The Rover Boys Under Canvas Or The Mystery of the Wrecked Submarine Part 17

"What was that he said, Nappy?" demanded Slugger in a whisper.

"I--I'll tell you afterwards," stammered Martell. "He's mighty fresh--that fellow!"

"Did he threaten you?"

"I guess he wants to start a row," grumbled Nappy. "But I don't want any fight in front of those girls."

"Those Rovers are getting too fresh to live," was Slugger's comment.

"Some day we'll have to get after 'em and polish 'em off."

"We can't get after 'em any too quick to suit me," answered his crony.

After that Nappy confined his gaze to his chum and to the lunch set before him. Never once did he allow his eyes to rove over to the table opposite. Jack had spoken with an intensity that showed his earnestness, and for once Nappy Martell was completely subdued.

"Those Rovers are getting to be a regular bunch of rough-necks," he growled, after he and his crony had finished a somewhat hurried meal and gone back to the smoking car.

"Did he want to fight you?" queried Slugger.

"That's what he had in mind to do--as if I would want to fight before that crowd of people! Why, we would all have been arrested!"

Jack's meal had been spoiled for him, but he did not let the others know this. He, however, kept his eyes on Brown and Martell until they left the dining car. Then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Gee! I'm glad they're gone," was Fred's comment.

"You're no more glad than I am," answered his cousin. "I'll teach him to stare at my sister! For two pins I'd have wiped up the floor with him!"

"I wish I'd have gotten the chance," put in Andy, from across the aisle. "Wouldn't I like to have peppered up their food good for them!"

In due course of time the young Rovers reached the Grand Central Terminal at Forty-Second Street, in New York City. They had sent a telegram, announcing their coming, and found Mrs. d.i.c.k Rover and Mrs.

Sam Rover awaiting them, each with a touring car.

"Well, I see you got in on time," said Mrs. d.i.c.k Rover, after the greetings were over. "I thought on account of so many soldiers being sent to the various camps, the train might be late."

"We saw some soldiers on the way," answered her daughter.

"And we also saw some freight cars carrying cannon," put in Mary.

"This war is going to make a great change all around," declared Mrs.

Sam Rover. And then she added to her daughter: "What do you think about your father going to the front?"

"It's just what I expected," answered Mary promptly. "He's a real patriot--dad is!"

"You are right. But I hate awfully to see him go away," sighed the mother.

The young folks were soon seated in the two automobiles, and their handbags were disposed of in the tonneau. Then the cars were started up, and they were soon whirling away over to Broadway and Riverside Drive, and then to the comfortable mansions occupied by the three Rover families.

It was still rather early in the afternoon, but Sam Rover had already come uptown from his office and was there to greet his son and daughter and the others.

"It's great news, Dad!" cried Fred, shaking him warmly by the hand, while Mary clung around his neck and kissed him.

"Oh, I'm going to be real proud of you!" said the daughter.

A little later d.i.c.k Rover arrived, and Jack shook hands with a warmth that was most unusual. When Martha kissed her father a curious lump arose in her throat, and her eyes grew misty.

"I suppose it's all right, Dad," she whispered in his ear. "But, oh! I do hope you'll come back all right." And she clung to him in a way that spoke volumes.

"Of course I'll come back all right, Martha," said d.i.c.k Rover confidently. "And for all you know, your dad will come back a major or a colonel, or maybe a brigadier general."

"Oh, I don't care about that! All I want is for you to come back safe and sound!"

"Your father will be up in a little while," announced d.i.c.k Rover to the twins. "He had a meeting to attend in reference to the next Liberty Loan. He's a tremendously busy man these days."

"But Uncle d.i.c.k! he wanted to go to the front just as well as you did, didn't he?" questioned Randy eagerly.

"Of course he wanted to go," was the ready response. "But we couldn't all go, you know. Somebody had to stay behind to look after our business interests in Wall Street."

"But--but couldn't you hire somebody else to run the business for you?" questioned Andy. Now that he and his brother were face to face with the fact that their Uncle d.i.c.k and their Uncle Sam were going into the army, it did not look right at all to them to have their father left behind.

"We thought something of that, but we really couldn't see how it could be done. You see, we have a great many important deals under way, and if those transactions are not looked after carefully, we might stand to lose a great deal of money."

"I don't care--if dad wanted to go to the front, he should have had the chance to go!" burst out Randy.

"I declare, Randy, you'll be as hard to manage in this affair as your father was," said d.i.c.k Rover, with a faint smile.

"Was he really hard to manage?" queried Andy eagerly.

"He sure was! We had to talk to him for several days before he would agree to remain behind. He told us once that the whole business could go to pot."

"Hurrah for dad! That's the way I knew he'd act!" burst out the boy.

"If I was him I'd let the business go to pot!" declared Randy. "What good will your old business be if those Germans win this war and start in to rule everything? For all you know, they'll come right over to New York and take your whole business away from you."

"Well, that might possibly happen," put in Sam Rover seriously.

"Although I don't think it is very probable."

Knowing that the young folks were usually very hungry when they got home and that they always enjoyed home cooking, their mothers had prepared quite a spread for them. Mrs. Tom Rover had gone downtown to meet her husband, and now she came back in a flutter of excitement.

"h.e.l.lo, Ma! Where is Dad?" questioned Randy, as he ran up and gave her a hug and a kiss, followed by his twin.

"He's downtown, up to his ears in that Liberty Loan business,"

answered Mrs. Tom Rover. "Oh, dear! I never saw such a busy man! Half a dozen men are coming in and going out all the time, wanting to know what to do next and asking him if he won't make another speech here, there, or somewhere else. They want him to talk at two Liberty Loan meetings to-night and one Liberty Loan meeting and a Red Cross meeting to-morrow afternoon."

"Isn't he coming home at all?" questioned both of the twins in a breath.

"Oh, yes. He'll be here in a little while. But he won't be able to stay long," returned the mother.

When Tom Rover arrived he looked rather tired out, but he greeted all the boys with a smile and gave each of the girls the kiss he knew they were expecting.

"Oh, I'm in it neck deep," he answered, in reply to his sons'