d
for some time in Oil City for a civil engineer there. By this means they
had learned the oil business, and had shown an especial aptitude for
prospecting. There they committed what may or may not have been their
first crime, for no one knew where they had lived before they appeared
in Oil City. They robbed their employer of nearly two hundred dollars,
and it is probable that it was after that money was spent that they had
stolen George's team.

The examination did not last very long. George told of the theft of his
team, of his pursuing the thieves, in company with Ralph and Bob, and of
all that occurred up to the time he left his companions to go to Mr.
Simpson's for his instruments.

"Then," he said, "when I had got nearly half way from where I had left
my friends at the house, these men stepped from among the bushes
directly in front of me, and one demanded the paper which I held in my
hand. I refused to give it to him, and as I did so, before I had time to
act on the defensive, the elder of the men struck me full in the face.
I at once began to defend myself, but it was two to one, and in a very
short time a blow on the head from some hard substance felled me to the
ground, unconscious."

That was all George could tell, and Ralph and Bob were both called to
the stand to testify to what they knew, both of the theft of the team
and of the finding of George.

Mr. Simpson, Jim and Dick were also ready to testify as to the condition
of George when they found him and when they carried him into the house,
but their evidence was not needed then, nor was the doctor's, who had
examined and attended the wounded youth.

Beyond asking one or two unimportant questions of each witness, the
accused had nothing to say for themselves, or in contradiction of what
had been testified to, and the judge committed them without bail for
trial at the next term of court.

As soon as the examination was over, Bob went to the office of the
torpedo works, and there contracted for the necessary amount of material
to "shoot" the well, and also stipulated that he be given permission to
do the work.

At first this was refused peremptorily, on the ground that it was a
dangerous operation, and that he would probably succeed only in killing
himself.

Bob understood at once that he was not recognized, and he asked if Mr.
Newcombe was in the building. That gentleman was in, and appeared very
shortly after he was sent for, greeting Bob as hea