“I think we might as well let the boys rest and think it over,” said Dick Rover to his brothers. “They have been to school steadily for years. It won’t hurt them to let them go their own way for a while.”
So it had come about that the boys, as well as the girls, were allowed to journey from New York City by automobile to the farm at Dexter’s Corners where old Uncle Randolph, Aunt Martha, and Grandfather Rover still resided. Grandfather Rover was now very old and did little but sit in his chair and read the papers.
From his first meeting with Ruth Stevenson some years before, Jack had been greatly attracted by this young lady. She had been a good chum on more than one occasion and he had awakened to his real feelings for her when, through the actions of one of his enemies, Ruth had been in danger of losing her eyesight. This feeling had grown in intensity, and it was this which made Jack feel that he would like to settle down in business so that he might be in a position to ask Ruth to become his wife. He had thought it delightful that the Stevensons had purchased the land adjoining Valley Brook Farm and were about to build a summer residence there. But the entrance of Joe Sedley upon the scene had caused him some misgivings. Sedley was handsome, as well as rich, and owned a beautiful estate directly opposite that purchased by Mr. Stevenson. More than this, the young man had a manner which seemed to please Ruth not a little.
“Well, I suppose he’s got as much right to her as I have,” Jack told himself several times. But even as this thought coursed through his mind he felt a sudden sinking of the heart, such as he had never experienced before.
CHAPTER III
AN ODD DISAPPEARANCE
“We had better develop those pictures as soon as possible,” said Jack after he had been told that the others had agreed to reserve a decision on the race until the various photographs taken had been examined.
“I’m afraid I didn’t get a very good picture,” declared Martha. “Just as I got ready to snap it some man jumped up in front of me, waving his hat.”
“I was almost in line with the tape, so my picture ought to be a good one,” declared Ruth. “I had the diaphragm wide open and the shutter set for the fastest time possible.”
“We’ll have to be very careful in developing those pictures—we don’t want to spoil them,” put in Randy.