It was not long before Sam felt a tug on his line. He hauled in quickly and found a fair-sized perch.
“Hurrah! first luck!” he cried, his face beaming with pleasure.
“Huh! dot ain’t mooch of a fish!” was Han’s comment. “Chust vait till you see vot I cotch!”
They continued to troll, and presently Sam hooked a medium-sized pickerel. The fish was game and he had to play it a little before Dick was able to bring it in with the net.
“Say, I guess we had better all try our luck,” said Tom. “This sport suits me down to the ground.”
“No, Tom, let us get to camp,” replied his elder brother. “Remember, we have got to cut poles for the tent and cut firewood, and do a lot of things before we go to bed. You can fish all you please tomorrow.”
The boat moved on and soon Hans got a bite. It was another perch, about the size of the one caught by Sam. Then Sam got another, but of a different stripe.
Suddenly Hans’ line tightened and the German youth stood up in his excitement.
“Vait! I got a pite!” he cried. “Say, dot is a pig feller I guess!” he added.
They stopped in their rowing and watched Hans try to land his catch. He tugged on the line, which grew taut and threatened to snap.
“Play him a little, Hans,” suggested Dick. And the line was let out cautiously. Then Hans commenced to reel in once more. Slowly but surely his catch came closer.
“What have you got, Hans, a maskalonge!”
“Maybe it’s a whale!”
“Or a water snake!”
“Cracious, vos der vater snakes here?” questioned the German boy, turning slightly pale.
“Sure there are,” answered Tom, readily. “Some of ’em are fifteen and twenty feet long.”
“Dom, you vos choking.”
“No, I’m not choking,” answered Tom. “My breath is regular.”
“You know vot I mean.”
“Oh, pull in the catch!” cried Fred, impatiently.
“That’s the talk!” added Sam. “Say, Hans, you’ve got something big that’s sure.”
Slowly but steadily the German youth reeled in, until his bait was within a few feet of the boat. Then from the water came something long and dark and slimy.
“It’s a water snake!” yelled Tom.
“Oh my! safe me, somepody!” screamed Hans, and fell back in fright and came close to falling overboard. “Cut der line! Ton’t let him pite me!”
“It’s no snake!” said Sam, quickly. “But what is it?”
“I’ll soon know,” answered Dick, and pulled in on the line a little more. Then the object came alongside the boat and the boys set up a shout.
“A piece of old rope!”
“With a knot for a snake’s head!”
“And a rock at the other end. This must have been used by somebody for an anchor.”
“That’s it!”
“Say, vos you sure dot ain’t no vater snake?” asked Hans, timidly. He had crawled to the bow of the boat, as far from the line as possible.
“See for yourself, Hans,” answered Dick.
Hans went forward cautiously and his eyes opened in wonder. Then a sickly grin spread over his round face.
“Huh! Dot’s a fine fish, ain’t he? Say, Sam, vos you goin’ to fry him in putter oder in lard alretty?” And at this quaint query all the other boys set up a hearty laugh.
“Guess you’d better give up fishing now,” said Dick, after the merriment was over. “We’ve got enough for supper, and the best thing we can do is to reach the end of the lake and fix up our camp for the night. We want everything in first-class shape, so that if a storm comes our things won’t get soaked.”
“Oh, don’t say storm!” cried Fred. “I don’t want to see rain.”
“We are bound to get some, Fred, sooner or later.”
The fishing outfits were put away, and once more the boat moved over the bosom of the lake. They had passed three other boats and saw one camp on the north shore.
“Hope we find the Point deserted,” said Dick.
“So do I,” answered Tom. “We want to camp all by ourselves this time.”
It was not long before they came in sight of the shore and the rocky Point. Not a soul was in sight. They brought the boat around to a little cove and all leaped ashore. Near at hand was the remains of a campfire, but it looked a week or more old.
“Nobody here,” said Dick.
“What an ideal spot for camping!” was Fred’s comment, as he gazed around. And he was right. The shore sloped gently down to the water’s edge, and was backed up by a patch of woods. Among the trees were some rocks, and between them a spring of clear, cold water. Not far off was the cove, where the sailboat could be tied up.
“Well, what’s the first thing to do?” questioned Tom.
“Cut poles for the tent, and also cut some firewood,” answered Dick. “Bring out the hatchets, fellows!”
Two hatchets had been brought along, and all hands were soon at work, getting the camp into shape and starting a fire. Dick selected the poles for the tent and cut them down and trimmed them. Fred built the fire, and Sam cleaned the fish. Then everybody took a hand at raising the tent and fastening it down tightly with pegs. A trench was dug at the rear of the canvas covering, so that if it rained the water would run off towards the lake. The tent was a large one, and in the rear they stored their extra clothing and food. Then they cut down boughs for bedding and got out their blankets.
“The water is boiling,” announced Fred, who had put a kettle on some sticks over the fire.
“Well, now the tent is fixed, we’ll have supper,” said Dick, who had been made leader. “I reckon we are all hungry enough.”
“WELL, NOW THE TENT IS FIXED, WE’LL HAVE SUPPER,” SAID DICK.
“I know I am,” said Sam.
“I dink I could eat a leetle,” said Hans, winking one eye laboriously.
“Want a piece of fried water snake, Hans?” asked Tom, dryly.
“No, Dom, I dake a steak from dot Pluibusterduster,” answered the German youth, with a grin.
Sam knew how to fry fish to perfection, and soon an appetizing odor filled the air. Fred made the coffee, and boiled some potatoes. They had brought along some fresh bread and cut slices from one of the loaves. They also had a few cookies, made by Mrs. Rover.
“Say, this is the best fish I ever tasted!” cried Dick, when they were eating.
“So I say!” added Fred. “Sam, if you don’t mind, I’ll take another piece.”
“It’s the fresh air that tunes up a fellow’s appetite,” remarked Tom. “Stay out a month and you’ll want to eat like a horse.”
“Nothing the matter with my appetite at any time,” murmured Sam. “Oh, Hans, what’s the matter?” he demanded, as he saw the German lad throw his head into the air.
“He’s choking!” exclaimed Dick, leaping up in alarm.
“It—it vo—vos ch—chust a fi—fish pone!” gasped Hans. “He got in mine neck sidevays alretty!”
“Better be careful after this,” cautioned Dick. “Here, swallow a piece of dry bread. That will help to carry it down.” And it did, and then Hans felt better.
As night came on the boys prepared their beds and then gathered around the campfire and talked, and told stories. All were in the best of humor, and they talked of their old schooldays at Putnam Hall, and of the jokes played on the other boys, and on Josiah Crabtree, and on Peleg Snuggers, the general utility man.
“Those were certainly great days,” said Fred, almost sadly. “I wish they could come back.”
“Well, we’ve got to look ahead, not backwards,” answered Dick.
“How some of the fellows have changed,” went on Fred. “Just think of what a bully Dan Baxter used to be!”
“Yes, and now he is a real good fellow, and doing well as a commercial traveler,” said Tom.
“It’s too bad that Tad Sobber can’t turn over a new leaf.”
“Maybe he will, some day,” came from Sam.
“I don’t believe it is in him,” answered Dick. “He is not like Dan Baxter was. Dan got awfully hot-headed at times, but Sobber is a regular knave—one of the oily, sneaking kind.”
“Have you seen him since his injunction against the Stanhopes was dismissed in court?”
“No, but I have heard from him, Fred. He is after that fortune, still.”
“What can he do?”
“We don’t know. But he is bound to make trouble, some way or other. It makes me sick to think of it.”
“Then let us talk about something else,” said Tom; and then the lads branched off into a discussion of how the days to come were to be spent.
“Any big game left around here?” asked Fred.
“Not that I know of, Fred. And you couldn’t shoot it anyway—it is out of season.”
“Maybe we can get some rabbits.”
“They aren’t of much account this time of year—and they are out of season, too. We’ll have to depend mostly on fishing.”
It was nearly ten o’clock before they turned in. Then Sam was so sleepy he could hardly keep his eyes open.
“Anybody going to stay on guard?” asked Fred.
“I don’t believe it is necessary,” answered Tom. “Nobody will disturb us up there.”
The fire was allowed to die down, so that it might not set fire to any surrounding objects, and one after another the boys turned in. Hans was soon snoring, and presently Fred, Dick and Sam dropped asleep. For some reason Tom could not compose himself, and he turned restlessly from side to side.
“Guess I must have eaten too hearty a supper,” he murmured to himself. But at last he dozed off, to dream of college and a rousing game on the baseball field.
Dick slept for about an hour. Then, of a sudden, he awoke with a start. He felt a pain in his ankle.
“Wonder what’s the matter?” he murmured and sat up. As he did so a weird groan reached his ears. He listened intently, and soon the groan was repeated.
“Hi! what’s that?” he asked aloud. But no answer came to his question. Then came another groan, and now thoroughly alarmed, Dick leaped to his feet in the darkness.
“What’s the matter?”
It was Sam who asked the question. Dick’s question had aroused him.
“That is what I want to know.”
“What woke you up?”
“I felt something on my ankle—and then I heard several groans.”
“Vos somepody call me?” asked Hans, sleepily. “It can’t pe morning yet, it’s too dark.”
“We didn’t call you, Hans.”
“Hello, what is it?” And now Fred roused up. “What is going on?”
“We don’t know,” answered Sam, who had been sleeping behind him. “We are trying to find out.”
Dick had gone to a post of the tent. Here a box of matches had been placed in a holder and he took one out, struck it, and held it up.
“Why, Tom is gone!” he cried, seeing that the place his brother had occupied was vacant.
“So he is!” murmured Sam. He raised his voice: “Tom! Tom! where are you?”
There was no reply to this call, and all in the tent gazed at each other questioningly. Then the match went out, leaving them in darkness as before.
“I don’t like this,” muttered Dick, and he made his way outside, followed by the others. Fred had loaded a shotgun and he caught up the piece. Hans walked to the smouldering fire and threw on some dry brushwood which soon caused a glare.
All looked around the tent, but failed to catch sight of Tom. Then they hurried to the edge of the lake, but nobody was there.
“Tom! I say Tom!” yelled Sam. “Where are you?”
All listened, but no reply came back. But they heard a curious noise at a distance up the lake shore.
“Maybe he is in trouble!” cried Dick. “Spread out and look for him!”
One of the boys ran up the shore and one down, and Fred and Hans walked towards the woods, the former carrying the shotgun.
“Do you dink a—a bear cotched him?” asked the German youth, in a tragic whisper.
“I don’t know what to think,” answered Fred.
Dick had gone up the shore, where the rocks were rather rough. As he came out on the point he heard a peculiar noise and then a yell.
“A home run! A home run!” reached his ears. “Everybody in the game!” And then, to his utter amazement, Tom appeared, running in a queer fashion. He was headed directly for the lake.
“He’s asleep! He’s got a nightmare!” thought Dick, and as Tom attempted to pass him he caught his brother by the arm.
“Let go—I want to reach home plate!” growled the sleepwalker, and tried to break away.
“Tom! Tom! wake up!” cried Dick, and retaining a firm grip on his brother’s arm he shook him vigorously.
“Oh!” groaned Tom at last. “I—what—stop shaking me!” he added, in confusion.
“Wake up, Tom! Wake up!”
“I—er—I am awake! What are you shaking me for?” demanded the fun-loving Rover. He could see no fun in the present proceedings.
“Tom, you’ve been walking in your sleep,” said Dick. He raised his voice. “This way, fellows; I’ve found him!”
“Where is he?” and Sam came running, followed by Fred and Hans.
“Have I—er—really been walking in my sleep?” asked Tom, sheepishly.
“Doesn’t this look like it?”
“Why, where am I?”
“Up the lake shore. We missed you and hurried out to find you. You were just going to run into the lake when I grabbed you.”
“Was he really walking in his sleep?” asked Sam.
“Yes, unless he was shamming,” answered his elder brother.
“I wasn’t shamming,” stammered poor Tom. “I—er—I was dreaming about a ball game, and I was—er—trying to make a home run! Say, this is punky, isn’t it?” he added, staring at the crowd, blankly.
“It’s a good thing Dick came up in time,” said Sam. “Supposing you had run into the lake.”
“Oh, I guess the bath would have woke him up,” said Dick. “But I am mighty glad I stopped him,” he added.
“You’re not more glad than I am,” said Tom. “I guess I ate too much supper. I couldn’t sleep at all at first.”
“I guess you had better chain yourself fast in the tent after this,” remarked Fred. “Dick, it was lucky you woke up.”
“Something pressed me on the ankle. It’s a little sore yet. I guess Tom stepped on it when he left the tent—but I didn’t wake up fast enough to catch him then.”
All walked back to the tent and sat down around the campfire to talk the matter over. But nothing new was learned and presently they retired again; and this time all slept soundly until morning.
“First in the lake for a morning plunge!” shouted Sam, as he rushed out. “Come on, everybody, it will wake you up!”
“I’m with you, Sam!” answered Fred, and side by side the pair ran down to the water and plunged in.
“Phew! as cold as Greenland!” spluttered Fred, as he came up.
“It’s only the first plunge,” answered the youngest Rover. “You’ll soon get used to it.”
The others followed, Hans being the last to go in. The German youth was on the point of backing out, as the water looked so cold, when Sam came up behind him and sent him in with a rush.
“Wow! wow!” spluttered Hans. “Say, maype dot ain’t cold, py chiminy! I vos dink I fell into an ice-house alretty!”
“Swim around and you’ll soon get warm,” was Dick’s advice.
The boys remained in the water less than ten minutes and then lost no time in dressing. Then came a hot breakfast, to which all paid every attention.
It had been decided that they should spend the day in fishing and in resting up, so they took it easy. Some went out in the boat and took a short sail, for a fair breeze was blowing.
“This puts me in mind of the times we used to camp out with the Putnam Hall cadets,” remarked Tom. “Only there used to be more of a crowd.”
For dinner they had more fish, and also some beans which had been brought along. They also made a pot of chocolate—something that suited Hans especially—and the cookies were not forgotten.
Two days passed, and the boys enjoyed every minute of the time. They took a tramp through the woods back of the camp and found a blackberry patch where the luscious fruit was growing in profusion.
“We’ll take all we can carry back to camp with us!” cried Sam, and this was done, and then the youngest Rover took it upon his shoulders to make a huckleberry roly-poly pudding, “just like Aunt Martha’s.” Perhaps the pudding was not as good as those turned out by Mrs. Rover, but it was good enough, and the boys ate it to the last scrap. Then Fred tried his hand one morning at flapjacks and these they also ate with a relish.
“I dink I makes you some Cherman coffee cake alretty,” said Hans, on the day following, and in the afternoon he set to work. Soon he had several kettles, pans and pails filled with flour and water and other things. His hands were full of a pasty mess, and he had some of the stuff on his nose.
“How are you getting on?” asked Dick, when he saw the German youth stop and stare around in perplexity.
“I dink I need anudder dish,” said Hans, slowly.
“Great Scott, Hans! You now have about all in the camp.”
“Is dot so! Vell, I must but dis stuff someveres, ain’t it?” And Hans proceeded to dump the mass in one bowl with that in another. The other lads watched him work with keen interest.
“Want more sugar, Hans?” asked Sam.
“How about salt?” questioned Fred.
“Maybe you want a little more flour?” came from Dick.
“Want to flavor it with peppermint?” asked Tom. “I saw a lot of the stuff growing back of the spring.”
“You chust leave me alone!” cried Hans. “Ton’t you podder me, oder I makes some mistake.”
“I guess he has made several mistakes already,” whispered Dick to Fred, as they turned away.
“Shouldn’t wonder. But wait and see what he turns out.”
They all waited and watched Hans from a distance. The poor German youth worked hard for two hours, baking his stuff over the roaring fire. His face was flushed and he looked far from happy. At last he declared that his coffee cake must be done.
“It certainly looks like coffee,” said Tom, as he gazed at the mass, which was shaped like a flower pot and was the color of roasted coffee beans.
“All right, Hans, cut it up and let us try it!” cried Fred, cheerfully.
“Dick, you cut him up,” answered Hans, rather faintly.
Dick took the carving knife and set to work. The knife went into the “cake” with ease, but there it stuck.
“What’s the matter, Dick?” asked Sam.
“I don’t know—the knife is stuck.”
“Better let me cut it.”
“Go ahead and try your luck, Sam.”
The youngest Rover came around and took hold of the knife. He tried to draw the blade free but merely succeeded in raising the “cake” into the air.
“Hello, it sticketh closer than a brother!” exclaimed Tom. “Hans, did you put a porous plaster in that cake?”
“Not much I tidn’t!” snapped the German lad. “Here, you gif me dot cake! I cut him ub for you, so quick like neffer vas!”
Very valiantly Hans took the “cake” and the knife and set to work. He had no more success than had Dick and Sam. Finally, in a rage, he lifted knife and “cake” on high and brought them down on a stone with a bang. The “cake” bounced back like a rubber ball and all but struck him in the face.
“Hello, Hans has been manufacturing a football!” cried Tom.
“Vot’s der madder mit dot ennahow!” roared the German youth. “I make him chust like mine mudder make him in der old country.”
“Hans, did you make the coffee cake with glue?” asked Dick.
“I ton’t know how I make him!” groaned poor Hans. “I got me all mixed up, mit eferybody around me! Say, can’t you vos got dot knife owid somehow?” he questioned anxiously.
“I’ll try a new way,” said Dick, and placed the “cake” under his feet. Then he drew on the knife, and it came up between his feet with a sucking sound.
“I guess you can sell that coffee cake for rubber,” said Sam.
“Don’t you want a slice, Sam?” asked Tom.
“Not today, thank you.”
“I dink I drow him into der vater!” cried Hans, and picked up the glue-like mass. Then he ran down to the lake front and balanced it on one of his hands. He gave a throw, but the “cake” did not land in the water as he had intended. Instead it remained stuck to his fingers.
“Can’t get rid of it so easily!” cried Dick. “Be careful, Hans, or that cake will be the death of you!”
“Du meine zeit!” groaned the German youth, and then he pulled at the mass until he had it free from his fingers. Then he gave it a kick with his foot, and it went into the lake with a splash.
And that was the first and last time Hans tried to make German coffee cake.
Several days passed and during that time the lads amused themselves hugely, hunting, fishing, swimming and knocking around generally. Once they had a snake scare. The reptile got in the tent and held possession for nearly an hour, when Dick dislodged it with a stick and Sam ended its life with a stone.
“Say, I ton’t like dot!” cried Hans, when the excitement was at an end.
“I don’t believe any of us do,” answered Dick, dryly.
“I’ll be almost afraid to sleep in the tent tonight,” added Fred, with a shiver.
“Oh, I guess there was only one snake,” said Sam. “But we can look around for more.” Which they did, in as thorough a manner as possible. But no more reptiles were brought to light.
On Saturday it rained and the rain kept up all day Sunday. This was not so nice, and the boys remained under shelter most of the time.
“I guess I am a fair-weather camper,” observed Fred. “I don’t like this a bit.”
“Oh, let’s have a song!” cried Tom. “And then each fellow can tell a story.”
“And then we can play a little music,” added Sam. He had brought along a mouth harmonica, and Hans had a jews-harp.
Sunday evening it began to clear, and by midnight the stars were shining brightly.
“The weather will be all right by tomorrow,” said Dick, who had been out to look around.
“But the woods will be wet,” grumbled Fred.
“Never mind, let us go out in the boat. I’d like to explore the creek running in from the other shore.”
“That will suit me, Dick. Maybe we can get an extra lot of nice fish over there.”
All of the boys slept soundly and it was nearly eight o’clock when they commenced to get breakfast, and it was almost ten before they were ready to start in the sailboat for the other shore of the lake.
“Hello, here comes a boat!” exclaimed Dick, as he looked down Lake Nasco.
“Two men in it,” added Tom. “They seem to be in a hurry, too, by the way the fellow at the oars is rowing.”
“Why, it’s Jack Ness in the back of the boat!” exclaimed Sam, as the craft drew closer. “That is Pete Hawley rowing.”
“Jack must have a message,” came from Dick. “Wonder what it can be?”
“Hello, boys!” yelled the Rovers’ hired man, as soon as he was within hailing distance. “Got a very particular letter fer you!” And he waved the communication in the air.
“What is it, Jack?” demanded Dick, quickly.
“You jess read the letter, and you’ll find out as quick as I kin tell you,” answered the man.
“Anybody sick or hurt?” asked Sam.
“Nobuddy hurt—leas’wise not in body, an’ nobuddy sick nuther, in the ordinary way. But I reckon your friends from Cedarville is putty sick all the way through, when they think of their loss.”
Dick snatched the letter and glanced at it. It was in his father’s handwriting and bore only a few lines, as follows:
“Just received a telegram from Mrs. Stanhope, wanting to know if I had received her money, as asked for? Telegraphed back that I had not asked for money and had received none. Then she telegraphed that she had sent money to a certain place at my request. I don’t understand this at all. I fear something is wrong, and I am going to Cedarville without delay. Better come home and wait to hear from me.”
“Mrs. Stanhope’s money?” mused Dick, as he handed the letter to his brothers. “Can she mean the fortune from Treasure Isle?”
“More than likely,” answered Tom. “Before we came away father told me she has said something about investing it through him. He was to let her know when he wanted the money.”
“But he says in this letter that he didn’t send for the money,” put in Sam.
“If the money had been obtained under false pretenses I guess it is Sobber’s work,” murmured Dick.
“More than likely,” returned Tom. “Oh, this is the worst yet—and just when we were getting ready to enjoy ourselves, too!”
“Well, we’ll have to go back, Tom. Father may need us.”
“Sure we’ll go back. I couldn’t stay here and enjoy myself while I knew that fortune was gone.”
“It’s too bad on you fellows,” said Dick, turning to Fred and Hans. “But you can see how it is.”
“Oh, that’s all right,” answered Fred quickly.
“I dink I got enough of camping owid annaway,” came from the German youth. “Maype of we stay here much longer von of dem snakes comes and eats us up alretty, ain’t it!”
“The telegrams came yesterday, but I waited until this morning to come here,” said Jack Ness. “Your father left for Cedarville on the first train today.”
“We’ll pack right up and get back,” answered Dick.
Although he tried not to show it, he was greatly excited. He was sure that the Stanhope fortune had in some manner fallen into the hands of Tad Sobber, and he wondered if that rascal would be able to get away with it.
“If he does it will be a sad blow to both the Stanhopes and the Lanings,” he said to his brothers. “They were planning to get much good out of that money.”
“It will be especially hard on the Lanings,” said Tom, soberly. “For they are not as wealthy as the Stanhopes.”
All of the boys worked with a will, and Jack Ness and the man who had rowed him to camp aided as much as they could. As a consequence in less than an hour the tent was down and packed, and the rest of the camping outfit placed aboard the sailboat. Then the journey for home was begun.
The wind was in their favor, so those in the little sailboat had to do little rowing, and they helped the other boat along. Arriving at the landing on Swift River, they found the farm wagon awaiting them and also a carriage with the best team of horses the Rover farm afforded.
“Thought you young gentlemen would like to go back that way,” explained Jack Ness. “I can drive slower with the wagon. I would have brought the auto, only I can’t manage that yet.”
“I’m glad you thought of the carriage,” answered Dick. “Now we can go home in jig time.”
The boys entered the carriage, and Dick took the reins and touched up the horses. Away went the spirited team on a gallop, the turnout bouncing from side to side over the rocky road.
“Mine cracious!” gasped Hans, as he tried to hold himself down. “Look owid, Tick, oder we go overpoard alretty yet!”
“Maybe you’d rather ride home with Jack,” suggested Tom.
“No, of you can stand him, so can I,” answered the German youth, firmly.
Away they went for the Rover farm, up hill and down. Soon they left the river road and then struck a highway where going was much better. Here Dick made the team do their best, and poor Hans was badly scared, thinking the horses were running away.
“Of you can’t sthop ’em, ve vos all busted up, so quick like neffer vos!” he bawled.
“They are all right, Hans,” answered Sam. “Let Dick alone, he knows how to handle ’em.”
“Ain’t da running avay?”
“No.”
“All right, of you say so,” returned Hans, but his face indicated that he thought otherwise.
At last they came in sight of the farm, and drove up to the house by the back way. Their Aunt Martha saw them coming, and ran out to meet them.
“Any more news from the Stanhopes?” asked Dick, quickly.
“Not that I know of,” was Mrs. Rover’s answer. “Your uncle has gone off to the telegraph office to wait for word from your father.”
“I don’t think father has reached Cedarville yet,” said Sam.
The team was turned over to Aleck Pop and the boys went into the house. There the Rovers read the telegrams which had been received from Mrs. Stanhope. There was also a telegram from John Laning, in which he said he would look into the matter if he could get around, but that he had fallen from the hayloft of his barn and sprained his ankle.
“That will keep him home,” said Sam. “Too bad—just when the Stanhopes may need his aid.”
“I wish I knew the particulars of the affair—then a fellow would know how to act,” said Dick, impatiently.
“Father may send word before night,” answered Tom.
“I was sorry to see your father go away,” said Mrs. Rover. “He was not very well.”
“Not well?” cried Sam. “What was the matter with him?”
“Oh, it wasn’t much, but it was enough. You’ll remember how he struck his knee on a rock or something, while you were on that treasure hunt.”
“Oh, yes, he fell down in the hole,” said Tom. “He was so excited at the time he didn’t notice the hurt.”
“Exactly, Tom. Well, lately that has bothered him quite some, and he had to go to a doctor about it. The doctor told him to be careful of the knee, or it might give him lots of trouble and maybe get stiff.”
“Then he shouldn’t have gone to Cedarville,” said Dick. “We don’t want dad to get a stiff leg.”
“Say, do you know what?” cried Tom. “I think we ought to got to Cedarville ourselves.”
“That’s the talk!” cried Sam. “We can’t do anything here but suck our thumbs.”
“We’ll wait until morning and see if any word comes,” answered Dick, who did not want to do anything hastily. “Perhaps father may want us to work on the case from this end.”
“What about Fred and Hans?” asked Tom.
“They’ll go along—part of the way,” answered Sam. “They said they would.”
“It’s too bad to break up their vacation.”
“Oh, they understand matters. And, besides, they are both going elsewhere next week,” answered Tom.
Impatiently the three Rovers waited for news from their father or from the Stanhopes. At supper time Mr. Randolph Rover returned from Oak Run.
“Here is a telegram from your father, stating he arrived safely at Cedarville,” said the boys’ uncle. “We ought to get some word late tonight about this mysterious affair.”
A little later Tom was outside, walking around the piazza. He was looking on the ground, and presently saw something bright lying at the foot of a bush, and stooped to pick it up. It was a queer-shaped stone, of blue and white.
“I’ve seen that stone before,” he murmured, as he turned it over in his hand. “It doesn’t belong to any of our folks. Maybe it is Fred’s, or Hans’.”
With his find in his hand he entered the house, where the others were just sitting down to the table to eat. He held the stone up to view.
“Any of you lose this?” he asked, and looked at Fred and Hans.
“Dot ain’t vos mine,” declared Hans, readily. “Vot vos it, a stone from a preastbin?”
“I guess it is from a watch locket,” said Tom.
Fred looked at the stone and started.
“Let me see it!” he cried, and held it close to the light. “Well, I declare!” he gasped.
“What about it, Fred?” asked Dick and Sam, in a breath.
“I don’t know who this stone belongs to, but I do know that Tad Sobber used to wear one just like it, when he went to Putnam Hall!”
“Tad Sobber!”
The cry came simultaneously from all of the Rover boys.
“Yah, dot’s so!” exclaimed Hans. “I remember him now. Vonce I vos ask Sobber vere he got dot sthone.”
“If the stone belongs to Sobber—he must have been here!” gasped out Sam.
“Do you think he is around now?” asked Tom, and threw his eyes about the lawn, as if half expecting their enemy to show himself.
“No, he isn’t here now—wish he was,” answered Dick, bitterly. “More than likely he is miles away by this time—and the Stanhope fortune with him.”
“I can’t understand this,” said Fred. “Unless Sobber has been here, spying on you.”
“Maybe he followed the Stanhopes here—to find out, if he could, what had become of the fortune,” suggested Sam.
“Sam, I think you’ve struck it!” almost shouted Dick. “It may be that he came here, heard Mrs. Stanhope ask dad to invest the money for her, and heard dad say that he would let her know when he wanted the cash. Then, perhaps, he went off, and sent Mrs. Stanhope a bogus letter, or telegram, signing dad’s name.”
“Say, Dick, you’re a regular sleuth!” cried Fred. “I guess you’ve got it straight.”
The boys entered the house, and there told their uncle and aunt of what had been found. Randolph Rover looked at the stone with interest.
“It is a curious one,” he said slowly. “I do not imagine there are many like it. If this Sobber had one, then this is probably his.”
“You didn’t see any strangers around the farm, did you?” asked Sam.
“None that I noticed. Of course plenty of folks have passed up and down the main road, and the back road, too.”
It was not long after that when Jack Ness drove up with the camping outfit. The boys aided the man in putting the outfit away and also questioned him concerning Sobber.
“There was one man, or young fellow, hanging around,” answered Jack Ness. “I tried to reach him, to ask him wot he wanted, but he jumped the orchard fence and got away. I thought he might be a tramp, although he wasn’t dressed like one.”
“Why didn’t you report him?” demanded Dick.
“Oh, everybody was a-havin’ seech a good time I didn’t want to bother you. I watched the fellow until he was away down the road.”
“How was he dressed and how did he look in the face?”
As well as he was able the hired man described the individual he had seen. The clothing counted for nothing, but the face and manner of the person tallied with that of Tad Sobber.
“I guess it was Sobber right enough,” was Tom’s comment. “We ought to let dad know about this.”
“We will let him know—first thing tomorrow morning,” answered Dick.
All waited impatiently for some word from Mr. Rover, but none came in until eight o’clock the next morning. Then the telegram was very brief, reading as follows:
“Bad mix-up, money all gone. Better come on and help in investigation.”
“Too bad!” groaned Dick. “I am going to start for Cedarville by the first train.”
“So am I,” added Tom.
“And I,” came from Sam.
Then of a sudden all three lads looked at Fred and Hans.
“Don’t you mind me at all,” cried Fred. “I’ll go with you—as far as Marville.”
“And I go so far as Ithaca,” added Hans. “Py chiminy! I hopes you cotch dot rascal, Tad Sobber alretty quick!”
“So do I hope we catch him,” answered Dick.
The Rover boys were so used to traveling that getting ready did not bother them. They knew they could catch a train for Ithaca in two hours and so lost no time in packing their dress-suit cases.
“We’ll go to the depot in the auto,” said Dick. “Frank Rand can bring the machine back here.” And so it was arranged, Rand being an automobile owner living at the Run.
“Oh, boys, I do hope you will take care of yourselves!” cried Aunt Martha, when they were ready to leave.
“Don’t worry, Aunty, we’ll do that!” cried Sam.
“Here is something to remember me by!” added Tom, and gave her a warm hug and a kiss. Then the others kissed her, and gave a handshake to Uncle Randolph.