“You talk as if you were my master,” retorted Chester Waltham. “This isn’t any of your affair and you keep out of it.”
“We are perfectly willing to keep out of it if you say so, Waltham,” broke in Tom. “We came down here merely to see if we could help you in any way. But I see your front axle is broken, and you will have to get the garage people to help you out with that.”
“Where’s Grace?” asked the young millionaire. The subject of the broken-down runabout did not seem to interest him.
“She is up at the farmhouse on the hill,” answered Tom.
“And we are going to take her back to the Larkinburg hotel in our auto,” added Sam.
“Oh, all right, then, go ahead and do it.”
“Do you want to ride with us?” questioned Tom.
“I don’t know that I do. I’ll stay here and take care of my runabout. If you’ll tell my sister that I’m all right, that is all I want.”
“Very well, just as you say,” answered Tom. He took his brother by the arm. “Come on, Sam, there is no use of wasting time here.”
“I’ll be with you in a minute, Tom,” was the younger brother’s reply. “You go on ahead, I want to say just a few words more to Waltham.”
“No use of your getting into a fight, Sam,” returned Tom in a low voice.
“There won’t be any fight unless he starts it.”
Tom walked slowly up the road, and Sam turned back to where Chester Waltham had settled himself on the mud-guard of the broken-down runabout.
“See here, Waltham, I want to say a few words more to you,” began Sam, and his tone of voice was such that the young millionaire leaped at once to his feet. “I want to warn you about how you treat Miss Laning in the future.”
“To warn me!” repeated Chester Waltham, not knowing what else to say.
“Exactly! Up at the farmhouse she told me all of what took place between you. She was all unstrung and quite hysterical. Now this won’t do at all, and I want you to know it. After this if you are going to travel with us you’ve got to act the gentleman and treat her like a lady.”
“Humph!”
“No ‘humph’ about it. I mean just what I say. If you don’t behave yourself and don’t treat her like a lady I’ll—I’ll—”
“Well, what will you do?” sneered Chester Waltham.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” and now Sam shook his finger in the young millionaire’s face. “I’ll give you the soundest thrashing you ever had in your life!”
“Ah! do you mean to threaten me?”
“I certainly do.”
“When it comes to a thrashing, maybe two can play at that game,” observed the young millionaire; but it was plainly to be seen that Sam’s decided stand had disconcerted him.
“All right, Waltham, I’ll be ready for you. But remember what I said. We came out here to have a good time, and I am not going to allow you to spoil it for Miss Laning or for anybody else.”
“Humph! you make me tired,” sneered the rich young man. “Go on, I don’t want to be bothered with you any longer. The whole bunch of you is too namby-pamby for me. I think my sister and I could have a much better time if we weren’t with you.”
“As far as you personally are concerned, you can’t leave us any too quickly to suit me,” returned Sam.
“Is that so? Well, I guess you can call it off then so far as my sister and I are concerned. But if you think, Rover, that you have seen the last of this affair you are mistaken,” went on the young millionaire, pointedly. “You think you are going to run things to suit yourself, don’t you? Well, I’ll put a spoke in your wheel—a spoke that you never dreamed of! You just wait and see!” and then Chester Waltham turned back and sat down once more on his wrecked runabout, leaving Sam to walk up the road to rejoin Tom in a very thoughtful mood.
CHAPTER XXVII
A TELEGRAM FROM NEW YORK
It was not until the small hours of the morning that the two Rovers and Grace returned to the hotel in Larkinburg. They found Dick and his wife and Nellie anxiously awaiting their return.
“Oh! I am so glad that you weren’t hurt,” cried Nellie, as she embraced her sister. “I was so worried,” and she hugged her again and again.
“You can rest assured, Nellie, that I’ll never go out with Chester Waltham again! Never!” cried Grace. “Come on, I am going to my room. Good-night, everybody,” she called back, and in another moment had retired from their view, followed by her sister.
“Why, Sam! what does it mean?” cried Dora, as she looked on in bewilderment.
“It means that Chester Waltham ought to have had a good thrashing,” declared the youngest Rover; and then he and Tom told of what had occurred.
“I guess it will be a good job done if we part company with the Walthams,” remarked Dick, after the subject had been discussed for some time. “He is not of our class, even if he has money.”
“I feel rather sorry for his sister,” added Dora. “Although once in a while she shows the same haughtiness of manner that Chester displays. It’s too bad, too, for they might be really nice company.”
With so much excitement going on, it was small wonder that the Rover party did not come downstairs that morning until quite late. Sam was the first to show himself, he being anxious to know how Grace had fared.
“Here is a letter for your brother, Mr. Rover,” said the clerk at the desk, when Sam approached him. “It was left here by that Mr. Waltham.”
“Hand it over,” returned the youth, and then added: “Did Mr. Waltham bring his wrecked runabout to the garage here?”
“No, sir, he just came here, got his sister, paid his bill, and went off.”
“Oh, I see.” Sam could not help but show his surprise. “I’ll take this letter to my brother,” he added, and hurried off.
The communication was a short one, yet the Rovers and the others read it with interest. In it Chester Waltham said that in consideration of the way he had been treated by some members of the party he considered it advisable for his sister and himself to continue their tour separately. He added that he trusted Miss Laning did not feel any ill effects because of the breakdown on the road.
“And just to think that Ada went off without saying good-bye!” cried Grace, when she saw the letter. “I didn’t think she would be quite so mean as that.”
“Probably she took her brother’s part. She usually did,” returned her sister. “Well, I think we are well rid of them.”
“So do I,” put in Tom. “Personally I don’t care if we never see them again.”
“He said he was going to put a spoke in our wheel,” mused Sam. “I wonder if he’ll dare to do anything to harm us?”
“Oh, it’s likely he was talking through his hat,” returned Dick; but for once the oldest Rover was mistaken.
Now that our friends were by themselves there seemed to be a general air of relief. The only one of the party who was rather quiet was Grace, but Sam did everything he could to make it pleasant for her, and before nightfall she was as jolly as ever.
The run during that day was through a particularly beautiful section of the country, and about one o’clock they stopped in a grove and partook of a lunch which had been put up for them at the Larkinburg hotel. Then they moved forward once again, with Dick and Tom at the steering wheels of the cars.
“Still seventy-three miles to go if we want to make Etoria today,” announced Dick, after consulting the guide book. “I’m afraid that will be quite a ride for you ladies,” he added, turning to Mrs. Stanhope and Mrs. Laning.
“Oh, yes, let us go on to Etoria by all means,” pleaded Sam.
“Any particular reason for going to that city?” asked Tom, quickly.
“Yes, I’ve got a reason, but I’m not going to tell you,” returned his younger brother. And then, as both Dick and Tom lo
oked at him questioningly, he blushed and turned away.
“Oh, go ahead. I think I can stand it,” said Mrs. Stanhope, with a smile.
“I am getting used to traveling,” declared Mrs. Laning. “It’s much more comfortable than I at first supposed it would be.”
Nightfall found them still ten miles from Etoria and Dick asked the others if they wished to stop anywhere along the way for supper. All declared, however, that they would rather keep on until the city was reached.
“They tell me that they have got a dandy hotel there—something new,” said Sam. “We ought to get first-class accommodations there.”
Etoria was a city of some fifty thousand inhabitants, with a long main street brightly lighted up. The new hotel was opposite a beautiful public park, an ideal location. Sam seemed to be in unusual haste to finish his supper, and immediately it was over he asked Grace if she would not take a walk with him.
“We are going to do up the town, so don’t worry if we get back a little late,” he told Mrs. Laning, and then whispered something in her ear which made her smile and gaze at him fondly.
They pursued their way along the main street of the town, and while doing so the youngest Rover kept his eyes on the various shops that were passed. At last they came to a large jewelry establishment and here he brought the girl to a halt.
“It’s open!” he cried. “That’s what I call luck! I was afraid they would all be closed.”
Grace looked at the store, and at the display of jewelry in the window, and then looked at Sam.
“I guess you know what it’s going to be, Grace,” he said rather tenderly, and looked her full in the eyes. “I want you to have just as good a one as Dora or Nellie.”
“Oh, Sam! I—I don’t understand,” she stammered.
“It’s an engagement ring. We are going in here and see what sort of rings this man has got. It looks like a reliable place.”
“Oh, Sam!” and now, blushing deeply, Grace clung to his arm. “An engagement ring?”
“Sure! You ought to have had it long ago, then maybe we wouldn’t have had any trouble.”
“There wasn’t any trouble, Sam—at least, I didn’t make any trouble,” she repeated; and then, as he caught her arm and dragged her into the shop, she murmured: “Oh, I—I feel so funny to go into a store for a thing like that! Don’t you think I had better wait outside?”
“You can if you want to, after the jeweler has measured your finger, Grace. But what’s the use of being so backward? As soon as we get back home you are going to be Mrs. Sam Rover, so you might as well get used to such things first as last.”
Fortunately for the young couple it was a very elderly man—quite fatherly in appearance—who came to wait on them.
“A diamond ring?” he queried. “Why, certainly, I’ll be pleased to show everything we have;” and then he measured Grace’s finger, and brought forth several trays of glittering gems.
Grace would have been satisfied with almost any of the rings, but Sam was rather critical and insisted upon obtaining a beautiful blue-white diamond which was almost the counterpart of the stone Dick had bestowed upon Dora.
“Now you’ve got to promise to have this engraved by eight o’clock tomorrow morning,” said the youngest Rover to the jeweler. “We are on an automobile tour and we can’t wait any longer than that.” And thereupon the shopkeeper promised that the order should be duly filled.
“Oh, Sam, how extravagant you are!” murmured Grace, when the pair were returning to the hotel. “Why, that ring cost a dreadful lot of money.” Her eyes were shining like stars.
“It isn’t a bit too good for such a girl as you,” he declared stoutly, and then gave her hand a squeeze that meant a great deal.
When they left Etoria the next morning Sam had the engagement ring tucked safely away in his pocket. He had confided in Dick, and the oldest Rover managed it so that that noon they stopped at a large country hotel and obtained the use of a private dining-room. This, Sam had decorated with flowers, and just before the meal commenced he slipped the engagement ring upon Grace’s finger.
“Oh, Sam! Oh, Grace!” shrieked Nellie when she saw the sparkling circlet on her sister’s finger.
“Oh! so that’s what’s going on, is it?” cried Dora, joyfully. “Grace, allow me to congratulate you,” and then she kissed the girl and immediately afterward kissed Sam. Numerous other kisses and handshakes followed, and for the time being Sam and Grace were the happiest young people in the world.
“Let us send telegrams home, announcing the affair,” suggested the youngest Rover, after the meal was at an end. “I know dad, as well as Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, will be glad to hear of it.”
The telegrams were quickly prepared and sent off. In the messages Sam notified those at home where the touring party would be for the next ten days.
After that several days slipped by quickly. The tourists had covered a good many miles and were now approaching the Mississippi River. The weather had been ideal, and not a single puncture or blowout had come to cause them trouble. Sam and Grace were much together, and, as the youngest Rover declared, “were having the time of their lives.”
“It’s queer I don’t get more word from New York,” remarked Dick one evening, when they had reached a city which I shall call Pemberton. “Dad acknowledged that telegram of Sam’s, but he didn’t say a word about that Lansing deal or anything about the Bruno bonds.”
“Well, let us hope that no news is good news,” returned Tom. “Anyway, I’m not going to worry until I know there is something to worry about.”
That evening came word from Valley Brook, stating that everything was going along well at the farm and that Mr. Anderson Rover was confining himself closely to business in New York.
The Mississippi was crossed, and then the tourists headed in the direction of Colorado Springs. It was their intention to make the Springs the turning point of the trip, with a side trip by the cog railway to Pike’s Peak. They would return by the way of Denver. Some days later found them in Topeka, where they had decided to rest up for a day or two. During that time only one short telegram had come from Mr. Anderson Rover, stating that the Bruno bonds had been sold at a fair profit, but that the Lansing deal was still uncertain.
“We stand to win or lose quite a lot of money on that Lansing deal,” Dick explained to Sam. “It’s rather a peculiar affair. The whole thing is being engineered by a Wall Street syndicate.”
On the morning of the second day in Topeka, when Sam and Grace and some of the others had gone shopping, Dick heard one of the bellboys call his name.
“Telegram,” he said to Tom. “I hope this is from dad and that it contains good news.”
The telegram proved to be what is known as a Night Letter, and its contents caused the two Rovers much astonishment. The communication ran as follows:
“Have been following up the Lansing deal closely. Affairs are getting rather clouded and I am afraid we may lose out. A new opposition has appeared, a combination headed by your former friend, Waltham. He is still in the West but his agents are working against us. He has also bought controlling interest in the Haverford deal. Evidently means to hit us as hard as possible. Will know more in a day or two and will let you know at once of any change in affairs.
“Anderson Rover.”
CHAPTER XXVIII
CLOUDBURST AND FLOOD
“I see it!” cried Tom. “That’s the spoke Chester Waltham told Sam he would put in our wheel.”
“I guess you are right,” returned his older brother. “Evidently Waltham is a meaner fellow than I took him to be. Just because Grace would not put up with his ungentlemanly attentions he evidently is going to do what he can to make trouble for us.”
“I don’t understand what dad means by the Haverford deal,” went on Tom, as he studied the telegram. “I thought that deal was closed long
ago.”
“They thought of closing it, Tom, but at the last moment something went wrong and the men who were going into the matter withdrew. That put a large part of the burden on our shoulders. We have at least forty thousand dollars invested in it. Now, if Waltham has bought a controlling interest, as dad says, he will be able to swing it any way he pleases, just as he may be able to swing the Lansing deal, too.”
“How much money have we got locked up in that? The last I heard it was only about eight thousand dollars.”
“When I left, dad said he expected to put in another twelve thousand, which would make a total of twenty thousand dollars, Tom.”
“Phew! Then that makes a grand total of sixty thousand dollars in the two deals. Chester Waltham must have a lot of loose money, if he can jump into deals as big as those are at a moment’s notice.”
“Oh, a young millionaire like Waltham can get hold of cash whenever he wants it,” answered Dick. He ran his hand through his hair thoughtfully. “This looks bad to me. Perhaps I had better take a train back to New York without delay.”
“Oh, if you did that it would spoil the trip for Dora,” protested his brother.
“It’s better to spoil the trip than to let Chester Waltham get the better of us.”
“Why not send a telegram asking if it will do any good for you to come home?” questioned Tom. And after a little discussion Dick decided to do this, and the telegram was sent without delay. A few hours later word came back that if Dick was needed his father would send for him.
The stay in Topeka was extended to the best part of a week, for that night a furious rainstorm set in which lasted two days. The downpour was unusually heavy, and as a consequence many of the outlying roads became well-nigh impassable.
During the last day of the storm Sam received a long letter from Songbird in which the would-be poet told of how he was working to make his way in the world and also earn some money that he might pay back the amount lost by Mr. Sanderson. He added that so far the authorities had been unable to find any further trace of Blackie Crowden.
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