He paused incredulously, and Buck nodded.
“I’m sure of it,” he stated crisply.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE SECRET OF NORTH PASTURE
Jessup swallowed hard. “But—but—” he faltered, “there ain’t never been any found around here. The nearest fields are hundreds of miles away, ain’t they?”
Stratton dropped the lump of sand. A number of particles still clung to his palm, and over the skin there spread an oily, slightly iridescent film. His manner had suddenly grown composed, though his eyes still shone with suppressed excitement.
“Just the same, it’s—oil!” he returned quietly. “There’s no doubt at all about it. Look at the ground there.”
Mechanically Bud’s glance shifted to the wide, shallow depression in the desert. The sand was noticeably darker, and here and there under the sun’s rays, it held that faintly iridescent glint that was unmistakable. At a distance he would have said there was a spring somewhere beneath the surface. But no water ever had that look, and now that he was prepared for it he even noticed a faint, distinctive odor in the air. 240