"It's too bad, Jack," said Martha, when her brother spoke about this. "Ruth is not the one to complain. Her eyes are probably in worse shape than she is willing to admit."
"I'm worried greatly, Martha," he answered. "I wish I could do something for her."
In a roundabout way the Rovers heard of what had happened to Bill Glutts. He had been locked up over night, and in the morning some relatives had come to his assistance and through paying a fine had had him released. Then Glutts and his relatives had paid for the damage done to the bric-a-brac stand, a damage amounting to nearly a hundred dollars. In the meanwhile, so far as they could ascertain, nothing further had been heard of Gabe Werner.
"Werner is evidently going to keep shady," remarked Fred. "Perhaps we'll never see him again." But in this surmise the youngest Rover boy was mistaken, as later events proved.
At last came another red-letter day when the command to which the older Rovers belonged was mustered out of the United States service. Tom and Sam came in one day, and Dick the next evening.
"Now for civilian clothes once more!" announced Tom Rover. "And then I guess it will be high time for me to get back to the offices in Wall Street."
"And I'm with you, Tom," said Sam. "I'd rather be at my desk than on a battlefield, any day."
When Dick Rover came back he was more filled than ever with a desire to get down to Texas to look over the land which had been left to him by Lorimer Spell.
"I've found out that it is right in a territory where a number of well-paying oil wells have been located," said he. "But I'm not altogether certain that his claim is a sure one, and it might be just possible that some prospectors might try to jump it, now that word has gone forth that he was killed in battle. They may think he died without leaving any heir."
"Well, Dad, you know what I said," cried Jack quickly. "If you went to Texas I'd like first rate to go along. Maybe I could help you with your claim."