anger. Howdy!" He held out a pudgy hand, and noting
the fresh coat of sunburn on his visitor, he added: "Just come over the
border?"

"Further than that, Sir; from New York. I'm Kearn Thode. Perhaps Mr.
Larkin mentioned me to you; Perry Larkin, of the Mexamer Oil Company."

"To be sho'! I'm right glad to see you, Thode."

Benjamin Hallock pumped his hand vigorously. "Been kinder expectin'
you down in these parts. We'll set a spell out here, it's hotter'n
blazes inside. Hey, Luis! Juan!"

Two mozos scurried from the veranda in response to the bull-throated
roar, and Thode found himself seated opposite his host with another
tall glass before him and a slender black cigar between his fingers.

"Great country for you folks, down here," Hallock remarked. "We've got
the largest producing oil wells in the world right in this leetle strip
of land along the Gulf and, at that, the undeveloped resources are a
damn' sight greater'n you can judge from what's been brought to light.
Yes, Sir, I shouldn't be surprised any day to strike a gusher right
here on my ranch! Rufe Terwilliger, twelve miles yonder at the Dos
Zapotes, spudded in only six months ago on a hunch, and now with the
valve-gate only part-way open, he's bringing in a thousand barrels a
day!"

"I know that the development which has taken place here is, speaking
relatively to the possibilities, only a beginning," Thode assured the
heated enthusiast. "I'm down here to look after Mr. Larkin's
interests, and those of the Mexamer Company with a view to extending
their holdings if I can pick up anything promising. By the way, Mr.
Hallock, that was a curious yarn you told Mr. Larkin, about some
mysterious lost pool in a swamp with surface oil indications. He
happened to mention it one day. The Pool of the Lost Souls, wasn't it?"

Hallock nodded, grinning expansively.

"You've got it right," he chuckled. "So Larkin bit, did he? It's
nothing but pure bunk, one of those old Mex' legends that run back to
the beginning of time. We pass it on to every green operator from over
the border, but I reckoned Larkin was too wise a bird to take any stock
in it."

"He didn't," Thode returned carelessly. "Up in Oklahoma where I've
been locating some sections for the company there are any amount of
Indian myths and queer old traditions handed down from the first
settlers, and I made a collection of them. It's rather a hobby of
mine. I was discussing them with Mr.