by Rex Beach
CHAPTER XII
If Gray cherished any lingering doubts as to the loyalty of Mallow,erstwhile victim of his ruthlessness, or of McWade and Stoner, thewildcat promoters, those doubts vanished during the next day or two. Asa matter of fact, the readiness, nay, the enthusiasm with which theyfell in with his schemes convinced him that he had acted wisely inyielding to an impulse to trust them. At first, when he divulged hisenemy's identity, they were thunderstruck; mere mention of HenryNelson's name rendered them speechless and caused them to regard theiremployer as a harmless madman, but as he unfolded his plans in greaterdetail they listened with growing respect. The idea seized themfinally. In the first place, it was sufficiently fantastic to appeal totheir imaginations, for they saw in Gray a lone wolf with the courageand the ferocity to single out and pull down the leader of the herd,and, what was more, they scented profit to themselves in trailing withhim. Then, too, the enterprise promised to afford free scope for theiringenuity, their cunning, their devious business methods, and thatcould be nothing less than pleasing to men of their type.
But early enough he made it plain that he intended and would tolerateno actual dishonesty; crooked methods were both dangerous andunsatisfactory, he told them, hence the fight must be fair even thoughmerciless. To annoy, to harass, to injure, and if possible actually toruin the banker, that was his intention; to accomplish those ends hewas willing to employ any legitimate device, however shrewd, howeversmart. His entire fortune--and his associates, of course, greatlyexaggerated its size--would be available for the purpose, and when hesketched out the measures he had in mind the trio of rogues realizedthat here indeed was a field wide enough for the exercise of theirpeculiar gifts. They acknowledged, too, a certain pleasure in thecomfortable assurance that they would involve themselves in no illegalconsequences.
At their first council of war Gray gave each of them a number ofdefinite things to do or to have done, the while he sought certainfacts; when they assembled for a second time, it was to compare, totabulate, and to consider an amount of information concerning theactivities of Henry Nelson that would have greatly surprised thatgentleman had he been present to hear it.
For one thing, there had been prepared a comprehensive list of theNelson holdings, together with maps showing their acreage andproduction, the location of drilling wells, the ownership of adjoiningproperties, and the like. There was also a considerable amount of dataconcerning the terms of the Nelson leases, renewal dates, and suchmatters. Gray was forced reluctantly to admit that his enemy was morestrongly intrenched than he had supposed; careful study of the datashowed that the Nelson acreage had been well selected and that it wasscientifically "checkerboarded" throughout the various fields. What wasmore significant was the amount of proven or semiproven stuff.
"It took work and money to get together that group of leases," BrickStoner declared, after he had checked them off. "That's one of the bestlayouts in Texas, and they're shaped up to put over a big deal if theywant to."
"They lack production," said Gray.
"Sure! But they'll have it before long. Lookit the wells they'reputting down and that's going down around 'em."
The former speaker chewed his cigar thoughtfully for a while, then: "Idon't believe they contemplate a big deal. They're not that sort. HenryNelson is selfish and suspicious, and I'm told that Bell wouldn't trustanybody. I'm informed also that every dollar they have made has goneback into new leases and wells and that they intend to hold everythingfor themselves. It is rumored, quietly, that they are overextended."
"I wouldn't care how thin I was stretched if I had their gamble,"McWade asserted. "All they have to do is to sit tight. The law ofaverage will pull them out. What do you intend to do?"
"To begin with, I intend to stretch them even thinner--so thin they'llbreak, if that is possible."
"You can't load them up with more property."
"Certainly not, but I can make them drill more wells."
"Offsets, eh?" Stoner studied the map a bit doubtfully. "You can't make'em offset dry holes, and if they strike oil in their wells the otherfellers will have to do the offsetting."
"True. I can, of course, prevent them from extending their renewals. Ican cost them a pretty penny just by forcing them to a rigid adherenceto the terms of their leases and agreements and--"
"What do you mean, 'offsets'?" Mallow inquired. "How you going to breaka man by bringing in wells alongside of his property? That'll make himrich."
"Can you beat that?" Stoner inquired. "Mallow's been selling oil stockand experting wells for us with the Marvelous Magnetic Finder and hedon't know an offset from a headache post."
"Certainly, I know--"
"Why, Professor! Is it possible we have been deceived in you? An offsetis the thing that sets off to one side of the crown block and it's alight blue, the same as a formation. It's the shape of a syncline, onlybigger."
"Don't get funny. You drill an offset well to keep a man from suckingall the oil out from under your land."
"Right!" said Gray. "Wells, as you know, are drilled as close to theside lines as the law allows. When oil is found, the adjoininglandowner can compel his lessee to put down a well to offset every onethat threatens to draw oil from beneath his property." "That's whatI've just been telling you."
"Many an operator has gone broke offsetting wells in order to protecthis leases, especially if he has a number of neighbors who all startdrilling promptly. That is one of the many production troubles--andthere's a saying that trouble begins when the oil starts."
"You said it. But to offset the Nelsons so's to cripple 'em--" BrickStoner shook his head. "It ain't hard to borrow money for good offsets.'Most any bank will lend."
"It is hard for anybody who is overextended to borrow. Possibly my planwon't work, but to annoy, to harass, to embarrass, to stretch themthin--it's all a part of the game. People are never as well off as wethink they are. The Nelsons are close to the sand in a number ofplaces. I want to procure the adjoining acreage. For every well theymake, I'll force them to drill six more. The day they strike oil I'llhave a string of derricks every two hundred feet along their sidelines."
It was Mallow who spoke next. "That will cost you dollar for dollar,boss. Have you got chips enough to match their stack?"
"I don't have to invest dollar for dollar. My money will go for leases,and I'll let drilling contracts, fifty-fifty, sixty-forty,seventy-thirty--anything to get quick action. Other people's money willdo the work for me. Remember, I'm not after oil, I'm after a man."
"I'll say you are!" Stoner looked up from a frowning contemplation ofthe maps. "And if you'll take a chance I'll show you how you can drillone well and cost them three--that is, provided you hit." As the othersleaned over his shoulder he explained: "Here's a square block of fourtwenties--separate leases, all of 'em--and the Nelsons own three. Youcan cop the fourth twenty, drill right at the inside corner, where allthe lines cross. If you pull a duster, you'll be out and injured, maybetwenty-five thousand, but if it comes wet they'll have to protect thosethree leases with three offsets. It ain't a bad-looking piece ofground; you'll have about a one-to-three chance of making a well."
"How many companies have you gentlemen promoted?" Gray inquired.
"Twenty-two. And from a shoestring. Every well went down, or is goingdown, and every dollar we got right here on the street."
"And all of them are dry, are they not?"
McWade spoke up, defensively: "Sure. They were all wildcats of thewildest kind. But we don't deal in oil, we sell stock. Every issuewe've put out has gone above par at some time or other, and that'splaying the game square with our customers, ain't it? We see that theyhave a chance to get out with a profit; if they hang on it's their ownfault. That's how we've built up a clienteel."
"It wouldn't hurt your reputation to bring in a wet well for a change,would it?" Both partners agreed that it would not. "I'll buy thistwenty-acre lease, and you can promote a company to drill ten of it,Stoner says it's a one-to-three shot."
McWade blazed with enthusiasm at the suggestion. "Take a piece of thestock yourself, Mr. Gray, and we'll put it over in a day. With yourname at the top of the list it will bally-hoo itself."
"Not a share. Your amiable proposition brings me directly to anotherpoint which has a bearing upon our main campaign. Law is a dry subject,but I must bore you with a brief dissertation upon a provision of onestatute which has doubtless escaped your notice. It has escaped thenotice of most people, even of Henry Nelson, I believe. You realizethat all but a few Texas oil companies are not organized ascorporations, but as joint stock associations--in effect declarationsof trust."
"We oughta know it," Stoner said. "It saves paying a big corporationtax and lets you sell all the full-paid, nonassessable stock you wantto issue, regardless of what the property is worth. Oh, we got wise tothat, _muy pronto!_ Why, these here Texas laws are the bunk! Themfellows at Austin, if they had their way, would make it impossible topromote a legitimate enterprise--on a paying basis. They'd make youturn in cash or property the equivocal thereto every time youorganized. Wouldn't that be sweet? This joint-stock arrangement is theonly way to beat the game. It's a shrewd device, and my hat's off tothe guy that invented it."
"Very true. Very well expressed. But in the statute governing theprocedure there is wrapped up a bundle of bad news, for it is providedthat any officer or stockholder may become personally liable for theentire debt of the association. There is going to be a lot of sleeplost over that fact when the truth becomes known."
"You mean if I got stock in a company that's blowed up, and I'm livingin Oshkosh, all pretty, that I can be hooked for the debts some crookruns up here in Texas?"
"Precisely."
This intelligence brought no consternation to the partners; on thecontrary, McWade, the optimist, grinned widely. "Goes to show you wehave been playing the game along safe and legitimate lines," said he."We don't own a share in any of our own enterprises, and if we have topick up a few now and then to boost the market, we drop them again asif they were hot. It's a pretty thought, though. Why, I can see yearsof activity ahead of Brick and me, buying up the debts of defunct oilcompanies and collecting in full from prosperous strangers hither andyon. For Heaven's sake, don't let it get out!"
"I won't, at least until after I have accumulated a number of potentialjudgments against Henry Nelson. He has had his share of cats and dogs,of course, and some day I hope to lead them back to his doorstep. Ifthey return at the right moment, they may prove an embarrassment. Whoknows?"
"Got anything else up your sleeve?" Behind Mallow's dark glasses hiseyes could be dimly seen, and they were active with curiosity.
"Plenty. But we have enough here to start on. First, I want thesevarious leases, then I want a company promoted and a well started onthat twenty we talked about."
For some time longer the conspirators busied themselves over thedetails of their plans, and Gray was beginning to feel somesatisfaction at his rate of progress when an interruption occurred thatthreatened to delay action and even to rob him of the services of thetwo partners. That interruption took the form of a call from a group ofhighly excited and indignant purchasers of stock in the Desert ScorpionCompany, that promotion in which Professor Mallow had assisted on themorning of Gray's arrival. These stockholders swarmed into the office,bringing with them an air of angry menace; they were noisy; they alltalked at once.
From out of the confusion it soon became apparent that they had a realgrievance, and one which called for immediate satisfaction; moreover,it was made plain that the callers cared little what form thatsatisfaction took, whether tar and feathers or a rope and a lamp-post.They had been sold, victimized, flimflammed, skinned; the scorpion hadstung them and the poison was boiling in their veins. Briefly, theswindle was this: investigation had shown that the land owned by theDesert Scorpion was not where it had been represented to be, but morethan a mile distant therefrom. Chance alone had brought forth thetruth; the hour of vengeance had struck.
Calvin Gray withdrew quietly from the hubbub and asked Mallow, "Canthat be true?"
The eminent scientist shrugged; out of the corner of his mouth hemurmured: "Why not? It all looks alike."
McWade and Stoner were not in the least dismayed by this amazingintelligence; as a matter of fact, the former assumed an air of evengreater geniality than usual and nodded a careless agreement to everyaccusation hurled against him. "Right you are, men! Absolutely right.We were victimized, but we're tickled to death to rectify the error.Mighty fortunate mistake, as a matter of fact. Brick, out with the oldcheck book and give these birds back their money." With alacrity Mr.Stoner cleared off his desk and seated himself, pen in hand. "Step upand get a dollar a share--just what you paid. Fair enough, I calls it.The banks are open and the checks are good."
Immediately the repurchase of stock began, but anger and suspicionstill smoldered; there were dissatisfied mutterings. One investor, afield man in greasy overalls, spoke out:
"We'll get ours, all right. Don't worry. But how about the othersuckers? There's fifty thousand shares out. What you going to do aboutthat?"
"Buy it back. Know where you can get any more?"
"Maybe."
"We'll pay a dollar and a half a share for all you can get, to-morrow."
"What?"
"You heard me. Breast up, boys, and get your money back. Our offerstands--a dollar a share to-day, a dollar and a half to-morrow."
There was a stir among the indignant speculators; the man for whomStoner was writing a check inquired: "What's the idea? Why not a dollarand a half now?"
Stoner and McWade exchanged a meaning glance--it was not lost upontheir attentive audience--but the latter shrugged and smiledprovocatively. "That's our business," he declared, lightly. "You ghostdancers want your money back and we're giving it to you. You're lettingup a holler that you were robbed, so come and get it. The faster youcome the better it'll suit us. Scorpion stock will close at a dollarand a half or better to-morrow night."
"Bluff!" somebody growled.
Stoner finished his signature with a nourish, blotted it, then hehesitated. He flung down his pen and turned defiantly upon his partner,crying:
"This ain't fair to these men, Mac. They're customers of ours and weowe 'em the chance to make a killing. It's up to us to tell 'em thetruth."
McWade was angry. His indignation flamed. Vigorously he denied thecharge of unfairness. A spirited argument ensued, with Stoner assertingthat the firm was morally obligated to protect its clients to a greaterextent than merely by returning their money, and with McWade as stoutlymaintaining that all obligations, moral and legal, were canceled withthe repurchase of the stock.
Meanwhile it became evident that the alarming rumor about DesertScorpion was rapidly spreading, for other investors were climbing thestairs now, and the office was becoming crowded. The later arrivalswere in time to witness McWade finally defer to his partner and to hearhim announce that a rare stroke of fortune had favored purchasers ofthis particular issue of stock, for the land which really belonged tothe company had turned out to be much better than that which it owned.Certain information from the field had arrived that very day which wasbound to send the stock to two dollars. If anybody wanted to sell, thepromoters would be glad to buy, and they would advance their price onthe morrow, as McWade had promised, so here was a chance for thosepresent to turn a pretty penny by getting busy at once. Frankly,however, he advised his hearers to hang on and make a real clean-up.The information, which was not yet public, had nothing to do with thefact that Doctor Mallow had experted both properties with hisscientific device and pronounced the new acreage much richer than theold--this latter was merely corroborative evidence, and in view of thefact that some people put no credence in so-called "doodle bugs," hemerely offered the record of the tester for what it was worth. Hisoriginal bet of ten to one still held, by the way, and once again herepeated that those who wished to sell out would be accommodated withthe greatest alacrity. Only they mustn't return later
and squawk.
McWade confessed that he was neither angry nor offended at the recentattitude of suspicion--he was merely amused. It made him laugh. Theidea of his firm turning a crooked trick, when it was an establishedinstitution as strong as Gibraltar and as conservative as a nationalbank, was ridiculous. He and Stoner could point with pride to anunbroken record of successes and to a list of satisfied investors aslong as a Santa Fe time-table. Desert Scorpion stock would go to twodollars, and five would get you ten if you didn't think so. Now then,step lively!
The refunding of money halted; there was a deal of noisy argument. Someof the disgruntled investors still insisted upon selling out; othersdecided to hold on; even a few asked to repurchase the stock they hadturned in, and this they were reluctantly permitted to do at an advanceof fifty per cent.
When the last caller had disappeared, Gray inquired, curiously: "Howare you going to make good on your assertion that the stock will rise?"
"Easy!" said Stoner. "I'll change into my old clothes, put four mudchains on my car, and drive up, to the exchange in a hurry, then givesome gabby guy a tip to grab Desert Scorpion for me at a dollar and ahalf--all he can get. After that I'll shoot out of town on high, withthe cut-out open. There will be a string of cars after me inside ofhalf an hour, and the stock will be up before I can get back."
"We'll make good, all right," McWade asserted. "Those customers are inluck dealing with a house like us. All they expect is a chance to getout with a profit and sting the next fellow. They don't want oil; theywant a run for their money and a quick turn. We give it to them."
"And do they always buy your issues?"
"I ain't saying they do. Sometimes they're cold until you put on theIndian sign. But all you have to do when stock don't sell is to raisethe price. Oh, if you know how, it ain't hard to make an honest dollarin the oil business!" Mr. McWade smiled with conscious satisfaction.
"I'm sure of it," Gray said, heartily. "There is so little competition."