THE STORY: Will Thornton, a lifelong farmer in Texas, has always lived with the dream of some day finding oil on his land. Now it seems his dream is coming true—suddenly local realestate men are rushing in to buy his land, oil men from out of town want to take leases on it, and Will and his two children are ready to forget all about the day to day requirements of planting and harvesting a crop. Only Mrs. Thornton remains aloof and unimpressed by all the excitement. She wants Will to have his oil well, but they’ve been disappointed too many times before and she knows that only the land and a crop in the land can be counted on to feed them and keep a roof over their heads. Will loses an opportunity to sell the mineral rights on the land and takes a lease. The well is about to be drilled, neighbors and relations for miles around have arrived, and all the Thorntons are caught up in the excitement of planning what they’ll do when the well comes in. Will, who has been able to do so little of all he’d wanted for his wife and children, at last sees a chance of giving them everything they’d never had. But the well comes in dry, and only Mrs. Thornton’s love and faith in him can sustain him through the bitter disappointment.
