CHAPTER XXV
MORE TELEGRAMS
"Who is it from, Tom?"
"Read it out loud!"
Such were the exclamations from Sam and Dick as their brother scannedthe telegram in haste.
"Hurrah! they've found it!" broke out Tom. "This is the best yet!"
"Good!"
"Fine!"
"This is from Miss Clara Parsons," went on Tom, "the teacher who ownedthe ring. Here, you can read the telegram if you want to," and hepassed the sheet over. The message ran as follows:
"Ring found in inkwell. Perfect condition. Did Miss Laning put it there?
"Clara Parsons."
"Short and sweet, but it tells the story," was Dick's comment. "Say,I'm mighty glad of this," he added, and his face showed his pleasure."That clears Nellie, Tom. You'll have to let her know at once."
"I sure will!" exclaimed the brother. "But say, did you notice whatMiss Parsons wants to know--if Nellie put the ring in the inkwell?Talk about nerve!"
"You can't exactly blame her, Tom, because she knew nothing of Royce'svisit to the office; and as you sent the message, and you and Nellieare so intimate."
"Oh, I understand, Dick; and I shan't blame her. I'm too happy toblame anybody," and Tom's face broke into a broad smile. "I'm going tosend a telegram to Cedarville this minute."
"Didn't I tell you gents the ring was there?" broke in Andy Royce. "Itold you the truth, didn't I?"
"You did, Royce," answered Dick.
"A'n' wot about it, are you goin' to lemme go?" questioned the formergardener, eagerly.
"Not just yet," broke in Tom.
"Why not? You can't hold me for stealin' when there wasn't nuthin'taken."
"That is true, Royce, but we want you to sign a confession as to justhow that ring got in the inkwell. If you don't do that, the seminaryauthorities may still think it was placed there by Miss Laning."
"Oh, I don't want to put nuthin' off on Miss Laning's shoulders,"answered the former gardener. "If you want a confession from me so asyou can clear her, go ahead!"
"Wait here until I've sent that telegram," Tom said, hastily; andrushed off once more to the telegraph office, where he sent thefollowing to Nellie:
"Ring recovered. Was hidden in inkwell by Royce. We have gardener's confession. Hurrah! Will write particulars.
"Tom."
"I hope she gets that before she goes to bed to-night," mused theyouth. "If she does it will make her sleep so much better."
There was a stenographer's office attached to the Outlook Hotel, andlate as it was, the young lady was found at her typewriter, poundingout a letter for a commercial traveler. As soon as this was finished,the stenographer was asked to take down whatever Andy Royce might haveto tell. The former gardener was brought in, and repeated theconfession he had previously made. This was typewritten as speedily aspossible, and then Andy Royce signed the confession in the presence ofone of the hotel clerks and a notary who lived at the hotel.
"Now I think that fixes it," said Tom. "Miss Parsons won't be able togo behind that confession."
"Are you goin' to let me go now?" asked the former gardener of Hope.
"Yes, you can go, Royce," answered Tom. "But wait a minute. How muchmoney have you left of that ten dollars my brother's wife let youhave?"
For reply the man dove down in his pocket, and brought out somechange.
"Eighty-five cents."
"That's all?"
"Yes."
"See here, if I stake you with another ten dollars, will you give meyour word not to drink it up?"
"I will, Mr. Rover, I will!" exclaimed Andy Royce, earnestly.
"All right, then, here's the money;" and Tom brought out twofive-dollar bills and placed them in the man's hands. "Now look here,unless you can find something to do, you come here and see me again ina few days."
"But see here, Tom," interposed Dick, in a low voice, "I don't thinkwe can use Royce in anyway. Why not let him go? As a gardener he isout of place in a big city like New York."
"I want him to stay here for two reasons," answered Tom. "In the firstplace I want him on hand in case the authorities at the seminary needhim. In the second place, I am going to put the matter squarely up toMiss Harrow. She thought Nellie guilty, and she may have thought Royceworse than he really was. Perhaps I can get her to give Royce anotherchance. I think he would be all right if he would only let drinkalone."
"The same old warm-hearted Tom as of old!" responded Dick. "All right,have your own way about it."
After the former gardener had departed the boys went upstairs to joinDora, and then Tom and Sam sat down to write letters of explanation toNellie and Grace; and these epistles were posted before the youthsretired for the night.
"Oh, how glad Nellie must be to have this weight off her shoulders!"exclaimed Dora. "It must have been awful to be suspected of taking aring."
"I guess Miss Harrow will be relieved, too," answered Tom. "I wonderwhere she is stopping in Asbury Park."
"I think I know," returned Dick's wife. "She and some of the otherteachers usually go to the Claravale House."
"I'll take a chance and telegraph to her," went on Tom. "It won't costmuch and it may relieve her mind. Those folks up at the seminary maywait to send a letter." And going downstairs once more, Tom wrote outanother brief telegram, and asked that it be sent off immediately.
"If only we could clear up this mystery of the missing bonds as easilyas we did this ring business!" came from Sam, when he and Tom had saidgood-night to Dick and his wife.
"I'm afraid that's not going to be so easy, Sam. Sometimes I thinkthat we'll never hear a word more about those bonds;" and Tom heaved adeep sigh.
"Oh, but, Tom, if we don't get those bonds back we'll be in a hole!"cried the youngest Rover, in dismay.
"We may not be in a hole exactly, Sam; but we'll have a tough job ofit pulling through," was the grim response.
Tom had worried more about the missing ring than he had been willingto admit to his brothers, and now that this was off his mind, he, onthe following morning, pitched into business with renewed vigor. Heand Dick had their hands full, going over a great mass of figures andcalculations, and in deciding the important question of how to takecare of certain investments. Sam did what he could to help them,although, as he frankly admitted, he did not take to bookkeeping oranything that smacked of high finances.
"I was not cut out for it, and that is all there is to it," hedeclared. "But I am willing to help you all I can."
Sam had gone off on an errand, leaving his brothers deep in theirfigures, when the office boy announced a visitor.
"Mr. Mallin Aronson," said Dick, glancing at the visitor's card. "Oh,yes, I've heard of him before. He and father had some stock dealings ayear or so ago. Bring him in."
Mr. Aronson proved to be a small, dark-complexioned man, with heavyeyebrows and a heavily-bearded face. He bowed profoundly as heentered.
"Mr. Richard Rover, I believe?" he said, extending his hand.
"Yes, Mr. Aronson. And this is my brother Tom," returned Dick.
"Very glad to know you;" and the visitor bowed again. "I presume youknow what brought me here," he went on, with a bland smile.
"I can't say that I do," returned Dick.
"Your father--is he not here?"
"No, he is at home sick."
"Is that so? I am very sorry to hear it. Then you are transacting hisbusiness for him?"
"Yes, my brother and I are running this business now."
"And yet you said you did not know why I had called," continued Mr.Aronson, in apparent astonishment. "That is strange. Did not yourfather tell you about his investment in the Sharon Valley LandCompany?"
"I never heard of the company before," returned Dick, promptly.
"I heard my father mention it," put in Tom, "but I never knew that hehad made any investment in it."
&nbs
p; "What? How surprising!" ejaculated the visitor. "He has something likefifteen thousand dollars invested in that concern, for which I havethe honor to be the agent. He has another payment to make on theinvestment, and that payment falls due just a week from to-day. Sometime ago he asked me if that payment might not be deferred. I put itup to the managers of the company, and they have now sent me word thatthe payment will have to be made on the day that it falls due."
"And how much is that payment?" faltered Dick.
"Twenty thousand dollars."