The seconds that followed the dropping of the iron were wonderfully long ones, and it seemed as if each one present ceased to breathe, as the time had come when the value or worthlessness of the well was to be decided.
Then was heard three distinct reports, somewhat louder than had been heard at the Hoxie well, because of the charge being nearer the surface of the earth, and this was followed by the black, noisome vapor that wreathed slowly around the aperture as if sent by the demons of the earth to keep back those venturesome mortals who would seek to penetrate their secrets.
No one spoke, and each eye was riveted upon the mouth of the well, to read there the story which was soon told. First came a shower of water, breaking into drops as it reached the surface, sparkling in the sun like diamonds, and then uprose, not slowly and waveringly as Ralph had seen it once before, but shooting quickly in the air, a transparent, greenish column of oil, that broke amid the timbers of the derrick, shattering into splinters the smaller joists and scattering them in every direction.
It was clearly and unmistakably oil, not in any small quantity, or sent with any slight force; but a discharge which, from its volume and intensity, showed how vast was the reservoir from which it had come, how great the strength of confined gas that sent it heavenward.
For nearly five minutes the spectators sat watching the flow of oil which told of the value of "The Harnett," until Bob broke the spell that bound them, by shouting:
"Hurrah for 'The Harnett!' Hurrah for petroleum!"
In an instant all present, even including George, burst into loud shouts of welcome to the long-confined and valuable product of the earth which was theirs.
During the thirty minutes that the new well spouted, congratulations were poured in on Bob from all sides, for through his efforts had this work been done, and without him it might have been many years before such a scene would have been witnessed on the Simpson wood-lot.
The partners hardly knew how to express their joy. George was quietly happy; but the unusual brilliancy of his eyes and the flush on his cheeks told of the deep but suppressed excitement under which he was laboring. In that steady upward flow of oil he saw a competency for himself and his mother, which he had not dreamed he should secure during many long years of toil, and as he clasped her fervently by the hand, she knew that it was of the many things this well would produce which would add to her comfort that he was thinking.
Old Mr. Simpson and his wife stood with clasped hands, looking at the representation of wealth which was pouring out before them, and in their eyes, even as they gazed, was a far-away look, as if they were thinking of their loved ones who, when on this earth, had been deprived of many of the necessaries of life, while wealth beyond their wildest imaginings lay beneath their very feet.