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diff --git a/36179.txt b/36179.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee3536a --- /dev/null +++ b/36179.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9050 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Rover Boys on a Tour, by Arthur M. Winfield + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Rover Boys on a Tour + or Last Days at Brill College + +Author: Arthur M. Winfield + +Release Date: May 22, 2011 [EBook #36179] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Cummings and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was +produced from images generously made available by The +Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE ARRIVAL AT THE BARLOW FARMHOUSE.] + + + + + THE ROVER BOYS + ON A TOUR + + OR + + _LAST DAYS AT BRILL COLLEGE_ + + BY + + ARTHUR M. WINFIELD + (Edward Stratemeyer) + + AUTHOR OF THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL, THE + ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN, THE PUTNAM + HALL SERIES, ETC. + + _ILLUSTRATED_ + + [Illustration] + + NEW YORK + GROSSET & DUNLAP + PUBLISHERS + + Made in the United States of America + + + + + BOOKS BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD + (Edward Stratemeyer) + + +THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES + + THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN + THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE + THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES + THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS + THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP + THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS + THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM + THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE + THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE + THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST + THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR + THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK + THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA + THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS + THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR + + +THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES + + THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL + + +THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES + + THE PUTNAM HALL CADETS + THE PUTNAM HALL RIVALS + THE PUTNAM HALL CHAMPIONS + THE PUTNAM HALL REBELLION + THE PUTNAM HALL ENCAMPMENT + THE PUTNAM HALL MYSTERY + +12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York + + +COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY +EDWARD STRATEMEYER, + + + + + +_The Rover Boys on a Tour_ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +MY DEAR BOYS: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms the +twentieth volume in a line issued under the general title, "The Rover +Boys Series for Young Americans." + +As I have mentioned in other volumes, this line was started a number of +years ago with the publication of "The Rover Boys at School," "On the +Ocean," and "In the Jungle." These stories were so well received that +there was an immediate cry for more, and so, year by year, they were +followed by the publication of "The Rover Boys Out West," "On the Great +Lakes," "In the Mountains," "In Camp," "On Land and Sea," "On the +River," "On the Plains," "In Southern Waters," "On the Farm," "On +Treasure Isle," "At College," "Down East," "In the Air," "In New York," +"In Alaska," and finally, "In Business," where we last left our heroes. + +The Rover boys have, of course, gradually been growing older. Dick and +Tom are both married and doing what they can to carry on their father's +business in New York City. Sam, the youngest of the boys, is still at +Brill College. The particulars are given of some winter sports around +that institution of learning, and then of a great baseball game in which +the youngest Rover distinguishes himself. Then Sam graduates from +college, and all the boys, with some others, go on a long automobile +tour, during which a number of exciting adventures occur. The party is +caught in a storm on the mountains, and later on are caught in a great +flood. What the Rover boys did under such trying circumstances I leave +for the pages which follow to disclose. + +Once more I wish to thank all my young friends for the many gratifying +things they have said about my books. I trust that the present volume +will fulfil all their expectations, and that the reading of the same +will do them good. + +Affectionately and sincerely yours, + + EDWARD STRATEMEYER + + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER PAGE + + I THE SNOWBALL FIGHT 1 + II SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS 14 + III WHAT HAPPENED TO SONGBIRD 25 + IV THE CHASE 35 + V AT THE RAILROAD STATION 46 + VI AT THE SANDERSON HOME 57 + VII SAM AND GRACE 67 + VIII SOMETHING ABOUT BLACKIE CROWDEN 78 + IX IN WHICH TOM ARRIVES 90 + X THE FEAST 100 + XI TOM FREES HIS MIND 111 + XII OLD GRISLEY COMES TO TERMS 121 + XIII SAM ON THE ROAD 133 + XIV DAYS OF WAITING 143 + XV BASEBALL TALK 154 + XVI THE OPENING OF THE BALL GAME 166 + XVII HOW THE GAME ENDED 176 + XVIII GOOD-BYE TO BRILL 187 + XIX GETTING READY FOR THE TOUR 201 + XX A MOMENT OF PERIL 211 + XXI NEWS OF BLACKIE CROWDEN 221 + XXII ON THE TRAIL 232 + XXIII BACK AT ASHTON 242 + XXIV AT THE FESTIVAL 252 + XXV A CALL FOR ASSISTANCE 262 + XXVI SAM FREES HIS MIND 272 + XXVII A TELEGRAM FROM NEW YORK 282 + XXVIII CLOUDBURST AND FLOOD 292 + XXIX THE RESCUE ON THE RIVER 304 + XXX MRS. SAM ROVER--CONCLUSION 314 + + + + +THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE SNOWBALL FIGHT + + +"Now then, boys, are you ready?" + +"I am!" + +"Been ready for the last five minutes!" + +"Sure you've got all the snowballs you can carry?" + +"I couldn't carry any more if I tried," came from Sam Rover, with a +grin. "Just see how I am loaded up," and he glanced down at both hands, +which were filled with snowballs, and at the snowballs held under either +arm. + +"I've got some dandy hard ones," put in Spud Jackson. + +"Oh, you can't use soakers, Spud!" cried Stanley Browne, who was the +leader of the snowballing contingent. "That's against the rules." + +"They are not soakers, Stanley," was the reply. "They are only good and +hard, that's all." + +"Hi, you fellows! When are you going to start things?" came a cry from +behind a snow wall up the slope of a hill. "We can't waste the whole +afternoon waiting for you." + +"We're coming, don't fear," answered Stanley Browne. + +"And when we arrive you won't know what's struck you," announced Sam +Rover gaily. + +"It's all vell enough to brag, but you'd chust better start dot fight," +came in German-American accents from behind the snow wall, and a merry +face appeared in sight for an instant and a fist was shaken playfully at +those beyond. + +"Sound that bugle, Paul!" yelled the leader of the attacking party, and +an instant later the mellow notes of a bugle floated out on the crisp, +wintry air. + +It was the signal for the attack, and with merry shouts the students at +the foot of the hill charged upward through the snow toward the wall +above. + +The occasion was the annual snowball fight at Brill College. Snow fights +there were, of course, without number, but each year there was one big +contest in which the freshmen and sophomores attempted to hold a snow +fort located on the hill back of the institution against the attacks of +the juniors and seniors. According to the rules, three charges were +allowable, all of which must be made inside of two hours, and if all of +these failed to take the fort, then the victory went to the defenders, +and they were permitted to crow over their success until the following +winter. + +A little over an hour and a half had been spent in the sport and two +attacks had been made and repulsed, much to the chagrin of Stanley +Browne, the senior in charge of the attacking army. Juniors and seniors +had fought nobly, but the freshmen and sophomores outnumbered them, and, +being strongly intrenched behind the snow wall of the so-called fort, +had succeeded in forcing a first, and then a second, retreat. + +"Say, fellows, we've got to do it this time, sure!" cried Sam Rover, as, +side by side with Stanley, he led the attack. "If we don't oust them +they'll never get done talking about it." + +"Right you are, Sam!" answered Bob Grimes, who also had hands and arms +full of well-made snowballs. + +"Remember what I told you," came from Stanley, as he turned slightly to +address his followers. "Don't throw any snowballs yet. Do as the +soldiers did in Revolutionary days--wait until you can see the whites of +their eyes." + +"And then make those whites blacks!" burst out Spud Jackson, gaily. +"Come ahead, and no turning back." + +Up the snowy hillside sped the crowd of students, while a number of +professors and visitors watched the advance from a distance. + +"Get ready for 'em! Don't let them come too near!" came in a rallying +cry from behind the snow wall. And then, as the attacking party came +closer, a volley of white spheres came flying through the air into the +faces of the juniors and seniors. + +It was a sharp and heavy volley, and for the instant the air seemed to +be filled with flying snowballs. Many of them, of course, went wild, but +others landed on the heads and bodies of the attacking party, and for +the moment the advance was checked. + +"Wow!" came from one of the juniors who had been hit in the ear. "Why +can't we do some throwing ourselves?" + +"That's the talk! Give it to 'em!" came from another student who had had +his cap knocked off by a snowball. + +"No, no," answered Stanley. "Save your snowballs until we get closer." + +"Come on, we'll soon be up there," put in Sam Rover. "Only a hundred +feet more, fellows!" + +There was a yell of assent, and forward the charging party went again +in the face of another volley of snowballs. By bending low the juniors +and seniors protected themselves as much as possible from the onslaught, +but many were hit, two so stingingly that they had to retire to the +rear. + +"Hurrah! We've got 'em on the run!" came from the leader of the fort +contingent, who had mounted a tree stump located behind the wall. "Give +it to 'em, fellows! Give it too 'em hot!" + +"Now, then, boys, all together!" yelled Stanley at the top of his voice, +and then the eager juniors and seniors launched their snowballs with all +the swiftness and accuracy of aim at their command. + +The two previous attacks which had been repulsed had taught the +advancing students a lesson, and now in this third attack scarcely a +snowball was wasted. Those in the front ran directly up to the wall of +the fort, while those farther back spread out, as directed by their +leader, to the right and to the left, sending in cross fires at points +where the fort was supposed to be weakest. + +It was a thrilling and spirited fight, but, although the students were +greatly excited, there was little more actual roughness than there would +have been at a football or other athletic contest. + +"Over the wall, boys! Over the wall!" burst out Sam Rover, and the next +instant he was up on the wall of the fort, quickly followed by Stanley, +Bob, Spud, and several others. + +"Back there, you rebels! Back!" came in a yell from the interior of the +fort, and then a wild fusillade of snowballs struck Sam and his chums in +various parts of their bodies. + +"Jumping hambones!" spluttered Spud, as a snowball took him directly in +the chin. "What do you think I'm built of, iron?" + +"Get back or you'll get worse!" was the cry from the fort, and then +another snowball took Spud in the ear. + +In the meantime, Sam Rover had dodged a ball which was coming directly +for his face, and now he returned the fire with a hard one that took the +sophomore below him in the ear. Then Sam jumped down into the fort, +quickly followed by eight or ten others. + +"Clear them out! Don't let them stay here!" was the wild cry. + +"Everybody around the flagpole!" was the command of the fort leader. + +The flagpole was a small one located in the center of the enclosure, and +from it fluttered the banners of the freshmen and the sophomore classes. +Those making the attack would have to haul those banners down before +they could claim a victory. + +Snowballs were now flying in all directions, and it was quite probable +that in the excitement many of the students let fly at their friends +instead of at the enemy; but it was all good, clean sport, and everybody +enjoyed it greatly. + +"Now, then, fellows, for a center rush!" came from Stanley, when he and +Sam and about twenty others had forced their way to within ten yards of +the flagpole. + +"Avalanche them, boys! Avalanche them!" came suddenly from one of the +sophomores, and then without warning huge chunks of loose snow were sent +flying through the air on the heads of those who were battling to get to +the flagpole. + +"Great Caesar's ghost!" spluttered Bob, as some of the snow went down +inside his collar. "What is this; a snowslide?" + +"Oh, you mustn't mind a little thing like that," answered Sam Rover. +"Come ahead, everybody! Push!" + +There was a wild scramble, with many yells and shouts. Student after +student went down in the melee, a few to be trampled upon, but +fortunately nobody was seriously hurt. There was such a congestion that +to make or throw more snowballs was out of the question, and the most a +fighter could do was to snatch up a handful of loose snow and thrust it +down the neck of the student opposing him. Sam and Stanley, with four +others close by them, had now managed to get within a few feet of the +flagpole. Here, however, the freshmen and sophomores had planted +themselves in a solid mass, and it looked for the moment as if nothing +could budge them. + +"Only six minutes more, boys! Only six minutes more!" came from one of +the sophomores who had been detailed as a timekeeper. "Save those +banners for six minutes and we'll win." + +"Hit 'em, fellows, hit 'em!" roared Stanley. "We've got to get those +banners this year." + +"And we're going to do it," added Sam. He turned to Bob and Spud. "Boost +me up, fellows, and I'll walk right over their heads to the pole." + +"All right, if you want to take the chance," answered Spud, and in a +twinkling Sam was shoved up into the air onto the shoulders of the boy +in front of him. + +This student let out a cry of alarm, but before he could do anything Sam +made a leap forward, landing on the shoulders of two students close to +the pole. + +"Fire him back! Don't let him reach the pole!" came in a yell from +several throats. + +"Hold him by the ankles! Don't let him jump!" cried out the leader of +the fort defenders. + +Several students turned to clutch at the ankles of Sam Rover, but he was +too nimble for them, and with another leap he reached the flagpole and +clutched it tightly. + +"Hurrah! Rover has reached the pole!" + +"Get those banners, Sam! There is no time to spare!" + +"Hold him!" "Pull him down!" "Maul him!" cried the fort defenders. +"Don't let him climb up the pole!" + +Several turned to clutch at Sam's legs and feet, but he thrashed out +wildly and all but one fell back, fearing injury. The undaunted student +caught Sam by a heel and held on very much as might a bulldog. + +"Let go there," came from Spud, and the next instant he raised a chunk +of snow and shoved it directly into the open mouth of the boy who had +the grip. This was too much for the student, and he fell back among his +fellows. + +"Only two minutes more!" yelled the timekeeper. "Two minutes more!" + +"We won't need more than fifteen seconds," came triumphantly from Sam, +and as he spoke he commenced to climb the pole. + +A sophomore followed, clutching again at one of his feet, but now the +Rover boy had his hand on the first of the banners, and down it came in +a twinkling, and the second quickly followed. + +"Here you are, boys; catch them!" Sam cried and, wadding the banners +into something of a ball, he hurled them out into the midst of a group +of seniors. + +"Hurrah! we've got 'em!" was the triumphant cry. "We've got 'em!" + +"Time's up!" yelled the timekeeper. + +A cheer arose from the juniors and seniors, who quickly held the +captured banners aloft. The freshmen and sophomores were, of course, +keenly disappointed, and a number of them showed it. + +"Let's drive them out of the fort, anyway!" was the sudden cry. "Give it +to 'em! Send 'em flying!" + +"Wait, wait, this contest is at an end," said a professor who was one of +the umpires. + +"Never mind, let's have some fun anyway." This cry was taken up on every +side, and while some of the seniors retired with the two captured +banners, the other students continued the contest, those who had held +the fort doing all they possibly could to overcome and expel their +enemies. + +As soon as he had thrown the banners Sam slid down the pole, and was now +trying his best to make his way out of the crowd of freshmen and +sophomores. These students were very bitter against the Rover boy, and +several did all they could to trip him up and cover him with snow. + +"Say, Sam, that was great!" cried Spud. "Best I ever saw!" + +"Out with 'em! Out with 'em!" was the yell. "Don't let 'em stay in the +fort even if they did get the banners." + +"Come on!" cried Sam quickly. "Now we have the banners let us drive them +clean down the other side of the hill." + +This suggestion received instant approval and, in spite of all that some +of the professors could do to stop it, the fight went on as furiously as +ever. Some of the students who had retreated to a safe distance came +back with a fresh supply of snowballs, and the air was once more filled +with the flying missiles. + +"Come on, let us teach them a lesson," cried Bob Grimes. "They should +have stopped fighting as soon as the banners were captured. Let us give +the sophomores and freshmen all they want." + +This cry was taken up on all sides, and around and around the enclosure +which had been designated the fort went the various crowds of students. +The blood of the juniors and seniors was now up, and slowly but surely +they forced the younger students to retreat. Then came a break and +something of a panic, and a few minutes later the fort defenders were +retreating down the other side of the hill, which led through some +brushwood to a road that ran to Ashton. + +"After 'em! After 'em! Don't let 'em get away!" cried Sam, and was one +of the first to go down the hill after the retreating students. On the +way he paused only long enough to make several snowballs. + +Having reached the road which led to the town, the freshmen and +sophomores divided, some going behind a barn and others taking to the +woods beyond. Not knowing exactly what to do next, Sam and several with +him halted to consider the matter. + +"There they go!" was the cry a moment later, and a number of students +were seen speeding around a corner of the road. + +"That's Bissel, the fellow who hit me in the ear," cried Sam. "I'm going +after him." + +"And, yes, there is Dutz, who filled my mouth with snow," cried Spud. +"Come on!" + +Sam was already on the run, and, coming to the turn in the road, he let +fly several snowballs. + +"Here! Here! What do you mean by such actions?" came suddenly from +behind some brushwood which lined the roadway and then, as the students +advanced still further, they were surprised to find themselves +confronted by a tall man wearing a heavy, fur-lined overcoat. He had +likewise been wearing a beaver hat, but the tile now lay in the snow. + +"Belright Fogg!" exclaimed Sam in dismay. "That lawyer who tried to get +the best of us! And I thought he was one of the students!" + +"Ha! so it is you," snarled the man in the fur overcoat harshly. "What +do you mean, Rover, by attacking me in this fashion?" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS + + +"Say! that isn't one of the students." + +"Not much! Why, that's the lawyer who used to do business for the +railroad company--the man the Rovers had so much trouble with!" + +"Who knocked his hat off?" + +"I don't know--Sam Rover, I guess." + +Such were some of the remarks made as a number of the juniors and +seniors began to congregate around Sam and Mr. Belright Fogg. All of the +students could readily see that the lawyer was very much put out over +what had occurred. + +"I say, Rover, what do you mean by attacking me in this fashion?" +repeated Belright Fogg, with a savage look at the youth before him. + +"If I knocked your hat off, Mr. Fogg, I am sorry for it," answered Sam, +as soon as he could recover from his surprise. + +"Knocked my hat off?" roared the lawyer. "You hit me a hard one on the +head; that is what you did!" + +"Let me see if you are hurt," put in Stanley, stepping forward. "Where +did the snowball hit you?" + +"You keep your hands off me," returned Belright Fogg. "I've a good mind +to have the law on such loafers as you." + +"We are not loafers, Mr. Fogg," answered Sam, the color coming quickly +to his face. "We were having our annual snowballing contest, and we did +not know that any outsider was on this back road. If I hit you and hurt +you I am very sorry for it." + +"Humph! I think you will be sorry for it if I bring a suit for damages," +muttered the lawyer. "I don't know why Dr. Wallington permits such +rowdyism." + +"This isn't rowdyism, nor are we loafers," put in Stanley, somewhat +sharply. "You seem to forget, Mr. Fogg, that this road runs through the +property belonging to Brill College, and we have a perfect right to hold +our snowballing contest here. If you want to report the matter to Dr. +Wall----" + +"Bah! I know you students, and I wouldn't expect any sympathy from your +teacher. He's too afraid of losing any of his students." Belright Fogg +snatched his beaver hat from the hands of Spud, who had picked it up. +"I'll settle with you for this later, Rover," he added, and then turned +on his heel and hurried down the road. + +"I wonder what brought him on this back road on foot?" observed Bob. + +"He isn't on foot. He has his horse and cutter beside the barn," +answered another student. "There he is now, picking up a robe out of the +snow. It must have fallen out of the cutter and he walked back to get +it." Which surmise was correct. + +"This looks like more trouble for me," said Sam, soberly. "I'm mighty +sorry it was Mr. Belright Fogg I hit with that snowball." + +"You can wager he'll make out a case against you if he possibly can," +remarked Spud. "Lawyers of his calibre always do." + +"Well, this settles the snowball fight for us," put in Stanley, as he +looked up and down the road. "The freshies and sophs are clear out of +sight. Let us go back to the campus and celebrate our victory;" and +then, as Belright Fogg drove away in his cutter, the students walked +over the hill in the direction of Brill. + +To my old readers the youths already mentioned in these pages will need +no special introduction. For the benefit of others, however, let me +state that Sam Rover was the youngest of three brothers, Dick being the +eldest and fun-loving Tom coming next. They were the sons of one +Anderson Rover, a rich widower, and had for years made their home with +their Uncle Randolph and their Aunt Martha at a beautiful farm called +Valley Brook. + +From the farm, and while their father was in Africa, the three Rover +boys had been sent by their uncle to school, as related in the first +volume of this series, entitled "The Rover Boys at School." This place +was called Putnam Hall Military Academy, and there the lads made many +friends, and likewise several enemies, and had "the time of their +lives," as Tom Rover often expressed it.* + + * For particulars regarding how Putnam Hall Military Academy + was organized, and what fine times the cadets there enjoyed + even before the Rover boys came on the scene, read "The Putnam + Hall Series," six volumes, starting with "The Putnam Hall + Cadets."--PUBLISHERS. + +The first term at school was followed by an exciting trip on the ocean, +and then another trip into the jungles of Africa, where the boys went +looking for their parent. Then came a trip to the West, followed by some +grand times on the Great Lakes and in the Mountains. Then the boys +returned to Putnam Hall, to go into an encampment with their +fellow-cadets. + +This term at Putnam Hall was followed by a never-to-be-forgotten +journey on Land and Sea to a far-away island in the Pacific. Then they +returned to this country, sailing down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. +After leaving the Father of Waters, they took an outing on the Plains, +and then went down into Southern Waters, where they solved the mystery +of a deserted steam yacht. + +After so many exciting adventures the three brothers had been glad to +journey to the home farm for a rest, after which they returned to Putnam +Hall, settled down to their studies, and graduated with considerable +honor. + +"Now for college!" Dick Rover had said. But before setting out for +Brill, a fine institution of learning located in the Middle West, the +boys had become involved in a search for a fortune left on Treasure +Isle. + +During their days at Putnam Hall the Rover boys had become well +acquainted with Dora Stanhope, who lived near the school with her +widowed mother, and also with Nellie and Grace Laning, Dora's two +cousins, who resided a short distance farther away. It had not been long +before Dick and Dora showed a great liking for each other, and at the +same time Tom often paired off with Nellie and Sam was frequently seen +in the company of Grace. + +A few miles away from Brill College was located Hope Seminary, an +institution for girls, and when the Rover boys went to Brill, Dora, +Nellie and Grace went to Hope; so that the young folks met almost as +often as before. + +A term at Brill College was followed by an unexpected trip Down East, +where the Rovers brought to terms a rascally ex-schoolteacher, named +Josiah Crabtree, who had given them much trouble while at Putnam Hall. + +In those days the art of flying was attracting considerable attention +and, through the indulgence of their father, the Rover boys became the +possessors of a biplane and took several thrilling trips through the +air, their experiences in that line coming to an abrupt finish when the +flying machine was one day wrecked on the railroad tracks. This had +brought on a sharp contest between the Rover boys and the railroad +lawyer, Mr. Belright Fogg. The Rovers had claimed all that was coming to +them, and the railroad had been made to pay up, much to Belright Fogg's +disgust. Later, the lawyer had been discharged by the railroad from its +services. + +About this time Mr. Anderson Rover, who was not in the best of health, +was having much trouble with brokers in New York City who were trying to +swindle him out of some property. The brokers were Pelter, Jackson & +Company, and it was not long before the Rover boys discovered that +Pelter was in league with Josiah Crabtree. In a struggle poor Tom Rover +was hit on the head by a wooden footstool thrown by Pelter and knocked +unconscious. This had so affected his mind that he wandered off to +Alaska, and Sam and Dick had many adventures trying to locate him. When +he was found he was brought home and placed under the care of a +specialist, and soon was as well as ever. + +Dick Rover was now growing older, and, with his father in such poor +health, it was decided that the youth should leave Brill, become married +to Dora, and settle down in charge of the office in Wall Street, New +York. This plan was carried out, as related in detail in the volume +preceding this, entitled "The Rover Boys in Business." At that time, Sam +and Tom still remained at Brill, but an urgent message from Dick brought +them quickly to the metropolis. A large number of unregistered bonds +belonging to the Rovers had mysteriously disappeared, and all the boys +went on a hunt to recover the securities. In the end it was learned that +their old enemy, Jesse Pelter, was the guilty party, and he was brought +to justice. Then it was felt that Dick needed assistance in the office, +and it was decided, much to Tom's satisfaction, that he might get +married to Nellie Laning and move to the city. + +"That will leave me all alone at Brill," said Sam Rover at that time. + +"Well, you shouldn't mind that so much," Tom Rover had replied. +"Remember, Grace will still be at Hope," at which words the youngest +Rover had blushed deeply. + +When the Rovers had gone to Brill College they had been accompanied by +their old-time school chum, John Powell, always called "Songbird" on +account of his propensity for writing doggerel which he insisted on +calling poetry. At the same time there came to Brill from Putnam Hall +one William Philander Tubbs, a very dudish student with whom the boys +often had great fun. + +It did not take the three Rover boys long to make a number of friends at +Brill. These included Stanley Browne, a tall, gentlemanly youth; Bob +Grimes, who was greatly interested in baseball; Will Jackson, always +called Spud, because of his unusual fondness for potatoes; and Max +Spangler, a German-American youth, who was still struggling with the +language, and who had failed to advance in his studies, so that at the +present time he was only in the sophomore class. They had also made +several enemies, but these had for the time being left Brill. + +"You'll be the hero of this occasion, Sam," remarked Stanley, as the +students tramped in the direction of the college campus. + +"Hero of the occasion, I suppose, for hitting Mr. Fogg in the head," +returned Sam, with a slight grin. + +"Oh, forget that!" burst out Spud. "I don't think he'll do a thing. +Remember the affair occurred on the college grounds, just as Stanley +said." + +"Say! where is Songbird to-day?" asked Paul Orben. "He ought to have +been in this fight." + +"He wanted to come very much," answered Sam, "but he had a special +errand to do for Mr. Sanderson, who is laid up with a broken ankle." + +"Was he doing the errand for Mr. Sanderson or for Minnie?" questioned +Stanley; and then a short laugh went up, for it was well known among the +young collegians that Songbird Powell and the daughter of Mr. Sanderson, +a prosperous farmer of that vicinity, were much attached to each other. + +As Sam Rover and his friends reached the college campus, a great cheer +arose. + +"There he is!" + +"Here the conquering hero comes!" + +"Let us put him up on our shoulders, fellows!" and a rush was made +towards the youngest Rover boy. + +"Not much! Not to-day!" returned Sam, and slid back behind some of his +friends. + +"Aw! come on, Sam!" cried one of the students. "You are the hero of the +occasion, and you know it." + +"Forget it, Snips," answered Sam. "What did the fellows do with those +banners?" + +"Lentwell has them. He is keeping them for you. I suppose you'll nail +them up in your den?" + +"Surest thing you know!" + +"Maybe the freshies and sophs will want them back," put in another youth +in the crowd. + +"Not much! They can have them back after I graduate next June," answered +Sam. "They have got to understand---- Stop it, fellows, stop it! I don't +want to---- Well, if you've got to, I suppose I'll have to submit." And +an instant later Sam found himself hoisted up on the shoulders of +several stalwart seniors, who tramped around and around the college +campus with him while all the other seniors, and also the juniors, +cheered wildly and waved their caps. + +"Doesn't that make you feel proud, Sam?" asked Spud, during a lull in +the proceedings. + +"It sure does, Spud," was the quick reply. "I've only got one +regret--that Dick and Tom aren't here to share this victory with us." + +"Yes, it's a shame. And just to think of it, after next June, when we +graduate, we'll all be scattered here, there, and everywhere, and the +good old times at Brill will be a thing of the past." + +"Don't mention such things," put in Stanley. "It makes me sick clean to +the heels every time I think of it. But I suppose college days can't +last forever. We've got to go out into the world, just as our fathers +did before us." + +"Yes, and I've got to get into business," answered Sam. "I want to help +father, as well as Dick and Tom, all I can." + +"Hi, fellows!" was the unexpected cry from the lower end of the campus. +"Here come the freshies and the sophs back! Line up and be ready to +receive them!" + +"That's it! Line up, line up, everybody!" ordered Stanley. "Give them +our old song of victory!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +WHAT HAPPENED TO SONGBIRD + + +It was fully half an hour later before Sam Rover could break away from +his college chums and run up to room Number 25, which he had formerly +occupied with his brother Tom and which he now shared with Songbird +Powell. + +Nearly a week before, the youngest Rover had made a date with Grace +Laning, inviting her, if the snow remained on the ground, to a +sleighride that afternoon and evening. At that time Sam had forgotten +completely that this day was the date set for the annual snowballing +contest. + +"I think I'll go anyway," he had remarked to Songbird, the day before. +But then had come word to his roommate that Mr. Sanderson wanted him on +a matter of importance, and Stanley, as the leader of the seniors, had +insisted upon it that he could not spare both of his chums. + +"All right, then," Sam had answered finally; "you can go, Songbird, and +do what Mr. Sanderson wants you to, and I'll put off my sleighride with +Grace until after the contest;" and so it had been settled. + +There were no public turnouts at the college, but Sam had arranged with +Abner Filbury, who worked around the place with his father, to obtain +for him a first-class horse and cutter from the Ashton livery stable. + +"That horse is some goer, believe me!" remarked Abner, when he came to +the door of Sam's room, to tell him that the turnout was in readiness. +"You'll have to keep your eye on him, Mr. Rover." + +"All right, Ab. Trust me to take care of him," returned Sam lightly. +"Don't forget that I was brought up on a farm, and my Uncle Randolph had +some pretty spirited animals." + +"Have a good time, Sam!" cried Spud, who was present to see his chum +depart. "Wish I was going to see such a nice girl." + +"Oh, your time will come some day," answered Sam. + +"Are you going directly to Hope?" + +"Yes." + +"Alone?" + +"I expect to unless you want to ride along that far." + +"Say! I'd like that first-rate," returned Spud, eagerly. "I know some +of the girls up there, and I'd like to call on them. I wouldn't mind +walking back later on." + +"Then come on if you are ready. I haven't any time to wait." + +"Oh, I'm always ready," came from Spud; and he lost no time in bestowing +himself beside Sam. + +The latter gathered up the reins, gave a slight chirp to the horse, and +away they sped out of the college grounds and on to the highway leading +past Hope Seminary, which was about two miles distant. + +The air was cool and bracing, and the snow on the highway well packed +down, so that the cutter slid over it with ease. As Abner Filbury had +said, the steed was a mettlesome one, and soon Sam found he had all he +could do to hold the horse in. + +"Some goer, that!" remarked Spud, as he pulled his cap down tighter to +keep it from flying off. "Puts me in mind of a race horse." + +"Yes, I shouldn't wonder but what he could make a mile in almost record +time," responded Sam, as they flew along past the trees, bushes and +occasional farm buildings which lined the roadway near Brill. + +"You want to watch yourself with a horse that goes as fast as that," +returned Spud, with a chuckle. "If you don't, you'll get a mile or two +past Hope before you know it;" and at this little joke Sam grinned. + +Early in the ride they passed one or two cutters and several farm +wagons. Then they reached a turn in the road, and to their surprise saw +ahead of them a sign resting on a large wooden horse: + +ROAD CLOSED + +"Hello! What does this mean?" queried Sam, as he brought his horse to a +standstill. "I didn't know this road was shut off." + +"Oh, yes, I heard something about this, come to think of it," returned +Spud. "They are going to move that old Jackson barn from one side of the +road to the other, and they must have closed the road for that purpose. +You'll have to take the old road on the left, Sam." + +"I suppose so," grumbled the other. "Too bad, too, for this road was +just about perfect for sleighing. But never mind, I suppose I can get +through on the other road well enough." + +They turned back a distance of less than two hundred feet, and then took +to the side road which Spud had mentioned. This was more hilly than the +other, and ran through a long patch of timberland on which no houses +were located. + +"Hark! Don't I hear another sleigh coming?" questioned Spud, a minute +later. + +"Something is coming, that's sure," answered Sam. "Gracious me! Look at +that!" + +Coming to another bend of the woodland road, the youngest Rover had +barely time to pull his steed well toward the right hand and almost into +some bushes when another cutter hove into sight, coming along at a +furious rate. The horse was on a gallop, and the man driving him, a +fellow wrapped up in a heavy overcoat and with a fur cap pulled far down +over his forehead, was using his whip freely. + +"Wow! That fellow must be in some hurry," observed Spud, as the other +turnout flashed past. "He isn't sparing his horse any." + +"It's a lucky thing for me that I pulled in here as I did," returned +Sam, and his tone of voice showed his anger. "If I hadn't done it he +would have run into us, sure pop." + +"You're right, Sam. That fellow had no right to come along in that +fashion. He ought to be arrested for reckless driving. But maybe he +wants to catch a train at Ashton or something like that." + +"No train he could catch for an hour and a half, Spud. And he could +walk to the station in that time;" and thus speaking, Sam chirruped to +the horse, and they resumed their ride. + +A little farther on the woodland road made another turn, and here the +way was uphill. The numerous rains of the summer previous had washed the +rocks bare of dirt, and often the cutter bumped and scraped so badly +that Sam was compelled to bring his steed down to a walk. + +"Well, one satisfaction, we'll be back to the main road before long," +observed Spud, as they finally reached the top of the hill and could get +a view of the surroundings. "There is the other road just below us." + +"Hello! What's that ahead?" cried Sam, pointing with his left hand. +"Looks to me like somebody lying in the snow." + +"It is somebody!" exclaimed his chum. "Say! do you suppose that other +horse was running away, and this fellow fell out?" + +"Not much, with that other fellow using the whip as he was!" returned +Sam. "This fellow ahead probably had nothing to do with that other +cutter. Excepting he may have been knocked down by the horse," he added +suddenly. + +"That's what the trouble is! That rascal knocked this fellow down and +then hurried on, Sam! Poor fellow! I wonder if he is much hurt?" + +By this time the cutter had reached a point opposite to where the person +in the snow rested. All the boys could see was some person, wrapped in +an overcoat, lying face downward. A cap that looked strangely familiar +to Sam lay close at hand. Stopping the horse, Sam leaped from the +cutter, and Spud did the same. + +"Say, Sam!" burst out the latter, "it looks like----" + +"Songbird!" burst out the Rover boy. "It's Songbird, Spud, and he's +badly hurt." + +It was indeed poor Songbird Powell who rested there in the snow by the +roadside. He had on his overcoat and his fur-lined gloves, but his head +was bare, and from a cut on his left temple the blood was flowing. The +boys turned their college chum over, and at this Songbird uttered a low +moan. + +"He has either had an accident or been attacked," was Spud's comment. "I +wonder how badly he's hurt?" + +"I'm afraid it's pretty bad," answered Sam, soberly. "That's a nasty +cut. And say! his chin is all swelled up as if he had been hit there +with a club!" + +The two boys knelt beside their unconscious chum and did what they +could to revive him. But Songbird did not open his eyes, nor did he make +any other sound than a low moan. + +"We'll have to get him somewhere out of this biting, cold air," observed +Sam. "There is a farmhouse just below here on the main road. Let us put +him in the cutter and carry him there." + +When they picked Songbird up he uttered another moan and for an instant +his eyes opened; but then he collapsed as before. They deposited him on +the seat of the turnout, and Sam picked up his cap and several books +that lay scattered around. With sober faces the boys led the mettlesome +horse down the slope to the main road. Both kept their eyes on their +chum, but he still remained insensible. + +"Maybe he won't get over it," suggested Spud. + +"Oh, don't say that!" cried Sam in horror. "It can't be as bad as that." +And then he added: "Spud, did you notice the looks of that horse when he +dashed past us?" + +"I didn't have time to notice much," was the reply. + +"Did he wear white stockings?" + +"What? Oh! I know what you mean--white feet. Yes, he had white feet. I +know that much." + +"And did he have any white under his neck?" + +"Yes, I think he did. Do you think you know the horse, Sam?" + +"I know Mr. Sanderson has a horse with white feet and a white chest--a +dark horse, just like that one was." + +"Then it must have been Mr. Sanderson's horse and cutter!" cried Spud. +"If it was, do you think that man was running away with the outfit?" + +"I don't know what to think, Spud. To my mind it's a mighty serious +piece of business. But our first duty is to do all we can for poor +Songbird." + +Arriving at the nearest farmhouse, Spud ran ahead and knocked on the +door. A woman answered the summons, and as she happened to know the +youth, she readily consented to have Songbird brought in and laid on a +couch in the dining-room. Hardly had this been done when the sufferer +slowly opened his eyes. + +"Don--don't hit m-m-me again!" he murmured. "Ple-please don't!" + +"It's all right, Songbird. Don't you know me?" said Sam, quietly. + +The injured collegian opened his eyes again and stared at the youth +before him. + +"Sam! Wh-where did you co-come from?" + +"Spud and I found you on the road, face down in the snow," answered +Sam. "What happened? Did you fall out of the cutter, or were you +attacked?" + +"I--I---- Oh! how my head spins!" muttered Songbird. He closed his eyes +again and was silent for a moment. Then he looked once more at Sam. + +"I was attacked," he mumbled. "The man--he hit me--with a club--and +hauled me out of the cutter." + +"It must have been the fellow we saw on the road!" exclaimed Spud. +"Songbird, why did he do it?" + +"I--I--do-don't know," mumbled the sufferer. "But maybe I do!" he +suddenly shouted, in a strangely unnatural voice. Then with a sudden +strength born of fear, he raised his left hand and dived down into the +inner pocket of his coat. "The package! It's gone!" + +"The package! What package?" queried Sam. + +"The package belonging to Mr. Sanderson!" gasped poor Songbird. "The +package with the four thousand dollars in it! It's gone!" and with +another groan Songbird lapsed once more into unconsciousness. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE CHASE + + +It must be confessed that Sam and Spud, as well as the woman of the +house, were very much surprised over the statement made by Songbird. + +"Attacked and robbed!" murmured Sam. "What an awful thing to do!" + +"He said he had been robbed of four thousand dollars!" broke in Spud. +"Where in the world would he get that much money? He must be dreaming, +Sam." + +"I hardly think so, Spud. I know he was to go on a very important errand +for Mr. Sanderson, who is laid up at home with a sprained ankle." + +"Well, if Songbird was robbed, it's more than likely the fellow we saw +in the cutter did it." + +"Exactly! And the chances are he will get away just as fast as he +possibly can," added Sam, bitterly. + +"What do you think we ought to do?" + +"I think we ought to notify the authorities, Spud." + +"Hadn't we better wait until we get some particulars from Songbird?" + +"Not much! The quicker we get after that fellow the better. Remember he +is running away not only with the money but also with Mr. Sanderson's +horse and cutter. Many people living in this vicinity know Mr. +Sanderson's animal, and that may help us to locate that rascal." Sam +turned to the woman of the house. "Have you a telephone?" + +"No, we haven't any; but the folks in the next house up the road have +one." + +"Then I'll go there and telephone," said Sam. "You do what you can for +Songbird, Spud. I'll try to get a doctor, too, while I'm at it." + +In a few seconds more Sam was on the way, using his horse and cutter for +that purpose. Arriving at the next farmhouse, he readily received +permission to use the telephone, and at once got into communication with +the authorities in Ashton, and asked the official in charge to send word +around to the various towns and villages within the next ten or fifteen +miles, and he also sent word to a physician at Ashton. Then he managed +to get Grace on the wire. + +"I'm afraid I'll be late," he told the girl. "And maybe I won't be able +to get there at all," he added. "Songbird has been knocked down on the +road and robbed, and he is in pretty bad shape." + +"Oh, Sam! isn't that too bad!" was Grace's reply. "Do you mean that he +is seriously injured?" + +"We can't tell yet, Grace. I have just telephoned for the doctor, and +now I am going back to the Bray farmhouse, where Songbird is, to wait +for him." And after that Sam gave the girl as many details of the affair +as he deemed necessary. + +"Oh! I hope he gets over it, Sam," said Grace. "And to think he was +robbed of all that money! If they can't get it back, what ever will +Songbird and the Sandersons do?" + +"I don't know," he returned. "It certainly is a bad piece of business. +But now I've got to go back, so I'll say good-bye." + +"Good-bye, Sam, and you stay with Songbird just as long as you please. +We can have our sleighride some other time." + +When Sam returned to the Bray farmhouse he found that Spud and the lady +of the house had washed Songbird's wound and bound it up. The lady had +also brought forth some simple home remedies, and these had been so +efficacious that Songbird was sitting on the couch, propped up by +numerous pillows. + +"Did you catch him?" asked the sufferer eagerly, as Sam entered. + +"I've sent word to the police, Songbird, and sent word for a doctor too. +Now you had better take it easy until the doctor comes." + +"But how can I take it easy with that four thousand dollars missing?" +groaned the youth on the couch. "Why, I can't make that amount up, and +Mr. Sanderson can't afford to lose it." + +"How does your head feel?" + +"It feels sore all over, and sometimes spins like a top. But I wouldn't +care about that if only I could get that money back. Can't you and Spud +go after that rascal?" + +"I'm willing if you want us to, Songbird; but you'll have to promise to +stay here until the doctor comes. We don't want you to attempt to do +anything while you are in your present condition." + +"Oh, I'll stay here, don't fear," answered Songbird, grimly. "I just +tried to stand up, and I went in a heap, and Spud and the lady had to +put me back on this couch." + +"Let's take that horse of yours and go after that fellow, Sam," burst +out Spud, eagerly. "That horse is a goer, as we know, and we ought to +be able to catch that man sooner or later." + +"Providing we can follow his trail, Spud," answered Sam. "You must +remember there are a good many side roads around here, and he can take +to any one he pleases." + +"But we might be able to find the footprints of the horse in the snow." + +"Possibly, although I doubt it, with so many other horses using the +highway. However, come on, we'll do the best we can." Sam turned again +to the sufferer. "Now, Songbird, you keep quiet until the doctor comes, +and then you do exactly as he orders." + +"Maybe Mrs. Bray will see to that," ventured Spud. + +"I will if you want me to," responded the woman of the house. "That cut +on his head is a nasty one, and if he doesn't take care of himself it +may make him real sick." + +In a moment more Sam and Spud were out of the house and into the cutter, +which was then headed up the side road where they had found Songbird. +Here they stopped for an instant to take another look around, and picked +up two more books which had escaped their notice before. + +"Books of poetry, both of 'em," remarked Spud. "Songbird thinks more of +a poem than he does of a square meal," and he smiled a bit grimly. + +It did not take long to reach the spot where the other cutter had passed +them. They went straight on, soon reaching the point where the woodland +road joined the main highway. + +"Now, you see, here is where we are going to get mixed up," announced +Sam, as they moved in the direction of Brill. "Did the fellow go +straight to Ashton, or did he turn off to one of the other places?" + +"The folks traveling along the road must have seen him," returned Spud. +"Let us make some inquiries as we go along." + +This was a good suggestion, and was carried out. They found a farmer who +had seen the strange man in the cutter drive toward Ashton, and a little +later they met two ladies in a sleigh who declared that the fellow had +turned into a side road leading to a hamlet known as Lester's Corners. + +"If he went there, we ought to have a chance to catch him," cried Spud. +"This road I know doesn't go beyond the Corners." + +"Yes. But he could take a road from there to Dentonville," answered Sam, +"and you know that is quite a railroad station." + +"But if he went to Dentonville and to the railroad station, couldn't +you telephone to the operator there to have him held?" + +"Maybe, Spud, providing there is any telephone at the Corners." + +Onward they went once more, through some heavy woodland and then over +several small hills, finally coming in sight of the Corners, where were +located a general store, a blacksmith's shop, a chapel, and about a +dozen houses. + +"Did I see a feller in a cutter goin' as fast as he could?" repeated the +storekeeper, when questioned by Sam. "You just bet I did. Gee whiz! but +he was goin' to beat the band!" + +"And which way did he head?" questioned the Rover boy, eagerly. + +"Headed right straight for Dentonville." + +"And how long ago was this?" put in Spud. + +"Oh, about quarter of an hour, I should say. Say! he nearly skeered old +Mrs. Rasley to deth. She was a-crossin' the road comin' to my store when +he swung aroun' that corner yonder, and he come within a foot of runnin' +over her. She wanted to git Joe Mason, the constable, to arrest him, +but, gee whiz! there wasn't no arrestin' to it--he was out o' sight +before you could say Jack Robinson." + +"Have you any telephone connection with Dentonville?" questioned Sam. + +"Ain't got no telephone here at all. The telephone fellers promised to +put a line through here three years ago, but somehow they hain't got +around to doin' it. You see, Squire Buzby owns some of their stock, and +he don't think that we ought to----" + +"That's all right, Captain," broke in Sam, hastily. "Then if we want to +catch that fellow, all we can do is to go after him, eh?" + +"Thet's about the size on it," returned the storekeeper. "Now you see if +we had thet telephone here, we might be able to----" + +"That's so, we might. But as the telephone is missing, we'll go after +him in our cutter," broke in Sam; and a few seconds later he and Spud +were once more on their way. + +The road to Dentonville was not much traveled, and for a mile and a half +they met no one. Then, just as they reached a crossing, they came in +sight of an old farmer driving a box-sled filled with milk cans. + +"Did you meet a man driving a horse and cutter very rapidly?" questioned +Sam, after he drew up. "A dark horse with a white breast and white +feet?" + +"I jest guess I did!" replied the farmer. "He come pretty close to +runnin' into me." + +"Which way was he headed?" + +"Headed straight for Dentonville." + +"Can you tell me when the next train stops there?" + +"The train is due there in about fifteen minutes, and she won't stop +more'n long enough to put my milk cans on board. I jest left 'em there, +and got these empty ones," explained the farmer, pointing to the cans +behind him. + +"Fifteen minutes!" cried Spud. "And how far is it from here?" + +"Nigh on to three miles." + +"Is it a good road?" queried Sam. + +"Pretty fair. It's some washed out on the hills, but the snow has +covered the wo'st of the holes. Want to ketch that feller?" + +"We certainly do. That horse and cutter belongs to Mr. Sanderson." + +"By gum! You don't say! Did he steal the turnout?" + +"He certainly did," answered Spud, "and nearly killed a young fellow in +the bargain." + +"Then I hope you ketch 'im," answered the farmer, and stood up in his +sled to watch Sam and Spud as they sped once more along the highway +leading to Dentonville. + +The boys had a long hill ahead, and before the top was gained the horse +attached to the cutter was glad enough to settle down to a walk. But +once the ridge was passed, he did not need much urging, and flew along +almost as rapidly as ever. + +"This horse must have been in the stable for quite some time," remarked +Spud. "He evidently enjoys the outing thoroughly." + +"Listen!" cried Sam, a little later. "Isn't that the whistle of a +locomotive?" + +"It sure is, Sam! That must be the train coming into Dentonville!" + +They were passing through a small patch of timber, and directly beyond +were the cleared fields and the buildings of a tidy farm. As the boys +came out of the woods they looked over the fields in the direction of +Dentonville and saw a mixed train, composed of several passenger coaches +and a string of freights, entering the station. + +"There she is!" cried Sam. "Oh, if only we can get there before she +leaves!" + +He spoke to the horse and did what he could to urge the steed forward at +a greater rate of speed than ever. Much to the astonishment of several +onlookers, they dashed into the outskirts of Dentonville and then along +the main street leading down to the railroad station. + +"Hi! Stop!" roared a voice at them, just as they were crossing one of +the side streets, directly in front of a sleigh and two wagons. "Hi! +Stop, I tell you! You ain't got no right to drive that fast here in +town," and a blue-coated policeman, one of the four of which the place +boasted, shook his club at the boys and ran out in front of their +cutter. + +[Illustration: A BLUE-COATED POLICEMAN SHOOK HIS CLUB AT THE BOYS.] + +"Say! officer, you are just the man we want," cried Sam, hurriedly. +"Come on with us. We want to have a man arrested down at the depot +before he has a chance to get away on the train." + +"What's that? Want a man arrested?" queried the bluecoat. "What has he +done?" + +"A whole lot of things," broke in Spud. "Jump in; we haven't any time to +explain now--that train may pull out at any moment." + +"That's so; so it might," replied the officer; and then, as Spud made +room for him, he sprang into the cutter, sitting on the boy's lap. "But +you look out that you don't kill somebody," he added to Sam, who was now +using the whip lightly to urge the horse to greater efforts. + +They were still two blocks away from the railroad station when there +came a whistle, followed by the clanging of a bell, and then they saw +the train moving away. + +"There she goes!" groaned Spud. "But she isn't moving very fast." + +"Maybe we can catch her yet," returned Sam; and then the race continued +as before. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AT THE RAILROAD STATION + + +"See anybody, Sam?" + +"Nobody that looks like that man, Spud, but there is Mr. Sanderson's +horse with the cutter." + +"Yes, I spotted those right away. Look how the poor nag is heaving. He +must have been driven almost to death." + +"That may be. Although we got here almost as quickly as he did. But he +may have been used quite some before this trip," returned Sam; and this +surmise was correct. + +The two boys, with the policeman, had done their best to catch the +departing train and have it stop, but without avail. When they had +reached the depot the last of the cars was well down the line, and soon +the train had disappeared around a curve of the roadbed. + +"What's the matter, Ike? What are you after?" queried the freight agent, +as he came up to the policeman. + +"We are after the man who was driving that cutter yonder," explained +Sam. "Did you see him--a big fellow with a heavy overcoat and with a fur +cap pulled down over his forehead?" + +"Why yes, I saw that fellow get aboard," answered the freight agent. "I +was wondering what he was going to do with his horse. He didn't even +stop to put a blanket over the animal." + +"That fellow was a thief," explained Sam. "I wonder if we can't have him +captured in some way? What is the next station the train will stop at?" + +"Penton." + +"How far is that from here?" + +"About six miles." + +"And after that?" + +"She'll stop at Leadenfield, which is about six miles farther." + +"Then I'll send a telegram to Penton and another to Leadenfield to have +the train searched and the man arrested if he can be spotted," said Sam; +and a few minutes later he was in the telegraph office writing out the +messages. He described the man as well as he could, but realized that +his efforts were rather hopeless. + +"Maybe Songbird could give us a better description," he said to his +chum; "but as Songbird isn't here, and as we can't get him on the +telephone, we'll have to do the best we can." + +The policeman was, of course, anxious to know some of the details of +what had occurred, and when the boys told him that their college chum +had been knocked senseless and robbed of four thousand dollars he was +greatly surprised. + +"It's too bad you didn't get here before the train started," he +observed. "If you had we might have nabbed that rascal and maybe got a +reward," and he smiled grimly. + +"We don't want any reward. We simply want to get that four thousand +dollars back," returned Sam. "And we would like to put that fellow in +prison for the way he treated our college chum." + +"What will you do with the horse and cutter?" + +"If there is a livery stable handy, I think I'll put the horse up +there," answered Sam. "He is evidently in no condition to be driven +farther at present. I'll notify Mr. Sanderson about it." And so it was +arranged. + +A little while later, after the two boys had walked around to the police +station with the officer and given such particulars as they were able +concerning the assault and robbery, Sam and Spud started on the return +to the Bray farmhouse. When they arrived there, they found that Dr. +Havens and Dr. Wallington had come in some time before. By the +directions of the head of Brill the physician from Ashton had given +Songbird a thorough examination and had treated him with some medicine +from his case. + +"The cut on his head is rather a deep one," said the doctor to the boys, +"but fortunately it is not serious, nor will there be any bad effects +from the blow on his chin. He can thank his stars though that the crack +on his head did not fracture his skull." + +"We are going to take him back to Brill in a large sleigh," said Dr. +Wallington, "and then I think the best he can do will be to go to bed." + +"Oh, I can't do that!" broke in Songbird, who was still on the couch, +propped up by pillows. "I've got to get to Mr. Sanderson's and explain +how the thing happened." + +"You had better let me do that, Songbird," answered Sam, kindly. "I can +drive over there and Spud can go with me. You just let us know exactly +how it occurred." This, of course, was after the boys had related the +particulars of their failure to catch the fleeing criminal at +Dentonville. + +"It happened so quickly that I hardly realized what was taking place," +answered the would-be poet of Brill. "I was driving along from +Knoxbury, where I had been to the bank for Mr. Sanderson, when I came to +the spot where I suppose you found me. Just as I reached there a man in +a heavy overcoat, and with a thick fur cap pulled over his face so that +I could hardly see him, stepped in front of the cutter. + +"'Say! can you tell me where these people live?' he asked me, and thrust +a sheet of paper towards me. 'I've lost my eye-glasses, and I can't see +to read without them.' + +"I took the paper he handed out and started to look at some writing on +it which was very indistinct. As I bent over the paper the man swung a +club or something in the air and struck me on the head. Then, as I tried +to leap up and defend myself, he hit me another blow on the chin. That +seemed to knock me clean out of the cutter; and that is all I know about +it." + +"Then you don't know where that fellow came from?" queried Spud. + +"No more than that he came from the bushes beside the road." Songbird +seemed to meditate for a moment. "Now I come to think of it though, +maybe that's the same fellow that watched me go into the bank at +Knoxbury and get the money for Mr. Sanderson!" he cried, suddenly. + +"It was a very unwise move on Mr. Sanderson's part to have you get that +money for him in cash," observed Dr. Wallington. "I do not understand +why he could not have transacted his business with a check, especially +if it was certified." + +"I don't know much about that part of it," answered Songbird, "excepting +he told me that the old man with whom he was doing business was +something of a crank and didn't believe in banks or checks, and said he +wanted nothing but solid cash. It's a pity now that Mr. Sanderson didn't +use a check," and Songbird heaved a deep sigh. + +"But what did you just say about a man watching you when you went into +the bank?" questioned Sam. + +"Oh, I noticed that fellow hanging around the building just as I went +in," returned Songbird. "He was asking the janitor about the trains out +of town, and the reason I noticed him was because he had a peculiar +stutter and whistle when he talked. He went like this," and Songbird +imitated a man who was stuttering badly, ending in a faint whistle. + +"Great Scott! A fellow ought to know a man who talked like that +anywhere," was Spud's comment. "Should be able to pick him out in the +dark," and at this sally even Dr. Wallington smiled faintly. + +"Of course I'm not sure that that man had anything to do with it," went +on Songbird. "But he was the only fellow around who seemed to notice me +when I got the money. When the bills were passed over to me, there were +forty one-hundred-dollar bills. I took them to a little side stand, to +place them in a wallet Mr. Sanderson had lent me, and then I wrapped the +wallet in a piece of paper with a stout string around it. As I did this +I noticed the man who stuttered and whistled peering at me hungrily +through a side window of the bank." + +"And the fellow wore a heavy overcoat and a fur cap?" questioned Sam. + +"Yes, I am sure of that." + +"Then it is more than likely he was the guilty party," remarked Spud. + +"But hold on a minute!" broke in Sam. "You got the money at Knoxbury, +and this attack took place on the road above here, which is at least +seven miles from that place. Now, if the man who did the deed was at the +bank when you drew the money, how did he get here in time to hold you +up?" + +"I don't know about that, Sam; but I didn't leave Knoxbury immediately +after getting the money. I had an errand to do for Minnie. She wanted +me to pick out a--er--a necktie for my birthday, and I--well, I looked +around two or three stores, trying to find something nice to take back +to her. I bought two books of poetry, but I don't know where they are +now." + +"We found them on the road, and they are out in the cutter," answered +Sam. "Spud, you might bring them in and give them to Songbird." + +"The errands kept me in town for about half an hour after I was at the +bank," continued the youth who had been attacked. + +"And where had you left Mr. Sanderson's cutter in the meantime?" + +"Right in front of the bank building, the horse tied to a post." + +"That would give the man time to get another turnout in which to follow +you," said Sam. + +"But if he did that, I don't see how he got ahead of you." + +"Well, maybe he didn't, and maybe it was some one else who did the +deed," returned Sam. + +"You had better not worry your head too much about this affair, Mr. +Powell," said Dr. Havens. "That crack on the head might have been more +serious, but at the same time you ought to take care of yourself for a +day or two at least." + +"Then you don't think I ought to go to Mr. Sanderson's?" queried the +would-be poet of the college. + +"Not just yet. If you feel stronger you might go there to-morrow, or the +day after." + +"Then will you go, Sam, and try to explain matters?" questioned +Songbird, eagerly. + +"Of course I'll go, Songbird." + +"And I'll go with him," added Spud. + +A large sleigh had been brought to the farmhouse by Dr. Wallington, and +Songbird was placed in this and made as comfortable as possible among +the robes and blankets which it contained. Mr. Bray, the owner of the +farm, had been up in the timber bringing down some firewood, and now, +when he approached, the others saw that he had tied behind his sled an +extra horse. + +"Hello! Where did that horse come from?" cried Sam. "Is it yours?" + +"No, 'tain't mine," said Timothy Bray. "I found it up in the woods right +near the road yonder," and he pointed with his hand as he spoke. + +"Found that horse in the woods!" cried Spud. "Then that explains it." + +"It sure does," returned Sam. + +"Explains what?" demanded Timothy Bray. "What's goin' on down here +anyway?" he continued, looking at his wife and then at the others. + +"Oh, Timothy! an awful thing has happened!" cried Mrs. Bray, and then +she and the others gave the farmer a few of the particulars. He listened +with mouth wide open, and then looked at the horse which he had found. + +"I guess you are right!" he exclaimed. "That feller got this horse in +Knoxbury. It's one that belongs to Hoover, the livery stable man. I know +him on account of this brand on his left flank. It's a horse Cy Tamen +used to own and swapped for a bay mare." + +"Then I think that explains it," declared Sam. "That rascal saw Songbird +get the money, and he at once went to the livery stable and hired the +horse and followed Songbird to the spot where the attack was made. More +than likely he passed Songbird on the road." + +"That's just what he did!" cried the youth who had been struck down. "I +remember now! I was busy composing some poetry when I noticed a fellow +on horseback go past me and disappear around a turn in the road, and +that was just a few minutes before that fellow came up with a sheet of +paper, and knocked me senseless." + +"I believe you have made out a pretty clear case," was Dr. Wallington's +comment. "Now if we can only reach that man who stuttered and whistled, +I think we shall have the culprit." + +"We telephoned ahead from Dentonville. If they can only locate him on +the train it will be all right," answered Sam. "But you must remember we +didn't have very much of a description to go by." + +"Yes, and that fellow may be fixed to change his appearance a good +deal," added Spud. "A man isn't going to get his hands on four thousand +dollars without doing all he possibly can to get away with it, +especially when he knows that if he is caught he will be sent to +prison." + +"What am I going to do with this horse?" questioned Timothy Bray. + +"You had better keep that animal in your stable until the livery man +from Knoxbury calls for him," answered Dr. Wallington. + +"He'll have to pay me for doing it," was Mr. Bray's reply. "Every time I +go to Knoxbury, Hoover charges me an outrageous price for putting up at +his stable, and now I can get even with him," and he chuckled over the +thought. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +AT THE SANDERSON HOME + + +It was just about supper time when Sam, accompanied by Spud, drove into +the lane beside the Sanderson farmhouse, which was lit up from end to +end. + +Evidently Minnie Sanderson, the pretty daughter of the farmer, had been +on the watch, for as they approached the house she came out on a side +piazza to meet them. + +"Why, Songbird! what kept you so long?" she cried, and then added: +"Who's that with you?" + +"It isn't Songbird, Minnie," answered Sam, after he sprang out of the +cutter, followed by Spud. "We've got some news for you." + +"Oh, Sam Rover!" exclaimed the girl. "And Will Jackson! Whatever brought +you here? Where is Songbird--do you know anything about him?" + +"Yes, we do; and that is what brought us here," answered Sam. + +"Oh, Sam! you don't mean that--that something has happened to John?" +faltered the girl, turning pale. + +"Yes, something did happen, Minnie, but don't be alarmed--he isn't hurt +very much. Come into the house and we'll tell you and your father all +about it." + +"Hurt! Oh, are you sure it isn't serious? Now please don't hold anything +back." + +"I'll give you my word, Minnie, it isn't serious. The doctor said he +would be as well as ever in a few days, but he is rather knocked out, +and the doctor said he had better not try to come here. So then he asked +Spud and me to come." + +While Sam was speaking he and Spud had led the girl back into the house. +She was very much agitated and her manner showed it. + +"But what was it, Sam? Do tell me. Did that horse run away with him? I +know John isn't much of a driver, and when he gets to composing poetry +he doesn't notice things and becomes so careless----" + +"No, Minnie, it was not that. Where is your father? We'll go to him and +then we'll tell you the whole story." + +"What's this I hear?" came from the dining-room, where Mr. Sanderson +rested in a Morris chair, with his sprained ankle perched on a +footstool. "Where is John? And what about that money he was to get for +me?" + +"Good evening, Mr. Sanderson," said Sam, coming in and shaking hands, +followed by Spud. "We've got some bad news for you, but please don't +blame Songbird--I mean John--for I am sure he was not to blame." + +"That's right!" broke in Spud. "What happened might have occurred to any +of us. I think we ought to be thankful that Songbird--that's the name we +all call John, you know--wasn't killed." + +"Oh, but do tell me what did happen!" pleaded Minnie. + +"And what about my money--is that safe?" demanded Mr. Sanderson. + +"No, Mr. Sanderson. I am sorry to say the fellow who attacked Songbird +got away with it." + +"Gone! My four thousand dollars gone!" ejaculated the farmer. "Don't +tell me that. I can't afford to lose any such amount. Why! it's the +savings of years!" and his face showed his intense anxiety. + +"Oh, so John was attacked! Who did it? I suppose they must have half +killed the poor boy in order to get the money away from him," wailed +Minnie. + +"We might as well tell you the whole story from beginning to end," +answered Sam, and then, after he and Spud had taken off their overcoats +and gloves, both plunged into all the details of the occurrence as they +knew them. + +"And he was hit on the head and on the chin! Oh, how dreadful!" burst +out Minnie. "And are you positive, Sam, it was not serious?" + +"That is what Dr. Havens said, and he made a close examination in the +presence of Dr. Wallington." + +"He ought to have been more careful," said Mr. Sanderson, bitterly. + +"But, Pa! how could he have been?" interposed the daughter. + +"Oh, in lots of ways. He might have placed that money inside of his +shirt," answered the father. "It don't do to carry four thousand dollars +around just as if it was--a--a--book of poetry or something like that," +he added, with a touch of sarcasm. + +"Pa, I think it's real mean of you to talk that way!" flared up Minnie. +"John told me that he didn't much like the idea of bringing that four +thousand dollars in cash from the bank, but he undertook the errand just +to please you." + +"Humph! Well, I was foolish to send him on the errand. I should have got +some man who knew how to take care of such an amount of cash." + +"Mr. Sanderson, I don't think it's fair for you to blame Songbird," +broke in Spud. "He did the best he could, and, of course, he had no idea +that he was going to be attacked." + +"It's all well enough for you to talk, young man," broke out the farmer, +angrily; "it wasn't your four thousand dollars that was stolen. I wanted +that money to pay off the mortgage on this farm. It's due to-morrow, and +the reason I wanted cash was because old Grisley insisted on cash and +nothing else. He lost a lot of money in the bank years ago, and that +soured him, so he wouldn't take a check nohow. Now what I'm going to do +if I can't pay that mortgage, I don't know. And me down here with a +sprained ankle, too!" he added with increasing bitterness. + +"You'll have to tell Mr. Grisley to wait for his money," said Sam. "When +he learns the particulars of this affair he ought to be willing to +wait." + +"If I could only walk I'd get on the trail of that thief somehow," +muttered Mr. Sanderson. "It's a shame I've got to sit here and do +nothin' when four thousand dollars of mine is floatin' away, nobody +knows where." + +"We have notified the police and sent telegrams ahead, just as I told +you," answered Sam. "I don't see what more we can do at present. +Songbird was attacked so suddenly that he isn't sure that the fellow who +did it is the same fellow he saw around the Knoxbury bank or not. But if +he is the same fellow, we have a pretty fair description of him, and +sooner or later the authorities may be able to run him down." + +"Oh, I know the police!" snorted the farmer. "They ain't worth a hill of +beans." + +"Well, Songbird told me to tell you that if the money is not recovered, +he will do all he can to make good the loss," continued Sam. + +"Make good the loss? Has he got four thousand dollars?" questioned the +farmer, curiously. + +"Oh, no! Songbird isn't as wealthy as all that. He has only his regular +allowance. But he said he'd work and earn the money, if he had to." + +"Humph! How is he going to earn it--writing poetry? They don't pay much +for that kind of writing, to my way of thinking." + +"Now, Pa, please don't get so excited," soothed the daughter. "Let us be +thankful that John wasn't killed. If he had been, I never would have +forgiven you for having sent him on that errand." + +"Oh, now, don't you pitch into me. Minnie!" cried the father. "I've +lost my four thousand dollars and that's bad enough. If I can't pay that +mortgage, Grisley may foreclose and then you and me will be out of a +home." + +"Nothing like that will happen, Mr. Sanderson," said Sam. + +"I don't know why." + +"The mortgage is on this farm, isn't it?" + +"Yes." + +"Is it the only mortgage you have, if I may ask?" + +"It is." + +"And what do you consider the farm worth?" + +"Well, I was offered eight thousand dollars for it last year, and I +refused to sell." + +"Then I think it will be an easy matter to arrange to have the mortgage +taken up by somebody else. Possibly my father or my uncle will do it." + +"Will they?" demanded Mr. Sanderson, eagerly. "Well, of course, that +would be some help, but, at the same time, it wouldn't bring my four +thousand dollars back," he added glumly. + +After that Minnie demanded to know more concerning Songbird's condition, +and the two youths gave her every possible detail. + +"If I had a telephone here I might send word to Ashton to find out if +they had tracked that rascal yet," said Mr. Sanderson. "But they asked +so much money to put a telephone in over here I didn't have 'em do it." + +"Where is the nearest telephone?" questioned Spud. + +"Nothin' closer nor the railroad station at Busby's Crossing." + +"That's only half a mile away," put in Sam. "We might drive over there +now and see if there is anything new." + +"You wait until you have had your supper," interposed Minnie. "It's all +ready. I was expecting John, you know," and she blushed slightly. + +"But if your father is anxious to get word----" began the Rover boy. + +"Oh, I suppose you might as well wait and have somethin' to eat first," +said the farmer. "That will give the authorities time to do somethin', +if they are goin' to." + +In the expectation of having Songbird to supper, Minnie, with the aid of +a young hired girl, had provided quite an elaborate meal, to which it is +perhaps needless to state the young collegians did full justice. Then +the youths lost no time in driving off in the cutter to Busby's +Crossing, where they were lucky enough to find the station agent still +in charge, although on the point of locking up, for no more trains +would stop at the Crossing that night. + +The boys first telephoned to the college and to Ashton, and then to +Dentonville and the railroad stations up the line. To get the various +connections took considerable time, and to get "information that was no +information at all," as Spud expressed it, took much longer still. The +sum total of it was that no one had been able to trace the man in the +heavy overcoat and with the heavy fur cap, and no one had the slightest +idea about what had become of that much-wanted individual. + +"It's going to be like looking for the proverbial pin in the haystack," +remarked Spud. + +"It's too bad," returned Sam, gloomily. "I did think we'd have some sort +of encouraging word to take back to Mr. Sanderson." + +"Say! he's pretty bitter over the loss of that money, isn't he, Sam?" + +"You can't blame him for that. I'd be bitter too." + +"It looks to me as if he might make Minnie break with Songbird if that +money wasn't recovered." + +"Possibly, Spud. Although he ought to know as well as we do that it was +not Songbird's fault." + +"I'm glad to see Minnie sticks up for our chum, aren't you?" + +"Oh, Minnie's all right and always has been. She thinks just as much of +Songbird as he does of her. Once in a while she pokes a little fun at +his so-called poetry, but Songbird doesn't mind, so it doesn't matter." + +When the boys returned to the farmhouse Minnie ran out to meet them, and +from their manner saw at once that they had no news worth mentioning. +They could see that the girl had been crying, and now it was all she +could do to keep from bursting into tears again. + +"Oh, Minnie, you ought not to take it so hard," said Sam, kindly. "Of +course, to lose four thousand dollars is a terrible blow, but maybe +they'll get the money back some way, or at least a part of it." + +"It isn't the money, Sam," cried the girl, with something like a catch +in her voice. "It's the way papa acts. He seems to think it was all +John's fault. Oh! I can't bear it! I know I can't!" she suddenly sobbed, +and then ran away and up the stairs to her bedroom, closing the door +behind her. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +SAM AND GRACE + + +"This whole affair is certainly a tough proposition," remarked Sam, +when, about half an hour later, he and Spud were on their way back to +Brill. + +The time had been spent in telling Mr. Sanderson how they had failed to +obtain any satisfaction over the telephone, and in listening to the +farmer's tirade against poor Songbird. + +"Old Sanderson certainly pitched into Songbird," returned Spud. "I +declare if anybody called me down that way, I think I'd be apt to get +into a regular fight with him." + +"He is very much excited, Spud. I think when he cools down he will see +matters in a different light. Just at present the loss of the four +thousand dollars has completely upset him." + +"I suppose he pitched into Minnie even more than he pitched into us." + +"Maybe he did. I must say I am mighty sorry for that poor girl." + +"What are you going to tell Songbird?" + +"I suppose we'll have to tell him the truth, Spud, although we'll have +to smooth over Mr. Sanderson's manner as much as we can. There's no use +in hurting Songbird's feelings, especially now when he's broken up +physically as well as mentally." + +When they reached the college they found that Songbird had insisted upon +it that he be taken to the room he occupied with Sam instead of to the +sick ward. He was in bed, but wide awake and anxious to hear all they +might have to say. + +"Of course I knew Mr. Sanderson would blame me," he said, after asking a +great number of questions. "Four thousand dollars is a heap of money." +He knitted his brows for a moment, and then cast an anxious glance at +Sam. "How did Minnie really seem to take it?" he continued. + +"She sided with you, Songbird, when her father talked against you," +answered Sam. + +"She did, did she? Good for her!" and Songbird's face lit up for an +instant. "She's true blue, that girl is!" + +"Now, the best thing I think you can do is to try to go to sleep and get +a good night's rest," went on Sam. "This worrying about what can't be +helped won't do you any good." + +"Yes, but, Sam, what am I going to do if that money isn't gotten back? +The Sandersons can't afford to lose it, and even if I went to work right +away, it would take me a long, long time to earn four thousand dollars." + +"I have been thinking that over, Songbird, and as the money was to be +used in paying off a mortgage, I think I can arrange the matter, +providing the holder of the present mortgage won't extend the time for +it. I think I can get my father or my uncle to take the mortgage." + +"Very good, Sam, so far as it goes. But that wouldn't be getting the +money back. If it isn't recovered, I'll feel that I am under a moral +obligation to earn it somehow and give it to Mr. Sanderson." + +"We'll talk about it later. Now you've got to go to sleep," were Sam's +concluding words, and after that he refused to say any more. He +undressed and threw himself on his bed, and was soon asleep. But poor +Songbird turned and twisted, and it is doubtful if his eyes closed until +well along in the early morning hours. + +On the following day Sam had several classes to attend, as well as to +work on a theme; but as soon as these tasks were over he obtained +permission to leave the college to find out, if possible, if anything +had been done in the matter of the robbery. He visited Ashton and had +an interview with the police, and then used the telephone in several +directions. But it was all of no avail; nothing whatever had been seen +or heard of the rascal who had made the attack upon Songbird. + +"I'm afraid it will be one of those mysteries which will never be +explained," mused the youngest Rover boy, as he jumped into the cutter +which he was using and drove away from Ashton. "It's too bad! Oh! how +I'd like to get my hands on that rascal, whoever he may be!" + +It was not until two days later, when Songbird was once more able to be +about and had insisted on being driven over to the Sanderson place, that +Sam had a chance to go on the sleighride with Grace Laning. He drove +over to Hope Seminary about four o'clock in the afternoon, having sent +word ahead that he was coming. Grace was waiting for him, and the pair +speedily drove away, wistfully watched by a number of the girl students. + +"It's so nice of you to think of me, Sam, when you've got so much to +think about on poor Songbird's account," said Grace, as they were +speeding out of the seminary grounds. "How is he?" + +"Oh, he's doing better than we expected, Grace. He insisted on being +driven over to the Sandersons this afternoon. Stanley took him over, +because none of us thought Songbird was strong enough to drive himself." + +"I want you to give me all the particulars of the attack," said the +girl, and this the youth did readily. + +"It must have been the man who stuttered and whistled--the fellow +Songbird saw at the Knoxbury bank," declared the girl, positively. +"Wouldn't it pay to get a detective on his track?" + +"Perhaps so, Grace. I think Songbird is going to mention that to Mr. +Sanderson." + +Sam did not want the girl to worry too much over what had occurred and +so soon changed the subject. They talked about college and seminary +matters, and then about affairs at home, and about matters in New York +City. + +"I just got another letter from Nellie to-day," said Grace. "She says +that the apartment she and Tom have rented is perfectly lovely--every +bit as nice as the one occupied by Dick and Dora." + +"I'm glad they like it, Grace. But, believe me, it will be some job for +Tom to settle down and be a staid married man! He was always so full of +fun." + +"Why, the idea, Sam Rover! Don't you think a man can be married and +still keep full of fun?" + +"Well, maybe, if he got such a nice girl as Nellie. Just the same, I'll +wager Tom sometimes wishes he was back in good old Brill." + +"Indeed! And do you think you'll wish you were back at Brill if ever you +get married?" she asked slyly. + +"Oh, I didn't say anything about that, Grace. I--I----" + +"Well, it's just about the same thing," and Grace tossed her pretty face +a trifle. + +"Oh, now look here, Grace! You haven't any call to talk that way. I +suppose when I get married I'll be just as happy as Dick or Tom. That +is, providing I get the right girl," and he gazed at the face beside him +very ardently. + +"Sam Rover, you had better watch where you are driving, unless you want +to run us into the rocks and bushes," cried the girl, suddenly. For, +forgetting the steed for a moment, Sam had allowed the horse to turn to +one side of the somewhat rough highway. + +"I'll attend to the horse, never fear," he answered. "I never yet saw +the horse that I couldn't manage. But speaking of letters, Grace, I had +one from Dick day before yesterday and he made a suggestion that pleased +me very much." + +"What was that?" + +"He suggested that if I graduate from Brill this coming June, as I +expect to do, that we make up a party to occupy two or three automobiles +and go off on a regular tour this summer, taking in the Middle West and +maybe some other points." + +"Oh, Sam, how grand! Of course he was going to take Dora along?" + +"Yes. His idea was that if matters could be arranged at the offices in +New York, that he and Dora, as well as Tom and Nellie, would go along +and that we would go too, along with some others--say enough to make at +least two automobile loads." + +"Oh, I'd love an auto tour like that! Couldn't we have just the best +times ever?" and Grace's pretty eyes sparkled in anticipation. + +"When I got the letter I thought the same, and I also thought we might +ask Songbird and Minnie--Dora and Nellie could chaperon her, you know. +But now I don't know what we'll do about them. Most likely Songbird +wouldn't feel like going if that money wasn't recovered, and more than +likely Mr. Sanderson wouldn't let Minnie go." + +"Oh, dear! I suppose the loss of that money will hang over Songbird like +a big cloud forever," pouted the girl. "It's too bad! I don't see why +Mr. Sanderson couldn't have paid that mortgage with a check." + +"Just exactly what we all say now, Grace. But that doesn't do any good." + +"Are you sure you are going to graduate, Sam?" + +"I certainly hope so. I am going to try my best not only to graduate, +Grace, but to get as close to the top of the class as possible. Dick and +Tom had to leave before they had a chance to graduate, so I want to make +a good showing for the Rover family." + +"It's the same with me, Sam. Nellie left to get married, and so did +Cousin Dora, so I've got to do the best I can for our family next June." + +"Then you hope to get through too?" + +"Of course." + +"How are the teachers treating you these days? Have you had any more +trouble with Miss Harrow, or the others?" + +"Not the least bit. They are all perfectly lovely, and Miss Harrow is so +sorry that she ever thought Nellie had taken that diamond ring." + +"Well, she ought to feel sorry," responded Sam. "It certainly put Nellie +to a lot of trouble. Did that gardener who put the diamond ring in the +inkwell ever come back to work at the seminary?" + +"Andy Royce? Yes, he is working there. I have seen him several times. He +is quite a changed man, and I don't think he drinks at all." + +"Well, that's one good job done, Grace. That man's worst enemy was +liquor." + +Sam had arranged that they might remain out until nine o'clock that +evening, and so drove Grace over to Knoxbury, where they went to quite a +fashionable restaurant for dinner. Here they met several young men and +girls they knew, and all had a most delightful time during the repast. + +When Sam went outside to get his horse and cutter, which had been placed +in a livery stable near by, he was surprised to encounter the very man +he had mentioned but a short while before, Andy Royce, the gardener who +had once been discharged from Hope Seminary for not attending properly +to his duties and who, through the intercession of the Rovers and the +Lanings, had been reinstated in his position. + +"Good evening, Mr. Rover," said Andy Royce, respectfully, as he touched +the cap he wore. + +"Hello, Royce! What are you doing here?" asked the youth. + +"Oh, I just drove over to Knoxbury to get some things for the seminary," +replied Royce; and then stepping closer he added in a lower tone: "I +saw you going into Meeker's restaurant a while ago and I stayed here to +see you when you came out. I'd like to talk to you a bit." + +"All right. What have you to say?" returned Sam, briskly. "I haven't got +much time to waste." + +"I wanted to ask you about the young fellow who was knocked down and +robbed the other afternoon," went on Andy Royce, as the two walked away, +out of the hearing of the others in the livery stable. "Somebody told me +that the fellow who was robbed said a man did it who stuttered and +whistled." + +"Well, we rather think that man did it, but we are not certain," +answered Sam. He glanced sharply at the gardener. "Do you know anything +of that fellow?" + +"I think I do, Mr. Rover. You see it's this way: Several years ago I +used to live out West, in Denver and Colorado Springs, and I used to +know a man out there who went by the name of Blackie Crowden. He used to +stutter fearfully and had a funny little whistle with it." + +"Out in Denver, you say? That's a long way from here." + +"I know it is, sir, but after I left I heard that this Blackie Crowden +had come to Center Haven, and that's only twenty miles from here. And +that ain't all," continued Andy Royce, earnestly. "I was in this town +about a week ago and I am almost certain I saw this same Blackie Crowden +on the street. I tried to reach him so as to speak to him, but he got +away from me in a crowd that had come up to see a runaway." + +"This is interesting," returned Sam. "Tell me how this Blackie Crowden +looks," he went on. And then as Andy Royce described the individual he +added slowly: "That seems to tally with the description Songbird gave of +the fellow who looked at him through the bank window when he was placing +the money away. More than likely that fellow was that same Blackie +Crowden." + +"Well, if it was Blackie Crowden, why don't you have him locked up?" +queried the gardener. + +"Perhaps I will, providing he is still in Center Haven," answered Sam. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +SOMETHING ABOUT BLACKIE CROWDEN + + +When Sam returned to Brill late that evening, after having spent a most +delightful time with Grace, he found that Songbird had returned from the +Sandersons' homestead some time before. The would-be poet of the college +was working hard over some of his lessons, and it was plainly to be seen +that he was in anything but a good humor. + +"Sanderson treated me like a dog--like a regular dog!" he burst out, in +reply to Sam's question. "Why! to hear him talk you would almost think I +was in league with the fellow who attacked me!" + +"It's too bad, Songbird; but you shouldn't take it so much to heart. +Remember, Mr. Sanderson is a very hard-working man and one who has +probably never allowed another fellow to get the best of him in any kind +of a deal. The amount that was lost represents probably the savings of a +good many years, and to lose it so suddenly and in such an underhanded +way has completely upset him. When he has had time to think it over +calmly he'll probably see that you were not to blame." + +"I don't think so--he's not that kind of man, Sam. He was very bitter +and he told Minnie that she wasn't to see me any more. Minnie was +dreadfully upset, of course, and she rushed off to her room, so I didn't +have any chance to say good-bye to her." + +"As bad as that, eh? Well, you can write her a letter anyway." + +"So I can; but maybe her father will see to it that she never gets it," +responded the smitten youth, gloomily. + +"I've got a little news that may prove encouraging," pursued Sam after a +slight pause; and then he related the particulars of his meeting with +Andy Royce, and what the Hope gardener had said regarding Blackie +Crowden. + +"Say! that's great!" burst out the would-be poet. "If I could see this +Crowden I'd know at once if he was the man who watched me when I was at +the Knoxbury bank, and if it was it would certainly pay to put the +authorities on his trail." + +"I was thinking the same, Songbird. I wonder if we couldn't get +permission from Dr. Wallington to drive over to Center Haven to-morrow +and find out what we can about this Blackie Crowden?" + +"Oh, he'll have to give us permission--at least he'll have to let me +go," returned Songbird. "I can't settle down to any lessons until +something is done, one way or another. Here I am, trying to study, and I +hardly know a word of what I'm reading." + +"Let us go to the doctor at once if he is still up and ask him," said +Sam. + +Permission to leave the college was readily granted by Dr. Wallington, +who, however, cautioned Songbird about overexerting himself while he was +still suffering from the attack that had been made upon him. + +"I'll depend upon you, Rover, to look after him," said the head of +Brill, kindly. "And let me add, I wish you every success in your search +for the offender. I certainly would like to see you get Mr. Sanderson's +money back." + +The two young collegians had breakfast as early as possible, and by +eight o'clock were on their way to Center Haven in the automobile +belonging to the Rovers, and which had now been left in Sam's care. +Heavy chains had been put on the wheels so that the automobile made its +way over the snowy roads without much trouble. Of course in some spots +where the frozen highway was uneven, the boys got some pretty hard +bumps, but this they did not mind, their one thought being to get to +Center Haven as soon as possible and learn all they could concerning +Blackie Crowden and his doings. + +Center Haven was a town about the size of Knoxbury, and among other +things boasted of a large hotel which was generally well patronized +during the summer months. Andy Royce had said that Crowden had been seen +at this hotel and probably had some sort of position there. When the +boys arrived there they found that the main building of the hotel was +completely closed. The only portion that was open was a small wing with +an equally small dining room used for the accommodations of the few +transients who came to Center Haven during the winter months. + +"We came here to find a man named Blackie Crowden," said Sam to the +proprietor of the hotel, who came forward to meet them when they +entered. "Can you tell me anything about him?" + +"You won't find him here," returned the hotel man, brusquely. "I +discharged him two weeks ago." + +"Discharged him?" queried Songbird, and his tone showed his +disappointment. "Any trouble with him?" + +"Oh, yes, lots of trouble. Are you friends of his?" + +"We certainly are not," answered Sam. "But we'd like to find out +something about him." + +"I'm glad you are not friends of his," continued the hotelkeeper. "I +feel very sore over that man. I took him in and gave him a good job, and +paid him a good deal more than he was worth. But he wouldn't work--in +fact he was the laziest man I ever saw--and so I had to discharge him. I +paid him all that was coming to him, and when he got out he was mean +enough to sneak off with some of my clothing, and also a pair of my +gloves and my rubbers. If I could lay my hands on him, I'd be strongly +tempted to hand him over to the police." + +"Did he take an overcoat of yours and a fur cap?" demanded Songbird, +quickly. + +"He certainly did. A heavy, dark-gray overcoat and one of these fur caps +that you can pull down over your ears and over the back of the head." + +"He must have been the same fellow," remarked Sam. "And the fact that he +robbed this man here goes to prove what sort of rascal he really is." + +"Did he steal anything from you people?" asked the hotelkeeper, +curiously. + +"I think he did," answered Songbird. "Did you hear anything of the +attack that took place a few days ago on the road near Ashton, in which +a young fellow was robbed of four thousand dollars in cash?" + +"Oh, yes, I heard about that from the police captain here." + +"Well, I am the fellow who was robbed," continued Songbird. "And I'm +strongly inclined to think now that it was this Blackie Crowden who was +guilty--in fact I am almost certain of it. When I was at the Knoxbury +bank getting the money and putting it away in my pocket I saw a man +watching through a window of the bank. He had on a dark-gray overcoat +and a fur cap pulled far down over his face. Then, later on, just after +I was attacked, my friend here with a chum of ours came driving along +and saw this same man with the heavy overcoat and the fur cap drive off +with the horse and cutter that I had had--and he was the same fellow who +had knocked me senseless." + +"Is that so! Well, I think you've hit the nail on the head, and if you +catch this Blackie Crowden you'll have the right fellow. Anybody who +would run off with my things as he did after he had been treated as +well as I treated him wouldn't be above committing such a crime. But the +question is, where did he go? Have you any idea?" + +"We know he got on the train at Dentonville," said Sam. "That's as far +as we've been able to trace him so far. But now that we know that this +criminal is Blackie Crowden, maybe the authorities will be able to run +him down sooner or later." + +"This Crowden was very friendly with one or two of the men around the +stables," went on the hotelkeeper. "Maybe you can find out something +about him from them." + +"A good idea!" answered Songbird. "We'll see what they have to say." + +The hotel man took the two youths to the stables, and there they talked +with several men present who had known Crowden. From these they learned +that the man had been very much dissatisfied with the work assigned to +him, and had frequently spoken about the good times to be had in such +large cities as New York, Chicago and Denver. + +"He said he thought he would go back to New York first," said one of the +stable men, "and then he thought he would go on to Chicago and after +that visit some of his old places and cronies in Denver. But, of +course, where he really did go to I haven't the least idea." + +"What you say is something of a clue anyway," returned Sam. "Now if we +only had a photograph of this Crowden, it might help the police a great +deal." + +"We've got a picture of him," said one of the men present. "It was taken +by one of the visitors at the hotel this fall. He came out here to take +a picture of some of the horses and we helped him, so all of us got into +the picture, Crowden with the rest. I'll get it," he added, and +disappeared in the direction of his sleeping quarters. + +The photograph was a fairly large one, showing three men and as many +horses. The man in the center was Blackie Crowden, and the stable man +and the hotelkeeper declared that it was an excellent photograph of that +individual. + +"Will you let us have this photograph?" asked Songbird. "I would like to +have that picture of Crowden enlarged, and then you can have it back." + +"Sure you can have it," answered the stable man. "As that fellow is a +thief, you might as well tear that picture up afterward, because I don't +want to be in no photograph with a criminal," and he grinned +sheepishly. + +"All right then, I won't take the trouble to return it," answered +Songbird. "Suppose you accept this dollar for it," and he passed over a +banknote, which the stable man took with thanks. A little later the two +youths started on the return to Ashton. + +"Well, that's one step nearer the solution of this mystery," announced +Sam. "Now I think we had better stop at Knoxbury and find out about that +horse which belonged to Hoover, the livery stable man." + +They reached the banking town about noon, and went directly to the +livery stable. As they did so a man in a cutter drove in, leading a +horse behind him. + +"There is the horse now!" cried Sam. "He must have just gotten the +animal back from Mr. Bray." + +"Are you Mr. Hoover?" questioned Songbird of the man in the cutter, as +he came to a halt near them. + +"That's my handle, young man. What can I do for you?" + +"I would like to know something about that horse, and who hired him from +you;" and then he introduced himself and Sam. + +"I don't know who got the animal," answered Mr. Hoover. "I was away at +the time, and a stable boy let him out. He declares the fellow said he +was a friend of mine, and that it would be all right." + +"And was the fellow dressed in a heavy, gray overcoat and a heavy fur +cap?" asked Sam. + +"Yes, that was the description the stable boy gave. When he found I +didn't know anything about the man he was scared to death, because I +told him that if the horse didn't come back I'd make him pay for the +animal." + +"Then that's all we want to know, Mr. Hoover," answered Songbird. "I'm +pretty sure now I know who it was that knocked me down and robbed me." + +"He was a rascal, all right," answered the livery stable man. "I had to +pay old Bray four dollars to get my own horse back," he added, sulkily. + +As the long ride in the open air had made them hungry, the two youths +went to the restaurant in Knoxbury for dinner. Then the automobile was +turned once more in the direction of Ashton. + +"I'll have that photograph enlarged by Clinger," said Songbird, +referring to a photographer in the town who did a great deal of work for +the Brill and Hope students. "Then I'll have copies sent to the various +police stations, even to New York, Chicago and Denver, along with a +description of Blackie Crowden." + +"That's the talk, Songbird. Oh, I am sure we'll get on his trail sooner +or later," said Sam. But though he spoke light-heartedly for his chum's +benefit, he knew that to trace the criminal would be by no means easy. +With the four thousand dollars in his possession, Blackie Crowden would +probably make every effort to keep from being discovered. + +As they sped along the road, Songbird could not help becoming poetical, +and despite his blueness he managed to concoct the following doggerel: + + "The engine hums--advance the spark, + Turn on the throttle--what a lark! + Away we go like a flash of light + Over the hill and out of sight." + +"Not so bad, Songbird," was Sam's comment. "That's right--keep it up and +maybe you'll feel better." But that was the only verse to be gotten out +of the would-be poet for the present. + +Arriving at Ashton, they went immediately to the photographer's shop and +told him what was wanted, and he agreed to re-photograph the picture of +Crowden and then enlarge the same and make as many copies as Songbird +desired. + +"I'll do it this afternoon," said Mr. Clinger, "and you can have a +dozen or more copies by to-morrow morning. I'll make the head of the +fellow about as large as a half dollar, and that ought to make a picture +for any policeman or detective to go by;" and so it was arranged. + +While the youths were at the photographer's an express train had come +into Ashton and now quite a few people were coming away from the +railroad station. As the boys walked towards the automobile, Songbird +suddenly uttered a cry. + +"Look, Sam! Look who's here!" + +"Why, it's Tom! My brother, Tom!" exclaimed Sam, as he rushed forward. +"What in the world brought him here to-day?" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN WHICH TOM ARRIVES + + +Tom Rover, tall and broad-shouldered, looked the picture of health as he +came toward his younger brother and Songbird. He smiled broadly as he +shook hands with them. + +"Why, Tom! What brings you here?" remarked Sam. "You didn't write about +coming on." + +"Oh, I thought I'd just drop in and surprise you," returned Tom. "You +know I can't quite get used to being away from Brill," he continued, +with a grin. + +"Want to get back to your studies, I suppose," was his brother's dry +comment. "Well, come ahead; you can help me on a theme I am writing on +'Civilization in Ancient Central America.'" + +"Wow! that sounds as interesting as a Greek dictionary!" cried Tom. +"Thank goodness! I don't have to worry my head about themes any more. +But just the same, Sam, don't make any mistake. I am as busy these days +as I ever was in my life, trying to help Dick and dad to put our new +organization on its feet." + +"And how is that getting along?" + +"Fine. We incorporated this week and have our papers, and now I am the +secretary of The Rover Company," and Tom strutted around with his thumbs +under his arms. "Some class to me, eh?" + +"And what is Dick?" questioned Songbird, curiously. + +"Oh, Dick is treasurer," answered Tom. "Dad, of course, is president, +but he expects to hold that position only until Sam comes in. Then Dick +is to become president; myself, treasurer; and Sam, secretary." + +"Say! that's all right," responded the youngest Rover, his face showing +his satisfaction. + +"That is, provided you want to come in, Sam. Dad doesn't want you to +give up your idea of becoming a lawyer unless you want to." + +"Oh, I might become a lawyer and remain secretary of the company too," +was the answer. "One thing is sure, if you and Dick are going to remain +in that company you'll have to take me in." + +"Well, what's the news?" went on Tom. "Had any fun lately? How is +Grace?" and he looked rather sharply at his brother. + +"Oh, Grace is all right," answered Sam. He hesitated a moment. "I +suppose you didn't get the letter I sent to you and Dick yesterday--the +letter about Songbird here?" + +"Why no. I left the office night before last." + +"Songbird is in trouble, Tom," returned the brother. "Are you going up +to the college? If you are you can go with us in the automobile and +we'll tell you all about it on the way." + +"Yes, I'll go up, and I might as well take my grip with me, for maybe +I'll stay over until to-morrow if they have room for me," and thus +speaking Tom turned back to the railroad station to get his dress-suit +case. The three youths were soon on their way to Brill, and as Sam +manipulated the car he and Songbird gave the new arrival the details +concerning the attack. Tom, of course, listened with deep interest. + +"That's a rank shame, Songbird!" he cried, at the conclusion of the +narrative. "I know just how you feel. If I could get my hands on that +Blackie Crowden, I think I'd put him in the hospital first and in prison +afterward." + +"I told Songbird not to worry as far as the money was concerned," went +on Sam. "If that old fellow who holds the mortgage won't wait for his +money, I told Songbird that I thought we could get our folks to advance +the cash." + +"Sure thing!" responded Tom, promptly. "You give me the details and I'll +see about the money when I go back." + +"Mr. Sanderson said he would know about it early next week," answered +Songbird. "He expects a visit from old Grisley and Belright Fogg." + +"My gracious! You didn't tell me anything about Fogg being connected +with this," burst out Sam. + +"I forgot all about it," answered Songbird. "It seems that as soon as +old Grisley heard the money was stolen and that it wasn't likely the +mortgage would be paid, he hired Belright Fogg to take the matter up for +him. He is an old man and very excitable, and he somehow got the notion +that Mr. Sanderson would try to swindle him in some way. So he got +Belright Fogg in the case, though as a general thing he has no more use +for lawyers than he has for banks." + +"Well, he's very foolish to put his case in the hands of such a fellow +as Belright Fogg. Tom, I guess you'll remember the trouble we had with +that fellow." + +"I sure do, Sam!" + +"And Sam had more trouble with him," cried Songbird. "Don't forget how +you hit him in the head with a snowball." + +"That's right. In the excitement of the attack on you, Songbird, I +forgot all about that," answered the youngest Rover. "I suppose he is +laying back to bring that up against me." + +They soon reached the grounds surrounding Brill, and Tom looked at the +college buildings with interest. + +"Looks almost like home to me," he said somewhat wistfully. "My, but I +had some good times here! I wish I had been on deck for that snowballing +contest." + +"Sam was the hero of that occasion, according to all accounts," answered +Songbird. "He captured the banners of the freshies and sophs, you know." + +As the automobile rolled into the grounds a number of students +recognized Tom and waved friendly greetings to him. Leaping out, he was +soon surrounded by a number of his old chums, all of whom wanted to know +where he had been keeping himself and how long he was going to stay with +them. + +"Can't stay longer than to-morrow noon," he announced. "You know I'm a +business man now," and he puffed up and grinned in a manner that made +all of the others smile. + +"You just came in time, Tom," cried Spud. "Your old friend, William +Philander Tubbs, who has been away on business to Boston, got back here +this morning." + +"What! My old friend Tubby here? I'll be glad to shake his flipper," +announced Tom, and grinned more than ever as he recalled the practical +jokes that had been played at different times on the dudish student who +had been mentioned. + +Of course the students present wanted to know what had been learned by +Sam and Songbird on the trip to Center Haven, and many were the +speculations regarding Blackie Crowden. + +"The authorities ought to be able to catch that fellow now that you have +his photograph and a good description of him," remarked Stanley. "It +would be a good idea to send that description and photograph broadcast." + +The boys reported to Dr. Wallington, and Tom went with them. The head of +Brill was glad to see his former student, and readily consented to allow +Tom to remain with the others that night, an extra cot being put into +room No. 25 for that purpose. + +"Are those the banners you captured, Sam?" questioned Tom, when the boys +entered the room, and as he spoke he pointed to two banners which were +nailed up on the wall. + +"Yes, Tom, those are the ones we captured," was the reply of the +youngest Rover, with considerable pride. "The freshies and sophs wanted +them back the worst way, but I told them there was nothing doing, that I +intended to keep them at least until I graduated. They sent a committee +to me to get the banners, and I can tell you that committee was pretty +sore when they went away without getting them." + +"You watch out that they don't take those banners on the sly, Sam." + +"Oh, Songbird and I are looking out for them. Didn't you notice we had +the door locked? We always lock up now, and no one has a key but the +janitor, and we have cautioned him not to let any one in here without +our permission." + +"I'll tell you what I'd like to do to-night," said Tom. "I'd like to +smuggle something to eat into this room and give some of our crowd a +spread, just for the fun of it." + +"All right, I'm willing, Tom," answered his brother. "Of course you'll +have to keep rather quiet about it, because I don't want to get into the +bad graces of any of the monitors or of Dr. Wallington. I want to +graduate next June with the highest possible honors." + +It was arranged that while Songbird and Sam studied some necessary +lessons, Tom was to return to Ashton in the automobile and bring back a +number of things which would be needed for the proposed spread. Tom +took Spud and Stanley with him. Out on the campus the three came face to +face with William Philander Tubbs. + +"Hello, Tubblets, old boy!" cried Tom cordially, as he caught William +Philander by the hand. "How are you making it these days?" + +"I--er--er---- How do you do, Rover?" stammered the dudish student. +"Why, I am--er--am quite well, thank you. I thought you had left +college?" + +"Oh, I couldn't leave it for good, you know, Tubby, my dear. They +wouldn't be able to get along without me." + +"Why--ah--why--ah--somebody told me you were going into business in New +York." + +"That's right, Tubbette." + +"Oh, Rover! please don't call me by those horrid nicknames any longer," +pleaded William Philander. "You promised me long ago you wouldn't do +it." + +"Only a slip of my memory, my dear Philander Williams. I really----" + +"No, no! Not Philander Williams. My name is William Philander." + +"That's right! so it is. It's always been Philander William--No, I mean +Willander Philiams--no, that isn't it either. My gracious, Tubblets, old +boy! what have you done with the front handles of your cognomen, +anyway? You twist me all sideways trying to remember it." + +"Really, how odd! My name is William Philander Tubbs. That's easy +enough." + +"If I had it engraved in script type on a visiting card and looked at it +daily, maybe I would be able to remember it," answered Tom, mournfully. +"You know my head was never very good for history or anything like that. +However, now that I know that your name is Philander Tubblets Williams, +don't you think you'd like to ride down to Ashton with us? We are going +to have a little spread to-night, and I want you to help me pick out the +spaghetti, sauerkraut, sweet potato pie, Limburger cheese, and other +delicacies." + +"Oh, by Jove! do you really mean you are going to have those things for +a spread?" gasped William Philander. + +"That is, if they are just the things you like," returned Tom, +innocently. "Of course, Stanley here suggested that we have some fried +eel sandwiches and some worm pudding. But I don't know about such rich +living as that." + +"Eel sandwiches! Worm pudding!" groaned William Philander, aghast. "I +never heard of such things! Why don't you get--er--er--some cream puffs +and chocolate eclares and er--and--er--and mint kisses and things like +that, you know?" + +"Not solid enough, my dear Willie boy. The boys love substantials. You +know that as well as I do. Of course we might add a few little +delicacies like turnips and onions, just for side dishes, you know." + +"I--I--really think you had better excuse me, Rover!" exclaimed William +Philander, backing away. "I am not feeling extra good, and I don't think +I want to go to any spread to-night," and William Philander bowed and +backed still farther. + +"Oh, all right, Philly Willy," responded Tom, dolefully. "Of course if +you don't want to participate you don't have to, but you'll break our +hearts if you stay away. Now you just come to room twenty-five to-night +and we'll give you the finest red herring and mush ice cream you ever +chewed in your life," and then he and his chums hurried away in the +automobile, leaving William Philander Tubbs gazing after him in deep +perplexity. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE FEAST + + +When Tom came back accompanied by Stanley and Spud, all had their arms +full of the things purchased in Ashton. + +"And this is only the half of it," announced the fun-loving Rover to his +brother, in answer to a query. "We've got to go back and get the rest +out of the automobile." + +"We'll bring that stuff up," said Stanley. "You stay here with your +brother. Come on, Songbird, I see you are doing nothing, so you might as +well give us a lift," and off the three boys trooped to bring up the +rest of the things purchased for the feast. + +"I'm mighty glad you are going to give this, Tom, on Songbird's +account," announced Sam, when he and his brother were left to +themselves. "Songbird is about as blue as indigo. You see, it isn't only +the money--it's Minnie. Her father won't let him call on her any more." + +"Tough luck, sure enough," responded Tom. "Well, let us do all we can +to-night to make Songbird forget his troubles." Tom took a walk up and +down the room, halting in front of a picture of Grace which was in a +silver frame on a chiffonier. "Pretty good picture, Sam," he observed. + +"Yes, it is." + +"Did you say that you had been out with Grace lately?" + +"Oh, yes. We had a fine sleighride only the other day." + +"She's made quite a friend of a Miss Ada Waltham at the seminary, a rich +girl, hasn't she?" + +"She has mentioned Miss Waltham to me. I didn't know that they were +particularly friendly," answered Sam. "You know this Miss Waltham is +very rich." + +"So I heard, Sam. She is worth about a quarter of a million dollars, so +somebody said. But she has a brother, Chester, who is worth even more. +An uncle died and left nearly his entire estate to the brother." + +"Is that so? Lucky young fellow! But I don't see how that interests me, +Tom," and Sam looked at his brother inquiringly. "You act as if you had +something on your mind." + +"So I have, Sam; and that is one of the reasons I came here to-day," +announced Tom. "I'll tell you about it in the morning," he added +hastily, as a tramping was heard in the hallway; and the next moment the +door burst open and in came Stanley, Songbird, Spud and one or two +others, all loaded down with bundles and packages. + +"Make way for the parcels post and the express company!" proclaimed +Spud, as he dropped several packages on one of the cots. "Say, Tom, you +must have bought out half of Ashton." + +"Only three-eighths, Spud," answered the fun-loving Rover, gaily. "You +see I knew what an awful appetite you had, and as I had an extra +twenty-five cent piece in my jeans I thought I'd try to satisfy that +appetite just once." + +"Twenty-five cents! Wow!" commented Stanley. "I'll wager this spread +costs you a good many dollars." + +Word had been passed around to a number of Tom's old friends, and they +were all requested to be on hand by ten o'clock. + +"Tubbs says he begs to be excused," announced Paul Orben when he came +in. "He says he has got some studying he must do." + +"Nonsense! He's afraid we'll treat him to some sauerkraut pie and some +pickled pastry," returned Tom. "I don't want him to stay away and miss a +good time. What room is he in?" + +"Number eighteen." + +"Then come along, some of you, and we'll bring him here," announced the +fun-loving Rover, and marched off, followed by Spud and Bob. In the +meanwhile, Sam, Songbird and Stanley brought the things from the closet +and began to prepare for the feast. + +Tom and his friends found William Philander busy folding and putting +away half a dozen gorgeous neckties. He was rather startled at their +sudden entrance, and did his best to hide the articles. + +"Hello! I thought you were boning away on trigonometry or mental +science," was Tom's comment. "Say, old boy, that's a gorgeous necktie," +he added as he picked up a creation in lavender and yellow. "Did you buy +this to wear at the horse show, or at a meeting of mothers' helpers?" + +"Oh, my dear Rover, please don't muss that up!" pleaded William +Philander, snatching the necktie from Tom's hands. "That is one that +was--er--made--er--a--a present to me." + +"Oh, I see. That's the one that blind young lady gave to you. I admire +her taste in picking it out." + +"Blind lady? I--er--have no blind lady friend," returned William +Philander. + +"Oh, yes, I remember now, Tubby, she was deaf--not blind. It's a wonder +she didn't pick out something a little louder." + +"Oh, Rover, I really believe you are poking fun at that necktie," +returned the dudish student. + +"We came to get you to come to the feast, Willie," announced Spud. "We +don't want you to miss it." + +"We wouldn't have you miss it for a peck of shelled popcorn," put in +Bob. + +"Yes, but really, I've got some studying to do, and----" + +"You can study after the feast is over, my dear boy," broke in Tom, as +he caught William Philander by the arm. "You'll be surprised how much +quicker you can learn on a full stomach than on one that is half vacant. +Come on!" + +"Yes, but I----" + +"We haven't any time to spare, Tubblets. You are going to the feast, so +you might as well make the best of it. Come on, fellows, help him along. +He's so bashful he can't walk," and thus urged, Spud took William +Philander's other arm while Bob caught him by the collar and in the +back, and thus the three of them forced the dudish collegian out of his +room and along the hallway to Number 25. + +By this time something like fifteen students had gathered in the room, +and the advent of Tom and his chums with the somewhat frightened William +Philander was greeted with a roar of approval. The dudish student was +marched in and made to take a seat on a board which had been placed on +two chairs. On the board sat several students, and William Philander was +placed on one end. + +"Now, then, everybody make himself at home," announced Tom, as soon as a +look around had convinced him that his brother and the others had +everything in readiness for the feast. "I believe you'll find everything +here except toothpicks, and for those we'll have to chop up one of Sam's +baseball bats later on." + +"Not much! You're not going to touch any of my bats," announced the +younger brother, firmly. + +"Sam wants to keep them to help bat another victory for Brill this +spring," put in Spud. "My! but that was one great game we had last +season." + +"So it was," put in another student. "And don't forget that Tom helped +to win that game as well as Sam." + +While this chatter was going on various good things in the way of salads +and sandwiches had been passed around, and these were followed by cake +and glasses of root beer, ginger ale and grape juice. + +"Why, this is perfectly lovely," lisped William Philander Tubbs, as he +sat on the end of the board-seat, his lap covered with a paper napkin on +which rested a large plate of chicken salad and some sandwiches. In one +hand he held an extra large glass of grape juice. + +"Everybody ready!" announced Stanley, with a wink at several of the +boys. "Here is where we drink to the health of Tom Rover!" + +"Tom Rover!" was the exclamation, and at a certain sign all the boys +seated on the board except William Philander leaped to their feet. + +The result was as might have been expected. The dudish pupil had been +resting on the end of the board, which overlapped the chair, and with +the weight of the others removed, the board suddenly tipped upward and +down went William Philander in a heap, the chicken salad jouncing +forward over his shirt front and the glass of grape juice in his hand +being dashed full into his face. + +[Illustration: THE BOARD SUDDENLY TIPPED AND DOWN WENT WILLIAM +PHILANDER.] + +"Hi! Hi! What--er--did--er--you do that for?" he spluttered, as he sat +on the floor, completely dazed. "Say! why didn't you tell me you were +going to get up?" and then he started to wipe the grape juice from +his eyes and nose. + +"Hello! Salad's going down!" cried one student gaily. + +"Say, Tubbs, there is no use of throwing such nice food as that away +even if you don't want it," chimed in another. + +"Don't you know enough to stand up when a toast is to be drunk?" queried +a third. + +"I--I--didn't quite understand," stammered William Philander, and then +with an effort he extracted himself from the mess on his lap and slowly +arose to his feet. "My gracious! I believe I have utterly ruined this +vest and trousers!" he added mournfully, as he gazed down at the light +gray suit he wore. + +"Oh, a little gasoline will fix that up all right," said Spud. "Don't +let a little thing like that interfere with your pleasure, Tubbs. Come +on--here's another glass of grape juice. No use of crying over spilt +milk--I mean juice," corrected the youth. + +"Tom Rover! Everybody up!" came the call, and then amid a subdued +murmuring of good luck the boys stood around Tom and drank his health. + +"Thank you, fellows, very much," answered Tom, and there was just a +suspicion of huskiness in his voice. + +"Speech! Speech! Give us a speech!" came from several. + +"Speech? Great guns! I never made a speech in my life," announced Tom, +and now for the first time he looked a bit confused. + +"Oh, you've got to say something, Tom," cried Stanley. + +"What shall I talk about--earthquakes in India, or the spots on Tubbs' +pants?" queried Tom, with a grin. + +"Never mind what you talk about so long as you say something," came from +Bob. + +"All right then--here goes!" announced Tom after a little pause. "Catch +this before it's too late. I'm glad to be here, otherwise I wouldn't be +here. I'm glad you are here, otherwise you wouldn't be here. I think +Brill College is the best college any fellow could ever go to, if that +hadn't been so I'd never have gone to Brill. I'm sorry I couldn't stay +here to graduate, but I've left the honor to Sam here, and I trust he'll +get through and make a record for the whole family. Boys, I thank you +from the bottom of my heart. And here's wishing you all success at +graduation and success through life," and thus concluding his little +speech, Tom took a generous drink of ginger ale, while the others +applauded vigorously. + +"Very good!" cried Sam, but then added quickly: "For gracious sake! +don't make too much noise or you'll have one of the monitors here and +we'll get some black marks." + +"That's right, fellows," announced Stanley. "After this we'll have to be +as noisy as a mouse in a cheese factory." + +"Now that I have been called on to make a speech," announced Tom, after +quietness had been restored, "I am going to call on Songbird for one of +his choice bits of poetry." + +"Oh, now, Tom! please don't do that," pleaded the would-be poet of +Brill. "You know I'm in no humor for writing poetry now." + +"All the more reason why you should write some," announced Sam. "Come on +now. You must have something tucked away in your system--I mean +something brand new." + +"Well--er--I've got something new, but I hardly think it is appropriate +for this occasion," answered Songbird slowly. + +"Never mind; give it to us no matter what it is," cried one of the +students. + +"Let her flutter!" + +"Poetry for mine!" + +"Let her flow, Songbird!" + +"That's right. Turn on the poetry spigot, Songbird;" and thus urged the +would-be poet of Brill began: + + "The world is black and I feel blue, + I do not know what I'm to do, + That fellow hit me in the head + And left me in the road for dead. + I go around from hour to hour + And I am feeling mighty sour. + I am consumed with helpless woe----" + + "Because I lost that heard-earned dough," + +completed Tom, rather suddenly, and this abrupt ending caused a general +laugh. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +TOM FREES HIS MIND + + +The party in Number 25 did not break up until some time after midnight, +and all present declared that they had had the time of their lives. Only +one interruption had come, made by a good-natured monitor who had begged +them to make less noise, and this fellow, well known to Tom, had been +bought off with several sandwiches and a bottle of ginger ale. + +"And how do you fellows feel this morning?" asked Tom, who was the first +to get up after a sound sleep. + +"Oh, I'm first rate," announced his younger brother. "I thought I'd +dream, with so much chicken salad and sandwiches and cake in me, but I +slept like a log." + +"I didn't sleep extra well," came slowly from Songbird. "But I don't +think it was the feast kept me awake." + +Tom walked over to where the would-be poet of Brill sat on the edge of a +cot and dropped down beside him. + +"Songbird, you take the loss of that money too much to heart," he said +kindly. "Of course we all know it was a great loss. Yet it won't do to +grieve over it too much. And besides, there is hope that some day the +authorities will catch that Blackie Crowden and get at least part of the +money back." + +"It isn't the money alone, Tom; it is the way Mr. Sanderson has treated +me. And besides that, I'm worried over that mortgage. I'd like to know +just what old Grisley and his lawyer are going to do." + +"I'll tell you what I'll do, Songbird. If you wish me to, I'll call on +Mr. Sanderson and tell him what we are willing to do, so that he can +rest easy about paying the mortgage off if he has to." + +"I wish you would go, Tom--and put in a good word for me, too," cried +Songbird, eagerly. + +"Oh, I'll do that, never fear. I'll go this morning before I start back +to New York;" and thus it was arranged. + +"You said that you had something to tell me, Tom," remarked Sam, as the +three were going downstairs to breakfast. "What was it?" + +"Oh, it may not amount to much, Sam. I'll tell you about it as soon as +we can get by ourselves," answered Tom. + +The morning meal was quickly disposed of, and then Tom and Sam returned +to Number 25, the former to repack his dress-suit case before leaving +for the Sandersons' place and for New York. + +"I don't exactly know how to get at this, Sam," began his brother, +slowly, when the pair were in the bedroom and the door had been closed. +"It is about Grace and the Walthams." + +"About Grace?" and Sam showed his increased interest. "What about her?" + +"Well, as I mentioned last night, this Ada Waltham is very rich, and she +has a brother, Chester, who is older than she is and much richer. In +fact, I've heard it said that he is a young millionaire." + +"Well?" queried Sam, as his brother paused. + +"Oh, I really don't know how to get at this, Sam," burst out Tom, and +his face showed his worry. "Maybe there is nothing in it at all; but +just the same I thought I had better bring it to you at once. I knew you +would rather have it come from me than from some outsider." + +"But what in the world are you talking about, Tom?" + +"I'm talking about the attentions this Chester Waltham is bestowing upon +Grace. It seems that his sister, Ada, introduced him to Grace a couple +of months ago, and since that time I've heard that he has been up to +Hope several times, ostensibly to call on his sister, but really to see +Grace. I understand he has taken both of them out riding several times." + +"Taken Grace out riding!" cried Sam, and his face flushed suddenly. "Are +you sure of this? Grace never mentioned it to me." + +"I think it's the truth, Sam. You see, ever since Nellie left Hope she +has kept corresponding with several of the girls there, and one of these +girls knows Ada Waltham quite well, and she mentioned the fact of the +sister and Grace going out with Chester. She said that she quite envied +Grace being invited to ride out with a young millionaire. Then Nellie +spoke to Dora about it, and Dora said she had heard practically the same +thing from another one of the seminary students. Now I don't like to +butt in, Sam, but at the same time I thought you ought to know just how +things were going." + +"I don't understand it at all," returned the younger brother, and for +the moment he looked rather helpless. "If Grace received an invitation +to go out with this Chester Waltham, I am quite sure she would mention +it to me." + +"Perhaps she merely went as a companion of Ada's," suggested Tom, "and +she might have thought it wasn't necessary to mention it." + +"Have you heard anything more than that, Tom?" + +"Not much, except that in one of the letters this girl said that she +would envy Grace all the nice flowers and boxes of candy she might +expect from such a wealthy young man as Waltham. Now, as I said before, +Sam, it's none of my business, but I just couldn't help coming out here +to put a flea in your ear. We--Nellie and I--know just how you feel +about Grace, and both of us would like nothing better than to have you +double up with her after you graduate." + +"Thank you, Tom; it's fine for you to talk that way, and it's fine to +have Nellie on my side. But I don't understand this at all. If Grace has +been going out with this Chester Waltham, why hasn't she said something +to me about it? She has spoken to me about Ada a number of times, but I +never heard this Chester mentioned once." + +"Well, I can't tell you any more than I have told you," returned Tom. +"If I were you, I'd see Grace and find out just what this fellow has +been doing. You know a fellow who is worth a million dollars is some +catch for any girl." + +"Yes, I know. It's a good deal more than I'll be able to offer Grace." + +"True, but money isn't everything in this life, Sam. I didn't look for +money when I married Nellie, and I don't think she cared a rap how much +I was worth." + +"That's the way it ought to be done----" + +"I always supposed that you and Grace had some sort of an understanding +between you," went on Tom, after rather an awkward pause. "Of course, +Sam, you haven't got to say a word about it if you don't want to," he +added hastily. + +"We did have some sort of an understanding, Tom. But you know how it was +with you and Nellie--Mrs. Laning wouldn't think of your becoming +publicly engaged until after you had left college. She has told Grace +that she will have to wait. So she is free to do as she chooses." + +There was but little more that could be said on the subject, and so Tom +turned to pack his suit case while Sam got ready to attend one of his +classes. The youngest Rover heaved a heavy sigh, which showed that he +was more disturbed than he cared to admit. + +A little while later Tom had said good-bye to his brother and to his +numerous friends at Brill and was on his way in a hired turnout to the +Sanderson homestead, which he had promised to visit before leaving on +the train at Ashton for New York City. Tom went on his errand alone, +none of the others being able to get away from the college that morning. + +The Sandersons had heard nothing about his arrival at Brill and, +consequently, were much surprised when he drove up. Minnie greeted him +with a warm smile, and even Mr. Sanderson, considering his great loss, +was quite cordial. + +"Ain't comin' back to complete your eddication, are you, Mr. Rover?" +questioned the farmer, with a slight show of humor. + +"No, Mr. Sanderson. I'm through with Brill so far as studying goes," +answered the youth. "I just took a run-out to see how Sam and the others +were getting along. They told me all about your loss, and I'm mighty +sorry that the thing happened. Poor Songbird is all broke up over it." + +"Humph! I reckon he ain't half as much broke up as I am," retorted the +farmer. "This has placed me in a fine pickle." + +"Now, Pa, please don't get excited again," pleaded Minnie, whose face +showed that she had suffered as much, or more, as had her parent. + +"Ain't no use to get excited now. The money is gone, and I suppose that +is the last of it. What I'm worryin' about is how I'm goin' to settle +about that mortgage. Grisley at first said he would put it off, but +yesterday he sent word that he was comin' here to-day with his lawyer +to settle things." + +"And here they come now!" interrupted Minnie, as she glanced out of a +window. The others looked and saw two men drive up the lane in a cutter. +They were old Henry Grisley, the man who held the mortgage on the farm, +and Belright Fogg. The girl went to the door to let the visitors in. Old +Henry Grisley paid scant attention to Tom when the two were introduced +to each other. The lawyer looked at the visitor in some astonishment. + +"Huh! I didn't expect to see you here, Mr. Rover," said Belright Fogg, +coolly. "Are you mixed up in this unfortunate affair?" + +"I may be before we get through," answered Tom. + +"You weren't the young man who lost the money?" + +"No." + +"I've got an account to settle with your brother," went on Belright +Fogg, rather maliciously. "He took great pleasure the other day in +hitting me in the head with a snowball, almost knocking me senseless. +I've had to have my head treated by a doctor, and more than likely I'll +sue him for damages." + +"I reckon you'll do what you can to make it hot for him," returned Tom. +"It's your way, Mr. Fogg. But just let me give you a word of advice--you +take care that you don't get your fingers burnt." + +"Ha! Is that a threat?" + +"Oh, no. It is only a word of advice. Please to remember that we know +all about you, and we won't stand any nonsense from you. If my brother +really hurt you, he'll be willing to do the fair thing; but if you think +you can gouge him in any way, you've got another guess coming." + +"Looky!" came in a shrill voice from old Henry Grisley. "I thought we +come here fer my money on that er mortgage," and from under a pair of +heavy gray eyebrows he looked searchingly into the faces of Mr. +Sanderson and the lawyer. + +"Yes, Mr. Grisley, that's what we came for," returned Belright Fogg, +"and the sooner we come to business perhaps the better." + +"As I've told you before, the money is gone--stolen," said Mr. +Sanderson. "I can't pay--at least not now, and I'd like an extension of +time." + +"Mr. Grisley isn't inclined to grant any extension," said Belright Fogg, +somewhat pompously. "The mortgage is too big for this place anyway, and +he feels that he ought to have his money." + +"And if Mr. Sanderson can't pay, what then?" questioned Tom, before the +farmer could speak. + +"Why, we'll have to foreclose and sell the place," answered the lawyer, +quickly. + +"That's it! That's it!" came shrilly from old Henry Grisley. "I want my +money--every cent of it. If I don't git it, I'm goin' to take the farm," +he added in tones which were almost triumphant. + +"But see here----" began Mr. Sanderson. + +"Oh, Pa, don't let them sell the farm!" burst out Minnie, and as she +spoke the tears started to her eyes. + +"You won't sell the farm, Mr. Grisley," said Tom, coolly. + +"Why not, if the money isn't paid?" cried the old man. + +"The money will be paid--every cent of it," answered Tom. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +OLD GRISLEY COMES TO TERMS + + +All in the room looked at Tom in some surprise because of the plain way +in which he had spoken. + +"Mr. Rover, you are sure of what you are saying?" questioned Mr. +Sanderson, quickly, in a low voice. + +"Yes, Mr. Sanderson, we'll take care of this mortgage. Don't you worry a +bit about it." + +"Did you say you would pay off this mortgage?" demanded Belright Fogg, +glaring at Tom. + +"I didn't say I'd pay it off personally. But my folks will take care of +it." + +"The money is due now--has been due for several days." + +"Yes, sir, that's right!" came shrilly from Henry Grisley. "And I want +you to know that I want the full amount with interest up to the day when +it is paid. I ain't goin' to lose nothin'--not a cent." + +"Mr. Grisley, I have an offer to make to you," went on Tom addressing +himself directly to the old man and utterly ignoring Belright Fogg. "You +don't know me, but let me say that my father and my uncle are worth a +good deal of money. I am in business in New York with my father, and our +concern has a great deal of money to invest. Now, if you will agree to +hold this mortgage for thirty days, I will guarantee to have it paid in +full at that time with every cent of interest. And in addition to that I +will pay you twenty-five dollars for your trouble and for your lawyer's +fees." + +"Ha! What do you think I am? What do you think I work for?" demanded +Belright Fogg, with a scowl. "My fee will be more than twenty-five +dollars in this case." + +"What? What?" shrilled Henry Grisley, turning his beadlike eyes on the +lawyer. "Twenty-five dollars? Not much! I'll give ye ten dollars and not +a cent more." + +"That's the way to talk, Mr. Grisley. You give him ten dollars and you +keep the fifteen dollars for your own trouble," cried Tom. "So far as I +can see he hasn't done anything for you excepting to come here to see +Mr. Sanderson, and certainly such a trip as this isn't worth more than +ten dollars." + +"My services are worth a good deal more!" exclaimed Belright Fogg. And +thereupon ensued a war of words between him and Henry Grisley which +lasted the best part of a quarter of an hour. The lawyer saw the case +slipping away from him, and at last in deep disgust he said he would +have no more to do with the affair. + +"Don't want ye to! Don't want ye to!" piped out Henry Grisley. "Lawyers +are a useless expense anyway. I'll settle this case myself, and for what +you've done I won't pay more'n ten dollars, jest remember it!" and he +shook a long, bony finger in Belright Fogg's face. + +"I won't be insulted in this manner!" cried the lawyer, and then in a +dudgeon he stormed from the house, leaped into the cutter, and drove +away. + +"A good riddance to him," murmured Mr. Sanderson. But then he added +hastily: "Was that your horse, Grisley?" + +"No, it wasn't," was the answer. "And how I'm to git home now, I don't +know," added the old man, helplessly. + +"Where do you live?" questioned Tom. + +"The other side of Ashton, on the Millbury road." + +"All right, then, I'll take you there when I go down to the depot," +answered Tom. "That is, if you want to ride with me." + +"I want to know jest how we stand on this mortgage question first," +announced Henry Grisley. "I want your offer down in black and white." + +"You shall have it, and the others can be witnesses to it," answered +Tom, and in the course of the next quarter of an hour a paper was drawn +up and duly signed by which Tom agreed that the mortgage should be taken +over by the Rovers within the next thirty days, with all back interest +paid, and that Henry Grisley should be paid a bonus of twenty-five +dollars for his trouble and for his lawyer's fees. To bind the bargain +Tom handed the old man a ten-dollar bill on account, which Henry Grisley +stowed away in a leather wallet with great satisfaction. + +"Oh, Tom! it's just splendid of you to help us out in this manner!" said +Minnie, after the transaction had been concluded and while old Grisley +and Mr. Sanderson were talking together. + +"I'm glad to be of service to you," answered the youth. "I only hope for +your sake, and for the sake of Songbird, that the money that was stolen +is recovered. Songbird is going to get on the trail of that rascal if it +is possible to do so." + +"I hope they do locate that fellow, Tom. If they don't I'm afraid pa +will never forgive poor John." + +"Oh, don't say that, Minnie. 'Never' is such a long word it should not +have been put in the dictionary," and Tom smiled grimly. + +Now that he felt fairly certain that he was to get his money, Henry +Grisley was in much better humor. + +"I suppose I might as well have left that mortgage as it was," he +mumbled. "It was payin' pretty good interest." + +"Well, that was for you to decide, Grisley," returned Mr. Sanderson. +"Personally I don't see how you are going to make any better investment +in these times." + +"Well, I've got thirty days in which to make up my mind, ain't I?" +queried the old man. "If I don't want to close out the mortgage I ain't +got to, have I?" + +"Certainly you've got to sell out, now that you have bargained to do +so," put in Tom. "You can't expect us to pull our money out of another +investment to put it into this one and then not get it." + +"Hum! I didn't think o' that," mused old Grisley. He thought hard for a +moment, pursing up his lips and twisting his beadlike eyes first one way +and then another. "Supposin' I was to say right now that I'd keep the +mortgage? What would you do about it?" + +"Do you really mean it, Grisley?" asked Mr. Sanderson, anxiously. + +"Depends on what this young man says, Sanderson. One thing is sure; I +ain't goin' to give up that ten dollars he give me--and Fogg is got to +be paid somehow." + +"Look here! if you want to keep the mortgage just say so," declared Tom. +"It's a good mortgage and pays good interest. You can't invest your +money around here to any better advantage." + +"All right, then, I'll keep the mortgage," announced Henry Grisley. "But +understand, young man, I'm to keep that ten dollars you give me too," he +added shrewdly. + +"Well, I don't see----" began Tom, when Mr. Sanderson interrupted him. + +"All right, Grisley, you keep the ten dollars, and you settle with +Fogg," announced the farmer. "And it's understood that you are to make +out the mortgage for at least one year longer." + +"Can't ye give me more'n the ten dollars?" asked Henry Grisley. "Mebbe I +might have to pay Fogg more'n that." + +"Don't you pay him a cent more," said Tom. "His services aren't worth +it." + +"I won't pay him nothin' if I can git out of it," responded the old man, +shrewdly. "If I keep the mortgage, then what has he done for me? +Nothin'. Mebbe I'll give him half of the ten dollars. I've had jest as +much trouble as he has." + +Following this discussion the paper formerly drawn up was destroyed and +a note written out and signed by Henry Grisley, in which the old man +agreed to renew the mortgage for one year from the date on which it had +been due. + +"To tell ye the truth, I wouldn't have bothered about this," explained +old Grisley, in a burst of confidence; "but, you see, Fogg knew the +mortgage was due and he come to me and asked me what I was goin' to do +about it. And then when word come that your money had been stolen, he +told me that I'd better foreclose or otherwise I might git next to +nothin'." + +"The underhanded rascal!" was Mr. Sanderson's comment. + +"That's just what he is," answered Tom. "You know we had a lot of +trouble with him last year--and evidently we are not done with him yet," +he added, as he thought of what Belright Fogg had said concerning the +snowball thrown by Sam. + +Tom wanted to say a good word for Songbird, and the opportunity came +when, a few minutes later, and before their departure, Minnie invited +them to partake of some cake and hot coffee. While Grisley sat down in +the dining-room, the youth talked to the farmer. + +"Now, Mr. Sanderson, I have done what I could for you," he said, coming +at once to the point; "and now I want to say a word or two about poor +Songbird. He feels awfully bad over this matter, and he thinks that you +are doing him an injustice. And let me say I think so too," and Tom +looked the farmer squarely in the eyes as he spoke. + +"Yes, I know, Rover, but----" + +"Now, Mr. Sanderson, supposing you had been in Songbird's place and had +been knocked down and nearly killed; what would you say if you were +treated as you are treating him? Wouldn't you be apt to think that it +was a pretty mean piece of business?" + +At these plain words the farmer flushed and for the instant some angry +words came to his lips. But then he checked himself and turned his eyes +away. + +"Maybe you are right, and maybe I was a bit hasty with the lad," he said +hesitatingly. "But you see I was all worked up. It took me a good many +years to save that four thousand dollars, and now that I am getting old +it won't be no easy matter for me to save that amount over again." + +"You won't have to save it over again, Mr. Sanderson. Songbird insists +upon it that just as soon as he gets to work he's going to pay you back +dollar for dollar." + +"Did he tell you that?" + +"He did. And he told the others the same thing. He'll make that loss up +to you if it takes him ten years to do it. I've known him for a good +many years now. We went to Putnam Hall Military Academy together before +we came to Brill--and I know he is a fellow who always keeps his word. +He's one of the best friends we Rover boys have. He's a little bit off +on the subject of poetry, but otherwise he's just as smart and sensible +and true-blue as they make 'em," went on Tom, enthusiastically. "And not +only that, he comes from a very nice family. They are not rich, but +neither are they poor, and they are good people to know and be connected +with," and Tom looked at the farmer knowingly. + +"I see, Rover." Mr. Sanderson drew a deep breath, and then looked +through the doorway to where Minnie was pouring out the coffee. "If I +was too hasty I--I--am sorry." + +"And you will let Songbird come here and call on your daughter?" + +"I--I suppose so, if Minnie wants him to come." + +"Thank you, Mr. Sanderson. I am sure you won't regret your kindness," +said Tom, and insisted upon grasping the farmer's hand and shaking it +warmly. Then he went in to have some cake and coffee before taking his +departure with old Grisley. + +"So you are going back to New York, are you, Tom?" said the girl while +he was being served. + +"Yes, I am going to take the train this afternoon," he answered, and +then continued: "I've got a loose button here on my coat, Minnie. Will +you fasten it before I go?" + +"Sure I will," she returned, and a few minutes later led the way to a +corner of the sitting-room, where was located a sewing basket. + +"I wasn't worrying much about losing the button, Minnie," he whispered. +"I wanted to tell you about Songbird. I have just spoken to your father +about him, and he says he can come to see you the same as he used to." + +"Oh, Tom! did he really say that?" and Minnie's eyes brightened greatly. + +"Yes, he did. And as soon as I get to Ashton I am going to send +Songbird a telephone message to that effect," returned Tom. + +"Oh, Tom! will you?" and she looked at him pleadingly. + +"Surest thing you know, Minnie. And believe me, Songbird, when he gets +that news, will be the happiest fellow in Brill." + +"I don't think he'll be any happier than I'll be," answered the girl; +and then of a sudden blushed deeply and finished sewing on the button +without another word. + +Ten minutes later Tom bade the Sandersons good-bye, and, accompanied by +Henry Grisley, drove away in the direction of Ashton. Old Grisley was +left at his home, and then Tom took himself to the depot, where, from a +telephone booth, he sent a message to Songbird telling the would-be poet +of Brill how it had come about that Grisley had agreed to renew the +mortgage for one year, and how Mr. Sanderson had said that Songbird +could renew his calls upon Minnie if he so desired. + +"Tom, you're a wonder!" said Songbird over the telephone, "you're a +wonder, that's all I can say!" + +"Never mind what I am," returned the fun-loving Rover, kindly; "you just +see if you can get on the trail of that fellow who stole the four +thousand dollars, and at the same time you get busy and make up for lost +time with Minnie. Good-bye!" and then he hung up the receiver, and a few +minutes later was on board the train bound for the metropolis. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +SAM ON THE ROAD + + +The next few days were very busy ones for Sam because he had a number of +important classes to attend, and he was hard at work finishing his theme +on "Civilization in Ancient Central America." It was impossible to call +on Grace, and so he did nothing to find out the truth about Chester +Waltham because he did not wish to ask the girl about this over the +telephone, nor did he see his way clear to expressing his thoughts on +paper. + +Sunday came and went, and Monday morning brought a letter to the +youngest Rover which he read with much interest. It was from Belright +Fogg, a long-winded and formal communication, in which the lawyer stated +that he had been under medical treatment because of being hit in the +head by a snowball thrown by Sam, and he demanded fifty dollars damages. +If the same was not paid immediately, he stated that he would begin +suit. + +"Anything wrong, Sam?" questioned Songbird, who was present while Sam +was reading the letter. "You look pretty serious." + +"Read it for yourself, Songbird," was the reply, and Sam passed the +communication over. + +"Well, of all the gall!" burst out the would-be poet of Brill. "Fifty +dollars! Of course you won't pay any such bill as this?" + +"Not so you can notice it," returned Sam, sharply. "If he had sent me a +bill for five dollars or less I might have let him have the money just +to shut him up. But fifty dollars! Why, it's preposterous!" + +"What do you propose to do?" + +"I won't do anything just yet. I want time to think it over and to talk +it over with some of the others and, maybe, with Dr. Wallington." + +When they heard of this demand for money from the rascally lawyer, +Stanley and Spud were as angry as the others. + +"I don't believe he's entitled to a cent," came from Stanley. "We were +having that snowballing contest on the college grounds, and while the +highway runs through that end of the grounds, I believe Fogg passed +through there at his own peril, as a lawyer might put it. If I were you, +Sam, I'd put the whole case up to Dr. Wallington, and I'd remind the +doctor of your former trouble with Fogg, and let him know just what +sort of an underhanded rascal he is." + +"All right, Stanley, I'll do it," answered Sam. "I'll go to the doctor +immediately after classes this afternoon. Will you go along?" + +"Of course, if you want me to." + +Four o'clock found them at the door of the doctor's study. He looked at +them rather curiously as they entered. + +"Well, young men, what can I do for you?" he questioned pleasantly. + +"I've got into some trouble over that snowballing contest," answered +Sam; and, sitting down, he gave the head of Brill the particulars of the +occurrence, and then produced the letter received from Belright Fogg. + +"Hum!" mused the worthy doctor, as he knitted his eyebrows. "He must +have been pretty badly hurt." + +"I don't think he was hurt at all, Doctor," interrupted Stanley. "I was +present, and so were a number of the other students. Mr. Fogg had his +hat knocked off, and that was about all. He wasn't stunned or anything +like that. He talked to Sam just as rationally as I am talking to you, +and all those standing around heard him. Of course, he was very angry, +not only because he had been hit but because the fellow who had thrown +the snowball was Sam Rover. He, of course, remembered how the Rovers +foiled his plot to do them out of what was coming to them when their +flying machine was wrecked on the railroad, and also how they got the +best of Fogg and a company of brokers in New York City." + +"Yes, yes, I remember about the wrecked flying machine," returned Dr. +Wallington. "I know nothing about this affair in New York." + +"Well, it was a very serious matter, and Fogg came pretty close to going +to prison," answered Sam, and gave a few details, as already related in +the volume entitled "The Rover Boys in New York." + +"Very interesting, Rover, very interesting indeed," murmured the head of +Brill. "But even that did not excuse your hitting this man in the head +with a snowball and hurting him." + +"There is another point I would like to mention," said Stanley. "We were +having the contest on the college grounds, and Mr. Fogg was struck on +the roadway where it runs through our grounds." + +"Ah! I see. That might make a difference. The highway is more or less of +a public one, it is true, but it has never been turned over to the +county authorities, so it really forms a part of our grounds still. But +of one thing I wish to be sure, Rover--did you aim at Mr. Fogg, or was +the snowballing unintentional?" + +"I didn't see him at all," answered Sam. "Some of the fellows rushed +behind the bushes and I simply let drive along with a number of others. +Then Fogg appeared and claimed that I had hit him in the head. I rather +think he tells the truth, although I am not positive." + +"In that case he would have to prove that you were guilty. Besides that, +if it came to a matter of law, he would have to prove actual damages, +and I do not see how he could claim fifty dollars if he was not hurt +more than you say. If you wish, you can leave the whole matter in my +hands and I will have it investigated." + +"Thank you very much, Doctor Wallington," returned Sam, warmly. "This +lifts a load off my mind. Of course I will pay whatever you settle on;" +and so the matter was allowed to rest. + +A thaw had set in and the snow began to disappear rapidly from the roads +and fields around Brill. There was a good deal of slush, which rendered +some of the highways almost impassable, so that it was not until a week +later that Sam had an opportunity to visit Hope. In the meantime, +however, he had sent a nice little note to Grace in which no mention was +made of the Walthams. He had looked for an answer but none had come. + +"Where bound, Sam?" questioned Songbird, when he saw his roommate +getting ready to use his automobile. + +"I'm going for a run to Hope. Do you want to come along?" and Sam's eye +had a twinkle in it. + +"You might run me around to the Sanderson place. It won't take long in +the auto," returned the would-be poet. "If I can get there, I won't mind +walking back this evening. I've been wanting to go for a long while, but +the roads have been so poor I couldn't make it." + +"All right, Songbird, come ahead," was Sam's answer; and a little later +found the pair on the road. + +It did not take long to reach the Sanderson farm, and as they entered +the lane Sam tooted his horn loudly. + +"I've brought you a visitor, Minnie!" cried the Rover boy, as he brought +the machine to a standstill. "Here is somebody I know you won't want to +see, but I'm going to leave him here nevertheless," and he grinned +broadly. + +"Oh, John!" burst out the farmer's daughter, and blushed deeply. She +came forward and shook hands with both youths. "I am more than glad to +see you." + +"I am on my way to Hope, so I won't come in," went on Sam. "How is +everything, Minnie?" + +"Oh, about as usual," answered the girl, and then went on: "Of course +you know all about what Tom did for us? It was splendid!" + +"You haven't heard anything more regarding the money?" + +"Not a thing, Sam. I thought maybe you had something to tell," and the +girl turned from Sam to Songbird. + +"We have sent out the photographs and the description of Blackie +Crowden," answered the latter. "They are going to the police in all the +large cities, so if Crowden turns up at all he'll be arrested sooner or +later." + +After a few more words Sam left the Sanderson place and headed directly +for Hope. + +Although he would not admit it even to himself, the youngest Rover was a +good deal worried. What Tom had told him concerning Grace and the +Walthams had been continually in his mind, and time and again he had +wondered how he should broach the subject to Grace and what the answer +of the girl would be. + +"Of course she's got a right to go out with whom she pleases," he told +himself. "But still I thought--well I thought it was all fixed between +us, that's all." + +Sam was so occupied with his thoughts that he paid scant attention to +the running of the automobile. As a consequence he went over a number of +sharp stones, and a minute later there came a loud report from the rear +of the machine. + +"A blowout! Confound the luck!" he exclaimed, as he brought the +automobile to a standstill. "And just when I was in a hurry to get to +Hope!" + +There was nothing else to do, so, stripping himself of his overcoat and +donning a jumper, Sam got out, taking with him some of the tools from +under the automobile seat. It was a tire on one of the rear wheels which +had blown out, and this wheel he now jacked up for the purpose of +putting on a new shoe and inner tube. As luck would have it, the tire +that had been cut fit very tightly, so that it was all the Rover boy +could do to get it off the rim. He tugged and twisted, perspiring +freely, but it was some time before he could even get the injured shoe +started. + +"If I can't get it off, what ever am I to do?" he mused. "I must be at +least half a mile from even a telephone, and the nearest garage is at +Ashton. At this rate I'll never get to Hope." + +He continued to work over the tire, at last doing his best to pound it +off with a bit of iron and a hammer. Then he gave a final wrench, which +brought the tire off so suddenly that Sam was sent flat on his back in +the dirt and slush of the road. It was an occurrence to try anybody's +patience, and Sam arose in anything but a happy frame of mind. His back +was covered with mud, and a good deal of the slushy water had penetrated +to his skin. + +"Ugh! of all the rank luck!" he muttered, as he shook himself. "If I +ever get this wheel mended I'll be a fine sight to present myself at a +fashionable ladies' seminary. Why in the world didn't I look where I was +driving, instead of rushing right over such a prime collection of rough +stones?" + +But finding fault with himself did not mend matters, and so, casting the +cut tire aside, Sam unstrapped one of the extra shoes he carried and got +out another inner tube. + +As if everything was to go wrong that afternoon, the new shoe proved to +be as small as that which had been taken off, and as a consequence Sam +had to work like a Trojan for the best part of half an hour before he +finally got it into place. + +"And now I've got to pump it up by hand," he observed to himself, +grimly, as he remembered that the power pump which had been installed +on the engine was out of order and could not be used. Then he brought +out the hand pump and set to work to fill the new tire with air. + +Sam had the tire about three-quarters pumped up and was working away as +vigorously as his somewhat exhausted condition would permit when he +heard a honking of an automobile horn, and the next moment a machine +came in sight around a turn of the highway. The car was a large and +powerful one of foreign make, and was driven by a young man stylishly +dressed, in a full suit of furs, and wearing automobile goggles. Behind +him were two young ladies, also wearing furs, and with veils covering +their faces. + +"Tough luck!" sang out the young man at the wheel of the passing car, +and he waved one hand pleasantly towards Sam. + +The youth had been bending over the hand pump, but now, as the other +automobile swept by, he straightened up suddenly and stared with open +eyes after the vanishing turnout. He had not recognized the young man +who was running the machine, but he had recognized the two young ladies +in the tonneau of the car. + +"Ada Waltham! And that was Grace with her!" he murmured. "And if that's +so, it must have been Chester Waltham who was running the car!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +DAYS OF WAITING + + +As Sam gazed after the vanishing automobile a pang of bitterness swept +through his heart. He remembered all that his brother had told him +concerning Chester Waltham, and he also remembered that Grace had never +mentioned the young millionaire. + +"And she knew I was coming over to Hope just as soon as the roads made +it safe and pleasant for automobiling," he murmured to himself. + +Neither of the young ladies in the tonneau of the car had looked back, +so it was more than likely they had not recognized him as he was bending +over the hand pump, inflating the new tire. + +"But maybe she saw me after all and did not want to let on," he thought +dismally. "Maybe she thought I wouldn't recognize her." + +What to do next was a problem for the young collegian. If Grace was not +at the seminary he had no desire to call there. He continued to work +over the tire, and soon it was properly inflated, and he put away the +tools he had used. His face was a study, for he was doing some hard +thinking. + +"Well, I'll go to Hope anyway, and if she isn't there I'll leave my +card, so she'll know I called. Then I'll see what she has to say about +matters," he told himself; and setting his teeth somewhat grimly he +started up the automobile and continued his trip. + +At the door of the seminary he was met by a maid, who brought him the +information that Miss Laning was out. Then several girls who knew Sam +came up, and one of them explained that Grace had gone automobiling. + +"She went with Ada Waltham and her brother, Chester," explained the girl +student. "You see, Chester has a brand new foreign car--a beauty--and he +was very anxious to give his sister and Grace a ride. We thought he +might have asked some of us to go along, but he didn't," and the girl +pouted slightly. + +"You don't suppose they were going to stop at Brill?" questioned Sam, +struck by a sudden thought. + +"I don't think so, Mr. Rover. Ada said something about riding to +Columbia and having dinner there this evening. That, you know, is quite +a distance, and the road doesn't run past your college." + +"Then I suppose they won't be back till late?" + +"They had permission to stay out until ten o'clock," put in another of +the girls who were present. + +"Oh! I see." As the girls were looking at him rather sharply, Sam felt +his face begin to burn. "Well, I hope they have a good time," he added +somewhat hastily. "Good-evening," and then turned and walked quickly +towards his automobile; and in a minute more was on his way back to +Brill. + +"I'll wager Grace Laning has got herself into hot water," was the +comment of one of the girls, as they watched Sam's departure. "I don't +believe he likes it one bit that she went off with the Walthams." + +"Humph! You can't expect a girl to hang back when she is asked to take a +ride in a brand new automobile, and with such millionaires as Chester +Waltham and his sister," broke in another girl. "I just wish I had the +chance," she added rather enviously. + +In the meantime, Sam was driving along the country road in rather a +reckless fashion. His mind was in a turmoil, and to think clearly just +then seemed to be out of the question. + +"Of course she has a right to go out and dine with the Walthams if she +wants to," he told himself. "But at the same time----" And then there +came up in his mind a hundred reasons why Grace should have refused the +invitation and waited for him to call upon her. + +"Hello! you are back early," remarked Spud, when Sam appeared at Brill. +"I thought you were going to make an evening of it." + +"I had some bad luck on the road," replied Sam, rather sheepishly. "I +had a blowout, and in trying to get the tire off I slipped and went flat +on my back in the mud and slush," he continued. + +"Is that so? Well, that's too bad, Sam. So you came home to get cleaned +up, eh? I thought your girl thought so much of you that she wouldn't +care if you called even when you were mussed up," and at this little +joke Spud passed on, much to the Rover boy's relief. + +The only occupant of Number 25 who seemed to be happy that night was +Songbird, who came in whistling gaily. + +"Had a fine time with Minnie," he declared--"best time I ever had in my +life. I tell you, Sam, she's a wonderful girl." + +"So she is, Songbird." + +"Of course, you don't think she's half as wonderful as Grace," went on +the would-be poet of Brill; "but, then, that's to be expected." + +"How did Mr. Sanderson treat you?" broke in Sam, hastily, to shift the +subject. + +"Oh, he treated me better than he did before." Songbird's face sobered +for a minute. "To be sure he feels dreadfully sore over the loss of that +four thousand dollars. But I assured him that I and the authorities were +doing all in our power to get the money back, and I also assured him +that if it wasn't recovered I expected to pay it back just as soon as I +could earn it. Of course he thinks I am talking through my hat about +earning such a big amount, but just the same I am going to do it just as +soon as I graduate from Brill. I'd go to work to-morrow instead of +staying here if it wasn't that I had promised my folks that I would +graduate from Brill, and as near the top of my class as I could get. If +I left now, my mother would be heartbroken." + +"Of course your folks know about the loss, Songbird?" + +"Yes. I wrote them the whole particulars just as soon as I could, and +I've let them know what we are doing now." + +"Do they blame you for the loss?" + +"My father thinks I might have been a little more careful, but my +mother says she thinks it is Mr. Sanderson's fault that he let me get +such an amount of money in cash and carry it on such a lonely road. But +dad is all right, and in his last letter he said he could let Mr. +Sanderson have a thousand dollars if that would help matters out." + +"Had Mr. Sanderson heard any more from old Grisley, or Belright Fogg?" + +"Yes. He saw Grisley and the old man said the lawyer was boiling mad +because he had agreed to let the mortgage run for another year. Fogg +wouldn't accept the five dollars that old Grisley offered him for his +trouble, so then Grisley would give him nothing; and there the matter +stands." + +"He'll get something out of Grisley if he possibly can. My opinion is, +since Fogg lost his job with the railroad company, and made such a +fizzle of his doings in New York City, he is in bad shape financially +and eager to get his hands on some money in any old way possible." + +"Have you settled the snowball affair with him yet?" + +"No. I'm going to see Dr. Wallington about it to-morrow," answered Sam. + +The Rover boy had rather expected some sort of a communication from +Grace the next day, and he was keenly disappointed when no letter came +and when she failed to call him up on the telephone. Several times he +felt on the point of calling her up, but each time set his teeth hard +and put it off. + +"It's up to her to say something--not me," he told himself. "She must +know how I feel over the affair." + +When Sam called upon Dr. Wallington, the head of Brill met him with +rather an amused smile. + +"I suppose you want to see me in regard to that claim of Mr. Fogg's," he +said. + +"Yes, sir." + +"Well, I have had one of the professors call on the lawyer and bind him +down to just exactly what happened and how badly he was hurt. It seems +that he did not go to any doctor at all, although he did see a friend of +his, a Doctor Slamper, on the street." + +"Doctor Slamper!" cried Sam. "Oh, I remember him. He's the fellow who +came here with Mr. Fogg at the time we put in our claim for damages on +account of the wrecked biplane." + +"Ah, indeed! I remember," and Dr. Wallington nodded knowingly. + +"And what does Mr. Fogg want us to do?" questioned Sam. + +"At first, as you know, he wanted fifty dollars. Then he came down to +twenty-five, and at last to fifteen. Then we brought to his attention +the fact that the snowballing contest had taken place on the college +grounds, and that it was his own fault that he had become mixed up in +the affair. This brought on quite an argument, but in the end Mr. Fogg +agreed to accept six dollars, which he said would pay for three +consultations with Dr. Slamper at two dollars per consultation," and the +good doctor smiled rather grimly. + +"And did you pay the six dollars, Doctor?" + +"Not yet, Rover. I expected, however, to send him a check for that +amount to-morrow, provided you are satisfied." + +"I think I'll have to be, Dr. Wallington. I suppose it's rather a cheap +way out of the difficulty, although as a matter of fact I don't believe +he is entitled to a cent." + +"You may be right, Rover. But six dollars, I take it, is not so very +large a price to pay for so much fun--I mean, of course, the fun of the +snowballing contest in which, so they tell me, you were the one to +capture the banners of the opposition." + +"You're right, sir. And I'm satisfied, and you can place the amount on +my bill," answered Sam; and then he bowed himself out of the doctor's +office. + +Another day passed, and still there came no word to Sam from Hope. He +was very much worried, but did his best not to show it. + +"Call for all baseball candidates at the gym to-morrow afternoon!" +announced Bob, during the lunch hour. + +"I don't think I want to go in for baseball this spring," returned Sam. + +"I heard something of that from some of the other fellows, Sam," +interrupted Bob. "It won't do. We need you and we are bound to have +you." + +The roads were now drying up rapidly, and that afternoon Spud asked Sam +if he did not want to walk to Ashton. + +"I've got a few things I want to get at the stores," said Spud. "Come +along, the hike on the road will do you good." + +"All right, Spud, I'll go along, for I am tired of writing themes and +studying," answered Sam. But it was not his theme and his lessons that +worried the boy. Thinking about Grace, and waiting continually for some +sort of word from her, had given him not only a heart ache but a +headache as well. + +When the boys arrived at Ashton they separated for a short while, Spud +to get fitted with a new pair of shoes while Sam went to another place +in quest of a new cap. The Rover boy had just made his purchase, and was +leaving the store to rejoin Spud when he heard some one call his name, +and looking around saw Andy Royce approaching. + +"I just thought I'd ask you if you had heard anything about that Blackie +Crowden yet," remarked the gardener from Hope, as he approached. + +"Not yet, Royce. But they have sent out a good description of him, along +with copies of his photograph, so the authorities think they will get +him sooner or later." + +"I've heard something that maybe you would like to know," went on Andy +Royce. "I've heard that Crowden was over at Leadenfield, to a small +roadhouse kept by a man named Bissette, a Frenchman." + +"When was this?" demanded Sam, with interest. + +"Either the day of the assault or the day after. Bissette didn't seem to +know exactly. I happened to be there buying some potatoes for the +seminary--you see Bissette is a kind of agent for some farmers of that +neighborhood. I mentioned the robbery to him and spoke about the +suspicion about Crowden, and he was very much surprised. He said Crowden +was there for a couple of hours using the telephone, and then he left +the place when somebody drove up in a cutter." + +"Do you mean that Crowden went off with the other person in the cutter?" + +"Bissette thinks so, although he ain't sure, because as soon as Crowden +went out, Bissette turned to do some work inside and forgot all about +him." + +"Did Bissette have any idea who the man in the cutter was?" + +"He wasn't sure about that either, but he kind of thought it was a +lawyer who used to work for the railroad company--a man named Fogg." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +BASEBALL TALK + + +"Fogg!" cried Sam, in astonishment. "Do you mean Belright Fogg?" + +"That's the man--the fellow who used to do the legal work for the +railroad here." + +"Was this Bissette sure it was Fogg?" + +"No, he wasn't sure, because he didn't pay very much attention. But he +said if it wasn't this Fogg, it was some one who looked very much like +him," answered Andy Royce. + +This was all he could tell Sam of importance, and the Rover boy went +off, to rejoin his chum in a very thoughtful mood. + +"That's rather a queer state of affairs," was Spud's comment, when told +of the matter. "If Fogg met this Blackie Crowden, what do you suppose it +was for?" + +"I haven't the least idea, Spud." + +"Do you think he was mixed up in this robbery?" + +"No, I can't say that. The assault was committed by one man, and so far +they haven't been able to find any accomplices." + +When Sam returned to Brill he at once sought out Songbird and told him +of what he had heard. The would-be poet of Brill was even more surprised +than Spud had been. + +"I wouldn't put it above Belright Fogg to be in with a rascal like +Blackie Crowden," was Songbird's comment. "He did his best against you +in that flying machine affair and in that affair in New York City." + +"I've got an idea," said Sam, after a slight pause. "I am to pay him six +dollars' damages for hitting him in the head with that snowball. Doctor +Wallington was going to send him a check. I've got a good notion to ask +the doctor to let me pay the bill and get Fogg's receipt for it. That +will give me a chance to pump him about this matter." + +"Do it, Sam! And I'll go along," burst out his chum, quickly. "If this +Belright Fogg knows Blackie Crowden I want to know it." + +Permission was readily granted by the head of Brill to Sam to pay the +bill, and that evening the Rover boy and Songbird took the former's +automobile and rode over to where Belright Fogg boarded, on the +outskirts of Ashton. They found the lawyer just preparing to go out, +and he showed that he was very much surprised to see them. + +"I suppose you are here to pay that bill you owe me," he said stiffly to +Sam. + +"I am, Mr. Fogg," was the answer. "I believe you agreed to accept six +dollars. If you will make out a receipt for the amount I will give you +Doctor Wallington's check." + +"Humph! isn't the check receipt enough?" demanded the lawyer. + +"Perhaps. But I would prefer to have a receipt showing exactly what the +money is being paid for," answered Sam. "As a lawyer you must know it is +best to have these things straight." + +"Oh, very well. Come in and I'll write out your receipt for you," +announced Belright Fogg, coldly, and ushered the pair into a +sitting-room. + +Sam had asked Songbird to say nothing about Blackie Crowden until the +matter of the snowball injury was settled. A receipt for the money was +quickly penned by Belright Fogg. + +"There, I presume that will be satisfactory," he said, as he showed it +to Sam. + +"That's all right, Mr. Fogg," was the answer. "And here is your check." +Sam paused for a moment while the lawyer looked the check over. "By the +way, Mr. Fogg, I understand you were in Leadenfield a few days ago at +the tavern kept by Bissette." + +"What's that?" shot out the lawyer, somewhat startled. + +"I said that I understood that you were in Leadenfield a few days ago at +the tavern kept by Bissette." + +"And that you met a man there named Blackie Crowden," broke in Songbird, +quickly. + +"I--I was in Leadenfield some days ago on business," answered Belright +Fogg, hesitatingly, "but I wasn't at the Bissette place, or anywhere +near it." + +"But you met a man named Blackie Crowden?" queried Sam. + +The lawyer glared at the Rover boy and also at Songbird. + +"Blackie Crowden? I don't know such an individual--at least, not by +name." + +"He is a fellow who used to work in Hoover's livery stable in Center +Haven--a man who stutters greatly." + +"Don't know the fellow," was the prompt response. + +"You mean to say you didn't meet Blackie Crowden at Bissette's?" cried +Songbird. + +"Look here, young man, what are you driving at?" stormed Belright Fogg, +in a sudden temper. "You've no right to question me in this manner. +What is it all about?" + +"We have it on good authority that you met this man, Blackie Crowden, +outside of Bissette's place," answered Sam, stoutly. + +"Who is this man you mention?" + +"Being a lawyer and interested in public affairs, you ought to know +that, Mr. Fogg," answered Songbird. "He is the man who, we think, +knocked me down and robbed me of Mr. Sanderson's four thousand dollars." + +"Ah! I--I remember now. And so you are trying to connect me up with that +rascal, are you? What do you mean by that?" + +"Never mind what we mean," declared the would-be poet of Brill, stoutly. +"I want to get at the facts in this matter. If you say you didn't meet +Crowden, all right, we'll let it go at that. But there are others who +say you did meet him." + +"It's false--absolutely false!" roared Fogg, but as he spoke his face +paled greatly. "I--I don't know this fellow, Crowden--never met him in +my life. This is all a put-up job on your part to make trouble for me," +and he glared savagely at both Songbird and Sam. + +"It's no put-up job, Mr. Fogg. We intend to get at the bottom of this +sooner or later," answered Sam, as calmly as he could. "Come on, +Songbird." + +"See here! you're not going to leave this house until I know just what +you are driving at," roared the lawyer. "I won't have you besmirching my +fair name!" + +"Your fair name!" returned Sam, sarcastically. "There is no necessity +for you to talk that way, Mr. Fogg. I know you thoroughly. If you want +to rake up the past you can do it, but I advise you not to do so." + +"I--I----" began the lawyer, and then stopped, not knowing how to +proceed. + +"We might as well go," broke in Songbird. "But perhaps, Mr. Fogg, you +haven't heard the end of this," added the would-be poet of Brill; and +though the lawyer continued to storm and argue, the two chums left the +house and were soon on the return to Brill. + +"I'm afraid we didn't gain anything by that move," was Sam's comment, as +they rode along. "He'll be on his guard now, and that will make it +harder than ever to connect him with this affair--provided he really is +mixed up in it." + +"He acted pretty startled when we put it up to him," returned Songbird. +He heaved a deep sigh. "Well, maybe some day this matter will be cleared +up, but it doesn't look like it now." + +Several days passed, and Sam stuck to his lessons as hard as ever. Once +or twice he thought of calling up Grace at Hope or of writing her a +note, but each time he put it off, why, he could not exactly explain +even to himself. But then came a rift in the clouds and the sun shone as +brightly as ever. A note came from Grace, which he read with much +satisfaction. A part of the communication ran as follows: + + "I was thinking all manner of mean things about you because you + did not answer my note of last week, when--what do you think? + The note came back to me, brought in by one of the smaller + girls here, Jessie Brown. Jessie was going to town that day, + and I gave her the note to post and she put it in the pocket of + her coat, along with several other letters, so she says. Well, + the pocket had a hole in it, and, as you might know, my own + particular letter had to slip through that hole into the lining + of the coat. The rest of the letters were mailed, but my letter + remained in the lining until this morning, when Jessie came to + me with tears in her eyes to tell of what had happened. I felt + pretty angry over it, but glad to know that you were not guilty + of having received the note and then not answering it. + + "In the note I told you how sorry I was to find that you had + called here while I was away. You see, Ada Waltham's brother, + Chester, came on in his new automobile--a big foreign affair, + very splendid. He wanted to give Ada a ride, and invited me to + go along, so I went, and we had a very nice time. Chester is an + expert auto driver, and the way we flew along over the roads + was certainly marvelous. He insisted upon it that we dine with + him. And, oh, Sam! such a spread as it was! + + "You know he is a millionaire in his own right (Ada has a great + lot of money too). We certainly had one grand time, and I shall + never forget it. He got a beautiful bouquet for the table, and + also bouquets for Ada and me to take home, along with boxes of + the most beautiful chocolates I ever ate. But just the same, I + am awfully sorry I wasn't at the seminary when you called, and + I don't understand why you haven't been up since, or why you + didn't telephone to me. + + "One of the girls here says they are organizing the Brill + baseball nine for the coming season, and that they want you to + play as you did last year. If you do join the nine, I hope you + have the same success or more. And you can rest assured that I + will be on the grandstand to offer you all the encouragement + possible. I hope that Dick and Tom come on to see the game and + bring Dora and Nellie along, and then we can have the nicest + kind of a jolly party. Ada Waltham, as you may know, loves + baseball games too, and she says that she is going to have + Chester here at that time to take her over to Brill, unless + somebody else turns up to accompany her." + +"All right, as far as it goes," mused Sam, on reading this note. "But I +wish Chester Waltham would stay away. Of course I can't blame Grace for +liking a ride in a big, foreign car and being invited out to such a +first-class spread as she mentions, but, just the same, I wish she +wouldn't go with him." + +However, the communication brightened his thoughts considerably, and it +was only a little while later when he talked to the girl over the +telephone and made an arrangement for a ride in the automobile on the +following Saturday afternoon, Songbird and Minnie to accompany them. + +The four went off to Center Haven, where Sam spread himself on a dinner +which was certainly all that could be desired. Grace was in one of her +most winning moods, and when the young couple parted the cloud that had +hovered over them seemed to be completely dispelled. + +As winter waned and the grass on the campus took on a greener hue, +baseball matters came once more to the fore at Brill. Bob Grimes, who +played at shortstop, was again the captain of the team, and it was +generally understood that Spud Jackson would again occupy the position +of catcher. + +"We're going to miss Tom Rover a good deal this year," said Bob to some +of the others. During the year past Tom had been the candidate for head +twirler against both Bill Harney and Dare Phelps and had shown that he +was the superior of both of the others. + +"Well, you haven't got Tom Rover, so you've got to make the best of it," +answered Stanley. "Phelps has been doing pretty well, I understand, so +you might as well give him a chance." + +"Yes, I thought I'd do that," answered the team captain. "Harney isn't +in it at all, and doesn't want even to try. I'll give Phelps a chance +and also Jack Dudley." Dudley was a sophomore whose swift pitching had +become the general talk of the college. He, however, was rather erratic, +and liable to go to pieces in a crisis. + +As my old readers know, Sam had joined the team the year before only +after considerable coaxing, and then merely as a substitute. During the +middle of the great game he had been assigned to left field in place of +a player who had twisted his foot. In that position he had caught a fly +in a thoroughly marvelous manner, and he had also managed, when at the +bat, to bring in a home run. + +"We've simply got to have you on the team, Sam," said the captain, a +little later, when he caught the Rover boy in one of the corridors. +"Your hanging back this year is rather hurting our chances of winning." + +"But, Bob, I want to pay attention to my lessons," pleaded Sam. "I can't +afford to get behind." + +"You'll not get behind," was the answer. "Aren't we all striving to +graduate? You ought to be willing to do as much as Spud and myself." + +"All right, then, Bob, if you are going to put it that way," was the +answer, and thereupon Sam allowed his name to go on the list of +prospective players and at once began training. + +After that matters moved along swiftly. The committee from Brill met +with the committee from Roxley and arrangements were perfected for the +coming game. As the contest had taken place the year previous at Roxley, +it was, of course, decided that the game this year should be played at +Brill. Then men were set at work to place the diamond in the best +possible shape for the contest, and the grandstand was repaired, and a +new set of bleachers put up to accommodate a larger crowd than ever. + +"This is a baseball year," announced Bob Grimes, "so we can expect a big +rush of visitors." The nine had already won three games of minor +importance. + +"They tell me Roxley has got the best team it ever put in the field," +announced Stanley one day, after he had been over to the other +institution. "They've got three dandy pitchers, and two outfielders who +are crackerjacks at batting. One of their men told me that they expected +to walk all over us." + +"Well, we'll see about that," returned Bob Grimes. "We've got a good +team of our own, and I know every one of us will try to play his head +off to win." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE OPENING OF THE BALL GAME + + +The day for the great baseball game between Brill and Roxley dawned +clear and bright. Sam had received word that both of his brothers with +their wives would be on, reaching Ashton early in the morning. He drove +down to the depot in his automobile to meet the newcomers. + +When the train rolled into the station Dick Rover, as tall and handsome +as ever, was the first to alight, quickly followed by his wife, Dora. +Then came Tom and Nellie. + +"Hello, Sam, my boy!" exclaimed Dick, as he strode up and shook hands, +quickly followed by his wife. "How are you these days? But it is +needless to ask, for you look the picture of health." + +"Oh, I'm feeling fine," answered Sam, smiling broadly. + +"Ready to play winning baseball, I presume," came from Dora, as she gave +him a warm smile. + +"Surest thing you know, Dora," he answered. "Oh, we've got to win from +Roxley to-day!" + +"Yes, but you haven't got me to pitch for you to-day, Sam," broke in +Tom, as he came up and shook hands. "Who is going to do the twirling for +Brill?" + +"They are going to try Dare Phelps first, and if he can't make it, they +will try Jack Dudley, one of the sophs." + +"Oh, yes, I remember Dudley when he was a freshman," answered Tom. +"Pretty clever fellow, too." + +"How is it you didn't bring Grace with you, Sam?" questioned Nellie, as +she took his hand. + +"I'm to take you two girls up to Hope after I leave Tom and Dick at +Brill," explained the youngest Rover. "Then we are to get all of you +girls directly after lunch. Grace wanted it that way." + +"My! but this is a touch of old times," remarked Dick, as he climbed +into the automobile. "Let me take the wheel, Sam." + +"Certainly, if you want to," was the quick reply, and a few minutes +later, with the oldest Rover running the machine, the whole party set +off for Brill. + +"How are matters going in New York, Dick?" questioned Sam, while they +rode along. + +"We are doing quite well, Sam. Of course, we are having a little +difficulty in certain directions, but that is to be expected. You must +remember in Wall Street the rivalries are very keen. I suppose some of +our competitors would like to put us out of business." + +"What about that tour Tom mentioned?" + +"I think we can make it, Sam. I'll know more about it a little later. +There is no hurry, you know, because you've got to graduate first," and +Dick smiled knowingly at his brother. + +Songbird and some of the other collegians were waiting to welcome Dick +and Tom, and as soon as they had left the automobile Sam continued on +the way to Hope. + +"Oh! I'm so glad to see you!" cried Grace, as she rushed out and kissed +her sister and her cousin. "Come right in. We are going to have a +special lunch in your honor. Sam, I'm sorry I can't invite you, but you +know what the rules are." + +"Never mind. Tom will be on hand at one-thirty promptly," answered the +youth. "I hope you'll all be ready, for we can't delay, you know." + +"We'll be ready, don't fear," answered Grace. + +When Sam returned to Brill he found a crowd of the seniors surrounding +his brothers, telling them of the many things that had happened in and +around the college since they had left. + +"It's a jolly shame we can't have you in the box to-day, Tom," said Bob +Grimes. "I'm afraid we'll need you sorely," he added rather anxiously. + +"Why don't you put William Philander Tubbs in?" suggested Tom, with a +grin. "Don't you remember what a famous ball player he was?" And then +there was a general laugh, at the recollection of a joke that had once +been played on the dudish college student. + +The air was filled with talk of the coming game, and but scant attention +was paid to the lunch provided for the collegians and their guests. As +soon as the meal was over, Tom took the Rover's automobile and started +for Hope to bring Grace and the others. When he arrived there he found +his wife, Dora and Grace talking to Ada Waltham and her brother Chester, +to whom he was introduced. + +"We are going over to the game," announced Chester Waltham. "Ada and I +are going to take half a dozen of the young ladies." + +"Fine!" returned Tom. "The more the merrier! Don't forget to tell the +girls to whoop her up for Brill." + +"I think the most of them will do that," said Ada Waltham; "although one +or two of them are Roxley sympathizers." + +"Well, Brill can't have everything its own way," answered Tom. A few +minutes later he was on the return with Grace, Nellie and Dora. + +When he arrived he found Sam awaiting them, and all walked down to the +grandstand, where seats had been provided for the party. Grace and the +others had just been made comfortable when Chester Waltham arrived with +his sister and a number of others. The young millionaire came forward +with a broad smile and was quickly introduced, and he lost no time in +seating his sister next to Grace, while he sat directly behind the pair, +with all the other girls he had brought close by. This arrangement did +not altogether suit Sam, and he hurried off to the dressing-room to get +into his baseball uniform in rather a doubtful frame of mind. + +A little later there was a grand shouting at the entrance to the field, +and into sight came a large automobile truck containing a drum and fife +corps and carrying a large Roxley banner. The truck was followed by a +dozen or more automobiles containing the Roxley team and their +fellow-students. The students had tin horns and wooden rattles. + +"Zip! Hurrah! Roxley!" was the cry, and then followed a great noise from +the horns and rattles. + +"Brill! Brill! Brill!" was the counter cry, and then the furious din +was taken up by the other side. + +After that the grandstand filled up rapidly and so did the bleachers, +until there was not an available seat remaining. In the meanwhile, a +parking place for automobiles and carriages at the far end of the field +was also well patronized. + +"Some crowd, and no mistake!" was Stanley's comment, as he looked at the +masses of humanity waving flags and banners and tooting their horns and +using various other devices for making noise. "This is by far the +biggest crowd we have ever had." + +"Roxley has sent word all around that they are going to bury us this +year," returned another student standing by. "They claim they have a +team that can't be beaten." + +Down in the dressing-room Bob was giving some final instructions to his +men. + +"I want you to play from the word 'go,'" he said. "Sometimes a game is +lost or won in the first inning. Don't let them get any kind of a lead +if you can possibly help it." + +It had been decided almost at the last minute that instead of covering +left field Sam should cover third base. There was a big cheer for the +Roxley team when it made its appearance on the field, and another cheer +when the Brill nine showed itself. Then came the toss-up, and it was +decided that Brill should go to the bat first. + +The first man to the bat was a tall fellow who played center field, and +as he came forward many of the Brill sympathizers cheered him lustily. + +"Now show 'em what you can do!" + +"Knock it over the back fence!" + +The ball came in and the batter swung for it and missed it. + +"Strike one!" + +"That's the way to do it, Muggs!" + +Again the ball came in, and this time there was a foul tip. + +"Foul! Strike two!" + +Following this second strike came two balls, over which the Brill +contingent cheered. Then came a swift inshoot, which the batter missed +by the fraction of an inch. + +"Strike three! Batter out!" sang out the umpire. + +"That's the way to do it, Muggs!" came the yell from the Roxley cohorts, +and there followed a din of horns and rattles. + +The second man up for Brill managed to get to first, but the next one +went out on a pop fly, and then the man on first was caught trying to +steal to second. + +"That's the way to do it, Roxley! Keep it up!" And as a goose egg was +put up for Brill on the score board the opponents cheered as wildly as +ever. + +But if Roxley had hoped to score in that first inning, her expectations +were doomed to disappointment. The first man up went out on a pop fly, +the second on a foul, and although the third managed to reach second +base on what should have really been a one-base hit, the fourth man up +knocked an easy one to first which ended their hopes. + +It was not until the second inning that Sam came to the bat. There were +two men out when he grasped the ashen stick and took his stand beside +the home plate. He had a strike and two balls called on him, and then +sent a clean hit between first and second bases. + +"Run, Sam, run!" yelled Dick. + +"Leg it, old man, leg it!" added Tom, and the youngest Rover certainly +did speed for first, arriving there just a second before the ball. + +"Oh, if only he can get in!" cried Grace, clapping her hands. + +"It's a long way around to home plate," put in Chester Waltham. "He's +got to have help to do it." + +A moment later the next man to the bat knocked an easy fly to second +and that ended the chances for Sam's scoring, and another goose egg went +up for Brill on the score board. + +In the end of the second inning Roxley was fortunate enough to open the +play with a neat drive which brought the batter to second. Then came +another one-base hit, and amid a wild yelling the runner from second +slid in over the home plate. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! A run for Roxley!" + +"That's the way to do it! Keep it up! Snow Brill under!" + +Bob Grimes walked up to Dare Phelps, who was occupying the pitcher's +box. + +"Take it easy, Dare," he pleaded. "Don't let 'em rattle you." + +"They are not going to rattle me," responded Dare Phelps, and pitched +the next batter out in one-two-three order. In the meantime, however, +the man on first managed to steal second. A moment later he tried to +reach third. The pitcher threw the ball to Sam, who leaped up into the +air and caught it, coming down on the runner while he was still a foot +from the bag. + +"Runner out!" cried the umpire, and Roxley's player arose rather +crestfallen and limped off to the benches. + +"That's the way to do it, Sam. Nab 'em every time!" cried Tom. + +When the inning was ended Roxley had only the one run to its credit. + +Brill came to the bat for the third time with a sort of do-or-die look +on the faces of the players. It was plucky little Spud who started a +batting streak, getting safely to first and followed by another player +who managed to reach second, landing Spud on third. Then came two outs. +Before the inning was ended, however, two runs were placed on the board +to the credit of Brill. + +"Two to one in favor of Brill!" cried one of the students. + +"Just wait, this inning isn't over yet!" cried one of the Roxley +sympathizers. Then Roxley went to the bat, and because of a bad fumble +on the part of the Brill second baseman, they managed to secure another +run. + +"Two to two!" was the cry, as the figures went up on the big score +board. + +"Anybody's game, so far," said Dick Rover, soberly, "but I do hope Brill +wins." + +"And so do I," answered his brother Tom. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +HOW THE GAME ENDED + + +In the fourth inning Brill did its best to get in another run. There +were two one-base hits made, but these were followed by a strike-out and +two pop flies, so the hits availed nothing. + +"Such playing as that isn't helping us any," was Dick's remark in a low +tone to Tom. + +"Well, those first two men up managed to find the ball," returned Tom, +hopefully. + +But if Brill had not fared well in that inning, Roxley did no better, so +far as bringing in runs were concerned. But the Roxley batters found +Phelps quite easily, pounding out numerous fouls. + +"The score is two to two," remarked Chester Waltham, when the Brill team +came up to the bat in the fifth inning. In this, with one man out, Sam +managed to send a neat drive directly past the Roxley shortstop. He +gained first with ease, and then, taking a desperate chance, slid safely +to second. + +"Good work, Rover! Keep it up!" came from one of his chums. + +"That won't do him any good. They can't bring it in," called out a +Roxley sympathizer, and he proved to be a true prophet, for the inning +came to an end with no additional runs, Sam getting no chance to advance +beyond the second bag. + +"Now, then, Phelps, keep cool," admonished Bob, when in the second half +of the fifth inning the Brill pitcher passed the first batter on balls. + +"All right, I'll do my best," answered Dare Phelps. "But I must confess +my arm is beginning to hurt me," he added. + +"Do you want to drop out?" questioned the captain, quickly. + +"Oh, no, not until they hit me more than they have," responded the Brill +pitcher, grimly. + +There followed one out, but after that came some free hitting which +brought in two runs. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah!" shouted the Roxley students. + +"Two to four in favor of Roxley! That's the way to do it! Snow 'em +under!" + +"Steady, Phelps, steady," warned the Brill captain. But it was of no +avail, and the only way Brill could bring that inning to a finish was by +the clever work of two of the fielders in capturing two flies which +looked as if they might be home runs. + +When the board showed the score of 2 to 4 Roxley went wild once more, +while the followers of Brill looked correspondingly glum. + +"Maybe you had better give Jack Dudley a chance," suggested Bob to Dare +Phelps, when the two walked into the benches. + +"Oh, let me try it just once more!" pleaded the pitcher. "Anybody might +have let in those two runs." + +"All right, Phelps, I'll give you one more chance," answered Bob, +somewhat sharply. "You know we don't want this game to go to Roxley if +we can possibly help it." + +In the sixth inning Brill scored another goose egg. Then Roxley came +once more to the bat, and on the first ball pitched by Phelps scored a +home run, amid a yelling and cheering that could be heard for a great +distance. + +"Whoop! That's the way to do it! Five to two in favor of Roxley!" + +"Keep it up, boys! Snow 'em under! Snow 'em under!" And then the Roxley +crowd began a song, the refrain of which was: "We're here to-day to bury +them!" + +The cheering was still at its height when Bob motioned to Jack Dudley, +who had been warming up in a corner of the field, to come forward and +take Dare Phelps' place. There was a cheer from Brill for the new +pitcher, while Phelps retired rather crestfallen. + +"Now, then, Dudley, put 'em out in one-two-three order!" was the cry. + +"We've killed off one pitcher; now kill off the next!" came the cry from +the Roxleyites. + +"Take it easy, Dudley," warned Bob. "Give 'em your inshoot and that new +fadeaway." + +"I'll give 'em all that is in me," returned Jack Dudley, with a +determined look on his lean, and somewhat angular, face. + +The first man up got two balls and two strikes. Then came a foul tip, +followed by another strike. + +"Strike three! Batter out!" called the umpire. + +"Hurrah! That's the way to do it, Dudley!" + +The next man managed to get to first, but then came two more outs, and +the sixth inning came to a close with the score still standing, +Brill 2--Roxley 5. + +"That's some lead," remarked Chester Waltham. "Brill has got to get busy +pretty quickly if it expects to win this game." + +"Oh, we'll get there, don't you worry," answered Tom, quickly, and then +he shouted: "Go to it, fellows; go to it! Lambast the life out of that +leather!" and at this cry there was a general laugh. + +The seventh inning proved a blank for both teams. Brill, however, +managed to reach second, while Roxley was pitched out in one-two-three +order by Dudley. + +"Well, Dudley held them down that time," remarked Dick Rover. "I hope he +manages to keep the good work up." + +"Yes, but a pitcher can't win a ball game alone," answered Chester +Waltham. "You've got to have some good batters." + +"Go to it, Brill! Go to it! This is your lucky inning!" yelled Tom, +enthusiastically. "Get busy, everybody!" + +In the eighth inning the first man up for Brill went out on a pop fly. +But then came a fine hit that took the next player safely to second. +Then Sam walked to the plate. + +"That's the way to do it, Brill!" + +"Now, Rover, hit it for all you are worth!" + +It must be confessed that Sam felt a trifle nervous, so anxious was he +to make some sort of a showing. He swung his ashen stick at the first +ball pitched. + +"Strike one!" came from the umpire. + +"Take your time, Sam!" yelled Tom. "Make him give it to you where you +want it!" + +Whether Sam heard the cry or not it would be hard to say, but he let the +next ball go by, and then repeated this action. + +"Ball two!" called the umpire. + +"Oh, say! That was all right!" grumbled the Roxley catcher. "What do you +want?" + +"Too far out," returned the umpire sharply, and then added: "Play ball!" + +The next one was a straight drive, and Sam swung at it with all the +strength and skill he possessed. + +Crack! The ashen stick hit the leather, and the sphere went sailing far +down into center field. + +"Go it, Rover, go it!" + +"Come on in, Orben!" + +Paul Orben, who had been the player to reach second, was already +streaking up to third, and by the time Sam reached first Paul was +legging it for the home plate. + +"Throw that ball up here! Throw that ball up!" yelled the second baseman +to the center fielder, who was still chasing after the bouncing leather. + +Then amid a cloud of dust Paul slid in over the home plate while Sam, +having reached second, was legging it rapidly for third. Up came the +ball from the field to second, and then to third, but before it got +there the youngest Rover was safely clutching the bag. + +"Whoop! Hurrah! That's the way to do it! One run in and another on the +way." + +"Keep it up, Brill! You've struck your winning streak!" + +"Oh, dear! I do hope Sam can bring that run in!" came from Grace. + +"It might have been a home run if he had only run a little faster," +remarked Chester Waltham. + +"Faster!" retorted Tom, quickly. "Why, he legged it like greased +lightning! Most players would have gotten only two bags out of that +hit." + +Following this batting came another out, but then the next man up +managed to reach first, and amid a wild cheering on the part of the +Brillites, and a loud tooting of horns, Sam rushed over the home plate. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Another run!" + +"That makes the score four to five!" + +"Keep up the good work, Brill!" + +But that was the end of the run getting for the time being. Then Roxley +came to the bat, and amid the most intense feeling Jack Dudley managed +to pitch out three men in succession and the score went up on the board: +Brill 4--Roxley 5. + +"Now, fellows, this is our last chance," said Bob, as the team came in +for the ninth inning. "Remember, one run will tie the score and two +runs may win the game. Now every man up on the job." + +The first batter for Brill in the ninth inning was plainly nervous. He +let two good balls go by and thereby had two strikes called on him. Then +he made a wild pass at the next ball, knocking a short foul which the +first baseman for Roxley gathered in by a sensational running leap. + +"One man gone! One man gone!" chanted the Roxley followers. "Now, then, +get the other two." + +"Take your time, boys, take your time," cried Bob. "Make them give you +just what you want." + +This advice was heeded, and as a result the next man got to first and on +another one-base hit managed to reach third. Then came a one-bag drive +that brought in a run and took the man on first to second. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! That ties the score!" + +"Keep it up, Brill! Bring in all the runs you can!" + +Following the bringing in of the tying run, there came some field play +between the pitcher and the basemen, and as a result the man who had +reached first was called out trying to steal second. In the mean time +the other runner tried to steal home, but had to stay on third. + +"Be careful, boys, be careful," pleaded Bob, and then a few seconds +later came another base hit which brought in another run. + +"Good! Good! That's the way to do it, Brill!" + +"That makes the score six to five in favor of Brill!" + +"Bring in half a dozen more while you are at it!" + +"Hold them down. Don't let them get another run," pleaded the captain of +Roxley's nine to his men. + +"We're going to make a dozen more," announced Tom Rover, gaily. But this +was not to be, and a few minutes later the inning came to an end with +the score standing: Brill 6--Roxley 5. + +"Now, then, Roxley, one run to tie the score and two to win the game!" +was the cry from the visitors. + +"Lam out a couple of homers!" + +"Show 'em where the back fence is!" + +In that ninth inning Roxley came to the bat with a "do-or-die" look. + +"Now watch yourself, Dudley," whispered Bob to the pitcher. "Don't let +them rattle you." + +"They are not going to rattle me," answered Dudley. Yet it was plainly +to be seen that the sophomore was nervous, and that the strain of the +situation was beginning to tell upon him. Nevertheless, amid a wild +cheering on the part of Brill, he struck out the first man up. + +"That's the way to do it, Brill!" + +"It's all over but the shouting!" shrieked one Brill sympathizer. + +"Not much! Here is where we make half a dozen runs!" yelled a Roxleyite. + +The next batter up was a notoriously hard hitter. Dudley was afraid to +give him something easy, and as a consequence the pitcher had four balls +called on him and the batter went to first. Then came a drive to center +field which took the man on first to second, while the batter reached +first with ease. + +"That's the way to do it, Roxley! Now you've got 'em going!" + +With only one man out and two men on bases, Jack Dudley was more nervous +than ever. Yet Bob did not have the heart to take him out of the box, +and, besides, he had no pitcher on hand who was any better. + +"Hold 'em down, Dudley! Hold 'em down!" pleaded the captain. "Don't feed +'em any easy ones." And the pitcher nodded grimly, being too nervous to +even answer. + +A ball was called and then a strike. Then Dudley fed the batter a +straight one. Crack! The ashen stick met the sphere and sent it along +just inside the third base line. + +"Run! Everybody run!" was the yell from the Roxley contingent, and while +the batter dropped his stick and sped toward first, the man on that bag +legged it for second and the man on second rushed madly toward third. + +For one brief instant it looked as if one, and possibly two, runs would +be scored. But then, Sam, playing a little off third, made a wild leap +into the air and pulled down the ball. Next, like a flash, he tagged the +man sliding in toward the third bag. + +[Illustration: SAM MADE A WILD LEAP INTO THE AIR AND PULLED DOWN THE +BALL.] + +"Batter out! Runner out!" announced the umpire. + +"Hurrah! Hurrah! Brill wins the game!" + +"Say! that was a dandy catch by Rover, wasn't it?" + +"Yes. And how neatly he put that runner out, too!" + +And then as the score, Brill 6--Roxley 5, was placed on the big board a +wild yelling, tooting of horns, and sounding of rattles rent the air. +Once more Brill had vanquished its old opponent. + +And everybody said that Sam Rover was the hero of the occasion. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +GOOD-BYE TO BRILL + + +The celebration at Brill that evening was one long to be remembered. +Bonfires blazed along the river front, and the students marched around +them, and around the campus and the college buildings, singing songs and +having a good time generally. + +The others had insisted that the Rovers take part in these festivities, +and so the boys had taken the girls to Hope, where Dora and Nellie were +to remain until the next day. + +"I must say I am mighty glad I came," said Dick to his brothers, as he +surveyed the shouting and marching students. "This certainly takes me +back to the days when I was here." + +"I'm going in for some fun," announced Tom, and was soon in the midst of +the activities. The students played jokes on William Philander Tubbs, +old Filbury, and on a number of others, and the fun-loving Rover helped +them all he could. An attempt was also made to get the captured banners +of the freshmen and sophomores from Sam's room, but this failed. + +"The boys are rather noisy to-night," said one of the professors to Dr. +Wallington. + +"I agree with you, sir," returned the head of Brill, "but then they have +something to be noisy about. Their victory was certainly well earned," +and the doctor smiled indulgently. + +Many had come forward to congratulate Sam on his fine work in putting +through a double play unassisted in the last inning. + +"It saved the day for Brill," announced Stanley, and many agreed with +him. + +The great game had taken place on Saturday afternoon, so, as the next +day was Sunday, Sam could do as he pleased. The Rovers had an early +breakfast, and then lost no time in riding over to the seminary, where +they found the others waiting for them. + +"Oh, Sam, your playing was simply wonderful!" declared Grace, as she +beamed on him. "How you ever caught that fly in the last inning is +beyond me." + +"Yes, and what do you think?" put in Grace's sister. "Mr. Waltham said +he thought it was quite an ordinary play--that any good, all-around +player could have done what Sam did!" + +"Maybe he was a bit jealous of Sam," was Dora's comment, and as she +spoke she looked rather keenly at Grace, who, of a sudden, blushed +deeply. + +"I suppose Waltham brought his sister and those girls back here last +evening," said Sam. + +"Oh, yes," answered Nellie, "and they insisted that we join them in a +little treat. Mr. Waltham drove down to Ashton for some ice cream, fancy +crackers and candy, and we had quite a spread under the trees. It +certainly was very nice of him to do it." + +"I suppose he's got so much money he doesn't know what to do with it," +was Dick's comment. + +"He was asking me about that tour that we propose taking this summer," +said Dora. "He added that he and his sister and maybe others were going +to take a tour in his new car, but he hadn't decided on where they were +going, and he thought it might be rather jolly if he joined our touring +party." + +"Humph! I don't see----" began Sam, and then broke off suddenly. + +"It would be lovely to have Ada along," said Grace. "She is a splendid +girl, and we've become quite chummy since Nellie and Dora went away." + +"Well, we haven't any time to settle about that tour just now," +announced Dick. "Our train leaves in a couple of hours and you girls +have got to pack up before we start for the Ashton depot." + +The mention of Chester Waltham, along with the fact that he might join +them on their proposed automobile tour, put rather a damper on Sam's +feelings. He acted very soberly, and his remarks to Grace were not half +as cordial as they usually were. Evidently Sam's "nose was out of +joint," although he was not willing to admit it, even to himself. + +All drove down to the Ashton depot, and there Sam and Grace said +good-bye to the others, who were going on to the home farm at Valley +Brook and then to New York City. On the return to the seminary Sam had +hoped to have a long talk and an understanding with Grace, but +unfortunately two girls turned up who wished to get back to Hope, and +there was nothing for the Rover boy to do but to invite them to ride +along, so that the confidential talk between them had to be abandoned. + +After the great ball game matters quieted down at Brill. All of the +seniors were hard at work getting ready for the final examinations, +which would start on the week following. + +"If you make as good a showing in the examinations as you made on the +ball field, you sure will prove a winner," declared Bob to Sam one day. + +"Well, I'm going to do my level best, Bob," was the reply. "You see, +neither Dick nor Tom had a chance to graduate, so I've got to make a +showing for the entire family." + +During those days nothing further had been heard regarding Blackie +Crowden or the missing money. Sam and Songbird had met Belright Fogg +once on the streets of Ashton, but the lawyer had marched past without +deigning to speak to them. + +"He's a foxy customer," was the comment of the would-be poet of Brill. +"If he had anything to do with Blackie Crowden, he'll try his level best +to keep it to himself." + +At last the examinations began. They were to continue for the best part +of two weeks, and during that time Sam cut out all sports and confined +himself to his studies with greater diligence than ever. He had several +important papers to hand in, and he worked over these early and late, +rewriting and polishing until there seemed to be absolutely nothing more +that could be done. Songbird also was busy, for in addition to his +studies and themes he had been asked by the class to write a poem in +honor of the coming occasion. + +"I only wish I could write something that would bring in some cash," +remarked the would-be poet one afternoon. + +Although he had not apprised Sam of that fact, Songbird had copied off +several of his best poems and sent them to various publishers, hoping +that they might prove acceptable and bring in some money which he might +turn over to Mr. Sanderson as an evidence of what he hoped to do in the +future. So far, however, he had not heard from any of the poems but one, +which had been promptly returned. + +At last came the day when the examinations ended. All the themes written +by the students had been handed in, and Sam found himself free to do as +he pleased. He at once sought Grace by means of the telephone, hoping to +get her to take an automobile ride with him. + +"I am sorry," she answered over the wire, "but I have still another +examination to take and a theme to finish, so I don't dare to think of +going out." + +"How have you made out so far?" questioned the youth. + +"I don't know, Sam. Sometimes I think I have done very well, and then +again I am afraid that I missed a great many things. How did you make +out?" + +"Oh, I think I'll pass, but how high up I don't know. I am hoping for +great things, but I may be mistaken." And there the conversation had to +come to an abrupt end, for a professor came in to use the Brill +telephone. + +It must be confessed that Sam slept rather uneasily on the night before +the morning on which the announcement concerning each student's standing +was to be made. + +"I'm scared to death," came from Spud. "I missed a whole lot of +questions." + +"So did I," put in Paul. "And I boned hard too," he added dismally. + +Finally came the announcement. Out of a class of sixty-five seniors, +sixty-two had passed. Sam's name was at the head of the list with a +percentage of ninety-seven; Songbird came fourth with a percentage of +ninety-three; Spud had ninety-one, and Stanley the same; while Paul, +William Philander Tubbs and a number of others were listed at from +eighty to eighty-eight per cent. + +"Sam, allow me to congratulate you!" cried Songbird, as he came up to +wring his friend's hand. "You certainly made a splendid showing." + +"You made a pretty good showing yourself," answered Sam, his face +beaming. + +"Your folks will be mighty glad to hear of this," went on the would-be +poet of Brill. "Why don't you telegraph to them?" + +"Just what I'm going to do," answered the Rover boy. "And I'm going to +telephone to Hope, too," he added. + +"That's the talk. I wish I could telephone over to the Sandersons." + +"Never mind, Songbird, I'll drive you over there when I drive to the +seminary," replied Sam. + +The days to follow were delightful ones for Sam. True to his promise, he +took Songbird over to the Sanderson homestead and then visited Grace. +The girl had passed third from the top of her class and was +correspondingly delighted. + +"We had such dreadfully hard questions I thought I should never get +through," she confessed to the youth when they were alone. "And you came +out on top, Sam. Oh, it's wonderful--simply wonderful!" and she caught +both his hands. + +"Well, I'm glad--glad for myself and glad for you, Grace," he answered, +and looked her full in the eyes. She looked at him in return and blushed +prettily. + +"Oh, Mr. Rover, allow me to congratulate you," came from somebody near +by, and Ada Waltham came tripping up. "Grace told me all about your +wonderful showing." + +"Ada made a splendid showing herself," answered Grace, before Sam could +speak. + +"I was one point behind Grace," answered the rich girl, "and that +certainly was wonderful for me. I never was very keen about studying--in +fact, I didn't want to go to college, only I had to do it if I wanted to +inherit the money that my uncle left me." + +"Oh, Sam! and to think our days of studying are over at last!" burst out +Grace. "I can scarcely believe it." + +"I can't believe it myself, Grace," he answered. "It seems to me I've +been going to school all my life. Just think of the years and years I +put in at Putnam Hall Military Academy before I came to Brill!" + +"Yes, and to think of the years I put in at the Cedarville school before +I came to Hope," returned Grace. "Now it is all over I feel quite old," +and she laughed merrily. + +As was the usual custom, it had been decided that graduation exercises +at Hope should take place two days before those at Brill, which would +give ample opportunity for those desiring to do so to attend both +functions. + +"My folks are all coming to the graduations," announced Grace, a day or +two after the conversation just recorded. + +"Yes, and my folks will all be on hand," answered Sam. "Even Uncle +Randolph and Aunt Martha are coming. Dear, old Aunt Martha!" he said. +"She has been a regular mother to us boys ever since I can remember. I'm +awfully glad she will be present, and I'll be mighty glad to have Uncle +Randolph too, not to say anything about dear, old dad." + +After that there seemed to be so much to do and so many things to think +about that time sped with amazing swiftness. The Rovers and the Lanings +had engaged rooms at the leading hotel in Ashton, and arrived on the day +previous to the graduation exercises at Hope. + +"Tell you what, education is a great thing!" remarked Mr. John Laning +when speaking of the matter to Mr. Rover. "I didn't have much of a +chance at it when I was a boy--I had to go out and scrap for a +living--but I'm mighty glad that I had the means to give the girls the +learning they've got." + +"You're right--it is a great thing," answered Mr. Anderson Rover. "I am +only sorry now that Dick and Tom didn't have the chance to graduate as +well as Sam. But, you know, I was very sick and somebody had to look +after our business affairs. And what those boys have done for me is +simply wonderful!" + +"The greatest boys that ever lived," announced Randolph Rover. "They +used to bother the life out of me with their fun and noise, but now that +they have settled down and made men of themselves I forgive them for all +the annoyances." + +Sam's father had brought for him as a graduation present a very fine +diamond scarf pin, while his uncle and aunt presented him with a +handsomely engraved cardcase and Dick and the others brought him a ring +set with a ruby. Grace's folks and the others had also brought several +gifts of value for the girl, and to these Sam added a bracelet and the +finest bouquet of flowers he could obtain in Ashton. + +The graduation exercises at Hope were exceedingly pretty. All the girls +were dressed in white, and they formed a beautiful picture as they stood +in a long line to receive their diplomas. The onlookers clapped +vigorously, but no one with more fervor than did Sam when Grace received +her roll. The exercises were followed by a reception that evening at +which the fair girl graduates shone as they never had before. + +"And now for the big event at Brill!" said Dick, when on the way back to +Ashton that evening. "Sam, aren't you a bit sorry to leave the old +college?" + +"I certainly am, Dick. At the same time, now that you and Tom have +buckled down to business, I feel that I ought to be doing likewise." + +"Yes, but all of you young folks are going on that tour first," +announced the boys' father. "I think you have earned it, and I want you +to have it. I'll supply all the funds necessary, and I'll see to it that +everything goes right at the office while you are away." + +Never had Brill been so crowded as it was at those graduation exercises. +Every seat in the college hall was occupied, and every doorway and open +window held its group of eager onlookers. The Rover family had seats +almost in the center of the auditorium, and all of the Lanings were with +them. + +"Oh, it's grand! just grand!" murmured Aunt Martha, as she saw Sam and +the rest of the senior class gathering. "Oh! how proud I am of that +boy!" and the tears coursed freely down her cheeks. + +The valedictory address had been written by Sam and was delivered by the +class orator, Stanley. This was followed by a class poem written by +Songbird and delivered by a student named Wells. Sam's valedictory was +received with loud clapping of hands. + +"A well written paper--very well written, indeed," was Dr. Wallington's +comment, and a great number of visitors agreed with him. Songbird had +worked hard over his class poem, which contained many allusions to local +matters, and was received with many smiles and expressions of good +humor. + +"Songbird is certainly becoming something of a poet," was Dick's +comment. "If he keeps on, some day he'll become the simon-pure article." + +At last it was over, and Sam, with his sheepskin rolled up and tied with +a ribbon, joined his folks. His father was the first to congratulate +him, and then came old Aunt Martha, who wept freely as she embraced him. + +"I'm proud of you, Sam, proud of you!" she said, in a voice trembling +with emotion. "What a pity your own mother couldn't be here to see you! +But the good Lord willed it otherwise, so we must be content." + +"Sam, you've certainly done the family proud this day," announced his +oldest brother. "To graduate at the top of the class is going some." + +"Well, I've got to do something for the Rover name," said the happy +youth, modestly. + +There was another reception that night, and again the bonfires blazed +along the bank of the river. The undergraduates "cut loose" as usual, +but those who were to leave Brill forever were a trifle sober. + +"It's been a fine old college to go to," was Dick's comment. + +"You're right there, Dick," came from Tom. "A fine place, indeed!" + +"The best in the world!" answered Sam. He drew a deep breath. "No matter +where I go in this old world of ours, I'll never forget my days at +Brill." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +GETTING READY FOR THE TOUR + + +"And now for the grand tour!" + +"That's the talk, Sam! We ought to have the best time ever," returned +his brother Tom. + +"Just to think of such an outing makes me feel five years younger," came +from Dick Rover. "I like work as well as any one, but a fellow has got +to break away once in a while." + +"And to think we are going away out to Colorado Springs and Pike's +Peak!" burst out Dora. + +"And all the way in our automobiles!" added Nellie. "I hope we don't +have any breakdowns." + +"So it's decided that we are to start Monday morning, is it?" asked +Dick's wife. + +"Yes, Dora, provided it is clear," answered Sam. "Of course there is no +use of our starting our trip in a storm. We'll probably get enough rain +while we are on the way." + +"Look here, Sam, don't be a wet blanket!" cried Tom, catching his +younger brother by the shoulder and whirling him around. "This trip is +going to be perfectly clear from end to end. I've ordered nothing but +sunshine and moonlight," and at this remark there was a general laugh. + +The young folks were assembled on the lawn in front of the old Rover +homestead at Valley Brook. About two weeks had passed since Grace and +Sam had graduated, and during that time the various arrangements for +taking the tour to the West had been completed by the Rover boys. In the +meantime, Fourth of July had been spent in Cedarville, at the Laning +homestead, where all had had a glorious time. + +"I'm awfully sorry that Songbird and Minnie can't go with us on this +trip," remarked Dick, "but I know exactly how poor Songbird feels." + +"Yes, he told me he felt he had to go to work," returned Sam. "He wants +to do his best to earn that four thousand dollars." + +"That's some job for a fellow just out of college to undertake," was +Tom's comment. "What is he going to do for a living?" + +"He has had a place offered to him by his uncle. He is to start at +fifteen dollars a week, and he says his uncle will advance him as soon +as he learns something about the business." + +"They haven't heard any more about that Blackie Crowden or the missing +money?" questioned Nellie. + +"Not a word. And it looks to me now as if they never would hear +anything." + +"More than likely that fellow has got out of the country," was Dick's +comment. "Especially if he has learned that the police are after him." + +"Oh, you can't tell about that," broke in Tom. "He may be hiding within +a mile or two of where the crime was committed." + +It had been decided that the touring party should take two +automobiles--that belonging to the Rovers and a new machine which was +the property of Mrs. Stanhope, Dora's widowed mother. The party was to +consist of Dick and Tom and their wives, Sam and Grace and Mrs. Stanhope +and Mrs. Laning. Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha had also been invited to +go along, but both had declined, stating that they preferred to remain +on the farm. + +"I have some important scientific data on farming to gather," had been +Randolph Rover's explanation, "and, besides that, I must oversee the +building of that new addition to the house;" for since the marriage of +Dick and Tom it had been decided to build a large wing on the old +homestead, so that the young folks might be accommodated there whenever +they cared to make a visit. + +Aleck Pop, the faithful old colored servant of the Rovers, was still at +the farm, as was Jack Ness, the man of all work, and both did all they +could to aid the boys and girls to get ready for the tour. + +"It's most won'erful how you young gen'lemen has done growed up," was +Aleck Pop's comment. "It don't seem no time at all sence you all was +boys at Putnam Hall," and he grinned broadly, showing a mouthful of +ivories. + +"And to think two of 'em are married now and settled down!" added Jack +Ness. "I can't hardly believe it. First thing you know we'll have a lot +of young Rovers runnin' around this farm." + +"Well, if they is any young Robers aroun' yere, I's gwine to serve 'em +jest like I served the others," answered Aleck Pop, and then went off, +nodding his head vigorously to himself. + +The only drawback to the proposed tour, so far as Sam was concerned, was +the fact that Chester Waltham and his sister Ada were going to accompany +them as far as Colorado Springs. Then the Walthams proposed to continue +to the Pacific Coast, while the Rovers were to return to the East. + +"Are those two people going in a big touring car all by themselves?" +questioned Sam, when he heard of this arrangement. + +"They are not going to take the touring car, Sam," answered Grace. "Ada +wrote me that her brother had purchased a new runabout--a very speedy +and comfortable car--and they are going to use that instead." + +"Humph! I don't see why they had to stick themselves in with our crowd," +grumbled the youngest Rover. "Why didn't they take the trip by +themselves?" + +"Well, maybe I am to blame for that," answered Grace. "I told Ada all +about our proposed trip, and said I was sorry that she couldn't go with +us. You must remember she treated me very nicely while we were at the +seminary, especially after Dora and Nellie left." + +"Oh, I don't object to Ada," answered Sam. "Just the same, I think it +would be nicer if we could go off by ourselves. Chester Waltham and his +sister don't seem to fit in with us exactly." + +"Well, I think Chester Waltham is a very nice young man, and certainly +he has given me some splendid rides," answered Grace, and then walked +off to join the others, leaving Sam to do some thinking which was not +altogether agreeable. + +The start was to be made from the farm, and the Walthams had written +that they would be on hand early, stopping for the night at the hotel in +Cornville, some miles away. + +On the Friday before the Monday set for the start, all three of the +Rover boys went down to New York City, to the offices of the newly +formed Rover Company in Wall Street. They found their father in charge, +and also several assistants, and everything seemed to be in good running +order. Dick and Tom went over a number of business matters with their +parent, and Mr. Rover declared that he could get along very well without +the boys for at least a month or six weeks. + +After the visit to the offices Dick and Tom took Sam up to their +apartments on Riverside Drive, where they packed a number of things +wanted by themselves and Dora and Nellie. + +"Certainly a beautiful location," remarked Sam, as he walked to one of +the front windows, to gaze out on the Hudson River. + +"It certainly is a fine place, Sam," answered Tom, "and Nellie and I +enjoy it just as much as Dick and Dora do." Tom looked at his younger +brother questioningly. "I suppose now that you have graduated, Sam, you +and Grace will be joining us here some day?" + +"I don't know about that, Tom." Sam's face flushed painfully. "You see +I--I----" and then he broke off, unable to proceed. + +"You don't mean there is anything wrong between you and Grace, do you?" +demanded the brother, coming closer. Dick had gone to another room and +so was out of hearing. + +"I can't say that anything is wrong exactly, Tom," returned Sam, +hesitatingly. "You see, I--I----" + +"Is it that Chester Waltham?" demanded the other, quickly. + +Sam nodded. "Of course I can't blame him, and I can't blame Grace, for +the matter of that. It isn't every girl who gets the chance to marry a +young millionaire." + +"What! Has he proposed to her?" cried Tom. + +"Oh, no, I don't think that, Tom. But he has been very friendly." + +"Well, I wouldn't stand for it, Sam. I think Grace ought to marry you, +and I would tell her so and have it settled." + +"That's all well enough to say, Tom. But just the same I haven't any +right to stand in her light. I haven't got any such money to offer her +as this millionaire----" + +"Rot! You've got enough money to make any girl comfortable, and that is +all that is necessary. You go on in and win!" and Tom clapped his +younger brother on the shoulder encouragingly. Then Dick entered, along +with a maid left to take care of the apartments, and the talk came to an +end. + +While the boys were doing this, the girls had gone to Cedarville, and +there assisted Mrs. Stanhope and Mrs. Laning in getting ready for the +tour. Dora's mother had a hired chauffeur to run her car, and this man +was to bring the party to Valley Brook in the Stanhope machine. + +"I am very glad you are going, Mother," said Dora to her parent. "I am +sure this trip will do you a world of good." For Mrs. Stanhope was not +in the best of health and sometimes grew quite nervous when left too +long to herself. + +"It will be a wonderful trip, no doubt," answered the mother, "and I am +sure I shall enjoy it greatly, especially with all you young folks along +to brighten matters up." + +"It will certainly be a wonderful tour for me," declared Mrs. Laning, +who had always been more or less of a home body. "Gracious! Why, I can +remember when I used to think a trip of ten or twenty miles on the steam +cars was wonderful. Now just to think of our going hundreds and hundreds +of miles in an automobile!" + +"The most wonderful part of it to me is that we can afford to have you +take such a trip as that, Mother," chuckled John Laning. "Sakes alive! +when I was a young man the height of my ambition was to own about fifty +acres free and clear, along with a couple of horses and half a dozen +cows. And now look at us--here we own over three hundred acres, got over +fifty head of cattle, over two thousand chickens, and the finest +orchards in this part of the state. I tell you we've got a lot to be +thankful for," he added with great satisfaction. + +"But I'll miss you, John, while I'm away," said his faithful wife. + +"Don't you worry about me, Mother. I'd just as lief stay here and see +all them big crops a-comin' in," announced the farmer. "That's fun +enough for me. You go ahead with the young people and enjoy yourself. +You've been in harness long enough and you deserve it." + +Mr. Laning had had his ears wide open during the visit of his daughters +and Dora, and before his wife and the others left for Valley Brook he +called Mrs. Laning aside. + +"What's this I hear about Grace going out with a young millionaire named +Waltham?" he asked, curiously. + +"I can't tell you much more than what you've already heard, John," she +answered. + +"I thought Grace had her eyes set on Sam Rover," went on the husband, +looking sharply at his wife. + +"That is what I thought myself. But it seems this young millionaire has +been calling on his sister at Hope, and he's been taking his sister and +Grace out in his automobile and acting very nicely about it. Grace seems +to be quite taken with him." + +"Huh! A young millionaire, eh? Maybe he's only amusing himself with her. +You had better caution her about him." + +"No, John, I don't think that would do any good. In fact, it might do a +great deal of harm," declared the wife. "Grace is old enough to know +what she is doing." + +"Yes, but if she has made some promises to Sam Rover----" + +"I am not sure that she has made any promises. Sam has been very +attentive to her,--but just because Tom married Nellie is no reason why +Grace should marry Sam." + +"Oh, I know that. But, somehow, I thought they had it all settled +between 'em, and I certainly like Sam. He's a nice, clean-cut boy." + +"Yes. I like Sam, too." Mrs. Laning heaved a deep sigh. "But, just the +same, we had better not interfere. You know how it was when we got +married," and she looked fondly at her husband. + +"You bet I do!" he returned, and then put his arm over her shoulder and +kissed her gently. "Well, let us hope it all comes out for the best," he +added, and walked off to go to work. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +A MOMENT OF PERIL + + +"This is the life!" + +"That's right, Tom. This kind of touring suits me to death," returned +Sam Rover. + +"Tom, how many miles an hour are you making?" broke in his wife. +"Remember what you promised me--that you would keep within the limit of +the law." + +"And that is just what I am doing, Nellie," he answered. "But it's +mighty hard to do it, believe me, when you are at the wheel of such a +fine auto as this. Why, I could send her ahead twice as fast if I wanted +to!" + +"Don't you dare!" burst out Grace, who sat in the tonneau beside her +sister. "If you do I'll make you let Sam drive." + +"He's got to let me drive anyway after dinner," said the youngest Rover +boy. "That's the arrangement." + +It was the second day of the tour, and Valley Brook Farm, and in fact +the whole central portion of New York State, had been left far behind. +The weather had turned out perfect, and so far they had encountered very +little in the way of bad roads. Once they had had to make a detour of +two miles on account of a new bridge being built, but otherwise they had +forged straight ahead. + +Tom and his wife, with Grace and Sam, occupied the first automobile, the +remaining space in the roomy tonneau being taken up by various suitcases +and other baggage. Behind this car came the one driven by Dick Rover. +Beside him was his wife, with Mrs. Stanhope and Mrs. Laning behind them. +Some distance to the rear was the third machine, a brand-new runabout, +containing Chester Waltham and his sister Ada. Waltham had at first +wished to take the lead, but had then dropped behind, stating he did not +wish to get the others to follow him on any wrong road. + +"You go ahead," he had said to the Rovers. "Then if you go wrong you +will have only yourselves to blame." + +"Well, we don't know any more about these roads than you do, Waltham," +Dick had replied. "We are simply going by the guide book and the signs." + +"I hate to use up my brains studying an automobile guide," Chester +Waltham had returned with a yawn. "When I am on an outing I like to take +it just as easy as I possibly can." + +"It's a wonder you didn't bring a paid chauffeur along," had been Sam's +comment. + +"I thought something of doing that, but my sister objected. She said if +she was to go along I must run the car. You see, she wants me to risk my +neck as well as her own," and the young millionaire had smiled grimly. + +They had been running for several miles over a road that was +comparatively straight. On either side were tidy farms, with occasional +farmhouses and barns. Now, however, the road became winding, and they +soon passed into a patch of timber. + +"Four miles to the next town," announced Sam, as they rolled past a +signboard. He looked at his watch. "Quarter after eleven. Do you think +we had better stop there for dinner, Tom?" + +"No, we are going on to Fernwood, six miles farther," was the reply. +"They say the hotel there is much better. And, believe me, when you get +away from the big cities the best hotel you can find in a town is none +too good." + +It had been rather warm on the open road, and all those in the +automobiles welcomed the shade of the woods. + +"It's a pity we didn't bring our lunch along," said Dora to Dick, as +they moved along at a slower rate of speed. "We could have had a good +time picnicking along here." + +"Yes, we'll have to dine out in the woods sometimes on this trip," put +in Mrs. Laning. "I like that sort of thing much better than taking all +our meals in hotels or restaurants." + +The first automobile had reached a spring by the roadside, and here Tom +came to a halt, presently followed by the others. Collapsible cups were +handy, and all were ready for a drink of the pure, cool water which the +spring afforded. + +"Fine! isn't it?" exclaimed Dick, after the ladies had been served and +he had had a cupful himself. + +"You're right," answered Tom. "A good deal better than that bottled +water we have down in the New York offices." + +"But it can't beat the water on the farm," said Sam. "I must say no +matter where I go the water doesn't taste quite as good as that at +Valley Brook." + +"Oh, that's only sentiment, Sam!" cried Grace. "Now, I think the water +at Cedarville is just lovely." + +"I think you are taking a little chance in drinking from a spring like +this," was Chester Waltham's comment. "It may be pure, and then again it +may be full of all sorts of germs." + +"Sure! it may be full of tadpoles and bullfrogs, too," added Tom, gaily. +"But you've got to take some chances in this life, as the fly said when +he flew down into the molasses jug and got stuck there," and at this +little joke there was a general smile. + +Beyond the spring the road went uphill for a long distance, and then +took a turn to the southward, past more farms and over a bridge spanning +a tiny stream. Then they came to a small town, looking dry, dusty and +almost deserted in the midday, summer sun. + +"I am glad we didn't arrange to stop here," was Nellie's comment, as she +glanced around. + +The sleepy little town was soon left behind, and once again they found +themselves passing over a series of hills, dotted here and there with +farms and patches of woodland. Then they came to a place which was very +uneven and filled with rocks. + +"Got to be careful here unless we want to get a puncture," announced +Tom, and at once reduced speed. + +They were running on another winding road which seemed to bear off to +the northward. Here there was something of a cliff, with great, rocky +boulders standing out in bold relief. + +Suddenly, as Tom reached a bend, he saw a man coming towards them. He +was an Italian, and carried a small red flag in one hand. + +"Back! You-a git-a back!" cried the man, waving his red flag at them. +"Blas'! Blas'! You git-a back!" + +The grade was downward and the man had appeared so suddenly that before +Tom could bring the first automobile to a standstill he had gotten at +least a hundred feet beyond the Italian, while the second car, run by +Dick, was by the man's side. + +"What's the trouble here?" demanded Dick. + +"You git-a back! You git-a back!" exclaimed the Italian, frantically. +"Blas' go off! You git-a back!" + +"Hi, Tom, come back here!" yelled Dick. "This fellow says there is a +blast going off." + +Tom was already trying to heed the warning. He had stopped so suddenly, +however, that he had stalled his engine and now he had to take time in +which to use the electric starter. In the meanwhile, the Italian workman +ran still farther back, to warn Chester Waltham and anybody else who +might be coming along the road. + +"Oh, Tom! can you turn around?" questioned his wife anxiously. + +"Maybe you had better run the car backward," suggested Sam. He had noted +the narrowness of the roadway and knew it would be no easy matter to +turn around in such limited space. Besides that, there was a deep gully +on one side, so that they would run the risk of overturning. + +"Yes, I'll back if Dick will only give me room," muttered Tom, as he +pressed the lever of the self-starter. Then after the power was once +more generated he threw in the reverse gear and allowed the car to back +up. + +"That's the way to do it, Tom," yelled Dick. "Come on, I'll get out of +the way," and he, too, began to back until he was close on to the +Waltham runabout. + +"Look out! Don't bump into me!" yelled Chester Waltham, who for the +moment seemed to be completely bewildered by what was taking place. +"What's the matter anyway?" he demanded of the Italian. + +"Oh, Chester, there must be some danger!" shrieked his sister. "Say! +they are both backing up. Maybe you had better back up too." + +"All right, if that's what they want," answered the young millionaire, +and then in his hurry tried to reverse so quickly that he, too, stalled +his engine. + +"Back up! Back up!" called out Dick. "We've got to get out of here! +There is some sort of blasting going on ahead!" + +"Oh, Dick, be careful!" cried Mrs. Stanhope, and sprang up in the +tonneau of the car in alarm, quickly followed by Mrs. Laning. + +"You will run into Mr. Waltham, sure!" wailed the latter. + +"Don't smash into me! Don't smash into me!" yelled the young millionaire +in sudden terror. "If you bump into me you'll send me into the ditch!" + +By this time Dick's car was less than three feet away from the runabout, +while Tom's machine was still some distance farther up the road. + +Boom! There was a distant explosion, not very loud; and following this +came a clatter as of stones falling on the rocks. None of the stones, +however, fell anywhere near the three machines. + +"Oh!" cried Grace. + +"Is that all there is to it?" queried Nellie, anxiously. + +"I don't know," returned Tom. He had now brought his automobile once +more to a standstill. + +All in the three machines waited for a moment. Then they gazed +enquiringly at the Italian who stood behind them. + +"Say, is that all the blasting there is?" demanded Chester Waltham. + +"Dat's heem," responded the foreigner. "He go off all right, boss. You +go," and he waved the stick of his flag for them to proceed. + +"Some scare--and all for nothing," muttered Tom. "The way he carried on +you would think they were going to shake down half of yonder cliff." + +"Oh, Tom, they don't dare to take chances," returned Nellie. "Why, if we +had gone on we might have been showered with those stones we heard +falling." + +"You fellows want to be careful how you back up," grumbled Chester +Waltham. "You came pretty close to smashing into me." + +"Well, you should have backed up yourself when you heard us yell," +retorted Dick, sharply. "We didn't know how bad that blast was going to +be." + +Tom had already started forward, and in a moment more Dick and Chester +Waltham followed. But hardly had they done this when the Italian on the +road suddenly let out another yell. + +"Boss! Boss! You-a stop!" he cried. "You-a stop queek! De two-a blas'! +You-a stop!" and he danced up and down in added alarm. + +Those who had gone on paid no attention to him, and an instant later +passed around a corner of the cliff. As they did this they saw a man on +the open hillside waving his arm and shouting something they could not +understand. + +"Tom, something is wrong----" began Sam, when, of a sudden, his words +were swallowed up in a fierce roar and rumble that seemed to shake the +very ground beneath them. They saw a flash of fire in an opening of the +cliff, and the next instant a burst of flames and smoke was followed by +a rain of rocks all around them! + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +NEWS OF BLACKIE CROWDEN + + +It was a moment of extreme peril, and what made it seem worse was the +fact that the Rovers and the others could do nothing to save themselves. +Rocks, small stones and dirt flew all around them, striking with loud +noises the hoods and other metal parts of the automobiles, and even +landing in the tonneaus of the larger cars. + +"Hold up the robes! Protect yourselves with the robes!" yelled Dick, but +before the ladies could heed his words the rain of rocks, small stones +and dirt had come to an end. + +"Great Caesar! that's a fine happening!" groaned Tom, who had been hit on +the shoulder by a fair-sized stone. He looked quickly at those in the +car with him. "Any of you hurt?" + +"I got hit in the head with something," returned Sam. "But it didn't +hurt very much. How about you?" and he looked at Grace and at Tom's +wife. + +"I--I don't think I am hurt any," faltered Grace, as she looked at some +stones and dirt on the robe over her lap. + +"I'm all right," answered Tom's wife. "But, oh dear! something--I think +it must have been a big stone--flew directly past my face!" + +"I hope the others got off as well as we did," remarked Tom. "Let us go +and see," and, suiting the action to the word, he left the machine, +followed by his brother. + +The second car had a dent in the hood made by a stone as big as Tom's +fist. All those in the automobile had been hit by some smaller stones +and also covered with loose dirt, but no one had been seriously injured, +although Mrs. Laning declared that some of the dirt had entered her left +ear and also her eye. + +"Let me look at that eye," cried Mrs. Stanhope, as soon as she had +recovered from the shock of the second blast. And then she went to work +on the optic, and presently Mrs. Laning declared that the eye was as +well as ever. + +As Chester Waltham and his sister had been farther back on the road, +around the turn of the cliff, they had not felt the effects of the +second explosion excepting a slight shower of dirt which had covered the +front of the runabout. But the young millionaire and his sister were +greatly excited, and the former got out of his machine to run up to the +Italian with the red flag and shake his fist in the man's face. + +"You--you rascal!" he spluttered. "What do you mean by sending us into +such peril as this? You ought to be put into prison!" + +"I-a, I-a forget heem," faltered the foreigner helplessly. "I tink only +one blas'. I forget two blas'," and he looked very downhearted. + +But this time the man who had been up on the hillside came running to +the scene of the mishap, followed by several of the workmen. + +"Anybody hurt?" sang out the man, who was an American in charge of the +blasting gang. + +"Nothing very serious," answered Dick. "But it might have been," he +added sharply. "You fellows ought to be more careful." + +"I told Tony to keep everybody back for two blasts," answered the man. +"Why didn't you stay back until you heard the second blast?" + +"He told us to go on," answered Tom. + +"I make mistake," cried the Italian. "You forgive, boss," and he looked +pleadingly at Dick and the others. + +"Well, you don't want to make any more mistakes like that," returned +Dick. "If we had gotten a little closer somebody might have been +killed." + +"That's the second time you have failed to obey orders, Tony," said the +gang master, sternly. "You go on up to the shanty and get your time and +clear out. I won't have such a careless man as you around." + +At these words the Italian looked much crestfallen. He began to jabber +away in a mixture of English and his own tongue, both to his boss and to +our friends. But the boss would not listen to him, and ordered him away, +and then he departed, looking decidedly sullen. + +"I can't do anything with some of these fellows," explained the man in +charge of the blasting. "I tell them just what to do, and sometimes they +mind me and sometimes they don't. I'm very sorry this thing happened, +but I'm thankful at the same time that you got through as well as you +did," and he smiled a little. + +"You're not half as thankful as we are," put in Sam, dryly. + +"I hope there is no damage done to your cars, but if there is I'm +willing to pay for it," went on the man. + +"A few dents, but I guess that is all," answered Dick, after a look at +both the car he was driving and the one run by his brother. "We'll let +those go, for we are on a tour and have no time to waste here." + +"All right, sir, just as you say. But here is my card; I don't want to +sneak out of anything for which I'm responsible," continued the man. "If +you find anything wrong later on you let me know and I'll fix it up with +you." + +"We ought to sue this fellow for damages!" cried Chester Waltham, +wrathfully. "It's an outrage to treat us like this." + +"Were you hurt in any way?" asked the man, quietly. + +"We got a lot of dirt and stones on the runabout," growled Waltham. + +"Oh, Chester! don't quarrel over the matter," entreated his sister, in a +low tone. "The man didn't want to do it." + +"Oh, these follows are too fresh," grumbled the young millionaire. "The +authorities ought to take them in hand," and then he reentered his +runabout, looking in anything but a happy mood. + +"Do you think we can go ahead on this road now?" asked Dick, after a few +more words had passed between the Rovers and the man who had the +blasting in charge. + +"I think so," was the reply. "Just wait a few minutes and I'll have my +gang of men clear a way for you." He was evidently a fair and square +individual who wanted to do the right thing in every particular, and the +Rovers could not help but like him. + +"It was all that Italian's fault," remarked Sam to Tom, while they were +waiting for the road to be cleared of the largest of the rocks. "If he +had kept us back as he was ordered to do there would have been no +trouble." + +"He looked mighty mad when he went off," was Tom's answer. "If that +fellow in charge here doesn't look out, that chap may put up some job on +him." + +Inside of ten minutes the man in charge of the blasting told them they +could go ahead, and so on they went as before, with Tom again in the +lead. As they passed by they saw numerous places along the face of the +cliff where other blasting had taken place. The man had explained that +the work was being done by the contractors in order to widen the road in +that vicinity. + +About a mile and a half beyond the cliff, nestling in the midst of a +number of pretty farms, they came to the town of Fernwood, the place at +which they were to stop for their midday meal. They had the name of the +leading hotel on their list, and found the hostelry a fairly large and +comfortable one. + +"I think we'll want a good washing up after that experience," remarked +Dick, when the automobiles had been placed in the hotel garage. "My! +but that was a narrow escape!" and he shuddered at the recollection. + +"You fellows were mighty easy with that man," observed Chester Waltham. +"He ought to have been made to suffer for his carelessness." + +"Well, if you want to sue him, Waltham, you go ahead and do it," said +Dick somewhat sharply. He was beginning to like the young millionaire +less and less the more he came in contact with him. + +A table had been reserved for the entire party, and soon the well-cooked +meal put even Chester Waltham in better humor. Now that the danger from +the blast was a thing of the past, they could afford to smile over the +somewhat thrilling experience. + +"Maybe after this it would be a good idea to ride with the tops up," +said Tom. "Only we'd have to make them stone proof as well as +rainproof," and at this remark there was a general smile. + +"Remember, Tom, I'm to be at the wheel this afternoon," announced Sam, +who thus far had not had much chance to do any steering on the trip. + +"All right, little boy, you for the pilot act!" returned his fun-loving +brother, gaily. "But remember what the girls told you--no speeding. The +law in this state is four and one-eighth miles an hour, except on +turning corners, where it is two and one-sixteenth miles," and at this +little joke there was a titter from the girls. + +As it was so warm during the middle of the day, it had been decided that +they should not proceed on their tour until about three o'clock. This +gave the ladies a chance to rest themselves, something which was +particularly satisfying to Mrs. Stanhope and Mrs. Laning. + +"I think I'll take a look around the town," said Tom, after the ladies +had gone to one of the upper rooms. "Will you go along?" and he looked +enquiringly at his brothers and Chester Waltham. + +"I am going to write a letter to dad," answered Dick. + +"I think I'll write a letter myself and enjoy a smoke," came from the +young millionaire. + +"I'm with you, Tom," returned his younger brother. "Let's go out and see +if we can't capture a nice box of chocolates for the girls." + +Tom and Sam were soon on the way. The main street of Fernwood contained +less than four blocks of stores, and there was a cross street with half +a dozen other establishments. But the place was a railroad center and, +consequently, was of quite some importance. + +Having walked up and down the main street, and procured a box of +chocolates and a few other things, the two Rovers wandered off in the +direction of the railroad station. A train had just come in, and they +watched the passengers alight and then others get aboard. They were +particularly interested in the discomfiture of a fat traveling salesman +who came puffing up on the platform, a suitcase in each hand, just in +time to see the train depart. The fat man was very angry, but this +availed him nothing. + +"It's a shame! a shame!" howled the traveling salesman, as he threw his +suitcases down in disgust. "I know that train left at least two minutes +ahead of time," he stormed to the station master. + +"You're wrong there, mister," was the ready answer. "She was a minute +late." + +"Nonsense! Nonsense!" stormed the disappointed individual. "I tell you +she left ahead of time. I ought to sue the railroad company for this," +and he shook his head savagely. + +"Gosh! we are up against people who want to sue everybody," was Sam's +remark. "That fellow ought to join Chester Waltham, and then they could +hire one lawyer to do the whole business." + +"I might have been here five minutes ago if I hadn't been a fool," +stormed the fat salesman, as he looked for comfort at the two Rovers. +"That comes from trying to be accommodating. I was headed for this place +when down there at the Ludding House I met a fellow who wanted to know +how to get to Stockbridge. He stuttered so that it took me about five +minutes to find out what he wanted." + +"Stuttered, did he?" questioned Tom, curiously. + +"He sure did! He had an awful stutter with a funny little whistle in +between. I wish I hadn't waited to listen to him. I might have had that +train, confound it!" went on the fat salesman, pulling down his face. + +"Did you say that fellow stuttered and whistled?" broke in Sam eagerly. + +"He certainly did." + +"Will you tell me what kind of a looking man he was?" + +"Sure!" answered the salesman, and then started to give as good a +description of the individual as his recollection would permit. + +"It must have been Blackie Crowden!" cried the youngest Rover, before +the man had finished. + +"I don't know what his name was," said the salesman. + +"We want to catch that man the worst way," went on Sam. "Have you any +idea where we can find him?" + +"He asked me the way to Stockbridge, so I suppose he was going there," +was the reply. + +"Where is Stockbridge?" + +"It's down on the road past the Ludding House. It's about five miles +from here." + +"Do you suppose the man was going to walk it?" + +"I don't know about that. You must remember I was in a hurry to catch +the train. Hang the luck! I wish I hadn't stopped to talk to that man," +went on the fat salesman. + +"And I'm very glad that you did stop to talk to him," returned Sam. He +looked at his brother. "Come on, Tom, let us see if we can find Blackie +Crowden." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +ON THE TRAIL + + +The Ludding House was on the side street of the town, about three blocks +from the hotel at which our friends were stopping. When the two Rovers +arrived there they found the dining-room had just closed and only two +men and an elderly woman were in sight. + +"We are looking for a man who was around here--I think his name was +Blackie Crowden," said Sam. "He is a man who stutters very badly." + +"Oh, yes, I remember that fellow," returned one of the men who worked +around the hotel, "He was here for lunch." + +"Can you tell me where he is now?" + +"No, I cannot." + +"That man who stuttered so terribly said something about going to +Stockbridge," put in the woman. "Perhaps he was going there." + +"On foot?" + +"I don't think so. Most likely he took the stage. That left about ten +minutes ago." + +"Was the man alone?" asked Tom. + +"I think he was, although I am not sure. He came in during the lunch +hour and after that I saw him talking to a salesman who had been staying +here--a man who just went off on the train." + +"You mean a man who went off to catch the train," grinned Tom. "He +didn't get it, and he's as mad as a hornet on that account." + +The two Rovers asked several more questions and found out that the stage +which left Fernwood twice a day passed through Stockbridge on its way to +Riverview, six miles farther on. + +"They used to use horses," explained the hotel man, "but last year Jerry +Lagger got himself an auto, so he makes the run pretty quick these +days." + +"Come on, Sam, let's get one of our autos and follow that stage," cried +Tom, and set off on a run for the other hotel, quickly followed by his +brother. They burst in on Dick just as the latter was posting the letter +which he had written to their father. + +"Say! that would be great if it was Blackie Crowden and we could capture +him," cried Dick, on hearing what they had to say. "You get the auto +ready while I tell the others where we are going." + +"It's a pity Stockbridge and Riverview are not on our regular tour," was +Sam's comment. + +"Oh, it's just as well," answered Tom. "We may have lots of trouble with +this fellow Crowden, and it will be just as well if the girls and the +ladies are not in it." + +One of the touring cars was quickly run to the front of the hotel, and a +moment later Dick, who had rushed upstairs to explain matters to the +others, came out and joined his brothers. Tom was at the wheel, and he +lost no time in speeding up the car, and on they went along the dusty +road in the direction of Stockbridge. + +"I do hope they catch that fellow and get back Mr. Sanderson's money," +was Grace's comment, as she watched the departure of the touring car out +of one of the upper windows of the hotel. + +"What's it all about?" asked Ada Waltham, who had not been present when +Dick had burst in on the others. She was quickly told and then asked: +"Why didn't they take my brother along with them?" + +"I don't know, I am sure, Ada," answered Grace. "Perhaps he wasn't +around." + +"He was down in the writing-room with Dick." + +"Well, I am sure I don't know why he isn't with them," was the reply. + +"I don't think they are treating Chester just right," retorted the rich +girl, rather abruptly, and then left the room with her nose tilted high +in the air. + +"What a way to act!" murmured Nellie. + +"I am afraid that sooner or later we will have some sort of rupture with +the Walthams," was Dora's comment. She gave a little sigh. "Too bad! I +should hate to have anything happen to spoil this tour." + +"Well, I don't think the boys treat Chester Waltham just right," +returned Grace, somewhat coldly. "They treat him as if he were a +stranger--an outsider," and then she, too, left the room, leaving her +sister and Dora to gaze at each other questioningly. + +Along the dusty road sped the touring car, Tom running as rapidly as +safety would permit. Soon Fernwood was left far behind and they began to +ascend a slight hill. + +Presently they came to a crossroad, and here they had to stop to study a +much-faded signboard, so as to decide which was the proper road to take. +Even then, as they continued their way, they were all a little doubtful. + +"That signboard was so twisted it didn't point right down this road," +was Sam's comment. "It would be just like some boys to twist it out of +shape just for the fun of sending folks on the wrong road." + +"Well, I played a joke like that myself, once," confessed Tom. + +"Then if we are on the wrong road on account of some boys' tricks, Tom, +you'll simply be getting paid back for what you did," returned his older +brother. + +Half a mile more was covered, and then the road grew rapidly worse. Tom +had slowed down, and was just on the point of stopping when a low +hissing sound reached the ears of all. + +"Good-night!" was Tom's comment. + +"What is it, Tom, a puncture?" queried Sam. + +"Oh, no, it's only a gas well trying to find its way to the surface of +the ground," was the dry comment. "Everybody out and to work!" + +They leaped to the ground and soon saw that Sam's conjecture was +correct. A sharp stone had cut into one of the front shoes, making a +hole about as large in diameter as a slate pencil. + +"Might know a thing like this would happen just when we were in a +hurry," grumbled Dick. + +"Never mind, now is our time to make a record," came cheerfully from +Sam. He glanced at his watch. "Four minutes after two. Come on, let us +see how quickly we can get that new tire on." + +All threw off their coats and caps and set to work in the shade of some +trees. While one jacked up the car, another worked to get off the +damaged shoe and inner tube. In the meanwhile, the third got ready +another shoe with an inner tube, and thus working hand in hand the three +got the new tire in place and pumped up in less than ten minutes. + +While Dick and Sam were putting away the tools, Tom walked a bit ahead +on the road. He looked around a turn, and then came back much +crestfallen. + +"Well, I'm paid back for monkeying with those road-signs years ago," he +announced. "The fellows who fixed that sign some distance behind us have +got one on me. This is nothing but a woods road, and ends in the timber +right around the bend." + +"Which means that we have got to turn back and take the other road," put +in Sam, quickly. + +"That's it! Some fun turning around here," was Dick's comment. "It's +about as narrow as it was on that road where they were doing the +blasting." + +"Oh, I guess I can make it," answered Tom; and then all got in the car +once again. + +By going ahead and backing half a dozen times, Tom at last managed to +get the touring car headed the other way. Then he put on speed once more +and they raced off to where they had made the false turn. + +But all this had taken time and as a consequence, although they ran +along the other highway at a speed of nearly forty miles an hour, they +saw nothing of the auto-stage which had gone on ahead. + +"I guess this is Stockbridge," was Dick's comment, a little later, as +they came in sight of a straggling village. Several buggies and farm +wagons were in sight and likewise a couple of cheap automobiles, but +nothing that looked like a stage. + +"Has the auto-stage from Fernwood got in yet?" questioned Sam of a +storekeeper who sat in a tilted chair under the wooden awning of his +establishment. + +"Yes, it got in some time ago," was the drawled-out reply of the +storekeeper. + +"Then has it gone on to Riverview?" queried Dick. + +"Reckon it has, stranger." + +"Do you know if any passengers got off here?" asked Tom. + +"Old Mrs. Harrison got off." + +"Anybody else?" + +"I didn't see anybody else,--but then I wasn't watchin' very closely," +explained the storekeeper. + +The only other persons in sight besides the storekeeper were two +children, too small to be questioned about the stage passengers. The +Rovers looked at each other questioningly. + +"Might as well go right through and follow that stage," said Dick. "If +he is on board, there is no use of letting him get away. If he isn't, we +can come back here and look for him." + +The others deemed this good advice, and in a moment more they left +Stockbridge at a rate of speed which made the storekeeper leap up from +his comfortable chair to gaze after them in amazement. + +"Some of them speeders," he murmured to himself. "If they don't look out +they'll be took in for breakin' the law." + +For a mile or more the road outside of Stockbridge was fairly good. +Beyond, it grew poorer and poorer, and Tom had to reduce speed once more +for fear of another puncture, or a blowout. As they sped along the +highway all the youths kept a sharp lookout for Blackie Crowden, but no +one came in sight who answered in the least to the description of that +individual. + +"I'm sure I'd know him if I saw him," said Sam, who had studied a copy +of the man's photograph. + +"So would I," answered Tom. "He's got a face that is somewhat unusual;" +and to this Dick agreed. + +On and on they went, the road now being little more than a country lane. +Here the dust was about six inches deep, and a big cloud floated behind +the machine. + +"Almost looks as if we were on the wrong road again," observed Dick. But +hardly had he spoken when they came out to another crossroad. Here a +signboard pointed to the left, and the highway was as good as any they +had yet traveled. + +"Only one mile more!" cried Sam. + +"It won't take long to cover that," answered Tom, and then turned on the +power, and in less than two minutes more they were approaching the +center of Riverview, a fair-sized town located on the stream which gave +it its name. + +"There is the auto-stage, drawn up in front of the hotel," announced +Sam. + +"Yes. And it's empty," answered Dick. + +The driver of the auto-stage was at the town pump getting a drink of +water. He looked at the three Rovers curiously as they confronted him. + +"Did I have a passenger that stuttered?" he repeated in answer to their +question. "I sure did have such a fellow. Why, he stuttered wo'se than +any man I ever heard. And he whistled too. Awful funny. Why, I had all I +could do to keep from laughin' in his face." + +"We want to find that man very much and right away," announced Dick. +"Will you let us know where you let him off?" + +"That's a funny thing, mister," announced the auto-stage driver. "You +see, after we left Stockbridge I didn't have nobody in but that man. He +paid me the fare to this place before I started. Then when we was about +half-way here I looked around in the back of the stage and, by gum! he +was gone." + +"Gone!" came from the three Rovers. + +"Yes, sir, he was gone. I looked back and there he stood on the side of +the road. As soon as he saw that I saw him, he waved his hand to me and +disappeared." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +BACK AT ASHTON + + +The three Rovers listened in astonishment to what the auto-stage driver +had to say concerning the sudden disappearance of Blackie Crowden. + +"Then he must have jumped from the stage while you were running," +remarked Dick. + +"That's just what he did do, mister. And he took some chances, too, +believe me, for I wasn't runnin' at less than twenty miles an hour." + +"Did he have any baggage with him?" questioned Tom. + +"He had a small handbag, that's all." + +"Would you remember the place where he jumped off?" came from Sam, +eagerly. + +"Yes, it was on the road back of here--just before you turn into this +highway." + +"You mean the road that was so thick with dust?" remarked Tom. + +"That's the place. He jumped off at a spot where the bushes are pretty +thick, and there are three trees standin' close together just back of +the bushes." + +"I think I know that place," said Dick. "There is a small white cottage +on the hillside just behind it." + +"You've struck it," answered the stage driver. "I reckon as how he was +goin' to call on somebody at the cottage. But why he didn't ask me to +stop is a mystery. Why! he might have broken a leg gettin' off that +way." + +"That man is a criminal, and he did it to throw you off his track," +announced Sam. "Do you know what I think?" he continued to his brothers. +"I think Blackie Crowden must have gotten on to the fact that we were at +Fernwood, and made up his mind to clear out as soon as possible. Then he +got afraid that we might question folks, including this stage driver, +and so jumped from the auto-stage to throw us off his trail, provided we +should follow the stage." + +"I guess you have struck the nail on the head, Sam," answered his oldest +brother. "But come on, let us see if we can find some trace of him." And +in less than a minute more they had turned their machine around and were +heading for the spot mentioned to them by the stage driver. + +It was only a short run, and soon they halted beside the bushes hedging +in three tall trees. Eagerly they looked around in all directions, but +not a soul was in sight. + +"I'm going up to the farmhouse," announced Sam. + +"And I'll go with you," added Dick. "Tom, you stay down here and take a +look around. If you see anything of him blow the auto horn three times." + +At the farmhouse the two Rovers found themselves confronted by an +elderly man and his wife, who looked at them rather curiously. + +"No, there hasn't been anybody around here so far as I know," announced +the farmer. "We haven't had a visitor for several days." + +"I was out to the well about five minutes ago," put in his wife, "and if +anybody had come up to the house or the barn I'd have seen him." + +"The fellow we are after is a criminal," explained Dick, "so if you +don't mind we'll take a look around for him." + +"A criminal!" cried the farmer. "Say, that's bad! Certainly look around +all you please, and I hope if he is anywhere near you'll catch him. I'd +go around with you myself, only I can't very well on account of this +rheumatism of mine." + +The two Rovers walked around the cottage and the out-buildings but found +not the least trace of Blackie Crowden. Then, rather crestfallen, they +returned to the automobile. + +"Perhaps there's some mistake and it wasn't Crowden at all," was Sam's +comment. + +"Well, it was a man who stuttered, anyway, and the general description +fitted Crowden," answered his brother. + +When they reached the automobile, they found Tom gazing curiously at a +piece of newspaper which he had picked up from the ground. It was rather +crumpled, as if it had been used for wrapping purposes. + +"See anything of him, Tom?" asked Dick. + +"No," was the answer. "But look here. Do either of you recognize this +print?" He held out the paper, which was the lower half of a newspaper +page. Part of this was devoted to reading matter and the rest to +advertisements. + +"Why, sure! I know that paper," cried Dick. "See that advertisement of +The Russel Department Store and that advertisement of Betts' Shoe Store? +That's a part of the _Knoxbury Weekly Leader_." + +"That's just what it is!" ejaculated Sam. "Where did you get that paper, +Tom?" + +"Found it right here beside the bushes. It looks as if it had been used +to wrap something in." + +"Then that proves two things," announced Dick, flatly. "One is that the +man who stutters was really Blackie Crowden, for who else could have +been here with something wrapped in a Knoxbury newspaper? And the other +thing is that he did as the stage driver said--left that stage somewhere +near here." + +"Right you are, Dick," returned his youngest brother, "but that doesn't +answer the question--where is he now?" + +"I think he got on to the fact that we were in Fernwood, and that it was +his business to get out just as quickly as he could," said Tom. "And if +that is true it is more than likely that he is a good distance away from +here by now and keeping to side roads where he thinks he will not be +followed." + +"But what brought him to Fernwood in the first place?" questioned Sam. + +"Give it up. Of course, he may have friends or relatives here. But I +don't know how we are going to find out the truth about that, and what +good will it do us if we do?" + +A half hour was spent in that vicinity, the boys tramping up and down +the road and through the fields and woods looking for some trace of the +missing man. Then they returned to Fernwood. + +"I'm going down to the post-office to post our letters," announced +Dick. "I'll see if the postmaster knows anything about Crowden." + +The postmaster of Fernwood was a young man and glad enough to give what +information he could when he heard what Dick had to say. + +"Yes, that man was here several times," he remarked. "He seemed very +anxious to get some letters, and he posted several letters himself, +although whom they were addressed to I don't know." + +"You haven't any idea where he was stopping?" + +"Not the slightest." And this was all the postmaster could tell them. + +"No use of our staying here any longer," announced Tom, when the boys +had rejoined the others at the hotel. "I guess Crowden just came to this +out-of-the-way place to get and send mail." + +"Don't you think he'll come back, thinking there'll be some letters for +him?" questioned his wife. + +"We'll take care of that," was the reply. "We'll notify the local +authorities and also the postmaster, so if Crowden turns up again he'll +be arrested at once;" and this matter was attended to before they left +the town. + +Chester Waltham grumbled somewhat because the Rovers had not taken him +along on the trip to Riverview, but the three brothers paid little +attention to this, although Sam showed that he was rather anxious +because of the way in which Grace stood up for the brother of her +seminary chum. + +It had been planned that the tour from Valley Brook to the west should +be taken through Ashton, so one morning a few days later found the whole +party in the old college town. + +"Too bad that Brill and Hope are both closed for the season," remarked +Dora. "We might have met some of our old friends." + +"Well, it doesn't make much difference to me," grinned back Sam. "It +seems like only yesterday since I graduated." + +"I am glad my school days are over," announced Ada Waltham. "I never did +care for studying." + +Before proceeding farther, the Rovers had decided to call on the +Sandersons, so they went away from the hotel at Ashton, leaving the +Walthams behind. A letter had been sent ahead to Minnie, so she was not +much surprised at their arrival. Her appearance, however, shocked them +greatly. From looking round and ruddy her face had taken on a pale and +careworn look. + +"We are having all sorts of bad luck this year," she said, in answer to +an inquiry of Dora, and while the boys had gone off to find Mr. +Sanderson, who was at the barn. "First came the loss of that money. Then +father was taken sick, and now he tells me that the crops this year are +not going to be nearly as good as usual." + +"That is certainly too bad, Minnie," said Dora, sympathetically. "I wish +we could do something to help you." She paused for a moment. "I suppose +you hear from Songbird occasionally?" + +"Oh, yes, he writes to me regularly. He is hard at work, and last week +he sent father a check for one hundred dollars. This, of course, is a +good deal of money for the poor fellow to scrape together, but it isn't +much towards four thousand dollars." + +"It certainly is too bad about the crops not being good," said Nellie, +who, being the daughter of a farmer, knew exactly what such a calamity +means to the average man who depends on the soil for his living. + +"Father wouldn't mind it so much if it was not for this interest on the +mortgage. You see he had expected to pay the whole amount off and that, +of course, would stop the interest. Now he has to pay the usual amount, +two hundred and forty dollars a year, which, you see, is twenty dollars +a month. It worries him a good deal." + +"Did you say Songbird sent him a hundred dollars?" questioned Grace, +curiously. + +"Yes. It was money he had earned and some that his folks had given him. +I am glad to say father didn't think much of accepting it at first," +added Minnie, her face brightening a little. "But poor John urged it, so +that at last he took it and sent it over to the bank." + +"Then I suppose Songbird and your father are on fairly good terms now," +remarked Dora. + +"No, I am sorry to say that is not true, Dora. At first father seemed to +get over it, but lately he has been as bitter as ever. You see, his +sickness, and the bad crops, and the interest money to be paid on the +mortgage, worry him a great deal, and he takes it all out on poor John. +He sticks to it that John should have been more careful while he was +carrying such a large amount." Minnie turned her face away and two tears +stole down her cheeks. "It's a shame--an awful, burning shame! But what +in the world am I to do?" + +"It surely is too bad, Minnie," said Dora, kindly, placing her arm +around the girl's waist, while Nellie and Grace looked on +sympathetically. "If we could help you at all we would do it. We have +some news of Blackie Crowden, and the others have gone out to tell your +father about it," and then she related what had occurred during the +stop at Fernwood. + +"Oh! if only they could find that fellow and get back the money!" sobbed +Minnie. "But maybe the most of it has been spent," she added, dolefully. + +"Oh, let us hope not!" cried Nellie. "He couldn't spend any such amount +as that in so short a time." + +"He might if he drank and gambled it away," put in her sister. "Oh, +wouldn't it be too bad if they did catch this Blackie Crowden and then +found that he had squandered all that money!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +AT THE FESTIVAL + + +While Dora and her cousins were talking to Minnie the others had sought +out Mr. Sanderson, who was down in the barn superintending the stowing +away of some grain. The farmer listened with interest to what they had +to tell him about Blackie Crowden, but shook his head dolefully. + +"I'm pretty well satisfied that they'll never get that money back for me +now," he announced. "A fellow of that character would use up cash about +as fast as he could lay hands on it." + +"Well, let us live in hopes," returned Dick, not knowing what else to +say. + +The farmer asked them about their tour, and said he trusted that they +would have a good time. Then Sam ventured to mention Songbird. + +"Better not talk to me about that young man," declared Mr. Sanderson, +drawing down the corners of his mouth. "He may mean well enough, but +he's not my kind, and I've told Minnie she had better stop having him +call and also stop writing to him." + +"Oh, Mr. Sanderson! I think you are doing our chum an injustice," cried +Sam. "It wasn't his fault that he was robbed of that four thousand +dollars." + +"Humph! That's as how you look at it," grumbled the farmer. "I've said +what I think, and I'll stick to it." And nothing that the Rovers could +say would alter his decision in this matter. + +"Oh, I'm so sorry for Minnie I really don't know how to express myself," +were Dora's words, when the party were once more on the way to the +Ashton hotel. "If her father compels her to give up Songbird it will +just about break her heart." + +"I don't believe she's the one to give up Songbird," answered Sam. "She +isn't that kind of girl," and he looked at Grace. But her eyes at that +moment were turned in another direction. He followed the look and saw +that she was gazing at Chester Waltham, who, with his sister, had driven +their car to meet the others. + +"There is one thing about this whole matter that worries me," said Dick, +"and that is that when they catch this Blackie Crowden--and I think +they'll land on the fellow sooner or later--most of the money may be +gone. There will be some satisfaction in placing such a rascal behind +the bars, but that won't give Mr. Sanderson his cash back nor lift that +mortgage." + +"We've just got news and we thought we would let you know about it," +cried Ada Waltham, as the runabout came to a standstill close to the +other automobiles. "There is to be a grand festival at Larkinburg this +evening, and if it is not necessary to stay in Ashton to-night we might +as well go to that place and attend the festival. I received a letter at +the Ashton post-office from two girls who used to go to Hope, and they +are to be at the affair, and they write that it will be well worth +attending." + +"Oh, yes, let us go to Larkinburg by all means!" cried Grace. "I know +the two girls--Jennie Cross and Mabel Stanford. The festival will +certainly be well worth while if they say so." + +"Let me see--how many miles is it to Larkinburg?" questioned Tom. + +"Only sixty, so we can make the run with ease if we start directly after +lunch," answered Chester Waltham. + +The matter was talked over for a few minutes, and as a result it was +decided to go ahead and make the town mentioned in ample time to attend +the festival. + +"They are going to have a concert and some outdoor tableaux, with +refreshments," said Grace. "Ada was telling me all about it." + +"Well, that will be much better than staying in Ashton doing nothing," +returned Dora. "And, besides, we must be getting along on our trip. Dick +says we are really a day behind in our schedule." + +During the stop at the Ashton hotel for lunch, Chester Waltham had been +very attentive to Grace and had asked her if she did not wish to change +places with his sister on the run to Larkinburg; but she had declined, +offering some excuse which was far from satisfactory to the young +millionaire. + +"I thought you were going to put in part of this tour with me," he had +said, rather reproachfully. "Besides, if you will come in with me it +will give Ada a chance to visit with the others." + +"Well, I'll ride with you some time," Grace had answered. "I want Ada to +have as good a time as any of us." + +The long hours spent on the road had proved rather tiring to Mrs. +Stanhope and Mrs. Laning, and when Larkinburg was reached they were glad +enough to rest in a comfortable room which Dick engaged for them. + +"You young folks can go to the festival," said Mrs. Stanhope, with a +smile. "We are going to stay here and go to bed early;" and so it was +arranged. + +The festival was held in a large grove bordering a beautiful stream and +located some distance from the center of the town. As soon as our +friends had arrived they had called up the two former students of Hope, +and it had been decided that these girls, along with their escorts, +should join the others and all should attend the festival together. + +"We can easily pack the whole crowd in our three cars," announced Dick. + +"I can't carry any extra people in my runabout," complained Chester +Waltham. "Of course, one of the fellows might stand on the running +board, but----" + +"We'll take them, don't worry," answered Sam. "We've got some vacant +seats, you know, and four extra won't count." + +The girls from Hope were a jolly pair and so were the two young men who +accompanied them. All got in the Rovers' machines, and away they went, +followed closely by the Waltham runabout. A parking space had been set +aside, and there our friends found themselves surrounded by machines of +all sorts, and a jolly, laughing crowd numbering several thousands of +people. + +"Oh, how pretty!" burst from Grace's lips, as they strolled toward the +place where the concert and the tableaux were to be given. + +A stage had been constructed among some trees and bushes with a +background of the river, and here scores of lamps and lanterns twinkled +forth. The seats were placed along a sloping bank, and soon the whole +crowd was gathered to listen to the opening number of the concert. + +As soon as the machines were parked Chester Waltham, almost ignoring his +sister, had devoted his attention to Grace, doing this while Sam was +busy talking over some matters with his brothers. Waltham had walked +over to the seats with Grace beside him, and now he saw to it that she +was placed where he could talk to her with ease. This, of course, did +not particularly suit Sam, but he was helpless in the matter and so made +the best of it. + +The concert was a fine one and the tableaux, which were interspersed +between the various musical numbers, were intensely interesting. + +"Certainly well worth attending," was Tom's comment, when that portion +of the festival came to an end amid a loud clapping of hands. + +"And now for some refreshments," announced Dick. "Come on, let us hurry +or the tables may all be filled," for some long tables decorated with +lanterns had been set under the trees at one side of the grove. + +"My! but it is rather chilly here," was Grace's comment, when they were +moving toward the tables. "I feel positively cold." + +"Didn't you bring your jacket?" questioned Sam. + +"Yes, but I left it in the auto." + +"I'll go and get it," he returned, and ran off to procure the garment. +He found that more machines had come in, and it was some little while +before he could locate their automobile and pick out the jacket. + +In the meanwhile, Chester Waltham, leaving his sister with the other +girls from Hope, had gone on with Grace and seated her at one of the +tables, with the others of the party opposite. There was but one vacant +seat left next to Grace, and this the young millionaire appropriated. + +"I don't know what Sam will do when he gets here," remarked Grace, +anxiously. + +"Oh, I guess he'll find a seat somewhere," answered Chester Waltham, +coolly. + +The youngest Rover was rather surprised on getting back to find every +seat filled and the young millionaire sitting beside the girl who was so +dear to his heart, but he made no comment. He helped Grace don the +jacket, and then stood back until there was a vacant seat at a table +some distance away. + +"I think it was rather mean of Chester Waltham to appropriate that +seat," whispered Nellie to Dora while they were being served. + +"I think so myself, Nellie," was the low reply. + +At last the festival came to an end, and all those in the crowd prepared +to go home. + +"I hope you enjoyed your refreshments," said Sam, rather coolly, as he +came up to Grace's side. + +"Why, yes, I enjoyed them very much," answered the girl. She looked at +him rather pointedly. "Didn't you think the sandwiches and cake and +other things were very nice?" + +"Nice enough," he grumbled. "Come on, let us get back to the hotel, I'm +as tired as a dog," and he started to walk away, leaving the others to +follow him. + +His words and the manner in which they were spoken rather nettled Grace, +and she walked toward the automobiles in silence, with the others in +front and behind her. But Chester Waltham remained at her side, and as +they approached the machines he caught her by the arm. + +"Say, Grace, come on and take a ride with me," he half whispered. "It's +a beautiful night. Come on, you don't want to go back to the hotel +yet." + +"But what about Ada?" she questioned. + +"Oh, she can take your place in one of the other autos, can't she?" + +"I--I--suppose so," faltered Grace. She hardly knew how to go on. She +did not wish particularly to take a ride with Waltham, and, at the same +time, she was hurt over the way Sam had spoken to her. + +"See here, Sis," cried the young millionaire, "I am going to take Miss +Laning back in my runabout. She says you can take her place with the +Rovers." + +"Oh, all right, Chester," answered the sister. "Hope you have a nice +time of it," she added to Grace. + +There was a large crowd down among the automobiles, and our friends had +all they could do in the semi-darkness to get their machines out on the +road in safety. + +"Where is Grace?" demanded Sam, as some of the others came up to him. He +had just turned on the lights of both cars. + +"She is going to ride back with Chester," answered Ada Waltham. "You'll +have to let me ride back with you," and she laughed lightly. + +"Oh, all right. Come ahead," returned the youngest Rover. He spoke as +lightly as he could. He did not wish to let the others know his true +feelings. There was a strange bitterness in his heart, and for the +moment he wished that he had never come on this tour. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +A CALL FOR ASSISTANCE + + +Ada Waltham did all she could to make herself agreeable to Sam and the +others, but the youngest Rover was in no mood for raillery, and on the +way back to Larkinburg had but little to say. + +Chester Waltham had lost no time in assisting Grace into his runabout +and in getting his car out of the congestion in the parking space. Then +he put on speed, and soon the pair were whirled away out of the sight of +the others. + +"It's a dandy night for a ride," was Tom's remark. There was some +moonshine, and the stars glittered clear in the heavens overhead. + +"That is true, Tom," answered his wife, "but don't you think we had +better get back to the hotel and go to bed? I heard Dick say something +about a long day of it to-morrow." + +"Oh, yes, Nellie, we'll get back. It wouldn't be fair to go off and +leave mother and Mrs. Stanhope alone." + +When they reached the hotel at Larkinburg the Rovers expected to find +the Waltham runabout in the garage, and they were consequently somewhat +surprised when they saw no sign of the machine. + +"We certainly couldn't have passed them on the road," observed Dick. He +turned to his youngest brother. "You didn't see them, did you?" + +"No. They went on ahead," answered Sam, shortly; and his manner of +speech showed that he was thoroughly out of sorts. + +Having placed the touring cars in the care of the garage keeper, the +Rovers joined the others on the piazza of the hotel. Then Dora slipped +upstairs to see if her mother and Mrs. Laning were all right. She found +both of them sleeping soundly, and did not disturb them. + +Sam could not content himself with sitting down, and so lounged around +in one place and another, and finally said he would go inside and write +a letter to the folks at home. He was still writing when Tom came in to +join him. + +"Sam, did Chester Waltham say anything about where he was going to take +Grace?" asked Tom, as he sat down beside his brother. + +"No, he didn't say a word to me," was the short reply, and Sam went on +writing. + +"Did Grace say anything?" + +"No." + +Tom said nothing for a moment, drumming his fingers on the writing +table. At last he heaved something of a sigh. + +"Seems to me if they were going on a long ride they might have said +something to us about it," he observed. "Nellie is rather worried." + +"Oh, I guess they've got a right to take a ride if they want to," came +rather crossly from Sam. He finished his letter with a flourish, folded +it, and rammed it into an envelope which he quickly addressed. + +"Oh, of course, but----" Tom did not finish, and as Sam, after stamping +his letter, arose, he did the same. "I wonder if we had better stay up +for them." + +"I think I'll go to bed." + +"Sam!" and Tom looked sharply at his younger brother. + +"Well, what's the use of staying up?" + +"A whole lot of use, Sam Rover, and you know it. If I were you I +wouldn't let Chester Waltham ride over me." + +"Who says I am letting him ride over me?" retorted Sam; and now his +manner showed that he was quite angry. + +"I say so," answered Tom, bluntly. "If you have got half the sand in +you that I always thought you had, you wouldn't stand for it. All of us +know how matters were going on between you and Grace. Now to let this +fellow step in, even if he is a young millionaire, is downright foolish. +If you really care for Grace it's up to you to go in and take her." + +"Yes, but suppose that she cares for Waltham and his money more than she +cares for me?" asked Sam, hesitatingly. + +"Do you think Grace is the kind of a girl to be caught by money, Sam?" +and now, as the two were in a deserted part of the hallway, Tom took his +brother by both arms and held him firmly. + +"N--no, I--I can't say that exactly," faltered Sam. "But just the same, +why does she favor him at all?" + +"Maybe it's because you haven't been as outspoken as you ought to be. +It's one thing for a girl to know what you think of her, but just the +same the average girl wants you to tell her so in plain words. Now, it +may not be any of my business, but you know that I want you to be happy, +and that I am unusually interested because of Nellie. It seems to me if +I were you I'd go to Grace the first chance I had and have a clear +understanding." + +"I--I can't go to her now. She's out with Waltham," stammered Sam. + +"Then hang around until they get back and see to it that you have a +chance to talk with her before she goes to her room," returned Tom; and +then, as some other people came up, the conversation had to come to an +end. + +A half hour passed and Ada Waltham excused herself. "Chester and Grace +must be having a fine ride," she observed on retiring, "otherwise they +would have returned by this time." + +"Maybe they had a breakdown," observed Dick. "I've been told that some +of the roads around here are far from good." + +"Oh, don't say that!" cried the girl. "Chester hates to have to make any +repairs when he is alone. Time and again he has run to a garage on a +flat tire rather than put another one on himself." + +Another half hour dragged by, and now Dora turned to whisper to Dick. + +"Don't you think we had better retire?" she asked. "I never supposed +Grace was going to stay out as late as this." + +"No, we'll stay up," he answered. "Nellie has told Tom that she isn't +going to bed until her sister gets back, so it won't do for us to leave +them here on the piazza alone." + +"Mr. Rover! Telephone call for Mr. Rover!" came the announcement from a +bellboy, as he appeared upon the piazza. + +"Which Mr. Rover?" demanded Sam, eagerly. + +"The party said any of 'em would do," answered the bellboy. + +"I'll go," said Sam, eagerly, before either of his brothers or their +wives could speak. + +"All right, Sam. I'll follow in case you want me or any of the others," +answered Tom. + +The telephone booths were located in the lobby of the hotel, and Sam was +quickly shown to one of them. While he talked Tom stood by, but caught +only a few words of what was said. + +"Hello!" + +"Oh, is this you, Sam?" came over the wire in Grace's voice. "I'm so +glad! I have been trying to get somebody for the last ten minutes but +they couldn't give me the hotel connection." + +"Where are you?" questioned the youth. "Has anything happened?" for the +tone of the girl's voice indicated that she was very much agitated. + +"Oh, Sam! I want you or some of the others to come and get me," cried +Grace. "The runabout has broken down, and I don't think Mr. Waltham can +fix it. And we are miles and miles away from Larkinburg!" + +"A breakdown, eh? Why, sure, I'll come and get you, Grace. Where are +you?" + +"I am at a farmhouse on the road between Dennville and Corbytown--the +Akerson place. If you come, take the road to Dennville and then drive +toward Corbytown. We'll hang a lantern on the stepping block, so you +will know where to stop." + +"All right, Grace, I'll be there just as soon as I can make it," +answered Sam; and then he added quickly: "You weren't hurt when the +breakdown happened, were you?" + +"Not very much, although I was a good deal shaken up. Mr. Waltham had +his face and his hand scraped by the broken wind-shield." + +"Well, you take good care of yourself, and I'll start right away," +returned the youngest Rover, and after a few words more hung up the +receiver. + +It did not take Sam long to acquaint the others with what had occurred, +and then he ran down to the hotel garage to get out one of the touring +cars. + +"Don't you think I had better go along?" asked Tom. "Chester Waltham may +be in a fix and need assistance. And, besides, they may both be more +hurt than Grace said." + +"Yes, I guess you'd better come," answered his brother. And soon, +having received directions from the garage keeper as to how to get to +Dennville, the pair were on the way. + +"How did Grace seem to be when you spoke to her?" questioned Tom, as Sam +ran the car as rapidly as the semi-darkness of the night permitted. + +"She seemed to be all unstrung," was Sam's thoughtful reply. + +"Then the accident may have been worse than she admitted, Sam." + +"I hope not, but we'll soon see." And then, as a straight stretch of +fairly good road appeared before them, Sam turned on the power and the +touring car sped onward faster than ever. + +Inside of half an hour they reached Dennville, a sleepy little town, +located in the midst of a number of hills. All the houses were dark and +the stores closed up, and not a soul was in sight. They ran into the +tiny public square and there found several signboards. + +"Here we are!" cried Sam. "Corbytown four miles this way," and he +pointed with his hand. + +"We'll look at the other signboards first to see whether there is +another road," answered his brother. But there was only the one, and so +Sam turned the touring car into this, and they sped forward once more, +but now at a reduced rate of speed, for the road was decidedly hilly +and far from good. + +"What possessed Waltham to take such a road as this," remarked Tom, +after they had passed a particularly bad spot. + +"Don't ask me!" was the reply. "It's no wonder he had a breakdown if he +took this road on high speed." + +They were going up a long hill. At the top a large and well-kept farm +spread out, and, beyond, the hill dropped away on a road that was worse +than ever. + +"Hello! there's a light!" cried Tom, as they approached the house +belonging to the farm. + +"I see it," answered his brother; and in a few seconds more they ran up +to the horse-block and brought the touring car to a standstill, Sam, at +the same time, sounding the horn. + +But the summons was unnecessary, for their approach had been eagerly +looked for by Grace, and hardly had the machine come to a standstill +when she flew out of the farmhouse to meet them. + +"Oh, I'm so glad you've come!" she burst out. "If you hadn't, I don't +know what I should have done!" She was somewhat hysterical and on the +verge of tears. + +"Are you sure that you're not hurt, Grace?" asked Sam, quickly; and as +he spoke he caught her by one hand and placed an arm on her shoulder. + +"I--I don't think I am hurt, Sam," she faltered, and then looked rather +tearfully into his face. "But it was an awful experience--awful!" and +then as he drew a little closer she suddenly burst into a fit of weeping +and rested her head on his shoulder. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + +SAM FREES HIS MIND + + +In spite of his fun-loving disposition, Tom Rover was a very wise young +man, so as soon as he saw Grace resting on his brother's shoulder he +promptly turned away, to interview the farmer and his wife who lived in +the farmhouse and who had answered the girl's knock on their door. + +"I can't tell much about the accident," said Mr. Akerson. "Me and my +wife were just goin' to bed when the young lady knocked on the door and +begged us to take her in, and then asked if we had a telephone. She said +she had been in an automobile breakdown, but she didn't give us many +particulars, except to say that she thought the front axle of the +machine was broken." + +"Well, a broken axle is bad enough," was Tom's prompt comment. "They are +lucky that no necks were broken." + +"The poor girl was dreadfully shook up," put in Mrs. Akerson. "She just +went on somethin' terrible. I had all I could do to quiet her at +first." + +"Didn't the young man come here with her?" questioned Tom. + +"No. She said she had left him down on the road with the machine. She +said he was all worked up over the accident." + +"I should think he would be," returned Tom, and said no more on the +subject. Yet he thought it very strange that Chester Waltham had not +accompanied Grace to the farmhouse and thus made certain that help was +summoned. + +Tom and his brother had entered the sitting-room of the farmhouse. Next +to it was a lit-up dining-room and to this Sam and Grace had walked, the +latter between her sobs telling of what had happened. + +"Oh, Sam, it was dreadful!" cried Grace. "Mr. Waltham was so reckless. I +couldn't understand him at all. When I said I would ride with him I +supposed we were going right back to the hotel. But on the way he said +it was too fine a night to go in yet, and begged me to go a little +farther, and so finally I consented. Then he drove the car on and on, +ever so many miles, until we reached Dennville." + +"But if you didn't want to go that far, Grace, why didn't you tell +him?" + +"I did--several times. But he wouldn't listen to me. Of course, I didn't +want to act rude, and when I told him to turn back he only laughed at +me. Then, when we got to Dennville, and I told him that I positively +would not go any farther, he said, 'Oh, yes, you will. We are going to +have a good, long ride. I am going to make you pay up in full for not +riding with me before.'" + +"The mean fellow!" murmured Sam. "I'd like to punch him for that." + +"Oh, but, Sam! that wasn't the worst of it," went on the girl; and now +she blushed painfully and hung her head. "Then he started up on this +side road and he ran the car as fast as ever. I was dreadfully scared, +but he only laughed and told me to enjoy myself, and when the car bumped +over some stones, and I was thrown against him, he put his arm around me +and--and he did his best to kiss me!" + +"What!" + +"But I didn't allow it. I pushed him away, and when he laughed at me I +told him that if he tried it again I would box his ears. Then, just +after we had passed this place, he reached over and caught hold of me +and tried to pull me toward him. Then I boxed him, just as I had said I +would. That made him furious, and he put on a burst of speed, and the +next minute there was a terrible bump and a crash, and both of us were +almost thrown out of the car. The wind-shield was broken and also, I +think, the front axle, and he was scratched in several places. Oh, it +was awful!" And again Grace hid her face on Sam's shoulder. + +"Well, it served him right if he got hurt and if his runabout was +ruined," was the youth's comment. He drew Grace closer to him than ever. +"Then you didn't really care for him?" he whispered. + +"Oh, Sam, Sam! how can you ask such a question?" she murmured. + +"Because I didn't know. I thought---- You see, he--he is a millionaire, +and----" + +"Why, Sam Rover! do you think that money would make any difference to +me?" and now she raised her face to look him full in the eyes. + +"I am mighty glad to know it hasn't made any difference," he returned +quickly; and then caught and held her tight once more. + +"I suppose you young men are goin' back to help the fellow with his +busted machine," remarked Mr. Akerson to Tom. + +"I--I suppose so," returned Tom, slowly, and then looked toward Sam and +Grace. + +"Oh, I don't want to go back!" cried the girl, quickly. "I want to +return to the hotel in Larkinburg." + +"All right, I'll take you back, Grace," answered Sam. "If you say so, +we'll leave Waltham right where he is." + +"I think it would be the right thing to do, Sam, under ordinary +circumstances," was the reply. "But then we mustn't forget about Ada. +She will be greatly worried if I come back and let her know that we left +her brother out here on the open road with a broken machine." + +"I'll tell you what we'll do, Grace. You stay here and Tom and I will go +down and see what Waltham has got to say for himself." He turned to the +people of the house. "She can stay here a little longer, can't she? +We'll make it all right with you." + +"Certainly she can stay," answered Mr. Akerson. "And there won't be +anything to pay outside of the telephone toll, and that's only twenty +cents." + +"Please don't stay too long," implored Grace, as the two Rovers hurried +away. + +"Not a minute longer than is necessary," returned Sam. + +On the way down the hill to where the accident had occurred Sam gave his +brother the particulars of the affair, not mincing matters so far as it +concerned Chester Waltham. + +"I was thinking that that was about the way it would turn out," was +Tom's dry comment. "With so much money, Waltham thinks he can do about +as he pleases. I reckon now, Sam, you are sorry you didn't talk to Grace +before." + +"I sure am, Tom!" was the reply, and Sam's tones showed what a weight +had been taken from his heart. "I'm going to fix it up with Grace before +another twenty-four hours pass." + +"That's the way to talk, boy! Go to it! I wish you every success!" and +Tom clapped his brother on the shoulder affectionately. + +Even though all the lights were out, it did not take the two Rovers long +to locate the disabled runabout, which rested among some stones on the +side of the highway. As Grace had stated, the wind-shield was a mass of +smashed glass, and the front axle had broken close to the left wheel. + +"They can certainly be thankful they didn't break their necks," was +Tom's comment, as he walked around the wreck. + +"Waltham doesn't seem to be anywhere around here," returned Sam. "Wonder +where he went to?" + +Both looked up and down the highway, and presently saw a figure +approaching from down the road. It proved to be Chester Waltham. He was +capless and walked with a limp. + +"Hello! Who are you?" challenged the young millionaire, and then as he +drew closer he added: "Oh, the Rovers, eh? Did Grace get you on the +'phone?" + +"She did," answered Sam, and then added sharply: "You've made a nice +mess of it here, haven't you?" + +"Say, I don't want any such talk from you," blustered the rich young +man. Evidently he was in far from a good humor. + +"I'll say what I please, Waltham, without asking your permission," +continued the youngest Rover. "You had no right to bring Miss Laning +away out here against her wishes. It was a contemptible thing to do." + +"You talk as if you were my master," retorted Chester Waltham. "This +isn't any of your affair and you keep out of it." + +"We are perfectly willing to keep out of it if you say so, Waltham," +broke in Tom. "We came down here merely to see if we could help you in +any way. But I see your front axle is broken, and you will have to get +the garage people to help you out with that." + +"Where's Grace?" asked the young millionaire. The subject of the +broken-down runabout did not seem to interest him. + +"She is up at the farmhouse on the hill," answered Tom. + +"And we are going to take her back to the Larkinburg hotel in our auto," +added Sam. + +"Oh, all right, then, go ahead and do it." + +"Do you want to ride with us?" questioned Tom. + +"I don't know that I do. I'll stay here and take care of my runabout. If +you'll tell my sister that I'm all right, that is all I want." + +"Very well, just as you say," answered Tom. He took his brother by the +arm. "Come on, Sam, there is no use of wasting time here." + +"I'll be with you in a minute, Tom," was the younger brother's reply. +"You go on ahead, I want to say just a few words more to Waltham." + +"No use of your getting into a fight, Sam," returned Tom in a low voice. + +"There won't be any fight unless he starts it." + +Tom walked slowly up the road, and Sam turned back to where Chester +Waltham had settled himself on the mud-guard of the broken-down +runabout. + +"See here, Waltham, I want to say a few words more to you," began Sam, +and his tone of voice was such that the young millionaire leaped at +once to his feet. "I want to warn you about how you treat Miss Laning in +the future." + +"To warn me!" repeated Chester Waltham, not knowing what else to say. + +"Exactly! Up at the farmhouse she told me all of what took place between +you. She was all unstrung and quite hysterical. Now this won't do at +all, and I want you to know it. After this if you are going to travel +with us you've got to act the gentleman and treat her like a lady." + +"Humph!" + +"No 'humph' about it. I mean just what I say. If you don't behave +yourself and don't treat her like a lady I'll--I'll----" + +"Well, what will you do?" sneered Chester Waltham. + +"I'll tell you what I'll do," and now Sam shook his finger in the young +millionaire's face. "I'll give you the soundest thrashing you ever had +in your life!" + +"Ah! do you mean to threaten me?" + +"I certainly do." + +"When it comes to a thrashing, maybe two can play at that game," +observed the young millionaire; but it was plainly to be seen that Sam's +decided stand had disconcerted him. + +"All right, Waltham, I'll be ready for you. But remember what I said. We +came out here to have a good time, and I am not going to allow you to +spoil it for Miss Laning or for anybody else." + +"Humph! you make me tired," sneered the rich young man. "Go on, I don't +want to be bothered with you any longer. The whole bunch of you is too +namby-pamby for me. I think my sister and I could have a much better +time if we weren't with you." + +"As far as you personally are concerned, you can't leave us any too +quickly to suit me," returned Sam. + +"Is that so? Well, I guess you can call it off then so far as my sister +and I are concerned. But if you think, Rover, that you have seen the +last of this affair you are mistaken," went on the young millionaire, +pointedly. "You think you are going to run things to suit yourself, +don't you? Well, I'll put a spoke in your wheel--a spoke that you never +dreamed of! You just wait and see!" and then Chester Waltham turned back +and sat down once more on his wrecked runabout, leaving Sam to walk up +the road to rejoin Tom in a very thoughtful mood. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + +A TELEGRAM FROM NEW YORK + + +It was not until the small hours of the morning that the two Rovers and +Grace returned to the hotel in Larkinburg. They found Dick and his wife +and Nellie anxiously awaiting their return. + +"Oh! I am so glad that you weren't hurt," cried Nellie, as she embraced +her sister. "I was so worried," and she hugged her again and again. + +"You can rest assured, Nellie, that I'll never go out with Chester +Waltham again! Never!" cried Grace. "Come on, I am going to my room. +Good-night, everybody," she called back, and in another moment had +retired from their view, followed by her sister. + +"Why, Sam! what does it mean?" cried Dora, as she looked on in +bewilderment. + +"It means that Chester Waltham ought to have had a good thrashing," +declared the youngest Rover; and then he and Tom told of what had +occurred. + +"I guess it will be a good job done if we part company with the +Walthams," remarked Dick, after the subject had been discussed for some +time. "He is not of our class, even if he has money." + +"I feel rather sorry for his sister," added Dora. "Although once in a +while she shows the same haughtiness of manner that Chester displays. +It's too bad, too, for they might be really nice company." + +With so much excitement going on, it was small wonder that the Rover +party did not come downstairs that morning until quite late. Sam was the +first to show himself, he being anxious to know how Grace had fared. + +"Here is a letter for your brother, Mr. Rover," said the clerk at the +desk, when Sam approached him. "It was left here by that Mr. Waltham." + +"Hand it over," returned the youth, and then added: "Did Mr. Waltham +bring his wrecked runabout to the garage here?" + +"No, sir, he just came here, got his sister, paid his bill, and went +off." + +"Oh, I see." Sam could not help but show his surprise. "I'll take this +letter to my brother," he added, and hurried off. + +The communication was a short one, yet the Rovers and the others read it +with interest. In it Chester Waltham said that in consideration of the +way he had been treated by some members of the party he considered it +advisable for his sister and himself to continue their tour separately. +He added that he trusted Miss Laning did not feel any ill effects +because of the breakdown on the road. + +"And just to think that Ada went off without saying good-bye!" cried +Grace, when she saw the letter. "I didn't think she would be quite so +mean as that." + +"Probably she took her brother's part. She usually did," returned her +sister. "Well, I think we are well rid of them." + +"So do I," put in Tom. "Personally I don't care if we never see them +again." + +"He said he was going to put a spoke in our wheel," mused Sam. "I wonder +if he'll dare to do anything to harm us?" + +"Oh, it's likely he was talking through his hat," returned Dick; but for +once the oldest Rover was mistaken. + +Now that our friends were by themselves there seemed to be a general air +of relief. The only one of the party who was rather quiet was Grace, but +Sam did everything he could to make it pleasant for her, and before +nightfall she was as jolly as ever. + +The run during that day was through a particularly beautiful section of +the country, and about one o'clock they stopped in a grove and partook +of a lunch which had been put up for them at the Larkinburg hotel. Then +they moved forward once again, with Dick and Tom at the steering wheels +of the cars. + +"Still seventy-three miles to go if we want to make Etoria to-day," +announced Dick, after consulting the guide book. "I'm afraid that will +be quite a ride for you ladies," he added, turning to Mrs. Stanhope and +Mrs. Laning. + +"Oh, yes, let us go on to Etoria by all means," pleaded Sam. + +"Any particular reason for going to that city?" asked Tom, quickly. + +"Yes, I've got a reason, but I'm not going to tell you," returned his +younger brother. And then, as both Dick and Tom looked at him +questioningly, he blushed and turned away. + +"Oh, go ahead. I think I can stand it," said Mrs. Stanhope, with a +smile. + +"I am getting used to traveling," declared Mrs. Laning. "It's much more +comfortable than I at first supposed it would be." + +Nightfall found them still ten miles from Etoria and Dick asked the +others if they wished to stop anywhere along the way for supper. All +declared, however, that they would rather keep on until the city was +reached. + +"They tell me that they have got a dandy hotel there--something new," +said Sam. "We ought to get first-class accommodations there." + +Etoria was a city of some fifty thousand inhabitants, with a long main +street brightly lighted up. The new hotel was opposite a beautiful +public park, an ideal location. Sam seemed to be in unusual haste to +finish his supper, and immediately it was over he asked Grace if she +would not take a walk with him. + +"We are going to do up the town, so don't worry if we get back a little +late," he told Mrs. Laning, and then whispered something in her ear +which made her smile and gaze at him fondly. + +They pursued their way along the main street of the town, and while +doing so the youngest Rover kept his eyes on the various shops that were +passed. At last they came to a large jewelry establishment and here he +brought the girl to a halt. + +"It's open!" he cried. "That's what I call luck! I was afraid they would +all be closed." + +Grace looked at the store, and at the display of jewelry in the window, +and then looked at Sam. + +"I guess you know what it's going to be, Grace," he said rather +tenderly, and looked her full in the eyes. "I want you to have just as +good a one as Dora or Nellie." + +"Oh, Sam! I--I don't understand," she stammered. + +"It's an engagement ring. We are going in here and see what sort of +rings this man has got. It looks like a reliable place." + +"Oh, Sam!" and now, blushing deeply, Grace clung to his arm. "An +engagement ring?" + +"Sure! You ought to have had it long ago, then maybe we wouldn't have +had any trouble." + +"There wasn't any trouble, Sam--at least, I didn't make any trouble," +she repeated; and then, as he caught her arm and dragged her into the +shop, she murmured: "Oh, I--I feel so funny to go into a store for a +thing like that! Don't you think I had better wait outside?" + +"You can if you want to, after the jeweler has measured your finger, +Grace. But what's the use of being so backward? As soon as we get back +home you are going to be Mrs. Sam Rover, so you might as well get used +to such things first as last." + +Fortunately for the young couple it was a very elderly man--quite +fatherly in appearance--who came to wait on them. + +"A diamond ring?" he queried. "Why, certainly, I'll be pleased to show +everything we have;" and then he measured Grace's finger, and brought +forth several trays of glittering gems. + +Grace would have been satisfied with almost any of the rings, but Sam +was rather critical and insisted upon obtaining a beautiful blue-white +diamond which was almost the counterpart of the stone Dick had bestowed +upon Dora. + +"Now you've got to promise to have this engraved by eight o'clock +to-morrow morning," said the youngest Rover to the jeweler. "We are on +an automobile tour and we can't wait any longer than that." And +thereupon the shopkeeper promised that the order should be duly filled. + +"Oh, Sam, how extravagant you are!" murmured Grace, when the pair were +returning to the hotel. "Why, that ring cost a dreadful lot of money." +Her eyes were shining like stars. + +"It isn't a bit too good for such a girl as you," he declared stoutly, +and then gave her hand a squeeze that meant a great deal. + +When they left Etoria the next morning Sam had the engagement ring +tucked safely away in his pocket. He had confided in Dick, and the +oldest Rover managed it so that that noon they stopped at a large +country hotel and obtained the use of a private dining-room. This, Sam +had decorated with flowers, and just before the meal commenced he +slipped the engagement ring upon Grace's finger. + +"Oh, Sam! Oh, Grace!" shrieked Nellie when she saw the sparkling circlet +on her sister's finger. + +"Oh! so that's what's going on, is it?" cried Dora, joyfully. "Grace, +allow me to congratulate you," and then she kissed the girl and +immediately afterward kissed Sam. Numerous other kisses and handshakes +followed, and for the time being Sam and Grace were the happiest young +people in the world. + +"Let us send telegrams home, announcing the affair," suggested the +youngest Rover, after the meal was at an end. "I know dad, as well as +Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, will be glad to hear of it." + +The telegrams were quickly prepared and sent off. In the messages Sam +notified those at home where the touring party would be for the next ten +days. + +After that several days slipped by quickly. The tourists had covered a +good many miles and were now approaching the Mississippi River. The +weather had been ideal, and not a single puncture or blowout had come to +cause them trouble. Sam and Grace were much together, and, as the +youngest Rover declared, "were having the time of their lives." + +"It's queer I don't get more word from New York," remarked Dick one +evening, when they had reached a city which I shall call Pemberton. "Dad +acknowledged that telegram of Sam's, but he didn't say a word about that +Lansing deal or anything about the Bruno bonds." + +"Well, let us hope that no news is good news," returned Tom. "Anyway, +I'm not going to worry until I know there is something to worry about." + +That evening came word from Valley Brook, stating that everything was +going along well at the farm and that Mr. Anderson Rover was confining +himself closely to business in New York. + +The Mississippi was crossed, and then the tourists headed in the +direction of Colorado Springs. It was their intention to make the +Springs the turning point of the trip, with a side trip by the cog +railway to Pike's Peak. They would return by the way of Denver. Some +days later found them in Topeka, where they had decided to rest up for a +day or two. During that time only one short telegram had come from Mr. +Anderson Rover, stating that the Bruno bonds had been sold at a fair +profit, but that the Lansing deal was still uncertain. + +"We stand to win or lose quite a lot of money on that Lansing deal," +Dick explained to Sam. "It's rather a peculiar affair. The whole thing +is being engineered by a Wall Street syndicate." + +On the morning of the second day in Topeka, when Sam and Grace and some +of the others had gone shopping, Dick heard one of the bellboys call his +name. + +"Telegram," he said to Tom. "I hope this is from dad and that it +contains good news." + +The telegram proved to be what is known as a Night Letter, and its +contents caused the two Rovers much astonishment. The communication ran +as follows: + + "Have been following up the Lansing deal closely. Affairs are + getting rather clouded and I am afraid we may lose out. A new + opposition has appeared, a combination headed by your former + friend, Waltham. He is still in the West but his agents are + working against us. He has also bought controlling interest in + the Haverford deal. Evidently means to hit us as hard as + possible. Will know more in a day or two and will let you know + at once of any change in affairs. + + "ANDERSON ROVER." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + +CLOUDBURST AND FLOOD + + +"I see it!" cried Tom. "That's the spoke Chester Waltham told Sam he +would put in our wheel." + +"I guess you are right," returned his older brother. "Evidently Waltham +is a meaner fellow than I took him to be. Just because Grace would not +put up with his ungentlemanly attentions he evidently is going to do +what he can to make trouble for us." + +"I don't understand what dad means by the Haverford deal," went on Tom, +as he studied the telegram. "I thought that deal was closed long ago." + +"They thought of closing it, Tom, but at the last moment something went +wrong and the men who were going into the matter withdrew. That put a +large part of the burden on our shoulders. We have at least forty +thousand dollars invested in it. Now, if Waltham has bought a +controlling interest, as dad says, he will be able to swing it any way +he pleases, just as he may be able to swing the Lansing deal, too." + +"How much money have we got locked up in that? The last I heard it was +only about eight thousand dollars." + +"When I left, dad said he expected to put in another twelve thousand, +which would make a total of twenty thousand dollars, Tom." + +"Phew! Then that makes a grand total of sixty thousand dollars in the +two deals. Chester Waltham must have a lot of loose money, if he can +jump into deals as big as those are at a moment's notice." + +"Oh, a young millionaire like Waltham can get hold of cash whenever he +wants it," answered Dick. He ran his hand through his hair thoughtfully. +"This looks bad to me. Perhaps I had better take a train back to New +York without delay." + +"Oh, if you did that it would spoil the trip for Dora," protested his +brother. + +"It's better to spoil the trip than to let Chester Waltham get the +better of us." + +"Why not send a telegram asking if it will do any good for you to come +home?" questioned Tom. And after a little discussion Dick decided to do +this, and the telegram was sent without delay. A few hours later word +came back that if Dick was needed his father would send for him. + +The stay in Topeka was extended to the best part of a week, for that +night a furious rainstorm set in which lasted two days. The downpour was +unusually heavy, and as a consequence many of the outlying roads became +well-nigh impassable. + +During the last day of the storm Sam received a long letter from +Songbird in which the would-be poet told of how he was working to make +his way in the world and also earn some money that he might pay back the +amount lost by Mr. Sanderson. He added that so far the authorities had +been unable to find any further trace of Blackie Crowden. + +"It's too bad!" was Sam's comment, after he had read this communication. +"Poor Songbird! I suppose he feels as bad as ever over the loss of that +money." + +At last the sun once more broke through the clouds and the journey of +the tourists was resumed. Close to the city the roads were in fairly +good condition, but farther out they soon found evidences of the +tremendous downpour of the days before. Deep gullies had been cut here +and there, and occasionally they came across washed-out trees and +brushwood. + +"We'll have to take it a bit slowly, especially after dark," remarked +Dick. + +When they passed over some of the rivers they found the rushing waters +reached almost to the flooring of the bridges; and on the second day out +they found one bridge swept completely away, so that they had to make a +detour of many miles to gain another crossing. + +"What a tremendous loss to some of these farmers," remarked Mrs. Laning, +as they rolled past numerous cornfields where the stalks had been swept +down and covered with mud. "I am glad to say we never had anything like +this at Cedarville." + +"And we never had anything like it at Valley Brook either," returned +Dick. "This is the worst washout I ever saw." + +At noon they stopped at a small town for dinner and there they heard +numerous reports concerning the storm. In one place it had taken away a +barn and a cowshed and in another it had undermined the foundations of +several houses. + +"The water up to Hickyville was three feet deep in the street," said one +man at the hotel. "The folks had to rescue people by boats and rafts. +One man had four cows drowned, and up at Ganey Point a man lost all his +pigs and two horses." + +The party had scarcely left that town when it began to rain again. The +downpour, however, was for a time so light that they did not think it +worth while to stop or to turn back. + +"We'll put the tops up," said Tom, "and maybe in a little while the +clouds will blow away." + +But Tom's hopes were doomed to disappointment. The downpour was +comparatively light for about an hour, but then, just as they were +passing through a patch of timber, it suddenly came on with great fury. + +"Great Scott!" burst out Sam, as a gust of wind drove the rain under the +automobile tops. "We'll have to put down the side curtains." + +"Right you are!" answered Dick; and then the machines were halted and +all the curtains were lowered and fastened. But even this did not +protect them entirely, for the wind drove the rain in between the +numerous cracks of the covering. + +"How many miles to the next stopping place?" queried Nellie. + +"About thirty," answered Tom. "That is, if we go as far as we calculated +to when we left this morning." + +"Oh, I don't see how we are going to make thirty miles more in such a +storm as this!" cried her sister. + +"We'll be lucky to make any kind of stopping place," announced Dick, +grimly. "Just listen to that!" + +There was a wild roaring of wind outside, and then came a flash of +lightning followed by a deafening clap of thunder. + +"Oh! Oh!" came in a shriek from the girls; and involuntarily they placed +their hands to their ears. + +"Richard, do you think it is safe to stay under the trees in such a +storm as this?" questioned Mrs. Stanhope, fearfully. + +Before Dick could reply to this question there came more lightning and +thunder, and then a crash in the woods as a big tree was laid low. + +"Oh, dear! Listen!" cried Nellie. "Suppose one of the trees should come +down on the autos!" + +"That is what I was afraid of," added her mother. "I think we had better +get out of here." + +"All right, if you say so," answered Dick. "I was only thinking about +the awful wind. It's going to hit us pretty hard when we get out on the +open road." + +The automobiles had drawn up side by side, so that those in one machine +could converse with those in the other. Now Dick started up one of the +touring cars and was followed a minute later by Tom, at the wheel of the +other automobile. + +Once in the open air, those in the machines realized how furiously the +wind was blowing and how heavily the rain was descending. The +automobiles fairly shook and shivered in the blasts, and despite their +efforts to keep themselves dry all those in the automobiles were +speedily drenched. The downpour was so heavy that the landscape on all +sides was completely blotted out. + +"Oh, Dick! what in the world shall we do?" gasped Dora, and it was +plainly to be seen that she was badly frightened. + +"I'd turn in somewhere if I only knew where," answered her husband, +trying his best to peer through the rain-spattered wind-shield. "I don't +see anything like a house anywhere around, do you?" + +"No, I can't see a thing." + +Dick was running along cautiously, and now, of a sudden, he put on the +brakes. Just ahead of him had appeared a flood of water, and how deep it +was there was no telling. + +"Listen!" cried Mrs. Stanhope, when the automobile had come to a +standstill. "Did I hear somebody calling?" + +Scarcely had she spoken when there came another vivid flash of lightning +followed by more thunder, and then a downpour heavier than ever. As the +lightning flashed out Dick was surprised to see a girl splashing through +the water on the road and running toward them. + +"Look! Look!" he ejaculated. "Unless I am mistaken it's Ada Waltham!" + +"It is! It is!" exclaimed Dora. "What in the world is she doing out +alone in such a downpour as this!" + +As the girl on the road came closer to the touring car Dick threw up one +of the curtains, opened the door, and sprang out to meet her. + +"Oh, Mr. Rover!" gasped Ada Waltham, "is it really you? How fortunate! +Won't you please help me?" + +"What's wrong?" he demanded quickly. + +"Chester! He's lost!" + +"Lost! Where?" + +"He tried to cross the river yonder in the storm, and the bridge broke +and let the automobile down. I managed to save myself and jumped ashore, +but he was carried off by the torrent." The rich girl clasped her hands +nervously. "Oh, please save him, Mr. Rover! Please do!" + +By this time the second automobile had come up, and Dick waved to Tom to +stop. Seeing that something was wrong, Tom quickly alighted, followed by +Sam. + +"What's wrong?" came from both of the new arrivals, as they gazed at Ada +Waltham in astonishment. + +"Miss Waltham says her brother is lost--that he has been carried off in +the flood of yonder river," answered Dick. + +"Oh, please hurry!" burst out the girl eagerly. "Please hurry, or it +will be too late! I don't think Chester can swim." + +"All right, we'll tell the others where we are going and then we'll do +what we can," answered Dick. "But if that flood is very strong we may +have----" + +Dick was unable to finish his speech. Just then there came more +lightning followed by a deafening crash of thunder. Then the very +heavens seemed to open, to let down a torrent of water which seemed to +fairly engulf them. + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" came from the women and the girls. "Oh! what a terrible +storm!" + +"It is a cloudburst! That's what it is!" gasped Sam. + +"You're right!" ejaculated Tom. "Look! See how the water in the river is +rising! It's a cloudburst and a flood!" + +Tom was right--there had been a cloudburst, but fortunately not directly +over the heads of our friends, otherwise they might have perished in the +terrible downpour which immediately followed. The catastrophe had +occurred at a point about a mile farther up the river, and now the +waters from this flood were coming down with great swiftness and rising +higher and higher every instant. + +"We've got to get out of here," was Sam's comment. Already they were +standing in water up to their ankles. "We've got to find higher ground." + +"Oh, Sam! Sam! please don't let my brother drown!" pleaded Ada Waltham, +catching him by the arm. + +"We'll do what we can to save him, Ada, but we've got to save ourselves +first," he answered. + +"See! there is a little hill ahead," came from Dick, as he did his best +to look through the rain, which was coming down as heavily as ever. "Let +us run to the top of the rise, then we'll be in less danger from the +flood if the river gets much higher." He turned to the distracted girl. +"Come, you had better go with us, then we will see what we can do for +your brother." + +"Oh, Dick! Dick! If you don't hurry we'll be swept away, sure!" cried +Dora, and then made room so that Ada might get in beside her. + +In a moment more the three Rovers had re-entered the touring cars, and +then the machines were sent forward through the water, which was now +nearly a foot deep on the roadway. + +"Oh! I never saw such a storm in my life," was Mrs. Laning's comment. + +"If only we get out of this alive!" breathed Mrs. Stanhope. Being +naturally a very nervous woman, she was on the verge of a collapse. + +Running with care through the swirling water that covered the roadway, +they at length reached a rise of ground several feet above the flood. +Here they stopped at the highest point they could gain, bringing the +machines side by side. + +When the storm had started in earnest the three Rovers had donned their +raincoats. Now, with rain caps pulled well down over their heads, they +once more alighted. + +"If you can show us where your auto went into the river we'll see if we +can locate your brother," announced Dick to Ada Waltham. "Maybe he got +out and is walking somewhere around here," he added, by way of +encouragement. + +"Oh, dear! I'm so nervous I can scarcely stand!" gasped the girl, and +when she reached the ground they had to support her. + +Splashing along through the water that covered the roadway, they slowly +progressed until they gained a point where the youths felt it would be +impossible for Ada Waltham to go any farther. + +"There is what is left of the bridge over yonder," cried the girl, +pointing with her hand. + +The Rovers looked in that direction and saw a few sticks of timber +sticking out of the swirling waters, which were running down stream as +turbulently as ever. + +"I don't think there is any use of looking for Chester around that +bridge," was Tom's remark. "Most likely he was carried down stream--how +far there is no telling. I think the best thing we can do is to take a +look farther down." + +"That is just my opinion," returned his older brother. "I think you had +better return to the autos. It won't do any good for you to remain out +in this storm," he continued to the girl. + +When the party got back to the cars they found a farmer and his grown +son standing by the machines. + +"I was just telling the ladies you had better run your automobiles up to +my place," said the farmer. "It's about ten or fifteen feet higher than +this, and, consequently, just so much safer. Besides, the ladies can +come into the house." + +"We want to find this young lady's brother. He was swept off the bridge +yonder," returned Dick. + +"So the ladies were telling me," returned James Barlow. "You come up to +the house, and I'll go out with you. We've got a big rowboat that may +come in handy. Say! ain't this some storm? Worst let-down I've ever seen +in these parts." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + +THE RESCUE ON THE RIVER + + +It did not take long to run the automobiles down the road and up a side +lane leading to the farmer's house. Here the ladies got out, and then +the machines were placed in a barn. + +"You will do all you can to find my brother?" wailed Ada Waltham, +anxiously. + +"Yes, we'll do our level best," answered Dick; and Tom and Sam said +practically the same. + +The Rovers consulted with Mr. Barlow and his son, James, and all five +walked down as close to the edge of the river as the effects of the +cloudburst would allow. They saw bushes, trees, and parts of buildings +coming down the swiftly-flowing stream, the waters of which were now +thick with mud. + +"Here is my rowboat," announced the farmer, pointing to where the craft +was tied fast to a large tree. "You can use it if you want to, but it +looks to me like rather a hopeless matter to try to do anything while +the river is raging like this. You had better wait until it calms down +a little." + +"The trouble of it is, it may then be too late," answered Tom. He looked +at his brothers. "I think we can manage it," he added. + +The matter was discussed for fully a quarter of an hour, and during that +time the storm seemed to let up a little. The first awful effects of the +cloudburst were passing, and the water was going down slowly but surely. + +"We'll try it," announced Dick, at last. "If we can't manage the rowboat +we'll come ashore farther down the stream." + +The craft was a substantial one, and there were two pairs of oars, and +to these James Barlow added a sweep to be used as a rudder. Then the +three Rovers embarked, Tom and Sam to do the rowing and the other +brother to guide the craft. It was hard, dangerous work, as they +realized as soon as they struck the current of the swollen stream. They +were sent along pell-mell, and it was all they could do to keep +themselves from crashing into one object or another on the way. + +"Look out, or you'll get upset!" yelled James Barlow to them, and then +his voice was drowned out in the rushing and roaring of the elements +around them. + +A half hour passed--which to the Rovers just then seemed almost an age. +During that time the three kept their eyes wide open for a possible +sight of Chester Waltham or anybody else who might have been carried +away by the flood. + +"There is somebody!" suddenly called out Dick. "A man caught in a tree!" + +"Is it Waltham?" demanded Tom, quickly. + +"I can't make out. He is crouched in a heap on some limbs and is waving +frantically for us." + +Not without additional peril did the Rovers turn the rowboat across the +river, for the tree in which the man was crouching was on the shore +opposite to that from which they had embarked. + +"Hello! there are two fellows in the tree!" announced Tom, as they drew +closer. + +The second man crouched behind the trunk, so that they had not at first +been able to see him. + +"Help! Help!" came from the fellow who had been waving so frantically to +them. And now, as they drew still closer, they saw that the individual +was Chester Waltham. The young millionaire was capless and coatless, and +his face and hands were much scratched. + +"We're in luck, that's sure," was Tom's comment, in a low voice. + +"And I'm glad on his sister's account," added Sam. + +"When we bring the boat up beside the tree you lower yourself into it, +Waltham," directed Dick. "But be careful how you do it or we'll upset. +The current here is very swift." + +"Yes, yes, I'll be careful," answered the young millionaire in a voice +which trembled so that he could scarcely speak. He was, of course, much +surprised to discover that it was the Rovers who had come to his +assistance. + +He was so exhausted that to get out of the tree in safety was all but +impossible, and finally Dick had to assist him while Tom and Sam did all +they could to hold the rowboat in position. + +"It's fine of you to come for me!" panted Chester Waltham, when he found +himself safe in the rowboat. "Di-did my si-sister get you, or what?" + +"Yes, she escaped and told us of your plight," answered Dick, briefly. + +"Good for Ada! Now get me safe on shore once more and I'll pay you +handsomely for your trouble." + +"You won't have to pay us a cent, Waltham," was Sam's quick reply. "Just +sit still so that the boat doesn't go over." + +"Can I help you in any way?" + +"No. Sit still, that's all," came from Tom, sharply. The idea of having +Waltham speak of paying them at such a time disgusted him. + +In the meantime the second fellow in the tree had moved down a limb or +two with the idea of following Waltham into the rowboat. But now, as he +looked at the three Rovers, he suddenly drew back. + +"Hi there! don't you want to come with us?" cried Dick, considerably +astonished over the man's actions. + +To this the individual in the tree made no reply. He kept behind the +trunk and finally waved a hand as if to motion them away. + +"Say! is that fellow crazy?" questioned Sam. + +"He must be," was Tom's comment. He turned to Chester Waltham. "Do you +know him!" + +"No, he's a stranger to me. I tried to speak to him, but he was so +scared and cold from the ducking he got he did nothing but chatter, so I +couldn't understand him." + +"See here, it's foolish to stay up there," called out Dick. "Come on +down and we'll take you ashore." + +"D-do-don't want to g-g-go," came the stuttered-out reply. "G-go-wheep!" +came in a funny little whistle. "G-g-go a-away!" + +"Well, of all the scared fellows----" commenced Tom. + +"Great Scott! I wonder if that fellow can be Blackie Crowden!" +ejaculated Sam. + +"G-g-go a-wa-way!" stuttered the man in the tree, and then tried to say +something more, but the words only ended in a strange little whistle. + +"Sam, do you really think it can be the fellow who robbed Songbird?" +demanded Dick. "What would he be doing away out here?" + +"Why, Blackie Crowden came from Denver or Colorado Springs," announced +the youngest Rover. "Remember, we are not so many miles away from those +places." He raised his voice. "You come down out of there, Crowden. We +know you and we want you." + +At this command the man in the tree seemed much disturbed. He tried to +speak, but because of his natural stutter and his terror of the +situation through which he was passing, his effort was a failure. + +"If you don't come down, we'll haul you down," ordered Dick, finally, +and then, after a little more urging, the fellow finally consented to +come out of the tree, and dropped into the rowboat. + +"Blackie Crowden, as sure as fate!" murmured Sam, as soon as he got a +good look at the fellow's features. "Well, if this isn't luck!" + +"Evidently you know this fellow," came from Chester Waltham, curiously. + +"We sure do!" declared Sam. "He's the man who knocked our college chum, +John Powell, down on the road near Ashton and robbed him of four +thousand dollars." + +"I di-didn't r-r-rob any bo-body," stuttered Blackie Crowden. "It's all +a mi-mis-mis-mista-ta-take!" and he ended with his usual queer whistle. + +"We'll see about that later, Crowden," put in Dick, sternly. "Now you +sit perfectly still or else maybe you'll go overboard and be drowned." + +It would be difficult to describe the joy with which Ada Waltham greeted +her brother on his safe return. She flew into his arms and, as wet as he +was, hugged him over and over again. + +"Oh! I was so afraid you'd be drowned, Chester!" and then she added +quickly: "How grand it was for the Rovers to go to your assistance!" + +"It certainly was very fine of them to do it," returned the young +millionaire. And now it must be admitted that he seemed very much +disturbed in mind. "I'm going to pay them back, you see if I don't," he +added, after a thoughtful pause. + +Blackie Crowden had done his best to make them believe that he was not +guilty of the attack upon Songbird, but the Rovers would not listen to +this, and put him through such a grilling that finally he broke down and +confessed all. + +"I wouldn't have done the deed at all if it hadn't been that I was +worried over another matter," he said amid much stuttering and +whistling. "I ain't a bad man naturally, even though I do drink and +gamble a little. If it hadn't been for a lawyer named Belright Fogg I +would never have robbed the young man." + +"Belright Fogg!" came from the Rovers. + +"What has that shyster lawyer to do with it?" added Sam. + +"Do you know he is a shyster lawyer?" + +"We sure do!" added Tom, promptly. + +"Then you will understand me when I tell you how it was. Some time ago I +was mixed up in a land transaction. It is a long story, and all I need +to tell you is that Belright Fogg was in it, too. I did some things that +I oughtn't to, and that gave Fogg a hold on me. Finally he claimed that +I owed him three hundred dollars, and he said if I didn't pay up he +would make it hot for me and maybe land me in jail. That got me scared +and I said I'd get the money somehow. + +"Then by accident I saw Powell get the money from the bank, and I +followed him on horseback, passed him, and took the cash, as you know. +As soon as the deed was done I was sorry for it, but then it was too +late," stuttered Blackie Crowden, and hung his head. + +"And did you go to Belright Fogg and give him the three hundred +dollars?" queried Sam. + +"Yes. I met him in Leadenfield, at a road house kept by a Frenchman +named Bissette." + +"Then I was right after all!" cried Sam. "I accused Fogg of meeting you, +but he denied it." + +"Well, he got the three hundred all right enough," stuttered Crowden. + +"And how was it you tried to keep out of our sight in that flood?" asked +Sam curiously. "Did you know us?" + +"I knew you--saw you follow me to the depot at Dentonville. You thought +I got on that train. But I didn't--I took a night freight." + +"I see. That is why the authorities didn't spot you." + +"That's it. But you were asking about Fogg," continued Blackie Crowden, +speculatively. + +"And did he know you had stolen the money?" demanded Dick, sharply. + +"I'm pretty sure he did, although he didn't ask any questions. He knew +about the robbery, and he knew well enough that I didn't have any three +hundred dollars of my own to give him." + +"What did you do with the rest of the money, Crowden? I hope you didn't +spend it?" questioned Sam, anxiously. + +"Spend it!" came in a bitter stutter from the criminal. "I didn't get +any chance to spend it. All I had was two hundred dollars!" + +"Then what became of the other thirty-five hundred?" questioned Tom. + +"It's in a room at the Ashton hotel, unless somebody found it and stole +it." + +"At the Ashton hotel!" cried Sam. + +"That's it. You see, after I met Fogg I stopped at Ashton for one night +and put up at the old hotel on the Cheesley turnpike. I hid the money in +an out-of-the-way corner of a clothes closet, because I didn't want to +carry it on my person. Then, when I was on the street, I heard that you +were on my trail, and I got scared and I was afraid to go back to the +hotel to get it." + +"Can you remember what room it was?" queried Tom. + +"Yes, it was a back room--number twenty-two. I put the money in a hole +in the wall back of an upper shelf." + +"We had better notify the authorities at Ashton of this," said Tom to +his brothers. + +"Let us telegraph to Songbird and tell him to go to Ashton," suggested +Sam. "If the money is there, Songbird ought to have the fun of getting +it and returning it to Mr. Sanderson." + +"All right, let's do it!" cried Dick; and so the matter was arranged. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + +MRS. SAM ROVER--CONCLUSION + + +"Well, that's good news and I'm mighty glad to hear it." + +It was Dick who spoke, three days after the incidents recorded in the +last chapter. Our friends had been staying at the farmhouse of Mr. +Barlow. Blackie Crowden had been turned over to the local authorities, +the oldest Rover making the charge against him. Crowden had pleaded for +mercy, but the boys, while sympathizing with him, had thought it best to +let the law take its course. Chester Waltham and his sister had also +remained at the farmhouse, which fortunately was a large one, so that +the whole party was not particularly crowded for room. + +The rescue of the young millionaire from the river had worked wonders, +and he was now heartily ashamed of himself, not only for the way he had +treated Grace but also on account of the instructions he had sent to his +agents in Wall Street. + +"You can rest assured, Mr. Rover, that my opposition to your plans in +New York will be withdrawn," he said to Dick. "I am going to telegraph +to my agents as soon as I get a chance. And I want you and your brothers +to understand that I appreciate thoroughly your goodness in coming to my +rescue. It was a splendid thing to do. I am not going to insult you by +offering you any reward--all I can say is that I thank you from the +bottom of my heart." And that evening Chester Waltham and his sister had +taken their departure, stating that the accident at the bridge had ended +their idea of touring farther, and that they were going to take the +first train they could get for the East. + +The thing that Dick called "good news" was a long "Night Letter" sent +over the wires by Songbird. The former poet of Brill had received their +message concerning Blackie Crowden, and also Belright Fogg, and had at +once hurried to Ashton and to the hotel on the Cheesley turnpike. There, +in room twenty-two, as mentioned by Crowden, he had found the package +containing the thirty-five hundred dollars. Next he had called on +Belright Fogg and had scared the shyster lawyer so completely that Fogg +had returned the three hundred dollars received from Crowden with +scarcely a protest. Then the happy youth had driven over to the +Sanderson place. The Sandersons had been surprised to see him and +amazed to learn that he had recovered so large a portion of the stolen +money. + + "As I had already paid Mr. Sanderson one hundred dollars," + wrote Songbird, "it made a total of thirty-nine hundred + returned to him, and he told me that I need not bother about + the other hundred. But I paid it just the same, for I had just + been fortunate enough to sell six of my poems--two to a + magazine and four to a weekly paper--for one hundred and sixty + dollars. + + "Of course we had a grand time, and Mr. Sanderson has forgiven + everything. He and Minnie think you are mighty smart fellows, + and I agree with them. Minnie and I have fixed matters all up + between us, and we are the happiest couple you ever saw. I + don't know how to thank you enough for what you have done for + me, and all I can add is, God bless you, every one!" + +"Good old Songbird!" murmured Sam, as he read the communication a second +time. "I'll wager he feels a hundred per cent. better than he did." + +"And to think he sold six of his poems!" commented Tom. "I shouldn't +wonder if he thinks more of that than he does of getting the money +back," he added, somewhat drily. + +On the following day came another telegram, this time from Mr. Rover, +stating that the opposition of the Waltham interests in Wall Street had +been suddenly withdrawn. But he added that business matters in the +metropolis were becoming more and more arduous for him, and he asked +when Dick expected to get back. + +"I'm afraid it's getting too much for dear, old dad," was Dick's +comment, on perusing this message. "I think the best thing I can do is +to get back and help him." + +"Well, if you go back, I think I'll go back myself," said Tom. "Anyway, +this tour seems to have come to a standstill, with so much rain." + +"I'm willing to go back if you fellows say so," put in Sam. + +"I'll wager he and Grace want to get ready for their wedding," remarked +Tom, slily. + +"That's just what we do," returned Sam, boldly. "We're going to be +married early this fall, aren't we, Grace?" and he gazed fondly at the +girl, who nodded, and then turned away to hide her blushes. + +But the tour did not come to an end as quickly as might have been +expected. On the day following it was such fair weather that they left +the Barlow farm and started once more on their trip westward. Colorado +Springs was soon gained, and, passing on to Manitou, they left the +automobiles, and took the cog railway to the summit of Pike's Peak. +Then, on the day following, they motored up to Denver. + +"We can ship our automobiles home by freight," said Dick, "and by +returning by train we can be back in New York in no time." + +A week later found the entire party once more in the East. While Dick +and Tom settled down to help their father at the offices in Wall Street, +the others returned to Valley Brook and to Cedarville, to prepare for +the coming wedding. + +"And where is it to be, Sam?" questioned Tom, when the brothers were on +the point of parting. + +"Oh, it can only be in one place," was Sam's answer. + +"And I guess I know where that is," returned Tom, with a grin. + +Both Dick and Tom had been married in the Cedarville Union Church, a +little stone edifice covered with ivy, which was located not a great +distance from the homes of the Lanings and the Stanhopes, and also +Putnam Hall. As before, it was a question if the numerous guests who +were expected to the ceremony would be able to get into the building. +But both Grace and Sam said they would have to make the best of it. + +As soon as the wedding invitations were issued, the presents began to +come in, and they were fully as numerous and as costly as had been the +gifts bestowed upon Dora and upon Nellie. From Mr. Rover came, as was to +be expected, a bankbook containing an amount written therein which was +the duplicate of that he had bestowed upon Dick and Dora and likewise +upon Tom and Nellie. + +"You can always depend on dad," was Sam's comment, his voice choking a +little. "The best dad anybody ever had!" + +"Indeed you are right!" answered the bride-to-be. "And I'm going to love +him just as if he were my own father." + +Sam's own present to his bride was a gold wrist-watch set in diamonds +and pearls--a beautiful affair over which the happy girl went wild with +delight. + +At last came the eventful day, full of golden sunshine. All of the +Rovers had arrived in Cedarville and were quartered at the hotel. Many +other guests were at the Stanhope homestead and at the Laning farm, and +still others--former cadets--had come back not only to attend the +wedding but also to take another look at dear old Putnam Hall. + +Among the old guard who had thus presented themselves were Fred +Garrison, Larry Colby, Bart Conners and Harry Blossom. Among those who +had attended Brill were Stanley Browne, Spud Jackson, Bob Grimes and, of +course, Songbird. + +"I'm engaged to Minnie," whispered the latter to the Rovers at the first +opportunity. "We are going to be married just as soon as my income will +permit. And what do you think? I've sold four more poems--got eighty +dollars for them," and his face beamed as they had never seen it shine +before. + +"I congratulate you, Songbird," returned Sam, heartily. "I certainly +hope you get to be the best-known poet in the United States." + +"Oh, I don't know about that. I am going to buckle down to business. My +uncle thinks I am doing wonderfully well, and he says if I keep on he is +going to give me a substantial increase in salary after the first of the +year. I'm going to write verses just as a side issue." + +As at the other weddings, the ceremony was set for high noon. Soon the +guests began to arrive, and before long the old church was crowded to +its capacity, with many standing up in the aisles and in the rear and +even at the side windows, which were wide open. + +Captain Putnam, in full uniform and looking a little grayer than ever, +was there, and with him, George Strong, his head assistant, with whom +Sam had always been very friendly. There were also numerous girls there +who had formerly attended Hope Seminary, and of these one was a flower +girl and two were bridesmaids. + +Sam's best man was his old Putnam Hall chum, Fred Garrison, while among +the ushers were Songbird, Stanley, Spud, Bob, and some others of his +former classmates. + +Presently the organ pealed out and the minister appeared, followed a +moment later by Sam. Then up the aisle came Grace on the arm of Mr. +Laning, and daintily attired in white with a flowing veil beset with +orange blossoms. + +"Oh, how pretty she looks!" said more than one; and they spoke the +truth, for Grace certainly made a beautiful bride. + +The ceremony was a brief but solemn one, and then, as the organ pealed +out joyously, the happy pair walked forth from the church, to enter an +automobile which whirled them off to the Laning homestead. To that place +they were followed by a great number of invited guests. An elaborate +wedding dinner had been prepared, and an orchestra from the city had +been hired, and all sat down to a feast of good things with music. + +"We'll have to give them a send-off--same as they gave me," said Tom to +his brother Dick, while the festivities were at their height. "They'll +be getting ready to go away soon." + +"Sure! we'll give them a send-off," returned the oldest brother. "Come +on, let us get busy." + +Down at the barns an automobile was in readiness to take Sam and his +bride away on their wedding trip. This car Dick and Tom and a number of +others lost no time in decorating with white streamers and a placard +which read: _We are on our wedding trip. Congratulate us._ + +"Aren't you going to stay to have a dance?" questioned Nellie of her +sister, a little later. + +"Of course," answered Grace; and shortly after that she and Sam tripped +around to the tuneful measures of a two-step. All of the young folks +present joined in, the older folks looking on with much satisfaction. + +"I can hardly believe it," declared old Aunt Martha, as she took off her +spectacles to wipe her eyes. "Why, it don't seem no time since Sam was +just a baby!" + +The dancing continued for some time but then, of a sudden, came a cry +from Dora: + +"Where are Sam and Grace? I don't see them anywhere." + +"They are gone! They have given us the slip!" + +"No, they've gone upstairs. Wait here, and we'll give them a shower." + +The young folks gathered in the hallway and out on the piazza, and a few +minutes later Sam and Grace appeared, both ready for their tour. Then +came a grand shower of rice and confetti, mingled with two or three old +shoes, and in the midst of this the happy, laughing young couple escaped +to the automobile which was now drawn up before the door. The chauffeur +was ready for the start, and in an instant more the machine shot down +the lane and out into the roadway. + +"Good-bye! Good-bye and good luck to you!" was the cry. + +"Good-bye, everybody!" came back from the touring car, and Sam and Grace +stood up to wave their hands to those left behind. Then the touring car +disappeared around a turn of the road, and they were gone. + + * * * * * + +And now let me add a few words more and thus bring to a close this long +series of adventures in which the three Rover boys, Dick, Tom, and Sam, +have played such an important part. + +A number of years have passed and many changes of importance have +occurred. Mr. Anderson Rover has retired from active participation in +The Rover Company, and Dick is now the president, with Tom secretary and +Sam treasurer. The concern is doing remarkably well and all of the +Rovers are reported to be wealthy. The father has returned to the farm +at Valley Brook, where he lives in peace and comfort with Uncle Randolph +and Aunt Martha, who, despite their years, are still in the best of +health. + +A year after Sam's marriage to Grace, Songbird Powell married Minnie +Sanderson. The would-be poet has made quite a business man of himself +and, what perhaps is of even greater pleasure to himself, has had many +of his poems accepted by our leading periodicals. + +When Sam was first married he went to live in an apartment close to +those occupied by Dick and Tom, but two years later the three brothers +had a chance to buy a beautiful plot of ground on Riverside Drive, +facing the noble Hudson River, and on this they built three beautiful +houses adjoining one another. + +"I guess we are in New York to stay," was the way the oldest brother had +expressed himself, "and if that is so we may as well make ourselves as +comfortable here as possible." + +Before the young folks moved into the new homes Dick and Dora were +blessed with a little son, who later on was named John after Mr. John +Laning. Little Jack, as he was always called by the others, was a +wonderfully bright and clever lad and a great source of comfort to his +parents. Later still the young couple had a daughter, whom they named +Martha after Dick's aunt. + +Tom and Nellie had twin boys that were speedily christened Andy after +Mr. Anderson Rover, and Randy after Tom's Uncle Randolph. Then Sam came +along with a daughter, who was called Mary after Mrs. Laning and with a +son, whom he called Fred after his old school chum, Fred Garrison. + +The young Rover boys had a great many qualities similar to those +displayed by their fathers. Little Jack was as strong and sturdy as Dick +had ever been, and young Fred had many of the peculiarities of Sam, +while Andy and Randy, the twins, were the equal of their father, Tom, +for creating fun. + +"I don't know what we're ever going to do with those kids," remarked +Tom, one day, after Andy and Randy had played a big joke on Jack and +Fred. "Some day they'll pull the house down over our ears." + +"Well, Andy and Randy are simply chips of the old block," laughed Dick +Rover. "I suppose we'll all have to do as our folks did with us--send +the lads off to some strict boarding school." + +"If I ever do send them off, I know where it will be," answered Tom +Rover. "Our old Putnam Hall chum, Larry Colby, has opened a first-class +military academy which he calls Colby Hall. If I ever send them away I +think I'll send them to Larry." + +"That wouldn't be a half bad idea," put in Sam Rover. "Larry was always +a first-class fellow and I don't doubt but what he is running a +first-class school." + +"Well, those boys are too young yet to leave home," was Dick Rover's +comment. "If they are to go to boarding school that must come later." + +A few years after that Jack, Andy and Randy, and Fred were sent to Colby +Hall, and it is possible that some day I may tell you of what happened +there to this younger generation of Rovers. + +Dick, Tom, and Sam were happy, and with good reason. They had the best +of wives, and children that they dearly loved, and though they worked +hard they were surrounded with every comfort. Every summer, and at +Christmas time, they left New York either for Valley Brook or for +Cedarville, there to receive the warmest of welcomes. Life looked rosy +to all of them, and here we will leave them and say good-bye. + + + THE END + + + + +_This Isn't All!_ + + Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have + made in this book? + + Would you like to read other stories continuing their + adventures and experiences, or other books quite as + entertaining by the same author? + + On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this + book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can + buy at the same store where you got this book. + + +_Don't throw away the Wrapper_ + + _Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to + have. But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for + a complete catalog._ + + + + +THE FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES + +By ARTHUR M. WINFIELD + +(EDWARD STRATEMEYER) + +Beautiful Wrappers in Full Color + +[Illustration] + +No stories for boys ever published have attained the tremendous +popularity of this famous series. Since the publication of the first +volume, The Rover Boys at School, some years ago, over three million +copies of these books have been sold. They are well written stories +dealing with the Rover boys in a great many different kinds of +activities and adventures. Each volume holds something of interest to +every adventure loving boy. + +A complete list of titles is printed on the opposite page. + + +FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES +BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD +(Edward Stratemeyer) + +OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THIS SERIES. + +Uniform Style of Binding. Colored Wrappers. +Every Volume Complete in Itself. + + THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN + THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE + THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES + THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS + THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA + THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS + THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS + THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM + THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE + THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE + THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST + THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR + THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK + THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA + THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS + THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR + THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL + THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND + THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS + THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT + THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK + THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH + THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE + THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED + THE ROVER BOYS ON SUNSET TRAIL + THE ROVER BOYS WINNING A FORTUNE + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS +By JAMES CODY FERRIS + +Individual Colored Wrappers and Illustrations by +WALTER S. ROGERS + +Each Volume Complete in Itself. + + +Thrilling tales of the great west, told primarily for boys but which +will be read by all who love mystery, rapid action, and adventures in +the great open spaces. + +The Manly Boys, Roy and Teddy, are the sons of an old ranchman, the +owner of many thousands of heads of cattle. The lads know how to ride, +how to shoot, and how to take care of themselves under any and all +circumstances. + +The cowboys of the X Bar X Ranch are real cowboys, on the job when +required but full of fun and daring--a bunch any reader will be +delighted to know. + + THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH + THE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON + THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER + THE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAIL + THE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UP + THE X BAR X BOYS AT NUGGET CAMP + THE X BAR X BOYS AT RUSTLER'S GAP + THE X BAR X BOYS AT GRIZZLY PASS + THE X BAR X BOYS LOST IN THE ROCKIES + +GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK + + + + +Transcriber's Notes: + +--Handful of punctuation and printer inaccuracies were silently +corrected. + +--Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved. + +--The author's long dash style has been preserved. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Rover Boys on a Tour, by Arthur M. 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