“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not up to me to say how you’re a-goin’ to divide the royalty. But let me say this; whatever you give up, so as to get together, it’ll be small compared to what you may lose by delay, and by fallin’ into the hands of gamblers and crooks. Ladies and gentlemen, take it from me as an oil man, there ain’t a-goin’ to be many gushers here at Prospect Hill; the pressure under the ground will soon let up, and it’ll be them that get their wells down first that’ll get the oil. A field plays out very quick; in two or three years you’ll see all these here wells on the pump—yes, even this discovery well that’s got you all crazy. So, take my word for it, and don’t break up this lease; take a smaller share of royalty, if you must, and I’ll see that it’s a small share of a big r
