Stoner returned in due time, much rested, and he brought with him a large check to the firm's account.
"We timed it to the minute," he told McWade and Mallow. "That gasser couldn't have come in better if we'd ordered it. Nelson's dickering under cover for more acreage near what he's got, but I tipped off who he was."
"He fell easy, eh?"
Stoner grinned. "He was so pleased with himself at swindling an invalid, and so scared somebody would discover those seepages that he couldn't hardly wait to sign up. If it hadn't of been for the general excitement, he might of insisted on time to do some exploring, but he's pulled a rig off another job and he's sending it right up."
"We've got some good news, too," McWade asserted. "Avenger Number One is trying hard to come in."
"No?"
"I tell you Gray's got a rabbit foot. If we continue to trail along with him, I'll be losing you as a partner, Brick."
"How so?"
"Why, I'll be turning honest. It seems to pay."
"Um-m. Probably I'd better keep all this Nelson money and leave you—"