long the beaten sand of the trail. For a moment he believed that the
creek had, for some freakish reason, suddenly overflowed its banks.
But this thought was swiftly swept aside, and he stood snuffing the
air like some warhorse, and gaping at the stream as it lapped about
his feet.

It came on slowly but irresistibly. And ahead of him, and amongst the
trailside bush, he beheld nothing but this rising flood. Then of a
sudden something of its meaning penetrated his dazed comprehension,
and, turning abruptly, he started to run for the higher ground. He
sped swiftly through the surrounding bush, dodging tree-trunks, and
threading his way circuitously in the direction where stood the great
cut bank of quartz which backed Scipio's claim. The smell of the air
had told him its tale, and he knew that he had made a wonderful, an
astounding discovery. And with this knowledge had come the thought of
his own possible advantage. Eagerly he began to seek the source of the
flood.

But his hopes were completely dashed the moment he reached the bank
overlooking Scipio's claim. There lay the source of the flood, right
in the heart of the little man's despised land. A great gusher of
coal-oil was belching from the mouth of the shaft which Sandy Joyce
had been at work upon, and the whole clearing, right from the oozy
swamp beyond to the higher ground of the river bank, stealing its way
along trail and through bush, lay a vast shallow lake of raw
coal-oil.

The disappointed man waited just sufficiently long to realize the
magnitude of Scipio's luck, and then set off at a run for the camp.

And in half-an-hour the camp was in a raging fever. In half-an-hour
nearly the whole of Suffering Creek had set out for the claim, that
they might see for themselves this wonderful thing that had happened.
In half-an-hour the whole thing was being explained in theory by
everybody to everybody else. In half-an-hour everybody was inquiring
for Scipio, and each and all were desirous of being first to convey
the news.

And when it was discovered that Scipio was from home, and knew nothing
of his good fortune, a fresh thought came to every mind. What had
become of him? They learned that he had borrowed Minky's buckboard,
and had driven away. And immediately in the public mind crept an
unexpressed question. Had Zip abandoned the place in the face of his
ill-luck, and, if so, what about this gigantic oil find?

However, there was nothing to be done at pre