questions. "They must think I can talk just like a coffee-grinder grinds out coffee. And the nerve of some of them!" he continued. "Here they have asked me to go somewhere uptown and meet a lot of bankers and tell them how some of the work on the Liberty Loan is to be done!
As if those bankers don"t know as much about it as I do, and maybe more!"
"You"ve bought some of the bonds yourself, haven"t you, Dad?"
questioned Randy.
"Yes, Son--twenty thousand dollars" worth, and The Rover Company, as a company, has taken twice that amount."
"And my father has taken twenty thousand dollars" worth, too," said Mary.
"And so has mine," added Martha.
"All told, I think we"re doing pretty well by Uncle Sam!" cried Jack.
"Just the same, Uncle Tom, I think it"s a shame that they are going to make you stay behind to run the business."
"I won"t stay behind if things get much warmer!" burst out Tom Rover suddenly. "I"ll put somebody in my place and grab a gun and go after those Huns."
"Hurrah! that"s the way to talk," cried Andy enthusiastically.
"Would you really, Dad?" burst out Randy, his eyes shining.
"Do you want me to go, Son?" demanded the father, catching him by the shoulder.
"Of course I do! I don"t think you ought to stay behind with Uncle d.i.c.k and Uncle Sam going."
"It doesn"t seem right," added his twin.
"And it isn"t right! But what am I going to do?" asked their father somewhat helplessly. "We"ve all our money locked up in our various business deals. Those deals have got to be looked after. Who is going to do it if we all go away?"
"Oh, you can get somebody!"
"This getting somebody that you can trust absolutely is not so easy,"
answered Tom Rover. "I did think of getting one gentleman we know very well--a Mr. Allen Charter, who graduated from Brill College a year after your uncles and I were admitted to the inst.i.tution. Mr.
Charter is a very fine business man, and understands the deals we are in perfectly."
"Well, then, why didn"t you get Mr. Allen Charter to take hold?"
questioned Randy.
"He was going to take hold, but at the last minute he declined, stating that he had made up his mind to volunteer for the army."
"Well, there must be somebody else."
"There was another student at that college, named Stanley Browne. He is a cousin of Colonel Colby. We were very good friends, and I thought sure that we could get him to take charge. But Browne has also gone into the United States service."
"Oh, if that isn"t a shame--every one of them going in and you left behind!" grumbled Randy. "I don"t think it"s fair at all!"
"Well, I suppose I"ve got to make the best of it," answered Tom Rover.
But as he spoke he heaved a mountainous sigh. This being left behind while his brothers and his best friends went to the front was going to almost break his heart.
CHAPTER XII
AT THE ROVER COMPANY OFFICES
"Well, we"re off at last! Good-bye to everybody!"
The words came from d.i.c.k Rover as the last call was given for the volunteers who were going to Camp Huxton to entrain.
"Don"t forget to write regularly!" came from Sam Rover.
"Oh, we"ll do that--don"t fear!" answered his wife Grace. "And don"t you forget to answer every letter."
"And please, please, both of you be careful, and don"t get hurt!"
murmured Martha.
"Oh, say, Martha! don"t put a wet blanket on things that way,"
whispered her brother. "Don"t you know you have to send them away with a smile?"
"And I"m going to," she answered quickly, and then began to smile, even though the tears were forming in her pretty eyes.
"I know you will take good care of things while we are away, Tom,"
said d.i.c.k Rover to his brother.
"You can rest a.s.sured of that," answered Tom Rover. "Just the same, I wish I were going along."
"So do I, now that the time has come."
"We may never have to go to France," put in Sam Rover. "The war may be over before that time." Yet, as he spoke, he knew in his heart that such was not likely to be the case. But he wanted to say something to ease the minds of his wife and the other womenfolks.
There were quite a number of volunteers to entrain, and friends and relatives were hurrying this way and that to see them off. Among the Rovers there was much handshaking and not a few kisses, and then d.i.c.k Rover and Sam entered the train, which, a few seconds later, glided from the station.
It was a sober crowd that returned to the Rover homes, even Andy and Randy being subdued. No one felt like talking. Poor Martha seemed to be the most affected, and had she attempted to speak she would certainly have broken out crying.
"Well, I suppose we"ve got to get back to Colby Hall to finish out the term," remarked Jack, after Tom Rover had departed for the offices in Wall Street.
"Gee! I wish I could volunteer and go to that camp," sighed Fred.
"Well, we"ll get a touch of camp life soon," returned Jack.
He referred to the annual encampment of the Colby Hall students. Every year the cadets of the school were marched away to some place either in the mountains or on the seash.o.r.e, there to erect their tents and live under canvas for several weeks. During this encampment the cadets were given a taste of real military life, with strenuous drills and marches, target and bayonet practice, and usually ending with a thrilling sham battle.
"Well, we can"t get under canvas any too quick to suit me," announced Randy. "I"d rather be out in the open air than in the Hall."
It was arranged that the young folks should return to Haven Point on the following morning. Andy and Randy wanted to see as much of their father as possible, and so decided to run down to Wall Street late in the afternoon and come home with him.
"And you fellows can come along, if you want to," said Randy to his cousins.