A GLOOMY OUTLOOK
“No insurance!” cried Fred, in dismay.
“Gee, that certainly is the worst news yet!” came from Andy.
“What’s the reason Greene didn’t have the insurance renewed?” demanded
Jack. “Didn’t he know it had run out?”
“Yes, he admits that he knew it and that he had taken the matter up
with several insurance companies a week before this insurance ran out.
He says he thought he could get better rates for us and was going to
submit the new rates to me. But then, he claims, a lot of extra outside
work was piled on him, and in the rush of that the insurance slipped
his mind.”
“Dick, I think that’s a fishy yarn!” exclaimed Sam Rover. “You know how
all those insurance companies are――hungry for business. If Greene had
gone after them as he says he did, they would have pestered the life
out of us to have their particular line of insurance accepted.”
“Well, I’m inclined to agree with you, and, as I said before, I’m
going to fire Greene a little later on. But no matter what we can prove
against the young idiot, the fact remains that we have no insurance
and therefore if the securities are not recovered the loss will fall
entirely on us.”
“What about the money Mr. Stevenson and Gif’s father and Spouter’s
father put in?” asked Jack.
“As they are now stockholders in the company, the loss will fall on
their shoulders as well as ours,” answered his father.
“Did Spouter’s father put up the extra money that was coming from him?”
queried Randy.
“He did――the day before the hold-up. He brought in some first-class
railroad bonds, and they were among the bonds that were stolen. They
had been placed in the office safe because we wanted to list them
properly and take down the numbers, and then we were going to offer
them to one of the bond houses because we needed the cash.”
“Needed the cash!” broke in Fred quickly. “In that case I suppose this
loss is going to hit the company pretty hard?” and he looked at his
father as he spoke.
“Yes, Fred, we might as well let you boys know the truth,” answered
Sam Rover. “Just at the present time we are under heavy obligations
to three banks here in New York, and that was one reason why we took
in this additional capital from our old friends and Mr. Stevenson. As
you know, we have been branching out, not only with our business here
in Wall Street, but also with our mines in the West and our oil well
holdings in the South, and all of those things cramped us a little for
cash.”
“If the money isn’t recovered, what then?” asked Randy bluntly.
“We won’t talk about that just yet,” answered Dick Rover, but his tone
showed that he was much disturbed.
“Of course you have notified Mr. Stevenson and the others?” said Jack.
“Oh, yes. We notified all our stockholders by ’phone or telegraph,”
answered Tom Rover. “We’re going to hold a special meeting to-morrow
morning at ten o’clock and then decide on what is best to be done.”
“Well, as far as I’m concerned, Uncle Tom, you can have every cent I
have in the bank,” declared Jack promptly.
“And you can have what I’ve got, too,” came simultaneously from Fred
and the twins.
“It’s nice for you to say that, boys,” answered the twins’ father. “How
much could you rake and scrape together if you had to?”
The boys made a hasty calculation, counting in the money they had
received in the oil fields and when they and Ira Small had uncovered
the pirates’ treasure, and Jack announced the result.
“We’ve got twenty-eight thousand dollars,” he said, a bit proudly.
“That isn’t half bad, is it?”
“It’s very good,” answered his father. “I’m glad to know you boys are
saving your money and not spending it recklessly as so many young
fellows do. But I’m afraid, Jack, that that amount would only be a drop
in the bucket.”
“How much do you need, Dad, if it’s any of my business?”
“We’ll need a hundred thousand dollars inside of the next two weeks and
two hundred thousand dollars a month later.”
“We could have taken care of our finances very nicely if this hold-up
had not occurred,” said Tom Rover. “You see, we have other securities
and on those we could raise a loan. But now we may have to sacrifice
those, and that will entail a heavy loss because I’m sure the
securities are going up in value and ought to be kept.”
“Dad, you said in your telegram that you wanted to question us,” broke
in Jack. “What was it you wanted to know?”
“We’ve been thinking that it is possible this hold-up was engineered by
some of our old enemies who may be in cahoots with some real bandits.
We were thinking that possibly you might know of something that would
throw light on the subject.”
“We have seen Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell in an automobile in the
vicinity of Valley Brook Farm and one night the girls declared they saw
Slugger Brown looking in at one of the windows.”
“Is that so! That sounds interesting.”
“I can see how that might fit in,” came from Sam Rover.
“How could that fit in with a hold-up down here?” questioned Andy, in
wonder.
“In this way,” answered the twins’ father. “Your uncles and I all
received fake messages taking us away from the offices when the hold-up
occurred. Your Aunt Dora also received a fake message taking her away
from home. That looks to me as if it was planned to keep as many of
us away from the offices as possible. That being so, perhaps Slugger
Brown and Nappy Martell were hired by some others――maybe their own
fathers――to watch you fellows and report if you intended to come back
here. It’s just possible that they may have had orders to try to detain
you if you started for New York. They must know that when you’re in the
city you’re frequent visitors at the offices and would raise an alarm
at once if you happened to get down there and found the place locked up
during business hours or got there just before the hold-up took place.”
“There might be something in that,” said Jack slowly. Thereupon the
boys gave a few particulars concerning the appearance of their enemies
in the vicinity of the farm and then asked for more particulars
concerning the hold-up.
The talk did not come to an end until dinner was announced. Then the
various families separated, agreeing to come together again in Tom’s
library after the repast was over.
“Oh, Jack, isn’t it a terrible happening?” said his mother, as she took
him in her arms. There were tears in Dora’s eyes as she spoke. Her face
was pale and haggard and showed plainly the loss of sleep.
“Oh, Mother, you mustn’t take it so hard,” he returned, kissing her.
“I’m sure it will come out all right in the end. They’ll catch those
bandits and get most of the securities back, I’m sure of it!”
“Well, I certainly hope so.” But Mrs. Rover shook her head sadly as she
spoke.
Dinner in all the three connecting houses that evening was a sombre
affair. Fred’s mother was even more dejected than Dora Rover, and the
twins could do little to cheer up Nellie.
“Why, boys, don’t you understand?” said Tom’s wife. “This may bankrupt
The Rover Company!”
“Oh, come, come, Nellie! Not quite as bad as all that,” said Tom. Yet,
in spite of his attempt at light-heartedness, the twins saw that their
father was far more worried than he was willing to admit.
Randolph Rover had spent most of the time with the mothers of the boys,
quieting them as best he could. In coming down to the city the old
gentleman who had made scientific farming his hobby had been busy doing
a lot of figuring, and now, when the dinner in Dick Rover’s mansion
came to a close, he called his nephew to one side.
“I’ve been figuring on those securities I possess which aren’t
deposited with The Rover Company,” he announced. “Outside of the farm,
I’ve got about eighteen thousand dollars. If it will do you any good,
Dick, you can have it, and if it’s necessary I’ll sell the farm too.
That ought to be worth at least twenty-five thousand dollars, the way
values are going up in that vicinity.”
“That’s awfully good of you, Uncle Randolph,” answered Dick, and in
spite of himself his voice choked with emotion. “But I’m hoping we can
get our securities back or make the necessary arrangements with the
banks to tide us over. But you’re awfully good, and I’ll never forget
it,” and he wrung his uncle’s hand heartily.
“Your father wanted to come. He wanted to go after those bandits
himself,” continued the uncle. “We had quite a time to make him change
his plans and remain on the farm.” It may be added here that Anderson
Rover was considerably older than his brother Randolph and far from as
vigorous in health.
Left to himself, Jack walked slowly up to his own room where his bag
had been placed by one of the servants. The former major of the Colby
Hall battalion had never been in a more serious mood than at present.
He realized that the hold-up in Wall Street might be fraught with dire
results. If the securities were not recovered The Rover Company might
go bankrupt and the fortunes that it had taken years to accumulate
might be completely swept away.
“Dad and the rest of us would have to start all over again,” he told
himself. “I’m young, and it wouldn’t be such a hard thing for me to do,
but it would certainly be rough on dad and Uncle Sam and Uncle Tom, not
to say anything about mother and Aunt Nellie and Aunt Grace and the
girls.”
Then Jack’s thoughts drifted to the Stevensons and he walked over
to the chiffonier upon which, in a pretty silver frame, rested a
photograph of Ruth, a smiling, tantalizing picture that made Jack’s
heart jump every time he gazed at it. What effect would this loss have
upon Mr. Stevenson and his daughter? Would Ruth’s father blame the
officers of The Rover Company for neglect in not looking after the
insurance and in not safeguarding the offices better? What would Ruth
have to say when he saw her or when she wrote to him, provided she did
write?
“Maybe she won’t write at all,” he thought dolefully. “Her father may
be as mad as a hornet and she may take his part. And then, if we lose
all our money, what right will I have to ask her to wait for me when
there is such a rich chap as Joe Sedley hanging around? I’m sure he’d
marry her in a minute if he could get her,” and then Jack heaved a long
sigh that came from the very bottom of his heart.