The teachers sweet and the teachers sour,
And the feasts we held at the midnight hour,
The games of ball we lost and won,
And the jubilees! What lots of fun!
And then the skating on the ice—”
“When we broke in, ‘twas not so nice:”
interrupted George Granbury, referring to a calamity the particulars of which have already been related in “The Rover Boys in the Mountains.” And then Songbird Powell took up the strain once more:
“I love each corner and each nook,
I love the lake and love the brook,
I love the cedars waving high—”
“And love the dinners with mince pie,”
interrupted Tom once more, and continued:
“In fact, I love it one and all,
There is no spot like Putnam Hall!”
And then, with one accord, all standing around joined in the academy cheer:
“Zip, boom, bang! Ding, dong! Ding, dong! Bang! Hurrah for Putnam Hall!” Then the fire was stirred up, more boxes and barrels piled on top, and the cadets danced around more wildly than ever. They were allowed to keep up the fun until midnight, when all were so tired that further sport was out of the question, and all went sound asleep.
Bright and early the next morning the cadets assembled for their last breakfast in the mess-room. The parade was dispensed with, for some had to leave by the early boat on the lake in order to make the proper connections. Many were the handshakings and the kind words of farewell. Some of the students had graduated and were not to come back. Of these a few were bound for college, while others were going into various lines of business.
“We shall never forget our days at Putnam .Hall!” said more than one.
“And I shall never forget you, boys,” answered Captain Putnam. “I wish all of you the best of success in life.”
It was not until ten o’clock that the three Rover boys left for Cedarville in the big school stage. As was usual, Peleg Snuggers drove the turnout, which was filled to overflowing with cadets. Behind the stage came a big wagon, heavily loaded with trunks and boxes.
“Now, young gents, no cutting up,” pleaded the general-utility man. “The hosses won’t stand it, nowhow!”
“That’s an old scare, Peleg,” replied Tom. He had a tin horn and gave a loud blast. “That will let folks know we are coming.” And then a dozen other horns sounded out, while some of the cadets began to sing.
A few minutes after reaching the steamboat dock at the village, which, as my old readers know, was located on the shore of Cayuga Lake, the Golden Star came along and made her usual landing. The boat looked familiar to them and they gave the captain a rousing greeting.
Over a dozen pupils were to make the trip to Ithaca at the foot of the lake. There the Rovers would get aboard a train which would take them to Oak Run, the nearest railroad station to their home.
“The Golden Star looks like an old friend,” remarked Dick, when they were seated on the front, upper deck, enjoying the refreshing breeze that was blowing.’
“I am never on this boat but what I think of our first meeting with Dan Baxter and with Dora Stanhope and Nellie and Grace Laning,” came from Tom. “What an enemy Dan Baxter has been from that time on!”
“And what a pile of things have happened since that time!” was Sam’s comment. “By the way, it is strange that none of us have heard from any of those girls lately. They ought to be coming east from California by this time.”
“I wish they were home,” went on Tom. “I’d like to propose something.”
“Maybe you’d like to propose to Nellie,” put in his younger brother, slyly.
“No sooner than you’d propose to Grace,” was Tom’s prompt answer, which made Sam blush. “Dick,” he went on, “wouldn’t it be great if we could get the girls and Mrs. Stanhope to take that trip with us on the houseboat?”
“That would certainly be immense,” cried the eldest Rover, enthusiastically. “Why didn’t we think of it before? We might have written to them about it.”
“Is it too late to write now?” asked Sam. “Or, maybe we can telegraph.”
“Perhaps Mrs. Laning wants her girls at home now,” said Dick, slowly. “They have been away a long time, remember.”
“Perhaps Mrs. Laning might go along. We could have a jolly time of it with six or seven boys and perhaps the same number of girls and ladies.”
The idea of having the girls along interested the three Rovers greatly and they talked of practically nothing else during the trip on Cayuga Lake.
Ithaca reached, they bid farewell to the last of their school chums, who were to depart in various directions, and then made their way to one of the hotels for dinner.
“There they are, mamma!” they heard a well-known voice exclaim. “Oh, how glad I am that we didn’t miss them!” And the next moment Dora Stanhope rushed up, followed by Nellie and Grace Laning and Mrs. Stanhope.
“Well, of all things!” ejaculated Dick, as he shook hands warmly. “Where did you drop from?”
“We were talking about you during the trip from Cedarville,” said Tom, as he too shook hands all around, followed by Sam.
“We were wondering why you hadn’t written,” added Sam.
“We were going to surprise you,” answered Grace. “We expected to get home yesterday and visit the academy. But there was a breakdown on the line and our train was delayed and that made us miss a connection.”
“We thought sure we’d miss you,” said Nellie. “It made us feel awfully.”
“Have you dined yet?” asked Dick.
“No.”
“Then you must all come and take dinner with us. We want to hear all you’ve got to tell.”
“And we want to hear what you’ve got to tell too,” said Dora, with a merry laugh. She was looking straight into Dick’s eyes. “Have you had a good time at the Hall?”
“Yes, but we had a better time at the encampment.”
“I heard you met some very nice young ladies up there,” went on Dora.
“Who wrote to you about that, Dora?”
“Oh, never mind; I heard it, and that’s enough.”
“Well, we did meet some nice young ladies.”
“Oh!” And Dora turned away for a moment. They were on their way to the dining room and the others were temporarily out of hearing.
“But I didn’t meet anybody half as nice as you!” went on Dick, in a low tone of voice, and caught her hand.
“Oh, Dick!” She said this with a toss of her head, but smiled, nevertheless.
“It’s true, Dora. I wished you were there more than once. I would have written more, only we had a whole lot of trouble with our enemies.”
“And you really did think of me?”
“I did—nearly every day. I suppose you forgot all about me, and that’s why you didn’t write.”
“Dick Rover, you know better than that!”
“I suppose you met some stunning Californian that owns a gold mine and he claimed all of your attention.”
“I did meet one rich young man, and—and he proposed to me,” faltered Dora.
“Oh, Dora!” And now Dick’s heart seemed to stop beating. “And you—you didn’t accept him, did you?”
“Would you care if I did?” she whispered. “Dora!” he answered, half fiercely.
“Well, I told him I didn’t want him, so there,” said Dora, hurriedly. “I told him that I wanted to marry somebody that lived in the East, and that I—I—”
“And that you had the young man picked out? Why didn’t you tell him that, Dora? You know—”
“Hi, you folks!” came in a cry from Tom. “What are you steering for the smoking room for? We are bound for the dining room.”
“Well, I never!” murmured Do
ra. “Dick, we had better watch out where we are going.”
“That’s right.” They turned toward the dining room. “Dora, you know, as I was saying, that—”
“Dick Rover, I thought we were going to dinner! Just see the folks! What a crowd! You musn’t talk like that here.”
“Yes, that’s true, but—”
“You really must mind, Dick.” She gave him a bright smile. “I—I—guess I understand you!”
And then all went in to dinner.
CHAPTER IX
THE ROVER BOYS AT HOME
There was a great deal to tell on all sides, and the dinner lasted over an hour. The Stanhopes and the Lanings had had a grand time while at Santa Barbara and the widow was much improved in health, so much so, in fact, that she was now practically a well woman. Those who had been in the Far West listened with interest to the boys’ doings at the Hall and during the encampment, and were amazed to think that Dan Baxter and his father had turned up once more, and that Arnold Baxter was trying to turn over a new leaf.
“I do not believe Dan will ever turn over a new leaf,” said Dora. “He is a thoroughly bad young man.”
“Let us hope that he does,” said her mother. “I do not wish to see anybody throw himself away as that young man is doing.”
“After this you will have to watch out for this Lew Flapp as well as for Dan Baxter,” said Nellie. “Both appear to be painted with the same brush.”
During the dinner the houseboat project was broached, and the boys spoke of what a fine time they expected to have on the Ohio, and perhaps on the Mississippi.
“And we would like all of you to go with us,” said Dick.
“With you!” exclaimed Mrs. Stanhope.
“Oh, mamma, what a delightful trip it would be!” exclaimed Dora.
“And we would like your mother to go too,” went on Tom, to Nellie and Grace.
“Oh, if mamma would only go!” cried Grace. “I am sure it would do her a great deal of good. She goes away from home so little.”
The matter was talked over until it was time for the two parties to separate, and the Rovers promised to write more particulars in a few days,—as soon as they knew more about the houseboat and how it was to be run, and what sort of sleeping accommodations it afforded.
The boys saw the Stanhopes and the Lanings on the boat bound up the lake and then almost ran to the depot to catch their train. It came in directly, and in half a minute more they were being whirled away in the direction of Oak Run.
“There is no use of talking, those girls are just all right,” said Sam, bluntly. “I never met a nicer lot in my life.”
“I guess Dick thinks one of them is all right,” said Tom, with a grin. “Although I don’t see why you were steering her into the smoking room,” he added, to his big brother. “Were you going to teach her to smoke cigarettes?”
“Oh, say, Tom, let up,” grumbled Dick. “You paid about as much attention to Nellie as I did to Dora.”
“Anyway, I didn’t steer her to the smoking room.”
“No, but while you were talking to her I saw you put five spoonfuls of sugar in her coffee for her,” returned Dick. “Maybe you didn’t think she was sweet enough for you, eh?”
At this Tom reddened, while Sam set up a roar.
“He’s got you, Tom!” cried the youngest Rover. “Better cry quits and talk about something else. We all like those girls amazingly, and that’s the end of it;” and then the subject was changed.
It was almost dark when Oak Run was reached. Here a carriage, driven by Jack Ness, the Rovers’ hired man, was in waiting for them.
“Hullo, Jack!” cried Tom. “All well at home?”
“Very well, Master Tom,” was the answer. “And how are you, and how is Master Dick and Master Sam?”
“All O. K. and top side up, Jack,” said Sam.
They were soon in the carriage, and then the hired man whipped up the team and away they sped across Swift River, through the village of Dexter’s Corners, and then along the highway leading to the farm.
“I see the lights of home!” sang out Sam, as they made the last turn. “I can tell you, it makes a fellow feel good, doesn’t it?”
“It’s a true saying that there is no place like home,” returned Dick. “Here we are!”
The carriage made a turn around a clump of trees and then dashed up to the piazza. From the house rushed several people.
“Here we are, father!” sang out Dick. “How are you, Uncle Randolph, and how are you, Aunt Martha?”
“Dick!” cried Mr. Anderson Rover, and embraced his oldest son. “And Tom and Sam! I am glad to see you looking so well!”
“My boys!” murmured their aunt, as of old, and gave each a sounding kiss.
“Getting to be big young men,” was their uncle’s comment. “They won’t be boys much longer.”
“I’m going to stay a boy all my life, Uncle Randolph,” answered Tom, promptly. “By the way,” he went on, with a merry twinkle in his eye, “how is scientific farming getting on?”
“Splendidly, Thomas, splendidly.”
“Not losing money any more, then?”
“Well—er—I have lost a little, just a little, this summer. But next summer I expect grand results.”
“Going to grow a new kind of turnip?”
“No I—”
“Or maybe it’s a squash this time, uncle.”
“No, I am trying—”
“Or a parsnip. I have heard there is a great call for parsnips in New Zealand. The natives use them for dyeing—”
“Thomas!” interrupted his father, sternly. “Please don’t start to joke so early. To-morrow will do.”
“All right, I’ll subside,” answered Tom. “But really, do you know, I’m bubbling all over, like an uncorked soda-water bottle.”
“Don’t you feel hungry?”
“Hungry! Just you try me and see.”
“I made a big cherry pie for you, Tom,” said his aunt. “I know you like it.”
“Oh, Aunt Martha, that’s worth an extra hug.” He gave it to her. “Your pie can’t be beat!”
“And I’ve got some fried chicken. Dick likes that.”
“And I like it, too,” said Sam.
“Yes, I know it, Sam. But I made some spice cakes too—”
“Oh, aunt, just my weakness!” cried the youngest Rover. “There’s another kiss for you, and another! You’re the best aunt a boy ever had!”
They were soon washed up and sitting down to the table. Scarcely had they seated themselves than Alexander Pop came in, acting as waiter, something he always did when the boys came home. Alexander, usually called Aleck for short, was a good-natured colored man who had once been employed at Putnam Hall. He had gone to Africa with the Rover boys, as already related in “The Rover Boys in the Jungle,” and had been with them on numerous other trips. He was now employed steadily in the Rover household.
“Howde do, gen’men?” he said, with a broad grin on his coal-black face.
“Aleck!” all three cried together; “how are you?”
“Fust-rate, thank yo’. Yo’ am looking right smart, too,” went on the colored man. And then he began to serve them with the best the place afforded. He loved dearly to talk, but thought the present no time for so doing.
It was a happy family gathering, and all remained at the table a long time, the boys telling their different tales from beginning to end. Mr. Anderson Rover was much interested in what they had to say about the Baxters and Lew Flapp.
“You must be careful,” said he. “Arnold Baxter can do you no more harm, but the others will be worse than snakes in the grass.”
“We’ll watch out,” answered Dick, and then he and the others asked about the houseboat which had been taken for debt and how soon they could use the craft.
“How could we get into mischief with a houseboat?” questioned Tom. “Why, we just intend to knock around and take it easy all summer.”
“The rest ought to do all of you a power of good,” came from his father. “I declare, it seems to me you have been on the jump ever since you first went to Putnam Hall.”
“Where is the houseboat now?”
“Tied up at the village of Steelville, not very far from Pittsburg. As I wrote to you, she is under the command of Captain Starr. He knows the Ohio and the Mississippi thoroughly and will take you wherever you wish to go.”
“Well, we want to stay home a few days first, and make all of our arrangements,” said Dick; and so it was decided.
CHAPTER X
A SCENE IN A CEMETERY
“Hurrah, Fred Garrison says he will go with us!” cried Sam, two days later. “I have just received a telegram from him. He says he will come on to-morrow.”
“And here is word from Songbird Powell,” put in Dick. “He will go, too. He is to meet us at Pittsburg, any time I say.”
“And Hans Mueller will go,” said Tom. “That makes three of our friends to start with. I hope the Lanings and the Stanhopes go.”
“So do I,” answered Dick, who could not get that talk with Dora in the hallway of the hotel out of his head.
Sam was anxious to meet Fred Garrison, and on the following afternoon drove down to the railroad station at Oak Run to greet his chum.
The train was late, and after finding this out Sam took a walk around the village to see what changes had been made during the past few months. But Oak Run was a slow place and he look in vain for improvements.
“Guess I’ll have my hair cut while I am here,” he said to himself, and started to enter the only barber shop of which the railroad village boasted.
As he pushed open the door a young fellow got out of one of the chairs and paid the barber what was coming to him. Then he reached for his hat and started to leave.
“Lew Flapp!” ejaculated Sam. “Is it possible?”
The bully of Putnam Hall whirled around and gave a start. He had not dreamed of meeting one of the Rovers.
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