other building."

"You must remember, boys, that Texas is the largest State in the Union,"
came from Dick Rover. "Some of the farms, or ranches, down here cover
thousands of acres."

"How much farther have we to ride?" questioned Randy.

"Ten miles, that's all," replied his uncle.

They had made two changes since leaving New York City, but each stop had
been less than an hour in duration; so to these boys so used to outdoor
activities it felt as if the whole journey had been continuous. They
were bound for a small town which in years gone by had been known as
Steerville, but the name of which since the oil boom had been changed to
Columbina. This, so far as Dick Rover could ascertain, was the nearest
point to where the Lorimer Spell tract was located.

"We'll take a look around Columbina first," Jack's father had said. "I
want to see how that claim looks. Then I'll take a run over to Wichita
Falls and get those documents belonging to Spell from the safe deposit
box in the bank."

"I see an oil well!" shouted Fred presently, and he pointed out of the
car window to where the huge derrick could be seen over a distant rise
of ground.

"There is another! And another!" added Andy, a few minutes later.

"Now we must be coming into the oil fields," announced Dick Rover, and
his face showed that he was just as eager as the boys. "Just think of
how some of these wells have made a great many comparatively poor people
almost millionaires over night!"

"It sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it, Dad?" exclaimed Jack. "No
wonder they call this the land of luck."

"But don't forget the disappointments, Son. Many a man has put his all
into sinking a well only to find it absolutely dry."

"And wells cost so much to sink, too!" put in Fred. "Ten to forty
thousand dollars each! It's an awful amount to gamble away."

"Not all of the wells cost that much, Fred. In some places they strike
oil at a distance of a few hundred feet. But here they have to go down
much deeper. Many good wells are down three thousand feet or more."

The train had stopped at one or two towns, and now the porter announced
that the next stop would be Columbina, and he took their suitcases to
the platform for them. Presently they rolled up to a small wooden
station, and the travelers alighted. Then the heavy train rolled
westward.

"Welcome to Columbina!" cried Andy jestingly. "Some big city, I must
declare. I wonder where the Waldorf-Vanderbilt Hotel i