Jim and Dick were not as anxious regarding the yield of the well; therefore, they were in a state of excitement only because they were to be at what would be very nearly their old moonlighting tricks again, and were simply impatient for the time to come when they could be at work. They spent their time sitting on a rather sharp rail of the fence, bemoaning Bob's obstinacy in not having the well shot in regular moonlighter's fashion, without being so weak-kneed as to buy the right to do simply what no one ought to be allowed to prevent him from doing. Ralph and George were inwardly as excited as any one else, but outwardly very much more calm. They sat in the latter's room, talking over the prospects of striking a goodly quantity of oil, while, despite all they could do, the conversation would come around to what the result would be in case "The Harnett" proved to be a dry well. They knew that all the bills had been contracted in their names, since they were the sole owners at the time the work was commenced, and in case of a failure, they would find themselves burdened with such a load of debt that it would take them a very long time to clear it off. Even at that late hour they regretted that Bob had commenced to sink the well, and it is extremely probable that if it had been possible to undo all that had been done, leaving the land exactly as it was before the signs of oil were discovered, they would gladly have agreed to forego all their dream of wealth. Whether Mrs. Harnett and Mrs. Simpson also suffered from suspense that evening it is hard to say; but certain it is that they were more silent than usual, and the former sewed remarkably fast, while the latter's knitting-needles clicked with unusual force. It was a trying time for all in that house. Had it been daylight, when they could have been at work, the hours would not have seemed nearly as long; but, in the evening, the time passed so slowly that it almost seemed as if there was a conspiracy of the clocks, and that their hands were only moving about half as fast as they should have done. Then came the night, when every one went to bed and tried to sleep; but three in that household succeeded very badly, and who those three were may be very easily imagined. Next morning, every one was up so early that the hens were frightened from their roosts half an hour before their regular time, and the breakfast had been eaten fully an hour before it was customary to begin to prepare it. George showed the effects of his anxiety very plainly, and had his mother not feared the suspense would be worse for him than the fatigue, she would have tried to induce him to remain in the house instead of going to the well as had been agreed upon. Bob, who had visited the scene of operations before breakfast, again announced that "everything was all right," and that one more load of tubing would give them sufficient.