobacco,
wheat, or other basic crops.
This land may well be used to
raise feed for work stock, Profes
sor Haig continued. Four acres
will produce all the feed needed
by a horse or a mule for one year.
The number of horses and mules
in the United States has been de
creasing steadily, with the price
going up, he pointed out. In North
Carolina, the number dropped from
408,000 in 1925 to 339,000 at
the present time.
Good work stock will always be
in demand, he observed, and the
price will remain high as long as
the supply is low. i
Unless North Carolina farmers
breed and raise more stock at home,
they will have to pay out large
>ums in the future for work ani
mals, or else try to get along as
best they can with an inadequate
aumber of animals to do the work.
AND POSTERS—For Sale at The
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YES
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Are you one of these nervous
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How A. T. & T. Ownership
Aids Your Service
THERE is no mystery about the fact that the South
ern Bell Telephone Company is owned by the
American Telephone & Telegraph Company, and that
the Western Electric Company is the manufacturing
branch and supply agent of the entire Bell System.
The Bell System set-up is a natural one. It wa?
created by the evolution of telephone service over a
period of fifty years, as there developed a need for
the various units. It has made possible the extensive
and unequalled telephone service which North Carolina
enjoys today.
Striking illustrations of its economy and value were
given when a disastrous fire crippled the local and long
distance service in Birmingham, Ala., when sleet storms
devastated the telephone plant in the Carolinas and
Tennessee and when floods and storms isolated large
sections in the gulf states.
!
In each instance equipment, apparatus and supplies
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It is this coordination of effort and resources that
has made your service so valuable and dependable,
and such an important factor in the welfare and
happiness of the people of this great State.
F. J. TURNER, Carolinas Manager
Southern Bell Telephone end Telegraph Co.
<l.«.r».rat*4 >
Say, "I Saw It in THE WATCHMAN ”
-- - - - — - ^
MONEY NO OBJECT ~
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NAME_
ADDRESS__
CITY-STATE_
YOU SAVE
4c A MILE
when you ride Carolina Coach Company
Buses instead of driving your own car.
—Private car operation seldom costs less than
S cents per mile—usually much more.
—Bus travel costs
1V2C Per IViile
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