The Rover Boys in Business | Page 8

in hand, and as the physician approached
the automobile, the lad flashed the rays on the face of the stranger, who
was still unconscious.
"Why, I've seen that young chap before!" exclaimed Doctor Havens.
"He is stopping at the hotel. I saw him there only this afternoon."
"Then perhaps we had better take him over there," suggested Tom.
"By all means, and I'll go with you."
Running into the house, the doctor procured his hand case, and then
joined the boys in the automobile. A run of a few minutes brought the
party to the hotel, and Sam and Tom lifted the young man out and
carried him inside.
The arrival of the party created some consternation, but as only the
proprietor of the hotel and a bellboy were present, the matter was kept
rather quiet. The young man had a room on the second floor, and to this
he was speedily taken, and placed in the care of the doctor.
"No bones broken so far as I can ascertain," said Doctor Havens, after a
long examination. "He has cut his forehead, and he also has a bruise
behind his left ear, but I think he is suffering more from shock than
anything else."
"Did you say you knew him?" questioned Tom.

"Oh, no, only that I had seen him around this hotel."
"What is his name?" asked Sam, of the hotel proprietor, who had
followed them to the room.
"His name is Pelter."
"Pelter!" The cry came from Tom and Sam simultaneously, and the
brothers looked at each other questioningly.
"Yes, Pelter. Do you know him?"
"What is his first name?" demanded Tom.
"Why, let me see," The hotel man mused for a moment. "I have it!
Barton Pelter."
"I never heard that name before," said Tom. "We know a man in----"
And then, as Sam looked at him in a peculiar way, he added, "Oh, well,
never mind. We don't know this fellow, anyway. I hope he gets over
this trouble."
By this time the sufferer had again recovered consciousness, but he was
evidently very weak, and the doctor motioned for the Rover boys and
the hotel man to leave the room.
"All right, but let us know in the morning by telephone how he is,
Doctor," returned Tom; and then the Rover boys and the hotel man
went below.
"Can you tell us anything about this Barton Pelter?" questioned Sam, of
the proprietor.
"I know very little about him, excepting that he is registered as from
Brooklyn, and that he came here three days ago. What his business is in
Ashton, I haven't the least idea."
"Is he well off-- that is, does he appear to have much money?" asked
Tom.

"Oh, he hasn't shown any great amount of cash around here," laughed
the hotel man. "My idea is that he is some sort of a commercial traveler,
although he hasn't anything with him but his suitcase."
This was all the hotel man could tell them, and a few minutes later the
Rover boys were in their automobile once more and headed back for
the scene of the accident.
"We ought to have put up some danger signal, Tom," remarked Sam,
while on the way.
"I know it, but we hadn't any time to waste while we had that poor chap
on our hands. By the way, do you think he can be any relative of Jesse
Pelter, the rascal who knocked me out with the footstool, and who tried
his best to rob dad?"
"I'm sure I don't know. One thing is certain: The name of Pelter is not
common. Still, there may be other Pelters besides those related to that
scoundrel of a broker."
Arriving at the vicinity of the broken bridge, the boys found a farmer
with a wagon there. The countryman was placing some brushwood
across the road.
"The blame bridge is busted down," said the farmer, "and I thought I
ought to put up some kind of a thing to warn folks of it."
"That is what we came for," answered Sam; and then he and his brother
related some of the particulars of what had occurred.
"Gee, shoo! You don't mean to tell me that one of them automobiles is
down in the river!" gasped the countryman. "I don't see nothin' of it."
"It most be down on the bottom, close to where that end of the bridge
settled," answered Sam "I suppose there will be a job here for
somebody to haul it out."
"If they want a man for that, I'm the feller to do it," returned the

countryman. "Maybe I had better go down to the hotel and see about
it."
"Better wait till morning," suggested Tom. "The young man who owns
the machine can't see anyone now."
"All right, just