CHAPTER XXVIII
CLOUDBURST AND FLOOD
"I see it!" cried Tom. "That's the spoke Chester Waltham told Sam he would put in our wheel."
"I guess you are right," returned his older brother. "Evidently Waltham is a meaner fellow than I took him to be. Just because Grace would not put up with his ungentlemanly attentions he evidently is going to do what he can to make trouble for us."
"I don't understand what dad means by the Haverford deal," went on Tom, as he studied the telegram. "I thought that deal was closed long ago."
"They thought of closing it, Tom, but at the last moment something went wrong and the men who were going into the matter withdrew. That put a large part of the burden on our shoulders. We have at least forty thousand dollars invested in it. Now, if Waltham has bought a controlling interest, as dad says, he will be able to swing it any way he pleases, just as he may be able to swing the Lansing deal, too."
"How much money have we got locked up in that? The last I heard it was only about eight thousand dollars."
"When I left, dad said he expected to put in another twelve thousand, which would make a total of twenty thousand dollars, Tom."