CHAPTER XXI
DAYS OF ANXIOUS WAITING
Another week passed without bringing anything new to light concerningthe missing bonds. During that time the Rover boys received two visitsfrom the headquarters' detectives, and were again subjected toinnumerable questions.
"We're on a new tack," said one of the sleuths. "I think we'll be ableto report something to you in a few days."
"You can't do it too quickly," returned Dick.
"Oh, I know that," answered the detective, with a short laugh; andthen he and his companion backed themselves out.
"Say, Dick, I don't take much stock in those fellows," was Tom'scomment. "They are good at talking, but it looks to me as if theydidn't know where they were at."
"Exactly the way I look at it!" broke in Sam.
During that time the boys also received visits from several privatedetectives, all anxious to take hold of the case, but none of themwilling to do so without first receiving a generous retainer.
"I am not going to pay out anything in advance," Dick told one ofthese fellows--a shabby looking chap. "You locate the bonds, andyou'll be well paid for it."
"I don't work unless I'm paid for it," snapped the detective, and leftthe offices quite indignant.
"I suppose we could get a thousand detectives on this case if we werewilling to put up the money," said Tom.
"It might pay to hire some first-class man," ventured Sam, "but notthat sort."
"I'll call up Mr. Powell and see what he thinks of it," answered Dick.And a little later he was in communication with Songbird's uncle overthe telephone.
"It wouldn't do any harm to put some first-class man on the case,"said the lawyer. "If you wish me to do so, I'll put you in touch withthe best detective agency in the city."
As a result of this talk, the Rovers obtained the address of adetective whose name is well-known in every large city of the UnitedStates. This man called on them the following day, and went over thecase very carefully with the youths. He examined the safe and thecombination lock, and then had a long talk with Kitty Donovan and herfather and her mother, and also a talk with the old man who kept thelittle fruit stand downstairs.
"I'll do all I can, Mr. Rover," he said, when he re-entered theoffices, "but you mustn't expect too much. This is certainly amystery."
"Mr. Bronson is the most intelligent detective I've seen yet," saidSam, after the man had departed. "He handles the case as if it was astrict business proposition."
"That's what I like to see," declared Tom. "The other kind ofdetective is good enough for a dime or a half-dime story book, but henever makes any success of it in real life."
It must not be supposed that now they were in New York, Tom and Samhad forgotten the Laning girls. They had written to Nellie and Grace,forwarding the letters to Cedarville because Hope Seminary was on thepoint of closing for the season.
"Letters for both of you!" cried Dora, when they and Dick appeared atthe hotel one evening after a rather strenuous day in the offices,where all had been busy forming their plans for further investments.
"Good for you, Dora!" answered Tom, and held out his hand eagerly.
"Now wouldn't you like to have it?" she answered mischievously,holding a letter just out of his reach.
"Where is mine?" demanded Sam.
"Oh, I thought you wouldn't want that so I tore it up," she answered,with a twinkle in her eyes.
"If you don't give me that letter, Dora, something is going to happento you," went on Tom; and now he caught her by the wrist. "You knowthe forfeit--a kiss!"
"All right, take your letter, Mr. Can't-Wait," she returned, andhanded him the missive.
"But you said you had one for me!" broke in Sam. "Come now, Dora,don't be mean."
"Oh, Sam, it's only a bill."
"A bill! You are fooling!" And then as his face fell, she did not havethe heart to tease him longer, and brought the letter forth from herhandbag.
As the lads had anticipated, the communications were from Grace andNellie. In them the girls said that the session at the seminary wasover, and that the day previous they had returned to their home on theoutskirts of Cedarville. Both had passed in their examinations, forwhich they were exceedingly thankful.
"But they haven't found that four-hundred-dollar diamond ring yet,"said Sam, after he had finished his letter. "It certainly is a shame!"
"It's as great a mystery as the disappearance of our bonds," wasDick's comment.
"What has Nellie to say about it, Tom?" questioned Dora, anxiously;for even though she was married and away from them, her two cousinswere as dear to her as ever.
"She doesn't say very much," answered Tom. "No one has seen or heardanything about the ring."
"But what of Miss Harrow? How has she treated Nellie since the fire?"
"She says Miss Harrow has not been very well, and consequently did nottake part in the final examinations. Now the teacher has gone toAsbury Park, on the New Jersey coast, to spend the summer."
"Perhaps that mystery never will be solved," said Sam. "It's a jollyshame, that's all I've got to say about it!"
After dinner that evening, as it was exceedingly warm, none of theyoung folks felt like staying in the hotel. Dick proposed that theytake a stroll up Broadway.
"We can walk till we get tired," he said, "and then if you feel likeit, we can jump into a taxi and take a ride around Central Park beforewe retire."
"That will be nice," returned Dora; and Tom and Sam said it would suitthem, too.
As usual, upper Broadway--commonly called The Great White Way--wasablaze with electric lights. As the young folks strolled along, thegreat, flaring advertising signs perched on the tops of many of thebuildings interested them greatly.
"I heard yesterday that some of those signs cost ten thousand dollarsand more," observed Sam. "What a lot of money to put into them!"
"So it is, Sam. But think of all the money some firms spend innewspaper and magazine advertising," answered Dick.
"Some day we'll have to do some advertising ourselves," put in Tom."That is, after we get our business in first-class running order."
"And get our bonds back," added Dick.
"Oh, say, let's forget those bonds for just one night!" entreated Sam."I haven't been able to get a good night's sleep since I came herebecause of them."
The portion of Broadway where they were walking, is lined withinnumerable theaters and moving picture places. They had passed onless than three blocks further, when Sam suddenly caught Tom by thearm.
"Here we are, Tom!" he exclaimed, somewhat excitedly. "Here's thatmoving picture."
"So it is!" returned Tom, and immediately became as interested as hisyounger brother. They had come to a halt before a gorgeous movingpicture establishment, and on one of the billboards they saw exhibiteda flashy lithograph, depicting two men struggling in a rowboat with athird man on the shore aiming a gun at one of the others. Over thepicture were the words: "His Last Chance. A Thrilling Rural Drama inTwo Reels."
"What is it, Tom?" questioned Dora.
"Why, that's the moving picture play we told you about--the one thatwe got into at the Oak Run railroad station," explained the youth."That picture you see there was taken along the river bank back of ourfarm. Another picture shows the railroad station at Oak Run, with oldRicks in it, and still another ought to show the railroad train withSam and me on the back platform. Let us go in and see it."
"Why, yes, I want to see that by all means!" declared Dick's wife."Won't it be funny to see you boys in a moving picture!"
"Well, I don't know about this," returned Dick, hesitatingly; and helooked rather quickly at Tom. "Are you quite sure, Tom, that you wantto go into a moving picture show?" he went on. He had not forgottenhow Tom had once gone to a moving picture exhibition, and beencompletely carried away by a scene of gold digging in faraway Alaska,nor how his poor brother had for a time lost his mind and wandered offto the faraway territory, as related in detail in "The Rover Boys inAlaska."
/> "Oh, don't you fear for me, Dick!" cried Tom, hastily. "My head isjust as good as it ever was and able to stand a hundred moving pictureshows. Come on in, I'll get the tickets;" and without waiting for ananswer, Tom stepped up to the little ticket booth and secured thenecessary pasteboards.