THE ROVER BOYS
WINNING A FORTUNE
CHAPTER I
FRED HAS A SECRET
“Say, Fred, what is this secret you’re keeping from us?” demanded Jack Rover, as he walked out on the piazza of the old farmhouse where his cousin sat reading a magazine.
“Who said I had a secret?” questioned the youngest of the Rover boys, as he laid down the magazine. “I’m sure I didn’t say a word about it.”
“Nonsense, Fred, you’ve got something up your sleeve, and you know it!”
“Of course he’s got something up his sleeve,” put in Andy Rover, who sat on the steps munching an apple. “It’s his arm.”
“We know well enough, Fred, that you’re not roaming around this farm singing ‘Down on the Ocean Bottom’ day and night for nothing,” added Andy’s twin brother, Randy.
“What are you talking about—‘ocean bottom?’ I don’t know any such song.” But there was a twinkle in Fred Rover’s eyes as he spoke.
“We ought to pound the secret out of him—that’s what we ought to do,” announced Randy. “Come on, you old reprobate, let us in on this, and be quick about it!” and, reaching over, he caught hold of Fred’s foot and attempted to drag his cousin from the chair.