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THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK

Or

Stirring Adventures in the Oil Fields

by

ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
(Edward Stratemeyer)

Author of "The Rover Boys at School," "The Rover Boys on the Ocean,"
"The Rover Boys on a Hunt." "The Putnam Hall Series," Etc.

Illustrated







New York
Grosset & Dunlap
Publishers
Made in the United States of America




[Illustration: "THEY'VE STRUCK OIL!" YELLED ANDY EXCITEDLY.]




INTRODUCTION


My Dear Boys: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms the
fifth volume in a line issued under the general title, "The Second Rover
Boys Series for Young Americans."

As mentioned in some volumes of the first series, this line 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 relatives. The volumes of the first series
related the doings of these three Rover boys while at Putnam Hall
Military Academy, Brill College, and while on numerous outings.

Having acquired a good education, the three young men established
themselves in business in New York and became married. Dick Rover was
blessed with a son and a daughter, as was likewise his brother Sam,
while Tom Rover became the proud father of twin boys. As the four lads
were all of a decidedly lively disposition, it was thought best to send
them to a boarding school, and in the first volume of the second series,
entitled "The Rover Boys at Colby Hall," I related what happened to them
while attending this institution.

From Colby Hall the scene was shifted to "Snowshoe Island," where the
lads went for a mid-Winter outing. Then they came back to Colby Hall,
and what happened to them at the annual encampment of the young cadets
is related in the third volume, entitled "The Rover Boys Under Canvas."

When Winter was once more at hand the younger Rovers thought they would
like to go on another outing with their chums, and in a volume entitled
"The Rover Boys on a Hunt" I related how they came upon a mysterious
house in the forest and uncovered a most unusual mystery.

In the present volume the scene is shifted from stirring doings at Colby
Hall to still more stirring doings in the famous oil fields in the
southern part of our country.

Once more I feel called upon to thank my numerous readers for the many
nice things they have said about these "Rover Boys" books. I earnestly
hope that the reading of the volumes will do them all good.

    Affectionately and sincerely yours,
        Edward Stratemeyer.




CONTENTS


       I OUT IN THE STORM

      II WHO THE ROVER BOYS WERE

     III TO THE RESCUE

      IV IN THE GYMNASIUM

       V THE RIVAL SCHOOL

      VI PLAYING HIXLEY HIGH

     VII NEWS FROM ABROAD

    VIII THE JOKE ON THE SNEAK

      IX THE GAME WITH LONGLEY

       X A GLORIOUS VICTORY

      XI BONFIRE NIGHT

     XII ON BLUEBELL ISLAND

    XIII WERNER'S ATTACK

     XIV BOUND FOR HOME

      XV BACK FROM FRANCE

     XVI DICK ROVER'S HEROISM

    XVII THE GREAT VICTORY PARADE

   XVIII BOUND FOR TEXAS

     XIX IN THE LAND OF LUCK

      XX PLOTTING AGAINST DICK ROVER

     XXI WORDS AND BLOWS

    XXII AMONG THE OIL WELLS

   XXIII A QUEER SUMMONS

    XXIV DICK ROVER'S REVELATION

     XXV DAVENPORT'S ACCUSATION

    XXVI NEWS OF RUTH

   XXVII CAUGHT BY THE ENEMY

  XXVIII AT THE FRANKLIN PLACE

    XXIX DAYS OF ANXIETY

     XXX THE NEW WELL--CONCLUSION




THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK




CHAPTER I

OUT IN THE STORM


"Jack, it looks as if we were in for another storm."

"Yes, and it's starting right now," declared Captain Jack Rover, as he
glanced through the trees to the overcast sky. "Don't you hear it on the
leaves?"

"It does beat everything!" declared Andy Rover, his usually bright face
clouding a bit. "It has rained enough in the past two weeks to last a
year."

"Do you know, I like these constant rains less than I liked being
snowbound up at Cedar Lodge," put in Lieutenant Fred Rover.

"Oh, there was some fun in being snowbound," declared Randy Rover. "A
fellow could go out in it and have the best time ever. But what can a
chap do when the rain is coming down to beat the band?"

"Well, you can go out and get a shower-bath free of charge," commented
his twin gaily.

"I'll take my showers in the gym," was the quick reply. "Gee! listen to
that, will you?"

There was no need for any of the four Rover boys to listen, or to look,
either. A blinding flash of lightning had swept the sky, followed almost
immediately by a crash of thunder in the woods behind them. Then
followed another crash, as of falling timber.

"It struck a tree, I'll bet a new cap!" exclaimed Jack.

"Yes, and it was a little bit too close for comfort, too," answered his
cousin Fred.

The thunder and lightning were followed by a sudden rush of wind which
caused the trees of the forest to sway violently. Then the downfall of
rain increased until it was little short of a deluge.

"We've got to get to some sort of shelter!" cried Jack. "And the sooner
we get there the better. If we stay under the trees we'll be soaked to
the skin."

"It's all right enough to talk about shelter," returned Randy quickly;
"but where are you going to find it? I don't know of even a log shack in
this vicinity."

"We might leg it down to the river," suggested his brother. "We can't be
very far from Rocky Bend."

"That's the talk!" burst out Fred Rover. "There is a cliff at the Bend,
and I remember there is a hollow under it which the river washed out
years ago."

"The trouble is you may find that hollow filled with water now, Fred,"
answered Jack. "Remember the heavy rains of the last few weeks have
caused something of a freshet. Even down at our boathouse the water is
unusually high."

Another streak of lightning followed by more thunder interrupted the
conversation. Then the wind seemed to veer around, and the rain came
swishing in under the tree where the four lads had been resting.

The Rover boys had left Colby Hall immediately after the day's lessons
for a tramp through the woods that bordered the Rick Rack River. They
had been kept indoors more or less for over two weeks, it raining nearly
every day. But that morning the sun had come through the clouds, and
they had thought to enjoy a much-desired outing.

All were clad in their cadet uniforms, and in addition wore their
shoulder capes and also their rubbers. They had found the roads and
paths running through the woods very wet, but did not mind this, being
glad to breathe some "real air," as Randy had expressed it.

"I just hate to be boxed in all the time," had been his words. "Give me
an outdoor life every time." And then in the exuberance of his spirits
he had turned what is commonly termed among athletes a cart-wheel. But
when his feet came down again he found the ground so slippery he
promptly landed flat on his back, much to the amusement of the others.

The four Rovers had asked some of their chums to accompany them, but two
of the other cadets had errands to do in town and the others wished to
write letters to their folks at home, so the four had gone off by
themselves. All were good walkers, and they had covered a distance of
several miles before the sky became again overcast.

"If we weren't so far from the school we might make a dash for it,"
suggested Jack.

"We can't run that far!" returned Fred, who was the smallest of the
boys. "We'd be all out of wind and simply get wet through and through.
Let's try for the river. We're sure to find some sort of shelter under
the rocks and bushes at the Bend."

"All right; here we go!" was Jack's quick reply. As the oldest of the
boys and as a captain of the Colby Hall cadets, he was naturally looked
upon as the leader.

He and Fred started side by side and Andy and Randy followed closely.
Their course was along a winding path leading over some rough rocks and
through some small overhanging bushes.

"Wow! What are you trying to do? Give me a shower-bath?" grumbled Randy
presently. Jack had pushed some long and well-saturated brushwood to one
side in passing. Now the bushes swung back into place, catching poor
Randy over the face and breast and showering him with water.

"Excuse me, but I couldn't hold the bushes back," said Jack. "You had
better not stick so close."

"Oh, well, a little more water doesn't count, Jack. We are getting
pretty well soaked anyway."

The wind was blowing so furiously the cadets had all they could do to
hold their capes tight around their shoulders as they progressed. More
lightning lit up the sky, and then they heard the fall of another tree
some distance away.

"It's going to be a humdinger of a storm," remarked Andy.

"Yes, and I'd give as much as two nickels to be safe back at the Hall,"
came from Fred. The constant thunder and lightning was beginning to get
on the smallest youth's nerves.

Presently the four Rovers caught sight of the river through the trees.
The stream, which at this point was nothing more than a mountain
torrent, boiled and foamed as it dashed over the rocks.

"It certainly is getting high," said Jack, as all paused for a moment to
catch their breath. "I can't remember having seen it like this before."

"Just look at the stuff coming down, will you?" remarked Fred. "There is
a whole lot of good firewood going to waste."

"I guess some one will pick it up by the time it reaches the lake,
Fred," said Randy. "There are a lot of poor people down at Haven Point
who get all their Winter firewood from this river."

"Yes, but it's not all driftwood," broke in Jack. "A good deal of the
timber is cut up in the woods and then floated down. That is quite an
industry among some of the old settlers up there."

The four cadets did not pause very long to survey the scene. Their one
idea was to find some sort of shelter from the storm; and with this in
view they hurried on parallel to the watercourse until they came to the
point of rocks commonly known as the Bend. Here the side of the river on
which they were located arose to a height of from twenty to thirty feet.
In one place there was a sheer rocky wall, but at other places the rocks
were much broken up, and consequently, irregular.

"There is the shelter I had in mind," said Fred, pointing with his hand.
"Come on; I think it will be just the place to get out of this storm."

"Any kind of a shelter will be better than standing out here," answered
Randy, and he and Fred set off on a wild scramble over the slippery
rocks with the others following.

"Be careful that you don't sprain an ankle or break a leg," warned Jack.

"Gee! a fellow would have to be a regular grasshopper to jump over these
rocks," grumbled Randy, and he had scarcely uttered the words when he
slipped down, landing with a thump on his chest.

"Hurt?" queried Jack quickly.

"N-no," spluttered his cousin. "B-but I kn-kn-knocked the wind out of
m-me."

In a minute more the boys had reached the shelter of the rocks where
they overhung the Rick Rack River. Here they found a shelter several
feet above the madly rushing torrent. The place was twelve or fifteen
feet in length, and several feet in depth. Above them was a shelving
rock which, while it did not shelter them completely, did much to ward
off the heavy downpour of rain.

"Not as comfortable as a Morris chair in the library at school,"
remarked Andy, as he swished the water from his cap, "but it's a good
deal better than being in the open."

"Provided we do not have to stay here too long," returned his twin.
"What time is it, Jack? I didn't bring my watch with me."

"Quarter to five," announced the young captain, after consulting his
wrist-watch.

"We ought to be on our way to the Hall," said Fred. "I don't know what
Captain Dale will say if we are late."

"Oh, he'll excuse us when he learns the truth," answered Jack. "Just the
same, I'd give a good deal if we were back safe and sound at the school.
We certainly can't stay here all night, and it looks as if this storm
was going to be a lasting one."

"Maybe we are in for another couple of weeks of rain," growled Andy.
"Gee! I wish the Weather Bureau would go out of existence. They have
been predicting clearing weather for over a week, and it never came at
all."

Crouching down in the shelter of the overhanging rocks, the four cadets
made themselves as comfortable as possible. Over them and out on the
river swished the wind and the rain. Just below them the mountain
torrent boiled and foamed with increasing violence, showing that the
heavy downpour was making matters steadily worse.

"I shouldn't want to have a cabin on the edge of this stream," remarked
Fred presently.

"Not much!" exclaimed Andy. "You'd be in danger every minute of having
it floated away."

"Look there, will you?" cried Randy a moment later, as he pointed out in
the stream. "If that isn't a chicken-coop then I miss my guess!"

"You're right! And it's got one or two chickens in it!" burst out Jack.

"That shows that some of the farm lands up the river must be under
water," remarked Andy.

"Maybe we'll see a house or a barn coming down next," cried Fred. "Gee,
this certainly is some storm!" he added, as another flash of lightning
lit up the sky. Then came the thunder, rolling and rumbling along the
river and the mountains beyond.

A quarter of an hour passed, and while the wind blew as violently as
ever, it seemed to the impatient cadets that the rain was slackening a
little.

"Maybe it will let up in the next half-hour or so," remarked Jack
hopefully. "Then, if we strike out for the turnpike, we'll be able to
get down to the Hall in no time."

"Oh, sure! Only three miles through the mud; and of course that's
nothing," remarked Andy airily.

All of the boys were sitting in silence, wondering what their next move
would be, when Jack suddenly raised his hand as if to listen.

"What was it?" queried Randy quickly.

"I thought I heard a yell for help," was the reply. "Listen!"

All did so, and presently above the rushing of the wind heard a man's
voice. Then came a shrill scream as if from a younger person.

"Somebody is in trouble!" cried Fred. "Listen! He is calling again!"

All strained their ears, and once more heard the yells of the man borne
along by the rushing wind. Then came that other shrill cry, as if for
assistance.

"They are in trouble, all right!"

"Where are they?"

"That cry came from up the river. Whoever they are, they must be right
around the Bend."

"Come on! Let's see what it means."

With these and other exclamations the four Rover boys left the shelter
of the overhanging rocks and crawled along a stony pathway leading up
the watercourse. Soon they passed around the Bend, and then came within
sight of a scene which almost appalled them. A mass of wreckage
consisting of a small tree and a quantity of newly cut timber had come
down the stream and become caught among the jagged rocks above the Bend,
and in the midst of this wreckage, with the water rushing and foaming
all around them, were a man and a boy, struggling wildly to save
themselves from drowning!




CHAPTER II

WHO THE ROVER BOYS WERE


"Look there, will you!"

"That man and boy will surely be drowned!"

"Why don't they swim ashore?"

"Most likely the stream is running too swiftly for them."

"Help! Help!" came hoarsely from the man. Evidently his exertions were
beginning to exhaust him.

"Save me! Save me!" screamed the boy, who seemed to be about Jack's age.
"Save me! Don't let me drown!"

The two unfortunate victims had caught sight of the cadets, who had by
this time come as close to them as the rocks on the bank permitted. The
man waved his arm frantically toward them.

"Can't you swim?" yelled Jack, to make himself heard above the wind and
the rushing of the water.

"I'm caught fast!" the man gasped out. "And my son is caught fast too."

"Both of my feet are fast!" screamed the boy. "Oh, please help us! Don't
leave us here to be drowned!"

"It's a couple of logs of wood that are holding us," went on the man in
a hoarser tone than ever. "They are jammed in between us and some rocks
and a floating tree. If you can only start the tree, maybe we can get
out of here."

Both the man and the boy were in the rushing water up to their armpits,
and occasionally the dashing element would fly over them in a spray that
hid them completely from view.

"Oh, boys, this is awful!" groaned Fred. "Can't we do something for
them?"

"We've got to do something," answered Jack. "We can't leave them there
to drown."

"But what are we going to do?" demanded Andy soberly.

"He said something about loosening the tree that has drifted up
alongside them," came from Randy. "Do you think we can do it, Jack?"

"I don't know. But we can have a try at it, anyway. And if we can't push
the tree, maybe we can get at the logs that are holding them down."

Jack was looking up the river as he spoke, and at a distance saw a
series of rocks jutting out for a considerable distance into the stream.

"I am going out on those rocks and then trust to luck to get over to the
other side," he said. "We can't get at that fallen tree from this side."

"All right, I'm with you, Jack," said Randy. And together they made
their way out on the rocks mentioned and the others slowly and
cautiously followed.

I know it will not be necessary to introduce the Rover boys to my old
readers. But for the benefit of those who are now meeting them for the
first time a few words of introduction will not come amiss.

In my first volume, entitled "The Rover Boys at School," I related how
three brothers, Dick, Tom and Sam Rover, were sent to Putnam Hall
Military Academy, where they made a great number of friends, including a
cadet named Lawrence Colby.

After passing through Putnam Hall, the boys attended Brill College, and
then joined their father in business in New York City, with offices on
Wall Street. They organized The Rover Company, of which Dick was now
president, Tom secretary and general manager, and Sam treasurer. The
three youths were married and lived in three connecting houses on
Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson River.

About a year after their marriage Dick and his wife became the parents
of a son, who was named John, after Mrs. Rover's uncle, Mr. John Laning.
This son was followed by a daughter, named Martha, after her great-aunt
Martha of Valley Brook Farm. The boy Jack, as he was commonly called,
was a sturdy youth with many of the qualities which had made his father
so successful.

It was around this time that Tom Rover and his wife Nellie came to the
front with a great surprise. This was in the nature of a pair of lively
twins, one of whom was named Anderson, after his grandfather, and the
other Randolph, after his great-uncle Randolph of Valley Brook Farm.
Andy and Randy, as they were always called, were exceedingly active
lads, in that particular being a second edition of their father, Tom.

About the time Tom's twins were born Sam Rover and his wife Grace became
the parents of a little girl, whom they called Mary, after Mrs. Laning.
Then, a year later, the girl was followed by a boy, who was christened
Fred after Sam Rover's old school chum, Fred Garrison.

Residing so close together, the younger generation of Rover boys, as
well as the sisters, were brought up very much as one family. When they
were old enough all were at first sent to private schools in the
Metropolis. But soon the boys, led by Andy and Randy, showed such a
propensity for "cutting loose" that their parents were compelled to hold
a consultation.

"We'll have to send them to some strict boarding school--some military
academy," said Dick Rover.

At that time Lawrence Colby, the Putnam Hall chum of the older Rovers,
was at the head of a military academy called Colby Hall. To this
institution Jack, Fred and the twins were sent, as related in detail in
the first volume of my second series, entitled "The Rover Boys at Colby
Hall." This military school was located about half a mile from the town
of Haven Point, on Clearwater Lake. At the head of the lake was the Rick
Rack River, running down from the mountains and woods beyond.

The school consisted of a large stone building facing the river at a
point not far from where the stream emptied into the lake. Close by was
a smaller building occupied by Colonel Colby and his family and some of
the professors, and at a short distance were a gymnasium and a
boathouse, and likewise bathing pavilions.

On arriving at Colby Hall the younger Rovers found several of their
friends awaiting them, including Dick Powell and Gifford Garrison. They
also ran into Nappy Martell, who had been far from friendly with them
while in New York, and likewise had trouble with an overgrown bully
named Slugger Brown, who was Nappy's crony.

As mentioned, Colby Hall was located about half a mile beyond Haven
Point. On the opposite side of the town was Clearwater Hall, a boarding
school for girls. During a panic at a fire in a motion picture house the
Rover boys became acquainted with several girls from Clearwater Hall,
including Ruth Stevenson, May Powell, Alice Strobell and Annie Larkins.
They discovered that May was Dick Powell's cousin, and the whole crowd
of young people soon became friends. Later on Mary and Martha Rover
became pupils at the girls' school.

Ruth Stevenson had an old Uncle Barney. The Rover boys, while out
hunting one day, did the old man a great service, and for this he was so
grateful that he invited them to spend their Winter holidays with him;
which they did, as related in "The Rover Boys on Snowshoe Island."

On this island the lads met their former enemies, Nappy Martell and
Slugger Brown, as well as Asa Lemm, a discharged teacher of Colby Hall.
The boys exposed a plot against old Uncle Barney, and in the end caused
the old hunter's enemies to leave Snowshoe Island in disgust.

"I guess we haven't seen the last of Nappy and Slugger," said Jack; and
he was right. Those two unworthies turned up once again, as related in
the volume entitled "The Rover Boys Under Canvas." In that book I told
how the cadets went into their annual encampment and how after a Spring
election for officers Jack was made captain of Company C and Fred made
first lieutenant of the same command.

Among the cadets who wished to become a captain was one named Gabe
Werner, a great chum at that time of a lad named Bill Glutts. Having
failed of election, Werner did all he could to make things uncomfortable
for the Rovers, and in his actions he was aided by Glutts. But these two
young rascals were discovered in some of their nefarious doings, and,
becoming alarmed, Gabe Werner left the school camp and did not return.
Glutts was brought before Captain Dale, the teacher in charge of the
camp, and received a stern lecture and was deprived of many liberties.

While the Rover boys were at Colby Hall the great war in Europe opened
and our country was overrun with German spies and sympathizers. During
their time under canvas the boys made several surprising discoveries,
and in the end helped the secret service men to capture a hidden German
submarine. They likewise helped to round up the fathers of Nappy Martell
and Slugger Brown. Mr. Martell and Mr. Brown were sent to prison on the
charge of aiding the enemy, while Nappy and Slugger were marched off to
a detention camp in the South. When being taken away Nappy and Slugger
were very bitter against the Rovers, and vowed they would square
accounts the first chance they got.

"And they will do it, too. You'll see," was Fred's comment. "They are as
mad as hornets, and they will do everything they can think of to make
trouble for us."

When the call for army volunteers came Dick Rover and his brother Sam
had lost no time in enlisting. At first Tom Rover had been unable to get
away. But soon the business in New York City had been left in reliable
hands, and the three fathers of the boys had gone to the trenches in
Europe to do their bit for Uncle Sam. They had been in several
engagements, and Tom and Sam had received shell wounds, while Dick Rover
had suffered somewhat from a gas attack.

"Well, we can be thankful that it is no worse," had been Jack's comment
on receiving this news from abroad. "Just the same, I wish this awful
war was at an end."

During the Winter Gif Garrison had received a letter from his uncle
stating that he and his chums might use a bungalow up in the woods known
as Cedar Lodge. Gif at once invited Dick Powell, often called "Spouter"
because of his fondness for long speeches, and the Rover boys to become
his guests on an outing to the lodge. And how all of the lads went to
that place has been related in detail in the volume previous to this,
entitled "The Rover Boys on a Hunt." In that book they came upon a house
in the forest, and there uncovered a most unusual mystery. They found
that some Germans were getting ready to establish a wireless telegraph
station, and aided in the round-up of these men by the United States
authorities.

Mixed up with the German sympathizers were Gabe Werner and Bill Glutts,
and these badly scared youths had all they could do to convince the
authorities that they were really patriotic. Glutts and Werner
considered that they had been brought into ill repute by the connivance
of the Rovers and their chums, and they were exceedingly bitter against
the cadets.

"We are certainly making some real enemies," was the way Jack expressed
himself. "First Nappy and Slugger, and now Glutts and Werner. Every one
of those fellows will do all he can to injure us."

"Well, all we can do is to keep our eyes open for them," was Randy's
reply. "Personally, I'm not afraid of any of them."

"They are all sneaks, and sneaks are always cowards," added Fred.

Having finished their outing at Cedar Lodge, the four Rovers and their
two chums had returned to Colby Hall, there to plunge once more into
their studies and their other duties as cadets. It was now early Spring,
and talk of baseball filled the air, but with so much rain outdoor
practice was practically impossible.

Then had come a ray of sunshine, and the four Rovers had ventured forth
that afternoon thinking to have a pleasant little outing. But the
sunshine had quickly passed, and now they found themselves out in a
furious storm and face to face with a situation that was as appalling as
it was dangerous.




CHAPTER III

TO THE RESCUE


"Don't leave us! Don't leave us!" shouted the man in the middle of the
river, as he saw Jack and the others crawling over the rocky shore up
the stream.

"We're not going to leave you," answered the young captain of the Colby
Hall cadets. "We are going to try to get to that tree and move it. Keep
up your courage."

"Oh, please hurry!" screamed the boy in the stream. "The water is
getting higher every minute, and it's flying right into our faces!"

"We'll do what we can," shouted back Randy, and the others added similar
words of encouragement.

It was no easy task for the Rovers to make their way over the wet rocks,
covered here and there with slippery grass and weeds. More than once one
or another went down, and Fred gave his left elbow a bump, while his
cousin Andy received a scraping of the shins.

Fortunately, the downpour of rain was abating, so that they had a chance
to dash the water from their caps and faces and see better what they
were trying to do. They soon reached the last of the rocks jutting out
from the shore, and here the four came again to a halt to view the
situation.

"There is no help for it--we've got to jump right in and trust to luck
to reach the other side," said Jack.

"Let us take hold of hands. Maybe we can brace ourselves better,"
suggested Randy.

This plan was carried out, and a moment later found the four cadets in
water up to their knees. So swift was the current they had all they
could do to keep their feet, and Andy would have gone down had not his
brother and Fred held him up.

It was lucky for the lads that they had chosen a spot where the stream
was rather broad and shallow, widening out on the side opposite to the
rocky bluff. Nevertheless, at one point they found themselves in water
up to their waists, and here they had to struggle with might and main to
keep from being swept down to where the man and the boy were held
prisoners.

"Say, this is awful!" gasped Fred, when he at last found himself on a
safer footing.

"This river is running like a mill-race," was Randy's comment.

When they had reached a spot where the water was less than a foot deep
they stopped once more to regain their breath, and then, led by Jack,
moved cautiously down the river to the point where was located the
drifting tree the man had mentioned.

"Just see if you can't pull it toward the shore," directed the man. "But
be careful that you don't get hit when it swings around."

It was now that the young cadets' lessons in bridge building while in
camp came into good play. Jack gave orders as to just how the swinging
around of the tree might be managed. Then all took hold and pulled with
might and main.

"I don't see that it has budged any," gasped Fred, after half a minute
of the hardest kind of effort.

"Try it again, boys!" shouted Jack encouragingly. "Now then--all
together! One--two--three!"

Again the four sturdy boys exerted all their strength on the tree, and
this time they felt the lower end, which had been wedged in between some
logs and rocks, give way. Then, as they hauled the tree still farther
from the center of the river, it suddenly swung around and, caught by
the current, went dashing along on its course.

"Hurrah! There she goes!" shouted Randy, as the tree disappeared in a
veil of foam and spray.

"How about it?" shouted Jack to the man and boy. "Can you get loose
now?"

Both of the prisoners were exerting their utmost to release themselves
and did not answer. But their efforts were in vain, and soon they ceased
to struggle.

"It's no use! One of the logs is holding our feet right against the
rocks!" gasped out the man. "We don't seem to be able to budge it."

"I'm afraid it is going to break my leg!" screamed the boy. "I can't
stand the pressure much longer."

"I'm going out there and see what I can do," said Jack.

"If you go, so will I," returned Randy promptly.

"You can count me in, too," announced Andy and Fred simultaneously.

"Look out that you don't get drowned," went on Jack quickly.

"We'll be as safe as you'll be," returned Fred.

All went up the river a short distance so that they might not be carried
past the spot where the man and the boy were located. Then they struck
out bravely for the place where the logs were jammed in a heap. Some of
the sticks seemed to have been cut for railroad ties, while others
looked like fence rails, and there were not less than two dozen of them
in a jumble among the jagged rocks.

In a few seconds the cadets found themselves in this jam with the
furious current of the river trying to sweep them to one side or the
other. But they held fast, and as rapidly as possible loosened one log
or rail after another.

"Look out there!" yelled Andy presently, and all heeded his warning.
Then several of the logs bobbed up and went flying down the river.

This released the log holding the man and the boy, and the pair came up
spluttering.

"Do you think you can swim ashore?" questioned Jack.

"I guess I can make it," answered the man somewhat weakly. "Look after
my kid, will you?"

"We sure will!" answered Jack.

With Fred and Andy beside him, the man struck out for the shore, and all
were soon carried down the stream and under the rocky bluff. In the
meanwhile, Jack and Randy did what they could to aid the boy, and then
followed the others.

The swiftly flowing current of the Rick Rack carried the entire party
well past the overhanging rocks and then onward to a point where the
river widened considerably. Here they managed to get a footing.

"Thank fortune we are out of that!" exclaimed Fred, as he and the others
made their way over the sand and rocks and through the bushes to where
there was a grassy slope backed up by a number of trees.

"It was a mighty close shave for me and my kid," returned the man. "I
thought sure at one time we would be drowned."

"And we would have been if it hadn't been for these fellows coming to
save us," added the boy gratefully, and he shot an admiring glance at
the four dripping cadets.

"Are you soldier boys?" questioned the man, as the whole party gathered
under the shelter of a tree. By this time the rain was nothing more than
a fine drizzle.

"Not exactly," answered Jack. "We are cadets attending Colby Hall
Military Academy."

"Oh, yes, I've heard about that school," said the man. "They tell me
it's a very fine place. Well, all I've got to say is, if all the boys
there are as brave as you lads you certainly must have a bang-up crowd,"
and he smiled broadly. Then he clapped Jack on his shoulder. "I thank
you from the bottom of my heart for what you did for us. It was a nervy
thing to do--to risk your lives in that river. I shall never forget it.
If I were a rich man I'd want to reward you, but I must admit I'm just
about as poor as they make 'em."

"We don't want any reward," answered Jack. "I'm glad to be of service to
you."

"I guess we're all glad," added Randy, and the others nodded.

Then the young cadets introduced themselves and the man and the boy did
the same. The man said his name was John Franklin.

"This is my son Phil," he added. "We don't belong around here--that is,
not exactly. You see, I used to own a farm which was mostly in Texas and
partly in Oklahoma, a pretty big farm, though it wasn't very productive.
Some oil sharpers came along and made a sort of three-cornered deal, the
particulars of which I need not give you, but as a consequence almost
before I knew it I was done out of my farm and had next to no money in
my pocket. Then I came up here expecting to see some friends who might
help me in fighting those rascals, but the friends had moved away, and
nobody knew where to, so I was almost stranded. Then Phil and I got work
up in the woods, cutting timber and doing other odd jobs, and we had
steady employment until this rainy season set in."

"So you came all the way from Texas, did you?" said Randy to Phil
Franklin, with a smile. "It's a pretty long distance."

"Oh, we got sick of it down there after dad was done out of his farm by
those oil sharpers," answered Phil Franklin.

"Did they find oil on your farm?" questioned Fred.

"No. That is, they hadn't up to the time we left. You know it takes a
lot of time and money to sink an oil well. But they did us out of our
farm, and that's bad enough."

"Some day, if I ever get on my feet again, I'm going back to Texas and
have it out with those rascals," announced John Franklin. "They claimed
that their dealings with me were perfectly legal, but I don't look at it
that way. However, boys, that affair has nothing to do with you. As I
said before, I wish I could reward you, but all I can do is to give you
my very best thanks."

"And you can bet I'm thankful, too!" added Phil Franklin earnestly.

"Isn't it rather strange that you should be up here in such a storm as
this?" questioned the man from Texas.

"We got tired of staying indoors on account of the rain," answered Jack;
"so when it seemed to break away we thought we saw a chance to take a
hike just for the fun of it."

"And now we're glad we did take a hike," put in Randy.

"We were trying to cross the stream by the aid of a rope," explained
John Franklin. "The rope broke, and Phil was swept down the stream and I
went after him to make sure that he didn't get drowned. Then we got
mixed up in the logs and the tree, and you know the rest."

"You say you belong up the river?" questioned Andy.

"Yes. We've been stopping at Bossard's camp. I suppose we ought to be
getting back there now, or he'll be wondering what has become of us.
Besides that, we'll want some dry clothing. And you fellows will want
some dry clothing, too. Otherwise you might catch cold."

"Yes, we'll hike back to the school as fast as possible," answered Jack.
He held out his hand. "Good-bye to you, and good luck."

"You won't mind if I come down to see you some time, will you?"
questioned the man. "I want your teachers to know how brave you have
been."

"Come down, by all means," answered Jack. "But don't pile on the bravery
stuff, please. We did only what any healthy young fellows would do."

"I don't know about that. I guess I know real heroes when I see 'em,"
answered John Franklin, with a grin.

"I'd like to see you fellows drill. It must be great," put in his son
Phil.

"Come down any time and ask for us," answered Fred. He was rather taken
by Phil Franklin's open manner.

A few words more passed, and then the Franklins hurried up the river in
the direction of the lumber camp from which they had come. Then the
Rovers turned in the direction of Colby Hall.

"I'm glad we went to the rescue," remarked Andy, when on the way. "They
seem a pretty decent sort."

"All the way from Texas," mused his twin. "That's certainly some
distance."

As the Rovers hurried to the Hall they talked the matter of the rescue
over in all of its details.

"It was certainly a queer meeting," was Fred's comment. But little did
he or his cousins dream of the still queerer meeting with the Franklins
that was to come in the future.




CHAPTER IV

IN THE GYMNASIUM


"Company attention! Carry arms! Present arms! Shoulder arms! Forward
march!"

Captain Jack Rover, assisted by Lieutenant Fred Rover and his other
officers, was drilling Company C in a corner of the gymnasium of Colby
Hall. It was two days after the adventure on the Rick Rack River, and it
was still raining, so that drilling in the open was almost out of the
question.

The four cadets who had taken part in the rescue of John Franklin and
his son Phil had explained the situation to Captain Dale on their return
to the school and had been warmly praised by that old West Point
military man for their bravery.

It may be mentioned here that Captain Dale had been in charge of the
school since Colonel Colby had volunteered for the war and gone to
France to fight.

Many of the cadets hated the rain and hoped it would soon clear. They
loved drilling in the open far more than when held indoors, and they
also wished to get at baseball and other Spring sports.

"It's a shame it doesn't let up," remarked Gif Garrison, after the
drilling had come to an end and the rifles had been put away in their
cases along the wall. Gif was a big youth, and the recognized head of
many of the athletic sports.

"Well, we have to take such matters as they come," returned Spouter
Powell, running his hand through his heavy brush of hair. "Were it not
for the gentle rains, and the dews later on, the fields and slopes of
the hills would not be clothed in the verdant green which all true
lovers of nature so much admire. Instead we might have a bleak
barrenness, a dissolution which would appall----"

"Gee, Spouter is at it again!" broke in Will Hendry, usually called
Fatty by his chums because of his rotundity. Fatty was extremely
good-natured, and as a consequence nearly every one admired him.

"Nothing gentle about this rain!" exclaimed Dan Soppinger, another
cadet. "It's coming down in bucketfuls. Say, that puts me in mind--I've
got an essay to write on moisture. Can any of you tell me why
condensation takes place when----"

"Hurrah! the human question-box is once more with us," broke in Andy
Rover. "Dan, I think you'd die if you couldn't ask questions."

"Humph! how is a fellow going to learn anything if he doesn't ask
questions?" retorted Dan.

"You might walk around with a set of encyclopedias in your pocket,"
proposed Randy.

"That's it, Dan. Get a regular thirty-volume set while you are at it.
You've got about thirty pockets in your suit, haven't you? You could put
one in each pocket."

"I wish it would clear off to-morrow, at least enough to go to Haven
Point," said Fred. "They have a dandy moving picture at Mr. Falstein's
place."

"Oh, I know the piece you mean, Fred," cried Andy slyly. "It's entitled
'Meeting the Girls; or, The Great Conspiracy.'"

"Did the girls say they were going to see the pictures, Fred?"
questioned Jack quickly.

"Mary telephoned that they might go," answered Fred. "That is, she said
she and Martha might, and if they go probably some of the others will go
too."

"Then we must get down to see the pictures by all means," answered Jack.
"That is, if the storm lets up. If it keeps on raining I don't think any
of them will show up."

"Let's go in for a little gymnastic work," cried Randy, and had soon
shed his cap and his coat. He leaped up to one of the turning-bars, and
was soon busily going through various gymnastic evolutions. His twin
joined him, and then they did a little team work, much to the admiration
of some of the others present.

"How about a swing from one bar to the next?" called out Ned Lowe. Ned
was known as the chief singer of the school and was very handy with a
mandolin.

"All right, Ned; I'll swing against you," called Andy quickly.

"Not much!" was Ned's ready reply. "I know you can beat me. See what you
can do against Walt Baxter."

Walt Baxter was a clean-cut athletic youth who had made good in various
contests in the gymnasium and on the baseball and football field. He was
the son of Dan Baxter, who at one time had been a bitter enemy of the
older Rovers. But the senior Baxter had reformed, and his son was well
liked by the younger Rovers.

"All right, Walt," called out Andy. "Do you want to swing against me or
against my brother Randy?"

"I'll swing against both of you," answered Walt pleasantly.

The details of the little contest were quickly arranged, and it was
decided that Randy should make the first swing, Walt the second, and
Andy should come last. The swing was to consist of a flying leap from
one bar to the next, and then to a large pad spread beyond the second
bar.

"One try only now, remember!" cried Dan Soppinger. "Do your best,
everybody."

It did not take Randy long to get into position, and then he made a
swing and a leap which were gracefulness itself. He landed on the pad
lightly, but quite close to the second bar.

"I'm sure I can do better than that!" cried Walt Baxter; and in less
than a minute he too had made the swing, landing half a foot beyond the
mark set by Randy.

Andy eyed the distance carefully, and then prepared to make the swing.

"Here's where I do the flying-fish act!" he cried merrily.

"What's going on here? A contest? Let me see it!" came a voice from
behind the crowd that had assembled to see the performance. Then Henry
Stowell, a small cadet who was a good deal of a sneak, pushed his way to
the front of the gathering.

"Hi, Codfish, what are you trying to do?" exclaimed Ned Lowe, who had
been elbowed rather rudely by the small cadet.

"I want to see what's going on," cried Stowell.

"All right, Codfish, take it in for all you're worth," called out Fatty
Hendry, and then put out his foot and pushed the sneak of the school
forward.

It was a vigorous shove, and in order to keep himself from pitching
headlong Henry Stowell took half a dozen quick steps forward. Andy was
just in the act of launching himself from one bar to the next when
Stowell's forward movement carried him to a point directly between the
two bars. As a consequence Andy's feet struck the smaller cadet in the
shoulder, and both went down in a heap on the floor.

"Stop! Stop! What are you trying to do--kill me?" yelled Stowell, as
Andy came down on top of him in anything but a gentle fashion.

"I'd like to know what you are trying to do, Codfish?" demanded Andy,
using a nickname for Stowell which the latter abhorred.

"I didn't do a thing! Fatty Hendry tried to trip me up."

"And you shoved your way in where you had no business to be," retorted
Fatty. "Just the same, I'm sorry he got in your way, Andy," he added.

"Are either of you hurt?" questioned Jack quickly.

"He spoiled my jump," answered his cousin.

"And he kicked me in the shoulder and knocked me down," whined Stowell.
"I've a good mind to report him."

"What! After all we did for you in the woods last Winter?" demanded
Fred. They had found Stowell with Werner and Glutts and had rescued the
little cadet from the bullies and seen him safe on his way home.

"I don't care! My shoulder hurts terribly," whined Stowell.

"Never mind, Codfish, we'll give you a mustard plaster to put on it,"
cried Ned Lowe. And then in some confusion the sneak of Colby Hall
withdrew from the crowd.

"I don't suppose you feel like trying the swing now," remarked Walt
Baxter to Andy. "If you want to call it off, all right."

"Not much!" was the quick reply. "I got pretty well shaken up by hitting
Codfish, but just the same, I'm going to make the swing." And a moment
later Andy did so.

"And he wins!" declared Dan Soppinger, after measurements were made.
"He's a good six inches ahead of anybody!"

"Well, some time we'll try it again, and then maybe I'll be able to do
better," remarked Walt Baxter good-naturedly.

"I'm afraid you've made Codfish sore on us once again," remarked Jack to
Andy, after the little contest had come to an end and the cadets were
breaking up into various groups.

"If he is going to get sore over that he can do it," retorted Andy.

"I supposed he would be real friendly after all we did for him up in the
woods last Winter," remarked Fred.

"Well, that shows what's in a fellow is bound to come out sooner or
later," answered Randy. "Codfish always was a poor stick, and I suppose
he always will be. Just the same, I did hope he would turn over a new
leaf."

When the cadets awoke on Saturday morning a pleasurable surprise awaited
them. The storms of the weeks previous had completely passed, and the
sun was shining over the hills most gloriously.

"Oh, but isn't this the best ever!" cried Randy, after glancing out of
the window.

"It's simply scrumptious," retorted his twin; and then to show how good
he felt, Andy turned a flip-flap over his bed. Then he caught up a
pillow and threw it through an open doorway at Fred, who had just
started to dress.

"Hi, you! what's this--a bombardment by the Huns?" yelled Fred, and
promptly returning by sending a sneaker at his cousin. But the footwear
struck Randy, who promptly returned the missile and followed it up with
a book and a wadded-up towel.

"Hi, you fellows! stop the rough-housing!" shouted Jack. "Do you want to
be reported?"

"Who's going to report us--you?" questioned Andy.

"No. But some monitor will, or some teacher. And then a fat chance
you'll have of going to Haven Point this afternoon."

"Oh, that's so. We don't want to have our off-time cut off," put in
Randy quickly. "The war's over, the armistice is signed, and everybody
can go home and get washed up," he added, with a grin.

But while he was speaking Andy had advanced upon Fred, and now the two
started to wrestle. Jack tried to stop them and in the confusion the
three upset a small stand, sending a dozen or more books to the floor
with a thump. Almost immediately came another thump on one of the doors
leading to the corridor.

"Now we've done it," whispered Fred, in sudden alarm.

"Pick up those books! Quick!" answered Andy, and got down on his knees
to do so while Jack righted the stand which had held the volumes. At the
same time Randy leaped to pick up the pillows and otherwise straighten
the connecting rooms which the Rovers occupied.

"Ho, you fellows! aren't you up yet?" came from the corridor in the
voice of Gif Garrison. "Let me in. I've got some important news to tell
you."

"Oh, it's only Gif!" murmured the twins in relief.

"He said he had important news," put in Jack. "I wonder what it can be."




CHAPTER V

THE RIVAL SCHOOL


One of the doors to the rooms occupied by the Rovers was quickly swung
open and Gif Garrison strode in, followed by Dick Powell. Gif held a
morning newspaper in his hand, one which had been delivered to the
school only a short while before.

"You said you had important news, Gif," said Jack. "What is it?"

"There is an item here in the newspaper Gif wants to show you," put in
Spouter. "I am sure it will interest every one of us."

"It's not much of an item so far as size goes," said Gif. "But it
certainly is important--or at least it may be, especially to you
Rovers--seeing that none of us has ever been particularly friendly with
Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown."

"What! have you news of those two rascals?" demanded Randy.

"Did they run away from that detention camp in the South?" broke in
Fred.

"They'd be fools to do that," returned Andy. "The military authorities
would round them up in no time. It's no easy matter to keep out of the
clutches of Uncle Sam if he wants you."

"No, they haven't run away. They have simply been given their freedom,"
answered Gif. "Here--you can read the news for yourselves."

The item he referred to was only twelve lines long and located at the
bottom of a column on one of the inside pages of the newspaper. It was
dated from a well-known detention camp in the South, and gave a list of
six prisoners who had had another hearing and been given their freedom.
Two of the names were Napoleon Martell and Slogwell Brown, Jr.

"Well, they're loose, all right enough," was Andy's comment, after they
had perused the item. "I wonder what they'll do?"

"One thing is certain, being detained that way by the Government will
certainly prove quite a stigma," said Jack. "I shouldn't like to have
anything of that sort against me."

"I suppose they'll have it in for us," said Randy. "They always loved us
a lot--I don't think!"

"Do you imagine they would dare show themselves around here?" questioned
Fred quickly.

"Why not?" queried Spouter.

"I don't think they'll come here," answered Jack. "It's too slow for
them around Haven Point. You know how sick they got of it the last time
they were here. They'll probably head for some big city, where they can
have a good time on whatever money they can get hold of."

Gif and Spouter passed on, to carry the news to other cadets who might
be interested in it, and the Rovers hurried to get ready for roll-call
and breakfast. While they were finishing their dressing they continued
to discuss the news.

"I was hoping that we had seen and heard the last of Nappy and Slugger,"
said Fred; "just as I was hoping that we had seen the last of Werner and
Glutts."

"They are like bad pennies--ready to turn up when you least expect it,"
said Andy. "Just the same, they had better keep out of my way if they
don't want to get into trouble," he continued, his eyes flashing.

During the morning the boys had to attend a drill and then prepare a
number of their lessons for the following week. But directly after lunch
they had the time to themselves, and the four Rovers hurried off to
town, and Gif and Spouter went with them.

As has been mentioned before, Haven Point possessed a first-class motion
picture theater, run by a man named Felix Falstein, who on more than one
occasion had shown his friendship for the cadets. Jack and Fred had
communicated with their sisters, and Martha and Mary had agreed to meet
them at a certain hour at the theater entrance.

"Not here yet," said Jack, when the crowd arrived.

"You can't expect girls to be on hand always," said Andy gaily. "You've
got to give 'em a chance to get the hair-buns over their ears."

"And fourteen hooks hooked up on the shoulder where you can't reach
'em," added his twin, grinning.

"Here they come now!" interrupted Fred. "Do you want me to tell them
about the hooks and the hair-buns?" he added slyly.

"You say a word, Fred, and you'll be killed in cold blood!" retorted
Andy, while Randy shook a playful fist at his cousin.

In the crowd of girls coming around the corner of the street were not
only the two Rovers and May Powell, the cousin of Spouter, but also Ruth
Stevenson, Annie Larkins, and Alice Strobell.

"Have we been keeping you long?" questioned Martha Rover, as she came up
to her brother.

"Only a couple of minutes, Martha," answered Jack.

"We haven't even had a chance to read the billboards," put in Andy.

"I was so glad to see it clear off," remarked Ruth Stevenson, as she
quite naturally paired off with Jack, while May Powell turned to talk to
Fred. And then she added, as she gazed admiringly at the young captain
in his neat-fitting uniform: "I understand you and your cousins have
been doing the hero act again."

"Who told you that?" questioned Jack quickly.

"Never mind who told me. We've heard all about how you rescued a man and
his son from the Rick Rack River. Oh, Jack! it was a grand thing to do."

"But who told you, Ruth?"

"It was Mr. Franklin himself, if you want to know it."

"Where in the world did you meet Mr. Franklin?"

"Why, he works up at Bossard's lumber camp, and Bossard supplies our
school with cordwood. Mr. Franklin and his son brought down a load of
wood, and he told someone how the Rovers had come to their rescue. Then
those folks pointed Martha and Mary out to them, and as we happened to
be with your sister and your cousin at the time we heard the whole
story. Mr. Franklin said it was a very brave thing to do, and he was
awfully sorry that he couldn't offer you some reward--not but what I am
sure, Jack, you wouldn't accept it," the girl continued quickly.

By this time all the boys and girls had paired off and soon the cadets
had purchased tickets and all entered the showhouse. They found seats
together, and sat down to enjoy themselves. A comic picture was being
thrown on the screen, and at this the young folks laughed so heartily
that it put all of them in the best of humor. Then came a slight
intermission, and they had a chance to talk over their personal matters.

"I heard something a few days ago that interested me quite a good deal,
Jack," said Ruth. "It was from that new school at Darryville, the
Longley Academy."

The girl referred to a school which had been opened the Fall previous.
It was supposed to be something of a physical culture academy where as
much attention was paid to athletics as to mental studies. The school
had been inaugurated too late to do anything in football, but had given
out that they would be in the baseball field the following Spring.

"What did you hear about Longley, Ruth?"

"Why, there is a boy there I used to know quite well, Tommy Flanders. He
says they have organized a first-class baseball club, and that they are
going to put it all over Colby Hall--those are his exact words."

"Humph! that remains to be seen, Ruth."

"Have you received a challenge from them?"

"Not yet. But Gif Garrison is expecting one every day. We heard
something of the talk. Do you know if this Tommy Flanders is much of a
player?"

"He used to be considered quite a pitcher. In fact, he was so good as a
boy pitcher that some of the local fans wanted him to sign up in one of
the minor leagues. But of course they wouldn't let him do that because
he was too young to leave school."

"That certainly sounds interesting, especially if this Flanders pitches
for Longley."

"Tommy told me that they had not less than a dozen first-class baseball
players at their academy. He boasted that they would wipe up the diamond
with your school--I am now quoting his words."

"Evidently Tommy knows how to blow."

"Oh, but, Jack, he really is a first-class player. And you must remember
that they have advertised Longley Academy as given over especially to
athletics and gymnastics. Probably they'll pay more attention to
baseball and football than they will to their studies."

"Well, if we get beaten we'll get beaten, Ruth, that's all. We'll do our
best."

"And I certainly hope you win, Jack," said the girl, giving him a warm
glance. "I would like to see you take some of the conceit out of Tommy
Flanders."

After the performance was over the young folks adjourned to a nearby
ice-cream parlor where they indulged in that dainty to their hearts'
content. While eating their cream and munching the cake they had ordered
with it, Jack mentioned what Ruth had told him regarding the boys at the
new rival school.

"Yes, they said they were going to send a challenge soon," said Gif.
"And I've been warned by others that they intend to put a first-class
nine on the diamond to beat us."

"Then it will be up to you, Gif, to show them what Colby Hall can do,"
said Spouter. He himself was not much of a ball player, although he had
been on the nine occasionally.

The young people had almost finished their ice cream and cake when they
saw two girls and two boys come in. As they entered Ruth clutched Jack
by the arm.

"There is Tommy Flanders now!" she whispered, pointing to the larger of
the two youths.

Tommy Flanders showed that he was a good deal of a sport. He was dressed
in a loud-looking suit, had pointed shoes, and he wore a cap set well
back on his head. His face was rather red, and his forehead was
overshadowed by a heavy mop of reddish-brown hair.

"Hello, Ruth! How are you?" he called out pleasantly, when still at a
distance. "Glad to see you," and he smiled at all of the girls and
bowed.

After this there was nothing to do but to introduce the newcomer, and he
promptly introduced the two girls, who proved to be residents of Haven
Point, and then introduced his friend, Pete Stevens.

"Pete is going to be my backstop on our nine," explained Tommy Flanders.
"You know, I suppose, that I am the pitcher," he added in an off-hand
manner.

"And he's one wonder pitcher, believe me!" piped in Pete Stevens. He was
a stocky youth with small ferret-like eyes.

"I understand you're going to have quite a nine," remarked Jack
politely.

"Say, it will be the finest baseball aggregation this part of the
country has ever seen--that is, for a school nine," boasted Tommy
Flanders. "You know, our school is long on athletics. We intend to put
it over everything within traveling distance."

"That is, provided the other schools are not too scared to accept our
challenges," added Pete Stevens.

"You won't find Colby Hall afraid to accept any reasonable challenge,"
retorted Gif, somewhat disgusted with the boasting manner of the
newcomers.

"We've waxed a few schools around here, and maybe we can take a round
out of Longley Academy," Fred could not help but add.

"You'll never take a round out of Longley, believe me," sneered Pete
Stevens. "We'll put it all over you fellows just as sure as you're
born."

"Well, we'll see," remarked Jack, and his face showed that he did not
admire having this discussion before the girls.

"Say, I'll tell you what I'll do, Rover," said Tommy Flanders, advancing
close to the young captain. "I'll bet you ten dollars that we win the
first game of ball we play with you."

"You'll have to excuse me, Flanders, but I'm not betting," answered
Jack.

"Afraid, are you?"

"I said I was not betting. And now if you'll excuse us, we'll finish our
ice cream and cake," added the young captain coldly.

"Oh, well, if you're afraid to bet, we'll let it go at that," responded
Tommy Flanders carelessly. Then he and his companion and the girls with
them moved off to a table in the rear of the ice-cream parlor.

"Of all the conceited fools----" began Andy, when Jack caught him by the
arm.

"Drop it, Andy," and Jack looked at his cousin and then at the girls,
all of whom had been much disturbed over the possibility of a quarrel.

"Oh, sure, let's drop it," was Andy's quick answer. And then to change
the subject he began a funny story and soon he had the girls shrieking
with laughter. Then they finished their ice cream and cake and left the
place.

"Oh, Jack, if you do play them I hope you beat them good," said Ruth,
when the girls and the cadets were ready to separate.

"We'll do our best," was his reply.

"I hope when that match comes off we'll be able to see it," said Martha.

"Of course you'll all have to be on hand," answered her brother quickly.
"We'll want you girls to encourage us."

"I want to see you beat Longley Academy," declared Mary.

"So say we all of us!" came in a chorus from the others.




CHAPTER VI

PLAYING HIXLEY HIGH


"Now for some real baseball practice, boys!"

"Right you are, Jack! I'm mighty glad it has cleared off at last."

"If we are going to have our annual game with Hixley High two weeks from
to-day we had better get busy," put in Gif Garrison. "I had no idea they
would ask for a match so early in the season."

"It's on account of the game they expect to have this year with Longley
Academy," remarked Walt Baxter. "You see, they are to play the new
school too."

"Yes, and I heard that those Longley fellows were boasting they were
going to do up Hixley, just the same as they were going to do us up."

"Gee, but that Tommy Flanders makes me sick!" broke in Fred. "I really
think he's the most conceited fellow I ever met."

"Just the same, I've heard he's a pretty good player," remarked Gif. "He
is not only a good pitcher, but quite a good batsman. And they say that
his crony is also quite a good all-around player."

The regular nine, minus two players who had left the school the term
previous, were out on the diamond practicing. A little later, with two
substitutes, they were to play a match of five innings against a scrub
team picked from the most available of the ball players left.

Jack Rover was in the box and was putting some swift ones over the
plate. As yet he did not have perfect control of the horsehide, and as a
consequence it occasionally went over the catcher's head.

Three games of baseball had been arranged for Colby Hall, one with
Hixley High, another with Columbus Academy, and a third with Longley.
They were to take place in the order named and at intervals of one week.

The practice soon came to an end, and then the five-innings game with
the scrubs started. This proved to be quite a contest, and Fred Rover
distinguished himself by knocking a three-bagger, while Jack struck out
six batsmen, much to his satisfaction. When the contest came to a close
the regular nine had won by a score of 11 to 3.

"Well, that shows the old nine is still in the running," remarked Dan
Soppinger, when the boys were rushing to the gymnasium to get under the
showers.

"Right you are, Dan," answered Jack. "Just the same, that scrub team
isn't Hixley High, or Columbus or Longley, either, please don't forget
that."

"Oh, I know that just as well as you do, Jack. We've got to play much
better than we did to-day if we expect any victories in the regular
games."

"Don't forget that we'll be up against Dink Wilsey again," said Gif.

"I don't believe that any of us are likely to forget it," grinned Dan.
All remembered Dink Wilsey very well. He was the pitcher for Hixley High
and a fellow who was destined to become talked about in baseball
circles. He had a puzzling delivery, and sometimes struck out even the
best of the batsmen with ease.

From that day forth Jack and the other members of the ball team put in
every spare moment at practice. Gradually the young pitcher obtained
better control of the sphere, and then he did what he could to increase
his speed and make his curves more puzzling.

The contest with Hixley High was to take place on the latter's grounds,
and almost all the pupils at Colby Hall made the journey to see the
game. Many girls were also present from Clearwater Hall and from the
town.

"Oh, Jack, I hope you win!" said Ruth Stevenson, as he strode forward to
greet her and the others who had arrived from the girls' school.

"We're going to do our best, Ruth," answered the young pitcher. And
then, as he noticed something of a cloud on her face, he added jokingly:
"You don't have to look so glum about it."

"I'm not glum over the game, Jack. I was thinking of something else,"
she answered soberly.

"Why, what's the matter, Ruth--has anything gone wrong?"

"Yes, Jack. But--but maybe I'd better not tell you anything about it,"
she faltered.

"Has anybody been annoying you?"

"I can't tell you now--I'll tell you after the game if I get a chance,"
whispered Ruth, as several of the other boys and girls came closer.

At that moment came a blare of tin horns and the noise of many rattles,
and then the Hixley High boys let out a wild yelling:

"Hixley High! Hixley High! Hixley High forever!" and this was repeated
over and over again.

"Wake up, fellows!" came suddenly in a bellow from Ned Lowe. "Everybody
wake up for Colby Hall!" And then there boomed out this 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!"

"That's the stuff! Give it to 'em again!" yelled Fatty Hendry, wiping
the perspiration from his forehead, and once more the school refrain
boomed forth.

"Oh, isn't that grand!" remarked Mary Rover.

"The best ever!" answered her cousin Martha.

"It makes me feel just as if I was being raised off my feet," remarked
May Powell.

The game began with Hixley High at the bat. There was a wild cheering
for Rigby, the center-fielder, when he came up, stick in hand, and also
yells of encouragement for Jack.

"Put him out in one-two-three order, Jack!"

"Don't let him get a smell at first!"

"Knock the cover off it, Rigby! Make a homer!"

After two strikes, one of them a foul, Rigby managed to get a safe hit
to first. But then Jack tightened up and presently the side was retired
without a run.

"That's the stuff! Hold 'em to goose eggs all the way through!"

"Now, then, Colby, go to it and make a couple!"

But alas for this hope! One player got as far as third, but there the
inning ended.

Goose eggs also went up for both sides in the second, third and fourth
innings. Then two players of Hixley High managed to make singles, and on
a fumble by one of the new men playing for Colby one of these hits was
turned into a run.

"Hurrah! Hurrah! That's the stuff! Score one for Hixley!"

"Hold 'em down! Hold 'em down! Don't let 'em score again!" came from the
Colby Hall supporters. And the players from the military school did
"hold 'em down" to the single tally which had been made.

With the score 1 to 0, the game ran along to the eighth inning. Then Dan
Soppinger managed to knock out a two-bagger, and he was followed at the
plate by Randy. Two men were already out, so it was a crucial moment in
more ways than one.

Dink Wilsey was still in good form, although the strain was evidently
telling upon him. He sent in two swift balls, which were called strikes,
one being a foul. Then came two wide ones, which were put down as balls
by the umpire.

"Hit it, Randy!" sang out Gif. "Paste it for all you know how!"

Randy was on the alert, and although the next ball pitched was a bit
low, he swung for it, sending it down toward right field.

"Run, Dan! Run!"

"Leg it, Randy!"

And both players did run for all they were worth. Dan had started as
Randy swung for the sphere, and consequently touched third a few seconds
later. Then, as he saw the ball was still down in right field with the
fielder chasing madly after it, he came in to the home plate. Randy had
meanwhile reached first and was halfway to second, which he reached
safely by sliding.

"Hurrah! One run for Colby Hall!"

"And Randy Rover made it a two-bagger!"

"Some playing, I'll say!"

The excitement was now intense as Colby Hall saw a chance to win. But
this chance went glimmering a few seconds later when a pop-fly was
gathered in with ease by the Hixley pitcher.

"Never mind, we've tied the score, and that's something," said Gif. "Now
all we need do is to hold them down and make one more run."

In the ninth inning Hixley High fought desperately to score, and Colby
Hall did the same. But neither side got further than first.

"A tie game! A tie game!" was the cry.

"Now, then, it takes only one run to win!"

The excitement was now at a fever heat, and this continued through the
tenth and eleventh innings. By this time it was growing dark, so that
the fielders had difficulty in seeing the ball.

"I think we had better call it a tie and let it go at that," said the
Hixley captain to Gif. "What do you think about it?"

There was a brief consultation, and several of the regular school
coaches were called in. In the meanwhile it grew darker rapidly, and
presently the contest was called off.

"It's too bad we couldn't finish it," remarked Jack, as he shook hands
with Dink Wilsey.

"We'll have to finish it next year," said the rival pitcher, with a
grin.

There was a good deal of talk about the contest, but gradually the crowd
dispersed, and many of the Colby boys started for the Hall. The Rovers
and some of their chums rejoined the girls, and walked with them to the
automobiles which were to take Martha and Mary and the others back to
Clearwater Hall.

"I'm so sorry you fellows didn't win that game," pouted May Powell, on
the way.

"Well, we did our best," answered Fred. "And believe me, it's something
to hold down a school like Hixley with such a pitcher as Dink Wilsey."

"You don't mean to say he can pitch any better than Jack!" put in Ruth
quickly.

"Oh, I'm not saying anything against Jack," answered Fred. "Just the
same, Dink's a great pitcher, and Jack will say so himself."

"He certainly is," was the reply from the oldest Rover boy. "He'll be on
one of the professional teams one of these days. If Longley Academy has
any such pitcher in Tommy Flanders, we've got our work cut out for us."

Most of the boys and girls went on to where the automobiles were in
waiting, but Jack kept to the rear until the whole crowd were out of
hearing.

"Now, then, Ruth, tell me what is troubling you," he said in a low
voice.

"Oh, Jack, I don't believe I ought to tell you! I should have torn it up
and forgotten all about it," returned the girl.

"Torn it up? What do you mean? Was it a letter?"

"Yes, a letter that came yesterday. It is nothing but a scrawl, and it's
unsigned. It was sent from New York."

"What did the letter say? Did somebody threaten you, Ruth?"

"No, Jack. Somebody threatened you. If it hadn't been for that, I
wouldn't think of bothering you about it."

"Humph! this is interesting. Have you got the letter with you?"

"Yes. Here it is," and the girl brought forth the letter from her
handbag. As she had said, it was postmarked New York City, and was
addressed to her at the school. The envelope was a plain one, and inside
was a single sheet of plain white paper. On this, evidently in a
disguised hand, had been scrawled the following:

     "RUTH STEVENSON: If you know when you are well off you won't
      have much to do with Jack Rover or his cousins. They are a bum lot
      and some day you will be ashamed of every one of them. Jack Rover
      never treated anybody square, and some day you can take it from me
      that I intend to pound his handsome face into a jelly. Better
      listen to my warning, or you will be very sorry you had anything
      to do with that crowd.

     "A FRIEND."




CHAPTER VII

NEWS FROM ABROAD


"That's a fine letter, I must say!" remarked Jack, after perusing the
scrawl a second time. "Evidently the writer loves me a whole lot."

"Of course it must have come from one of those fellows who used to go to
school with you," said Ruth. "Perhaps that Martell boy or that Brown
boy."

"I don't think Nappy Martell would dare send such a letter," answered
the young captain of the cadets. "It would be more like Slugger Brown to
do it. But you must remember that those fellows have just been released
from that detention camp." Jack mused for a moment. "This looks more
like the work of Gabe Werner to me."

"Oh, Jack! suppose he should attack you some time when you weren't
aware?"

"That's a risk a fellow has to run. Of course, I expect to keep on my
guard, not only against Gabe Werner but also against Martell, Brown and
Glutts. The whole four don't like any of our crowd."

"But just read the dreadful thing he says," continued the girl, as she
caught Jack tightly by the arm. "He says he'll pound your face into a
jelly! Oh, Jack! don't you ever give him a chance to do that," and
Ruth's face showed her solicitude.

"There is one thing you have to remember, Ruth, and that is the writer
of an anonymous letter is generally a coward," Jack answered as lightly
as he could, more to ease her feelings than anything else. "So don't you
worry about this letter. Have you mentioned it to any of the others?"

"No; I didn't want to worry them."

"I'm glad you didn't say anything to Martha and Mary. I know it would
upset them a good deal, and maybe they would think they'd have to write
to their mothers about it. Just keep it to yourself. And please don't
destroy that letter; it might come in useful some time. Maybe we can
trace the handwriting."

"But you'll tell your cousins at the Hall, won't you?"

"Yes; I think I had better, so that they can be on their guard, too. We
don't want to run any unnecessary chances when it comes to those
rascals." And there the talk on this subject came to an end.

It was not until late that evening, when the four Rovers were retiring,
that Jack got a chance to mention the anonymous letter to his cousins.
All were tremendously interested, and speculated on who the writer could
be.

"My opinion is it was either Gabe Werner or Slugger Brown," said Randy.
"Neither Nappy Martell nor Bill Glutts would have the nerve to do it."

"I'll side with Jack and say it was Werner," said Fred.

"And I'll side with my brother and say it was either Slugger or Werner,"
added Andy.

Two days later came word which filled the Rover boys with joy. It was
announced that, as the war in Europe was at an end, Colonel Colby might
be expected home any day.

"Hurrah! that means that our folks will be coming home too before long!"
cried Fred, throwing up his cap. "Isn't this the best ever!"

"Maybe we'll get word from our fathers in a day or two," returned Andy.
"Anyway, I hope so."

"My! what a grand old time we ought to have when they do get home," said
Randy, his eyes glistening.

"We'll tear the woodpile down!" announced his twin, and then turned a
handspring just to ease his feelings.

The talk among the cadets at the Hall was now divided between the return
of Colonel Colby and the baseball game with Columbus Academy. In the
meantime Hixley High played a game with Longley Academy and lost by a
score of 3 to 7.

"Gee! that doesn't look good to me," announced Gif soberly, when the
news came in. "All we could do this year was to hold them to that tie."

"That score would seem to prove that the Longley nine is just about
twice as good as the Hixley nine," remarked Dan.

"I see by the score that Tommy Flanders struck out nine men. He
certainly must have been going some," came from Fred, who was studying
the score sheet with interest.

"Yes, and the Longley fellows made two home-runs and three two-baggers,"
put in Spouter. "I must say they didn't do a thing to Hixley High but
punch holes into them."

"We've certainly got our work cut out for us," announced Jack, and then
went to practicing harder than ever.

But if the score between Longley and Hixley had been a disappointment to
the Colby Hall team, there was quite a little comfort for them in the
game with Columbus Academy. The Columbus boys did their level best to
win, and yet when the game came to an end Colby Hall was the victor by a
score of 8 to 3.

"Well, that shows we are still in the running!" cried Gif that evening.
"Those Columbus fellows certainly put up a stiff game."

"They certainly did!" answered Randy. "Their pitcher wasn't such a
wonder, but their fielding was certainly great and they have some very
good batsmen."

"Yes, and their shortstop is as good as you can find them," added
Spouter.

"I've got one complaint to make about that game," said Ralph Mason, who
was the major of the school battalion. "I don't know whether I ought to
speak to you fellows about it or to Captain Dale."

"What is that, Major?" questioned Gif quickly.

"It has to do with little Henry Stowell," answered the young major
seriously.

"Oh, I think I know what you mean!" cried Ned Lowe. "Isn't it the way in
which he was talking to some of those Columbus players?"

"It is," was Ralph Mason's reply. "Then you heard it too, did you?"

"I heard a little. I hoped to hear more, but just then somebody came up
and took me away."

"If it was about the ball game, Major, I think I ought to know of it,"
said Gif.

"The trouble is, Gif, I don't really know whether Stowell meant anything
by it or not--or rather if he understood what he was doing. He is so
very innocent in some things I hate to accuse him of actual wrong-doing.
But one thing is certain: Those Columbus Academy fellows pumped him as
much as they could about our players, and especially about Jack Rover's
style of pitching. And they also asked a great number of questions about
the two new players on the nine."

"Codfish is a sneak, and always was!" burst out Dan Soppinger. "Oh, I
know you fellows feel inclined to stick up for him," he added, looking
at the Rovers; "and once in a while I feel sorry for him myself. But,
just the same, he isn't to be trusted."

"If you'll excuse me for saying something, Major, I don't think I'd take
the matter to Captain Dale--at least not just yet," put in Jack. This
conversation took place during the cadets' off time, and the young
captain felt he could talk freely to his superior officer. "If we find
that Stowell really tried to injure us, I guess we can take care of
him," and he smiled suggestively.

"All right, we'll let it go at that," answered Ralph Mason; and then
walked away, satisfied in his own mind that he had said quite enough to
the other boys.

By careful inquiry it was ascertained that several other cadets had
noticed Stowell talking to some of the Columbus students and had
overheard some of the remarks. All were of the opinion that the little
cadet had told altogether too much, although it was possible that he was
innocent in the matter.

"We certainly ought to teach him some kind of a lesson," remarked Andy.

"I wonder where Codfish is now?" questioned his twin quickly.

"I don't know, but I think we can soon find out. Come on--let us look
him up."

"Hi! what are you up to?" demanded Jack, feeling that something was in
the air.

"Oh, let them go, Jack!" cried Fred. And then he added to the twins: "If
it's anything worth seeing, let us know about it."

"We will!" called back Andy gaily.

The twins hunted around the school, and at last found Henry Stowell in
the gymnasium, where he was sitting on a bench watching some other
cadets going through their athletic exercises.

"If we can only manage to keep him here a while we might be able to fix
up something in his room for him," suggested Randy.

"I guess that would be easy," answered his twin. "There is Walt Baxter.
We'll get him to engage Codfish's attention for a while."

Walt was called to one side and the situation explained to him. He
readily consented to see to it that Stowell was kept from going up to
his room for some time. Then the twins hurried off in the direction of
the Hall.

"We must teach him a lesson that he won't forget in a hurry," remarked
Randy.

"Right you are!" was his brother's reply.

Half an hour later the other Rovers, along with Gif, Spouter and Dan,
were coming up to their rooms when they were met at the head of the
stairs by the twins.

"We're all ready for Codfish," announced Randy, somewhat excitedly.
"Just wait until I go down to the gym and tip Walt Baxter off."

"Walt and Codfish are in the school library. They just came over,"
announced Dan. "Ned Lowe is with them. They were asking Codfish a lot of
fool questions in history, as to when Hannibal discovered the south pole
and things like that."

Randy ran down and in a minute more was in the school library. He caught
Walt Baxter's eye and nodded to let the other cadet know that everything
was all right. Then Walt did the same to Ned.

"Well, I'm getting sleepy, Stowell," said Walt, stretching himself. "I
think I'll go and hit the hay."

"Ditto here," came from Ned.

"I'm real tired myself, and I'd have gone to bed some time ago if you
hadn't asked me so many questions," answered Henry Stowell, with a yawn.

"Then you don't really know much about who discovered the south pole?"
said Ned seriously. "You see, I want to put it in a composition I'm
writing about cats."

"I don't see what cats have to do with the south pole," said Stowell
innocently.

"Oh, that's easy, Codfish," said Walt. "Cats like to climb poles, and
the south pole is the south pole, isn't it?" And then he and Ned walked
off and joined Randy, and all hurried upstairs to the Rovers' rooms.

As luck would have it Henry Stowell this term was occupying a room by
himself. It was a fairly large apartment and furnished with a single
bed, a chiffonier, a table, and several chairs. In one corner was a
closet in which he kept most of his clothing and also a handbag.

"Well, what have you done?" questioned Fred, as the twins appeared.

"We fixed it up so Codfish is going to spend a real pleasant night,"
answered Andy, with a grin.

"But what did you do?" came from Jack.

"Just you fellows wait and see. Walt, will you go out and let us know
when Codfish comes up?"

"I will," answered Walt Baxter, and hurried to a corner of the corridor
where he might see without being seen.

In less than five minutes he came back hurriedly with the information
that Stowell had just entered his room.

"All right, then, fellows, come with me and maybe you will see or hear
something worth while," announced Randy gleefully.

"How are we going to see anything when he shuts his door on us?"
questioned Dan.

"His window is right next to the platform of the new fire-escape,"
answered Andy. "We'll go out on that, and then maybe we'll see
everything that goes on. He always keeps a bright light in his room and
always pulls down the shade. But we fixed it so the shade will come down
only so far, leaving a crack that we can look through with ease."

"I hope you haven't done anything to get us in bad with Captain Dale,"
remarked Jack.

"Oh, this isn't as bad as all that, Jack," answered Andy. "It's just
something to wake Codfish up."

Led by the twins, the other Rovers and their chums hurried down the side
corridor to where there was a red light and a sign, "Fire Escape." Then
they threw open a window, and in a moment more stood on the escape
mentioned. It was of steel, fairly wide, and ran along past several
windows, the second of which belonged to the room occupied by Stowell.

As they stepped out on the fire escape they saw a light flash up in the
sneak's room and a few seconds later the window shade was pulled down.

"Just as I told you!" Andy exclaimed. "I knew the shade would come down.
And see! there is the crack we mentioned. Now, then, line up under the
window and we'll see what happens next."




CHAPTER VIII

THE JOKE ON THE SNEAK


The window of Stowell's room had been left open so the boys outside
could hear, as well as see, what went on within. They saw the sneak of
the school yawn and stretch as if he was tired, and then he lost no time
in preparing to retire.

In one of his pockets he carried a piece of cake, and this he ate with
satisfaction while undressing. Then, when clad only in his pajamas, he
turned off the light and moved in the semi-darkness toward the bed.

"Now watch," murmured Andy, somewhat excitedly.

All outside did so, ranging their heads close together at the open slit
of the window. They heard Stowell throw back the covers of the bed and
then sit down. An instant later came a cry of surprise.

"What's this? Oh, dear me! something is in the bed!"

The sneak of the school bounced to his feet so hurriedly that he tipped
over a chair standing alongside of the bed and pitched forward headlong
to the floor.

"Hi! Leave me alone! Get away from me! Scat!" they heard him ejaculate
and then give a little squeal of terror as he scrambled once more to his
feet. Then they heard him rush to the side of the room and once more
make a light.

As the rays filled the apartment those outside saw something of what had
taken place. Not less than half a dozen mice were doing their best to
hide themselves here and there under the bed and the chiffonier and in
the corners of the room. One or two scampered directly past Stowell, who
set up another squeal of alarm and then leaped up on the nearest chair.

"He's enjoying it, all right," murmured Randy.

"Shut up!" came promptly from Fred. "If he sees us we'll have to dust
for it."

But the eyes of the sneak were not turned toward the window. He was
looking only at the mice, two of which were still scampering across the
floor trying to find some hole of escape.

"Somebody's been playing a trick on me," murmured Stowell to himself.
"Just wait till I find out who did it, I'll fix him!"

He remained standing on the chair, not caring to venture on the floor in
his bare feet and with the mice still at liberty. He had placed his
shoes under the head of the bed.

"I've got to clear them out somehow," he muttered to himself. "But I
guess I'd better put my shoes on first. Then I'll get that baseball bat
in the closet and do it."

With extreme caution Codfish descended from the chair and walked
hurriedly across the floor to the head of his bed. He drew forth the
shoes and started quickly to put them on.

His toes were just going down into one of the shoes when he let out a
yell which would have done credit to a wild Indian. One of the mice had
found refuge in the footwear, and now it gave a bound and scrambled up
inside the leg of Stowell's pajamas.

"Hi! Get out of there! Help! Murder! Take that beast away! Oh, my! he'll
bite me sure! Ouch! he's bit me already!" And then the sneak of the
school began to dance around wildly, in the meantime clutching savagely
in the region of the knee where the mouse had found lodgement. Caught,
the little animal had nipped Codfish in the finger.

"Gee, this is the richest yet!" chuckled Walt Baxter.

"Better than a moving picture," was Gif's comment.

"He'll wake the whole school if he makes much more noise," remarked
Jack. "Be prepared to skip out when the time comes."

"I'll have somebody arrested for this," howled Codfish, as he still
struggled with the mouse that was up his leg. "This is beastly! Oh,
dear! what in the world shall I do?"

He gave a savage tug at his pajamas, and the next instant there was a
tearing sound and the cloth parted at the knee. Out leaped the mouse, to
disappear quickly under the bed.

Panting from his excitement, and muttering to himself, the sneak of the
school, making sure that the shoes were now both empty, slipped his feet
into them and then hurried toward the clothing closet located in a
corner. He intended to get a baseball bat with which to either kill the
mice or chase them out into the hallway.

"Now watch," whispered Randy. "Here is where he gets another surprise."

Stowell flung open the door of the closet in a hurry. As he did this he
found himself confronted by the figure of a Colby Hall cadet. The
intruder had a handkerchief tied over his face.

"Hi! what are you doing here?" cried Stowell in sudden surprise. "You're
the fellow who's playing the trick on me, eh? I'll fix you, you see if I
don't!" And then struck by a sudden idea, Stowell slammed shut the door
of the closet and locked it. "Now I've got you, and you'll suffer for
this nonsense--you see if you don't!" he shouted.

"Gee! this is the best yet!" burst out Andy in a low voice. "I didn't
think he'd lock that dummy in."

"We only put it there to scare him," explained Randy. "It's one of his
old suits stuffed out. We thought it might fall out on him when he
opened the door. But I guess it's better the way it is," he chuckled.

"Where did you get those mice?" Gif questioned.

"Oh, that was easy," answered Andy. "I met Pud Hicks, the janitor's
assistant, this noon and he was telling me of a whole lot of mice he had
caught down in the barn during the past week. He had the bunch in a box,
and he said he was going to take them down to the river and drown them.
I knew where the box was, and getting them was easy."

By this time Codfish had slipped into his trousers, and now he put on
his coat.

"He's going downstairs to tell Captain Dale or one of the professors!"
exclaimed Jack in a low voice. "We had better get out of here."

The young captain's advice was followed, and all lost no time in leaving
the fire escape and entering the school building. They were just in time
to see the door to Stowell's room flung open and the sneak hurry
downstairs.

"I must see what he does!" cried Randy, who could never let any portion
of a joke get away from him, and he hurried down the stairs after
Stowell.

Captain Mapes Dale was in the office of the school writing a letter when
Stowell burst in upon him with scant ceremony.

"Oh, Captain Dale, won't you please come quick?" cried the little sneak,
all out of breath with excitement. "Somebody put about a million mice in
my room, and I've got the fellow locked up in my clothes-closet."

"A million mice in your room, Stowell!" exclaimed the captain, leaping
to his feet. "Surely you must be mistaken. You don't mean quite that
many," and a faint smile crossed his features.

"Well, there are a whole lot of them, anyway," returned Codfish. "When I
opened my bed they leaped right out at me and they ran all over the
floor, and then one of them went up the leg of my pajamas and bit me.
See how I had to tear my pajamas to get him out?" and he showed the
spot.

"And you say you have the culprit locked up in your closet?" demanded
Captain Dale.

"Yes, sir. Won't you please come up and see who it is before he has a
chance to break out? Of course he'll try to get away if he can. He won't
want to be caught."

"Yes, I'll go up immediately. Are the mice up there still?"

"Yes, sir. I shut the door on them so they couldn't get away."

"Then I had better call the janitor and his assistant first, so that we
can round up the million mice, more or less."

Fortunately Pud Hicks was not around the building, so could not be
summoned. But Job Plunger, the school janitor, was at hand, and so was
Bob Nixon, the school chauffeur.

"I guess I know where those mice came from," said Nixon, with a grin.
"Hicks caught a lot of them down at the barn. He was going to drown 'em
down at the river to-morrow. Somebody must have got hold of 'em and put
'em in Stowell's room."

Nixon and Plunger followed Captain Dale and Stowell to the cadet's room.
In the meanwhile Randy had rejoined the other Rovers and their chums,
and likewise rapped on half a dozen doors as he passed, and as a
consequence fully a score of cadets were made aware that something
unusual was happening.

"What's the row?"

"Is it a fire?"

"Are they going to celebrate the victory over Columbus Academy?"

"If anything good to eat is being passed around count me in."

"Codfish is holding a celebration!" cried Andy from around a corner and
in a disguised voice. "Everybody watch for something good from Codfish's
room."

The appearance of Captain Dale with Stowell only whetted the curiosity
of the assembled students, and from half-closed doors they watched the
head of the school and the little sneak approach the room. The door was
left open, and a moment later out popped one mouse, quickly followed by
another.

"Hello, there's a mouse!"

"Hi, catch those fellows!" yelled Bob Nixon, who was on hand with a
trap, followed by Job Plunger with a box.

The school janitor was quite deaf, and so could hear nothing of what was
going on.

The escape of the two mice was a signal for the assembling students to
begin a chase after the rodents. Then another mouse came out into the
hallway, and various things were thrown at the scurrying animal.

"Here, here! Stop that noise out there!" commanded Captain Dale. "There
is no sense in making such a racket over a few little mice."

As he spoke the head of the school strode to the closet door and
unlocked it.

"Now come out here and give an account of yourself," he said, as he
threw the door open.

"Now you are going to catch it for playing such a trick on me," exulted
Codfish.

The figure in the closet, of course, did not move, and Captain Dale
reached forth to pull the offending cadet into the room. But then he
stopped short, and something of a smile crossed his face.

"What is the matter with you, Stowell--are you blind?" he demanded.

"Blind?" queried the sneak of the school, bewildered. "What do you
mean?"

"Can't you see that this is only a stuffed figure? And it hasn't any
head on, either; only a handkerchief tied around some underwear with a
cap stuck on top."

"Oh, Captain Dale, you don't mean it!" cried Codfish, and fell back
against the wall, too upset to say more.

"But I do mean it," went on the military man, and reached for the dummy,
which immediately toppled over on the floor, the head and cap rolling in
one direction and the legs and shoes in another. "It's nothing but an
old uniform stuffed out."

"Where's them mice?" cried Job Plunger in a shrill voice. "Where's them
mice, I say?"

"You'll have to find them, Plunger," answered Captain Dale.

"Behind 'em?" remarked the deaf janitor. "Behind where?"

"I did not say behind anything," shouted the captain. "I said you'd have
to find them."

"Oh. Well, I'll find 'em if they're in the room," said Plunger.

By this time the noise and excitement had increased so that nearly half
of the school was out in the corridor in front of Stowell's room. They
saw the remains of the stuffed figure on the floor, and many quickly
surmised that a joke had been played.

"What is Codfish doing with that dummy?"

"Has he been using it for an imitation Hun to shoot at?"

"Maybe he's going to join the football team next Fall and wants to
practice up."

"Has he been taming mice on the sly?"

"Gee! I don't want to stay in a place where a fellow keeps mice in his
room."

In the midst of this talk the janitor and the chauffeur did what they
could to round up the escaped mice. They managed to capture two of the
rodents and kill two others, and that was all that could be found.

"If there were any more, the rest must have gotten away," remarked Bob
Nixon.

"This is simply a practical joke," announced Captain Dale, after a few
more words with Stowell. "Have you any idea who played it?"

"I don't know exactly, sir, but I think maybe I can find out," answered
the sneak. He felt much subdued, especially as he saw the eyes of many
of the other cadets on him.

"Well, you go to bed now, and I'll take this matter up to-morrow
morning," said Captain Dale. "Boys, I want you all to retire, and at
once," he went on with a wave of his hand to those outside. And then the
cadets dispersed to their rooms.




CHAPTER IX

THE GAME WITH LONGLEY


"I guess that will hold Codfish for a while," remarked Randy, when the
Rovers were once more by themselves in their rooms and the excitement
had died away.

"I'll have to make it a point to see Pud Hicks the first thing in the
morning," returned his twin. "Pud might tell somebody that he showed
those mice to me."

"Yes, you'd better do that, by all means," put in Jack.

"And another thing you ought to do, is to let Codfish know why this
trick was played on him," came from Fred. "Otherwise it will be a good
effort thrown away," and he grinned.

"I'll leave a note under his door," said Randy, and a little later
scribbled out the following on a card:

     "This is what you get, Codfish, for giving information to our
     baseball rivals. Be careful in the future to keep your mouth shut.

     "THE AVENGERS."

"I reckon that will hold him for a while," said Randy, and before going
to bed he slipped out into the corridor and placed the card under
Stowell's door.

Early in the morning Andy saw the assistant janitor and easily arranged
for Pud Hicks to say nothing about the mice.

"Why, over a dozen of the cadets saw those mice," said Hicks; "so they
can't blame any of this on you." And it may be mentioned here that the
investigation which followed came to nought.

Two days later Andy burst in on the others like a whirlwind, his face
glowing with excitement.

"Come on downstairs, everybody!" he called out. "Colonel Colby has just
arrived! Come on, and ask him what he can tell us about our fathers."

At this announcement there was a general stampede. All of the others
dropped the textbooks they had been studying and made a simultaneous
rush for the corridor and the stairs. Down, pell-mell, went the whole
crowd, to join a group of cadets in the lower hall, everyone of whom was
doing his best to shake Colonel Colby's hand first.

The owner of the school was dressed in his uniform as a United States
officer, and looked taller and more bronzed than ever. His face wore a
broad smile and he gave each of his pupils a hearty handshake.

"Oh, Colonel, we are so glad to see you back!" cried Jack, with genuine
pleasure as he wrung the officer's hand. "And I hope you have good news
of my father and my uncles?"

"I am as glad to see you as you are to see me, Captain Rover," returned
Colonel Colby. "And it is a genuine pleasure to get back to this school
after having endured such arduous days in France."

"And what about our folks?" added Fred, as he too came in for a
handshake.

"When our troopship left France your folks were expecting to follow in
about ten days or two weeks. Most likely they are already on the way."

"And they were well?" asked Randy anxiously.

"Quite well. Of course, you know that your father and your Uncle Sam
were wounded by some flying shells, and that your Uncle Dick suffered
from a gas attack. But they are all recovering rapidly, and I don't
doubt but what they will soon be as well as ever."

"Somebody said that dad had won a medal of honor," said Jack, his eyes
lighting up with expectancy.

"It is true. He did win such a medal. And he deserved it. Probably he
will give you all the particulars when he arrives."

That was all Colonel Colby could say at the time, because many others
wanted to shake his hand, from Captain Dale down through all the
teachers and the cadets to the school janitor, and even the women
working in the kitchen and the men in the stables. He had been on good
terms with all his hired help, and now they showed a real affection for
him which touched his heart deeply.

"Just think of it! Our fathers may be back in ten days!" exclaimed Andy.
"Isn't it the best ever!" And he commenced to dance a jig just to let
off steam.

The boys lost no time in telephoning to the girls, and it may be
imagined that Martha and Mary were indeed glad to hear the news.

The next day, just as the session was closing, the Rovers were informed
that a man and a boy were out on the campus waiting to see them. They
hurried out and found themselves confronted by John Franklin and his son
Phil.

"I've been promising myself right along that I'd come and see you
fellows," said John Franklin. "But somehow I couldn't get around to it.
But now that my son and I are going back to Texas I felt I'd have at
least to say good-bye and thank you once again for what you fellows did
for us."

"And as my father wasn't able to reward you, I thought maybe you
wouldn't mind if I made each of you something out of wood with my
jackknife," put in Phil Franklin, somewhat awkwardly. "You know,
handling a jackknife is one of my specialties," he added, with a grin.
"So please accept these with our compliments. You can divide them up to
suit yourselves."

He handed over a package done up in a newspaper, and, unfolding this,
the Rovers found four articles carved out of hard wood. One was an
inkstand, another a miniature canoe, a third an elaborate napkin ring,
and the fourth a tray for holding pins and collar buttons.

"Why, those are real fine, Phil," said Jack, as he looked the articles
over.

"You don't mean to say you did all of this work with a knife?"
questioned Andy admiringly.

"Every bit of it," was the reply.

"They are beautiful," was Randy's comment, after an inspection.

"Better than you could buy in the stores," added Fred.

"I'm pleased to know that you like my son's handiwork," said John
Franklin.

"They are real good," said Jack. "But we don't feel like taking these
things without giving you something in return," he added hastily.

"Oh, that's all right!" cried Phil Franklin. "You've done enough for us
already. You keep the things and don't say anything more about it."

"And so you're really going back to Texas?" questioned Fred, after the
presents had been inspected again.

"Yes, we're going to start to-morrow noon," answered John Franklin.
"I've got a little money together now, and I'm going back to see if I
can't put a crimp in those oil-well sharpers who did me out of my farm."

"Well, I certainly hope you get the best of those fellows if they
swindled you," said Randy heartily.

The conversation lasted half an hour longer, and during that time Randy
and Jack excused themselves and slipped off to their rooms. When they
came back they had a small package containing two of their best story
books.

"Here are a couple of books which perhaps you'll like to read on the
trains," said Jack. "We want you to accept them with the compliments of
all of us."

"Oh, story books!" And Phil Franklin's eyes lit up with pleasure. "I
love to read. Are you sure you can spare them?" And when they said they
could he continued: "That suits me immensely."

A little later father and son took their departure.

"Pretty nice people," was Jack's comment. "I certainly hope they get
their rights."

This meeting took place on the day when Longley Academy played Columbus
Academy. The cadets, remembering the score between Hixley High and
Longley, were very anxious to know how the Columbus team would fare
against the new school.

"Well, Longley wins again!" exclaimed Ned Lowe, who came in with the
news.

"What was the score?" questioned Gif with much interest.

"Eleven to two."

"You don't mean it!" cried Spouter. "Why, that's worse than the game
they took from Hixley High!"

"One thing is certain: The Longley team knows how to play," said Jack
decidedly. "We may not like Tommy Flanders and his bunch, but, just the
same, you've got to hand it to 'em for knowing how to put it across."

"It looks to me as if we might be in for a defeat," remarked another
cadet.

"Defeat! Don't talk that way, Leeds," stormed Gif. "Colby Hall is going
to win!"

"Well, I hope so, but I'm afraid you'll be disappointed," answered
Leeds. He was a new pupil, and was of a decidedly pessimistic turn of
mind.

The victories of Longley over Hixley and Columbus served one good
purpose. It caused Gif to call his team together and read them a stern
lecture.

"We are evidently up against a bunch of real ball players," said the
captain. "We've got to buckle down in this contest and do our very best,
and then some. I want every man to practice all he can from now on. And
when the time comes I want every man to play the game with all the
brains and all the nerve that are in him."

Longley Academy being devoted, as mentioned before, very largely to
physical culture and athletics, had an extra fine baseball grounds with
a beautiful new grandstand and bleachers. The new school was anxious to
show off these grounds, and so had insisted that the game be played
there, and this had been agreed to after it was announced that one half
of the stands should be set aside for the cadets of Colby Hall and their
friends.

It had been noised about that this game was to be "for blood," so that
when the time came for the contest the grounds were overflowing with
people. Everybody from Colby Hall and Longley was there, and in addition
quite a respectable crowd from Hixley, Columbus, and from Clearwater
Hall. There was also a scattering of people from the town and the
surrounding districts.

"Oh, Jack, aren't you nervous?" questioned Martha, when he met the girls
from Clearwater.

"If I am I'm not going to show it," he replied to his sister.

"Jack, I'm going to root harder than I ever did in my life," said Ruth,
as she held up a banner marked Colby Hall and another marked Clearwater
Hall.

"We're all going to root," declared May Powell.

The stands were speedily filled to overflowing, and there was a large
crowd assembled behind the foul line on either side of the diamond.
There was a loud cheering when the Colby Hall nine appeared, and a like
cheer when the Longley players put in an appearance.

"Hurrah for Colby Hall!"

"Three cheers for Longley Academy!"

"Here is where the cadets walk off with another one!"

"Not much! Here is where Longley snows you under!"

And so the gibes and comments ran on, while every once in a while wild
cheering rang out, mingled with the noise of horns and rattles.

The toss-up sent Longley to the bat first, and with a cheer from his
friends Jack took the ball and walked down to the box.

"Now then, fellows, swat it good and plenty!" cried Tommy Flanders. "We
want about half a dozen runs the first inning."

"He doesn't want much," murmured Fred.

The first man up was a heavy hitter named Durrick. He had one strike and
two balls called, and then sent a low one to left field which gave him
first base with ease.

"Hurrah, boys! Keep it a-going!" cried Tommy Flanders, dancing around
joyously.

The second man up knocked two fouls and then a short fly to third. But
then came another safe hit to right field which took the batter to first
while the other runner gained third.

"Take it easy, old man," cautioned Gif, as he came up to speak to Jack.
"Don't let them rattle you."

"They are not going to rattle me," answered Jack sturdily.

He gritted his teeth, and then sent in three swift balls so quickly that
the next batsman was taken completely by surprise and was declared out
almost before he knew it.

"That's the stuff, Colby! Two out! Hold 'em down!"

"Knock it out! Bring Durrick in!"

The next player up was a tall, lanky chap named Wilks. He swung savagely
at the sphere as if intending to knock it over the back fence.

"If he ever connects with it it will be a homer with three runs in,"
thought Gif.

Two strikes were called, and then three balls. Then Jack took a sudden
brace and sent in a swift high one. Wilks leaped for it, and the crack
of the bat could be heard all over the grounds.

It looked like a safe hit to center field, but as the crack of the bat
sounded on the air Jack Rover was seen to leap high up with hand
out-stretched. The next instant he came down with the sphere safe within
his grasp.

[Illustration: JACK ROVER LEAPED HIGH UP AND CAUGHT THE BALL.]

"Fly ball! Batter out!"

Longley Academy had played its first inning without scoring.




CHAPTER X

A GLORIOUS VICTORY


"Good for Jack Rover!"

"That was some stop, all right!"

"Maybe it didn't sting his hand!"

So the cries ran on, and when the Colby Hall nine came in from the field
the young pitcher was wildly applauded.

In the meantime, however, Gif ran to him anxiously.

"It was the best ever, Jack, but did it hurt your hand--I mean enough to
stop your pitching?"

"It's not going to stop my pitching, Gif," answered the young pitcher.
His hand stung as if burnt by fire, but he was not going to admit it.

"Oh, wasn't that a glorious play!" burst out Ruth Stevenson, and her
glowing face showed her pleasure.

"I hope Jack wasn't hurt," answered the young captain's sister
solicitously.

There was another cheering when Dan Soppinger stepped to the plate with
his bat in hand. Dan had two strikes called on him, and then sent a fly
to left field which was gathered in with ease.

"One out! Keep it up, Longley!"

"Don't let 'em see first!"

Gif was the next player up, and by hard work he managed to rap out a
single between short and second, which carried him to first in safety.
But the next two players failed to connect with the sphere, and the
goose egg went up on the board for the cadets.

After that there was a good deal of seesawing for four innings, and
without any results so far as scoring was concerned. Longley made four
hits, and so did the Colby boys. But no runner got further than second
base.

Of course the catching of the red-hot liner had done Jack's pitching
hand no good. It was a little swollen in the palm, and this prevented
the fingers from working quite as freely as would otherwise have been
the case.

"Now listen, Jack," said Gif, taking him to one side after Jack had
pitched through the fifth inning. "If your hand hurts you, say so, and
I'll put another fellow in the box."

"Never mind my hand, Gif, as long as I can treat them to goose eggs,"
answered the young pitcher.

"But I don't want you to ruin your hand."

"That's all right. When I feel I can't do any more pitching I'll let you
know."

In the sixth inning there came a break. But this could not be called
Jack's fault. The first Longley player up, a chap named Mason, managed
to dribble the ball toward third, and before either the baseman or the
shortstop could send it over he had reached first. Then, on a wild throw
to second, the runner not only covered that bag, but went on and slid in
to third.

"Now we've got 'em a-going, fellows!" was the Longley yell.

"Right you are!"

"Nobody out, and a man on third! This is the time we wipe up the diamond
with them! Everybody on the job!"

The next player went out on a pop fly. Then came Tommy Flanders, who did
his best to line out a single. This was stopped by the second baseman,
who, however, threw the ball to the home plate, thus cutting off the
possibility of a run.

"Hurrah! Two men on base, and only one out!"

"Here is where Longley does some big scoring!"

"Jack, are you sure you can hold 'em?" Gif questioned anxiously, as he
came up to the pitcher.

"I'll do it or die in the attempt," was the answer, and Jack gritted his
teeth.

It was certainly a trying situation, but the young pitcher refused to
allow his nerves to get the better of him. He gave a signal to the
backstop, and then sent in an outcurve, which the batter swung at in
vain. Then he sent in a straight ball, following this by another
outcurve, and almost before he knew it the batter was struck out.

"Hurrah!" came from Spouter Powell. "That's the way to do it! Two men
out! Now for the third man!"

The Longley player to come up was one of their best batsmen, and Jack
realized that to give him anything like a good ball to hit would be
fatal, so he fed the man nothing but those which were high and wide. As
a consequence the fellow had two strikes called on him and four balls,
and took his base, moving Flanders to second.

"Hurrah! Three men on base!" was the Longley yell. "Now, then, Simmons,
bring 'em all in!"

Simmons came forward with a do-or-die expression on his face. He had one
strike called on him, and then knocked a low one toward centerfield. At
once he started for first, while the fellow on third dashed forward for
the home plate. The ball was gathered in as quickly as possible, and the
runner from first to second was put out. But the runner from third had
come in just before.

"Hurrah! That's one run, anyhow!" shouted the Longley supporters.

"I told you we could do it," said Tommy Flanders. He was glad of the
run, yet tremendously chagrined to think that he had not been permitted
to score.

"Now we've got to tie that score or better," said Gif, when the Colby
Hall boys came to the bat.

All of those who came up, including Fred and Jack, did their best, but
were unable to get further than first or second.

"Hurrah! That's the stuff!" cried Pete Stevens. "Let us hold 'em down to
a whitewash!"

"Sure I'll hold 'em down!" boasted Tommy Flanders. "Not a one of 'em are
going to see the home plate off of me to-day."

"He'll certainly win the game if conceit can do it," murmured Ned Lowe
in disgust.

It must be admitted that so far Tommy Flanders had done wonderfully
well. But there were signs that he was overdoing it by pitching too
hard.

"I think he'll break before the game is over," said Dan.

"Just my opinion," returned Walt Baxter. "No young pitcher can stand up
under such a strain as that."

The break they had looked for came in the eighth inning. By a supreme
effort Longley managed, on a fumble by one of the new players for Colby
Hall, to bring in another run, at which the cheering on their side was
tremendous.

"That's the stuff! Two to nothing! Wallop 'em good and plenty, Longley!"

"We'll wallop 'em all right enough," exulted Tommy Flanders. "They are
going to get the worst whitewashing they ever had--you mark my words."

Alas for the conceited young pitcher! His overconfidence made him a
trifle wild, and almost before he realized it the first Colby Hall
batter had got a safe hit to first and the second man up went to first
on balls, advancing the other to second.

"Tighten up there, Tommy! Tighten up!" called out one of the Longley
sympathizers.

"I'll tighten up, all right enough," answered Flanders, with a scowl.

The next player up got another single, the ball being fumbled by the
fielder, and as a consequence the bases were filled.

"Be careful, Tommy!" cautioned the Longley captain, as he came up to the
pitcher. "Be careful! We don't want to spoil the score."

"They won't get in. You just watch me and see," answered Flanders, and
scowled more than ever.

He did tighten up a little, and as a consequence the next batter up went
out on strikes and the following player on a foul fly.

"Hurrah! Two out! Hold 'em down! Don't let 'em score!"

The next batter up was Fred. So far the youngest Rover had been unable
to get further than first.

"Oh, Fred, line it out! Please line it out!" cried May Powell, and then
she blushed furiously as a number sitting near her began to laugh.

"Don't you care, May," consoled Mary, and then she called out loudly:
"Do your best, Fred! Do your best!"

"Go in and win!" cried Martha.

There had been a tremendous racket, but now, as Fred gripped his ashen
stick and Tommy Flanders prepared to deliver the ball, a deathlike
silence came over the field. Every one of the men on the bases was
prepared to leg it at the slightest chance of being able to score.

The first ball to come in was too high, and the second too low, so Fred
let them go by. Then, however, came a straight ball just where he wanted
it, and Fred swung at it with every ounce of muscle in his body.

Crack! The report could be heard all over the grounds, and then the
sphere could be seen sailing far off into left field.

"Run, boys, run! Everybody run!"

"Leg it for all you are worth!"

"It's a three-bagger, sure!"

"No, it isn't! It's a homer! Run, boys! Run! Run! Run!"

The crowd was now on its feet yelling and cheering at the top of its
lungs and throwing caps and banners into the air, and while the left
fielder was chasing madly after the bounding ball, the three men on
bases came in one after another, followed swiftly by the panting and
blowing Rover boy.

"Hi! Hi! Hi! What do you know about that! Four runs!"

"That's the way to do it, Colby! Keep it up!"

"You've got the Longley pitcher going!" cried Spouter at the top of his
lungs. "Give us a few more home runs! They'll be easy!"

"Take Flanders out!" said one of the Academy boys in disgust. "He's
beginning to weaken."

While the din and excitement continued the Academy captain went up to
talk to the pitcher.

"Don't you think we had better make a change, Tommy?" he questioned
anxiously.

"No, I don't!" roared Flanders angrily. "That home run was a fluke,
that's all. I'll hold 'em down, you wait and see."

There were wild cries to change the pitcher on the part of the Longley
students, while the military academy cadets yelled themselves hoarse
telling their nine to "bat Flanders out of the box."

Walt Baxter was now up, and managed to get to second. Then came Jack
with a single that took him safely to first and advanced Walt to third.

"Say, Tommy, you'd better give it up," whispered the Longley captain, as
he came to the box.

"I'll hold 'em! Just give me one chance more," answered Flanders
desperately.

And then came the real break. The next player up got what would have
been a two-base hit, but the ball was fumbled, and as a consequence the
man got home, chasing the other two runners in ahead of him.

"Hurrah! What do you know about that! Seven runs!"

"That's the way to do it! Hurrah for Colby Hall!"

"You've got 'em a-going, boys, give it to 'em good and plenty!"

The excitement was now greater than ever, and all, including the girls
from Clearwater Hall, were shouting themselves hoarse, tooting tin
horns, shaking rattles, and throwing caps and other things into the air.

"Take him out! Take Flanders out!"

"Out with Flanders! Out with him!"

"He should have been taken out before!"

"All right--finish the game without me!" roared Tommy Flanders in
disgust, and, throwing down the ball, he strode from the field and into
one of the dressing-rooms.

"Gee, but he's sore!" was Randy's comment.

"That ought to take some of the conceit out of him," added Andy.

The new pitcher was a left-hander who had rather a puzzling delivery,
and he managed to retire the side without any more runs, so that at the
end of the eighth inning the score stood 7 to 2 in favor of Colby Hall.

"Now then, pull yourselves together," ordered the Longley captain, when
his side came up to the bat for the last time.

All of those who came to the plate did their best, but Jack was on his
mettle, and though his swollen hand hurt him not a little, he played
with all the coolness, strength and ingenuity which he possessed. As a
consequence, although he allowed two single hits, none of the Longley
boys got further than third.

"Hurrah! Colby Hall wins!"

And then what a celebration ensued among the cadets who had won the game
and their many supporters!




CHAPTER XI

BONFIRE NIGHT


Such a glorious baseball victory as this could not be passed off lightly
by the cadets of Colby Hall. They arranged for a grand celebration that
night, with bonfires along the river front and a generous collation
served in the gymnasium. They were allowed to invite a few of their boy
friends, and all made the most of it.

"It's a pity we can't have you girls," said Jack, when they were parting
with Ruth and the others.

"Never mind, Jack; I'm happy to think that you won the game," answered
the girl.

"Yes, and we're extra happy to think that you got the best of that
awfully conceited Tommy Flanders," added May.

Late in the evening the boys cut loose to their hearts' content, neither
Colonel Colby nor Captain Dale having a mind to stop them.

There were only two boys in the school who did not appreciate the
celebration. One was Stowell, who was caught by some of his tormentors
and dusted from head to foot with flour, and Leeds, who had been so
pessimistic regarding the school winning. Leeds had said altogether too
much, and as a consequence a big fool's cap was placed on his head and
he was marched around the campus riding on a rail and then dumped
unceremoniously into the river.

"And don't you dare swim out until you promise after this to believe in
Colby Hall and root for her first, last, and all the time!" shouted one
of the cadets on the shore.

"All right, I'll promise! I'll promise anything!" spluttered Leeds.
"Only let me get out of this." And then he climbed up the river bank
and, dripping with water, made a wild rush for the back entrance to the
school.

Of course there was a good deal more of horseplay, and it can be
surmised that Andy and Randy went in for their full share of it. Even
Job Plunger was caught by the crowd and hoisted on the top of a barrel
which was waiting to be placed on one of the bonfires.

"Speech, Shout! Speech!" cried Andy gaily.

"Tell us what you know about ball playing in the olden times," suggested
Ned Lowe.

"You let me down off of this barrel!" cried Plunger, in alarm. "You let
me down before this barrel caves in!" and poor Shout, as he was so often
called, looked anything but comfortable as he balanced himself on the
top of the barrel.

"We've got to have a speech, Shout. Come on, you know you are a
first-class talker when you get at it."

"What is it you boys want?" demanded the janitor, with his hand over his
ear.

"Give us a speech, a _speech_!"

"Teach! I never did teach! What are you talking about?"

"We didn't say _teach_!" screamed Andy. "We said
speech--talk--words--sentences--_speech_!"

"Oh, you want me to make a speech," and Plunger looked rather vacantly
at the crowd. "I can't do it. I ain't got nothing to say. I want you to
let me go. I've got a lot of work to do, with cleaning up that mess in
the gym, not to say anything about the mess you fellers made down to the
barn getting that stuff out for them fires."

"If he won't give us a speech, let us give him a ride," cried Dan
Soppinger.

"What shall we ride him in?" questioned Walt Baxter.

"I've got it!" burst out Andy quickly. "Just keep him here a few minutes
longer, fellows. Come on, Randy, quick!"

Sure that something was in the wind, Randy followed his brother out of
the crowd and both made their way toward the back end of the gymnasium.
Here there was a room in which Si Crews, the gymnastic instructor, kept
a number of his personal belongings. Si had been the instructor since
Colby Hall had been opened, and his wife was the matron for the smaller
boys.

"Mrs. Crews has a baby carriage belonging to her sister stored away in
that room," explained Andy, as he and his brother hurried on. "I saw
them put it there only a few days ago. It's a rather old affair, but I
think it is strong enough to give Shout a ride in."

The lads found the door to the storeroom unlocked, and by lighting a
match saw the baby carriage standing there just as left by Mrs. Crews.
It contained a pillow, and also a baby shawl and a cap.

"Hurrah! now we'll be able to dress Shout up for the ride," said Randy
gaily.

It took but a few minutes to haul the baby carriage out and start it on
its way down to where the crowd surrounded the school janitor. A shout
of satisfaction went up when the other cadets saw the little vehicle,
and another shout arose when Andy picked up the shawl and Randy followed
with the baby cap.

"Here you are, Shout!" came from Walt Baxter. "Now we'll be able to
dress you up fine for your ride," and before the astonished and
bewildered janitor could resist, he was hoisted from the barrel and
placed in the baby carriage, where the lads proceeded not only to strap
him in but also to tie him down with a bit of clothesline which was
handy. Then they tied the baby cap on his head and pinned the shawl
around his shoulders.

"Music! Music for the procession!" called out Fatty Hendry. "Somebody
got a drum and fife!" and immediately several of the cadets ran off to
do as bidden.

In a few minutes more the procession started, headed by two boys
carrying torches and followed by a youth with a bass drum and another
with a fife. Back of them came the baby carriage drawn by a full dozen
of cadets and steered in the rear by Andy and Randy. On each side of the
carriage marched a cadet with a torch, so that the curious turnout might
be properly illuminated. In the rear was a motley collection, laughing
and joking and cutting up generally.

"Hi, you! You let me go! I don't want no ride!" cried Plunger wildly.
"This ain't no way to treat me at all!"

"Oh, you need the air, Shout," answered Randy. "Besides, see the
shoeleather you are going to save by getting a ride instead of walking."

The poor janitor struggled to free himself, but all in vain, and to the
noise of the drum and the fife and with many shouts of laughter the
whole outfit moved around the school twice and then around the
gymnasium.

"And now for a final celebration!" exclaimed Randy, when the crowd came
to a halt near the river front. "Everybody attention! One--two--three!
Listen to the stillness!"

Wondering what was going to happen next, all came to a standstill and
listened.

_Bang!_

A large firecracker set off directly under the baby carriage flew in all
directions. As it went off poor Plunger gave a shriek of terror and then
tried so hard to free himself that the carriage was overturned and he
found himself snarled up in a bunch on the grass. Then the boys, not
wishing to see the man hurt, rushed forward and released him, and he
lost no time in disappearing inside the gymnasium.

"Hurrah! that was a grand finale," cried Fred. "Where did you get the
firecracker, Andy?"

"It was out of a bunch I bought for the Fourth of July," was the reply.

After this celebration matters moved along swiftly toward the close of
the term. During that time the Rover boys heard from their mothers in
New York that their fathers were expected home in about ten days. They
immediately called up the girls at Clearwater Hall, and learned that
Mary and Martha had received the same news.

"And won't I be glad to go home and see dad!" said Martha to her
brother.

"No more glad than I'll be," he returned quickly.

It was now early Summer, and many of the cadets were in the habit of
spending a part of their off time either bathing or rowing. Before going
to war Colonel Colby had promised to get two motor-boats for the use of
the cadets, but as yet these had not been purchased. But rowboats were
numerous.

"I'll have the motor-boats here by Fall, however," said Colonel Colby,
in speaking of this. "And then you can have a lot of fun with them."

There was one more Saturday to be spent at school before breaking up for
the term, and the Rovers and their chums had decided to spend that
afternoon with the girls in an outing on the lake.

"Mary and some of the others want to go over to Bluebell Island," said
Fred. "They say there are some very fine ferns to be had there, and they
thought maybe they would have a chance to take some of the ferns home."

"All right, we'll take them wherever they want to go," answered Jack;
and so it was arranged.

Bluebell Island was located a distance down the lake, not far from
Foxtail Island, where the young folks had previously had an outing, as
related in the volume entitled, "The Rover Boys at Colby Hall."

At that time a squall on the lake and an encounter with a log raft had
placed all of the young people in great peril, from which Slugger Brown
and Nappy Martell had refused to rescue them.

It had been decided that the boys should row from Colby Hall down the
lake to the dock at Clearwater Hall and there take the girls on board.
They had three boats, one containing Jack and Fred, another the twins,
and a third Gif and Spouter.

"It's certainly one grand day for this outing," remarked Fred, as they
set off. All were good oarsmen, so the rowboats made rapid progress in
the direction of the girls' school.

"I had the day made to order," sang out Andy. And then he added, with a
grin: "It never rains when I go out unless the water happens to be
coming down."

The cadets had informed Martha and the others when they would arrive,
and when they reached the dock they found six girls waiting for them,
each with a carefully-tied-up shoebox under her arm.

"Yum, yum! I smell something good to eat!" exclaimed Andy, on catching
sight of the boxes.

"Got any mustard pie?" added Randy. "Excuse me, I mean custard pie."

"No, we've got straw pie for you, Mr. Smarty," called out Alice
Strobell.

Jack noticed that Martha and Mary looked rather thoughtful when they got
into the rowboat manned by Spouter and Gif.

"Anything wrong?" he asked anxiously.

"Not much, Jack," answered his sister. "I'll tell you just as soon as we
get to the island and we have a chance."

"Didn't you boys bring anything?" questioned Mary of the other Rovers.

"Sure we did! But that's a surprise," answered Fred. They had brought
fruit and candy.

"We brought two yeast cakes and a fried-onion sandwich," broke in Andy
gaily, and at this all the girls giggled.

Ruth and May were made comfortable in the boat rowed by Jack and Fred,
and they at once set off in the direction of Bluebell Island. The others
shortly followed, and all made good time across the placid bosom of
Clearwater Lake.

"I hope we don't encounter such a squall as we did before," remarked
Ruth presently.

"Oh, I'm sure it will stay clear," Jack hastened to reassure her.

In less than half an hour the young folks found themselves safe on the
island, which was about thirty acres in extent, with a grassy slope on
one side and rocks, trees and brushwood on the other. They tied their
boats securely, and then proceeded to walk across the island to where
they might take it easy under the trees or hunt for the ferns the girls
desired to get.

"Now then, what is it that is troubling you?" asked Jack of his sister
as soon as he could speak to Martha without the others noticing.

"Oh, Jack, I don't know whether it ought to trouble me or not," answered
Martha. "It was such a surprise. I didn't dream that those two fellows
would show themselves around Clearwater Hall."

"Who are you talking about, Martha?"

"Bill Glutts and Gabe Werner."

"When did you see them?"

"I saw them yesterday, and Mary saw them early this morning."




CHAPTER XII

ON BLUEBELL ISLAND


Jack Rover was much surprised over the statement made by his sister
Martha. Bill Glutts had not returned to Colby Hall after his unfortunate
experiences in the woods the Winter previous, nor had Gabe Werner shown
himself in the vicinity of the military academy.

"Have you any idea what they were doing around Clearwater Hall?" he
questioned.

"I have not, Jack. But I feel sure they were not up to anything good."

"Did they say anything to either of you?"

"Oh, no. As soon as I saw them they sprang out of sight behind some
trees, and this morning, when they caught sight of Mary, they hurried
off in the direction of Haven Point."

"I think I had better tell the others about this, then we can all be on
our guard. Those fellows do not belong anywhere near Haven Point, and in
my opinion they cannot be here for any good purpose." Jack was thinking
of the anonymous letter which had been received and which he now felt
certain had been penned by Werner.

"If you tell the others now it will spoil the whole outing," pouted
Martha. "Why don't you wait until to-night?"

"All right, I'll do that. And when you girls are by yourselves you and
Mary must tell the others." And so it was agreed.

Those ahead had already reached the vicinity of the rocks and trees, and
now began a diligent hunt by all for the rare ferns said to be growing
there.

"Our idea was to empty the lunch from the shoeboxes and then fill the
boxes with ferns," said Ruth.

The girls had brought a tablecloth with them to spread on the ground,
and the entire lunch was placed in this and then wrapped in a newspaper
and placed on a flat rock.

"I wonder if the squirrels will bother the lunch?" questioned Fred. They
had noted several of the frisky little animals flitting from tree to
tree as they walked along.

"The squirrels want nuts. I don't think they care for mustard sandwiches
and onion cake," cried Andy. "Gee! but it feels good to be out here," he
went on, and, leaping up, he grasped the limb of a low-growing tree and
went through the performance generally known as "skinning the cat."

"Oh, Andy, do be careful!" called out his cousin Mary. "First thing you
know you'll twist your arms off."

"Oh, I do this every morning before I wake up," answered the fun-loving
Rover cheerfully.

"I'll get him down!" cried Randy, and, taking up a handful of dead
leaves, he threw them at his twin. Andy promptly gave a swing, let go of
the tree, and landed on his brother's shoulders, and both went down to
the ground, there to roll over and over, kicking the dead leaves in all
directions.

"Hi, you!" cried Jack sternly. "What sort of a ladies' exhibition is
this! Get up there before I yank you up!"

"You'll have those beautiful suits ruined," came from Annie Larkins.

The search for the rare ferns then began in earnest, and this led them
through the woods and around a great number of sharp rocks and a
considerable distance away from where the things to eat had been left.

"Here is one," called Ruth presently, and pointed it out.

The girls had brought trowels with them, and now Jack lost no time in
digging up the fern and placing it in the corner of one of the boxes.
Several other plants were located nearby, and all the boys and girls
were soon busy. Some of the ferns were quite small, but others were of
good size, and all showed up well when grouped together.

"We have a little fernery at home," explained Ruth. "Last winter the
plants did not do so well, and these will therefore come in very nicely.
I'm sure my folks will be pleased to see them."

"I suppose Uncle Barney is now living with you, Ruth," said Jack.

"Oh, yes. And he is very thankful for all you Rovers did for him that
Winter," answered the girl, referring to the happenings which have been
related in detail in "The Rover Boys on Snowshoe Island."

"Here is a different kind of fern," announced Martha, a minute later.

"Let me get it for you!" cried Gif, pressing forward to assist her.

"It's right down there between those big rocks, Gif. Be careful that you
don't push one of the stones over on your fingers."

"Don't ruin the whole island getting up one fern, Gif!" exclaimed Andy,
as the athletic student pushed away a couple of rocks which prevented
his getting at the fern.

There was another rock in the way--one that rested partly over the roots
of the fern, which looked like an unusually healthy plant. Gif tugged at
this rock and Fred bent forward to assist him. Then, all of a sudden,
the rock came out from the split in which it lay, and both cadets
slipped and fell on their backs.

"Oh, do be careful! You'll have one of those rocks on your toes, sure!"
cried Ruth.

She had scarcely spoken when there came a scream from May Powell and
Alice Strobell.

"A snake! A snake!"

"He's coming for us!"

"Run! Run, everybody, before the snake bites you!"

Such were some of the cries that rent the air as all of the young people
fell back.

A black snake at least three feet long had suddenly appeared from a
hollow under the last rock to be dislodged, and this was quickly
followed by a second snake equally large.

"Hit 'em, boys! Hit 'em!" exclaimed Jack, as soon as he had recovered
from his surprise, and as he spoke he caught up a stone and flung it at
the nearest snake.

The action of the oldest Rover boy was quickly seconded by the other
cadets, and a dozen or more stones were hurled at the two snakes. One of
the reptiles was quickly killed, but the second received only a bruise
on its tail, and it switched around angrily and then made a dash toward
the fleeing and screaming girls.

"Gee! if we only had a pistol or a gun!" exclaimed Randy.

The snake still left alive was but a few feet from Martha and Ruth when
Jack and Spouter hurled two more stones. Each of these reached its mark,
and with its back crushed the reptile whipped around on the rocks for a
moment more and then lay still.

"Oh, dear! is it dead?" questioned Martha, and her voice trembled a
little as she spoke.

"Dead as a doormat," announced her brother, after a hasty examination.
Then he took a stick and, placing it under the reptile, threw the
remains from the rocks into the lake. Fred and Andy speedily disposed of
the other reptile in the same way.

"Maybe there are more snakes around here!" cried Alice Strobell
nervously.

"If there are, I'm sure I don't want to stay here any longer," added
Annie Larkins.

"Who would dream of digging up snakes on this island?" murmured Martha.
"Oh, it takes away all the fun of gathering ferns."

"Nevertheless, I am going to get that fern for you," announced Gif.

"But, Gif, there may be more snakes around that hole."

"Well, I'll take a chance. I don't think they are very dangerous,
anyhow," answered the athletic cadet.

"Be on your guard, Gif," warned Jack, and then armed himself with
several stones, and the other cadets did the same.

Gif approached the spot with caution and began to dig up the fern Martha
had wanted. The other boys came quite close, but the girls kept their
distance. No other snakes appeared, and soon Gif had the fern, which he
took pleasure in presenting to Jack's sister.

"Thank you, Gif," she said politely. "It certainly is a beautiful fern,
and I'll do my best to preserve it. But I think every time I look at it
I'll remember those snakes."

"Oh, you mustn't mind anything like that, Martha. Why, we've met dozens
of little snakes on our tours. I don't believe they'd hurt you."

"Maybe not, Gif; but they're such awful crawly things!"

"I'm afraid I'd die if a snake touched me," added Alice Strobell, with a
shudder.

For a while the snake episode put a damper on the outing. But the boys
did their best to make the girls forget it, and after a while all were
hunting as diligently as before for ferns. They found a varied
collection, and took delight in filling the shoeboxes with the plants,
filling in the tops of the boxes with moss.

"Oh, my! Half-past three already!" declared Ruth presently, as she
consulted her pretty little wrist-watch.

"As late as that?" returned Martha.

"Perhaps we had better go back and have our lunch," suggested Mary.

All were willing, for climbing around the rocks had made the young folks
hungry. Mary and Spouter led the way back, with the others straggling
behind.

"What are you going to do this summer, Jack?" questioned Ruth on the
way.

"We haven't made any plans yet, Ruth. I want to see my father first of
all."

"I don't blame you for that. You must be glad to think he is coming back
safe and sound. And just to think that he won a medal! Isn't it
perfectly wonderful!" and her eyes beamed with pleasure.

"It sure is! Oh, my dad's a wonderful man--the best in the world!"
answered the young captain enthusiastically. And then he added: "Have
your folks decided to go down on the Jersey shore?"

"It's about settled. I'll know for sure when I get home next week."

"You mustn't forget to write, Ruth."

"And how about yourself?"

"Oh, you'll hear from me, don't worry about that," answered Jack
quickly.

"If you go up to Valley Brook Farm this summer----" began Ruth, when a
sudden cry ahead made her pause. "What was that, Jack?" she asked
quickly.

"I don't know, but I guess something has gone wrong."

"Maybe the squirrels or a fox or some other wild animal got at the
lunch."

"Phew! that would be too bad! Come on and see what is wrong."

The pair had fallen behind the others, and now they ran forward through
the woods and around the rocks as rapidly as they could. As they did
this there came a call from Andy:

"Hi, there, Jack! Where are you? Look out for Gabe Werner and Bill
Glutts! Don't let them get away!"

"Werner and Glutts!" repeated the young captain. "What brought them to
this island?"

"Catch them! Catch them!" came in a scream from Martha. "They are making
off with all our lunch!"

"Drop that stuff, Werner!" Jack heard Randy call out.

"Come on after them, everybody!" yelled Gif. "They sha'n't get away with
those good things--not if I know it!"

There was a rush through the trees, and the calls and cries increased.
The girls did not take part in the chase, feeling that the two former
bullies of Colby Hall might do them harm.

"Oh, dear, Jack! do you really think that they made off with all that
lunch?" sighed Ruth.

"Sounds like it," he answered. "I wonder where they are?" He ran around
some high rocks which cut off a view of what was beyond, and then leaped
over some low bushes. Not to be left alone in the woods, Ruth followed
close at his heels.

The next instant Jack saw Bill Glutts running in one direction and Gabe
Werner legging it in another. Bill Glutts carried the tablecloth with a
good portion of the things to eat still in it, while Gabe Werner held
the newspaper with the remaining things.

"Stop!" ordered Jack, and then, as he saw Gif and Randy chase Glutts, he
made a wild dash after Gabe Werner.




CHAPTER XIII

WERNER'S ATTACK


"Hold on, Bill Glutts!" cried Randy, as he ran after the youth whom he
had not seen since the Winter before.

"You leave me alone!" returned Glutts, and then, in order to run faster,
he dropped the bundle he was carrying.

"Don't let him get away!" burst out Fred, and made a wild dash over some
low bushes in Glutts's direction. In a moment more he had caught Glutts
by the arm.

"Let go of me!" screamed the former cadet, and in alarm he tried to push
Fred away. But the youngest Rover boy clung fast, and then Glutts aimed
a blow with his fist at Fred's face.

Had the blow landed as intended, it would have hurt severely; but the
youngest Rover ducked, and then hit Glutts a stinging blow on the chin.

By this time Randy and Gif were coming up, and almost before he knew it
Bill Glutts was surrounded. Gif caught the former bully of the Hall by
the shoulder.

"This is a nice way to act, Glutts," he said sternly. "What business had
you to touch our lunch?"

"How did I know it belonged to you?" whined Glutts, much crestfallen
over the sudden turn affairs had taken. "We found the stuff on the
rocks."

"You can't play the innocent that way," broke in Randy. "You and Gabe
Werner must have followed us to this island. Gee!" he added quickly,
"where is Werner?"

"Jack went after him," answered Fred; "and so did Andy and Spouter."

"We didn't follow you at all," answered Bill Glutts. "We have as much
right on this island as anybody. We ran across that lunch by accident.
We didn't know that anybody was coming back to get it," he added lamely.

In the meanwhile Jack was hurrying after Gabe Werner, and, strange as it
may seem, Ruth followed close behind him, at the same time calling to
the others for help. She remembered the anonymous note which had been
delivered, and she was afraid that Gabe Werner might try to do the young
captain serious injury.

Gabe Werner was legging it among the trees. He was trying to reach the
shore of Bluebell Island, but became confused among the rocks and bushes
and presently had to swing around in something of a semicircle, and this
soon brought him face to face with Ruth.

"Oh!" cried the girl, in increased alarm. "Don't you dare touch me, Gabe
Werner! Don't you dare!"

"Get out of my way!" roared the bully, and then, as he heard Jack
crashing through the brushwood directly behind him, he brushed Ruth
rudely to one side.

"Jack! Jack! Here he is!" the girl screamed.

The young captain did not need to be told this, for he saw Gabe Werner
just ahead of him. He made a flying leap forward, and was barely able to
catch Werner by the tail of his coat.

"You can't get away! You might as well give it up," he said, and as the
bully kicked out savagely, he caught Werner by the foot and sent him
headlong.

"Oh, Jack! Jack! Do be careful!" cried Ruth in increasing alarm, and
then she set up a call for assistance.

"I'm not afraid of Gabe Werner, and he knows it," answered the young
captain.

"I'll fix you for this!" roared Werner. "I owe you a lot for the way
you've been treating me." And with these words he scrambled to his feet
and aimed a blow at Jack's face.

The young captain moved to one side so that the blow struck him on the
shoulder. He came back quickly with one on Werner's right ear, and
followed this up with another on the bully's nose, which made that organ
bleed profusely.

By this time there was more noise in the under-brush, and Andy and
Spouter could be heard calling.

"This way! This way!" answered Ruth.

While she was calling, and while Andy and Spouter were doing their best
to brush aside some thorny bushes which held them back, the struggle
between Jack and Werner continued. The bully landed on Jack's shoulder
again and then on his chest, and in return received a crack on the chin
which all but keeled him over.

"I said I'd get you, Jack Rover, and I will!" spluttered Werner, after
this last attack. And then, as Jack made a move as if to strike him
again, the bully stepped around to one side, bringing himself once more
close to Ruth. His right hand had gone down into his coat pocket, and
now he brought out something in a small paper bag.

"I said I'd fix you, and this is how I'm going to do it! Look there, if
you dare!" called out Werner, and pointed to a tree limb just over their
heads.

Fearing some trick, Jack gave only the faintest of glances upward, but
Ruth, more innocent, gazed wide-eyed at the limb pointed out. As he
spoke, Werner broke open the paper bag and hurled its contents forward.

"There! Take that, Jack Rover!" he shouted triumphantly. "Take that, and
see how you like it!"

It was a package of pepper which Gabe Werner had carried. As it was
thrown forward a small portion of it went in Jack's face, but the most
of it was sent in a spray over the young captain's shoulder and hit poor
Ruth.

"Oh! Oh!" screamed the girl. "Oh, I am blinded! He threw pepper in my
eyes!"

"You hound, you!" exclaimed Jack, and even though his eyes smarted not a
little from the few grains of pepper that had entered, he managed to
leap upon the bully and give him a swinging crack in the jaw. But then
Werner threw the young captain backward over a rock, and just as Andy
and Spouter put in an appearance he dodged in among some heavy brushwood
and quickly disappeared.

"What did he do?" demanded Spouter.

"He threw something in our eyes. Ruth got the worst of it," answered
Jack. "Go on after him; we'll have to attend to our eyes."

Jack's eyes were bad enough, but Ruth's were much worse. The girl could
hardly keep from screaming with pain, and Jack was just then in no
condition to assist her. Seeing this, Andy and Spouter set up a yell for
some of the others to go after Werner, and then did what they could to
relieve the sufferers.

"Come on down to the lake," advised Spouter. "I guess water will be
about the best thing you can use. Anyhow, you can wash out the pepper if
there is any left."

Both cadets assisted Ruth to the water's edge, and Jack stumbled after
them. Here the eyes, which had already begun to inflame, were washed out
carefully, and then, as Ruth continued to complain of the pain, they
bound up her eyes with their handkerchiefs.

"I think mine will be all right after a while," said Jack. "They smart a
little, but that's all."

"Don't you think Ruth had better see a doctor?" suggested Spouter.

"By all means. We'll get back to town just as soon as we possibly can.
He can probably give her some sort of ointment that will relieve the
pain and take away the inflammation."

By this time the others were coming up. The news that Ruth had received
a dose of pepper in her eyes excited everybody.

"Gabe Werner ought to be put in jail for this," said Martha.

"Isn't it the most dreadful thing you ever heard of!" came from May.

The excitement was so intense that for the time being the boys forgot
all about Bill Glutts. As a consequence when they turned to where they
had left that unworthy, Glutts had disappeared.

"Well, he got a good beating, anyhow," said Randy. "I think that will
teach him to leave our stuff alone after this."

At first some of the boys were inclined to make another hunt for Werner
and Glutts. They knew the bullies must have come to the island in some
kind of a boat.

"If we can find their boat we can take it with us," said Spouter. "Then
they can either stay on the island or try to swim ashore."

"We can't waste any more time," declared Jack. "We must get Ruth to a
doctor. And I'd like to see a doctor myself. My eyes feel terribly
scratchy."

"Yes, yes! I want to see a doctor at once," said Ruth. "My eyes hurt
dreadfully."

Some of the boys gathered up what was left of the lunch, and all made
their way to the water's edge, where the rowboats had been left. As they
did this they heard the sudden put-put of a motor-boat, and a few
seconds later they saw the craft shoot out of a tiny cove at the upper
end of the island and head for the eastern shore of Clearwater Lake.

"There they go! There are Glutts and Werner!" exclaimed Gif.

"And in a motor-boat, too!" added Randy. "Too bad! If they were in a
rowboat we might be able to catch them."

"Oh, let them go," said Mary hastily. "I am more worried about Ruth's
eyes than anything else."

"We're all worried about that," answered her brother. "Come on, we'll
get over to Haven Point just as fast as we can. I only hope we find one
of the doctors at home."

They tumbled into the boats, the girls leading Ruth, who still had her
eyes bandaged.

"Do you think you can row, Jack?" questioned Fred.

"Of course I can," replied the young captain. He was not going to admit
that the injury to his eyes was making him feel sick all over.

May sat beside Ruth and did what she could for the sufferer. All of the
boys bent to their oars and a straight course was taken for the town.

"Wouldn't it be dreadful if Ruth was blinded for life?" remarked Alice
Strobell on the way.

"Oh, Alice! don't suggest such a thing as that," came from Annie Larkins
in horror.

"Well, people have been blinded in that way more than once," remarked
Randy. "It all depends on how bad a dose she got."

"Jack said the pepper must have been intended for him," came from Andy.
"I can't imagine that Werner would be wicked enough to try to injure
Ruth that way."

"Maybe he didn't intend to do it when he started," returned his brother.
"But when Werner gets mad he's liable to do almost anything. You know
that as well as I do."

"That's true. When he gets into a rage he goes almost insane."

"What an ending to our outing!" sighed Alice.

"And we didn't eat a mouthful of the lunch!" added Annie. She had spent
over an hour in fixing some fancy sandwiches.

"Was that pepper from some you brought along?" questioned Randy quickly.

"As far as I know we didn't bring any pepper along. We had a saltcellar,
and that's all," answered Alice.

"Then it must have been a deliberate attempt on Werner's part to blind
Jack!" cried Andy. "Oh, what a pity we didn't catch him! Then we could
have handed him over to the authorities."

When the boys and girls reached one of the docks at Haven Point Andy and
Randy ran on ahead and speedily procured a taxicab. Into this Ruth and
Jack were hustled, and then Randy, sitting beside the driver, directed
him to take the sufferers to the nearest doctor.

At the first physician's house they learned that the doctor was away for
the afternoon. Then they hurried to another part of the town, and there
found Doctor Borden, an older man who had occasionally come to both the
girls' school and the military academy.

"Pepper in your eyes! Is it possible!" said the old physician. "Come
into my office at once. Sometimes that sort of thing is very serious."

"You wait on the lady first, Doctor," said Jack. "She is by far the
worse off."

"Very well," said the doctor. "Come this way," and he led Ruth into his
private office.




CHAPTER XIV

BOUND FOR HOME


While the doctor was attending Ruth the others of the party arrived at
the physician's residence. They found Jack walking up and down in the
anteroom while Randy sat in a chair doing what he could to comfort his
cousin.

"What does the doctor say about Ruth?" questioned May quickly.

"He hasn't come out yet. They are in there," and Randy pointed with his
hand to the inner office.

"Oh, Jack, how do your eyes feel?" questioned Martha, coming up and
gazing earnestly at her brother.

"To tell the truth, they don't feel very good, Martha," he answered.
"But I won't mind that so much if only Ruth gets out of it."

The boys and girls sat down, some in the outer office and some on the
piazza of the doctor's residence. They had to wait nearly a quarter of
an hour before the door of the inner office opened.

"I think the young lady will feel much better by to-morrow," said Doctor
Borden, as he led Ruth forth. He had placed a new and heavier bandage
over her eyes. "I'll call at the school to see her the first thing
to-morrow morning. You need do nothing to the eyes until that time." He
looked at the other girls. "I presume you young ladies are with Miss
Stevenson?"

"We are," several of them answered.

"Then there ought not to be any trouble about getting her back to the
school in safety," and the physician smiled faintly.

"I'll get a taxicab," said Randy, and lost no time in doing so.

"I don't want to go back to the school until Jack has been taken care
of," declared Ruth. "I want to know just how bad off he is. The doctor
tells me he doesn't think my eyes will be permanently injured." She was
trying to bear up bravely, even though her eyes hurt her a good deal.
But what the doctor had put on them was gradually allaying the pain.

Jack entered the inner office, and the doctor made a thorough
examination of each eye.

"You were lucky to get off so well, Rover," he announced at the
conclusion of the examination. "I'll give you a lotion to put on
to-night before retiring, and I'll give you a treatment of it now. Then
bathe the eyes again in the morning, and I think in a day or two you
will be as well as ever."

"And what about Miss Stevenson's eyes?" questioned the young captain
anxiously.

"I can't say very much about them as yet. Of course, I didn't want to
worry her, so I did not tell her how bad it might be. Still, I'll know
more about it to-morrow morning."

This was as much as Doctor Borden would say. Jack received the treatment
and was given a small bottle filled with the lotion, and then, after
settling with the physician, he was ready to leave.

"Do you want any of us to go to the school with you?" he asked of Ruth
and the other girls.

"No, Jack; it won't do any good," answered the blindfolded girl. And as
he took her hand and pressed it warmly, she added: "Please don't worry
about me."

"But I'm going to, Ruth," he answered in a low tone. "Somehow, I feel
that your injury is my fault."

"Nonsense! It was Gabe Werner's fault entirely! That boy ought really to
be in jail! But, Jack, you are quite sure that your eyes are all right?"
she went on anxiously.

"Yes, Ruth. The doctor says that I'll be as well as ever in a day or
two. You are the only one to be worried over. I'll tell Martha to
telephone to me to-morrow just as soon as the doctor has seen you." And
so it was arranged.

Randy had obtained a large taxicab and into this all the girls crowded,
taking care, however, to make Ruth as comfortable as possible on the
rear seat. Then the girls of Clearwater Hall started for the school.

"I'll bet Miss Garwood will be surprised when she sees Ruth," was Andy's
comment, as he watched the girls riding away. Miss Garwood was the head
of the girls' school.

"Poor Ruth," murmured Fred. "What a miserable outing this has been!"

Fortunately for the cadets, they found the Colby Hall stage in town, and
all piled in and were speedily taken to the school. Here Jack and Randy
went up to their rooms, while the others reported to Colonel Colby.

"Threw pepper into Jack's eyes, did he!" said the colonel wrathfully.
"What a dastardly thing to do! I am glad that Werner is no longer a
pupil at the school. If he were I should feel it my duty to hand him
over to the authorities. You say he did not come back to Haven Point?"

"No, sir," answered Gif. "They motored over to the other side--over to
where the Hasley ammunition factory used to be located."

"I see. Then probably both he and Glutts will take good care not to show
themselves in the vicinity of Haven Point," said Colonel Colby.

And in this surmise the head of the school was correct. Long afterwards
it was learned that Werner had put the motor-boat into the hands of a
man to bring it back to the party of whom it had been hired, and then he
and Glutts had tramped three miles across the country to a railroad
station where they took a train for parts unknown.

The colonel came up to see Jack and have a look at his injured eyes, and
then sent Mrs. Crews up to the young captain to bathe his eyes with the
lotion the doctor had given him and bind them up.

"It's too bad! too bad entirely!" said Mrs. Crews, who was quite a
motherly woman. "I hope your eyes are as well as ever in a day or two."
And then she added with a twinkle in her own optics: "I suppose that is
what you get for running off with that baby carriage."

"If it is, it's a terrible price to pay, Mrs. Crews," answered Jack, and
then told her about Ruth.

"Now that's too bad entirely," said the matron of the school. "Oh, who
would want to harm a dear young lady like Miss Stevenson? It's awful how
wicked some young men are," and she shook her head dolefully.

Jack took it easy for the rest of the day, and one after another his
chums came in to sympathize with him.

"I can't understand a fellow like Werner," remarked Ned Lowe. "If he
isn't careful he'll land in prison."

"What gets me is that a fellow like Glutts keeps on tagging after him,"
put in Dan Soppinger. "Sooner or later Werner is bound to lead Glutts
into something pretty bad."

Jack passed a restless night, not only because his eyes hurt him, but
because he could not get Ruth out of his mind. What if the girl's eyes
should be permanently injured? The mere thought of such a catastrophe
horrified him.

In the morning he bathed his eyes again, as Doctor Borden had directed.
He had been excused from his classroom, and so sat around where he could
readily be called to the telephone if any message came in for him. It
was not until about eleven o'clock that his sister rang him up.

"The doctor left a few minutes ago," said Martha over the wire. "He was
with Ruth about half an hour, and gave her quite a treatment. He was
very much encouraged, and said he thought she would come around again
all right in a few days, but that she must be careful for several weeks
about how she strained her eyes or went out in the wind."

"But he really thinks she will come around all right?" questioned Jack
anxiously.

"Yes, Jack, he was almost sure of it. And, oh! I am so glad, and so are
all the other girls."

"Well, it's a great relief to me, Martha," he returned, and his voice
showed what a weight had been lifted from his mind.

After that the days to the end of the term passed quickly. There were
the usual examinations, and all of the Rovers were glad to learn that
they had passed successfully. In the meanwhile Jack's eyes continued to
mend, so that on the final day at the Hall they felt practically as good
as ever.

The young captain and Fred had gone over to Clearwater Hall, ostensibly
to call on their sisters, but in reality to find out about Ruth. She
came down to greet them, and they were surprised and delighted to find
that she no longer wore the bandage over her eyes.

"I can't go out in the strong sunlight yet, nor in the wind," said the
girl. "Nor can I do much reading or studying. But the eyes no longer
pain me, and for that I am very thankful."

"Doctor Borden says it will take a week or two before her eyes are
normal again," explained Martha. "But that isn't so bad when you
consider what might have occurred," and she gave a little shiver.

Colby Hall was to close several days before the girls' school, but the
two Rover girls had received permission to go home with their brothers.
This was the last chance Jack had of seeing Ruth, and the last chance
that Fred would have to see May, and both made the most of it.

"I'll write to you, sure, Ruth," said the young captain. "And I hope
your eyes will allow you to reply."

"Oh, I'll send you something, Jack, even if it's only a postal," was the
quick answer. "Please don't worry about me. I am sure my eyes will come
around all right sooner or later."

"If they don't I'll never forgive myself for taking you on that outing,"
said the young captain feelingly.

With the examinations at an end, the Colby Hall cadets were allowed to
do very much as they pleased, and on the last night at school there was
the usual horseplay and cutting up generally. Some boys tried to catch
Stowell, but the sneak of the school outwitted them by receiving
permission to leave the Hall twelve hours early.

"Well, good riddance to bad rubbish!" announced Fatty Hendry, when he
heard of this. "I think Colby Hall could get along very well if Stowell
stayed away for good."

"I'm sure I wouldn't worry if he did stay away," returned Walt Baxter.

"And now hurrah for little old New York!" cried Andy, on the following
morning.

"Little old New York and our dads!" added his twin.

"I wonder if they have arrived yet?" put in Fred quickly. "I don't think
so, or they would have sent us a telegram."

"Either that, or they want to surprise us when we get there," said Jack.

Their trunks had been sent on ahead, and directly after breakfast they
set to work to finish packing their suitcases. Then they went around
saying good-bye to the professors and Colonel Colby, and did not forget
"Shout" Plunger and Bob Nixon, giving the latter some tips to remember
them by.

"Off at last!" cried Fred, as the auto-stage rumbled up to take the
first crowd of boys to the railroad station. In they piled, and were
soon whirled away in the direction of Haven Point.

At the railroad station they were met by Martha and Mary. The other
girls could not come, as all had examinations that morning. Soon the
train rolled in, and the Rovers and a number of the other cadets piled
in, Jack and Fred being accompanied by their sisters.

"I'll be glad to get home again and see mother and Aunt Grace and Aunt
Nellie," remarked Martha, as she settled herself in a seat beside her
brother.

"And how about dad, Martha?" questioned Jack.

"You don't have to ask that question," she returned quickly. "You know I
am just as crazy to see him as you are. And I'm crazy to see Uncle Tom
and Uncle Sam, too."

"I'll bet they'll have some stories to tell about their doings in
France."

"Yes, indeed, Jack. Oh, how they all must have suffered! And how
thankful I am that they are coming back to us whole and hearty. Just
think if they had come back minus an arm or a leg, or frightfully
injured in some other way!"

"I have thought of that, Martha, more than once. I can tell you, when I
think of the thousands of good, strong, healthy young fellows who went
over there and gave up their lives or came back crippled, I feel that
our folks have much to be thankful for."




CHAPTER XV

BACK FROM FRANCE


The journey to New York City was uneventful. They had to change cars at
the Junction, and here a number of the other cadets left the Rovers.
These included Gif and Spouter.

"Sorry you're not going down to the city with us," said Jack; "but I
suppose you are as anxious to see your folks as we are to see ours."

"Right you are," answered Spouter. And Gif nodded his head to show that
he agreed with his chum.

When the train rolled into the Grand Central Terminal at Forty-second
Street the Rovers found two automobiles awaiting them, and in the
turn-outs were the three mothers of the boys and girls.

"What's the news about dad, Ma?" burst out Jack, as he kissed his
parent.

"Have the soldiers come back yet?" was Fred's question.

"They haven't got in yet, but we are expecting them almost any time
now," answered Mrs. Dick Rover.

"We are just as anxious as you are to see them," came from Mrs. Tom
Rover, as both of her sons gave her a warm hug. "There, there! don't
smother me!" she added affectionately.

"Oh, it's so good to be home again!" exclaimed Mary. "Boarding school is
all well enough, but I'd rather be with you folks any time." Mary had
always been a good deal of a home girl.

The young folks piled into the cars, which were run by the Rovers'
chauffeurs, and in a moment more they were picking their way through the
crowded traffic in the direction of Fifth Avenue. They speeded up this
noted thoroughfare and then across town to Riverside Drive.

"What is the matter with your eyes, Jack?" questioned his mother
presently. "They look rather inflamed."

"Oh, I had a little run-in with one of our old enemies," returned the
young captain. "I'll tell you about it later."

"It's poor Ruth Stevenson that got the worst of it," broke in Martha.
"We may as well tell mother," she added. "She ought to know it."

"I wish you boys would stop making enemies," sighed Mrs. Rover. "Sooner
or later they may cause you a lot of trouble."

"Well, I don't consider that it is our fault," returned Jack. "It is no
more our fault than it was dad's fault to make an enemy of Dan Baxter
and his father, Arnold Baxter."

"Well, if only your enemies reform, as Dan Baxter reformed, that will be
something worth while," said his mother.

All of the mothers had made great preparations for the return of the
young people. Their rooms had been placed in order, and there were a
number of pretty and useful gifts for all of them. Then came a grand
reunion in the Tom Rover home, where an elaborate dinner was served that
evening.

"Gee! if only our dads were here to enjoy this with us," murmured Andy,
as he gazed upon the many good things spread before him.

"I'll bet they won't find any fault with home cooking after they get
back from the trenches in France," commented Randy, with a grin. "I'll
bet they've had to put up with all kinds of cooking."

"Yes, and sometimes they had to put up with cooking that wasn't," added
Andy.

"Cooking that wasn't?" repeated Mary, puzzled. "Oh! I know what you
mean--when they couldn't get anything."

A number of their friends came in during the evening to see them, and
the young folks had an enjoyable time dancing and in singing in a group
around the piano, which the girls took turns in playing.

"We'll have to have another and a larger gathering when our fathers get
home," declared Mary.

"Oh, won't we have the bully good time then!" cried her brother.

"Maybe they won't have some stories to tell!" piped in Andy.

"I want to hear all about how Uncle Dick won that medal," came from
Randy.

It was not until after eleven o'clock that the little gathering broke
up, and then Mrs. Dick Rover called her children to her.

"Now you must tell me about your eyes, Jack, and you, Martha, must tell
me about Ruth Stevenson's," she said.

Thereupon the young captain and his sister related the particulars of
what had occurred during the outing on Bluebell Island and what had been
done by Doctor Borden to relieve the sufferers.

"It was a vile thing to do!" exclaimed Mrs. Rover, her eyes showing her
displeasure. "Why, that Gabe Werner is nothing but a criminal! You can
be thankful, Jack, that you escaped as you did. But are you sure poor
Ruth's eyes are not permanently injured?"

"Her eyes looked a great deal better when we came away than they had,"
answered Martha. "Just the same, I'm greatly worried, and I know Jack is
too."

"Ruth is to write to us and let us know how she is getting along," went
on the oldest Rover boy.

"Ruth is such a splendid girl, and so fine looking, it would be a shame
if her eyes were hurt," continued Mrs. Rover. And this remark about Ruth
caused Jack to think more of his mother than ever.

Two days passed quickly, the boys and girls spending their time in
getting settled and renewing old acquaintances. The girls went shopping
with their mothers, while the lads visited the offices of The Rover
Company in Wall Street to see with their own eyes how matters were
going.

"Everything seems to be moving along swimmingly," remarked Jack, when he
and his cousins came away.

"I'll bet it will seem strange to our dads to settle down to the grind
once more after seeing so much fighting," remarked Fred.

"It will be hard for all of the soldiers and sailors to settle down, I'm
thinking," added Randy. "A fellow can't knock around here, there, and
everywhere for months and then come down to a regular routine all in a
minute."

That night the young folks retired rather early. Andy and Randy were
indulging in some horseplay in their bedroom when they heard the
door-bell ring.

"I'll bet it's a telegram from dad!" burst out Andy.

"Maybe it's dad himself!" answered his twin. "Come on down and see."

As they hurried down the stairs they heard their mother's room door open
and heard one of the servants going to the front door. The next instant
there was a cry from below.

"Mr. Rover! Is it really you!"

"It's dad! It's dad!" yelled the twins simultaneously, and fairly leaped
to the bottom of the stairs and ran to greet their father.

"Hello, boys! So you got home ahead of me, did you?" came from Tom
Rover, as he hugged and kissed each in turn. "My, how big you are
getting!"

"Tom! Tom!" cried his wife Nellie. And then she rushed down the stairs
as he rushed up to meet her. He caught her up in his strong arms as he
had been wont to do so many times in the past and fairly swung her above
him. Then he kissed her on each cheek and on the mouth and set her down
with his hands on her shoulders.

"This is what I've been waiting for, Nellie," he declared. "Just waiting
to see you again!"

"And I've been waiting too, Tom--waiting every day," she murmured, with
tears in her beautiful eyes.

In the meantime similar scenes were taking place in the adjoining
houses. Dick Rover, having a key, had let himself in unobserved, and
gave his wife quite a shock when he met her at the door to her room. But
she was overjoyed to see him, as were also Jack and Martha, and all
clustered around to listen to what he might have to say.

"Why, Dad, you are as brown as a berry!" declared the young captain.

"And look how tall and strong he seems to be!" put in Martha.

It was Mrs. Sam Rover herself who answered her husband's ring, and her
shout of joy quickly brought Fred downstairs. Mary had already retired,
but, leaping up, she threw a kimona around her and came flying down in
bare feet.

And then what a reunion there was among the members of all three
families! The doors which connected the three residences were thrown
wide open, and all gathered in the middle house. All seemed to be
talking at once, and boys, fathers and uncles shook hands over and over
again, while the girls and their mothers came in for innumerable hugs
and kisses.

"We are not yet mustered out," said Dick Rover. "But we expect to be
before a great while."

"You ought to be very proud of having done your bit for Uncle Sam," said
Mary to her father and her uncles.

"Well, I think our boys did their bit, too, if I am any judge," was Sam
Rover's fond comment. "First they helped to catch those chaps who blew
up the Hasley ammunition factory, then they aided in rounding up the
crowd who had the hidden German submarine, and lastly they prevented
those Huns from establishing that wireless station in the woods. I
certainly think they did remarkably well."

"But they've made some terrible enemies," broke in Mrs. Dick Rover.
"Just look at Jack's eyes. One fellow tried to throw pepper into them."

"Oh, let's not talk about that now, Ma!" cried the young captain. "I
want to hear all about what dad and Uncle Tom and Uncle Sam have been
doing in France."

"If we started to give you all the details we wouldn't get to bed
to-night," said his Uncle Tom, with a grin. They had already been
talking for quite a while, and the clock hands pointed to nearly one in
the morning.

"Oh, well, this is a red-letter night, Dad," broke out Randy.

"Such a coming together may not happen again in a lifetime," added his
twin.

Then the older Rovers told of many of their adventures, both while in
camp in France and during the time they had been on the firing line.

"We were in some pretty hot fights," admitted Tom Rover. "One in
particular--when we forced the Huns out of a stretch of woods they were
holding--none of us is liable to forget. That's the fight in which Sam
and I were wounded."

"Yes, and the day after they were wounded I was caught in a gas attack,"
said Dick Rover. "My! but that was something pretty nasty! I felt as if
somebody had me by the throat and at the same time was trying to twist
my stomach inside out. I never felt such a sensation in my life," and he
shook his head and sighed deeply over the recollection of what he had
passed through.

"Was that where you won your medal, Dad?" questioned Jack eagerly.

"No, my boy. The medal was won some time later, while your two uncles
were in the hospital trying to recover from their wounds. We made two
advances, and then were told to hold our new line. There was a fierce
bombardment early in the morning, and then, because of a mix-up of
orders, part of our command fell back while another tried to go forward.
One of our men, a fellow named Lorimer Spell, a queer sort of chap who
hailed from Texas, was hit by a piece of shell and knocked partly
unconscious. He was unable to save himself, and as I didn't want to see
him killed I ran out from behind our shelter and brought him in."




CHAPTER XVI

DICK ROVER'S HEROISM


It can readily be believed that the Rovers did not sleep much that
night. The boys and girls were downstairs by seven o'clock and waited
anxiously for the appearance of their parents in the dining-room of Dick
Rover's residence, where the fathers were to have breakfast before
returning to the troopship which was docked across the river, at
Hoboken.

"We've got to get back by noon," announced Tom Rover, "and Sam and I
want to pay a visit to Wall Street before we go, so we won't be able to
spend much more time here."

"You were going to tell us how you won that medal, Dad," said Jack,
after breakfast was over and his two uncles had said good-bye to
everybody and left. "What about it?"

"Well, if you must have the story, sit down and I'll give it to you,"
answered Dick Rover, with a smile. "As it happens, the death of Lorimer
Spell may make quite a difference in my plans for this Summer."

"Oh, then the poor man died in spite of your efforts to rescue him!"
said Martha in crestfallen tones.

"He didn't die from that shell wound," answered her father. "But I had
better tell the story from the beginning, since you seem to be so
anxious to hear it."

"You must remember, Dick, that Jack is something of a soldier himself.
He is a captain of the cadets, you know," remarked the mother of the
lad.

"Oh, but that isn't like being a real soldier and fighting for Uncle
Sam!" protested the youth.

"This Lorimer Spell, the fellow I saved, was a tall, lanky Texan who
joined our command after we arrived in France. Just how he got in I
can't say. He was rather a quiet sort of man, and some of the soldiers
thought he was decidedly queer. He took a great interest in botany and
geology, and I take it he was something of a student in those lines,
although he was by no means well educated.

"The day that he was knocked out by a fragment of a shell was a misty
one--the kind of a mist that makes it very uncertain to see any great
distance. We did not know how close some of the Huns might be, and as a
matter of fact they were closer than we expected, and some time later
two of our men were shot down while moving from one trench to another
close by.

"When Spell went down I was over a hundred feet away from him. Before he
became unconscious he tried to crawl back to the trench from which he
had come. But evidently he was confused and went down in plain sight of
the Huns.

"I didn't care very much for the man, as I told you before, but I could
not see him remain there exposed to the fire of the enemy, and so
without thinking twice I jumped up out of the trench and ran across the
ground to where he was lying. The shells had torn the soil dreadfully,
so that I had considerable difficulty in reaching him.

"I placed him on my shoulder, and just then several Huns began firing at
us. One bullet grazed my side, giving me a deep scratch, and another
went through the cloth of Spell's coat. I stumbled down into a shell
crater with the man and had all I could do to drag him and myself out.
Then I plunged forward again, and just as the Huns let out several more
shots, both of us stumbled down into the trench, and the rescue, if you
might call it such, was over."

"Well, I think that was a grand thing to do, Dad!" burst out Jack, his
face beaming. "Simply grand!"

"You couldn't beat it for pluck!" said Fred.

"And that's how you won the medal?" broke in Andy. "Fine!"

"You certainly deserved it," added his twin. "Gee! but suppose those
Huns had plugged you when you were carrying the fellow!"

"And that's how I got him back to the trenches," went on Dick Rover. "He
was taken to the field hospital, and there his injuries were found to be
slight, and in a few days he was back on the firing line again."

"He ought to have been mighty thankful," declared Martha, who sat close
by, holding her father's hand.

"He was thankful; and for that reason he did something which may have an
important bearing on my future business dealings," answered Dick Rover.
"He said he had no relatives of any kind, and he then and there made a
will whereby if anything happened to him all that he possessed in this
world should go to me."

"And then he was killed?" questioned Mrs. Rover.

"Yes. Just two days after his return to duty we were making another
advance. Spell was in one part of the field while I was in another.
Suddenly I saw him running off to a place just in front of where our
squad was located. Then he made a turn as if to come toward us, and just
at that instant he threw up his hands and fell forward on his face."

Here Dick Rover paused and dropped his eyes. No one cared to speak, and
for an instant there was utter silence.

"When the skirmish was over we had gained our position, and a few hours
later the body of Lorimer Spell was picked up and carried to the rear,"
went on Jack's father. "A bullet had struck him in the back of the head,
and death must have been instantaneous.

"I confess that I felt pretty bad. A number of the company knew of the
will Spell had made, and two of them were witnesses to the crude
document he had drawn up. As a consequence, Spell's personal effects
were turned over to me. They included a small amount of money, a ring, a
wrist watch, and a number of papers, including an order for a box in a
safe deposit vault in a bank in Wichita Falls, Texas."

"Poor fellow, it's too bad he couldn't have lived to enjoy himself now
the war is at an end," remarked Mrs. Sam Rover.

"Were any of his papers of value?" questioned Jack curiously.

"That remains to be found out, Jack. His papers spoke of a valuable
tract of oil land in Texas close to the boundary line between that State
and Oklahoma."

"Oil lands!" exclaimed Randy. "Why, they may be worth a fortune, Uncle
Dick! They are making immense strikes in oil down in that territory."

"I know that, Randy. Some of the wells are worth a fortune. But, on the
other hand, you must remember that many of the tracts that are supposed
to have oil on them have so far proved to be utterly dry. Men spend ten
to forty thousand dollars in sinking a well only to find in the end that
they have had their labor for their pains."

"Did Lorimer Spell say that his land had oil on it?" questioned Fred.

"From the way his papers and letters read one would think so, Fred. But,
as I said before, Spell was a very queer kind of man. In fact, some of
the fellows in our company thought he was a little bit out of his mind
at times. It is just possible that he only imagined that he possessed
valuable oil land."

"But you are going to investigate, aren't you, and make sure?"
questioned Jack.

"Certainly, Son. I intend to go to Texas and make an investigation just
as soon as I am mustered out of the service."

"Oh, Dad! do you mean that you might go to Texas this Summer?"

"I will if they muster me out."

"If you go, won't you take me along?"

"I'll think about it," and Dick Rover smiled at his son, whose face
showed his eagerness.

"Gee! I'd like to go to Texas myself," burst out Fred.

"Such a trip would suit me down to the ground," announced Andy.

"I've always wanted to see a big oil well in operation," added his twin.

"I'd like to see them shoot an oil well," went on Jack. "They say it is
a wonderful sight, especially if the well happens to be a real gusher."

"The queerest part of it is this," went on Dick Rover. "Before the war
came on I was more or less interested in the oil fields in Texas and
Oklahoma, as well as in Kansas. A good oil well, or series of wells, is
a splendid paying proposition in these days, and I'd like first rate to
get possession of such a holding and then start a first-class oil
company."

"Oh, there are millions in oil! I know that!" burst out Martha. "Why, I
was reading in a magazine only the other day of some folks in Texas who
were quite poor. They had a farm of less than a hundred acres, and could
make barely a living on it. Then the oil prospectors came along and
located a well or two, and now those poor farm people have so much money
they don't know what to do with it."

"Wouldn't it be great if we could go down there and locate a few of
those first-class wells?" said Fred, with a sigh. "I'd just like to know
how it feels to be a real millionaire."

"Can I go, Dad, if you go?" questioned Jack again.

"I'll see about that later. I don't wish to make any promises now."

"If Jack goes I want to go with him," put in Fred sturdily.

"Of course we'll want to go with him!" added Andy and Randy in a breath.

"What's the matter with us girls going along?" demanded Martha.

"What would girls be doing in the oil fields?" asked Fred. "A well might
go off and shoot all your beautiful dresses full of oil."

"Huh! what about it if some oil got on that flaming red necktie you are
wearing, Fred?" questioned his sister quickly. In his haste to get
dressed that morning her brother had donned a necktie which she
detested.

"Never mind my necktie, Mary. If Jack goes to Texas I'm going to see if
I can't go along."

The matter was talked over a few minutes longer, and then Dick Rover
went off with his wife to arrange some private affairs before he should
take his departure for Hoboken. Then he said good-bye all around and was
off.

"The next time you see us I think we'll be in a big parade," said Jack's
father on leaving.

"A parade?" queried several of the others.

"Yes. They are talking of having a big parade of the soldiers on Fifth
Avenue. If they do, of course we'll be in it."

"Hurrah! that's the stuff," cried Andy. "I've been aching to see one of
those big parades ever since war was declared."

"If you do parade, Dad, we'll all be there to see you," declared Martha.

"We'll want front seats in the grandstand," added Mary.

"I don't think you'll get any front seats, Mary," answered her mother.
"More than likely those seats will be reserved for the gold-star
mothers--those who have lost their sons in battle."

"Well, those mothers deserve the front seats every time," said Jack.

"Indeed they do!" came from the girls.

"How soon will this parade come off?" questioned Randy.

"I don't know that the date has been settled exactly," answered Dick
Rover. "But it will undoubtedly be in the near future. You will probably
see all the details in the newspapers. I presume the whole of New York
will have a holiday."

"Yes, and Fifth Avenue will be decorated in great shape from end to
end," declared Mary. "Just see how they have been working on that Arch
of Victory, and the Tower of Jewels, and all the other things."

"It will certainly be a parade well worth seeing," said Dick's wife.

"Yes, and I'll wager folks will come miles and miles to see it," added
Fred. And then he continued quickly: "What's the matter with having
Grandfather Rover down here from Valley Brook Farm?"

"Yes, and Great-aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, too!" broke in Mary.

"Oh, we must have all of them, by all means!" cried Jack.




CHAPTER XVII

THE GREAT VICTORY PARADE


"My, what a jam of people!"

"Did you ever see such a crowd before in all your life!"

"And look at the flags and other decorations! Aren't they beautiful?"

"This time New York has outdone herself."

It was the day for the great parade of the returned soldiers, and New
York City, especially in the vicinity of Fifth Avenue, was packed with
dense crowds that filled miles of grandstands, windows, and other points
of vantage, and also jammed the sidewalks and the side streets. It was a
holiday for all, and everybody was going to make the most of it.

The Rovers had left their homes early to make their way to the seats
they had obtained on one of the stands. With those who resided in the
city were Grandfather Rover and also Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph, who
had come down the day previous from Valley Brook Farm.

"This is the greatest day of my life," said Grandfather Rover, his eyes
glistening with pleasure. "To think that my boys have all fought for our
country and come back from the war safely."

"Yes, and to think one of them has won a medal--not but what the others
have been equally brave," responded old Uncle Randolph.

"I hope they never have to go to another war--they or their sons
either," murmured old Aunt Martha.

The girls had invited May and Ruth to come to New York to witness the
parade. May had accepted the invitation, but Ruth had sent word the
doctor did not think a trip advisable at this time, her eyes being still
in bad condition.

"It's too bad Ruth couldn't come," sighed Jack.

"Well, she had better take care of her eyes," answered his sister. "Oh,
dear, why did that horrid Werner have to do such a mean thing!"

The Rovers had all they could do to get to the seats reserved for them.
Each carried a small flag, to be waved as the soldiers passed. There was
quite a wait, and the crowd seemed to grow denser every minute. Then
from a distance came the fanfare of trumpets and the booming of many
drums.

"Here they come! Here they come!" was the glad shout, and soon a platoon
of police on horse-back swept by. Then followed a brass band of a
hundred pieces or more, and the great parade was fairly started.

To go into the particulars of this tremendous spectacle would be
impossible in the limits of these pages. Regiment after regiment swept
by, representing every State in the Union. There were brass bands
galore, with Old Glory everywhere in evidence. The crowd clapped and
cheered, and sometimes shouted itself hoarse as some favorite command
swept by with soldierly precision. Here and there a hero was recognized,
and then the din would increase.

"Some parade, I say!" exclaimed Fred enthusiastically.

"Isn't it wonderful how many soldiers there are?" marveled May, who sat
next to him.

"When are our boys coming?" questioned Grandfather Rover anxiously.

"They'll be coming along pretty soon now," answered Jack, who had been
studying the program closely. "They are in the second regiment after the
one now passing."

The New York State troops were now approaching, and the din became
terrific, the more so as one company after another was recognized.

"Here they come! Here they come!" exclaimed Martha, who was gazing down
the line.

"I see them! They are just at the corner!" added Mary.

"There's dad! I see dad!" screamed Andy, to make himself heard above the
noise. "There he is, in the front row on this side!"

"Yes, and there is my father!" yelled Fred. "See him? Two men away from
Uncle Tom!"

"I see dad," announced Jack. "He's in the middle. See him with that
medal on his breast?"

"Hurrah, boys! Hurrah for you!" yelled Grandfather Rover, and arose
excitedly, shaking his cane in one hand and a small flag in the other.

[Illustration: "HURRAH FOR YOU, BOYS!" YELLED GRANDFATHER ROVER.]

By this time all were on their feet, cheering and waving their flags
wildly. Dick, Tom and Sam Rover saw them, and although they did not dare
to turn their heads, they smiled broadly in recognition. For them the
moment was just as thrilling as it was for those on the stand.

"Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!" shouted the boys and girls, and their parents
and other relatives joined in as strenuously as any one.

Old Aunt Martha was crying openly, and the other women had also to wipe
the tears from their eyes.

"Somehow it chokes me all up," declared old Uncle Randolph, and blew his
nose vigorously.

The company containing the Rovers passed on and the great parade
continued hour after hour until it seemed as if there would be no end to
that grand procession.

"Gracious! I didn't know there were so many soldiers in the whole
world," declared Aunt Martha at length.

"If you are getting tired, Aunt Martha, I'll have somebody take you back
to the house," remarked Mrs. Dick Rover, after they had been watching
the parade for four hours.

"No, no. I am going to see it to the end," declared the old lady. "It
will be something to talk about as long as I live."

"Just think of a lot of soldiers like these fighting all over our farm
at Valley Brook," was Uncle Randolph's comment. "That's what they did
over in France. It must have been terrible, the way things were cut up."

"My dad says you wouldn't believe it if you didn't see it," answered
Randy. "He said some of the shell craters were big enough to dump a
small barn in. Think of holes like that in your pasture lot."

But even the greatest of parades must come to an end, and at last the
final body of soldiers marched by, and then came more police, followed
by a great crowd of people that surged into Fifth Avenue like great
flocks of sheep, hurrying, bustling, and jostling in an effort to get
every way at once.

"Wasn't it perfectly grand?" cried Mary.

"It couldn't have been more wonderful," answered May.

"Now we'll get you back to the house and give you something to eat,"
said Mrs. Dick Rover to the old folks. "You certainly must be hungry as
well as tired."

"Well, a little bit of something to eat wouldn't go bad, Dora," answered
Grandfather Rover, placing an affectionate hand on her shoulder. And
then he added softly: "We're mighty proud of our Dick, aren't we?"

"Proud! I should say we are!" answered Mrs. Rover, her whole face
glowing with keen satisfaction.

It was decided that all of the older folks, as well as the three girls,
should return to Riverside Drive. The boys, however, wanted to remain
out and see what might take place further.

"We can pick up a little lunch somewhere--some sandwiches and pie and
maybe a glass of milk," said Randy.

"Anything will do for me," announced Fred. "I'm almost too excited to
eat."

"If you boys stay out you take good care of yourselves in this awful
jam," warned Mrs. Tom Rover. "And don't you get into any mischief," she
added to her twins.

The four lads saw the others safely to the automobiles, which were
standing down one of the side streets, and then came back to Fifth
Avenue.

"Let's walk down and look at the decorations and at the Arch of
Victory," suggested Jack, and so it was decided.

In many places the sidewalks were littered with boxes which had been
used to sit or stand upon. As a consequence, the best place to walk was
in the street, and down this the boys pushed their way through the
crowds which were gradually beginning to thin out.

"I never imagined buildings could be so handsomely decorated," declared
Jack. "Those flags and banners and all that mass of bunting must have
cost a fortune."

"Yes, and think of the money spent in decorating some of these windows,"
put in Fred.

They were gazing at a large show-window filled with a representation of
American soldiers and sailors from colonial times to the present day.
There were at least twenty-five figures in full uniform, and the display
was as valuable to study from an historical standpoint as it was
interesting to view as a picture.

"Some work to get all those uniforms together and to have everything
exactly right," remarked Randy.

"I like the plain khaki of to-day as well as any of them," announced
Jack. "The others are more gaudy, but when it comes to actual
service--Ouch!"

Jack's remark broke off abruptly as a small but heavy box thrown from
the gutter landed directly on his head. Then another box came flying
through the air, to strike between the three other Rovers. It was
followed by a ball of soaking-wet and muddy newspapers which struck the
show-window with a thud, sending some dirty drops of water into the
Rover boys' faces.

Fred was the first to whirl around in an endeavor to see where the two
boxes and the wadded-up newspapers had come from. He was just in time to
see two young fellows try to lose themselves in the rapidly moving
crowd.

"Gabe Werner!" he ejaculated. "There he goes!"

"Yes, and there is Bill Glutts with him!" added Andy.

"What's that?" questioned Jack. He had received a small cut on one ear
from the flying box and his cap had been knocked over his eyes.

"Werner and Glutts did it," answered Fred. "There they go down the
street."

"If that's the case we've got to catch them," returned the oldest Rover
boy. "Come on, quick!"

All started in pursuit of the two former bullies of Colby Hall. But to
follow them through the rapidly moving crowd was not easy, and several
times they were afraid the rascals would get away from them.

"Here, here! Take your time," said a policeman to Fred, as the latter
brushed by him. "Take your time."

"I'm after a fellow who ought to be arrested," answered Fred quickly.

"Where is he?" demanded the bluecoat with interest.

"There he goes--down around the corner!" And then, as the policeman
showed no disposition to leave his post, the youngest Rover boy hurried
away after the others.

Werner and Glutts had looked back, and seeing that the Rovers were in
pursuit, they had tried to throw them off the trail by passing around
the nearest corner. Now they headed in the direction of the East Side.

"I told you not to bother with them," panted Glutts, who was somewhat
out of breath. "Now, for all you know, they'll have us arrested."

"Oh, shut up your whining, Bill!" growled Werner in disgust. "I wish I
had knocked that Jack Rover's head off with the box."

"You came very near busting the window."

"I wouldn't care if I did bust it," answered the other recklessly.

"It don't look as if that dose of pepper hurt Jack Rover much."

"Never mind. I'll fix him some day, you see if I don't."

The two glanced back once more and to their chagrin saw that the Rovers
had come around the corner and were chasing after them faster than ever.
This caused Bill Glutts to become more frightened than before.

"Oh, what shall we do? They'll catch us sure!" he wailed.

"No, they won't! Come on!" yelled Werner, and caught his crony by the
arm.

He was too excited to notice carefully where he was running, and the
next instant he, followed by Glutts, brought up against a stand on the
sidewalk in front of a small shop. This stand was filled with various
articles of bric-a-brac, and it went down with a crash, carrying dozens
of small articles with it.




CHAPTER XVIII

BOUND FOR TEXAS


"Hi! hi! phat--phat you mean py knocking mine stand ofer?" cried out a
voice from the doorway of the building, and a small, stockily built
foreigner came running forward.

"Get off of me!" spluttered Bill Glutts, who was under Gabe Werner.
"You're pressing some of this broken stuff into my face!"

Werner could not answer, being too surprised by the sudden turn affairs
had taken. But then, as he realized that the four Rovers were close at
hand, he rolled over on the sidewalk, upsetting a small boy as he did
so, and then managed to scramble to his feet.

"Come on, Bill!" he panted, and set off down the street at the best gait
he could command.

What Bill Glutts had said about being pushed into the broken bric-a-brac
was true. His face had come down into the midst of several broken vases,
and one hand rested on a broken bit of glassware. When he arose to his
feet he found himself held fast by the storekeeper.

"You don't vas git avay from me already!" bawled the owner of the place.
"You vas pay for de damages you make."

"You let me go! It wasn't my fault!" stormed Glutts.

By this time the Rovers had come up. Bill Glutts looked the picture of
despair, with blood flowing from several cuts on his face and on one
hand.

"Where is Werner?" questioned Jack quickly.

"There he goes!" exclaimed Randy. "Come on after him before he gets
away."

"Some one had better stay here and see that Glutts doesn't get away,"
suggested Fred.

"All right, Fred, you and Andy stay here until we get back," answered
Randy, and then he sped off after Jack, who was already running at his
best rate of speed in the direction Gabe Werner had taken.

By this time Werner was thoroughly scared. He knew that he was liable to
arrest for smashing the bric-a-brac stand, and he had no desire to fall
into the clutches of the Rovers, feeling instinctively that they might
pummel him thoroughly before handing him over to the authorities.
Besides that, he remembered that they might hold him to account for the
pepper incident.

He had turned down a side street where there were a number of tenements.
He dove through an open doorway and ran the length of the hall, coming
out of the building at the rear. Here there was a small yard surrounded
by a board fence. He leaped the fence with ease, and then dove into the
back end of another tenement and out at the front, and soon lost himself
in a crowd on the other street.

Jack and Randy hunted around for fully a quarter of an hour, and were
then compelled to give up the chase.

"It's too bad," declared the oldest Rover boy, "but it can't be helped.
Let us go back and see what they have done with Glutts."

They soon found their way back to where the bric-a-brac stand had been
smashed. A woman was now in charge, and she was just finishing the
cleaning away of the wreckage. Fred and Andy stood nearby watching her.
Both wore a broad grin.

"What's the matter? Couldn't you catch Werner?" questioned Fred.

"No, he slipped us," answered Jack, and gave the particulars.

"The police just carted Bill Glutts off in a patrol wagon," announced
Andy. "The keeper of the store, a Bohemian with an unpronounceable name,
went along. He declared Glutts would have to pay the bill in full, and
even then he wanted him put in prison for life or beheaded, or something
like that."

"Phew! In that case Glutts will get all that is coming to him!"
exclaimed Randy.

"He sure will if that Bohemian has anything to do with it."

The four boys took another look around for Werner, and then walked back
to Fifth Avenue and a little later went home. Here a fine dinner awaited
them.

"It's certainly been a banner day," remarked Fred. "I'll never forget it
as long as I live."

After that two weeks passed rapidly. The boys went on a visit to Valley
Brook Farm, and also met Spouter, Gif and several of their other school
chums. They had a glorious Fourth of July, and then came back to New
York City.

During that time Jack wrote two letters to Ruth, and received one in
return. The girl stated that she felt quite well, but that her eyes were
still bothering her a good deal.

"It's too bad, Jack," said Martha, when her brother spoke about this.
"Ruth is not the one to complain. Her eyes are probably in worse shape
than she is willing to admit."

"I'm worried greatly, Martha," he answered. "I wish I could do something
for her."

In a roundabout way the Rovers heard of what had happened to Bill
Glutts. He had been locked up over night, and in the morning some
relatives had come to his assistance and through paying a fine had had
him released. Then Glutts and his relatives had paid for the damage done
to the bric-a-brac stand, a damage amounting to nearly a hundred
dollars. In the meanwhile, so far as they could ascertain, nothing
further had been heard of Gabe Werner.

"Werner is evidently going to keep shady," remarked Fred. "Perhaps we'll
never see him again." But in this surmise the youngest Rover boy was
mistaken, as later events proved.

At last came another red-letter day when the command to which the older
Rovers belonged was mustered out of the United States service. Tom and
Sam came in one day, and Dick the next evening.

"Now for civilian clothes once more!" announced Tom Rover. "And then I
guess it will be high time for me to get back to the offices in Wall
Street."

"And I'm with you, Tom," said Sam. "I'd rather be at my desk than on a
battlefield, any day."

When Dick Rover came back he was more filled than ever with a desire to
get down to Texas to look over the land which had been left to him by
Lorimer Spell.

"I've found out that it is right in a territory where a number of
well-paying oil wells have been located," said he. "But I'm not
altogether certain that his claim is a sure one, and it might be just
possible that some prospectors might try to jump it, now that word has
gone forth that he was killed in battle. They may think he died without
leaving any heir."

"Well, Dad, you know what I said," cried Jack quickly. "If you went to
Texas I'd like first rate to go along. Maybe I could help you with your
claim."

"Oh, Uncle Dick! won't you take us all with you?" pleaded Fred. "It
would be a grand outing for this Summer. We've been working very hard at
school, you know."

"A trip to Texas would put us in A, Number One condition for Colby Hall
this Fall," added Andy, with a grin.

"We wouldn't interfere with your business in the least," commented his
twin.

At first Dick Rover was rather doubtful about taking four lively boys
with him on the trip. But then he felt that they deserved something for
applying themselves so diligently to their studies during the Winter,
and also for helping matters to run smoothly while he and his brothers
had been in France.

"You can go," he announced the next day, after a consultation with his
brothers and their wives. "But I am going very quickly--by to-morrow
night at the latest. Can you boys get ready so soon?"

"Can we get ready!" exclaimed Andy. "Say, Uncle Dick, just let me run
upstairs and get an extra pair of socks and a toothbrush and I'll be
ready to go to the North Pole if you say so!" And at this sally there
was a general laugh.

After that matters moved with incredible swiftness. It was decided that
the boys should take no baggage but what would go in their suitcases for
the trip, and these were speedily packed. In the meanwhile, Dick Rover
obtained the necessary railroad tickets and sleeping-car accommodations.

"Hurrah! we're off for Texas and the oil fields!" cried Fred.

"Off for the land of luck!" exclaimed Dick Rover, with a smile.

"The land of luck?" questioned Jack. "Is that what they call it, Dad?"

"Yes, Son. And it's truly the land of luck for some. For others it is
the land of bitter disappointment."

"Then I would call it the land of luck--good or bad," announced Andy.

They were to leave from the Pennsylvania Terminal late in the evening.
The whole family had dinner together, and those to be left behind did
not hesitate to give the boys a great deal of advice.

"I hope you don't fall in with any rough characters down there," said
Mrs. Dick Rover. "They tell me there are some men in the oil fields who
are anything but nice."

"You may find you will have to rough it," said Tom Rover. "I understand
some of the oil fields are ten or fifteen miles away from the nearest
town."

"Well, we've roughed it before," answered Jack.

The mothers of the boys might have been more upset, but they felt
relieved to think that Dick would be with the lads.

Soon the time came for parting, and all drove quickly to the railroad
terminal. Then finally good-byes were said, and those bound for Texas
hurried downstairs to the big underground train station. Porters with
their bags took them to the proper car, and they soon found themselves
settled. A few minutes later they were off.

The trip during the night was uneventful, and, strange as it may seem,
all of the boys slept soundly. But they were up early and ready for
their breakfast just as soon as that meal was announced from the diner.

"I'm afraid we're going to have a rainy day of it," said Dick Rover, as
the four boys sat down to a large table while he took his place at a
smaller one opposite. "But as we'll be on board all day, it won't
matter."

During the meal Jack noticed that his father was reading a letter very
attentively, and when the party walked back to their Pullman he
mentioned this fact.

"This is a letter from an oil well promoter," said Dick Rover. "I don't
exactly know what to make of it. He makes a proposition which on the
face of it looks rather good, but somehow or other I have got it in my
head that he is a crook."

"In that case, Dad, I'm sure you won't want to have anything to do with
him."

"Is he a New York man or one from down in Texas?" questioned Fred, who
overheard this conversation.

"He operates mostly in Texas, although he has some connection in New
York. He is very anxious to form a new company, and, of course, sell the
stock. Well, I am willing to go into a new thing and take stock for
myself and try to dispose of some to others, provided the company is
really a good one. But I don't want to get mixed up in any shady
transaction."

"I should say not!" cried Jack. "The Rover name has always been a clean
one."

"What is the name of this promoter?" questioned Fred.

"Carson Davenport."

"What's that?" exclaimed Jack, somewhat startled.

"Carson Davenport. Did you ever hear that name before?"

"I certainly did, Dad. This Carson Davenport has a son Perry, and this
Perry Davenport and Nappy Martell were great chums, and unless I am
mistaken, Mr. Martell and Carson Davenport were once partners in some
mining scheme. I heard Perry and Nappy talking about it several times."

"Humph! if this Carson Davenport was a partner of Nelson Martell, I
don't know as I want anything to do with him. That whole bunch is tarred
with the same stick. Not one of them is honest," declared Dick Rover
bluntly.




CHAPTER XIX

IN THE LAND OF LUCK


"Well, here we are in Texas at last."

"And what immense stretches of country there seem to be, Jack. Miles and
miles without a house or any other building."

"You must remember, boys, that Texas is the largest State in the Union,"
came from Dick Rover. "Some of the farms, or ranches, down here cover
thousands of acres."

"How much farther have we to ride?" questioned Randy.

"Ten miles, that's all," replied his uncle.

They had made two changes since leaving New York City, but each stop had
been less than an hour in duration; so to these boys so used to outdoor
activities it felt as if the whole journey had been continuous. They
were bound for a small town which in years gone by had been known as
Steerville, but the name of which since the oil boom had been changed to
Columbina. This, so far as Dick Rover could ascertain, was the nearest
point to where the Lorimer Spell tract was located.

"We'll take a look around Columbina first," Jack's father had said. "I
want to see how that claim looks. Then I'll take a run over to Wichita
Falls and get those documents belonging to Spell from the safe deposit
box in the bank."

"I see an oil well!" shouted Fred presently, and he pointed out of the
car window to where the huge derrick could be seen over a distant rise
of ground.

"There is another! And another!" added Andy, a few minutes later.

"Now we must be coming into the oil fields," announced Dick Rover, and
his face showed that he was just as eager as the boys. "Just think of
how some of these wells have made a great many comparatively poor people
almost millionaires over night!"

"It sounds like a fairy tale, doesn't it, Dad?" exclaimed Jack. "No
wonder they call this the land of luck."

"But don't forget the disappointments, Son. Many a man has put his all
into sinking a well only to find it absolutely dry."

"And wells cost so much to sink, too!" put in Fred. "Ten to forty
thousand dollars each! It's an awful amount to gamble away."

"Not all of the wells cost that much, Fred. In some places they strike
oil at a distance of a few hundred feet. But here they have to go down
much deeper. Many good wells are down three thousand feet or more."

The train had stopped at one or two towns, and now the porter announced
that the next stop would be Columbina, and he took their suitcases to
the platform for them. Presently they rolled up to a small wooden
station, and the travelers alighted. Then the heavy train rolled
westward.

"Welcome to Columbina!" cried Andy jestingly. "Some big city, I must
declare. I wonder where the Waldorf-Vanderbilt Hotel is located?"

"What's the matter with going to the Ritz-Copley Square?" added his
twin, with a grin.

"Perhaps we'll be thankful to get any kind of a shake-down, boys,"
announced Dick Rover. "This certainly is worse than I anticipated,
although I knew that we couldn't expect much in one of these boom
towns."

To a newcomer Columbina certainly offered no special attractions. Only a
few years before it had been nothing but a point where the ranchmen had
shipped their steers on the railroad, with a tiny stockyard and a small
ranchmen's hotel and saloon combined. Now the boom city, if such it
might be called, consisted of a long straggling main street with a much
dilapidated boardwalk on one side only. In the middle of the street the
mud was all of a foot deep, and through this wagons and automobiles
plowed along as best they could. All of the buildings were of wood, and
none of them more than three stories in height. There were half a dozen
general stores, the same number of eating and drinking places, and two
buildings which were designated as hotels, O'Brian's being one and
Smedley's the other. There was also a long, shed-like moving picture
theater advertised to be open twice a week, in the evening.

"I was advised by a man on the train to try the Smedley Hotel first,"
said Dick Rover. "He thought I'd find a better class of people there
than at the O'Brian place. Wait till I ask the station master where the
hotel is located."

"You can't miss it," said the station man, when applied to. "It's down
at the end of that boardwalk. If you go any further you'll sink into mud
up to your knees," and he smiled feebly.

"Any chance of our getting in there?"

"Just as good a chance as getting in anywhere. They tell me O'Brian's
place is so full they're falling out of the windows," and the station
master chuckled over his little joke.

"Anything in the way of a taxicab around here to take us and our baggage
up there?"

"Taxicab? The last man to run a taxicab was Jim Lumpkins, and now Jim's
struck oil and he's so rich he won't do nothing. If you want to get up
to Smedley's I reckon you'll have to hoof it."

"Come on, Dad, let's walk up there," said Jack.

"But your suitcases are pretty heavy," answered his father, with a
smile.

"Oh, we won't mind those," declared Fred. "We've hiked around with just
as much to carry many times."

"I sha'n't mind it myself," declared his uncle. "Campaigning in France
was a splendid thing to harden one's muscles."

They set off down the one business street of which Columbina boasted.
They had to pick their way carefully along the dilapidated boardwalk. At
one point they came opposite O'Brian's Hotel. Downstairs was a saloon,
and in this a noisy bunch were talking and singing.

"I don't know as I would care to stop there," remarked Randy. "It looks
like rather a tough hole to me."

"You are right," responded Jack. "I'd rather go to some private house,
if I could find one, or else buy a tent and hire a place where we could
pitch it."

"Gee, that's an idea!" cried Andy. "I'd much rather go camping out and
do my own cooking than put up with just any old thing."

At length they came to Smedley's Hotel. It was a new building, three
stories in height, with a restaurant occupying one-half of the lower
floor. Half a dozen men were occupying chairs on the front piazza, and
they eyed the newcomers curiously.

"Looks fairly clean, anyway," whispered Fred to his cousins. "I wouldn't
want to get into some old ranch that was full of bugs."

The office of the hotel was about twelve feet square, with a sanded
floor. On one side was a plain wooden settee, and on the other an
equally plain counter on which rested a register and a bell. Behind the
counter was a tall, freckle-faced man with a shock of red hair.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," he said hospitably. "What can I do for
you?"

"We want to know if we can be accommodated here," answered Dick Rover.
"There are five of us."

"How long do you want to stay?"

"I don't know exactly. Several days at least, and maybe a week or two."

"I see." The hotel proprietor scratched his head thoughtfully. "I've got
one big room left and one small room directly opposite. The small room
has only a single bed in it, but the other room has a double bed and I
could easily put two cots in there besides that."

"Would you mind showing us the quarters?" questioned Jack's father.
Experience had taught him when in out-of-the-way places not to accept
hotel accommodations until he had inspected them.

"Sure thing, Brother. Just follow me."

The boys waited below while Dick Rover and the hotel man went upstairs.
A minute later they came down, and then Jack's father registered for the
entire crowd.

"You pay for your meals in the restaurant when you get 'em," announced
the hotel man. "The rooms are separate. Three dollars each per day."

The rooms to which they had been assigned were on the third floor of the
hotel. One was amply large for all of the boys, and the other, while
much smaller, had good ventilation and Dick Rover said it would suit him
very well.

"The whole outfit is better than I was afraid it might be," he
announced. "Some of these boom towns have wretched quarters for
newcomers. In fact, I've read in the newspapers that in many places the
newcomers had to roll themselves in blankets and sleep out in the
fields."

"I was reading about one place where they set up cots on the floor of a
general store at night and sold the right to sleep on a cot until seven
o'clock in the morning for one dollar," said Randy.

There was no running water, but each room was supplied with a bowl and
pitcher, and after the extra cots were placed in the larger apartment an
extra bucket of water was also brought up by a maid.

Although they did not know it, the Rovers had no sooner disappeared
upstairs than two of the men sitting on the veranda of the hotel came
into the office and looked over the register.

"Five Rovers, and all from New York City," muttered one of the men, and
gazed knowingly at his companion.

"Four of them were nothing but kids," returned the other. "It's only the
man who counts, and his name seems to be Richard Rover."

"Do you think he is the same Rover?"

"I shouldn't wonder, Tate. That name isn't a common one. However, we had
better make sure before we make another move."

Andy and Fred were the first to get through washing up, and then they
came downstairs to take a look around before going into the dining-room
with the others for supper. They came out on the hotel porch, and were
surveying the scene before them when the two men who had inspected the
hotel register lounged up to them.

"Well, what do you think of our town?" questioned one of them
pleasantly.

"I haven't seen enough of it to form an opinion," answered Fred.

"It will take us a week or two, I suppose, to take in all the sights,"
came from Andy, with a grin.

"It might take you a week or two if you went on foot through the mud,"
answered the second man. And then he continued: "I suppose you came from
a distance, eh?"

"We came from New York."

"Going to invest in some oil wells, I suppose?" remarked the first man
who had spoken, and he smiled broadly.

"That depends on how we find things here," answered Fred. "You see, my
uncle is interested in a tract of land they say has oil on it. Of course
he'll want to make an investigation before he goes ahead."

"Is that man who is with you your uncle?"

"Yes."

"Is the tract of land he is interested in near here?" questioned the
second man.

"I don't know how close it is to this town."

"What's the tract called? If you don't know exactly where it is, perhaps
we can help you locate it."

"It's the Lorimer Spell tract," answered Fred innocently. He thought the
men were just asking out of idle curiosity.

"Oh, I see." The man frowned and looked at his companion.

"Do you know anything about that tract?"

"Oh, I've heard of it. It's up on the north side of the town. I
understand Spell was shot during the war," the man continued, looking at
the boys.

"He was," answered Andy. "And he left all his property to my Uncle Dick,
who once saved his life."

"Oh, that's it, is it!" cried one of the men. "Seems to me I heard
something about that. Your uncle played the regular hero act."

"As I said before, he saved Lorimer Spell's life, and did it at the risk
of his own. It was in the midst of one of the fiercest fights."

At this moment Jack and Randy came rushing down the stairs and out on
the porch of the hotel in great excitement.

"We just saw somebody up the street!" exclaimed Jack. "And who do you
think it was? Gabe Werner!"




CHAPTER XX

PLOTTING AGAINST DICK ROVER


"Gabe Werner!"

"Where is he?"

"Up the street," answered Randy. "Come on after him."

"Who's the man you are after?" questioned one of the men who had been
interviewing Andy and Fred.

"He's a young fellow who once went to a military academy with us. He's a
regular bully and did something for which he ought to be locked up," was
Fred's reply, and then he rushed down into the street, following his
three cousins.

"How can Gabe Werner be down here?" questioned Andy. "Why, we left him
in New York City!"

"I can't help that, Andy. It was Werner just as sure as I am standing
here. I just happened to glance out of the window and saw him crossing
the roadway. He turned his face straight toward me, and I couldn't help
but recognize him."

"Where did he go?"

"I'll point out the place when we get there."

By this time the four Rovers had left the boardwalk and were plowing
along on the side of the road through mud that varied from an inch to
six inches in depth. They had started to run, but were soon compelled to
slow up.

"Gee, this is something fierce!" panted Andy.

"Oh, you cinder path!" chanted his twin. "Wouldn't you like to do a
hundred-yard dash on this road?"

"It's not much farther," announced Jack. "I saw him heading for that
shack yonder."

The place he mentioned was a small building erected of rough boards,
with a galvanized roof. They neared the shack to find two men sitting
before it on a log smoking their pipes. They appeared somewhat startled.

"Did a young fellow just pass this way?" questioned Jack quickly.

The two men looked at the Rovers curiously, and then one shook his head.

"Don't think he did, Stranger. I didn't see anybody, did you, Tom?"

"No," was the positive answer.

By the look on their faces Jack felt that the men were not telling the
truth. Yet what he was to do he did not know.

"Maybe he went back to that garage," he suggested, pointing to a smaller
building in the rear.

"Look around if you think anybody is there," said the first man who had
spoken, and the boys hurried down to the garage, which stood open. As
they did this one of the men sauntered into the shack.

"Say, what's the meaning of this?" he demanded of Gabe Werner, who stood
hiding behind a door.

"I'll tell you as soon as they go away," was the answer of the former
bully of Colby Hall. "Don't let them come in here and see me."

"All right, they sha'n't come in," was the man's laconic reply; and then
he went outside again, to resume his smoking.

Having walked around the garage and peered inside, the four Rovers
walked again to the shack. The man who had just come out of the building
leered at them.

"Didn't find the fellow you were after, did you?" he queried.

"No," answered Jack shortly. He did not like the appearance of the man
in the least.

"Want to see him particularly?"

"I want to give him a good thrashing--that's what I want to do!"
exclaimed Jack. "And after that I might turn him over to the police, if
there is any such thing in this town."

"We haven't any police here. We run things to suit ourselves."

"What do you want to lick him for?" questioned the other man.

"He threw pepper in my eyes once, and he's done a lot of other things he
oughtn't to have done," returned Jack, and then turned back to the
hotel, and his cousins followed.

"Those two men were on the hotel veranda when we first went there," said
Randy. "I noticed them, and I did not like their looks at all."

"Do you know what I think?" returned Jack. "I believe Gabe Werner was in
that shack all the time. I think he must have seen us coming and given
those fellows the tip. They both tried to appear cool, but they were
both flustered."

"But what can Gabe Werner be doing in this out-of-the-way place?"
demanded Fred.

"He probably came here, Fred, just for the excitement. Hundreds of young
fellows have drifted to the oil fields just as years ago they drifted to
the gold fields. They gamble in oil stocks and do what they can, trying
to strike it rich. It's a great temptation to any fellow who hasn't a
well-paying job at home."

"But Gabe Werner ought to be going to school," put in Andy.

"True, Andy. But Gabe himself thinks he is old enough to do as he
pleases. Evidently from the way he acts his folks can no longer control
him."

When the boys got back to the hotel they found Dick Rover looking for
them. He listened in surprise to what they had to say.

"It certainly is odd if that Gabe Werner is here," he said. "And more
than likely you are right--otherwise that fellow wouldn't have taken
such pains to hide himself. Well, if he is here, you must watch that he
doesn't play any more tricks on you."

A fair supper was had at the hotel. During the meal both Fred and Andy
noticed that the two men who had questioned them in the hotel office
concerning the Lorimer Spell claim were watching their Uncle Dick
closely.

"They seem to want to know all about our business," said Fred, when
mentioning this to his uncle.

"Oh, that's the case in every oil town or mining camp," answered Dick
Rover. "Men are always anxious to get a lead, as they call it, on what
is going to happen next. If they think a fellow may strike it rich in
some particular location they rush after him like a flock of sheep and
try to get claims as close to him as possible."

After the meal was finished the boys took a walk around the town to see
how the place looked at night and thinking they might possibly run
across Gabe Werner.

The narrow street with the single boardwalk was crowded with people,
some well dressed and others in the roughest of costumes. There was loud
talking and jesting, and most of the pedestrians seemed to be in good
humor, although occasionally they would pass a group evidently out of
luck and willing to let everybody know it.

"No more oil fields for me!" they heard one man exclaim, as he lunged
past, evidently partly under the influence of liquor. "I've sunk
forty-five thousand dollars in wells already, and not a sniff of gas to
show for it. I'm through!"

"That's the other side of the picture," remarked Randy. "Evidently he's
got rid of every cent he had, and now he's so downhearted he is taking
to drink."

"I don't see where he can get it in these days," said Fred.

"Oh, they manage to get it somehow."

The moving picture theater was open, and a crowd was swarming inside.
The pictures were old and of a wild Western nature, and none of the lads
had any desire to see them. They passed on and looked into the windows
of a couple of the general stores, where everything from matches to
bedding seemed to be for sale. Then they came to a corner where there
was a side street which was little more than an alleyway. Along this
were a dozen or more shanties set in anything but a regular row.

On the corner was a flaring banner announcing that here was located the
Famous California Chop Suey Restaurant. Behind the small dirty windows
ten or fifteen men were eating at half a dozen tables covered with
oilcloth.

"Look!" exclaimed Fred, pointing in through the open door of the
restaurant. "There are those same men who were at our hotel. Evidently
they can't be stopping there--or at least they don't eat there."

"Isn't it queer that they should hang around our hotel and then come
down here for a meal?" remarked Randy.

"They're talking to another man--somebody who wasn't at our hotel," said
Fred. "Just see how excited they seem to be!" he added quickly, after
one of the men drew a paper from his pocket and all of them bent over it
with interest.

Then the stranger of the crowd began to talk to the others very
earnestly.

"Let us walk down the alleyway, and perhaps we can find out something
about those men," suggested Jack. "You say they asked about Lorimer
Spell and his claim? They may know something that my dad would like to
find out."

"All right," said Fred.

The four Rovers turned the corner of the restaurant and walked slowly
down the alleyway along a narrow cinder path. This path ran close to the
side of the building, and here were located several small windows, one
of them close to where stood the table at which the men inside were
seated.

"It's a mighty good thing that we ran across those Rovers the very day
they came in," one of the men was saying. "If it hadn't been for that
they might have gone up to the Lorimer Spell claim and done something
that would queer the whole thing."

"Oh, I don't think they could do that, Tate," returned the man whom the
lads had not seen before. "You know at the best Spell's claim on the
land was not perfectly clear."

"Well, that's how you look at it, Davenport," said another of the men.
"You must remember, Lorimer Spell had a good many friends in this
neighborhood. Of course he was a queer Dick and all that sort of thing,
but in spite of that folks here would want to have Spell's wishes in
this matter upheld."

"Oh, I know we run some risk," returned the man called Davenport. "But I
think the stake is worth it."

"To be sure it is!" came from one of the others.

"The question is," came from the man named Tate, "how are we going to
get at it? Do you think you'll be able to see the documents this man
Rover must carry?"

"Of course I'll see them. I'll get at them some way," returned Carson
Davenport firmly. He was a large-built man, with coal-black eyes and
black hair and his face had a rather cruel expression.

"Somebody said that Lorimer Spell placed his valuables in some safe
deposit vault," went on one of the men. "In that case, this Richard
Rover wouldn't have them."

"I don't see why not," said another. "If he became Spell's heir he would
have a right to do anything, and the bank would have to give the
documents up."

More talk of a like nature followed, and the Rover boys listened with
keen interest to every word that was said. They recognized in Carson
Davenport the man who had written to Jack's father hoping to get the
latter interested in some fake oil companies, trusting that The Rover
Company in New York City would be able to dispose of the worthless
stocks to their customers--people who trusted them implicitly in all
their financial transactions. While these negotiations were going on
Jake Tate, Davenport's right-hand man, had learned that Lorimer Spell
was dead and that he had made Dick Rover his sole heir. This was at a
time when Tate and Davenport, as well as the other men, were trying to
get possession of the Spell land, feeling sure that there was oil on it.
They had been on the point of communicating with Dick Rover, thinking
they might get the claim away from him, when he had surprised the whole
crowd by his unexpected appearance in Columbina.

"We've got to have quick action in this," declared Jake Tate. "The
longer we delay the worse off we'll be."

"Yes, but you've got to find out about those papers first," said one of
the other men, lighting a cigar.

"You leave me to do that," said Carson Davenport. "I'm sure I know
exactly how to handle this man Rover."

"He must be a pretty shrewd fellow, Davenport. Otherwise he wouldn't be
holding such an important position in that Wall Street company,"
remarked Tate.

"I've handled men like that before. You leave it to me."

"But you don't want him to suspect anything is off color," said one of
the other men.

"I'm not so green, Jackson. I wasn't born yesterday."

"Didn't you say you thought this Rover had a lot of money?"

"Yes, the whole family has money. But, at the same time, that has
nothing to do with it. I'll tell you what I propose to do," continued
Carson Davenport earnestly. "I'll wait until I am sure that he----"

This was as much as the Rover boys heard for the time being. Around the
corner of the building from the main street had come three figures. They
had been abreast, but now they approached on the cinder path in single
file. As they came closer the lights from the restaurant fell on their
faces, and to their intense surprise the four Rovers recognized Gabe
Werner, Nappy Martell, and Slugger Brown.




CHAPTER XXI

WORDS AND BLOWS


The surprise on both sides was equal, and for a moment neither the
Rovers nor those in the other crowd uttered a word.

"What are you doing here, Jack Rover?" demanded Nappy Martell at length,
as he scowled at the youth and his cousins.

"I might ask the same question of you, Nappy," was Jack's return.

"Did you come here from that detention camp?" questioned Fred.

"That's none of your business," retorted Slugger Brown.

"You got away from us this afternoon, Gabe Werner, but you're not going
to do it this time," continued Jack, and caught the rascal by the arm.

"Hi! you let go of me," howled the bully roughly, and shoved Jack back
against the building.

At this Randy leaped forward and also caught hold of Werner. Nappy
Martell and Slugger Brown were about to jump in to the assistance of
their friend when Fred and Andy interfered.

"You leave them alone," ordered Fred, with flashing eyes. "He's one of
the meanest fellows in the world. He threw pepper in Jack's eyes and in
the eyes of Ruth Stevenson."

The loud talking so close to a window of the restaurant attracted the
attention of the men inside, and the fellow named Jake Tate thrust his
head out to see what was going on.

"Say, what do you know about this?" he exclaimed, turning to his
companions. "Those four young Rovers are out here right by the window!"

"You don't say so!" burst out Carson Davenport.

"If they are by this window maybe they were spying on us," put in the
man named Jackson.

In the meanwhile there was something of a fight going on outside. Gabe
Werner had tried to break away, and then launched a blow at Jack, who
returned by hitting him a crack in the jaw.

"See here, you leave Werner alone!" blustered Slugger Brown.

"You keep out of this, Slugger!" cried Jack, and then, as Werner hit out
a second time, Jack dodged and the bully's fist struck the side of the
building, skinning several of his knuckles. Then Jack landed a blow with
all the force he could command on Werner's left ear, and the rascal went
down on the cinder path and rolled over into the roadway.

By this time the men in the restaurant had run outside and were coming
up.

"What's the rumpus here?" demanded Jake Tate, pushing his way through
the crowd of boys. He was a burly individual, and could at times put on
a most aggressive manner.

"We caught these four fellows right by this window," declared Nappy
Martell, with a sharp look first at Tate and then at Davenport.

"It looked to us as though they might be spying on you," added Slugger
Brown, and he too gave Davenport a peculiar look.

"Spying on us, eh?" muttered the oil company promoter in anything but a
pleasant manner. "Fine piece of business to be in!"

By this time Gabe Werner had rolled over and gotten to his feet. But
instead of coming at Jack again, he kept at a safe distance, in the
meanwhile sucking his bruised knuckles and nursing his left ear.

"We have a right to walk on this street if we want to," remarked Randy.

"They were standing right by this window, and appeared to be listening
to something," declared Slugger Brown.

"Then they must have been listening to what we were saying," grumbled
Jackson.

"How long were you at this window, young fellow?" demanded Jake Tate.

"I guess that's our own business," and Randy's eyes flashed defiance.

"You want to keep your eyes on those Rovers," cautioned Nappy Martell.
"They're as sly as foxes. I know 'em!"

"And they'll do you harm if they can," added Slugger Brown.

"He is saying that because we wouldn't stand for any of his underhanded
work," explained Fred.

"We never did stand for anything that wasn't on the level," added Andy,
and looked at Carson Davenport suggestively.

"See here, young fellow, don't you get fresh!" cried the oil company
promoter. And then he added with a sneer: "I reckon you've been
listening to more than was good for you."

"Well, if you want to know it, we heard a few things that surprised us,"
answered Jack boldly.

"What did you hear?" questioned Jake Tate quickly.

"We heard what you had to say about the Lorimer Spell claim, if you must
know it," retorted Fred.

"Yes, and we are going to report it to my Uncle Dick at once," said
Andy.

At this the men were evidently much disturbed, and Tate pulled Davenport
back and whispered something into his ear. Then both conferred with
Jackson. In the meantime Nappy and Slugger came forward again with
Werner close behind them.

"You tried to run things to suit yourselves up at Colby Hall," sneered
Slugger. "But you'll find it a different story down here."

"Don't you dare to tell any stories about us," warned Nappy. "If you do
you'll get in bad, mark my words. I've stood all I'm going to stand from
your crowd."

"If you are behaving yourself and trying to earn an honest living, we'll
have nothing to say to anybody about your past," answered Jack. "The war
is over, and the question of how you aided those German sympathizers is
a thing of the past."

"Don't you trust 'em," growled Werner. "They'll do their level best to
get you in bad. I know 'em!"

"You just let me get at you, Werner, and I'll show you what I'll do,"
retorted Jack, and made a move in the direction of the fellow. And at
this the bully lost no time in retreating. He was evidently afraid that
the Rovers would hand him over to the authorities.

By this time the men were coming forward again.

"See here, boys, we don't want any trouble," said Carson Davenport
oilily. "We were only talking about that Lorimer Spell claim in a
general way. I'll explain everything to Mr. Rover's satisfaction in the
morning. I only want to work with him in this matter. We could get along
so much better than if we worked separately."

"All right, then," answered Jack. "You know where my father can be
found."

"You may have got a wrong impression from our talk," added Jake Tate.
"We handle things in a rougher way down in this oil country than you do
up in New York. Davenport will straighten out everything with your
father."

After this the men continued to talk to the boys for several minutes,
doing their best to allay the Rovers' suspicions. Nappy and Slugger
listened with interest, as did also Werner, who, however, kept out of
reach of Jack and his cousins.

"We might as well be going, Nappy," said Slugger presently, and turned
and hurried up the narrow street, and Gabe Werner went after them. Then,
a moment later, the men returned to the restaurant to finish the meal
they had begun.

"I suppose we might as well return to the hotel," said Jack.

"Right you are!" declared Randy. "The best thing we can do is to let
Uncle Dick know about this."

They found Dick Rover sitting in a corner of the hotel porch talking to
an old oil man to whom he had brought a letter of introduction.

"This is Mr. Nick Ogilvie," said Jack's father after introducing the
boys. "He will take charge of any operations we may commence in this
territory. He is an old oil man, and knows this district thoroughly."

The boys sat down to listen to what the old oil man might have to say.
Mr. Ogilvie remained the best part of an hour, and then went off,
stating that he would be around again the next day. As soon as he had
departed the boys, making sure that no one else was within hearing, told
Jack's father of all they had learned concerning Carson Davenport and
the men associated with him. Dick Rover listened with intense interest,
his face clouding as they proceeded.

"This is certainly news, and I'll have to investigate it thoroughly," he
declared, when they had finished. "Evidently this Carson Davenport is a
worse sharper than I thought."

"He says he can explain everything to your satisfaction," said Jack.
"But I don't see how it can be done."

"Nor I, either," declared Randy. "My opinion is that they are a bunch of
crooks and nothing else."

"Evidently they think they have some sort of claim on the Spell land,"
answered Dick Rover. "And it is possible that such is a fact, because,
as I said before, the title to Spell's land seemed to be clouded. Of
course, I don't know what is in the documents in the safe-deposit vault
at Wichita Falls. Those documents may clear the matter up."

"Then I should think the best thing would be to get those papers," said
Jack.

"That's what I intend to do."

"Will you see Davenport in the morning?" questioned Fred curiously.

"Certainly, Fred. I am not afraid of that crowd, and the more they talk
the better I'll like it, for then I can get some sort of line on what
they are aiming at."

It was some time after breakfast the next morning when Carson Davenport
put in an appearance. Dick Rover was busy writing some letters when he
came in, and the boys were addressing post-cards to their folks and
friends. Davenport was alone.

"I want to clear up any misunderstanding that may have arisen," said the
oil well promoter smoothly, as he dropped into a chair beside Jack's
father.

There followed a conversation lasting over an hour. At first Davenport
did his best to smooth matters over, but gradually, as Dick Rover
managed to draw out one fact after another, the oil well promoter showed
more or less irritation. Dick's shrewdness bothered him, and finally he
hardly knew how to proceed.

"You take it from me, Rover, the only way for us to do is to work this
thing together," he remarked. "One claim is just as good as the other,
and what is the use of our getting into a dispute over it when we are
not real certain that there is oil on the land?"

"Then you mean to say that you think your claim on the land is just as
good as mine?" asked Jack's father.

"My claim is just as good, and maybe better. But I don't want to have
any trouble. I figure that it will cost about thirty thousand dollars to
sink a well on that land. Now why not go in together? We've got ten
thousand dollars, and if you'll put up the other twenty thousand we can
try our luck and see what comes of it."

"I'm not admitting that your claim is a good one," answered Dick Rover.
"I'll know more about it in a few days."

"Why, what are you going to do?"

"When Lorimer Spell died he left me everything he possessed, and that
included some things left in a safe deposit box at a bank in Wichita
Falls. I am going to get that box and see if there are any documents in
it relating to this claim. Then I'll know exactly how I stand in this
matter. Until that time I sha'n't make any sort of a deal."

This was Dick Rover's final decision so far as it concerned Davenport,
and the latter went off looking anything but pleased.

"He'll get the best of you if he can, Dad," remarked Jack, after the
interview was over.

"I don't doubt it in the least, Son."

"What's the next move, if I may ask?" questioned Fred. The oil well
proposition was beginning to interest him tremendously.

"I am going to take the first train for Wichita Falls to-day," answered
his uncle. "I guess you boys can get along here until I get back."

"How far is that Lorimer Spell tract of land from here?" asked Randy.

"About three miles or so."

"Then what's the matter with our walking out there and taking a look
around?" suggested Fred. "We've got the whole day before us."

"You can do that and welcome," said Jack's father. "But take my advice
and take a good lunch along, because you may not be able to get anything
up there. I don't know whether there are any farmhouses around or not."

An hour later Dick Rover was off for Wichita Falls by train. Then the
lads asked the restaurant man to put up a substantial lunch for them,
and a little later they set off in the direction where the Lorimer Spell
tract was located.

Around Columbina the walking was anything but good. But presently they
found themselves on a country road which had not been cut up by a steady
stream of wagons and automobiles, and here they found going better.

They had covered about two miles when they came to a bend in the road,
and there Andy called a halt.

"I've got something in my shoe. Wait till I take it off," he said, and
sat down on a rock.

They were all resting when they saw an automobile truck rumble past
them. There were three men on the front seat, and the lads were very
much surprised to see that two of them were Jake Tate and the man called
Jackson.




CHAPTER XXII

AMONG THE OIL WELLS


"Did you see those fellows?" exclaimed Randy, after the automobile truck
had rumbled out of sight.

"I did," answered Jack. "They were Tate and Jackson."

"Can they be going up to the Lorimer Spell claim?" exclaimed Fred.

"It's possible."

"I don't think they saw us," put in Andy, lacing up his shoe again.

"No, they didn't seem to look this way at all. And, anyhow, they were
too busy talking to notice," answered Jack.

The four Rovers continued on their way, following the automobile.
Occasionally they met other automobiles, as well as wagons, some piled
high with oil-drilling machinery. Then they came to a place where a pipe
line was being constructed.

"We are certainly in the oil fields," announced Jack. "See all the
derricks in the distance?"

Being-good walkers, it did not take the boys long to reach the Spell
tract of land. To make sure that they had found the right spot, they
asked an old teamster who was at the roadside mending a harness.

"Yes, that's Lorimer Spell's ground--or at least it was his ground
before he was killed. There is the old shack just as he left it."

The boys walked over to the house, which stood among some low bushes. It
was a dilapidated structure, and had evidently been out of repair for
several years. Most of the windows were gone, and the front door stood
wide open. As was to be expected, the four rooms the house contained
were empty save for some straw on the floor and a pile of half-burnt
sticks on the open hearth.

"Some thieves must have come along and taken whatever there was of
furniture," observed Jack.

"Yes, and somebody has been using it for a place to bunk in," added
Fred. "But I don't believe they have been here within the last few
days," he added, with a look at the ashes on the hearth.

From the house the boys proceeded to look around the farm, or ranch, if
such it might be called. It was irregular in shape, one corner running
over a hill and down towards a small brook. Here, to their surprise,
they saw a pile of oil-drilling machinery, and a number of posts had
been set up. On one of the posts was a placard reading:

    _The Carson Davenport Claim. Keep off._

"What do you know about this!" cried Jack, his eyes blazing.

"Let's knock the sign down," suggested Fred quickly.

"No, we won't do that--at least not yet, Fred. We'll wait until my
father comes with those papers from Wichita Falls."

In the soft soil they could see numerous tracks of automobiles and
wagons which had passed that way. One of these tracks was fresh.

"I'll bet that auto with Tate and Jackson was here just before we came!"
cried Randy. "Those fellows are certainly on the job. They probably
believe that 'possession is nine points of the law.'"

"And it may be down here," said Jack, his face clouding. "The
authorities haven't things under their control in a wild country like
this as they have in and around the big cities."

There were no oil wells near the Spell tract, and to get to the nearest
the lads had to tramp over another hill, a distance of more than a
quarter of a mile. Here they found several wells in operation, the
combined flow of which, they were told, amounted to about four hundred
barrels per day.

"Not so bad, when you consider this oil is worth about two dollars and a
half a barrel," remarked Jack.

"That makes a thousand dollars a day," returned Fred. "Gee, just think
of taking in that much every twenty-four hours!"

The boys were told that another well was to be shot off that afternoon.
This was located about half a mile away, and they resolved to visit the
place, first, however, stopping by the roadside for lunch. They were
told where they could get a drink of water.

"Phew! how it smells of oil," remarked Randy, turning up his nose at the
dose.

"I guess we'll get our fill of oil before we get through, Randy,"
laughed Jack. "Some of these neighborhoods are saturated with oil from
end to end. The houses and barns are full of it, and so are the roads,
and they tell me even the things in the dining-rooms and bedrooms smell
of oil."

"And just see how black the stuff is," declared Fred. "It doesn't look
one bit like the oil we are used to using. It certainly needs a lot of
refining."

"And just think of the hundred and one things that come from it," said
Jack. "Kerosene and gasoline, and benzine and naphtha and paraffin, and
I don't know what all."

The middle of the afternoon found them at the place where the new well
was to be brought in--that is, provided everything went well, the the
head workman told them, with a grin. He was a good-natured Irishman with
body and clothing saturated with oil from head to foot.

"'Tis not a noice way av makin' a livin'," he announced. "But 'tis clane
money one gits in his pocket."

"Yes, and you haven't got to stay here forever," answered Jack, with a
smile. "After you've made your pile you can go to some place more
agreeable."

"Sure, an' that's true, Son, so 'tis," said the foreman.

He explained to them how the well had been drilled and how the charges
had been lowered. They had tested out the well at eighteen hundred feet,
but without success. Now they were down twenty-six hundred feet, and the
indications for oil were decidedly good.

At length came the moment for shooting off the well. Some of the
woodwork surrounding the derrick had been removed, and all the electric
connections were pronounced in good working order. Then the boys and the
others who had assembled were ordered back to a safe distance.

It was a thrilling moment, and no one felt it more than the four Rovers.
They waited a few minutes, and then came a dull rumble, shaking the
ground as if by an earthquake. Then they saw something shoot skyward,
and then came a sudden rain of black oil, flying and spattering in all
directions.

"They've struck it! They've struck it!" yelled Andy excitedly. "They've
struck oil!"

"Gee, but I'll bet that makes them feel good," announced Fred. "That
well must have cost a lot of money."

"Forty thousand dollars, the foreman said," came from Jack. "Come on,
let us get back unless we want our clothing ruined." For the wind was
shifting and sending a fine spray of oil in their direction.

It was hard work to control the flow of oil, and the men around the new
well had to work like Trojans. The black mass was flowing off in a
depression of the ground which had been dammed around to receive it.

"It certainly is a great proceeding," was Fred's comment, when they
finally turned away and started on their return to Columbina. "I don't
wonder that those men get interested. It certainly is the greatest
gamble of the age. One minute you have nothing, and the next, if you are
lucky, the oil is pouring thousands of dollars into your pocket every
week."

"It's the land of luck, all right enough," answered Fred.

"And you mustn't forget one thing," added Jack. "There are just as many
failures as there are successes. There have been millions and millions
of dollars sunk in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas, and some promoters
haven't got even a smell of oil for their money."

When the lads returned to the hotel they found that several letters had
come in for them. One was from Jack's sister, and this he read with
interest, and then passed it around to his cousins to peruse.

In her letter Martha wrote that she had heard from Ruth Stevenson's
mother, who stated that Ruth's eyes were not in as good shape as the
local doctor had hoped for and he had advised that a specialist be
consulted.

"Gee, that's the worst yet!" said Jack, and his face showed his concern.
"Poor Ruth! I do hope she comes out of it all right, and that very
soon."

Both Jack and the others would have been more concerned had they known
the truth, which was that Ruth had already been placed in the care of an
eye specialist and been removed to that physician's private sanitarium.
Pressed to tell the exact truth by Mr. Stevenson, the specialist had
admitted that Ruth's eyes had suffered exceedingly, and that she was in
danger of losing the sight of one of them and that that might possibly
affect the other. As Mrs. Stevenson was very nervous already, the doctor
had advised her husband to keep the truth to himself for the present and
hope for the best.

Among the other letters received was one forwarded by Mary to her
brother Fred. This was from Gif Garrison, and in the communication Gif
told how he had heard in a roundabout way of Nappy and Slugger.

       *       *       *       *       *

"It seems that there was once a man named Davenport in business with Mr.
Martell," wrote Gif. "This Davenport is now down in the oil fields of
Texas, and he has agreed, so I understand, to give Nappy and Slugger a
chance to work for a company he has formed. So they are likely down
there, and maybe you will meet them. They also say that Glutts and
Werner used to correspond with Nappy and Slugger, so that it is just
possible they will go down there too."

"Well, Glutts isn't here," said Fred, with a grin. "I guess that mix-up
in New York was too much for him."

"If those fellows want to work for Carson Davenport they can do so,"
said Jack. "But they've got to keep their distance--Werner especially."

Late that evening there came a telegram for Jack. It was from his
father, announcing the fact that he would have to remain in Wichita
Falls for a day or two.

"Perhaps he's got to fix up some legal matters in connection with this
Spell claim," suggested Fred.

There was not much to interest the boys around Columbina, and the next
day hung rather heavily on their hands. They visited the general stores
and also walked over to the depot and watched two of the trains come in.
They saw Carson Davenport alight from one and hurry away as rapidly as
possible, carrying a Gladstone bag with him.

"Hello! I wonder if he has been to Wichita Falls too," cried Jack.

"He certainly came from that direction," answered Fred. "But you must
remember there are lots of other towns along the line."

The following afternoon found the four boys on a highway leading from
Columbina to Derrickville. They had fallen in with an old oil prospector
who knew Nick Ogilvie well, and this prospector had offered to take them
over to Derrickville in his five-passenger touring-car.

"It's a great sight around Derrickville," said the man. "There are
hundreds of oil wells in that vicinity. It's about the busiest place for
miles around."

Warned by their previous experience, the boys had purchased some
overalls and plain caps, and these they donned to protect their other
clothing. They found the road to Derrickville deep in mud, and more than
once it looked as if the car in which they were riding would get stuck.
But Mr. Bradley was a good driver, and always managed somehow to get
through.

"It ain't like driving on Broadway," he grinned, "but we've got to make
the best of it."

Two hours later found the Rovers in Derrickville. They were left to
shift for themselves, Mr. Bradley stating he would take them back to
Columbina at five o'clock. They visited a dozen wells or more, and also
the pumping station connected with a large pipe line, and then walked
over to where the drilling of some new wells was in progress.

"Look!" shouted Fred suddenly. "Look! Am I mistaken, or is that Phil
Franklin over there?"

He pointed to a distance, and then he and the others hurried to the
spot. There, looking at the work which was going on around a new well,
were the man and the boy they had once rescued from the freshet on the
Rick Rack River.




CHAPTER XXIII

A QUEER SUMMONS


"Am I seeing straight, and is it really the Rovers?" exclaimed John
Franklin, when confronted by the boys.

"You are seeing straight enough, Mr. Franklin," answered Fred, as he
shook hands first with the father and then the son. "Is your claim
around here?"

"No, our claim is some miles from here," answered John Franklin. "It's
at a place called Pottown."

"I've heard of that place," said Jack, as he too shook hands, as did the
others. "They say there are quite a few oil wells in that neighborhood."

"What have you done about your claim, if I may ask?" questioned Randy.

"Oh, I've got myself all straightened out," said Mr. Franklin, with a
broad smile. "You see, when I got down here I played in luck right from
the start. Those swindlers had got tired of trying to do something on my
farm, and then I ran into an old friend of mine who was a lawyer. He
took the matter up for me, and the swindlers got scared and all of them
quit the claim over night; so I am now in sole possession."

"And have you struck oil?" asked Jack.

"No, I haven't got that far yet, but I have great hopes of going ahead.
You see, I'm handicapped for money. I could get some capitalists
interested, but they generally want the lion's share of the proceeds,
and that I don't want to give them."

"I don't blame you," said Fred. "You ought to get the most of the money
if the oil is found on your land."

"I'm telling dad to take his time," put in Phil Franklin. "The land
won't run away, and the more oil wells that are producing around us, the
more valuable our place will become."

"But what brought you young fellows down here?" questioned the man. "Are
you on a sightseeing tour?"

"Not altogether," answered Jack. "My father is interested in a claim
down here, and he allowed us to come along with him." And thereupon he
gave some of the particulars.

John Franklin listened attentively to the story, and his eyes flashed
angrily when the names of Tate and Jackson were mentioned.

"Those are the swindlers who were trying to do me out of my property!"
he ejaculated. "And I'm of the opinion this Carson Davenport was in with
them. They are a bunch of crooks, and nothing else. They ought all to be
in prison."

"Well, they'll land there sooner or later if they don't look out,"
returned Fred.

"If I was your father I would have nothing to do with this Davenport or
the men acting with him," went on Mr. Franklin to Jack.

"Do you know anything at all about the Lorimer Spell claim?"

"I don't know anything about what has happened lately so far as that
claim is concerned," was John Franklin's reply. "But I do know when oil
was first discovered in this region some of the experts went over the
whole territory carefully and they did not consider the Spell claim as
being of any value. That's the reason no wells were located there. They
claimed that the geological formation was not good for oil."

"Oh! then you mean to say there is no oil on that claim?" questioned
Fred disappointedly.

"I don't know anything about it, lad. I am only telling you what the
experts said. Those fellows miss it once in a while, just the same as
other people. At the same time, if an expert doesn't think ground is
worth drilling for oil, you can make up your mind that the chances of
striking it rich there are very slim."

"But are you sure the experts went over it very carefully?" questioned
Andy.

"I am."

"And who were they?"

"They were from Wichita Falls--a firm by the name of Fitch and
Lunberry."

"Then probably if my father wanted it he could get a report from Fitch
and Lunberry," said Jack.

"I think he could--provided, of course, he was willing to pay for it.
These experts don't work for nothing!" and John Franklin grinned.

"If you stay down here any length of time I wish you'd come over to our
place and see us," said Phil Franklin.

"We'll be sure to do that," answered Randy.

"Maybe I can get your uncle interested in my land," suggested Mr.
Franklin. "I wish he'd look it over. It wouldn't cost him anything."

"I'll speak to dad about it," answered Jack quickly. There was something
about the Franklins which had pleased him ever since he had first known
them. They appeared to be perfectly honest and reliable.

Accompanied by the Franklins, the Rovers tramped around the various oil
wells located in and near Derrickville. Mr. Franklin understood a great
deal about the wells and the machinery, and explained these things in an
interesting way, so the afternoon passed quickly. Almost before they
knew it the Rovers had to say good-bye and start on the return trip with
Mr. Bradley.

"Gee, I wonder if what Mr. Franklin said about the Spell claim can be
true!" remarked Jack, on the way to Columbina.

"He ought to know what he is talking about, Jack," answered Fred. "And
certainly he had no axe to grind in the matter. He doesn't want to see
Uncle Dick throw his money away."

Two more days passed, and still Dick Rover did not return from Wichita
Falls. The boys went out sightseeing and amused themselves as best they
could, but this was not saying much. The most fun they had was in a
shooting-gallery where they astonished the proprietor by the bull's-eyes
they made.

"You young fellows are some shots," said he. "You must be used to guns."

"We are," answered Fred.

The four Rovers had gone into the target gallery directly after supper
and while it was still light. Now, when they came out, Jack suggested
that they return to the hotel.

"We might send out a letter or two," he suggested, "and I'd like to look
over a newspaper if I can find one."

The Rovers were heading in the direction of the hotel when, glancing
across the street, they saw Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown.

"They seem to be watching us," declared Jack.

"Probably they'd like to know what we intend to do," answered Randy. "I
think we might as well ignore them," he went on, as he saw Nappy and
Slugger crossing the muddy roadway.

"Hello!" called Slugger coolly. "We've been looking for you fellows."

"Looking for us!" exclaimed Fred.

"Yes, we found out you were not at the hotel, and so we thought you must
be somewhere around town."

"What do you want of us?" demanded Jack suspiciously.

"We came to see you on Gabe Werner's account," answered Nappy. As he
spoke he showed that he was nervous.

"On Gabe Werner's account! What do you mean?"

"I guess you had better ask Gabe about that," answered Slugger. "He's
very anxious to see all of you--wants to see you this evening, too."

"Where is he?"

"We left him at a house up on the Derrickville road. It's about half a
mile or so out of town," answered Slugger.

"Is he sick?" questioned Fred.

"He's worse than that--he's down and out," answered Nappy. "But he said
to tell all of you that he wanted to see you this evening sure--that
to-morrow morning wouldn't do."

"See here, Nappy, is this some sort of trick?" demanded Jack bluntly.
"If it is, I want to tell you right now it won't work."

"It's no trick. How could it be? We are all alone, and we're not armed.
We are doing this solely because Gabe Werner asked us to do it. He
couldn't come himself, not with a broken leg."

"Oh, then he has broken his leg, has he?" said Andy, with something of
sympathy in his voice. "That, of course, is another matter." He turned
to the others. "I'm willing to go and see him if you are."

"All right, let's go," put in Fred.

"We'll go," said Jack, after a few whispered words to Randy. "But you
remember what I said, both of you. If this is a trick we'll see to it
that you get the worst of it."

"You'll find out that it's no trick as soon as you get to the house,"
declared Slugger Brown.

He and Nappy Martell led the way, and soon the whole crowd had left
Columbina behind and were trudging along the muddy road leading to
Derrickville. The way was dark and anything but inviting, and all of
them made slow progress.

"The house is over there in the field," said Slugger presently, as he
came to a halt. "You needn't be afraid, because there are only a very
old man and a woman living there. Gabe Werner has been boarding with
them since he came down here."

"Are you fellows working for Carson Davenport?" questioned Randy.

"We expect to work for him, yes. But nothing has been settled as yet,"
answered Nappy. "He has offered us thirty dollars a week, but we think
we can get more than that elsewhere," he added loftily.

"And what of Werner? Is he going to work with you?"

"That was the idea," answered Slugger. "But I don't know what he'll do
now. He's certainly in bad shape."

"How did he get his leg broken?"

"He didn't tell us a word about it," answered Nappy. "There is something
queer about the whole transaction. But he said he must see all of you
Rovers and do it to-night. What he's got on his mind, I don't know."

The Rovers hardly knew what to do. They were unarmed, and the place
certainly looked like a lonely one. They wondered if it would be
possible for Carson Davenport and his crowd to be at the house waiting
for them.

"You and Slugger go ahead," Jack said. "We'll follow behind. And mark
you, no tricks!"

"There is nothing to be afraid of," Slugger assured him. And then he and
Nappy stalked off in the fast-gathering darkness. They walked up to the
lonely house, and disappeared around a corner of the building.

"Say, Jack, this doesn't look right to me at all," announced Fred. "I
wish I had a pistol."

"I'm going to arm myself with a club," said Randy, and looked around for
such a weapon.

The others did the same, two of them picking up sticks and the others
arming themselves with stones. Then they advanced with caution, keeping
their eyes wide open for the appearance of anything that might look
dangerous.

"I don't see any light around the place," announced Jack, as they drew
closer.

"I wonder what became of Nappy and Slugger?" broke in Fred. "I don't see
them anywhere."

"Suppose we call them," suggested Andy.

"Let us walk around the house first," returned his twin. "They may have
gone in by the back way. Most of the folks living around here use the
back door for everything."

With added caution the Rover boys walked slowly around one side of the
building. In the rear they found everything as dark and deserted as in
the front.

"This is certainly strange," announced Jack. He advanced and knocked
sharply on the closed door.

There was no reply, and he knocked a second time. Then Randy beat upon
the door with his stick.

"It looks to me as if there wasn't a soul in the place," announced Andy.
"I wonder what has become of Nappy and Slugger?"

"See here, will you?" cried Fred suddenly. "It looks to me as if nobody
lived here. Every one of the windows is boarded up on the inside. I
believe this house is being used for nothing but a storehouse. I don't
believe a soul lives here."

"Hello, Nappy! Hello, Slugger!" called out Jack loudly. "Where are you?"

To this call there was no reply.




CHAPTER XXIV

DICK ROVER'S REVELATION


"We've been tricked!" exclaimed Randy.

"Just what I think!" burst out Fred. "They didn't bring us here to see
Gabe Werner at all!"

"There isn't a soul around the building, that's certain," remarked Andy.
"What do you suppose has become of Nappy and Slugger?"

The Rovers looked around in the fast-gathering darkness, but could see
no one. Then they walked around the building several times, peering in
all directions for a sight of the fellows who had brought them on this
strange mission.

"It's a storehouse, right enough," announced Jack. "And my opinion is
that everything is nailed up except the front door, and that, as you can
see, has a padlock on it."

It was certainly a mystery, and for the time being the Rover boys were
unable to solve it. Looking down on the ground, they saw a number of
footprints, but it was now too dark to follow any of these.

"Wish we had brought a pocket flashlight along," remarked Fred.

"It's getting as dark as a stack of black cats," said Andy.

"Yes, and we had better be getting back to town before it gets so dark
we lose our way," returned Jack.

As it was, they had some difficulty in finding the path down to the
road. Then they stumbled along in the darkness, occasionally heading
into some mud hole up to their ankles.

"Nappy and Slugger certainly have the laugh on us for this," said Fred,
as they plowed along. "Maybe they thought we would lose our way
completely in this darkness."

It was a good half-hour before the Rovers reached the outskirts of
Columbina. At a great distance they could see many twinkling electric
lights, one of which hung on the top of every oil derrick. But these
were so far off they did nothing towards illuminating the way.

"Almost ten o'clock," announced Jack, consulting his watch. "About all
we can do is to clean the mud from our shoes and go to bed."

There was a sleepy young clerk behind the counter of the hotel, and he
showed them where they could clean up.

"No bootblacks in Columbina," said Randy, with a grin. And then all set
to work with a whisk broom and brushes to clean up.

"I wonder if Uncle Dick will get in to-night," remarked Fred. The last
train to stop at Columbina was due in fifteen minutes.

"I think I'll stay up and find out," said Jack.

"You waiting for Mr. Rover?" demanded the boy behind the counter, as he
yawned and stretched himself. "If you are, he came in a couple of hours
ago."

"Is that so!" cried Jack, in surprise. "Where is he now?"

"I think he's up in his room, although I'm not sure. You see, I was out
to a dance last night, and I'm pretty tired, and I fell asleep a couple
of times sitting here doing nothing. Somehow or other, it seems to be an
off night around this hotel. Nothing doing at all," and the sleepy clerk
yawned again.

"Maybe he's up in his room looking over those papers he brought,"
suggested Randy. "Come on up and see."

All mounted the stairs to the third floor of the hotel. When they
reached the room occupied by Dick Rover they found the door locked, and
a rap upon it brought no response.

"He isn't here, that's sure," said Jack. "Maybe he went out on an
errand."

"Unless he's in our room," said Fred. In the larger apartment which the
four boys occupied there was a small table, and Jack's father had
several times come in to use this for writing purposes.

Jack had one of the keys to the room, and, stepping across the hallway,
he attempted to insert this in the lock. Much to his surprise, the key
would not go into the keyhole.

"That is strange----" he began, and then tried the door, to find it
unlocked. Another key was on the inside.

The room was pitch dark, only a dim lamp being lighted in the rear of
the long hallway. Jack stepped forward to get a match from a bureau, and
as he did so he stumbled over something on the floor and pitched
headlong.

"Oh!" he gasped, and then gave a sudden shudder, for he had felt the
body of someone beside him. "Be careful," he went on. "Make a light,
quick! Here is someone on the floor! I'm afraid it's dad!"

The others piled into the room, and Randy, who happened to have some
matches in his pocket, struck a light and lit the lamp.

There, on the floor of the bedroom, lay Dick Rover. There was a small
cut on his left temple from which the blood was flowing. He was
breathing heavily, and evidently trying to speak.

"Dad! Dad! what happened to you?" cried Jack hoarsely, as he bent over
and raised his parent up.

"He's been hurt!" exclaimed Fred. "See the cut on his forehead.
Wait--I'll get some water."

He made a dash for the pitcher and also for a towel, and while Jack
supported his father on his arm the others bathed Dick Rover's face and
washed away the trickling blood.

"He's been hit," declared Randy. "See the lump on the back of his head,"
and he pointed it out.

Presently Dick Rover opened his eyes and stared vacantly at the anxious
lads.

"What--what--what happened to me?" he stammered and gave a gasp.
"Who--who knocked me down?"

"That we don't know, Dad," answered Jack, and he was glad to realize
that his parent was coming to his senses. "Gee! I was afraid you had
been killed."

The four boys raised Dick Rover up and laid him on one of the cots. They
had a little first-aid kit with them, and from this they got some
plaster with which they bound up the small cut.

It was some time before Dick Rover felt able to tell his story. In the
meanwhile Fred dashed downstairs for some hot water, which was applied
to the lump on the sufferer's head.

"I guess I'll get over it," said Jack's father, with a wan smile. "But
they certainly did give it to me." Then he gave a sudden start. "What
about my papers? Are they safe?"

The boys looked around, but saw no papers of any kind in the room.

"I had them in my bag. I brought them in here to look them over, and to
do some writing at the table."

"Well, there's no bag here now, or papers either," announced Randy.

"Then those rascals must have taken them! That was probably why they
knocked me down. They wanted to rob me."

"But who attacked you, Dad?" questioned Jack.

"That I don't know, Son. I was seated at the table with the open bag
beside me, and was looking over some of the documents I had brought from
the safe deposit vault in Wichita Falls when I heard a noise behind me
near the door. I was just about to get up to see what it meant, when all
of a sudden I received a terrible crack on the back of the head. I
turned around, and then somebody aimed another blow at me that caught me
on the left temple. Then everything seemed to dance before my eyes, and
I guess I must have gone down in a heap on the floor. And that's all I
knew until I found you supporting me and bathing my forehead."

"It must have been those oil-well fellows!" ejaculated Fred.

"I think I see a light!" almost shouted Jack. "Nappy and Slugger were in
this plot. They made us go away out of town just so we wouldn't be here
with my dad when the other fellows attacked him!"

"I guess you're right," answered Randy.

"What's this you are saying?" questioned Dick Rover, rather feebly.

In a few words the boys explained the trick Nappy Martell and Slugger
Brown had played on them.

"Yes, I guess you are right. It must have been a part of the game," said
Jack's father. "And are you sure my bag and everything that was in it
are gone?"

"Yes, there isn't a single paper in this room," answered Jack. "And when
we came up we found the door to your room locked, so it isn't likely
they are there."

"They must have dug out the minute they knocked me over and got the
papers," answered Dick Rover. "Probably they were afraid you or somebody
else might come up and catch them at their dastardly work. As it is, it
is queer somebody didn't see them."

"There happens to be no one down in the office but the young clerk, and
he's half asleep," answered Randy. "Besides that, those fellows may have
come in by the back way. Did you catch sight of them at all?"

"I can't say that I did, Randy. The first blow dazed me, and while I
remember something of two or three forms, it is all so vague that it
amounts to nothing. I rather think, however, that there were at least
three men."

"And if there were, I'll bet a new hat those men were Davenport, Tate,
and Jackson," returned Jack firmly.

"You may be right, Son. But you know what they say in court: It is one
thing to know the truth, and quite another to be able to prove it."

"But who would want to steal those papers if not Davenport and his
crowd?" questioned Randy. And then he added hurriedly: "Did they rob you
of anything else, Uncle Dick?"

"I don't think so." Dick Rover felt in his pockets. "No, my money and
watch and my diamond ring are all safe. If they had been ordinary
thieves they would certainly have taken everything of value."

"Our baggage doesn't seem to be disturbed," said Andy, who was looking
around. "I guess you are right--they were after those documents and
nothing else."

There was a pause, and suddenly the boys saw a queer smile pass over
Dick Rover's face, and then he uttered a peculiar whistle.

"What is it, Dad?" said Jack wonderingly. He knew that his father had a
habit of whistling in that fashion when something struck him as funny.

"I was just thinking that perhaps those fellows who robbed me had taken
a white elephant off my hands," returned Dick Rover.

"Why, what do you mean by white elephant?" questioned Andy.

"I mean that maybe they are fighting tooth and nail to get possession of
something which I might be only too glad to give them for nothing."

"Oh, Dad, are you talking about the Lorimer Spell claim?" questioned
Jack.

"Yes."

"But I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. But maybe you will after I've told my story. As
you know, I went to Wichita Falls mainly to get the documents which
Lorimer Spell had stored away in the safe deposit vault of a bank there.
Well, I got the documents, and in looking them over found that while
Lorimer Spell's claim to the land seemed to be fairly well established,
still there was something of a cloud to the title--the cloud of which
Carson Davenport and his crowd are taking advantage. But more than that,
I found that a firm of oil experts named Fitch and Lunberry had gone
over the property both for Spell and for an oil promoter who had thought
to put some money into operations there. So then I called on the firm
and had a long talk with Mr. Fitch."

"And what did Mr. Fitch have to say about the land?" asked Jack quickly.

"He was very frank to say that in his opinion there was no oil of any
kind on the claim. He told me that he knew Lorimer Spell very well, and
that while Spell was all right in the main, he had been daffy on the
subject of oil, so much so that it had just about turned the poor
fellow's brain until he imagined that there was fabulous wealth in oil
on every acre he possessed. Mr. Fitch got down to facts and figures, and
showed me all of his deductions, and he said that it was his honest
opinion that any money spent on the Lorimer Spell claim would be utterly
wasted."




CHAPTER XXV

DAVENPORT'S ACCUSATION


"Then the Lorimer Spell claim is positively no good!" exclaimed Jack.

"I wouldn't say that exactly, Jack. No claim down here can be said to be
worthless until it has actually been bored for oil. It is just possible
that those oil experts may be mistaken. At the same time, from what Mr.
Fitch said, I would be very slow about putting money in that land."

"It's too bad, Uncle Dick, if that claim's no good when we all supposed
it would be so wonderful," came from Fred, and his face showed his
disappointment.

"Well, I haven't lost anything," answered his Uncle Dick. "I feel a
great deal better than if I had sunk thirty or forty thousand dollars in
a dry hole."

Andy began to snicker.

"Gee! it's rich, Uncle Dick, to pass Davenport and that crowd the white
elephant," he chuckled. "I only hope they get bit bad, especially if
they were the rascals who came here and knocked you out."

"They must have been the crowd, because no one else would be interested
in those documents. They knew I was going to Wichita Falls to get them,
and they probably hung around waiting for my return. And they probably
got Martell and Brown to get you boys out of the way. The story about
Gabe Werner having a broken leg was probably faked up."

"Nappy admitted that he and Slugger expected to work for the Davenport
crowd," said Jack. "They are all tarred with the same stick, and I hope
they get stuck bad."

"Uncle Dick, why don't you pretend to be terribly put out over the fact
that you have lost your interest in the claim?" cried Andy. "That will
throw them completely off the track. Let them imagine that you think
there is a lot of oil to be found there."

"I'll think it over and at the same time I'll think over what other
investments I might make while I'm down here. But just at present I
think I'll try to get a good night's sleep and reduce this swelling on
my head," added Jack's father, as he felt of the bump tenderly.

"I know one person who would like you to interest yourself in his
claim!" exclaimed Jack. "That is Mr. John Franklin, the man we saved
from drowning in the Rick Rack River freshet."

Thereupon the boys told of their meeting with Mr. Franklin and Phil, and
also related what particulars they knew concerning the man's land and
how he had gotten it out of the clutches of the oil sharpers.

"That might be worth looking into," said Dick Rover. "I'll take it up a
little later, after I feel better, and after I have had it out with
Davenport and his crowd."

The boys assisted Jack's father to his room and Jack aided him in
retiring. Meanwhile Randy went down to interview the sleepy hotel clerk.

"That fellow doesn't know a thing about what happened," announced Randy
on his return. "Those men must have come in and gone out while he was
taking a snooze. And as luck would have it for those rascals, no one
else seems to have been around."

With nothing of special importance to do, the whole crowd slept late on
the following morning, which was Sunday. Dick Rover was glad to take it
easy, but declined to have a physician when that was suggested.

"It was only an ordinary blow, and did nothing more than knock me out
for a little while," said he. "The swelling on my head is gradually
going down, and that little cut on the temple doesn't amount to much."

"Those men ought all to be put in prison!" burst out Fred.

"Possibly you are right, Fred. But you must remember that you are now in
a section of the country where living is rather rough. A new oil town
and a new mining camp are pretty much on the same level. You often have
to take the law into your own hands and fight your way through the best
you can. Later there will be regular law and order, and then matters
will run more smoothly."

Dick Rover did not mention the matter to the boys, but from that day on
he went armed, resolved to take no more chances should any of the oil
land swindlers attack him again.

Two more days passed, and during that time the boys visited a number of
localities in that vicinity, trying to catch sight of Nappy and Slugger,
and also Werner. But those three unworthies did not show themselves.

"They know we've got it in for them," declared Jack. "They'll keep in
hiding until they think this affair has blown over."

On the third day Dick Rover felt quite like himself, and he hired an
automobile to take him and the boys, as well as Nick Ogilvie, to the
Lorimer Spell claim. Somewhat to his surprise, he found Carson Davenport
on the land, along with Tate and Jackson and half a dozen other men.
More oil-well machinery had been brought up and dumped in a spot near
the brook.

"What's the meaning of this, Davenport?" questioned Jack's father
shortly.

"It means that I'm going to work on my own hook, Rover," answered
Davenport, and there was a sneer in his voice. "I've got tired of trying
to make a deal with you, and I've come to the conclusion that your claim
is no good."

"I think I understand you perfectly," answered Dick Rover, and looked at
the man so sharply that Davenport had to drop his eyes. "You think you
have everything your own way, eh?"

"Never mind what I think. If you've got any real claim on this property
you show the evidences. That little paper that Lorimer Spell wrote out
on the battlefield of France doesn't hold water with me. You've got to
show me the deeds, and all that sort of thing."

"A man can't show papers when he has been robbed of them," went on
Jack's father pointedly.

"Humph! So that's your latest story, is it, Rover? First when I asked
you for the papers you said they were in a safe deposit vault in Wichita
Falls."

"So they were. But now I have been robbed of them, and you know it."

"I know it? Say, Rover, are you going crazy? I don't know any such
thing," and now Davenport put on an assumption of anger.

"I say you do know it--you and your whole crowd!" retorted Dick Rover.
"This land is a tract said to be full of oil, and you want to do me out
of my rights." And now Jack's father appeared to warm up.

"Rover, I've had enough of your bluffing, and I won't stand for any more
of it!" cried Carson Davenport. "You may be able to put up a big front
with some folks, but it won't go with me. I claim that this land is
mine, and I won't pay any more attention to what you say until you
produce those precious papers that you have said so much about. And even
then I may not listen to you. My private opinion is that the army
authorities ought to take up your case and make an example of you," went
on the oil promoter, with more of a sneer than before.

"The army authorities?" questioned Dick Rover, puzzled.

"That's what I said. I've heard a thing or two about you. It was all
well enough for you to pull Spell in and get a medal for doing it. But
when that poor fool wrote out a so-called will leaving you everything he
possessed, I reckon he rather put his foot into it," finished Davenport
significantly.

Jack's father and the boys were, of course, astonished, and even
Davenport's companions showed that this was something they had not been
expecting. The men crowded around to find out what was coming next.

"Davenport, I'll have to ask you to explain yourself!" exclaimed Dick
Rover, and strode forward, his eyes flashing.

"Want me to explain myself, do you?" cried the oil promoter savagely.
"All right, then, I will. According to reports Lorimer Spell ran out
ahead of you in that fight, and then he was shot in the back. Do you
understand that--shot in the back! Well, who did it? Certainly not the
Germans. They were in front of him."

"Do you mean to insinuate that I or one of our other men shot Spell?"
demanded Dick Rover, and now his face was almost white.

"He had made a will in your favor--you were the only one to profit by
his death."

"You cur, you!" cried Dick Rover. And beside himself with righteous
anger, he sprang forward and planted a blow on Carson Davenport's chin
that made the oil well promoter stagger back and fall flat.

"Hi! Hi! None of that around here!" bellowed Jake Tate, and caught Dick
Rover by the arm.

"You get back there," was the quick reply. "This is none of your affair.
This man has accused me of something, and he is going to take it back."

"You let my father alone!" broke in Jack, and rushed toward Tate,
followed by Randy and Nick Ogilvie. Then the fellow fell back. Jackson
viewed the contest in silence.

By this time Carson Davenport was struggling to his feet. He was in a
terrible rage and came at Dick Rover blusteringly.

"What do you mean by hitting me that way, Rover?" he howled.

"You take back what you said, Davenport. If you don't I'll give you
another one!" exclaimed Jack's father.

"I'll take back nothing."

"All right, then--here goes!" And once more Dick Rover's fist shot out,
and again the oil well promoter measured his length on the ground.

This time as he arose he put his hand behind him in his hip pocket. But
before he could draw any weapon, if such was his intention, Dick Rover
was on him and had his arms pinioned.

"There'll be no shooting here, Davenport. You try it, and you'll get the
worst of it. Now, then, you take back what you said!" and Dick Rover
shoved his clenched fist under the other's nose.

Carson Davenport could bluster, but at heart he was more or less of a
coward. He tried to retreat, and as Jack's father followed him up he
mumbled some words about there being a mistake and that he had not meant
to say just what Jack's father had imagined.

"Poor Lorimer Spell was shot by the Huns," said Dick Rover, for the
benefit of the other men standing around. "He had gone on ahead of our
party, and then, finding out his mistake, he was in the act of turning
around to get back in line when the shot struck him that killed him. To
say that he was shot down by any of his own crowd is a wicked falsehood.
Half a dozen men of our command can prove every word of what I have
said."

"You'll rue the day you pitched into me, Rover," grumbled Davenport, but
took good care to keep out of reach.

"You brought it on yourself," retorted Jack's father. "And now, as for
this claim," he added, after a slight pause. "As all of my papers have
been stolen I presume I can do nothing, even though this land may be the
most valuable in oil in this vicinity. But I will watch the turn of
affairs, and if I get a chance to prove anything I'll do it."

"You show me your papers, and if they are all right, I'll see that you
get what is coming to you," mumbled Davenport. "But just the same, let
me repeat--I don't believe there are any papers. The whole thing was a
faked-up story to get me to give up my claim." Davenport was nursing his
bruised chin. "And don't forget that you knocked me down when you had no
right to do it," he added uglily.

"Are you going to sink a well here?"

"That's our business."

"What's the use of trying to hide it, anyhow?" put in Jake Tate. "Yes,
we're going to sink a well here just as soon as we can get our machinery
in working order."

"And we're going to do it with our own money. We're not asking any
assistance from you," added Jackson.

"All right, then, go ahead," said Dick Rover. "I have no more to say--at
least for the present." And then, motioning to the four boys and Nick
Ogilvie to follow him, he withdrew.




CHAPTER XXVI

NEWS OF RUTH


"I guess they are pretty sure there is oil on that land," chuckled Andy,
as the whole party got aboard the automobile and started back for town.

"I hope they sink about a hundred thousand dollars in that ground and
get nothing for their trouble," added his twin.

"Gee, Dad, you certainly did soak Davenport a couple!" cried Jack
admiringly.

"I did it on the spur of the moment, Son. I couldn't help it," declared
Dick Rover. "It was too great an insult to pass unnoticed."

"And to think he didn't have the nerve to fight back!" added Fred. "I
didn't imagine he was such a coward."

"Well, I was surprised at that myself," answered his uncle, with
something of a smile. "But now listen to me, boys," he added seriously.
"Don't think because I flew into Davenport that that is the right thing
to do under all circumstances. He simply got me going before I knew it.
Ordinarily fighting doesn't pay, and I want you to know it."

"But, Uncle Dick, that wasn't a fight--that was only a good spanking,"
said Andy, and at this all the others had to snicker.

"I reckon Davenport knew he was in the wrong when he made that dirty
remark," came from Nick Ogilvie. "Why, in these parts many a man would
have shot him down for those words. I don't wonder your father flew into
him. He should have been licked until he was a fit subject for the
hospital."

"Do you think I am doing right to let them work the claim?" questioned
Jack's father.

"I certainly do, Mr. Rover. I want to get busy and earn the salary you
have promised me, but I wouldn't want to start operations anywhere on
that Spell claim. I know it has been thoroughly gone over by both Fitch
and Lunberry, and both of those men are as good experts as you can find
anywhere."

"Well, that forces me out of business for the time being, Ogilvie. I'll
have to look around a little and see if it is worth while for me to take
hold elsewhere. I presume all the really good claims around here have
been covered."

"I don't know as to that, Mr. Rover. You see, lots of the ranches
haven't been investigated very thoroughly. A fellow hits oil in one
place and the whole gang follow him like a lot of sheep, and in doing
that they may be passing by something a good deal better."

"Dad, why not look into this claim the Franklins own?" came from Jack.

"Are you talking of John Franklin?" questioned Nick Ogilvie.

"Yes."

"I thought that claim was in the hands of some other fellows--Tate,
Jackson, and that crowd."

"They did make a claim on it, so Mr. Franklin says, but he managed in
some way or other to get them out of it. I guess they left it mostly
because they thought they could do better on the Spell place."

"Well, I don't know anything about John Franklin's place, but I do know
he's a decent sort of fellow and I'd like to see him do well."

"If you are satisfied that Mr. Fitch is all right, Dad, why not have him
make a survey of the Franklin place?" suggested Jack.

"Perhaps I'll do that--after I've had a talk with Franklin," answered
his father.

Dick Rover was not a person to waste time, and he sought out John
Franklin and his son Phil the very next day and had a long talk with the
pair. Then, on the Monday following, he visited the Franklin farm,
taking Nick Ogilvie and two other oil men with him. The boys wished to
go along, but to this Jack's father demurred.

"I don't want too much of a crowd along," he said. "If anything comes of
it you can visit the place later. At present you had better try to amuse
yourselves around the town. And do try to keep out of trouble," he
added, with a smile.

Left to themselves, the four young Rovers visited the railroad station
and then drifted into the shooting gallery. Here they got up a little
contest among themselves, shooting at the longest range target the
gallery afforded. In this contest, which lasted the best part of an
hour, Jack came out ahead, making seventeen bull's-eyes out of a
possible twenty-five. Next to him came Randy with a score of fifteen.

"Say, what kind of a prize do I get?" questioned Andy, who had hit the
bull's-eye but nine times, two less than Fred.

"You get a decorated cabbage head, Andy," replied his twin. "A cabbage
head and two lemons."

"I don't care, I saved the target for the man, anyway," grinned the
fun-loving Rover. "The one Jack shot at is all mussed up." And at this
sally the others had to laugh.

After lunch the boys sat down to write some letters and to read some
newspapers which had just come in. In the news was word of some big oil
well strikes at a place about forty miles distant.

"Gosh! look at this, will you?" cried Fred, pointing to the article.
"Two wells just came in, and each of them good for twelve hundred
barrels of oil a day! Now that's what I call something like!"

"Wouldn't it be glorious if my dad could strike something like that?"

"I wish we could hit half a dozen wells, then our dads could start The
Rover Oil Company. We'd make money hand over fist. Wouldn't that be
grand!"

"You keep on and you'll be dreaming of oil," laughed Jack.

"It certainly is the land of luck," returned Randy.

"It doesn't look like the land of luck for this fellow," remarked Fred,
pointing to a ragged and unkempt individual who had just entered the
reading room of the hotel. The man was about middle age, and had a most
decidedly dejected appearance.

"I was wondering if you young gents couldn't aid me a little?" he
whined, coming up to Jack and Randy. "I've been playing in mighty hard
luck lately. I haven't had a square meal in two days."

"What's the matter--can't you get a job?" asked Jack.

"Job! What do you mean?" questioned the unkempt individual in wonder.

"If you're out of luck, why don't you go to work?"

"Say, maybe you don't know who I am!" exclaimed the man indignantly.

"You're right there. Who are you?"

"I am Wellington Jonkers, the man who opened the Little Kitty and the
Fat Herring. You must have heard about those properties. We sold eighty
thousand shares of one and sixty thousand shares of the other."

"What at?" questioned Randy. "Two cents a share?"

"No, sir! Those shares went for twenty and twenty-five cents," said the
man. And then, lowering his voice to a confidential tone, he continued:
"If you young gents can stake me to a hundred or two I can put you wise
to the biggest proposition in oil down here--a proposition that is bound
to bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars three months after it's
started. I've got everything fixed to go right ahead. You just put up
the two hundred, and I'll show you some facts and figures that will open
your eyes. I've got the real dope, and----"

"You poor fish, you!" exclaimed Jack. "What do you take us for, anyhow?"

He and the others had seen this type of oil well community parasite
before. In the restaurant attached to the hotel and also at the railroad
station and at the shooting gallery they had met more than one slick
individual who had wanted to "put them wise to the biggest oil
proposition" imaginable, all for the small sum of from two cents to
fifty cents per share in oil wells with such fanciful names as Sure
Winner, Daylight Luck, and Sunshine Sally.

"Then you don't want to go into a real good thing?" said the man, his
face falling.

"Not with you."

The man turned away, but then turned back:

"Say, you couldn't lend me five dollars until to-night, could you? I'm a
little short. My pard will be back on the seven-fifteen train, and then
I'll be all fixed again."

"I haven't anything for you," answered Jack shortly.

"And neither have I," added Randy. And then, lighting a cigarette, the
man shuffled away to see if he could not find some victims elsewhere.

"There's your land of luck from another angle," remarked Jack. "What
pests those fellows are."

"Well, I suppose they start in with all sorts of hopes, Jack. And then
they sink lower and lower as nothing proves lucky," answered his cousin.

The boys were waiting for the mail, and presently it came in. There were
letters for all of them, some from home and others from their chums who
were now enjoying themselves in various places. Dan Soppinger had gone
to Atlantic City, while Ned Lowe and Walt Baxter were on an island in
Casco Bay on the Maine coast. Gif was visiting Spouter and his folks in
a camp at Lake George.

"I'll bet they're having a lot of fun at Lake George," remarked Fred,
"swimming and motor-boating, and all that."

"Fred is thinking of May," returned Andy, with a grin.

"Aw, you cut that out, Andy!" retorted his cousin, growing slightly red
in the face. "You know you'd like to be up there yourself."

One of Jack's letters was from Gif, and in that his chum mentioned the
fact that Ruth was still in the care of the eye specialist and that her
case was a very serious one. He told Jack much more than Martha had let
out, and this news made the oldest Rover boy worry greatly.

"It's a terrible thing," he confided to Randy. "Just suppose poor Ruth
should go blind!" and he shuddered.

"Oh, Jack! I don't believe it's as bad as all that," cried his cousin.
"Why, Ruth was almost over it when we came away from school."

"No, she wasn't. That's just the trouble. The doctor up there evidently
didn't give her enough care--or, at least, just the right kind of care.
Of course, he did the best he knew how, but he wasn't an expert in that
line. After Ruth got home her eyes must have developed some new trouble,
all, of course, on account of that pepper Werner threw."

"It was a rotten thing for Werner to do!" declared Randy, his eyes
flashing. "Really, do you know, Jack, I think we should have had him
arrested for it."

"He'll certainly have to account to the Stevensons if Ruth goes
blind--he and his father. I believe the Stevensons could sue Mr. Werner
for big damages."

"Of course they could."

"That certainly is a terrible affair," remarked Fred, who had been
perusing Gif's letter. "I think we ought to round Werner up and give it
to him good and plenty. He deserves the licking of his life."

"The question is--where is Werner?" put in Andy.

"If he is still around Columbina he must be with Nappy and Slugger,"
said Randy. "But it's just possible that he has cleared out, thinking
that we might hand him over to the authorities."

"I can't understand what would possess a fellow to do such a dirty thing
as that," was Fred's comment. "Why, he might have blinded Jack, as well
as Ruth. And, by the way, Jack, how do your eyes feel?"

"They feel just about as usual. At first they felt rather scratchy and
watery, but now I haven't noticed anything unusual for some time--in
fact, never since we came down to Texas. But, you see, I got very little
of the pepper. The most of it went over my shoulder and right into poor
Ruth's eyes."

The boys discussed the matter for some time, and then turned to finish
the letters they had started to write. Soon the twins and Fred were deep
in their writing, but Jack could not settle himself to put down a word.
His mind was with Ruth. What if the girl he thought so much of should go
blind? It was a thought that chilled him to the heart.




CHAPTER XXVII

CAUGHT BY THE ENEMY


Dick Rover did not return to the hotel until late that evening. The boys
were waiting for him, and Jack noted that his father's face wore a smile
of satisfaction.

"I think I have struck something worth while," said he. "I have been
over the Franklin claim very carefully with Nick Ogilvie and the two men
he recommended, and as a result I have already telegraphed for Mr. Fitch
to come here."

"Then Ogilvie and the others think there is oil on that claim?"
questioned Randy quickly.

"They say the indications are very good. In fact, one of the men was
very enthusiastic and he was willing to put up five thousand dollars
toward boring a well in one spot that he picked out."

"That certainly shows he must have faith in it," remarked Fred.

"When do you expect Mr. Fitch?" asked Andy.

"I asked him to come over as soon as possible--to-morrow if he could."

"Do you think you can make some kind of a reasonable arrangement with
Mr. Franklin, in case the oil expert's report is good?" asked Jack.

"Yes, I found Mr. Franklin a very fair man. Of course, he would like to
get as much as possible out of any deal that is made. But he is
reasonable, and has agreed to give me entire charge of the matter and
take his pay at the rate of one-eighth of all the oil that may be
produced."

After that Dick Rover went into many of the details concerning the land
and what the different oil men had said regarding it. Of course the boys
were tremendously interested, not only on their own account, but also
because of Phil Franklin.

"I liked that fellow first rate," said Fred, "and I do hope his father
is able to get some money out of this."

On the following day Mr. Fitch came in, and he and Jack's father went
over the matter very carefully. Then the oil expert said he would begin
an inspection of the property as soon as he could send for his outfit.

After that there was little for the boys to do but wait. Dick Rover took
another trip to Wichita Falls, and then to several other places in the
oil fields, including two towns in Oklahoma. He was getting figures of
oil-well machinery, and also trying to become better acquainted with the
whole oil proposition.

"You see, it's a new thing to me," he explained to Jack. "It's
altogether different from those mining interests your uncles and I hold
in the West and in Alaska. I've never had anything to do with oil
before, and so I am going a bit slow, so as to avoid mistakes if
possible."

As mentioned before, the Franklin farm was located near a place called
Pottown. The Rovers visited this community and found there a small but
well-kept hotel at which they took dinner one day.

"I think I like this just as well as the hotel in Columbina," remarked
Fred.

"In some respects I think I like it better," answered Randy.

"What would you say to transferring to Pottown?" questioned their uncle.
"Then you could be quite close to the Franklins while you stay here."

This suited the boys, and as a result the transfer was made early the
next week. The Rovers had a suite of three rooms, Jack's father
occupying one, the twins another, and Fred and Jack the third.

In the meantime Mr. Fitch had gone to work on the Franklin farm. He had
with him two of his best men, and all of them went over the entire place
with care. They also visited all of the wells in that vicinity, as well
as the unfinished borings.

"When do you think you can make a report, Mr. Fitch?" questioned Dick
Rover one day.

"I'm almost ready now, Mr. Rover. You shall have the report by next
Monday."

The weather had been rather dry, and now the roads throughout that
section were much better than they had been. In Pottown the boys had
little trouble in hiring an automobile, and they often took trips to
various places where the oil wells were in operation. They saw another
well set off, and managed to get themselves covered with not a little of
the black fluid.

"Suppose we take a run over to the Spell farm?" suggested Jack one day.
"I've been wondering whether they really went ahead or whether it was
only a bluff."

"I don't think it was any bluff," returned Randy. "They were getting in
their machinery just as fast as they could."

If Dick Rover had been present he might have advised against visiting
the Lorimer Spell claim. In a roundabout way he had heard from Carson
Davenport. The oil well promoter had not forgotten how he had been
knocked down, and he had told a number of people that he intended sooner
or later to square accounts with "that fellow from New York."

But Jack's father was not on hand to see them ride away, and so without
giving the matter much more consideration the boys had the driver of the
automobile head towards the place where the encounter between Davenport
and Dick Rover had taken place.

"My gracious! just see how the oil wells are coming in, will you?" cried
Fred, while they were riding along. He pointed to a hillside where two
new wells were at work. "Those weren't here when we went through
before."

"It looks to me as if some of these folks were fairly crazy about oil,"
remarked Randy.

"Well, it's a terrible temptation to get busy when you think that under
your very feet there may be thousands and thousands of dollars' worth of
that stuff," returned Jack.

"What a different place this is from around Colby Hall," commented Fred.

"Yes. And quite different from Valley Brook Farm, too," added Randy.

"What's the matter with comparing it with Riverside Drive?" questioned
Andy, with a grin. "Don't you see the Hudson River over there with the
stately warships?" and as he spoke he pointed to a pond of water, the
surface of which was black with oil and on which floated several logs.

"In one way I think the old fellow I was talking with last night was
right," declared Jack. "He said that the oil had spoiled the whole
country. Just look around, will you? Everything is black and greasy with
oil."

"Well, they say 'dirty work makes clean money,'" cried Randy. "And I
guess a lot of these men don't care how much they muss up the scenery
and muss up themselves so long as they get good fat bank accounts out of
it."

At length they came in sight of the Lorimer Spell tract, and they were
both surprised and interested at the activity being displayed there. A
gang of at least thirty men were at work, some around a well which was
being sunk and others in erecting several buildings.

"They certainly mean business," remarked Jack, as they came to a halt
near the bank of the little brook which flowed through one of the
corners of the property. "You've got to give them credit--they didn't
let the grass grow under their feet."

"I wonder if they are using their own money or whether they got some
outsiders to invest," mused Fred.

Not wishing to get into any altercation with the workers, the Rovers
kept at a distance. They saw Tate and Jackson among the men. Each was
giving orders, and both seemed to be in charge of the operations. Carson
Davenport was not visible.

One small building was already complete, and this was being used as an
office. The door stood open, and presently a young fellow came out,
lighting a cigarette as he did so.

"Hello, there is Nappy Martell!" exclaimed Andy.

Martell stood leaning against the corner of the building, smoking his
cigarette and gazing idly at the workmen. Then he chanced to glance
around and caught sight of the Rovers. He at once poked his head back
into the building and said something to someone inside.

"He's coming this way," announced Fred.

"Yes, and there is Slugger Brown behind him," added Randy.

"They've got their nerve with them, after the way they treated us!"
growled Jack.

"What do you fellows want around here?" demanded Nappy coolly, as he
came closer.

"I'll bet they want to see how we are getting along," put in Slugger
Brown. He was puffing away at a briar-root pipe, trying his best to look
mannish.

"See here, you fellows, what did you mean by your actions the night you
got us to walk out to that storehouse?" demanded Jack.

"That wasn't our fault," broke out Nappy hastily. "We weren't
responsible for what Gabe Werner did."

"I don't believe Gabe was in it at all!" cried Fred.

"He was too. He got us to go after you, exactly as I told you,"
protested Nappy.

"But he wasn't there," said Fred. "And it wasn't a boarding house
either."

"I don't care. He was there when we left him to find you. And he wanted
to see all of you the worst way." Nappy turned to Slugger. "Isn't that
right, Slug?"

"It certainly is. He said he would wait there until we got back. In
fact, he said his leg hurt him so he couldn't go a step further, and he
said he knew the old folks who lived there very well. We didn't know
anything more than what he told us."

"I don't believe a word of your story, Nappy. I believe it's made up
from end to end," answered Jack. "You simply had your orders to keep us
from going into the hotel, and you carried those orders out to the best
of your ability. My opinion is you were in league with those men who
robbed my father of his papers."

"I was not. I don't know what you're talking about!" roared Nappy, but
his face grew pale as he spoke. "I didn't even know your father had been
robbed. Gabe Werner had been hurt. We thought his leg had been broken,
although we found out afterwards it was only hurt. He wanted to see all
of you--why, I don't know. We simply tried to do him a favor, and this
is what we get for it."

"Nappy is telling things just as they were," declared Slugger.

"It's a fairy tale," declared Andy. "If it was true, why did you and
Nappy hide when we came up?"

"Because we knew you would be mad when you got there and found that Gabe
was missing," answered Slugger.

"Where is Werner now?"

"I don't know. I think he has gone home--anyway, he said something about
going," was the glib reply.

"What are you fellows doing here?"

"We own an interest in this claim," answered Nappy loftily, and as he
spoke he lit a fresh cigarette.

"Own an interest here?" demanded Jack in pardonable astonishment.

"That's it. I got my folks to buy an eighth interest in the whole
outfit, and Slugger's folks bought an equal amount."

"Must have cost you something," said Fred.

"It cost our folks ten thousand dollars each," answered Slugger, in a
bragging tone. "But we'll get that back, and a good deal more, too," he
added.

"Did Gabe Werner's folks put up anything?" questioned Randy.

"Yes, they have an eighth interest, too," answered Nappy. "Oh, this is
going to be some big concern, believe me."

"What about it if my father gets back those papers of which he was
robbed?" questioned Jack pointedly.

"Oh, say, Jack Rover, you needn't come to me with that old yarn,"
growled Slugger. "We know there isn't a word of truth in it. Your father
never had any such papers."

"He certainly did have them, and some day he may be able to prove it,"
answered Jack warmly. "On the very night that you fellows got us to go
out to that storehouse he was knocked down in one of our rooms by two or
three men and the papers were taken from him. And what is more, I am
pretty sure in my mind that the fellows who took them were Davenport and
his partners."

"Then you mean to say that Mr. Davenport is a thief?" cried Slugger,
looking Jack full in the face.

"That's what I firmly believe."

Jack had scarcely uttered the words when he felt a heavy hand placed
upon his shoulder. He was whirled around, to find himself face to face
with the oil promoter.

[Illustration: JACK WAS WHIRLED AROUND AND FACED THE OIL PROMOTER.]

"So that is the way you are talking about me, is it?" cried Carson
Davenport, in a rage. "Calling me a thief, and all that sort of thing! I
reckon I have an account to settle with you, and I'll settle it right
now. You come with me."

And thus speaking he grasped Jack by the arm and dragged him across the
field to where his gang of men were at work.




CHAPTER XXVIII

AT THE FRANKLIN PLACE


Carson Davenport's action came so unexpectedly that for the instant Jack
did not know what to do. Then, however, he tried to wrench himself free
from the oil well promoter's grasp.

"You let go of me!" he cried. "Let go, I say!" And then, as Davenport
continued to hold him, he struck the man on the chest.

"Ha! you're the same kind of a spitfire as your father, are you?"
bellowed Davenport. And in a greater rage than ever he let go of Jack
and hit him a stinging blow on the side of the face.

"Hi! Stop that! How dare you?" yelled Randy, and sprang forward to
Jack's assistance. But before he could reach his cousin Jack had hauled
off and hit Davenport a blow in the cheek.

By this time all of the Rovers were advancing upon Davenport, and the
oil well promoter thought it the best policy to fall back.

"Come on, Nappy! Let's get into this!" cried Slugger, and, rushing
forward, he caught Randy by the shoulder. "You let them have it out
alone!" he ordered.

"This isn't your fight, Slugger, and you had better keep out of it,"
retorted Randy. And then, as Slugger still tried to hold him back, Randy
put out his foot, gave the bully a shove, and Slugger measured his
length on his back.

In the meanwhile Nappy had also sprung forward. He tried to get at Jack,
but Andy and Fred got in the way, and though Nappy struck out several
times, hitting both of the Rovers on the arm, they retaliated with a
stinging crack in the ear and another on the nose which caused the blood
to flow freely and made Nappy retire to a safe distance.

By this time the all-around fight had attracted the attention of a
number of the workmen, and they came rushing up to find out what it was
all about. The driver of the automobile, who had remained in the car,
also came forward.

"I'll fix you, you young whelp!" roared Davenport, as he came again
toward Jack.

"You leave me alone," returned Jack. "Don't you dare put your hands on
me again!"

"Here, what's the rumpus?" demanded the driver of the automobile, a
fellow named George Rogers.

The boys started to explain, not only for the benefit of Rogers, but
also for the benefit of the workmen who were coming up.

"That whole bunch ought to be arrested!" blustered Slugger.

"That's what I say!" added Nappy, with his handkerchief to his bleeding
nose.

"That man started it," declared Jack, pointing to Davenport. "He caught
hold of me, and I told him to let me go. He had no right to put his
hands on me."

After this there was a war of words in which Tate and Jackson, who had
come up, joined. The oil well promoters were all anxious to do something
to the Rover boys, and in this they were seconded by Nappy and Slugger.
But, strange as it may seem, hardly any of the workmen took kindly to
this.

"Oh, they're only a bunch of kids," said one of the men. "What's the use
of bothering with them?"

"That man is mad at me because my father knocked him down twice the
other day," declared Jack, turning to the workmen. "And he knows why he
was knocked down," he added significantly.

"Was it your dad who did that?" questioned one of the men in the rear of
the crowd.

"It was. This farm was left to my father by Lorimer Spell because my
father saved Spell's life on a battlefield in France. My father had a
lot of papers to prove his claim, but the papers were stolen from him."

"I heard something about that," said another of the workmen.

"See here! if you fellows are going to believe such a story as these
kids are giving you, you can't work for me!" roared Carson Davenport,
with a scowl.

"I don't have to work for you if I don't want to," answered one of the
workmen quickly and with a scowl.

"See here, Carson Davenport, you let me have a word or two to say!"
broke in George Rogers. "I know you just about as well as anybody here.
You are the fellow who sold stock in the Yellow Pansy Extension,
something that I and a whole lot of others got bit on badly. Maybe you'd
like me to rake up that little deal in the courts for you."

"Rats! You don't have to dig up ancient history, Rogers!" growled
Davenport; but it was easy to see that the other's words disturbed him
not a little.

"I'll dig it up good and plenty if you don't leave these boys alone! I
don't know much about 'em, but they seem to be perfectly
straightforward, and their father is as nice a man as I ever met."

More words followed, Davenport, as well as Tate and Jackson, doing a lot
of grumbling. Once or twice Slugger and Nappy tried to take part, but
some of the workmen cut them short, and in the end one crowd moved
toward the automobile while the other headed in the opposite direction.

"Well, that's the time matters got pretty hot," was Andy's comment.

"Gee! one time I thought we'd all be at it tooth and nail," declared
Fred.

"In my opinion that fellow Davenport is nothing but a skunk," declared
George Rogers. "I've known him for years. He has been in half a dozen
oil-well propositions, selling stocks and leases. One time he caught
three young fellows from Chicago and sold them a lease for several
thousand dollars that wasn't worth a pinch of snuff. Then he started
what he called the Yellow Pansy Extension. The regular Yellow Pansy was
doing very well--hitting it up for about eight hundred barrels a
day--and of course lots of people, including myself, thought that the
Extension belonged to the same crowd. But it didn't, and the lease was
absolutely worthless; so that all of the buyers of stock got stung. I
myself was hung up for fifteen hundred dollars, almost all the cash I
had at that time."

"Why didn't they put Davenport and his partners in prison?" asked Fred.

"Because he is one of those slick fellows who can worm out of almost
anything. One or two fellows did make some sort of charges against him,
but they all fell through. There are hundreds of swindlers in the oil
business, and not one out of a dozen is ever caught."

"If Uncle Dick makes up his mind to go ahead on the Franklin farm I
think I know a way of helping him," said Andy, with a grin.

"What are you going to do, Andy? Take off your coat, roll up your
sleeves, and grab a pick and shovel?" questioned his twin.

"Not exactly, although I might want to do that later on. But I was
thinking that a good many of those workmen didn't seem to be satisfied
with their job. Maybe they would be only too glad to shift."

Although they hated to do so, the boys felt it was their duty to tell
the particulars of what had occurred to Jack's father as soon as they
saw him.

"It's too bad you got into another mix-up with that rascal, as well as
with Martell and Brown," said Dick Rover. "After this I think you had
better stay away from that locality. We'll let them go ahead and sink
all the money they care to."

Jack's father had been making some inquiries, and he learned that it was
true that the Martells, the Browns, and Mr. Werner had contributed
thirty thousand dollars towards driving two wells on the Spell claim. To
this amount of money Davenport, Tate and Jackson had contributed another
twenty thousand dollars.

"Fifty thousand dollars!" exclaimed Jack, when he heard of this. "That
certainly is quite a sum of money."

"It costs money to bore for oil in these parts," answered his father.

As he had promised, Mr. Fitch came to Dick Rover on the following Monday
with his report concerning the Franklin farm.

"I think you have found something well worth trying, Mr. Rover," said
he. "There are indications of oil in half a dozen places, and two of the
spots to me look particularly inviting."

Then he went into many details and brought in one of his assistants to
verify some of the statements. Dick Rover listened carefully to all that
was said, and then leaned back in his chair and looked at the oil expert
sharply.

"Then on the strength of this report, Mr. Fitch, you would advise my
sinking at least two wells?"

"I certainly would, Mr. Rover. That is, of course, if you can afford to
take the gamble. I'm almost certain that the oil is there, but you must
remember that even the best of us are sometimes deceived. However, I
will say this--I am not a particularly rich man, but if you sink these
two wells in the spots that I have picked out and you form a company at,
say, one hundred thousand dollars, for that purpose, I am willing to put
up five thousand dollars in cash for some of the stock."

"That certainly sounds as if you had faith in it," answered Dick Rover,
with a smile. "Are you willing to put that in writing?"

"I am, sir," and Mr. Fitch's face showed that he meant what he said.

"Very well, then, you do so, and I'll start operations to-morrow."

As soon as it was definitely settled that Mr. Rover would go ahead and
sink the two wells, the boys hurried over to see Phil Franklin. They
found the lad all smiles.

"It's the best news I ever heard," said Phil, his eyes gleaming with
pleasure. "Now, dad and I will have a chance of making some real money."
For it had now been settled that John Franklin was to have an eighth
interest in the new company to be formed.

"I'm awfully glad my dad is going ahead on your farm," answered Jack.
"And I hope for your sake as well as our own that the wells prove
regular gushers."

"That Mr. Fitch was very hopeful," answered Phil. "And my father says
he's one of the best oil experts to be found anywhere. He's an old hand
at the game."

That week and the week following proved to be tremendously busy ones for
Dick Rover. In conference with Nick Ogilvie and several others, all the
work preliminary to the sinking of the two wells was gotten under way,
and deals were closed for nearly all the necessary machinery, and also
for a quantity of lumber to be used in the construction of several
buildings.

"We're going to stay right in our house," said Phil to the other boys.
"We sha'n't get out until the flow of oil compels us to."

"Well, I hope the oil comes so fast it floats the old shack away,"
grinned Andy.

It soon became noised around that The Rover Oil Company had been formed
to exploit the Franklin farm. In the meanwhile Nick Ogilvie and his
assistants were hustling as much as possible to obtain the needed
workmen. They managed to get together a gang of fifteen, but then there
came a halt.

"They are hitting it up for oil over the line in Oklahoma," declared
Ogilvie, "and that has taken away a good many of our workmen."

"Better go to Wichita Falls and see what you can do," suggested Dick
Rover.

The next day Jack and Andy, while riding in George Rogers' automobile,
ran across three of the men employed by Davenport. These men had had a
quarrel with Tate, and were on the point of leaving their job. They
listened with interest to what the boys had to say about the Franklin
place.

"If they want men I think I'll go over and see about it," said one of
the workmen.

"So will I," came from another; and the third nodded to show that he
agreed.

As a result of this interview the three men called on Nick Ogilvie and
were speedily engaged. They told some of their friends; and before the
week was up six of Carson Davenport's best workers had left the Spell
claim and had signed up to work on the Franklin farm.




CHAPTER XXIX

DAYS OF ANXIETY


"I wonder what Davenport will say when he finds those men are working
here?" remarked Fred.

"I don't care what he says," answered Jack.

"Do you think he'll dare come over here and have it out with Uncle
Dick?" questioned Andy.

"I don't think so," answered his brother. "I believe behind it all he is
afraid we'll have him arrested for the theft of those documents."

"If he really took them, what do you think he did with them?" came from
Fred.

"More than likely he destroyed them," answered Jack. "He wouldn't want
evidence like that lying around loose, you know."

When Carson Davenport learned that six of his men had deserted and gone
over to the Rovers he was more angry than ever.

"They're going to do their best to undermine us," he said to Tate. "I
wish I knew just how to get square with them."

"We'll get square enough if we strike oil here," said Tate. "Those
Rovers will feel sick enough if they learn we are making a barrel of
money."

"It's easy enough to talk about making a barrel of money," came from
Jackson, who was present. "But I don't see the money flowing in very
fast." He had been talking to a number of his friends, and many of them
had said they thought the chances of getting oil from the Spell claim
were very slim.

"Oh, you just hold your horses, Jackson," said Carson Davenport
smoothly. "Take my word for it, this well we are putting down is going
to be one of the biggest in this territory."

But though he spoke thus, Davenport did not believe what he said. He,
too, was becoming suspicious that they might be drilling a well which
would prove dry. However, he had the traits of a gambler, and was
willing to go ahead so long as there was the least possibility of
success.

As the days slipped by the work on both claims progressed rapidly. Nick
Ogilvie managed to hire a few men in and around Wichita Falls, and
Davenport also picked up some workers to take the places of those who
had deserted him.

In those days the Rover boys became almost as enthusiastic as Jack's
father, and their enthusiasm increased when Tom Rover and Sam Rover took
a run down from New York to see how matters were progressing.

"It certainly is a gamble--this boring for oil," remarked Sam Rover.

"But it looks like a good gamble to me," answered his brother Tom. "And
I like the way that man Fitch talks." He had had an interview with the
oil expert which had pleased him greatly.

On one occasion the Rover boys rode over from Pottown to Columbina.
There, at the shooting-gallery they had visited before, they ran most
unexpectedly, not only into Nappy and Slugger, but also Gabe Werner. At
the sight of them Werner tried to get out of the gallery by the back
way, but was stopped by the proprietor.

"You haven't settled with me yet," said the shooting-gallery man.

"Oh, that's all right. Take it out of this," growled Werner, and threw
down a dollar bill. Then he tried to pass out again, but before he could
do so Randy and Fred caught and held the rascal.

Cornered, Gabe Werner tried to put up a fight, and in this he got by far
the worst of it. He managed to get in one or two blows, but then Randy
knocked him down, and when he arose to his feet Fred landed on his ear
so that the bully spun around and lurched heavily against the counter on
which rested a number of guns.

"You let me alone!" roared Werner. And then he suddenly caught up one of
the guns and made a move as though to aim it at the Rovers. But the
keeper of the shooting gallery was too quick for him, and wrested the
weapon from the big youth's grasp.

And then Gabe Werner did catch it. Not only did Randy and Fred pounce
upon him, but also Jack and Andy, and as a consequence, bruised and
bleeding, the big bully staggered from the shooting gallery and set off
down the muddy street at the best speed he could command.

"There! I guess we've settled him for a while," panted Randy, when the
encounter was over. "Hello! where are Nappy and Slugger?"

"They slid out while we were taking care of Gabe," answered Andy. "I
guess they thought things were getting too warm." And in that surmise
the fun-loving Rover was correct. Dismayed by the beating Werner was
receiving, Nappy and Slugger had lost no time in departing for parts
unknown. It was a long time before the Rovers saw them again.

A few days later came word from the Spell claim that filled the Rovers
with astonishment mingled somewhat with dismay. Oil had been reported,
and every one connected with the Davenport outfit was of the opinion
that the well when shot off would open up big.

"Gee! suppose they do strike it rich?" cried Fred.

"I don't think they will--not after what the experts said," answered
Jack.

"But even Mr. Fitch said they sometimes made mistakes," put in Randy.

A few days later the well on the Spell claim was shot off, and this was
followed by a flow of oil amounting to forty or fifty barrels a day.
Then it was announced that the Davenport crowd was going to sink the
well several hundred feet deeper and they were also going to put down
another well farther up the brook.

"I reckon that flow of oil has got 'em a-going," remarked Nick Ogilvie,
and there was just a trace of envy in his tones. "Well, that's the luck
of it. You can't tell anything about it," and he shook his head
wonderingly as he went about his duties.

So far, there had been no indications of oil at the first well which the
Rovers were boring. But Mr. Fitch had told Jack's father not to expect
too much until a depth of at least twenty-five hundred feet was reached.

It made the boys feel a little blue to think that the Davenport crowd
had been the first to strike oil.

"Won't Nappy and Slugger crow over this--especially as their folks have
an interest in the well?" remarked Jack.

But the next day something happened which made Jack forget all his
troubles for the time being. A telegram came in from his sister Martha,
reading as follows:

     "Ruth's eyes operated on yesterday. Very successful. Expert says
     she will see perfectly."

"Isn't this grand!" cried Jack, his whole face beaming with pleasure. "I
declare, this is the best news yet!"

"I don't blame you for being pleased, Jack," answered Randy. "I'll wager
the Stevensons feel relieved."

The telegram was followed by a letter which gave many details. But the
main feature was that the operation had been entirely successful and
that the surgeon in charge had said positively that Ruth's eyes would
soon be as well and as strong as they had ever been.

"I am going to send her a telegram of congratulation," declared Jack.
"Even if she can't read it herself, they can read it to her," and he
hurried off to the telegraph station for that purpose.

After that the boys waited anxiously for some sort of development at the
Franklin farm. Tom Rover and his brother Sam had returned to New York,
and they had wanted the boys to go with them, but all had pleaded that
they be allowed to remain in Texas.

"We want to see the wells shot off and want to see the oil flow--that
is, provided it does flow," said Randy.

"We might as well put in our vacation here as anywhere," put in Fred.
And so the four lads were allowed to remain.

Of course, the Franklins were as anxious as any one to see how matters
would turn out. Father and son were working for the company and doing
their best to hurry matters along. Dick Rover was also on hand daily,
consulting with Ogilvie and his assistants to make sure that everything
was going right.

"These two wells are going to cost us about seventy thousand dollars,"
Jack's father confided to him. "It's a mint of money, isn't it?" and he
smiled slightly.

"It certainly is, Dad. Especially if the wells don't pan out."

"Well, we've got to take what comes. You must remember this is the land
of luck--good or bad."

At last Ogilvie announced that they were getting to the point where the
first well would soon be shot off. There were some indications of oil,
although not as strong as Mr. Fitch had hoped. The oil expert had put up
his five thousand dollars in the company which had been formed, so he
was almost as anxious as those who had larger sums invested.

"Here's news for you!" shouted Andy, bursting in on the others the next
noon. "What do you know about this? Say, I guess those fellows are going
to catch it all right enough!" and he began to dance around the floor.

"What are you talking about, Andy?" demanded his brother.

"They say the well on the Lorimer Spell claim has run dry!"

"Run dry!" came from the others.

"Yes, run dry--or next door to it! They got only fifteen barrels the day
before yesterday, and yesterday they got not more than three."

"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Jack. "Who told you this?"

"One of the men who worked there. Carson Davenport was so mad that when
the man said something to him about it he fired him. The man said he was
coming over here to look for a job--that he was sure the whole thing was
petering out."

The news soon circulated, and Dick Rover was so interested that he went
off the next day to Columbina to ascertain the truth.

"It's so, all right enough," he said, on returning. "They didn't get
more than a barrel or so to-day. It has certainly gone back on them. Of
course, they can bore the well deeper. But I guess Mr. Fitch was right.
He said that there was more or less surface oil--that they hadn't tapped
any real vein or pocket."

The day before the first of the wells on the Franklin farm was to be
shot off the Rover boys went to Columbina on an errand to one of the
stores. Just as they were coming out of this establishment they saw an
automobile dash through the mud on the way to the railroad station.
Behind it came another automobile filled with a number of men, all
yelling wildly for those in the first automobile to stop.

"Hello, something is going on!" exclaimed Jack.

"Let's go after them and see what's doing," suggested Fred.

The others were willing, and all set off on a run down the main
thoroughfare of the town. As they ran they heard the distant whistle of
a locomotive.

"I guess the crowd in the first auto want to catch that three-o'clock
express," remarked Fred.

"Yes, and evidently the second crowd want to stop them," returned Andy.

The excitement had attracted the attention of a number of people, and a
crowd of a dozen or more followed the boys to the railroad station, all
wondering what was the matter.

As soon as the first automobile reached the railroad platform a man
sprang from the car, holding a Gladstone bag in one hand and a suitcase
in the other. He looked back, and then made a wild dash for the train,
which was just rolling into the station.

"Look! It's Carson Davenport!" exclaimed Jack.

"And see who are after him--Tate, Jackson and three or four other men!"

"Stop, Davenport!" yelled one of the men. "Stop or I'll shoot!" and he
flourished a revolver, and another man in the crowd did the same. Then
the bunch jumped from the second automobile and dashed pell-mell toward
the train.




CHAPTER XXX

THE NEW WELL--CONCLUSION


Carson Davenport was halfway up the steps of the car when Jake Tate and
another man hauled him backward to the station platform.

"They've got him!" exclaimed Jack, as he and his cousins, along with the
rest of the gathering crowd, came closer.

"Hi! Hi! Let me alone!" yelled Davenport. "Don't shoot! What is the
meaning of this, anyway?"

"You know well enough what it means!" bellowed Tate, still clutching him
by the arm. "You come back here. You are not going to take that train or
any other just yet."

"And you're not going to carry off that bag, either," put in Jackson, as
he wrenched the Gladstone away.

By this time the crowd completely surrounded Carson Davenport, and the
pistols which had been drawn were speedily thrust out of sight. The oil
well promoter was pushed in the direction of the little railroad
station, and in the midst of this excitement the train pulled out.

"What's the rumpus about, anyway?" exclaimed one man in the crowd.

"Never mind what it's about," broke in Tate hastily. "This is our
affair."

"That's right--maybe we had better keep it to ourselves," muttered
Jackson.

"I don't believe in shielding him," cried one man who had chased
Davenport and who wore several soldier's medals on his vest. "He's a
swindler, and it's best everybody knew it. He was on the point of
lighting out for parts unknown with all the money that was put into his
oil wells up on the Spell ranch."

"Is that right?" burst out another man.

"It is. And Tate and Jackson know it as well as I do. I guess Davenport
came to the conclusion that those wells he was putting down were no
good, and rather than sink any more money into them he was going to run
off with it."

"I wasn't running off with anything," declared Carson Davenport. "I was
going to put the money into the bank at Wichita Falls. I had a perfect
right to do that," and as he spoke he glared at Tate and Jackson.

"Say, if you're going to talk that way, I won't stand in with you any
longer!" cried Jackson, in a rage. "That money is going to stay right
here, where I and all the rest of us can keep our eyes on it!"

"That's right--don't let him get away with a dollar of it!" burst out
another man in the crowd.

"We'd better examine this bag first and make sure that we've got what we
came after," declared the man who wore the medals on his vest.

Davenport tried to demur, but none of the crowd would listen to him.
Although the Gladstone bag was locked, the oil well promoter was
compelled to give up the key, and then the others looked over the
contents of the bag.

"Twenty-six thousand dollars here," announced Tate, as he counted the
money in the presence of the others.

"What's this package?" demanded the man who wore the medals. "Hello!
Look here!" he exclaimed an instant later, after he had glanced at one
of several documents held together by a rubber band.

"What have you got?" questioned Tate curiously.

"You let those alone!" bellowed Davenport, his face turning pale. "Give
them to me! They are my private property!" and he endeavored to snatch
the documents from the other man's hand.

"Not much!" answered the man with the medals, Corporal John Dunning, who
had served over a year in France. "These papers belong to Mr. Richard
Rover, and he is the one who is going to get them."

"Richard Rover!" burst out Jack, who was close enough to catch the
words. "Why, that's my father!"

"I tell you I want those papers! They are mine!" screamed Carson
Davenport, and now he made another struggle to get them.

In the mêlée which followed Corporal Dunning was hit by the oil well
promoter, who in return received a blow full in the mouth which loosened
several of his teeth.

"If those are my father's papers they must be the same that were stolen
from him while we were stopping at a hotel here," said Jack. "Several
men entered one of our rooms and my father was knocked down from behind,
and while he was unconscious the men took the papers and ran away. They
were papers relating to the Lorimer Spell claim."

"Then tell your father that Corporal John Dunning, who is stopping at
O'Brian's Hotel, has them and will give them up to him just as soon as
he can prove his property," said the ex-soldier, as he placed the
documents in an inside pocket.

By this time two under-sheriffs had arrived on the scene, and they were
wanting to know if their services were required. Tate, Jackson, and one
or two others, for purely personal reasons, were in favor of hushing the
matter up, but not so Corporal Dunning or the Rover boys.

"If he is the man who knocked my father down and robbed him, I want him
arrested," declared Jack.

"He ought to be arrested if he did anything like that," acquiesced
Dunning. "I'm through with him! No more work for me at his place!"

"If you want another job I guess my father's foreman, Nick Ogilvie, will
be glad to take you on," answered Jack quickly. "You know, my dad is an
ex-service man, too. And so are my cousins' fathers," he added,
motioning to the other boys.

Carson Davenport blustered and tried to protest, and so did Tate and
Jackson. But it was all of no avail, and in the end the oil well
promoter was marched off by the under-sheriffs to the local lockup. Then
Tate and Jackson hurried away, looking anything but pleased.

"If he's exposed, he'll expose us too," said Tate sourly.

"Right you are, Jake," answered Jackson. "Maybe we'd better clear out."

And they did, the next day. They tried to get hold of some of the funds
of the oil company, but Dunning and others were on guard, so this little
plan was frustrated.

Of course Dick Rover was astonished when the boys burst in on him with
their story. He quickly sought out Dunning and proved to the
satisfaction of that individual that the documents taken from Davenport
were his property. Then Davenport was put through the "third degree," as
it is called by the authorities, and finally broke down and admitted
that he, Tate, and Jackson had committed the assault and theft, and that
he had likewise tried to abscond with the remaining funds of his new oil
company. As a result of all this he was later sentenced to a term of
years in prison. About three months later still Tate and Jackson were
caught, and also made to do time at hard labor.

With Davenport, Tate and Jackson out of it, the management of the new
oil company fell upon Gabe Werner's father. Mr. Werner went ahead with
the two wells as planned by the others, and in them sunk not only a
large amount of his own funds, but also funds belonging to the Martells
and Browns. But in the end these wells proved to be little better than
dry holes, so all of the money was lost.

"It's a terrible blow for all three families," said Dick Rover, when
this occurred. "It will make Mr. Werner quite a poor man."

"Well, I don't particularly wish them any hard luck," remarked Andy.
"Just the same, I guess Nappy, Slugger and Gabe got what was coming to
them."

On the day following the arrest of Davenport the first of the wells on
the Franklin farm was shot off. It proved to be an immense success, the
flood of oil carrying away almost everything before it.

"Jumping toothpicks!" exclaimed Randy, when the excitement was over.
"Nick Ogilvie says she will go six thousand barrels a day!"

"Just to think of it!" cried Jack, his eyes gleaming with pleasure. "Six
thousand barrels! Isn't it wonderful? Six thousand barrels at two
dollars and a half a barrel amounts to fifteen thousand dollars! Why,
it's a fortune and more!"

"We'll all be rich! We'll all be rich!" sang out Andy, and, grabbing his
brother, both set up a wild dance, knocking over the chairs as they did
so.

It was certainly a gala event, and the Rovers lost no time in
telegraphing the news to the folks in New York and also to a number of
their friends. Then preparations were made to bring in the second well,
and this proved almost as good as the first, running between four and
five thousand barrels per day at first, and then settling down to
fifteen hundred, while the first well for a long while never ran below
twenty-five hundred.

"They sure are a pair of peaches!" declared Dunning, who had come to
work for The Rover Oil Company. "A pair of peaches, as good as any in
this district."

"Do you know, I can scarcely believe it's true," said Phil Franklin to
the Rover boys. "Why, my father will have more money than he ever
dreamed of."

"We're as glad as you are, Phil," declared Jack. "Glad on your account
as well as our own. Now maybe you can go to Colby Hall with us."

"Say, that would be immense!" exclaimed Phil with pleasure.

And how Phil Franklin went that Fall with the Rovers to Colby Hall will
be related in a new volume, to be entitled, "The Rover Boys at Big Horn
Ranch; or, The Cowboys' Double Round-Up." In that book we shall learn
more concerning the doings of Jack and his cousins, and also learn the
particulars of a most remarkable trip to the far West.

Two weeks after the coming in of the first well the four Rover boys
returned to their homes in New York City. There an agreeable surprise
awaited them. Gif and Spouter had come down from Lake George to pay them
a visit.

"Say, this is just all right!" cried Jack, as the lads shook hands all
around.

"There is another surprise coming this evening," said Mary. "But we're
not going to tell you what it is."

That surprise proved to be the coming of Ruth and May. As yet Ruth had
to wear dark glasses, but she said that the eye specialist had told her
that these could be discarded in a week or two.

"You don't know how thankful I am that your eyes are coming around all
right," said Jack, as he caught both her hands. "It's the best news in
the world, Ruth--far better than that big oil well coming in on our
place in Texas."

"I am thankful, too, Jack," she answered. "And doubly thankful that you
haven't had to go through what I did with your eyes."

"I guess Gabe Werner has got his deserts," put in Randy. "His father is
sinking all his money in those good-for-nothing wells on the Spell
claim."

That night the young folks had something of a party, and it is perhaps
needless to say that every one of them enjoyed it thoroughly. Ruth, of
course, had to be careful of herself, and could not dance, but Jack gave
her a good deal of his company, and with this she seemed quite content.

Then followed a week or more in which the young folks went out on
numerous outings, both in the city and elsewhere. Then all motored up to
Valley Brook Farm, there to spend some time with Grandfather Rover and
Aunt Martha and Uncle Randolph before returning to school.

"Well, it's certainly been a great Summer, after all!" remarked Fred.

"It sure has!" returned Andy.

"And we got quite a lot of fun out of it," added his twin.

"Fun, and a good deal of information," said Jack. "It certainly paid us
to visit The Land of Luck."

THE END




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 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 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 PUTNAM HALL SERIES

THE PUTNAM HALL CADETS

THE PUTNAM HALL RIVALS

THE PUTNAM HALL CHAMPIONS

THE PUTNAM HALL REBELLION

THE PUTNAM HALL ENCAMPMENT

THE PUTNAM HALL MYSTERY




By JAMES CODY FERRIS

WESTERN STORIES FOR BOYS


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
    THE X BAR X BOYS RIDING FOR LIFE
    THE X BAR X BOYS IN SMOKY VALLEY
    THE X BAR X BOYS AT COPPERHEAD GULCH
    THE X BAR X BOYS BRANDING THE WILD HERD




By FRANKLIN W. DIXON

THE HARDY BOYS SERIES


Illustrated. Every Volume Complete in Itself

The Hardy Boys are sons of a celebrated American detective, and during
vacations and their off time from school they help their father by
hunting down clues themselves.

THE TOWER TREASURE--A dying criminal confessed that his loot had been
secreted "in the tower." It remained for the Hardy Boys to clear up the
mystery.

THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF--Mr. Hardy started to investigate--and
disappeared! An odd tale, with plenty of excitement.

THE SECRET OF THE OLD MILL--Counterfeit money was in circulation, and
the limit was reached when Mrs. Hardy took some from a stranger. A tale
full of thrills.

THE MISSING CHUMS--Two of the Hardy Boys' chums disappear and are almost
rescued by their friends when all are captured. A thrilling story of
adventure.

HUNTING FOR HIDDEN GOLD--In tracing some stolen gold the trail leads the
boys to an abandoned mine, and there things start to happen.

THE SHORE ROAD MYSTERY--Automobiles were disappearing most mysteriously
from the Shore Road. It remained for the Hardy Boys to solve the
mystery.

THE SECRET OF THE CAVES--When the boys reached the caves they came
unexpectedly upon a queer old hermit.

THE MYSTERY OF CABIN ISLAND--A story of queer adventures on a rockbound
island.

THE GREAT AIRPORT MYSTERY--The Hardy Boys solve the mystery of the
disappearance of some valuable mail.

WHAT HAPPENED AT MIDNIGHT--The boys follow a trail that ends in a
strange and exciting situation.

WHILE THE CLOCK TICKED--The Hardy Boys aid in vindicating a man who has
been wrongly accused of a crime.

FOOTPRINTS UNDER THE WINDOW--The Smuggling of Chinese into this country
is the basis of this story in which the boys find thrills and excitement
aplenty.




ZANE GREY BOOKS FOR BOYS


Packed with all the thrill and color and action that have made this
author famous!

THE "KEN WARD" STORIES

The Young Forester

Kenneth Ward, a young eastern lad just out of preparatory school, goes
west on his summer vacation to join a friend, Dick Leslie, a government
forest ranger in Arizona. Ken, honest, loyal but hot-headed runs into
plenty of excitement and trouble when he finds that a big lumber steal
is going on.

The Young Lion Hunter

Ken Ward and his kid brother, Hal, spend a summer on a forest preserve
in Utah with Ken's pal Dick Leslie. The government rangers are out after
the mountain lions and the boys from the east are glad to share in the
thrilling work.

The Young Pitcher

When Ken Ward entered Wayne College to pursue his study of forestry he
discovered that as a freshman he was on the bottom rung and had to fight
to win his way to recognition. His first claim to fame comes when he
pummels a prominent sophomore in self-defense.

Ken Ward in the Jungle

Ken Ward and his younger brother Hal take a trip into the wilds of
Mexico--Ken to try his hand at field work in the jungle and Hal, who is
ambitious to become a naturalist, to collect specimens. The boys set out
to solve the mysteries of the Santa Rosa River, an unknown course of
about a hundred and seventy-five miles through uncharted jungle.

       *       *       *       *       *

STORIES OF BASEBALL

_Zane Grey's baseball is as real, as dramatic and as thrilling as the
western stories that made him famous._

The Redheaded Outfield

The Redheaded Outfield--three fiery-pated players who introduce a little
boxing and plenty of comedy into the game will delight you. The
Rube--who is all that a rube should be--appears in a whole series of
these stories and is a character you won't forget.

The Short-Stop

Chase Alloway developed a mean curve that had the small town players
buffaloed. They called him "Chaseaway", the "Hoodoo" and "crooked eye"
and one small town team was all for having him tarred and feathered! A
story crowded with hard and fast baseball--and a dash of romance!

       *       *       *       *       *

STORIES OF THE GREAT WEST

The Last of the Plainsmen

"He'd rope the devil and tie him down--if the lasso didn't burn," it was
said of "Buffalo Jones," one of the last of the famous plainsmen who
trod the trails of the old West. Killing was repulsive to him and the
passion of his life was to capture wild beasts alive.

A real hunting trip--with constant danger threatening from wild beasts,
Indians and the hazards of wild country untouched by civilization.

Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon

A true story of Zane Grey's experiences capturing lions alive, which
makes ordinary hunting with guns seem, in contrast about as exciting as
a Sunday-school picnic. The account of how they captured six of the
tawny, fiery-eyed demons which infest the bottom of the Grand Canyon,
and got them into camp alive and growling, will enthrall the great host
of Zane Grey's boy readers.

The Last of the Great Scouts

_The life story of "Buffalo Bill" by_

HELEN CODY WETMORE

_With Foreword and Conclusion by Zane Grey_.

"Buffalo Bill"--scout, pathfinder, hunter and Indian fighter is the most
famous of all that great company of frontiersmen who opened up the West
for civilization. Indeed no character in history makes a stronger appeal
to the imagination than this daring hero of the old west.




By FRANK A. WARNER

BOB CHASE BIG GAME SERIES


In these thrilling stories of outdoor life the hero is a young
lumberjack who is a crack rifle shot. While tracking game in the Maine
woods he does some rich hunters a great service. They become interested
in him and take him on various hunting expeditions in this country and
abroad. Bob learns what it is to face not only wildcats, foxes and deer
but also bull moose, Rocky Mountain grizzly bears and many other species
of big game.

    BOB CHASE WITH THE BIG MOOSE HUNTERS

    BOB CHASE AFTER GRIZZLY BEARS

    BOB CHASE IN THE TIGER'S LAIR

    BOB CHASE WITH THE LION HUNTERS