A TELEGRAM OF IMPORTANCE
The Rover boys were horrified by what they saw, and for the instant
they neither moved nor spoke. They saw the small man in the boat look
over the side into the stream where his assailant had plunged from
sight, then this fellow caught up a single oar that remained in the
craft, and commenced to paddle quickly to shore.
"Oh, Tom, they have killed him!" gasped Sam, on recovering from the
shock.
"It certainly looks like it, Sam," returned Tom. "If he wasn't shot
dead, he must be drowned. Come on!" and, heedless of possible danger,
Tom scrambled down from the rocks and hurried towards the men, with
Sam close behind him. They had not yet reached the pair on the river
bank, when, to their amazement, they saw the burly individual who had
gone overboard, reappear at a point further down the stream. He was
swimming lustily for shore.
"Hello! He can't be so badly hurt!" exclaimed Tom. "Look at him strike
out!"
"Maybe he was only scared, and went overboard to escape a second
shot," suggested Sam.
"Hi! you fellows over there!" yelled the man who carried the gun. "Was
that all right?"
"It looked so to me, although you were a little slow about it," came
from the shore of the island; and now, glancing in that direction, Sam
and Tom saw two men. One had what looked to be a megaphone in his
hand, and the second stood behind a high, thin camera with a handle
attached, set on a tripod. At the sight of the camera, both youths
stopped 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 younger
Rover. "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 the
boys kept their word, and said nothing to those at home about how they
had been fooled.
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.