“That belt passes right back into Canadian territory,” he said.
Peter turned.
“Sure, boss,” he replied, with a light of triumph in his keen eyes. “But there’s more than that to it. A heap more. That’s why I got around on the dead jump.”
He stood up from his leaning attitude and his hands were spread out in an expressive gesture. The man was simply bursting with his news.
“It looks to me we’re in the heart of the world’s biggest coal beds, an’ the signs are we’re surely right on the fringe of the oil field that’s mixed up with it,” he went on. He came over and rested his hands on the table, leaning forward the more surely to impress the man behind it. “I tell you, boss, right here we’ve hit the biggest cinch since the world began. We’re on oil now, and drilling through hard black lime. That’s all right. But further back is where the real stuff lies, an’ it’s right in the heart of such a coal belt as I’ve only dreamed about. It’s a range of coal mountains. It’s nothing less. And the valleys are the natural drainways for the thick juicy oil we’re yearning to tap. It’s that brought me along. I want to take you right up there to see the thing it is. But I’m crazy for you to wire this report I’ve got here, from Beacon to our folks down home. Here it is, boss,” he went on urgently, as he drew a folded sheet from an inside pocket. “I wanted you to get that, an’ send it from Beacon first, an’ then come right along up where I can show you oil lying around where ther’ ought to be only creeks of mountain water.”
The man was wellnigh beside himself with excitement. Oil was his job. Oil was his whole life. And out of his experience and keen practical knowledge, he knew he had jumped into the heart of such an El Dorado as he had only found hitherto in his dreams.
But McLagan refused to be caught up by the infection of the man’s excitement. It was not that he doubted. He never doubted when Peter Loby gave his considered opinion on such a subject. But he knew the amazing nature of the man’s assertion, and he knew that never before had he experienced a moment when calm judgment was more surely needed.
He read the written report. Then he looked up at the man who still stood leaning over the table awaiting his decision. He nodded.
“If this is right, Peter, it’s—the biggest thing in the world,” he said.
His eyes were shining.