igned were on the third floor of the
hotel. One was amply large for all of the boys, and the other, while
much smaller, had good ventilation and Dick Rover said it would suit him
very well.

"The whole outfit is better than I was afraid it might be," he
announced. "Some of these boom towns have wretched quarters for
newcomers. In fact, I've read in the newspapers that in many places the
newcomers had to roll themselves in blankets and sleep out in the
fields."

"I was reading about one place where they set up cots on the floor of a
general store at night and sold the right to sleep on a cot until seven
o'clock in the morning for one dollar," said Randy.

There was no running water, but each room was supplied with a bowl and
pitcher, and after the extra cots were placed in the larger apartment an
extra bucket of water was also brought up by a maid.

Although they did not know it, the Rovers had no sooner disappeared
upstairs than two of the men sitting on the veranda of the hotel came
into the office and looked over the register.

"Five Rovers, and all from New York City," muttered one of the men, and
gazed knowingly at his companion.

"Four of them were nothing but kids," returned the other. "It's only the
man who counts, and his name seems to be Richard Rover."

"Do you think he is the same Rover?"

"I shouldn't wonder, Tate. That name isn't a common one. However, we had
better make sure before we make another move."

Andy and Fred were the first to get through washing up, and then they
came downstairs to take a look around before going into the dining-room
with the others for supper. They came out on the hotel porch, and were
surveying the scene before them when the two men who had inspected the
hotel register lounged up to them.

"Well, what do you think of our town?" questioned one of them
pleasantly.

"I haven't seen enough of it to form an opinion," answered Fred.

"It will take us a week or two, I suppose, to take in all the sights,"
came from Andy, with a grin.

"It might take you a week or two if you went on foot through the mud,"
answered the second man. And then he continued: "I suppose you came from
a distance, eh?"

"We came from New York."

"Going to invest in some oil wells, I suppose?" remarked the first man
who had spoken, and he smiled broadly.

"That depends on how we find things here," answered Fred. "You see, my
uncle is interested in a tract of land they say has oil on it. Of c