"Barton Pelter!" exclaimed Dick. He looked at his brothers. "That must be the same fellow that you wrote about—the fellow you pulled out of the river."
"What did this Barton Pelter want?" asked Sam.
"He wanted to see his uncle. He knew that the firm had sold out to you folks, but he was not certain if they had moved away yet. When I told him that his uncle was gone, he looked kind of disappointed."
"Was he in this office, Bob?" questioned Dick.
"No, sir, he was only in the outside office."
"Did he say anything about bonds or money?"
"No, sir."
"Say, tell me something!" broke in Tom. "Were this Barton Pelter and his uncle on good terms?"
"They used to be," replied the office boy, "but once or twice they had some pretty warm talks. This young feller didn't like it at all the way his uncle treated your father. I heard him tell his uncle once, that what he was doing was close to swindling. Then Mr. Pelter got awful mad, and told him he had better get out."
"Good for Barton!" murmured Sam. "He can't be such a bad sort."