“Oh, yes. We notified all our stockholders by ’phone or telegraph,” answered Tom Rover. “We’re going to hold a special meeting to-morrow morning at ten o’clock and then decide on what is best to be done.”
“Well, as far as I’m concerned, Uncle Tom, you can have every cent I have in the bank,” declared Jack promptly.
“And you can have what I’ve got, too,” came simultaneously from Fred and the twins.
“It’s nice for you to say that, boys,” answered the twins’ father. “How much could you rake and scrape together if you had to?”
The boys made a hasty calculation, counting in the money they had received in the oil fields and when they and Ira Small had uncovered the pirates’ treasure, and Jack announced the result.
“We’ve got twenty-eight thousand dollars,” he said, a bit proudly. “That isn’t half bad, is it?”
“It’s very good,” answered his father. “I’m glad to know you boys are saving your money and not spending it recklessly as so many young fellows do. But I’m afraid, Jack, that that amount would only be a drop in the bucket.”
“How much do you need, Dad, if it’s any of my business?”
“We’ll need a hundred thousand dollars inside of the next two weeks and two hundred thousand dollars a month later.”