adjoining tracts are owned by the big companies, so that eliminated
them, but the twenty to the west belongs to Knute Hoaglund. Henry was
glad to see me when my turn came to go in, and--"

"I bet he was glad," Tom declared.

Barbara's smooth cheeks flushed faintly. "He is too busy and too rich
to--think about girls."

"He wasn't too busy and too rich to inquire about you 'most every day
since he got back from the war."

"I didn't forget to call him 'Colonel,' and that pleased both him and
Bell. Then I told them that I proposed to become a rich and successful
oil operator and wanted their advice how to begin. Old Bell was amused,
but Henry--I beg pardon, _Colonel_--Nelson was shocked. He couldn't
bear to think of women, and of me especially, in business. He might
have become disagreeably personal if his father hadn't been there."

"Dunno's I care much for Henry," Tom said, mildly.

"Oh, he's all right, but--I _hate_ Bell! It makes anybody mad to be
laughed at. Henry was more diplomatic. He tried to convince me that the
oil game is altogether a man's business and that no woman could succeed
at it. 'It is a contest of wits,' he explained. 'You've got to outguess
the other fellow. You've got to know everything he's doing and keep him
from knowing anything you're doing. The minute he knows as much as you
do, he's got it on you.' That seemed to prove to Henry that no woman
could win at it, for men are such superior creatures. They know so much
more than a woman can possibly learn; their wits are so much keener!

"I was duly impressed. I asked him to call this evening, for I did so
wish to have him teach me what little I was capable of learning. But he
couldn't come, because he had been called to Dallas, unexpectedly. That
was my cue. In my most sweetly girlish manner I said: 'Oh, indeed! Do
you expect to see Knute Hoaglund while you're there?'"

Two hectic spots had come into "Bob's" cheeks during this recital; she
was teetering upon the desk now like a nodding Japanese doll, and her
blue eyes were dancing.

"I heard Old Bell's chair creak and I saw him shoot a quick glance at
Henry. Henry admitted, casually, that he might drop in on Knute. Why?"

"'You'll be wasting time,' I told him, even more sweetly, 'for dad and
I have that twenty west of Burkburnett.'

"_Well!_ You'd have thought I had stuck a hatpin into Bell. And Henry's
mouth actually dropped open. Think of it: Colonel Henry Nelson, the
hero of Whatever-i