How did Eben and Seb get involved with Ollerenshaw?

Eben and Seb did not know Ollerenshaw a couple of months ago. They were heading to California to pan for gold. They were planning to find a gold mine, strike it rich, and open a candy shop. They ran out of money by the time they got to Akron. They met Rufe Jones and he told them they could make more money working for him than mining for gold, so they began taking money from Ollerenshaw to spend and spending it.