"He is--bold and unscrupulous! That's what makes him so
successful in his own way!" declared Mr. Keith. "And so you are
working with him! Well, I'm sorry for you."

"I'm not exactly working with him," replied Tom. "As a matter
of fact, I'm sorry I ever agreed to look for this wreck."

He told the details of the pending treasure-trove expedition,
and 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.