“No insurance!” cried Fred, in dismay.
“Gee, that certainly is the worst news yet!” came from Andy.
“What’s the reason Greene didn’t have the insurance renewed?” demanded Jack. “Didn’t he know it had run out?”
“Yes, he admits that he knew it and that he had taken the matter up with several insurance companies a week before this insurance ran out. He says he thought he could get better rates for us and was going to submit the new rates to me. But then, he claims, a lot of extra outside work was piled on him, and in the rush of that the insurance slipped his mind.”
“Dick, I think that’s a fishy yarn!” exclaimed Sam Rover. “You know how all those insurance companies are—hungry for business. If Greene had gone after them as he says he did, they would have pestered the life out of us to have their particular line of insurance accepted.”
“Well, I’m inclined to agree with you, and, as I said before, I’m going to fire Greene a little later on. But no matter what we can prove against the young idiot, the fact remains that we have no insurance and therefore if the securities are not recovered the loss will fall entirely on us.”
“What about the money Mr. Stevenson and Gif’s father and Spouter’s father put in?” asked Jack.
“As they are now stockholders in the company, the loss will fall on their shoulders as well as ours,” answered his father.
“Did Spouter’s father put up the extra money that was coming from him?” queried Randy.
“He did—the day before the hold-up. He brought in some first-class railroad bonds, and they were among the bonds that were stolen. They had been placed in the office safe because we wanted to list them properly and take down the numbers, and then we were going to offer them to one of the bond houses because we needed the cash.”
“Needed the cash!” broke in Fred quickly. “In that case I suppose this loss is going to hit the company pretty hard?” and he looked at his father as he spoke.
“Yes, Fred, we might as well let you boys know the truth,” answered Sam Rover. “Just at the present time we are under heavy obligations to three banks here in New York, and that was one reason why we took in this additional capital from our old friends and Mr. Stevenson. As you know, we have been branching out, not only with our business here in Wall Street, but also with our mines in the West and our oil well holdings in the South, and all of those things cramped us a little for cash.”
“If the money isn’t recovered, what then?” asked Randy bluntly.
“We won’t talk about that just yet,” answered Dick Rover, but his tone showed that he was much disturbed.
“Of course you have notified Mr. Stevenson and the others?” said Jack.
“Oh, yes. We notified all our stockholders by ’phone or telegraph,” answered Tom Rover. “We’re going to hold a special meeting to-morrow morning at ten o’clock and then decide on what is best to be done.”
“Well, as far as I’m concerned, Uncle Tom, you can have every cent I have in the bank,” declared Jack promptly.
“And you can have what I’ve got, too,” came simultaneously from Fred and the twins.
“It’s nice for you to say that, boys,” answered the twins’ father. “How much could you rake and scrape together if you had to?”
The boys made a hasty calculation, counting in the money they had received in the oil fields and when they and Ira Small had uncovered the pirates’ treasure, and Jack announced the result.
“We’ve got twenty-eight thousand dollars,” he said, a bit proudly. “That isn’t half bad, is it?”
“It’s very good,” answered his father. “I’m glad to know you boys are saving your money and not spending it recklessly as so many young fellows do. But I’m afraid, Jack, that that amount would only be a drop in the bucket.”
“How much do you need, Dad, if it’s any of my business?”
“We’ll need a hundred thousand dollars inside of the next two weeks and two hundred thousand dollars a month later.”
“We could have taken care of our finances very nicely if this hold-up had not occurred,” said Tom Rover. “You see, we have other securities and on those we could raise a loan. But now we may have to sacrifice those, and that will entail a heavy loss because I’m sure the securities are going up in value and ought to be kept.”
“Dad, you said in your telegram that you wanted to question us,” broke in Jack. “What was it you wanted to know?”
“We’ve been thinking that it is possible this hold-up was engineered by some of our old enemies who may be in cahoots with some real bandits. We were thinking that possibly you might know of something that would throw light on the subject.”
“We have seen Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell in an automobile in the vicinity of Valley Brook Farm and one night the girls declared they saw Slugger Brown looking in at one of the windows.”
“Is that so! That sounds interesting.”
“I can see how that might fit in,” came from Sam Rover.
“How could that fit in with a hold-up down here?” questioned Andy, in wonder.
“In this way,” answered the twins’ father. “Your uncles and I all received fake messages taking us away from the offices when the hold-up occurred. Your Aunt Dora also received a fake message taking her away from home. That looks to me as if it was planned to keep as many of us away from the offices as possible. That being so, perhaps Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell were hired by some others—maybe their own fathers—to watch you fellows and report if you intended to come back here. It’s just possible that they may have had orders to try to detain you if you started for New York. They must know that when you’re in the city you’re frequent visitors at the offices and would raise an alarm at once if you happened to get down there and found the place locked up during business hours or got there just before the hold-up took place.”
“There might be something in that,” said Jack slowly. Thereupon the boys gave a few particulars concerning the appearance of their enemies in the vicinity of the farm and then asked for more particulars concerning the hold-up.
The talk did not come to an end until dinner was announced. Then the various families separated, agreeing to come together again in Tom’s library after the repast was over.
“Oh, Jack, isn’t it a terrible happening?” said his mother, as she took him in her arms. There were tears in Dora’s eyes as she spoke. Her face was pale and haggard and showed plainly the loss of sleep.
“Oh, Mother, you mustn’t take it so hard,” he returned, kissing her. “I’m sure it will come out all right in the end. They’ll catch those bandits and get most of the securities back, I’m sure of it!”
“Well, I certainly hope so.” But Mrs. Rover shook her head sadly as she spoke.
Dinner in all the three connecting houses that evening was a sombre affair. Fred’s mother was even more dejected than Dora Rover, and the twins could do little to cheer up Nellie.
“Why, boys, don’t you understand?” said Tom’s wife. “This may bankrupt The Rover Company!”
“Oh, come, come, Nellie! Not quite as bad as all that,” said Tom. Yet, in spite of his attempt at light-heartedness, the twins saw that their father was far more worried than he was willing to admit.
Randolph Rover had spent most of the time with the mothers of the boys, quieting them as best he could. In coming down to the city the old gentleman who had made scientific farming his hobby had been busy doing a lot of figuring, and now, when the dinner in Dick Rover’s mansion came to a close, he called his nephew to one side.
“I’ve been figuring on those securities I possess which aren’t deposited with The Rover Company,” he announced. “Outside of the farm, I’ve got about eighteen thousand dollars. If it will do you any good, Dick, you can have it, and if it’s necessary I’ll sell the farm too. That ought to be worth at least twenty-five thousand dollars, the way values are going up in that vicinity.”
“That’s awfully good of you, Uncle Randolph,” answered Dick, and in spite of himself his voice choked with emotion. “But I’m hoping we can get our securities back or make the necessary arrangements with the banks to tide us over. But you’re awfully good, and I’ll never forget it,” and he wrung his uncle’s hand heartily.
“Your father wanted to come. He wanted to go after those bandits himself,” continued the uncle. “We had quite a time to make him change his plans and remain on the farm.” It may be added here that Anderson Rover was considerably older than his brother Randolph and far from as vigorous in health.
Left to himself, Jack walked slowly up to his own room where his bag had been placed by one of the servants. The former major of the Colby Hall battalion had never been in a more serious mood than at present.
He realized that the hold-up in Wall Street might be fraught with dire results. If the securities were not recovered The Rover Company might go bankrupt and the fortunes that it had taken years to accumulate might be completely swept away.
“Dad and the rest of us would have to start all over again,” he told himself. “I’m young, and it wouldn’t be such a hard thing for me to do, but it would certainly be rough on dad and Uncle Sam and Uncle Tom, not to say anything about mother and Aunt Nellie and Aunt Grace and the girls.”
Then Jack’s thoughts drifted to the Stevensons and he walked over to the chiffonier upon which, in a pretty silver frame, rested a photograph of Ruth, a smiling, tantalizing picture that made Jack’s heart jump every time he gazed at it. What effect would this loss have upon Mr. Stevenson and his daughter? Would Ruth’s father blame the officers of The Rover Company for neglect in not looking after the insurance and in not safeguarding the offices better? What would Ruth have to say when he saw her or when she wrote to him, provided she did write?
“Maybe she won’t write at all,” he thought dolefully. “Her father may be as mad as a hornet and she may take his part. And then, if we lose all our money, what right will I have to ask her to wait for me when there is such a rich chap as Joe Sedley hanging around? I’m sure he’d marry her in a minute if he could get her,” and then Jack heaved a long sigh that came from the very bottom of his heart.