elcher. He
did not wish to meet her at once; so it was easy for him, when he left
New York, to take a wide diversion on his way home.

For several months the reports of the great oil discoveries of
Pennsylvania had been floating through the press. Stories of enormous
fortunes acquired in a single week, and even in a single day, were rife;
and they had excited his greed with a strange power. He had witnessed,
too, the effect of these stories upon the minds of the humble people of
Sevenoaks. They were uneasy in their poverty, and were in the habit of
reading with avidity all the accounts that emanated from the new center
of speculation. The monsters of the sea had long been chased into the
ice, and the whalers had returned with scantier fares year after year;
but here was light for the world. The solid ground itself was echoing
with the cry: "Here she blows!" and "There she blows!" and the long
harpoons went down to its vitals, and were fairly lifted out by the
pressure of the treasure that impatiently waited for deliverance.

Mr. Belcher had long desired to have a hand in this new business. To see
a great speculation pass by without yielding him any return was very
painful to him. During his brief stay in New York he had been approached
by speculators from the new field of promise; and had been able by his
quick wit and ready business instinct to ascertain just the way in which
money was made and was to be made. He dismissed them all, for he had the
means in his hands of starting nearer the sources of profit than
themselves, and to be not only one of the "bottom ring," but to be the
bottom man. No moderate profit and no legitimate income would satisfy
him. He would gather the investments of the multitude into his own
capacious pockets, or he would have nothing to do with the matter. He
would sweep the board, fairly or foully, or he would not play.

As he traveled along westward, he found that the company was made up of
men whose tickets took them to his own destination. Most of them were
quiet, with ears open to the few talkers who had already been there, and
were returning. Mr. Belcher listened to them, laughed at them, scoffed
at their schemes, and laid up carefully all that they said. Before he
arrived at Corry he had acquired a tolerable knowledge of the
oil-fields, and determined upon his scheme of operations.

As he drew nearer the great center of excitement, he came more into
contact with the masses who had gat