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A short while later an alarming thing occurred. The boys were out in the Dartaway when they met Grace on the road and learned that Dora and Nellie had been abducted by Josiah Crabtree, Tad Sobber, and some of their other old enemies.
They could think of nobody they had met who would fit the picture. "When was that man here last?" asked Dick. "A couple of days ago. I didn't like him for a cent, but as the prisoners haven't been convicted of any crimes as yet I had to let 'em see their friends," explained the jail keeper. "What of Sobber, Larkspur and the others?" questioned Tom. "All safe enough.
More than likely Merrick and Doranez were in league with each other and would do all in their power to keep the treasure out of the hands of the rightful owners. "If only Tom and Sam were here," thought Dick. "Or if only Tom has captured Tad Sobber. This is getting lively, to say the least." The men were now speaking in a lower tone and he put his ear to the keyhole, to catch what they might say.
But before the man came Sobber went away, driving his horse as fast as he could," "Have you heard from him since?" "Yes. The next day we got an unsigned letter. In it Sobber said that, by hook or by crook, he intended to get possession of the treasure, and for the Rovers to beware," Having told so much, Dora went into all the particulars of Tad Sobber's visit to the Stanhope homestead.
But Sobber wouldn't listen to this, and went off declaring he would have it all. "'Since that time Martin Snodd has been busy, and he has obtained a temporary injunction against the Stanhopes and the Lanings, so that they cannot touch a dollar of the money, which, as you know, is now in several banks.
Sobber had sent the Rovers a box containing a live poisonous snake, but the snake got away and bit another pupil. This lad knew all about the sending of the reptile and he exposed Tad Sobber, and the latter, growing alarmed, ran away from the school.
Then they tied the lads' feet, so that they could not run. "What's the meaning of this?" cried Tom, struggling to rise, as did Sam. "It means you are prisoners!" cried Tad Sobber, who had had small part in the operations, but who was ready to do all the "crowing" possible. "Prisoners!" gasped Sam. "Where is Dick?" he added. "Also a prisoner," said Tad, with a chuckle.
They told about what the girls had been doing, and related the particulars of the trouble at Hope Seminary. It was all Tad Sobber's work, they said, and added that Sobber had written that he would not only get the treasure, but also disgrace them all he possibly could. "The rascal!", muttered Dick when he read this. "He ought to be put in prison!"
"It isn't, and if you don't want to speak civilly, Slade, you haven't got to speak at all," said Tom, and started to move away, followed by his brother. "Say, did you meet Tad Sobber and his un " And then Peter Slade stopped short in some confusion. "Did we meet who?" demanded Tom, wheeling around in some astonishment. "Never mind," growled Peter Slade. "Were they on the steamer?" asked Sam.
Though beaten in court, Sobber did not give up all idea of gaining possession of the fortune, and what he did next will be related in another volume, to be called "The Rover Boys Down East; Or, The Struggle for the Stanhope Fortune." In that book we shall also meet Jerry Koswell and Bart Larkspur once more, and learn how they tried again to injure our friends.
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