CHAPTER XV
A TELEGRAM OF IMPORTANCE
The Rover boys were horrified by what they saw, and for the instantthey neither moved nor spoke. They saw the small man in the boat lookover the side into the stream where his assailant had plunged fromsight, then this fellow caught up a single oar that remained in thecraft, and commenced to paddle quickly to shore.
"Oh, Tom, they have killed him!" gasped Sam, on recovering from theshock.
"It certainly looks like it, Sam," returned Tom. "If he wasn't shotdead, he must be drowned. Come on!" and, heedless of possible danger,Tom scrambled down from the rocks and hurried towards the men, withSam close behind him. They had not yet reached the pair on the riverbank, when, to their amazement, they saw the burly individual who hadgone overboard, reappear at a point further down the stream. He wasswimming lustily for shore.
"Hello! He can't be so badly hurt!" exclaimed Tom. "Look at him strikeout!"
"Maybe he was only scared, and went overboard to escape a secondshot," suggested Sam.
"Hi! you fellows over there!" yelled the man who carried the gun. "Wasthat all right?"
"It looked so to me, although you were a little slow about it," camefrom the shore of the island; and now, glancing in that direction, Samand Tom saw two men. One had what looked to be a megaphone in hishand, and the second stood behind a high, thin camera with a handleattached, set on a tripod. At the sight of the camera, both youthsstopped short. Then Tom looked at his brother and began to snicker.
"Sold! What do you think of that, Sam?"
"Why, they are only taking a moving picture!" exclaimed the youngerRover. "Talk about a sell, Tom! That's one on us."
"Don't let them know how we were sold," returned the brother, quickly."If it leaked out we'd never hear the end of it."
"Right you are! Mum's the word!" And it may be added here that theboys kept their word, and said nothing to those at home about how theyhad been fooled.
By the time they reached the man in the boat and the fellow with thegun, the individual who had gone overboard was coming up the riverbank, dripping water with every step.
"Say, was that all right?" he demanded, as he stripped off his coatand wrung the water from it. "I hope it was, because I don't want togo through that again, not even for the extra five dollars."
"So you are taking moving pictures," remarked Tom, pleasantly. "Thatwas sure a great scene."
"Oh, so you saw it, did you?" returned the man with a gun. "I thoughtwe were here all alone," and he did not seem to be particularlypleased over the boys' arrival.
"Going to take some more pictures here?" questioned Sam.
"That's our business," answered the man in the boat, crustily.
"Well, maybe it's ours, too," returned the youngest Rover, quickly,not liking the manner in which he had been addressed. "This landbelongs to my folks."
"Oh, is that it?" cried the man, and now he looked a bit morepleasant. "Are you the Rovers?"
"Yes."
"No, we are about done with our picture taking in this vicinity,"continued the man in the boat. "The next picture in this series is tobe at the railroad station at Oak Run."
"Say, I would like to get into some of those movies," remarked Tom. "Iimagine it would be a lot of fun."
"Not if you've got to go overboard as I did," grumbled the man who waswet. "Talk about the strenuous life, this takes the cake! Why, in thepast ten days, I have gone over a cliff, rescued two women from aburning tenement house, climbed a rope hanging from a burning balloon,and fallen off a moving freight car. Can you beat that for action?"
"Certainly some stunts!" answered Tom. "But one must get a lot of funout of it."
"Oh, sure! Especially when one of the women you are saving from theburning house gets nervous for fear the flames will reach her, andgrabs you by the ear and nearly pulls it off," growled the movingpicture actor.
"Say!" yelled the man with the megaphone. "Aren't you coming over hereto get us?"
"Of course," returned the man in the boat, hastily. "Bill, give methat other oar," he went on, and having secured the blade, he lost notime in rowing over to the island. In the meanwhile, the fellow withthe camera had dismounted the moving picture machine and folded up thetripod, and was ready to depart.
"Would you mind telling me what this picture is going to be called?"asked Sam. "We would like to know so, if we see it advertisedanywhere, we can take a look at it."
"This is scene twenty-eight from 'His Last Chance,'" answered the manwith the gun.
"All right, we'll take a chance on 'His Last Chance' when we get thechance," answered Tom with a grin, and at this play on words themoving picture men smiled. Soon they had packed all their belongings,and, getting into the boat, they started down the stream for a landingsome distance below.
"We're a fine set of heroes," remarked Sam, grinningly, as he and Tomwalked back in the direction of the swimming hole. "Wouldn't it havebeen rich if we had rushed in to save that fellow in the boat, andspoiled the picture."
"Don't mention it, Sam," pleaded Tom. "That sure was one on us." Andthen both laughed heartily over the way they had been fooled.
Reaching the swimming hole, it did not take the youths long to getinto the water. Remembering what Jack Ness had said about beingcareful, they moved around cautiously.
"Here is a tree root that ought to be removed," remarked Sam, afterdiving down. "A fellow could easily catch fast on it."
"Maybe we had better put up a danger sign," suggested his brother, andgetting out a note book he carried, he tore a page from it and wroteas follows:
DANGER!
Look Out for the Tree Roots!
"There! That ought to do some good," he went on, as he pinned thenotice fast to the nearest tree trunk. The boys enjoyed their swimthoroughly. They indulged in many monkey-shines, and also had a littlerace to the opposite bank and back. This race was won by Tom, but Samproved a very close second.
"Now then, I guess we had better hurry home, or we may be late forlunch," said Sam, after consulting his watch. "It is quarter oftwelve."
Much refreshed, the lads started back for the farmhouse. They werestill some distance away when they saw Jack Ness hurrying towardsthem.
"I say, gents!" called out the hired man. "You're wanted at the houseright away."
"What's the matter, Jack?" demanded Tom, quickly. "Is father worse?"
"No, it ain't that, Master Tom. It's a telegram what come for you."
"A telegram?" repeated Sam. "Do you know where it is from?"
"Your uncle said it was from Mr. Dick."
"Then there must be important news," said Tom, and without furtherwords both youths started on a swift gait for the house. Their auntand uncle saw them coming, and ran out on the back porch to meet them.Their aunt held up her hand warningly.
"Now don't make any noise, boys," she pleaded. "We must not disturbyour father."
"What is it? What's the news?"
"It's a telegram from Dick," answered their Uncle Randolph. "I can'tquite make it out, but, evidently, it is very important. Here it is."
He fumbled in the pocket of his coat, and brought forth the yellowenvelope and handed it to Tom. Taking out the telegram, the youth readit, with Sam looking over his shoulder. It ran as follows:
"If possible, I want Sam and Tom to come to New York at once. Very important. Do not alarm father.
"Richard Rover."
"What do you make of this, Tom?" asked Sam, after he had read thetelegram several times.
"I don't know what to make of it, Sam. But one thing is certain: Dickneeds us. Something out of the ordinary has happened."
"That is just what I think, boys," put in their uncle. "Maybe I hadbetter go with you," he added, nervously.
"No, no, Randolph. You stay here with me," pleaded his wife. "The boyscan attend to the New York matters better than you can." She knew herhusband well
, and realized that he was decidedly backward when it cameto the transaction of business matters of importance. He was wrappedup in his books and his theories about scientific farming and was adreamer in the largest sense of that word.
"Very well, my dear, just as you say," answered the uncle, meekly.
"Boys, you won't disturb your father, will you?" continued their AuntMartha, anxiously. "You know the doctor said he must not be disturbedunder any circumstances."
"Have you told him about this telegram?" questioned Sam.
"Not a word."
"Then we had better keep still. We can tell him that we want to go toNew York just to see Dick and Dora," put in Tom. And so it wasarranged.
By consulting a new timetable, the boys found they could make a goodrailroad connection for the metropolis by taking a train that left OakRun at three-thirty o'clock. This would give them about three hours inwhich to get lunch, pack their suitcases, and bid good-bye to theirfather.
Mr. Rover was somewhat surprised when his sons told him that they weregoing to New York to see Dick and his newly-made wife, but theysmoothed matters over by stating that they found it rather dull on thefarm.
"We'd like to go if you can spare us," said Sam.
"Oh, yes, boys, go by all means if you would like to," returned Mr.Rover, quickly. "I can get along very well. Your Aunt Martha is asplendid nurse--and you mustn't forget that I have Aleck."
"An' you can depend upon Aleck, ebery time, sah," put in the coloredman, with a broad grin that showed all of his ivories.
"We are going to try to surprise Dick," said Tom. "We are going totake the afternoon train." And then, after a few more words with theirfather, and without letting him suspect in the least why they weregoing to New York, the two lads bade him an affectionate farewell andleft the room.
"Better take a good supply of clothing along, Sam," remarked Tom, whenthey were packing up. "There is no telling how long we'll have toremain in the city."
"What do you suppose it is all about, Tom?" questioned the youngerbrother, anxiously.
"It's about business, that's certain. More than likely Dick has runinto more trouble." But how great that trouble was, neither of theboys realized.
The Rover Boys in Business; Or, The Search for the Missing Bonds Page 14