The High School Boys in Summer Camp | Page 3

related in that series. We next came upon Dick
& Co. in the "High School Boys Series." All of our readers recall the
rousing story of "The High School Freshmen." Young Prescott and his
chums were bound to be "different," even as freshmen; so, without
being in the least "fresh," they managed to make their influence felt in
Gridley High School during their first year there. Though, as freshmen,
they were not allowed to take part in athletics, they contrived to "boost
up" Gridley High School athletics several notches, and aided in putting
the Athletic Association on a firmer basis than it had ever known
before. They did several other noteworthy things in their freshman year,
all of which are now wholly familiar to our readers. Their doings in the
second high school year are fully chronicled in "The High School
Pitcher." In this second volume the formal and exciting entry of Dick
& Co. into high school athletics is splendidly described, with a wealth
of rousing adventure and humorous situations.
This present series, which is intended to describe the vacations of our
Gridley High School boys in between their regular school years,
opened with the preceding volume, "The High School Boys Canoe
Club." Within the pages of that volume are set forth the manner in
which Dick & Co. secured, at an auction sale of a Wild West show, a
six-paddle Indian war canoe. All their problems in getting this canoe
into serviceable condition made highly interesting reading. The host of
adventures that surrounded their vacation at Lake Pleasant proved
thrilling indeed to our readers. How they met and contested with the
canoe clubs from other high schools was delightfully set forth. The
efforts of Fred Ripley to spoil the fun of Dick & Co. during that
vacation, formed another strong feature of the tale.
We now find our young high school friends, just after the Fourth of
July, at a very exciting point in their careers. As has been intimated,
Harry Hazelton's and Dan Dalzell's parents had grown nervous about

the canoeing sport, and had urged their sons not to enter the craft again.
As Dick & Co. had always been companions in all forms of sport, the
other four chums had promptly decided to sell the canoe, if possible,
and to devote the proceeds to going off in the "real woods" to camp.
And now a probable customer at Porthampton had been found, and
Dick had departed by train to see whether the sale could be effected.
"I've twenty cents left. Is there money enough in the crowd to buy five
ice creams?" asked Tom Reade, displaying two dimes.
"I've a whole half dollar, though you won't believe it until you see it,"
laughed Dave Darrin.
"Then there's enough for cream," decided Tom.
"I'll put in my half, if you fellows say so," Dave went on. "But we may
soon be in need of quite a bit of money. Wouldn't it be better to hold on
to our fruit of the mint?"
"When we sell the canoe we'll have plenty of money," suggested Danny
Grin.
"Very true, old Smilax," nodded Dave. "But what if Dick doesn't sell
it?"
"Then we won't have plenty of money," responded Greg promptly.
"If Dick doesn't make a sale to the parties he has gone to see," Dave
went on argumentatively, "we may want money to buy him a ticket to
some other town. It won't be wise to spend our little capital until we see
some more money coming in."
"That sounds like common sense," agreed Reade, dropping his dimes
back into his pocket. "Still, I'm sorry that we're not rich enough to
finance the ice cream proposition and still have enough capital left."
"So am I sorry," sighed Danny Grin. "This waiting for Dick Prescott to
get back with the news is a wearing proposition."

"Come down to my house," suggested Dave. "I've got that catalogue
from the tent and camping goods house. Let's go and look over the
catalogue, and try to decide just what we want to buy for our camp
when Dick gets the money for the canoe."
"That would be bully fun, if we really knew that Dick had sold the
canoe," smiled young Holmes wistfully. "However, until we do know, I
suggest that we avoid all false hopes and keep away from all
catalogues."
At this instant Tom nudged Dave. Two men were passing, and one of
them was saying to the other:
"Yes; I sold the double house for eighty-two hundred dollars---a clear
profit of twenty-two hundred. Then I put four thousand more with that
money and bought the Miller place. Within a couple of years I'll get rid
of the Miller place for at least sixteen thousand dollars. I've never
known a time when real