To his grandfather the boy was a never-failing source of pride and joy. He was so gentle and lovable, at the same time so brave and practical and so unspoiled by all the flattery and attention showered upon him, that he was a constant marvel and example to the impulsive old Colonel. To be sure, the latter had never known much about boys; but he certainly had not imagined that, as a class, they were like this one.
For the sake of his grandson, Colonel Dale made the most of the golden opportunities now presented to him. At the very beginning of his operations as an oil producer, he had secured oil leases of large tracts of land lying on both sides of the Dustin farm. For these he was to give one quarter of all the oil produced from them, and guaranteed to sink wells upon them within a certain time. Now he was able to dispose of these leases, in one-acre lots, for a thousand dollars apiece in money, and an agreement that gave him one half the oil.
Within ninety days after the Dale-Dustin well began to flow, half of the Dustin farm had been surveyed into town lots, and sold for half a million of dollars; while the other half was leased in one-acre lots as oil territory, in such a manner as to make it worth as much more. In making these sales, Colonel Dale retained, in Arthur’s name, the farmhouse with the land immediately surrounding it, and the Dale-Dustin well.
From all these statements and figures, it will be seen that Arthur’s plan for relieving his grandfather’s financial difficulties had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
As the summer drew near its close, Colonel Dale, impatient to escape from business cares and the intense excitement in which they were living, began to place his affairs in such a shape that he might return to Dalecourt. Arthur, too, was becoming tired of the oil region, and longed for a change of scene. He was therefore made very happy by being told that they would start for Dalecourt early in October, on the very day of the month that he and Uncle Phin had started on their memorable journey a year before. This was also the day set for the formal opening of the branch railroad to Dustindale.
Brace Barlow, who had all this time been in charge of the well that he had opened, was now appointed superintendent of the entire Dale-Dustin interests in that part of the country, at a handsome salary. He was to occupy the farm house, and his mother was to come and live with him.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
ARTHUR REMEMBERS HIS FRIENDS.
On the evening before they were to go away, Colonel Dale, in his grandson’s name, invited all the citizens of Dustindale to assemble on the lawn in front of the farmhouse.
It was a dark night, but the lawn was brilliantly illuminated by hundreds of natural gas torches, that produced a novel and beautiful effect. When the guests arrived—and everybody accepted the invitation—they found that they were to be entertained with fireworks, by the music of the Dustindale Cornet band, by an address from Colonel Dale, and with a supper.
The address was a short one, but it was received with tremendous applause, for it was a presentation, on behalf of Arthur Dale Dustin, to Dustindale, of the plans for a town-hall, a school-house, and a library, accompanied by the money to build and equip them.