“Dis sho’ am a sight fo’ sore eyes, Marse Tom, it sho’ am! Seemed lak Ah wouldn’t nebber git here, and den some fool niggah down in de town give me de wrong directions, an’ Ah thought Ah nebber would arrive.”
“Well, I’m mighty glad that you are here, Rad. I felt sure that you’d like this better than loafing around back home. How do you like the little you’ve seen of this oil country?”
“Cain’t say dat Ah t’inks much of it,” he replied, with a gloomy shake of his kinky head. “It seems powerful hilly and all dat, but Ah reckon it cain’t be helped.”
“No,” laughed Tom. “These hills look as though they had been put here to stay. But there’s plenty to eat, and Mr. Goby’s daughter is a good housekeeper and has a fine cook, so possibly you’ll come to like it better after awhile.”
“Dere’s nothin’ like havin’ plenty to eat,” declared Rad, while his glistening countenance assumed its usual happy expression. “Pears to me Ah feels a bit hungry right now,” and he looked hopefully at Tom.
“I imagine dinner will be ready in about an hour, if you think you can survive that long,” Tom informed him.
“Reckon Ah’ll have to stick it out some way,” answered the colored man resignedly. “Wharat am dis yere oil well, Marse Tom? Does you let a bucket down into it an’ tote up some oil when you needs it?”
“Not exactly,” answered Tom, with a grin. “The hard thing to do with this well is to keep the oil in. For some reason or other, it seems very anxious to escape. It was spouting up a hundred feet into the air the day we tapped it.”
Rad rolled his eyes in astonishment, but was too overcome to make any remark. When Tom showed him the capped well he was visibly disappointed. It is hard to say what he expected to see, but evidently the quiet appearance of the well did not impress him much.
“Ah thought dat dis yere well would be raisin’ all kinds o’ ructions, but it looks jest as peaceable as kin be,” he observed. “A fool niggah down at de depot tole me it made a noise dat a feller could heah fo’ miles and miles, but Ah doan heah even a whispah fum it. Reckon dat man mus’ have been jest a plain, ornary prevasticator.”