Next to Richard came Tom, a year younger, as merry a lad as there
was ever to be found, full of life and "go," not above playing all
sorts of tricks on people, but with a heart of gold, as even his
uncle and aunt felt bound to admit.
Sam was the youngest. He was but fourteen, but of the same height
and general appearance as Tom, and the pair might readily have
been taken for twins. He was not as full of pranks as Tom, but
excelled his brothers in many outdoor sports.
The history of the three Rover boys was a curious one. They were
the only children of one Anderson Rover, a gentleman who had been
widely known as a mineral expert, gold mine proprietor, and
traveler. Mr. Anderson Rover had gone to California a poor young
man and had there made a fortune in the mines. Returning to the
East, he had married and settled down in New York City, and there,
the three boys had been born.
An epidemic of fever had taken off Mrs. Rover when Richard was but
ten years of age. The shock had come so suddenly that Anderson
Rover was dazed, and for several weeks the man knew not what to
do. "Take all of the money I made in the West, but give me back
my wife!" he said broken-heartedly, but this could not be, and
soon after he left his three boys in charge of a housekeeper and
set off to tour Europe, thinking that a change of scene would
prove a benefit.
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