he growled, reaching for it. "What has he been doing to me now
that he has to apologize for?"

"That's not a nice thing to say," protested Mrs. Rushton. "Can't a boy
write to his own uncle without having an apology to make?"

"Not Teddy," said Aaron with conviction.

He took the letter and tore the envelope with studied indifference, to
conceal his real curiosity.

The first few paragraphs dealt with ordinary topics, and he passed them
over quickly. Then the letter seemed to grip him. He read with ever
increasing excitement, while Mrs. Rushton watched him wonderingly. He
finished it at last and leaped to his feet with an exulting exclamation.

"Eureka!" he shouted. "Those boys are wonders!"

CHAPTER XIII

AN EXCITING CONFERENCE

Mrs. Rushton gasped with astonishment. It was an unusual thing for Aaron
Rushton to let himself go in this manner.

"Why, what on earth is the matter?" she asked.

"Matter enough!" replied Aaron, beginning to pace the floor. "The best
news I've heard for years!"

"Has any one left you a legacy?" she queried, not knowing of anything
else that could cause him such joyous emotion.

"No such luck as that," he replied, "but it may amount to the same thing
in the long run."

He sat down again, fixed his glasses on the bridge of his nose and again
ran over the contents of the letter.

"For goodness' sake, Aaron, don't keep me on tenter-hooks!" cried Mrs.
Rushton, no longer able to restrain her curiosity. "What can Teddy have
to say that makes you feel so good?"

"Here," he replied, thrusting the letter into her hand, "read it for
yourself."

She took it, while he resumed his pacing, and for the first time in
years he actually hummed a tune.

"A chest of gold!" he muttered to himself. "Twelve thousand dollars!"

Mrs. Rushton hurriedly ran over the first few lines of the letter. Then
she uttered a frightened exclamation and her cheeks grew pale. She had
reached the part where Teddy told of Fred's daring exploit in diving
overboard to rescue Ross.

"A shark!" she exclaimed. "And my Fred in the water!"

"Bother the shark," cried Aaron impatiently. "It didn't bite him, did
it?"

"No, but it might have," returned Fred's mother, in tones that were a
blending of pride and terror. "My brave, rash boy!"

"Your 'brave, rash boy' is all right," retorted Aaron. "Get on to the
really important part of the letter."

Mrs. Rushton darted an indignant glance at her brother-in-law, b