[Illustration: BANG! CRACK! BANG! WENT THE GUNS THE BOYS CARRIED.]




                           THE ROVER BOYS AT
                             BIG BEAR LAKE

                                  OR

                           _THE CAMPS OF THE
                             RIVAL CADETS_


                                  BY

                          ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
                         (Edward Stratemeyer)

         AUTHOR OF “THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL,” “THE ROVER BOYS
           ON LAND AND SEA,” “THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL,”
                 “THE PUTNAM HALL CADET SERIES,” ETC.


                             _ILLUSTRATED_


                               NEW YORK
                           GROSSET & DUNLAP
                              PUBLISHERS

                 Made in the United States of America




BOOKS BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD

(Edward Stratemeyer)


THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES

  THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
  THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
  THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
  THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
  THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
  THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
  THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLAND
  THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
  THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
  THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
  THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
  THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
  THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR


THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES

  THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
  THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
  THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
  THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
  THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
  THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
  THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE


THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES

  THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
  THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL
  THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL
  THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL
  CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL
  THE MYSTERY AT PUTNAM HALL


_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated._

GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, New York


                          Copyright, 1923, by
                          EDWARD STRATEMEYER


                   _The Rover Boys at Big Bear Lake_




                             INTRODUCTION


MY DEAR BOYS: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms the
seventh volume in a line issued under the general title, “The Second
Rover Boys Series for Young Americans.”

As told in some volumes of the First Series, this line of books was
started years ago with the publication of “The Rover Boys at School,”
“On the Ocean,” and “In the Jungle,” in which I introduced my readers
to Dick, Tom and Sam Rover and their chums and relatives. The First
Series, consisting of twenty volumes, gave the particulars of what
happened to these three Rover boys while attending Putnam Hall Military
Academy, Brill College, and while on numerous outings in this country
and abroad. Having finished their education, the three young men
established themselves in business and became married. Later Dick Rover
was blessed with a son and a daughter, as was also his brother Sam,
while the fun-loving Tom became the father of a pair of lively twin
boys.

From their homes in New York City the four Rover boys were sent to
a boarding school, as related in the first volume of the Second
Series, entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall,” where they made many
friends, also a few enemies. From that school the scene was shifted to
“Snowshoe Island,” where the boys spent a winter outing, and then they
rejoined their fellow cadets in some strenuous happenings while “Under
Canvas.” Then in “The Rover Boys on a Hunt” they uncovered the mystery
surrounding a lonely house in the woods.

The older Rovers had become interested in oil, and in the next volume,
entitled “The Rover Boys in the Land of Luck,” I related how the lads
went to Texas and Oklahoma. Then one of their chums asked them to take
a vacation in the West, and in the volume preceding this and called “At
Big Horn Ranch” they had the time of their lives.

In the present story the scene is shifted back to Colby Hall and then
to some rival camps on the edge of a big lake. What happened to the
boys I will leave the pages which follow to relate.

As many of my readers know, the sale of this line of books has now
passed the _three million_ mark. To me this is as wonderful as it is
pleasing. I earnestly hope that the reading of these volumes will do
all of the boys and girls good.

Affectionately and sincerely yours,

                                                  EDWARD STRATEMEYER.




                   CONTENTS


 CHAPTER                                 PAGE
      I. ON THE LAKE                        1
     II. ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS              12
    III. THE RESCUE FROM THE BIPLANE       23
     IV. A SUDDEN INTERRUPTION             35
      V. WHO WAS GUILTY?                   46
     VI. WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORM        58
    VII. WHO THE MAN WAS                   69
   VIII. THE FOUR-OARED RACE               80
     IX. TOMMY FLANDERS TRIES A TRICK      91
      X. AFTER THE RACES                  102
     XI. CELEBRATING THE VICTORY          113
    XII. SETTLING WITH CODFISH            123
   XIII. GIF’S WELCOME NEWS               134
    XIV. THE ROVERS AT HOME               145
     XV. ON THE WAY TO BIG BEAR LAKE      156
    XVI. ON BIG BEAR LAKE                 167
   XVII. TO THE RESCUE                    178
  XVIII. AT THE BUNGALOW                  188
    XIX. A QUARREL OVER A ROWBOAT         198
     XX. AT THE RIVAL CAMP                208
    XXI. THE BIG BEAR                     217
   XXII. THE DEPARTURE OF JEFF            226
  XXIII. DEEP IN THE WOODS                235
   XXIV. SIX BOYS AND A WILDCAT           244
    XXV. WHAT THE RIVALS DID              254
   XXVI. THE BASEBALL GAME                264
  XXVII. A SQUALL ON THE LAKE             274
 XXVIII. AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY           283
   XXIX. JEFF BRINGS NEWS                 291
    XXX. AT THE CABIN――CONCLUSION         299




                           THE ROVER BOYS AT
                             BIG BEAR LAKE




                               CHAPTER I

                              ON THE LAKE


“It’s great, I’ll say!” declared Randy Rover.

“I should say it was!” returned his twin brother, Andy. “Just think of
swooping through the air like a bird! Gee, I’d like to own a flying
machine myself!”

“Well, our fathers owned one once,” declared Captain Fred Rover,
somewhat proudly. “They flew clear to Brill College in their machine.”

“Yes, I’ve often heard them talk about that,” put in Major Jack Rover.
“They called the machine the _Dartaway_. It was a biplane and of rather
primitive construction, because in those days aeroplanes were a new
invention and the best of them were rather crude.”

“I wonder what ever became of that machine?” questioned Andy.

“Oh, it went into the scrap heap long ago,” declared his cousin Fred.

“They didn’t have much use for it after they left college and went into
business in Wall Street,” explained Jack. “But they certainly had some
dandy times in it.”

The four boys were out on Clearwater Lake in one of the rowboats
belonging to Colby Hall. They had been watching the maneuvers of a
large biplane which had circled over their heads several times. This
biplane had made its headquarters at a cove just below Haven Point,
and its owners had advertised far and wide to take people up for a fly
around the lake for fifteen dollars per person. As this was the first
aeroplane to come to the lake for business, it had taken up quite a few
people during the past ten days.

“I wonder how long they stay up on a trip,” remarked Andy, as the four
boys resumed their rowing.

“The circulars say fifteen minutes,” answered Fred.

“It didn’t seem to me he stayed up more than ten minutes the time
before this,” said Jack. “I suppose they cut the time when they have
other people waiting to go up. They carry only two passengers at a
time, you know, and I suppose they want to make hay while the sun
shines.”

“A dollar a minute is making money pretty fast,” observed Randy. “I’d
like to rake in an iron man every sixty seconds by the watch,” and he
grinned.

“Yes, but it costs something to run a flying machine,” returned Jack.
“And then there is the risk, too.”

“Well, if we went up it would cost the four of us sixty dollars,”
declared Randy.

“And I don’t see ourselves spending sixty dollars that way just now,”
cried Jack. “My spending money for this quarter is getting low.”

“Don’t say a word, Jack, about spending money!” came from his cousin
Fred, with a wry face. “I’m almost high and dry.”

“It’s lucky they can’t charge us for looking at the aeroplane,”
chuckled Andy.

The four Rover boys had left Colby Hall about an hour before for a
row down the Rick Rack River to the lake. In a boat behind them were
four of their chums, Dick Powell, often called Spouter because of his
fondness for making long speeches, Gif Garrison, who was at the head
of the school athletics, and Ned Lowe and Dan Soppinger. Each crowd of
cadets was in a well-built four-oared boat, and a little while before
had indulged in a race which had come to an end when all had stopped
rowing to look at the aeroplane which was soaring above their heads.

Boating that year promised to become popular at Colby Hall. Colonel
Colby had had the institution fitted out with several new racing
shells, and in addition had purchased two motor-boats of which all
the cadets were very proud. A man had been hired who knew all about
motor-boats, and he was instructing the various cadets in the use of
the craft.

“I must say I wish we were out in one of the new motor-boats,” declared
Fred, after they had gone on rowing for ten minutes more. “This is
rather hot and tiresome work.”

“Never mind, Fred. You need the exercise,” declared Jack. “You’re
getting too stout. The first thing you know you’ll be as fat as Fatty
Hendry.”

“Gosh! don’t say that, Jack,” returned the young captain quickly. “Why,
Fatty is so fat he can hardly get through the dormitory doors!”

“That aviator won’t want to take up Fatty,” remarked Andy. “That is,
not unless he went up alone and paid double fare.”

“Hi, you fellows, get a move on!” came a shout from the other rowboat,
and Gif Garrison waved a hand towards the Rovers. “I thought you were
going to do a little rowing practice. Remember, we have got to get busy
if we want to win any of those boat races later on.”

“Fred and I are not in those races, Gif,” answered Jack. “You know
officers are not expected to enter any contests like that.”

“Yes, but I expect Andy and Randy to go into at least one race,”
declared the cadet who was at the head of the athletic committee. “And
when they go in I want them to make a real showing for Colby.”

“We’ll do that all right enough,” declared Randy.

“I’m going in for practice every day after this,” answered his brother.

“Just remember we’ve got to wipe Longley Academy from the face of the
lake,” declared Spouter Powell. “We’ll show them that as a military
academy they are not one, two, three with good old Colby Hall.”

“That’s the talk!” cried Jack. “There’s going to be only one real
military academy around here, and that’s Colby.”

“So say we all of us!” sang out his cousin Andy.

“What did they want to turn Longley Academy into a military school for,
anyway?” grumbled Ned Lowe. “I thought when they started that school
they were going to give their attention mainly to athletics.”

“So they did,” answered Gif Garrison. “But when they saw how popular
Colby Hall was becoming, and how they were losing one scholar after
another, I guess the owners got busy and concluded the only thing they
could do would be to turn the academy into a military school and give
their boys the showiest kind of a uniform.”

“And they sure have got the uniforms!” declared Fred, who overheard
this remark from the other boat. “Gosh! you would think they were
cadets from one of those little jerkwater monarchies in Europe. Such
gold braid and buttons and such lace! It’s enough to make an ordinary
American boy sick!”

“You’d better not tell them that,” said Jack quickly. “If you do
they’ll say you’re jealous of them because our uniforms are so
ordinary.”

“Well, you give me the good old gray and khaki every time,” came from
Randy. “Both of those colors stand the wear a good deal better than
that showy stuff will ever do.”

“Come on, fellows; jack her up!” called out Gif. “I’ll bet you a pint
of peanuts we can beat you to the landing at Berry Island.”

“Make it a quart and we’ll go you!” shouted back Jack gayly.

“And they’ve got to be freshly roasted, too,” broke in Andy. “No stale
old goobers from Rigoletto’s place where they’ve been lying in his
show window for a month or two! They’ve got to be freshly roasted,
right out of the whistling roaster!”

“Get ready――pull!” cried Gif, a few seconds later, and at this word of
command from the head of the general athletic committee the four Rovers
started up the lake with the other boat close by their side.

It was a beautiful day in early summer, and the surface of Clearwater
Lake sparkled in the sunshine. There was scarcely any wind and
consequently conditions were ideal for rowing.

Ever since they had come to the military academy the four Rover boys
had spent more or less time on the river and the lake beyond, so they
were no novices when it came to handling an oar. Jack set the pace, and
his three cousins kept stroke with him in a fashion that could not help
but win approval.

“Come on, fellows! We’ve got to beat ’em!” cried Gif Garrison to his
rowing mates. “Pull now, and make every stroke tell!”

“We are not as well matched up as they are,” panted Ned Lowe, who was
by far the poorest rower of the bunch. “Those Rovers have been rowing
together ever since they came to the Hall.”

“Don’t growl, Ned! Row!” returned the leader, and then the cadets in
the second boat did their best to outstrip their rivals.

It was certainly a spirited race and well worth watching. But no other
craft was in sight, the two rowboats apparently having that portion of
the lake entirely to themselves. The aeroplane which had attracted the
rowers’ attention had glided away in the distance and they could no
longer hear the roar of the motor.

Berry Island was little more than a quarter of a mile away. It was for
the most part very rocky, but at one end there was a somewhat sandy
beach where the boys occasionally went in bathing.

“Say, it wouldn’t be a bad stunt to go in swimming after this race,”
puffed Randy, as he bent over his oar.

“No use to go in when you’re all tired out and in a sweat,” declared
Fred, who on account of his stoutness found it rather difficult to keep
up with the others.

The Rovers had forged ahead, and it looked very much as if they would
win the race when suddenly Randy began to drag. Then he lost his stroke
and that threw his brother out of stroke, too, and this caused the
rowboat to swerve from its course and the craft under Gif Garrison’s
directions shot ahead.

“Hi! what’s the matter with you?” cried Jack, in some vexation.

“My oar caught on a rope or some bit of seaweed,” declared Randy. “It’s
gone now,” and he and his brother proceeded to right themselves. Then
they caught the stroke and went forward as before.

This little mishap occupied only a few seconds of time, but during
that period the other boat went ahead a good hundred feet. Gif and
his followers were rowing with all their might, bound to put all the
distance possible between themselves and their competitors.

“Swing into it! Swing!” cried Jack. “We’ve got to catch up! Now
then――all together and make her jump out of the water!”

Jack had always been the leader of the four cousins, and they obeyed
his instructions as best they could. They put in every ounce of their
strength on the oars, and slowly but surely their craft began to
overtake the other rowboat.

“Pull, you duffers, pull!” cried Gif, as he saw the Rovers crawling up.
“We’re almost to the island! Pull, or they’ll overtake us!”

He increased the stroke and Spouter and Dan followed. But this speed
was too great for poor Ned Lowe, and all of a sudden Ned’s oar came
up with a tremendous splash that showered everybody in the boat with
water. Then Ned lost his balance and he and Spouter came close to
falling overboard. The craft slued around directly in the path of the
second rowboat.

“Stop rowing! Back water!” cried Jack, as the sudden shouts ahead
warned him that something was wrong. He gave a quick glance around, as
did his oar mates, and then he and Fred threw their craft out of the
course. An instant later the oars of the boats scraped each other. But
then the craft separated.

“Some narrow escape, I’ll say,” declared Randy, when the momentary
danger was over.

“What’s the matter with you fellows, anyway?” called out Fred.

“Ned lost his stroke, that’s all,” answered Gif.

“Lost his stroke and gave us a shower bath at the same time,” put in
Dan.

“Well, I guess the race is off,” declared Jack, good-naturedly.
“Anyway, I think it’s about time that we got back to the Hall. I want
to see Captain Dale before we have the evening parade.”

“Let’s rest at the island just a few minutes,” pleaded Randy. “I want
to get my wind back before―――― Gee, boys, look at that, will you?”

He broke off suddenly and in his excitement stood up in the rowboat
pointing skyward as he did so. All looked in the direction pointed
out and saw that the aeroplane was again heading in their direction.
But now instead of sailing along on an even keel the flying craft was
zigzagging in a most unusual fashion.

“Say! there’s something wrong with that flying machine, that’s sure,”
declared Fred in excitement.

“Maybe the aviator is trying a few stunts,” suggested Andy. “They do
that once in a while, you know.”

“But not when they have passengers who are green at flying!” burst out
Jack. “I believe something is wrong with that machine.”

“Look! Look! Did you ever see anything like that?” came from the other
boat. “That aviator acts as if he were crazy! Or otherwise his machine
has got the jimjams.”

By this time the aeroplane was almost over their heads. The roar of
the motor was deafening. The great machine darted from one side to the
other, and then took a dip and a whirl which made it look as if both
rowboats and their occupants might be doomed.




                              CHAPTER II

                         ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS


“Look out!”

“We’re going to be smashed!”

“That fellow must be crazy!”

Such were some of the cries coming from the Rover boys and their chums
as the big aeroplane swooped around from one side to another almost
over their heads.

It was a truly perilous moment, and no one realized it more than did
the Rovers. And what to do not a one of them knew. To attempt to row
out of the way might prove the worst move of all, for it might bring
them directly to the spot where the aeroplane would come crashing down.

“Let’s dive overboard,” suggested Fred. “Go down as deep as you can!”
he yelled.

This seemed good advice and some of the lads were on the point of
following it when suddenly the aeroplane made another swoop and struck
the surface of the lake some distance away. It sent the water flying
in every direction, some of the drops even reaching the cadets. The
propeller gave a snap and one blade went whizzing up into the sky to
come down on the other side of Berry Island. Then the flying machine
began slowly to settle and the motor stopped abruptly.

“Help! Help! Save us!” came in a girlish voice across the water. “Save
us!”

“Look! Look!” exclaimed Jack, springing suddenly to his feet. “Unless
I’m mistaken, that is Ruth Stevenson!”

“It is Ruth, just as sure as you’re born!” declared Fred. “And a man
and the aviator are with her!”

“That man must be her father,” went on Jack. “She said he was going to
call at Clearwater Hall to see her. Come on, boys! We’ve got to get to
them before the aeroplane pulls them under. Hurry! Row for all you’re
worth!”

As he uttered the last words Jack sank down on the seat and grasped
tight hold of the oar which had almost gotten away from him in his
excitement. The others also fell to rowing, and away they pulled for
the sinking aeroplane which was less than two hundred feet away. Soon
the other rowboat followed.

And while the four Rover boys and their chums are going to the rescue
of those in peril, it may be as well for me to state as briefly as
possible who the boys were and how they came to be in their present
situation. Of course, those who have read the previous volumes of this
series will need no special introduction to the Rovers, and they can
skip these pages if they so desire.

In the first volume of the line, entitled “The Rover Boys at School,”
I introduced three brothers, Dick, Tom and Sam Rover and told how they
were sent to Putnam Hall Military Academy where they had a number of
adventures and where they made great friends of three other students,
Larry Colby, Songbird Powell, and Fred Garrison.

Passing from Putnam Hall, these three brothers next attended Brill
College, and then went into business in New York City by organizing The
Rover Company with offices on Wall Street.

During their schoolboy days the three lads had made the acquaintanceship
of three nice girls, Dora Stanhope and her cousins Nellie and Grace
Laning. Shortly after the three couples were married and settled down in
connecting houses on Riverside Drive, New York City. As the result of
his marriage Dick Rover became the father of a son, Jack, and a daughter
named Martha. Sam Rover was blessed with a girl called Mary, and then a
son who was christened Fred. At about this same time Tom Rover’s wife,
Nellie, came forward with a lively pair of twin boys, who were named
Anderson and Randolph after their grandfather and their great-uncle.
Andy and Randy, as they were always called, were full of fun, coming
naturally by this, as their father had been as full of life as any lad
could well be.

Being brought up side by side, the younger generation of Rover boys, as
well as the girls, lived together very much as one large family. But
soon the boys began to cut up to such an extent that it was decided to
send them to some strict boarding school.

About that time Larry Colby, the chum of the older Rovers, had opened
Colby Hall, a military academy patterned somewhat after the national
institution at West Point. This was considered just the institution
for the younger generation, and in the first volume the Second Series,
entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall,” I related how Jack, Fred
and Andy and Randy journeyed to that institution of learning and how
they made a number of warm friends and also defeated several of their
enemies.

The military school was located about half a mile from Haven Point,
a small town on Clearwater Lake close to where the Rick Rack River
ran into that body of water. The school consisted of a large stone
building facing the river and close by was a smaller building occupied
by Colonel Colby and his family and some of the professors, and not far
away were a gymnasium, a boathouse, and several necessary buildings.

On arriving at Colby Hall the four Rovers found several of their
friends already there, including Spouter Powell and Gif Garrison, the
sons of their fathers’ old classmates.

Up the lake on the other side of Haven Point was located Clearwater
Hall, a boarding school for girls. During a panic in a moving picture
theater the four Rover boys became acquainted with several girls from
this school, including Ruth Stevenson and May Powell, a cousin of
Spouter. Later on Mary and Martha Rover became pupils at the girls’
school, and all of the young folks got to be warm friends.

After a term at Colby Hall the four Rover boys had the pleasure of
spending the winter holidays on “Snowshoe Island.” Then a little later
they went “Under Canvas” with their fellow cadets, and later still went
on a grand hunt, using a bungalow up in the woods which belonged to
Gif Garrison’s uncle. This was during the great World War and when the
older Rovers had all gone to France to fight for democracy.

The return of the older Rovers brought a surprise. Dick Rover had
saved the life of a man from Texas and in return had received a deed to
some land which later on was supposed to contain oil. Dick decided to
go to Texas and Oklahoma, and the four boys begged to go with him. And
they had some stirring adventures in what has so often been called “The
Land of Luck.”

After their adventures in the Southwest the four boys returned again to
Colby Hall. At this time Jack was captain of Company C and Fred was a
lieutenant in the same command.

There was a spirited rivalry when a new election for officers was held.
But in spite of many efforts made to defeat them, Jack was chosen
major of the school battalion and Fred was made captain of Company
C. Andy and Randy might have held minor offices, but both preferred
to remain privates, especially as that would enable them to take
part in the various athletic exercises. At first Colonel Colby had
allowed the cadets to join the baseball nine, football eleven, and the
rowing teams, even though they were officers. But there had been some
grumbling that “some cadets were trying to do everything and would not
give the others a show,” and so it had been decided that while all
cadets were supposed to go in for athletics in general, they could not
be officers and take part in any official athletic contests.

During this term at school Spouter asked the Rovers and Gif Garrison
to spend the summer vacation with him out in Montana on a ranch owned
by his father. How the Rovers went out there with their chums and
what stirring times they encountered have been related in the volume
preceding this, entitled “The Rover Boys at Big Horn Ranch.” In that
book they exposed the acts of one of their enemies, Brassy Bangs, and
also brought a number of horse thieves to justice.

“We have certainly had some strenuous times here,” remarked Jack, one
day.

“I suppose it will be dead quiet for us this winter when we return to
Colby Hall,” his cousin Randy had answered.

“Well, that will give us a chance to catch up in our studies,” Fred had
suggested. “We don’t want to fall behind. If we do, our folks may take
us away from Colby Hall.”

“Oh, we don’t want to leave that place――at least, not just yet!” Andy
had put in hastily.

The winter had passed rather quietly, the boys going home only for the
Christmas holidays. During that time there had come only one surprise,
and that was the news concerning Longley Academy. This institution of
learning, which had been in existence only a short time, had been
devoted very largely to physical culture and athletics and had an
extra fine baseball grounds with a beautiful grandstand and bleachers.
But strange to say, the athletics had not been as prosperous as the
management of the institution wished, and a good many of the pupils had
been on the point of leaving, and several had applied for admission to
Colby Hall.

As a consequence of this the owners of Longley had turned the academy
into a military school with a section devoted to horsemanship. The
cadets were given a most striking uniform, and everything possible
was done to induce the cadets of Colby Hall to shift to the other
institution.

“And I call that about as mean a piece of business as could happen,”
was Jack’s comment, in talking this over with some of his chums. “Of
course they have a perfect right to make a military academy of Longley
if they want to; but they have no right to steal away our cadets.”

Among the boys to leave Colby Hall and go to Longley were Paul Halliday
and Billy Sands, who had been great chums of Brassy Bangs while that
individual was a cadet. Of course, Colonel Colby was sorry to have
any of his pupils leave him, but the Rovers were rather glad to see
Halliday and Sands go.

“It’s good riddance to those fellows!” Fred had remarked. “I never
considered either of them much better than Brassy Bangs himself.”

“Oh, I don’t think Halliday and Sands are quite as bad as Bangs was,”
Randy had answered. “Still I’d rather have them somewhere else than
here.”

During the winter the cadets of Colby and the boys at Longley had had
several contests on the ice and had also indulged in several snowball
fights. In one of these fights Fred had received a black eye from a
snowball hurled by Billy Sands. In return for this Sands had been
caught a little later and rolled down into a snowy hollow, much to his
disgust. In one of the skating races Paul Halliday had come in ahead
of two of the cadets from Colby, and because of this he and the other
cadets from Longley had done considerable crowing.

“We’ll show Colby where they get off!” had come boastfully from Tommy
Flanders, a youth who on several occasions had pitched for the rival
school.

“You’ll never show Colby anything!” Jack had retorted, and this had
made Tommy Flanders very angry, because he had been virtually “batted
out of the box” by the Colby baseball nine.

As a result of the new order of things a more bitter rivalry than ever
had sprung up between Colby Hall and Longley Academy, and when the
winter was at an end and there were talks of some boat races everybody
was wondering how the matches would terminate. The Colbyites hoped that
they might win, while the Longley supporters went around everywhere
declaring that they “would wipe up the lake” with their rivals.

This was the condition of affairs when the four Rovers had gone out
on the afternoon of this bright day in early summer for a row on
Clearwater Lake. They had been talking about the boys at Longley
Academy when their attention had been attracted to the aeroplane, as
mentioned at the beginning of this story.

The flying machine was one belonging to an aero corporation which sent
aeroplanes to many summer resorts where they might be used by visitors
and others. Each was supposed to be in first-class condition and under
the care of an experienced aviator.

At first it was supposed that the aviator would be able to get but
little patronage at Haven Point for the reason that the town was small
and the district sparsely settled. But it was soon found that, by
skillful advertising, the flying machine drew a great many visitors to
the lake; and sometimes the aviator was called on to make a dozen or
more trips a day.

As he usually carried two passengers and as the fare was fifteen
dollars per person, it can readily be seen that the business was a
prosperous one. The local paper had devoted several columns to the
enterprise, giving the personal experience of a number of people
who had made a flight. So far nothing in the way of an accident had
occurred to mar the success of the undertaking.

But now in the twinkling of an eye all this was changed. For some
reason as yet unknown the huge flying machine had struck the bosom of
the lake in slanting fashion and one of the blades of the propeller
had been broken of to fly into space. And now the aeroplane was on the
point of sinking, carrying the aviator and his two passengers with it.




                              CHAPTER III

                      THE RESCUE FROM THE BIPLANE


“I wonder if they are strapped to the seats of that biplane?”

“More than likely. They usually strap themselves and their passengers
fast to keep from falling out.”

“If they can’t loosen the straps they’ll surely be drowned.”

“Come on, fellows, row for all you’re worth! A second gained may mean a
life!” yelled Jack.

“Say, wasn’t that Ruth Stevenson?” came from the second boat.

“Yes,” answered Fred. “Hurry up! We’ve got to save them!”

All this conversation came in jerks, for every cadet was working
frantically at his oar in a mad endeavor to reach the sinking
aeroplane. They were almost up to the spot when they heard a queer
gurgle and suddenly the big flying machine slid from view under the
surface of the lake.

“It’s going down!” cried Randy, glancing hastily around.

By this time the first rowboat had reached the scene of the accident
and all of the boys threw down their oars to get a better view of the
situation. The water was much disturbed, and in the foam created by the
disappearing flying machine could be seen two men struggling, one with
some sort of strap fastened around him.

“Help! Help! I can’t swim!” cried one of the men, and Jack recognized
Mr. Stevenson’s voice.

“Help! I’m being pulled down! Help!” gasped the aviator.

“Go after him, fellows! I’m going after Mr. Stevenson!” called out
Randy, and immediately leaped overboard, followed by his brother.

“Where is Ruth?” questioned Jack anxiously, for the girl from
Clearwater Hall was one of his dearest friends.

He had scarcely spoken when he saw an arm appear a short distance away.
Then Ruth’s head bobbed up and the girl uttered another cry.

“Help me! I can’t move my feet! Help me!”

By this time the second boat was close at hand and a glance showed Jack
and Fred that the aviator was already clambering on board. Another
glance showed Randy and Andy supporting Mr. Stevenson.

“I’m coming, Ruth! Keep up!” cried Jack, and leaping to the bow of the
rowboat he made a quick, slanting dive overboard which brought him
within a few feet of where the girl was floundering. He knew that Ruth
was a fair swimmer and realized that something must be radically wrong
if she could not keep herself afloat.

“Oh, Jack! Jack! Is that you?” gasped the girl. “Help me! My feet are
all tangled up!”

“I’m coming, Ruth,” he reassured her. And then he yelled back to his
cousin: “Fred, bring the boat up here, quick!”

The stout young Rover hastened to comply, and while he was doing this
Jack continued to swim swiftly towards the hapless girl. He caught hold
of Ruth’s arm just as she was about to go down a second time.

“Grab hold, Ruth. I’ll support you,” he said. “What is holding you?”

“I don’t know. A strap, I guess. I had one around me and it loosened
and slipped to my knees.”

“Just hang over my shoulders and you’ll be all right,” answered the
young major. “I was afraid you had been hurt.”

“But, Jack! I can’t move my feet at all!”

“Never mind. We’ll soon have you on board the boat.”

“Where is daddy?”

“Andy and Randy went for him. I’m sure they’ll save him. We’ve got two
boats here, and four cadets in each; so there is plenty of assistance
at hand.”

At that instant Fred came alongside with the boat and it was the work
of but a few seconds to place the dripping girl aboard. Then Jack
followed. As Ruth had said, a strap had become tangled around her
knees, but this was now disposed of.

In the meantime Andy and Randy had reached Mr. Stevenson, and with
something of an effort they managed to get that gentleman over to the
vicinity of the second boat. Ruth’s father was somewhat excited, and
this was but natural. He could not swim, and, moreover, he had received
a blow in the side which pained him considerably.

“My daughter? Where is my daughter?” he questioned as soon as he had
hold of the side of the boat.

“Jack and Fred went after her,” answered Spouter. “There they are, over
yonder. Jack is supporting her.”

“Thank heaven then she isn’t drowned!” said Mr. Stevenson, shuddering.
“I’d have gone after her myself; but what can a man do if he can’t
swim? After this I’ll advocate that every boy and girl be forced to
learn to swim,” he added, with emphasis.

“Either that or keep away from the water,” returned Andy grimly.

“Oh, Jack, what a terrible experience!” came from Ruth, when she could
regain her breath. “I thought surely I was going down to the bottom of
the lake. And how good of you to come to my aid!”

“You don’t suppose I was going to let you drown, Ruth?” he answered
quickly.

“I have to thank you too, Fred,” went on the girl.

“Oh, I didn’t do so much,” answered the stout Rover modestly. “It’s
mighty lucky we happened to be in this vicinity,” he went on.

“And just to think I was going to surprise you, Jack!” continued Ruth.

“Surprise me?”

“Yes. By sending you a picture of daddy and me in the aeroplane. You
see, my father came to Haven Point last night and called on me this
morning, and he happened to know the men who are running the aero
corporation. So when I begged him to take me up he agreed and we had
our photographs taken just when we started.” She paused and gave a
sudden shiver. “Oh, if daddy had been drowned, what would I have done!”

A little later the two boats came together and Mr. Stevenson joined his
daughter in the craft manned by the Rovers.

“I scraped my side on the machine when we came down so suddenly,”
explained Ruth’s father. “It hurts me yet. I think I’ll see a doctor
about it when I go ashore. I must have scraped the skin pretty hard, if
nothing more,” and he winced.

“We’ll row for Haven Point right away,” answered Jack.

“I suppose that’s the last of my biplane,” said the aviator. “How deep
is the lake around here, do any of you know?”

“I don’t believe it’s very deep right here,” answered Gif. “Do you see
that sandy beach over on the island yonder? Well, that sandbar extends
out in this direction.”

“Then maybe the machine didn’t sink as far down as I thought it might,”
went on Tom Bossick, for such was his name. “I’d like to mark this spot
if I could.”

“Maybe you could dive overboard again and find out what became of the
flying machine,” suggested Dan Soppinger. “That is, unless you feel
too weak.”

“Oh, I’m all right. I went through a good deal worse than this when I
was flying for Uncle Sam in France,” said Bossick, with a grin. “If you
fellows are not in a hurry I’d like to find out what did become of the
old lady.”

“If you fellows want to stay here with the aviator, we’ll take Mr.
Stevenson and Ruth over to Haven Point,” said Jack.

“All right, go ahead,” answered Gif readily. “We’ll take the aviator
over later, after he has located his machine. I suppose, if it’s only
in shallow water, it might be raised again?”

“So I was thinking,” answered Tom Bossick.

A minute later the two boats separated and the four Rovers took up the
task of rowing to Haven Point.

“It’s mighty lucky for us that there’s no wind and the sun is so warm,”
said Jack, as he glanced at the water still dripping from his own
garments and those worn by the others who had been in the lake.

“We’ll create a sight when we reach the town,” was Randy’s comment.

“I guess everybody will want to know what happened to the flying
machine and if the folks on board were rescued,” put in Fred. “You
three will be regular heroes,” and he gave something of an envious
glance at his cousins.

“Oh, say, Fred! Can that hero stuff,” put in Andy quickly. “Anybody
would have done what we did if only they had had the chance.”

“Nevertheless, I’m very thankful to all of you,” said Mr. Stevenson.

“Are you sure you weren’t hurt quite a good deal, Mr. Stevenson?”
questioned Jack. He noted that the face of Ruth’s father was pale and
haggard.

“Oh, I don’t think it’s very much, Jack. Of course, we came down so
hard it gave us all a terrible jolt.”

“It was like one of those roller-coaster boats hitting the water at a
seaside resort,” remarked Randy.

“A good deal worse than that!” cried Ruth. “You know, we came down nose
first, as they say. Why, for an instant I thought I was going to be
thrown out on my face. And, you must remember, we were several hundred
feet up in the air when we started to fall.”

“Oh, I know you came down pretty hard,” answered Andy. “Why, the water
splashed in every direction!”

After this there was a brief period of silence, the boys bending
vigorously to their oars, feeling that the Stevensons would like to
get ashore and to shelter as soon as possible.

“I am staying at the Haven Point House,” said Mr. Stevenson. “I’ll
go right up there and get an extra room for Ruth, and then we can
telephone to Clearwater Hall and have some of the girls bring her some
dry clothing. And I’ll have a doctor look her over, as well as find out
what’s the matter with my side. I don’t think it’s much, but I want him
to make sure. I have trouble enough these days without becoming sick,”
he added, with a thoughtful look on his face.

As anticipated, their coming to one of the docks of the town created
not a little excitement. A number of persons had seen the erratic
movements of the biplane and had witnessed its disappearance into the
lake, and the news had spread that the aviator and his passengers
were probably drowned. Several boats had put out to the scene of the
disaster, but these now returned. A crowd surrounded the Stevensons
and the cadets, asking numerous questions. But Jack soon obtained a
taxicab, and into this the Stevensons were hurried and the driver was
directed to take them at once to the hotel.

“We’ll be up after a while,” said Jack. “I want to telephone to Colonel
Colby first, to let him know we’ll be late in getting back. I don’t
want to leave here until I find out what condition your father is
really in.”

With the Stevensons gone, the Rover boys told the crowd some of the
particulars of what had happened.

“I think I know what was the trouble,” said another aviator who was
present, a man who occasionally took Tom Bossick’s place. “Tom and I
were going over the motor a couple of days ago, and I noticed that it
wasn’t as fast to the framework as it might be. It’s my opinion it
worked loose, and that threw the machine off its keel.”

“The aviator didn’t say what went wrong,” answered Fred. “Perhaps he
didn’t know himself. But one thing is sure――the biplane bobbed around
from one side to the other several times before it headed down into the
lake.”

“Well, they can all be thankful they escaped with their lives,” said
one of the bystanders, and in this statement everybody concurred.

The Rover boys telephoned to the military academy and gave the head of
that institution a few of the particulars of what had occurred. Colonel
Colby had heard nothing about the aeroplane accident, and was, of
course, much surprised. He readily gave the boys permission to remain
in town for an hour longer in order that they might ascertain more of
Mr. Stevenson’s real condition.

A motor boat had been sent to the scene of the wreck, and this
presently returned with Tom Bossick on board.

“The cadets in the other rowboat have returned to their school,” said
the aviator. “We found that the aeroplane was under less than twenty
feet of water, so I have hopes that we can raise her and maybe have
her repaired, or at least save the engine. I think she rests on that
sandbar one of you young fellows mentioned.”

“And what went wrong?” questioned Fred eagerly.

“I think the motor got loose somehow. We’ll have to investigate after
we raise the biplane――if we ever do.”

A little later the four Rover boys went to the hotel. There they
encountered Jack’s sister Martha and Fred’s sister Mary, who had
just come over from Clearwater Hall with some dry clothing for Ruth.
Of course the two Rover girls were greatly excited, and they rushed
at their brothers and their cousins, demanding to know if they were
perfectly all right.

“Sure we are!” declared Fred. “Why, I wasn’t even in the water!”

“But the rest of you are dripping wet,” declared Martha.

“We’re all right,” answered Jack. “But what we want to know is how Mr.
Stevenson and Ruth are.”

“Ruth says the bath didn’t hurt her a bit,” answered Mary. “But she is
rather worried about her father.”

A few minutes later Ruth came forth. Her hair was still wet and done up
fantastically in a towel, but she wore the dry clothes the other girls
had brought her.

“I’m perfectly all right,” she said to Jack.

“What about your dad?”

“The doctor says he’ll have to keep very quiet for a few days,” went on
the girl soberly. “He received a blow in the side just under the right
arm. He is all black and blue.”

“He seemed to be very haggard, Ruth,” remarked the young major.

At this Ruth Stevenson gave Jack a look which he found hard to
interpret. She caught Jack’s hand and drew him a little to one side.

“Dad has been having a whole lot of trouble lately,” she whispered.
“Some time I’ll tell you all about it――or at least as much as I know of
it.”




                              CHAPTER IV

                         A SUDDEN INTERRUPTION


Quarter of an hour later found the four Rover boys once more on the
lake, this time bound for Colby Hall. They had said good-by to Ruth.
Mary and Martha were to return by taxicab to Clearwater Hall.

“You boys have got to be careful after this,” said Jack’s sister.
“Suppose that flying machine had come down on top of you? You might all
have been killed!”

“Yes. But suppose we hadn’t been in that vicinity when it did come
down?” returned her brother. “Ruth and all of them might have been
drowned!”

“I understand Colby Hall and Longley Academy are going to have some
boat races soon,” said Mary to the twins. “Are you going to take part?”
She knew that, as officers, Jack and Fred could not participate.

“Gif says he wants us in one of the races,” answered Randy. “I
certainly would like to put one over on some of those Longley fellows.”

“I heard one of the Longley cadets bragging that the Colby Hall fellows
were deserting as fast as they could and coming over to Longley,” broke
in Martha.

“That isn’t true, Martha!” returned Andy. “We’ve lost just five
cadets all told, and two of them were fellows we were glad to get rid
of――Billy Sands and Paul Halliday.”

“Oh, you mean the cadets who used to travel with Brassy Bangs!”

“Yes. And let me tell you something――Longley Academy has lost over
fifteen pupils during the past year; and of those, four are now
enrolled at Colby and three more are trying to get in. So I guess all
told we have the best of it.”

Jack had had no opportunity to ask Ruth the particulars of her father’s
trouble. But he had promised to see the girl a few days later or call
her up on the telephone, and then, he knew, she would give him more of
the facts.

“Mr. Stevenson certainly looked very haggard,” he mused to himself.
“He certainly must have something very serious on his mind. I hope
it isn’t something that will affect Ruth. It would be too bad if he
lost his money or something like that and Ruth had to give up going to
Clearwater Hall.”

The strenuous happenings of the afternoon, along with the unexpected
bath of Jack and the twins, made the Rover boys rather weary, and so
they took their time at rowing up the lake to the river.

“There is no use of our hurrying,” declared Fred. “We won’t be in time
for the evening parade anyway. And Colonel Colby said we could take our
own time.”

“Just the same, I want to get there before the mess hall is closed,”
declared Andy. “I’m about famished.”

“Don’t say a word about being hungry!” returned his twin. “I wish we
had bought some doughnuts, or something like that, before we left town.”

“I’m sure Captain Dale will allow us something to eat even if the mess
hall is closed,” declared Jack. Captain Dale was one of their military
instructors and the official who took charge of the academy during
Colonel Colby’s absence.

The summer day was drawing to a close and the sun was setting behind
the hills to the west of Haven Point when the tired cadets reached the
mouth of the Rick Rack River. Here there was a small island in the
middle of the stream dividing that waterway into two rather narrow
channels.

“Here comes a motor-boat!” exclaimed Fred presently, pointing up the
river. “I wonder if it’s one of our boats coming to meet us.”

“I hope it is,” returned Randy. “I’d much rather be towed back than do
more rowing.”

“It isn’t one of our boats,” said Jack, a few seconds later. “Our boats
are all striped white and blue. This one is green and yellow.”

“Green and yellow!” exclaimed Andy. “Why, that’s the color of some of
the Longley boats! To my mind they are the ugliest things on the lake.”

It was indeed a motor-boat belonging to Longley Academy, and as it came
closer the Rovers noted that it contained four cadets, two in khaki
outing uniforms and the other two in the brilliant uniforms used by the
Longley cadets when on parade.

“Gee! how those fellows do love to show off those uniforms,” remarked
Fred.

“Maybe that’s the only suit of clothes they have to their backs,”
chuckled Andy.

The motor-boat coming down the river occupied the middle of the stream.
As it reached the vicinity of the little island just mentioned it
should have turned to the other channel from that being used by the
Rover boys. Instead, however, it came rushing straight towards them.

“Hi, you! Get out of the way there! Look where you’re running!”
exclaimed Jack, in alarm.

“Ha-ha! Don’t get scared,” sang out a youth at the wheel of the
motor-boat. “We won’t run you down.”

By this time the motor-boat was directly alongside of the rowboat.
It came so close that the oars on that side scraped the hull of the
heavier craft. There was a tremendous swell from the propeller, and the
next instant a small wave hit the gunwale and dashed over the Rover
boys’ feet. The rowboat bobbed up and down in the narrow channel like
a cork, the water foaming and churning all around it. In the meanwhile
the motor-boat darted ahead and was soon out on the broad bosom of
Clearwater Lake.

“Well, of all the gall!” burst out Andy, as soon as he could recover
from his astonishment.

“They did that on purpose!” burst out Jack. “Did you see who was at the
wheel?”

“It was Tommy Flanders!” cried Randy.

“He’s sore over the way he was batted out of the box in those baseball
games,” remarked Fred. “Just the same, he had no business to endanger
our lives in this narrow passage. I wish we could get hold of him,” and
he shook his head angrily.

“We can’t follow a motor-boat in a rowboat,” answered Jack. “Just the
same, we ought to let him hear from us about this.”

“If we only had one of our own new motor-boats,” groaned Fred, “I bet
we could catch that old tub!”

“Did you notice who the fellows in the gaudy uniforms were?” questioned
Andy. “Our beloved friends, Halliday and Sands!”

“Yes, I noticed that,” returned Jack. “They must be so stuck on those
new gaudy uniforms they can’t bear to go out without them. Who was the
fourth fellow?”

No one could answer that question, and after gazing at the motor-boat
until it was almost lost in the distance the Rover boys resumed their
rowing and presently reached the military academy dock. A crowd was
there to meet them, for Gif and the other cadets had spread the news of
what had happened out on the lake.

“Here come the real heroes!” cried Gif good-naturedly. “Here are the
ones who did the real rescue act!”

“Cut it out, Gif!” returned Jack. “What we want is to get into some dry
clothing and get something to eat.”

“Yes, and after that we’ve got something to tell you about Tommy
Flanders and Sands and Halliday,” added Randy.

The four boys hastened to report to Captain Dale and then hurried up
to the rooms they occupied. They had four rooms in a row on the second
floor. Jack occupied a small one and Fred another, while a third was
used by the twins. The fourth room was a general sitting room and a
place for study. This had been a meeting place many times for the Rover
boys and their chums.

It did not take Jack and the twins long to change their clothing nor
Fred to brush up a bit. This done, all hurried down to the mess room,
a corner of which had been kept open for them. They found both Colonel
Colby and Captain Dale on hand, anxious to learn a few particulars
concerning the accident on the lake.

“It was a fortunate thing that you were on hand to aid those in the
flying machine,” remarked the master of the school, when he had heard
their story. “I trust Mr. Stevenson is not seriously hurt.”

After the meal the Rovers retired to their rooms and were there joined
by Gif and Spouter. To their chums they related what had occurred at
the entrance to the river.

“That’s just like Flanders,” remarked Gif, in disgust. “He always was
the most overbearing fellow I ever met.”

“Well, I can’t say quite as much as that,” answered Jack. “You mustn’t
forget Gabe Werner and Slugger Brown,” he added, mentioning the names
of two school bullies who for various reasons had had to leave the
military academy.

“Yes, and don’t forget Bill Glutts, Werner’s crony,” put in Fred. “How
I used to despise that butcher boy!”

“Now he has made something of a fizzle of his pitching, I understand
Flanders is going in for rowing this summer,” came from Spouter.

“Well, if he makes as much of a failure of his rowing as he did of his
pitching he won’t amount to a great deal,” was Andy’s comment.

“Don’t be so sure of that, Andy,” returned Jack. “Flanders wasn’t a
half-bad pitcher. The only trouble with him was that when he got into
a real tight place he was apt to lose his head. If he could have kept
cool, he would have been one of the best pitchers in these parts.”

“We ought to get square with him for almost running us down,” came from
Fred. “Gee! that big motor-boat might have cut us right in two!”

“It’s too bad he didn’t run her on the rocks in that channel,” was
Randy’s comment.

“We’ll get square with Flanders some day. Just wait and see!” declared
the young major.

The boys continued the discussion for a quarter of an hour longer, and
then the Rovers intimated that they would have to get at some of their
studies for the next day. Taking this hint, Gif and Spouter took their
departure.

“I wouldn’t interfere with your learning for the world,” said Spouter
softly, as he stood in the doorway. “Learning is the very foundation
of all knowledge. Were it not for learning, man would still be in
the primitive state of a savage. Were it not for learning, man would
still be groping in darkness wondering whither he was going and
what his existence really meant. Were it not for learning, such a
noble institution as Colby Hall would not exist. Were it not for
learning――wow!”

Spouter’s flowery oration came to a sudden termination as Andy threw
a book which took the tall youth directly in the stomach. Picking the
book up from the floor, Spouter hurled it at the fun-loving Rover’s
head and then fled precipitately down the corridor with Gif laughingly
following him.

“Why don’t you give Spouter a chance?” said Jack to his cousin. “For
all you know, he may not have had a chance to talk to any one all day.”

“Give him a chance!” snorted Andy. “Not when he goes off in that style!
Why, when Spouter gets a spouting streak on him, he’s like a regular
cataract, a cyclone and a tornado rolled in one. You’ve got to cut him
off at the beginning or you can’t hold him in,” and at this rather
mixed-up explanation all the others laughed.

A few minutes later the four Rover boys were deep in their studies.
Jack had an essay to write on “Great Discoverers” and Fred an essay on
“The Wonders of the Sky,” while the twins had to wrestle with several
problems in geometry. All were seated in their sitting room, as they
termed it, with heads bent somewhat closely together over a round
center table.

“Say, Jack, how do you spell Jupiter?” questioned the stoutest Rover
boy. “Is it Ju-p-e- or Ju-p-i-?”

“What kind of Jew is that you’re talking about?” put in Andy slyly,
looking up with a pencil at his grinning lips.

“It’s J-u-p-i-t-e-r,” declared Jack.

“What in Jupiter are you writing about now, Fred?” questioned Randy.

“‘Wonders of the Sky,’” answered his cousin. “If I don’t have this
essay done by noon to-morrow I’ll be sure to get into hot water with
Professor Duke.”

“I’ve got to hand in my essay by ten o’clock,” put in the young major.
“We’d all better be getting on the job――it’s getting late.”

After that there was silence for several minutes. Almost unconsciously
the four boys heard a slight noise in the corridor. But to this they
paid no attention, for cadets were continually going or coming in
one direction or another. Then, of a sudden, came a most unexpected
interruption. The door which had been left unlocked was suddenly opened
and a masked figure appeared holding in one hand a well-filled paper
bag. The next instant the paper bag was hurled through the air, landing
directly on the center of the table. Then the door banged shut, hiding
the masked figure from view.

But the Rover boys could not have seen the figure even if the door had
been left open. As the paper bag crashed down on the table it flew
apart and the next instant the four Rover boys found themselves covered
with black soot from head to foot.




                               CHAPTER V

                            WHO WAS GUILTY?


“For the love of molasses!”

“Who――threw――that――stuff――in?” came in a splutter from Andy, who had
received a large dose of the soot in his nose and mouth.

“Ker choo! Ker choo!” was the only sound made by his brother, on whom
the soot acted like snuff.

“Did you ever see anything like it?” burst out Jack, trying to wipe the
soot from his eyes with a handkerchief.

“Who played that dirty trick?” questioned Fred, who had been the first
to speak.

“Some joke, I’ll say!” muttered the young major of the Colby Hall
battalion.

“Better say ‘choke,’” sputtered Andy. Then, as he looked at his brother
and his cousins, he burst into a fit of laughter, and in this his twin
joined.

“We look like a lot of Negro minstrels, don’t we?” was Fred’s comment.
“Gee, what a mess!” he added, as he surveyed the table with its books
and papers. “I guess my essay is spoiled.”

“Mine ditto,” responded Jack. “And I was writing it out so carefully,
too,” he added mournfully.

Randy was the first to step to the door and open it. He looked up and
down the corridor, but saw no one. However, a few seconds later two
cadets put in appearance. They were Fatty Hendry and Phil Franklin,
the latter a lad who had become a warm friend of the Rovers through
a thrilling rescue on the Rick Rack River and later by sharing many
perils in Oklahoma and Texas.

“Hello, there! what’s the idea?” exclaimed Phil Franklin, as he came to
a halt and gazed at Randy in amazement.

“Are you getting ready for a masquerade?” questioned Fatty Hendry. “I
didn’t know there was anything of that sort going on to-night.”

By this time the other Rovers had come to the doorway, and the two new
arrivals gazed at them in added amazement. Then their eyes drifted to
the center table and took in the wreckage there.

“Hannibal’s ghost!” ejaculated the fat boy of the school. “What’s this?
It looks like lampblack.”

“It’s soot! Plain chimney soot!” answered Jack, who by this time had
partly cleared his eyes. “Some fellow was mean enough just now to open
our door and throw that bag in on the table where we were all writing
and studying.”

“You don’t say so!”

“Some mean trick, I’ll say!” declared Phil Franklin, his eyes flashing.
He stepped into the room. “An awful mess, eh? Your books and papers
will be about ruined,” he added. “Ink with it, too!”

“The bag struck my inkwell and knocked it over,” answered Fred. “It
certainly is a mess. I wish I knew who did it.”

“Didn’t you see the fellow at all?” questioned Fatty.

“I just caught a glimpse of him,” answered Randy. “He was in uniform
and had a pillowcase or something of the sort pulled over his head and
neck so that I couldn’t recognize him.”

“Must have been one of your old enemies,” commented Phil.

“I thought all of our enemies were gone,” answered Jack, who was still
dabbing away at his eyes with tears running down his cheeks. “Slugger
Brown, Nappy Martell, Gabe Werner and Bill Glutts all got out some time
ago; and now Brassy Bangs, Paul Halliday, and Billy Sands are gone too.
I’m sure I don’t know who can be left.”

“You don’t suppose it could be any of the fellows who wanted to be
major of the battalion, do you?” asked Fatty.

“Or who wanted to be captain in place of Fred,” added Phil.

“No, I don’t believe any of those fellows would be mean enough to do
this. They’ve all acted pretty nice since the election,” answered Jack.
“It must have been someone else.”

“Going to report it?” came from the stout cadet.

“I don’t think so, Fatty,” said the young major slowly. “In the first
place, we don’t know who is guilty. And in the second place, I have no
desire to become a telltale.”

“We’ll fight this out ourselves! You just leave it to us!” broke in
Andy. “The secret will come out sooner or later.”

“I think the best thing we can do first of all is to clean up this mess
and then wash up,” said Fred. “Gee! I hardly know how to begin,” he
added, gazing at the disordered center table ruefully.

“Here’s an old brush and an empty shoebox,” returned Jack. “We’ll brush
the soot into the box as carefully as we can. We don’t want any more of
it to be flying around. As it is, this room will have to be dusted and
cleaned up thoroughly.”

“Well, if we can’t help you we might as well be on our way,” said
Fatty Hendry. “I have some boning to do before I hit the hay.”

“And I’ve got some problems in algebra to solve,” came from Phil.

“I don’t see how you can help us unless you can find out who that
masked cadet was,” answered Jack.

“Listen!” put in Fred quickly. “If it’s just the same to you fellows,
keep this to yourselves, will you?”

“Sure!” answered Phil. “I won’t say a word if you don’t want me to.”
And to this Fatty also agreed.

The soot had certainly made a great mess, and it took the Rover boys
the best part of half an hour to put the room in order. Luckily, their
school books were not damaged quite as much as they had at first
supposed, and by dusting them off with care they made the volumes
fairly presentable. The essay papers, however, were spoiled, and both
Jack and Fred decided they would have to be written over again.

“I’m going to get up real early to-morrow morning and do it,” said
Jack, and his cousin agreed to do the same.

Then the boys brushed their uniforms as best they could, and after that
each took a bath, which made them feel better.

“I’m going to snoop around a little and see if I can get on the track
of the rascal who played this trick,” announced Randy, after he had
donned clean clothing.

“And I’ll go with you,” answered his brother.

It still lacked half an hour of time to retire, and the others availed
themselves of this to start the new copies of their essays. Just as the
“lights out” bell was ringing the twins came in again.

“Nothing doing,” announced Andy, with a disappointed look on his
otherwise cheerful face. “All of the cadets look as meek as lambs.”

“Couldn’t spot a single soul who might have done it,” added his
brother. “But we’ll get on to it sooner or later, you just watch me!”
he continued determinedly.

True to their resolve, Jack and Fred were up a little after five in the
morning and hard at work on their essays.

“We’ve got to make a good showing, Fred,” remarked the young major,
“not only because we’re officers of the battalion, but because the
folks at home expect it.”

“Just the same, I’ll be glad when vacation comes around,” remarked the
younger Rover.

“Wonder what we can do this summer.”

“I don’t know. I suppose the folks are planning to send us up to
Valley Brook farm――at least for a few weeks.”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind seeing old Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, not
to say anything about Jack Ness,” was the reply. “But I wouldn’t like
to stay on the farm too long. It gets monotonous.”

“Gee, if we could only go to some such place as Big Horn Ranch or
Snowshoe Island!”

“Now you’re talking! Well, something may turn up before the school
closes; who knows?”

Presently the gong sounded for the cadets to assemble on the parade
ground in front of the school building. At once the two young officers
donned their coats and their swords and lost no time in hurrying below,
followed presently by the twins, who had to go to the racks in the
lower hall for their firearms.

Five minutes later another gong sounded, and by this time all of the
cadets, except one or two who had been excused, were assembled on the
parade ground. Major Jack was at the head of the battalion, which
consisted of three companies, and beside him stood Captain Dale, who
usually was present to witness the conduct of the cadets.

“Battalion, attention!” commanded the youthful major, and at once the
cadets of the three companies braced up and stood in long rows like so
many ramrods.

“Present arms!” was the next command, and thereafter Jack put the
battalion through the manual of arms. At the conclusion he looked
inquiringly at Captain Dale.

“Very good, Major Rover,” said the military instructor. “Very good,
indeed.”

After this came a slight pause, and then came another command.

“Battalion, attention! Forward, march!”

Boom! Boom! Boom, boom, boom! sounded out the drums, and then came a
rattle and the shrill notes of the fifes and away marched the cadets,
to circle the Hall and then enter the building. Here the guns and
swords were discarded and the boys poured into the big mess hall, there
to seat themselves at the long tables provided, each in his accustomed
place. Then, after a blessing asked by one of the professors, they all
fell to eating with great gusto.

Jack did his best that day to settle his mind on his studies, yet many
times he found himself thinking of Ruth and her father and wondering
what was the trouble that had come to Mr. Stevenson.

“It must be something out of the ordinary,” mused the young major.
“Otherwise, Ruth wouldn’t have bothered to mention it. It’s too
bad――and just when her father is under the weather, too!”

Of course, the Rovers and the others who had been out on the lake
when the biplane crashed down were asked innumerable questions by
their friends, and they had to tell the particulars of the mishap over
and over again. Those who had gone overboard were asked if they had
suffered anything from the sudden plunge.

“Not at all,” answered Randy. “It was just like taking a bath before
Saturday night comes around, you know,” and at this some of the cadets
who were listening grinned.

Among the boys to listen to an account of what the Rovers and their
chums had to relate was Henry Stowell, a lanky young cadet who, because
of the peculiar broad mouth he possessed, often went by the nickname
of Codfish. Stowell was a regular sneak, and had often been a toady
of some of the bullies who had from time to time been cadets at the
Hall. He was thoroughly disliked by a large number of the pupils. On
more than one occasion the Rovers had done Codfish favors, and twice
they had rescued him from those who would do the cadet harm. But though
Stowell had promised to mend his ways, he had soon slumped in his
habits and become just as much of a sneak and a telltale as ever.

“Those people ought to give you a big reward for saving their lives,”
said Stowell. “They ought not to expect you to do that for nothing.”

“We weren’t out for any reward, Codfish,” answered Randy promptly.

“Oh, that’s all right,” said the sneak, pulling down the corners of his
broad mouth. “Just the same, a reward comes in mighty handy, especially
when a fellow’s pocket money is getting low.” Stowell’s allowance was
small, and it was a notorious fact among those who knew him best that
he was continually borrowing from those more fortunate than himself.

“That sneak makes me sick,” declared Andy, when he and his brother were
by themselves. “I suppose if he had been there he would have said,
‘Give me ten dollars or I won’t haul you out of the lake!’”

“He certainly is a poor stick; and all of the lessons we’ve given him
haven’t improved him any, so far as I can see,” answered Randy.

It was not until three days later that the Rovers had a chance to go
over to Clearwater Hall. In the meantime, however, the young major had
taken it upon himself to call up his sister on the telephone.

From Martha he learned that Mr. Stevenson had gone home. His side was
still very sore and Jack’s sister said that he looked more haggard than
ever.

“I think he has something on his mind,” Martha said, over the wire.
“But what it is I, of course, don’t know. Nor did I care to question
Ruth. Perhaps she will tell you something about it herself.”

Because of this, Jack was quite concerned when he and his four
cousins got a chance to ride down to Haven Point in one of the school
automobiles. The chauffeur of the car, Bob Nixon, said he was going to
stay in town two hours, which would give the boys a chance to run up to
the girls’ school and see their relatives and friends.

As a usual thing, outsiders were not permitted at Clearwater Hall
except upon special occasions. But there was an understanding between
Colonel Colby and Miss Garwood, the head of the girls’ school, whereby
the Rovers could visit their relatives almost any time. And this,
of course, usually gave them a chance to see Ruth Stevenson and May
Powell, Spouter’s cousin. Spouter often came also, bringing Gif with
him.

The young folks met in the lower hall of the institution and then
strolled out under the big trees of the campus. They talked about
matters in general and also about Mr. Stevenson’s condition.

“I think he’ll get over his injuries in a week or two,” declared Ruth.
“He certainly got bumped most dreadfully.”

Presently, as had happened before, Jack and Ruth walked off a little by
themselves, and then the young major questioned the girl regarding her
father’s troubles.

“Of course you haven’t got to say anything if you don’t want to, Ruth,”
he added. “But if there is anything I could do to help I’d like to know
it.”

“I don’t know how you can help us, Jack,” answered the girl soberly.
“But daddy certainly has trouble――and of a most unexpected sort.”

“Something to do with his business, I suppose?”

“Yes and no, Jack. He has had a very valuable book of formulas stolen,”
answered the girl.




                              CHAPTER VI

                      WHAT HAPPENED IN THE STORM


“A book of formulas?” repeated the young major of the Colby Hall
battalion. “Just what do you mean by that, Ruth?”

“It’s rather a long story, Jack, and I don’t know all of the
particulars. But it seems that during the great World War two Germans,
brothers, came to this country, bringing with them some formulas for
making artists’ paints. They had been in the business both in Germany
and in France and could produce most wonderful shadings in these
artists’ materials.”

“I see, Ruth. I know the Germans were always great on formulas of dyes
and things like that.”

“Well, these two Germans were very old men, and in a roundabout way
they offered to sell these formulas, for they felt that they were too
old to go into the manufacture of such things.

“Now, my father, as perhaps you know, has been interested for several
years in a small paint works located in the Middle West. Through the
manager of these paint works he was introduced to the two old Germans
who came East to see him and finally offered him these wonderful
formulas, provided he would keep the entire matter secret.

“They proved to his satisfaction that they owned all rights to the
preparations, and offered to sell said rights for the sum of thirty
thousand dollars.”

“Thirty thousand dollars!” exclaimed Jack. “Some little sum of money,
I’ll say!”

“My father didn’t have so much cash, but he borrowed some from a
bank and got some more from old Uncle Barney, who was making money
out of those zinc ore beds on Snowshoe Island. Together they went
in and bought the formulas, which were written out in detail in a
leather-bound notebook. They had originally been written in German and
in French, but were translated by one of the old Germans into English.”

“And after your father had purchased this book of formulas it was
stolen from him?”

“Yes. He brought it home with him and would have placed it in a safe
deposit vault, but took it home for the purpose of making a duplicate
copy. Of course, he didn’t want to trust any outsiders with the secret
just yet; so he started in to make the copy himself.”

“Then the book was stolen?”

“Exactly! It disappeared one night. He had left it locked up in his
desk, and when he went for it the next day he found that his desk
had been broken open and that the valuable book of formulas had
disappeared.”

“What of the copy he had been making?”

“That had disappeared also.”

“Gracious! No wonder he was upset, Ruth. Thirty thousand dollars is no
mean price to pay for a thing and then have it stolen. Did he suspect
anybody?”

“There was nobody to suspect. Our maid had left our employ about a week
before and gone to live with a family in Philadelphia. There was nobody
at home but my mother and my father, for mother had not yet succeeded
in getting another maid.”

“But wasn’t there any trace of the thief?”

“They found that a window of the library had been broken open; but that
was all. Nothing was disturbed in the house except the desk. That was
of the regular roller-top variety and of course could be broken open
with ease.”

“The thief or thieves must have been watching your father while he was
using the book. Otherwise they wouldn’t have been so certain where it
could be found.”

“That is what daddy thinks. While he was making his copy he sat under
the light with the curtains of the windows only partly drawn. Anybody
outside could have looked in.”

“Did your father suspect the two old Germans?”

“Not at all. They were nowhere near. Both of them had gone to live with
relatives out in Milwaukee. He at once telegraphed to them, telling
of the loss and asking if they had duplicate copies of the formulas.
They at once sent a night letter stating they had no duplicates, and
advising him to be on the lookout for two men named Norris and Lemrech.
Later my father received a letter in which the old Germans told about
two workmen who had tried their best to get the formulas away from
them. These workmen were Carl Lemrech and Tex Norris, his American
cousin. They said that Lemrech was of a shady reputation, and not above
stealing the formulas, and that evidently his American cousin was the
same stripe of man.”

“Has your father been able to get on the trail of those two men?”

“No. He hired a detective to follow them up, but they had left the
boarding house where they had been staying for some time and had
disappeared.”

“Then it is this that is making your father look so haggard, Ruth!”

“Yes. Because as soon as he obtained the formulas and was satisfied
that they were really as valuable as anticipated, he took some more
money belonging to himself and to my Uncle Barney and purchased a
factory in which to manufacture these artists’ colors. He had samples
of the colors, and, oh, Jack, you never saw such beautiful greens and
reds and blues in all your life! They were simply wonderful! I’m sure
artists would go crazy over them!”

“I suppose your father is at a standstill in the case then.”

“Absolutely. If something doesn’t turn up soon I don’t know what he
will do.”

“Has he told your Uncle Barney about this loss?”

“Yes. He sent word the day after the flying machine accident.”

“What has your Uncle Barney to say about it?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard from him. But I suppose he’ll be just as
much upset as daddy. I think he put every cent he had got out of the
zinc mines into this new concern.”

“It’s too bad, Ruth. I wish I could help you. If only a fellow could
get on the trail of this Lemrech and his cousin Norris! Does your
father suppose they will be able to use the formulas?”

“More than likely. You see, the whole affair was conducted more or less
in secret. That being the fact, what is to prevent those two rascals
from selling the formulas to some other color maker?” answered the girl
somewhat sadly.

A few minutes later the two rejoined the others. Andy was cutting up
and telling some of his queer jokes, and he had the girls shrieking
with laughter.

“And that puts me in mind of another!” Jack heard his fun-loving cousin
exclaim. “When is an apple pie more than an apple pie?”

“Oh, Andy! how can an apple pie be more than just an apple pie?”
murmured May Powell.

“Isn’t it more of an apple pie when it’s a peach of an apple pie?”
retorted Andy. And then May made a pass at him with a book she was
carrying.

“You haven’t said a thing about the races you are going to have with
Longley Academy,” came from Mary Rover. “Who is going to be in them?
And when are they to take place? And are we going to be able to see
them?”

“That’s all right, Cousin Mary! Fire three questions at a fellow all
at once!” broke out Randy. “There are to be some single shell races,
a four-oared race, and an eight-oared race. Also they are talking of
getting up a race between two of the motor-boats.”

“My! but a race between motor-boats would be exciting,” murmured Martha.

“Andy and Randy are to be in one of the four-oared races,” said Jack.
“Who is to row with them hasn’t yet been decided. Probably Spouter and
Dan Soppinger. A lot of the other fellows will be in the singles and in
the eight-oared events. The contests are to come off a week from next
Saturday.”

“Where will they be held?” questioned May.

“That’s to be decided in a few days. Longley wants ’em on the other
side of the lake and we want ’em on this side. I hope they have ’em on
this side, because then all the folks living in and around Haven Point
will be able to witness them.”

All too soon the visit had to come to an end, and with cheery good-bys
the boys hurried back to Haven Point. They found Bob Nixon waiting for
them.

“I was going to give you five minutes more,” declared the Hall
chauffeur. “We’d better be getting back. It’s getting late.”

After that matters went along smoothly for several days. The Rover
boys paid close attention to their studies. During that time the boys
heard from the aviator and his wrecked biplane. It had been found that
the biplane could be raised with comparative ease, and this had been
done and it had then been floated over to the shore. The propeller
was broken, as already mentioned, and one of the wings of the flying
machine was also damaged. It was learned that the motor had become
loosened from its fastenings, just as the other aviator had surmised,
and this had caused all the trouble. The machine was taken away and
the aviators went with it, and that was the last seen or heard of them
for the time being. The aero corporation paid Mr. Stevenson’s doctor’s
bill. Perhaps they looked for a suit for damages, but it was not
forthcoming.

The next Sunday the Rover boys attended one of the churches at Haven
Point and met Mary and Martha and a number of the other girls.

“It’s been decided that we’re to hold the races on this side of the
lake,” said Fred, after the services were over and they were outside
talking to the girls. “It was decided by a toss-up, and, believe me,
the Longley crowd was mad when they lost. They chewed it over for
nearly an hour before they would give in. They said that it would be
much better to race over on the other side of the lake, along where the
Hasley Shell Loading Company used to have its ammunition plant.”

“Good gracious! do they want to blow us all up?” questioned Martha, who
had not forgotten the terrible experience all of them had had when some
of the buildings of the shell loading company had been blown up, as
related in detail in “The Rover Boys Under Canvas.”

“Oh, as far as that is concerned, the plant went out of existence long
ago,” answered Jack. “But there isn’t much of a population over there,
and it will be much nicer to have it on this side where so many people
can look at it from the shore. It was decided that Longley Academy
should have the use of one of the big docks, so they’ll have no cause
to complain.”

“Can we be on hand to see the races?” questioned Ruth.

“That, of course, will depend on what Miss Garwood has to say,”
answered the young major. “But I think Colonel Colby will see her about
it and fix it up. And if he does, you may be sure that we’ll take care
of all of you.”

“I know Tommy Flanders expects to row. He’s been bragging about it
everywhere,” declared May.

“Well, he used to brag a good deal about baseball,” answered Andy.

“He says that he has gotten all over the trouble that he had with his
arm and that this season he’s going to pitch again,” went on Spouter’s
cousin.

A little later the Rovers found themselves returning to Colby Hall
on foot. It was rather a misty day, and before they had covered half
of the distance to the school it had begun to rain. The sky grew
exceedingly dark.

“I don’t like this much!” exclaimed Fred. “Not an umbrella nor a
raincoat in the bunch, either!”

“I don’t want to get this uniform wet,” put in Randy. “It’s the best
I’ve got.”

“Mine is getting awfully tight,” commented Fred. “If it begins to
shrink I don’t know what I’ll do.”

“Colonel Colby’s uniforms don’t shrink,” put in Jack. “Your uniform is
tight because you’re getting too fat, Fred.”

“Oh, let up on my getting fat,” pleaded the youngest Rover. “I’m not
half as fat as Fatty Hendry.”

“And you don’t want to be!” exclaimed Randy. “Gosh! Fatty’ll never have
to work for a living. All he’ll need to do is to sit on a platform in
a side show and look pleasant and sell his photographs for twenty-five
cents a copy.”

The downpour now became so heavy that the lads were forced to seek
shelter in an old barn standing by the side of the road. So far there
had been no thunder or lightning, but now they heard a distant rumble,
and presently the sky to the westward was brilliantly illuminated.

“Gee! I guess we’re in for a regular summer storm,” said Fred. “Wish we
were back at the Hall.”

“We’ll be late for dinner, that’s certain,” said Randy.

The rain continued to come down and presently there was more lightning
followed by a sharp clap of thunder.

“It’s getting worse,” said Jack.

“I hope the lightning doesn’t strike this old shack,” answered Fred.

“Oh, it isn’t likely, Fred. I think――――”

What Jack thought will never be known, for at that instant there came
a crash of another sort, followed by a yell and a jingle of glass.
Through the side of the old barn broke a big six-cylindered touring
car. The hood of the car was carried away by the impact, and the
machine turned over on its side, burying its single occupant, a man,
beneath it.




                              CHAPTER VII

                            WHO THE MAN WAS


For several seconds after the crash came the four Rover boys were so
startled that they did nothing but stare at the overturned touring car.
The sky being so overcast, it was dark in the barn, so they could see
little. Then, however, came another flash of lightning which revealed
to them the body of the man lying partly outside and partly under the
overturned tonneau, the top of which had been completely wrecked.

“Gosh, I wonder if he’s killed!” gasped Fred.

“Looks as if he might be,” returned Jack, for the man neither moved nor
made any outcry.

The wheels of the automobile were still spinning around and two or
three strokes came from the engine. But then the power died away and
the wheels stopped.

“If only the wreck doesn’t catch on fire!” burst out Randy. He well
knew the danger from such a source. As all of my young readers must
know, gasoline is very inflammable when unconfined and needs but a
single spark to touch it off.

“She’s leaking, all right! And it isn’t the radiator, either!”
announced Randy, as another flash of lightning came in through the open
doorway and the broken side of the old barn.

Jack was already looking around the structure, and now he found what
he wanted――a couple of beams which had been used to brace up the old
building.

“Come on, quick! We’ve got to pry the machine up and pull that man
out,” he ordered. “Everybody on the job!”

His cousins understood and all four boys went to work with a will.
Fortunately, the instructions received during the Hall encampment now
stood them in good stead; and under Jack’s directions they soon placed
two large stones in position and then, using the beams as levers, pried
up the car, the others holding it while Fred pulled the unfortunate
individual from beneath.

“Bend down, Fred, and see if there’s anybody else in the car,” cried
Jack. “There might be someone we didn’t notice.”

The young captain did as asked. All he could discover was a light
overcoat and a gladstone bag, and he hauled both of these out. Then the
car was allowed to settle once more. Both the gasoline and the water
were running from it, but so far there seemed to be little danger of
fire.

“Unless, of course, the lightning should strike the place,” said Jack.
“Then everything will go up in a hurry.”

The fumes of the gasoline were now heavy, and the Rover boys lost no
time in carrying the man outside. He was unconscious, but they were
glad to know that he was not dead. His face was covered with dirt and
blood and his clothing was torn away from his left arm, which was also
bleeding.

“A pretty bad case, I should say,” said Fred. “He looks a little bit
familiar to me, too. Do any of you recognize him?”

“Can’t recognize anybody with so much blood and dirt,” announced Andy.

All set to work to do what they could for the hurt man, fearing every
instant that he might die on their hands. Despite the rain, they
scooped up water from a nearby pool and, using their handkerchiefs,
bathed the sufferer. They were doing this when he gave a gasp and
presently opened his eyes.

“Oh, oh!” he groaned. “What did I hit? Was it a barn?” and then he
closed his eyes again.

“Maybe he isn’t hurt as badly as we thought,” cried Jack, in relieved
tones. “There doesn’t seem to be any glass in his eyes, and he can be
mighty thankful for that.”

Fred and Andy had gone for more water, and presently came back with an
old tin can filled. With this Jack continued to bathe the face of the
sufferer, washing the blood away as best he could, while Randy worked
over the man’s arm, which was cut and scratched in a dozen places.

It was still very dark, but an occasional flash of lightning lit up
the scene, and it was during one of these flashes that Jack suddenly
uttered an exclamation.

“Do you know what I think?” he exclaimed. “I think this is Mr.
Garrison!”

“What! Gif’s father?” ejaculated Fred. “Uncle Fred?” He had always
called the man after whom he had been named “uncle,” even though they
were not relatives.

“Yes, sir, it’s Gif’s father!” answered the young major. “It’s a wonder
I didn’t recognize him before!”

“Gif’s father! Think of that!” murmured Andy. “Gee, I hope he isn’t
hurt very much! It will be a terrible shock to Gif, not to say anything
about his mother!”

Having recognized the man as the father of one of their best chums, and
one who in years gone by had been a great chum of the older Rovers, the
boys renewed their efforts on behalf of the sufferer, carrying him to
a shed some distance back of the old barn. Here they found some straw
and a few empty bags and laid Mr. Garrison upon those.

“We might better get a doctor for him and telephone the news to Colby
Hall,” said Jack. “I guess I can run back to Haven Point and get
someone.”

“Want me to go with you?” asked Andy. “Or would you rather that the
three of us stayed here and took care of him?”

“You’d better stay and do everything you can,” answered the young
major, and then set off on a dog-trot through the rain.

Less than half an hour later Jack had obtained the services of a Doctor
Parsons, who happened to be in his office at the time, and had likewise
telephoned to Colby Hall, getting Captain Dale on the wire. The captain
had said that he would at once inform Gif and also Colonel Colby and
that someone would come to the old shed as speedily as possible. Then
the young major and the doctor set off in the latter’s automobile
for the scene of the accident, the physician taking bandages and his
medical case.

In the meantime those left at the shed continued to do what they could
for Mr. Garrison, and presently had the satisfaction of seeing him open
his eyes once more. The storm was lessening, the lightning and thunder
fast drawing off to the eastward, and it was growing lighter.

“Oh, my head!” murmured the sufferer. “And my arm! What’s the matter
with my arm?” he questioned feebly.

“You’ve had a terrible shaking up, Uncle Fred,” said his namesake
kindly.

“Uncle Fred? Who is that that is speaking?” The man stared at the young
captain. “Why, I declare, it’s Fred Rover! Where did you come from?”

“We were in the old barn keeping out of the rain when you smashed into
it and upset your machine.”

“We? Who do you mean? Oh, I see! Here are Andy and Randy.” Mr. Garrison
tried to go on, but for the moment was too weak to do so. “I thought I
was going to be killed!” he groaned.

“I suppose your car skidded?” suggested Randy.

“It did. You see, I thought it wouldn’t be necessary to put on the
chains because I was going to stop at Haven Point, and then go up
to the school to-morrow. I came around the curve and then, all of a
sudden, lost control, and the next thing I knew I hit something and
then――and then I didn’t know anything.”

“That was when you smashed through the side of the barn almost where we
were standing.”

“Did I hurt you?”

“Oh, no. We weren’t touched. But the car went over and you were caught
under it and we had to drag you out,” answered Andy. “The glass cut you
up pretty well and something tore the clothing from your arm and hurt
it.”

Mr. Garrison tried to sit up, and then fell back helplessly.

“I feel as if I’d been through a wringer,” he murmured. “Can you get a
doctor?”

“Jack has already gone for one.”

“Oh, then he was here too?”

“Yes. He has gone to Haven Point to get a doctor, and said he would
telephone to Colby Hall.”

“Poor Gif! And I was going to give him a pleasant surprise to-morrow,”
murmured the sufferer. “Well, I suppose I can be thankful I wasn’t
killed or hurt worse. The glass might have gotten into my eyes and
blinded me.”

A little later the physician and the young major arrived and the
medical man went to work at once over the sufferer.

“It doesn’t look as if any bones were broken,” he announced, after a
careful examination. “But he has received quite a shock and a severe
bruise on the head and another on his arm besides all these cuts and
scratches.”

He was still at work when an automobile drew up nearby, driven by Bob
Nixon. It contained Colonel Colby and Gif.

“My dad! Where is my dad?” demanded Gif excitedly. “Is he badly hurt?”

“The doctor says it isn’t serious, Gif,” answered Jack, catching his
chum by the arm, for he could see that Gif was trembling all over.
“Take it easy, old man. He only got bumped and scratched.”

There was a good deal of excitement for a few moments, Gif kneeling
by his father’s side and holding his uninjured hand tightly. Everyone
present could see how much the father and son thought of each other.
Then Colonel Colby came forward to greet the man who in years gone by
had been his schoolmate at Putnam Hall.

“Tough luck, Fred!” he said kindly. “But we’re all mighty glad that you
weren’t killed.”

“Well, I’m glad myself, Larry,” responded Mr. Garrison, and for just an
instant his old-time smile flitted across his face.

At first it was decided to take Mr. Garrison to the doctor’s home in
Haven Point. But Gif demurred somewhat at this, and Colonel Colby
caught the cadet by the arm.

“Would you rather have him at the Hall?” questioned the master of the
institution kindly. “If so, I’ll be only too glad to let him use one of
the rooms in my house. Young Professor Ditson has left, and your father
might as well have that room as not. It overlooks the river and would
be an ideal place for him.”

“Oh, Colonel! If you only would take him up there,” cried Gif, “then I
could see him two or three times a day. And I’m sure mother would feel
better, too. You know, she thinks a great deal of you and your school.”

“Then we’ll take him to the Hall,” was the prompt reply. “I think we
can carry him right up in our automobile, and we’ll ask the doctor to
come along so that he can do everything possible for your father after
we put him to bed.”

The heavy storm had now let up considerably, although the dark clouds
still hovered to the eastward and the rumble of thunder could be heard
in the distance. With great care the men and boys, assisted by the
chauffeur, managed to get the sufferer into the back of the Colby Hall
automobile. There he was made as comfortable as possible on a bedding
of straw, sacks, and robes. Then all set out for the school, followed
by the doctor, who carried several of the cadets with him, Colonel
Colby and Gif riding with the sufferer.

The news of the accident had spread, and quite a number of cadets
were on hand to see Mr. Garrison taken from the automobile and placed
in the residence occupied by Colonel Colby’s family and some of the
professors. But there was no noise or confusion, and the cadets were
informed that they must keep away from the place until further orders.
In the meanwhile, a trained nurse had been telephoned for, and she
soon arrived from Haven Point and took charge under the physician’s
directions.

“Gee, you fellows don’t know how thankful I am to you for what you have
done,” said Gif earnestly to the Rover boys. He had had a toothache
that morning, and consequently had not gone to church with the others.
Now the excitement had driven the toothache completely away.

“We are glad we were on hand to help him,” answered Jack.

“Seems to me we’re becoming regular ‘Johnnies on the Spot,’” chuckled
Andy. “First when the flying machine went to pieces and now at this
auto accident!”

When the doctor finally came away he told Gif that his father would
probably be all right in a week or ten days.

“The bruises are just plain bruises and nothing else,” declared the
physician. “Of course, his face and his arm will feel mighty sore for
a while and it will take time for those cuts and scratches to heal. But
so far as I can see there is nothing serious.”

Several days passed, and during that time the smashed automobile was
taken away. Mr. Garrison was soon able to sit up and enjoy his meals.
He spent many a pleasant hour with Colonel Colby, the two talking over
their numerous adventures while they had been classmates with the older
Rovers.

“I came to give Gif and his chums a little surprise,” said Mr. Garrison.

“Well, you gave them a surprise, all right enough,” broke in Colonel
Colby, with a twinkle in his eyes.

“It wasn’t that kind of surprise, Larry,” answered Mr. Garrison. “I had
quite something else in my mind,” and then he mentioned what it was.

“That’s fine, Fred! Fine!” exclaimed the owner of the Hall. “I’m sure
that Gif will be delighted, and his chums too. I know that that whole
bunch of boys was tickled to death when Songbird Powell invited them
out to Big Horn Ranch.”




                             CHAPTER VIII

                          THE FOUR-OARED RACE


Following the conversation between Colonel Colby and Mr. Garrison
Gif called upon his father and the two held a talk lasting the best
part of an hour. When the son was ready to leave his face glowed with
satisfaction.

“It’s dandy of you, Dad! Just dandy!” he said, catching his parent by
the hand. “And won’t the others be surprised!”

“Are you going to tell them now, Gif? Before I arrange those details?”

“I suppose I might. But, no! I think I’ll keep them guessing for a
while. I’ll just hint at what is coming.”

“You are to have some boat races here soon, I believe?”

“Yes, Dad. They come off Saturday.”

“Of course you hope to win?”

“We certainly do! You see, I’m at the head of the student athletic
committee, and that, of course, takes in rowing here. The races are to
be against Longley Academy, the place that has been recently turned
into a military school.”

That day Mrs. Garrison appeared to see her husband and was glad to know
that he was not injured nearly as much as she had anticipated. She
remained with him for several days, being the guest of Colonel Colby,
whom she knew quite well.

In a large school like Colby Hall there were, of course, many who could
row well, and in the past there had been a number of races on the river
and the lake. There were, in fact, a number of regular crews, and the
school possessed an eight-oared shell, two four-oared shells, and a
dozen or more singles and doubles.

“There will be three races,” announced Gif. “A race for the singles,
one for the four-oared, and one for the eight-oared.”

“What about the motor-boat?”

“Colonel Colby wouldn’t think of that. He said that these contests must
be contests of muscle, not gasoline.”

There had been a general try-out of all the available material for
races in the school, and as a result of this three cadets had been
chosen to represent Colby in the singles against three cadets from the
rival academy. Then four other cadets with a coxswain were entered for
the four-oared shell and eight cadets with a coxswain for the final
event.

“Hurrah! we’re in the four-oared event,” cried Randy, catching his twin
by the arms. “We’re to row in that race along with Spouter and Dan
Soppinger.”

“Gee, I hope we win!” was the reply.

“Oh, we’ve got to win!”

“Of course you’ve got to win,” broke in Fred. “If you don’t win I’ll
lambaste the life out of you!”

“You’ve got to do it for the glory of Colby!” exclaimed Jack. “We’ve
got to smother Longley Academy.” Secretly it fretted him and Fred not a
little to think that as officers of the school battalion they could not
participate in any of these contests.

“What is Gif going to do? Just sit and look on?” questioned Andy.

“No. He’s to be coxswain of the eight.”

“And who will manage our four?”

“That hasn’t been decided yet; but it will probably be Walt Baxter.”

“Well, he’s all right,” answered Andy.

Every afternoon after the school session was over those who were to
participate in the various races went down to the river to practice.
Gif and his assistants were here, there, and everywhere directing the
work. And even old Si Crews, the gymnastic instructor, did what he
could to aid the cadets.

“If only it doesn’t rain on Saturday!” said Jack.

He had heard through Martha that the girls at Clearwater Hall were to
come down to Haven Point and occupy a dock which had been hired for the
occasion. This dock and a number of others were to be gayly decorated
with bunting supplied by Colonel Colby. To make the occasion more
festive the colonel and the owners of Longley Academy had hired a local
brass band.

At last the all-important day arrived, and although it was rather
cloudy early in the morning by eleven o’clock the sun came out
brightly, much to everybody’s satisfaction.

The races were to start at two o’clock, and shortly after one the
visitors from all directions began to come in; those from across the
lake in various kinds of boats and others by carriage and automobile.
Soon the docks at Haven Point were crowded and a row of men, women and
young people lined the lake for a mile or more.

The Colby cadets had a dock to themselves directly next to that
occupied by the girls from Clearwater Hall. The boys were in fine
fettle, and no sooner had they assembled than they boomed out with
their well-known refrain:

    “Who are we?
     Can’t you see?
     Colby Hall!
     Dum! Dum! Dum, dum, dum!
     Here we come with fife and drum!
     Colby! Colby! Colby Hall!”

And the singing of this refrain was followed by a blare from tin horns
and the noisy sound of many rattles.

But Longley was also at hand with a song of its own, followed by wild
cheering and a number of catcalls.

“Here is where Colby Hall gets snowed under!”

“They won’t be in it with good old Longley!”

“Make it three straight victories, boys! Three straight victories!”

And to this the cadets of Colby Hall answered with equal vigor.

“Colby to the front, first, last, and all the time!”

“There is only one military academy on this lake, and that’s good old
Colby!”

“Don’t forget to show ’em what real rowing means!”

And then came cries and toots and rattles from both schools until the
noise was fairly deafening and the girls, who were between the two
factions, had to hold their ears.

“Oh, I do hope Colby Hall wins!” whispered Ruth to Martha.

“You don’t wish it any more than I do,” was the quick reply.

“Spouter is going to row with Andy and Randy and Dan Soppinger,” put in
May. “Oh, I do hope they come out ahead!”

“I just heard something,” put in another girl, Alice Strobell by
name. “Tommy Flanders is going to row in the four-oared race and Paul
Halliday and Billy Sands and another cadet are to be with him.”

“Oh, in that case they’ll row against our crowd!” cried Annie Larkins,
her chum. And then the brass band struck up and everybody listened to
the music.

The three cadets from Colby Hall to enter the singles were Bart White,
Darrell Harkness, and Peter Floyd. They had wanted to be officers of
the battalion, but having failed of election and still being somewhat
popular Gif had given them the chance of representing the school on the
water.

After all of the preliminaries had been arranged and the judges were
in their places, the first race was called. It was for a little over a
mile, around one of the small islands and back to the starting point.
Soon the six single shells were lined up and at a report of a pistol
they were off.

“Go it, boys! Go it for all you’re worth!” cried Jack enthusiastically.
But this call was swallowed up in a volume of sound from several
hundred throats.

The Colby Hall contestants held out well until the island, which was
the turning point, was almost reached. Then, however, they began to
lose ground, and when the island had been passed it was seen that the
three oarsmen from Longley were in the lead.

“Hurrah! Hurrah! What did we tell you!” came from the cadets of the
rival academy. “That’s the way to do it!”

“Come on, boys! The race is already yours!”

“Pull, Colby, pull!” screamed Fred, even though it was doubtful that
his voice could carry such a distance. “Pull as you never pulled
before!”

Swiftly the six single shells approached the finishing point of the
race. Now it could be seen that one of the Longley oarsmen was slowly
but surely dropping behind, while one of the rowers from Colby was just
as surely forging ahead.

“Bart White is crawling up!”

“Pull, Bart! Pull!” was the cry from a Colby supporter. “You can win
yet if you try!”

The finishing line was still ten yards off when suddenly Bart White
passed the fellow from Longley who was dropping behind. Then he fought
nobly to catch the two still ahead.

But the distance was too short to do this, and while he was crawling
up steadily, before he could come within a length of the two forward
shells they crossed the line amid yells from Longley which were
deafening. The first race stood Longley first, second and fourth, with
Colby third, fifth and sixth. As there had been but two prizes for this
race, both went to Longley.

“Oh, dear! I hope we have better luck in the next event,” murmured May.
She thought a great deal of her cousin Spouter, and wanted him to win.

Inside of half an hour the four-oared shell race was called, and out
from one of the docks shot the Colby boat with Andy, Randy, Dan, and
Spouter in their places and Walt Baxter as coxswain. From another dock
shot the Longley shell containing Flanders, Halliday, Sands, and two
cadets who were unknown to our friends.

It was plainly to be seen that in this race Longley Academy was “out
for blood,” as the saying goes. Tommy Flanders’ face looked so stern
that it was almost hateful, while Sands and Halliday showed that they
were going to do everything possible to down their former schoolmates.

The intense rivalry resulted in some rather sharp maneuvering around
the starting point, and some thought the Longley cadets endeavored to
foul the Colby boat and possibly damage it. This led to some sharp
remarks, which, however, were quickly stopped by those in charge of the
affair. Both crews were ordered to their places and given very definite
instructions regarding the race. Then came the word to get ready. Bang!
went the pistol. They were off!

This race was to be an affair of about two miles around another one of
the numerous islands which dotted the lake. The course had been laid
out with care and motor-boats were doing their best to keep it clear.

The start was a beautiful one, and for a full half mile the two
four-oared shells kept almost side by side. Then Colby Hall crept a
little bit ahead.

“Hurrah! Hurrah! Colby is gaining!”

“That’s the way to do it, boys!”

“The race is ours!”

But this last remark a moment later was seen to be premature, for with
a mighty effort Longley increased its stroke and slowly but surely came
up to the Colby shell and then with equal sureness passed it.

“Longley is ahead!”

“Stick to the front, boys! Don’t let ’em catch you!”

These and numerous other cries came from the supporters of the academy
from across the lake. Thus encouraged, Longley kept forging ahead until
a distance of at least a hundred feet separated them from Colby.

“Oh, dear!” moaned May. “We’re going to lose this race too!”

“Perhaps not,” answered Ruth Stevenson hopefully.

“Gee! why don’t our boys get a move on?” whispered Fred to Jack. The
two young officers were side by side and the face of each showed his
intense anxiety.

“Maybe Walt is holding them in a little,” answered the young major.
“Those Longley boys may be using up their muscle too quickly.”

Presently the island was rounded and the two four-oared shells started
for the finishing line. Longley was still a hundred feet or more in
advance and kept that distance in spite of what the other boat seemed
to be doing to overtake them.

“It’s our race! It’s our race!” yelled the Longley cadets
enthusiastically, and caps, rattles, and horns were thrown wildly up
into the air.

Then came the last quarter of the race, and now it could be seen that
the coxswain of the Colby shell was talking earnestly to those under
him. At once the stroke of the Colby oarsmen was increased, and slowly
but surely the craft began to creep closer and closer to that ahead.

“That’s the stuff, Colby! Go to it!” yelled Jack at the top of his
lungs. “Colby! Colby! Colby!” and this cry was taken up over and over
and over again, ringing out up and down and across the lake.

And now the finish of the race was but a hundred yards off. Longley was
still nearly a hundred feet ahead, but the oarsmen in that craft, and
especially Tommy Flanders, looked all but winded. They tried in vain to
increase their stroke. It could not be done, and the only result of the
effort was to throw Paul Halliday out of stroke and thus for an instant
to disorganize the whole crew. Then slowly but surely, with set teeth
and eyes that seemed to strain from their sockets, the Colby crew came
on.

“Row! Row!” called out Walt Baxter sharply. “Row! Row!” suiting the
words to the movement of his body.

And the cadets under him did row as they had never rowed before, and
when the finishing line was still ten yards away they flashed past the
other crew and came in victorious by half a length.




                              CHAPTER IX

                     TOMMY FLANDERS TRIES A TRICK


“Hurrah! We win the four-oared race!”

“My! but isn’t that a close finish?”

“Here is where Colby Hall puts it over Longley!”

The yells from the Colby cadets and their friends were deafening. Many
of the girls from Clearwater Hall joined in, and Ruth became so excited
she grabbed Martha and Mary and kissed them both.

“I’m so glad your cousins helped win that race!” she said.

“I’m going down to see them come in,” said Mary, and quickly made her
way out of the crowd of girls, followed by her cousin.

“I’m going down too!” came from Alice Strobell.

“So am I!” put in Annie Larkins, for these two girls had often been in
company with Andy and Randy, and the four were quite chummy.

Of course Jack and Fred had to be on hand to see the winning oarsmen
come in, and they were first among the crowd to clap their cousins and
the others of the crew on the back and congratulate them.

“Some race, I’ll say!” declared the young major. “I’m proud of you!”

“I made them save their strength for the final quarter,” answered Walt
Baxter, in reply to a question from several persons. “I knew Longley
couldn’t keep up the pace they set.”

“Oh, this is glorious!” burst out Alice Strobell, as she and Annie
Larkins came up and shook hands with the twins.

Then May came forward to congratulate Spouter, and Dan Soppinger and
Walt Baxter were not forgotten. There was a general hubbub and a
general handshaking which lasted for fully ten minutes.

In the meantime the Longley crew had returned to their dock. Here they
found a number of cadets and others to sympathize with them. Tommy
Flanders looked “mad enough to chew nails,” as one of the Colby cadets
reported later on.

“It wasn’t a fair race,” growled Flanders. “They tried to foul us going
around the island.”

“Of course they tried to foul us,” put in Billy Sands.

This report, however, was not true. In fact, it was proved by a number
of eye witnesses that if there had been any fault at all in rounding
the island it lay with the Longley crew and not with the cadets from
Colby Hall. Otherwise the race had been a perfectly fair one from start
to finish.

“I guess Tommy Flanders will sing in a little lower tone of voice after
this,” was Fred’s comment, when the excitement had subsided a little.
“My, but I bet he feels sick!”

“He made a mistake by blowing so hard beforehand,” answered Jack. “Now
our crew can blow and have something to blow about.”

There was no doubt but that the Longley following was very much
disappointed at the showing so far made. Of course, two of their cadets
had won the singles, but the four-oared race was considered much more
important. Even the blaring out of the brass band did not dispel
their gloom. However, a little later it was time to get ready for the
eight-oared race, and then the spirits of the Longley boys seemed to
recover.

“Here is where we’ll show Colby Hall what’s what!” said one of the
crowd. “After all, it’s the eight-oared race that counts. The others
are only of secondary importance.”

“Sour grapes!” yelled one of the Colby cadets who overheard this
remark. “You know the four-oared race is almost as important as the one
to come off.”

As soon as they could do so, the Rover twins and their chums who had
won the four-oared race put their shell away, had a rub-down, donned
their uniforms, and then joined the other cadets. The Longley crew also
put their shell away, and then Tommy Flanders and his cronies seemed to
disappear.

“I guess they don’t want to be questioned about the race,” remarked
Ruth to Martha, when they chanced to see the Longley boys hurrying off.

“Well, it’s a bitter pill for anybody to swallow,” answered Jack’s
sister. “No one likes to be defeated.”

Flanders, Halliday, Sands and a number of others had come over to the
Haven Point side of the lake in a private motor-boat belonging to an
old boatman named Nat Durgin. The craft was one that had been on the
lake for a great number of years, being used for all sorts of odd jobs.

“Come on! We’ll watch the last race from out on the lake,” said
Flanders. “I’m not going back in that bunch to be laughed at.”

“Just my idea,” answered Paul Halliday, lighting a cigarette.

They had hired the motor-boat for the afternoon, so they could go where
they pleased. Durgin himself ran the craft, not caring to trust it in
the hands of any one else. He was a nice old fellow, although a bit
lazy, and nearly everybody around the lake knew him.

At the appointed time the two eight-oared shells flashed into
appearance, each manned by a sturdy-looking crew and a coxswain. For
this race there had been chosen some of the best oarsmen at both Colby
and Longley.

“Here they come!”

“Now for another fine race!”

“Oh, I hope we win this one too!” cried Fred to his cousins.

“So do I,” answered Randy quickly. “That will show Longley they are not
so much, even if they did take the singles.”

There was a wild cheering on all sides and the band blared forth
merrily. In the meantime the official motor-boats darted here, there
and everywhere trying to keep the other boats off the course. This was
not so easy, especially for the sailing craft, because the wind was
freshening slightly, and those on the sailing boats wanted, of course,
to keep as close as possible in order to see everything that took
place. At last, however, everything was in readiness, and at the report
of a pistol the two crews started off as one, side by side.

“A perfect start!” cried Colonel Colby.

“I never saw a better,” put in old Si Crews.

The eight-oared race was to be about three miles in length, taking a
course that was triangular in shape and bringing the boats at one point
close to the Clearwater Hall shore.

During the first leg of the triangle the shells kept side by side,
neither boat gaining more than a foot over the other.

“Gee, but they’re both keeping at it!” cried Jack, who was watching
through a pair of fieldglasses he had brought along.

“They’re both out for blood, and no mistake,” was Spouter’s comment.

“Maybe Gif is holding our boys back,” suggested Fatty Hendry. “He knows
how to manage them if anybody does.”

“I heard Si Crews telling him to watch their wind,” came from Dan
Soppinger. “That’s what helped us. Walt didn’t crowd us until he knew
that we could hold out; and then he drove us for fair. If that race
had been a hundred feet longer I’d have keeled over,” he added, with a
shake of his head.

On and on swept the two shells, and then it was seen that Colby Hall
was slowly going ahead, first a foot, then a yard, then two yards.

“Hurrah! Hurrah!” yelled Fred, throwing his cap into the air. “Now our
boys are doing it!”

“Colby! Colby!” was the cry that swept across the water. “Go it, boys!
Go it!”

“Pull, Longley, pull!” was the cry of the opposition. “You can do it!
Pull for all you’re worth!”

And then there was such a hubbub that hardly a word of what was said
could be understood. As before, the horns and rattles added to the din,
and if the brass band was playing nobody heard it.

Gif was certainly handling his crew superbly, but the coxswain of the
Longley oarsmen also understood his business, and now he increased the
stroke just a little and then slowly but surely Longley began to creep
up an inch at a time. Now it was less than a yard behind, now only a
foot, and now the two shells were once more bow and bow.

“That’s the way to do it, Longley! Hurrah!”

“Keep it up! Make Colby take your wash!”

There had been a moment of intense suspense and silence, but now
another roar went forth as the hopes of Longley revived. Everybody was
again on his feet and all sorts of objects were thrown into the air,
many of them going overboard into the lake. And now the racers had
rounded the second mark and had but little more than a mile to go. This
was close to the shore at Clearwater Hall, and many people lining the
bank were on hand to encourage the young oarsmen.

Longley had crept ahead a full yard, but now Gif spoke quietly but
earnestly to those under him. His body swayed back and forward a
little quicker and with a longer motion, and the oarsmen caught the
swing, their bodies moving with the precision of a machine. The long
eight-oared shell seemed fairly to leap from the water, and in a
twinkling the lead of the rival shell was cut down and Colby shot ahead.

“Hurrah! Look at that!” was the cry. “Colby leads!”

[Illustration: “HURRAH! LOOK AT THAT! COLBY LEADS!”]

“Come on, you duffers!” yelled Dan Soppinger. “Come on! The race is
yours!”

“We’re waiting for you with open arms!” screamed Fatty Hendry.

As the two shells swept on with less than three quarters of a mile
still to be covered, the sailboats and motor-boats began to crowd in
behind to get a better view of the finish. This caused something of a
mix-up, in which two sloops came to grief, one losing her bowsprit. But
to this accident nobody just then paid any attention.

Among the motor-boats to come up on the outer side of the course was
that containing Tommy Flanders and his cronies. The fellow who the
season before had been batted out of the box and who had just now
lost in the four-oared race, was so savage and gloomy he was almost
ready to do anything. Privately he had bet not only on the race which
he had helped to lose, but he had also bet rather heavily on the race
now taking place. Already he could see all his spending money being
swept away and himself in debt to several of his fellow cadets.

“Hi! let me run the boat a little, Durgin,” he said suddenly to the old
boatman. “I want to get a good view of this finish.”

“I’ll run her. Just tell me where you want to go,” answered Nat Durgin.
Even though the motor-boat was rather old, she had been newly painted
and he was rather choice of her. He knew that other boats would crowd
in and he did not wish to get into any mix-up and have his craft
scratched up.

But Flanders would not listen, and crowding the old boatman to one side
he seized the wheel of the motor-boat and sent the craft ahead almost
directly for the spot for which the two racing shells were heading.

“Hi! Hi! Don’t go too close!” cried old Durgin, in alarm. “Don’t
interfere with the race!”

“I know what I’m doing!” answered Tommy Flanders. “You let me alone!”

It was now plain to Tommy’s cronies that he was up to some trick. The
shell closest to the motor-boat was that belonging to Colby Hall, and
now it was less than twenty yards away.

“That’s right, Tommy!” chuckled Paul Halliday. “Give ’em a whole lot of
wash! Soak ’em good!”

“That’s what I’m going to do,” hissed Flanders through his set teeth.
And then he drove the motor-boat still closer.

“Get away from there! Get away from there!” was the cry from one of the
motor-boats that was trying to keep the course clear.

“Go to grass!” muttered Billy Sands. “Drive her in, Tommy! Give ’em all
the wash you can!”

“You’ll hit their oars, you young fool! Keep away from there,” suddenly
yelled old Nat Durgin, and then he tried to push Tommy Flanders away
from the wheel.

“Let me alone!” said Flanders, and began to struggle.

Nat Durgin’s blood was up. He did not like Flanders or his cronies any
too well, and they had beat him down in the price to be paid for the
use of the motor-boat. Without ceremony the old man slapped Flanders
heavily in the face, then shut off the motor and turned the craft out
into the lake.

“That’s the stuff, Durgin!” shouted a man from one of the boats lying
nearby. “Throw that young fool overboard!”

“That’s right! Give him a bath!” came from another boat.

“Say! what do you mean by hitting me?” roared Tommy Flanders, in a
rage. “You keep your hands off of me!”

“And you keep your hands off the wheel of this boat!” returned old
Durgin sternly.

“I won’t pay a cent for the use of this boat!” snapped Tommy.

“You say another word and I’ll have you locked up for disorderly
conduct,” answered the old boatman heatedly. “You sit down and behave
yourself. I’m running this boat, and you’re not going to break up that
race.”

“I wasn’t going to break up the race,” muttered Flanders in a sudden
panic, for he realized that he might get into serious trouble if a
report was made of what he had really attempted to do.

“We’ll see about this after the race is over,” answered Durgin.




                               CHAPTER X

                            AFTER THE RACES


“Say, boys, this is going to be another close race,” declared Jack.

“My, see the boats swarming behind the shells!” was Andy’s comment.

“Look at that motor-boat, will you?” came quickly from Spouter. “Gee
Christopher! what are they trying to do?”

At once cries arose on all sides when it was seen that one motor-boat
was coming dangerously close to the racecourse.

“It’s old Nat Durgin’s boat!” exclaimed Jack, after looking through the
fieldglasses. “And what do you know about this? Tommy Flanders is at
the wheel!”

A moment later there were exclamations from a dozen or more individuals
as Durgin was seen to cast Flanders aside and take command of the
craft. Then it was seen to veer away and was lost to sight behind the
sails of a small sloop.

“Here they come! And almost bow and bow!”

“Colby is ahead!”

“No! Longley is ahead!”

“It’s a tie!”

The excitement was now tremendous as it was seen that Longley had crept
up and was now bow and bow with the other shell.

“Pull, Colby! Pull!” roared the cadets from that institution. “Pull!”

And the cadets from Colby urged by Gif pulled as they had never pulled
before, their eyes staring from their sockets and their breath coming
laboredly. But Longley was also pulling, although now the terrific pace
was beginning to tell upon the oarsmen from the rival academy. They
were all but in, and their coxswain urged them to greater efforts in
vain. Now the finishing line was in sight, and it was then that Gif
broke out in a wild appeal to those he was directing.

“Now then, boys! Every ounce that’s left in you! Go to it! Make her
jump out of the water! Make her jump good!” And with every word his
body swayed back and forth and the oarsmen responded with every bit of
vital force left in their spent bodies. The shell leaped ahead, while
at the same moment those in the other shell slowed up, being unable to
keep up the terrific pace.

“It’s Colby’s race! It’s Colby’s race!” was the yell, and it was the
truth. Colby shot on and on and then crossed the finishing line a
length and three feet to the good.

Then it was that the cadets of Colby Hall and their many friends rent
the shore of Clearwater Lake with their cries of exaltation――cries that
went echoing back and forth through the hills in the distance. Jack and
the others went nearly mad with joy, throwing up their caps and hugging
each other. Randy began to do a jig while Andy climbed a flagstaff on
the dock and went twisting around it at arm’s length. It was a moment
never to be forgotten and one that would live long in the annals of the
school on the Rick Rack River.

“Three cheers for Gif Garrison!” called the young major of the
battalion, and they were given with a will, many of the girls from
Clearwater Hall joining in.

Then all the others who had taken part in the various races were
cheered. Many ran down to where the eight-oared shell was now coming
in, and as soon as the crew had landed Gif was grabbed by his many
friends and hoisted up on a pair of sturdy shoulders and marched around
the dock.

“Speech! Speech!” cried someone. But at this Gif shook his head.

“Not just now, boys. I’m too nearly in. Some other time. I’m mighty
glad we won the race. Thank you.” And that was all he would say.

Coming on top of the winning of the four-oared race, it was certainly
a great triumph, and for the time being the loss in the singles was
forgotten. The local band was forced to lead a march around the town
in which practically every cadet from Colby Hall and many of the girls
from Clearwater Hall, as well as some of the town people, participated.
Some had flags, while others carried their horns and rattles, and they
made the welkin ring with their cheers.

“Bonfires to-night!” chuckled Andy. “Oh, boy! but we’ll have some time,
won’t we?”

“Right-o!” responded his twin.

Encouraged by the fact that the boat races would attract a large number
of visitors to Haven Point, the owner of an amusement park on the
outskirts had made arrangements for a special picnic with a number of
attractions. The admission to this park was free, and the cadets from
both academies, as well as the girls from Clearwater Hall, were invited
to visit the place.

“Let’s go down and see what’s doing,” suggested Spouter, after the
excitement attending the races was over. “Mr. Falstein owns the park,
you know, and he has always been so nice to us we ought to encourage
him.” The man he mentioned was the owner of the moving picture theater
in the town and most of the boys knew him well.

“I wouldn’t mind,” answered Randy.

“Don’t you feel tired after the race?” questioned Jack.

“Oh, I’m rested now.”

“We’ve got two hours before we’re due at the Hall,” put in Andy. “Come
on.”

The upshot of this was that the boys invited the girls to accompany
them, and after receiving permission from one of the teachers to do so
the crowd set off for the park, which was located in a large grove of
trees less than quarter of a mile away.

They found a happy crowd already collected, indulging in swinging, the
use of a merry-go-round, and half a dozen other amusements. A small
band was playing, and half a dozen couples were indulging in dancing on
a small platform.

“Let’s go on the merry-go-round!” cried Andy. “Come on!” and he caught
Alice Strobell by the arm.

“I’ll go if Annie will go,” answered Alice.

“All right, come on, Annie,” said Randy, and the two couples lost no
time in getting on the wooden horses, which speedily whirled them
around and around.

A number of the others followed, including the Rover girls and Gif and
Spouter. Ruth said she did not care for such a ride, and she and Jack
wandered off for a walk with May and Fred behind them.

In a short while the amusement park began to fill up and there were
shrieks of laughter from the young folks and merry music from the band.
Not a few of the visitors were from Longley Academy, bent on having a
good time in spite of their defeats on the lake.

“I should think they’d want to go home,” said Dan Soppinger, who was
present.

“Oh, well, you can’t blame them for wanting some consolation,” answered
Walt Baxter. And then Walt added quickly: “I think we ought to treat
’em as nicely as possible, Dan.”

“Oh, sure! we’ll treat ’em all right enough,” was the ready reply. “I
like some of those fellows first rate, even if they do go to Longley.
It’s only such cads as Flanders that I can’t bear.”

While Jack and Fred were strolling along with the two girls from
Clearwater Hall they were much surprised to see Tommy Flanders, Paul
Halliday and Billy Sands coming along a bypath with Codfish Stowell
between them. The latter did not for the instant notice our friends,
who were screened somewhat by bushes.

“I want that money, Tommy. I’ve got to have it,” they heard Codfish say
in a pleading tone. “Can’t you let me have it to-day?”

“I can’t let you have a cent,” grumbled Flanders. “Didn’t I tell you I
lost every dollar of my allowance on the races?”

“Yes, but you promised me that five dollars last week,” went on the
sneak of Colby Hall. “You said you would be sure to give it to me.”

“Oh, why don’t you shut up whining?” burst out Billy Sands. “You had
more fun out of that affair than we did. I don’t believe you ought to
make Tommy pay for anything like that.”

“I don’t care! I did it because you wanted me to and because you
promised me the five dollars,” went on Codfish stubbornly. “I think
it’s awful mean that you don’t give it to me.”

“Oh, give us a rest!” growled Flanders, and then the four cadets passed
on.

“Well, what do you think of that?” ejaculated Fred, when the quartet
were out of hearing. “I didn’t know Codfish was hobnobbing with Tommy
Flanders.”

“Neither did I,” returned Jack. “I suppose he got acquainted through
Sands and Halliday. He might rather leave that bunch alone.”

“I saw that Stowell boy with Tommy Flanders in town some weeks ago,”
remarked May. “They were in the drug store having some soda. I
remember it very well from a remark that Flanders dropped. I thought it
was awfully funny.”

“What remark was that, May?” questioned Jack curiously.

“They were talking about something Stowell was going to do, and
Flanders said, ‘Use a pillowcase or a flour bag and it will be all
right.’ And a minute later I heard him say, ‘They’ll look like
Negroes,’ and he laughed.”

“What’s that?” came from Jack and Fred simultaneously, and they
exchanged glances.

“Why, what’s the matter?” cried Spouter’s cousin in astonishment.

“Tell us about that again, May,” went on the young major, and the girl
repeated her story.

“That solves the whole mystery!” declared Jack.

“It’s as plain as daylight,” responded the young captain.

“Will you kindly tell us what you’re talking about?” remarked Ruth, in
wonder.

“I sure will, Ruth. We weren’t going to say anything at first because
the joke was on us, but now I think the joke is going to be on somebody
else,” replied Jack. And thereupon he gave the particulars of how he
and his cousins had been doused with a bag of soot.

“Of all things!” burst out May. “And do you suppose it was that trick
Tommy Flanders was talking about to Stowell?”

“Sure as shooting, May,” answered Fred. “Don’t you see how it all fits
together? You heard Tommy tell Stowell to use a pillowcase or a flour
bag. That was to conceal his face. Then he said it would make us look
like Negroes, and it certainly did. Then along comes Codfish pleading
to Flanders to pay him the five dollars he had promised him for doing
something. And then Sands suggesting that Codfish should call it square
because he got more fun out of it than they did!”

“It certainly is a clear case,” broke in Jack. “Flanders and maybe
Sands and Halliday got Codfish to play that joke on us, and they
promised him five dollars for doing it.”

“Let’s go after Codfish right now!” exclaimed the young captain, his
eyes blazing.

“Oh, dear, don’t get into a fight!” burst out May, catching him by the
arm.

“No use of starting a row here, Fred,” put in Jack quickly. “We can
catch Codfish to-night and Tommy Flanders some other time. We don’t
want to disgrace Colby Hall while this celebration is going on. Those
Longley fellows would like nothing better than to publish the fact that
we had started a rumpus on the day of the races.”

“What an awful boy Tommy Flanders must be,” murmured Ruth, “to hire
another to play such a trick as that! And then just think of how he
tried to spoil that last race!”

The cadets could not, however, resist the temptation to look around for
Flanders, Halliday, Sands and Codfish. They saw the four having some
ice cream, but then Flanders, Halliday and Sands went off by themselves
and Codfish disappeared.

After that Jack and Fred and the girls continued their walk. Jack
learned from Ruth that her father was steadily improving in health,
but that he was as much worried as ever over the loss of the book of
formulas.

“And old Uncle Barney is worried too over the loss of his money,” went
on the girl. “I’m afraid this loss may revive the old hard feeling
there was between my father and my uncle.”

“It would certainly be too bad if that happened, Ruth,” answered the
young major soberly. He knew that the girl referred to a very bitter
quarrel which had existed between old Uncle Barney and Frederic
Stevenson, a quarrel the particulars of which have already been
narrated in “The Rover Boys on Snowshoe Island.”

Presently one of the teachers from Clearwater Hall began to round up
the girls from that institution, and then the boys had to bid good-by
to their friends.

“I suppose we might as well be getting back to school,” said Jack, as
Andy and Randy came up. “What do you say?”

“Suits me,” responded Randy.

“We’ve got something to tell you fellows,” put in Fred eagerly.
“Something worth knowing, I’ll tell you!” and thereupon the two young
officers gave the particulars of what they had learned concerning the
trick played upon them.

“Beeswax and grasshoppers!” ejaculated Andy. “And to think Codfish was
guilty and we never suspected him!”

“He certainly had nerve to play a trick like that!” returned Randy. “I
didn’t think the little sneak had backbone enough to do it.”

“He was out after the five dollars Flanders promised him,” answered
Jack. “You know Codfish was always shy on pocket money. That’s the
reason he used to toady to Nappy Martell and those other rascals.”

“We ought to give it to Codfish good and plenty to-night,” said Andy.

“We will!” responded his brother. “Just wait and see!”




                              CHAPTER XI

                        CELEBRATING THE VICTORY


A little later found the Rover boys, accompanied by half a dozen of
their friends, bound for Colby Hall. It was rather late, and they
hurried along with all possible speed.

“No parade before supper, for which I am thankful,” remarked Jack.

“And supper is to be half an hour late,” added Randy.

“And best of all, no studying to-night,” broke in Andy. “Oh, my! but
won’t we have some fun!”

“We’ve got to catch Codfish, Andy. Don’t forget that,” put in Randy.

“Forget it!” answered the fun-loving Rover. “Why, you couldn’t make me
forget it for a million dollars. That boy is going to have a lesson
he’ll remember as long as he lives. Every time I think how he exploded
that bag of soot on us I get madder than ever.”

“And after all we did for him when those bullies were misusing him!”
came from Jack. “He certainly is a pill and then some!”

“Just the same, I suppose we’ve got to be careful that we don’t get
into any hot water,” remarked Fred soberly. “We can’t afford to injure
our reputations as officers, Jack.”

“Why can’t you two officers leave this whole affair to Randy and me?”
questioned Andy. “You just go off and forget all about it and take in
what happens.”

“I’ll see about that,” answered the young major. He realized the point
his cousin was trying to make and yet he was angry enough to give the
sneak a sound thrashing.

The boys had walked on a distance of a quarter of a mile and were
coming out along the lake front when suddenly Spouter, who was walking
ahead with Dan Soppinger, uttered an exclamation.

“Look down there at the dock!” he cried. “Looks like a fight going on!”

“That’s what it is!” exclaimed Gif.

“Why, it’s Tommy Flanders and his crowd and they are beating up old Nat
Durgin!” came quickly from Fred.

“I’ll bet they got into a row about hiring that motor-boat,” remarked
Andy. “Let’s go down and see what happens.”

“They have no right to beat up poor old Durgin,” returned Jack. “He’s
not a half-bad sort, even though he is rather lazy.”

The crowd of cadets hurried their steps and soon came closer to the
scene of the quarrel. They had seen Tommy Flanders strike the old man
in the face, and now Nat Durgin responded with a blow on the shoulder.
Then Flanders jumped in, followed by Billy Sands and Paul Halliday, and
the three boys from Longley Academy bore the old boatman to the ground.

“Stop that!” cried Jack. “Let up on him!” He had leaped to the front
and caught Tommy Flanders by the arm. Almost at the same instant Gif
and Spouter grabbed Sands and Halliday.

“Take ’em off! Take ’em off!” cried old Durgin. He was all but winded
by his exertions. Evidently the quarrel had been going on for some time.

“Huh! what do you want here, Jack Rover?” demanded Tommy Flanders
sullenly. “You keep your hands out of this!”

“You let Durgin alone, Flanders,” answered the young major.

“What’s the meaning of the row, anyhow?” demanded Gif.

“You’re a fine bunch of cadets to pile on an old man three at a time!”
sneered Spouter.

The three boys from Longley Academy looked anything but comfortable
as they saw themselves surrounded by the crowd from Colby Hall. They
stepped back from where Nat Durgin lay, and Randy and Dan Soppinger
assisted the old boatman to his feet. Near by was Durgin’s pipe, and
Ned Lowe picked this up and gave it to him.

“I’ll have the law on you for this, you see if I don’t!” roared Durgin,
now that he saw that friends were at hand. “I’ll teach you young whelps
to knock me down!”

“You hit me first,” retorted Flanders. “Don’t forget that! I’ve got my
friends to prove it!”

“So I did hit you first,” answered Durgin readily. “And you deserved it
too――wanting to break up that last shell race!”

“Did he really try to break up that race?” questioned Gif eagerly.
“I saw him at the wheel of your motor-boat when we were on the
homestretch.”

“That’s what he did!”

“It’s not so!” blustered Flanders.

“It is so! He wanted to steer the boat and I told him I’d do it. Then
he shoved me aside and grabbed the wheel and steered right for your
shell. Then I slapped him in the face, turned off the power, and
steered my boat away from the course. A whole lot of people on the
other boats saw it.”

“That was a fine piece of business, Flanders!” said Gif contemptuously.
“A fine piece of business, trying to spoil our chance to win! You ought
to be hooted out of Longley Academy for it.”

“Oh, say, Garrison, don’t get so smart,” put in Paul Halliday. “Tommy
wasn’t going to run into your shell, or anything like it. He simply
wanted to get close so he could see what was going on. All the boats
were crowding in.”

“I don’t want anything from you, Halliday. I’ve got your number, and
always have had,” returned the cadet who was at the head of the Colby
Hall athletic committee, and who had been the coxswain of the eight. “I
know you thoroughly.”

“We don’t belong at Colby Hall any more, and you’ve got no right to say
anything to us,” remarked Billy Sands.

“Well, we’ll take the right when you knock down a man as you did
Durgin,” came from Spouter.

“They haven’t paid me for the use of my boat, either,” complained the
old boatman. “That’s what started the row here. They said they would
pay me right after the races.”

“I’ll bet I know why they didn’t pay up,” broke out Andy, with a grin.
“Most likely they lost all their pocket money betting the wrong way.”

“Hi, you shut up, Rover! You make me sick!” cried Tommy Flanders,
glaring at Andy sullenly.

A wordy war followed, lasting several minutes. Then Nat Durgin walked
to where his motor-boat was tied up and sprang aboard the craft.

“You fellows pay me what you owe me or I’ll have the law on you,”
he called out, and then he added to the boys from Colby Hall: “Much
obliged to you fellows for what you done for me.”

“Hi! Wait!” cried Halliday. “You’ve got to take us across the lake!”

“I won’t take you nowhere,” bellowed Nat Durgin. “I’m done with you!
But you’ve got to pay me what you owe me or I’ll do what I said
before――I’ll have the law on you,” and with this parting shot he
started up his motor and moved slowly away.

“Now see what you did!” cried Billy Sands in anger, as he faced the
Colby Hall cadets. “How are we going to get back to school? All the
other boats have left.”

“That’s your affair, not ours,” answered Jack. And then he continued as
he stepped closer to the trio of discontents. “My cousins and I ought
to give the whole three of you a sound thrashing.”

“We know what you got Codfish Stowell to do,” broke in Andy. “Some day
we’ll square that account, and don’t you forget it!”

“Hi! you fellows make me tired,” grumbled Flanders, and then he moved
off, followed by his cronies. At a safe distance he turned around and
shook his fist at the Colby Hall cadets. “You just wait! I’ll get
square some day!”

“Gee! what a meek and innocent little lamb he is,” was Spouter’s
comment, as the boys hurried for the Hall.

“Say,” put in Phil Franklin, who was in the crowd but who had taken no
part in the discussion with their rivals, “did they get Codfish to play
that trick on you?”

“Yes, if you must know it,” answered Randy.

“But don’t let Codfish know about this,” broke in Andy quickly. “He
thinks his secret is safe. We just learned about it during this
afternoon and we want to surprise him.”

“All right, then, mum’s the word,” returned Phil, and the others said
the same.

On account of the incident at the lakeshore the boys were somewhat late
in reaching the Hall. Snopper Duke, one of the professors, frowned a
little at this, but otherwise no comment was made. It was felt that
this was a festival night and that the cadets ought to be allowed to
do very much as they pleased.

In anticipation of a possible victory a number of the boys had
collected a mass of boxes and barrels and other wood for fires, and
shortly after the evening meal these beacons began to blaze along the
shore of the Rick Rack. In the meantime the cadets donned their old
uniforms and then one after another came forth to shout and sing and
cut up generally.

“After such a victory they deserve a good time,” was Colonel Colby’s
comment. The master of the school had not forgotten his own good times
while he had been a cadet at Putnam Hall. “Let the boys cut loose,
Captain Dale, so long as they don’t do any real harm.”

Of course, “Shout” Plunger, the school janitor, who was very deaf and
who had to be shouted at in order to hear, came in for quite some
horseplay, as did also Bob Nixon and Si Crews. Shout was made to stand
on a box and sing, which he did in a queer cracked voice that brought
forth roars of laughter. Bob Nixon had to tell a funny story. He had
been warned that he might be made to do this, so had prepared himself
by digesting the contents of an old joke book, and therefore got off a
number of jokes that most of the boys had heard a dozen times.

“Now then, everybody in a grand march!” cried Dan Soppinger gayly,
and then the cadets began what they called a serpentine hop, which
consisted of a long line of cadets winding in and out around the
bonfires and the trees on the edge of the parade ground. A few had
torches, and others musical instruments consisting of banjos, ukuleles,
mouth harmonicas, cornets, tin horns, clappers and various other things
more or less melodious.

Henry Stowell was standing somewhat apart from those who were taking
part in the serpentine hop when suddenly he found himself seized from
behind and somebody whispered in his ear.

“One of the professors wants to see you up in your room right away,
Stowell,” said the person behind him. “Don’t delay! It’s very
important.” Then before the sneak could turn around to see who had
delivered the message the unknown person had slipped behind a nearby
tree and disappeared in the darkness.

“What can they want of me now?” murmured Codfish to himself. “I haven’t
been doing anything.” Then he heaved a sigh. “Maybe I’ll be called down
for being seen in company with Flanders and those two cadets who left
Colby to go to Longley. It was a mistake for me to be seen with those
chaps; but I wanted my money. If it’s that I’ll tell the professor
Flanders owes me five dollars. He can’t find fault with me for wanting
it back.”

Leaving the river front, Stowell hurried into the school, which was now
practically deserted, the other cadets being out at the celebration and
many of the professors and the others watching proceedings. He sped up
the broad stairway and through the corridor and then opened the door to
his own room. He had expected that the room would be lit up, and he was
surprised to find it in darkness.

“Hello! Anybody here?” he questioned abruptly.

Codfish had scarcely spoken when the door slammed shut behind him,
cutting out nearly all the light coming from the corridor. Then, of
a sudden, the sneak found himself caught from behind and something
was clapped over his mouth so that he could not utter any outcry. His
assailants said not a word, but bound his hands behind him and then
fixed a gag in his mouth so that he could breathe but could not utter a
word. Then he heard the door locked, and a moment later the lights in
the room were turned on and Codfish saw a sight that almost froze the
blood in his veins.




                              CHAPTER XII

                         SETTLING WITH CODFISH


Six figures surrounded Stowell, each pointing a menacing finger at him.
Each figure had a white sheet draped around it and a white towel pinned
fantastically around the head and face with just a small slit for the
eyes.

While Codfish stared in alarm at the figures, the fingers were slowly
elevated until they pointed at something suspended from the ceiling;
and it was then that the sneak of the school began to squirm in terror.
A cord ran from a ring in the ceiling, one end of which was held in the
hand of one of the masked figures. The other end of the cord hung down
directly over the bed upon which Stowell had been pushed. The end of
the string was wound around the tail of a green snake all of three feet
long, a snake that wiggled from side to side as it dangled in mid-air.

Codfish would have screamed in terror had not the gag prevented him. He
attempted to leap from the bed, but the masked figures were too quick
for him. Two held his hands on one side of the bed while two more held
his feet on the other. The figure having hold of the string gently
lowered it until the head of the wiggling reptile was less than a foot
away from Stowell.

“Lie still!” was the stern command to the hapless youth. “Lie still, or
we’ll lower the snake upon you! Lie still, and you shall not be harmed.”

At these words Stowell for a few seconds longer continued to struggle,
but then suddenly grew quiet, although still shaking with fright.

“The snake is deadly poisonous,” said another one of the masked figures
in a voice that was hoarse and low. “Beware! Move, and one sting from
the snake will finish you! Beware!”

At this Stowell began to mumble something, his face working convulsively.
At once one of the masked figures whispered in the ear of another.

“Maybe he can’t breathe with that gag. We don’t want to smother him.”

“Ask him if he’ll keep quiet if we remove the gag,” was the low reply.

Thereupon one of the figures came a bit closer and, pointing a finger
at the gag, spoke again.

“Henry Stowell,” it said solemnly, “listen! If we remove the gag from
your mouth do you promise faithfully that you will not cry out? If so,
nod your head.”

There was a second of silence and then Codfish nodded his head
vigorously.

“If you cry out do you give us full permission to give you a licking
for so doing?” asked another one of the masked figures in a deep bass
voice which, however, sounded remarkably like the tones generally used
by Andy Rover.

Again there was a second of silence, and then Stowell nodded once more,
but this time not so vigorously as before.

“It is well!” came from another of the masked figures. “Remember your
promise, Stowell! Remember!” Thereupon the gag was removed from the
sneak’s mouth, but his hands were still kept tied behind him.

“Take that snake away! Please take that snake away!” were Codfish’s
first words as soon as he could catch his breath. “Don’t let it bite
me!”

“Remain on the bed, Codfish,” was the stern reply. “Remain on the bed
if you want to keep away from the snake.”

“It is the wonderful noobokoliki snake,” came in weird tones from one
of the masked figures. “The educated snake belonging to the secret
order of the Kalipops. He’ll not harm our members, but he will strike
at an outsider and strike to kill. Beware!”

Perhaps Stowell did not believe what was said, but he saw that he was
in the hands of the masked cadets and he saw the wriggling snake tied
to the end of the suspended string, and he did not feel that he could
take any chances.

“Please let me go! Please!” he muttered in a half sob. “I haven’t done
anything! Please take that snake away!”

Thereupon the six figures ranged themselves in a circle around the
cadet on the bed, and each once more pointed a menacing finger at him.

“Henry Stowell, you are a sneak!” came from one of the figures.

“Henry Stowell, you are a sneak!” came from another of the figures. And
thus the accusation went around the entire circle.

“I――I――don’t――know what you mean,” stammered Codfish. And now he grew
pale and red by turns, his eyes shifting from the masked figures to the
wriggling snake and then back again to the accusing cadets.

“You do know!” came simultaneously from all the others in the room.
“You are a sneak!”

“You are a disgrace to Colby Hall!”

“We ought to give you the licking of your life!”

“Stop! Stop! Please stop!” pleaded Codfish. He was growing more
and more alarmed. “Let me tell you something. I wasn’t going to say
anything about it until the end of the term, but I might as well tell
you. I’m going to leave this school. Next term I’m going to Longley
Academy.”

“Thank fortune for that!” came in a murmur from one of the masked
figures. It was Andy who spoke.

“The best news I’ve heard in a year of Sundays,” murmured his twin in
return.

The news that Codfish was going to leave Colby Hall came as something
of a surprise to all of the masked figures, and at a signal from one of
them they moved to a corner of the room for a whispered conversation.

“The poor little beggar is scared stiff,” came in low tones from Dan
Soppinger. “We might as well let him go.”

“I’d like to pay him back for the time he reported me to Captain Dale,”
put in Ned Lowe.

“Yes, and he ought to be made to suffer for reporting me to Professor
Duke,” put in Fatty Hendry.

“Yes, and for the things he did for Gabe Werner against us,” added Walt
Baxter. “If ever a sneak deserved a sound licking, it’s Codfish.”

“Well, we might let up on some of the things we were going to do,”
whispered Randy.

“Just the same, I think he ought to be labeled for what he is,” came
quickly from Andy.

“Oh, yes, we can label him all right enough,” said several of the
others quickly.

With one eye on the dangling snake, Codfish had watched the masked
figures with the other, and now, seeing himself unnoticed for the
instant, the sneak slipped from the bed and started in a wild dash for
the door, the key to which was still in the lock.

“No, you don’t!” cried Randy, and caught Codfish just as he was in the
act of backing up to the door to unlock it with one of his tied hands.
“Not just yet!” And thereupon all the lads pounced upon the sneak and
threw him on the floor.

“Fix him up so we can label him!” cried Andy. “He deserves it! Hurry up
before someone comes!”

In a twinkling Codfish found his hands untied. Then his coat was taken
from him, followed by his shirt. Four of the boys held him down face
front while two others approached with a can of red paint and a small
brush.

“A sneak you are, a sneak you have always been and a sneak we are going
to label you,” were the words uttered, and in a few seconds more the
word SNEAK was painted across Codfish’s shoulders. Then he was turned
over and the same word, SNEAK, was painted across his breast.

“Now then, into the clothes closet with him,” was the next order. “And
remember, Codfish, if you tell a word of this to any of the professors
we’ll lick you within an inch of your life,” was the caution given to
the frightened cadet.

“I――I won’t say a word,” blubbered the sneak. “Please let me alone!”

“We’re going to put you in the closet and keep you there,” said one of
the masked figures. Then the figure turned to the others. “We’ll take
turns at watching him, fifteen minutes each. Here is a club I brought
along. If he attempts to open the door of the closet and come out,
knock him in the head.”

“Right, Most Honorable Ruler!” came from the other masked figures, with
a profound bow.

“How long must I stay in the closet?” blubbered Codfish.

“We’ll let you know when to come out,” was the short reply; and
thereupon he was shoved back into his own clothes closet and the door
was closed upon him.

“Number Three, you are to stay here for fifteen minutes,” was the loud
command. “Then Number Six will relieve you, and after that Number Two.”

“It is well, Most Exalted Ruler!” answered several of the other cadets.
Then the door to the corridor was unlocked and one of them peered out
cautiously.

“The coast is clear,” whispered Randy. “Come on! Let’s cut for it!”

“What are you going to do with that paper snake, Andy?” questioned Dan
Soppinger, with a chuckle.

“We’ll leave that here for Codfish to play with after he gets over his
fright,” answered the fun-loving Rover. And then he went on in a loud
voice: “Now then, Number Three, be on guard and have your club ready!”
And thereupon one after another all of the masked figures stole softly
from the room, closing the door behind them. They sped to the rooms
occupied by the Rovers where they lost no time in getting rid of the
sheets and the towels.

“I’ll bet he won’t dare come out of that clothes closet for a long
time,” was Ned Lowe’s comment.

“Well, let him take his time,” chuckled Randy. “It will give that red
paint a chance to dry.”

“I hope the lesson will do some good,” answered Walt Baxter. “He’s
about the worst sneak I ever heard of.”

“It’s too bad we didn’t have a chance to try those other stunts on
him,” came from Dan Soppinger. “Having his head shaved would have done
him good.”

“Well, we’re better off as it is,” answered Randy. “If we had shaved
him maybe it might have gotten us into trouble. As it is, I don’t
believe he’ll dare say a word about it.”

“We didn’t treat him half as badly as he treated us,” answered Andy,
who could not forget the throwing of the bag of soot.

The boys had come up from the campus by way of the fire-escape on the
back of the building, and now they lost no time in going below by the
same means. They mingled with their fellow cadets, who were doing a war
dance around the various bonfires.

“How about it? Did you see Codfish?” questioned Fred, as he caught
sight of the twins.

“We did!” was the quick reply. “And we’ve got news,” and thereupon they
related as briefly as they could what had happened in Stowell’s room
and what the sneak had said.

“He can’t leave Colby Hall any too quick for me,” answered the young
captain of Company C. “Halliday, Sands and that bunch are welcome to
him.”

The festivities along the Rick Rack continued until after ten o’clock.
Then, however, the bonfires gradually died down and one after another
the cadets entered the Hall and went up to their various rooms.

In the meantime Codfish, half scared to death, remained in the clothes
closet for the best part of half an hour. Then, finding he could get
no reply from the person supposed to be outside on guard, he timidly
ventured to open the door and peer out. Then he came forth into the
bedroom, to find the lights still turned on but the apartment vacant
save for the snake, which now rested on the bed.

“Ugh! What am I going to do with that thing?” the sneak murmured in new
fright. Then he ran to the doorway and, donning his coat, rushed down
the stairs. In the lower corridor he ran into Snopper Duke.

“Oh, Professor! Professor! There is a snake on my bed!” he wailed.
“What shall I do about it? I don’t want to be bit!”

“A snake!” repeated the professor. “How extraordinary! How did it get
there, Stowell?”

“I――I――some――boys―― That is, I can’t really tell you, sir,” said the
sneak, with a shiver. He had been about to explain, but suddenly
remembered the whipping that had been promised to him if he played the
sneak again. “But the snake is there, sir, and I don’t know what to do!”

“I’ll investigate,” said Snopper Duke, and marched up the stairs and
into the room, followed by the sneak.

Professor Duke was by no means a timid man, and he approached the bed
boldly. A book was handy, and this he hurled at the reptile. The snake
did not move. Then the professor came closer.

“Why, it’s only a make-believe snake! It’s made of paper!” he declared,
holding it up in his fingers.

“A――a――paper snake?” faltered Stowell.

“Yes. Someone has been playing a trick on you, Stowell. The next time
you are frightened you had better make an investigation before you
report.” And with this rather sarcastic remark Professor Duke strode
from the room and down the stairs.

“A paper snake! Oh, what a sell!” Stowell murmured. “How they’ll laugh
at me when they hear of this!”




                             CHAPTER XIII

                          GIF’S WELCOME NEWS


After the boat races and the affair with Codfish matters at Colby Hall
so far as they concerned the Rover boys and their chums moved along
rapidly. The term was approaching its end, and all the cadets were
anxious to make as good a showing in the examinations as possible.
Through some of the younger cadets the Rovers learned what trouble
Codfish had had in ridding himself of the signs that had been painted
upon him. The small boys said that the sneak was terribly angry over
what had occurred, but was afraid to open his mouth to any of those in
authority.

“He’s afraid of that licking we promised him,” said Andy, and in that
surmise the fun-loving youth was correct.

Of course baseball was not forgotten at Colby Hall this term. There
were the usual games to be played between that institution and Hixley
High, the Clearwater Country Club, Columbus Academy and Longley.
Both Randy and Andy were on the team this year as substitutes, and as
it happened they had little to do. The big game this year was won by
Hixley and another game was won by the Columbus boys. Colby beat the
Country Club and Longley received a great drubbing, the score being 14
to 3.

“That’s the time we put another one over on ’em!” cried Randy, in
satisfaction. “I guess that will hold ’em for a while!”

He and his twin had managed to get into the game during the last three
innings, and he had made a two-bagger while his brother had made a
single which had brought in two runs.

As had been expected, there were no tears shed among those who knew him
well when it was announced that Stowell was going to leave Colby Hall
and had already entered for the next term at Longley Academy.

“It’s a case of good riddance to bad rubbish,” was Fred’s comment, and
to this his cousins and his chums agreed.

During those days the boys saw the girls from Clearwater Hall twice.
The girls’ school was to close a week before Colby Hall shut down, and
this would send Mary and Martha home before their brothers and cousins.

“We’re going up to Valley Brook Farm first and take Ruth with us,”
said Martha. “After that I don’t know exactly what we’re to do. What
are you going to do, Jack?”

“Gif says he has a secret,” answered the young major. “He’s holding it
back just as Spouter held his secret back last term.”

“Then you’re to be Gif’s guests?”

“I don’t know what it is, Martha. After that accident to Mr. Garrison
he and Gif cooked up something between them, but Gif won’t open his
mouth about it yet. He says it’s to be a surprise.”

“Well, surprises are very nice sometimes,” put in Ruth, who was present.

“How is your dad, Ruth?”

“Oh, he’s quite well now,” was the girl’s answer. “But he’s just as
much worried as ever about those formulas. He has been trying very hard
to get duplicates, but without success.”

“It ought not to be so very hard to get formulas for making artists’
material,” remarked Mary.

“That’s all you know about it,” answered Jack. “I was reading up on
that subject some time ago. It seems some of the celebrated artists
made their own pigments; and they were mighty secret about it, too, so
that no one else could make exactly the same things. Why, some of the
great pictures are great largely on account of the paints that were
used in painting them.”

“In that case I certainly hope they get the formulas back,” said Martha.

The time soon came for the boys and girls to separate. Jack was sorry
to part from Ruth and asked her if she would not write to him when she
arrived at Valley Brook Farm.

“I will if you’ll promise to answer,” said the girl, and this promise
was speedily given.

“Gee, but I’ve got a hard examination in geometry for to-morrow!”
remarked Fred when the boys were returning to school. “I wish it was
over.”

“I suppose we all wish the examinations were over, Fred,” answered the
young major. “I’ve got that examination in Latin, you know, and it’s a
hard one.”

They met Gif at the entrance to the campus and noticed that their chum
had a broad grin on his face.

“I’ve got news for you at last,” he said. “It’s all settled.”

“What’s settled, Gif?” the Rover boys questioned in concert.

“Where we’re to spend a large part of this summer’s vacation,” was the
reply. “I’ve just been waiting to hear from my dad to make sure that
everything would be all right. You’re all to go with me, and of course
Spouter is to be along, too. Come on down to the river and I’ll tell
you all about it. Here comes Spouter now.”

A few minutes later the six boys were seated on a grassy bank
overlooking the Rick Rack. Then Gif pulled from an inner pocket a large
envelope and took from it half a dozen photographs.

“What do you think of this?” and he passed one of the pictures around.

“Pretty nice looking bungalow, I’ll say,” was Jack’s comment. “What’s
this in front of it――a river?”

“No. This is what’s in front of it,” and Gif handed out another
photograph.

“Why, it’s a lake!” exclaimed Spouter. “Looks like a dandy place, too!
Just look at those hills behind it, and see those immense cedar trees!
Looks like a regular paradise, Gif. Where is it?”

“What do you think of this?” went on Gif, and held out a third
photograph, a picture of Mr. Garrison standing with a fishing rod in
one hand and a big string of fish in the other.

“Looks like a good catch, all right,” was Andy’s comment. “I’d like to
do as well myself.”

“Was that taken up on that lake?” questioned Fred.

“It was, Fred. And here’s another picture that was taken by my dad one
day along the edge of the lake.”

“A bear! A big bear!” was the cry from several of the cadets.

“Is he wild?” questioned Randy quickly.

“Wild? Of course he’s wild! My dad snapped the picture, but by the
time he could think of a gun the bear was half a mile away. But that’s
nothing. My dad says there used to be a whole lot of bears around that
lake. That, of course, was before the hunters got busy and killed most
of them off.”

“What place is this, Gif?” demanded Andy impatiently.

“This is a place we are to go to this summer, provided you fellows
are agreeable. This bungalow belongs to my father. It’s a big affair,
and used to be used by a hunting and fishing club of which he was
president. The club went to pieces and he paid a lot of their debts
and took the clubhouse in payment. He thought of going up there this
summer, but then changed his mind and put it up to me as to whether I
thought we would like to go. There were certain details to be arranged
first, so I didn’t say anything until everything was settled. Now if
you fellows want to go up, say the word and we’ll go.”

“But what place is it?” queried Spouter.

“It’s Big Bear Lake.”

“Oh! I’ve heard of that place!” cried Jack. “And I’ve heard all about
the bears that used to live along the shores of the lake. They say it’s
a dandy place for hunting and fishing.”

“Not much hunting in the summer time,” answered Gif. “But the fishing
is there, and we could have a dandy time knocking around the bungalow,
and in swimming, and like that.”

“If you’re putting it up to me, Gif, I say let’s go,” cried Andy
quickly.

“Go! Of course we’ll go!” exclaimed his twin.

“You couldn’t hold us back,” burst out Fred.

“I’d just as lief go to-day and let that Latin examination slide,”
commented Jack, and at this there was a general laugh.

“The best news I’ve heard in a long time,” said Spouter. “Just think of
an outing in the shade of the primeval forest, close to the shore of a
placid lake, where we can sit and meditate and watch the sun going down
over the distant hills, and where we can hear the hoot of the lonely
owl as it flits around seeking its mate, and where――”

“The ants get into the sugar, the flies into the butter, and where you
always wake up if you happen to walk into a hornet’s nest or a den of
snakes,” finished Andy.

“Who said anything about ants or hornets, or snakes either?” snorted
Spouter. “You never do give me a chance to say something worth while.”

“Never mind, Spouter, you’ll have your chance later on,” said Randy.
“Some day when you are all alone in camp, and we have gone on a
clambake or to hunt bears, you can stand on a rock in the middle of the
lake and orate to your heart’s content.”

“That’s the stuff, Spouter! Just think of standing on a floating rock
delivering an address,” chuckled Randy. “Wouldn’t that be original?”

“I’ll address you if you don’t look out,” answered Spouter, and threw a
handful of dirt at his tormentor.

After that the boys plied Gif with questions in regard to the bungalow
at Big Bear Lake and as to where the place was located.

“All I can tell you is that we’ll take the train to Boston and then
another train to a place called Rocky Run. That’s a small place at the
upper end of the lake. There we’ll take our boats――my father owns three
of them――and row down the lake until we reach the bungalow. The lake,
you know, is several miles long and between a quarter and a half a mile
wide and has a number of islands in it. One of the islands used to have
a fishing club colony on it, but the whole place burned down several
years ago.”

“Any other places on the lake besides Rocky Run?”

“Yes. There is the town of Beldane at the lower end. There are also
a number of bungalows at the upper end of the lake and one or two
bungalows on the opposite shore. But taking it generally, the place is
rather a wild one.”

“That suits me,” said Fred. “The wilder the better.”

“I wonder if we’ll get a chance at one of those bears,” mused Jack.

“We’d better take some guns along,” said Fred.

“Oh, yes, we’ll have to do that!” answered Gif. “My father said he
would send us a list of just what things we ought to take along and
what supplies we ought to get when we reach Rocky Run. There is an old
storekeeper up there named Mumbleton, Mose Mumbleton. He has done many
favors for my father and for the members of the fishing club generally,
and my father said he would rather have us buy our supplies there than
ship them from Beldane or Boston. It would give Mumbleton a chance to
make a little money, and we might find his friendship worth something
to us while we were up there.”

After that the boys looked over the photographs again and continued to
talk about Big Bear Lake and the good times they expected to have there
until the bell rang for the evening parade.

Although it was still early in June the night proved an unusually warm
one, and after having prepared himself for the examination in Latin
on the next day Jack found it almost impossible to get to sleep. He
tumbled and tossed on the bed for the best part of an hour and finally
arose, to sit by the open window for a while.

He had been resting there for perhaps five minutes gazing out dreamily
into the moonlight, when he heard the put-put of a motor-boat on the
river. Then somewhat to his surprise he saw a motor-boat turn in to the
Colby Hall dock. Several figures sprang ashore and hurried into the
boathouse belonging to the military academy.

“Hello! what does that mean? That can’t be one of our motor-boats,”
murmured the young major to himself. “That looks mighty queer to me.”

He hesitated for a moment and then aroused his cousins.

“Seems to me we ought to look into this,” said Fred. “Those fellows may
be nothing but thieves.”

“If some of our fellows have been out on a lark we don’t want to get
them into trouble,” said Andy. “I move we sneak downstairs and make an
investigation.”

The others agreed to this, and all quickly donned their shoes and
clothing and then made for the fire-escape, which they so often used in
preference to the regular stairway.

As they ran across the campus they saw three figures steal forth from
the Colby Hall boathouse. The three figures made for the motor-boat at
the dock, and in a minute more the Rovers heard the motor of the boat
and then saw the craft glide out into the semi-darkness of the night.

“Now what were they doing at the boathouse?” questioned Jack.

Struck with a sudden fear, the young major broke into a run, followed
by the others. They dashed into the boathouse, which was dark, and in
one corner saw a faint glare.

“It’s a fire!” gasped Fred. “Somebody has set the place on fire!”




                              CHAPTER XIV

                          THE ROVERS AT HOME


The young captain of the Colby Hall cadets was right. A small fire was
blazing fiercely in one corner of the boathouse but a few feet away
from where two of the racing shells were stored.

“Sound the alarm, Randy!” cried Jack. “And you, Andy, run for a pail of
water. Fred and I will get the fire extinguishers.”

The young cadets had had more than one fire drill and knew exactly how
to go to work to get the best of the incipient conflagration. While
Randy ran off toward Colonel Colby’s cottage to give the alarm, Andy
grabbed up two fire buckets which were already filled and hurried with
them toward the blaze. In the meanwhile Jack ran to the far end of the
boathouse, where was located a fire extinguisher, while Fred sped off
to the gymnasium to get another.

When Andy arrived with his water he found the blaze mounting up one
side of the boathouse. He dashed the water as high as possible,
realizing that the fire would spread rapidly if it reached the loft
overhead, which was stored with all sorts of combustible material. Then
the youth ran out to refill the buckets at the side of the dock.

By the time Jack managed to arrive with the fire extinguisher the blaze
was covering one whole end of the boathouse. He got the extinguisher
into action as speedily as possible, squirting the fire destroying
compound where he thought it would do the most good. As Fred appeared
with another extinguisher the bell outside began to ring and half a
dozen men came running toward the boathouse, most of them in their
bathrobes and slippers.

“How did this happen, Major Rover?” demanded Captain Dale in a somewhat
harsh voice.

“I’ll tell you after the fire is out, Captain,” answered the young
major of the school battalion. “We’ve got to work quickly here if we’re
going to put this out.”

“Form a bucket brigade,” ordered Captain Dale, addressing the others
who were arriving. And while this was being done he caught the fire
extinguisher from Fred’s hands and began to spray the contents as high
up as he could reach on the boathouse wall.

Inside of three minutes the whole school was aroused and the cadets
came tumbling out on the campus in all sorts of dress and undress. As
they came out they were stopped by Fred and Captain Glasby of Company
A, who quickly formed them into a fire brigade and sent them for the
fire buckets and fire ladders.

“Gee, that’s going to be some blaze!”

“I hope the boathouse doesn’t burn down and all our boats with it!”

“Why can’t we get the boats out?”

“We can! Come on, fellows, quick!” And thereupon part of the crowd
rushed into the boathouse to save whatever could be handled.

In the meanwhile a hose had been attached to a new water tower near the
gymnasium, and soon a stream from this was directed upon the flames.
For fully ten minutes it seemed to be a toss-up as to whether the
boathouse would be consumed or not. But the professors and the cadets
worked vigorously and presently it was seen that the flames were going
down.

“Hurrah, boys, we’ve got the best of it!” shouted Jack encouragingly.
“Keep it up! Pass that water along lively!” And the buckets came along
the line so rapidly that it was all three cadets and two professors at
the front could do to empty them.

At last the spot where the fire had originated was only a smoking and
steaming mass. With the conflagration out it was quite dark in and
around the boathouse and lights had to be lit so the workers could see
what they were doing.

“I guess it’s out,” said Colonel Colby at last, and gave a sigh of
relief.

“I’ll place Nixon and Crews on guard with a number of pails of water,”
said Captain Dale. “They can remain here for the rest of the night just
as well as not.”

“Has any one any idea how this fire started?” demanded the owner of the
school, looking around at the assembled professors and cadets.

“I have,” answered Jack. “I’m quite sure the place was set on fire.”

“You surprise me, Major Rover,” answered Colonel Colby. “What have you
to tell?”

In a few words Jack related his story and then the other Rovers told of
what they knew concerning the affair. As the recital proceeded Colonel
Colby’s brow grew dark.

“You say there were three persons in that motor-boat?” he questioned.

“So far as I could see,” answered Jack. “Of course the moonlight isn’t
very strong to-night.”

“I saw the three fellows as they rushed back to the motor-boat after
they came from the boathouse,” put in Randy.

“So did I,” added his twin, and Fred said the same.

“Did any of you recognize any of those persons?”

At this the Rover boys shook their heads.

“Did you recognize the motor-boat?” put in Captain Dale.

At this Jack grew thoughtful and looked at Fred.

“I don’t like to say as to that,” answered the major of the school
battalion slowly. “I might be mistaken and get the wrong people into
trouble.”

“But you think you know something?” put in Colonel Colby quickly.

“I didn’t recognize the motor-boat so far as looks go,” answered Jack.
“It was the peculiar put-put the engine made when the boat came in and
when it went away. You know, motor-boats are apt to have a peculiar
sound of their own.”

“What did this motor-boat sound like, Rover? If you have any definite
idea I think you ought to let me know.”

“I don’t want to hide anything, Colonel Colby. In fact, I’m almost as
anxious to find out who set this fire as you are,” went on Jack, with
a little smile. “But I’d hate to accuse anybody wrongly. If, however,
you insist upon knowing what is in my mind, I’ll say that the put-put
of that engine sounded to me like the put-put of one of the Longley
Academy boats.”

“Longley Academy!” exclaimed Colonel Colby and Captain Dale
simultaneously.

“Are you sure of this?” demanded the captain.

“No, I’m not. That’s the reason I didn’t want to say anything about it.”

“Why should any one from Longley come over here and want to burn down
our boathouse?” demanded the colonel.

“Maybe they’re sore because they lost those races,” put in Andy.

“I don’t believe they’d be mean enough to go as far as that,” said the
owner of the institution. “However, I’ll start an investigation the
first thing in the morning.”

The cadets went back to their quarters and soon the Rover boys were
once more preparing to retire.

“I wonder if Flanders, Halliday and Sands would be wicked enough to
come over here and start a fire?” questioned Fred.

“I’d hate to accuse anybody of doing that,” answered Randy.

“Perhaps it was some rascals who have a grudge against Colonel Colby,”
suggested Jack.

“Who could have such a grudge as that?” demanded Fred. “He treats all
his hired help fine. I don’t know of a single person around Colby Hall
who doesn’t like the colonel. And all the tradespeople in town like him
too.”

“I wasn’t thinking of the people who work for him,” answered the young
major. “I was thinking of the fellows who used to be cadets here and
who were fired out――fellows like Werner and Martell.”

The boys talked the matter over for several minutes, but could arrive
at no conclusion and finally retired. But it was some time before any
of them got to sleep.

In the morning Colonel Colby, aided by Captain Dale, started his
investigation into the origin of the fire. A hunt was made up and down
the lake for the mysterious motor-boat, and Captain Dale even paid a
visit to Longley Academy. There he was received with decided coldness.

“None of our boats were out last night. I am sure of that,” said the
head of the newly organized military academy. “To think that any of our
cadets would be guilty of setting fire to your boathouse is ridiculous,
Captain Dale.”

“I did not say that they were guilty,” answered the captain briefly.
“We are simply trying to get at the bottom of this affair. I am sure if
one of your buildings were burned you would like to find out who did
it.”

“I think this is simply a move on Colonel Colby’s part to bring Longley
Academy into disrepute,” said the master of the institution frigidly.
“It is an outrageous proceeding! I warn you not to make this matter
public. If you do, you may find yourselves confronting a suit for
damages.”

“I am not saying anything in public,” returned Captain Dale, and a few
minutes later took his departure.

Of course the cadets talked the matter over freely among themselves.
A few thought that some of their athletic rivals might have committed
the crime, but the majority were of the opinion that it must have been
done by outsiders, and possibly by those who in years gone by had been
dismissed from the Hall. The actual damage did not amount to more than
two hundred dollars, and Colonel Colby said he would have the boathouse
repaired just as soon as the present school term came to an end.

At last, much to the cadets’ satisfaction, the examinations were at
an end. All of the Rovers and their friends had acquitted themselves
creditably, passing with from ninety-two to ninety-six per cent. Of the
three cadets at the Hall who did not pass, one was Henry Stowell. But
to this that sneak gave little consideration.

“Why should I break my head to pass when I’m going to leave Colby Hall
for good in a couple of days?” said Codfish to the few who would listen
to him. “No more of this institution for me! I’m going to a first-class
place this fall,” and he stuck his nose up in the air.

“We’ll miss you, Codfish,” remarked Andy, who chanced to hear these
words. “We’ll miss you just like a fellow misses the toothache or a
corn on his toe.”

“Huh! Don’t you talk to me, Andy Rover,” grumbled Codfish. “I know
you!” and then he hurried away without anything more to say.

It had been decided that the Rovers should return home for over the
Fourth of July, and then they were to meet Gif and Spouter in Boston
for the journey to Big Bear Lake.

“Good-by to Colby Hall!” cried Randy, when the term had at last come to
an end. “Hurrah for Big Bear Lake!”

“And hurrah for all the bears we’re going to shoot!” put in his twin.

“And the fish we’re going to catch!” added Fred.

“And the jolly times generally we’re going to have!” finished Jack.

The journey to New York City did not take long, and at the Grand
Central Terminal the boys, as usual, found their mothers awaiting them
with the family automobiles. There was a good deal of hugging and
kissing, and then all drove up Fifth Avenue and over to the elegant
homes on Riverside Drive.

“Gee, it’s fine to be home again, Mother!” cried Fred.

“Yes, Fred. Only you don’t like to stay in it after you get here,”
replied his parent fondly.

“Oh, well, you know a boy has got to be a boy,” he answered.

That evening there was a grand family party between the boys and their
parents, the girls having already departed for Valley Brook Farm with
Ruth and May. Dick, Tom and Sam Rover wanted to know all about how the
boys had been getting along at the school, and then told a little of
how business matters were going with them.

“The oil wells in Texas and Oklahoma are doing wonderfully well,” said
Dick Rover in reply to a question from his son. “It was the best work I
ever did to go down into those oil fields.”

“How about matters in Wall Street?” questioned Randy.

“Couldn’t be better, Randy,” responded Tom Rover. “Everything seems to
be coming our way now.”

“Any more trouble with the Martell crowd?”

“No. Since we got rid of Martell and Brown everything has been going
along swimmingly,” replied Tom Rover.

“What are you folks going to do this summer?” questioned Andy. “Why
can’t you come and visit us while we’re at Big Bear Lake?”

“Perhaps we shall,” answered his Uncle Sam.

“Oh, Dad! that would be fine,” burst out Fred. “Come up, by all means!”

“Well, we’ll see about that,” answered his father. “Your mother and
your aunts want to go up to Valley Brook Farm first and stay with the
girls.”

“Oh, bring the whole bunch up to Big Bear Lake!” cried Jack. It must
be confessed though that when he spoke he was thinking mainly of Ruth.
“Gif says it’s a great big bungalow――in fact, a small-sized hotel.”

“It used to be used for a fishing club, you know,” came from Andy. “It
would be great if we could all be up there together just like when we
were out at Big Horn Ranch.”

“Well, that’s something we’ll have to think over,” said Dick Rover.




                              CHAPTER XV

                      ON THE WAY TO BIG BEAR LAKE


“Off at last for Big Bear Lake!”

“This is the life, boys! We ought to have a dandy time!”

“Right you are, Fred! Oh, my, what fishing!”

“Yes, and what boating and bathing, Andy!”

“I wonder if Gif and Spouter will be on hand to meet us?”

“They said so in that telegram I got last night,” answered Jack.

“Sure, they’ll be on hand,” broke in Randy. “They never disappointed us
yet.”

The four Rover boys were seated in a Pullman car that was whisking them
rapidly toward Boston. Each had a suitcase with him and numerous other
things to be taken to the camp.

Fourth of July had come and gone with its usual festivities. In his
grip Andy carried an imitation giant firecracker filled with nothing
more dangerous than collars, neckties and handkerchiefs. With this
giant firecracker he had scared several of the servants half to death,
thinking he was going to blow up the kitchen of the house in which he
lived.

It was an ideal summer day and the boys sat by the windows enjoying the
scenery as it rushed past them. All were in the best of humor.

“This isn’t like going out to Big Horn Ranch,” said Fred, a bit
wistfully. “I’m afraid we’ll miss the cattle and the cowboys and all
that.”

“I’d like to get a crack at a bear,” came from Fred. “Gee, wouldn’t it
be a feather in our cap to bring down a big fellow!”

“How about it if the bear came along and brought you down by hugging
you to death?” questioned Jack dryly.

“Pooh! who’s afraid of bears?” answered the stout young Rover.

The boys had left New York after an early breakfast and one o’clock
found them at the South Station of the Hub. As they came forth from the
smoky train shed, suitcases and bundles in hand, Gif and Spouter rushed
forward to meet them.

“Well, I see you’ve got here safe and sound!” cried Gif.

“Now we can catch the two o’clock train for Rocky Run,” put in Spouter.
“Come ahead. We can get a couple of taxicabs right outside.”

“I thought maybe you’d want to stay in Boston all night and start for
Rocky Run in the morning,” remarked Randy, who had not visited the Hub
many times and who would have liked to look around the city.

“Oh, come ahead! We want to get to Rocky Run as soon as we can!” cried
Spouter. “Don’t you say so too, Jack?”

“It’s up to Gif,” answered Jack. “We’re his guests, you know.”

“Oh, stow that, Jack,” answered Gif quickly. “We’re going up to
Big Bear Lake on an equal footing. Nobody is to be boss. This is a
free-for-all,” and he gave a happy little laugh.

Having piled into two taxicabs, it did not take Gif and his guests long
to reach the North Station. Here they procured tickets for Rocky Run
and then found they had still half an hour to wait for a train.

“Let’s get some books and magazines to take along and maybe a game or
two,” suggested Fred. “We may want something to read or to play if we
strike bad weather. You know how dull a week of rain can be in camp.”

The boys procured a number of newspapers and magazines and some
packages of candy, and in a little while the train for Rocky Run
rolled into the station. All this while Gif was looking around
anxiously.

“What’s up, Gif? Are you expecting somebody?” questioned Jack.

“I am. But it looks as if he wasn’t coming,” answered Gif. “It’s just
like him. He’s the slowest fellow I know. But dad said we might as well
take him along. There’s nothing much for him to do at home just now.”

“Who are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about Jeff, our hired man. Dad said we might as well take
him up to the bungalow to do the cooking and some of the other work.”

“Gee! a colored man, eh?” exclaimed Andy. “We’re to go up there in
style!”

“I’d rather not have him along,” answered Gif. “But dad said we might
as well take him and make him earn his salary. You see the folks are
not at home a great deal, and that doesn’t leave Jeff much to do.”

As Gif was speaking a tall, ungainly-looking colored man, wearing
a pepper and salt suit and a light derby hat, shuffled into view,
carrying a valise in one hand and a bundle done up in a newspaper in
the other. As he came closer he began to smile languidly.

“I’d an awful walk reachin’ here, Mistah Gif,” he remarked, as he let
his bag and bundle drop. “Awful walk! I got all tangled up in them
roundabout streets. Never did see no streets like these here ones in
Boston.”

“I thought you wouldn’t get here, Jeff,” answered Gif. “Get aboard. The
train is about to start. Boys, this is Jefferson Adams Lincoln Wilson,
always called Jeff for short. Jeff, this is Sir Spouter and these are
the Mr. Rovers, number one, two, three and four.”

“Yes, sir! Yes, sir!” responded the lanky colored man, bowing
profoundly all around. “Yes, sir! One, two, three, four! That’s easy,
yes, sir,” and then he followed the boys as they boarded the train.

“How far is it to Rocky Run?” questioned Fred, after the crowd had
seated themselves with Jeff just behind them.

“It will take us about four hours to get there on this train,” answered
Gif. “We run as far as Hammingwood on the main line and then switch off
to Rocky Run.”

“In that case we won’t reach Rocky Run until almost dark,” answered
Jack. “Do you think we can get to the bungalow to-night?”

“Dad said if we couldn’t we were to ask old Mose Mumbleton if he
couldn’t put us up all night. He said he was almost certain Mose could
accommodate us, for he often accommodates fishing parties.”

“Then that’s all right. We wouldn’t want to get lost on the lake in the
darkness,” put in Randy.

“Why not? It would be a barrel of fun,” added his twin carelessly.

“Has Jeff ever been up there?” asked Fred in a low tone.

“Oh, yes. He’s been up there several times. That’s one reason dad
wanted us to have him along. He said Jeff could show us where the best
fishing places were and all that sort of thing. Besides, Jeff has quite
a reputation when it comes to serving fish. That’s his specialty.”

“Well, we’ve got to catch the fish before we have ’em served,” remarked
Jack dryly.

“There’s only one trouble with Jeff. He’s very lazy, and apt to go to
sleep if you give him half a chance. Otherwise, he isn’t a half bad
sort.”

The Rover boys and Spouter soon had evidence of Jeff’s failing, for the
train had been traveling for less than half an hour when, on glancing
back, the boys saw that Jeff was leaning back in the seat with eyes
closed, evidently sleeping soundly.

“I’ll bet he isn’t of a worrying disposition,” was Fred’s comment.

“I don’t believe he ever worried about anything,” answered Gif.

“I think I’ll give him a little bit to worry about,” murmured Andy,
tearing a long slip of transparent paper from one of the candy packages
the boys had purchased. Taking the slip, Andy rolled it into a long
taper with a pointed end. Then he walked down the aisle and took a
place in a vacant seat directly behind the sleeping colored man.
Reaching over, he began to tickle Jeff in his ear. The colored man paid
no attention for a few seconds. But then, very slowly, his hand came up
and he brushed his ear. This operation was repeated several times, and
caused all of the boys to snicker. Then Andy reached over and tickled
Jeff in the nose.

Ker choo! Ker choo! Jeff suddenly awoke with a start and began to
sneeze vigorously. As he did this, Andy dropped out of sight while the
others pretended to be busy with their papers and magazines.

“My, my! I must be ketchin’ cold,” murmured the colored man. “I guess
I’d better close that window,” and he suited the action to the word
by bringing the window down with a bang. Then he settled himself for
another nap.

Again the end of the pointed taper came in contact with his ear, and
again Jeff slapped not once but several times at an imaginary fly. Then
once more Andy applied the pointed paper to his nose.

This time the sneezing that followed brought more results than had been
expected. Poor Jeff bobbed up suddenly, and then his head came down
violently in contact with the seat in front of him.

“My land sakes!” he wailed. “What am the mattah with my nose?” and then
he sneezed again.

“You sure are catching a cold, Jeff. Better take another seat where
there’s less draft,” suggested Gif.

“I knowed yeste’day I was ketchin’ cold,” answered the colored man
slowly. “I was in the kitchen at your house workin’ and they had the
window open. I was sure I was goin’ to ketch cold. I can’t stand no
draft nohow,” and he shuffled away to another seat in the extreme
corner of the car.

“Some fun, Andy, I’ll say,” remarked Randy, with glistening eyes,
as his twin rejoined him. “I think Jeff is going to give us many a
pleasant time while we’re up at Big Bear Lake.”

“I’ll say so,” was the quick reply.

“You take care that Jeff doesn’t discover what you’re up to,”
admonished Jack. “He may not like it a bit.”

“Oh, Jeff is too lazy to notice most things,” answered Gif. “Just the
same, I wouldn’t stir him up too much,” he added, after a moment’s
reflection.

Quickly the afternoon wore away, and a little after six o’clock the
boys arrived at the little station of Rocky Run. Here they alighted,
followed by Jeff, who had all he could do to carry his own baggage and
did not attempt to assist any of the others.

The lads found that Rocky Run consisted of nothing more than half a
dozen houses, a general store and post-office, the railroad station,
and half a dozen boathouses. Over the store was the sign:

                            MOSES MUMBLETON

                       _General Merchandise_
                       _Laundry Agency_
                       _Rocky Run Post-Office_
                       _Justice of the Peace_
                       _Notary Public_
                       _Boats to Hire_
                       _Orders taken for Cord Wood_

“Looks as if Mose did a little bit of everything,” was Jack’s comment,
with a grin.

“He’s about the whole shooting match up here, I guess,” answered Gif.
“Come on! Let’s leave our baggage here in a heap and go over to the
store.”

With Gif and Jack in advance, the six boys left the railroad station
and walked across a broad roadway to where the general store was
located. This was in a long and broad two-story wooden building with a
one-story addition in the rear. In front was a piazza with two steps, a
broad double door, and two show windows filled with various goods which
had evidently been there on exhibition for some time.

As the boys entered the establishment it was so dark inside they could
for the moment make out but little. Then they saw an elderly man with
a heavy gray beard leaning on a broad counter in the rear talking
earnestly to two young fellows who were evidently customers.

“Well, that’s the price,” the man behind the counter was saying. “I
can’t sell those goods for any less.”

“It’s a fierce price, I’ll say,” remarked one of the would-be customers.

“We could get those things much cheaper in the city,” put in the other
youth standing at the counter.

At the sound of the two voices Jack clutched Gif by the arm.

“What do you know about this, Gif!” he gasped. “Am I dreaming, or is
that really Tommy Flanders?”

“It’s Flanders all right enough,” answered Gif. “And Paul Halliday is
with him. Now what in the world brought those two fellows up here?”




                              CHAPTER XVI

                           ON BIG BEAR LAKE


As the Colby Hall cadets came closer, Tommy Flanders and Paul Halliday
looked around at them.

“Hello! what do you know about this?” cried Flanders.

“What brought you fellows up here?” put in Halliday.

“Haven’t we a right to be here if we want to?” questioned Jack coolly.
He did not like the tone of voice in which the boys from Longley
Academy had addressed them.

“Oh, I suppose you have a right to come to Big Bear Lake,” answered
Tommy Flanders. “Just the same, I don’t give you any credit for
following us.”

“As a matter of fact, we’re not following you,” retorted Gif. “We
didn’t even know you were here. Have you come to stay?”

“Have we come to stay!” burst out Halliday. “That’s a good one! You
know well enough we came to stay.”

“You can’t pull the wool over our eyes,” growled Flanders. “If you have
come up to Big Bear Lake for a vacation, you simply came to follow us.”

By this time the others had come into the general store, adding to the
surprise of the cadets from Longley, who glared at them darkly.

“If it isn’t Tommy Flanders and Paul Halliday!” burst out Randy. “What
do you know about this!”

“They must be staying up here,” returned Spouter. “Otherwise it isn’t
likely that they would be at the store.”

“Where are you fellows stopping?” questioned Halliday, as he approached
Fred.

“We’re not stopping anywhere just yet. We just got off the train,”
answered Fred.

“But you’re going to stay at the lake, aren’t you?”

“Yes, if you want to know.”

“On the east shore?”

“No; on the west shore.”

“Huh! you didn’t dare to come over to where we are located, did you?”
sneered Halliday.

“Then you’re located over on the east shore, are you?” questioned Gif.

“Of course we are. At the old Willoughby camp. You know that as well as
I do. Why, half the cadets at Colby Hall knew our bunch was coming up
here.”

“Your bunch?” demanded Jack, with interest. “How many of you?”

“Ten so far; and three or four others are coming later.”

“Henry Stowell is coming to-morrow to join us,” remarked Halliday.
“He’s quitting Colby, you know, and coming to Longley this fall.”

“Well, you’re welcome to Codfish,” announced Randy quickly.

“Oh, he’s all right if only you didn’t tease him too much,” answered
the youth who had at one time been Randy’s fellow cadet.

In the midst of the talk two other boys arrived, Billy Sands and a
youth named Ted Maxwell, who was a captain at Longley. Maxwell was a
tall, quiet fellow and quite gentlemanly in contrast to his schoolmates.

“Yes, about a dozen or fifteen of us are to spend the summer at the
lake,” said Maxwell to Jack, as he shook hands. “Ten of us came up
three days ago, and the others are coming the beginning of next week.
We have hired the old Willoughby place, which, as perhaps you know, has
two little bungalows on it and a little boathouse. We hope to have a
dandy time.”

“We won’t have such a good time if we know these fellows are going to
be up here,” growled Halliday.

“Oh, I don’t know,” answered Ted Maxwell cheerfully. “We might get up
some rowing and swimming contests and things like that.”

“I didn’t come up here to go into any contests,” broke in Tommy
Flanders. “I came up to take it easy and have a good time.”

“That’s me, too,” put in Billy Sands. “I’m just going to take it easy
every day.”

“Well, a little exercise won’t hurt anybody,” answered Maxwell. “I
don’t want to go stale, and neither do you fellows, if any of you
expect to make the football team this fall.”

Maxwell asked the Colby cadets where they were going to locate, and
Gif and the others told him about the old fishing club bungalow and of
their plans for a grand outing.

“That fishing club outfit is directly across the lake from our camp,”
said Maxwell. “We were rowing over that way only yesterday.”

“I hope the camp is in good condition,” said Gif anxiously, wondering
if Flanders and his cronies had visited the place and possibly done
some harm.

“It seemed to be. We didn’t land.”

A few words more followed and then the crowd from Longley departed,
after purchasing a few things from Mr. Mumbleton. They moved down past
the railroad station to the lake and there set off in two rowboats for
their camp.

“This is a fine state of affairs,” grumbled Gif. “I don’t know whether
we’ll have a good time or not with those fellows around.”

“Oh, well, they’ll be on the other side of the lake,” answered Fred.
“How much of a distance between the two places?”

“The lake is about half a mile wide where our camp is located, and
midway between the two places there are a number of small islands which
my father used to call the Cat and Kittens.”

Mose Mumbleton had listened with interest to what all the boys had had
to say. Now he shook hands cordially with Gif, who speedily introduced
the others. In the meantime Jeff had calmly proceeded to make himself
at home on the piazza of the general store, nodding peacefully as he
sat with his back against one of the posts.

“I thought you might know that Flanders boy,” said the old storekeeper.
“He goes to a military academy, too.”

“Yes, we know the whole bunch; but we didn’t know they were coming up
here.”

“The folks around here don’t like Mr. Flanders any too well,” continued
the storekeeper. “You see, Flanders bought the old Micwic factory on
Flat Rock Creek, and they say he is going to put it in operation again.
The bungalow colony is up in arms against such a move. They don’t want
any factory around here, nor do they want any factory hands locating
along the lake.”

“Where is that factory located?” questioned Fred.

“It’s just below where those boys have their camp――about halfway
between the camp and this place,” answered the storekeeper.

“See here,” said Gif, motioning Jack and Spouter to one side. “Now
that we know that crowd is across the lake from our bungalow, don’t
you think it would be better if we went up to the camp without further
delay? I want to be certain that they haven’t visited the place and
upset things. I wouldn’t put it past them to do it. We can come down
here to-morrow and get our supplies. Of course, we could take up a few
things now, just enough for breakfast and maybe lunch.”

“That suits me,” answered Jack.

“Yes, let’s get to the camp, by all means. I want to see what kind of
place it is,” answered Spouter.

As a consequence of this, Gif asked the old storekeeper about their
boats.

“I got ’em all ready for you just as soon as I received your letter,”
said Mr. Mumbleton. “They’re locked up in my boathouse, and I can get
’em out in a few minutes.”

“Then let us have a few groceries and things like that and we’ll
be off,” returned Gif. “We’ll come back to-morrow for our regular
supplies. We have a list all made out, and I’ll leave it with you.”

“Suits me.”

Thereupon the boys obtained some bread, coffee, sugar, condensed milk,
eggs, bacon and a few other things which were placed in a couple of
empty boxes. Then all went back to the railroad station for their
baggage.

“Here’s a sample of what we can expect from those other fellows,”
growled Andy, as he pointed to the railroad platform. On their baggage
had been piled some dirty brushwood and leaves.

“Well, let’s be thankful they didn’t do anything worse,” was Randy’s
comment. “They might have hidden the stuff from us, or something like
that.”

“I guess they didn’t dare!” burst out Jack. “They knew we’d be after
them in a jiffy if they did anything like that.”

Brushing off the baggage, the boys, followed by Jeff, made their way to
Mose Mumbleton’s boathouse. The old storekeeper was already on hand
and had brought forth three rowboats with six pairs of oars.

“I went over each one of the boats carefully,” said the storekeeper.
“You’ll find ’em in apple-pie condition.”

“All right. And don’t forget that we’ll be back to-morrow for our
regular supplies,” answered Gif. “Come on, fellows. It’s getting late
and it’ll be dark before we reach camp.”

Gif was right about the darkness, because the sun was already sinking
behind the forest to the westward, casting long shadows across the
bosom of Big Bear Lake.

“Wonder if we’ll see any bears on our way up,” came from Andy, as he
took his seat in one of the boats.

“Sure! we’ll see a dozen of them,” returned his twin, with a grin.
“They’ll all be lined up on the shore bidding us welcome.”

“Don’t forget, Jeff, you’re to row one of the boats,” cried Gif gayly.

“Does you want me to row that boat all alone?” questioned the colored
man doubtfully.

“Why, of course! You’re to row the boat and you are to pull the other
two boats, too.”

“What! Me pull the boat all alone and tow the two other boats too?”
questioned Jeff, in consternation. “I can’t do it, nohow! No man
could!”

“Oh, Gif is only fooling, Jeff,” put in Spouter. “We can do the rowing
just as well as not. We’ll let you cook supper for us when we land.”

There had been little wind during the day, but now it seemed to spring
up, sighing drearily through the trees lining the shore. Then the sun
suddenly sank behind a heavy bank of clouds.

“Doesn’t look as if we’d have any moonlight to-night,” remarked Andy.

“Seems to me we’re going to have quite a blow,” answered Fred, as he
glanced through the tree-tops at the clouds.

“Come on, fellows! Everybody on the job!” cried Gif.

He and Fred, along with Jeff, were in the first boat to get off.
Quickly Andy and Jack followed, and then came Randy and Spouter.

The course lay along the lakeshore and then past a broad cove where
there was a string of small islands. As they passed the last of these
islands they found the wind increasing and suddenly saw some whitecaps
ahead.

“We’re in for a regular blow!” cried Gif.

“How far have we still to row?” called out Randy.

“About a mile.”

“Oh, that isn’t so bad.”

“We’ve got to go slow around here,” called back Gif. “The lake is
shallow and there are a great number of snags. Don’t hit any of them
and upset.”

As the boys continued to row the wind increased in violence, and soon
whitecaps surrounded them.

“Maybe we’d bettah pull in closer to shore,” suggested Jeff, as one of
the whitecaps came over the side of the rowboat, covering them with
spray.

“Oh, we’ll head straight for the bungalow,” answered Gif. “Come on,
Fred, bend to it!” and they began to row with a will and the others
followed.

A quarter of a mile more was covered when the wind seemed suddenly to
descend on the three boats with added violence.

“Gee! we can’t make any headway against this,” gasped Fred.

“Hadn’t we better turn toward shore?” called out Andy, from the second
boat, which was close behind.

“Perhaps we’d better,” was the answer. “I don’t believe this blow will
last any great length of time.”

The third boat had dropped a little behind and was almost lost to view
in the fast-gathering darkness.

“They’re turning to shore,” said Spouter to Randy. “We might as well do
the same thing.”

To turn the craft in that heavy wind was not easy. A wave came dashing
over the side, wetting them from the knees down. Then the boat whirled
around and all at once slid up on a snag.

“Look out! We’re going over!” cried Spouter, and the next instant the
rowboat upset and he and Randy were floundering in the lake.




                             CHAPTER XVII

                             TO THE RESCUE


“Help! Help!” The cry came from Spouter, who was floundering around in
the semi-darkness of the fast-increasing storm. He had been pitched
overboard so suddenly that he had had no time in which to protect
himself. Consequently he had scraped his arm on the fallen tree which
had caused the overturning of the rowboat.

“What’s that cry?” came from Gif.

“Somebody calling for help,” answered Andy. “Look! One of our boats has
upset!”

“It’s the boat that had Spouter and Randy in it,” came from Jack.

“They must have struck one of the snags Gif told us about,” remarked
Fred. “Come! We’d better turn back and see what’s doing.”

In spite of the violence of the wind and the whitecaps on the lake none
of the others imagined that Spouter and Randy were in any great danger.
In fact, they were inclined to look at the affair as a joke. They knew
that both of the cadets who had gone overboard could swim well.

“Help! Help!” came again from Spouter. “Help! Quick!”

“What is it, Spouter?” called back Jack. “Are you hurt? How about
Randy?”

“Randy’s in trouble. He’s caught on a snag! Come quick!”

“Randy in trouble?” The cry came from several of the boys, and as
quickly as possible those in the first two boats turned around and made
for the spot where the upsetting had taken place.

What Spouter had said about Randy was true. When the boat upset Randy
had gone under and then come to the surface. He had attempted to strike
out for either the boat or the shore, and had then been caught by a
limb of the submerged tree. Then, because of this and because the boat
was pounding against it, the submerged tree had in some way turned
over, carrying the upper part of Randy’s body under the surface of the
lake. His feet were in the air, and he was kicking around vigorously
trying to extricate himself from his perilous position.

It took those in the two remaining boats but a few seconds to reach
the scene of the catastrophe. They beheld Spouter working frantically,
trying to pull Randy to the surface.

“What is it?” came from Jack.

“He’s caught! I can’t bring him up!” gasped Spouter. “He’s caught on a
tree limb, I guess.”

“Shove that boat back!” ordered Gif, and then reached out with his oar
to hold the craft in check, for the upturned boat was being driven by
the wind directly over the spot where Randy and Spouter were struggling.

It was certainly a critical moment, and no one understood it better
than did Jack. The tree had bobbed around, and for a few seconds
Randy’s head had come to the surface, giving him a chance for fresh
air. Then the tree had settled once more and poor Randy’s head had
disappeared as before. Jack hesitated only an instant, and then sprang
into the lake beside Spouter.

“What is it, Spouter? Can you make out?” he questioned quickly. “Is his
arm or part of his body caught, or is it only his clothing?”

“It’s his arm. It’s twisted around one of the tree limbs,” gasped the
other.

Taking a deep breath, Jack allowed himself to sink down. He felt around
in the darkness under water and found Randy’s free arm. The boy was
doing his best to liberate the other arm, which was held tightly in a
crotch of the submerged tree. Close beside the limb was a sharp rock,
and the force of the overturning tree was holding Randy against this.

“I’ve got to get him out somehow,” thought the young major, and,
pressing himself against the rock, he pushed with all his might on the
tree limb, trying to force it back. Then he gave his cousin’s body a
shove. Then, unable to hold his breath longer, he came to the surface.

As Jack did this the body of Randy appeared two yards away. He was all
but overcome when Spouter went to the rescue, followed by Fred. Between
them they managed to hoist the gasping youth into one of the boats.
Then they got into another craft, and Jack did likewise.

By this time the wind was blowing more furiously than ever and the
cadets found it all they could do to get to shore. Fortunately they
found a small inlet where, among the bushes, it was comparatively
quiet. In the meanwhile the upturned boat drifted away and was lost to
sight in the darkness.

“Is Randy all right?” questioned Gif anxiously, flashing a searchlight
he carried.

“He’s pretty well used up,” returned Fred. “But I think he’ll come
around.”

An instant later Randy gave a deep gasp and then opened his eyes. Then
he commenced to cough and presently sat up.

By this time it had begun to rain and the boys could see that they were
in for a sudden summer storm. At first the rain came down gently, but
soon there was a heavy downpour and all were glad to seek the shelter
of some overhanging trees.

In the meanwhile several of the boys did what they could for poor
Randy. He felt rather weak from his thrilling experience, and had
little to say. But they knew he would get over it, and for this they
were exceedingly thankful.

“Gee! if he’d been drowned I don’t know what we should have done,” Jack
said, with a shudder.

“Please don’t mention it, Jack!” returned Andy. “If anything like that
had happened to Randy I’d never have been able to go home and face
mother and father.”

“It shows how careful we’ve got to be when we’re out on this lake,”
came from Fred. “Gif warned us about those snags.”

“This is the only part of the lake where those snags exist,” said
Gif. “The rest of the lake is perfectly clear and deep enough for any
ordinary boat. Father used to warn us against coming up along this
shore. He always said it was much safer to go outside, even if one
rowed around some of those islands.”

“And I’ll say your father was right!” returned Spouter. “I think if
we’d taken the outside route we’d have been perfectly safe even in the
wind.”

“If you young gen’lemen wants to walk to the bungalow there’s a path
through the woods jest behind here,” announced Jeff presently. The
accident had scared him very much. “Of course it would be a wet walk,
but you could make it. It ain’t more’n a mile at the most.”

“Well, we’ll either have to do that or else stay here all night,” said
Gif.

“What about that lost boat?” questioned Jack.

“We can’t do anything about that in the wind and the darkness, Jack.
We’ll have to wait until the storm is over and it grows light.”

“And what about my suitcase and that one belonging to Randy? They both
went overboard when the boat upset,” put in Spouter mournfully.

“Maybe we can fish them up if the lake isn’t too deep,” suggested Fred.
“But we’ll want to do it in good weather and when it is light. We don’t
want to take any more chances with those snags.”

“What about you, Randy? Do you think you can walk to the bungalow?”
questioned Jack kindly.

“I can try,” was the brave response. “I think I can walk part of the
way, anyhow.”

“We can carry you the rest of the way if we have to,” answered Jack.
“In fact, I can start to carry you right now,” he added.

But Randy would not submit to this, and so the whole crowd started off
through the woods on foot, Jeff and Gif leading the way. They carried
their suitcases with them, but left the bundles behind.

By the aid of the searchlight it was comparatively easy to find the
path through the woods, and once on this they found walking not so bad.
Toward the end of the journey Randy lagged a little, and thereupon Jack
insisted that his cousin get on his back.

When they finally reached the bungalow they found the long, low,
one-story building in absolute darkness. The front door had two
padlocks upon it, and Gif produced the keys given to him by his father
and unlocked the portal and threw it open. Then he threw the rays of
the searchlight into the living room. At once came a scurry of little
feet and then several dark objects scuttled through an open doorway
toward the rear of the building.

“What were they?” questioned Spouter quickly.

“I don’t know. Either rats or squirrels. Anyway, they’re gone,”
answered Gif. “Come on in out of the rain,” for the wind was blowing
the rain well under the wide porch of the bungalow.

By the illumination afforded by the flashlight the boys could see that
the living room of the bungalow was plainly but neatly furnished with
a big square table, several chairs and two long benches. To one side
was a large fireplace on which some wood had been placed ready for
lighting.

“We’ll soon have this place looking more comfortable,” said Gif. “We’ll
get a good fire started, and then we can dry our clothing. In the
meantime Jeff can go into the kitchen and stir things up there.”

“How are you going to get a meal with the grub left behind?” questioned
Andy.

“Oh, there’s always something of some sort here, isn’t there, Jeff?”

“Was last time I was here,” answered the colored man. “We always left
some stuff in the tin canisters and in some glass jars, so that the
mice and rats and squirrels couldn’t get at ’em.”

Two lamps were lit, and then they lighted the fire in the big
chimneyplace. Soon the flames were roaring merrily, and then the lads
began to take off some of their clothing. Randy was glad to disrobe and
wrap himself in a blanket from one of the beds.

“I can’t help but think how close I was to drowning,” he whispered to
Fred. “It makes me shiver every time I think of it!”

“Don’t mention it!” was the reply. “We’ve got to be awfully careful
after this, Randy.”

“You bet!”

As soon as his guests had been made as comfortable as circumstances
permitted in the living room, Gif went out into the kitchen to learn
what Jeff was doing. He found the colored man building a fire in an
old-fashioned cookstove which had been in use in the bungalow for many
years.

“Ain’t very much to eat, I’ll tell you that,” said the colored man.
“Got a little coffee and sugar and some canned corn and some sardines.”

“Well, I brought a big loaf of bread along and some crackers from that
box we had,” answered Gif. “We’ll have to make out somehow. It’s better
than nothing. I’m thinking the storm will clear away by morning, and if
it does we can get out early and rescue that stuff we left behind.”

“Ain’t no way to do,” grumbled Jeff. “We ought to’ve stayed down to Mr.
Mumbleton’s place. If we’d have done that there wouldn’t have been no
accident nor nothin’.”

“Well, we’re here, and we’ve got to make the best of it, Jeff,”
answered Gif briefly. He was by no means pleased to think that the
colored man had been “wished on them” by his father.

Gif returned to the living room, leaving Jeff to prepare the evening
meal as best he could. He proceeded to take off more of his garments,
hanging them where they might dry before the open fire. In the
meanwhile all could hear the wind sighing mournfully through the trees
that surrounded the big bungalow and hear the rain coming down on the
roof as steadily as ever.

“Well, we’re much better off here than if we had stayed in the woods,
that’s sure,” said Jack, as he stretched out on a bench in front of the
fire. “This will be fine when once we get settled and have everything
to work with.”

“I wonder if those other fellows got back to the Willoughby camp,”
mused Fred.

“I don’t see why not. They started long before we did, and they don’t
have any snags on that side of the lake,” answered Gif.

The boys could hear Jeff moving around the kitchen and they heard
the clatter of kettles and pans as the colored man was preparing the
evening meal. Then, of a sudden, they heard Jeff let out a wild yell.

“Hi! Hi! I’s killed! I’s killed!” roared the colored man. “Save me!
Save me! I’s killed!”




                             CHAPTER XVIII

                            AT THE BUNGALOW


The uproar in the kitchen was so terrific that all the boys in the
living room of the bungalow leaped to their feet in alarm.

“I’s killed! I’s killed!” roared Jeff. “I’s stung to death!” and, with
a clattering of a kettle on the floor, the colored man came dashing
into the living room flourishing a frying pan in one hand.

“What is it, Jeff? What has happened?” questioned Gif.

“It’s a snake! A great big long snake! Right on the shelf over the
stove!” wailed Jeff. He dropped the frying pan on the floor. “He done
stung me on the hand and on the arm! I’s a dead man!” and he began to
moan pitifully.

“What kind of a snake was it, Jeff?”

“Did he rattle?”

“Was it a blacksnake?”

“I don’t know what he was! He was behind some old newspapers and
magazines! I done put my hand up there to get down a salt-shaker and
he pushed his head out and stung me――stung me twice, right on the
hand and on the wrist. I’s a dead man! Somebody run for a doctor. If
I don’t gets a doctor I’ll be dead before mornin’,” and Jeff began to
move around the living room, swinging his injured hand and moaning and
groaning loudly.

Of course all of the boys were alarmed. They had had several adventures
with snakes, some of them poisonous, and they knew that all that Jeff
said might be true. On the other hand, they realized that the snake
might be almost harmless.

Although they had left a large part of their luggage behind when
starting on the walk through the woods, they had brought with them
a shotgun and a pistol. Grabbing up the shotgun, Jack walked to the
kitchen door.

“Flash your light in, Gif,” he said, for the illumination made by the
kerosene lamp in the kitchen was rather dim. “If that snake is still on
the shelf a dose of shot at such close quarters will soon finish him.”

With caution the two boys advanced into the kitchen of the bungalow. At
first Gif flashed the light all over the floor, and especially in the
corners.

“What about that thing over there, Jack?” he exclaimed suddenly.

“Only a dirty dishcloth,” answered the Rover boy.

Having made sure that no snake was lurking on the floor of the kitchen,
Gif picked up a broom that was handy.

“I’ll shove the stuff off the shelf with this,” he said. “If you see
anything of the snake, blaze away.”

“I sure will,” answered Jack, raising the double-barreled shotgun and
placing his finger on one of the triggers.

The others had crowded to the doorway to see what was taking place,
leaving Jeff still moaning and groaning in the living room. The colored
man was sure that he was going to die――that he had been poisoned.

Holding up the searchlight so that the rays fell full upon the kitchen
shelf, Gif elevated the end of the broom, and then, with a quick
motion, sent the newspapers and magazines flying to the floor at one
side of the stove.

As the mass of reading matter came down some dirt and a small wiggling
object not over two feet long came with it. Jack was ready to fire, but
suddenly thought better of it and, leaping forward, placed his foot on
the object.

“Just a plain little garter snake,” he said, with a laugh. “If I had
shot it there wouldn’t have been enough left to show Jeff.”

“Maybe the big snake is among the papers,” suggested Fred, who stood
just behind Gif.

“We’ll soon see,” returned Gif, and with the broom he scattered the
papers and magazines in every direction and with it a quantity of dust
and cobwebs. But nothing in the way of a reptile appeared.

“Here, give me that snake,” said Gif, after they had looked around the
floor carefully. And catching the little reptile by the tail he snapped
it into the air, almost severing the head from the body. Then, still
holding the snake, he went into the other room.

“Here’s the thing that stung you, Jeff,” he said coolly. “Those stings
won’t hurt you any more than the sting from a good big mosquito. You
ought to be ashamed of yourself for getting so scared over nothing,” he
added, a bit more sternly.

Jeff was crouched before the fire, rocking to and fro and moaning. Now
he looked up with staring eyes at the little snake Gif was holding.

“Tha――tha――that ain’t the snake what stung me,” he faltered.

“Yes, it is, Jeff. We just got it out of that bunch of papers on the
shelf. There isn’t another snake anywhere around. How this little thing
got in and on the shelf, I don’t know. Must have crawled in through
some little hole in the floor or the wall.”

“I――I――I’m certain sure it was a big snake what stung me,” mumbled the
colored man.

“Oh, Jeff, you’re full of tacks!” answered Jack. “Go on back into the
kitchen and look for yourself.”

“A little snake like that couldn’t harm anybody,” came from Andy. “Why,
a hundred of ’em wouldn’t be any worse than a bunch of mosquitoes!”

Jeff looked rather sheepish. He examined his hand and his wrist, and
then moved rather slowly toward the kitchen.

“I never did like no snakes,” he said. “I had a cousin once down South
got bit by a moccasin and he didn’t live no time at all. When snakes is
dangerous they’s dangerous, and I don’t want none of ’em around me.”

“If you’re afraid to go into the kitchen and get us something to eat,
I’ll go in there myself,” said Gif sharply.

“Oh, I’s goin’! I’s goin’!” answered the colored man hastily. “We’ll
have supper in a few minutes. Ain’t much to cook, as I done told you
before.” Then he resumed his preparations for the repast.

Even when it was ready the supper did not amount to a great deal.
However, the boys managed to make it do, and, thoroughly tired out,
were glad enough to go to bed early.

As Gif had told them, the bungalow was a low, rambling affair. On
each side of the big living room were three bedrooms and there were
more bedrooms in the rear. Behind the bungalow was a long, low shed
which, Gif explained, had occasionally been used for “the overflow” of
visitors to the fishing club resort.

The boys decided that they would bunk together, two in a room, thus
occupying two rooms on one side of the big living apartment and one
room on the other. Jeff was to use a small room directly off of the
kitchen.

“I’s goin’ to make sure there ain’t no snakes in my bed,” he announced
when getting ready to retire.

The two fires had dried out the bungalow thoroughly, and, utterly worn
out with their day’s exertions, the Rover boys and their chums slept
soundly until nearly eight o’clock the next morning. When they arose
they found that the storm had cleared away and that the sun was shining
as brightly as ever.

“This is something like!” declared Fred, as he went out on the porch of
the bungalow and stretched himself. “My, what a pretty view!”

It was all of that, and the other boys came out to gaze upon the scene
before they finished their toilets. They could look up and down the
long lake for miles. In front of them were the pretty little islands
known as the Cat and Kittens, all covered thickly with brushwood.

“If it wasn’t for the islands we could look right over to the
Willoughby camp,” said Gif. “It’s right in that direction,” and he
pointed with his hand.

“Looks to me as if we were going to have rival camps,” was Jack’s
comment.

“I hope those Longley fellows keep their distance,” came from Fred. “We
didn’t come up here to have our outing spoiled by Flanders, Sands and
that bunch.”

There was very little to eat for breakfast, and this being so, the lads
resolved to go back along the path through the woods without delay and
bring in the remainder of their luggage and other stuff left behind.

“You can come with us, Jeff,” said Gif. “I want you to help us with the
boxes of provisions.”

“Don’t you want me to stay at the bungalow and clean up a little?”
asked the colored man, who had no desire for anything in the way of
strenuous work.

“No, you come along. You can clean up after we get back.”

“Have you a long boathook handy, Gif?” asked Spouter. “You know, Randy
and I want to rescue our handbags if we can.”

“Sure! We’ll take a couple of them along,” was the answer.

It did not take the party long to reach the place where the two
rowboats and their supplies had been left. They had covered the
supplies with a raincoat and with some tree branches, and now found
them in fairly good condition.

“What do you say, Fred, if you and I go back with Jeff and carry all
we can,” said Gif to the stout young Rover. “Jack and Andy can help
Spouter and Randy look for the lost baggage and the missing rowboat.
Then, when they get back, we’ll have a good meal ready for them.”

“Suits me,” said Fred, and in a little while he and Gif set off in
company with Jeff, each loaded down with all he could carry. This work
did not suit the colored man at all, but Gif paid scant attention to
his grumbling.

The other boys found it no easy task to locate the missing suitcases.
They paddled around in both boats for the best part of a quarter of
an hour without success. Then Jack suggested that he undress and look
around as best he could under water.

“Well, you take care that you don’t get stuck the same as I was,” said
Randy.

“I’ll be careful, don’t fear,” was Jack’s answer. “I’ll take one of the
poles down with me.”

He was soon in the water, and after diving several times managed to
locate Spouter’s baggage and fasten it to the boathook. Then this was
hoisted up, and Jack went down again, and after another long search
found the rest of the baggage.

“That’s fine, Jack!” said Randy, when his suitcase came up. “I suppose
everything will be soaked, but I don’t know of much in there that the
water will hurt.”

“You’ll certainly have to do over your neckties, and maybe your
shirts,” said Andy, with a grin.

“Oh, well, a little thing like that doesn’t count,” answered his cousin.

Having recovered the things from the bottom of the lake, the four boys
set out on a search for the missing rowboat.

“The wind was blowing toward the east shore,” said Jack. “Maybe we’ll
find it along there somewhere under the overhanging bushes.”

They pulled around in one of the boats for the best part of half an
hour, but without sighting the missing craft. By this time the sun was
mounting in the sky and they were beginning to feel hungry.

“Guess we’d better get the other boat and go back to the bungalow and
come out again after we’ve had something to eat,” suggested Spouter.
“It may take a whole day or more to locate that missing boat.”

They were about to turn toward the other shore of Great Bear Lake when
they saw a rowboat coming out of a cove just below them. The rowboat
contained four young fellows, two of whom were rowing and the others
taking it easy in the bow and stern.

“Must be some of the fellows from the Longley camp!” exclaimed Spouter.

“More than likely,” answered Jack. And then, as the distant boat swung
further out of the cove, he added: “And look! They’re dragging an empty
rowboat behind them!”




                              CHAPTER XIX

                       A QUARREL OVER A ROWBOAT


“That’s our boat!”

“I think so myself. Come on. Let’s row over to them before they have a
chance to reach their camp!” cried Jack.

“That’s the talk!” returned Spouter.

“I wonder if they got the oars,” said Randy. “The pair I was using was
dandy.”

“It isn’t likely,” answered Andy. “You let them fall overboard, didn’t
you, when the boat upset?”

“Sure! Everything went out, as far as I know.”

With each cadet at an oar, the four lads sent the rowboat through the
water with good speed, and in less than five minutes were hauling up
alongside of the other craft. Those at the oars proved to be Tommy
Flanders and Billy Sands. The fellow in the stern, who was smoking a
cigarette, was Paul Halliday, while the fourth lad was a stranger to
the boys from Colby Hall, although they had seen him in the Longley
contingent at the ball games.

“Hello! So you found our boat, did you?” exclaimed Spouter.

“Your boat?” demanded Tommy Flanders. “Who said it was your boat?”

“I say it,” answered Randy. “That boat got away from us yesterday in
the storm.”

“Did you find the oars?” questioned Jack.

“No. We didn’t find anything but the boat,” said Halliday. “And you’ve
got to prove it’s your property before we give it up,” he went on
suddenly and with a wink at his companions.

“That boat belongs to Mr. Garrison,” declared Jack. “We got it from
Mose Mumbleton only yesterday.”

“Well, you’ll have to prove that before we give it up,” came from Tommy
Flanders. “Don’t you say so, fellows?”

“Sure we do,” put in Billy Sands readily.

“Of course if it’s their boat they ought to have it,” came somewhat
slowly from the fourth boy.

“Nothing doing, Fiddler!” cried Halliday. “We wouldn’t take their word
for anything. We’re going to take this boat to our camp and they can’t
have it until they prove it belongs to them. For all we know, they saw
us pick the boat up and now want a chance to get it for themselves,
even if it doesn’t belong to them.”

“Halliday, you ought to be punched for that!” cried Randy angrily.

“You know well enough we wouldn’t claim the boat if it wasn’t ours,”
added his brother.

“I don’t know anything about it. If this boat belongs to Mr. Garrison
he’s got to prove property. Besides that, he ought to pay for having it
brought back. If it hadn’t been for us the boat might never have been
found.”

“Oh, so you’re out for a reward, are you?” remarked Spouter
sarcastically. “How much do you think you ought to have――a quarter or
fifty cents?”

“I don’t want any of your funny talk, Powell,” roared Halliday, in a
rage. “I’m not looking for any reward, nor am I going to turn this boat
over to somebody it doesn’t belong to.”

“There is the name on the stern!” cried Randy. “_Comet!_ That’s the
name of the boat we were in yesterday when we got upset on a snag.
That’s our boat, and no question about it.”

“Well, we’re going to take the boat to our camp. If Mr. Garrison wants
the boat and can prove it belongs to him, let him come over there,”
said Tommy Flanders, after a few whispered words to his cronies. Then
those in the other boat began to row away.

“Great tomcats! we’re not going to let them get away with our boat, are
we?” gasped Andy. “Why, I’d fight ’em first!”

“So would I,” declared Spouter. “That boat belongs to us, and they know
it as well as we do. It’s only a trick to keep us from having the use
of the craft.”

“Let’s pull after them and cut the boat adrift,” said Jack. “Andy, you
get in the stern and have your knife ready. We’ll show those fellows a
trick or two.”

“Right-o,” answered his cousin, and without letting those in the other
craft see what they were doing Andy got out his pocketknife and opened
the largest of the blades. The others fell to rowing, and in a few
seconds more were alongside of the rowboat which was being towed.

“Hi! Let go of that!” cried Billy Sands suddenly, and, reaching out
over the stern, he tried to pull the second boat closer.

Andy, however, was too quick for Sands, and in a twinkling he reached
over and cut the line. The loose end he caught in his hand and in a
moment more the empty rowboat was tied fast to the stern of the craft
occupied by the Rovers and Spouter. Then Andy dropped back in his seat
and grabbed his oar.

“Away we go, boys!” he chuckled. “I don’t believe they can catch us
even if we have got to drag the other boat behind us.”

“Stop! Stop!” roared Tommy Flanders. “Stop, or we’ll have the law on
you!”

“You go to grass, Flanders,” answered Andy.

“Don’t you dare to follow us,” called back Spouter. “If you do you’ll
be sorry for it.”

“Oh, let ’em go. It’s probably their boat, anyhow,” said the boy who
had been called Fiddler, in a low tone. “We don’t want that boat. We’ve
got all the boats we need.”

There was a hot argument between this boy and the others from Longley
Academy, and while this was going on the Rovers and Spouter pulled
steadily and soon placed quite a distance between themselves and the
other craft. Then, looking back, they saw Tommy Flanders and his crowd
take up their oars again and row in the direction of Willoughby camp.

“What a nerve they had!” remarked Randy, as he and the others let up a
little in their rowing.

“I’ll bet if we hadn’t spotted them they would never have said a word
about the rowboat. That is, if they found out we had lost it,” came
from Jack.

“Just shows how mean that bunch is,” declared Andy.

“They’ll be meaner than ever after this, Andy. They’ll want to square
up with us for getting the best of them in this affair.”

As the other boat was now well on its way to the camp on the east shore
of Big Bear Lake, the boys from Colby Hall determined to turn back once
more and take a look around for the missing oars. This they did, and
spent an hour in rowing slowly up and down the shore and around several
small islands. They were rewarded by finding two of the oars. What had
become of the other pair was a mystery.

It was well toward noon when they got back to camp, and it must be
confessed that their arms were tired and they were glad to rest a bit
before partaking of the dinner prepared by Jeff under the directions
and with the aid of Gif and Fred.

“What gall those fellows had,” remarked Fred, when he heard the story
the others had to tell.

“If they had kept that boat my father could have made it hot for them,”
remarked Gif.

“Oh, they wouldn’t dare to keep it. They only thought they were going
to make us a lot of trouble,” answered Jack. “It was just a little
meanness on their part, that’s all.”

All the boxes and bundles had been brought in; and as soon as they
had rested and had dinner Randy and Spouter set about emptying their
suitcases and drying out their contents. Fortunately, nothing had been
permanently injured, for which the lads were thankful.

Several days passed, the boys doing little except to go in bathing
and lie around outdoors enjoying themselves. The bungalow boasted of
several hammocks, and these were stretched between convenient trees,
some of them quite close to the water. The lads went fishing, catching
a fine mess of pickerel and perch, which they had Jeff fry for supper
and for the following breakfast.

“Well, Jeff certainly knows how to fry fish,” remarked Jack, after he
had eaten his supper. “I never ate fish that tasted better.”

“That’s the one thing that Jeff can do,” answered Gif. “Otherwise,
I think he’s about as lazy and worthless as any nigger I ever met.
Privately, I wish we could get rid of him.”

“You’d better pile more work on him, Gif. Maybe then he’d get tired of
the job and make an excuse for going home,” suggested Spouter.

“I’m certainly going to do something unless he wakes up,” answered the
other.

On Monday, following a quiet Sunday in camp, all the boys rowed up to
Rocky Run to purchase some additional supplies from Mose Mumbleton.
The old storekeeper was glad to see them and had some news to impart.

“Three more young fellows came for that other camp yesterday,” he said.
“A fellow named Smith, another named Mason and a third chap with a big
wide mouth, named Stowell.”

“That was Codfish!” exclaimed Andy. “They said he was coming up here.”

“Did they buy anything from you, Mr. Mumbleton?” questioned Jack.

“Oh, yes; a few things. But most of those fellows are terribly sharp at
driving a bargain. I guess they haven’t got any too much spending money
with them. Another thing! Mr. Flanders was up here. He has a boy over
to the camp. He’s the man, you know, who bought that factory up on Flat
Rock Creek.”

“Is he staying up at the camp?” asked Andy.

“Oh, no. He was going up to a farmhouse that’s quite close to the old
factory. I think he wants to look the property over. He’s thinking of
opening it up again, you know.”

“What sort of factory is it?” questioned Fred.

“Why, it used to be a paint works. What they’re going to do with it now
though, I don’t know. It’s a pretty good building, and I suppose it
could be used for most anything.”

After the storekeeper had supplied them with the things they wanted
he told them they had better hang around a little longer as the train
would soon be in with the mail. They waited as directed and were
rewarded with a number of letters which, of course, they read eagerly.

One communication received by Jack was from Ruth. In it the girl
declared that she was having a fine time with the other girls at Valley
Brook Farm, but that she was very much worried over her father’s
business affairs.

    “The loss of the book of formulas is worrying dad a great
    deal,” she wrote. “Not only because he spent so much money on
    it, but because he got some of the money from Uncle Barney
    and because he signed an agreement to purchase a place where
    he could manufacture those artists’ colors. And worst of all,
    the loss of the money seems to have revived that old quarrel
    between dad and Uncle Barney. Mother is terribly worried,
    especially as dad doesn’t seem to be nearly as well as he was
    before that aeroplane accident.”

The reading of this communication worried Jack not a little. He could
see that Ruth was much downcast over the state of affairs.

“Everything all right, Jack?” questioned Fred. “Here’s a letter from
dad if you’d like to read it. Everything is O. K. down their way.”

“Oh, they’re all well enough up at the farm,” answered the young major.
“But Ruth has her troubles,” and then he told of what the girl had
written.

“It’s too bad,” remarked his cousin. “I wonder why Mr. Stevenson
doesn’t try to get on the track of those two men, Norris and Lemrech,
the workmen who were interested in getting such formulas. Don’t you
remember they said Lemrech was of a shady reputation and not above
stealing the formulas and that the other fellow, who was his cousin,
was the same kind of man?”

“Well, Mr. Stevenson is probably trying to locate those fellows. But
maybe they know enough to keep out of sight.”

“If he shouldn’t get the formulas back, Jack, it might bankrupt him.”

“That’s just what I have been thinking,” answered the young major
soberly.




                              CHAPTER XX

                           AT THE RIVAL CAMP


Several days passed and the Rover boys and their chums began to feel
thoroughly at home in the camp at Big Bear Lake. The weather since the
storm when they had arrived had been ideal, and they slept with all the
doors and windows wide open. This aired the bungalow thoroughly.

Because of Jeff’s constant worrying concerning snakes they had made a
thorough search in and around the bungalow for such reptiles. Their
only discovery was a nest of half a dozen garter snakes, not one of
them over two feet long, under some rocks near the shed behind the
house.

“I half wish we could find a snake three or four feet long and scare
Jeff almost to death,” grumbled Gif. “Then maybe he’d pack up and go
home.”

“What a pity I didn’t bring that paper snake along――the one we used to
scare Codfish with,” answered Andy. “I might try that big imitation
firecracker on him, only he saw it the other day and saw that I was
using it for a collar and necktie box.”

During those days the boys went in swimming several times. They even
got up a little race among themselves, which Jack won with ease,
Spouter and Randy being tied for second place. They saw but little of
the cadets at the Willoughby camp. Once they noticed several rowboats
going in the direction of Beldane at the lower end of the lake, and
with the aid of the fieldglasses Gif had brought along recognized some
of the occupants.

“I guess they’re going down there for their supplies instead of getting
them of Mose Mumbleton,” was Jack’s comment. “I suppose they have an
idea that Mumbleton is a special friend of yours, Gif, and that’s why
some of those fellows, especially Flanders and his bunch, don’t want to
trade with him.”

“Well, I’m sorry to have Mumbleton lose the money,” answered Gif.

“Oh, he won’t lose very much,” put in Randy. “Don’t you remember he
said they were very close at driving a bargain for what they wanted?
They would probably like to have him sell his goods without any profit.”

“I’d like to have a look at their camp,” said Andy. “What’s the matter
with rowing over to that side of the lake to-morrow?”

The others were willing, and they left directly after lunch on the
following day, Gif first instructing Jeff as to what he was to do
during their absence.

“I want you to clean up the living room thoroughly, Jeff,” said he.
“And then I want you to get a first-class dinner ready for us. We’ll be
back about six o’clock. Have those fish we caught this morning and some
fried potatoes, corn, and see if you can’t turn out some kind of nice
cake or a pie. There are plenty of apples on hand for a pie.”

“All right, I’ll ’tend to everything,” mumbled the colored man, but he
looked anything but pleased at the prospect. He had come to the camp
hoping that the boys would do most of the work and that he could take
it easy.

One of the rowboats was considerably larger than the others, and the
six boys piled into this, taking two pairs of oars with them.

“We can take turns at rowing,” said Gif. “That will give each fellow a
chance to rest. We can take our own time, too, because it isn’t so very
much of a trip.”

“Let’s row in and out among the Cat and Kittens,” suggested Jack.
“I’ve been wanting to land on those islands ever since we came to the
bungalow.”

“You won’t find much of a landing place, Jack. Every one of the islands
is covered with brushwood to the water’s edge, as you can see.”

The boys rowed around the larger island and then in and out among the
four which were smaller. As Gif had said, they found each of them
heavily wooded and did not see a single place where a good landing
could be made.

“If anybody wanted to build on any of these islands he’d have a job
clearing the ground,” was Spouter’s comment. “Not a single spot where
a fellow could run a boat ashore. You’d have to fairly fight your way
through the bushes.”

“That’s what makes them so beautiful,” said Fred. “I never saw prettier
islands anywhere――not even over at Lake George.”

Having gone around all the Cat and Kittens, they set out for the
eastern shore of Big Bear Lake, heading for the cove into which the
recovered rowboat had drifted.

“We might possibly pick up one or both of the oars we lost,” said
Randy. “I’d like to get them back.”

“Oh, Randy, you mustn’t worry about those oars,” put in Gif. “They
were not worth a fortune, and we’ve got several extra pairs up at the
bungalow, as you know.”

Nevertheless, with plenty of time on hand, the boys spent the best part
of an hour skirting the cove and looking into every corner where they
thought the oars might have drifted. Once they thought they saw one of
the oars, but the object proved to be nothing more than a sunken log.

“I suppose we might as well give it up,” said Randy, after a while.
“Let’s go around to the Willoughby camp and see what those fellows are
doing.”

A row of less than ten minutes brought them in sight of the camp
occupied by the cadets from Longley Academy. The little dock and the
two small bungalows behind it seemed to be deserted, not a soul being
anywhere in sight.

“Must have all gone off for the day,” said Jack. “Well, I don’t blame
them for wanting to get away when the weather is so fine. Plenty of
time to stick around camp when it rains.”

“Shall we go ashore?” questioned Fred.

“Better not,” came from Spouter. “If we landed and anything was found
to be wrong afterwards they’d say we did it.”

“Listen! I hear somebody calling!” cried Andy suddenly.

“It’s a cheer! Somebody is cheering!” exclaimed Jack.

“I believe they’re having some sort of a game,” said Gif. “They’re out
in that cleared spot up the lake a bit.”

“Come on! Let’s row in that direction!” cried Randy.

They were soon at a point on the lakeshore where only a thin fringe of
bushes and trees separated them from what had once been a pasture lot
belonging to a small farm. Here they discovered half a dozen of the
Longley cadets enjoying a game of baseball with two boys batting and
the others in the field.

“There is Tommy Flanders,” said Fred, in a low tone as they brought
their rowboat to a standstill. “He’s at the bat!”

“And there is Billy Sands on first, and Halliday is pitching.”

“Codfish is in the field. There is the fellow they called Fiddler, too.”

Flanders, who had just had two strikes called on him, now knocked a
ball well out in the field and began to run to first base, and then
back to home. Codfish tried to catch the ball, but missed it and went
sprawling on the grass.

“Good work, Tommy!” cried one of the boys, as the runner came in.

“Hello! what are you fellows doing here?” came a sudden cry from the
brushwood. “If it isn’t the fellows from Colby Hall! What do you know
about that?”

The speaker was a Longley boy named Bob Mason whom Jack and Gif knew
fairly well. He had been tramping along the shore looking for a good
place to fish. He carried a fishing pole in one hand and a can of bait
in the other.

“Oh, we just thought we’d take a little row,” answered Gif pleasantly.
“We get tired of sticking in one place.”

“I don’t blame you,” answered the Longley cadet. Then he set up a
shout: “Hi, you fellows! Come over and see who’s here!”

“What’s that?” questioned Billy Sands, as the baseball game came to an
abrupt halt.

“Here are the fellows from Colby Hall!” called back Mason.

“Colby Hall!” exclaimed Billy Sands. “What are they doing here?” And
then he and the others forsook the improvised diamond and came crowding
down to the lakeshore.

“Have you fellows been up to our bungalows?” demanded Tommy Flanders
before the visitors could say a word.

“No. We haven’t been ashore. We’re just rowing around the lake,”
answered Jack.

“Huh! Spying around our camp, eh?”

“We have a right to look at it, haven’t we?” demanded Gif sharply.

“Oh, you don’t have to get on any high horse, Gif Garrison, just
because your father owns that bungalow on the other side of the lake,”
cried Paul Halliday. “This is our side, and we want you to keep away
from it.”

“Oh, say, Halliday! what’s the use of acting that way?” put in Bob
Mason. “They aren’t doing any harm. The lake is free to anybody.”

“You can’t tell me anything about that crowd, Mason. I know them better
than you do,” answered Paul Halliday sullenly. “I didn’t leave Colby
Hall for nothing.”

“We left it as much as anything to get rid of that bunch,” put in Billy
Sands.

“They always want to pick on a fellow,” came from Codfish. “They’re as
mean as dirt. I think all of the fellows here ought to make them keep
away.”

“We won’t come near your camp if you don’t want us to,” answered Jack.
“You can keep to your side of the lake and we’ll keep to ours.”

By this time several other of the Longley boys had appeared, including
Ted Maxwell. Most of the crowd were of the Flanders stripe and apt to
take sides against the Rover boys and their chums. But Maxwell and
Mason, on the other hand, wanted to be friendly.

“No use of getting hot about it, Tommy,” said Maxwell to Flanders. “Why
not have some good-natured rivalry? We might have some rowing races,
some swimming races, and we might even get up a baseball game, six on a
side――that is, if they would care to play with six men.”

“You’ve got the right spirit, Maxwell,” answered Jack promptly. “We’ll
go into any contest against you that you suggest. We’ll row you or swim
you or play baseball against you. Or we’ll even shoot against you if
you say so,” he added, with a smile.

“That’s the talk!” cried Mason. “Let’s get up a few contests. This
outing is getting awfully stale, anyhow.”

“We don’t want any contests with them,” grumbled Flanders.

“Sounds as if you were afraid,” put in Fred.

“Oh, I’m not afraid. But I like to pick my opponents.”

“Well, we’ll be ready for you any time you say,” called out Gif, after
a few whispered words with his companions. And thereupon he and his
chums rowed away.




                              CHAPTER XXI

                             THE BIG BEAR


“I wonder if we’ll hear from them again,” remarked Spouter, after the
rowboat had gotten out of the hearing of the Longley cadets.

“We’ll hear from them if Maxwell and Mason have their say,” answered
Jack. “Those two chaps seem to be pretty decent fellows.”

“Maybe they’ll shame the others into some sort of a contest,” was
Randy’s comment.

“If they don’t offer to do something it will show they’re afraid,” came
from Andy.

“I’d like to play a game of baseball with them,” said Jack. He had been
very sorry not to be able to get in the games held during the school
term.

“Gee! but wouldn’t we give it to ’em though?” murmured Fred. “I’d just
love to knock Tommy Flanders out of the box again!”

“They’d want us to get a full nine together, and I don’t know how we’d
manage it,” said Gif. “With only six fellows, we’d have no outfielders
at all.”

“Oh, maybe we could pick up three fellows at Rocky Run or at Beldane,”
suggested Spouter.

“Well, we wouldn’t need any outside fellows if we went into a rowing
race or a swimming contest,” said Fred. “They would be lots of fun,
too.”

“And we might get up some running races,” suggested Gif. “There is a
footpath all the way around the lake, so we could arrange to run to
Rocky Run and back or to Beldane and back or any other place. It would
be lots of sport――a race along a footpath through the woods!”

“Fine chance to trip over a tree root and break your neck,” chuckled
Andy. “Just the same, I wouldn’t mind going into such a race myself,”
he added quickly.

The boys continued to talk the matter over as they rowed slowly along
the lake front in the direction of Beldane. Then, when it was almost
five o’clock, they turned to cross the lake at a point considerably
below where the Garrison bungalow was located.

“There’s a wide cove up yonder,” said Gif, pointing with his hand.
“Some day we’ll have to go and explore it. The old hunters used to call
it Big Bear Cove.”

“That must be, then, where the bears hold out,” cried Randy.

“I don’t know much about that, Randy. Nowadays names don’t seem to
count for much. You’ll go to a place called Rosedale and not find a
rose in it.”

“Yes, I once went to a place called Cherryville,” said Spouter, “and so
far as I could find out there wasn’t a cherry tree anywhere around.”

“How about Rocky Run?” questioned Jack. “Did any of you see any unusual
amount of rocks around that place? I didn’t.”

“Well, let’s take a look at Big Bear Cove, anyway,” suggested Fred.
“We’ve got lots of time. You can bet Jeff won’t be in any great hurry
about dinner to-night.”

“More than likely he’ll just be starting it when we get back,” said
Gif, his face clouding. “That coon certainly takes the medal for
laziness. I wish dad would get rid of him.”

Still taking their time, the boys followed the shore of the lake for
a quarter of a mile more and then turned into the opening known as
Big Bear Cove. Here there were a number of small islands, all as well
wooded as the Cat and Kittens.

“Seems to me this ought to be a lumberman’s paradise,” remarked Andy.

“Not such a paradise as you would think, Andy,” answered Gif. “You
see, the growth is so thick none of the trees have much of a chance.
Consequently, only a few of them are of a size to meet a lumberman’s
approval. Many of them, too, are all twisted out of shape. There is one
place back of our bungalow that is so thick it’s known locally as The
Barrier because the lumbermen and hunters have found it impossible to
get through the thickets.”

“Dandy place to get lost in, I’ll say,” remarked Randy dryly.

“What a grand――oh, what a sublime spectacle!” murmured Spouter, who
was standing up in the stern of the rowboat looking around. “What a
picture for a painter! Can’t you see what wonderful water colors an
artist could paint here? Just think of the inspiration he could get
from yonder pretty inlet with those stately trees and those beautiful
overhanging bushes. And then――Great Scott, boys, look!”

Spouter’s flowery oration came to a sudden close, and, giving a gasp,
he pointed up the cove to where a series of rocks jutted out into the
water. On the rocks was a huge form which suddenly came up on its hind
legs the better to get a view of what was beyond.

“It’s a bear! A big black bear!” ejaculated Fred.

“A bear! A bear!” was the cry, and all of the boys fairly glued their
eyes on the bear that still remained reared on its hind legs looking
out toward the lake.

“Oh, what a shot!” murmured Jack. “If only we had a gun!”

“And we didn’t even bring a pistol!” groaned Fred.

“Nor a camera,” put in Spouter. “Talk about a picture! Wouldn’t it be a
dandy?”

So far the bear had not seen the rowboat nor the boys. But now the gaze
of the big creature suddenly shifted just as Randy and Fred dropped
their oars into the water to row closer. There was a sudden snort of
astonishment. The bear came down on all fours and in a second more the
creature had leaped from the rocks and plunged out of sight into the
brushwood behind.

“He’s gone!”

“Wasn’t he a big one?”

“No wonder they call this Big Bear Lake!” exclaimed Jack. “He was as
big as any bear I ever saw in the Zoo.”

“And just to think we didn’t have a gun!” murmured Randy. “Oh, what
rotten luck!”

“It’s the old story of seeing the biggest game when you haven’t got a
gun,” remarked Randy. “What do you think, Gif?” he went on. “Would it
be worth while to row to the bungalow and get our guns and go after
that bear?”

“I don’t think so,” was the ready reply. “We scared him so that he’s
probably a mile or more away by this time.”

“Just the same, I think we ought to come up and hunt for him some
time,” said Jack. “We might be able to trail him through the brushwood.”

“Oh, yes! let’s hunt for him, by all means,” cried Fred.

“What if the bear does a little hunting on his own account?” questioned
Andy.

“You’re not afraid, are you, Andy?”

“Oh, no, Fred. But when we go bear hunting we’ve got to be mighty
careful. You know it isn’t like hunting rabbits or squirrels.”

“Oh, I know that.”

The boys could not resist the temptation to row to the point of rocks
where they had seen the bear, and they even went ashore to take a look
around. They soon satisfied themselves that bruin was no longer in that
vicinity.

“My! but didn’t he look big when he sat up?” cried Fred. “I’ll bet he
was eight feet high.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Fred,” answered Jack. “Just the same, he was
pretty big for a black bear.”

“I’d hate to have him rise up in front of me and hug me,” said Spouter.

“I wonder if there are any other bears around here,” remarked Fred.

“More than likely. It’s very seldom that you’ll find a bear traveling
entirely alone. Most likely the mate of the bear is somewhere around.”

At last the boys turned away from the rocky point and rowed out of the
cove in the direction of their bungalow. They had spent more time than
they had expected, and now found the sun setting over the trees to the
westward.

“Gee, this rowing has made me as hungry as any bear!” announced Randy.

“Same here,” answered Spouter. “I do hope Jeff has dinner ready.”

“Some fried fish and fried potatoes won’t go half bad,” put in Jack.

“I told him to have it ready at six o’clock, and it’s now half past,”
came from Gif. “I hope he hasn’t burnt any of the stuff waiting for us.”

The lads were soon in sight of the bungalow. As they came closer a
smell of cooking mingled with a smell of something burning greeted
their nostrils.

“He’s got supper ready, all right enough,” announced Gif.

“But what’s that burning?” cried Jack.

“Must be something on the stove,” returned Spouter. “Maybe he spilled
something.”

“We’ll soon see,” cried Gif, and as soon as the boat reached the little
dock he leaped ashore, followed by the others.

As they hurried to the bungalow they found black smoke pouring from the
open doorway. Rushing inside, they saw that smoke was coming from the
kitchen.

“Hi, Jeff! what’s the matter?” cried Gif.

To this question there was no response, and a glance around showed that
the colored man was nowhere in sight. On the stove rested a large pan
of fried fish and another pan containing fried potatoes. Both the fish
and the potatoes were much overdone, and each pan was sending forth a
volume of smoke.

“Confound him!” cried Gif. “He’s let the fish and the potatoes burn!
What do you know about that?”

“Better get them outside, Gif,” answered Jack, who was close by his
chum. “Here, give me that pan!” And, catching up a cloth, he caught
hold of the pan of fried potatoes and carried it outside. Gif followed
with the pan of fish. Other things were on the back of the stove, and
these were likewise beginning to burn.

It must be confessed that Gif was thoroughly angry, and so were all
the other boys. They had returned to the bungalow, each with a hearty
appetite, and now the expected dinner was burnt and worthless.

“I wonder where Jeff went?” questioned Jack, glancing around.

“He ought to have his neck wrung!” growled Gif.

“Maybe something happened to him,” returned Spouter.

Hastily the six cadets started on a search around the bungalow. It came
to an end almost immediately as Andy set up a low cry.

“Here he is! He’s asleep!”

“Asleep!” snorted Gif. “The idea! I’ve half a mind to use a horsewhip
on him!”

Andy had found Jeff lying in one of the hammocks. The colored man,
bedecked in his big kitchen apron and wearing his cook’s cap, was fast
asleep and snoring lustily.

“I’ll fix him, the black rascal!” began Gif, and started to rush
forward when Andy suddenly stopped him.

“Wait a minute, Gif,” said the fun-loving Rover, in a low voice. “Wait
a minute! We’ll give that coon the surprise of his life.”




                             CHAPTER XXII

                         THE DEPARTURE OF JEFF


As has been mentioned before, some of the hammocks which the boys had
slung were close to the water’s edge. One hammock, put up by Randy,
hung across a small stream that at that point flowed into Big Bear
Lake. It was this hammock into which Jeff had thrown himself, probably
while waiting for the lads to return.

“What are you going to do, Andy?” questioned Jack.

“Let him down into the brook. It will do him good,” returned the
fun-loving Rover.

“Now you are talking!” came from Gif. “Souse him good! He deserves it!”

Everyone of the boys was willing to teach Jeff a lesson, and the others
watched with interest while Andy brought forth his pocketknife and
commenced to saw away at the rope that held the hammock in place. All
unconscious of what was going on, Jeff snored away as lustily as ever.

“It’s going!” whispered Andy, a few seconds later. “Watch him, boys,
but get out of sight.”

The others understood and quickly sprang behind the neighboring trees.
Then Andy gave a final slash.

Crack! The rope parted. Splash! The hammock with Jeff in it struck the
brook, sending the water flying in every direction. Then the colored
man rolled over and the next instant was floundering around vigorously.

[Illustration: THE HAMMOCK, WITH JEFF IN IT, STRUCK THE BROOK.]

“Hi! Hi! Save me! I’s drownin’! I’s drownin’!” he bellowed. “Save me!”
And then he began to flounder around worse than ever.

The boys could not resist the temptation to laugh, and suddenly they
burst out in a roar, in the midst of which Jeff suddenly stopped his
struggling and arose to his feet in about two feet of water and mud. He
gazed at the broken-down hammock ruefully, and then his eyes wandered
in the direction of those who were taking in the scene.

“Wha――wha――what’s dis?” he stammered. “Who――who―― How――how did I come
in dat brook?”

“Jeff, what were you doing in that hammock?” demanded Gif.

“I――I jest been restin’, Mr. Gif. Jest been restin’ a minute waitin’
for you young gen’lemen to get back,” answered the colored man lamely.

“Just been resting for a minute!” stormed Gif. “You were sleeping as
soundly as a rock and snoring to beat the band.”

“And you let the supper burn up!” put in Jack.

“All those fine fish we caught, worthless!” added Spouter.

“Burnt up! Who says they’re burnt up?” cried the colored man, walking
out of the brook and stamping the mud from his feet. “I didn’t burn
nothin’.”

“Yes, you did. Everything is burnt,” answered Gif. “Just go and see for
yourself. What are we going to do for dinner?”

Jeff started toward the back of the bungalow and then saw the pan of
burnt fish and the other pan of burnt potatoes, both resting on the
ground near the doorway. His face fell, but then, of a sudden, he
turned around savagely.

“I don’t care! I didn’t mean to burn that supper up! You was so long
comin’ I jest thought I’d rest a minute. You didn’t have no call to
flop me into the water.”

“You’re lazy and good-for-nothing, Jeff,” answered Gif sternly. “The
best thing you can do is to get out of this camp. I’d rather do the
work myself than have you around.”

“Let him go,” answered Jack. “We can do the work between us. We’ve
done such work before.”

“I don’t like it up here nohow,” said the colored man. “They’s too much
to do with so many young fellows around. I’d rather go back.”

“Then you go,” answered Gif. “But remember, I’m going to write to my
father and let him know just how lazy and worthless you’ve been here;
and I’ll get the other boys to write too, so he’ll know the truth of
the matter.”

“When do you want me to go back?” questioned the colored man, after a
pause. He was now just a little bit scared.

“You can go back to-night if you want to, or otherwise to-morrow. But
if you stay here to-night you clean up this muss and clean those frying
pans. And you get busy and cook us something worth eating, and be quick
about it,” returned Gif.

To this the colored man did not reply, but, taking up the frying
pans, he disappeared into the kitchen. Presently the boys heard him
clattering around among the kettles and pans and knew he was doing what
he could to prepare another meal for them.

It took Jeff the best part of an hour to prepare another meal, and even
then it was not as good as the boys would have wished. The colored
fellow was very sullen, and they could see that he was on the point of
breaking out. Gif, however, gave him no chance, and suggested that he
take the morning train at Rocky Run for home.

“How is I goin’ to get to Rocky Run with my baggage?” asked Jeff.

“I’ll row you over directly after breakfast,” answered Gif.

“I’ll go with you, Gif,” said Jack.

During the night Jeff must have thought the matter over and come to the
conclusion that he was in wrong, for he was up early in the morning
and had an excellent breakfast awaiting the boys when they arose. He
suggested in a roundabout way to Gif that he remain at the camp as
originally intended.

“No, Jeff, I’ve made up my mind we’re going to do without you,” said
Gif. “You’re too lazy and shiftless. You get your things together and
Jack and I will row you over to Rocky Run where you can get the train
and go home.”

The boys were ready at the appointed time, and much against his will
Jeff proceeded to get his baggage into shape and then came down and
got into the rowboat. In silence Gif and Jack rowed him to Rocky Run,
arriving there some ten minutes before train time.

“Now there’s your ticket, Jeff,” said Gif, after he had procured it.
“And that’s all.” And thereupon he and Jack left the colored man at the
railroad station waiting for the train.

“It ain’t right,” said Jeff sullenly. “It ain’t right nohow. I came up
here to have a job for the rest of the summer. It ain’t right to send
me off. You’ll be sorry for it some day.”

To this neither of the boys made answer. They wished a few things from
Mose Mumbleton’s store and they also wanted to know if any mail matter
had come in the day before.

There were half a dozen letters, one from home, two from Valley Brook
Farm, and several from their school chums.

“Hello, here’s news!” cried Gif, as he read one of the communications.
“This is from Dan Soppinger, and he says he and Fatty Hendry and Ned
Lowe and Walt Baxter are on an auto tour and expect to pass through
Beldane in a couple of days, and if we’ll come there and show ’em the
way they might visit our bungalow.”

“Good!” returned Jack. “I’d like first rate to see those lads. It will
brighten things up a bit to have them at the camp.”

“Say, Jack! if those fellows would only stay over a few days it would
give us a chance to get up a baseball match against the Longley bunch.”

“So it would! We’d have our six fellows here and Dan, Walt and Ned. I
don’t suppose Fatty Hendry would care to play. He never was much at
baseball.”

“He could be one of the umpires. We’d probably want two――one from each
side. That is, unless we could get some outsider.”

“It would be better to have an outsider, Gif. They wouldn’t be
satisfied with our man’s decisions and probably we wouldn’t be
satisfied with the decisions from their side.”

“Well, anyway, we’ll have to go down to Beldane and meet them. Then we
can talk the matter over. Maybe, after all, Longley won’t give us a
match. You know how Tommy Flanders felt about it.”

“Yes. But I think Ted Maxwell has more influence with the crowd than
Tommy Flanders.”

As before, Jack had a letter from Ruth. The girls were talking of
returning to New York and then the crowd were to visit May Powell. Ruth
wrote that her father was still somewhat sick and greatly worried over
his business affairs and over the loss of his book of formulas.

“That certainly is a mystery, Jack,” said Gif, when the young major
mentioned the matter to him. “I don’t see why he doesn’t get some
first-class detectives on the trail of those thieves.”

“I suppose he has somebody on the case,” answered Jack. “It’s pretty
hard, though, to do anything if you haven’t got some sort of clue to
work on.”

“I think I’d follow up the Germans who sold the formulas in the first
place.”

“As for that, he is convinced that they were perfectly honest in the
matter. I think the thing to do is to follow up those two other men
they mentioned, Lemrech and Norris.”

Having finished reading their letters and placing the letters for the
other lads in their pockets, Gif and Jack procured such supplies as the
camp needed, paid for them, and started down toward their rowboat. As
they were stowing their supplies away they glanced along the lakeshore
and were somewhat surprised to see one of the boats from the Willoughby
camp tied up there. Then they saw Halliday, Sands and the youth called
Fiddler talking earnestly to Jeff. They had been told that the morning
train was late and would not arrive for a good half hour.

“I wonder what those fellows want of Jeff. They don’t know him,” said
Jack curiously.

The boys from Colby were on the point of rowing back to the bungalow
when suddenly Billy Sands came running forward, hailing them.

“What do you want, Sands?” questioned Gif, bringing the rowboat to a
stop.

“I want to ask you something about this colored man,” answered Sands.
“He worked for you, didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Is he honest and all that sort of thing?”

“He’s honest so far as we know.”

“Pretty good cook, too, isn’t he?”

“Sometimes. What do you want to know for?”

“Why, we’re thinking of taking him up to our camp. We’re tired of doing
our own work.”

“Well, you’re welcome to Jeff if you want him. We’re through with him.
We prefer to do our own work.”

“I see.” Sands paused for a moment. “You say he’s perfectly honest?”

“As far as we know.”

“And he’s a fairly good cook?”

“Yes.”

“Hum!” Sands rubbed his chin reflectively. “Well, I think maybe we’ll
give him a chance. It’s awfully hard to get anybody up here.” And
thereupon rather abruptly he started to walk back to his cronies.




                             CHAPTER XXIII

                           DEEP IN THE WOODS


Of course the other boys were greatly interested in the news that Gif
and Jack had to impart when they returned to the bungalow. They found
the other lads cleaning up not only the living room and the bedrooms,
but likewise the kitchen.

“Now that Jeff has gone we’re going to have everything in apple-pie
order,” said Fred. “Of course, we’ll have to take turns at getting the
meals and all that sort of thing.”

“You can’t imagine where Jeff is going,” cried Jack, and thereupon
related what had occurred at Rocky Run.

“Well, as far as I am concerned those Longley fellows are welcome to
Jeff,” was Randy’s comment.

“I’ll bet they get sick of him pretty quick,” came from Spouter. “They
won’t like his laziness any more than we did.”

Then Gif and Jack told about the possible visit from the other Colby
Hall cadets and passed over the letters received.

“On a tour!” cried Andy. “What do you know about that? Some style, I’ll
say! I suppose they’ll want to put up at the best hotel in Beldane.”

“We’ll have to have ’em over here, by all means,” cried his twin.

“Sure, we’ll have to have them over,” answered Gif. “The bungalow is
plenty big enough. And besides we were thinking we might get up a
baseball game against the Longley bunch.”

“Right-o!” cried Fred.

“And we’ll wallop them good and plenty,” said Spouter.

“Why can’t we challenge ’em right away?” asked Andy impatiently.

“No, we’d better wait until the other fellows get here. They may not
want to stay that long and they may not want to play in a match.”

“Oh, nonsense! They’ll play quick enough.” Nevertheless, it was decided
that no challenge should be issued until the other boys were on hand.

Now that Jeff was gone, the boys felt more at home than ever. They
could do exactly as they pleased with no older person to interfere.

“Gif, you’ll have to make out a regular schedule for us to follow,”
said Jack. “You’re at the head of the camp, you know.”

“Fiddlesticks!” cried Gif. “You fellows have as much to say here as I
have. This is an every-man-for-himself camp.”

Just the same a schedule was made out, the boys taking turns in pairs
at cooking while the others took turns at making beds and cleaning
up generally. This schedule worked out very well, and while some of
the things may not have been cooked as well as if the colored man had
served them, nobody complained.

The boys had not forgotten about the big black bear, and on the
following day all set out on a hunt. Each carried firearms of some
sort, and they likewise took with them a substantial lunch, for there
was no telling when they would get back to the bungalow.

“Now that Jeff is gone, I guess we’d better lock up the bungalow,” said
Gif. “We don’t want any tramps or wild animals to get into it.”

“What about the boats?” questioned Spouter.

“Oh, we’ll leave them tied up. I think they’ll be safe enough. We can
put the oars in the house.” And this was done.

Gif was acquainted with the path that ran along the lakeshore, and he
led the way with the others following close behind. They passed through
some heavy brushwood, and then made their way around and over a series
of rough rocks.

“Say, this puts me in mind of some of the climbing we did when we
located that cave where those fellows had the German submarine,”
remarked Fred, referring to a time which has been described in detail
in the volume entitled “The Rover Boys Under Canvas.”

“Gee, but those were exciting times!” said Jack.

“Oh, we’ve had some other exciting times since then,” came from Randy.
“Don’t forget our days down in Texas and out at Big Horn Ranch.”

The six lads pressed on, Gif and Jack somewhat in advance and the
others following more slowly. Spouter brought up the rear, for he was
very apt at times to stop to view the situation.

“I never saw more beautiful views,” said he, as he came to a halt at
a point where the path overlooked the sparkling lake. “Every turn is
beautiful enough to drive an artist crazy. I wish I could paint. I’d
like to spend the whole summer doing some of these scenes.”

“We’ve got to pay more attention to taking pictures, Spouter,” answered
Randy. “A nice collection of photos will give us something to remember
this outing by.”

As they walked through the woods they started up some small game, but
did not attempt to do any shooting, not being certain in regard to the
game laws. Besides, they knew that a shot would frighten the bear if
it was anywhere in that vicinity. They had small cameras along and
occasionally stopped to snap a picture or two.

Presently they reached the rocky point where the bear had been seen.
They approached cautiously, thinking that bruin might possibly be in
sight. But nothing came to view.

“I bet this is a good cove for fishing,” remarked Fred. “I’m quite sure
I saw some fish stirring around over there just now.”

“Well, we’re not out for fish now,” answered Gif. “We want to get on
the trail of Mr. Bear if we can.”

Leaving the point of rocks, the six cadets plunged into the woods,
following a trail which they knew must have been made by wild animals.
As they advanced they spread out a little to the right and to the left,
always, however, keeping within sight of each other.

“We’ve got to do that,” cautioned Jack. “Otherwise some of us may get
lost, and it would be a serious business to get lost in such a thick
woods as this is.”

“It certainly is an ideal spot for wild animals,” said Spouter. “I
wonder if there are any deer here?”

“Sure!” answered Gif. “But whether we’ll see any or not is another
story.”

“It wouldn’t do us any good if we did see some deer,” said Randy. “It’s
out of season to shoot them.”

“That’s true.”

On and on went the six boys, deeper and deeper into the forest. The
trail which was fairly well defined led up a small hill, and here they
came to an opening from which they could see for several miles around.

“Here is a pretty good view of the lake,” observed Spouter. “And see!
There are some rowboats!”

“Wonder if they are the rowboats belonging to the Longley boys,”
remarked Jack.

“There is a motor-boat off to the north,” said Randy. “I suppose that’s
one of the boats belonging to Beldane. I understand they have several
of them up at the hotel.”

Having rested for a short while on the hill, they took up the trail
once more and plunged down into the forest on the other side. Here,
after only a few rods had been covered, they found the trail spreading
into three forks.

“Now, then, which fork shall we follow?” questioned Jack.

“Don’t ask me,” answered Gif. “You know as much about it as I do.”

The six lads examined the three forks as best they could, and after a
brief discussion decided to follow that leading southward.

“There is no use of getting too far from home,” said Gif. “As it is,
we’ll be pretty tired by the time we get back.”

By noon the six boys were tired and hungry and perfectly willing to
rest for the midday lunch. They had brought sandwiches, crackers and
cake with them, and washed this food down with some water from a nearby
spring. They took their time over the meal, and then rested for another
half hour before resuming their hunt.

“Looks as if we were going to be skunked,” remarked Randy presently,
after they had climbed up the side of a rough hill and then down again.

“Don’t say anything about skunks,” retorted Gif. “That’s one animal we
don’t care to hit.”

“Oh, a skunk skin is quite valuable in these days,” said Spouter. “Just
the same, I think we’ll leave those animals alone.”

Several times they stirred up some rabbits and squirrels, and often
came across some birds. Once they heard a covey of partridges whirring
upward, but they were almost out of sight behind the trees.

“There must be some pretty good hunting here in the late fall,”
remarked Fred. He was sorry that they could not bring down some of the
small game.

“Yes, it would be great to come up here when the season is open,”
answered Gif.

All this time the boys were keeping their eyes wide open for the
possible appearance of a bear. But either there were no bears in that
vicinity or the animals knew enough to keep out of sight.

“Gee! I’m getting dog tired,” remarked Andy, about the middle of
the afternoon. “If you’ll ask me, I’ll say let’s head back for the
bungalow.”

“I second the motion,” said his twin promptly.

All were tired, even though they did not care to admit it, and, coming
to a small watercourse, they decided to follow this until they could
once more reach the lakeshore.

“I think it will bring us close to the bungalow,” said Gif. “In fact,
I’m of the opinion it’s the brook that flows into the lake right beside
the house.”

“You mean the brook that Jeff got his bath in?” asked Andy.

“That’s it. Of course I may be mistaken, but I think it’s the same
brook.”

It was no easy matter to follow the watercourse, because the bushes
were rather thick on either side and they did not wish to get their
feet wet if it could be avoided. However, they kept on steadily, and
soon came to an open spot where going was a bit easier.

“What’s the matter with one of us shinning up a tree to see just where
the lake is located?” remarked Jack presently.

“That’s the idea!” called out Fred. “Andy, you’re the best monkey of
the bunch. Let me give you a boost up this tree.”

Andy was willing to go up the tree mentioned, and in a moment several
of the others had given him a lift to the lower branches, and up he
went hand over hand until he was almost at the top of the tree.

“We’re heading in the right direction,” he called down. “The lake isn’t
more than half a mile off.”

“Can you see the bungalow?” questioned Gif.

“I can see something in the trees, but whether it’s the bungalow or not
I’m not sure.”

“Look! Look!” burst suddenly from Spouter. “Andy, take care of
yourself!” he shouted.

“What’s the trouble?” came from the top of the tree.

“Some animal is there, on one of the branches just below you! I don’t
know what it is,” was Spouter’s quick reply.




                             CHAPTER XXIV

                        SIX BOYS AND A WILDCAT


All of the other boys were much surprised by Spouter’s declaration that
there was some sort of animal in the branches of the tree Andy had just
ascended.

“What is it, Spouter?”

“Are you sure you saw it?”

“Was it a squirrel?”

“Couldn’t be a bear, could it?”

“No, it wasn’t a bear. It wasn’t large enough for a bear,” answered
Spouter. “It was just about the size of a great big tomcat.”

“Maybe it was a wildcat!” exclaimed Gif. “Wildcats have been shot more
than once around here.”

All of the boys rushed to pick up the firearms which had been dropped
when they had boosted Andy up the tree. Then they began to circle the
tree, looking up in all directions for a sight of the wild beast.

“What is it?” yelled Andy. And then he added quickly: “If you shoot,
don’t shoot me!”

“We can’t see anything,” answered Jack.

The boys on the ground were alarmed, but this was as nothing compared
to the alarm felt by Andy. His weapon had been left behind, and so he
was practically defenseless.

“There he is! I see him!” came suddenly from Randy. “There!” And he
pointed to a branch on one side of the tree. There was a flash of a
hairy body, a quivering of some of the leaves, and then all became
quiet again.

“It was a wildcat!”

“That’s just what it was!”

“Where did he go to?”

“Hi, you fellows!” cried Andy. “If it’s a wildcat don’t drive it up
here!”

“Can’t you break off a tree limb and use it for a club, Andy?” called
out Jack. “Maybe you can keep the wildcat from reaching you, anyway.”

The words had scarcely been uttered when with a catlike scream the
wildcat suddenly sprang from one side of the tree to the other. As it
passed through midair all of those below saw it plainly. It was full
grown and had a pair of glaring greenish eyes and claws that looked
exceedingly formidable.

Bang! It was Spouter’s weapon that spoke, but the charge of shot passed
below the limb on which the wildcat now rested. The youth had been
afraid to aim his weapon too high for fear of hitting Andy.

As the shotgun blazed forth the wildcat leaped to another branch of the
tree. This brought the beast in full view of where Gif and Jack were
standing. Simultaneously both boys raised their weapons and blazed away.

“He’s struck! He’s struck!” cried Randy, and as he uttered the words
the wildcat came tumbling down out of the tree into some brushwood.
Here the beast thrashed around for an instant and then crouched low as
if for a leap at the boys.

“Look out!” yelled Jack. “He’s going to spring!”

Then with a spitting snarl the wildcat made a leap. But as it did
so the small rifle Fred carried spoke up and a bullet went straight
through its head, killing it almost instantly.

“Is he dead?” questioned Randy, after the wildcat had fallen
quiveringly on the dead leaves of the forest.

“I guess so,” answered Fred. “But don’t go too near, he may be only
wounded.”

All of the boys had been taught to load up immediately after firing,
and now their first attention was given to their weapons.

“How about it? Did you hit him?” questioned Andy.

“Yes. He’s as dead as a doornail,” announced Gif, after a gingerly
examination.

“Any more wildcats in the trees?”

“I don’t know. But you keep your eyes open.”

In a few minutes Andy was on the ground beside the others, and all
surveyed the wildcat with interest. It was a full grown creature and
had it had the chance might have done great damage.

“What shall we do with it?” questioned Fred. “I don’t know that I care
for it particularly.”

“We might take it to the bungalow, anyway,” answered Gif. “If we could
take it down to Beldane we could get a bounty on it.”

“A bounty?” queried Andy.

“Sure! They pay five or ten dollars a head for wildcats in this state.
And they pay a bounty on bears, too,” he added.

“Would we have to take the whole animal to Beldane?” questioned Spouter.

“I don’t think so. I think the head and skin would be plenty. In some
places all they ask for is the ears or the tail, or something like
that.”

The boys had learned how to take care of the game brought down, and
now, after taking several pictures of the animal, they speedily skinned
the wildcat, bringing the head with the pelt. The carcass they threw
into the bushes.

“Well, we got something, anyhow,” said Fred with satisfaction, as they
continued to follow the watercourse toward the lake.

“One fine shot you made, Fred,” answered Randy.

“Fred, I don’t know what I should have done if you hadn’t brought him
down,” put in Andy. “He might have come to the top of the tree after
me.”

“Oh, I guess he was more scared than we were,” answered the stout Rover
boy modestly. Yet, behind it all, he felt quite proud of the shot he
had made. It had been at close range and he had had to think and act
quickly.

The relaxation from the intensity of the situation was felt by all of
the lads, and long before the bungalow was reached they were in a merry
humor, singing, joking and whistling loudly.

“I’ll tell you what we might have done,” said Gif. “We might have set a
bear trap and used that wildcat for a bait.”

“Would the bear go into such a trap?” questioned Jack. “I thought
they didn’t care very much for meat, especially in the summer time. I
thought they liked roots and things like that better.”

“We might have put some maple sugar in the trap with the meat,”
answered Gif. “Bears like sweets, you know.”

The boys arrived at the bungalow about sundown. All were too tired for
a while to do more than sit around and rest. Finally, however, they
prepared themselves a simple evening meal, and almost as soon as this
was disposed of one after another shoved off to bed.

“This is the ideal life,” said Jack, as he was undressing. “A fellow
doesn’t have to have any appetizing sauce for what he eats and he
doesn’t have to be rocked to sleep.”

“My dad always said that it made a new man of him to spend a week or
two up here in the woods,” answered Gif.

In the morning the boys took their usual plunge in the lake and after
breakfast decided to take one of the rowboats and go up to Big Bear
Cove and try their hand at fishing. Fred had noted a certain hole under
some large overhanging trees where he was certain they would be able to
get some pickerel of good size.

As they had done the day before, they took a lunch with them so that
there would be no hurry about getting back. And this was just as well,
because once they were at the fishing they found the sport so fine that
they hated to think of giving it up. Each one of them caught both perch
and pickerel, and one of the finny tribe landed by Jack weighed at
least two pounds and a half, while another, caught by Spouter, weighed
almost as much.

“We’ll have fish enough for several days,” said Gif.

“If only we can keep some of them alive,” answered Randy.

“Oh, I think we can. I’ve been fixing up that pound in the brook, you
know.”

The day was not without its surprises. Once Randy was standing on a
small point of rocks and had what he thought was a magnificent catch.
Suddenly the fish whisked around and before the lad could save himself
he lost his balance and went into the lake with a big splash.

“Hurrah! Randy’s gone in swimming with all his clothes on!” cried Andy.

“Don’t let the fish pull you away,” called out Fred gayly.

“Catch the pole! Catch the pole!” called Randy, as he came up to his
feet and scrambled out on the rocks. “There goes the fish with my pole!”

Jack handed his own pole to Spouter and made a leap for the rowboat.
Getting in, he sculled rapidly after the pole, which was being jerked
along the surface of the lake. As he caught the pole there was a snap,
and the empty line came flying toward him. What became of the fish they
never learned.

After that things went along quietly for half an hour. Then, of a
sudden, Spouter let out a yell.

“Hannibal’s ghost!” he called out. “I’ve got the biggest fish yet! Gee,
I can hardly budge him!”

“Play him, Spouter! Play him!” called out Gif. “Don’t let him get away
from you.”

“I knew some whopping big fish were down in that hole,” cried Fred.
“Play him for all you’re worth, Spouter!”

“I can’t budge him,” gasped Spouter. “Gee, what a catch!”

Spouter was so excited that all the others pulled in their lines and
ran to where he stood close to the bent-over trees which lined the edge
of that side of the cove. Spouter was trying his best to haul in, but
without avail.

“Maybe your line is caught,” suggested Gif.

“No, it’s a fish. I’m sure of it,” answered Spouter. “I felt it pull.”

All crowded closer to give Spouter whatever advice and assistance
they could. Even Gif tried to pull in on the line, but without avail.
Finally, however, Spouter twisted the line a little to one side, and
then up came the hook and attached to it what looked like the remains
of an old hunting boot.

“Well, what do you know about that!” cried Spouter, in disgust.
“Nothing but an old boot!”

“And I’ll bet it was caught in between the loose roots of the trees,”
said Jack. And then there was a general laugh, in which even Spouter
joined.

It was nearly five o’clock before the boys got into the rowboat again
and started to return to the bungalow. They had fifteen perch and seven
pickerel to their credit, and of this catch they were justly proud.

“We’ll have one dandy fish supper to-night,” said Randy, smacking his
lips. “And we won’t have Jeff here to burn it up for us, either.”

“Yum, yum! I can smell the frying fish already,” murmured Gif.

The boys took turns at rowing and soon reached the lake proper and then
sent the craft flying in the direction of the bungalow. As they came
close to the dock Spouter, who was looking ahead, set up a sudden shout
of wonder.

“Hello! what do you know about this? The other boats are gone!”

“The boats gone!” cried Gif. “Are you sure?”

“Look for yourself, Gif. We left them tied to the dock, didn’t we?”

“We sure did.”

The two boats that had been left at the bungalow dock were certainly
missing, and much mystified the six boys landed, to gaze around in
bewilderment. But gaze as hard as they might, they could see nothing of
the missing craft.

“Do you suppose Tommy Flanders and his crowd took them away?”
questioned Jack.

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” answered Gif.

Fred and Randy had turned toward the front door of the bungalow. The
key to this was hanging on a nail, and taking it down they unlocked
the door and threw it open. As they passed into the house a cry of
astonishment broke from them.

“Did you ever see anything like it before?”

“Who did this?”

“What’s the matter in there?” called out Gif.

“Matter? Everything’s the matter,” answered Fred.

“They’ve smashed up the whole house!” added Randy.




                              CHAPTER XXV

                          WHAT THE RIVALS DID


The other lads lost no time in following Fred and Randy into the
bungalow. They too gazed around in astonishment which readily turned to
dismay and anger.

And the lads had good cause to be angry. Someone had crawled through a
window and “rough-housed” the bungalow thoroughly. Hardly a thing had
been left untouched. All the bedding was scattered around on the floor,
some in the living room and some in the kitchen, and on top of this had
been piled the furniture and all the cooking utensils. To add to the
mess, books and papers were scattered in every direction, along with
all their canned goods and such fruit and vegetables as they happened
to have on hand. A side of bacon rested on one of the bunks and a ham
was in the woodbox under some kindlings. At one end of the center
table, which had been shoved into a corner, rested in a heap their
supply of coffee and at the other end in another heap their supply of
sugar. All of their plates, cups and saucers were missing, as were
also the knives, forks and spoons. All their extra underwear had been
tied together and in knots.

[Illustration: THE LADS HAD GOOD CAUSE TO BE ANGRY.]

“The Longley bunch did this――that’s as sure as sure!” cried Jack, as he
surveyed the scene.

“I think so myself,” returned Gif. “Some muss, and no mistake.”

“They ought to be hammered good if they really did it,” cried Spouter.

“I’d like to take a horsewhip over them,” came from Fred. “Look at that
sugar, will you? And look at the coffee!”

“Well, anyhow, they didn’t dare scatter it on the floor,” put in Randy.

“That proves one thing to me,” came quickly from Jack. “Tommy Flanders
and his bunch didn’t do this alone. If it was the Flanders crowd alone
they wouldn’t hesitate to make all our grub worthless to us. They would
have scattered everything on the floor or thrown it into the brook, or
something like that.”

“I believe you there, Jack,” answered Randy quickly. “Some of the
better class of fellows must have been in this. They did it just to be
funny.”

It was all the boys could do to make their way from one room to another
of the bungalow since each of the doorways had been cluttered up by
chairs and benches.

“Nothing to do but to straighten things out,” remarked Gif. “Some job,
I’ll say.”

“Do you suppose they took the boats away?” questioned Spouter.

“I hardly think so, Spouter,” answered Jack. “The fellows who did this
acted half decently about it; otherwise a lot of the stuff would have
been actually ruined. And that being so, I don’t believe they really
took the boats away. Probably they’re only hidden.”

“We ought to look around for the boats before it gets too dark,”
suggested Gif. “We can fix up things indoors any time.”

“Suppose we divide the work,” suggested Jack. “I and some of the others
can fix up the house while you and the rest look for the boats.”

This plan was carried out, and Jack and the twins remained indoors to
do what they could toward straightening out the bungalow while the
others went outside to hunt for the missing rowboats.

To rearrange the interior of the bungalow was no mean matter, for a
large part of the furniture was heavy and they had to be careful first
of all that they did not damage some of the canned goods which were
scattered in all directions.

“We’ll pick up the apples and potatoes and onions first,” ordered Jack.
“And then we can go at the canned stuff and the meat and things like
that.”

“We’ll have to find the lamps first,” said Andy. “It’s getting dark.”

The hunt for the three lamps took some time. They were finally located,
minus the chimneys, in the oven of the stove. The chimneys they
discovered on the back of a pantry shelf.

“Fine thing to put those lamps in the oven!” snorted Randy. “Suppose we
had built a fire there! That kerosene might have exploded.”

“Yes. And anyway we’ll have to clean that oven out. Otherwise it may
have a kerosene smell to it when we try to bake something,” added his
brother.

Lighting the lamps and placing them where they might not be knocked
over, the three boys set to work with a will and inside of half an hour
had salvaged all of the eatables. Then they commenced to place the
furniture in shape and picked up the bedding and their clothing.

“We’ll have to air the blankets out and dust them off,” said Jack.
“They got rather dirty on the floor, I’m afraid. And the underwear will
have to be washed――that is after we untie the knots.”

“It’s queer what became of all the tableware and knives and that
truck,” remarked Andy.

“Did you look in the woodbox?” questioned Jack.

“I did,” came from Randy. “That’s where I found the ham.”

The boys took the bedding out on the bungalow porch and shook it
vigorously. Then they left it on chairs to air while they made another
search around the building for the missing table stuff.

They were still on the hunt when they heard a shout from outside.
Running to the rear of the bungalow they heard voices up the little
brook that at this point flowed into Big Bear Lake, the same
watercourse they had followed when they had encountered the wildcat.

“Hello!” shouted Jack. “Have you found the boats?”

“Yes!” came from Gif.

“They’re tied up in the trees!” explained Spouter.

Jack and the twins ran in the direction of the voices and presently
came upon the other lads standing at the foot of a tall tree. Swinging
from one of the branches of this tree were the two missing rowboats.

“Some job they must have had, to tie them up there,” remarked Andy.

“Yes. And we’re going to have a job to get ’em down,” answered Gif.
“I think we’d better let it go over until to-morrow.”

“I’m willing,” said Jack.

“Now you’ve found the boats perhaps you can find the dishes and knives
and forks and spoons,” said Andy. “We can’t get a trace of ’em.”

All of the lads returned to the bungalow feeling that the boats would
be safe where they were for the night. They straightened out the rest
of the furniture and made up the beds and then started to get supper
ready.

“I don’t know what we’re going to eat off of,” remarked Gif. “We’ll
have to use tin pans and basins and kettle tops and whatever is handy.”

“And we’ll have to eat with our pocketknives and the kitchen fork,”
added Randy, with a grin.

“Well, anyway, I’m glad the grub isn’t missing,” broke in Spouter. “I’m
hungry enough to eat a meal with my fingers.”

They soon had some potatoes on to boil. Then they cleaned some of the
fish and started to fry them and also made themselves a large pot of
coffee. To the hungry lads the aroma from the coffee and the smell of
frying fish were exceedingly appetizing.

“Makes a fellow feel like home――a smell like that,” was Fred’s comment.
He was slicing some bread which had been brought from Rocky Run on the
last visit to the store.

It was a comical sight to see the boys try to eat their supper without
any of the tableware. One used a pie plate, another a saucepan and
still another an old frying pan. Andy used an overturned teakettle
cover and his twin had to get along with the glazed bottom of a
jardiniere which someone had once left at the bungalow. All used their
pocketknives but Gif and Spouter, who managed to get possession of the
bread knife and the smaller article used for peeling potatoes.

“This must be like life in the trenches,” remarked Randy, while they
were eating.

“I guess we’re better off than that,” responded Jack quickly. “Lots of
times those poor fellows had to eat out of their bare hands.”

In spite of the trick that had been played upon them all of the boys
slept soundly that night. They felt that they would be perfectly safe
in retiring without leaving a guard.

“Those fellows won’t dare show themselves around here for a while,”
remarked Gif. “They’d be too afraid we’d pitch into ’em.”

“They wouldn’t hang around very long, anyway, if they saw us with our
guns,” added Fred.

“We’ll have to pay ’em back for this little joke, Fred,” said Andy.

“Of course. Just give me the chance and I’ll show ’em what we’ll do!”

“I think the best we can do is to say nothing at all about it,” said
Jack. “Don’t let on that anything unusual has happened. That will keep
them guessing.”

In the morning the lads took their usual plunge in the lake and then
Spouter and Fred prepared breakfast, it being their turn for so doing.
While they were at this the others went outside, first to indulge in a
little horseplay in the way of boxing and wrestling, and then to throw
themselves into the hammocks which were handy.

Jack was resting in one of the hammocks and gazing upward when suddenly
his eyes rested upon a couple of potato sacks swinging from ropes tied
to the tree limbs above him. At once he set up a shout.

“Hi, boys! Here is some more of the stuff, I guess!”

“Maybe the dishes are in those sacks!” exclaimed Gif, as he came to
view the suspended bags.

“We’ll soon find out,” was the reply, and Jack began to climb the tree
while the other boys gathered underneath. Soon he was at the sacks and
felt of them carefully.

“The tableware, all right enough,” he announced. “I guess the knives
and forks and spoons are here too,” he added, after feeling around some
more.

A long boat-line was procured and with this the sacks were lowered
carefully to the ground. As Jack had surmised, they contained all the
crockeryware, as well as the knives, forks and spoons. Not a single
thing seemed to be missing.

“Quite a stunt, I must admit,” said Spouter, “to hang those things and
the boats up in the trees. We might have hunted around a long while if
Jack hadn’t spotted those sacks.”

Directly after breakfast the boys made their way to where the boats had
been suspended, and inside of an hour had the craft safe once more at
the lake front.

“Now I guess we’re all fixed,” announced Gif. “I’m glad it was no
worse,” he added, with a sigh of relief.

“They certainly gave us enough work to do,” grumbled Fred.

“But not as much as it might have been,” answered Jack. “If Flanders,
Sands and Halliday were in this they must certainly have been held back
by some of the other Longley boys. Otherwise they would have smashed up
stuff and scattered it in all directions.”

“Maybe Jeff came over with ’em!” cried Andy suddenly.

“Possibly. But I think this is only the boys’ trick.”

The six lads were taking it easy that day after supper when they
discerned a motor-boat coming up the lake in their direction. As the
craft came closer several persons in the boat stood up and waved their
hands frantically.

“Hello! who can that be?” cried Jack, leaping to his feet. And then he
ran down to the dock, followed by the others.

As the motor-boat came closer there was a cry from across the water.

“Colby Hall, ahoy!”

“Why, it’s Dan and his crowd!” ejaculated Fred. “What do you know about
that!”




                             CHAPTER XXVI

                           THE BASEBALL GAME


The coming of Dan Soppinger and his crowd filled the Rover boys and
their chums with pleasure, and they did all they could to make the new
arrivals feel at home.

“We got to Beldane quicker than we thought,” explained Dan. “And there
was a boatman at the hotel who said he knew where your bungalow was,
so we thought we’d come right up instead of staying in the town over
night.”

“And you did just right!” answered Gif. “And we want you to stay here
for a few days at least.”

“And we want you to help out in a baseball game. That is, if we can
have our challenge accepted,” put in Jack. And thereupon the other boys
were told about the rival camp on the other shore of Big Bear Lake.

“Gee, that will suit me!” cried Walt Baxter.

“I’d like to stay here. But don’t ask me to play ball,” puffed Fatty
Hendry. “You know that exercise is too violent for me. I’m willing to
root, but that’s all.”

“I’ll be glad to play,” came from Ned Lowe. “It’ll be a change from
touring. I get rather cramped sitting in the car all day. Since we
started we’ve done nothing but ride, making a hundred and fifty miles
or more a day.”

“Maybe we can get the motor-boat fellow to take a challenge across the
lake before he goes back to Baldane,” suggested Gif. The man was still
at the dock awaiting orders from the lads he had had for passengers.

“That’s the talk! We’ll send the challenge right away!”

The boatman was consulted and readily consented to leave the challenge
at the Willoughby camp before returning to the Beldane hotel.

“We want you to put our baggage on check in the cloakroom until we get
back,” said Dan. “And take good care of our auto, too. You can come
back for us next Monday,” he added, after consulting Gif. And so it was
all arranged.

In the letter to the Longley boys Gif explained about the arrival of
the other lads and challenged their rivals to a game of baseball on
their own grounds on the coming Saturday afternoon. If the challenge
was accepted the cadets from both schools were to go to Beldane and
there select an umpire.

The arrival of the challenge from the Colby boys created a great stir
in the Longley camp. Ted Maxwell and a number of others were in favor
of an immediate acceptance, but Flanders and his cronies demurred.

“I didn’t come here to play ball. I came to take it easy,” growled
Flanders.

“I don’t want anything more to do with them,” put in Halliday.

“You were willing enough to go over there and rough-house the place,”
came from Maxwell. “Why not be a real sport? If we don’t play them,
when we get back to school they’ll tell everybody we were afraid.”

A hot discussion lasting fully an hour followed. Then a vote was
taken and eight of the Longley boys were found to be in favor of the
game while only three were openly opposed. Thereupon Flanders and his
cronies finally said they would play.

“And remember,” said Ted Maxwell, “if you do play you’ve got to do your
best.”

“Oh, don’t worry! We’ll wipe ’em off the face of the earth,” growled
Halliday.

“You let me pitch and I won’t let ’em get in a single run,” added
Flanders.

“I’ve got an idea,” went on Maxwell. “We might make this game quite
an affair. They’ve got a regular ball grounds down at Beldane, and
this week they’re holding a drive for a hospital that’s to be located
there. Why can’t we arrange to play at Beldane for the benefit of the
hospital? That ought to give us a good audience.”

“You’ll have to talk to Gif Garrison’s crowd first,” said Bob Mason.

Then came the question of getting an answer back to Gif. On account
of what they had done at the bungalow scarcely any of the lads wished
to go over to the other shore. They were much surprised, however,
when they landed to find that not a word was mentioned regarding the
“rough-housing” that had taken place.

“It would be a splendid scheme to play at Beldane for the benefit of
the hospital!” cried Jack. “That suits me exactly.”

“Let’s do it, by all means,” put in Fred.

And thereupon three boys from each camp set out in a rowboat for the
lower end of the lake to make the necessary arrangements.

As luck would have it, the ball grounds were not to be used on the
following Saturday, and the local authorities were only too glad to
have the exhibition game take place for the hospital’s benefit. No
admission fee was to be charged, but it was understood that during the
game a silver collection would be taken for the benefit of the proposed
institution. “And a silver collection doesn’t mean that you can’t drop
a bill in the basket,” added one of the committee.

Some of the boys had their baseball uniforms with them, while others
managed to either borrow or rent uniforms, so that on the day set apart
for the game both sides made quite a creditable appearance. They had
new balls and bats, and the Rover boys and their chums had spent all
their spare time in practice.

As in years gone by, Jack was to pitch for the Colby Hall team, as
it was called, while Tommy Flanders was to fill the box for Longley
Academy. Fred was to be first baseman, with Randy at third and Andy in
center field. Gif went to second and also captained the nine.

“You’ll have to act as a substitute, Fatty, whether you want to or
not,” said Gif.

“All right,” answered the stout cadet. “But please don’t call on me.
Finish the game among yourselves. I’ll be a high and mighty rooter,”
and he grinned.

It was advertised around the lake that two well-known military
academies would play a game of ball for the benefit of the new hospital
and this brought to the grounds a large number of people, including
quite a few automobile tourists. When the boys trotted out on the field
they were greeted with applause.

“There are the Colby Hall boys.”

“And there are the cadets from Longley Academy.”

“Looks as if we might see a pretty good game.”

The manager of the local ball team had consented to act as umpire, and
promptly on time the game started. Longley was first at the bat and in
a second more Jack found himself facing Mason.

“Now then, Bob, knock it over the fence!” cried one of the Longley boys.

“That’s it, Bob! Bring in a homer first clap!”

Although he had not been on the Colby nine since the new rule
concerning officers had gone into effect, Jack had not given up his
baseball practice and he felt himself in excellent condition when he
caught the ball that the umpire tossed to him. Then came the command,
“Play ball!” and he gave a warm up-swing and threw the ball over the
plate. Mason was on the alert and promptly knocked the sphere down to
center field where it was stopped by Andy and quickly sent to first.

“He’s out!”

“Hurrah! First blood for Colby Hall!”

It was a splendid beginning, but such a fine showing could not last.
Before the inning came to an end the Longley boys had scored two runs,
much to their delight.

“Now, Colby, show ’em what you can do!”

Although the left-handed pitcher who had battled against Colby Hall
during the games at the schools was at the camp, Tommy Flanders had
insisted upon filling the box and now he came forward with his usual
confident air.

“Go at ’em, Tommy! Eat ’em up!” cried Codfish, who had been playing
center field.

Flanders was on his mettle and it must be confessed that he did very
well――so well, indeed, that the Colby boys were retired in that first
inning without getting further than first base.

“Hurrah! That’s the way we’ll do ’em up!” shouted one of the Longley
supporters.

After this the game went along without either side scoring until the
fifth inning. Then Andy managed to get a single, followed by a double
from Gif, and then came another single by Walt, and when the inning
came to an end the score was a tie, 2 to 2.

“Some game, I’ll say,” said one of the men from the hotel. “Almost as
good as the professionals put up.”

“Fine young pitchers, both of them,” said his gentleman friend.

After that the game seesawed along until the eighth inning, when the
score stood 4 to 4. Both Jack and Tommy Flanders had pitched well, and
the support on each side had been almost flawless.

“Some game, I’ll say,” remarked Fred, as he came in to the players’
bench. “Why can’t all of us put up a game like this when we’re at home?”

The only flaw in the proceedings had been when Flanders had been
cautioned by the umpire for stepping out of the box when about to
deliver the ball.

“You’re mistaken. I didn’t step out,” growled Flanders, and became
quite angry.

“You heard the warning,” was all the umpire said, but the tone of voice
was such that the Longley pitcher knew he must pay attention to what
was told him.

When the Longley boys came to the bat for the last time their best
stick men were to the front, and as a result they managed to get in two
more runs, much to their delight.

“Hurrah! Six to four!” cried one of the Longley boys enthusiastically.
“Now then, hold ’em down to another goose egg and the game is ours!”

“We’ve got to do something, fellows,” said Gif earnestly. “Who is at
the bat?”

“I am,” answered Fred.

“Well, do your best.”

“I certainly will,” responded the stout young Rover, as he grasped the
ashen stick and walked to the plate.

Two balls and a strike were called on Fred. Then the sphere came in
just where he wanted it. Crack! went the bat, and the ball went sailing
between first and second base. Away flew Fred, reaching the bag in a
cloud of dust.

“Hurrah! A single! Now then, pile up a few more, fellows!”

Randy was to the bat next, and it must be confessed that he was just
a bit nervous, for he realized that their chances of winning the game
were slim. Nevertheless, after having a strike and two balls called
upon him, he managed to land on the horsehide for another single, which
took Fred safely to second.

Spouter now came forward and managed to dribble the ball down close to
first base. He was put out, but Fred managed to slide to third while
Randy reached second.

The next fellow to the bat was Ned Lowe. He knocked a pop fly, which
the second baseman gathered in with ease.

“Two out! Now hold ’em down and the game is ours!”

“Hit it, Jack, hit it for all you’re worth!” whispered Gif, as Jack
came forward with his bat.

The major of the Colby Hall battalion did not answer. But he set his
teeth and took a firm grip on the ashen stick as he faced Tommy
Flanders. A ball was called and then a strike, and then another ball
and a strike. All those in the grandstand seemed to hold their breath
for what might be coming. The game might be won or lost in a few
seconds more. Tommy Flanders wound up with care and the ball came in
just a trifle low. Crack! went the bat, and the horsehide sailed upward
far into the left field.

“Run, boys, run! It’s a two-bagger!”

“No, it isn’t! It’s a home run! Run!”

Fred, playing well off third, came in with ease and Randy followed
almost immediately. Jack was racing down to second, and as he did this
he saw that the fielder was still running to gather the bouncing ball.
Up he tore to third and there hesitated for an instant.

“Go in! Go in!” yelled Gif. “You can make it, Jack! Run! Run!” And with
leaps and bounds Jack came in over the home plate.

“Three runs! Colby Hall wins the game!”




                             CHAPTER XXVII

                         A SQUALL ON THE LAKE


Of course the Longley boys were keenly disappointed, especially as they
had thought they had the game “sewed up,” as some of them expressed it.
Yet the contest had been a fair one and they could not find fault over
the result.

“You win,” said Ted Maxwell, coming up and shaking hands with Gif. “A
good clean game.”

“I was a little out of practice,” grumbled Tommy Flanders. “I bet you
couldn’t beat us again,” and he walked off in disgust.

“Now we’ve had a ball game, why can’t we have a few races on the lake,
or things like that?” suggested Spouter.

“I’m willing,” put in Bob Mason.

“Maybe we’ll send you a challenge to a boat race,” added Maxwell.

“All right, anything you say,” returned Gif.

After the ball game matters ran along smoothly at the bungalow for a
week or more. Dan and the others who were touring left after having
had “the time of their lives,” as Walt Baxter expressed it.

There were three rowing matches arranged, a match between two of the
boys from Longley and two from Colby Hall, then a match for singles,
and finally a match in which the six boys in the camp were pitted
against six of their rivals.

“I hope we manage to do something in those boat races,” remarked Fred
one day, when the boys were tramping through the woods on another look
for the black bear they had seen.

“Well, I think we’ll have a good chance to win,” answered Gif. “We won
before, didn’t we?” he went on, with a smile.

“I’ll bet it made them sore to lose that ball game,” came from Jack.

“We sort of paid ’em back for rough-housing the bungalow,” remarked
Randy.

“Oh, we’ve got to fix ’em for that yet,” said his brother quickly.

From Mr. Mumbleton the boys had heard that a black bear had been seen
on the lower eastern shore of the lake and they had rowed over in that
direction.

“I think this is somewhere around the place where Tommy Flanders’
father bought that factory,” remarked Gif, after they had come to a
halt to rest for a few minutes. “They said it was on Flat Rock Creek,
and, unless I’m mistaken, this is the creek,” and he pointed to a broad
and somewhat muddy watercourse.

“I don’t think we care to visit any factories,” answered Spouter. “I
don’t see why a fellow should build such a thing up here. It just
spoils the scenery.”

The boys spent the best part of the day in the woods. They had, as
before, brought their lunch along and rested for nearly an hour after
eating it. Then they concluded that they might as well go back to where
they had left their rowboat and go home.

“What’s the matter with rowing past the Longley camp? If we see any of
the fellows we can ask them if they’re all ready for the boat races,”
suggested Fred.

The others were willing, and in a short while came close to the camp of
their rivals. Strange to say, no one was in sight, not even Jeff.

“Maybe they’ve gotten rid of that darkey already,” remarked Gif.

“Well, I wouldn’t blame ’em for doing it.”

“Let’s go ashore and take a look around,” suggested Andy, thinking
there might be a chance to play some trick on the boys who had
“rough-housed” the bungalow.

“You want to be careful that they don’t spot you, Andy,” warned Jack.

They pulled into a little cove under some overhanging trees and then
approached the camp very cautiously. Not a soul seemed to be about
either of the small bungalows nor at the shed in the rear, and, growing
bolder, the lads entered the nearest structure.

“Quick! Let’s give ’em a dose of their own medicine!” exclaimed
Andy, and in a twinkling they were all hard at work disarranging the
furniture, clothing and the bedding and the entire contents of the
kitchen. Then they hurried to the other bungalow.

“Let’s cart the bedding out into the woods. We can hang it over some
bushes,” suggested Randy, and this was done with all possible speed.

Then Andy took all the spoons in the place and jammed them down out of
sight into a big pot of salt. The forks he jammed down into a pot of
sugar.

“I think that’ll keep ’em guessing a little while,” he chuckled.

Only one boat belonging to the Longley camp was to be seen, and after
surveying the situation the boys managed to push this under the dock
completely out of sight.

“They’ll have to go in swimming to get that boat out,” said Jack, with
a laugh.

Having disarranged the entire camp to their satisfaction, the boys
hurried back to where they had left their boat and pulled away toward
their own shore.

“Here come a couple of boats now!” cried Jack presently. “I think
they’re the Longley fellows coming from Rocky Run.”

They kept on rowing and presently the other boats came close enough to
be hailed.

“We’ve been taking your friend Jeff down to the railroad station,”
explained Ted Maxwell. “We found he was no good――too lazy――so we
shipped him.”

“I don’t blame you, Maxwell!” exclaimed Gif. “I thought you’d get
enough of him before long!”

“How about the races?” called out Jack. “All ready for them?”

“We’ll be ready when the time comes,” answered another one of the
Longley boys.

“How are you going to keep house without Jeff?” questioned Andy.

“Oh, we’ll get along all right enough,” replied Paul Halliday. “We made
him put everything in apple-pie order before he left.”

“And you’ll find it in apple-pie order when you get back――I don’t
think,” muttered Randy in a low tone, and then the boats separated.

“I’d give a dollar to be on hand when they arrive home,” said Spouter,
with a laugh. “Won’t they be mad?”

“Well, it’s tit for tat,” returned Jack. “They mustn’t think they can
trick us and get away with it.”

At last came the day for the boat races. The Rover boys and their chums
had practiced constantly under Gif’s directions and felt that they had
done all they possibly could to win.

“If only the girls were here to see these races,” remarked Fred.

“Yes. And if only they had been on hand to see the ball game,” returned
Jack. And then his mind went back to Ruth and to her father and he
wondered how Mr. Stevenson was making out about the stolen paint-making
formulas.

In the singles Fred was victorious over Billy Sands and Jack came in
ahead of Paul Halliday. In the doubles Spouter and Andy lost to Ted
Maxwell and another of the Longley boys, while Gif and Randy won with
ease over the lad known as Fiddler and Codfish.

Of course the six-oared race, which took place three hours later, was
the big event. For this purpose two boats which were almost alike were
chosen and a course around a number of the islands was mapped out. Some
men in motor-boats from Beldane were asked to act as judges and in the
end the event took on quite a look of importance, many coming from all
around the lake to witness the contest.

“Here is where we have got to win!” declared one of the Longley boys.
“It will even up for losing that ball game.”

“Well, we’re going to win!” cried another, who was one of the best
oarsmen at the academy. “If you’ll follow my directions we can’t lose.”

For this race both crews had practiced carefully, and when they came
out to the starting line each looked to be in the pink of condition.

The race proved a great surprise in more ways than one. The sun was
shining, but there were heavy clouds in the sky and just as the race
started it began to rain. Then the wind blew up sharply.

“Row, boys, row!” cried Gif, who was setting the stroke.

“Gee, feel the rain!” murmured Andy. “We’re in for a ducking.”

“Never mind; pull!” answered Jack.

All had caught the stroke perfectly and were doing very well. They did
not hurry, for the course was over two miles and a half long and they
did not wish to tire themselves out before the finish.

Less than half of the race was over when the sudden summer storm broke
in all its fury. There was a vivid lightning flash across the sky
followed by a terrific crash of thunder and then came little less than
a deluge, which sent many of the observation boats to the shore in a
hurry.

“Gee, we’re going to catch a squall!” exclaimed Spouter. And he was
right, the heavy gusts of wind soon sending the whitecaps bobbing up
and down all around them.

“Don’t give up, boys!” shouted Gif, to make himself heard above the
sudden roar of the elements. “We’ve got to win this race, storm or no
storm.”

“Here come the Longley boys!” exclaimed Jack, as they were rounding one
of the islands. “Great Scott! did you ever see it blow so hard?”

The squall seemed to grow stronger by the instant, and the boys had
all they could do to keep the boat from foundering. Nevertheless, they
kept to their oars and soon saw the finishing line but a short distance
ahead. Only the motor-boat with the judges was nearby, all other craft
having hurried away to seek shelter.

Anxious to win the race, the Longley crew also kept on. But they had
swerved somewhat from their course, and now in trying to regain the
proper position they suddenly shipped a big wave.

“Hi! We can’t stand this!” cried one of the lads in sudden alarm.

“Pull! Pull!” yelled another. “We’ve got to win, I tell you! Pull!”

Then came another vivid flash of lightning over the lake, followed by
a deafening clap of thunder. The shock was so terrific that several of
the lads in the Longley boat were seen to throw up their hands and let
their oars go. Then wind and waves hit the rowboat a smashing blow on
the side and over it went, hurling the six occupants into the lake!




                            CHAPTER XXVIII

                        AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY


The rowboat containing the Colby Hall cadets had just crossed the
finishing line of the race when the wind and waves hit the Longley
craft, turning it over.

“Hurrah! We win!” shouted Andy, in keen satisfaction.

“Look! Look!” exclaimed Jack. “The Longley fellows are in trouble.
Their boat has turned over on them!”

“Gee! we’d better row to the rescue,” came from Fred, with a gasp. The
strenuous rowing had all but winded him.

In spite of the wind and whitecaps, the six boys managed to turn the
rowboat around and sent it in the direction of the other craft. They
could see one of the boys clinging to the upturned boat while the other
five were floundering around in the lake.

The catastrophe was witnessed only by those in the rowboat and the
judges and others aboard the motor-boat, for the downfall of rain was
now so heavy it cut out completely the view from the shore.

The motor-boat started to the rescue also, and arrived at the scene of
the disaster several seconds ahead of the Colby boys. The motor-boat
people managed to pick up three of the lads in the lake.

“Save me! Save me!” yelled one of the boys, and those in the rowboat
saw it was Billy Sands. He was throwing up his arms frantically.
Evidently the race had all but exhausted him.

As the rowboat came closer Jack reached over and caught Sands by the
arm, and then he and Gif pulled the dripping cadet over the gunwale.
They then rowed up beside Bob Mason and assisted him aboard.

“My gracious! did you ever see such a storm?” spluttered Mason. “I
never saw so much lightning in my life. I wish I was ashore.”

“Help! Help! I don’t want to be struck by lightning!” came in a bellow
from the overturned rowboat, and now the Colby Hall boys saw that the
fellow clutching the craft was Tommy Flanders.

Another flash of lightning now lit up the scene and the thunder rolled
along from one end of the lake to the other. In the midst of this those
on the motor-boat hauled in Flanders and then came beside the craft
occupied by the Colby Hall cadets and those they had rescued.

“Shall we pull you in?” questioned the man who had the motor-boat in
charge.

“Perhaps it would be as well,” answered Gif. “We’re pretty well tired
out from the race, and that wind is fierce.”

“All right. We’ll take you over to your dock. Here’s a rope. Tie it
fast.”

“What of our boat?” questioned Ted Maxwell.

“We can either pick that up coming back or let it drift. I don’t think
you’ll lose it.”

Some floating oars were picked up and then the craft belonging to Mr.
Garrison was hauled over to its dock.

“Well, you fellows win the race,” said the judge of the contest, with a
smile. “Some finish, I’ll say.”

“Won’t all of you come into the bungalow?” asked Gif politely. “No use
of starting out in this terrible downpour. It will probably let up in a
little while.”

“I think we might as well,” said one of the men present, and everybody
marched into the bungalow. Here fire was started, both in the living
room and in the kitchen, so that those who wished to do so might dry
themselves. Then several pots of hot coffee were made and passed
around.

“That touches the spot!” said Ted Maxwell gratefully. “I was quite
chilled by that sudden bath after being all overheated from the race.”

“I don’t want any coffee,” grumbled Tommy Flanders. “I want to get back
to our camp.” He had determined to make himself as disagreeable as
possible.

“We’ll take you over there as soon as the storm lets up a little,” said
the man who had the motor-boat in charge.

“It was a mighty nice thing for you fellows to do――to go to our
rescue,” remarked Bob Mason to Gif and Jack. “I’ll not forget it. I’m
sorry now that we came over here the other day and mussed things up.”

“Well, I guess you got paid back for that,” put in Andy.

“We sure did,” replied Mason, with a grin. And then he added in a
whisper: “Several of our fellows wanted to destroy your stuff, but
Maxwell and I wouldn’t stand for that.”

The sudden summer storm stopped as quickly as it had begun, and before
long the motor-boat departed, carrying the Longley boys to their own
side of the lake. On the way the overturned rowboat was picked up and
also another one of the floating oars.

After the races the Rover boys and their chums settled down to enjoy
themselves thoroughly. They felt that in the future the Longley
boys would leave them alone so far as “rough-housing” the place was
concerned.

The six lads were still anxious to get on the trail of the bear they
had seen, and went out several times, but without success.

“We must have scared Mr. Bear out of his wits,” said Jack. “Otherwise
we’d find some trace of him.”

“Oh, let’s try it again!” cried Fred. And eagerly they set out one
Monday morning after a quiet Sunday in and around the bungalow.

They started in the rowboat, going again to the eastern shore of the
lake in the vicinity of Flat Rock Creek, for Mose Mumbleton had again
told them that the bear had surely been seen somewhere in that vicinity.

“Maybe it’s a different bear from the one we saw on our side of the
lake,” remarked Spouter.

“Well, I don’t care if it is,” answered Fred. “One bear is as good as
another as far as I am concerned if only we can bring him down.”

The boys tramped around the best part of the morning and then sat
down to rest in the shade of some trees and bushes while partaking
of the lunch they had brought along. They were close to a footpath
running along the edge of the creek that flowed into Big Bear Lake, and
while resting after eating saw two men coming along the path talking
earnestly.

“I won’t take a cent less than five thousand dollars,” one of the men
was saying. “Flanders has got to pay that much or he don’t get the
formulas.”

“If I had my say, Carl, I’d charge him more than five thousand,” said
the second man, a tall, thin individual with a heavy moustache.

“Well, five thousand is quite a sum, Tex,” answered the fellow called
Carl, who spoke with something of a German accent. Then the two men
left the vicinity of the creek and took to a trail leading through the
woods.

The six boys had heard every word spoken, and they gazed at each other
in surprise.

“They’re going to try to sell Flanders something for five thousand
dollars!” observed Gif.

“Did you hear the names Carl and Tex?” ejaculated Jack. “Those fellows
must be Carl Lemrech and Tex Norris, the fellows suspected of stealing
that book of formulas!”

“Exactly!” cried Randy.

“I wonder if they’ve got the book of formulas with ’em,” came from Fred.

“Let’s follow them,” put in Andy, in excitement.

“We will, Andy,” answered Jack readily. “But listen! Perhaps it will be
as well if we keep out of sight.”

With caution the six lads followed the two men through the woods until
they reached an old cabin which had long since seen its best days. They
found the men inside smoking and drinking from a flask one carried.
They were talking earnestly.

“This is Monday,” said Lemrech. “I’ll fix it so we can see Flanders
here by Wednesday noon. We’ll leave the book of formulas hidden right
where it is and he sha’n’t have a sight of it until he shows us his
money. I wouldn’t trust him to pay up if he had the book. He knows well
enough we couldn’t sue him.”

“Oh, yes, you want to get your money first,” answered Tex Norris.

After this the men talked the matter over for a quarter of an hour
longer. Then there came a hail from the distance.

“There’s that farmer who said he might give us board,” remarked
Lemrech. “Come ahead.”

“We don’t want to fix up the deal with Flanders at a boarding house,”
complained Norris.

“Oh, no. We’ll fix it up right here. And I’ll make the time Wednesday
noon sharp.”

“What do you think we ought to do, Jack?” questioned Fred, when the two
men had departed.

“Don’t you think we ought to search the cabin and see if that book of
formulas is anywhere around?” questioned Andy.

“We might do that. But the chances are the men have hidden the book
where we couldn’t very well find it. I think the best thing we can do
is to hurry to Beldane and send Mr. Stevenson a telegram to come at
once.”

The boys knew they could not telegraph from Rocky Run, as no regular
office was located there. They hurried down to the lake and set off for
Beldane without delay.

“I’ll bet Mr. Stevenson will be surprised when he gets our message,”
said Jack, after the yellow slip had been passed in and paid for at the
Beldane telegraph office.

“Going to wait for a reply?” questioned Gif.

“I think we might as well.”

The boys hung around for three hours. Then came a message from Mr.
Stevenson. It was to the effect that he would start for Big Bear Lake
on the first train in the morning.




                             CHAPTER XXIX

                           JEFF BRINGS NEWS


The Rover boys and their chums knew that Mr. Stevenson could not arrive
at the camp before Tuesday evening. He would take the train to Beldane
and would probably come up to the bungalow in a motor-boat. After
breakfast on Tuesday time hung heavily with all of the lads. They took
their morning bath and then knew hardly what to do, being somewhat
excited over the prospect ahead.

“Maybe Mr. Stevenson will have a regular fight to get that book of
formulas back,” was Randy’s comment.

“When he goes after those men and after Mr. Flanders he’d better go
armed,” said Fred.

“I intend to go with him if he’ll let me,” put in Jack.

“I guess we’d all like to go along,” said Gif, with a laugh.

Not knowing what else to be at, Andy and Randy took a walk up the brook
back of the bungalow. They were gone about half an hour when they came
rushing back wild with excitement.

“We saw the bear!” gasped Andy, who was all but winded from running.

“He’s stretched out on some rocks sunning himself!” put in his brother.

“The bear! Where is he? Let’s get a shot at him!” exclaimed Fred, and,
leaping up, ran for his gun.

All of the others did likewise, and in less than a minute the six
campers, fully armed, were moving cautiously up the brook in the
direction where the twins had said the bear had been located.

“We don’t want to make any noise,” whispered Jack.

“Is everybody’s gun in good condition?” questioned Gif, in an equally
low tone. “We can’t take any chances, you know; that bear may be a real
fighter when he’s aroused.”

At this each of the lads examined his weapon, to find it in good order
and ready for use. They moved forward in a bunch, each straining his
eyes to be the first to catch sight of bruin.

“Now take it easy,” said Randy presently. “Those rocks where we saw the
bear are not over a hundred yards away.”

“Come on! Let us circle a little to the south,” cautioned Jack. “We
don’t want the wind to carry our scent. Some of those bears have a nose
as keen as a deer, so I’ve been told.”

As they advanced between the trees and around the rocks and brushwood
the six lads carried their guns ready for instant use. If the truth
must be told, each was anxious to get the first shot at the game.

“There he is!”

“He’s coming this way!”

“Shoot him!”

Bang! Crack! Bang! went the shotguns and light rifles the boys carried,
and the black bear, suddenly leaping from some rough rocks just ahead
of them, was shot in the foreshoulder and in the rump. The beast
emitted a loud roar, and then suddenly disappeared behind some nearby
brushwood.

“Where’d he go?”

“Look out! He may jump out at you!”

Reloading hastily, the six lads circled the brushwood cautiously, each
straining for another sight of the black bear. They could hear a low
growl and saw some of the bushes suddenly move.

“Give him another dose just for luck,” suggested Gif, and the six
firearms sounded almost as one as all the lads fired at the spot where
they thought the black bear might be.

How many of the shots reached the mark they were never to ascertain.
But evidently the bear was hit again, and with a fearful roar of rage
and pain it suddenly burst from the brushwood and lumbered in the
direction where Fred and Spouter were standing.

“Shoot him! Shoot him quick!”

Crack! went Jack’s rifle and bang! came a report from the shotgun Gif
carried. Then one after another the other weapons rang out and the
black bear was halted when less than three yards away from Fred and
Spouter. The huge creature, now on its hind legs, tottered from side to
side and then came down with a crash at the foot of a big tree.

“Hurrah! We’ve got him!” cried Randy.

“Be careful! Maybe we’ll have to give him a shot or two more,”
cautioned Jack.

The young major was right. The bear, a tough old fellow, was by no
means dead. Though seriously wounded, it thrashed around and then did
its best to stand up.

“I’m going to finish him,” cried Fred, and before any one could
stop the stout young Rover, he had run forward and sent a charge of
buckshot directly into the bear’s ear. At once the huge creature
rolled over on its back, gave a few spasmodic jerks, and then lay still.

For a moment after the end came the boys could scarcely understand what
had happened. Then, as they realized that they had laid the big black
bear low, their faces broke out into smiles and they shook each other
by the hand.

“We got him! We got him!” exulted Fred, dancing around. “And look at
the size of him!”

“Some bear rug there, I’ll say,” was Randy’s comment.

“No bare floor with a bear rug like that,” chuckled Andy, who even in
such a moment of excitement had to have his little joke.

“Now the question is, how are we going to get this bear down to camp?”
said Gif, after they had made certain the creature was dead.

“We might as well skin it right here,” suggested Spouter. “No need of
carting the whole carcass along. Why, it must weigh five or six hundred
pounds!”

“We’ve got to have a picture of him,” cried Fred. And several snap
shots were taken without delay.

“We want some bear steaks for supper,” said Jack. “We’ll treat Mr.
Stevenson to a surprise.”

“Why can’t we roll the bear over to the brook and float him down
somehow,” suggested Gif. And after a good deal of labor this was done
and they managed to bring the carcass to a point some distance behind
the bungalow. Here they skinned the bear and cut out the choicest of
the meat, chopping up the remainder and dragging it off so that the
smell might not reach camp.

Fred and Spouter were trying their hand at broiling some bear steaks
when they heard a shout from the other lads. Thinking that Mr.
Stevenson had arrived, they ran to the front of the bungalow, to behold
a rowboat coming in containing a single occupant.

“It’s Jeff come back! What do you know about that?” cried Gif, in
disgust.

“I suppose he’d like you to give him another trial, Gif,” said Jack.

“Not unless he promises to do much better than he did,” was Gif’s reply.

“Well, to have somebody to do the cooking and dishwashing would help
out a whole lot,” said Spouter, with a sigh. Secretly he and the others
were all tired of doing the housework.

“Good afternoon, gen’leman,” said Jeff, as he bowed politely to the six
boys. “Kind o’ surprised to see me, I suppose?”

“We certainly are, Jeff,” answered Gif.

“I’s got a few days’ work with Mr. Mumbleton, cleanin’ up around his
store and warehouse and doin’ odd jobs at the boathouse,” explained the
colored man.

“I see,” answered Gif briefly.

“Thought maybe you might be tired of doin’ the work ’round the house,”
went on Jeff uneasily. “Wouldn’t you like me to cook a first-class
dinner for you? I’m jest achin’ to do it.”

“It’s only your confounded laziness, Jeff, that made us send you off,”
answered Gif. “If you could get over that you’d be all right.”

“It wasn’t laziness, Mr. Gif. ’Twas the misery in my back. But that
misery is done gone now, and I don’t think it’ll come back. And
besides, I come here to tell you somethin’,” went on the colored man
earnestly. “I wants to tell you somethin’ about some of them boys over
to that camp yonder,” and he pointed to the eastern shore of the lake.

“What have you got to tell us, Jeff?” questioned Randy.

“I thought it might be of importance to you young gen’lemen. It’s about
somethin’ that happened at Colby Hall while you was there. But say, Mr.
Gif, how about it? Don’t you want me to get supper ready and clean up
around the place?” questioned the colored man eagerly. “I don’t like it
nohow down to that Mr. Mumbleton’s store. I’d ruther be workin’ for
real quality people.”

“Well, we might give you another trial, Jeff,” answered Gif, after a
glance at his chums. “But remember, you’ve got to be right on the job.
No more going to sleep and letting a good dinner burn up.”

“No, sir! No, sir! Nothin’ like that no more. That misery in my back is
gone, and you’ll find me wide awake,” answered Jeff earnestly.

“Now what have you got to tell us about those fellows over in the other
camp?” asked Spouter, impatiently.

“It’s about a fire what done took place at the Colby Hall boathouse,”
answered Jeff, much to the astonishment of all the lads.




                              CHAPTER XXX

                       AT THE CABIN――CONCLUSION


“What do you know about that fire?” questioned Jack.

“That fire was sot by three of them Longley boys,” answered Jeff. “I
done heard them talkin’ about it one night.”

“You did!” exclaimed Fred. “Who were the boys?”

“They was that Flanders boy and them two other fellows named Sands and
Halliday.”

“Tell us all about this, Jeff!” cried Andy eagerly.

Thereupon, sitting on the bungalow porch with the boys around him, the
colored man gave the particulars. He said that he had caught the three
boys behind the shed at the Willoughby camp smoking and playing cards.
They were talking about old times and did not notice him when he went
into the shed. He heard them mention a fire at the Colby Hall boathouse
and, listening, found that it had been caused by Flanders and his two
cronies.

“I ain’t sure that they done it on purpose,” went on Jeff. “They went
there to rough-house the place, same as when they done come here and
rough-housed this bungalow. They had a lantern with ’em, and Sands said
the lantern got knocked over accidental like. But Flanders didn’t act
much like it was accidental like and Halliday didn’t neither.”

“I guess if it was accidental they were glad it happened,” cried Jack.
“And one thing is certain, they didn’t try to put out the fire. They
just skipped out and let the place take care of itself.”

“We ought to let Colonel Colby know about this,” said Spouter. “It’s
too serious a matter to let go by. Of course, we could accuse Flanders
and those other fellows, but what good would it do us?”

“Let’s put it all down in writing and get Jeff to sign it,” suggested
Gif.

This was agreed upon, and the boys lost no time in taking down the
colored man’s statement. Then they read it to him and he signed it, and
they put their names on the paper as witnesses to the signature. Then
Jeff shuffled off into the kitchen of the bungalow to get ready for
supper.

“I’ll surprise you young gen’lemen, you see if I don’t,” said the
colored man. “And I’ll surprise that Mr. Stevenson, too.”

“All right, Jeff,” said Gif, “you can remain here just as long as you
make good. The minute you fail in your duties you’ll have to leave.”

It was growing dark when the boys heard the put-put of a motor-boat
coming from the lake, and soon the craft rounded a point of the shore
and glided up to the bungalow dock.

“Hello, Mr. Stevenson! Glad to see you!” cried Jack, as he ran down to
the dock.

“And I’m glad to get here,” answered Ruth’s father, as he leaped from
the boat and shook hands. “Great news you fellows sent me.”

“I certainly hope it proves all right,” returned the young major.

“I’m impatient to learn the details,” continued Frederic Stevenson. And
then he went on: “How about it, Gif? Can you take care of the man who
has the motor-boat? I thought we might be able to use that craft in
getting around the lake.”

“Sure, we can,” answered Gif readily. “There are empty rooms galore in
this place and we have plenty on hand to eat. We can give you a real
treat to-night. We have some bear steaks.”

“Good gracious! did you shoot a bear?” came from the man who ran the
motor-boat.

“We sure did!” answered Fred proudly, while the others were shaking
hands with the new arrival. “A great big black bear! And we got a
wildcat, too!” he continued.

While Jeff was preparing supper the boys gave Ruth’s father the
particulars of the interview they had overheard at the old cabin on the
other side of Big Bear Lake. Of course, the gentleman was tremendously
interested and listened to every word with close attention.

“I believe you’ve solved the mystery of that disappearance,” said he,
after they had finished. “Now the only thing to do is to get hold of
that book of formulas.”

“Don’t you want to catch Mr. Flanders when he tries to buy the book
from those rascals?” asked Spouter. “It seems to me a man who would be
mean enough to do that ought to be exposed.”

“It’s just possible that Mr. Flanders may be innocent in the matter,”
suggested Mr. Stevenson. “The other men may claim that they brought the
book of formulas from Germany direct and that they have a right to it.
However, it won’t do any harm to listen to what the men have to say
when Flanders appears.”

During the evening the boys related what had taken place during their
outing at Big Bear Lake and in return Mr. Stevenson told them something
of what Ruth and the other girls had been doing, and of how matters
were going with himself and Uncle Barney.

“If I can only get hold of that book of formulas I’ll be all right,”
said the gentleman. “Otherwise everything will be at sixes and sevens.”

It was an impatient crowd that went to bed that night, and they were
equally impatient after breakfast in the morning, all wanting to see
how the affair concerning the book of formulas would terminate. It was
not until about ten o’clock that they started for the other side of the
lake. They landed at the spot where the boys had been two days before
and, leaving the boatman behind, followed the same trail leading to the
cabin in the woods.

“Now I suppose we had better hide,” said Mr. Stevenson. “If those men
catch sight of us they may run away and we may never be able to catch
them.”

With great care they concealed themselves behind some brushwood and
there waited for a long time in silence. Some of the boys were just
about thinking that the men would never come when they heard voices in
the distance.

“Here they are, I think,” whispered Gif. And then Mr. Stevenson put his
finger over his lips and all became silent.

Peering through the brushwood, Jack saw that two of the men were Carl
Lemrech and Tex Norris. The third individual was short and stocky and
his face bore a strong resemblance to that of Tommy Flanders.

“Oh, you needn’t be disturbed, Flanders,” said Carl Lemrech, in his
German accent. “We got the goods. It’s the same book that was sold to
that man Stevenson.”

“You’d better not mention names around here, Lemrech,” grumbled Mr.
Flanders.

“Oh, this is a very lonely place. Nobody ever comes here,” put in Tex
Norris.

Thus talking, the three men entered the cabin, leaving the door,
however, wide open. There were two windows on one side of the building,
and these were open also.

“I’m going forward to investigate,” whispered Mr. Stevenson. “If I give
the signal, jump out and point your guns at them. I don’t want any of
them to get away.”

“Gee, this is getting real exciting!” murmured Randy. All the boys had
brought their weapons with them, but more for a show of arms than for
any thought of actually using them.

Mr. Stevenson crawled up toward one of the open windows and Jack and
Fred could not resist the temptation to crawl up to the other. The
three heard the men inside talking earnestly. Lemrech had made a demand
for five thousand dollars and Flanders tried to cut this amount in half.

“No, sir, it’s five thousand dollars or nothing,” growled Lemrech.
“Isn’t that so, Tex?”

“It sure is! Five thousand!” answered Norris. “And we want it in cold
cash, too! No checks or anything like that!”

“How do you know I’ve got so much cash with me?” demanded Tommy
Flanders’ father.

“Well, I told you to bring cash,” answered Carl Lemrech.

“Let me see the book, so that I know it’s all right,” answered Flanders.

“You’ll pay the five thousand in cash?”

“Yes.”

Carl Lemrech paused for a moment and then, going to a corner of the
cabin, removed a couple of boards in the flooring. From an opening
below he took a heavy tin box. This he unlocked and brought forth a
package wrapped in a newspaper.

“Here’s the book,” he said, as he unwrapped the package. “And I want to
tell you, Flanders, it contains the best formulas for making artists’
paints that I ever heard of. You ought to make a fortune out of these
formulas. You can manufacture those paints for artists in that old
factory up on Flat Rock Creek and very few people will be the wiser.
You can capture the market with that sort of artists’ material.”

The book was passed over to Flanders and he began to study it carefully.

“Seems to be all right,” he said slowly. “Of course, I don’t―― Hello!
what’s that? Give me that book!”

Flanders broke off abruptly, for while he had been looking into the
book of formulas it had suddenly been snatched from his grasp. Turning,
he found himself confronted by Mr. Stevenson.

“This book is mine, Mr. Flanders,” said Ruth’s father coolly.

“Stevenson!” muttered Carl Lemrech, and turned pale.

“A fine piece of business you’re in,” went on Frederic Stevenson.
“About to buy a book of formulas that was stolen by those men from me!”

“Jump him! Get the book away from him!” yelled Tex Norris, and made a
leap forward.

But Frederic Stevenson had anticipated such a move, and as Norris came
on he backed out of the doorway, stuffing the book of formulas into
his pocket.

“Up with your hands, every one of you!” he called sternly, as he
produced a pistol. Then, turning to the boys, he added: “Don’t let any
of them get away.”

All of those in the cabin had come to the doorway, and now they gazed
around in bewilderment to find six young fellows in sight and each
armed with either a shotgun or a rifle.

“I guess you understand the game is up,” said Mr. Stevenson quietly.
“All those young men attend Colby Hall Military Academy and they all
know how to shoot. You’ll be safer if you keep your hands up,” and
thereupon every hand in the cabin doorway was elevated.

It had been a quick victory, and now that it was over Mr. Stevenson
and the boys hardly knew what to do with the three men. In the end,
however, each of them was searched and disarmed, and then each had to
submit to having his hands bound behind him. In this fashion all were
marched down to the lakeshore and made to step into the motor-boat.

“See here, Stevenson, let us settle this matter,” said Mr. Flanders
eagerly. “It’s all a mistake, I tell you. These fellows said you were
trying to do them out of something that rightfully belonged to them.
I’ll give you a thousand dollars to drop the whole matter.”

“Nothing doing, Flanders,” answered Mr. Stevenson briefly. “You can
tell your story to the officers of the law.”

The three men were taken to Beldane where a complaint was lodged by
Ruth’s father. Then Lemrech and Norris were placed in jail, Flanders
being let out on bail.

It may be mentioned here that later on Lemrech and Norris were tried
for the theft of the book of formulas and each received a long term
in prison. Then Tommy Flanders’ father was tried for his part in the
transaction, and it was only by the shrewdness of his lawyers that he
finally managed to escape imprisonment. As it was, many felt that he
was guilty and refused after that to have anything to do with him.

In the meanwhile, Colonel Colby took up the matter concerning the
burning of the boathouse. Tommy Flanders, as well as Paul Halliday and
Billy Sands, were terror stricken when confronted with the evidence
against them. They, however, insisted that the fire had been an
accidental one――that they had simply come to the place to “rough-house”
it and perhaps to damage some of the shells. When the lantern had been
broken and the scattered oil had blazed up, they had become frightened
and run away. Their parents paid for all the damage that had been done
and there the matter rested. None of the three boys returned to the
camp on Big Bear Lake, and Maxwell, Mason and a number of the others
were glad to get rid of them.

“They are altogether too rough for our crowd,” was Ted Maxwell’s
comment. “I wish they would leave Longley Academy.”

After the excitement attending the capture of the three men and
the exposure of Tommy Flanders and his cronies the Rover boys and
their chums put in several weeks more boating and fishing, as well
as hunting. They brought down another wildcat, and Randy had the
satisfaction of bringing in the biggest fish ever caught in the lake.

“Some adventures we’re having,” declared Jack. But still more stirring
times were in store for the boys, and what some of them were will be
related in another volume, to be called, “The Rover Boys Shipwrecked;
Or, A Thrilling Hunt for Pirates’ Gold.”

During those days Jack got another letter from Ruth in which she said
she was very thankful that matters were being straightened out for her
father and her Uncle Barney.

Then one day came a surprise for the boys. Two motor-boats came in
from Beldane and on them were all the girls, accompanied by Mrs.
Stevenson, Mrs. Dick Rover, and Mr. and Mrs. Garrison.

“We’ve come to stay a week!” cried Martha Rover.

“And we expect you to entertain us royally,” came from her cousin Mary.

“We’ll do that, all right enough,” answered Jack quickly, and with his
eyes full on Ruth.

“We’ll give you the best times ever!” exclaimed Fred.

“When you go away you’ll say Big Bear Lake is as nice a spot as you
ever visited,” put in Randy.

“And you’ll want to come here every year,” finished his twin.

And here while the Rover boys and their chums are getting ready to give
the girls a glorious time, we will say good-by.


                                THE END




                           _This Isn’t All!_

Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in
this book?

Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and
experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?

On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you
will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same
store where you got this book.


                    _Don’t throw away the Wrapper_

_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have.
But in case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete
catalog._




                     THE FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES

                         By ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
                         (EDWARD STRATEMEYER)

                  =Beautiful Wrappers in Full Color=


[Illustration]

No stories for boys ever published have attained the tremendous
popularity of this famous series. Since the publication of the first
volume, The Rover Boys at School, some years ago, over three million
copies of these books have been sold. They are well written stories
dealing with the Rover boys in a great many different kinds of
activities and adventures. Each volume holds something of interest to
every adventure loving boy.

A complete list of titles is printed on the opposite page.




                       FAMOUS ROVER BOYS SERIES

                         BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
                         (Edward Stratemeyer)

            OVER THREE MILLION COPIES SOLD OF THIS SERIES.

             =Uniform Style of Binding. Colored Wrappers.=
                  =Every Volume Complete in Itself.=

    THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
    THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
    THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
    THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
    THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
    THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
    THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
    THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
    THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
    THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
    THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
    THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
    THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLE
    THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
    THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
    THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
    THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
    THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
    THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
    THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR
    THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
    THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
    THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
    THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
    THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
    THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
    THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE
    THE ROVER BOYS SHIPWRECKED
    THE ROVER BOYS ON SUNSET TRAIL
    THE ROVER BOYS WINNING A FORTUNE

                GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




                       WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS

                         By JAMES CODY FERRIS

          =Individual Colored Wrappers and Illustrations by=
                          =WALTER S. ROGERS=
                   =Each Volume Complete in Itself.=


Thrilling tales of the great west, told primarily for boys but which
will be read by all who love mystery, rapid action, and adventures in
the great open spaces.

The Manly Boys, Roy and Teddy, are the sons of an old ranchman, the
owner of many thousands of heads of cattle. The lads know how to ride,
how to shoot, and how to take care of themselves under any and all
circumstances.

The cowboys of the X Bar X Ranch are real cowboys, on the job when
required but full of fun and daring――a bunch any reader will be
delighted to know.

    THE X BAR X BOYS ON THE RANCH
    THE X BAR X BOYS IN THUNDER CANYON
    THE X BAR X BOYS ON WHIRLPOOL RIVER
    THE X BAR X BOYS ON BIG BISON TRAIL
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT THE ROUND-UP
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT NUGGET CAMP
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT RUSTLER’S GAP
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT GRIZZLY PASS
    THE X BAR X BOYS LOST IN THE ROCKIES

                GROSSET & DUNLAP, PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK




 Transcriber’s Notes:

 ――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_); text in
   bold by “equal” signs (=bold=).

 ――Printer’s, punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently
   corrected.

 ――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.

 ――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.