Edward Stratemeyer

“ As soon as they were out of sight, Tom threw up both hands in mock tragedy, "Alack, Horatio, this excitement killeth me!" he cried in a stage whisper. "Sent blackberrying to keep us out of mischief! Sam, what are we coming to?"
"Well, it's better than moping around doing nothing. For my part, I am glad we are to go to boarding school, and the sooner the better. But I would like to know where to?"
"If only we were going to a military academy!"
"Hurrah! Just the thing! But no such luck. Get the berry baskets and let us be off. By the way, where is Dick?" ”

“ Why, a sailor is the merest nobody on earth!"
"I guess you mean on the sea, uncle," said Sam with a grin.
"Don't joke me, Samuel. Yes, Thomas—the calling of a sailor amounts to absolutely nothing. Scientific farming is the thing! Nothing more noble on the face of the earth than to till the soil."
"I never saw you behind a plow, Uncle Randolph," answered Tom, with a twinkle in his blue eyes. "Besides, I heard you say that the farm ran behind last year." ”

“ At once the head assistant strode into the dormitory.
"Have you two been fighting?" he demanded.
"We were only boxing a bit, sir," answered Baxter, before Tom could speak. "No harm intended, sir."
"You were making a good deal of noise," answered George Strong dryly. "What have you to say, Rover?"
"I have this to say, Mr. Strong," answered Tom boldly. "I would like to interview Captain Putnam without delay."
"Don't you dare—" began Baxter, when a wave of the teacher's hand cut him, short. ”

“ When they got back to the farmhouse Tom's story had to be told to Grace and Nellie, while Mr. Laning went off to prepare a room for the youth.
"Oh, Josiah Crabtree!" cried Nelly. "Why, don't you know he is trying to court our Aunt Lucy?"
"Your Aunt Lucy? Who is she?"
"Dora Stanhope's mother. Dora's father is dead, you know."
"Great Caesar!" burst from Tom; "I hope Dora never gets him for a stepfather!"
"So do all of us, Tom; but I'm afraid he has made quite an impression on Aunt Lucy. She is rich; and my own idea is that Josiah Crabtree is after her money." ”

“ They were passing down the main street when Sam uttered a short cry.
"Hullo, there is Josiah Crabtree!"
"Where?" questioned Dick with deep interest.
"Across the way. He has just entered the jewelry store on the corner."
"Say, perhaps he's buying a wedding ring," blurted out Tom before he stopped to think.
"Tom, that matter is no joke," came from Dick, as his face grew red. "I sincerely hope, for Dora Stanhope's sake, that he never marries, Dora's mother."
"Oh, so do I," answered Tom readily.
"Why, he isn't fit to be stepfather to a dog!" ”

“ A runner of each turnout was smashed, and the occupants of the other sleigh came tumbling in upon the lads in great confusion.
"Great Caesar! what's this?" groaned Tom as he shifted a weight from his shoulders, and then he stared in amazement as he found himself confronted by Nellie Laning!
"Tom Rover!" burst from the girl's lips soon as she could recover her breath. "Did you ever!"
"Well, hardly!" murmured Tom, as he helped her to, a sitting position. "You're coming in on us fast. What's the trouble? Oh, and there is Grace and your father!" ”

“ There was one exception, and that was Dan Baxter.
"I haven't got anything for you or your brothers," growled the bully when Dick spoke of the matter before the class. "Let 'em furnish their own silver cups if they want 'em."
"All right, Baxter; I guess Sam and Tom will be just as well satisfied if you don't chip in," had been Dick's ready answer. "I only wanted to give everyone a chance to own an equal share in the gift, if it was desired."
"Our football team can't play for a sour apple, Dick Rover.
They'll be whipped out of their boots." ”

“ As soon as they could recover, the whole party made after the carriage, now disappearing around a bend.
"They'll never get around the next turn alive!" said Captain Harry
Blossom, who was running beside Tom. Soon Dick joined the pair.
In the meantime Josiah Crabtree was filled with terror over the sudden turn of affairs. He dropped the whip and tugged first at one rein and then the other.
"Whoa! whoa!" he cried in a hoarse whisper. "Whoa!"
But instead of slackening their speed, the team moved on faster than ever, the carriage rocking violently from side to side.
"We will be killed!" ”

“ Does he belong at Putnam Hall?"
"Yes. I know nothing of him, however, further than that I have seen him several times on the Hall road."
Dick gave a low whistle.
"Perhaps we've put our foot in it," remarked Sam in a low tone to him.
"Never mind; we did what was right," answered Dick. "No fellow is justified in acting as Dan Baxter did."
"That's right."
"Tell us something about Putnam Hall, won't you?" said Fred
Garrison, after a pause.
At this the three girls laughed.
"What should we know about that place?" asked Dora. "We have never been inside, excepting at one Christmas entertainment." ”

“ When he left his heart was all aglow, while Dora was blushing deeply. "Best girl in the world," he murmured. "What an awfully nice young fellow," was Dora's thought.
"Hurry up!" cried Tom from the sleigh, when his big brother put in an appearance again. "I'm most frozen stiff!" And on went the cutter, the horse feeling quite fresh after his rest.
"I'll go ahead and see if the coast is clear," said Dick, when they reached the vicinity of the stable, and he leaped into the snow. ”

“ Let me taste your glass, Mumps."
"Do so with pleasure," and the sneak passed it over. Larry pretended to take a gulp. "Fine! Couldn't be better. Isn't that so, Frank?" and he passed the glass to Harrington. "It's certainly as good as mine, and that's O. K.," answered Frank; and then George Granbury took the tumbler and declared the root beer was even better than what he had had previously.
"It's certainly your stomach, Mumps, my boy," said Tom. "You look kind of funny—just like a fellow I knew who got the smallpox."
"He does look like a fellow getting the smallpox," put in Dick. ”

“ He was going to lock up my brother first, but I said I had fired the cracker, and so he compelled me to go to the guardroom with him. I was locked in and treated to bread and milk for supper, and he wanted to steal the keys of my trunk and valise from me."
"Steal!" ejaculated Josiah Crabtree.
"That is what it amounted to, for the keys, and boxes are my property."
"Mr. Crabtree merely wanted to see that your baggage contained nothing improper," put in Captain Putnam. "There are certain things we do not allow boys to bring into the institution." ”

“ The report that Baxter had bet against his own school spread, and the bully became more unpopular than ever. But this did not daunt him, and soon he had a dozen other bets on, aggregating fifty dollars or more.
"It's a mystery to me where he gets so much money," said Dick to
Captain Blossom one day, "Is his father rich?"
"I can't tell you," answered the youthful commander of Company A. "Fact of the matter is nobody knows much about Baxter—not even Mumps his chum. Nobody ever comes to see him, and he seldom ever gets any letters, yet he always has all the spending money he wants." ”

“ Dan?"
"Dan is not to be depended upon," answered Arnold Baxter. "He robbed me of two hundred dollars and skipped out for Chicago."
"Humph!" murmured Dick. "Here is certainly news of Dan Baxter that is very much to his discredit. I hope I and Dora and the rest never hear of him again."
Some other folks now came into the depot, and Arnold Baxter and Buddy lowered their voices, so that Dick and Sam could hear nothing further.
Soon Tom arrived, followed by the policeman, who looked anxiously at the two men.
"You say they are thieves?" he asked of Dick.
"The short man is. He stole my watch." ”

“ Then the football teams disappeared into their respective dressing rooms, and the newly arrived cadets took their places in the grandstand. A timekeeper and referee had already been appointed by Sam and the rival captain, at a meeting at the Hall three days before.
"My! what a crowd!" exclaimed Tom, as he surveyed the multitude.
"I didn't think we were going to have such an audience as this!"
"Nor I," returned Sam. "We must do our level best, fellows!"
"That's what!" came from several. "If we get whipped—"
"Remember what Baxter did—that's enough to nerve anybody on," finished Larry Colby. ”

“ They are brutal, far from manly, and add nothing to the strength of one's character. It is well enough to know how to defend one's self when occasion requires, but such occasions occur but rarely.
But I have set out to relate the adventures of the Rover boys, in school and out, and on land and sea, and I feel I must be truthful and tell everything just as it happened, not only in this volume, but in all those which are to follow; and, consequently, I shall tell of the fight as the particulars were related to me by Sam Rover, Fred Garrison and others—details which I am certain are correct. ”

“ I believe you are all friends, at least Harrington and Colby intimated as much in their letters."
"They told the truth," cried Sam. "This just suits me, and we owe
Captain Putnam and Mrs. Green one for doing it."
George Strong smiled. Then the smile faded as he remembered how Josiah Crabtree once told Captain Putnam that he did not believe in letting chums room together. "Place each boy among strangers," Crabtree had said. "It will make him more reliant." But Captain Putnam had not listened to the crabbed old fellow, and Strong was glad of it. ”

“ CHAPTER X SETTLING DOWN AT THE HALL "It's a boy!" cried the tall, slim man.
"One of the boys!" came from the tramp known as Buddy.
"You don't say!" The tall man turned to Tom. "How did you get here?"
"Walked," answered Tom as calmly as he could, although this is not saying much, for he realized that the pair before him were desperate characters and that he was no match for them.
"Have you been spying on us?" demanded the fellow called Nolly.
"I've been spying on this man," answered Tom, pointing to the other fellow. "He stole my brother's watch. ”

“ The following day they started back for Putnam Hall, and on the way met Larry, Frank, Fred, and a number of others. When Ithaca was reached a surprise awaited the crowd. The weather was so cold that the ice impeded transportation, and the Golden Star was not making her usual trips to Cedarville and other points.
"Here's a state of things!" cried, Tom. "What's to do—walk to
Putnam Hall?"
"Well, hardly, seeing that it is a good number of miles and the weather is bitterly cold."
"Well, if we can't walk and can't ride, how are we to get there?" came from Sam. ”

“ The home run was very encouraging, and now Dick came forward with his ashen stick. He had one strike called on him and then managed to make a clean one-base hit.
Another player, named Forwell, took stand next. The pitcher for the Pornell team was now as nervous as Tom bad been and suddenly Forwell was hit in the arm by the ball.
"Dead ball!" cried the umpire. "Take your base," and Forwell went to first, while Larry marched to second.
Then Sam came to the bat, but his first strike was a foul, caught by the third baseman. Another out followed, made by the captain, much to his chagrin. ”

“ Kindly call Mr. Strong."
"It is a—a most unusual proceeding," growled the head assistant.
"Perhaps, but we will talk that matter over at another time."
Josiah Crabtree went out; and in a minute George Strong appeared, and Tom was turned over to him, to sign the roll of the academy and to join Sam, Fred, and the others in the class room over which Mr. Strong presided.
"Hullo, you're back," whispered Sam, but no more could be said until recess, when Tom told his story in detail. In the meantime Dick was released.
"So you met the fellow who stole my watch!" cried the elder brother. ”

“ Tom turned to George Strong. "Excuse me, Mr. Strong, I am sorry I have caused you so much trouble."
"How do you feel now?" questioned the assistant anxiously.
"Oh, I'm all right now."
"Well, then, go to bed; and I trust you sleep more soundly for the balance of the night," said the teacher; and he remained in the room until Tom was tucked in, when he went off, taking the key of the door with him.
"Tom, you're a brick!" came from Frank, when the teacher was out of hearing. "What a head you have on your shoulders!"
"Strong took the key of the door," said Fred. ”

“ Your ordinary suits will, of course, be placed away for you, for during the academy term, you will as cadets wear only your uniforms."
"When will I get my uniform?" asked Fred, who was anxious to don his "soldier fixings," as he put it.
"Tomorrow, if we have any suit on hand that fits."
"I don't want a second-handed suit," put in Sam.
George Strong laughed. "Don't worry, my boy; every pupil gets new clothing. But, many boys are so nearly of a size that Captain Putnam always keeps a dozen or more suits on hand." ”