What a
world, indeed! No wonder young men lost their faith and courage!
"Millions!" The word caught Uncle Henry's fancy and imagination. He rolled
it over on his tongue again and again. "Millions!" He babbled it, he played
with it. "Millions!"
"Yes!" Gilbert said. "Think of that!" He turned and faced the others once
more.
"An' we're goin' to get skinned out of millions! Oh, my Gawd!" The poor old
invalid wailed it out, and rocked himself in his chair. How he wished he
could rise, step out on the floor and knock Pell and Hardy down! Why didn't
his strong and husky young nephew do it? What was the matter with the
present generation, anyhow? Wasn't there any red blood in it? If he had
only been younger, and strong, able to fight for what he knew to be his
rights! But here he was, tied down in a wheel chair, trapped, helpless,
impotent.
Pell was getting nervous, "This is nonsense," he said. "There's no oil
here."
During all this long harangue, Lucia had quietly come down the stairs, and
now stood directly behind her husband.
"And this is why you were so anxious to come here," she said, very low; yet
everyone heard her statement. "To dig around, and then, if you found oil,
to try to buy this place! Oh, I thought better of you than that, Morgan!
What a trick--what a dishonorable trick!" She shuddered away from him.
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