CHAPTER XVII
WHAT DICK HAD TO TELL
"Here we are, Sam!"
"And I'm glad of it, Tom. I don't care much about riding in the carsafter it is too dark to look out of the windows," returned theyoungest Rover.
The train was nearing the Grand Central Terminal, in New York City.The passengers were gathering their belongings, and the porter wasmoving from one to another, brushing them and gathering in his tips.Then the train rushed into the long station, and soon came to a halt.
"I wonder if Dick will be on hand to meet us?" said Sam, as he and hisbrother left the car and made their way towards the waiting-room.
"Maybe, although it's pretty late."
There was a large crowd coming and going, and, for the moment, thelads had all they could do to get through. Then, as they emerged intothe middle of the big waiting-room, they saw two familiar figuresclose at hand.
"Hello, Dick! How do you do, Dora!"
"So here you are, Tom and Sam!" cried their big brother, and shookhands heartily. Then Dora came up to greet the newcomers.
"Did you have a nice trip?" asked Dick's wife, as she smiled at them.
"Oh, yes, it was all right," answered Sam. "And what do you think? Wegot in a moving picture!"
"You did!" exclaimed Dora. "That certainly is a new experience."
"We received your telegram, Dick," said Tom, and looked at his bigbrother, anxiously. "I hope nothing very serious has happened."
"Well, Tom, I--I----" Twice Dick tried to go on and failed. He lookedat both of his brothers, and his face showed something that they hadnever seen in it before.
"Oh, Dick! Don't say anything here!" interposed Dora, hastily. "Waittill we get to the hotel." She turned to Sam and Tom. "Don't ask himany questions now. It won't do to have a scene here."
"All right, Dora, just as you say," answered Tom, quickly. Yet, bothhe and Sam wondered greatly what had occurred to so upset Dick.
The oldest Rover boy had a taxicab handy, and into this the wholeparty got and were quickly driven across Forty-second Street to FifthAvenue, and then, for a number of blocks, down that well-knownthoroughfare. Soon they turned towards Broadway, and a moment latercame to a stop before the main entrance of the Outlook Hotel.
"As you know, we have a suite of rooms here," said Dick to hisbrothers. "I have hired an extra room next door, so we can all betogether."
A bellboy had already secured the newcomers' baggage, and, aftersigning the register, Sam and Tom followed Dick and his wife to theelevator and to the third floor.
"It's a fine layout, all right," declared Sam, when they were settledand the bellboy had been dismissed.
Dick did not make any answer to this remark. He walked over to thedoor, to see that it was closed, then he suddenly wheeled to confronthis brothers.
"You've got to know it sooner or later, so you might as well know itnow," he said in as steady a voice as he could command. "Do youremember that I wrote to you about sixty-four thousand dollars' worthof bonds that I had bought for dad in place of some securities that hepossessed?"
"Yes," answered both brothers.
"Well, those bonds have been stolen."
"Stolen!" gasped Sam.
"You don't mean it, Dick!" came from Tom.
"I do mean it. The bonds have been stolen, and, try my best, I can'tget a single clew as to where they went or who took them."
"Sixty-four thousand dollars! Phew!" ejaculated Sam. "That's someloss!"
"But please don't blame Dick," broke in Dora. "I am sure it isn't hisfault."
"How did it happen?" questioned Tom.
"They were taken out of the safe at the offices."
"Stolen from the safe, you mean?"
"Yes."
"When was this?"
"Day before yesterday."
"Of course the safe was locked?" put in Sam.
"Certainly."
"But Pelter and Japson knew that combination, didn't they, Dick?"questioned Tom, eagerly.
"No, Tom, they did not. When they turned the offices over to me,Pelter made some sarcastic remark, stating I had better have thecombination changed. I told him I certainly would have it changed; andthe very next day I had the safe makers up to inspect the lock, andchange the combination."
"Humph! Then that lets Pelter and Japson out, doesn't it?"
"But somebody must have taken those bonds," came from Sam. "Didanybody else have the combination, Dick?"
"Nobody but Dora. I gave her the figures, so she could get the safeopen in case anything happened to me, or I was away."
"I've got the figures on a card in my pocket-book," explained Dora,"but I don't believe anybody saw them. In fact, the card has nothingbut the bare figures on it, so it isn't likely that any one wouldunderstand what those figures meant. Oh, but isn't it perfectlydreadful! I--I hope you--you boys won't blame Dick," she faltered.
"Of course we don't blame Dick," returned Tom, promptly.
"Why should we blame him?" added Sam. "If he put the bonds in the safeand locked them up, I can't see how this robbery is his fault. Itmight have happened to any of us."
"I'm glad to hear you say that," returned Dick; and his face showedhis relief. "Just the same, boys, we have got to find those bonds. Ourfamily can't afford to lose sixty-four thousand dollars--or rathersixty thousand dollars."
"What do you mean, Dick?" asked Tom. "You said sixty-four thousanddollars."
"So I did, but four thousand of the bonds were registered in dad'sname, principal and interest, so it's likely the thief won't be ableto use them."
"And all the other bonds were unregistered?" queried Sam.
"Yes, every one of them."
"So they can be used by any one?"
"Exactly--although, of course, the thief would have to be verycareful how he disposed of them."
"Have you notified the police?" asked Tom.
"Not yet. I wanted to consult you first. Besides, I thought it mightbe possible that the thief would put an advertisement in thenewspapers, offering to return the bonds for a reward. But so far, Ihaven't seen any such advertisement."
"It isn't likely they'll offer to return them if sixty thousanddollars' worth are negotiable," returned Tom. "But give us theparticulars of the affair;" and the youth dropped into a seat, and theothers did the same.
"Well, to start with, as I said before, as soon as Pelter and Japsonand their hired help left, I had the lock of the safe investigated,and then had the combination changed," began Dick. "The fellow fromthe safe company showed me how the combination was worked, so I fixedthe new numbers to suit myself, in order that no outsider would knowhow to open the safe. I put the numbers down on two cards, and placedone of the cards in my notebook, and gave the other to Dora. As shesaid, the cards had nothing on them but the bare numbers, so that aperson getting one of the cards would not know that the numbersreferred to the safe combination.
"It took me several days to get rid of the old stocks, and while I wasdoing that I, from time to time, purchased the bonds, buying them, onthe advice of Mr. Powell, from several bond houses in Wall Street. Ialso bought a brand new japanned box with a little lock, and placedthe bonds in that box, and then put the box in the safe. The last Isaw of the bonds was about half-past four in the afternoon, when Iplaced the last of the bonds in the box. I came down to the office ata little before ten o'clock the next morning, and opened the safeabout half an hour later. Then the box was gone."
"Wait a minute, Dick," interrupted Tom. "You just said you opened thesafe. Wasn't the door already open?"
"No, the door was shut and locked, just as I had left it the nightbefore."
"Humph! Then somebody must have worked the combination," ventured Sam.
"So it would seem, Sam, and yet when I had the lock inspected, thesafe company man told me that that was a first-class combination, andpractically burglar proof."
"Is it an old safe?"
"I don't think so--in fact, the safe man led me to believe it was oneof th
e newer kinds. It is about five feet square, and the walls arealmost a foot thick. Oh, it is some safe, I can tell you that!"
"But it was not safe in this instance," retorted Tom, who, no matterhow serious the situation, was bound to have his little joke.
"You said Pelter and Japson had gone for good," continued Sam. "Isthere nobody else around attached to the old firm?"
"I took on their old office boy, a lad named Bob Marsh. You'llremember him," returned the oldest Rover. "He said he wanted work theworst way, so I thought I would give him a chance."
"Maybe he got the combination, and gave it to Pelter or Japson."
"I don't think so, Sam. The boy is rather forward in his manner, but Ithink he is perfectly honest."
"Yes, but somebody opened that safe and took the box of bonds," put inTom.
"I know that, Tom, and we've got to get those bonds back, or it willbe a very serious piece of business for us," answered the oldest Roverboy, soberly.
"Was anything else taken, Dick?" questioned Sam.
"Not a thing. And that's queer, too, because I had a number of privatepapers in the safe, and also our new set of books."
"Then that would go to show that all the thief was after were thebonds," came from Tom. "You say they were in a new japanned box thatwas locked?"
"Yes, but the lock didn't amount to much. I think it could easily beopened."
"Sixty thousand dollars is a lot of money to lose," mused Sam. "Dick,that will put us in something of a hole, won't it?"
"It may. But don't let us think about that, Sam. Let us try to get thebonds back," returned his oldest brother, earnestly.