"Not altogether," answered Jack. "My father is interested in a claim down here, and he allowed us to come along with him." And thereupon he gave some of the particulars.
John Franklin listened attentively to the story, and his eyes flashed angrily when the names of Tate and Jackson were mentioned.
"Those are the swindlers who were trying to do me out of my property!" he ejaculated. "And I'm of the opinion this Carson Davenport was in with them. They are a bunch of crooks, and nothing else. They ought all to be in prison."
"Well, they'll land there sooner or later if they don't look out," returned Fred.
"If I was your father I would have nothing to do with this Davenport or the men acting with him," went on Mr. Franklin to Jack.
"Do you know anything at all about the Lorimer Spell claim?"
"I don't know anything about what has happened lately so far as that claim is concerned," was John Franklin's reply. "But I do know when oil was first discovered in this region some of the experts went over the whole territory carefully and they did not consider the Spell claim as being of any value. That's the reason no wells were located there. They claimed that the geological formation was not good for oil."
"Oh! then you mean to say there is no oil on that claim?" questioned Fred disappointedly.
"I don't know anything about it, lad. I am only telling you what the experts said. Those fellows miss it once in a while, just the same as other people. At the same time, if an expert doesn't think ground is worth drilling for oil, you can make up your mind that the chances of striking it rich there are very slim."
"But are you sure the experts went over it very carefully?" questioned Andy.