CHAPTER VI
AARON RUSHTON, CREDITOR
If the other boys noticed the involuntary movement, they made nocomment, and Ross went on:
"You fellows may think I'm foolish to go on hunting for the gold whenI've got so little evidence to go on. It seems almost like hunting for aneedle in a haystack. But there's such a lot at stake that I can't giveit up."
"I don't think you're foolish," maintained Teddy stoutly. "It's justwhat I'd do, if I were in your place."
"So would I," agreed Fred. "Of course you may never find it. But if youdidn't try for it, you'd feel restless and uneasy all the rest of yourlife."
"It's better to have tried and failed, than never to have tried at all,"declared Bill.
"You're young enough yet to spare a year or two more at it anyway," saidLester. "If nothing comes of it, you can settle down at something else."
"Yes," replied Ross, "it isn't a matter of life and death anyway. Motheris still keeping the old place up in Canada and looking after theproperty that father left there. The income is small, but it is enoughto keep us going, and if I finally have to give up looking for the gold,I can go back there and do pretty well. But it would take me a long timeto get enough together to pay father's debts, and perhaps I could neverdo it. That's the real reason why I'm so anxious to find the chest. Itisn't so much for what it would give me, though of course I'd be glad tohave it. But I know how father felt, and I feel that I owe it to hismemory to carry out his wishes, if I possibly can."
"Do the debts mount up to a very large amount?" Bill ventured to ask.
"Larger than I care to think of," answered Ross. "I should say that itwould take about twenty thousand dollars if they were settled now. And,of course, there's the interest creeping up with every day that passes."
"I guess the creditors would be so glad to get back the principal, thatthey wouldn't worry much about the interest," remarked Lester.
"I suppose they would," answered Ross. "But they ought to get both, andI shall never feel that I'm clear with the world until they do."
It was clear that the son had inherited to the full his father'sindependence of spirit, and the boys' liking for him deepened.
"Most of the debts are for small amounts," Ross continued, again takingthe little red memorandum book from his pocket, "that is, comparativelysmall. There's one big one that is more than all the rest put together.The others are for a few hundred dollars each, though one or two of themrun into the thousands."
He turned over the pages.
"Father was very methodical and precise," he went on, showing the pages."You see, he has all the names arranged in alphabetical order. There'sAllen, three hundred and twenty-seven dollars; Carey, one hundred andninety-two; Linson, eighty-five; Masters, six hundred and eighteen. Andhere we come to the big one, Rushton, twelve thousand four hundredand----"
"What was that?" broke in Teddy excitedly. "Why that's my name andFred's."
"Is that so?" asked Ross in surprise, for so far he had heard the boysspeak to each other only by their first names, and there had been noformal introduction. "It isn't such a common name, either. Perhaps it'syour father. What's his first name?"
"Mansfield," came simultaneously from both of the boys.
"Oh, then he isn't the one," said Ross, consulting his book. "Thisis--let me see," as his finger sought the place, "Aaron--Aaron Rushton."
"We have an Uncle Aaron, my father's brother," stated Fred.
"Can it possibly be Uncle Aaron?" asked Teddy, his pulses quickened bythe possibility.
"I shouldn't be a bit surprised," rejoined Ross. "There can't be so manyAaron Rushtons in this part of the country. This man lived, at that timein Medford, not far from Boston."
"That's just where Uncle Aaron used to live!" broke in Fred. "He hassome property there yet, although lately he spends a good deal of thetime with us in Oldtown."
"Would you know his handwriting, if you saw it?" asked Ross, feeling inhis pocket.
"Sure we would!" answered Fred. "We've seen it a hundred times."
"Take a look at that then," said Ross, taking a wrinkled sheet of paperfrom a collection wrapped in oiled silk and held together by a rubberband, "and see if it's your uncle's writing."
Fred unfolded the paper with hands that trembled with excitement, whileTeddy looked over his shoulder.
It was a brief note, dated fifteen years before, acknowledging thereceipt of three hundred and sixty dollars, being the semi-annualinterest on notes given by Mr. Montgomery. It had been written fromMedford, and it bore the stiff precise signature of Aaron Rushton.
"That's Uncle Aaron's writing!" exclaimed Fred. "I can't be mistaken."
"It sure is," echoed Teddy. "I'd know it among a thousand."
"Well, what do you think of that?" chimed in Bill, as he and Lestercrowded around to look.
It gave the boys a queer thrill to think of all that had been pressedinto the years between the time that note was written and the present.It seemed like a link between the living and the dead. The man who hadreceived it was in his grave, and the one who had sent it had long sincegiven up all hope of hearing of the matter again. And now chance hadbrought together the son of one and the nephews of the other on thisstormy night on the seacoast, and they sat tracing out the faded linesby the flickering light of the brush fire.
Fred sat back and drew a long breath.
"Do you remember what Dave Parloe said--that it was a small world afterall?" he asked Bill. "I know now that he was right."
"To think that it was you who saved my life this afternoon, and that itwas your uncle who helped my father when he was in business trouble!"exclaimed Ross. "I feel that I owe you more than ever now. You see, Mr.Aaron Rushton lent part of the twelve thousand dollars to father when hestarted into business in Canada."
"Just think of Uncle Aaron's doing a thing like that!" exclaimed Teddy.
"You don't owe me anything," affirmed Fred, "and as for what you oweUncle Aaron, he's stopped worrying over that long ago."
"But won't he be surprised when we write and tell him all about this?"demanded Teddy.
"If we could only pitch in and help Ross find the gold, we'd squareourselves with Uncle Aaron for the rest of our lives," remarked Fred.
"Why, has he anything against you now?" asked Ross, in surprise.
Teddy's eyes twinkled as he looked at Fred.
"Oh, no," he explained, "not especially. Down in his heart I think he'srather fond of us. But he's a bachelor, and he hasn't much use for boys.I got in bad with him last year when I sent a baseball against the horseof a coach he was riding in and made the team run away. He jumped justas they got to a bridge and went head first into the river. Do youremember how he looked, Fred, when he came up dripping?"
"Will I ever forget it?" chuckled Fred, as the picture of his uncle,with his hair plastered over his face and the water streaming from hisbony frame, came up before him.
"He was furious," explained Teddy, "and he was worse yet when he foundthat he'd spoiled his watch and lost some valuable papers. We got thoseback for him, though, and that made things better, though I don't thinkhe approves of us yet. But if we could get this money for him, he'd suregive us a clean bill of health."
"Uncle Aaron likes money, all right," added Fred, "though I will saythat when he does spend, he does it royally. He certainly fixed us up instyle when he bought the tickets for us to go out to Bill's ranch. He'sgot a hair-trigger temper, but take him all in all, he's a good oldchap."
"I think he must be, from what mother has told me," said Ross. "He mighthave seized what property we've got in payment of the debt, but when helearned that father had died and that mother had just enough to getalong on, he did not trouble us. And that's one thing that makes me allthe more eager to pay what father owed him."
"I tell you what we fellows ought to do!" exclaimed Fred. "We ought tospend the rest of our vacation here helping Ross look for the gold.There'll be lots of fun and excitement in it anyway, even if we never
lay eyes on it."
"And think what it would mean if we did really find it," gloated Teddy."Think what Uncle Aaron would say, and how proud father and mother wouldbe if we had a hand in it."
"To say nothing of how Ross would feel, if we got back his father'smoney," added Bill.
"The idea looks good to me," declared Lester. "I have the _Ariel_,and if we can get the motor boat back for Ross, there won't be a spot onthe coast within fifty miles that we can't explore. Between us, we mayrun across some clue, and even if we don't, we'll get lots of fun out ofthe hunt."
"Like the old darky with his lottery ticket," laughed Bill. "His bossreproved him for spending money on a mere chance. 'Oh, I dunno, boss,'the old fellow answered. 'T'ree dollars ain't much to spend fur a wholeyear's hopin'.'"
"It's mighty good of you fellows to help me out this way," said Rossgratefully, when the laugh had subsided. "Of course, if you do find it,there'll be a great big reward in it for you. I know that isn't what youare looking for, but you'll get it just the same."
"We'll leave that all to you," answered Lester. "We've got to find itfirst."
"Like the old English recipe for cooking rabbit that begins: 'Firstcatch the hare,'" chuckled Fred.
The lads sat about the fire for another hour, too excited by all thathad happened to think of sleep. Then Lester gave the signal.
"Come, boys," he said, "we'll have plenty of time to talk this over, butnow we must get some rest. I want to get an early start in the morning,if the storm has blown over. It's me for the downy couch now and theearly bird stunt in the morning."
The "downy couch" resolved itself into beds hollowed out in the sandwith the boys' coats rolled up for pillows. But no king in his bed ofstate ever enjoyed a sounder sleep than that into which the tired boysfell at once, while the fire died down and the surf beat on the rocksoutside.
The Rushton Boys at Treasure Cove; Or, The Missing Chest of Gold Page 6