Part 11 (1/2)
”You said you had a surprise for us, Songbird,” returned Tom. ”I'm dying by inches to know what it is.”
”Maybe it's a new poem,” put in Sam with a grimace at his brothers.
”I've got a poem--several of them, in fact,” answered Songbird, ”but I didn't have those in mind when I spoke. Who do you suppose I met yesterday morning, in Ithaca, while I was waiting for the train?”
”Dora Stanhope and the Lanings,” answered Tom promptly.
”No. Tad Sobber.”
”Tad Sobber!” exclaimed the Rover boys in concert.
”Songbird, are you sure of it?” demanded d.i.c.k.
”Sure? Wasn't I talking to him!”
”But--but--I thought he was lost in that hurricane, when the _Josephine_ was wrecked.”
”No. It seems he escaped to a vessel bound for England; but his uncle, Sid Merrick, was lost, and so were most of the others. Sobber just got back from England--came in on one of the ocean liners, so he told me.”
”How did he act?” asked Tom.
”Where was he going?” added Sam.
”Did he seem to have any money?” came from d.i.c.k.
All of the Rovers were intensely interested, and showed it plainly.
”Say, one question at a time, please!” cried Songbird, ”You put me in mind of a song I once wrote about a little boy:
”'A little lad named Johnny Spark Was nothing but a question mark.
He asked his questions night and day, When he was resting or at play.
One minute he would tackle pa, And then he'd turn and tackle ma; And then his uncle he would quiz--”
”And let that line please end the biz,”
finished Tom. ”Say, Songbird, please don't quote poetry when we are waiting to hear all about Tad Sobber. Have some pity on us.”
”Yes, tell us of Sobber,” added Sam and d.i.c.k.
”All right, if you don't appreciate my verses,” returned the would-be poet with a sigh. ”Well, to start with, Tad Sobber was well dressed, and looked as if he had all the money he needed. He wore a brown checkered suit, so evidently he hasn't gone into mourning for his uncle. He told me he had had a rough experience on the ocean during the hurricane, and he blames you Rovers for all his troubles.”
”That's just like Sobber,” was d.i.c.k's comment.
”He wouldn't tell me where he was going or what he was going to do, but he did let drop a remark or two about the fortune you discovered on Treasure Isle. He said that he was firmly convinced that the money belonged to him and to his uncle's estate, and that he meant some day to make a fight for it.”
”In the courts?” asked Tom. ”If he does that he'll get beaten. Father says the treasure belongs to the Stanhope estate and to n.o.body else.”
”No, he didn't say he was going to court about it, but he said he was bound to get hold of it some day.”
”I hope he doesn't try to get it by force,” said Sam. ”That would mean trouble for the Stanhopes and the Lanings.”