By the time they reached the man in the boat and the fellow with the gun, the individual who had gone overboard was coming up the river bank, dripping water with every step.
“Say, was that all right?” he demanded, as he stripped off his coat and wrung the water from it. “I hope it was, because I don’t want to go through that again, not even for the extra five dollars.”
“So you are taking moving pictures,” remarked Tom, pleasantly. “That was sure a great scene.”
“Oh, so you saw it, did you?” returned the man with a gun. “I thought we were here all alone,” and he did not seem to be particularly pleased 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 land belongs to my folks.”
“Oh, is that it?” cried the man, and now he looked a bit more pleasant. “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 to be at the railroad station at Oak Run.”
“Say, I would like to get into some of those movies,” remarked Tom. “I imagine it would be a lot of fun.”
“Not if you’ve got to go overboard as I did,” grumbled the man who was wet. “Talk about the strenuous life, this takes the cake! Why, in the past ten days, I have gone over a cliff, rescued two women from a burning 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 fun out of it.”
“Oh, sure! Especially when one of the women you are saving from the burning house gets nervous for fear the flames will reach her, and grabs you by the ear and nearly pulls it off,” growled the moving picture actor.
“Say!” yelled the man with the megaphone. “Aren’t you coming over here to get us?”
“Of course,” returned the man in the boat, hastily. “Bill, give me that other oar,” he went on, and having secured the blade, he lost no time in rowing over to the island. In the meanwhile, the fellow with the camera had dismounted the moving picture machine and folded up the tripod, 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 advertised anywhere, we can take a look at it.”
“This is scene twenty-eight from ‘His Last Chance,’” answered the man with the gun.
“All right, we’ll take a chance on ‘His Last Chance’ when we get the chance,” answered Tom with a grin, and at this play on words the moving picture men smiled. Soon they had packed all their belongings, and, getting into the boat, they started down the stream for a landing some distance below.
“We’re a fine set of heroes,” remarked Sam, grinningly, as he and Tom walked back in the direction of the swimming hole. “Wouldn’t it have been rich if we had rushed in to save that fellow in the boat, and spoiled the picture.”
“Don’t mention it, Sam,” pleaded Tom. “That sure was one on us.” And then both laughed heartily over the way they had been fooled.
Reaching the swimming hole, it did not take the youths long to get into the water. Remembering what Jack Ness had said about being careful, they moved around cautiously.
“Here is a tree root that ought to be removed,” remarked Sam, after diving down. “A fellow could easily catch fast on it.”
“Maybe we had better put up a danger sign,” suggested his brother, and getting out a note book he carried, he tore a page from it and wrote as follows:
DANGER!
Look Out for the Tree Roots!
“There! That ought to do some good,” he went on, as he pinned the notice fast to the nearest tree trunk. The boys enjoyed their swim thoroughly. They indulged in many monkey-shines, and also had a little race to the opposite bank and back. This race was won by Tom, but Sam proved a very close second.
“Now then, I guess we had better hurry home, or we may be late for lunch,” said Sam, after consulting his watch. “It is quarter of twelve.”
Much refreshed, the lads started back for the farmhouse. They were still some distance away when they saw Jack Ness hurrying towards them.
“I say, gents!” called out the hired man. “You’re wanted at the house right 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 further words both youths started on a swift gait for the house. Their aunt and 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 disturb your father.”
“What is it? What’s the news?”
“It’s a telegram from Dick,” answered their Uncle Randolph. “I can’t quite make it out, but, evidently, it is very important. Here it is.”
He fumbled in the pocket of his coat, and brought forth the yellow envelope and handed it to Tom. Taking out the telegram, the youth read it, 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 the telegram several times.
“I don’t know what to make of it, Sam. But one thing is certain: Dick needs us. Something out of the ordinary has happened.”
“That is just what I think, boys,” put in their uncle. “Maybe I had better go with you,” he added, nervously.
“No, no, Randolph. You stay here with me,” pleaded his wife. “The boys can attend to the New York matters better than you can.” She knew her husband well, and realized that he was decidedly backward when it came to the transaction of business matters of importance. He was wrapped up in his books and his theories about scientific farming and was a dreamer 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 Aunt Martha, anxiously. “You know the doctor said he must not be disturbed under 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 to New York just to see Dick and Dora,” put in Tom. And so it was arranged.
By consulting a new timetable, the boys found they could make a good railroad connection for the metropolis by taking a train that left Oak Run at three-thirty o’clock. This would give them about three hours in which to get lunch, pack their suitcases, and bid good-bye to their father.
Mr. Rover was somewhat surprised when his sons told him that they were going to New York to see Dick and his newly-made wife, but they smoothed matters over by stating that they found it rather dull on the farm.
“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 a splendid nurse—and you mustn’t forget that I have Aleck.”
“An’ you can depend upon Aleck, ebery time, sah,” put in the colored man, with a broad grin that showed all of his
ivories.
“We are going to try to surprise Dick,” said Tom. “We are going to take the afternoon train.” And then, after a few more words with their father, and without letting him suspect in the least why they were going to New York, the two lads bade him an affectionate farewell and left the room.
“Better take a good supply of clothing along, Sam,” remarked Tom, when they were packing up. “There is no telling how long we’ll have to remain in the city.”
“What do you suppose it is all about, Tom?” questioned the younger brother, anxiously.
“It’s about business, that’s certain. More than likely Dick has run into more trouble.” But how great that trouble was, neither of the boys realized.
CHAPTER XVI
THE MOVING PICTURE
When the two Rover boys arrived at the railroad station at Oak Run, they were a little surprised to find themselves once more confronted by the moving picture people they had met on the river.
“Hello! So you are following us up, are you?” said the man who had handled the gun. But he smiled as he spoke, because he saw that the boys carried dresssuit cases and were equipped for traveling.
“Have you taken your picture of the railroad station yet?” questioned Tom.
“We’ve had one scene in front of the ticket office,” returned the man. “But our main scene we shall pull off when the train comes in—or rather, when it pulls out.”
“Perhaps you’ll want us in it, after all,” broke in Sam.
“See here! If you fellows want to get in this picture, just say so and I guess I can arrange it,” said the man who had handled the megaphone in the scene on the river, and who was, evidently, the director of the company.
“That depends on what you want us to do,” declared Tom.
“Oh, you won’t have much to do. You see, it’s like this,” went on the manager. “This man who did the shooting wants to escape. He runs up to the railroad station here and buys his ticket—we have that part of it already. Then he is supposed to be in hiding behind yonder freighthouse. When the train comes in, he waits for all other passengers to get on board, then, as the train pulls out, he rushes forward and catches on the last car. At the same time one of the other fellows rushes out as if to catch him, but he is too late. Now, if you want to get into the scene, you get on the train just before she starts and stand on the back platform.”
“Let’s do it, Tom; it will be quite a lark!” exclaimed Sam.
“I’m willing,” answered his brother; and so the matter was arranged. Then the boys hurried into the ticket office, to get their tickets to New York.
In the office they found old man Ricks, the station agent, grumbling to himself.
“Wot ye want?” he demanded, sourly, as he looked at the Rovers.
“Two tickets to New York, Mr. Ricks,” returned Tom. “What’s the matter?”
“Wot’s the matter, huh? A whole lot, I should say!” declared old Ricks, as he began to make out the tickets. “A lot o’ them movin’ picter fellers been in here cuttin’ up like mad.”
“What did they do?” asked Sam, curiously.
“Huh! what didn’t they do?” retorted the station master. “Come in here, an’ knocked over a box an’ a basket, rushed up to the winder, an’ the next thing I knew, he had planked down a lot o’ money, an’ when I stuck my head out the winder here, that feller pretended to grab up a ticket wot I didn’t give him at all, an’ took up his money and dusted out the door. At the same time while this was goin’ on, ‘nother feller had a light turned on this here winder wot nearly blinded me, and the feller with that funny lookin’ camera was a-turnin’ the crank to beat the cars!”
“They were only taking a moving picture, Mr. Ricks,” declared Sam. “You shouldn’t object to that.”
“Huh! I ain’t hired by the railroad company to get in no movin’ picter,” growled the station master. “I’m here to ‘tend to the railroad business, and nothin’ else.”
“Never mind, Mr. Ricks, if they’ve got you in the picture you ought to be proud of it,” declared Tom. “Think of the millions and millions of people all over the world who will be looking at you when they visit the moving picture theaters.”
“Huh! I ain’t no movin’ picter actor, I ain’t,” snorted old Ricks. “I’m a decent, respectable member o’ this community, an’ I’m a church member, too. I ain’t got no use for them movin’ picter shows. It’s a waste o’ good money, that’s jest wot it is,” and then Ricks shuffled off to attend to some baggage that had come in.
With their tickets in their pockets, the two Rover boys rejoined the moving picture company on the railroad platform. They were quite interested in watching the camera man set up his machine, and asked him several questions regarding its operation. Then they heard a well-known whistle down the track, and knew that their train was coming.
“All ready, there!” cried the manager of the moving picture company. “Now, don’t make a fizzle of it, Jake.”
“I won’t, unless the train pulls out too quickly,” returned Jake. “I am not going to get killed, though.”
“Well, you’ve got to take some chances in this business,” said the manager, coolly.
There were six or eight passengers getting off the train, and about an equal number to board the cars. As they had been instructed, the Rover boys got on the rear platform of the last car, and stood in the doorway looking back on the tracks. Tom pretended that he was waving his hand to somebody in the distance.
As the train began to move, and while the camera man was taking the picture, one of the actors, as agreed, rushed across the platform and got hold of the rail of the last step. Then, as he pretended to have hard work to pull himself up, the second actor came running down the platform, shaking his fist at the man who was escaping. Then the train passed out of sight around the bend, and the little moving picture scene came to an end.
“Well, I’m glad that’s over,” declared he actor, as he followed the boys into the car. “I never like the scenes where I am in danger of getting hurt.”
“You certainly must have a strenuous time of it,” declared Sam; and then he added quickly: “Are you going to New York with us?”
“Oh, no. I’m to get off at the first station and take another train back to Oak Run. The crowd will wait for me. We have some scenes to do at a farmhouse.” And then, as he had a ride of ten minutes, the moving picture man told the boys of some things which had happened to him during his career as a movies’ actor.
“How soon do you think they will show that picture?” asked Sam, when the man prepared to leave the train.
“In a week or two,” was the answer. “I don’t know the exact date for the release;” and then the man said good-bye and left them.
“Do you know, if I didn’t have anything else to do, I wouldn’t mind going into the moving picture business,” remarked Tom, as the train rushed onward. “It must be lots of fun to be in the different scenes.”
“Perhaps so, Tom. At the same time, those fellows must put up with a great number of inconveniences. Think of plunging into the water when it is cold, or into a burning building when the thermometer is over a hundred in the shade.”
“Oh, I know that, and, come to think of it, I was reading only yesterday about a movies’ actor who, in a war scene taken out on the Hackensack meadows, fell into a trench, and broke an arm and also a leg. Just the same, I wouldn’t mind trying it.”
“Maybe you’ll get a chance some day.”
On and on went the train, and, with little else to do, the boys discussed the situations at home and in the city.
“One thing is sure, Tom,” said the youngest Rover, earnestly. “No matter what happens in New York, we mustn’t let father know about it. I think the worry is worse for him than anything else.”
“Oh, I agree on that. Even if we lose a lot of money, he must not
know one word about it.”
“Do you think we’ll lose any money?”
“I don’t know what to think. One thing is sure, something very much out of the way has happened, or Dick wouldn’t have sent that telegram.”
“Perhaps Pelter, Japson & Company haven’t been as honest as they promised to be. Maybe they are holding back some of the securities that belong to dad.”
“That may be so, too. At the same time, you must remember that Songbird’s uncle is our attorney, and I don’t think Mr. Powell would let them get away with very much. You’ll remember what Dick wrote some time ago, that he had taken the office fixtures for part of the debt. That would seem to indicate that he had gotten everything from the firm that he could lay his hands on.”
“I wonder if we’ll ever meet that Barton Pelter again.”
“Perhaps, although if he is a nephew of Jesse Pelter, it is more than likely he will keep out of sight, thinking that a meeting between us would be very unpleasant.”
At one of the stops a dining car was attached to the train, and, as the boys were hungry, they lost no time in going in for the evening meal.
“Say, Tom, look there,” whispered Sam, during the course of the repast, and, with a look from his eye, he indicated a man sitting on the other side of the car. The fellow was a tall, surly individual, plainly dressed. His face was somewhat flushed, as if he had been drinking.
“Why, that’s the head gardener at Hope!” said Tom. “It is queer that he should be on this train, Sam!”
“If you’ll remember, he lost his job at the seminary.”
“He did? I didn’t hear anything of that.”
“Oh, yes, Grace told me about it. He was a splendid gardener, but every once in a while he would drink too much, and then get into a quarrel with the other help, so they had to let him go.”
“It’s a shame that such fellows can’t leave drink alone,” was Tom’s comment.
The man had settled himself, and ordered quite an elaborate dinner. He was in the midst of eating, with the Rover boys paying little attention to him, when he happened to glance at them. He straightened up and stared in astonishment, and then looked decidedly uncomfortable.
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