f you
should strike hot water, not to stop there. Go on, and, by George! you
may strike fire."

"Heavens!" I cried.

"Oh, quite the opposite," said he. "But do not let us joke. I think
that would be the grandest thing of this age. Think of a fire well,
with the flames shooting up perhaps a hundred feet into the air!"

I wish Phineas Colwell had not been there. As it was, he turned pale
and sat down on the wall.

"You look astonished!" exclaimed the optimist, "but listen to me. You
have not thought of this thing as I have. If you should strike fire
your fortune would be made. By a system of reflectors you could light
up the whole country. By means of tiles and pipes this region could be
made tropical. You could warm all the houses in the neighborhood with
hot air. And then the power you could generate--just think of it!
Heat is power; the cost of power is the fuel. You could furnish power
to all who wanted it. You could fill this region with industries. My
dear sir, you must excuse my agitation, but if you should strike fire
there is no limit to the possibilities of achievement."

"But I want water," said I. "Fire would not take the place of that."

"Oh, water is a trifle," said he. "You could have pipes laid from
town; it is only about two miles. But fire! Nobody has yet gone down
deep enough for that. You have your future in your hands."

As I did not care to connect my future with fire, this idea did not
strike me very forcibly, but it struck Phineas Colwell. He did not say
anything to me, but after I had gone he went to the well-drivers.

"If you feel them pipes getting hot," he said to them, "I warn you to
stop. I have been in countries where there are volcanoes, and I know
what they are. There's enough of them in this world, and there's no
need of making new ones."

In the afternoon a wagoner, who happened to be passing, brought me a
note from Mrs. Perch, very badly spelled, asking if I would let one of
my men bring her a pail of water, for she could not think of coming
herself or letting any of the children come near my place if spouting
fires were expected.

The well-driving had gone on and on, with intermissions on account of
sickness in the families of the various workmen, until it had reached
the limit which I had fixed, and we had not found water in sufficient
quantity, hot or cold, nor had we struck fire, or anything else worth
having.

The well-drivers and some specialist