“I don’t,” exclaimed Mr. Zept. “If you have, just send me word. We might start a few horse ranches up there.”
As the train sped on and all had adjusted themselves to the limits of their little room, after a time Mr. Zept spoke again: “I wish I had the time to go up there with you,” he began, “but of course, that’s impossible. I’m going to see you away from Edmonton in good shape. By the way,” he remarked, “I’ve been wondering just how you’re going to find things up there, after a year’s absence. You say you left three men there. What are they doing?”
“Well,” answered Colonel Howell, “they’re all on the pay roll. One of ’em’s an Englishman from Edmonton, and two of ’em I brought from the gas fields of Kansas. The Kansas men have worked for me for several years.”
“Must have had a pretty easy job, with nothing to do but punish your provisions all winter,” suggested Mr. Zept.
“Don’t you think it,” exclaimed his friend. “They had plenty of work cut out for them. In the first place they had to build a cabin, and they had the tools to make a decent one—tar paper for a roof too. I don’t care for bark shacks. Then I’m taking a boiler and engine up this time and we can probably use a lot of firewood when we get to drilling. They can put in a lot of time cutting dry cordwood.”
“They doing any prospecting?” asked the ranchman.
“They couldn’t do much except look for signs,” answered Colonel Howell. “And, of course, if they have any extra time, the Kansas men have been in the business long enough to know how to do that. They might save me a lot of work when I get up there, if they’re on the job,” concluded Colonel Howell.
“A good deal like grub-staking a man, isn’t it?” asked Mr. Zept.
“Not much,” retorted the oil man with decision. “They’re all on my pay roll and they’re all working for me. There isn’t any halves business in what they find, if they find anything. It all belongs to yours truly—or will, when I prove up on my claim.”
“What are the names of the men?” asked Roy with sudden curiosity.