“So far as I have been able to figure up, there will be a positive loss on bonds of a little over one hundred thousand dollars,” answered his parent. “Then a number of other securities are missing, and how many of these can be negotiated is a question. The loss might possibly come up to nearly two hundred thousand dollars.”
“Yes, but listen, Uncle Dick!” broke in Randy. “I know you carry insurance on all your stuff. Wasn’t this covered?”
“That’s the hardest part of the story,” answered Dick Rover, his face twitching slightly as he spoke. “We’ve been carrying insurance on all the stuff, but the insurance ran out less than a week ago and the clerk who had charge of this, a fellow named Ken Greene, failed to have the insurance renewed. As a consequence the entire loss falls on our own shoulders.”
CHAPTER XVI
A GLOOMY OUTLOOK
“No insurance!” cried Fred, in dismay.
“Gee, that certainly is the worst news yet!” came from Andy.
“What’s the reason Greene didn’t have the insurance renewed?” demanded Jack. “Didn’t he know it had run out?”
“Yes, he admits that he knew it and that he had taken the matter up with several insurance companies a week before this insurance ran out. He says he thought he could get better rates for us and was going to submit the new rates to me. But then, he claims, a lot of extra outside work was piled on him, and in the rush of that the insurance slipped his mind.”
“Dick, I think that’s a fishy yarn!” exclaimed Sam Rover. “You know how all those insurance companies are—hungry for business. If Greene had gone after them as he says he did, they would have pestered the life out of us to have their particular line of insurance accepted.”