“Your uncle was very much disturbed when he went away.”
“I am going to try to telephone to him at once,” said Dick.
The telephone was on a landing of the stairs, where the bell could readily be heard upstairs and down, and Dick lost no time in taking down the receiver and calling up the office at Oak Run.
“I want to get the hotel at Carwell,” he told the operator. “This is 685 W,” he added.
“I cannot give you Carwell,” was the answer.
“Why not?”
“The lightning struck down some of our poles and the line is out of commission.”
This was dismaying news and for the moment Dick was nonplussed. Then he spoke to the operator again.
“Can you reach Farleytown?”
“Yes, but the line from Farleytown to Carwell is down, too,” came over the wire.
“Can you reach Deeming’s Corners?”
“No. Can’t get to Carwell in any way at all,” was the decided answer, and Dick hung up the receiver much crestfallen.
“The storm has knocked the telephone service into a cocked hat,” he explained to the others. “The only way for us to reach Carwell is to drive there.”
“Then let us do that, and right away!” cried Tom, who had been talking to his aunt. “Uncle Randolph took those ten thousand dollars worth of traction company bonds with him, and Aunt Martha says the bonds were unregistered, so anybody could use them.”
“Do you think somebody is going to steal the bonds?” asked the aunt.
“Two men are up to some game,—that is as much as we know,” said Dick, thinking it unwise to keep his aunt in the dark any longer. “And we know the men are rascals,” he added.
“Oh, will they—they attack your uncle?”
“I don’t think they are that kind,” said Sam. “I think they’ll try to get the bonds away by some slick game.”
The aunt hated to see the boys go on a mission of possible peril and yet she wanted to have her husband warned. The lads ran down to the barn and had Jack Ness hitch up a fresh team to a buckboard. It was now growing dark.
“Take good care of yourselves,” cried Mrs. Rover, as they drove off. “If the telephone and telegraph poles are down on the road see that you do not run into any of them.”
They were driving to the gateway of the big farm when they saw Alexander Pop running after them, flourishing something in his hand. Aleck was a colored man who had once worked at Putnam Hall, but who was now attached to the Rover household.
“I was jess a-thinkin’ that maybe yo’ boys wasn’t armed,” he said. “If yo’ ain’t, don’t yo’ want dis pistol?” And he held up a weapon he had purchased while on the river trip with them.
“I didn’t think there would be any shooting,” answered Dick. “But now you’ve brought it, I might as well take the pistol along,” and he placed the weapon in his pocket.
“Perhaps yo’ would like to hab dis chicken along?” went on the colored man. He delighted to be with the Rover boys on every possible occasion.
“No, the buckboard is crowded now,” answered Dick. “You do what you can to quiet Mrs. Rover.”
“Yes, tell her not to worry about us,” added Tom.
“And don’t mention the pistol,” called Sam, as the turnout moved on again.
After leaving the vicinity of the farm, the boys had a distance of thirteen miles to cover. Part of the road lay through the valley which had given the farm its name, but then it ran up and over a series of hills, and through several patches of woods. Under the trees it was dark, and they had to slacken their speed for fear of accident.
“Danger ahead!” cried Sam presently, and Dick, who was driving, brought the team to a halt. Across the road lay an uprooted tree.
“Can’t drive around that,” announced Sam, after an inspection. “And it will be hard work dragging it out of the way.”
“We’ll drive over it,” announced Dick. “Hold tight, if you don’t want to be bounced off.”
He called to the horses, and the team moved forward slowly. They had not been out of the stable for several days and were inclined to dance and prance. They stepped in among the tree branches and then one animal reared and tried to back.
“Get up there, Dan!” cried Dick. “None of that tomfoolery! Get up, I say!”
The other horse wanted to go ahead, and he dragged his mate deeper into the tree limbs. Then, without warning, the balky animal made a leap, cleared the tree, and started down the road at breakneck speed.
“Look out, the team is running away!” yelled Sam, and then stopped short, for he as well as the others were in danger of being thrown from the buckboard.
CHAPTER V
RANDOLPH ROVER’S STORY
It was a time of peril, and all of the Rover boys realized this fully. The buckboard was a strong one, but the road had been washed out so much by the storm that it was very uneven, and the jouncing threatened each moment to land one lad or another out on his head.
“Whoa! whoa!” yelled Dick, and did his best to rein in the team. But, as mentioned before, they had not been out for several days and were consequently fresh and inclined to keep on. Each had the bit in his teeth, so pulling on the lines was of little avail.
“If we don’t stop soon something is going to happen,” was Tom’s comment, and scarcely had he spoken when they went down into a rut and Sam was flung up and over a wheel into some brushwood. Then the team went on as before.
The woods left behind, they came to a large open field, where the ground was rather soft.
“Turn in here, Dick, if you can,” cried Tom.
“That is what I am trying to do,” answered the eldest Rover boy, pulling on one rein with might and main.
At first the horses refused to leave the road, but at last the strain on the one rein told and Dan swerved to the right, dragging his mate with him. As the wheels of the buckboard sank into the soft soil of the field the pulling became harder, and at last the horses dropped into a walk and were then brought to a stop with ease.
“Wonder if Sam was hurt?” were Dick’s first words, as he leaped to the ground and ran to the heads of the team to quiet them.
“He went out in a hurry, that’s sure,” was Tom’s answer. “Can you hold them now?”
“Yes—the fire is all out of them.”
“Then I’ll run back and see to Sam.” And Tom set off on a dog trot toward the spot where the mishap to his younger brother had occurred. He found Sam sitting on a rock rubbing his left wrist.
“Hurt?” he sang out, anxiously.
“This wrist is a little lame, and my knee is skinned,” was the answer. “Did they get away and throw you out?”
“No, Dick managed to stop them by turning into a soft field. It is lucky you didn’t break your neck.”
“I might have if I hadn’t tumbled into the bushes, Tom. Gracious, how the buckboard did jounce up and down!”
Limping a little on account of the bruised knee, Sam followed his brother down the road. They found Dick had led the team from the field. He, too, was glad to learn Sam was not seriously injured.
“What’s to do now?” asked Tom. “I don’t like to trust that team much.”
“Oh, they’re tamed down now,” asserted Dick. “I am sure they won’t want to run away again.”
“We want to get to Carwell as soon as possible, but we don’t want to do it by breaking our necks,” went on the fun-loving Rover.
Once more the three youths got on the buckboard and Dick started the team. The fire was now all out of them, and they went along at their regular gait. It had grown so dark the boys had to light a lantern they had brought along.
“Listen!” said Sam presently, and held up his hand. From out of the darkness they heard the steady chug-chug of an automobile. It seemed to be coming toward them.
“Maybe it’s the runabout with those two men!” cried Tom.
“If it is, let us try to stop them,” answered Dick.
They brought the team to a halt and listened. For a few seconds the chug-chug came closer, then it died away in the distance on their left.
“The machine must have taken to a side road,” was Dick’s comment.
“Yes, and we may as well go on,” answered Tom.
Once more they proceeded on their way. Less than a hundred yards were covered when they reached the side road. In the muddy roadway the tracks of the rubber tires of the automobile were plainly to be seen.
“If we were sure they were the men we might go after them,” said Sam.
“We’d not catch them with the horses,” answered Dick.
“And it might be another machine,” added Tom. “There are plenty of them in Carwell.”
They were now within two miles of the town and the farmhouses were becoming more numerous. Just as they struck a paved street, Tom uttered an exclamation:
“Here comes Uncle Randolph now!”
He pointed ahead to where a street light fell on a horse and buggy. On the seat of the latter sat Randolph Rover, driving along contentedly.
“Hullo, Uncle Randolph!” sang out Dick, and brought the buckboard to a halt.
“Why, Dick!” exclaimed the uncle, staring at the three boys in surprise. “What brings you here this time of night?”
“We came to find you, Uncle Randolph,” said Tom, and added: “Are your traction company bonds safe?”
“My bonds? What do you know of my bonds?” And now the buggy halted beside the buckboard.
“We know two men are after them,” said Sam.
“Oh, I thought that was a secret,” answered Mr. Rover.
“But did you see the men?” asked Dick, impatiently.
“Oh, yes, and I have had a narrow escape from being swindled,” answered the uncle, calmly.
“Oh, then you escaped,” said Dick, and he and his brothers breathed a sigh of relief.
“Yes, I escaped,” answered Randolph Rover. “It was very kind of Mr. Jardell to come to me as he did,” he went on.
“Mr. Jardell?” asked Tom. “Who is he?”
“Why, the treasurer of the traction company.”
“Then you haven’t seen a man named Merrick and another named Pike?” asked Sam.
“Why, no. Who are they?”
“Two rascals who were up to some game. We think they were after your traction company bonds.”
“Ha! perhaps—But no, that couldn’t be,” murmured Mr. Rover, wiping off the spectacles he wore. “I—er—I really do not understand this, boys.”
“Tell us what you’ve been doing, uncle, and then we’ll tell what we know,” said Dick.
“Um! Well, you know that some time ago I invested in ten thousand dollars worth of traction company bonds—got them through an agent in New York.”
“Yes.”
“Well, about a week ago I received a private letter from Mr. Jardell, of the traction company, stating that there was something wrong with the bonds. Some plates had been stolen and counterfeit bonds printed.”
“Yes.”
“I was asked to keep quiet about the matter, for if the facts became generally known the public would become frightened and the bonds would go down in the stock market. Mr. Jardell said he would meet me at Carwell and have the printer look at my bonds and find out if they were genuine or not.”
“And what did you do then?” asked Dick, who began to smell a mouse, as the saying goes.
“I sent Mr. Jardell word I would meet him at the Carwell hotel today. We met, and he and his printer, a man named Grimes, said the bonds I possessed were counterfeits.”
“And then what?”
“Of course I was very much distressed,” went on Randolph Rover, calmly. “I did not know what to do. But Mr. Jardell was very nice about it. He said he would take the bonds and get the company to issue good ones in their place. He gave me a receipt for them, and I am to have the good bonds next week.”
“Why should he give you good bonds for bad ones?” said Tom, who, like Dick, was almost certain something was wrong.
“I asked that question, too, Thomas, but he said the reputation of his company was at stake. He did not want the public at large to know that bogus bonds were on the market.”
“Uncle Randolph, do you know this Mr. Jardell personally?” asked Dick.
“Why—er—not exactly. But his letters—”
“How did he look?”
As well as he was able Mr. Rover described the man and also his companion. The boys exchanged glances.
“Merrick and Pike,” muttered Tom.
“What is that you say, Thomas?”
“We think those men were swindlers,” said Sam.
“Swindlers! Oh, my dear Samuel, impossible!” cried Randolph Rover aghast. “Why, they were very nice gentlemen, very nice. They asked me how my scientific farming was getting along, and both had read my article in the Review on the grafting of grape vines, and—”
“But we know these chaps,” said Dick, “and they are called Merrick and Pike.”
“And they talked about getting the best of you,” added Tom. “That is why we followed you to Carwell. Where are the men now?”
“They have gone away. But—”
“Were they in a green runabout—an auto runabout?”
“They had a runabout, yes. I do not remember what color it was.”
“The same fellows!” cried Dick. “Uncle Randolph, unless we are very much mistaken, you have been tricked, swindled! They have robbed you of the ten thousand dollars worth of bonds!”
CHAPTER VI
WAITING FOR NEWS
It took Randolph Rover several minutes to comprehend the various statements made by the boys. That he had really been swindled by such nicely-spoken men as he had met at the Carwell hotel seemed extraordinary to him.
“I understand the bonds were not registered,” said Dick.
“That is true,” groaned his uncle.
“Then anybody could use them.”
“Yes, although I have the numbers,—on a sheet in my desk at home.”
“Well, that will make it more difficult for the rascals to dispose of them,” said Sam.
“I’d like to catch that Merrick and that Pike, and punch their heads for them,” commented Tom. It angered him exceedingly to see how readily his open-minded relative had fallen into the swindlers’ trap.
“But there may be some mistake,” said Randolph Rover, in a forlorn tone. “Would that Merrick dare to impersonate Mr. Jardell?”
“Swindlers will do anything,” answered Sam.
“We can make sure of that point by sending word to the traction company offices,” answered Dick. “You are sure Mr. Jardell is the treasurer?”
“Yes—Mr. Andrew D. Jardell.”
“Let us go back to town and see if we can catch him by long distance ’phone or by telegraph.”
Shaking his head sadly, Randolph Rover turned his buggy around and followed the boys to the central office of the telephone company. Here all was activity on account of the broken-down wires, but communications were being gradually resumed. They looked into the telephone book, and at last got a connection which, a few minutes later, put them into communication with Andrew D. Jardell’s private residence in the city.
“Is Mr. Jardell at home?” asked Dick, who was doing the telephoning.
“Mr. Jardell is away,” was the answer.
“Is he at or near Carwell, New York state?”
“No, he is in Paris, and has been for two weeks.”
“You are sure of this?”
“Yes.”
“Who are you?”
“I a
m Mrs. Jardell. Who are you?”
“My name is Richard Rover. My uncle, Randolph Rover, has been swindled out of some traction company bonds by a man who said he was Mr. Jardell.”
“Mercy me! You don’t say so! Well, my husband had nothing to do with it, you may be sure. He went to London first and then to Paris, and in a day or two he is to start for Switzerland. His health is very poor and the doctor said he needed the trip.”
Some more talk followed, and Mrs. Jardell advised Dick to communicate with the traction company at once, and he said he would do so.
“It wasn’t Mr. Jardell at all, Uncle Randolph,” said the youth, as he hung up the receiver. “The whole thing was a cleverly-planned swindle, and unless you can get the bonds back you’ll be out the money.”
At this announcement Mr. Rover nearly collapsed—for he was rather a retired man, and had had little to do in a business way since his trip to Africa with the boys, as related in “The Rover Boys in the Jungle.” He did not know what to do, and stood rubbing his hands nervously.
“The swindlers!” he murmured. “Really, it is getting so that nobody can be trusted!”
“The best thing we can do is to send word to the various towns to stop the runabout with the two men in it on sight and have the rascals held by the authorities,” said Dick, who felt he must take charge of affairs.
“That’s the talk!” cried Tom, “and the sooner we get at it the better.”
“Let us find out where that side road leads to,” added Sam, “I mean the road on which we heard the auto.”
Inside of an hour various messages had been sent by telephone and telegraph. It was now growing late and the Rovers hardly knew what to do next. From their uncle the boys got the whole tale concerning the bonds, but the new light shed on the subject did not help matters.
They also told the authorities about the cave and the boxes stored there, and some men were at once sent off to investigate and take possession of whatever could be found.
“I think some of us ought to go home,” said Sam. “Aunt Martha won’t go to bed until we get back, and she will be greatly worried.”
It was finally decided that Tom and Dick should remain at the Carwell hotel over night and Sam and his uncle should go home in the buggy. The team was put up at the hotel barn, and then all hands went to the dining room for a late supper.
The Rover Boys Megapack Page 171