d Three
and Four were going down, and offsetting the first Avenger were three
of Nelson's rigs. "Bob" studied the situation briefly, then, with a
dubious shake of her head, she announced: "You are taking a big risk,
Mr. Gray."

"You mean these new holes may come dry? Of course, but I believe in
crowding my luck. I don't know any other way to work."

"You _have_ been lucky, haven't you?" She stared at him with a
detached, impersonal interest. "Everything is coming your way, even
down in the Ranger district."

"Oh, I have my share of troubles. I lost a crooked hole, recently--had
to skid the derrick and start over. Then a pair of chaintongs was
dropped into another hole--"

"That makes an expensive fishing job."

"The worst ever."

"Somebody must have it in for you." When Gray nodded, "Bob's" face lit
up with surprise. "Really. Do you suspect someone in particular?"

"I know."

"How interesting." After a moment had passed and he had explained no
further, the girl went on: "Everybody is talking about you and your
success. They say you have the golden touch."

"That is a good reputation to enjoy; but this country is full of
fellows who came here knowing as little about oil as I knew and who
have accomplished more sensational results. I've come up like a rocket,
to be sure; it remains to be seen whether I shall fall like a stick."

"You won't fall."

"Do you really believe that?" The inquiry was eagerly put. "I'd trust
your intuition, Miss--"Bob." Sometimes I have moments of uneasiness,
for, you see, I'm drilling more wells than I should. It is double or
quits, you understand? If my luck breaks, so do I."

"You have always impressed me as a--a man of destiny. I think fate has
selected you as an instrument with which to do big things. That's why
I'm always a bit overawed by you."

"Overawed?" Gray laughed. "Why, I feel the same with you. If you knew
how little I am, how little it all signifies, except as a means to an
end. If you only knew what it is that I want so much more than oil, or
money, or--"

"I thought you were like all the others here--absorbed only in the
game."

"I was, at first. I had reason to be; a very great reason, I assure
you. Then I saw something far more desirable than fortune, far more
absorbing than--than the motive that brought me here. Some days, like
today, I think I'm going to win it, then again I grow faint-hearted."

"Faint-hearted? _You?_" There was an elaborate skepticism