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+Project Gutenberg's The Rover Boys at School, by Arthur M. Winfield
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Rover Boys at School
+
+Author: Arthur M. Winfield
+
+Posting Date: November 29, 2010 [EBook #5780]
+Release Date: May, 2004
+First posted on September 1, 2002
+[This file last updated January 27, 2011]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Sean Pobuda
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
+
+Or
+
+THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
+
+By Arthur M. Winfield
+(Edward Stratemeyer)
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+
+My Dear Boys:
+
+"The Rover Boys at School" has been written that those of you who
+have never put in a term or more at an American military academy
+for boys may gain some insight into the workings of such an
+institution.
+
+While Putnam Hall is not the real name of the particular place of
+learning I had in  mind while penning this tale for your amusement
+and instruction, there is really such a school, and dear Captain
+Putnam is a living person, as are also the lively, wide-awake,
+fun-loving Rover brothers, Dick, Tom, and Sam, and their
+schoolfellows, Larry, Fred, and Frank.  The same can be said, to a
+certain degree, of the bully Dan Baxter, and his toady, the sneak,
+commonly known as "Mumps."
+
+The present story is complete in itself, but it is written as the
+first of a series, to be followed by "The Rover Boys on the Ocean"
+and "The Rover Boys in the Jungle," in both of which volumes we
+will again meet many of our former characters.
+
+Trusting that this tale will find as much favor in your hands as
+have my previous stories, I remain,
+
+Affectionately and sincerely yours,
+
+EDWARD STRATEMEYER
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+INTRODUCING THE ROVER BOYS
+
+
+"Hurrah, Sam, it is settled at last that we are to go to boarding
+school!"
+
+"Are you certain, Tom?  Don't let me raise any false hopes."
+
+"Yes, I am certain, for I heard Uncle Randolph tell Aunt Martha
+that he wouldn't keep us in the house another week.  He said he
+would rather put up with the Central Park menagerie--think of
+that!" and Tom Rover began  to laugh.
+
+"That's rather rough on us, but I don't know but what we deserve
+it," answered Sam Rover, Tom's younger brother.  "We have been
+giving it pretty strong lately, with playing tricks on Sarah the
+cook, Jack the hired man, and Uncle Randolph's pet dog Alexander.
+But then we had to do something--or go into a dry rot.  Life in
+the country is all well enough, but it's mighty slow for me."
+
+"I guess it is slow for anybody brought up in New York, Sam.  Why,
+the first week I spent here I thought the stillness would kill me.
+I couldn't actually go to sleep because it was so quiet.  I wish
+uncle and aunt would move to the city.  They have money enough."
+
+"Aunt Martha likes to be quiet, and uncle is too much wrapped up in
+the art of scientific farming, as he calls it. I'll wager he'll stay
+on this farm experimenting and writing works on agriculture until he
+dies. Well, it's a good enough way to do, I suppose, but it wouldn't
+suit me. I want to see something of life--as father did."
+
+"So do I.  Perhaps we'll see something when we get to boarding
+school."
+
+"Where are we to go?"
+
+"I don't know. Some strict institution, you can be sure of that. Uncle
+Randolph told aunty it was time the three of us were taken in hand. He
+said Dick wasn't so bad, but you and I--"
+
+"Were the bother of his life, eh?"
+
+"Something about like that.  He doesn't see any fun in tricks.  He
+expects us to just walk around the farm, or study, and, above all
+things, keep quiet, so that his scientific investigations are not
+disturbed.  Why doesn't he let us go out riding, or boating on the
+river, or down to the village to play baseball with the rest of
+the fellows?  A real live American boy can't be still all the time,
+and he ought to know it," and, with a decided shake of his curly
+head, Tom Rover took a baseball from his pocket and began to throw
+it up against the side of the farmhouse, catching it each time as
+it came down.
+
+Tom had thrown the ball up just four times when a pair of blinds
+to an upper window flew open with a crash, and the head of a
+stern-looking elderly gentleman appeared.  The gentleman had gray
+hair, very much tumbled, and wore big spectacles.
+
+"Hi! hi! boys, what does this mean?" came in a high-pitched voice.
+"What are you hammering on the house for, when I am just in the
+midst of a deep problem concerning the rotation of crops on a
+hillside with northern exposure?"
+
+"Excuse me, Uncle Randolph, I didn't think to disturb you,"
+answered Tom meekly.  "I'll put the ball away."
+
+"You never stop to think, Thomas.  Give me that ball."
+
+"Oh, let me keep it, Uncle Randolph!  I won't throw it against the
+house again, honor bright."
+
+"You'll forget that promise in ten minutes, Thomas; I know you
+well.  Throw the ball up," and Mr. Randolph Rover held out his hands.
+
+"All right, then; here you go," answered Tom, somewhat put out to
+thus lose a ball which had cost him his week's spending, money;
+and he sent the sphere flying upward at a smart speed.  Mr. Rover
+made a clutch for it, but the ball slipped through his hands and
+landed plump on his nose.
+
+"Oh!" he cried, and disappeared from sight, but reappeared a
+moment later, to shake his fist at Tom.
+
+"You young rascal!  You did that on purpose!" he spluttered, and
+brought forth his handkerchief, for his nose had begun to bleed.
+"Was anyone ever tormented so by three boys?"
+
+"Now you are in for it again, Tom," whispered Sam.
+
+"I didn't mean to hit you, Uncle Randolph.  Why didn't you catch
+it on the fly?"
+
+"On the fly?" repeated the uncle.  "Do you suppose I am accustomed
+to catching cannon balls?"
+
+"Didn't you ever play baseball?"
+
+"Never.  I spent my time in some useful study."  The elderly
+gentleman continued to keep his handkerchief to his nose, and
+adjusted his glasses.
+
+"Thank fortune, you are all going to go to boarding school next
+week, and we will once more have a little peace and quietness
+around Valley Brook!"
+
+"Where are we to go, Uncle Randolph?" asked Sam.
+
+"You will learn that Monday morning, when you start off."
+
+"It wouldn't hurt to tell us now," grumbled Tom.
+
+"You must learn to be patient, Thomas.  My one hope is that life
+at boarding school makes a real man of you."
+
+"Of course we are all to go together?"
+
+"Yes, you are to go together, although I can get along with
+Richard very well, he is so much more quiet and studious than you
+or Samuel."
+
+"I reckon he takes after you, Uncle Randolph."
+
+"If so, he might do worse.  By the way, what were both of you
+doing here?"
+
+"Nothing," came from Sam.
+
+"We haven't anything to do.  This farm is the slowest place on
+earth," added Tom.
+
+"Why do you not study the scientific and agricultural works that I
+mentioned to you?  See what I have done for scientific farming."
+
+"I don't want to be a farmer," said Tom.  "I'd rather be a
+sailor."
+
+"A sailor!" gasped Randolph Rover.  "Of all things!  Why, a sailor
+is the merest nobody on earth!"
+
+"I guess you mean on the sea, uncle," said Sam with a grin.
+
+"Don't joke me, Samuel.  Yes, Thomas--the calling of a sailor
+amounts to absolutely nothing.  Scientific farming is the thing!
+Nothing more noble on the face of the earth than to till the
+soil."
+
+"I never saw you behind a plow, Uncle Randolph," answered Tom,
+with a twinkle in his blue eyes.  "Besides, I heard you say that
+the farm ran behind last year."
+
+"Tut, tut, boy!  You know nothing about it.  I made a slight
+miscalculation in crops, that was all.  But this year we shall do
+better."
+
+"You lost money year before last, too," commented Sam.
+
+"Who told you that?"
+
+"Mr. Woddie, the storekeeper at the Corners."
+
+"Mr. Woddie may understand storekeeping, but he knows nothing of
+farming, scientific or otherwise.  I spent several thousands of
+dollars in experimenting, but the money was not lost.  We shall
+soon have grand results.  I shall astonish the whole of New York
+State at the next meeting of our agricultural society," and Mr.
+Randolph Rover waved his hand grandiloquently.  It was easy to see
+that scientific farming was his hobby.
+
+"Randolph!"  It was the voice of Mrs. Rover, who now appeared
+beside her husband.  "What is the matter with your nose?"
+
+"Tom hit me with his ball.  It is all right now, although it did
+bleed some."
+
+"The bad boy!  But it is just like him.  Sarah has given notice
+that she will leave at the end of her month.  She says she can't
+stand the pranks Tom and Sam play on her."
+
+"She need not go--for the boys are going to boarding school, you
+know."
+
+"She says you promised to send them off before."
+
+"Well, they shall go this time, rest assured of that.  I cannot
+stand their racing up and down stairs, and their noise, any
+longer.  They go Monday morning."
+
+"Better send them off tomorrow."
+
+"Well--er--that is rather sudden."
+
+"Sarah's month is up Friday.  She will surely go unless the boys
+are out of the house.  And she is the best cook I have ever had."
+
+"Excepting when she burnt the custard pies," put in Tom.
+
+"And when she salted the rice pudding!" added Sam.
+
+"Silence, both of you.  Randolph, do send them off."
+
+"Very well, I will.  Boys, you must go away from the house for an
+hour or two."
+
+"Can we go fishing or swimming?" asked Tom.
+
+"No, I don't want you to go near the river, you may get drowned."
+
+"We can both swim," ventured Sam.
+
+"Never mind--it is not safe--and your poor father left you in
+my care."
+
+"Can we go down to the village?"
+
+"No, you might get into bad company there."
+
+"Then where shall we go?" came from both boys simultaneously.
+
+Randolph Rover scratched his head in perplexity.  He had never had
+any children of his own, and to manage his brother's offspring was
+clearly beyond him.  "You might go down to the cornfield, and
+study the formation of the ears--"
+
+"Send them blackberrying," suggested Mrs. Rover.  "We want the
+berries for pies tomorrow, and it will give them something to do."
+
+"Very well; boys, you may go blackberrying.  And mind you keep out
+of mischief."
+
+"We'll mind," answered Tom.  "But you might let me have that
+ball."
+
+"I will give it to you in the morning," answered Randolph Rover, and
+turned away from the window with his wife.
+
+As soon as they were out of sight, Tom threw up both hands in
+mock tragedy, "Alack, Horatio, this excitement killeth me!" he
+cried in a stage whisper.  "Sent blackberrying to keep us out of
+mischief!  Sam, what are we coming to?"
+
+"Well, it's better than moping around doing nothing.  For my part,
+I am glad we are to go to boarding school, and the sooner the
+better.  But I would like to know where to?"
+
+"If only we were going to a military academy!"
+
+"Hurrah!  Just the thing!  But no such luck.  Get the berry
+baskets and let us be off.  By the way, where is Dick?"
+
+"Gone to the village for the mail.  There he comes down the road
+now," and Tom pointed to a distant path back of the meadows.
+
+The two boys hurried into a woodshed behind the large farmhouse
+and procured a basket and two tin pails.  With these in hand they
+set off in the direction of the berry patch, situated along the
+path that Dick Rover was pursuing, their intention being to head
+off their brother and see if he had any letters for them.
+
+Of the three Rover boys, Richard, commonly called Dick, was the
+eldest.  He was sixteen, tall, slender, and had dark eyes and dark
+hair.  He was a rather quiet boy, one who loved to read and study,
+although he was not above having a good time now and then, when
+he felt like "breaking loose," as Tom expressed it.
+
+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.
+
+When he came back he seemed a changed man.  He was restless, and
+could not remain at home for more than a few weeks at a time.  He
+placed the boys at a boarding school in New York and returned to
+the West, where he made another strike in the gold mines; and when
+he came back once more he was reported to be worth between two and
+three hundred thousand dollars.
+
+But now a new idea had came into his head.  He had been reading up
+on Africa, and had reached the conclusion that there must be gold
+in the great unexplored regions of that country.  He determined to
+go to Africa, fit out an exploration, and try his luck.
+
+"It will not cost me over ten to twenty thousand dollars," he said
+to his brother Randolph.  "And it may make me a millionaire."
+
+"If you are bound to go, I will not stop you," had been Randolph
+Rover's reply.  "But what of your boys in the meanwhile?"
+
+This was a serious question, for Anderson Rover knew well the risk
+he was running, knew  well that many a white man had gone into the
+interior of Africa never to return.  At last it was settled that
+Randolph Rover should become Dick, Tom, and Sam's temporary
+guardian.  This accomplished, Anderson Rover set off and that was
+the last any of his family had ever heard of him.
+
+Was he dead or alive?  Hundreds of times had the boys and their
+uncle pondered that question.  Each mail was watched with anxiety,
+but day after day brought no news, until the waiting became an old
+story, and all settled down to the dismal conviction that the
+daring explorer must be dead.  He had landed and gone into the
+interior with three white men and twenty natives, and that was all
+that could be ascertained concerning him.
+
+At the time of Anderson Rover's departure Randolph had been on the
+point of purchasing a farm of two hundred acres in the Mohawk
+Valley of New York State.  The land had not changed hands until a
+year later, however, and then Dick, Tom, and Sam were called upon
+to give up their life in the metropolis and settle down in the
+country, a mile away from the village of Dexter Corners.
+
+For a month things had gone very well, for all was new, and it
+seemed like a "picnic," to use Tom's way of expressing it.  They
+had run over the farm from end to end, climbed to the roof of the
+barn, explored the brook, and Sam had broken his arm by falling
+from the top of a cherry tree.  But after that the novelty wore
+away, and the boys began to fret.
+
+"They want something to do," thought Randolph Rover, and set them
+to work studying scientific farming, as he called it.  At this
+Dick made some progress, but the uncle could do nothing with Tom
+and Sam.  Then the last two broke loose and began to play pranks
+on everybody that came along, and life became little short of a
+burden to the studious Randolph and, his quiet-minded spouse.
+
+"I must send them off to a boarding school, or somewhere,"
+Randolph Rover would say, but he kept putting the matter off,
+hoping against hope that he might soon hear from his lost brother.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+AN ENCOUNTER ON THE ROAD
+
+
+"I'll race you to the path," said Sam, when the woodshed was left
+behind.
+
+"All right," answered Tom, who was always ready to run.  "Toe the
+mark here.  Now then--one, two, three!  Go!"
+
+And away they went across the meadow, leaping two ditches with the
+agility of a pair of deer, and tearing through the small brush
+beyond regardless of the briers and the rents their nether
+garments might sustain.  At first Tom took the lead, but Sam
+speedily overhauled and then passed him.
+
+"It's no use--you always could outrun me," panted Tom, as he
+came to a stop when Sam crossed the footpath ten yards ahead of
+him.  "I can't understand it either.  My legs are just as long as
+yours, and my lungs just as big, too, I think."
+
+"You want to do your running scientifically, Tom.  That athletic
+instructor in New York--"
+
+"Oh, bother your scientific things, Sam!  Uncle gives us enough of
+that, so don't you start in.  I wonder if Dick has got a letter
+from Larry Colby?  He promised to write last week.  He is going to
+a boarding school soon."
+
+"We'll know in a few minutes.  I wonder where Larry--Gracious,
+listen!"
+
+Sam broke off short, as a loud cry for help reached their ears.
+It came from the footpath, at a point where it ran through a grove
+of beech trees.
+
+"It's Dick's voice!  He wants help!" burst from Tom's lips.  "Come
+on!" and he set off as rapidly as his exhausted condition would
+permit.  As before, Sam readily outdistanced him, and soon came
+upon the scene of a most brutal encounter.
+
+A burly tramp, all of six feet in height, had attacked Dick Rover
+and thrown him upon his back.  The tramp was now kneeling upon the
+prostrate boy's chest, at the same time trying to wrench a watch
+from Dick's vest pocket.
+
+"Keep still there, or I'll knock you on the head!" cried the
+tramp, as, letting go of the watch chain, he clapped a dirty hand
+over Dick's mouth.
+
+"I--won't--kee--keep still!" spluttered Dick.  "Let--me--up!"
+
+"You will keep still--if you know what is best for you.  I have
+your pocketbook, and now I am bound to have that watch and that
+ring."
+
+"No! Don't rob me of the watch!  It belonged to my father!" panted
+Dick, and as the watch came out of the pocket he made a clutch at
+it.  "Help! help!"
+
+"Will you shut up!" burst out the tramp fiercely, and struck at
+the youth with his fist.
+
+It was at this juncture that Sam put in an appearance.  A glance
+told him how matters stood, and without waiting an instant he came
+up behind the tramp, and, catching him by the shoulders, hurled
+him backward.
+
+"Sam!  Good for you!" burst out Dick joyfully.  "Don't let him get
+away!"
+
+"What do you mean, boy?" demanded the ruffian, as he turned over
+and leaped to his feet.
+
+"You let my brother alone--that's what I mean," was the answer.
+
+"Give me my pocketbook and that watch!" went on Dick, for the
+tramp held both articles, one in each hand.
+
+"Yes, I will--not," was the ready reply, turning, suddenly, the
+tramp started through the grove of trees on a run.
+
+Without waiting, Sam ran after him followed by Tom, who had now
+arrived.  Dick came behind, too much winded by being thrown on his
+back to keep up with them.
+
+"He is making for the river!" cried Tom, after running for several
+minutes without gaining on the thief.  "If he has a boat he'll get
+away!
+
+"I don't think he has a boat, Tom.  He looks like a regular
+tramp."
+
+"We'll soon find out."
+
+They could not see the ruffian, but they could hear him quite
+plainly as he crashed through the brush beyond the grove of trees.
+Then came a crash and a yell of pain.
+
+"He has stumbled and fallen!" said Sam, and redoubled his speed.
+Soon he reached the spot where the tramp had gone down.  He was
+about to proceed further when a well-known object caught his eye.
+
+"Here is the pocketbook!" he burst out, and picked the article up.
+A hasty examination showed that the contents were intact; and the
+two boys continued the pursuit, with Dick still following.
+
+They were now going downhill toward the river, and presently
+struck a patch of wet meadow.
+
+"We must be careful here," observed Tom, and just then sank up to
+his ankles in water and mud.  But the tramp could now be seen
+heading directly for the river, and they continued to follow him.
+
+They were still fifty yards from the shore when Sam uttered a cry
+of dismay.  "He's got a boat!"
+
+"So he has.  Stop there, you thief!"
+
+"Stop yourself, or I'll shoot one of you!" growled the tramp, as
+he leaped into a flat bottom craft moored beside a fallen tree.
+He had no pistol, but thought he might scare the boys.
+
+They came to a halt, and an instant later the flat-bottom craft
+shot away from the river bank.  By this time Dick came up, all out
+of breath.
+
+"So he has gotten away!" he cried in dismay.
+
+"Yes," answered Sam, "but here is your pocketbook."
+
+"And what of my watch--the one father gave to me before he left
+for Africa?"
+
+"He's got that yet, I suppose," said Tom.
+
+At this Dick gave a groan, for the watch was a fine gold one which
+Mr. Rover had worn for years.  Dick had begged for the timepiece,
+and it had been entrusted to him at the last moment.
+
+"We must get that watch back somehow!" he said.  "Isn't there
+another boat around here?"
+
+"There is one up to Harrison's farm."
+
+"That is quarter of a mile away."
+
+"I don't think there is any nearer."
+
+"And the river is all of two hundred feet wide here!  What shall
+we do?"
+
+It was a puzzling question, and all three of the boys stared
+blankly at each other.  In the meantime, the thief had picked up a
+pair of oars and was using them in a clumsy fashion which showed
+plainly that he was not used to handling them.
+
+"If we had a boat we could catch him easily," observed Tom.  Then
+his eyes fell upon the fallen tree.  "I have an idea!  Let us try
+to get across on that!  I won't mind a wetting if only we can get
+Dick's watch back."
+
+"Yes, yes; just the thing!" put in his elder brother quickly.
+
+All hands ran down to the fallen tree, which was about a foot in
+diameter and not over twenty-five or thirty feet in length.  It
+lay half in the water already, and it was an easy matter to shove
+it off.
+
+"We can't do much without oars or a pole," said Tom.  "Wait a
+moment," and he ran back to where he had seen another fallen tree,
+a tall, slender maple sapling.  He soon had this in hand; and,
+cleared of its branches, it made a capital pole.  Dick and Sam sat
+astride of the tree in the water, and Tom stood against an upright
+branch and shoved off.  The river was not deep, and he kept on
+reaching bottom without difficulty.
+
+By this time the tramp was halfway across the stream, which was
+flowing, rapidly and carrying both boat and tree down toward a
+bend quarter of a mile below.
+
+"Go on back, unless you want to be shot!" cried the man savagely,
+but they paid no attention to the threat as no pistol appeared;
+and, seeing this, the thief redoubled his efforts to get away.
+
+He was still a quarter of the distance from the opposite shore,
+and the boys on the tree were in midstream, when Sam uttered a
+shout.  "There goes one of his oars!  We can catch him now--if
+we try hard!"
+
+It was true that the oar was gone, and in his anxiety to regain
+the blade the tramp nearly lost the second oar.  But his efforts
+were unavailing, and he started to paddle himself to the bank,
+meanwhile watching his pursuers anxiously.
+
+"We'll get him," said Dick encouragingly, when, splash! Tom went
+overboard like a flash, the lower end of his pole having slipped
+on a smooth rock of the river bottom.  There was a grand splutter,
+and it was fully a minute before Tom reappeared--twenty feet
+away and minus his pole.
+
+"Hi! help me on board, somebody!" he spluttered, for he had gone
+overboard so quickly that he had swallowed a large quantity of
+water.
+
+Both Sam and Dick tried to reach him, but could not.  Then the
+current caught the tree and whirled it around and around until
+both boys began to grow dizzy.
+
+Seeing they could not aid him, and getting back a little of his
+wind, Tom struck out for the tree.  But the water running over his
+face blinded him, and ere he knew he was so close the tree came
+circling around and struck him on the side of the head.
+
+"Oh!" he moaned, and sank from sight.
+
+"Tom's hit!" gasped Sam.  "He'll be drowned sure now!"
+
+"Not if I can help him!" burst out Dick, and leaped overboard to
+his brother's assistance.  But Tom was still out of sight, and for
+several seconds could not be located.
+
+Sam waited anxiously, half of a mind to jump into the river
+himself.  The tramp was now forgotten, and landed on the opposite
+bank unnoticed.  He immediately dove into the bushes, and
+disappeared from view.
+
+At last Dick caught sight of Tom's arm and made a clutch for it.
+Hardly had he taken hold than Tom swung around and caught him by
+the throat in a deathlike grip, for he was too bewildered to know
+what he was doing.
+
+"Save me!" he groaned.  "Oh, my head!  Save me!"
+
+"I will, Tom; only don't hold me so tight," answered Dick. "I--can't
+get any air."
+
+"I can't swim--I'm all upset," was the reply; and Tom clutched
+his elder brother tighter than ever.
+
+Seeing there was no help for it, Dick caught hold of the fingers
+around his throat and forced them loose by main force.  Then he
+swung himself behind Tom and caught him under the arms, in the
+meantime treading water to keep both of them afloat.
+
+"Sam, can't you bring that tree closer?" he called out.
+
+There was no reply, and, looking around, he saw that the tree and
+his younger brother were a hundred yards away, and sailing down
+the river as rapidly as the increasing current could, carry them
+for quarter of a mile below were what were known as the Humpback
+Falls--a series of dangerous rapids through which but few boats
+had ever passed without serious mishap.
+
+"I reckon Sam is having his hands full," he thought.  "I must get
+Tom to the shore alone.  But it is going to be a tough job, I can
+see that."
+
+"Oh, Dick!" came from Tom.  "My head is spinning like a top!"
+
+"The tree hit you, Tom.  But do keep quiet, and I'll take care of
+you."
+
+"I can't swim--I feel like a wet rag through and through."
+
+"Never mind about swimming.  Only don't catch me by the throat
+again, and we'll be all right," was Dick's reassuring reply, and
+as his brother became more passive he struck out for the bank upon
+which the thief had landed.
+
+The current carried them on and on, but not so swiftly as it was
+carrying the tree.  Soon they were approaching the bend.  Dick was
+swimming manfully, but was
+now all but exhausted.
+
+"You can't make it, Dick," groaned Tom.  "Better save yourself."
+
+"And let you go?  No indeed, Tom.  I have a little strength left
+and--Hurrah, I've struck bottom!"
+
+Dick was right: his feet had landed on a sandbar; and, standing
+up, both boys found the water only to their armpits.  Under such
+circumstances they waded ashore with care, and here threw
+themselves down to rest.
+
+"That thief is gone," said Dick dismally.
+
+"And my watch too!"
+
+"But where is Sam?" questioned Tom, then looked at his brother
+meaningfully.
+
+"The Humpback Fall!" came from Dick.  "Sam!  Sam!" he yelled;
+"look out where you are going!"
+
+But no answer came back to his cry, for Sam had long since floated
+out of hearing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+SAMS ADVENTURE AT HUMPBACK FALLS
+
+
+For several minutes after Dick leaped overboard to Tom's
+assistance, Sam's one thought was of his two brothers.  Would they
+reach the tree or the shore in safety?  Fervently he prayed they
+would.
+
+The tree went around and around, as a side current caught it, and
+presently the whirlings became so rapid that Sam grew dizzy, and
+had to hold tight to keep from falling off.
+
+He saw Dick catch Tom from the back and start for shore, and then
+like a flash the realization of his own situation dawned upon him.
+He was on the tree with no means of guiding his improvised craft,
+and sweeping nearer and nearer to the rapids of which he had heard
+so much but really knew so little.
+
+"I must get this tree to the river bank," he, said to himself, and
+looked around for some limb which might be cut off and used for a
+pole.
+
+But no such limb was handy, and even had there been there would
+have been no time in which to prepare it for use, for the rapids
+were now in plain sight, the water boiling and foaming as it
+darted over one rock and another, in a descent of thirty feet in
+forty yards.
+
+"This won't do!" muttered the boy, and wondered if it would not be
+best to leap overboard and try to swim to safety.  But one look at
+that swirling current made
+him draw back.
+
+"I reckon I had best stick to the tree and trust to luck to pass
+the rocks in safety," he muttered, and clutched the tree with a
+firmer hold than ever.
+
+The strange craft had now stopped circling, and was shooting
+straight ahead for a rock that stood several feet above water.  On
+it went, and Sam closed his eyes in expectancy of an awful shock
+which would pitch him headlong, he knew not to where.
+
+But then came a swerve to the left, and the tree grated along the
+edge of the rock.  Before Sam could recover his breath, down it
+went over the first line of rapids.  Here it stuck fast for a
+moment, then turned over and went on, throwing Sam on the under
+side.
+
+The boy's feet struck bottom, and he bobbed up like a cork.  Again
+he clutched the tree, and on the two went a distance of ten feet
+further.  But now the tree became jammed between two other rocks,
+and there it stuck, with Sam clutching one end and the water
+rushing in, a torrent over the other.
+
+For the moment the boy could do little but hold fast, but as his
+breath came back to him he climbed on top of the tree and took a
+look at the situation.
+
+It was truly a dismaying one.  He was in the very center of the
+rapids, and the shore on either side of him was fifty to sixty
+feet away.
+
+"How am I ever to get to the bank?" he asked himself.  "I can't
+wade or swim, for the current is far too strong.  I'm in a pickle,
+and no mistake.  I wonder if Dick and Tom are on solid earth yet?"
+
+He raised his voice into a shout, not once, but several times.  At
+first only the echoes answered him, but presently came a reply
+from a distance.
+
+"Sam! Sam! Where are you?"  It was Dick calling, and he was
+running along the bank alone, Tom being too exhausted to accompany
+him.
+
+"Here I am--in the middle of the falls!"
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Out here--in the middle of the falls!"
+
+"Great Caesar, Sam!  Can't you wade ashore?"
+
+"No; the current is so strong I am afraid to."
+
+In a minute more Dick reached a spot opposite to where the tree
+rested.  As he took in the situation his face clouded in
+perplexity.
+
+"You are right--don't try wading," he, said.  "If you do, you'll
+have your skull cracked open on the rocks.  I'll have to get a
+rope and haul you off."
+
+"All right; but do hurry, for this tree may start on again at any
+instant!"
+
+To procure a rope was no easy matter, for nothing of that sort was
+at hand, and the nearest farmhouse was some distance away.  Yet,
+without thinking twice, Dick set off for the farmhouse, arriving
+there inside of five minutes.
+
+"I need a rope, quick, Mr. Darrel," he said.  "My brother is in
+the middle of the Humpback Falls on a tree, and I want to save
+him."
+
+"Why, Dick Rover, you don't tell me!" cried Joel Darrel, a farmer
+who had often worked for Randolph Rover.  "Sure I'll get a wash
+line this minute!" and he ran for the kitchen shed.
+
+Luckily the line was just where the farmer supposed it would be,
+and away went man and boy, Dick leading, until the river bank was
+again reached.
+
+"There he is, Mr. Darrel.  How can we best help him, do you
+think?"
+
+The farmer scratched his head in perplexity.
+
+"Hang me if I jess know, Dick," he said slowly.
+
+"If we try to pull him straight to shore the current will carry
+him over the rocks in spite of the line."
+
+"How long do you suppose the line is?"
+
+"It is fifty yards, and all good and strong, for I bought it of
+Woddie only last week."
+
+"Fifty yards--that is a hundred and fifty feet.  Do you see that
+spur of rock just above there?"
+
+"I do."
+
+"Is it more than a hundred and fifty feet from that rock to the
+tree?"
+
+"Hardly; but it's close figuring."
+
+"Let us try the line and see."
+
+Both walked up to the spur of rock they had in view.  It jutted
+out into the river for several yards, and was rather wet and
+slippery.
+
+"Take care, or you'll go in too," cautioned Joel Darrel.  "Shall I
+throw the rope out?"
+
+"You might try it," answered Dick.  "I'll hold fast to your leg,"
+and he squatted down for that purpose.
+
+The line was uncoiled and thrown three times, but each time it
+fell short and drifted inshore again.
+
+"Hurry up!" suddenly yelled Sam.  "The tree is beginning to turn,
+and it will break loose before long."
+
+"Let me try a throw," said Dick, and took the wash line.  As he
+made the cast, Tom came up on a walk, his head tied up in a
+handkerchief.
+
+"Where is Sam?"
+
+"Out there," said Joel Darrel, and watched the casting of the line
+with interest.  Again it fell short, but Dick's second throw was a
+complete success, and soon Sam held the outer end of the line
+fast.
+
+"It reaches, and we have about fifteen feet to spare," said Dick
+joyfully.  "Sam, tie it around you."  Scarcely had the word left
+the younger brother's lips than the tree upon which he rested
+wobbled and went over, and he found himself thrown into the
+foaming water.
+
+"Pull away, all hands!" cried Dick, and hauled in desperately,
+while Joel Darrel did the same.  Tom was not equal to the task,
+but contented himself with holding fast to Dick's coat, that his
+elder brother might not slip from the rock.
+
+It was no light work to get Sam up the first rise of the rapids,
+but once this rise was passed the rest was easy by comparison.
+They pulled in steadily, and presently the boy reached the rock
+and came up, looking very much like a dripping seal as he
+clambered to safety.
+
+"Thank fortune, you are safe!" cried Dick when it was all over;
+and Tom said "Amen," under his breath.  Joel Darrel looked well
+satisfied as he coiled up the wash line.
+
+"It was a narrow escape," he remarked presently.  "You want to be
+careful how you try to cross the river at this point.  What were
+you doing on the tree?"
+
+"I was after a thief," answered Sam, and then he looked at Dick
+and Tom.  "Where is he?"
+
+"Gone," returned Dick.
+
+"A thief!" ejaculated Joel Darrel.  "Whom did he rob?"
+
+"He robbed me."
+
+"Do tell, Dick!  When?"
+
+"About half an hour ago. I was coming from the Corners with the
+mail, when he pounced on me near our berry patch and knocked me
+down.  He took my pocketbook and my watch, but Sam and Tom came
+up, and we chased the fellow and got the pocketbook back."
+
+"But he kept the watch?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Was it a good one?"
+
+"It was a gold watch that my father paid sixty-five dollars for--and
+the chain was worth ten; and, what is more, the watch was one my
+father used to wear; and as he is gone now, I thought a good deal of
+it on that account."
+
+"That's natural, my boy.  But where did the thief go?"
+
+"Came across the river about quarter of a mile above here."
+
+"Then he had a boat?"
+
+"Yes--a craft painted brown, with a white stripe around her."
+
+"That's Jerry Rodman's boat.  He must have stolen her in the first
+place to cross to your side."
+
+"More than likely."
+
+"But where did he go after he crossed the river?"
+
+"Into the bushes, I guess.  You see, Tom went overboard from the
+tree and got struck, and I went to his assistance, so I didn't
+notice exactly.  I want to get back now and follow the rascal."
+
+"I'll go along."
+
+"I wish you would."
+
+"In that case I won't try to keep up with you," put in Tom.  "My
+head is aching fit to split."
+
+"Yes, you may as well take it easy," answered Dick.  "But, say,
+why not, walk up to the river road and see if the rascal heads in
+this direction?"
+
+"So I will, Dick.  Will you go too, Sam?"
+
+It was arranged that Sam should accompany and they set off
+immediately, while Dick and Joel Darrel ran along the river bank
+to where the rowboat had been abandoned.
+
+Down where it was muddy it was easy to trace the tramp's
+footprints, and they led through a meadow and across a cornfield,
+coming out at a side road leading to the town of Oak Run.
+
+"Well, where to next?" questioned the farmer, as he and Dick came
+to a halt.
+
+The youth shook his head.  "It's so dry here the footprints are
+lost," he returned slowly.
+
+"That's true, Dick.  But I reckon he went to Oak Run."
+
+"Why?"
+
+"Because he could catch a train from there which would take him
+miles away--and I guess that is what he wants to do just about
+now."
+
+"There is something in that."
+
+"Besides, you know, the other end of the road ends up in the
+woods.  He wouldn't go there."
+
+"I had best start for Oak Run, then."
+
+"I'll go along."
+
+The distance was a mile and a half, and they thought they would
+have to walk it, but hardly had a dozen rods been covered than
+they heard the sound of wagon wheels, and a grocery turnout and
+came into sight driven by a boy Joel Darrel knew well.
+
+"This comes in just right," observed Darrel to Dick.  "Hi there,
+Harry Oswald.  Give us a lift to Oak Run, will you?"
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Darrel," answered the grocery boy, and brought his
+store wagon to a stop.  The farmer leaped to the seat, and Dick
+followed.
+
+On the way Harry Oswald was made acquainted with the situation,
+and he drove along with all possible speed.  They were just
+entering the outskirts of Oak Run when the whistle of a locomotive
+was heard.
+
+"That's the down train for Middletown," cried Joel Darrel.  "Hurry
+up!"
+
+The horse was whipped up, and they swept along to the depot at a
+speed which made the constable of the town shake his fist at Harry
+and threaten to arrest him for fast driving.
+
+"Too late!"
+
+The words came from Dick, and he was right.  Before the depot was
+reached the long train had pulled out.  Soon it was lost to sight
+in the distance.
+
+The thief was on it; and his escape, for the time being, was now
+assured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE LAST DAY AT THE FARM
+
+
+"What does this mean?"
+
+It was Gilbert Ponsberry, the chief constable of Oak Run, who
+spoke, as he strode up to the grocery wagon, all out of breath.
+
+"Hullo, Ponsberry, you are just the man we want to see!" cried
+Joel Darrel.  "Did you notice who boarded that train?"
+
+"No; I wasn't at the depot.  Anything wrong?"
+
+"I have been robbed of a gold watch and chain," answered Dick, and
+related the particulars.
+
+"Gee shoo!  No wonder you drove fast," ejaculated the constable.
+"I would have done so myself.  How did that fellow look?"
+
+As well as he was able, Dick gave a description of the thief.
+
+"I saw that tramp yesterday," said the constable, when he had
+finished.  "He was in the depot, talking to a tall, thin man.  I
+remember him well, for he and the other fellow were quarreling.  I
+hung around rather expecting a fight.  But it didn't come."
+
+"You haven't seen the thief since yesterday?"
+
+"No."
+
+"You remember the tall, thin man he was with?"
+
+"Oh, sure, for he had a scar on his chin that looked like a knife
+cut."
+
+"Is he anywhere around?"
+
+"I haven't seen him since.  Let us take a walk around, and we can
+ask Ricks the station master about this."
+
+"We had better ask Mr. Ricks first," said Dick.
+
+All hands, even to the grocery boy, hunted up the station master,
+an elderly fellow who was well known for his unsociable
+disposition.
+
+"Don't know anything about any thief," he snapped, after hearing
+the story. "I mind my own business."
+
+"But he may have taken the train," pleaded Dick.  It made his
+heart sink to think that the watch, that precious memento from
+his father, might be gone forever.
+
+"Well, if he did, you had better go after him--or telegraph to
+Middletown," was the short answer, and then the station master
+turned away.
+
+"You telegraph for me," said Dick to the constable.  "I will pay
+the costs."
+
+"All right, Dick. My, but old Ricks is getting more grumpy every
+day!  If this railroad knows its business it will soon get another
+manager here," was Gilbert Ponsberry's comment, as he led the way
+to the telegraph office.
+
+Here a telegram was prepared, addressed to the police officer on
+duty at the Middletown station, and giving a fair description of
+the thief.
+
+The train would reach the city in exactly forty-five minutes; and
+as soon as the message had been sent, Dick, Darrel, and the
+constable went off on a tour of Oak Run and the vicinity.
+
+Of course nothing was seen of the thief, and in an hour word came
+back from Middletown that he was not on the cars.
+
+This was true, for the train had stopped at a way station, having
+broken something on the engine, and the thief had left, to walk
+the remainder of the distance to Middletown on foot.
+
+It was not until nightfall that Dick returned to his uncle's
+farmhouse.
+
+Here he found that Sam and Tom had already arrived.  Tom was lying
+on the sofa in the sitting room, being cared for by his Aunt
+Martha, who was the best of nurses whenever occasion required.
+
+"Didn't find any trace of the villain?" queried Randolph Rover,
+with a sad shake of his head.  "Too bad!  Too bad!  And it was
+your father's watch, too!"
+
+"I never wanted to see Dick wear it," put in Mrs. Rover.  "It was
+too fine for a boy."
+
+"Father told me to wear it, aunty.  He said it would remind me of
+him," answered Dick, and he turned away, for something like a tear
+had welled up in his eye.
+
+"There, there, Dick, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," cried
+his aunt hastily.  "I would give a good deal if you had your watch
+back."
+
+Supper was waiting, but Dick had no appetite, and ate but little.
+Tom braced up sufficiently to take some toast and tea, and
+declared that he would be all right by morning and so he was.
+
+"Here is a letter for Tom from Larry Colby," cried Dick during the
+course, of the evening.
+
+"I declare, I forgot all about it, Tom, until this minute."
+
+"I don't blame you, Dick," was the reply, with a sickly smile.
+"You read it for me.  The light hurts my head," and Tom closed his
+eyes to listen.
+
+Larry Colby was a New York lad who in years gone by had been one
+of Tom's chums.  The letter was just such a one as any boy might
+write to another, and need have no place here.  Yet one paragraph
+interested everybody in the sitting room:
+
+"Next week I am to pack my trunk and go to Putnam Hall Military
+Academy [wrote Larry Colby].  Father says it is a very fine
+military, school, and he has recommended it to your uncle."
+
+"Putnam Hall Military Academy!" mused Tom.  "I wonder where it
+is?"
+
+"It is over in Seneca County, on Cayuga Lake," replied Randolph
+Rover, and something like a smile appeared on his face.
+
+"On Cayuga Lake, uncle!" cried Sam.  "Why, that's a splendid
+location, isn't it?"
+
+"Very fine."
+
+"And is that where we are to go?" put in Tom eagerly.
+
+"Yes, Thomas; I might as well tell you, although I wanted to
+surprise you.  You are to go to Putnam Hall, and there you will
+have with you Lawrence Colby, Frank Harrington, and several other
+lads with whom you are all acquainted."
+
+"Hurrah, Uncle Randolph!" came from Sam, and rushing up, he caught
+his relative around the shoulder.  "You're the best kind of uncle,
+after all."
+
+"Putnam Hall is an institution of learning that has been
+established for some twenty years," went on Mr. Rover, pushing
+back his spectacles and laying down the agricultural work he had
+been perusing.  "It is presided over by Captain Victor Putnam, an
+old army officer, who in his younger days used to be a
+schoolmaster.  He is a strict disciplinarian, and will make you
+toe the mark; but let me say right here, I have it from Mr. Colby
+that there is no schoolmaster who is kinder or more considerate of
+his pupils."
+
+"Is it a regular military institution like West Point?" asked Tom.
+
+"Hardly, Thomas, although the students, so I am informed, dress
+like cadets and spend an hour or so each day in drilling, and in
+the summer all the school march up the lake and go into an
+encampment."
+
+"That just suits me!" broke in Sam enthusiastically.  "Hurrah for
+Putnam Hall!"
+
+"Hurrah!" echoed Tom faintly, and Dick nodded to show he felt as
+they did.  At the cheer, Sarah the cook stuck her head into the
+door.
+
+"Sure an' I thought Tom was out of his head, bedad," she observed.
+
+"Sarah, I'm going away soon--to a military academy.  I won't
+bother you any more," said Tom.
+
+"Won't yez now?  That will be foine."  Then the cook stopped
+short, thinking she had hurt the boy's feelings.  "Oh, Master
+Tom, don't moind me.  You're not such an--an awful bother as we
+think," and then at a wave of Mrs. Rover's hand she disappeared.
+
+After this the evening passed quickly enough, for the boys wanted
+to know all there was to be learned about their future boarding
+school.  Mr. Rover had a circular of the institution, and they
+pored over this.
+
+"Captain Victor Putnam is the head master," said Dick, as he read.
+"He has two assistants, Josiah Crabtree and George Strong, besides
+two teachers who come in to give instructions in French and
+German if desired, also in music.  Uncle Randolph, are we to take
+up these branches?"
+
+"I am going to leave you to select your own studies outside of the
+regular course, Richard.  What would be the use of taking up
+music, for instance, if you were not musically inclined."
+
+"I'd like to play a banjo," said Tom, and grinned as well as the
+bandage on his head, would permit.
+
+"I doubt if the professor of music teaches that plantation
+instrument," smiled Mrs. Rover.  Then she patted Tom's shoulder
+affectionately.
+
+Now the boys were really to leave her, she was sorry to think of
+their going.
+
+"They will not take more than a hundred pupils," said Dick,
+referring to the circular again.  "I should say that was enough.
+The pupils are divided into two companies, A and B, of about fifty
+soldiers each; and the soldiers elect their own officers, to serve
+during the school term.  Tom, perhaps you may turn out captain of
+Company B."
+
+"And you may be Major Dick Rover of the first battalion," returned
+Tom.  "Say, but this suits me to death, Uncle Randolph."
+
+"I am glad to hear it, Thomas.  But I want you to promise me to
+attend to your studies.  Military matters are all well enough in
+their way, but I want you to have the benefits of a good
+education."
+
+"Oh, I fancy Captain Victor Putnam will attend to that," put in
+Sam.
+
+The circular was read from end to end, and it was after ten
+o'clock before the boys got done talking about it and went to bed.
+Certainly the prospect was a bright one, and if poor Dick had only
+had his watch the three would have been in high feather.  Little
+did they dream, of all the startling adventures in store  for them
+during their term at Putnam Hall.
+
+It must not be supposed that Mr. Randolph Rover intended to allow
+the theft of Dick's watch to pass without a strong effort being
+made to recover the article. Early in the morning he drove to the
+Corners, and to Oak Run and another village called Bender's, and
+at each place had a notice posted, mentioning the loss and
+offering a reward of fifty dollars for the recovery of the
+property and of one hundred dollars if the thief was captured in
+addition.  This offer, however, proved of no avail, and Dick had
+to leave for Putnam Hall wearing his old silver watch, which he
+had put aside upon the receipt of the gold timepiece.
+
+It was a clear, sun-shiny morning when the boys started off. They had
+paid a last visit to the various points of interest about the place
+and bid good-by to Sarah, who shook hands warmly, and said farewell to
+the hired men, both of whom hated them to leave, for they had made
+matters pleasant as well as lively. Their three trunks were loaded in
+a farm wagon, and now Jack, one of the men-of-all-work, drove up with
+the two seated carriage to drive them over to Oak Run by way of the
+river bridge, half a mile up the stream.
+
+"Good-by, Uncle Randolph!" cried one after another, as they shook
+hands.  "Good-by, Aunt Martha!" and each gave Mrs. Rover a hug and
+a kiss, something which brought the tears to the lady's eyes.
+
+"Good-by, boys, and take good care of yourselves," said Randolph
+Rover.
+
+"And if you can't stand it at boarding school, write, and we will
+send for you to come back here," added his wife; and then, with a
+crack of the whip, the carriage rolled off, and the farm was left
+behind.  It was to be many a day before the boys would see the
+place again.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+ON THE WAY TO PUTNAM HALL
+
+
+"I don't think we'll want to send word to Aunt Martha to be taken
+back," observed Sam, who sat on the driver's seat with the hired
+man.
+
+"Neither do I," returned Tom. "To be sure, we have a nice enough
+home here, but it's dreadfully slow."
+
+"There is no telling what may be in store for us," joined in Dick.
+"Don't you remember how Fred Garrison fared at Holly School?  That
+institution sent out a splendid circular, and when Fred got there
+they almost starved him to death."
+
+"That is true.  Where is Fred now?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Mr. Colby wouldn't recommend Putnam Hall if it wasn't all right,"
+remarked Tom.  "Jack, whip up the team, or we'll miss that train."
+
+"They are going putty well now, Master Tom," replied the driver.
+
+The trunks had gone on ahead, and when they reached the depot at
+Oak Run they found old Ricks grumbling because no one was there to
+check them.
+
+"Do you reckon I'm going to be responsible for everybody's
+baggage?" he snarled as Dick approached him.
+
+"I'll check them as soon as I can get tickets," answered Dick
+curtly.  "What an old bear he is!" he whispered to Tom.  "He
+didn't treat me half decently when I was over here about the
+watch."
+
+"If only we had a little time I would fix him," whispered Tom in
+return.  He had sobered down for several days now and was dying to
+play a trick on somebody.
+
+They went into the station and procured tickets, and then found
+the time for the train had been changed, and it would not be along
+for nearly half an hour.
+
+"Good!  Just wait till I get back," said Tom.
+
+He had noticed Ricks gathering up some waste paper around the
+depot, and felt tolerably certain the old fellow was about to
+build a bonfire of it.  Walking over to one of the stores, he
+entered, and asked the proprietor if he had any large firecrackers
+on hand.
+
+"Just two, sir," said the storekeeper, and brought them forth.
+Each was six inches long and thick in proportion.
+
+"How much?" asked the boy.
+
+"Seeing as they are the last I have, I'll let you have them for
+fifteen cents each."
+
+"I'll give you a quarter for the two."
+
+"Very well; here you are," and the transfer was made on the spot.
+Slipping the firecrackers into his coat pocket, Tom sauntered up
+to old Ricks, while Sam and Dick looked on, sure that something
+was in the wind.
+
+"Ricks, that is pretty bad news from Middletown, isn't it?" he
+observed.
+
+"Bad news?  What do you mean?" demanded the station master, as he
+threw some more waste paper on the fire, which he had just lit.
+
+"About that dynamite being stolen by train wreckers.  They think
+some of the explosive was brought up here."
+
+"Didn't hear of it."
+
+"Dynamite is pretty bad stuff to have around, so I've heard."
+
+"Awful!  Awful!  I never want to see any of it," answered Ricks,
+with a decided shake of his head.
+
+"If it goes off it's apt to blow everything to splinters," went on
+Dick.
+
+"That's so--I don't want any of it," and the old man began to
+gather up more waste paper for his fire.  Watching his chance,
+Tom threw one of the firecrackers into the blaze and then
+rejoined his brothers.
+
+With a handful of paper Ricks again approached the blaze.  He was
+standing almost over it when the firecracker went off, making a
+tremendous report and scattering the light blazing paper in all
+directions.
+
+"Help!  I'm killed!" yelled old Ricks, as he fell upon his back.
+"Get me away from here!  There's dynamite in this fire!"  And he
+rolled over, leapt to his feet, and ran off like a madman.
+
+"Don't be alarmed--it was only a firecracker," called out Tom,
+loud enough for all standing around to hear, and then he ran for
+the train, which had just come in.  Soon he and his brothers were
+on board and off, leaving poor Ricks to be heartily laughed at by
+those who had observed his sudden terror.  It was many a day
+before the cranky station master heard the last of his dynamite.
+
+The boys were to ride from Oak Run to Ithaca, and there take a
+small steamer which ran from that city to the head of the lake,
+stopping at Cedarville, the nearest village to Putnam Hall.  At
+Cedarville one of the Hall conveyances was to meet them, to
+transfer both them and their baggage to the institution.
+
+The run to Ithaca proved uneventful although the boys did not tire
+of looking out of the window at the beautiful panorama rushing
+past them.  At noon they had lunch in the dining car, a spread
+that Sam declared was about as good as a regular dinner.  Three
+o'clock in the afternoon found them at the steamboat landing,
+waiting for the Golden Star to take them up to Cedarville.
+
+"Fred Garrison, by all that's lucky!" burst out Tom suddenly, as
+he rushed up to a youth of about his own age who sat on a trunk
+eating an apple.
+
+"Tom Rover!  Where are you bound?"
+
+"To a boarding school called Putnam Hall."
+
+"You don't say!  Why, I am going there myself," and now Fred
+Garrison nearly wrung off Tom's hand.
+
+"If this isn't the most glorious news yet!" burst in Dick.  "Why,
+Larry Colby is going too!"
+
+"I know it.  But he won't come until tomorrow."
+
+"And Frank Harrington is going too."
+
+"He is there, already--he wrote about it day before yesterday.
+That makes six of us New York, boys."
+
+"The metropolitan sextet," chirped in Sam.
+
+"Boys, we ought to form a league to stand by each other through
+thick or thin."
+
+"I'm with you on that," answered Fred.  "As we are all newcomers,
+it's likely the old scholars will want to haze us, or, something
+like that."
+
+"Just let them try it on!" cried Tom.  "Yes, we must stick
+together by all means." And the compact, so far as it concerned
+the Rover boys and Fred Garrison, was made on the spot.  Later on
+Larry Colby and Frank Harrington joined them gladly.
+
+It was not long before the Golden Star, a stanch little side-wheeler,
+steamed up to the dock, and the waiting crowd rushed on board and
+secured favorable places on deck. The baggage followed, and soon they
+were off, with a whistle which awoke the echoes of Cayuga Lake for
+miles around.
+
+While waiting on the dock Dick had noticed three girls standing
+near them.  They were evidently from the rural district, but
+pretty and well dressed.  The boys took seats near the bow of the
+boat, on the upper deck, and presently the girls sat down not far
+away.
+
+"He was awfully bold, Clara; I want nothing to do with him," Dick
+heard the prettiest of the girls say.  "He had no right to speak
+to us."
+
+"He had dropped his handkerchief, and he pretended I was stepping
+on it," said another of the three.  "Oh, here he comes now!" she
+went on as a youth of seventeen came into view.  He was large and
+bold-looking, and it was easy to see that there was a good deal of
+the bully about him.  He was smoking a cigarette, but on seeing
+the girls he threw the paper roll away.
+
+"How do you do again?" he said, as he came up and tipped his hat.
+
+At this all of the girls looked angry, and not one returned his
+salutation.  But, undaunted by this, the newcomer caught up a camp
+stool and planked himself down almost directly between the
+prettiest of the three and her companions.
+
+"Splendid day for the trip," he went on.
+
+"Won't you have some confectionery?" and he hauled from his pocket
+a box of cream chocolates and held them out.
+
+"Thank you, but we don't wish any," said the youngest of the
+girls.
+
+"Won't you have some?" asked the unknown of the eldest girl.
+
+"I don't want any, and I told you before not to speak to me!" she
+said in a low voice, and the tears almost came into her eyes.
+
+"I ain't going to hurt you," grumbled the young fellow.  "Can't a
+fellow be pleasant like?"
+
+"I do not know you, sir."
+
+"Oh, that's all right.   My name is Daniel Baxter.  Sorry I
+haven't a card, or I would give you one," was the smooth
+rejoinder.
+
+"I do not wish your card," was the answer delivered in the most
+positive of tones.
+
+"Oh, all right.  Yes, it's a splendid trip," said the fellow, and
+drew his camp chair even closer.  The girls wished to edge away,
+but there was no room in the narrow bow.  The eldest girl looked
+around as if for help.  Her eyes met those of Dick, and she
+blushed.
+
+"Say, that fellow is a regular pill," whispered Tom to his elder
+brother.
+
+"Somebody ought to take him by the collar and pitch him
+overboard."
+
+"You are right, Tom," answered Dick, and then as the bully
+attempted to crowd still closer to the girls he suddenly arose,
+took a few steps forward, and caught Dan Baxter by the arm.
+
+"You get out of here and be quick about it," he said in low but
+firm tones.
+
+The fellow started, and for the instant his face changed color.
+But then he saw that Dick was but a boy, younger and smaller than
+himself, and his bullying manner returned.  "Who are you talking
+to?" he demanded.
+
+"I am talking to you.  I told you to get out--and be quick about
+it."
+
+"Oh," cried the eldest girl, but her face took on a look of relief,
+for she saw that Dick was a thoroughly gentlemanly youth.
+
+"Who are you anyway?" blustered Dan Baxter.
+
+"My name is Dick Rover, if you want, to know."  Dick turned to the
+girls.  "He was annoying you, wasn't he?"
+
+"Very much," answered the three promptly.
+
+"Then you'll get out, Daniel Baxter."
+
+"Supposing I refuse?"
+
+"If you refuse, I'll pitch you out, and make a complaint to the
+police at our first stopping place."
+
+"You talk big!" sneered the bully, but he was much disconcerted.
+
+"Don't you talk back to my brother," put in Tom, who had come up.
+"You think you're a regular masher, as they call such silly
+fellows, but I don't think your game is going to work here."
+
+"That's it," chimed in Sam.
+
+"Humph! three of you, eh?" muttered the bully.  "We'll see about
+this some other time," and leaving his camp chair he made for the
+cabin and disappeared, from view.
+
+"He's a bad egg," was Tom's comment, but how thoroughly bad the
+Rover boys were still to learn.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
+
+
+"I must thank you for ridding us of that fellow," said one of the
+girls.  "He has annoyed us several times."
+
+"It was a pleasure to assist you," answered Dick, with the
+politeness of a dancing master, and tipped his hat; and his
+brothers and Fred Garrison did the same.
+
+After this there seemed nothing to do but to be introduced, and
+Dick did this for the boys, while the eldest girl acted for
+herself and her companions.
+
+"My name is Dora Stanhope," she said.  "These are my cousins
+Nellie and Grace Laning. We live at Cedarville."
+
+"Just the place we are going to!" cried Tom.  "We are bound for
+Putnam Hall.  I suppose you know the place?"
+
+"We do--very well," answered Dora Stanhope.  "It is less than
+quarter of a mile away from our farm."
+
+"And it is quite near to our place too," added Nellie Laning.
+
+"Then perhaps we'll see more of each other," remarked Fred
+Garrison.
+
+"Perhaps; but isn't Captain Putnam rather strict about letting you
+boys out?" questioned, Dora.
+
+"We don't know yet--we are newcomers."
+
+"Newcomers!" cried Nellie.  "Then you don't know that fellow who
+was just here?"
+
+"No.  Does he belong at Putnam Hall?"
+
+"Yes.  I know nothing of him, however, further than that I have
+seen him several times on the Hall road."
+
+Dick gave a low whistle.
+
+"Perhaps we've put our foot in it," remarked Sam in a low tone to
+him.
+
+"Never mind; we did what was right," answered Dick.  "No fellow is
+justified in acting as Dan Baxter did."
+
+"That's right."
+
+"Tell us something about Putnam Hall, won't you?" said Fred
+Garrison, after a pause.
+
+At this the three girls laughed.
+
+"What should we know about that place?" asked Dora.  "We have
+never been inside, excepting at one Christmas entertainment."
+
+"But you must see some of the fellows occasionally."
+
+"Not often," said Grace Laning.  "Captain Putnam does not allow
+his pupils to leave the grounds excepting on special occasions.
+But papa caught three of the pupils in our strawberry patch once."
+
+"He did?  And what happened to the fellows?" put in Tom with deep
+interest.
+
+"Father made them pick twelve quarts of berries for him for
+nothing, and didn't let them eat a single one."
+
+"Great Caesar! What a fine fellow your dad--I mean your father--must
+be."
+
+"Of course he is fine.  The boys had no right to attempt stealing
+the berries.  My father would have given them some for the
+asking."
+
+"But they wouldn't have been half as sweet as if they were hooked
+on the sly," said Tom wisely, and everybody laughed.
+
+"You boys ought to have fine times at Putnam Hall," went on Dora
+to Dick.  "I sometimes see the soldier boys marching; and once,
+last summer, I visited their encampment."
+
+"We are looking forward to a good time,"' was the answer.  "And I
+trust we see you again," went on Dick; and Dora blushed prettily.
+
+The Golden Star was now approaching a little landing known as
+Hopedale, and all left their chairs to see the village, and people
+getting on and off.  It was an engaging scene, and the did not
+return to the bow of the boat until ten minutes  later, after
+taking a walk completely around the steamer's deck.
+
+In the bow a surprise awaited them.  During their absence Dan
+Baxter had appropriated four of their camp chairs and was
+stretched out on them as if in sleep.
+
+"Oh, what a cheek!" cried Tom.
+
+"Let us haul him off," suggested Sam.
+
+"All right, come ahead," put in Fred.
+
+"Oh, please don't have another row with him!" cried Dora in alarm.
+"Let him keep the seats.  We can go somewhere else."
+
+"All right, let the pig sleep," said Dick.
+
+He felt tolerably certain that Dan Baxter was awake and heard him,
+but the bully made no sign.
+
+The party walked away, and the bully sneered softly to himself.
+
+"They didn't dare to tackle me," was what he thought in his
+conceit.  "I'd like to meet 'em one by one alone. I'd show each a
+trick or two."
+
+At last Cedarville was reached and the little steamer tied up at
+the dock, and the boys and girls went ashore.  Just before
+leaving, Dick took a look at Dan Baxter and saw that he was now
+sleeping in earnest.
+
+"I won't wake him," he thought.  "If he is carried to the head of
+the lake, it will only serve him right."
+
+Once on the dock, he and Fred hurried off to see about the baggage,
+and while they were gone a well-dressed and pleasant-looking farmer
+came up and kissed each of the girls. It was Mr. Laning.
+
+"I hope you had a nice visit to Cousin May's," he said.  "Come,
+the carriage is waiting out in the street."
+
+And he hurried the girls away before they had hardly time to say
+good-by.
+
+"Nice girls," remarked Tom.
+
+"Yes, indeed," answered Sam.  "Hope we see them again."
+
+"We won't have much of a chance if what they say about Putnam Hall
+is true, Sam.  Evidently Captain Putnam believes in keeping his
+pupils well in hand."
+
+"Well, Uncle Randolph believes we ought to be taken well in
+hand."
+
+Dick and Fred returned presently, bringing with them a tall, lean
+man of apparently fifty.
+
+"Boys," cried Fred, "let me introduce you to Mr. Peleg
+Snugsomebody, general utility man at Putnam Hall."
+
+"Peleg Snuggers, please," said the man meekly.  "Excuse me, but I
+was sent to bring you to the Hall."
+
+"Do we walk?" demanded Tom.
+
+"No, sir; the carryall is out on the street, and my boy Pete has
+the wagon for your trunks."
+
+"The trunks are already in the wagon," said Dick.  "Come ahead."
+
+"How many of you, please?" went on Peleg Snuggers.
+
+"There is only one of me, thank you," answered Tom meekly.
+
+"Don't joke me so early in the term, please," said the utility man
+pleadingly.  "Goodness knows, I'll get more than my share between
+now and Christmas.  I mean, how many it the party?"
+
+"Five of us, Mr. Sluggrub."
+
+"Snuggers, please; Peleg Snuggers--an easy name to remember when
+you get the swing of it, sir."
+
+"To be sure, Smullers.  Yes, there are exactly five of us," and
+Tom winked at his companions.
+
+"That's all right; the captain said to bring five.  Where is the
+other?"
+
+"What other?"
+
+"The other boy. I see only four of you."
+
+"You asked me how many there were in the party, Mr. Snugbug."
+
+"Yes, sir; and you said five."
+
+"Four of us, and only one of you.  Isn't that five--or do they
+have a different kind of arithmetic at Putnam Hall from what I
+have been studying?"
+
+"Please don't joke, Master Rover, please don't. I was to bring five
+boys." The utility man drew a slip of paper from his pocket. "Four new
+boys--Richard, Samuel, and Thomas Rover and--Frederick Garrison--and
+Corporal Daniel Baxter."
+
+"Gracious, the bully is a corporal at the Hall!" came from Sam in
+so low a tone that Snuggers did not catch it.
+
+"The corporal isn't present," said Fred, gazing around absently.
+
+"So he isn't.  Must have missed the boat.  Come along, please,"
+and Peleg Snuggers led the way to where a large and extra-heavy
+carryall stood.  A splendid team of iron-grays was attached to the
+carriage; and Dick, who loved good horseflesh, could not help but
+admire the animals.
+
+"Oh, they are fine, Master Richard," said Snuggers.  "Nothing
+finer on the lake shore.  Captain Putnam's one recreation is to
+drive behind a fast team."
+
+"Is it?  I wish he would take me out with him some time."
+
+"Always drives alone.  Reckon it kind of quiets him, after a noisy
+time with the boy."
+
+"I suppose."
+
+They were soon on the way, which led out of Cedarville and over a
+hill fronting the lake.
+
+"By the way, do you know where the farms belonging to Mr. Stanhope
+and to Mr. Laning are located?" asked Tom, when they were well out
+of the village.
+
+"Mr. Stanhope, sir?  There isn't any Mr. Stanhope.  He died two
+years ago.  That place you see away over yonder is Mrs. Stanhope's
+farm."
+
+"She has a daughter Dora?"
+
+"Yes," Peleg Snuggers paused for a moment.  "They say the widder
+thinks of marrying again."
+
+"Is that so!" put in Dick, and then he wondered if Dora would be
+pleased with  her stepfather.  "So that is the place?"
+
+"Yes, sir; two hundred and fifty acres, and the fittest dairy in
+these parts.  If the widder marries again, her husband will fall
+into a very good thing.  The dairy company at Ithaca once offered
+fifty thousand dollars for the cattle and land."
+
+"Gracious!" came from Tom.  "We've been chumming with an heiress.
+Are the Lanings rich, too?"
+
+"Very well to do.  That is their place, that side road.  Here is
+where we turn off to get to the Hall.  Captain Putnam had this
+road made when the Hall was first built."
+
+The road was one of cracked stone, as smooth as a huge iron roller
+could make it.  They bowled along at a rapid rate, under the wide
+spreading branches of two rows of stately maples.  They were close
+to the lake, and occasional glimpses of water could be caught
+through the tree branches.
+
+"It is certainly a splendid locality for a boarding academy," was
+Dick's comment.  "My, what pure air--enough to make a sick boy
+strong!  Do you have much sickness at the Hall?"
+
+"Very little, sir.  The captain does not let a cast of sickness
+stand, but calls in Dr. Fremley at once."
+
+"That is where he is level-headed," said Fred.  "My father said I
+was to call for a doctor the minute I felt at all sick."
+
+They were now approaching Putnam Hall, but there was still another
+turn to make.  As they swept around this, they came upon a tramp,
+half asleep under a tree.  The tramp roused up at the sounds of
+carriage wheels and looked first at the driver of the carryall and
+then at the four boys.
+
+"Phew!" he ejaculated, and lost no time in diving out of sight
+into some brush back of the row of maples.
+
+"Hullo, who was that?" cried Sam.
+
+"A tramp, I reckon," answered the utility man.  "We are bothered a
+good deal with them."
+
+"Begging at the Hall for the left-overs?"
+
+"Exactly.  The captain is too kind-hearted.  He ought to drive 'em
+all away," answered Peleg Snuggers; and then the carryall passed
+on.
+
+When it was gone, and the wagon with the trunks had followed, the
+tramp came out of the brush and gazed after both turnouts.  "Say,
+Buddy Girk, but dat was a narrow escape," he muttered to himself.
+"Wot brought dem young gents to dis neighborhood?  It can't be
+possible da have tracked me--an' so quick."  He hesitated.  "I
+t'ink I had better give dis neighborhood de go-by," and he dove
+into the brush again.  He was the rascal who had stolen Dick's
+timepiece.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+TOM GETS INTO TROUBLE
+
+
+Putnam Hall was a fine building of brick and stone, standing in
+the center of a beautiful parade ground of nearly ten acres.  In
+front of the parade ground was the wagon road, and beyond was a
+gentle slope leading down to the lake.  To the left of the
+building was a playground hedged in by cedars, at one corner of
+which stood a two-story frame building used as a gymnasium.  To
+the right was a woods, while in the rear were a storehouse, a
+stable, and several other outbuildings, backed up by some farm
+lands, cultivated for the sole benefit of the institution, so that
+the pupils were served in season with the freshest of fruits and
+vegetables.
+
+The Hall was built in the form of the letter F, the upright line
+forming the front of the building and the other lines representing
+wings in the rear.  There were three entrances--one for the
+teachers and senior class in the center, one for the middle
+classes on the right, and another for the youngest pupils on the
+left.  There were, of course, several doors in the rear in
+addition.
+
+The entire ground floor of the Hall was given over to class and
+drill rooms.  The second floor was occupied by Captain Putnam and
+his staff of assistants and the pupils as living and sleeping
+apartments, while the top floor was used by the servants, although
+there were also several dormitories there, used by young boys, who
+came under the care of Mrs. Green, the housekeeper.
+
+Captain Victor Putnam was a bachelor.  A West Point graduate, he
+had seen gallant service in the West, where he had aided the
+daring General Custer during many an Indian uprising.  A fall from
+a horse, during a campaign in the Black Hills, had laid him on a
+long bed of sickness, and had later on caused him to retire from
+the army and go back to his old profession of school teaching.  He
+might have had a position at West Point as an instructor, but he
+had preferred to run his own military academy.
+
+"Hurrah, here we are at last!" cried Fred Garrison, as the
+carryall swept into view of the Hall.  "I see twenty or thirty of
+the students, and all togged out in soldier clothes!"
+
+"I suppose we'll be wearing suits soon,", answered Tom.  "By
+George!  I'm going to give them a salute."
+
+(For the doings of the Putnam Hall students previous to the
+arrival at that institution of the Rover boys see "The Putnam Hall
+Series," the first volume of which is entitled, "The Putnam Hall
+Cadets."--Publishers)
+
+"How?" asked Sam.
+
+"Never mind.  Just wait and see."
+
+In a minute more they swept up to the gateway leading to the
+parade ground.  Some of the pupils had seen the carriage coming,
+and they ran down to learn if any old friends had arrived.
+
+"Hullo!" yelled several.
+
+"Hullo yourself!" came in return, and then Tom drew out the
+firecracker still in his pocket and lit it on the sly.  Just as it
+was about to explode he threw it up into the air.
+
+Bang!  The report was loud and clear, and everybody within hearing
+rushed to the spot to see what it meant.  There were forty or
+fifty pupils and two assistant teachers, but Captain Putnam had
+gone out.
+
+"Hi!  Hi!  What does this mean?" came in a high-pitched voice, and
+Josiah Crabtree, the first assistant, rushed up to the carryall.
+"What was that exploded?"
+
+"A big firecracker, sir," answered Peleg Snuggers.
+
+"And who exploded it?"
+
+Before the utility man could answer there came a cry from the
+parade ground:
+"Don't peach, Peleg, don't peach!"
+
+"Silence, boys!" burst from Josiah Crabtree wrathfully.  "Such a
+disturbance is against the rules of this institution."
+
+"We didn't fire the cracker," piped up a tall, slim boy.  "It came
+from the carriage."
+
+"Mumps, you're nothing but a sneak and tattle-tale," was the reply
+to this, from several older cadets; and, afraid of having his ears
+boxed on the sly, John Fenwick, nicknamed Mumps by everybody in
+the Hall, ran off.
+
+"Which of you fired the cracker?" demanded Josiah Crabtree,
+advancing to the carriage step.
+
+There was no reply, and he turned to the driver.
+
+"Snuggers, what have you to say?"
+
+"I can't say anything, sir.  I was taking care of the horses,
+sir," answered the hired man meekly.
+
+"I will find out who fired the cracker before I have finished with
+you," growled the head assistant.  "Get down and march into the
+Hall."
+
+"Gracious, what have we struck now?" whispered Fred to Dick.
+
+"Is this Captain Putnam?" asked Dick, without answering his chum.
+
+"No, young man; I am Josiah Crabtree, A. M., Captain Putnam's
+first assistant.  And you are--"  He paused.
+
+"I am Dick Rover, sir.  These are my brothers, Tom and Sam."
+
+"And I am Fred Garrison," finished that youth.
+
+"Very good.  I hope, Richard, that you were not guilty of firing
+that cracker?"
+
+"Was there any great harm in giving a... a salute upon our
+arrival?"
+
+"Such a thing is against the rules of the institution.  Article 29
+says, 'No pupil shall use any firearms or explosive at any time
+excepting upon special permission'."
+
+"We are not pupils yet, Mr. Crabtree."
+
+"That argument will not pass, sir.  So you fired the cracker?
+Very well.  Mr. Strong!"
+
+The second assistant came up. He was a man of not over twenty-five,
+and his face was mild and pleasant.
+
+"What is it, Mr. Crabtree."
+
+"You will take charge of the other new pupils, while I take charge
+of the one who has broken our rules on his very arrival."
+
+"Hold on!" cried Tom.  "What are you going to do with my brother?"
+
+"That is... none of your business, Master Rover.  You will go with
+Mr. Strong."
+
+"He didn't fire the cracker.  I did that!  And I'm not ashamed of
+it.  I wasn't a pupil when I did it, and I'm not a pupil now, so I
+can't see how you can punish me for breaking one of your rules."
+
+At this there came a titter from the cadets gathered around.
+Hardly any of them liked Josiah Crabtree, who was dictatorial
+beyond all reason.  The head assistant flushed up.
+
+"You are a pupil here, and I will show you that you cannot break
+our rules with impunity, and be impudent to me in the bargain!"
+cried Crabtree.  "Come with me!"  And he caught Tom by the arm,
+while Dick and the others were led off in another direction.
+
+"Surely, this is a fine beginning," thought Tom as he walked
+along.  He was half inclined to break away, but concluded to await
+developments.
+
+"Are you going to take me to Captain Putnam?" he questioned.
+
+"We do not permit cadets placed under arrest to ask questions."
+
+"Great smoke!  Am I under arrest?"
+
+"You are."
+
+"Perhaps you'll want to hang me next."
+
+"Silence!  Or I shall be tempted to sentence you to a caning."
+
+"You'll never cane me, sir."
+
+"Silence!  You have evidently been a wayward boy at home.  If so
+it will be best for you to remember that all that is now at an
+end, and you must behave yourself and obey orders."
+
+"Can't a fellow breathe without permission?"
+
+"Silence!"
+
+"How about if I want a drink of water?"
+
+"Silence, I say!" stormed Josiah Crabtree.  "I'll warrant you'll
+not feel so smart by the time you are ready to leave Putnam Hall."
+
+There was a silence after this, as the head assistant led the way
+into the building and conducted Tom to a small room looking out
+toward the rear.
+
+"You will remain here, Rover, until Captain Putnam returns."
+
+"How long will that be?"
+
+"Didn't I tell you not to ask questions?"
+
+"But Captain Putnam may not return for a day or a month," went on
+Tom innocently.
+
+"Captain Putnam will be back in an hour or  two."  Without another
+word, Josiah  Crabtree turned and left the room, locking the door
+behind him.
+
+"Well, by crickety!" came from the boy when he was left alone.
+"I've put my foot into it from the very start.  I wonder what
+Captain Putnam will say to this?  If he's half as sour minded as
+old Crabtree, I'll catch it.  But I haven't done anything wrong,
+and they shan't cane me--and that's flat!" and he shook his
+curly head decidedly.
+
+The room was less than ten feet square and plainly furnished with
+two chairs and a small couch.  In one corner was a washstand
+containing a basin and a pitcher of water.
+
+"This looks a good deal like a cell," he mused as he gazed around.
+Suddenly his eyes caught some writing on the wall in lead pencil.
+He stepped over to read it.
+
+    "Josiah Crabtree put me here,
+    And I am feeling very queer;
+    He boxed my ears and pulled my hair
+    Oh, when I'm free won't I get square!"
+
+"Somebody else has been here before me," thought Tom.  "I rather
+reckon I'll get square too.  Hullo, here's another Whittier or
+Longfellow:
+
+    "In this lock-up I'm confined;
+    If I stay long I'll lose my mind.
+    Two days and nights I've paced the floor,
+    As many others have before."
+
+"I hope I don't stay two days and nights," said Tom half aloud.
+Then he walked to the single window of the apartment to find that
+it was heavily barred.
+
+"No escaping that way," he went on to read another inscription,
+this time in blank verse:
+
+         "And I am jugged,
+    Alone in solitude, and by myself
+    Alone.  I sit and think, and think,
+    And think again.  Old Crabtree,
+    Base villain that he is, hath put me here!
+    And why?  Ah, thereby hangs a tale, Horatio!
+    His teeth, the teeth that chew the best of steak
+    Set on our table--those I found and hid;
+    And Mumps, the sneak, hath told on me!  Alas!
+    When will my martyrdom end?"
+
+"Good for the chap who hid the teeth!" continued Tom, and smiled
+as he thought of the rage Crabtree must have been in when he
+discovered that his false teeth were gone.  A rattle in the
+keyhole disturbed him, and he dropped onto a chair just as the
+head assistant again appeared.
+
+"I want the keys to your trunk and your satchel," he said.
+
+"What for, sir?"
+
+"Didn't I tell you before not to ask questions?"
+
+"But my keys are my own private property, and so is what is in the
+trunk and the satchel."
+
+"All pupils' baggage is examined, Rover, to see that nothing
+improper is introduced into the Hall."
+
+"Want to see if I've got any more firecrackers?"
+
+"We do not allow dime novels, or, eatables, or other things that
+might harm our pupils."
+
+"Eating never harmed me, sir."
+
+"Sometimes parents load up their boys with delicacies which are
+decidedly harmful.  Come, the keys."
+
+Josiah Crabtree's tones were so harsh that Tom's heart rebelled on
+the moment.
+
+"I shan't give them to you, Mr. Crabtree.  You have no right to
+place me here.  I wish to see the proprietor, Captain Putnam, at
+once."
+
+"Do you--er--refuse to recognize my authority over you?" cried
+Josiah Crabtree passionately.
+
+"I do, sir.  When I have met Captain Putnam and been enrolled as a
+cadet it may be different.  But at present I am not a cadet and
+not under your authority."
+
+"We'll see, boy, we'll see!" came hotly from the head assistant.
+"Before I am done with you, you will be sorry that you have defied
+me!"
+
+And with these words he went out, slamming the door after him.
+Tom had made an enemy at the very start of his career as a cadet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+A MEETING IN THE MESSROOM
+
+
+In the meantime Dick, Sam, and Fred had been having quite a
+different experience.  George Strong, the second assistant at
+Putnam: Hall, was not only a first-class teacher, but a calm and
+fair-minded gentleman as well; and in addition, and this was
+highly important, he was not so old but that he could remember
+perfectly well when he had been a boy himself.
+
+"Come this way, my lads," he said with a faint smile.  "I trust
+you will soon feel at home in Putnam Hall.  It is Captain Putnam's
+desire to have all of his boys, as he calls them, feel that way."
+
+"What will Mr. Crabtree do with my brother?" asked Dick anxiously.
+
+"I cannot say, Rover.  Probably he will place him in the guardroom
+until Captain Putnam arrives."
+
+"I am sure he didn't do much that was wrong."
+
+"We had better not discuss that question, my boy.  Come this way;
+I will conduct you to your room."
+
+"George Strong showed them into the main hallway and up the stairs
+to the second story.  Passing through a side hall, they entered a
+large, bright dormitory overlooking the parade- and the
+playground.  Here were eight beds, four on either side, with as
+many chairs, and also a table and two washbowls, with running
+water supplied from a tower on the roof, the water being pumped up
+by the aid of a windmill.
+
+"This room has not been occupied this year," said the teacher.
+"Captain Putnam and Mrs. Green, our housekeeper, thought it might
+be as well to put you in here together, along with Lawrence Colby
+and Frank Harrington, when they come.  I believe you are all
+friends, at least Harrington and Colby intimated as much in their
+letters."
+
+"They told the truth," cried Sam.  "This just suits me, and we owe
+Captain Putnam and Mrs. Green one for doing it."
+
+George Strong smiled.  Then the smile faded as he remembered how
+Josiah Crabtree once told Captain Putnam that he did not believe
+in letting chums room together.  "Place each boy among strangers,"
+Crabtree had said.  "It will make him more reliant."  But Captain
+Putnam had not listened to the crabbed old fellow, and Strong was
+glad of it.
+
+"Here is a closet, in which each of you can stow his clothing when
+it is dealt out to him.  Your ordinary suits will, of course, be
+placed away for you, for during the academy term, you will as
+cadets wear only your uniforms."
+
+"When will I get my uniform?" asked Fred, who was anxious to don
+his "soldier fixings," as he put it.
+
+"Tomorrow, if we have any suit on hand that fits."
+
+"I don't want a second-handed suit," put in Sam.
+
+George Strong laughed. "Don't worry, my boy; every pupil gets new
+clothing.  But, many boys are so nearly of a size that Captain
+Putnam always keeps a dozen or more suits on hand."
+
+"Oh, that's different."
+
+"The beds are all numbered, and to avoid disputes we always put
+the eldest boy in bed No. 1, and so on.  You can arrange this
+between yourselves, and I feel certain you won't get into a dispute."
+
+"We won't quarrel," said Dick.  "I don't how exactly how old Frank
+and Larry are, though."
+
+"Then arrange to suit yourselves until they come," concluded Mr.
+Strong.
+
+Having shown then their dormitory he conducted them through the
+building and exhibited the various class- and drill-rooms, and
+then ended up by introducing them to several other pupils,
+including Bart Conners, the major for the term, and Harry Blossom
+and Dave Kearney, the two captains.
+
+"Welcome to Putnam Hall!" cried Major Bart Conners, a tall youth
+of nearly seventeen.  He shook hands all around, and so did the
+two captains; and then the assistant teacher left the party.
+
+"Oh, it was a shame the way Crabtree treated your brother!" said
+Captain Harry to Dick.  "It's a wonder to me that Captain Putnam
+keeps him here."
+
+"I was in for getting up a petition to have Crabtree removed," put in
+Captain Dave. "I think every boy in the academy would sign it."
+
+"I hope Captain Putnam is not so severe," said Fred.
+
+"Not by a jugful, Garrison," came from Captain Harry.  "He's
+strict, and makes everybody toe the mark, but you couldn't find a
+better all-around man."
+
+"Then he'll suit me."
+
+It was now quite late, and presently a loud, clear bell rang out
+in the belfry.
+
+"Six o'clock," said Captain Dave Kearney.  "That is to bring in
+the boys from the playground.  They have fifteen minutes in which
+to wash up for supper.  Excuse me, I'll be needed in ten minutes
+to form my company,"  and soon the newcomers found themselves
+alone with several others who had just arrived at Putnam Hall.
+
+The cadets were rushing from everywhere to the lavatories, to make
+themselves presentable on parade.  Soon they began to form on the
+grounds before the building.  Dick and the others saw them divide
+up into two companies, with Harry Blossom at the head of the first
+and Dave Kearney leading the second.  The two companies, called a
+battalion, were commanded by Major Bart.  In addition to the
+officers, there were two drummers, a bass-drummer, and two fifers.
+
+"Companies, attention!" came the command, and the lines became
+rigid.  "By column of fours--march!"  The drums struck up, and
+away went the columns of each company, to the front of the parade
+ground.  Then they wheeled to the right, the fifers started up a
+lively air, and the cadets marched around the hall three times,
+and at last into the door nearest to the mess-hall or dining room.
+
+"By Jinks, that's fine!" cried Sam.  "Cadet life will suit me, I'm
+sure of it."
+
+The cadets had hardly disappeared before one of the waiters in the
+mess-hall came forward.  "Please come right in, gents," he said.
+"Mr. Strong will give you places at the tables." And they went
+and soon found themselves seated among as jolly a set of boys as
+they had ever encountered.
+
+Of course there were exceptions; where would there not be in a
+crowd of nearly a hundred?  There were pupils there who were
+morose by nature, those who seldom or never smiled, and there were
+likewise half a dozen of the Dan Baxter order--bullies and
+worse.  We shall see more of all these characters as our tale
+progresses.
+
+"I wonder if Tom is going to get any supper?" said Dick to his
+younger brother.
+
+"If they don't give him any, I'll raise a kick, Dick."
+
+"So will I."
+
+"Silence at the table!" came in the sharp tones of Josiah
+Crabtree, who presided over the particular board at which the
+Rovers had been placed.
+
+"I was only wondering if my brother was going to get any supper,"
+returned Sam boldly.
+
+"Silence!  I will take care of that."
+
+In the midst of the meal a newcomer appeared at the doorway to the
+messroom.  It was Dan Baxter.
+
+"Well, Baxter, how is this?" asked Mr. Strong, the teacher nearest
+to him.
+
+"I--I was carried to Bar Landing," answered the bully sheepishly.
+
+"Bar Landing?  Then you were on the afternoon boat from Ithaca?"
+
+"Yes, sir."
+
+"How did you come to be carried past Cedarville?"
+
+"I--er--fell asleep on the trip."
+
+"Indeed!  Well, when next you travel you had better try to keep
+awake," was George Strong's comment, and a titter passed along the
+table, which made Dan Baxter very angry.
+
+"Sit down here. Alexander, help Baxter to some supper."
+
+"Yes, sah," came from the waiter; and no more was said.  Presently
+Baxter caught sight of Dick at the table opposite, and he looked
+daggers at the youth.  "He's got it in for me," thought Dick; and
+he was right.
+
+The supper at an end, the pupils were allowed two hours to
+themselves--one hour outdoors if they wished it, or both hours
+in the reading room, which was well supplied with books and all of
+the best magazines.  The newcomers went out in a bunch, and
+Captain Harry Blossom accompanied them.
+
+"I'll show you the gymnasium, if you wish to see it," he said.
+
+"I would like to know something about Tom," replied Dick.  "Where
+have they placed him?"
+
+"Undoubtedly in the guardroom."
+
+"Where is that?"
+
+"Do you see that window over there?" and Captain Harry pointed
+with his hand.
+
+"Yes," came from Dick and Sam together.
+
+"Well, that's the window to the place."
+
+"I wonder if I can't talk to my brother?" went on Dick.
+
+"It's against the rules to talk to a prisoner."
+
+"Well, I'm going to talk anyway," said Dick with a recklessness
+which was unusual to him.  "I want to find out just what they are
+doing with him."
+
+"I guess I had best leave this crowd," remarked the young captain
+of Company A.
+
+Dick was about to ask why, when Sam nudged him on the arm.  "Let
+him go," whispered the younger brother.
+
+In a moment more Captain Harry had walked away.
+
+"Don't you see what he meant?" asked Sam aloud.
+
+"Well hardly."
+
+"Then you are losing some of your wit, Dick.  He didn't want to
+see us break the rules.  I suppose if he had seen us he would have
+felt it was his duty to report us."
+
+"That's so, Sam.  How thick I was!  Well, I'm going over to the
+window now."
+
+"So am I."
+
+"And I'll go too," added Fred.
+
+Off the three hurried across the parade ground, the other new
+cadets watching them curiously, for all had heard of what Tom had
+done and how Josiah Crabtree had treated him.
+
+The window of the guardroom was but five feet from the ground.  In
+front of it, however, was an iron fence, placed in the form of a
+semicircle, at a distance of about ten feet from the opening.  The
+fence was higher than Dick's head, and the iron pickets were
+sharp-pointed.
+
+"The window to the room is shut," announced the elder Rover, after
+an inspection in the semi-darkness.  "It's a shame, in this warm
+weather.  Poor Tom will be half smothered to death!"
+
+"Wait till I attract his attention," said Sam.  Catching up a clod
+of grass and dirt he threw it against one of the window panes.
+
+A minute of suspense followed, but no face appeared at the window.
+
+"That's queer," said Fred.  "It seems to me he would show himself
+if he was there."
+
+"Perhaps he, can't," said Sam.  "He may be chained up in the other
+end of the room."
+
+"I'm going to make sure," said Dick determinedly.  "Sam and Fred,
+both of you give me a boost up."
+
+"But how will you get back?"
+
+"You can give me another boost through the pickets."
+
+"Hurrah! so we can!" cried Sam.  "All right; up you go!"
+
+And up Dick did go, so rapidly that he almost fell over the top of
+the iron barrier.
+
+"Now, who has a match?" he asked.
+
+"Here you are," said Fred, and passed over several.
+
+Stepping to the window, Dick tapped upon it, and at the same time
+struck a light, for the room within was pitch-dark.  The next
+instant he muttered a cry of disgust.  "Sold!"
+
+"What's that?" came from Sam and Fred.
+
+"The room is empty."
+
+"Then there must be some mistake," said Fred.  "Can you see all
+over inside?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Sure Tom isn't asleep in a corner or on a couch--if there is
+one?" put in Sam.  "He would go to sleep if he could."
+
+"He isn't here--no doubt of it," answered Dick, after striking a
+second match and making another inspection. "Oh!"
+
+Dick blew out the match in a hurry and started back for the fence.
+He had seen the door of the guardroom open and Josiah Crabtree
+come in.
+
+The head assistant of Putnam Hall saw the light of the match and
+by it obtained a good view of Dick's face.
+
+"Ha! that youth has come here to assist his brother to escape!"
+was the conclusion he reached.  He darted for the window and threw
+it up.
+
+"Come back here, Master Rover!" he cried, as he saw Dick trying to
+mount the fence.
+
+"Don't you go!" whispered Sam, and tried to assist Dick from the
+other side, while Fred did the same.
+
+Josiah Crabtree would have leaped from the window, but the bars
+held him back.
+
+"I'll get you yet!" he ejaculated wrathfully, and, turning, ran
+from the guardroom, with the intention of capturing Dick on the
+parade ground.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+A STRANGE MEETING IN THE WOODS.
+
+
+To go back to Tom, at the time he was left alone by the head
+assistant of Putnam Hall, after refusing to give up the keys to
+his satchel and trunk.
+
+"I've put my foot into it now," thought the boy dismally.  "I
+wonder what Captain Putnam will say to all this when he hears of
+it?  Of course old Crabtree will make out the worst possible case
+against me."
+
+It was too dark to see much, and he dropped on the couch.  He was
+worried a good deal, yet he was not one to take anything too
+deeply to heart.
+
+Before long a waiter appeared with a tray containing a big bowl of
+bread and milk.  Had Josiah Crabtree had his own way, he would
+have sent only bread and water for the lad's supper, but such a
+proceeding would have been contrary to Captain Putnam's rule.  The
+kind captain realized that his pupils were but boys and should not
+be treated as real prisoners, even when they did break the academy
+rules.
+
+"Heah is yo' suppah, sah!" announced Alexander, the waiter, as he
+set the tray on the table.  "Sorry I can't leave the light, sah."
+He referred to a lamp, also, on the tray, which he now removed.
+
+"What have you got?" asked Tom, sitting up.
+
+"Bowl of bread and milk, sah."
+
+"Is that what they give visitors for supper?"
+
+"Gracious, sah, is yo' a visitah, sah?"
+
+"I consider myself as such until I am placed on the muster roll."
+
+At this Alexander scratched his woolly head.  "Well, sah, I don't
+know nuffin about dat, sah.  I has to obey Mr. Crabtree's oahdahs,
+sah."
+
+"Has Captain Putnam come back yet?"
+
+"No, sah, an' he sent word dat he didn't think he could git back,
+sah, before morning, sah."
+
+"Humph!  Then I'll have to stay here until that time."
+
+"I reckon so, sah."
+
+"It's a jolly shame."
+
+"Dat's right, sah," and Alexander grinned.
+
+"Well, leave the bread and milk.  It's better than nothing.  But
+hold on.  Who are you?"
+
+"Alexander Pop, sah, at yo' service, sah," and again the colored
+man grinned.  He was a short, fat fellow, the very embodiment of
+good nature.
+
+"Well, Alexander, if you are at my service, supposing you get me
+something else to eat beside this bread and milk."
+
+"Oh, sah, I couldn't do dat."
+
+"Yes, you could.  Here is a quarter.  Don't you want to earn
+that?"  And Tom held out the silver piece.
+
+"Mr. Crabtree would hab me discharged if he cotched me, Master
+Rober."
+
+"Then don't let him catch you, Aleck, my boy."
+
+At this the negro laughed and showed his immense ivories.
+
+"Yo' is jest de boy I dun like to see, sah," he said.  "Jess wait
+an' I'll do wot I can fo! You but mum's de word, sah-eh?"
+
+"I never peach, Aleck; it's only a coward that does that,"
+concluded Tom.
+
+The negro disappeared from the room, but reappeared in less than
+ten minutes with something done up in a napkin.
+
+"Dare you am, sah," he said, "two tongue sandwiches and a big
+piece of layer cake, sah, all I could git, fo' Mrs. Green am werry
+sharp.  And here is a bit of candle, sah, for a light.  But please
+don't let 'em know I brought yo' de things, sah."
+
+"Never a word, Aleck, thank you," answered Tom, and handed over
+the quarter.
+
+Left again to himself, Tom lost no time in making way, not only
+with the sandwiches and cake, but also some of the bread and milk,
+for his day's traveling had left him tremendously hungry.  The bit
+of candle was less than two inches long, and began to splutter
+just as the meal was finished.
+
+A rattle at the door caused the lad to sweep the cake crumbs out
+of sight, blow out the candle, and pocket the tiny bit left.  Then
+the light of a lamp lit up the guardroom, and Josiah Crabtree came
+in.
+
+"Well, Rover, have you enjoyed your supper?" he asked coldly, as
+he glanced at the half empty bowl.
+
+"Very much," was the youth's equally cold reply.
+
+"You like bread and milk, then," was Crabtree's sarcastic
+rejoinder.
+
+"Nothing better, sir, for supper."
+
+The head assistant bit his lip, and then set down the lamp.
+
+"Rover, don't you think, you are making a bad beginning?" he said
+after a pause.
+
+"I don't understand you, Mr. Crabtree."
+
+"Any other boy on joining a school would wish to make his entrance
+as creditable as possible."
+
+"But I haven't joined this school yet."
+
+"I won't argue that point."
+
+"I wasn't even on your grounds, but in the public highway--and
+there shot off--what?  A simple firecracker.  And for that you
+hauled me to this place, and treat me like one who has broken half
+the laws of the land.  If Captain Putnam upholds you in this
+matter, do you know what I shall do?"
+
+"Make an additional fool of yourself, I presume."
+
+"I shall write home to my guardian that I do not consider Putnam
+Hall a proper boarding academy for any boy, and that I want to be
+put somewhere else."
+
+At these outspoken words Josiah Crabtree grew pale.  His great
+unpopularity was already having its effect upon Captain Putnam,
+and he was afraid that if he should be the means of losing a pupil
+it might cost him his place, as much as he knew that the captain
+did not favor changes in his staff of instructors.
+
+"Don't be unreasonable, my lad," he said, but his tone was much
+milder than before.
+
+"I don't think I am unreasonable."
+
+"The road is one belonging to this institution--in brief, a
+private road.  You became a pupil here when you entered our
+carriage, that, which brought you here."
+
+"Does everybody who rides in that carriage become a Putnam Hall
+pupil?" demanded Tom.
+
+He saw that he was worrying Crabtree, and resolved to keep it up.
+
+"Well--er--we won't argue that point."
+
+"Then supposing we don't argue anything until Captain Putnam comes
+back?  In the meantime if you will release me I'll go to
+Cedarville and put up at the hotel for the night."
+
+"I shall not release you."
+
+"All right, then.  But if my guardian takes me away, mark my
+words, you shall stand a personal lawsuit for having locked me up
+here without having any right to do so."
+
+"Why--er--this to me--me, the head assistant here?" screamed
+Josiah Crabtree.
+
+In his rage he ran over to Tom and caught him by the ear.
+
+He had scarcely done so than Tom put out one foot, gave the
+teacher a shove, and down went Crabtree flat on his back.
+
+"You villain!" gasped the head assistant, as he scrambled to his
+feet.
+
+"Don't you pinch my ear again," retorted Tom.
+
+The door was open, and before Crabtree could stop him he ran out
+into the hallway.
+
+"Hold on!"
+
+"Not much!"
+
+"It will be the worse for you!"
+
+"I'll risk that."
+
+"Stop him, somebody!" screamed Josiah Crabtree at the top of his
+voice.
+
+Without waiting, Tom ran down the hallway.  He knew not where he
+was going, and, coming, to a door, slipped through.  He now found
+himself in the rear of the Hall and a few seconds later ran across
+the back garden and dove into the farm lands.
+
+"Free once more," he thought.  "And I shan't go back until I am
+certain Captain Putnam is on hand to receive me.  I wonder how
+Dick and Sam are faring?"
+
+Thinking that his brothers would soon learn of his escape, and not
+wishing to be caught, he hurried on until the farm lands were
+passed and he found himself in a woods.
+
+"I'll sweep around in a circle and make for that road leading to
+Cedarville," he concluded, and trudged on rapidly, for the woods
+were dark and lonely and not particularly to his liking.
+
+Tom had covered the best part of half a mile: when he saw a light
+ahead.  At first he thought it must shine from the window of some
+farmhouse, but soon made it out to be from a campfire, situated in
+something of a hollow and not far from a spring.
+
+"Hullo!  Tramps or charcoal burners," he thought.  "I wonder if
+they would be friendly?"
+
+He slackened his pace and approached cautiously until within ten
+yards of where two men sat in earnest conversation.  One man was
+tall and thin and had a scar on his chin.  The other fellow was
+the thief who had robbed Dick of his watch.
+At first Tom was not inclined to believe the evidence of his
+eyesight.
+
+"Perhaps I'm mistaken," he mused.
+
+He resolved to draw nearer and hear if possible what the two men
+were saying.
+
+A clump of bushes grew close to the spring before mentioned, and
+he crawled up behind this, thus getting within fifteen feet of the
+campfire.
+
+"You are certain you saw the boys, Buddy?" he heard the tall man
+with the scar say.
+
+"I'm as sure of it as I'm sure your name is Arnold Baxt--"
+
+"Hush, Buddy, how many times must I tell you that I want that name
+dropped, especially around here?"
+
+"There ain't anybody around here to hear us!"
+
+"Well, I don't want the name mentioned.  I call you Buddy.  You
+must call me Nolly."
+
+"All right, Nolly."
+
+ "Now, you are dead sure you saw the boys on their way to Putnam
+Hall?"
+
+"I am."
+
+"How much have you drank today?"
+
+"Only two glasses, this morning.  Oh, it was them," went on Buddy,
+with a total disregard for grammar.
+
+The tall man muttered something under his breath.
+
+"It's too bad," he said aloud.
+
+"What's too bad?"
+
+"That they are going to Putnam Hall.  Still, I don't know as it
+will amount to anything.  But I reckon you had best get out of the
+neighborhood."
+
+"I'm going to get out."
+
+"What brought you here?"
+
+"I wanted to see you again, as I said before."
+
+"About what?"
+
+"That mining deal."
+
+"I can't do anything at present."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"There are some papers missing, Buddy.  As soon as I get those
+I'll be in a condition to go ahead.  You know, I've got to move
+slowly."
+
+"Well, what brought you here?"
+
+"That is my business."
+
+"Every few months or so you come up to Cedarville, Baxt---- Nolly,
+and on a secret mission."
+
+"Well, who has a better right?  Come, let us talk about something
+else.  If you--  Hullo, what's that?"
+
+Both men leaped to their feet as a sound from the bushes back of
+the spring reached their ears.
+
+Tom had been lying as quiet as a mouse when a pinching-bug, as
+they are commonly called, had dropped from one of the bushes onto
+his neck.
+
+The bug was as big as a walnut shell, and had fine nippers, and
+when he took hold of the skin Tom could not help but make a slight
+noise as he tried to throw the bug off.
+
+Before the boy could arise to his feet the two men were rushing
+upon him, Buddy with a stick and the tall man with something which
+he had drawn from his pocket. It was a sand-bag, a favorite weapon
+used in our large cities by footpads.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+SETTLING DOWN AT THE HALL
+
+
+"It's a boy!" cried the tall, slim man.
+
+"One of the boys!" came from the tramp known as Buddy.
+
+"You don't say!"  The tall man turned to Tom.  "How did you get
+here?"
+
+"Walked," answered Tom as calmly as he could, although this is not
+saying much, for he realized that the pair before him were
+desperate characters and that he was no match for them.
+
+"Have you been spying on us?" demanded the fellow called Nolly.
+
+"I've been spying on this man," answered Tom, pointing to the
+other fellow.  "He stole my brother's watch.  What have you done
+with it?"
+
+"Never stole a watch in me life!" returned Buddy quickly.
+
+"I say you did, and it will do no good to deny it."
+
+"If you say I stole any watch I'll--I'll knock yer down," cried
+Buddy fiercely.
+
+And he rushed at Tom and aimed a blow at the boy's head with his
+stick.
+
+Nolly also ran forward with his sand-bag; and seeing this, Tom
+leaped back, and was soon making tracks as fast as his legs could
+carry him.
+
+The two men did not pursue him far.  Instead, they turned and ran
+in the opposite direction.
+
+Tom hurried on until he came within sight of a large farmhouse.
+Reaching the front door, he used the brass knocker vigorously.
+
+Soon an upper window was raised, and the head of a middle-aged man
+was thrust out.
+
+"Who is there?" he demanded.
+
+"I want help, sir," answered Tom.  "I am a pupil at Putnam Hall,
+and I have just spotted a fellow in this neighborhood who robbed
+my brother of a gold watch."
+
+"Is that so!"
+
+"Oh, papa, is it one of the boys Grace and I were telling you
+about?" came in the voice of Nellie Laning.  "Aren't you Tom
+Rover?"
+
+"Yes.  This must be Mr. Laning."
+
+"Yes, my boy, I am John Laning," answered the farmer.  "I will be
+down in a moment.  We are in the habit of retiring early."
+
+In a few minutes Tom was let into the house, and he told his story
+to John Laning, his wife, and the two girls, all of whom listened
+with interest.
+
+Then a hired man was aroused, and the two men and the boy hurried
+to where the campfire had been located.
+
+But, as stated before, Buddy and Nolly had made good use of their
+time, and no trace of them was to be found.
+
+"They have skipped out," said Mr. Laning.
+
+"To look for them will be worse than looking for spiders in a corn
+stack.  I suppose you'll be getting back to Putnam Hall now?"
+
+"If it is all the same, I would like to engage a room at your
+farmhouse for the night," answered Tom, and told his tale.
+
+At the mention of Josiah Crabtree's name John Laning's face grew
+dark.
+
+"I don't wonder you had a row with that man," he said.  "I know
+him only too well.  You can stay at my house if you will, and it
+shall not cost you a cent."
+
+"Hullo, here is luck!" thought Tom, and thanked the farmer for his
+offer.
+
+When they got back to the farmhouse Tom's story had to be told to
+Grace and Nellie, while Mr. Laning went off to prepare a room for
+the youth.
+
+"Oh, Josiah Crabtree!" cried Nelly.  "Why, don't you know he is
+trying to court our Aunt Lucy?"
+
+"Your Aunt Lucy?  Who is she?"
+
+"Dora Stanhope's mother.  Dora's father is dead, you know."
+
+"Great Caesar!" burst from Tom; "I hope Dora never gets him for a
+stepfather!"
+
+"So do all of us, Tom; but I'm afraid he has made quite an
+impression on Aunt Lucy.  She is rich; and my own idea is that
+Josiah Crabtree is after her money."
+
+"He's none too good for it," was Tom's blunt comment.
+
+The girls and the lad chatted together for half an hour, and then
+all retired for the balance of the night.
+
+"They're awfully sweet," thought the boy, "these two, and Dora
+too."
+
+He slept soundly, and did not arise until after seven.  On coming
+below he found a hot breakfast awaiting him, to which it is
+perhaps needless to state he did full justice.
+
+While he was talking to the girls, and finishing up at the same
+time, Mr. Laning came in.
+
+"Thought I would tell you that Captain Putnam just drove down the
+Hall road on his way to the school," he announced.
+
+"Then I'll get back at once," said Tom, and bade the various
+members of the family good-by.  "Hope we meet again soon," he
+whispered to the girls, and this made both blush.
+
+Mr. Laning would have driven the lad to the academy, but Tom
+declined the offer and set off on foot.  It did not take him long
+to cover the distance, and he entered the grounds as unconcernedly
+as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
+
+"Hullo!" cried several cadets as they noticed him.  "Where did you
+come from?  Mr. Crabtree has been looking all over for you."
+
+"I don't wish to see him.  I wish to see Captain Putnam?  Where is
+he?"
+
+"Gracious, but you're a cool one!" remarked one of the cadets.
+"The captain is in his office, I think."
+
+"Will you please show me to the place?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+The office was a finely furnished apartment just off the main
+classroom.  Tom knocked on the door.
+
+"Come in," said a cheery voice, and the boy calmly entered to find
+himself confronted not only by Captain Putnam, but likewise by
+Josiah Crabtree.
+
+"Ah!  Here is the young reprobate now!" cried Crabtree, as rushing
+up, he grasped Tom by the arm.
+
+"You will kindly let go of my arm, Mr. Crabtree," said Tom
+steadily.
+
+"You shan't run away again!"
+
+"That's true--now Captain Putnam is here."
+
+"So this is Thomas Rover," said Captain Victor Putnam, with
+something like a twinkle in his clear eyes.  "Rover, I have heard
+a rather serious report about you and your brother Richard."
+
+"What kind of a report, if I may ask, sir?"
+
+"Mr. Crabtree says you have been impudent to him, and that when he
+locked you in the guardroom for breaking the rules you attacked
+him and knocked him down."
+
+"He attacked me first.  If anybody attacked you, wouldn't you be
+apt to knock him down if you could?"
+
+"That would depend upon, circumstances, Rover.  If a man attacked
+me on the street I would certainly endeavor to defend myself to
+the best of my ability.  But you must remember that you are a
+pupil here, and Mr. Crabtree is one of your masters, appointed by
+me."
+
+"I am not a pupil yet, sir--although I hope to be very soon."
+
+"Why, what do you mean?" demanded Victor Putnam, and now his voice
+grew stern.  Many a boy would have flinched, but Tom had
+determined to say just what he thought of Crabtree, and he stood
+his ground.
+
+"I mean just this, Captain Putnam.  I came to Putnam Hall with the
+best intention in the world of doing my duty as a pupil and
+becoming a credit to your institution.  I hadn't a thought of
+breaking a rule or being impudent.  Before I entered your grounds
+I thought of a big fire cracker I had in my pocket, and just for
+the fun of the thing set the cracker off, as a sort of farewell to
+the outdoor life so soon to be left behind."
+
+"Captain Putnam, are you going to listen to such tomfoolery?"
+interrupted Josiah Crabtree.
+
+"I believe I have a right to tell my story," answered Tom.
+"Unless that right is granted, I shall leave the Hall, go back to
+my guardian, and tell him that I refuse to become a pupil here."
+
+"You are a pupil already," snarled Crabtree.
+
+"I am not--and that is just the point I am trying to make," went
+on Tom to the owner of Putnam Hall.  "As soon as the firecracker
+went off, this man rushed up  and demanded an explanation.  He was
+going to lock up my brother first, but I said I had fired the
+cracker, and so he compelled me to go to the guardroom with him.
+I was locked in and treated to bread and milk for supper, and he
+wanted to steal the keys of my trunk and valise from me."
+
+"Steal!" ejaculated Josiah Crabtree.
+
+"That is what it amounted to, for the keys, and boxes are my
+property."
+
+"Mr. Crabtree merely wanted to see that your baggage contained
+nothing improper," put in Captain Putnam.  "There are certain
+things we do not allow boys to bring into the institution."
+
+"Then he had a right to keep my baggage out until I was properly
+enrolled as a pupil.  I did not bring in the trunk and bag
+myself."
+
+At this Captain Putnam began to smile.
+
+"I see the point you are trying to make, Rover.  You are trying to
+prove that you were placed under arrest, so to speak, before you
+were under our authority here."
+
+"Exactly.  I will leave it to you, Captain Putnam, if I was really
+a pupil when Mr. Crabtree hauled me off to the guardroom."
+
+At this plain question the face of the owner of the Hall became a
+study.
+
+"You make a very fine distinction, Rover," he answered slowly.
+
+"Perhaps so, sir; and I do it because I want to begin right here.
+If I am to be handicapped at the start of my career, what is the
+use of my trying to make a record for myself?" and Tom looked the
+master of Putnam Hall full in the face.
+
+Without a word Captain Putnam held out his hand.  "Thomas, you
+have considerable spirit, but I think your heart is in the right
+place, and I am willing to try you.  Supposing you enroll as a
+pupil now, and we let bygones be bygones?"
+
+"With all my heart, sir!" cried Tom, glad to have the whole affair
+settled so easily.
+
+"Why, are you going to let the--the young rascal go?" demanded
+Josiah Crabtree, in amazement.
+
+"I'm not a rascal, Mr. Crabtree."
+
+"Yes, you are!"
+
+"Mr. Crabtree, I have decided to drop the matter," put in Captain
+Putnam, in a tone which admitted of no dispute, and the head
+assistant fell back abashed.  "Rover says he wishes to make a
+record for himself, and I am inclined to help him.  He starts his
+term free and clear of all charges against him--and his brother
+whom you have locked up shall do likewise.  Kindly call Mr.
+Strong."
+
+"It is a--a most unusual proceeding," growled the head
+assistant.
+
+"Perhaps, but we will talk that matter over at another time."
+
+Josiah Crabtree went out; and in a minute George Strong appeared,
+and Tom was turned over to him, to sign the roll of the academy
+and to join Sam, Fred, and the others in the class room over which
+Mr. Strong presided.
+
+"Hullo, you're back," whispered Sam, but no more could be said
+until recess, when Tom told his story in detail.  In the meantime
+Dick was released.
+
+"So you met the fellow who stole my watch!" cried the elder
+brother.  "I wish you had got the timepiece."
+
+"So do I, Dick."
+
+Dick had been captured by Josiah Crabtree just as he was vaulting
+the iron fence around the guardroom window.  The head assistant
+had locked him up in the apartment Tom had occupied, and there
+Dick had remained all night.
+
+"Oh, Crabtree is a terror!" said Dick later on.  "I hope Dora
+Stanhope's mother never marries him."
+
+"I'll wager neither of you have heard the last of Crabtree, even
+if we are not in his classes," remarked Sam.  "He will watch for a
+chance to get even, mark my words."
+
+"I don't doubt it, Sam," answered Tom.  "But let him come on.  I
+intend to do my duty as a cadet, and I am not afraid of him."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+A ROW IN THE GYMNASIUM
+
+
+For several days matters moved along smoothly with the Rover boys.
+In that time their chums, Frank Harrington and Larry Colby,
+arrived, and these, with Fred, made up the "Metropolitan Sextet,"
+as they called themselves--the sole occupants of dormitory No.
+6.
+
+Next to this dormitory was apartment five, occupied by Dan Baxter,
+Mumps, and six others of the bully's cronies.  The two apartments
+were connected by a door, but this was nailed up.
+
+So far there had been no open rupture between Baxter and Dick, but
+there was trouble "in the air," and it was bound to reach a climax
+sooner or later.
+
+Fortunately for Dick and his brothers, Captain Putnam had cadet
+uniforms to fit them, and the three were now dressed in true
+military style.  The other boys had to wait until uniforms could
+be made for them.
+
+The first day at Putnam Hall was spent in assigning the newcomers
+to the various classes, according to their knowledge.  On the
+second day the three Rover boys were placed in the awkward squad,
+to learn the military drill.
+
+The squad was presided over by Corporal Mark King, a youth who was
+cut out to be a soldier, although his father was a sea captain.
+
+"Now then, line up!" he called out to the newcomers.  "All of you
+will please toe that crack in the floor; now turn out your toes
+like this, and put your shoulders back, hands with the palms to
+the front."
+
+His instructions were followed to the letter, for all were anxious
+to learn as fast as possible.
+
+"Now the first thing to remember is to say nothing, but obey orders
+promptly," exclaimed the corporal. "When an order is given the first
+part is a warning, while the conclusion is the time when that order
+must be executed. For, instance, I tell you 'Eyes right!' I say
+'Eyes,' and you get ready to move your eyes; I add 'Right,' and you
+instantly turn them to the right, and keep them there. Now we'll try.
+Eyes--right! Great smoke! number four, you turned them to the left! Now
+again: Eyes--right! Good! Eyes--front! That's first-class. Now:
+Eyes--left! Eyes--front! That couldn't be better."
+
+And so it went on for an hour, during which the boys learned not
+alone how to use their eyes, but also to "left face," "right
+face," "front face," and "about face"--that is, to turn directly
+to the rear.  Then they learned how to
+mark time "with their feet, starting with the left foot."
+
+"Tomorrow you shall learn how to march," said Corporal King when
+the drilling was over.  "And then each of you will get a gun and
+go through the manual of arms."
+
+"Will we learn how to shoot?" asked Tom.  "I can shoot a little
+already."
+
+"We have target practice once a month, and during the annual
+encampment," concluded the corporal.
+
+"I wish that encampment was already at hand!" sighed Sam.  He
+imagined that life under a tent would just suit him.
+
+As soon as the boys "got the run" of the institution they began to
+feel at home.  They made friends rapidly, especially when it
+became known that Sam was a fine runner and Tom a capital baseball
+player.  There were several baseball teams in the school, and they
+frequently played matches on Saturday afternoons.
+
+The gymnasium pleased Dick as much as it did his younger brothers,
+and nearly every day, he spent a quarter of an hour or more in the
+building, using one apparatus or another, for the building was
+fitted up with rings, parallel bars, wooden horses, pulling
+machines, and other paraphernalia of athletic usage.
+
+One afternoon Dick had just begun to use a set of parallel bars
+when Dan Baxter sauntered in, accompanied by Mumps and two other
+cronies.
+
+There were very few cadets in the building at the time, and Baxter
+came directly to Dick.
+
+"I guess we can settle that little affair now," muttered the
+bully, and slapped Dick on the cheek.  "That for interfering with
+my doing on the boat."
+
+Being on the bars, Dick could not ward off the blow, but he
+immediately sprang down, and with flushed cheeks leaped in front
+of Baxter.
+
+"You seem very anxious to fight," he said in a low, steady voice.
+"You can, therefore, take that for a starter!"  And hauling off
+with his right fist, he struck Dan Baxter fairly and squarely upon
+the nose, causing the blood to spurt and sending the bully to the
+floor like a shot.
+
+If ever there was an individual taken by surprise it was the bully
+of Putnam Hall.  He had not anticipated such a sudden and
+determined resistance, and for several seconds he lay still, too
+dazed to move.  In the meantime his friends sprang forward, but
+Dick waved them off.
+
+"My fight is with Baxter," he said.  "I want you to keep your
+hands out of it."
+
+"You hit him when he wasn't prepared," blustered Mumps.
+
+"And he hit me when I was not prepared.  Stand back!"
+
+And Dick made such a show of being ready to attack Mumps that the
+toady fell back in great alarm.
+
+In the meanwhile Dan Baxter arose, and tried to stop the flow of
+blood with his handkerchief.  "I'll get even with you, Rover!" he
+growled behind the stained cloth.
+
+"At any time you please, Baxter," returned Dick.  "But don't you
+take me off my guard again, or I'll have no mercy on you."
+
+"Do you dare to meet me in a fair, standing up fight?" demanded
+the bully.
+
+"I certainly do."
+
+"All right, then.  Next Saturday afternoon at three."
+
+Dick bowed.  "Where?" he questioned.
+
+"In the patch of woods behind the cornfield."
+
+"All right."
+
+"Mums is the word, fellows," said Baxter to his cronies.  "You
+will keep this to yourself, Rover, won't you?"
+
+"How many do you expect to bring to the fight?"
+
+"Only the four fellows who are here."
+
+"Very well; I will bring a like number."
+
+"Want to tell everybody, don't you?"
+
+"No, but I think I am entitled to fair play; and that means that I
+must have as many friends there as you have."
+
+"All right," grumbled Baxter, but he evidently did not like the
+arrangement.  A moment later he hurried off, to do what he could
+to prevent his nose from swelling.
+
+Dick told only his brothers and his chums of what had occurred,
+but the news leaked out that a fight was on, and Saturday
+afternoon found at least twenty cadets in the secret and on their
+way to witness the "mill," as those who had read something about
+prize-fighting were wont to call the contest.
+
+Now, lest my readers obtain a false impression of my views on this
+subject, let me state plainly that I do not believe in fights,
+between boys or otherwise. They are brutal, far from manly, and
+add nothing to the strength of one's character.  It is well enough
+to know how to defend one's self when occasion requires, but such
+occasions occur but rarely.
+
+But I have set out to relate the adventures of the Rover boys, in
+school and out, and on land and sea, and I feel I must be truthful
+and tell everything just as it happened, not only in this volume,
+but in all those which are to follow; and, consequently, I shall
+tell of the fight as the particulars were related to me by Sam
+Rover, Fred Garrison and others--details which I am certain are
+correct.
+
+The spot was a sheltered one, and on the edge of the woods two
+spies were posted, to warn the contestants should Josiah Crabtree
+or any of the other teachers appear, for fighting was against the
+rules of Putnam Hall, and neither Dick nor Baxter wanted to be
+caught.
+
+Both came to the spot promptly, and, without preliminary talking,
+took off their coats, collars, ties, and caps.  A ring was formed,
+and Dick stepped forward and faced Baxter.
+
+The bully was several inches taller than his opponent and at least
+fifteen pounds heavier.  His nose was a bit swollen, and there was
+a sneer upon his coarse face.
+
+"Rover, if you wish to apologize to me you can do so, and save
+yourself a thrashing," he remarked.
+
+"I can take care of myself, Baxter.  Perhaps you would like me to
+make a similar proposition to you.  If so, let me say it is too
+late; I came here to give you a well-deserved thrashing, and I
+mean to stick to my determination."
+
+"Phew, but we talk big!" muttered Mumps.
+
+"You keep your oar out, Mumps," put in Tom. "If you don't I'll give
+you a hiding, just as soon as Dick is done with Dan."
+
+"Will you?  Maybe you'll be the one to catch it," muttered Mumps.
+Nevertheless, he said no more.
+
+"Are you ready?" asked the boy who acted as timekeeper.
+
+"I am," said Dick.
+
+"So am I," returned Baxter, and hurled himself at his opponent
+without a second's delay.
+
+He had expected to catch Dick napping, but he found himself
+mistaken.  A blow aimed at Dick's face was well parried, and in
+return Dick hit Baxter heavily on the shoulder.
+
+"Hurrah!  Score one for Dick!" cried Larry Colby.  "That's right,
+old man, keep at him."
+
+"Keep cool, Dan!" put in Mumps.  "You can polish him off at your
+leisure."
+
+The blow on the shoulder staggered Baxter, and he fell back, to
+become more cautious; and then the two boys began to circle around
+and around, each looking for a favorable "opening."  At last
+Baxter thought he saw what he wanted, and struck out again, and
+Dick was hit on the cheek.
+
+"That's the way, Baxter!" came the cry.
+
+"That was a teaser!  Give him another!"
+
+Again Baxter launched out, and now Dick was hit on the arm.  He
+slipped to one side, and struck out like lightning, and the bully
+caught it in the neck, something which, spun him around like a
+top.
+
+"Another for Dick!" cried Frank Harrington.  "Keep it up!"
+
+Again the two boys faced each other.  But only for an instant.
+With a savage cry Baxter sprang upon Dick as if to fairly tear him
+apart.  One blow landed upon Dick's arm and a second on his chest.
+
+"It's Baxter's fight!  Baxter is still king of this school!"
+
+"You might as well give it up, Rover; he's too many for you!"
+
+So the cries ran on, while the bully, encouraged by his success,
+renewed his efforts; and an additional blow sent Dick to the
+ground in a heap.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+FAIR AND FOUL FIGHTING
+
+
+As Dick went down, Tom and Sam uttered cries of chagrin and
+horror.  The eldest Rover had been struck on the chin, and the
+blood was flowing from a deep scratch.
+
+"Get up!  Get up, Dick!" cried Tom.  "Don't say you are beaten!"
+
+"Yes, yes; get up and go at him!" added Sam.
+
+The urging was unnecessary, as Dick was already scrambling up.
+Dan Baxter made a dash at him, intending to strike him while he
+was down, but a fierce look from Tom stopped him.
+
+"You'll fight fair, Baxter," were Tom's words.
+
+"Yes, he'll fight fair," repeated Dick, throwing back his head as
+if to collect himself.  "Fellow-students, Dan Baxter is not fit to
+be a pupil at this academy."
+
+"Why not?" came in a chorus.
+
+"He is not fighting me fairly."
+
+"What do you mean?" blustered Mumps.
+
+"Don't find fault because he knocked you down," added another of
+the bully's cronies.
+
+"I say he is not fighting fair," repeated Dick stoutly.  "He has
+something in each hand."
+
+At this unexpected announcement Dan Baxter started back and
+changed color.  Then of a sudden he placed both hands into his
+trouser pockets.
+
+"He is putting the things out of sight!" cried Tom, who saw
+through the bully's intentions.
+
+"Come, Baxter, show us what you had."
+
+"I didn't have anything," growled the bully.  "If you say I had
+I'll punch your head off.  This is only a ruse to, let Dick gain
+time to get his wind."
+
+"That's it!" cried Mumps.  "Go at him, Dan, and finish him!"
+
+"Baxter daren't turn out his pockets," said Sam, "Do it if you
+dare."
+
+"There is what I have in them," answered the bully, pulling a
+trunk key from one pocket and some small change from the other.
+"Perhaps you'll say I was fighting with these in my hands."
+
+"Turn the pockets, out!" demanded Dick.
+
+"Yes, turn 'em out!" added Fred, and a dozen others took up the
+cry.
+
+"I won't do it," growled Baxter, but it was plain to see that he
+was growing uneasy.  "I'm a gentleman, and I can whip Rover with
+ease, and do it fairly, too!"
+
+While he was speaking Larry Colby had come up behind him.  Ere
+Baxter could stop the movement, Larry pushed his hand into one of
+the bully's pockets and turned it out.  A jagged stone as big as a
+walnut dropped to the ground.
+
+"There, see that!" cried Larry.  "For shame, Baxter!"
+
+"I didn't have the stone--you placed it there!" blustered the
+so-styled king of the school.
+
+"Didn't you though?" said Fred Garrison, who had also come up
+behind Baxter, and he quickly hauled another stone from the other
+pocket.
+
+"That is how he scratched me," said Dick.  "I was sure he had
+something in his hand."
+
+"It's a put-up job!" howled Baxter, growing red in the face.  "If
+you want to continue the fight, come on!" and he squared off
+again.
+
+"That's the talk!" said Mumps.  "Let both show their hands!
+Perhaps Rover has some stones, too!"
+
+Both opened their palms, then doubled up their fists.  Baxter was
+the first to strike out.  But, as quick as lightning, Dick dodged
+the blow and landed vigorously upon the bully's chest.  Before
+Baxter could recover, Dick struck out again, and the bully caught
+it straight in the left eye.
+
+"Oh!" he yelled in pain, and put his hand up to the injured optic,
+which began to grow black rapidly.  Then he struck out wildly half
+a dozen times.  He was growing excited, while Dick was as calm as
+ever.  Watching his opportunity, Dick struck out with all his
+force, and Baxter received a crack on the nose which caused him to
+fall back into the arms of Mumps.  As that nose had been struck
+heavily in the gymnasium, it was decidedly tender, and Baxter
+roared with pain.
+
+"Have you had enough?" demanded Dick, coming up to him.
+
+Yes--Baxter had had more than enough; but he did not wish to
+acknowledge it.  He made a sign to Mumps previously agreed upon,
+and Mumps raised his cap as a signal to one of the spies set on
+guard.
+
+"Stop the fight!" cried the guard instantly.  "Somebody is
+coming!"
+
+"Nonsense--nobody is coming!" said the other spy, but Baxter
+would not listen to him.
+
+"I'm not going to be caught--I'll finish this some other time,"
+he said to Dick, and hurried away with Mumps and his other
+friends, leaving Dick the victor beyond question.
+
+"I knew you could do it!" cried Tom, as he fairly hugged his elder
+brother.
+
+"I'll wager he won't bother you again."
+
+"No, indeed!" put in Sam; and Fred and the others said the same.
+That was the first and last time that Dan Baxter fought any of the
+boys openly, but he was their bitter enemy in secret; we shall
+learn in this and other volumes.
+
+As soon as Baxter had retreated, Dick and his brothers hurried to
+a near-by brook, where the elder Rover took a wash, and tried by
+other means to remove the traces of the contest from his person.
+He had a slight swelling on the scratched chin, but that was all,
+and inside of an hour felt quite like himself once more.
+
+With Baxter it was very different, and the Sunday following he
+asked to be excused from attending church services in the Hall,
+saying he had fallen on some rocks and hurt his face.  On hearing
+this, Captain Putnam came to see him.
+
+"Sorry to hear this, Baxter," he said.  "Do you think you need a
+doctor?"
+
+"No, sir; I'll be all right in a few days."
+
+"Where did you fall?"
+
+"Down by the brook, while we were playing tag."
+
+"Indeed!  Well, you want to be more careful in the future," was
+Captain Putnam's advice, and then he left Baxter.  If he suspected
+anything he did not let on.  To a certain extent he believed in
+letting boys fight out their own battles.
+
+
+The Rover boys had come to Putnam Hall in the fall, and now summer
+sports were cast aside among the pupils, and football and hare and
+hounds became the rage.
+
+As we know, Sam was an excellent runner, and hare and hounds just
+suited him.
+
+"We must ask the captain to let us take a long trip next Saturday
+afternoon," he said; and the boys went to the owner of Putnam Hall
+in a body and obtained permission.
+
+It was decided that Sam and Fred should be the hares, while Larry
+Colby was to be leading hound.  As Frank Harrington had a trumpet
+he was made whipper-in.  Captain Putnam supplied the boys with a
+package of old copying books, and these were cut up into small
+bits and stuffed into two pillow cases loaned by Mrs. Green.
+
+The start was made on a clear but frosty afternoon.  The hares
+stood on the parade ground, with the hounds, to the number of
+thirty, behind them.  George Strong had consented to start them
+off.  The hares were to be given three minutes start of the little
+scholars and five minutes start of the big boys.
+
+"All ready?" asked the second assistant of Putnam Hall, as he took
+out his watch.
+
+"All ready," answered Sam and Fred.
+
+"Then go!"  And away went the two boys straight for the cornfield,
+dropping bits of paper as they sped along.  They leaped the fence
+in the rear, crossed the brook, and then started along a path
+leading through the woods beyond.
+
+"We mustn't dream of letting them catch us," remarked Sam, as he
+ran on, with Fred directly behind him.  "I wonder where this path
+leads to?"
+
+"The top of the mountain, so Mr. Strong told me.  He said there
+was another path coming down to the westward."
+
+On and on they went along the path until they came to a narrow
+mountain road.  Here they met a farmer carting a number of logs in
+his wagon, and stopped him to ask a few questions.
+
+"Yes, that road will take you right up to the top," he said.  "But
+you want to be careful and not make a wrong turn, or you may get
+lost."
+
+"I'm not afraid of being lost," said Fred with a light laugh; and
+on they sped again, as rapidly as ever, for Fred was as good a
+runner as Sam, and the pair worked very well together.
+
+At the top of the first rise of ground they came to a spot that
+was somewhat bare, and here they halted to look back.
+
+"There are the small fellows!" cried Sam, pointing with his
+finger.  "And the big ones are not far behind."
+
+"They are speeding along in good shape," was Fred's comment. "Come
+on, before they spot us!"  And they hurried up the next hill.
+Here they encountered a number of rocks, and were brought to a
+halt several times to determine which was the best path to pursue.
+
+"By jinks! the farmer was right--we are getting lost!" said Sam
+presently.
+
+"Where is the path?"
+
+"I think it is to the right."
+
+"And I think it is to the left."
+
+At this both lads looked at each other, then burst out laughing.
+
+"It can't be in both directions, Fred."
+
+"That's true, and I am sure I am right."
+
+"All right, we'll try it," and they did, but it was a good ten
+minutes before the path came into view again, and meanwhile the
+first of the hounds drew dangerously close.
+
+But the game was by no means over, as we shall see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+WHAT THE GAME OF HARE AND HOUND LED TO
+
+
+"What a glorious view!"
+
+It was Sam who uttered the words.  The top of the mountain had
+been reached at last, and the boys were feasting their eyes on the
+grand panorama spread on all sides.
+
+"How beautiful the lake looks!" said Fred.
+
+"And how far one can see!"
+
+"It's a pity we didn't bring a pair of glasses with us, Fred.
+But, say, I'm hungry."
+
+"So am I.  Let us eat that lunch at once and then start on the
+return."
+
+Each had brought a sandwich along, and these were soon consumed
+and washed down with a drink of cold water from a spring not far
+away.  Then on they went, over the top of the mountain, and along
+a path which they thought would bring them around its western
+base.  It was now four o'clock, leaving them two hours in which to
+get back to Putnam Hall.
+
+About a third of the distance down the mountain side had been
+covered, and Sam was slightly in advance, when suddenly he uttered
+a cry of alarm.
+
+"Look out, Fred!"
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"A snake!"
+
+"Where?"
+
+"Over yonder! And he is coming for us!"
+
+Sam was right; it was a snake--an angry looking reptile all of
+six feet long, and as thick as Sam's wrist.  It hissed savagely as
+it advanced, first upon Sam and then upon Fred.
+
+If there was one thing which could fill Fred Garrison full of
+terror it was a snake, and the yell he gave would have outmatched
+that of an Indian on the warpath.
+
+"Save me!" he screamed.  "Don't let him touch me!"
+"Jump back!" cried Sam, and leaped himself.  Then, seeing a tall
+rock handy, he sprang upon it, and here Fred joined him.
+
+Now, it happened that the snake had its home under the rock, and
+the movement of the lads made it more angry than ever.  With a
+fierce hiss it came for the rock and disappeared underneath, out
+of the range of their vision.
+
+"It's gone under the rock!" panted Fred.  He was so agitated he
+could scarcely speak.
+
+"I know it," returned Sam.  "I wonder if it means to crawl up
+here?"
+
+"Oh, don't say that, Sam. I--I--can't we hit it with
+something?"
+
+"I  haven't a thing but the bag of paper."
+
+"Neither have I.  Oh, what shall we do?"
+
+"Perhaps, we had better stay here until the others come up."
+
+"Do you think the snake will keep quiet that long?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know."
+
+Very much disturbed, the two boys peered over the edge of the
+rock.  They were not versed in the different species of reptiles,
+and knew not but that the one at hand might be poisonous.
+
+"I see his tail!" cried Fred with a shiver.
+
+"He is moving around as if getting ready to come out."
+
+"I wonder if I can grab him by the tail?" mused Sam.
+
+"Grab him?  Oh Sam!"
+
+"I've heard you can catch them by the tail, snap them, and make
+their heads fly right off."
+
+"Gracious, I wouldn't attempt it!"
+
+While Fred was speaking the tail of the snake came up on the side
+of the rock.  Setting his teeth, Sam bent down and made a reach
+for the slippery thing, and caught it tight.
+
+With a hiss the snake raised its head, its diamond-like eyes
+shining like twin stars.
+
+"You'll be poisoned!" shrieked Fred, when whack! Sam gave the
+body of the reptile a swing and brought the head down with great
+force on the edge of the rock.
+
+One blow was enough, for the head was mashed flat.  Then Sam threw
+the body into the bushes, there to quiver and twist for several
+hours to come, although life was extinct.
+
+Fred was as white as a sheet as he leaped to the ground.  "I
+couldn't have done that for a million dollars!" he declared.
+"What a splendid nerve you have, Sam."
+
+"My father told me how to catch a snake in that way," exclaimed
+Sam.  "But hurry, or the hounds will overtake us.  I can hear them
+coming."
+
+"Your father must have been equally brave, then," answered Fred,
+as they started off on, a run.  "By the way, have you heard
+anything of him yet?"
+
+"Not a word, Fred."
+
+"Don't it make you feel bad at times?"
+
+"Does it, Fred!  Why, some nights I can't go to sleep for thinking
+of where he may be--dead in the heart of Africa, or perhaps a
+captive of some savage tribe."
+
+"Have they ever hunted for him?"
+
+"Several have gone out, but no traces are to be had.  Dick, Tom,
+and I are in to hunt for him, though, as soon as our Uncle
+Randolph will permit it."
+
+"That's an idea.  But you may have to go right into the jungles
+for him."
+
+"I don't care if we have to go to the top of the North Pole, if
+only we find him," answered Sam with quiet determination.
+
+Inside of half an hour the bottom of the mountain was gained, and
+then they struck out along a road which presently took them within
+sight of the Stanhope homestead.
+
+"I wonder if we have time to call on Dora?" mused Fred.  "It would
+be a scheme to leave our paper trail right through their garden."
+
+"Glorious!" burst from Sam, caught by the idea.  "I am certain
+Dora Stanhope will appreciate the sport."
+
+It did not take them long to reach the garden around the
+farmhouse; and, running up the path, they ascended a side porch.
+
+As they did so two forms appeared around the house.  One was Mrs.
+Stanhope, wearing a shawl over her shoulders and a bonnet on her
+head, and the second was Josiah Crabtree!
+
+"Old Crabtree!" murmured Sam, and then of a sudden he pulled Fred
+out of sight behind some lattice-work inclosing one end of the
+porch.
+
+"We must hurry, my dear, or we may be too late," Josiah Crabtree
+was saying; and now the boys noted that he was conducting the lady
+toward a carriage standing by the horse block.
+
+"I--I--had we not better wait until next week, Josiah?"
+questioned Mrs. Stanhope timidly.  She was a pale, delicate woman
+of forty, of a shrinking nature, easily led by others.
+
+"No, my dear, there is no use in waiting."
+
+"But Dora--?"
+
+"You must not mind what your daughter says, my dear.  When we are
+married she will easily become reconciled to the change, mark my
+words."
+
+"Gracious, old Crabtree is going to marry her!" whispered Sam.
+"Poor Dora!"
+
+"She wants me to wait," continued the lady.
+
+"And you ought to wait, mother," came in Dora's voice; and now she
+too came into sight, but without a hat or wraps.
+
+"Mr. Crabtree wishes very much to have the ceremony performed this
+afternoon, Dora dear."
+
+"If he wants to marry you, why can't he do it openly--at home or
+in our church?"
+
+"He is averse to any display."
+
+"It seems to me it is a very sneaking way to do," answered Dora
+coldly.  "When you and papa were married the wedding was well
+attended, so I have been told."
+
+"Your father and myself are different persons, Miss Dora,"
+interrupted Josiah Crabtree stiffly.  "I prefer a quiet wedding,
+and no time is better than the present.  I shall at once resign my
+position at Putnam Hall and come to live here."
+
+Dora Stanhope's lip curled in scorn.  She saw through Josiah
+Crabtree's motives, even though her mother did not.
+
+"If you wish to marry my mother, why do you not make preparations
+to support her?" she said.
+
+"Dora!" cried Mrs. Stanhope pleadingly.
+
+"I mean what I say, mother.  He intends to marry you and then make
+you support him, out of the proceeds of this farm."
+
+"You are entirely mistaken," interrupted Josiah Crabtree.
+"Perhaps you do not know that I am worth, in bank stocks and in
+bonds, between twenty and thirty thousand dollars."
+
+"I would like to see the stocks and bonds," said the girl.
+
+"So would I," whispered Fred to Sam.  "I'll wager he isn't worth a
+thousand dollars all told although they say he is a good deal of a
+miser."
+
+"Dora, do not insult Mr. Crabtree.  If you wish to come along and
+see the ceremony performed, put on your things...."
+
+"I do not wish to go."
+
+"Very well, then; you had best return to the house."
+
+"It is a shame!" cried the girl, and burst into tears.
+
+"We will be back by seven o'clock," said Josiah Crabtree, and led
+the widow down the garden path to where the carriage was standing.
+
+"I wish I could stop this wedding," whispered Sam to his chum.
+
+"I am with you on that," returned Fred.
+
+"Creation, here come the hounds!  Just the thing!"
+
+He looked at Sam, and his chum, instantly understood.  Leaving the
+porch at a bound, they ran across the garden.
+
+"Hurrah! we have you!" yelled Larry Colby, as he rushed up,
+followed by Tom, Dick, and a dozen of the other big cadets.
+
+"Quick, this way!" cried Sam.  "Do you see that carriage?"
+
+"Of course we do," answered Tom.
+
+"It contains Mrs. Stanhope and old Crabtree.  They are going to
+drive off and get married against Dora Stanhope's wishes."
+
+"Phew!" came in a low whistle from the eldest of the Rover Boys.
+
+"We ought to stop this affair," went on Fred.
+
+"Old Crabby is going to get married!" came in a shout.  "Come on,
+let us go along!"
+
+And pell-mell went the boys after the carriage, which had just
+turned from the horse-block with the teacher and Mrs. Stanhope
+inside, and a farmhand named Borgy on the front seat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+JOSIAH CRABTREE IN DIFFICULTY
+
+
+Dora Stanhope had witnessed the approach of the boys, and now she
+came out into the garden again and confronted them.  She blushed
+prettily upon seeing Dick and several others with whom she was
+acquainted.
+
+"I understand that Mr. Crabtree is about to be married," said Dick
+in a low tone.
+
+"Yes, he insists on marrying my mother this afternoon.  He has
+been at her about this for several months," answered Dora between
+her sobs.
+
+"Evidently you oppose the marriage."
+
+"I--I hate Mr. Crabtree!" came almost fiercely.  "He is--is
+nothing like my poor dead papa was."
+
+"I believe you, Dora," answered Dick.  "I don't see what your
+mother can find in him to like.  We hate him at the academy."
+
+"I know it--and I imagine Captain Putnam is preparing to get rid of
+him, for I heard he was corresponding with a teacher in Buffalo--one
+who has been head master in a military academy out in that vicinity."
+
+"Indeed!  I hope we do get clear of him--and I wish you could
+get clear of him too."
+
+"It doesn't seem as if I could," sighed Dora.  "He has wound my
+mother right around his finger, so to speak.  But what are those
+other boys going to do?"  And she pointed to the balance of the
+cadets, who were following closely upon the wheels of the
+carriage, which had turned into the highway leading to Cedarville.
+
+"I'll go after them and see," said Dick, and turned to leave.
+Then he came to a halt and turned back.  "Dora, I am awfully sorry
+for you," he whispered.  "If I can ever do anything for you, don't
+hesitate to call on me."
+
+"I'll remember that, Dick," she replied gratefully, but never
+dreamed of how much she would one day require his aid.
+
+When Dick joined the crowd he found it on all sides of the
+carriage, shouting and hurrahing wildly.  At first Josiah Crabtree
+pretended to pay no attention, but presently he spoke to the
+driver, and the turnout came to a halt.
+
+"Students, what does this unseemly conduct mean?" he demanded
+harshly.
+
+"Why, Mr. Crabtree, is that you!" exclaimed Frank Harrington in
+pretended surprise.
+
+"Yes, Harrington.  I say, what does it mean?"
+
+"We are out playing hare and hounds, sir."
+
+"But you are following this carriage."
+
+"Oh, no, sir, we are following the paper scent, sir," answered
+Larry Colby, and pointed to the pieces of paper, which Fred
+Harrison was slyly dropping just in front of the horses.
+
+"Then our carriage is on the trail," sighed Josiah Crabtree.  "It
+is very annoying."
+
+"Oh, it doesn't bother us much, sir," answered Frank coolly.
+
+"Bother you!  It is myself and Mrs. Stanhope to whom I referred.
+Make the hares take another course."
+
+"Can't do that, sir, until we catch them."
+
+"But why must you keep so close to this carriage?"
+
+"I don't know, sir.  Perhaps it is the carriage which is keeping
+close to us."
+
+Josiah Crabtree looked more angry than ever.  He spoke to the
+driver, with a view to increasing the speed of the team, but Borgy
+had entered into the spirit of the fun at hand, and he was,
+moreover, a great friend of Dora, and he shook his head.
+"Couldn't do it sir," he said.  "I wouldn't want to run the risk
+of winding them."
+
+"Do you mean to say they cannot outrun these boys?" demanded the
+head assistant at Putnam Hall.
+
+"Hardly, sir--the lads is uncommonly good runners," answered
+Borgy meekly.
+
+"I will show you how to manage them!" ejaculated Josiah Crabtree,
+and stepped over to the front seat.
+
+"Oh, Josiah, be careful!" pleaded Mrs. Stanhope.
+
+"I know how to drive horses, so don't worry," answered Crabtree,
+and took up both reins and whip.  Before Borgy could stop him he
+had given one of the horses a smart cut on the flank.
+
+The steed was a spirited one and not used to the whip, and
+scarcely had the lash landed than he gave a wild leap into the
+air, came down, and broke into a mad run, dragging his mate with
+him.  A second later the carriage struck a stone, bounced up, and
+Borgy was pitched out, to land in the midst of some bushes growing
+by the roadside.
+
+The bolting of the team proved almost fatal to the boys in front,
+who scattered just in time to let horses and carriage pass them
+with lightning-like speed.  Then the cadets gathered together and
+stared blankly at one another.
+
+"It's a runaway!"
+
+"Serves old Crabby right, for hitting the horse!"
+
+"Yes, but he and the lady may be killed!"
+
+Such were some of the cries.  As soon as they could recover, the
+whole party made after the carriage, now disappearing around a
+bend.
+
+"They'll never get around the next turn alive!" said Captain Harry
+Blossom, who was running beside Tom.  Soon Dick joined the pair.
+
+In the meantime Josiah Crabtree was filled with terror over the
+sudden turn of affairs.  He dropped the whip and tugged first at
+one rein and then the other.
+
+"Whoa! whoa!" he cried in a hoarse whisper.  "Whoa!"
+
+But instead of slackening their speed, the team moved on faster
+than ever, the carriage rocking violently from side to side.
+
+"We will be killed!" moaned Mrs. Stanhope.  "Oh, why did I not
+take Dora's advice and have a regular wedding, as she proposed!"
+
+"I will--will stop them!" panted Crabtree.  "Whoa, you brutes,
+whoa!"
+
+"Whoa, Peter; whoa, Jack!" added Mrs. Stanhope timidly.
+
+For an instant the horses seemed to take notice of the lady's
+voice, but only for an instant; then they went on as fast as ever,
+around another bend, and down a rocky stretch, lined on either
+side with trees and bushes.
+
+Suddenly there came a crash, as a wheel came off the carriage.
+Then came a second crash and Mrs. Stanhope was hurled forth among
+some bushes.  But the turnout continued on its way, Josiah
+Crabtree clinging to the wreck, until at last he too was hurled
+forth, to fly up among some tree branches and remain there for the
+best part of ten minutes.
+
+When the crowd of cadets reached Mrs. Stanhope they found the lady
+unconscious and evidently suffering from a broken arm.  Several of
+them, including Dick, Tom, and Sam, did what they could for her,
+while others ran off to find Josiah Crabtree and to summon a
+doctor.
+
+It was several minutes before the head assistant at Putnam Hall
+could be helped out of the tree.  He came down in fear and
+trembling, so overcome he could scarcely stand.
+
+"How--how is Mrs. Stanhope?" was his, first question.
+
+"We don't know," answered several of the cadets, and Josiah
+Crabtree hobbled back to find out.
+
+The shades of night had long fallen when Mrs. Stanhope was
+conveyed to her home, and a doctor was brought from Cedarville and
+the Lanings were informed of what had happened.  The doctor said
+that a rib as well as the left arm had been fractured, and that
+the lady must be kept quiet for at least two months.  At once Dora
+set about doing what she could for her mother, and Nellie Laning
+remained at the homestead to assist her.  No one seemed to care
+about Josiah Crabtree, and he was allowed to hobble back to Putnam
+Hall on foot.
+
+"It was the fault of those boys," he muttered to himself.  "I'll
+get even with them, see if I don't!"
+
+But his chances of "getting even" while at the academy were
+speedily nipped in the bud by Captain Putnam, who did not say
+anything on Sunday, but interviewed the head assistant early on
+the day following.
+
+"It is perhaps needless for us to go into the details of what has
+occurred, Mr. Crabtree," said the owner of the Hall.  "Your
+contract with me comes to an end next month.  I will pay you in
+full tomorrow and then I wish you to remove yourself and your
+belongings from this place."
+
+"You--you discharge me!" cried the teacher in astonishment.
+
+"I do.  I have long been dissatisfied with your conduct toward my
+pupils, and I am now satisfied that you are not worthy of the
+position with which I entrusted you."
+
+At this Josiah Crabtree's face fell, for he had hoped to keep his
+place at Putnam Hall until his marriage to Mrs. Stanhope was
+assured.  Now there was no telling when that marriage would occur,
+and in the meantime it was not likely he could get another
+position.
+
+"I think I ought to have more notice than this."
+
+"You deserve no notice--since you were about to marry on the
+sly, so to speak, and, most likely, leave me when your contract
+came to an end without allowing me time to make other
+arrangements."
+
+"I would have given you at least two weeks time."
+
+"And I am giving you three weeks pay, which you do not deserve.  I
+do not think we need to prolong the discussion," and Captain
+Putnam turned away.
+
+The departure of Josiah Crabtree was hailed with satisfaction by
+all of the pupils excepting Dan Baxter.  Strange to say, a strong
+friendship had sprung up between the bully and the hot-tempered
+school teacher.  Baxter was the only one who shook hands when
+Crabtree left.
+
+"I hope we meet again, Mr. Crabtree," he said.  "I like you, even
+if the others don't."
+
+"And I like you, Baxter," answered Josiah Crabtree.  "I shall
+remember you."
+
+And Josiah Crabtree did remember the bully in a manner which was
+strange in the extreme.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+DAN BAXTER'S MONEY
+
+
+After the departure of Josiah Crabtree from Putnam Hall, George
+Strong became the leading assistant, and another teacher named
+Garmore took second place.
+
+Garmore was a Yale man, and soon became as favorably known as
+Strong, so the pupils had nothing more to find fault with, so far
+as their instructors went.
+
+As has been noted before, there were several baseball teams among
+the boys.  As it grew too cold for baseball, these teams gave up
+this sport, and a good number of the lads took up football.
+
+In this sport, Sam, being a good runner, felt very much at home,
+and soon he was at the head of one of the teams, playing center.
+Tom was also on the team, playing quarterback.
+
+Not far from Putnam Hall was another academy kept by a certain
+gentleman named Pornell. The pupils at Pornell's were also great
+football players, and one day they sent over a challenge that the
+Putnams, as they were dubbed, should play them a match for the
+championship of the township in which both seats of learning were
+located.
+
+The challenge was brought, by Peleg Snuggers, who had gone over to
+Pornell's on an errand for Captain Putnam.
+
+"It's for you," said Snuggers, handing the communication to Sam.
+The youthful captain of the eleven broke open the letter and read
+it aloud:
+
+"PORNELL ACADEMY, November 18, 189-
+
+"To the Putnam Hall Football Team:  We hereby challenge you to a
+game of football for the championship of the township of
+Cedarville, the game to be played Thanksgiving afternoon next at
+two o'clock, at our grounds or at your own, as you may elect.  We
+would prefer to play on our grounds, as we have a  grandstand,
+one-half of which will be reserved for your friends, if you
+will come over.
+
+"PORNELL FOOTBALL TEAM,
+
+"Per Harry Ackerson, Capt. and Secy."
+
+"They certainly mean business," said Tom, who was in the crowd,
+listening to the reading of the challenge.  "I go in for accepting
+it."
+
+"So do I," said Larry, who played halfback.
+
+"And I," put in Fred, who was on the right end.
+
+The members of the football team were all at hand, and it did not
+take long to find out each was in favor of the game, and then the
+matter was laid before Captain Putnam.
+
+"Want to play football with Mr. Pornell's lads, eh?" smiled the
+captain.  "All right, I know of no healthier sport, rightly
+conducted.  You shall play them, and on their grounds if you wish.
+But, mind you, no neglecting lessons for the sake of practicing
+between now and Thanksgiving!"
+
+The pupils promised to neglect nothing, and went off with a
+hurrah.
+
+Soon Peleg Snuggers was on his way to the rival academy with the
+following answer to the challenge:
+
+"PUTNAM HALL, November 19, 189-
+
+"Pornell Football Team: We hereby accept your challenge to play a
+game of football for the championship of the township on
+Thanksgiving afternoon next at two o'clock.  As you have a
+grandstand we will play on your grounds.  In return for the use of
+half of your stand on this occasion the senior class of our
+academy will put up a silver cup as a trophy, said trophy to go to
+the club winning the game, and to belong to that club which shall
+during matches to be arranged in the future win the cup three
+times.
+
+"THE PUTNAM HALL FOOTBALL TEAM,
+
+"Per Fred Harrison, Secy and Treas."
+
+Dick had suggested giving the cup, and all of the senior class
+"chipped in"  willingly, raising ten dollars, with which a very
+neat trophy was secured through a pupil whose father was a
+silversmith in New York.  I say all the senior class contributed.
+I must correct this.  There was one exception, and that was Dan
+Baxter.
+
+"I haven't got anything for you or your brothers," growled the
+bully when Dick spoke of the matter before the class.  "Let 'em
+furnish their own silver cups if they want 'em."
+
+"All right, Baxter; I guess Sam and Tom will be just as well
+satisfied if you don't chip in," had been Dick's ready answer.  "I
+only wanted to give everyone a chance to own an equal share in the
+gift, if it was desired."
+
+"Our football team can't play for a sour apple, Dick Rover.
+They'll be whipped out of their boots."
+
+"If I was a betting boy, I'd bet you a dollar on the result,"
+answered Dick coldly.
+
+"I'll bet you ten dollars we win!" put in Fred Garrison
+impulsively.
+
+"I'll cover that bet," sneered Baxter, and drew from his pocket a
+roll of bills.
+
+"Gracious, Baxter, where did you get that wad?" questioned several
+in chorus, for the supply of pocket money among most of the pupils
+was limited.
+
+"Never mind--I have it, and that's enough," answered Baxter, but
+he lost no time in putting all of the money but the ten-dollar
+bill away.
+
+It was all Fred Garrison could do to scrape up an equal sum, and
+even at that he had to borrow a dollar from Dick.  But he was
+"game," and the money went to another pupil, who became
+stakeholder until the contest should be decided.
+
+"It's a shame!" cried Sam, when he heard of the transaction.  "To
+bet against his own school!  I'm like Dick--I don't believe in
+betting, and yet I am glad Fred took him up.  If it is in my
+power, Baxter shall lose his wager."
+
+Thanksgiving was but a week off, so the football team had to work
+hard to get into proper condition.  Moreover, studies must not be
+neglected, for Captain Putnam was strict, and would have canceled
+the game had his cadets become unmindful of their school duties.
+But the team got permission to get up an hour earlier than usual
+every morning, and this time was spent in the hardest kind of
+practice with the ball.
+
+The report that Baxter had bet against his own school spread, and
+the bully became more unpopular than ever.  But this did not daunt
+him, and soon he had a dozen other bets on, aggregating fifty
+dollars or more.
+
+"It's a mystery to me where he gets so much money," said Dick to
+Captain Blossom one day, "Is his father rich?"
+
+"I can't tell you," answered the youthful commander of Company A.
+"Fact of the matter is nobody knows much about Baxter--not even
+Mumps his chum.  Nobody ever comes to see him, and he seldom ever
+gets any letters, yet he always has all the spending money he
+wants."
+
+"Perhaps he's got a gold mine somewhere," laughed Dick.
+
+"I don't know about that, but I do know that there are days when
+he hasn't a cent, and the next day he will have just such a roll
+of bills as you saw him with day before yesterday--and the money
+doesn't come to him through the mail either."
+
+"Perhaps Captain Putnam deals it out to him."
+
+Captain Harry shook his head.  "Not much!  The captain wouldn't
+let him have more than five dollars at a time.  I've been through
+the mill, and I know."
+
+Here the matter was dropped, but Dick had good cause to remember
+this conversation later on.
+
+The distance from Putnam Hall to Pornell Academy was a mile and a
+half, and it was arranged that the football team, Captain Putnam,
+George Strong, and several others should ride to the latter place
+in the Hall carriages while the others walked the distance.
+Thanksgiving dawned bright and clear.  The morning was spent in
+the Hall chapel, and dinner was served promptly at twelve.
+
+"Don't eat too much," cautioned Sam.  "I want every player to be
+wide awake today."
+
+The start was signalized by a grand flourish of tin horns; and
+away went the two carriages with the horses on a gallop, followed
+by a large number of the cadets on foot, organized into their
+regular companies, with Major Bart Conners at the head of the
+battalion.  The boys were in their best uniforms, and certainly
+presented an imposing appearance as they marched behind the music
+of their drums and fifes.
+
+When the grounds at Pornell Academy were reached, they were found
+to be more than three quarters full, for the proprietor of the
+place had opened up for the benefit of the public at large, and
+many had come from Cedarville and the surrounding territory.  The
+grandstand was already comfortably filled, many coming into the
+part reserved for the Hall folks on tickets of invitation issued
+by Sam and indorsed by Captain Putnam.
+
+"Here they come!" yelled the boys of Pornell.  "Three cheers for
+Putnam Hall!"
+
+The cheers were given with a will; and, getting the football team
+and the other cadets together, Putnam Hall gave a rousing cheer in
+return for Pornell Academy.
+
+Then the football teams disappeared into their respective dressing
+rooms, and the newly arrived cadets took their places in the
+grandstand.  A timekeeper and referee had already been appointed
+by Sam and the rival captain, at a meeting at the Hall three days
+before.
+
+"My! what a crowd!" exclaimed Tom, as he surveyed the multitude.
+"I didn't think we were going to have such an audience as this!"
+
+"Nor I," returned Sam.  "We must do our level best, fellows!"
+
+"That's what!" came from several.  "If we get whipped--"
+
+"Remember what Baxter did--that's enough to nerve anybody on,"
+finished Larry Colby.
+
+"By the way, where is Baxter?"
+
+"Sneaked out of the ranks," answered another player.  "Nobody
+wanted to march with him."
+
+"Well, I don't blame them," concluded Sam.
+
+"Doctor Pornell now put in an appearance and desired to know if
+the football team did not wish to march around the oval escorted
+by his own players.
+
+"Certainly!" cried Sam. "And to show this is a purely friendly
+match, let us march side by side," he went on, and this was also
+arranged.  The Putnam Hall drum-and-fife corps led the march, and
+each player strode forth with a rival at his side.  The march
+brought forth a wild round of applause and a veritable shrieking
+of tin horns and cracking of wooden clappers.
+
+After the march each team was allowed quarter of an hour for
+practicing.  The Pornellites came out first and tumbled over the
+leather in lively fashion.  The Putnamites soon followed.
+
+"They may be all right, but they haven't the weight," said one of
+the rivals.  And this appeared true, for each Pornellite, man for
+man, was at least five pounds heavier than his opponent.  But
+weight does not always count for everything, even in a football
+match.
+
+"Time for practice is up!" came presently, and the two teams drew
+away from the gridiron.  Then there was a toss-up for goals, and
+Pornell won and took the east end, that which was most favored by
+the slight breeze that was blowing.
+
+And then the great game began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE GREAT FOOTBALL GAME
+
+
+The halves were to be of twenty minutes each, so no time was lost
+in putting the leather into the field.  It was Putnam's kick-off,
+and on the instant the ball went sailing into the air, to land
+well into Pornell's territory.  Then came a grand rush, and before
+the words can be put down twenty-two lads were at it nip-and-tuck
+to get possession of the sphere.
+
+"It's Pornell's ball!"
+
+"Say, but ain't this going to be a snappy game!"
+
+"Our fellows have the ball!"
+
+"There she goes up five yards into Putnam ground!"
+
+"Carry that ball back!" yelled Dick excitedly.  "Don't let them
+gain an inch!"
+
+"Whoop her up for Pornell!"
+
+And then came a wild blare of tin horns and a waving of the
+academy colors, brown and white.  The waving of the Hall colors,
+an American flag set in a border of green, came also, with an
+equal din from horns and wooden clappers.
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!"
+
+So, the game went on for ten minutes, and the Pornellites had
+gained exactly twenty-five yards--no more.
+
+"Looks like a stand-off," said several.  "Say, maybe those young
+soldiers aren't game!"
+
+"That's what--but we'll wax 'em!" was the answer, and then of a
+sudden came another yell, for Pornell had the ball and was pushing
+it straight ahead for Putnam's goal.
+
+"Ten yards!"
+
+"Five yards more!"
+
+"Fifteen yards more!"
+
+"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!"
+
+Toot! toot-a-root-toot! Clack-clack-clack, bang!
+
+The Pornellites were now wild, but they stared blankly as they saw
+plucky Tom Rover snatch the leather up and run back twenty yards
+with it.
+
+"He's going right through with it!"
+
+"There goes Hardy after him!"
+
+"Down they go!"
+
+"Lushear has the ball!  It's going back!"
+
+"Run, Lushear, run!  A dollar if you make it!"
+
+"They can't catch him!  Oh, pshaw!  Down he goes!"
+
+"But the ball is safe!  A touchdown!  Hurrah!"
+
+The cry was correct.  Just three minutes before the end of the
+first half the Pornell team scored a touchdown.  Instantly
+preparations were made to kick a goal if possible.  But the kick
+was a failure, and the two sides retired for the half with the
+score standing 4 to 0 in Pornell Academy's favor.
+
+Glumly the Hall boys retired to their dressing room, there to be
+rubbed down by their chums.  "It's too bad, it certainly is," came
+from a dozen sympathizers.
+
+"But it can't be helped.  Don't give up yet."
+
+"They are too heavy for us in mass play," said Sam.  "We must try
+more running away with the leather."  And so it was agreed.
+
+Soon the gong rang, and they re-entered the field.
+
+"Now, Putnam Hall, do your best!  We are looking at you!"
+
+"They can't play a little bit," sneered Dan Baxter.  "I'm ashamed
+of them," and he smiled to himself, thinking the fifty dollars put
+up on the game was already as good as won.
+
+Sam had given his team some explicit instructions, and these were
+now being followed.  As soon as the ball came into Putnam's
+possession there was a run on their part that carried the sphere
+twenty yards into their opponents territory.
+
+"Go in and win, Putnam!"
+
+"That's the way to do it!"
+
+"Take it from them, Pornell!  Go for it!  Take it!"
+
+And Pornell did take it, and half the distance gained was lost.
+
+Both teams were now warmed up, and for fully five minutes the ball
+flew back and forth, remaining at the end of that time almost in
+the center of the gridiron.
+
+Then Pornell tried some heavy mass play, but lost the leather on a
+fumble, and it came into Tom Rover's possession.
+
+Away flew Tom, as though a legion of demons were after him,
+straight for Pornell's goal.  The crowd began to shout itself
+hoarse.
+
+"See Tom Rover!  Go it, Tom, old boy, go it!"
+
+"He can't carry it through!  See, Conkey and Largren are after
+him!"
+
+"There he goes down!  Conkey has the leather!"
+
+This was true, but ere Conkey could start to run Fred Garrison
+brought him to earth and the ball rolled out into the field.
+
+Sam and a Pornell halfback made a rush for it.
+
+"My ball!" yelled the Pornellite, who was twenty pounds heavier
+than the little captain.
+
+"Not today!" retorted Sam, and snatched it from under his very
+feet.  Before the Pornellite could recover from his astonishment,
+Sam was pelting up the field with all the nimbleness of his agile
+legs.
+
+"Hurrah for Sam Rover!"
+
+"Great Caesar! see him leg it!  They can't catch him!"
+
+"There he goes over the line!"
+
+"A touchdown!  The game is a tie!"
+
+"Quick, fellows!" cried Sam. "Only five more minutes, remember.
+Who is to kick?"
+
+It was a player named Larcom.  But Larcom was not equal to it, for
+the wind was rising and blowing in several directions at once.
+
+"No goal!  The game is a tie!"
+
+"Put the ball out again!"
+
+"Only four minutes to play!"
+
+Again the football went forth, and again the crowd pounced upon it.
+The Pornellites were now desperate and massed themselves as never
+before. They pushed forward ten yards--fifteen--twenty--almost
+thirty. It looked as if they would score another touchdown, if not
+kick a goal. But now Sam Rover sent a certain sign to his players. It
+was taking a risk, but it was worth trying.
+
+The ball came over to the right of the field and spun like
+lightning to the left.  Fred caught it up, ran ten yards, and
+passed it to Larry Colby, who turned it over to Tom.   Away it
+went to Sam, and then to Frank.  The Pornellites were bewildered.
+Where was the ball?
+
+"Putnam has it!"
+
+"There she goes!  Hurrah for Frank Harrington.  Another
+touchdown!"
+
+It was true.  Putnam Hall had scored another touchdown.  A
+tremendous yelling and cheering broke out, in the midst of which
+the gong sounded.  The game was over, and our boys had won the
+victory.
+
+In a twinkle the gridiron was covered with swarming students, and
+Sam and his fellow players were hoisted up on willing shoulders,
+to be trotted around the oval.  "Hurrah for Pornell!" they
+shouted.  "Hurrah for Putnam!" came back the cry.  It had been a
+bitter but friendly contest, and victors and vanquished shook
+hands over and over again.
+
+Of course many students of Pornell were bitterly disappointed, but
+no one felt so sour over the whole afternoon's doing as did Dan
+Baxter.  In all he had lost over fifty dollars, and now neither
+his fellow students nor the boys of Pornell Academy wanted
+anything to do with him.  "I haven't any use for a chap who bets
+against his own crowd," was the comment of one academy student,
+and he voiced the sentiment of all.  Only Mumps stuck to his chum,
+and the two soon left the grounds together.
+
+By four o'clock the cadets were on their way back to Putnam Hall,
+the carriages moving behind the two companies of young soldiers,
+who sang and shouted themselves hoarse as they moved along.  Even
+Captain Putnam entered into the spirit of the affair.  "Brings me
+back to the days when I was a cadet myself," he said to George
+Strong.
+
+Directly after supper a huge bonfire was lit on the playground,
+and the students were allowed to have their own fun until eleven
+o'clock.  The football team was, of course, the center of
+attraction, and Sam and Tom came in for their full share of
+honors.
+
+While the festivities of this Thanksgiving Eve were at their
+height, a sudden thought struck Dick.  Captain Putnam had given
+the cadets permission to go beyond bounds if any cared to do so,
+and he hurried away, his intention being to call upon Dora
+Stanhope and see how she was faring.  Although Dick would not
+admit it, he thought a great deal of Dora, and he was sorry that
+she was in danger of having the detestable Josiah Crabtree for a
+stepfather.
+
+It was a clear, moonlight night, and he hurried off in the best of
+spirits, taking a short cut by way of a road through the woods.
+As he walked along he remembered how Tom had met in this vicinity
+the thief who had stolen the watch.
+
+"I wonder if I'll meet him," he thought, but no tramp put in an
+appearance; indeed, he did not see a soul until the Stanhope
+homestead was reached.
+
+A light was burning brightly in the sitting room, and the curtains
+were drawn down to within six inches of the bottom of the windows.
+Dick was about to ascend the porch, when he changed his mind and
+walked softly to one of the windows.
+
+"If they have a lot of company I won't disturb them on a holiday
+like this," he thought, and peeped under one of the curtains.
+
+The sight that met his gaze filled him with astonishment and
+indignation.  Only two persons were present, Dora and Josiah
+Crabtree.  Crabtree had the girl by the left wrist, and had one
+hand raised as if to strike his prisoner.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+DICK AT THE STANHOPE COTTAGE
+
+
+"The villain!"
+
+Such were the words which sprang involuntarily to Dick's lips as
+he gazed at the scene before him.  He was filled with bitter
+indignation and could hardly resist the temptation to break in the
+window and leap to Dora's assistance.
+
+As he paused, he saw Dora push Crabtree back and leap to the
+opposite side of the center table.
+
+"Don't you dare to touch me, Mr. Crabtree!" came loud enough for
+Dick to hear quite, plainly.
+
+"I want you to behave yourself, young lady," stormed Josiah
+Crabtree.
+
+"I know how to do that without your advice."
+
+"No, you don't.  You have set your mother against me.  If it
+hadn't been for you, we would be married long ago."
+
+"I believe a daughter has a right to advise her mother concerning
+a stranger, Mr. Crabtree."
+
+"A stranger!"
+
+"Well, an outsider--if you like that better."
+
+"I am no outsider.  I've known your mother for years.  I might
+have married her, instead of your father doing so, if he hadn't
+played an underhanded trick which--"
+
+"Stop, Sir. You shall not say a word against my father."
+
+"Good for Dora!" thought Dick.  "She's the right kind."
+
+"Your mother is quite willing to marry me, and as a dutiful
+daughter you should bow to her wishes."
+
+"Mother is not herself, Mr. Crabtree.  Ever since father died she
+has been upset by business matters, and you have pestered the life
+out of her.  If you would only go away for a month or so and give
+her time to think it over, I am sure she would end this matter
+between you."
+
+"Tut, tut, child, you do not know what you are talking about!
+Your mother has given me her word, and you ought to bow to the
+inevitable."
+
+"She has not yet married you, Sir, and until she is actually bound
+to you there will still be hope for her."
+
+"This is--is outrageous!" cried Josiah Crabtree wrathfully.  "Do
+you think I will allow a mere slip of a girl to stand between me
+and my plans?  Just wait until I am your father--"
+
+"You shall never take the place of my dear dead father, Mr.
+Crabtree--never!" and now Dora's eyes filled with tears.  "He was
+ten thousand times better than you can ever be!"
+
+"I must admit I can't see it.  He had not half the education I
+possess," answered Josiah Crabtree conceitedly.
+
+"Perhaps not, but he had an honest, warm heart, and that counts
+for more than a mere book education.  I fancy many men are
+smarter, even in book learning, than Mr. Josiah Crabtree; who
+tried last week for an opening at Columbia College and failed to
+meet the requirements."
+
+"Ha! who told you that?"
+
+"Mother told me."
+
+"She is foolish to take you into her confidence.  It was not my
+fault that I failed of the opening--merely the pig-headedness of
+those having the matter in charge.  However, I do not care much.
+As soon as your mother and I are married, I shall make some
+changes here, put up a fine brick building, and open a rival
+school to Putnam Hall."
+
+"Gracious, here is news!" thought Dick.  "Wonder what Captain
+Putnam will say to that?"
+
+"Will you?" ejaculated Dora.  "And who will give you permission to
+make alterations here?"
+
+"Mrs. Crabtree--that is soon to be."
+
+"Do you know that she holds this property in a trust for me, Mr.
+Crabtree?  It will be hers only if I die before I become of age.
+Her own shares of papa's estate is situated further up the lake,
+at Berryport."
+
+At this announcement Josiah Crabtree started back.  "You--you
+are not telling the truth," he faltered.
+
+"I am."
+
+"But your mother is the executrix of your father's will."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Exactly.  Consequently she has full control of all the property
+until you are twenty-one."
+
+"She has--but certain changes suggested by you or her would be
+subject to the approval of the court or the surrogate, so I have
+been told," answered Dora quietly.
+
+Josiah Crabtree glared at the girl, and then began to pace the
+floor impatiently.  "Dora, see here," he said finally.  "Let us
+come to terms."
+
+"What terms?"
+
+"Your mother and I are bound to get married.  Remove your
+opposition to this, and I will promise not to interfere with you
+in the least.  You can do as you please and go where you please,
+and you shall have all the spending money from time to time that
+the estate can afford."
+
+At this the girl's lip curled proudly. "I do not thank you for
+your offer, Mr. Crabtree.  The whole difficulty is just here--I
+do not like you; and my mother shall never marry you so long as I
+can prevent it."
+
+"You--you saucy minx!" he snarled and leaping around the table caught
+her by the wrist again. "I'll tame you before I am done with you, mark
+my words! If you dare to talk to your mother again--Hullo, who is
+this?"
+
+"Dick Rover!" cried Dora in amazement and in delight.
+
+For Dick had suddenly thrown up the window sash, which was
+unlocked, and leaped straight into the sitting room.
+
+"Let her go, Josiah Crabtree!" ordered the young cadet.  "Don't
+you dare to strike her, or I'll knock you flat!"
+
+"One of the Rover boys!" muttered the ex-teacher.  "What business
+have you here at this hour of the evening?  Have you run away from
+the Hall?"
+
+"Since you have been discharged, I do not feel called upon to
+answer your question," answered Dick.  "But you must let Dora
+alone, or there will be a broken head around here, I can tell you
+that!"
+
+At Dick's plain words Josiah Crabtree greatly paled.  He had
+dropped the girl's wrist and now he fell back several steps.
+
+"I was not harming the girl, only trying to reason with her."
+
+"Oh, I know you well enough.  I've heard you were the most
+pigheaded teacher they ever had at Putnam Hall," rejoined Dick
+warmly.  "I shall take pains to let Mrs. Stanhope know what they
+think of you, too."
+
+"Was he discharged?" asked Dora.  "He told mamma that he had left
+of his own accord."
+
+"He was discharged," answered Dick, who had got word through Peleg
+Snuggers.
+
+"It is not true!" stormed Josiah Crabtree.  "This is a--a plot
+to injure me in the eyes of Mrs. Stanhope, and you shall pay
+dearly for it, boy!" and he shook his fist in Dick's face.
+
+"Don't do that again, Mr. Crabtree, or we may have a set-to right
+here--begging Dora's pardon," answered Dick, his eyes flashing
+fire.
+
+"That's all right--don't give in an inch to him, Dick,"
+whispered Dora.  "I hate him--oh, more than words can tell!" and
+she caught the youth's arm.
+
+"I am not afraid of you, boy!" was the short return, but now the
+ex-teacher turned to the hallway.  "I was on the point of leaving,
+and now I will go, Dora.  But I will be back in a day or two," and
+he strode from the room.  A moment later he had secured his hat
+and overcoat and taken his departure.
+
+"Oh, what a dreadful man!" sobbed Dora, when he was gone.  "Dick
+Rover, what shall I do?"  and she looked at him pleadingly.
+
+"It's a puzzle to me, Dora--worse than an example in cube root
+in algebra!" He smiled sadly.  "But if I was you I'd hold out and
+never let him marry my mother."
+
+"Oh, I will never consent to that--never!  But he may marry her
+anyway."
+
+"If he does, you can apply to the courts for another guardian--if
+Crabtree doesn't treat you fairly."
+
+"But I do not wish to separate from my mother."
+
+"Well, the only thing to do is to keep fighting him off.  In the
+meantime I'll try to get some folks who know Crabtree well to tell
+your mother just what a mean, crabbed fellow he is.  Undoubtedly
+he is after the money your father left."
+
+"So I always supposed--but mother does not think so."
+
+"How is your mother?"
+
+"She is doing nicely, and may be out in a week or two.  I am
+keeping her in as long as possible, so that Josiah Crabtree cannot
+argue her into going off and getting married."
+
+"You certainly have your hands full, Dora," answered the young
+cadet.  "I wish I could take this burden off your shoulders,
+indeed I do!" and impulsively he caught up her plump, hand and
+kissed it.
+
+"Oh!"  She snatched the hand away and blushed prettily, but was not
+angry.  "I--I--;  it's something to know one has a friend,
+Dick," she said softly.  "Can I come to you if I--that is if I
+want something done?"
+
+"To be sure, Dora--I'll do anything in the wide world for you
+there!" and he kissed her hand again.
+
+At that moment an elderly lady who had been hired to wait on Mrs.
+Stanhope came in, and the conversation was changed.  Dora asked
+about life at the Hall, and Dick told of the football game and of
+the parts Tom and Sam had played in it.
+
+"You are a great set of boys!" Dora smiled.
+
+"I wish I had a couple of sisters."
+
+"You have your two cousins, Nellie and Grace."
+
+"Yes, but they are not as intimate as sisters would be--although
+they are the best of cousins."
+
+"What does Mr. Laning say of Crabtree?" Dick whispered, as the
+nurse left the room for a moment.
+
+"Uncle does not like him, but he says the whole matter is none of
+his affair--and mother must do as she thinks best."
+
+It was now growing late, and Dick took his departure, kissing
+Dora's hand a third time as they stood in the darkness of the
+porch.  "You're terrible!" she murmured, but it is doubtful if she
+meant anything by it.  Girls and boys are about the same the world
+over and Dick's regard for Dora was of the manly sort that is
+creditable to anybody.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+WINTER SPORTS
+
+
+"Hurrah, boys, the ice is forming just as fast as it can!  We'll
+have skating in twenty-four hours!"
+
+It was Sam who came rushing into the gymnasium with the news.  The
+place was crowded at the time, for it was too cold to play on the
+grounds outside.
+
+"Skating!" cried Tom.  "That just suits me.  I wonder if I brought
+my skates along?"
+
+"You didn't," answered Sam.  "Neither did I."
+
+"I have my skates," said Fred Garrison.  "Brand new pair."
+
+"My skates were old," said Tom.  "I must strike Captain Putnam for
+a couple of dollars of my allowance and buy a new pair."
+
+"So must I!" put in Sam.  "Dick, I know, has his skates."
+
+It was early in December, and it had been growing colder steadily.
+There had been one fall of snow, but it had amounted to but
+little.
+
+The next day skating in the cove of the lake near Putnam Hall was
+excellent, the ice being from three to four inches thick.  At once
+Sam and Tom went to Captain Putnam.
+
+"Want to buy some skates?" said the captain.  "Well, the money I
+am keeping is your own, and I presume every boy likes to skate.
+Here are two dollars for each of you.  Show me your purchases when
+you get back."
+
+"We will," replied the lads, and hurried off, for time was
+precious, with the smooth ice waiting for them.  They knew that a
+certain hardware dealer in Cedarville had a good quantity of
+skates on hand, and started to walk to the village without delay.
+
+"Baxter is going to buy a pair of skates, too," said Sam, on the
+way.  "I heard him telling Mumps about it."
+
+"Well, we don't want Baxter for company," answered Tom.  "He can
+go alone."
+
+It did not take the lads long to reach Cedarville, but once at the
+hardware store considerable time was lost in getting just the
+skates desired.
+
+"It's queer Baxter hasn't shown up," said Tom, when they were
+ready to leave.
+
+"Perhaps he went elsewhere for his skates," suggested Sam.
+
+The hardware shop was at the end of the village street, and as
+they passed a number of places of business Tom suddenly caught his
+brother by the arm.
+
+"There is Baxter now--just entering that tavern!" he exclaimed
+in a low voice.
+
+"The tavern!" repeated Sam.  "Why, it's against the regulations to
+enter a drinking place!"
+
+"I don't care--I saw Baxter go in," returned Tom.  "He was with
+a tall man."
+
+"If Captain Putnam hears of this, Baxter will be sent away, or at
+least punished."
+
+"Perhaps, Sam; but I shan't tell him."
+
+"No; we're no tale-bearers.  Let us go up to the side windows of
+the tavern and see if we can see them."
+
+This was agreed to, and the two boys hurried up to first one
+window and then another.
+
+"They are not in the saloon part, that's certain," said Tom
+blankly.  "But I saw Baxter go in, and the tall man with him."
+
+"Here is a side room," answered Sam.
+
+"And there they are, at a corner table.  The man is giving Baxter
+some money!"
+
+Tom peeped into the window over his brother's shoulder.  "My
+gracious!"
+
+"What's up now, Tom?"
+
+"That tall man is the same fellow I met in the woods.  The man
+that was with the tramp who stole the watch!"
+
+"You don't mean it!"
+
+"But I do!  See the scar on his chin?"
+
+"Yes."
+
+"He is that thief's pal, as they call it."
+
+"And he just gave Baxter some bank bills!  What does it mean?"
+
+"I give it up.  But I know one thing--that man ought to be
+arrested!"
+
+"That's true.  Oh! they have seen us!  If they--hi! what do you
+mean by that?"
+
+For a burly bartender had suddenly come up behind both of the boys
+and hurled them backward.
+
+"No spying around this place!" cried the dispenser of liquors
+roughly.  "Take yourselves off!"
+
+"There is a man inside I want to see," said Tom.
+
+"Why don't you come in, then?"
+
+"I will--as soon as I can find a policeman or a constable."
+
+"What! going to have a gent arrested?"
+
+"The man inside knows all about a stolen watch."
+
+"You must be mistaken."
+
+"No, I am not.  Where can I find a policeman?"
+
+"Down at the steamboat landing, most likely."
+
+"All right.  Sam, you stay here and see that that fellow don't
+make tracks," and Tom prepared to move away.
+
+"See here, we don't want any trouble in our place," said the
+barkeeper.  "We run a respectable house, we do."
+
+"Then you ought to help me bag the pal of a thief," retorted Tom.
+
+"Hold on, Tom!" came from Sam.  "They're gone!  They slipped
+through a back door!"
+
+Tom ran up to the window again.  It was true Baxter and the man
+with a scar had disappeared.
+
+"Come on back!" he cried to his brother, and both ran to the rear
+of the tavern. Here there was a yard, at the end of which stood a
+barn and a long, low carriage shed.  Only a negro hostler was in
+sight.
+
+"Perhaps they haven't come out yet," began Sam, when he caught
+sight of a buggy on a road behind the barn.  It was going at a
+furious rate, the scarred man driving, and lashing his mettlesome
+horse at the same time.
+
+"There goes the man!"
+
+"That's so. Where is Baxter?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+They ran after the buggy, but soon gave up the chase, as man and
+turnout disappeared around a bend leading to the woods back of
+Cedarville.
+
+"We've lost him!" murmured Tom, when he could get back his breath.
+"Now who in the name of Old Nick can he be?"
+
+"Evidently a friend to Baxter.  Perhaps he  is Baxter's father?"
+suggested Sam.
+
+"Baxter's father--Gracious!  He is!"
+
+"How do you know?"
+
+"I'm not positive, but when I met him and the thief in the woods,
+the thief, who was called Buddy, started to call that fellow
+Baxter, but the tall man wouldn't have it, and made him call him
+Nolly.  His right name, I feel certain, is Arnold Baxter."
+
+"Then, if he isn't Baxter's father, he must be some close
+relative, otherwise he wouldn't give Baxter that money.  Now it is
+easy to see where the bully gets all of his cash.  That tall man
+must be rich."
+
+"Yes, but who knows how he comes by his money?  He is the chum of
+a thief, that's certain."
+
+A search was made for Dan Baxter, but he could not be found.  As a
+matter of fact, he had been in the buggy, hiding under the seat.
+The boys hung around for quarter of an hour longer, and then
+resolved to return to Putnam Hall.
+
+"No use of making a row about it," said Tom.  "I remember that
+policeman at the steamboat landing.  He is a terribly fat fellow
+and evidently a hard drinker.  He couldn't help us enough.  We had
+better try to work this out on our own account.  I'll tackle
+Baxter the first chance I get."
+
+When the Hall was reached they looked around for the bully, but
+found he had not returned.  They had now to go in for their
+studies, and for the time being the affair was dropped.
+
+That afternoon found them on the lake, and while enjoying the
+skating Dick was informed of what had occurred.  "A bad crowd,"
+said the elder Rover.  "Yes, tackle Baxter, by all means.  But be
+cautious what you say, for you can't prove much, remember."
+
+A race had been arranged between the boys, and Dick was one of the
+contestants.  The distance was from one end of the cove to the
+other was a little over three-quarters of a mile.  There were ten
+starters, including Fred, Frank, Larry, and Mumps.  Mumps had a
+reputation as a skater, gained at his home on the Hudson River.
+
+"All ready?" shouted the starter.
+
+There was a dead silence.
+
+"Go!" came the word, and away went the ten, their skates flashing
+brightly in the setting sun.  Soon Larry Colby was in advance,
+with Mumps just over his shoulder.
+
+"It is Larry's race!"
+
+"Mumps is a close second!"
+
+"Shake 'em up, Fred!  What are you lagging about, Frank?  Go it,
+Leo!"
+
+Skirk skirk skirk went the skate runners, and now a crowd of lads
+started in pursuit of the racers.  Soon the turning point was
+gained.  Larry was in advance still, but now Mumps overtook him,
+and suddenly the boy from the Hudson who had such a reputation as
+a racer shot fifteen feet in advance.  It looked as if the race
+was certainly his, and Larry and the others felt much downcast.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+THE SKATING RACE--DAN BAXTER IS CORNERED
+
+
+The wind had been with the racers thus far, but as one after
+another of the skaters turned the mark they found the wind now
+full in their faces, and it was blowing freshly.
+
+"Mumps will win beyond a doubt!" was the cry, as the lad from the
+Hudson River forged still further ahead.
+
+"My skate is loose!" cried Larry, and a second later the skate came
+off and flew fifty feet away.
+
+By this time Dick and Fred were coming up, slowly but surely.  It
+seemed to be nip-and-tuck between them, and the friends of each
+cheered wildly.
+
+"Go it, Dick; you can come in second anyway!"
+
+"Make him follow you, Fred!  You can do it if you try!"
+
+On and on went the racers, Mumps still ten feet ahead, Fred and
+Dick side by side, and the others in a bunch just back of them.
+
+But the strain was now beginning to tell upon Mumps, who had
+pushed himself too much from the start.  Halfway to the finish
+from the turning point Dick and Fred began to crawl up, until they
+were less than a yard behind him, one at either hand.
+
+"Go it, Mumps!  They are catching you!"
+
+Mumps did try to increase his speed, but his wind was gone and he
+could hardly strike out.  The finish was now in sight, and the
+boys began to shout on every side:
+
+"Go it, every one of you!"
+
+"Hurrah! Mumps, Dick, and Fred are a tie!"
+
+It was true the three boys were side by side.  But presently both
+Dick and Fred made extra efforts and forged ahead.
+
+"It's your race, Fred!"
+
+"It's yours, Dick!"
+
+But it was neither's race--for with a shout both whizzed over
+the line at the same instant.
+
+"A tie!"
+
+"And Mumps ain't in it!"
+
+"Three cheers for Dick and Fred!" shouted Frank Harrington, and
+the cheers were given with a will.  By this time the play hour was
+over, and all of the skaters rushed back to the Hall, to get ready
+for the drill previous to supper.  It is needless to add that each
+lad brought an extra big appetite with him.
+
+All of the Royer boys noticed that Dan Baxter did not turn up at
+roll call, nor did the bully put in an appearance that night.
+"Got a day off," said Mumps, but that was all he could tell.
+
+Late on the following day Tom was walking toward the gymnasium
+when he caught sight of Baxter just entering the school grounds.
+He at once ran toward the bully.
+
+"Baxter, I want to have a talk with you," he said sharply, as he
+looked the bully squarely in the face.
+
+"Do you?" was the uneasy answer.  "All right, fire ahead."
+
+"Hadn't you better come up to the dormitory?  We can have it all
+to ourselves, for the others are either in the gymnasium or on the
+lake."
+
+"Well, I was going up to our dormitory anyway," answered Baxter,
+and stalked off, leaving Tom to follow him.  Once they were in the
+dormitory occupied by the bully and his set, Baxter locked the
+door.
+
+"Now out with what you have got to say, and be quick about it," he
+growled.
+
+"I want to know who that man was, you met in the tavern in
+Cedarville."
+
+"Didn't meet any man in particular.  Met half a dozen in general."
+
+"You know the man I mean--the tall fellow, with a scar on his
+chin."
+
+"Oh, that fellow?  I think his name is Nolly.  He's a book agent,
+and I promised to buy some histories from him," and Baxter
+pretended to yawn, as if he was not especially interested.
+
+"You are not telling the truth, Baxter," answered Tom, undaunted
+by this show of nerve.
+
+"Do you mean to say I lie, Rover?  Take care, or you may be sorry
+for what you say!"
+
+"You can't pull the wool over my eyes, Baxter.  That man's name is
+no more Nolly than mine is George Washington or yours William
+McKinley."
+
+"Isn't it?  Then perhaps you know his real name."
+
+"I do.  His name is Arnold Baxter."
+
+Had a bomb exploded at Baxter's ear he would not have appeared
+more astonished.
+
+"Say, who told you that?" he demanded fiercely and caught Tom by
+the arm.
+
+"Let go of me, Dan Baxter."
+
+"I say, who told you that?"
+
+"I heard his name in the woods.  He was with the man who robbed my
+brother Dick of his watch, when we were at home."
+
+"Stuff and nonsense!" growled the bully, but he was very pale, and
+his voice shook with emotion.  "That man's name is William Nolly.
+He used to know my father.  That is why I helped him along by
+giving him an order for the histories.  I don't really want the
+books."
+
+"If you was helping him, how is it that Sam and I saw you taking a
+roll of bills from him down at the tavern?"
+
+Again Baxter started.  "You didn't see no such thing!" he roared,
+regardless of his grammar.  "I--that is--he gave me some
+change, that is all.  Here are the books I bought," and he pointed
+to a package he had been carrying.
+
+"It's a made-up story," retorted Tom.  "He gave you money, and my
+opinion is that that man is your father, and that he is no better
+than the man with whom he associates."
+
+The words had scarcely left Tom's lips than Baxter leaped upon
+him--like an enraged animal and hurled him to the floor. "I've a good
+mind to--to kill you for that, Rover!" he hissed. "Take it back, or
+I'll choke you to death!" and his strong hand sought Tom's throat.
+
+"Will you!" came in a gasp, and now Tom turned over and threw the
+bully to one side.  "I guess two can play at this game.  Take
+that!" and he struck Baxter a heavy blow on the side of the face.
+In a moment they had clinched and were trying their best to throw
+each other.
+
+Suddenly came a rattle of the door knob.  "Boys! Boys!  What does
+this mean?" It was George Strong's voice.  "Open the door
+instantly."
+
+"Keep your mouth shut!" whispered Baxter, as he again shook his
+fist in Tom's face.  "Not one word--on your life!"
+
+Then he disengaged himself, adjusted his collar and tie, which had
+become rumpled, and unlocked the door.  At once the head assistant
+strode into the dormitory.
+
+"Have you two been fighting?" he demanded.
+
+"We were only boxing a bit, sir," answered Baxter, before Tom
+could speak.  "No harm intended, sir."
+
+"You were making a good deal of noise," answered George Strong
+dryly.  "What have you to say, Rover?"
+
+"I have this to say, Mr. Strong," answered Tom boldly.  "I would
+like to interview Captain Putnam without delay."
+
+"Don't you dare--" began Baxter, when a wave of the teacher's
+hand cut him, short.
+
+"About what, Rover?"
+
+"About this affair, and about Baxter, sir.  I am not a telltale,
+but certain things have happened which I think Captain Putnam
+should know for his own sake and for the reputation of his
+school."
+
+"You--you imp!" hissed Baxter.  He wanted to spring at Tom, but
+now George Strong caught him and held him fast.
+
+"Baxter, you had best come with me--and you too, Rover."
+
+"To see Captain Putnam?" queried Tom.
+
+"Yes."
+
+"I don't want to go," blustered the bully.  "Let Rover tell his
+yarn--I don't care.  It will be only another of his lies."
+
+"Then you shall go to the guardroom," said the teacher.  "Rover,
+you may go to see the captain alone."
+
+"I will sir--at once," and Tom made away.  He had no sooner
+departed than George Strong marched Baxter off to the guardroom
+previously described.  As the pair passed down the stairs they
+encountered Mumps coming up.
+
+"Hullo, Dan, what does this mean?" asked Mumps in wonder.
+
+"I'm under arrest," laughed Baxter bitterly.  "And for nothing,
+too."
+
+"Silence!" commanded George Strong.  "If you have done nothing
+wrong, you will soon be released."
+
+"You bet I will," rejoined Baxter insolently, and then, watching
+his chance, he made a sign which Mumps well understood.  The sign
+meant "Come and help me if you can."
+
+Mumps nodded to show that he understood.  Then he pretended to go
+up to the dormitory, while the head teacher conducted Baxter to
+the guardroom, locked the impudent one in, and walked away with
+the key.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+THE BULLY LEAVES PUTNAM HALL
+
+
+"So you wish to see me, Rover?  Very well, come right in and sit
+down," said Captain Putnam, who sat in front of his desk, making
+up some of his accounts for the month just past.
+
+Tom came in and sat down.  It must be confessed he was a trifle
+nervous, but this soon wore away.
+
+"I came to tell you something and to ask your advice," he began.
+"You remember what happened to me when I ran away into the woods
+just after arriving at the Hall?"
+
+"Very well, Thomas," and the captain smiled.
+
+"Well, when Sam and I went to Cedarville to buy our skates we saw
+Dan Baxter in the tavern there, in company with the man with a
+scar on his chin.  This man gave Baxter some bank bills."
+
+"What!  At the tavern?"
+
+"Yes, Sir."
+
+"Please tell your story in detail, Rover," and now Captain Putnam
+swung around so that he might get a full view of his pupil's face.
+
+And Tom told his story from beginning to end just as I have set it
+down in the foregoing pages.
+
+"I am certain this man is some relative of Baxter," he concluded.
+"And I am equally certain he is not an honest fellow."
+
+"Humph!" Captain Putnam arose and began to pace the heavily
+carpeted floor.  "Rover, this is a serious charge."
+
+"I understand that, Sir.  But you can't blame us boys for trying
+to get back Dick's watch and trying to--to--"
+
+"Bring the guilty party to justice?  Certainly not!  But it would
+seem the man with a scar is not the thief."
+
+"No, but he is the boon companion of the thief."
+
+"That is true--unless there is some grave mistake.  But you are
+right about one thing, the man is really Baxter's father, and his
+name is Arnold Baxter."
+
+"And why does he travel around under the name of Nolly?"
+
+"That is the mystery.  I met Mr. Baxter only once--when he
+placed his son in my care.  At that time I was certain he was
+wearing a wig and a false mustache.  The scar was on his chin,
+although he tried to hide it.  I have never seen him since.  When
+any money is due from him he sends it to me by mail and does not
+ask for any receipt.  I once asked Baxter about his parents, and
+he said his mother was dead and he didn't know exactly where his
+father was, as the latter was a great traveler and went
+everywhere."
+
+"I see."
+
+"If you are right, and the man is a rascal, it is to his credit
+that he is trying to bring his son up as a gentleman.  Perhaps he
+doesn't want Daniel to know anything of the past.  Do you follow
+me?"
+
+"I do, sir.  But if this is so, would he take his son into the
+tavern?"
+
+"Perhaps--everybody is not so opposed to drinking as I am."
+
+"Well, if Mr. Baxter is a bad man, I rather think Dan is a chip of
+the old block," rejoined Tom bluntly.  "But be that as it may, all
+I want to get hold of is that thief and Dick's timepiece."
+
+"I will question Baxter closely," answered Captain Putnam.  "But I
+do not wish to hold him guilty of something of which most likely
+he knows nothing."
+
+George Strong had by this time come in, and he was sent to bring
+Baxter.  He was gone but a few minutes when he came back in high
+excitement.
+
+"Baxter has broken out of the guardroom!" he, exclaimed.  "I
+cannot find him anywhere!"
+
+"Did you look in the dormitory?"
+
+"Yes, sir; and his valise is gone, and his trunk is empty of all
+of value."
+
+"Humph!" Captain Putnam's brow contracted.  "This looks very
+suspicious."
+
+At that moment one of the smaller cadets came in with a note in
+his hand.
+
+"I just met Baxter running down the road!" exclaimed the little
+fellow.  "He gave me this for you, Captain Putnam."
+
+At once the proprietor of the Hall tore open the communication and
+read it half aloud:
+
+"Good-by to Putnam Hall forever.  It is full of fellows who are no
+good and run by a man I never liked.  No use of following me, for
+I am going to join my father, and I don't mean to come back.
+
+"DAN BAXTER
+
+"P. S.--Tell the Rover boys I shan't forget them, and some day I
+shall take pains to square accounts.
+
+                  "D. B."
+
+"The foolish boy," was the captain's comment.  "But perhaps he has
+done what is best, for it might have been necessary to dismiss
+him."  For a long while those at the Hall wondered how Baxter had
+escaped.  Only Mumps knew and he kept the secret to himself.  A
+duplicate key to the door of the guardroom had done the trick.
+
+As Baxter was not followed, nothing more was spoken of him for the
+time being, and after several days the cadets settled down to
+their regular work as though nothing out of the ordinary had
+occurred.  A hunt was instituted by Dick for Arnold Baxter and
+Buddy the thief, but no trace of the pair came to light.
+
+The Christmas holidays were now at hand and the closing days at
+Putnam Hall were given over to several entertainments.  One of
+these consisted of a stage performance of a play called "A
+Christmas in a Tenement," given by twelve of the boys.  Three of
+the lads, including Tom, took female parts, and the audience
+laughed itself sore over the antics that were cut up.
+
+Many living in the vicinity came to the entertainment; including
+all of the Lanings and also Dora Stanhope and her mother; who was
+now almost as well as ever.
+
+"It was fine!" said Nellie Laning to Tom.  "But, oh, Tom, what a
+girl you did make!"
+
+"Wouldn't you like me for a sister?" queried Tom.
+
+"A sister!  Oh, dear!" cried Nellie, and began to laugh again.
+
+"You looked like a female giraffe!" put in Grace Laning.  "Sam
+acted a little boy splendidly.  Sam, don't you want a stick of
+candy?"
+
+"Yes, mammy, please," squeaked Sam, just as he had on the stage,
+and another laugh went around.
+
+In the meantime Dick had drawn Dora to one side.  "What is the
+news?" he asked anxiously.
+
+"Nothing new," sighed Dora.  "Josiah Crabtree has gone to Boston
+on business.  I am afraid I cannot keep that marriage off much
+longer.  He seems bound to marry mother, and even if she feels
+like drawing back she hasn't the courage to tell him so."
+
+"It's a shame," murmured Dick.  "Well, remember what I said, Dora,
+if I can ever help you I will."  And he squeezed her hand.  Before
+they separated he gave her a silk handkerchief he had purchased at
+Cedarville, one with her initial in the corner, and she blushingly
+handed over a scarf made by herself.  Dick was very proud of that
+scarf, although Tom and Sam teased him about it unmercifully.
+
+Of course the boys had received letters from their uncle and aunt
+regularly, yet they watched eagerly for the hour that should bring
+them within sight of the farm with its well-known buildings.  The
+journey to Oak Run proved uneventful, and here Jack, the hired
+man, met them with the carriage.
+
+"Glad to see you, lads," he said--with a grin.
+
+"Seems quite natural like."
+
+"So it does, Jack!" cried Tom.  "Let 'em out, for we want to get
+home!"
+
+The snow was falling, and by the time the farmhouse was reached it
+was several inches deep.  "We're in for a sleigh ride before we go
+back," said Sam.
+
+Their uncle and aunt stood at the door to receive them.  "Welcome
+home!  Merry Christmas!" came from both, and each of the boys gave
+a warm handshake to Randolph Rover and hearty kiss to their Aunt
+Martha.  Past troubles were all forgotten.
+
+This was Christmas Eve, and the boys stayed up late, cracking nuts
+by the blazing log fire and having a good time generally.
+
+In the morning Dick was the first one awake.
+
+"For gracious' sake!" he ejaculated, staring at the chimney piece.
+"There hung his own stocking and also one each belonging to Tom
+and Sam.  Each was filled with goodies such as he knew only his
+Aunt Martha could make.
+
+"Sam and Dick, wake up, we've struck a bonanza!" he cried, and
+hauled both from under the covers.  All laughed heartily, and
+marched down to the dining room with the stockings over their
+shoulders.
+
+"A merry Christmas to Uncle Randolph from all of us," said Tom,
+handing over a much coveted volume on agriculture.  "And a merry
+Christmas to Aunt Martha from three bad boys," added Sam, and
+turned over a fancy work-basket, both presents having been
+purchased at Ithaca on the journey home.
+
+"Ha!  Just what I desired!" said Randolph Rover, adjusting his
+spectacles.  "I am very much obliged, boys--I am, indeed!"
+
+"Such a pretty basket!" murmured Mrs. Rover.  "It was very good of
+you!" and she, hugged each lad in his turn.  Then came more
+presents--neckties, collars, and gloves for the boys, besides a
+book for each written by a favorite juvenile writer.
+
+"The snow is two feet deep!" said Dick, after an inspection, when
+breakfast had come to an end.  "We're booked for the house today!"
+
+"We'll wait until afternoon," said Mr. Rover.
+
+It was a happy time, even if they were snowed in.  Soon the warm
+sun came out and brought the snow down a little.  "Best kind of
+sleighing now," said the hired man, and drove around the biggest
+sleigh on the place.  All tumbled in, and the party did not return
+until after midnight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+SOMETHING ABOUT THE PAST
+
+
+During holiday week the boys took occasion to tell their uncle all
+of the particulars concerning the tramp called Buddy, Arnold
+Baxter, and his son the bully.  It is needless to state that
+Randolph Rover listened to their story with interest.
+
+"I would like to meet this man with a scar on his chin," he said.
+"Speaking of him reminds me of something that happened years ago."
+
+"What was it, Uncle Randolph?" questioned Tom.
+
+"Your father had an enemy who had a scar on his chin."
+
+"What!" cried Sam.  "Could it have been this Arnold Baxter?"
+
+"Hardly, although such a thing is possible.  This man was a
+Westerner, and laid claim to some property owned by your father.
+They had a quarrel, and the fellow shot your father in the arm and
+then ran away.  I never learned any of the particulars."
+
+"Arnold Baxter and this Buddy spoke about a mining claim, and
+about some papers," burst out Tom.  "I'd like to wager he is the
+same chap!"
+
+"If he is, you want to beware of him," responded Randolph Rover
+gravely.  "He is your father's deadliest enemy."
+
+"I'll remember that," said Dick, and his brothers nodded.  The
+matter was talked over for several hours, but brought little
+satisfaction.
+
+On New Year's Day came another fall of snow, and the lads spent
+the afternoon in a regular snowballing match among themselves and
+with the hired man.  Poor Jack caught it on all sides, and after
+quarter of an hour's bombardment was glad enough to run to the
+barn, for shelter.  "But it's great sport," he grinned, as he
+almost stood on his head trying to get from the back of his neck a
+soft snowball which Tom had planted there.
+
+The following day they started back for Putnam Hall, and on the
+way met Larry, Frank, Fred, and a number of others.  When Ithaca
+was reached a surprise awaited the crowd.  The weather was so cold
+that the ice impeded transportation, and the Golden Star was not
+making her usual trips to Cedarville and other points.
+
+"Here's a state of things!" cried, Tom.  "What's to do--walk to
+Putnam Hall?"
+
+"Well, hardly, seeing that it is a good number of miles and the
+weather is bitterly cold."
+
+"Well, if we can't walk and can't ride, how are we to get there?"
+came from Sam.
+
+"That's the conundrum, Brudder Bones," laughed Larry, imitating a
+negro minstrel.  "I'se gib it up, sah!"
+
+"It's no laughing matter," said Dick.  "We might stay in Ithaca
+over night, but traveling may be no better in the morning."
+
+"Let us send a telegram to Captain Putnam for instructions,"
+suggested Fred, and soon the following message was prepared and
+sent to the Hall by way of Cedarville:
+
+"Six of us are held up at Ithaca by the cold.  How shall we come
+on?"
+
+This message was forwarded without delay, and while awaiting an
+answer Dick and his brothers took a walk through the town.
+
+They were passing down the main street when Sam uttered a short
+cry.
+
+"Hullo, there is Josiah Crabtree!"
+
+"Where?" questioned Dick with deep interest.
+
+"Across the way.  He has just entered the jewelry store on the
+corner."
+
+"Say, perhaps he's buying a wedding ring," blurted out Tom before
+he stopped to think.
+
+"Tom, that matter is no joke," came from Dick, as his face grew
+red.  "I sincerely hope, for Dora Stanhope's sake, that he never
+marries, Dora's mother."
+
+"Oh, so do I," answered Tom readily.
+
+"Why, he isn't fit to be stepfather to a dog!"
+
+"Let us look into the window and see what he is doing," suggested
+Dick uneasily, for he could not get it out of his head but that
+his brother's guess might be correct.
+
+The window was broad and clear, and they looked through it into
+the shop with ease.  Josiah Crabtree stood at the counter, talking
+to a clerk, who presently brought forth a tray of plain rings.
+
+"It is a wedding ring, as sure as you are born!" cried Tom.
+
+"I'm going in," said Dick in a low tone.  "Wait for me here," and
+he entered the establishment.  There were counters an both sides,
+and he walked to a position directly opposite to that occupied by
+the ex-schoolmaster.
+
+"I wish to see some cheap scarf pins," he said to the clerk who
+came to wait on him, and the man hurried off to bring on the
+articles mentioned.
+
+"And is this the latest style of wedding ring?" Dick heard Josiah
+Crabtree say in a low voice.
+
+"Yes, sir, the very latest--and very tasty," answered the clerk
+who was waiting on him.
+
+"I wish two, one for the lady and one for--ahem--myself."
+
+"Yes, sir--quite the style now for a gentleman to have a ring.
+Want them engraved, of course."
+
+"Yes.  Here is a paper with the sizes and what is to be engraved
+upon each.  How much will they be with the engraving?"
+
+"Six dollars each, sir."
+
+"Six dollars!  Don't you make a reduction on taking two?" asked
+Crabtree, who was a good deal of a miser.
+
+"We can throw off a dollar on the pair," answered the clerk, after
+consulting the proprietor of the shop.
+
+"I didn't expect to pay over ten dollars."
+
+"We can give you this style for ten dollars."
+
+"No, I want the latest--to please the lady."
+
+"Humph!" muttered Dick.  "You'll never please Mrs. Stanhope with
+any ring."
+
+"Eleven dollars is the lowest we can take."
+
+"And when will the rings be ready for me?"
+
+"Day after tomorrow.  We might do them quicker, but we have a
+great deal of engraving ahead."
+
+"Day after tomorrow will do, for I do not wish them until next
+week," answered Josiah.  "Here is my card.  I am stopping at the
+American House in this city."
+
+"Yes, sir.  Do you want the rings sent?"
+
+"No, I will call for them," concluded the ex-teacher, and hurried
+from the place.  Sam and Tom saw him coming, and dodged out of
+sight around the corner.
+
+Dick had taken in all that was said and had in the meantime picked
+out a cheap scarf pin which cost but ten cents.  As soon as
+Crabtree was gone he paid for the pin, shoved it into his pocket,
+and rejoined his brothers, to whom he told the particulars of what
+had occurred.
+
+"He intends to marry Mrs. Stanhope next week," he declared
+bitterly.  "I would give almost all I'm worth to stop that
+wedding."
+
+"Gracious, but you do think a heap of Dora!" said Tom slyly.
+"Well, I don't blame you.  She is a splendid girl--eh, Sam?"
+
+"That's right," answered Sam.
+
+"But, Dick, why not put up a job on old Crabtree?"
+
+"What kind of a job?"
+
+"Find out just when he wants to get married and then send him a
+letter from Yale or some other college, requesting him to come on
+at once if he wants a certain position.  That will cause another
+delay, and maybe Mrs. Stanhope will get sick of him."
+
+"Oh, if only we could do something like that!" cried his elder
+brother quickly. "I wish I could send him away out West."
+
+"We'll manage it somehow--" put in Tom.
+
+"Sam, what wonderful ideas you have for your years!"
+
+"Oh; I take after my big brothers," answered the youngest Rover
+modestly.
+
+Late in the evening a telegram was received from Captain Putnam:
+
+"Remain in Ithaca over night, at the American House.  Will send
+word how to get here in the morning."
+
+"The American House!" ejaculated Dick.  "That is where old
+Crabtree is stopping."
+
+"If only we can have some fun with the old chap!" sighed Tom.
+
+The six boys marched to the hotel in a body, told their story, and
+showed the telegram to the clerk.
+
+"All right," said the clerk.  "We've had cadets stop here before.
+I have a big room on the second floor, with two large beds in it.
+Will that do?"
+
+"That suits me," said Larry.
+
+"Is Mr. Josiah Crabtree stopping here?" questioned Tom.
+
+"Yes.  He has the room next to the one I mentioned--his is No.
+13, and yours will be No. 14."
+
+"All right; thanks," answered Tom dryly, and immediately began to
+lay plans for playing a joke on the old teacher.
+
+"We don't want to let Mr. Crabtree know we are stopping here," he
+said to the clerk later on.  "He is no longer a teacher at the
+Hall, and we would rather not meet."
+
+"Shall I put you in another room?"
+
+"Oh, no; only don't tell him we are here."
+
+"I'll remember that, sir."
+
+As soon as the boys had been shown to the big room, Tom turned to
+his fellows.  "I want each of you to chip in ten cents," he said.
+
+"What for?" came in a chorus.
+
+"For the purpose of getting square with old Crabby."
+
+"I don't see the connection," said Larry.  "Kindly be a little
+more definite."
+
+"You'll see, or hear, the connection a little later on," answered
+Tom.  "Quick, shell out and I'll promise you your money's worth,
+or return the amount with legal interest."
+
+The fifty cents was quickly collected, and, adding ten cents of
+his own, Tom ran from the hotel.  "No fish market open at this
+time of night," he said to himself.
+
+"I'll have to try a restaurant," and hurried into the first place
+which came into sight.
+
+"Have you any crabs?" he asked, of the waiter who came to him.
+
+"Yes, sah; very fine, sah.  Want some soft-shell, sah?"
+
+"I don't care whether they are soft-shell or as hard as rocks.  I
+want live crabs, the most active kind you have in stock."
+
+The waiter stared in amazement, then called the owner of the
+restaurant.
+
+"You want live crabs?"
+
+"I do--strong, active, go-ahead crabs, and I want them in a
+box."
+
+"Is this a joke?"
+
+"It will be--when the crabs get to work," answered Tom with a
+wink.
+
+"Oh, I understand," laughed the restaurant keeper.  "How many?"
+
+"What are they worth?"
+
+"Good nippers are worth ten cents apiece."
+
+"Give me six, and mind you put them in a strong box for me."
+
+Five minutes later Tom left the restaurant with the live crabs
+tucked safely away in a shoe box under his overcoat.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+FUN AT THE HOTEL
+
+
+It was no easy matter for Tom to get into the room Josiah Crabtree
+was occupying, but after trying a good number of keys, fished up
+here, there, and everywhere, one was at last found that fitted the
+lock.
+
+Striking a match, Tom entered the room quickly, drew back the
+sheet of the bed, dumped in the crabs, and then pulled the sheet
+up to its original place.
+
+"He's coming!" whispered Sam, who stood guard at the door.  "Hide,
+Tom," and then he ran back to the big room adjoining.
+
+Finding he could not escape, Tom threw the box under the bed and
+rushed to a closet in the corner.  Here he crouched down behind a
+large trunk left in the place on storage.  He had scarcely
+secreted himself when Josiah Crabtree came in.  He had shoved his
+key in the lock, but had failed to notice that the lock-bolt was
+already turned back.
+
+"Oh, what a cold night," muttered the ex-school teacher as he lit
+the gas.  "A warm bed will feel fine."
+
+"I reckon it will be warm enough," thought Tom.
+
+As the room was scantily heated, Crabtree lost no time in
+disrobing.  Having donned a long night robe, he turned off the
+gas, flung the sheets back, and leaped into bed.
+
+Exactly ten seconds of silence followed.  Then came a yell
+calculated to raise the dead.
+
+"Whow!  What's this?  Oh!  What's got me by the legs?  Oh, oh! oh!
+I'm being eaten up alive!  Let go there!  Oh, dear!"
+
+And with additional yells, Josiah Crabtree leaped straight out of
+bed, one crab hanging to his left knee, several on his feet, and
+one, which he had caught hold of clinging to the back of his hand.
+At once he began to do an Indian war-dance around the apartment,
+knocking the furniture right and left.
+
+"Let go there! What on earth can they be? Oh, my toe is half off--I
+know it is! Let go!" And then he struggled toward the gas jet, but
+before he could light it Tom had slipped out of the apartment, closing
+the door behind him. The banging of furniture continued, and then came
+a crash, as the washstand went over, carrying with it a bowl, a soap
+tray, and a large, pitcher filled with water. The icy water gushed
+over Crabtree's feet, making him shiver with the cold, but the crabs
+were undaunted and only clung the closer.
+
+The noise soon aroused the entire hotel, and the clerk, several
+bell-boys, and finally the proprietor, rushed to the scene.  The
+door was flung wide open.
+
+"Have you been drinking, sir?  How dare you disturb the hotel in
+this fashion?" demanded the proprietor.
+
+"The crabs!  Take them off!" yelled Crabtree, continuing to dance
+around.
+
+"Crabs?  What made you bring crabs up here?"
+
+"I--I--oh, my toes!  Take them off!" shrieked Josiah Crabtree,
+and kicked out right and left.  One of the crabs was flung off, to
+land in the hotel proprietor's face and to catch the man by the
+nose.
+
+"My nose!  He will bite it off!" cried the hotel man.  "Kill the
+thing, Gillett--smash it with a-a-anything!"
+
+And Gillett, the clerk, tried to do so, while the hotel man and
+Crabtree continued to dance around in the wildest kind of fury.
+Safe in their own room, the boys laughed until they cried.  All
+had gone to bed, and Tom lost no time in getting under the covers.
+
+"Somebody has played a trick," began Crabtree when an extra nip on
+his knee cut him short.  "Oh, my, I shall die!" he moaned.  "I
+know I shall die!"
+
+By this time the proprietor of the hotel had freed himself from
+the crab that had nipped him on the nose.  "You won't die, but
+you'll get out of this hotel," he snarled.  "Throw the crabs out
+of the window," he continued to his employees, and after a good
+deal of trouble one crab after another was hurled forth, the
+window being kept open in the meantime and the icy draught causing
+Crabtree to shiver as with the ague.  As there seemed no help for
+it the ex-teacher began to dress again with all possible speed.
+
+"If I find out who did this I'll--I'll kill him," moaned Josiah
+Crabtree. "I've been nipped is a hundred places!"
+
+"You'll leave this hotel!" said the proprietor.  "I've had enough
+of you.  First the room didn't suit, then the price was too high,
+and at dinner and supper you found all manner of fault with the
+menu.  You'll go, and the quicker, the better."
+
+"But look here--" began Crabtree.
+
+"I won't argue with you.  Either get out or I'll have you arrested
+as a disorderly character."
+
+"Yes, but--"
+
+"Not a word.  Will you go quietly, or shall I have you put out?"
+
+"I'll--I'll go!" gasped Josiah Crabtree, and five minutes later
+he was on the cold street, satchel in hand, and saying all manner
+of unpleasant things under his breath.
+
+"Oh, Tom!" laughed Sam, and could go no further.  Each of the boys
+had felt like exploding a dozen times.  It was not until an hour
+after that any of them managed to get to sleep.
+
+When they came down in the morning the hotel clerk winked at them.
+"I'm not saying a word," he whispered.  "But it served the old
+crank right.  Even the boss is doing a little smiling, although he
+got quite a nip himself."
+
+"Really, I don't know what you are talking about," answered Tom.
+Then he shut up one eye, stuck his tongue into his cheek, and
+strolled into the dining room.
+
+"He's an out-and-out boy, he is," murmured the clerk, gazing after
+him.
+
+Breakfast was finished, and the cadets were strolling around the
+hotel awaiting further instructions from Captain Putnam, when a
+man drove up to the door in a big livery-stable sleigh.
+
+"I am after some boys bound for Putnam Hall," he said.  "Captain
+Putnam telegraphed to the boss to bring 'em up to the Hall in
+this sleigh."
+
+"Hurrah!" shouted Sam.  "Such a long ride will just suit me!"
+
+"If it doesn't prove too cold," was Dick's comment.
+
+There was but one seat in the turnout, the back being filled with
+straw and robes.  "Take your lunch with you," said the driver.
+"For it's a long trip we have before us, and I reckon a part of
+the road ain't none too good."
+
+The clerk of the hotel was consulted, and soon a big lunch-box was
+packed, containing sandwiches, cake, and a stone jug of hot
+coffee.  This was stowed away in the straw, and the lads piled in,
+laughing merrily over the prospect before them.
+
+"Off we go!" shouted Larry, and with a crack of the whip the
+sleigh started.  It was drawn by a heavy pair of horses, who
+looked well able to get through any snowdrift that might present
+itself.
+
+Ithaca was soon left behind, and they sped swiftly along a road
+running northward, a half mile more from the west shore of the
+lake.  The road was level, and somewhat worn by travel, and for
+the first three miles good time was made.
+
+"If we can continue this gait we'll reach Putnam Hall by three or
+four o'clock this afternoon, allowing an hour's rest at noon,"
+said the driver in reply to a question put by Frank.  "But we have
+still a number of small hills to climb, and it's not going to stay
+as clear as it was early this morning."
+
+The latter remark was caused by the sun disappearing under heavy
+clouds.  Soon it began to snow, at first lightly, and then heavier
+and heavier.
+
+"We're going to catch it!" said Tom, after the noon stop had been
+taken at a wayside hotel, where they had taken dinner, keeping the
+boxed lunch for later on.  "The snow is four inches deeper than it
+was."
+
+On they went again, the snow becoming so thick at last that they
+could scarcely see a yard before them.  It was very cold, and the
+cadets were glad enough to huddle in the straw, with the robes
+over them, leaving the driver to pick his way as best he could.
+
+An hour had gone by, and they were wondering if they were anywhere
+near Cedarville, when a wild shout rang out, and the next instant
+came a crash, as their sleigh collided with another coming from
+the opposite direction.  A runner of each turnout was smashed, and
+the occupants of the other sleigh came tumbling in upon the lads
+in great confusion.
+
+"Great Caesar! what's this?" groaned Tom as he shifted a weight
+from his shoulders, and then he stared in amazement as he found
+himself confronted by Nellie Laning!
+
+"Tom Rover!" burst from the girl's lips soon as she could recover
+her breath. "Did you ever!"
+
+"Well, hardly!" murmured Tom, as he helped her to, a sitting
+position.  "You're coming in on us fast.  What's the trouble?  Oh,
+and there is Grace and your father!"
+
+"The sleighs ran into each other," answered Nellie.  "Can you stop
+the horses, father?" she called out.
+
+"Yes, but the sleigh is a goner," answered Mr. Laning, and then
+some sharp words passed between himself and the livery-stable
+driver.  There was no doubt, however, but that the blinding storm
+was largely responsible for the accident.
+
+An examination proved that both sleighs would have to be abandoned,
+and then the two parties sought shelter at a near-by farmhouse, while
+Mr. Laning went off on one horse, and the livery-stable driver on
+another, each to borrow a sleigh elsewhere.
+
+This left the boys in the company of the girls for over an hour,
+and during that time Dick, Tom and Sam asked a great many
+questions, especially about Mrs. Stanhope and Dora.
+
+"Yes, the marriage is to come off next week, Thursday, unless
+something prevents it," said Nellie.  "Dora is fairly sick over
+the prospect.  What Aunt Lucy can see in Mr. Crabtree is more than
+any of us can understand."
+
+"He must have hypnotized her," observed, Dick.  "It's a shame!  I
+wish old Crabtree was in Jericho!"
+
+"So do all of us!" laughed Grace, and then Sam took her off for a
+quiet chat, while Tom, monopolized Nellie.
+
+"Those Rover boys think a great deal of the Lanings and
+Stanhopes," observed Larry to Fred.  "Well, it's all right--they
+are awfully nice girls, every one of 'em!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII
+
+BALLOTING FOR A SECOND LIEUTENANT
+
+
+"Back to Putnam Hall at last!  How home-like the place looks!" Sam
+uttered the words as he leaped from the sleigh and ran for the
+main entrance, where Captain Putnam stood to receive them.  He had
+heard of the accident, and was fearful that one or another of his
+pupils might have been hurt.
+
+"Thank Providence that no one was killed or seriously injured!" he
+observed, as he wrung each by the hand.  "Welcome, lads, and I
+trust you have all had happy holidays."
+
+"The same to you, Captain Putnam!" cried one after another, and
+then they passed in to be greeted by George Strong and the new
+assistant.
+
+Cadets kept coming back for three days, on the following Monday
+the regular school opened, to end in July. Soon the boys were as deep
+in their studies as ever before.
+
+In the meantime Dick had concocted a scheme for sending Josiah
+Crabtree on a goose chase to Chicago.  Tom had a friend in that
+city, and he was requested to mail without delay a certain letter
+which Tom enclosed with his own.
+
+This letter was composed by Dick. It was written on a large
+letter-head upon which Dick printed the advertisement of the "Mid-West
+National College, Incorporated," doing the work on a small printing
+press used by some of the boys in getting out a school monthly. To
+make the letter even more imposing, Dick printed the body of it on a
+typewriter which was used by one of the classes taking a business
+course. The letter ran as follows:
+
+"JOSIAH CRABTREE, A. M., Cedarville, N., Y.
+
+"CHICAOO, January 1, 189-.
+
+"Dear Sir: You have been recommended to us by a New York
+scholastic employment agency as a first-class teacher in
+mathematics, history, and other branches.  We are in immediate
+need at the opening of this term of such a teacher, and will pay
+two thousand dollars per year.  Will you come on at once, at our
+expense, with a view to closing with us?  Our institution is a new
+one, but we already have eighty pupils, of the best families of
+the Middle West, and are certain to have fifty more before the end
+of the year.  We understand that you are a bachelor, which state
+just suits our wants.  Kindly wire us and come on before Thursday
+the 10th, if possible.  The two thousand per year is, of course,
+exclusive of board and suite of rooms, which, we provide for all
+of our instructors.
+
+"Yours truly,
+
+"ANDREW N. BLUFF, LL.D., President."
+
+"If that doesn't make old Crabtree hustle then I miss my guess,"
+said Tom after reading the communication.  "He loves money too
+well to let that two thousand slide--marriage or no marriage.
+Even if he wants to wed, he'll go West to try and fix it up to
+hold the position anyway."
+
+The letter was posted to the friend in Chicago that very night.
+On the letter to Josiah Crabtree was placed an address in
+Cedarville which was certain to catch him.
+
+On the following day Captain Putnam, announced an election for
+second lieutenant of Company A.  "Lieutenant Darman will not be
+here any longer, as his family have moved to England," he said.
+"I trust you elect the best cadet possible to the office.  The
+election takes place next Wednesday at noon."
+
+At once a lively discussion took place. There were half a dozen
+pupils who wanted the position, and among them were Dick, Fred,
+and Mumps.
+
+"I ought to have that place," said Mumps, and on the quiet he
+started to buy up votes where he could not influence them in any
+other way.  This move succeeded among the smaller lads, but the
+big boys turned from him with scorn.
+
+It must be confessed that Dick was exceedingly anxious when the
+time for balloting arrived.  Would he succeed or fail?
+
+Just before dinner Captain Putnam brought out a square box into
+which ballots might be cast.
+
+"The cadets will stand up in a row to be counted," he said.
+"Major Conners, will you will kindly count your command."
+
+"Eighty-seven, including myself," announced the youthful major,
+after he had gone down the line and back with care.
+
+"Are any cadets absent?"
+
+"No, sir."
+
+"Very well then, we will proceed to vote by having each cadet come
+up and cast a slip of paper with his favorite's name on it in the
+box.  The line will march in single file, one pace from man to
+man.  Forward!"
+
+The captain stood by the ballot box, and up came the file, Major
+Conners first and Captain Blossom following.  In a few minutes all
+of the eighty-seven ballots were in the box, and then began the
+sorting out.
+
+"I will now read the result of the first ballot," announced
+Captain Putnam, holding up a paper with the figures, and amid a
+dead silence he began:
+
+    Whole number of votes cast  87
+    Necessary to a choice       44
+    Fred Garrison has           32
+    Richard Rover has            8
+    George Granbury has         15
+    John Fenwick has            12
+
+"Consequently, nobody is elected.  Another vote will be taken
+immediately after dinner," and then the companies were re-formed
+and marched into the mess hall.
+
+"Fred Garrison is ahead!" came in a whisper from every side.
+"Good for you, Fred!"
+
+"Mumps only got a dozen votes," came from one of the little boys.
+"He won't get my vote next time."
+
+"Nor mine," chimed in his chum.
+
+"Don't worry, Dick," whispered Tom.  "The final result isn't
+reached yet. Somebody has got to drop out first."
+
+The dinner finished, the boys gathered in knots to talk the
+question over.  Soon the line was re-formed for a second ballot.
+
+At that moment Fred Garrison stepped forward.
+
+"Fellow students!" he cried.  "One word before you vote.  I wish
+to withdraw from the contest, doing so in favor of two of my
+friends, Dick Rover and George Granbury.  I thank those who voted
+for me before from the bottom of my heart."
+
+"Hurrah for Fred!" came from a score of throats, and a cheer rent
+the air.  "We won't forget you next time, old man!"
+
+Soon the second ballot was cast, and amid another silence Captain
+Putnam read it off:
+
+    Number of votes cast   87
+    Necessary to a choice  44
+    John Fenwick has        7
+    George Granbury has    23
+    Richard Rover has      57
+
+"Richard Rover is declared elected second lieutenant of Company A
+for the balance of this term."
+
+A cheer broke forth, and many of the cadets came up to shake Dick
+by the hand.  Among the number were Fred and George Granbury.
+"You beat me fairly, Rover," said Granbury, a whole-souled fellow.
+"I am satisfied--so long--as such a cad as Mumps doesn't get
+an office."
+
+"Mumps was badly left," put in Tom.  "See, he is sneaking off to
+his room.  I rather guess he wishes he hadn't run."
+
+"I thank you all very much," said Dick, his face glowing.  "I
+shall try to do my best as second lieutenant.  Three cheers for
+all of the cadets of Putnam Hall!"
+
+And the cheers broke forth with renewed vigor.
+
+"Dick, you must do the square thing tonight," said Frank some time
+later.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked the elder Rover.
+
+"When a fellow is elected to an office he is supposed to treat his
+friends.  All of the cadets will be sneaking up to your dormitory
+some time between ten and twelve o'clock tonight."
+
+"Indeed!" Dick mused for a moment.
+
+"All right--I'll be ready for them, Frank; but mum is the word."
+
+"You will treat?"
+
+"I'll treat every cadet who shows himself and doesn't make any
+noise."
+
+"Good for you!  Then I can spread the word that it is all right?"
+
+"Yes--but, Frank..."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Beware of Mumps.  If he heard of what is going on I think he
+would try to spoil our game."
+
+"I'll be careful," answered Frank, and hurried off in one
+direction, while Dick hurried off in another.
+
+Both had scarcely disappeared than Mumps came forth from behind a
+hall rack which stood close at hand.
+
+"How lucky to overhear their talk," said the sneak.  "Will I spoil
+their game?  Well, just wait and see, that's all!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV
+
+PREPARING FOR A MID-NIGHT FEAST
+
+
+Dick was in a quandary as to how he was to treat all of his
+friends, and called Sam and Tom to him for consultation.
+
+"I've got a dollar and a quarter," said Sam, "you can use that,
+and welcome."
+
+"And here is a dollar and ten," added Tom, passing over the amount
+in ten cent pieces and nickels.  "Haven't you any money of your
+Own?"
+
+"I have two dollars and thirty cents," answered Dick.
+
+"That makes four dollars and sixty-five cents," said Tom, summing
+up.  "That's enough for a pretty fair blow-out."
+
+"So it is, Tom, but where is the stuff to come from?  Mrs. Green
+won't sell it to me."
+
+"That's true."
+
+"And she has her pantries all locked up."
+
+"Oh, pshaw!  You don't want to treat the boys on school stuff,"
+said Sam.  "Get 'em something from Cedarville--some bottled
+soda, candies, nuts, and things like that."
+
+"That's the talk, Dick.  Let us sneak out after dark and go to
+Cedarville!" cried Tom.  "That would just suit me."
+
+"I'll think it over," answered his big brother slowly.
+
+After supper found most of the cadets indoors, for the night
+promised to be cold.  About half of the boys remained in the
+library, while the others betook themselves to their rooms.
+
+"Well?" queried Tom, as he approached Dick on the stairs.
+
+"I'm ready, Tom," answered his brother.
+
+"But be careful, or we'll be spotted."
+
+Like a pair of ghosts they glided up the front stairs, along the
+broad hallway, and down the stairs in the rear.  The door was
+unlocked, and they passed into the yard.
+
+"Let us take Peleg Snuggers into our confidence," whispered Tom.
+"For a quarter I am certain he'll let us have one of the captain's
+nags."
+
+"You can test him if you wish," answered Dick, who was doubtful.
+
+Peleg Snuggers was found in the harness room shining up some
+buckles by the aid of a stable lantern.
+
+"Hullo, Peleg--working rather late," was Tom's greeting.
+
+"Yes, sir--got behind," answered the utility man.  "What brought
+you here?"
+
+"I want a horse, Peleg.  Which one can I have?"
+
+"A horse!  Did the captain send you?"
+
+Instead of replying Tom held out a silver quarter.  "Don't ask
+questions, Peleg, but just let me take a horse for an hour or two,
+that's a good man."
+
+"Can't do it, Master Rover--against orders, sir."
+
+"Oh, yes, you can.  We won't hurt the beast.  We are bound to get
+to Cedarville and back before ten o'clock.  Do you want us to drop
+on the road from exhaustion and be frozen to death?" and Tom put
+the question in all seriousness.
+
+"No, no, certainly not!"
+
+"Then bring out a horse.  That black will do.  Here, take the
+quarter, Peleg, and much obliged to you.  Hurry up."
+
+"Was there ever such a boy!" grumbled the man; but, nevertheless,
+he arose and got the black horse ready for them, hooking the
+animal to a small cutter.
+
+"Remember, if the captain learns of this, I don't know nothing
+about it...," he called out, as the two boys drove off by a back
+way, out of sight of the main building of the institution.
+
+"Peleg is all right, if you know how to handle him," said Tom, as
+he took the reins from Dick.
+
+"I'll let him out a bit, and we'll drive to Cedarville in a
+jiffy."
+
+"Tom, you're getting more cheeky every day," was Dick's comment,
+yet he was far from displeased over what his brother had
+accomplished.
+
+Away went the cutter, the roads being now in an excellent
+condition.  Soon Putnam Hall was left far behind, and they came
+within sight of the Stanhope homestead.
+
+"I'd like to stop for just a minute," said Dick, but Tom shook his
+head.
+
+"We want to get to Cedarville before the shops close," said the
+younger brother.
+ "We can stop on the way back--if we have time," and they
+continued on their way.
+
+Both knew Cedarville "like a book," as Tom expressed it, having
+been there so many times before.  They drove straight to the
+largest confectionery in the village.
+
+"A pound of chocolates, a pound of marshmallows, a pound of iced
+fruits, and five pounds of best mixed candies," said Dick, and the
+articles were quickly put up for him.
+
+"How much?"
+
+"A dollar and thirty cents, please."
+
+The bill was paid, and they hurried to another store, where they
+purchased two dozen bottles of soda water, a dozen bottles of root
+beer, and five pounds of mixed nuts.  Tom wanted to buy some
+cigarettes for such of the cadets as might wish to smoke, but Dick
+shook his head at this.
+
+"No, that's going too far," he said.  "We'll have a respectable
+spread, and that's enough."
+
+Inside of half an hour they had started on the return, the various
+articles purchased stowed safely away in the back of the cutter.
+
+"We'll have at least fifteen minutes to spare," said Dick, and
+waited as patiently as possible until the Stanhope homestead again
+appeared.  As soon as they gained the entrance to the garden, Dick
+hopped out, ran up the path to the porch, and rang the bell.  Dora
+Stanhope answered his summons.
+
+"Oh, Dick, is that you?" she cried.  "Come in."
+
+"I can't stay but a few minutes, Dora," he answered as he entered
+the hall.  "I must get back to the academy.  I thought I would
+just stop to see how you are getting on."
+
+"Oh, everything is the same, Dick."
+
+"I heard the marriage was to take place this week."
+
+"Yes."
+
+"Let me tell you something," went on the boy, and told her of the
+letter to be sent from Chicago to Josiah Crabtree.
+
+"Oh, I hope he gets it and goes!" exclaimed Dora quickly, and her
+face brightened a bit.
+
+"Send me word if he does," said Dick.
+
+He remained for ten minutes longer, but what was said and done
+need not be mentioned here.  When he left his heart was all aglow,
+while Dora was blushing deeply.  "Best girl in the world," he
+murmured.  "What an awfully nice young fellow," was Dora's
+thought.
+
+"Hurry up!" cried Tom from the sleigh, when his big brother put in
+an appearance again.  "I'm most frozen stiff!"  And on went the
+cutter, the horse feeling quite fresh after his rest.
+
+"I'll go ahead and see if the coast is clear," said Dick, when
+they reached the vicinity of the stable, and he leaped into the
+snow.  It did not take long to walk to the barn.  He was gone but
+a few minutes, and came back on a run.
+
+"We are in for it!" he cried.  "Mr. Strong is down at the stable
+talking to Peleg Snuggers."
+
+"Great Caesar!  What's to do?"
+
+"Get the stuff out of the sleigh first and hide it near the Hall
+in the snow," answered Dick.  "Be quick!"
+
+His advice was followed, Tom carrying the soda water and root beer and
+Dick the other things. All were hidden in a snow bank--directly under
+the dormitory window.
+
+This accomplished, Dick led the horse up to the back of the stable
+and unhitched him.  He could hear George Strong and the utility
+man talking less than twenty feet away.
+
+"Very well, Snuggers, I'll be back shortly," he heard, coming from
+the head assistant, and Strong walked from the stable toward the
+Hall.
+
+In a twinkle Dick ran around the stable corner.  "Quick, Peleg,
+here is the horse, all unhooked.  Put him in his stall.  The
+cutter is back there, out of sight," and as the hired man took
+possession of the animal, the youth ran off, to join his brother
+at the entrance to Putnam Hall.
+
+"The door is locked!" groaned Tom.
+
+"Something is wrong."
+
+Without replying, Dick ran around to a spot under the dormitory
+window.  Making a soft snowball, he threw it against the glass,
+and followed this by several others.  Presently the window was
+thrown up, and Sam, Fred, and Larry showed their heads.
+
+"Say, you fellows, help us up!" cried Dick softly.  "There is a
+wash line in the closet--the one my Aunt Martha insisted on
+tying around my trunk when we came here last summer."
+
+There was a scramble in the room, and presently the end of the
+line was thrown out.  It was new and strong, and quite capable of
+supporting either of the lads' weight.
+
+"You go first, Tom but be quick!" said Dick softly, and his
+brother caught hold and went up with ease, bracing one foot after
+another against the rough stonework and projecting bricks.  Then
+the rope came down a second time and Dick ascended.
+
+Hardly were the boys in the room than there came a loud knocking
+on the door.
+
+"It's Mr. Strong!" gasped Sam.  "What shall we do now?  It looks
+as if we were a caught!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV
+
+MUMPS IS TAUGHT A LESSON
+
+
+The cadets stared blankly at each other.  Only two of them were
+undressed; the others had all of their clothing on.
+
+It was time for the head assistant to go the rounds, to see that
+all was right for the night.  Should he be allowed to enter the
+dormitory he would certainly "smell a mouse," and perhaps knock
+all of their plans for a feast in the head.
+
+"Off with your clothing, all of you!" whispered Tom.  "I'll manage
+this affair.  Pretend to be asleep."
+
+"But, Tom, it's my fault--" began Dick, when his younger brother
+cut him short.
+
+"Into the bed--I'll be all right, Dick."
+
+Satisfied that Tom had some plan in his head for smoothing matters
+over, the other boys disrobed with marvelous rapidity and crept
+into their beds.  While this was going on the knocking an the door
+continued.
+
+"Boys, open the door!" said George Strong.  "Open the door, do you
+hear?"
+
+"Answer him!" whispered Tom to Larry, whose bed was nearest him.
+"Pretend you have just awoke," and he flung himself on the floor,
+with one of a pair of big rubber boots in each hand.
+
+"Oh--er--Mr. Strong, is that you?"
+
+"Yes, open the door."
+
+"Why--er--is it locked?
+
+"Yes."
+
+At once Larry tumbled from his bed, unlocked the door and stood
+there rubbing his eyes.  "Excuse me, Sir, for not hearing you
+before."
+
+"I want to know what the meaning is of the noise in here?" said
+George Strong severely, as he gazed around the dimly lit
+apartment, for the lamp was turned low.  "You boys are--gracious
+me!  What's this?"
+
+The teacher started back in genuine surprise, and his words
+aroused all of the boys in the beds, who followed his gaze in
+equal wonder.
+
+For in the center of the floor sat Tom, his eyes tightly closed, a
+rubber boot in each hand, and rocking backward and forward with
+great rapidity, as if rowing.
+
+"Two lengths ahead!" muttered Tom. "I'll beat you yet, Larry!
+Three lengths!  Oh, but this is a dandy race!  Pull away, you
+can't beat me!  Oh!  There goes an oar," and, bang! went one of
+the rubber boots against the base board, and Tom made a leap as if
+diving into the water after it, sprawling and spluttering as he
+pretended to swim.
+
+"He's got the nightmare again!" shouted out Sam, quick to
+understand Tom's dodge.  "Tom, wake up there!"
+
+"The nightmare!" echoed Mr. Strong.  "Is it possible?  Poor boy!
+Wake up, Thomas!" and he caught Tom by the shoulder and shook him
+and finally set him on his feet.
+
+"The oar--I will have the-- Oh!" Tom opened his eyes and stared
+around him blankly.  "Why--er--what's up?"
+
+"My boy, you've had the nightmare," answered the teacher kindly.
+
+"Nightmare!"
+
+"I told you not to eat that pie tonight," put in Sam. "He saved his
+pie from dinner, and ate it just before we came up here,"--which was
+true.
+
+"Er--I thought I was on the lake racing Larry Colby," murmured
+Tom and hid his face as if in embarrassment.  "What did I do?" he
+faltered.
+
+"You almost raised the roof, that's what you did," answered Dick.
+"You had better send home for some of those digestion tablets you
+used to take," and then he hid his face in the blankets to keep
+from laughing out loud.
+
+"I will."  Tom turned to George Strong.  "Excuse me, Mr. Strong, I
+am sorry I have caused you so much trouble."
+
+"How do you feel now?" questioned the assistant anxiously.
+
+"Oh, I'm all right now."
+
+"Well, then, go to bed; and I trust you sleep more soundly for the
+balance of the night," said the teacher; and he remained in the
+room until Tom was tucked in, when he went off, taking the key of
+the door with him.
+
+"Tom, you're a brick!" came from Frank, when the teacher was out
+of hearing.  "What a head you have on your shoulders!"
+
+"Strong took the key of the door," said Fred.
+
+"I don't like that."
+
+"Shove a chair-back up under the knob," suggested Dick, and this
+was done, the chair thus making an excellent brace.
+
+"Now to get that stuff in," said Dick, donning his clothing with
+all possible speed.  "I shouldn't wonder if the soda and root beer
+are frozen as hard as a rock."
+
+He was soon ready to descend, and the others lowered him by aid of
+the wash line.  Then the boxes and packages were hoisted up, and
+Dick came after.
+
+A few minutes later came a slight tapping on the door, repeated
+three times.  It was a signal, and Sam opened the door, admitting
+George Granbury and seven other cadets from dormitory No. 2.  The
+occupants of several other dormitories followed.
+
+"Are we to have Mumps and his crowd in here?" asked one of the
+newcomers.
+
+"I don't want Mumps," answered Dick.  "Not because he ran against
+me, but because he was Baxter's toady and is a regular sneak."
+
+"Little Luke Walton and Mark Gross voted for you, Dick," said
+Harry Blossom.  "They ought to be invited."
+
+"All right, tell them to come in, and anybody else who wishes,
+outside of Mumps," answered Dick.
+
+The young captain went off, and soon returned with six boys of
+Sam's age or younger.
+
+"Mumps is awfully mad," he announced.  "My idea is, he is going to
+cause us trouble if he can."
+
+"We'll wax him good if he does!" cried Tom. "Say, Sam, let us
+watch him," and he hurried into the hallway, while the others
+attacked the several good things Dick had provided for them.
+
+Tom and Sam had been in the dark hallway but two minutes when the
+door of Mumps' dormitory opened and the sneak came out, wearing
+his slippers and his long overcoat.  He glided swiftly toward the
+side stairs leading to Captain Putnam's private apartments.
+
+"He's going to peach!" whispered Tom,  "Come on, Sam, let us
+capture the enemy!" and he hurried after Mumps and caught him by
+the arm.
+
+"Hi! who is this?" demanded the sneak, turning in fear.  Then, as
+Tom and Sam confronted him, his face grew white.
+
+"Come with us, Mumps, we want to treat you," answered Tom readily,
+into whose head another trick had entered.
+
+"I don't want any of your treat," growled the sneak.  "Let me go."
+
+"Oh, you must come," urged Tom.  "We have a fine bottle of root
+beer and a lot of candied fruit for you."
+
+If there was one thing that Mumps liked, it was root beer, while
+he knew candied fruit was very rich eating.  Accordingly he
+hesitated.
+
+"I'll get all I can first and tell on them afterward," he thought,
+and allowed Tom, and Sam to conduct him into the dormitory
+occupied by the Metropolitan Sextet.
+
+"Here is Mumps come to join us!" cried Tom, as he introduced the
+sneak into the room and he winked at Dick.  "Now, Mumps, sit down
+and make yourself at home, and I'll get something for you," and he
+motioned the sneak to a position at the head of his bed.
+
+He hurried off, and presently came back to Mumps with a fine slice
+of candied orange.  The sneak was greedy, and instantly
+transferred the entire slice to his mouth and began to chew it
+vigorously.
+
+"Oh!" he cried presently, and drew down his face in disgust.
+
+"What's the matter, Mumps?" asked Sam.
+
+"This orange tastes like kerosene!" spluttered Mumps, and rushed
+to the window. As he put out his head, Tom pointed to the sneak
+and then to the lamp at which he had "flavored" the candied fruit.
+"We'll get square just wait," he whispered.  "You gave me that
+piece on purpose," howled the sneak, as soon as he had cleared
+his mouth.  "Oh, what an awful dose!  Somebody give me a drink of
+water."
+
+"The water is all gone, Mumps," answered Tom.  "Awfully sorry.
+Have a glass of root beer," and he poured out a tumbler full.
+
+Willing to drink anything to take that taste out of his mouth, the
+sneak took the tumbler and gulped down about half of the root
+beer.
+
+The remainder was about to follow, when suddenly he stopped short.
+"Oh, my!"
+
+"Awfully good, isn't it?" put in Dick.
+
+"Good?  It tastes like salt water!" snorted Mumps.  And he was not
+far wrong, for Tom had taken the pains to put a lot of salt in to
+the glass before filling it up.
+
+"Why, that is the best root beer I ever tasted," put in Larry.
+"It's as sweet as sugar.  Let me taste your glass, Mumps."
+
+"Do so with pleasure," and the sneak passed it over.  Larry
+pretended to take a gulp.  "Fine!  Couldn't be better.  Isn't that
+so, Frank?" and he passed the glass to Harrington.  "It's
+certainly as good as mine, and that's O. K.," answered Frank; and
+then George Granbury took the tumbler and declared the root beer
+was even better than what he had had previously.
+
+"It's certainly your stomach, Mumps, my boy," said Tom.  "You look
+kind of funny--just like a fellow I knew who got the smallpox."
+
+"He does look like a fellow getting the smallpox," put in Dick.
+"Mumps, does your tongue feel dry-like?"
+
+"Dry, of course it is dry--and salty," growled Mumps, but he
+began to grow uneasy.
+
+"Let me see your tongue," put in Sam, who happened to have a blue
+pencil in his pocket.  As he spoke he broke off some of the blue
+point and crumbled it in his fingers.
+
+"My tongue is all right," answered Mumps.  Nevertheless, he held
+it out; and Sam slyly dropped the bluing on it.
+
+"It's as blue as indigo!" he exclaimed, "Look into the glass for
+yourself."
+
+Somewhat against his will, Mumps strode over to the looking glass.
+As he noted the condition of his tongue, he grew very pale and
+began to tremble.
+
+"It is blue," he whined, "and--and--I feel sick all over.  Oh,
+say, do you think I really am getting the smallpox?"
+
+For an instant there was a dead silence.  Then the boys could hold
+in no longer, and a long but smothered laugh showed the sneak how
+completely he had been sold.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI
+
+A LIVELY GAME OF BASEBALL
+
+
+If ever a boy was mad clear through that boy was the sneak of
+Putnam Hall.  As the laugh ended, Mumps shook his fist at one and
+another of his tormentors.
+
+"Think you are smart, don't you?" he spluttered in his rage.
+"I'll fix you all!  I'll go and tell Captain Putnam all about this
+spread, and then maybe you won't catch it!"
+
+"Mumps, keep quiet," said Dick, placing himself between the
+enraged one and the door.  "Make too much noise, and I'll promise
+you the worst drubbing you ever received."
+
+"If you peach on me, I'll give you a second whipping," added Tom.
+
+"This is a gentlemanly affair," put in Larry.
+
+"The boy who gives us away gets a thrashing from me."
+
+"Ditto myself," said Frank; and several others said the same.  All
+looked so determined that Mumps fell back in alarm.
+
+"You let me go," he whined.  "I don't want to stay here any
+longer."
+
+"You can't go until you promise to keep quiet," said Dick.
+
+"And you'll promise right now," cried Tom, seizing a pitcher of
+ice water that had been hidden under one of the stands.  Leaping
+on a bed he held the pitcher over Mumps' head.
+
+"Promise, quick, or I'll let her go!" he went on.
+
+"Oh, don't!" yelled Mumps, as a few drops of the water landed on
+his head and ran down his neck.
+
+"Do you promise to keep silent?" demanded Dick.
+
+"Yes, yes!"
+
+"All right.  Now mind, if you break that promise you are in for at
+least ten good whippings."
+
+"Somebody else may give you away," said Mumps craftily.
+
+"No one will.  If Captain Putnam hears about this it will be only
+through you.  So beware, Mumps, if you value your hide!"  And then
+the sneak was allowed to go.  Five minutes later the spread came
+to an end, the muss was cleared away, and every cadet sought his
+couch, to rest if not to sleep.
+
+It is possible that Captain Putnam and George Strong suspected
+something, yet as the cadets seemed none the worse for the
+festivities the next day, nothing was said on the subject.  "Boys
+will be boys," smiled the captain to his head assistant; and there
+the whole matter dropped.
+
+Several days later, while some of the cadets were down at the cove
+clearing off a portion of the ice for skating, Mrs. Stanhope's
+man-of-all-work came over with a note for Dick from Dora.  The
+Rover boys all read the note with deep interest.
+
+"I have good news [so ran the communication].  Mr. Crabtree has
+gone to Chicago, and the marriage has been postponed until next
+summer.  You do not know how glad I am.  Of course there will be
+trouble when Mr. Crabtree learns how he has been fooled, but
+mother has promised me to remain single until August or September,
+and I know she will keep that promise.  I thank all of you very
+much for what you have done.  Yesterday I saw Dan Baxter, who
+seems to be hanging around this neighborhood a good deal.  He
+wanted to speak to me, but I did not give him the chance.  I wish
+he would go away, for he looks to me like a very evil-minded
+person.  It is strange, but Mr. Crabtree thinks a good deal of
+him, and has told my mother so.  He says it is nonsense to put Mr.
+Baxter down as a criminal."
+
+"Baxter stopping around here..." mused Dick.  "What can he be up
+to?"
+
+"He had better clear out," said Sam. The matter was discussed for
+some time, but nothing came of it.
+
+Skating lasted for nearly a month, and then both the ice and the
+snow melted away as if by magic.  Soon spring was at hand, and the
+early flowers began to show themselves in Mrs. Green's little
+garden, which was the housekeeper's one pride.
+
+Dick had seen Dora once in that time.  The girl had told him about
+how Josiah Crabtree had searched in vain for the college mentioned
+in the bogus letter.
+
+"He said I played the trick," were Dora's words.  "He wants mother
+to send me to some strict boarding school."
+
+"And are you going?" had been Dick's question.
+
+"No, I shall remain with mother.  After she is married again I do
+not know what will become of me," and as Dora's eyes filled with
+tears Dick caught her hand.
+
+"Don't worry, Dora," had been his words.  "I will help you, and it
+is bound to come up right in the end."
+
+As soon as summer was at hand, the Putnam Hall baseball club
+received a challenge from the Pornell club to play them a game at
+either school grounds.
+
+"They want to square accounts for the football defeat," said Fred.
+"Well, the only thing to do is to accept the challenge," and the
+acceptance was sent without delay, the game to be played on the
+Putnam Hall grounds, Captain Putnam having promised the cadets his
+aid in building a grandstand.  The lumber came out of a boathouse
+that had been torn down to make place for a new structure, and as
+many of the cadets took to carpentering naturally, the grandstand
+was quite a creditable affair.
+
+Frank Harrington was captain and catcher for the Putnam Hall team.
+Tom was pitcher, while Larry played first base, Dick second, and
+Sam was down in center, to use those nimble legs of his should
+occasion require.  Fred was shortstop, and the balance of the club
+was made up of the best players the school afforded.
+
+The Saturday chosen for the game was an ideal one, clear and not
+too warm.  The students from Pornell arrived early, and so did the
+other visitors, and by two o'clock the grounds were crowded.
+
+As before a parade was had.  Then the umpire came out and gave
+each team fifteen minutes for practice.
+
+"We're in luck," said Dick, when Putnam Hall won the toss and took
+last innings. In a moment more they were in the field, and the Ump
+called out: "Play!"
+
+As was natural, Pornell had put its heaviest batters at the head
+of their list, and it is possible Tom was a bit nervous as he
+twirled the ball and sent it in toward the home plate.
+
+"Ball one!" came the decision, and again the sphere came in.
+"Ball two!" said the umpire.
+
+"Take it easy, Tom!" called out Dick.  "Lots of time, remember."
+
+The next was a strike.  Then came a foul, and then a hard drive to
+left field, and amid a wild, cheering the Pornell batsman gained
+second base in safety.
+
+"That's the way to do it, Cornwall!  Keep it up, Snader!"
+
+The second player now came up, and again the ball came in.  Tom
+was as nervous as before, and another hit was made, and the player
+covered first, while the man on second went to third.
+
+"Tom, do be careful," whispered Frank, walking down to him.
+"Don't let that fellow in," and he nodded in the direction of the
+first runner.
+
+The third player was now at the bat.  Two balls and two strikes
+were counted against him and then came a foul, high up in the air,
+which Frank caught with ease.
+
+"One out, and two on base!  That's not so bad."
+
+Again the ball came in.  "One strike!" said the umpire.  "I want a
+high ball!" growled the batter.  Again the ball was delivered.
+"Two strikes!"  Then the  ball came in again.  "Three strikes!
+Batter out!"  And Tom got a rousing cheer for striking out the
+Pornellite.
+
+But the two men were still on first and third, with one more man
+to put out.
+
+"Take care!" whispered Larry, and the basemen all moved up closer.
+One strike, and then came a high fly, far out in center field.
+
+"Run, Sam!  Don't miss that!" came in a yell.  "Run! run!"
+
+And Sam did run, knowing that if he missed the ball the Pornell
+team would score two runs, if not three.  It was going far down
+the field, but he was after it, and just as it came down, he made
+a leap and--clutched the sphere with his  left hand.
+
+"He has it!  Hurrah!  No runs this innings for Pornell!"  And the
+Putnamites howled themselves hoarse, while their opponents had
+nothing to say.
+
+But the players from the rival academy had a fine battery, and it
+was impossible to "get onto" their pitcher's curves during that
+first innings.  The players went out in one, two, three order,
+leaving the score 0 to 0.
+
+"It's going to be a close game," said an old player from,
+Cedarville.  "I'm not betting on either side."
+
+The second innings passed without any scoring being done.  In the
+third innings the Pornell team made two runs.  In the next innings
+Putnam Hall pulled a single run "out of the fire," as Dick put it,
+for it was his tally, made on a slide halfway from third base.
+
+After this there were more "goose eggs," until the end of the
+eighth inning when the score became a tie, 2 to 2.
+
+One more inning for each side, and the excitement became intense.
+
+"We must prevent them from scoring, by all means," said Frank as
+they took the field, while the first batter of the Pornellites
+came to the plate; and amid a breathless silence the final innings
+began.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII
+
+OFF FOR THE SUMMER ENCAMPMEMT
+
+
+The present situation was enough to make any pitcher nervous, and
+it must be confessed that Tom could scarcely control himself.  "A
+wild pitch, and it's all up with our side," he thought, as he took
+his place in the "box."
+
+"One ball!"  That was the verdict as the sphere landed in Frank's
+hands.  "Two balls!" came immediately after.
+
+Frank paused, then rolled the ball to Tom.  "Do be careful,"
+whispered Dick.  "Take your time."
+
+"Perhaps we had better put Larry in the box," suggested another
+player, but Tom shook his head determinedly.  "I'll stick it out!"
+
+"One strike!"  The batter had tried, but failed to hit the sphere.
+Tom felt more hopeful, but immediately after came three balls and
+then four balls, and amid a cheer from his friends the Pornell
+player walked to first base.
+
+The second man at the bat went out on a foul, and the cadets
+cheered this time. Then came a strong hit to left field, and in
+came one run.
+
+"Hurrah!  3 to 2 in Pornell's favor!"
+
+"You've got 'em on the run now, boys; keep it up!"
+
+Two balls, and the next batter knocked a hot liner to Fred.  It
+came along like lightning, but Fred wore a "do-or-die" look and
+made a dive for it--and held on, although his hands stung as if
+scorched with fire.
+
+"Hurrah!  Two out!  Now for the third, and then knock out that
+lead of one run!"
+
+Alas!  This was easier said than done.  The next player gained
+first, and so did the youth to follow.  Then came a heavy hit, and
+the score went up to 5 to 2. But that was the last of it, so far
+as Pornell was concerned.
+
+"Now, Putnam Hall, see what you can do!"
+
+Larry was at the bat, and cautious about striking.  "One strike!"
+called the umpire, as the boy let a good ball go by.  Another real
+strike followed, and then Larry caught the sphere fairly and
+squarely, drove it far into left field, and made a home run.
+
+"A homer!  Wasn't that great!"
+
+"That makes the score 5 to 3.  Keep it up, Putnam Hall!"
+
+The home run was very encouraging, and now Dick came forward with
+his ashen stick.  He had one strike called on him and then managed
+to make a clean one-base hit.
+
+Another player, named Forwell, took stand next.  The pitcher for
+the Pornell team was now as nervous as Tom bad been and suddenly
+Forwell was hit in the arm by the ball.
+
+"Dead ball!" cried the umpire.  "Take your base," and Forwell went
+to first, while Larry marched to second.
+
+Then Sam came to the bat, but his first strike was a foul, caught
+by the third baseman.  Another out followed, made by the captain,
+much to his chagrin.  The score now stood 5 to 3, with two players
+on base and two out.  One more out and the match would come to an
+end, unless the score was a tie.
+
+"Tom Rover to the bat!" called the score-keeper, and Tom marched to
+the plate.  A strike and two balls, and he made as clean a one-base
+hit as had his elder brother.
+
+"Three on base and two out!" came the cry.
+
+"Now, Pornell, be careful!"
+
+Fred Garrison was the next of the team to come forward.  All eyes
+were centered upon Fred.  "Be careful, oh, be careful!" pleaded
+Frank.  "Don't get out as I did!"
+
+"One strike!" cried the umpire as the ball whizzed over the plate.
+"Ball one!" came a moment later.  "Strike two!" was immediately
+added.
+
+Bang! the ball had come on again, and Fred had hit it with all of
+the force at his command.  It shot past second base and toward
+centerfield.  "Run! run!" yelled Frank, and the crowd joined in,
+as Dick started for home, followed by Forwell and Tom.  The center
+fielder fumbled the ball, and the four runners came in one right
+on top of the other.
+
+"Putnam Hall has won!"
+
+"Say, but wasn't that a great game?"
+
+"Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!" came from the cadets and their friends.
+
+It was a great time for the boys.  They gave three cheers for
+their opponents, but the Pornellites felt their second defeat too
+keenly, and as quickly as they could they left the grounds, and
+quarter of an hour later were on their way home.
+
+After this contest matters moved along quietly until June.  In the
+meantime the cadets studied up with all diligence for the
+examinations soon to take place. All of our friends passed
+creditably, Dick standing second in his class, Tom fourth and Sam
+third in their classes.  Captain Putnam and George Strong heartily
+approved of the showing made.
+
+"That Tom Rover is full of fun," was the captain's comment, "but
+he knows how to study as well as how to play jokes."
+
+Mumps was almost at the foot of his class.  The sneak had hardly
+any friends left, and he announced that he was going to leave
+Putnam Hall never to return--for which no one was particularly
+sorry.
+
+Immediately after the examinations it was announced that the
+entire school would march to a place called Brierroot Grove, where
+they would go into their annual encampment for two weeks.  At once
+all of the cadets were in a bustle, and soon uniforms were brushed
+up, buckles and buttons polished, knapsacks packed, and rifles
+oiled and cleaned.
+
+"Makes a fellow feel as if he was going off to the war!" observed
+Sam.  "I don't know but what I would like to be a soldier some
+day."
+
+The battalion marched away one Monday morning, with flags flying,
+drums beating loudly, and the fifers blowing away upon "Yankee
+Doodle" with all of their might.  The route was the lake road, and
+many of the farmhouses passed were decorated in honor of the
+departure.  As they passed the Stanhope homestead, Dora and Mrs.
+Stanhope came forth and waved their handkerchiefs, and Dick, as
+second lieutenant of Company A, could not resist the temptation to
+wave his sword at them.
+
+The camping-out spot was reached that afternoon at five o'clock.
+The provision wagon and that loaded with the tents had already
+come up, and soon the cadets were putting up their tents, while
+the cooking detail was preparing supper.  The evening meal
+consisted of nothing but bread, coffee, and beef stew, but never
+did plain fare taste better, with such pure mountain air for
+sauce.
+
+"It's just boss!" said Tom on the second day in camp.  "Living in
+a tent suits me to death."
+
+The next day, however, he changed his tune, for it rained in
+torrents, and everybody got soaked to the skin.
+
+"Ugh!" said Tom.  "I wasn't thinking of this when I said it suited
+me to death."  All made the best of it, and luckily the storm did
+not last over twenty-four hours, when the sun came out warmly, and
+that was the last of the rain while the encampment lasted.
+
+A week had passed by when one afternoon Dick, Tom, and Sam
+received permission to visit the town of Rootville, a mile away.
+They were not to be gone not over three hours, and were to
+purchase some medicine needed by several cadets who had taken cold
+during the damp spell.
+
+The boys walked to Rootville in high spirits, and readily procured the
+drugs desired, then they wandered around from place to place, taking
+in the sights.
+
+There was a depot, and as natural they drifted thither, and into
+the waiting room.  Here almost the first persons they saw was
+Arnold Baxter and Buddy the tramp thief.
+
+"Gracious!" burst from Dick's lips, and then he pulled Tom and Sam
+back.  "Here is a chance at last to arrest that thief!"
+
+"That's so!" cried Tom.  "Wait, I saw a policeman outside.  I'll
+call him," and he darted off.  While Dick and Sam awaited Tom's
+reappearance, they noticed that Baxter and Buddy were holding a
+conversation of great interest.
+
+"I will pay you well if you will help me in this deal," Arnold
+Baxter was saying.
+
+"I'll do all I can," answered Buddy Girk.  "But what of your son
+Dan?"
+
+"Dan is not to be depended upon," answered Arnold Baxter.  "He
+robbed me of two hundred dollars and skipped out for Chicago."
+
+"Humph!" murmured Dick.  "Here is certainly news of Dan Baxter
+that is very much to his discredit.  I hope I and Dora and the
+rest never hear of him again."
+
+Some other folks now came into the depot, and Arnold Baxter and
+Buddy lowered their voices, so that Dick and Sam could hear
+nothing further.
+
+Soon Tom arrived, followed by the policeman, who looked
+anxiously at the two men.
+
+"You say they are thieves?" he asked of Dick.
+
+"The short man is.  He stole my watch."
+
+"What of the other?"
+
+"He is a bad man too--although it may be hard to prove it."
+
+At once the crowd approached the evil pair, and the officer caught
+Buddy Girk by the arm, "I want you," he said in a low, firm voice.
+
+The thief turned swiftly, and as he saw himself confronted by Dick
+and the officer of the law his face fell.
+
+"I ain't done nothing'!" he cried, and tried to break away, but
+the officer at once overpowered him and brought forth a pair of
+handcuffs.
+
+"You'll put these on," he said grimly, and spite his protestations
+Buddy Girk was handcuffed.
+
+"Hold on!" cried Dick, as Arnold Baxter started to run.  He made a
+clutch for the man, but Baxter was too quick for him and slipped
+through the crowd and out of the depot.  Instantly Dick made after
+him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII
+
+THE RECOVERY OF THE WATCH--CONCLUSION
+
+
+Arnold Baxter hesitated but a moment on gaining the depot
+platform.  A freight train was passing the station at a slow rate
+of speed, and, running to an empty car which stood wide open, he
+leaped on board.
+
+Dick was close behind him, and as the man boarded the freight car
+caught him by the leg.  As Dick held on like a bulldog there was
+nothing left for Arnold Baxter to do but to drag the youth up
+behind him.
+
+"You imp!" he snarled, as the two faced each other on the car
+floor.  "What do you mean by following me in this fashion?"
+
+"And what do you mean by running away in this fashion?" panted
+Dick.
+
+"I have a right to do as I please."
+
+"And so have!"
+
+"You have no right to follow me."
+
+"That remains to be seen, Arnold Baxter.  I would like to ask you
+a few questions."
+
+"Would you, indeed?" sneered the tall man.
+
+"Yes.  I won't waste words.  Were you and my father enemies years
+ago?"
+
+At this direct question Arnold Baxter scowled darkly.  "Yes, if
+you are anxious to know," he muttered.
+
+"I fancied as much.  You tried to swindle him out of some Western
+mining property."
+
+"The boot was on the other leg--he tried to swindle me--ran
+off to Africa with my papers, I think, or else left them somewhere
+where I can't find them."
+
+"I do not believe you, for my father was an honest man, while you
+are the boon companion of a thief."
+
+"Have a care, boy--I won't stand everything!" snarled Arnold
+Baxter, his eyes gleaning like those of an angry cat.
+
+"I am not afraid of you, Arnold Baxter.  I shall hand you over to
+the police at our next stopping place!"
+
+"Will you!" hissed the man, and leaped at Dick, bearing him down
+to the car floor.  At once his hand sought the lad's throat.
+
+"I've a good mind to choke the life out of you," he went on.  "I
+hate you all--everyone who bears the name of Rover!"
+
+"Le--let up!" gasped Dick, growing purple in the face, while his
+eyes bulged from their sockets.
+
+"I'll pitch you off!" was Arnold Baxter's answer, and suddenly he
+lifted Dick up in his strong arms and stepped to the open doorway.
+They were passing over a trestle spanning a wide gully, at the
+bottom of which were bushes, rocks, and a tiny mountain stream.
+
+"Don't!" cried Dick, and snatched at the handle of the car door.
+He had just clutched it, when Arnold Baxter launched forth his
+body into space.
+
+The next instant, and while Baxter stood by the edge of the door,
+the long train swung around a sharp curve.  There was a quick
+jerk, and with a yell of fright which sounded in Dick's ears for
+days afterward, Arnold Baxter slipped through the doorway and went
+tumbling head foremost down into the gully!
+
+Dick shut his eyes at the sight and clung fast mechanically.
+Then, as soon as he could recover, he swung himself into the car.
+He could not stand, and sank like a lump of lead to the car floor
+unconscious.
+
+When he recovered, several train hands surrounded him, and his
+face was wet from the water they had poured over him.  It was
+fully an hour before he could tell his story, and then a hand-car
+was sent back to the spot where Arnold Baxter had had his terrible
+fall.
+
+The rascal was found at the foot of the gully, a leg and several
+ribs broken and otherwise bruised.  He was carried to the hand-car
+like one dead, and later on transferred to a hospital at Ithaca.
+Here it was announced that he might possibly recover, although
+this was exceedingly doubtful.
+
+"He's a bad one," said Tom, when he heard Dick's story.  "I would
+like to know what Buddy Girk has to say about him."
+
+Buddy had been taken to the Rootville jail and searched, and a
+pawn-ticket for the stolen watch found in his vest pocket.  The
+ticket was on a Middletown pawnbroker, and showed that fifteen
+dollars had been loaned on the timepiece. Buddy had more than this
+amount in his pocket, and some time later the money was forwarded
+to the pawnbroker, and then the precious watch and chain came back
+to Dick, in as good a condition as ever.
+
+"I haven't got nuthin' to say," said Buddy, when Dick tried to
+make him talk.  "I didn't steal the watch, and I didn't do
+nothin'."
+
+"You won't tell me anything about Arnold Baxter?" questioned Dick.
+
+"Ain't got nuthin' to say," repeated Buddy, who was planning to
+escape from jail that very night.
+
+And escape he did, through a window the bars of which were bent
+and broken.  The authorities searched for him for nearly a week,
+but the search proved unavailing.
+
+"I don't care particularly," said Dick, in commenting on the affair.
+"I have my watch back and that's the main thing."
+
+"But Buddy ought to be punished.  Now if it was Arnold Baxter who
+had gotten away--after that terrible fall--I wouldn't say a
+word," answered Tom.
+
+The encampment came to an end in a blaze of glory on the Forth of
+July, with firecrackers and fireworks galore.  The cadets "cut up
+like wild Indians" until after midnight, and Captain Putnam gave
+them a free rein.  "Independence Day comes but once a year," he
+said.  "And I would not give much for the boy who is not
+patriotic."
+
+"You are right there, captain," returned George Strong.  "Our boys
+are true blue, every one of them."
+
+Out on the parade ground the cadets were singing loudly and
+marching at the same time.  Everyone was in the best of high
+spirits, and it was a time never to be forgotten.
+
+Here I must bring to a close, for the present, the story of the
+Rover Boys' doings at Putnam Hall and elsewhere.  We have seen how
+Dick was robbed of his watch and how he recovered the timepiece;
+how the boys joined the other cadets, and what friends and enemies
+they made; and we have likewise entered into many a sport and
+contest with them.
+
+With the termination of the encampment the school term came to an
+end, and the Rover boys returned to their home with their uncle
+and aunt.  But more adventures were in store for them, and these
+will be related in another volume, to be entitled "The Rover Boys
+on the Ocean; or, a Chase for Fortune."  In this volume we will
+meet all of our old friends, and also learn more concerning Josiah
+Crabtree and his little plot to marry Mrs. Stanhope and obtain the
+money the lady was holding in trust for Dora.  We shall likewise
+meet Dan Baxter and his toady Mumps, and learn much concerning a
+thrilling chase on the ocean and its happy results.
+
+But for the present all went well.  The boys arrived at the
+homestead two days after the Fourth and were met at the door by
+their Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha.
+
+"Welcome home, all of you!" cried Randolph Rover.  And as their
+aunt kissed them, he continued, "And what do you think of your
+school?"
+
+"What do we think?" repeated Tom.
+
+"Why, we think Putnam Hall is the best boys school on earth!"
+
+And Dick and Sam agreed with him.
+
+
+The End
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Rover Boys at School, by Arthur M. Winfield
+
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