Produced by Jim Weiler
The Rover Boys In Business
or
The Search for the Missing Bonds
by Arthur M. Winfield, 1915
(Edward Stratemeyer)
INTRODUCTION
My Dear Boys: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms thenineteenth volume in a line issued under the general title of "TheRover Boys Series for Young Americans."
As I have mentioned in several other volumes, this series was starteda number of years ago with the publication of "The Rover Boys atSchool," "On the Ocean," and "In the Jungle." I am happy to say thebooks were so well liked that they were followed, year after year, bythe publication of "The Rover Boys Out West," "On the Great Lakes,""In Camp," "On Land and Sea," "On the River," "On the Plains," "InSouthern Waters," "On the Farm," "On Treasure Isle," "At College,""Down East," "In the Air," "In New York," and finally "In Alaska,"where we last met the lads.
During all these adventures the Rover boys have been growing older.Dick is now married and conducting his father's business in New YorkCity and elsewhere. 'The fun-loving Tom and his sturdy youngerbrother, Sam, are at Brill College. The particulars are given of agreat baseball game; and then Tom and Sam return home, to be startledby a most unusual message from Dick, calling them to New Yorkimmediately. Some bonds of great value have mysteriously disappeared,and unless these are recovered the Rover fortune may be seriouslyimpaired. What the boys did under these circumstances, I will leavethe pages which follow to disclose.
Once more thanking my host of young readers for the interest they havetaken in my books, I remain,
Affectionately and sincerely yours,
Arthur M. Winfield.
CHAPTER I
AT THE RIVER
"Sam!"
No answer.
"I say, Sam, can't you listen for just a moment?"
"Oh, Tom, please don't bother me now!" and Sam Rover, with a look ofworry on his face, glanced up for a moment from his writing-table."I've got to finish this theme before to-morrow morning."
"Oh, I know! But listen!" And Tom Rover's face showed his earnestness."Last night it was full moonlight, and to-night it is going to beequally clear. Why can't we get out the auto and pay a visit to Hope?You know we promised the girls that we would be up some afternoon orevening this week."
"Sounds good, Tom, but even if we went after, supper, could we getthere in time? You know all visitors have to leave before nineo'clock."
"We can get there if we start as soon as we finish eating. Can't youfinish the theme after we get back? Maybe I can help you."
"Help me? On this theme!" Sam grinned broadly. "Tom, you don't knowwhat you are talking about. Do you know what this theme is on?"
"No, but I can help you if I have to."
"This is on 'The Theory Concerning the Evolution of----'"
"That's enough, Sam; don't give me any of it now. Time enough for thatwhen we have to get at it. There goes the supper bell. Now, downstairswith you! and let us get through as soon as possible and be on ourway."
"All right, just as you say!" and gathering up a number of sheets ofpaper, Sam thrust them in the drawer of the writing-table.
"By the way, it's queer we didn't get any letter to-day from Dick,"the youngest Rover observed.
At the mention of their brother's name, Tom's face clouded a little.
"It is queer, Sam, and I must say I don't like it. I think this is acase where no news is bad news. I think if everything was going alongall right in New York, Dick would surely let us know. I am afraid heis having a good deal of trouble in straightening out Dad's business."
"Just the way I look at it," responded Sam, as the brothers preparedto leave the room.
"One thing is sure, Pelter, Japson & Company certainly did all theycould to mix matters up, and I doubt very much if they gave Dad allthat was coming to him."
"I believe I made a mistake in coming back to college," pursued Tom,as the two boys walked out into the corridor, where they met severalother students on the way to the dining hall. "I think I ought to havegiven up college and gone to New York City to help Dick straighten outthat business tangle. Now that Dad is sick again, the wholeresponsibility rests on Dick's shoulders, and he ought not to be madeto bear it alone."
"Well, if you feel that way, Tom, why don't you break away and go? Ithink, perhaps, it would be not only a good thing for Dick, but itwould, also, be a good thing for you," and, for the moment, Sam lookedvery seriously at his brother.
Tom reddened a bit, and then put his forefinger to his forehead. "Youmean it would help me here?" And then, as Sam nodded, he added: "Oh,don't you worry. I am all right now, my head doesn't bother me a bit.But I do wish I could get just one good chance at Pelter for the crackthat rascal gave me on the head with the footstool."
"It certainly was a shame to let him off, Tom, but you know how fatherfelt about it. He was too sick to be worried by a trial at law and allthat."
"Yes, I know, but just the same, some day I am going to squareaccounts with Mr. Jesse Pelter," and Tom shook his head determinedly.
Passing down the broad stairway of Brill College, the two Rover boysmade their way to the dining hall. Here the majority of the studentswere rapidly assembling for the evening meal, and the lads foundthemselves among a host of friends.
"Hello, Songbird! How are you this evening?" cried Tom, as headdressed a tall, scholarly-looking individual who wore his hairrather long. "Have you been writing any poetry to-day?"
"Well,--er--not exactly, Tom," muttered John Powell, otherwise knownas Songbird because of his numerous efforts to compose what he calledpoetry. "But I have been thinking up a few rhymes."
"When are you going to get out that book of poetry?"
"What book is that, Tom?"
"Why, as if you didn't know! Didn't you tell me that you were going toget up a volume of 'Original International Poems for the Grave andGay;' five hundred pages, fully illustrated; and bound in fullleather, with title in gold, and..."
"Tom, Tom, now please stop your fooling!" pleaded Songbird, his faceflushing. "Just because I write a poem now and then doesn't say thatI am going to publish a book."
"No, but I'm sure you will some day, and you'll make a fortune out ofit--or fifteen dollars, anyway."
"The same old Tom!" cried a merry voice, and another student clappedthe fun-loving Rover on the shoulder. "I do believe you would ratherjoke than eat!"
"Not on your life, Spud! and I'll prove it to you right now!" andlinking his arm through that of Will Jackson, otherwise "Spud," Tomled the way to one of the tables, with Sam and several of the otherstudents following.
"What is on the docket for to-night?" asked Songbird, as he fell toeating.
"Tom and I are going to take a little run in the auto to Hope,"answered Sam.
"Oh, I see!" Songbird Powell shut one eye knowingly. "Going up thereto see the teachers, I suppose!"
"Sure, that is what they always do!" came from Spud, with a wink.
"Sour grapes, Spud!" laughed Sam. "You would go there yourself if youhad half a chance."
"Yes, and Songbird would want to go along, too, if we were bound forthe Sanderson cottage," put in Tom. "You see, in Songbird's eyes,Minnie Sanderson is just the nicest girl----"
"Now stop it, Tom, can't you!" pleaded poor Songbird, growingdecidedly red in the face. "Miss Sanderson is only a friend of mine,and you know it."
Just at that moment the students at the table were interrupted by theapproach of a tall, dudish-looking indiv
idual, who wore areddish-brown suit, cut in the most up-to-date fashion, and whosported patent-leather shoes, and a white carnation in his buttonhole.The newcomer took a vacant chair, sitting down with a flourish.
"I've had a most delightful ramble, don't you know," he lisped,looking around at the others. "I have been through the sylvan woodsand by the babbling brook, and have----"
"Great Caesar's tombstone!" exclaimed Tom, looking at the newcomercritically. "Why, my dearly beloved William Philander, you don't meanto say that you have been delving through the shadowy nooks, andplaying with the babbling brook, in that outfit?"
"Oh, dear, no, Tom!" responded William Philander Tubbs. "I had anothersuit on, the one with the green stripe, don't you know,--the one Ihad made last September--or maybe it was in October, I can't reallyremember. But you must know the suit, don't you?"
"Sure! I remember the suit. The green-striped one with the faded-outblue dots and the red diamond check in the corner. Isn't that the samesuit you took down to the pawnbroker's last Wednesday night at fifteenminutes past seven and asked him to loan you two dollars and a half onit, and the pawnbroker wanted to know if the suit was your own?"
"My dear Tom!" and William Philander looked aghast. "You know wellenough I never took that suit to a pawnbroker."
"Well, maybe it was some other suit. Possibly the black one with theblue stripes, or maybe it was the blue one with the black stripes.Really, my dearest Philander, it is immaterial to me what suit itwas." And Tom looked coldly indifferent as he buttered another sliceof bread.
"But I tell you, I never went to any pawn-broker!" pleaded the dudishstudent. "I would not be seen in any such horrid place!"
"Oh, pawnbrokers are not so bad," came from Spud Jackson, as he helpedhimself to more potatoes. "I knew of one fellow down in New Haven whoused to loan thousands of dollars to the students at Yale. He wasconsidered a public benefactor. When he died they closed up thecollege for three days and gave him a funeral over two miles long. Andafter that, the students raised a fund of sixteen thousand dollarswith which to erect a monument to his memory. Now, that is absolutelytrue, and if you don't believe it you can come to my room and I willshow you some dried rose leaves which came from one of the wreathesused at the obsequies." And a general laugh went up over thisextravagant statement.
"The same old Spud!" cried Sam, as he gave the story-teller of thecollege a nudge in the ribs. "Spud, you are about as bad as Tom."
"Chust vat I tinks," came from Max Spangler, a German-American studentwho was still struggling with the difficulties of the language. "OnlyI tinks bod of dem vas worser dan de udder." And at this rather mixedstatement another laugh went up.
"I wish you fellows would stop your nonsense and talk baseball," camefrom Bob Grimes, another student. "Do you realize that if we expect todo anything this spring, we have got to get busy?"
"Well, Bob," returned Sam, "I don't see how that is going to interestme particularly. I don't expect to be on any nine this year."
"I know, Sam, but Tom, here, has promised to play if he can possiblyget the time."
"And so I will play," said Tom. "That is, provided I remain at Brill."
"What, do you mean to say you are going to leave!" cried severalstudents.
"We can't do without you, Tom," added Songbird.
"Of course we can't," came from Bob Grimes. "We need Tom the worst waythis year."
"Well, I'll talk that over with you fellows some other time. To-nightwe are in a hurry." And thus speaking, Tom tapped his brother on theshoulder, and both left the dining-room.
As my old readers know, the Rover boys possessed a very fineautomobile. This was kept in one of the new garages on the place,which was presided over by Abner Filbury, the son of the old man whohad worked for years around the dormitories.
"Is she all ready, Ab?" questioned Tom, as the young man came forwardto greet them.
"Yes, sir, I filled her up with gas and oil, and she's in apple-pieorder."
"Why, Tom!" broke in Sam, in surprise. "You must have given this orderbefore supper."
"I did," and Tom grinned at his younger brother. "I took it forgranted that you would make the trip." And thus speaking, Tom leapedinto the driver's seat of the new touring car. Then Sam took his placebeside his brother, and in a moment more the car was gliding out ofthe garage, and down the curving, gravel path leading to the highwayrunning from Ashton past Brill College to Hope Seminary.
As Tom had predicted, it was a clear night, with the full moon justshowing over the distant hills. Swinging into the highway, Tomincreased the speed and was soon running at twenty-five to thirtymiles an hour.
"Don't run too fast," cautioned Sam. "Remember this road has severaldangerous curves in it, and remember, too, a good many of thecountrymen around here don't carry lights when they drive."
"Oh, I'll be careful," returned Tom, lightly. "But about the lights, Ithink some of the countrymen ought to be fined for driving in thedarkness as they do. I think----"
"Hark! what sort of a noise is that?" interrupted the younger Rover.
Both boys strained their ears. A shrill honk of a horn had beenfollowed by a heavy rumble, and now, around a curve of the road, shotthe beams from a single headlight perched on a heavy auto-truck. Thishuge truck was coming along at great speed, and it passed the Roverswith a loud roar, and a scattering of dust and small stones in alldirections.
"Great Scott!" gasped Sam, after he had recovered from his amazement."Did you ever see such an auto-truck as that, and running at suchspeed?"
"Certainly some truck," was Tom's comment. "That must have weighedfour or five tons. I wonder if it came over the Paxton River bridge?"
"If it did, it must have given the bridge an awful shaking up. Thatbridge isn't any too strong. It shakes fearfully every time we go overit. Better run slow, Tom, when we get there."
"I will." And then Tom put on speed once more and the automobileforged ahead as before.
A short run up-hill brought them to the point where the road ran downto the Paxton River. In the bright moonlight the boys could see thestream flowing like a sheet of silver down between the bushes andtrees. A minute more, and they came in sight of the bridge.
"Stop!" said Sam. "I may be mistaken, but that bridge looks shifted tome."
"So it does," returned Tom, and brought the automobile to astandstill. Both boys leaped out and walked forward.
To inspect the bridge in the bright moonlight was easy, and in lessthan a minute the boys made a startling discovery, which was to theeffect that the opposite end of the structure had been thrown from itssupports and was in danger of falling at any instant.
"This is mighty bad," was Sam's comment. "Why, Tom, this is positivelydangerous. If anybody should come along here----"
"Hark!" Tom put up his hand, and both boys listened. From the top ofthe hill they had left but a moment before, came the sounds of anapproaching automobile. An instant later the rays of the headlightsshot into view, almost blinding them.
"We must stop them!" came from both boys simultaneously. But scarcelyhad the words left their lips, when they saw that such a course mightbe impossible. The strange automobile was coming down the hill at afurious rate. Now, as the driver saw the Rovers' machine, he soundedhis horn shrilly.
"He'll have a smash-up as sure as fate!" yelled Sam, and put up hishand in warning. Tom did likewise, and also yelled at the top of hislungs.
But it was too late. The occupant of the strange automobile--for themachine carried but a single person--tried to come to a stop. Thebrakes groaned and squeaked, and the car swept slightly to one side,thus avoiding the Rovers' machine. Then, with power thrown off and thehand-brake set, it rolled out on the bridge. There was a snap,followed by a tremendous crash, and the next instant machine anddriver disappeared with a splash into the swiftly-flowing river.