“I’ll go with you,” was the ready reply.
The pair explained to the others what they were about to do, and then slipped out of their seats and made their way to the back of the moving picture theater. Then, when the lights were being turned out, they moved forward and slipped into two seats directly behind Glutts and Werner without being noticed by the two bullies.
The educational film was now being shown again, and this caused Glutts to give a snort of disgust.
“I don’t care for that sort of stuff,” said the wholesale butcher’s son. “I wish they would put on the war play. Tell me some more about this scheme you’ve got for spending the winter holidays.”
“Oh, it’s a dandy scheme, all right, Bill,” responded Werner. And then he began a description of a winter’s camp and told how he had permission to go there and how he wanted Glutts to go with him.
While Gabe Werner was speaking some people sitting next to him had arisen and were trying to get out. Gabe and Bill arose, and as they did so the former turned around and caught sight of the two Rovers.
“Say! what do you know about this?” he cried in astonishment.
“Jack Rover and Fred Rover!” murmured Glutts, and his face likewise betrayed astonishment.
“Did you fellows follow us into the theater?” demanded Werner.
“We certainly did not,” returned Fred quickly. “We were in the theater long before you came in.”
“Huh!” Werner was stumped for a moment. “I didn’t notice them here, did you?” he questioned his crony.
“If I had I should have taken a seat elsewhere,” was Glutts’ ready reply. He glared at the Rovers. “I suppose you have been listening to everything we said.”
“If you don’t want to be heard you had better not talk in a place like this,” replied Jack.
“I don’t care what they did hear,” grumbled Werner. “I’m not ashamed of what I am doing or intend to do.”
“If I were you, Glutts, I’d cut Werner,” advised Fred. “Captain Dale won’t give you any credit for sticking to him after what happened at the encampment.”
“I suppose you are going to tell Captain Dale you saw me with him,” retorted Glutts.
“I shan’t say a word unless I am questioned.”
“I haven’t forgotten what happened at the encampment,” said Gabe Werner, turning to Jack. “Some day I’m going to square accounts with you.”
“When that time comes I think I’ll be able to defend myself, Werner,” answered the young captain coldly.
By this time a number of people in the audience were turning around, evidently annoyed by the conversation. One heavy-set man turned back and tapped Werner on the shoulder.
“Say, if you fellows want to hold a talk-fest, go outside and do it,” he growled. “We want to look at the pictures.”
“Come ahead, Jack,” whispered Fred. “It won’t do us any good to stay here, now that Glutts and Werner have discovered our presence.”
“Right you are,” was the answer. And a moment later the two Rovers slipped out of their seats and made their way to the rear of the showhouse. Here they were joined by the others of their crowd; and all went outside and across the street to a drugstore, where Jack treated the others to hot chocolate soda.
“They are hatching out something, that is sure,” remarked Jack.
“As near as I could make out, Werner is going off into the woods on a hunt and wants Glutts to go with him,” returned Fred. “I wonder where they are going?”
No one could answer that question, and presently the crowd began to talk of other things, and especially of the war play they had just witnessed.
“Gosh! but a play like that brings the war pretty close to a fellow,” said Randy, with a sigh.
“Makes a fellow think of how our dads are making out over there, doesn’t it?” said Fred.
“When they showed those ambulance scenes with all the dead and dying lying around it gave me the cold shivers,” came from Andy. “I tell you what—war is a terrible thing.”
“Yes, and you have got to see something like that to realize how really terrible it is,” put in Jack.
Several days later the term at Colby Hall came to an end. There was something of an entertainment, with prize speaking in which Spouter distinguished himself, and then came the final drill and parade around the campus. Following this the cadets indulged in several snowball fights and in quite some horseplay, and then rushed off to their rooms to pack their suitcases and other baggage so as to be ready to depart for home in the early morning.
“Wow! but it feels good to know I haven’t got to look at a grammar or an algebra for the next few weeks,” cried Randy, with satisfaction.
“Say! it makes me feel as happy as a clown in a circus,” declared Andy, and, in high spirits, he began a jig and ended by turning a flip-flap over one of the beds. Then he and his twin indulged in a pillow fight, in which Fred joined.
“Hi, you fellows! stop your rumpus,” cried Jack, who was trying to pack his suitcase. “You keep on, and you’ll have the ceiling of the floor below down.”
“Can’t help it!” cried Andy gayly. “We’ve got to break loose once in a while,” and he playfully landed a cake of soap in the open suitcase.
“I’ll soap you!” cried the young captain, and, taking the article in question, he made a leap over the bed, caught his cousin by the neck, and allowed the cake of soap to slip down Andy’s back.
“Great salt mackerel!” ejaculated the fun-loving Rover, and, pulling his coat tight, he arched his back. “Anybody notice the camel’s hump?”
“It isn’t a hump, Andy. It’s only a wart on your backbone,” answered his twin.
“Well, hump or wart, it isn’t going to stay there very long,” remarked the other, and immediately proceeded to stand on his hands, shaking his body in such a manner that presently the soap rattled out on the floor. Then quietness was restored for the time being, and the Rovers continued their packing.
A conference was held with Gif, and it was decided that all of the crowd were to go home for Christmas. Several days later the Rovers were to meet Gif and Spouter at Portview, and then all would proceed to Cedar Lodge.
“And don’t forget to bring your guns and all your other traps,” said Gif.
“You trust us for that!” responded Fred.
“We’ll be there with everything that is necessary outside of the provisions. Those, of course, we can get at Portview or at Timminsport.”
“I hope we get a chance at a moose,” sighed Randy.
“Gee! Why don’t you make it a lion or an elephant or a polar bear while you are at it?” cried his twin. “Might as well wish for everything in the menagerie. It doesn’t cost any more,” and at this there was a general smile.
“I know what I’d like to get,” said Jack. “I was reading about one in the paper the other day. They must be beautiful creatures.”
“What’s that?” questioned Gif.
“A silver fox.”
“Oh, say, Jack! that would be fine. But I imagine silver foxes are exceedingly rare.”
“Oh, I know that. Just the same, I’d like to bag one. The fur would make a very fine piece for some lady to wear.”
“Ruth Stevenson, for instance,” murmured Andy; and at this his cousin made a playful pass at him with his fist, which the fun-loving Rover easily dodged.
The next morning the cadets had an early breakfast, and a short while later saw many of them on their way by carriage and automobile to Haven Point. Many girls were also coming in from Clearwater Hall, so that the railroad station present an unusually lively appearance.
In the crowd was Bill Glutts, but he took care to keep away from the Rovers. Gabe Werner was nowhere to be seen, and the Rovers rightfully conjectured that he had left the town.
The boys had hardly arr
ived when a carry-all came in from Clearwater Hall containing Mary and Martha, as well as Ruth and May and a dozen other girl students. There was a general handshaking, and then all took a stand on the station platform to wait for the coming of two trains which were to bear the various students in opposite directions. Everybody had already procured a ticket, and the trains which were expected were extras, for it would have been impossible for the ordinary locals to have taken care of such heavy traffic.
“I am sorry you’re not going to travel with us to New York,” said Jack to Ruth.
“Well, I’m sorry you’re not coming my way,” answered the girl, with a smile.
“But you’ll be down to our house directly after Christmas, won’t you?”
“Yes, we’ll be down the day after—May and I.”
“Well, that will give us a whole day together, anyhow, before us fellows start for Cedar Lodge,” went on the young captain. Then he nudged Ruth in the elbow. “Come over here,” he whispered. “I want to show you something that I don’t want the others to see.”
Together they slipped out of the crowd and around the corner of the little railroad station. Then Jack brought out a large flat package from an inner pocket of his overcoat. “I had these taken as a Christmas surprise to mother and Martha. What do you think of them?” and he brought forth several photographs of himself taken in his cadet uniform. They had been taken by the leading photographer of Haven Point who made a specialty of work for the two schools, and they certainly showed the young captain at his best.
“Oh, how lovely, Jack!” cried Ruth in genuine pleasure. “I declare, they are splendid pictures.”
“Then you like them?” he queried anxiously.
“I certainly do! I don’t think they could be better.” She looked at the three poses presented critically. “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll keep this one,” she said finally.
“Oh, Ruth, you don’t want my picture, do you?” he questioned, and there was a trace of wistfulness in his voice.
“Of course I do, Jack. I can keep this one, can’t I?” and the girl looked full at him in a manner that spoke volumes.
“Why, sure! if you want it,” he answered quickly. “But, say! don’t I get one of yours in return?” he added.
“Well, I’ll see about that,” she hesitated.
“Oh, now, Ruth—”
“I haven’t had one taken in an awfully long time, Jack.”
“Never mind, you will let me have one of them anyhow, won’t you?”
“I—I guess—maybe so. I’ll give it to you for a Christmas present. Only don’t tell the others.”
“I won’t, Ruth. And you can keep about my picture to yourself, too,” added the captain. And thereupon the decidedly interesting conversation between the pair had to come to an end as one of the trains came puffing in—that which was to carry Ruth and some of the other girls, as well as many of the cadets, away.
CHAPTER VIII
CHRISTMAS AT HOME
“Well, here we are at last. I wonder if anybody will be at the station to meet us,” said Martha Rover.
“Oh, I’m sure somebody will come down,” answered Mary.
The six Rovers had had a long and uneventful train ride from Haven Point to the Grand Central Terminal, Forty-second Street, New York City. They had had to change cars at the Junction, where some months before they had had such fun with Mr. Asa Lemm, the discharged teacher of the Hall, as related in detail in the volume previous to this. The train had been crowded with passengers, but the Rovers had managed to get seats together, much to their satisfaction; and they had also managed to get pretty fair accommodations when it came time to go into the diner.
They had telegraphed ahead concerning their coming, and found two chauffeurs employed by Dick Rover and Tom Rover on hand to receive them and take charge of their baggage. Then they went out to the street, where they found two automobiles awaiting them, one containing Jack’s mother and the other the mothers of Fred and the twins.
“Hello, Ma!” cried the young captain, as he rushed forward to embrace his parent. “How are you? You are looking pretty good.”
“Oh, I am feeling quite fair,” answered Mrs. Dick Rover with a smile.
“Home again, and glad of it!” exclaimed Fred, as he embraced his mother.
“My, my, but I’m glad that that term at the school is at an end!” cried Andy, as he gave Mrs. Tom Rover the hug he knew she would be expecting, a hug which was speedily duplicated by his twin. “Hope you’ve got a good big dinner waiting for us. Traveling has made me hungry.”
“Not but what we had a pretty good meal on the train,” added his twin.
“You’ll get all you want to-night,” answered Mrs. Tom Rover affectionately.
In the meantime Mary and Martha had come up and joined their parents. There was a good deal of kissing and questioning, and while this was going on the chauffeurs assisted the young people to their seats and stowed away their handbaggage. There were no trunks to come, for all the young folks had left a large part of the belongings at the schools.
There was only one thing which saddened the home-coming of the young people, and that was the absence of their fathers. Although Jack had said that his mother was looking well, still he had not failed to notice that her face showed a certain paleness and some lines of care.
“Don’t worry, Mother. I’m sure dad will come back all right,” he said later on, in an endeavor to comfort her.
“I am hoping so, Jack. But, oh! how I wish this awful war would come to an end,” and Mrs. Dick Rover sighed deeply.
All too quickly the next few days passed. Young folks and old folks were busy doing their shopping for Christmas, and in addition to this, the boys went out to purchase a number of things they thought they might need while at the camp.
“I’m afraid we’re in for it,” said Randy dismally, on the afternoon before Christmas. “This looks like a regular blizzard.”
It certainly did look like a blizzard, with the snow coming down thickly and the wind blowing it first in one direction then in another. By nightfall the streets were almost impassable, and in the morning traffic along Riverside Drive was practically suspended.
“Merry Christmas!” shouted Randy, who was the first to get up.
“Merry Christmas!” replied Andy. “And how do you like to live at the North Pole?” he added, as he glanced out of the window at the storm-bound street and the river and the Palisades beyond.
There was a grand reunion of the three families in the Dick Rover residence, and presents were exchanged all around. The boys had purchased a number of small but appropriate gifts for their mothers and the two girls, and also for the various servants of the families. In return they received a number of gifts, both useful and ornamental, including gold-mounted stylographic pens, which each one had desired, and also some new hockey skates and story books.
Martha had knit a bright sweater for her brother, and Mary had done the same for Fred, and the girls between them had likewise knit sweaters for the twins.
“We sure are the lucky kids,” remarked Andy, when all of them were looking over their gifts. “This sweater suits me to a T. And, my! just wait until I get on those hockey skates. There won’t be a thing in New York or on Clearwater Lake that will beat me.”
“I see you doing some tall skating to-day,” replied his twin, with a grin. “What you will need is a snow shovel if you want to get anywhere.”
The storm kept up until noon of Christmas, and then cleared away almost as rapidly as it had come, the night being clear and cold, with a beautiful moon and twinkling stars shining from above.
“I hope it stays clear so that May and Ruth will have a chance to come down,” remarked Fred during the course of the afternoon.
“I guess we all hope that,” answered Jack.
With so much to think of in connec
tion with their proposed trip to Cedar Lodge, the Rover boys put in a busy time all of that day and part of the next. Then they went down to the Grand Central Terminal with the girls to meet the expected visitors.
“There they are!” cried Martha, after the long train had rolled into the station. And a moment later she and Ruth were in each other’s arms, while Mary was embracing May. Then the boys shook hands, and all drove away to the Rover residences.
“Did you get that picture for me, Ruth?” questioned Jack, as soon as he could get a chance to speak to the girl in private.
“Oh, you don’t want any picture,” she declared mischievously.
“Aw, come now,” he pleaded, “don’t try to put me off that way. You know what you promised.”
“Well, can’t you wait until we get to the house?”
“Oh, sure! But I wanted to make certain that you had brought the picture along.”
“You’ll be scared when you see it,” declared Ruth. “I look a perfect fright. The man snapped the picture before I was half ready.”
But later on, when Jack received the gift, he declared that the picture was a very good one indeed, although it did not look half as pretty as Ruth did herself. The two had quite a little fun over the picture, and then Jack placed it in his pocket.
“Now you’ve got it, what are you going to do with it?” questioned Ruth curiously.
“I’m going to carry it right here,” he declared, for he had it in an inside pocket over his heart.
“Oh, you big goose!” cried Ruth, but then she blushed and looked pleased nevertheless.
It was announced that part of the lake in Central Park had been scraped clear of the snow, and the following day the young folks went skating and had a most glorious time. Then in the evening all attended a theatrical performance at one of the leading theaters.
“Oh, my! but I am having a splendid time,” said Ruth to Martha.
“It’s too bad the boys are going away,” was the answer. “But I don’t blame them for wanting to go on a hunt. If I were a boy I’d like to go on a hunt myself.”
On the following morning came a letter from Dick Rover, stating that matters were still somewhat quiet in the sector in France where they were located, but that word was being passed around that they were to make an advance in the near future.
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