"Look here, Sam, don't be a wet blanket!" cried Tom, catching his younger brother by the shoulder and whirling him around. "This trip is going to be perfectly clear from end to end. I've ordered nothing but sunshine and moonlight," and at this remark there was a general laugh.
The young folks were assembled on the lawn in front of the old Rover homestead at Valley Brook. About two weeks had passed since Grace and Sam had graduated, and during that time the various arrangements for taking the tour to the West had been completed by the Rover boys. In the meantime, Fourth of July had been spent in Cedarville, at the Laning homestead, where all had had a glorious time.
"I'm awfully sorry that Songbird and Minnie can't go with us on this trip," remarked Dick, "but I know exactly how poor Songbird feels."
"Yes, he told me he felt he had to go to work," returned Sam. "He wants to do his best to earn that four thousand dollars."
"That's some job for a fellow just out of college to undertake," was Tom's comment. "What is he going to do for a living?"
"He has had a place offered to him by his uncle. He is to start at fifteen dollars a week, and he says his uncle will advance him as soon as he learns something about the business."
"They haven't heard any more about that Blackie Crowden or the missing money?" questioned Nellie.
"Not a word. And it looks to me now as if they never would hear anything."
"More than likely that fellow has got out of the country," was Dick's comment. "Especially if he has learned that the police are after him."
"Oh, you can't tell about that," broke in Tom. "He may be hiding within a mile or two of where the crime was committed."