The Rover Boys in the Land of Luck: or, Stirring Adventures in the Oil Fields

CHAPTER XVI

DICK ROVER'S HEROISM

It can readily be believed that the Rovers did not sleep much that night. The boys and girls were downstairs by seven o'clock and waited anxiously for the appearance of their parents in the dining-room of Dick Rover's residence, where the fathers were to have breakfast before returning to the troopship which was docked across the river, at Hoboken.

"We've got to get back by noon," announced Tom Rover, "and Sam and I want to pay a visit to Wall Street before we go, so we won't be able to spend much more time here."

"You were going to tell us how you won that medal, Dad," said Jack, after breakfast was over and his two uncles had said good-bye to everybody and left. "What about it?"

"Well, if you must have the story, sit down and I'll give it to you," answered Dick Rover, with a smile. "As it happens, the death of Lorimer Spell may make quite a difference in my plans for this Summer."

"Oh, then the poor man died in spite of your efforts to rescue him!" said Martha in crestfallen tones.

"He didn't die from that shell wound," answered her father. "But I had better tell the story from the beginning, since you seem to be so anxious to hear it."

"You must remember, Dick, that Jack is something of a soldier himself. He is a captain of the cadets, you know," remarked the mother of the lad.

"Oh, but that isn't like being a real soldier and fighting for Uncle Sam!" protested the youth.

"This Lorimer Spell, the fellow I saved, was a tall, lanky Texan who joined our command after we arrived in France. Just how he got in I can't say. He was rather a quiet sort of man, and some of the soldiers thought he was decidedly queer. He took a great interest in botany and geology, and I take it he was something of a student in those lines, although he was by no means well educated.

"The day that he was knocked out by a fragment of a shell was a misty one – the kind of a mist that makes it very uncertain to see any great distance. We did not know how close some of the Huns might be, and as a matter of fact they were closer than we expected, and some time later two of our men were shot down while moving from one trench to another close by.

"When Spell went down I was over a hundred feet away from him. Before he became unconscious he tried to crawl back to the trench from which he had come. But evidently he was confused and went down in plain sight of the Huns.

"I didn't care very much for the man, as I told you before, but I could not see him remain there exposed to the fire of the enemy, and so without thinking twice I jumped up out of the trench and ran across the ground to where he was lying. The shells had torn the soil dreadfully, so that I had considerable difficulty in reaching him.

"I placed him on my shoulder, and just then several Huns began firing at us. One bullet grazed my side, giving me a deep scratch, and another went through the cloth of Spell's coat. I stumbled down into a shell crater with the man and had all I could do to drag him and myself out. Then I plunged forward again, and just as the Huns let out several more shots, both of us stumbled down into the trench, and the rescue, if you might call it such, was over."

"Well, I think that was a grand thing to do, Dad!" burst out Jack, his face beaming. "Simply grand!"

"You couldn't beat it for pluck!" said Fred.

"And that's how you won the medal?" broke in Andy. "Fine!"

"You certainly deserved it," added his twin. "Gee! but suppose those Huns had plugged you when you were carrying the fellow!"

"And that's how I got him back to the trenches," went on Dick Rover. "He was taken to the field hospital, and there his injuries were found to be slight, and in a few days he was back on the firing line again."

"He ought to have been mighty thankful," declared Martha, who sat close by, holding her father's hand.

"He was thankful; and for that reason he did something which may have an important bearing on my future business dealings," answered Dick Rover. "He said he had no relatives of any kind, and he then and there made a will whereby if anything happened to him all that he possessed in this world should go to me."

"And then he was killed?" questioned Mrs. Rover.

"Yes. Just two days after his return to duty we were making another advance. Spell was in one part of the field while I was in another. Suddenly I saw him running off to a place just in front of where our squad was located. Then he made a turn as if to come toward us, and just at that instant he threw up his hands and fell forward on his face."

Here Dick Rover paused and dropped his eyes. No one cared to speak, and for an instant there was utter silence.

"When the skirmish was over we had gained our position, and a few hours later the body of Lorimer Spell was picked up and carried to the rear," went on Jack's father. "A bullet had struck him in the back of the head, and death must have been instantaneous.

"I confess that I felt pretty bad. A number of the company knew of the will Spell had made, and two of them were witnesses to the crude document he had drawn up. As a consequence, Spell's personal effects were turned over to me. They included a small amount of money, a ring, a wrist watch, and a number of papers, including an order for a box in a safe deposit vault in a bank in Wichita Falls, Texas."

"Poor fellow, it's too bad he couldn't have lived to enjoy himself now the war is at an end," remarked Mrs. Sam Rover.

"Were any of his papers of value?" questioned Jack curiously.

"That remains to be found out, Jack. His papers spoke of a valuable tract of oil land in Texas close to the boundary line between that State and Oklahoma."

"Oil lands!" exclaimed Randy. "Why, they may be worth a fortune, Uncle Dick! They are making immense strikes in oil down in that territory."

"I know that, Randy. Some of the wells are worth a fortune. But, on the other hand, you must remember that many of the tracts that are supposed to have oil on them have so far proved to be utterly dry. Men spend ten to forty thousand dollars in sinking a well only to find in the end that they have had their labor for their pains."

"Did Lorimer Spell say that his land had oil on it?" questioned Fred.

"From the way his papers and letters read one would think so, Fred. But, as I said before, Spell was a very queer kind of man. In fact, some of the fellows in our company thought he was a little bit out of his mind at times. It is just possible that he only imagined that he possessed valuable oil land."

"But you are going to investigate, aren't you, and make sure?" questioned Jack.

"Certainly, Son. I intend to go to Texas and make an investigation just as soon as I am mustered out of the service."

"Oh, Dad! do you mean that you might go to Texas this Summer?"

"I will if they muster me out."

"If you go, won't you take me along?"

"I'll think about it," and Dick Rover smiled at his son, whose face showed his eagerness.

"Gee! I'd like to go to Texas myself," burst out Fred.

"Such a trip would suit me down to the ground," announced Andy.

"I've always wanted to see a big oil well in operation," added his twin.

"I'd like to see them shoot an oil well," went on Jack. "They say it is a wonderful sight, especially if the well happens to be a real gusher."

"The queerest part of it is this," went on Dick Rover. "Before the war came on I was more or less interested in the oil fields in Texas and Oklahoma, as well as in Kansas. A good oil well, or series of wells, is a splendid paying proposition in these days, and I'd like first rate to get possession of such a holding and then start a first-class oil company."

"Oh, there are millions in oil! I know that!" burst out Martha. "Why, I was reading in a magazine only the other day of some folks in Texas who were quite poor. They had a farm of less than a hundred acres, and could make barely a living on it. Then the oil prospectors came along and located a well or two, and now those poor farm people have so much money they don't know what to do with it."

"Wouldn't it be great if we could go down there and locate a few of those first-class wells?" said Fred, with a sigh. "I'd just like to know how it feels to be a real millionaire."

"Can I go, Dad, if you go?" questioned Jack again.

"I'll see about that later. I don't wish to make any promises now."

"If Jack goes I want to go with him," put in Fred sturdily.

"Of course we'll want to go with him!" added Andy and Randy in a breath.

"What's the matter with us girls going along?" demanded Martha.

"What would girls be doing in the oil fields?" asked Fred. "A well might go off and shoot all your beautiful dresses full of oil."

"Huh! what about it if some oil got on that flaming red necktie you are wearing, Fred?" questioned his sister quickly. In his haste to get dressed that morning her brother had donned a necktie which she detested.

"Never mind my necktie, Mary. If Jack goes to Texas I'm going to see if I can't go along."

The matter was talked over a few minutes longer, and then Dick Rover went off with his wife to arrange some private affairs before he should take his departure for Hoboken. Then he said good-bye all around and was off.

"The next time you see us I think we'll be in a big parade," said Jack's father on leaving.

"A parade?" queried several of the others.

"Yes. They are talking of having a big parade of the soldiers on Fifth Avenue. If they do, of course we'll be in it."

"Hurrah! that's the stuff," cried Andy. "I've been aching to see one of those big parades ever since war was declared."

"If you do parade, Dad, we'll all be there to see you," declared Martha.

"We'll want front seats in the grandstand," added Mary.

"I don't think you'll get any front seats, Mary," answered her mother. "More than likely those seats will be reserved for the gold-star mothers – those who have lost their sons in battle."

"Well, those mothers deserve the front seats every time," said Jack.

"Indeed they do!" came from the girls.

"How soon will this parade come off?" questioned Randy.

"I don't know that the date has been settled exactly," answered Dick Rover. "But it will undoubtedly be in the near future. You will probably see all the details in the newspapers. I presume the whole of New York will have a holiday."

"Yes, and Fifth Avenue will be decorated in great shape from end to end," declared Mary. "Just see how they have been working on that Arch of Victory, and the Tower of Jewels, and all the other things."

"It will certainly be a parade well worth seeing," said Dick's wife.

"Yes, and I'll wager folks will come miles and miles to see it," added Fred. And then he continued quickly: "What's the matter with having Grandfather Rover down here from Valley Brook Farm?"

"Yes, and Great-aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, too!" broke in Mary.

"Oh, we must have all of them, by all means!" cried Jack.

CHAPTER XVII

THE GREAT VICTORY PARADE

"My, what a jam of people!"

"Did you ever see such a crowd before in all your life!"

"And look at the flags and other decorations! Aren't they beautiful?"

"This time New York has outdone herself."

It was the day for the great parade of the returned soldiers, and New York City, especially in the vicinity of Fifth Avenue, was packed with dense crowds that filled miles of grandstands, windows, and other points of vantage, and also jammed the sidewalks and the side streets. It was a holiday for all, and everybody was going to make the most of it.

The Rovers had left their homes early to make their way to the seats they had obtained on one of the stands. With those who resided in the city were Grandfather Rover and also Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, who had come down the day previous from Valley Brook Farm.

"This is the greatest day of my life," said Grandfather Rover, his eyes glistening with pleasure. "To think that my boys have all fought for our country and come back from the war safely."

"Yes, and to think one of them has won a medal – not but what the others have been equally brave," responded old Uncle Randolph.

"I hope they never have to go to another war – they or their sons either," murmured old Aunt Martha.

The girls had invited May and Ruth to come to New York to witness the parade. May had accepted the invitation, but Ruth had sent word the doctor did not think a trip advisable at this time, her eyes being still in bad condition.

"It's too bad Ruth couldn't come," sighed Jack.

"Well, she had better take care of her eyes," answered his sister. "Oh, dear, why did that horrid Werner have to do such a mean thing!"

The Rovers had all they could do to get to the seats reserved for them. Each carried a small flag, to be waved as the soldiers passed. There was quite a wait, and the crowd seemed to grow denser every minute. Then from a distance came the fanfare of trumpets and the booming of many drums.

"Here they come! Here they come!" was the glad shout, and soon a platoon of police on horse-back swept by. Then followed a brass band of a hundred pieces or more, and the great parade was fairly started.

To go into the particulars of this tremendous spectacle would be impossible in the limits of these pages. Regiment after regiment swept by, representing every State in the Union. There were brass bands galore, with Old Glory everywhere in evidence. The crowd clapped and cheered, and sometimes shouted itself hoarse as some favorite command swept by with soldierly precision. Here and there a hero was recognized, and then the din would increase.

"Some parade, I say!" exclaimed Fred enthusiastically.

"Isn't it wonderful how many soldiers there are?" marveled May, who sat next to him.

"When are our boys coming?" questioned Grandfather Rover anxiously.

"They'll be coming along pretty soon now," answered Jack, who had been studying the program closely. "They are in the second regiment after the one now passing."

The New York State troops were now approaching, and the din became terrific, the more so as one company after another was recognized.

"Here they come! Here they come!" exclaimed Martha, who was gazing down the line.

"I see them! They are just at the corner!" added Mary.

"There's dad! I see dad!" screamed Andy, to make himself heard above the noise. "There he is, in the front row on this side!"

"Yes, and there is my father!" yelled Fred. "See him? Two men away from Uncle Tom!"

"I see dad," announced Jack. "He's in the middle. See him with that medal on his breast?"

"Hurrah, boys! Hurrah for you!" yelled Grandfather Rover, and arose excitedly, shaking his cane in one hand and a small flag in the other.

By this time all were on their feet, cheering and waving their flags wildly. Dick, Tom and Sam Rover saw them, and although they did not dare to turn their heads, they smiled broadly in recognition. For them the moment was just as thrilling as it was for those on the stand.

"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" shouted the boys and girls, and their parents and other relatives joined in as strenuously as any one.

Old Aunt Martha was crying openly, and the other women had also to wipe the tears from their eyes.

"Somehow it chokes me all up," declared old Uncle Randolph, and blew his nose vigorously.

The company containing the Rovers passed on and the great parade continued hour after hour until it seemed as if there would be no end to that grand procession.

"Gracious! I didn't know there were so many soldiers in the whole world," declared Aunt Martha at length.

"If you are getting tired, Aunt Martha, I'll have somebody take you back to the house," remarked Mrs. Dick Rover, after they had been watching the parade for four hours.

"No, no. I am going to see it to the end," declared the old lady. "It will be something to talk about as long as I live."

"Just think of a lot of soldiers like these fighting all over our farm at Valley Brook," was Uncle Randolph's comment. "That's what they did over in France. It must have been terrible, the way things were cut up."

"My dad says you wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it," answered Randy. "He said some of the shell craters were big enough to dump a small barn in. Think of holes like that in your pasture lot."

But even the greatest of parades must come to an end, and at last the final body of soldiers marched by, and then came more police, followed by a great crowd of people that surged into Fifth Avenue like great flocks of sheep, hurrying, bustling, and jostling in an effort to get every way at once.

"Wasn't it perfectly grand?" cried Mary.

"It couldn't have been more wonderful," answered May.

"Now we'll get you back to the house and give you something to eat," said Mrs. Dick Rover to the old folks. "You certainly must be hungry as well as tired."

"Well, a little bit of something to eat wouldn't go bad, Dora," answered Grandfather Rover, placing an affectionate hand on her shoulder. And then he added softly: "We're mighty proud of our Dick, aren't we?"

"Proud! I should say we are!" answered Mrs. Rover, her whole face glowing with keen satisfaction.

It was decided that all of the older folks, as well as the three girls, should return to Riverside Drive. The boys, however, wanted to remain out and see what might take place further.

"We can pick up a little lunch somewhere – some sandwiches and pie and maybe a glass of milk," said Randy.

"Anything will do for me," announced Fred. "I'm almost too excited to eat."

"If you boys stay out you take good care of yourselves in this awful jam," warned Mrs. Tom Rover. "And don't you get into any mischief," she added to her twins.

The four lads saw the others safely to the automobiles, which were standing down one of the side streets, and then came back to Fifth Avenue.

"Let's walk down and look at the decorations and at the Arch of Victory," suggested Jack, and so it was decided.

In many places the sidewalks were littered with boxes which had been used to sit or stand upon. As a consequence, the best place to walk was in the street, and down this the boys pushed their way through the crowds which were gradually beginning to thin out.

"I never imagined buildings could be so handsomely decorated," declared Jack. "Those flags and banners and all that mass of bunting must have cost a fortune."

"Yes, and think of the money spent in decorating some of these windows," put in Fred.

They were gazing at a large show-window filled with a representation of American soldiers and sailors from colonial times to the present day. There were at least twenty-five figures in full uniform, and the display was as valuable to study from an historical standpoint as it was interesting to view as a picture.

"Some work to get all those uniforms together and to have everything exactly right," remarked Randy.

"I like the plain khaki of to-day as well as any of them," announced Jack. "The others are more gaudy, but when it comes to actual service – Ouch!"

Jack's remark broke off abruptly as a small but heavy box thrown from the gutter landed directly on his head. Then another box came flying through the air, to strike between the three other Rovers. It was followed by a ball of soaking-wet and muddy newspapers which struck the show-window with a thud, sending some dirty drops of water into the Rover boys' faces.

Fred was the first to whirl around in an endeavor to see where the two boxes and the wadded-up newspapers had come from. He was just in time to see two young fellows try to lose themselves in the rapidly moving crowd.

"Gabe Werner!" he ejaculated. "There he goes!"

"Yes, and there is Bill Glutts with him!" added Andy.

"What's that?" questioned Jack. He had received a small cut on one ear from the flying box and his cap had been knocked over his eyes.

"Werner and Glutts did it," answered Fred. "There they go down the street."

"If that's the case we've got to catch them," returned the oldest Rover boy. "Come on, quick!"

All started in pursuit of the two former bullies of Colby Hall. But to follow them through the rapidly moving crowd was not easy, and several times they were afraid the rascals would get away from them.

"Here, here! Take your time," said a policeman to Fred, as the latter brushed by him. "Take your time."

"I'm after a fellow who ought to be arrested," answered Fred quickly.

"Where is he?" demanded the bluecoat with interest.

"There he goes – down around the corner!" And then, as the policeman showed no disposition to leave his post, the youngest Rover boy hurried away after the others.

Werner and Glutts had looked back, and seeing that the Rovers were in pursuit, they had tried to throw them off the trail by passing around the nearest corner. Now they headed in the direction of the East Side.

"I told you not to bother with them," panted Glutts, who was somewhat out of breath. "Now, for all you know, they'll have us arrested."

"Oh, shut up your whining, Bill!" growled Werner in disgust. "I wish I had knocked that Jack Rover's head off with the box."

"You came very near busting the window."

"I wouldn't care if I did bust it," answered the other recklessly.

"It don't look as if that dose of pepper hurt Jack Rover much."

"Never mind. I'll fix him some day, you see if I don't."

The two glanced back once more and to their chagrin saw that the Rovers had come around the corner and were chasing after them faster than ever. This caused Bill Glutts to become more frightened than before.

"Oh, what shall we do? They'll catch us sure!" he wailed.

"No, they won't! Come on!" yelled Werner, and caught his crony by the arm.

He was too excited to notice carefully where he was running, and the next instant he, followed by Glutts, brought up against a stand on the sidewalk in front of a small shop. This stand was filled with various articles of bric-a-brac, and it went down with a crash, carrying dozens of small articles with it.

CHAPTER XVIII

BOUND FOR TEXAS

"Hi! hi! phat – phat you mean py knocking mine stand ofer?" cried out a voice from the doorway of the building, and a small, stockily built foreigner came running forward.

"Get off of me!" spluttered Bill Glutts, who was under Gabe Werner. "You're pressing some of this broken stuff into my face!"

Werner could not answer, being too surprised by the sudden turn affairs had taken. But then, as he realized that the four Rovers were close at hand, he rolled over on the sidewalk, upsetting a small boy as he did so, and then managed to scramble to his feet.