nd
mentioned it as his belief that Mr. Damon had been mistaken in his
estimate of Mr. Hardley.

"But, so far, Mr. Damon is quite taken with him," Tom went on. "Now,
Mr. Keith, if it isn't too much for you, I should like to hear all the
particulars."

Thereupon Mary's uncle told his story. It was a long one. After many
hardships in life, which Mr. Keith related in some detail to Tom, the
oil-well prospector at last fell in with Dixwell Hardley. Then followed
the combination of interests.

"We are actually partners," declared Mr. Keith. "I agreed to do the
work, and he agreed to furnish the money. I must say this for him, that
he kept to that end of the bargain. He supplied the money to locate and
drill the wells, but I got very little of it personally. And I
fulfilled my end of it. I discovered the wells. Then, when the break
came, and I wanted to be rid of the man--for I caught him in some
crooked transactions--he surprised me by telling me to get out. I asked
for my share of the oil-well stock, and was told I was not entitled to
any.

"I put up a fight, naturally, and took the matter to court. But when it
came to trial Dixwell Hardley did not appear, and, though I won a
technical victory over him, I never got any money."

"Where was he during the trial?" asked Tom.

"At sea, I believe."

"At sea?"

"Yes, he was mixed up in some South American revolution, I heard."

"A South American revolution!" exclaimed Tom, and a great light came to
him.

"Yes," went on Mary's uncle. "He was always that kind--mixing up in
anything he thought would produce money. He didn't make out very well
in the revolution business, so I understood. The revolutionary party
was beaten, or they lost their shipment of arms, or something like
that. At any rate, Dixwell Hardley had a narrow escape with his life
when a ship went down, and from then on I've been trying to get him to
restore my rights to me."

"Did he have the papers that would prove you were entitled to a half
share in the oil wells?" asked Tom.

"He certainly did!" said the sick man, who was obviously being weakened
by this long and exhausting talk. "At first I was not sure of what
happened, but now I am positive he stole the papers and took them to
sea with him. What happened to them after that I don't know. But if I
had Dixwell Hardley here--now--I--I'd--"

Mr. Keith fell back in a faint on the bed, and, in great alarm, Tom
summoned the nurse.

CHAPTER XII