The Restless Earth

The moneymen turned him away, laughing, sneering, saying his science was bad; saying he was too far away from oil, calling him a fool, a dupe, a hopeless loser. His peers, smelling the stench of failure, distanced themselves from him. His lender - the few he had - fidgeted, fearing he was unlucky.

His bills and worries mounted. His drilling rig, "Lucky Lucy," true to the antithesis of her name, broke down almost daily. His crew, tired of wor...