[THE WRECK WAS BLOWN COMPLETELY APART.]

THE ROVER BOYS
WINNING A FORTUNE

OR

STRENUOUS DAYS ASHORE
AND AFLOAT

BY

ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
(Edward Stratemeyer)

AUTHOR OF “THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL,” “THE ROVER BOYS
ON A TOUR,” “THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL,”
“THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES,” ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America

Books by Arthur M. Winfield
(Edward Stratemeyer)

THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES

• THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
• THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
• THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
• THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
• THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
• THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
• THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
• THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
• THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
• THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
• THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
• THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR

THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES

• THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
• THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
• THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
• THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
• THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
• THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE
• THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED
• THE ROVER BOYS ON SUNSET TRAIL
• THE ROVER BOYS WINNING A FORTUNE

THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES

• THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
• THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL
• THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL
• THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL
• CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL
• THE MYSTERY AT PUTNAM HALL

12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.

Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York

Copyright, 1926, by
EDWARD STRATEMEYER

The Rover Boys Winning a Fortune

INTRODUCTION

My Dear Boys: This book is a complete story in itself but forms the tenth volume in the line issued under the general title, “The Second Rover Boys Series for Young Americans.”

In the opening volume of the First Series, “The Rover Boys at School,” I introduced my readers to Dick, Tom and Sam Rover and their friends and relatives. That volume and those which followed related the adventures of the three Rover boys at Putnam Hall Military Academy, Brill College, and elsewhere.

Leaving college, the three young men established themselves in business in New York City and became married to their girl sweethearts. Dick Rover became the father of a son and a daughter, as did likewise his brother Sam, while Tom was blessed with a pair of lively twin boys. The four youths were first sent to boarding school, as related in the first volume of the Second Series, entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall,” where the lads made a host of friends. During their outings they went with one of the older Rovers to establish oil wells in Texas and Oklahoma and also went out on Sunset Trail, where we last met them. Their school days had come to an end, and two of the boys were preparing to join their fathers in business when a most disastrous affair occurred. Then the lads went on an ocean trip in an endeavor to aid the family fortunes, and what stirring times their outing led to I leave for the pages which follow to narrate.

Of the twenty-nine volumes issued in this line of “Rover Boys” stories the publishers have already sold over three and one-half million copies! To me this is as astonishing as it is pleasing, and I here wish to thank all the young people, as well as the parents, who have stood by me in my efforts to entertain them.

Affectionately and sincerely yours,

Edward Stratemeyer.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE ROVER BOYS
WINNING A FORTUNE

CHAPTER I
FRED HAS A SECRET

“Say, Fred, what is this secret you’re keeping from us?” demanded Jack Rover, as he walked out on the piazza of the old farmhouse where his cousin sat reading a magazine.

“Who said I had a secret?” questioned the youngest of the Rover boys, as he laid down the magazine. “I’m sure I didn’t say a word about it.”

“Nonsense, Fred, you’ve got something up your sleeve, and you know it!”

“Of course he’s got something up his sleeve,” put in Andy Rover, who sat on the steps munching an apple. “It’s his arm.”

“We know well enough, Fred, that you’re not roaming around this farm singing ‘Down on the Ocean Bottom’ day and night for nothing,” added Andy’s twin brother, Randy.

“What are you talking about—‘ocean bottom?’ I don’t know any such song.” But there was a twinkle in Fred Rover’s eyes as he spoke.

“We ought to pound the secret out of him—that’s what we ought to do,” announced Randy. “Come on, you old reprobate, let us in on this, and be quick about it!” and, reaching over, he caught hold of Fred’s foot and attempted to drag his cousin from the chair.

“Hi! Let up!” cried Fred, and aimed the magazine at Randy’s head. Then he leaped up, broke away from his cousin, and vaulted the piazza railing. An instant later he was dashing across the lawn with the others in pursuit.

As the four boys tore over the grass at Valley Brook Farm three girls came from the house to witness what was going on. They were Mary and Martha Rover and their old school chum, Ruth Stevenson.

“Is it a race?” questioned Mary, Fred’s sister.

“No; I think they’re teasing Fred,” answered Martha. “They said something about Fred having a secret.”

“And he has a secret, too,” answered Ruth Stevenson.

“What is it, Ruth?” demanded the other girls quickly.

“Oh, I can’t tell you that—at least, not yet. Fred told me not to say a word about it.”

Across the lawn and down the lane shaded with big trees tore Fred Rover with his three cousins in close pursuit. Then Fred reached the barn, passed through an open doorway, and quickly rolled the door shut behind him.

“Hi, you! Let us in!” cried Jack.

“You keep out of here!” answered Fred merrily. “If you don’t I’ll go for a ride on Carrots.”

“Don’t you dare touch Carrots!” exclaimed Jack, in alarm. “You leave that horse alone!”

“Maybe he can put some pep in Carrots, Jack, so you’ll win the race,” suggested Andy.

“Carrots has got pep enough,” answered the oldest of the Rover boys. “And, anyway, what exercise he needs he’s going to get from me.”

“Oh, it’s too hot to run any more, anyway,” came from Randy. “Let’s call it off.”

“Fred, don’t touch that horse, do you hear?” cried Jack.

“Will you promise to leave me alone?” questioned his cousin through the closed door.

“Yes. Just the same, I think you ought to let us in on that secret of yours.”

“Oh, I’m holding back for your own good,” answered Fred, and then he allowed the others to pull the door open and they came into the barn.

It was a perfect midsummer day, with a bright blue sky overhead and a gentle breeze blowing from the west. One end of the big barn was already half filled with sweet-scented hay and beyond the building could be seen many acres of growing fields and orchards, all in the best condition.

It was Jack who led the way to where the horse stalls were located. Here, in a box stall, stood a small, wiry, sorrel horse with a white blaze on his forehead. The horse gave a look of recognition as Jack approached and stretched out his head in expectation of some tidbit, and Jack handed him half an apple which he munched contentedly.

“He certainly is a fine-looking animal,” was Randy’s comment, as the four boys gazed at Carrots. “You certainly ought to win that race, Jack.”

“Well, I’m going to try, anyway,” was the answer.

“Jack has got to win that race,” put in Andy. “If he doesn’t he won’t dare face Ruth again,” and he winked one eye suggestively.

“Oh, say, Andy, you leave Ruth out of this race, will you?” burst out Jack, his face growing red.

“Humph! As if we didn’t all know that Joe Sedley is going to race you solely on Ruth’s account,” went on Andy, who was the tease of the crowd.

“He’s going to race me because he thinks his Black Diamond is a better horse than Carrots,” returned Jack, “and because he thinks he can ride better than I can!”

“Just the same, Jack, he’s got his eyes on Ruth,” broke in Randy. “I guess he thinks it would be a grand thing to link the Sedley estate to the new Stevenson estate.”

“Oh, you fellows are talking nonsense!” answered their cousin, but at the same time Jack’s face took on a look of concern.

Valley Brook Farm, where the Rover boys were spending a vacation, was located in the heart of New York State and was the property of their great-uncle, Randolph Rover, after whom Randy had been named. The neighborhood for miles around was exceedingly picturesque and since a new state highway had been put through the land had been in active demand for country residences, by people of means. Below the farm a young man named Joe Sedley, who had inherited a large amount of money from his parents, had purchased an estate of two hundred acres and built himself rather pretentious bachelor’s quarters. Directly opposite and adjoining Valley Brook Farm, Mr. Stevenson, the father of Ruth, had purchased another two hundred acres and had now started to put up a large country home.

Because Ruth was so well acquainted with the Rover girls she had often stopped at Valley Brook Farm and her parents had occasionally stayed there overnight while inspecting the work done on the new place next door.

It was on one of her visits to the farm that Ruth one day met Joe Sedley. He had proved himself an agreeable young man and had invited Ruth and the other girls, as well as the boys, to visit his estate and “give it the once over,” as he expressed it. Since that time he had been exceedingly attentive to Ruth, much to Jack’s discomfiture, for ever since he had known the girl the oldest of the Rover boys had thought Ruth just the finest girl in all the world.

Although Joe Sedley owned both an enclosed car and a sport model, he also possessed several saddle horses, one of them, named Black Diamond, being his especial favorite.

“For a crosscountry racer, I’ll wager he can beat anything in this neighborhood,” Sedley had once told the Rover boys and the girls.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Jack had answered rather carelessly. “A few months ago Uncle Randolph bought a fine sorrel called Carrots. And believe me, that horse can make some speed!”

“I don’t believe he could keep up with Black Diamond—not in a two-mile race, anyway,” the young man from across the highway had replied. “Your sorrel may be good enough for a half mile across the country, but after that he’ll lag behind.”

This talk had led to a spirited conversation in which not only the boys but also the girls took part. Then Randy had suggested a race, and this challenge had been quickly accepted by Sedley and as quickly agreed to by Jack, who usually rode Carrots when he was at the farm and who that morning had been rather nettled by Sedley’s constant attention to Ruth. This had been three days before, and the race was to come off on the morrow in the morning, Sedley in the meantime having to go away on business to Rochester.

“Why don’t you take Carrots out and exercise him?” said Andy.

“That’s what I intend to do,” answered Jack. “But I won’t run him too hard—just enough to make him feel active.”

Jack Ness, the old man-of-all-work around the farm, had cleaned the sorrel until Carrots fairly shone from the tip of his nose to the end of his flowing tail.

“He’s the best nag in these parts, barring none!” declared Jack Ness emphatically, as he placed the saddle on the sorrel’s back. “You sure are going to win that race, Jack.”

“I certainly hope to,” was the reply. “By the way, has the news leaked out to those living around here?”

“It certainly has, Jack,” said the hired man. “Everybody at Dexter’s Corners knows about it. Mr. Sedley was down to Woddie’s store before he left and also at the railroad station and he told everybody how he was going to put it over you. You’ll have quite a crowd to witness the run. Some folks are putting quite some wagers on it,” added the old man.

Joe Sedley, having perhaps more money than was good for him, had done his best to draw Jack and his cousins into making a bet for a large amount, but this the boys had declined.

“He could clean us out easily enough,” was the way Fred had expressed it, “while the loss of one or two thousand dollars—or even more—wouldn’t make him wink.”

“Well, I’m not in the betting business,” Jack had answered briefly. He did not add that he had promised his father not to bet on horse races of any kind.

Early the next morning Joe Sedley telephoned over asking for Ruth and then invited her and the girls to use his sporting car in following the finish of the race, which was to take place on a road ending near the two farms. The invitation rather pleased Ruth, but nevertheless she declined, stating that she had already arranged to go out with Martha and Mary.

“He’s got a crust to telephone over to Ruth!” was the way Fred expressed himself when he heard of this. “He knows well enough how matters stand between her and Jack.”

“Well, I guess he thinks it’s a case of the best man winning,” answered Randy. “And you’ve got to admit that he’s rather a nice sort, too, although I think his money is spoiling him a little.”

Of course Jack was not present at this conversation. But he, too, heard of how Sedley had telephoned, the news being conveyed to him by his sister.

“Jack, you’ve got to keep your eye on that fellow,” declared Martha. “He’s doing everything he can to get into Ruth’s good graces.”

“I know it, Martha, and it makes me mad to think of it! But what can I do to prevent it?”

“You don’t think Ruth cares for him, do you, Jack?”

“I don’t know. He’s got a barrel of money—I know that!”

“You don’t suppose Ruth would let that influence her, do you?”

“You ought to know better than I do, Martha.”

“Well, I wouldn’t if it was me!” answered the sister loyally.

It was another perfect day, and when the time for the race came several hundred people were found lining the course which led around several roads in something of a circle, starting at the lower end of the Sedley farm and finishing on a roadway between Valley Brook Farm and the new Stevenson estate.

Both of the horses, as well as their riders, looked in the best of condition as they came forward to begin the race. The course had been carefully mapped out and watchers were stationed along the route to see that no short cuts might be taken by either participant. Even old Uncle Randolph was present and likewise the old colored servitor of the Rovers, Aleck Pop.

“I done got a rabbit’s foot fur you, Massah Jack,” whispered Aleck just before the race, and brought forth the foot in question, wrapped in a handkerchief. “Dat am suah good luck fur you.”

“Thank you, Aleck. I’ll be sure to win now,” answered Jack.

But even though he spoke thus confidently, Jack realized that he had a hard contest before him. Joe Sedley was an experienced rider and Black Diamond a horse that had won more than one crosscountry contest. Jack knew he could take two of the streams which were to be crossed and also several hedges as well as any horse in that neighborhood. Carrots could jump well also, but Jack relied more on his steed’s running than anything else.

“All ready?” shouted the starter presently, and then, an instant later, came the report of a pistol and the two contestants were off.

CHAPTER II
THE ROVERS AND SOME OTHERS

“They’re off!”

“Ride for all you’re worth, Jack!”

“You can win this race without half trying, Sedley!”

“Don’t forget Heddon’s brook—it’s a bad one!”

Such were some of the cries, mingled with cheers, as the two riders dashed away on the two-mile race. Soon they were well on their way down the road, followed for a short distance by a number of people in automobiles and on motorcycles.

“Sedley is ahead!”

“Yes; but Jack Rover is a close second!”

The first quarter mile of the race was over a level road and easy. Then the two contestants turned into a side road and were lost to view among the trees and bushes. Here the automobiles and motorcycles following had to come to a halt.

“Wish we could have followed them on horseback,” remarked Randy.

“Well, that wasn’t to be permitted, so all we can do is to go back to the finishing point and wait for ’em to come,” answered Fred.

“Oh, Fred, do you think Jack will really win?” asked Ruth.

“I don’t see why not. Of course, Joe Sedley has had lots of experience in riding and his Black Diamond is sure a fine runner. But Jack has just got to win, and that’s all there is to it!”

The Rover girls and Ruth had brought their cameras with them, and all had taken snapshots of the start of the race. Now they fixed their cameras so that they might get other snapshots of the finish.

“But I won’t want any snapshot if Jack comes in second!” declared Martha.

“Oh, well, I want a picture, anyhow,” said Ruth. “If Mr. Sedley wins he’ll be glad to have a picture of the event.”

In the meantime Jack and Sedley were riding for all they were worth, cheered on by friends and neighbors lining the roadway of the race.

Joe Sedley had taken the lead at the start and held it at the end of the first half mile. Then the two contestants turned into another road where the going was unusually rough, and here Jack gradually pulled up until the two horses were neck and neck.

“Here is where I’m going to pass you, Sedley!” cried Jack gayly.

“It’s the last lap that counts, Rover!” yelled the rich young man in return.

A little further on they took the first of the two streams to be crossed. Some days before Jack had inspected this carefully and now he reined up Carrots at a point where the steed could get a good footing. Over they went with ease, Black Diamond and his rider immediately following. Then they took to a narrow road running to the rear of Valley Brook Farm.

By the time the first mile had been covered the pace was beginning to tell on both horses. Then came the point where they had to take two hedges in quick succession. Carrots took the first with scarcely an effort, but for some unaccountable reason shied at the second. Black Diamond and his rider shot ahead, and when Jack finally brought his mount over he found himself a good fifty yards to the rear.

“I’ve got to make it up! I’ve simply got to do it!” he muttered to himself, and, setting his teeth hard, he urged Carrots forward in a desperate effort to overtake Sedley.

Then came another turn and the riders crossed the state highway and came out on a stretch of road leading behind the Sedley estate. Here going was again rough, but this seemed to please Carrots better than it did Black Diamond and at a mile and a half Jack found himself only a length behind his opponent. Then each rider settled himself for the struggle on the homestretch.

“Here they come!” yelled Andy, as he looked down the roadway.

“Joe Sedley is in the lead! Hurrah!” shouted one of that young man’s admirers.

“Oh, don’t tell me Jack’s going to lose!” murmured Martha.

“Come on, Jack! Come on! You’ve got to win!” shouted Fred. “Come on!”

As the two riders drew closer there were all sorts of shouts and cries. In the midst of this the girls, and also several other spectators, prepared to take snapshot pictures of the finish.

“Joe Sedley is still ahead! He wins the race!”

“Jack Rover is crawling up!”

“It’s neck and neck!”

“Come on! Come on! Let the best man win!”

By this time everybody was wildly excited and it was almost impossible for those in charge to keep the spectators off the road. It was seen that Joe Sedley was riding well, even though Black Diamond showed evidences of the herculean exertions the steed had made. Only a few feet behind came Carrots, his tail flying out and Jack bending well over the sorrel’s neck.

“It’s Sedley’s race!”

“Not much! Rover will pass him!”

“Here they come neck and neck!”

“It’s a tie!”

“That’s right—it’s a tie, sure enough!” came from a score of throats, and then the two riders with their steeds flashed by and the race was over.

“Oh, Fred! was the race a tie?” asked Ruth, as she and the other girls were putting their cameras away.

“I’m afraid it was,” answered the youngest Rover boy.

“I don’t think it was a tie,” declared Andy. “It looked to me as if Jack was at least six inches ahead.”

“That’s the way it looked to me, too,” said his twin.

“Rover ahead? Nonsense!” cried one of the Sedley supporters. “If anybody was ahead it was Joe.”

“Oh, it was a tie, and that’s all there is to it,” put in a gentleman who lived at Dexter’s Corners. “They’ll have to ride it over again.”

It was the consensus of opinion among those who had seen the finish of the race that it had been a tie.

“We’ll let the photographs decide it,” declared Fred. “A whole lot of pictures of the finish were snapped. They ought to tell the tale. Come, what do you say?” he went on to the young man who had been managing the race for Joe Sedley.

“I’m willing to go by the photographs if they’re clear enough,” was the reply.

“Well, photographs don’t lie,” said the gentleman from Dexter’s Corners.

And now while Jack and Joe Sedley are turning back to the finish line to find out how the race was really decided let me take a few minutes of the readers’ time in which to introduce my characters to those who have not met the Rovers before.

In the first volume of this line of books, entitled “The Rover Boys at School,” I introduced three wideawake American lads, Dick, Tom and Sam Rover, and told how they left their home at Valley Brook Farm to go to school. From school they went through college, having many adventures in the between-times, and then settled down in business in New York City, forming The Rover Company, with offices in Wall Street.

The three young men married the sweethearts of their school and college days, and as a result of these unions Dick was blessed with a son and a daughter, Jack and Martha, Sam followed with a son and a daughter, named Fred and Mary, while the fun-loving Tom came forward with a lively pair of twins, called Randy and Andy.

At this time the three Rover families lived in three connecting houses on Riverside Drive overlooking the Hudson River. At first the young folks attended the local schools, but soon the boys’ propensity for fun and “cutting up” became so pronounced their elders thought it would be better to send them to some strict boarding school.

Colonel Colby, a school chum of the older Rovers, had established a first-class military academy, and in the first volume of our Second Series, entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall,” was related how Jack, Fred and the twins went to that institution of learning and made many friends, including Gif Garrison and Spouter Powell, the sons of their father’s chums. At the same time Mary and Martha attended a nearby boarding school where they became intimately acquainted with Ruth Stevenson and May Powell, a cousin to Spouter.

A number of years had passed since the younger Rovers had first attended Colby Hall, and during that time they had had a number of thrilling adventures on Snowshoe Island, under canvas, on a hunt, in the oil fields, at Big Horn Ranch and at Big Bear Lake. They had also been shipwrecked, and had been abducted and held for a heavy ransom, as related in the volume preceding this, entitled “The Rover Boys on Sunset Trail.”

During the days at the military school and while on their numerous outings the Rover boys had made a great number of friends and also a number of bitter enemies. Some of their enemies had paid the penalty of their misdeeds and were now in prison, but others were still at large and eagerly awaiting an opportunity to do the Rovers an injury.

While at Colby Hall Jack had worked his way up until he became the major of the school battalion, while Fred became captain of Company C. Andy and Randy had been too full of fun to go in for military honors, but had taken their part in numerous sporting contests. When the time came for graduating from the school all of the boys had passed with flying colors, much to their parents’ delight.

“The kids are all O. K., even if they’re full of fun,” said Tom Rover proudly to his wife, Nellie.

“Well, you can’t blame them for being full of fun, Tom,” returned his wife, with a twinkle in her eye. “You were always chock-full of fun yourself—you know you were,” and she poked him affectionately in the ribs.

“Indeed!” said Tom very innocently. “Why, I always thought I was a model young man, as well as a model husband,” and then he ducked as Nellie made a move as if to catch him by the hair.

On leaving Colby Hall, the Rover boys had been undecided regarding what to do next. There had been some talk of going to college, but both Jack and Fred had intimated that they would like to go into business in Wall Street with their fathers. Andy and Randy declared for a trip around the world or “some kind of an outing somewhere.”

“I think we might as well let the boys rest and think it over,” said Dick Rover to his brothers. “They have been to school steadily for years. It won’t hurt them to let them go their own way for a while.”

So it had come about that the boys, as well as the girls, were allowed to journey from New York City by automobile to the farm at Dexter’s Corners where old Uncle Randolph, Aunt Martha, and Grandfather Rover still resided. Grandfather Rover was now very old and did little but sit in his chair and read the papers.

From his first meeting with Ruth Stevenson some years before, Jack had been greatly attracted by this young lady. She had been a good chum on more than one occasion and he had awakened to his real feelings for her when, through the actions of one of his enemies, Ruth had been in danger of losing her eyesight. This feeling had grown in intensity, and it was this which made Jack feel that he would like to settle down in business so that he might be in a position to ask Ruth to become his wife. He had thought it delightful that the Stevensons had purchased the land adjoining Valley Brook Farm and were about to build a summer residence there. But the entrance of Joe Sedley upon the scene had caused him some misgivings. Sedley was handsome, as well as rich, and owned a beautiful estate directly opposite that purchased by Mr. Stevenson. More than this, the young man had a manner which seemed to please Ruth not a little.

“Well, I suppose he’s got as much right to her as I have,” Jack told himself several times. But even as this thought coursed through his mind he felt a sudden sinking of the heart, such as he had never experienced before.

CHAPTER III
AN ODD DISAPPEARANCE

“We had better develop those pictures as soon as possible,” said Jack after he had been told that the others had agreed to reserve a decision on the race until the various photographs taken had been examined.

“I’m afraid I didn’t get a very good picture,” declared Martha. “Just as I got ready to snap it some man jumped up in front of me, waving his hat.”

“I was almost in line with the tape, so my picture ought to be a good one,” declared Ruth. “I had the diaphragm wide open and the shutter set for the fastest time possible.”

“We’ll have to be very careful in developing those pictures—we don’t want to spoil them,” put in Randy.

Joe Sedley was plainly annoyed over the fact that most of the spectators considered the race a tie.

“I think I was a full head to the good,” he declared emphatically. “Black Diamond was going as never before and in another fifty yards he’d have been a length ahead.”

“Well, we’ll have to see what the pictures have to say,” answered Jack. “Then, if it really was a tie, we’ll have to run it over again.”

“What do you think it was, Ruth?” questioned Sedley.

“I can’t say exactly, Joe,” the girl answered. “You both went past so very fast. But I snapped a picture, and so did the others, and perhaps they’ll tell the real story.”

“Well, I think it was up to the judges to render a decision and not wait for those photos,” answered the rich young man. “But of course I’m willing to do what Rover does,” and then Sedley rode away to join some of his friends.

The crowd, and especially those who had placed bets on the race, was keenly disappointed and a number of arguments started, some ending in wordy quarrels. The judges of the race asked that all photographs snapped at the finish be submitted to them if possible by the following morning.

So far the day had been ideal, but now a sudden summer shower was coming up and this caused the crowd to scatter rapidly, and the Rovers and Ruth lost no time in getting back to Valley Brook Farm.

Some years before the Rover boys had fitted up a developing and printing room in the old farmhouse, using for that purpose a side pantry which had running water. Randy and Fred were the two who had most interested themselves in the photographic art, and they took the exposed films to learn as quickly as possible what they might show.

“You’ve got to be careful,” cautioned Jack. “If you spoil them Sedley may say you did it on purpose, just to hide the fact that he won.”

“Oh, Jack what a mean thing to say of Joe!” cried Ruth.

“Well, I wouldn’t put it past him to say it,” declared Jack. “He thinks he’s the king-pin of everything when he’s on Black Diamond,” he added somewhat bitterly.

“You wouldn’t want Joe to talk that way about you, would you?” went on the girl earnestly.

“Oh, I wouldn’t quarrel about it, Ruth,” put in Mary before she had given a thought to what her words might lead.

“I’m not quarreling,” and then, after a somewhat awkward pause, Ruth turned, picked up a magazine from the center table, and sat down on the piazza to read.

“Mary! How could you?” whispered Martha.

“Why, I—I—didn’t mean anything,” faltered Fred’s sister.

“Yes, but don’t you see what Jack—” began Martha, and then suddenly stopped. Then, as Jack and the others moved toward the pantry where the pictures were to be developed, Martha went upstairs and Mary slowly followed.

The day had begun brightly enough, but now it seemed about as dismal in the house as the shower was making it outside. Twice Jack thought of joining Ruth on the piazza, to smooth out the difficulty between them, but for some reason could not bring himself to do it.

“She’s got Sedley in her mind,” he told himself bitterly. “For all I know, she may hope he won.” Yet even as he thought this another thought came that perhaps he was doing Ruth an injustice.

When developed, it was found that Martha’s film had been completely ruined by the man who had jumped up in front of her when she snapped it. But those taken by Ruth and Mary, as well as by Fred and Randy, were fairly clear. But all of the pictures were rather small and none of them could be judged clearly in the dim red light of the developing pantry.

“We’ll have to dry them and get prints from them before we can be sure of what they show,” declared Fred; and then this rather tedious process was begun.

After the race Jack Ness had ridden over to Dexter’s Corners to get the mail. Now he came back with a handful of letters which were distributed to the young people.

“Here is something that you fellows will be interested in,” declared Fred, as he read a letter from his father. “Dad says old Josiah Crabtree is out of jail again.”

“Out of jail again?” cried Jack. “I thought he was let out of jail some years ago!”

“So he was,” answered Randy. “But I guess you’ve forgotten that he was put in again on account of some irregularities in connection with selling some stock in a fake university out in St. Louis.”

“Do you suppose old Crabtree will try to make trouble for our folks?” went on Fred.

“It’s more than likely,” answered Jack. He and his cousins had learned a great deal concerning this ex-teacher who had done so much harm to the older Rovers in the past.

“Why can’t he turn over a new leaf like Dan Baxter and his father did?” was Randy’s comment.

“The answer to that is that some people would rather be bad than be good,” returned Fred, and then he added quickly: “Do you suppose Crabtree would come after us, the same as Davenport did?”

“There is no telling what a man of that calibre will do,” said Jack. “The only thing for us to do is to be on our guard against him.”

Then the boys turned again to their letters.

“Here is news!” cried Andy. “Dad tells me that before long he’s going to take another trip out to the Rolling Thunder gold mine.”

“And my dad says he’s going to take another trip down to the oil fields in Oklahoma,” came from Jack. “Gee, I’d like to go with him! We’d have a chance to visit Phil Franklin and a lot of other people we know.”

“And I’d like to go out to Sunset Trail again!” cried Randy. “We certainly did have good times out there.”

“Not while we were kept prisoners in that cave by Davenport and his gang,” broke in his brother.

“You fellows hold your horses about going down to Oklahoma or out to Sunset Trail!” cried Fred. “Perhaps there will be something better coming. Who knows?” And then he began to hum softly to himself. “Down on the ocean bottom, boys! Down on the ocean bottom!”

“Say, Fred, for cats’ sake, stop that singing and let us know what you’ve got in your mind!” cried Andy. “You keep on that way, and you’ll have us all bughousey.”

“Let’s pound it out of him, boys!” exclaimed his twin, and caught Fred by the arm.

“No, you don’t!” shouted Fred. “I’ll tell you about my secret when I’m ready, and not before.” And then, as the others tried to catch hold of him, he squirmed away and ran through the dining room and then the sitting room of the old farmhouse.

“My land sakes, boys! what are you up to now?” shrilled old Aunt Martha, who sat by a window shelling peas.

“Fred’s got a secret and won’t let us in on it!” exclaimed Randy.

“I think he’s got a barrel of prunes hid away somewhere and is eating ’em all by himself on the sly,” added Andy.

“A barrel of prunes?” exclaimed Aunt Martha, in consternation. Then her eyes began to twinkle. “Andy Rover, quit your foolishness and behave yourself. If you continue to make such a noise, Grandfather Rover will think another war has started.”

“Well, we’ve got to make Fred talk up,” said Randy, and then he and his twin, followed by Jack, raced after the youngest Rover boy, who had disappeared through a doorway leading to a side piazza. The next instant Fred had leaped out into the dooryard and, despite the rain that was falling, was streaking it in the direction of the big barn.

“Hi! You’ll get soaked!” yelled Jack. “Come back here!”

“Not on your necktie! I’d rather be soaked than be pommeled.”

“I’m going after him!” exclaimed Andy.

“So am I!” added his twin, and away they dashed, and then there seemed nothing for Jack to do but to follow.

The sudden shower had caused the water to flow down the lane. Fred and Randy crossed this in safety, but as Andy approached, his foot slipped and down he went headlong, splashing mud in all directions.

“For the love of Pete!” gasped Jack, as several drops of muddy water hit him in the face, one landing in his eye. “What’s the idea? If you want to swim why don’t you go down to the brook?”

“Wow!” spluttered Andy, scrambling to his feet. His hands and his knees were covered with mud, which was also sprinkled liberally over the front of the suit he wore. “Now I’m going to catch him if I die for it!” he went on, dashing forward.

By this time Fred had reached one of the big sliding doors of the barn and had passed inside, sliding the door shut after him. When the others came up they found the door bolted on the inside.

“Hi! Open that door—and be quick about it!” shouted Randy. “Do you want us to get drowned?” for the rain was now coming down harder than ever.

“I’m not going to open the door!” shouted back Fred. “Go on back to the house!”

“Come on around to the other door,” said Jack.

The three Rovers ran around a corner of the barn, but Fred was ahead of them and just before they arrived he shot another bolt into position, so they found this barrier also closed against them.

“Hi, Fred! Have a heart and open up!” demanded Andy. “I need washing, but I don’t want to take it out here in the open.”

“Come on with me,” whispered Randy. “We’ll surprise him,” and then he hurried the others around another corner of the barn where an opening led to a small pit. From this pit a flight of steps ran up to the main floor of the building. There was a trapdoor here, but this was unfastened and thus the three boys gained entrance to the barn without further trouble.

“Now you’d better surrender!” cried Jack, rushing forward, followed by the twins.

Then, as Fred was nowhere in sight, the three began a search for their cousin. Much to their surprise, he was not to be found. They went through the building from top to bottom half a dozen times, looking into the box stalls and also the harness closet, and peering around the old carriages still stored in the place.

But it was all to no purpose! Fred had totally disappeared!

CHAPTER IV
ALECK SEES A GHOST

“Where do you suppose he went to?”

“Search me! He has certainly dropped out of sight entirely.”

“Perhaps he slid out through one of the doors and went back to the house and is now laughing at us,” suggested Andy. He was busy wiping the mud from his hands with an old salt bag.

“No, he couldn’t have left by any of the doors, for they’re all bolted on the inside,” declared Jack.

“Maybe he went up in the loft and dropped from one of the windows,” suggested Randy.

The three boys took another look around, shouting Fred’s name several times as they did so. Then they went up in the loft. Here a grimy window stood half open.

“That window has been opened since we came,” declared Andy. “Just the same, he could easily drop out of it to the pile of hay below,” he added, looking down.

“We might as well go back to the house and see if he’s there,” said Jack, and thereupon the three boys descended to the lower floor of the barn, unlocked one of the doors, and made a quick dash for the farmhouse.

“I’m going to wash up a bit before I look for him,” said Andy. “I feel as dirty as a sewer digger.”

“And you look worse than that,” added his twin, with a laugh. “Come on, Jack, let us find Fred and make him tell us his secret,” he added to his cousin.

A few minutes after the three boys left the barn Aleck Pop entered the place to get a peach basket which the cook wanted. The colored man had been told that the baskets were in the far end of the barn where Jack Ness had placed them.

“I don’t see why Jack couldn’t’ve brung dat basket,” mumbled Aleck, as he stumbled along in the semi-darkness of the barn. He considered that all work around that place belonged to the hired man and not to himself, he being employed principally around the house and on outside errands.

The colored man was still some distance from the back end of the barn when he heard a strange thumping. He came to an abrupt halt and began to scratch his woolly pate.

“What’s dat knockin’?” he demanded. “Who’s dar?”

The thumping ceased and all was quiet around the barn except for an occasional sound from the stalls where several of the horses were munching hay. Then Aleck took another step or two forward.

At once the thumping started up again, coming so loudly and seemingly so near that the colored man gave a suspicious jump.

“Who’s dar?” he cried again. “Who’s dat knockin’? Is some of you boys playin’ a trick on old Aleck?”

Again the thumping ceased, and now it was so quiet in the darkened barn that Aleck seemed to feel his scalp rising. He was naturally superstitious, and at once began to imagine all sorts of things.

“You can’t play no tricks on me!” he exclaimed rather weakly. “You come out o’ hidin’, whoever you is!”

“Goof! Goof! Kerchoo! Goof!” came in muffled tones, and this was followed by a thumping that made poor Aleck turn as if to run. “Goof! Goof!”

Straining his eyes in the semi-darkness of a back corner of the barn, Aleck made out a long and heavy box, the lid to which was tightly closed. Then, as he stood stock still but ready to run away if necessary, he became aware that the strange thumping and other noises were coming from this receptacle.

“Must be a dog or a hog in dat box,” he muttered. “But why don’t he raise de lid and pop out?”

As the strange sounds and thumping continued, Aleck timidly and fearfully took several steps forward, and then, by peering closer, saw that not only was the lid of the box tightly closed but a hasp used for a padlock had fallen into place over a staple, so that the lid could not be pushed up from the inside.

“Dat dog or hog or whatebber it am, am sure a prisoner,” he murmured, and then something like a grin came over his ebony face. Stepping closer, he unclasped the hasp and threw back the long and heavy lid of the box.

“Goof! Goof! Kerchoo! Goof!” came in a splutter from the bottom of the box, and a moment later there arose to the astonished gaze of Aleck Pop a tall figure in white, waving two ghostlike arms wildly.

“Land of Abraham!” shrieked the colored man, and began to tremble from head to foot. “It am a ghost! It sure am!” Then he turned to flee.

“Goof! Goof! Kerchoo!” came from the ghostlike figure. “Kerchoo! Say, somebody—kerchoo—dust me—kerchoo—off—kerchoo—will you? Goof! Goof!” and the figure continued to splutter and make all sorts of mysterious movements.

“It’s a ghost! It’s a hant!” shrieked Aleck, and rushed out of the barn and toward the house as fast as his aged legs would carry him. He burst into the kitchen, rolling his eyes wildly.

“Aleck! Aleck! What is the matter with you?” cried Aunt Martha, in consternation.

“Der am a ghost in de barn, Mrs. Rober!” was the scared reply. “A great big white ghost!”

“Oh, Aleck, there are no such things as ghosts,” was the ready reply of the old lady. “You are surely mistaken.”

“But I done saw it! It rose out of a box and waved long white arms at me!”

“What’s that about a ghost, Aleck?” questioned Jack, as he came in, followed by the twins.

“I done saw a ghost in de barn. Came out of a big box down in a back corner. It was all white and groanin’ and moanin’ something terrible. I think somebody’s gwine to die!” and Aleck rolled his eyes in fright.

“It must be Fred,” declared Randy. “Aleck, it’s Fred, and he’s playing a trick on you.”

“How could dat be Fred? Who locked him in dat box?”

“Was he locked in?” questioned Randy quickly.

“He sure was. De hasp of de lid was slipped over de staple.”

“Then there’s the answer to the riddle,” announced Andy. “Fred got in the box and couldn’t get out again.”

“But dat ghost am all white—jest as white as a ghost could be,” declared Aleck emphatically.