WORDS AND BLOWS
The surprise on both sides was equal, and for a moment neither the Rovers nor those in the other crowd uttered a word.
"What are you doing here, Jack Rover?" demanded Nappy Martell at length, as he scowled at the youth and his cousins.
"I might ask the same question of you, Nappy," was Jack's return.
"Did you come here from that detention camp?" questioned Fred.
"That's none of your business," retorted Slugger Brown.
"You got away from us this afternoon, Gabe Werner, but you're not going to do it this time," continued Jack, and caught the rascal by the arm.
"Hi! you let go of me," howled the bully roughly, and shoved Jack back against the building.
At this Randy leaped forward and also caught hold of Werner. Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown were about to jump in to the assistance of their friend when Fred and Andy interfered.
"You leave them alone," ordered Fred, with flashing eyes. "He's one of the meanest fellows in the world. He threw pepper in Jack's eyes and in the eyes of Ruth Stevenson."
The loud talking so close to a window of the restaurant attracted the attention of the men inside, and the fellow named Jake Tate thrust his head out to see what was going on.
"Say, what do you know about this?" he exclaimed, turning to his companions. "Those four young Rovers are out here right by the window!"
"You don't say so!" burst out Carson Davenport.
"If they are by this window maybe they were spying on us," put in the man named Jackson.
In the meanwhile there was something of a fight going on outside. Gabe Werner had tried to break away, and then launched a blow at Jack, who returned by hitting him a crack in the jaw.
"See here, you leave Werner alone!" blustered Slugger Brown.
"You keep out of this, Slugger!" cried Jack, and then, as Werner hit out a second time, Jack dodged and the bully's fist struck the side of the building, skinning several of his knuckles. Then Jack landed a blow with all the force he could command on Werner's left ear, and the rascal went down on the cinder path and rolled over into the roadway.
By this time the men in the restaurant had run outside and were coming up.
"What's the rumpus here?" demanded Jake Tate, pushing his way through the crowd of boys. He was a burly individual, and could at times put on a most aggressive manner.
"We caught these four fellows right by this window," declared Nappy Martell, with a sharp look first at Tate and then at Davenport.
"It looked to us as though they might be spying on you," added Slugger Brown, and he too gave Davenport a peculiar look.
"Spying on us, eh?" muttered the oil company promoter in anything but a pleasant manner. "Fine piece of business to be in!"
By this time Gabe Werner had rolled over and gotten to his feet. But instead of coming at Jack again, he kept at a safe distance, in the meanwhile sucking his bruised knuckles and nursing his left ear.
"We have a right to walk on this street if we want to," remarked Randy.
"They were standing right by this window, and appeared to be listening to something," declared Slugger Brown.
"Then they must have been listening to what we were saying," grumbled Jackson.
"How long were you at this window, young fellow?" demanded Jake Tate.
"I guess that's our own business," and Randy's eyes flashed defiance.
"You want to keep your eyes on those Rovers," cautioned Nappy Martell. "They're as sly as foxes. I know 'em!"
"And they'll do you harm if they can," added Slugger Brown.
"He is saying that because we wouldn't stand for any of his underhanded work," explained Fred.
"We never did stand for anything that wasn't on the level," added Andy, and looked at Carson Davenport suggestively.
"See here, young fellow, don't you get fresh!" cried the oil company promoter. And then he added with a sneer: "I reckon you've been listening to more than was good for you."
"Well, if you want to know it, we heard a few things that surprised us," answered Jack boldly.
"What did you hear?" questioned Jake Tate quickly.
"We heard what you had to say about the Lorimer Spell claim, if you must know it," retorted Fred.
"Yes, and we are going to report it to my Uncle Dick at once," said Andy.
At this the men were evidently much disturbed, and Tate pulled Davenport back and whispered something into his ear. Then both conferred with Jackson. In the meantime Nappy and Slugger came forward again with Werner close behind them.
"You tried to run things to suit yourselves up at Colby Hall," sneered Slugger. "But you'll find it a different story down here."
"Don't you dare to tell any stories about us," warned Nappy. "If you do you'll get in bad, mark my words. I've stood all I'm going to stand from your crowd."
"If you are behaving yourself and trying to earn an honest living, we'll have nothing to say to anybody about your past," answered Jack. "The war is over, and the question of how you aided those German sympathizers is a thing of the past."
"Don't you trust 'em," growled Werner. "They'll do their level best to get you in bad. I know 'em!"
"You just let me get at you, Werner, and I'll show you what I'll do," retorted Jack, and made a move in the direction of the fellow. And at this the bully lost no time in retreating. He was evidently afraid that the Rovers would hand him over to the authorities.
By this time the men were coming forward again.
"See here, boys, we don't want any trouble," said Carson Davenport oilily. "We were only talking about that Lorimer Spell claim in a general way. I'll explain everything to Mr. Rover's satisfaction in the morning. I only want to work with him in this matter. We could get along so much better than if we worked separately."
"All right, then," answered Jack. "You know where my father can be found."
"You may have got a wrong impression from our talk," added Jake Tate. "We handle things in a rougher way down in this oil country than you do up in New York. Davenport will straighten out everything with your father."
After this the men continued to talk to the boys for several minutes, doing their best to allay the Rovers' suspicions. Nappy and Slugger listened with interest, as did also Werner, who, however, kept out of reach of Jack and his cousins.
"We might as well be going, Nappy," said Slugger presently, and turned and hurried up the narrow street, and Gabe Werner went after them. Then, a moment later, the men returned to the restaurant to finish the meal they had begun.
"I suppose we might as well return to the hotel," said Jack.
"Right you are!" declared Randy. "The best thing we can do is to let Uncle Dick know about this."
They found Dick Rover sitting in a corner of the hotel porch talking to an old oil man to whom he had brought a letter of introduction.
"This is Mr. Nick Ogilvie," said Jack's father after introducing the boys. "He will take charge of any operations we may commence in this territory. He is an old oil man, and knows this district thoroughly."
The boys sat down to listen to what the old oil man might have to say. Mr. Ogilvie remained the best part of an hour, and then went off, stating that he would be around again the next day. As soon as he had departed the boys, making sure that no one else was within hearing, told Jack's father of all they had learned concerning Carson Davenport and the men associated with him. Dick Rover listened with intense interest, his face clouding as they proceeded.
"This is certainly news, and I'll have to investigate it thoroughly," he declared, when they had finished. "Evidently this Carson Davenport is a worse sharper than I thought."
"He says he can explain everything to your satisfaction," said Jack. "But I don't see how it can be done."
"Nor I, either," declared Randy. "My opinion is that they are a bunch of crooks and nothing else."
"Evidently they think they have some sort of claim on the Spell land," answered Dick Rover. "And it is possible that such is a fact, because, as I said before, the title to Spell's land seemed to be clouded. Of course, I don't know what is in the documents in the safe-deposit vault at Wichita Falls. Those documents may clear the matter up."
"Then I should think the best thing would be to get those papers," said Jack.
"That's what I intend to do."
"Will you see Davenport in the morning?" questioned Fred curiously.
"Certainly, Fred. I am not afraid of that crowd, and the more they talk the better I'll like it, for then I can get some sort of line on what they are aiming at."
It was some time after breakfast the next morning when Carson Davenport put in an appearance. Dick Rover was busy writing some letters when he came in, and the boys were addressing post-cards to their folks and friends. Davenport was alone.
"I want to clear up any misunderstanding that may have arisen," said the oil well promoter smoothly, as he dropped into a chair beside Jack's father.
There followed a conversation lasting over an hour. At first Davenport did his best to smooth matters over, but gradually, as Dick Rover managed to draw out one fact after another, the oil well promoter showed more or less irritation. Dick's shrewdness bothered him, and finally he hardly knew how to proceed.
"You take it from me, Rover, the only way for us to do is to work this thing together," he remarked. "One claim is just as good as the other, and what is the use of our getting into a dispute over it when we are not real certain that there is oil on the land?"
"Then you mean to say that you think your claim on the land is just as good as mine?" asked Jack's father.
"My claim is just as good, and maybe better. But I don't want to have any trouble. I figure that it will cost about thirty thousand dollars to sink a well on that land. Now why not go in together? We've got ten thousand dollars, and if you'll put up the other twenty thousand we can try our luck and see what comes of it."
"I'm not admitting that your claim is a good one," answered Dick Rover. "I'll know more about it in a few days."
"Why, what are you going to do?"
"When Lorimer Spell died he left me everything he possessed, and that included some things left in a safe deposit box at a bank in Wichita Falls. I am going to get that box and see if there are any documents in it relating to this claim. Then I'll know exactly how I stand in this matter. Until that time I sha'n't make any sort of a deal."
This was Dick Rover's final decision so far as it concerned Davenport, and the latter went off looking anything but pleased.
"He'll get the best of you if he can, Dad," remarked Jack, after the interview was over.
"I don't doubt it in the least, Son."
"What's the next move, if I may ask?" questioned Fred. The oil well proposition was beginning to interest him tremendously.
"I am going to take the first train for Wichita Falls to-day," answered his uncle. "I guess you boys can get along here until I get back."
"How far is that Lorimer Spell tract of land from here?" asked Randy.
"About three miles or so."
"Then what's the matter with our walking out there and taking a look around?" suggested Fred. "We've got the whole day before us."
"You can do that and welcome," said Jack's father. "But take my advice and take a good lunch along, because you may not be able to get anything up there. I don't know whether there are any farmhouses around or not."
An hour later Dick Rover was off for Wichita Falls by train. Then the lads asked the restaurant man to put up a substantial lunch for them, and a little later they set off in the direction where the Lorimer Spell tract was located.
Around Columbina the walking was anything but good. But presently they found themselves on a country road which had not been cut up by a steady stream of wagons and automobiles, and here they found going better.
They had covered about two miles when they came to a bend in the road, and there Andy called a halt.
"I've got something in my shoe. Wait till I take it off," he said, and sat down on a rock.
They were all resting when they saw an automobile truck rumble past them. There were three men on the front seat, and the lads were very much surprised to see that two of them were Jake Tate and the man called Jackson.