The Rover Boys at College | Page 2

to
his feet.
"No--not much," was the panting reply. "Say, we stopped in a hurry all
right, didn't we?"
With the shock had come loud cries from the other people in the car,
and it was found that one young lady had fainted. Everybody wanted to
know what was the matter, but nobody could answer the question. The

colored porter ran to the platform and opened the vestibule door. Tom
followed the man and so did Sam and Dick.
"Freight train ahead, off the track," announced Tom. "We ran into the
last car."
"Let us go up front and see how bad it is," returned Dick. "Maybe this
will tie us up here for hours."
"Oh, I hope not," cried Sam. "I want to get to the college just as soon as
possible. I'm dying to know what it's like."
"We can be thankful we were not hurt, Sam," said his older brother. "If
our engineer hadn't stopped the train as he did we might have had a
fearful smashup."
"I know it," answered Sam soberly, and then the boys walked forward
to learn the full extent of the damage done and what prospects there
were of continuing their journey.
To my old readers the lads just mentioned will need no special
introduction, but for the benefit of those who have not read the
previous volumes in this "Rover Boys Series" let me state that the
brothers were three in number, Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom
coming next and Sam the youngest. They were the sons of one
Anderson Rover, a rich widower, and when at home lived with their
father and an aunt and an uncle on a beautiful farm called Valley
Brook.
From the farm, and while their father was in Africa, the boys had been
sent by their Uncle Randolph to school, as related in the first book of
the series, called "The Rover Boys at School." At this place, called
Putnam Hall, they made many friends and also a few enemies and had
"the time of their lives," as Tom often expressed it.
A term at school had been followed by a short trip on the ocean, and
then the boys, in company with their uncle, went to the jungles of
Africa to rescue Mr. Rover, who was a captive of a savage tribe of

natives. After that came trips out West, and to the Great Lakes, and to
the mountains, and, returning to school, the lads went into camp with
the other cadets. Then they took another long trip on land and sea and
led a Crusoe-like life on an island of the Pacific Ocean.
"I think we'd better settle down now," said Dick on returning home
from being cast away, but this was not to be. They took a house-boat
trip down the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, had a number of
adventures on the plains and then found themselves in southern waters,
where they solved the mystery of a deserted steam yacht.
They returned to the farm and to Putnam Hall, and for a time matters
went along quietly. On account of attending to some business for his
father, Dick had fallen somewhat behind in his studies, and Tom and
Sam did their best to catch up to him, and, as a consequence, all three
of the youths graduated from Putnam Hall at the same time.
"And now for college!" Sam had said, and all were anxious to know
where their parent intended to send them next But instead of settling
this question Mr. Rover came forward with a proposition that was as
novel as it was inviting. This was nothing less than to visit a spot in the
West Indies, known as Treasure Isle, and made a hunt for a large
treasure secreted there during a rebellion in one of the Central
American countries.
"A treasure hunt! Just the thing!" Dick had said, and his brothers agreed
with him. The lads were filled with excitement over the prospect, and
for the time being all thoughts of going to college were thrust aside.
From Mr. Rover it was learned that the treasure belonged to the estate
of a Mr. Stanhope, who had died some years before. Mr. Stanhope's
widow was well known to the Rover boys, and Dick thought that Dora
Stanhope, the daughter, was the finest girl in the whole world. There
was also another relative, a Mrs. Laning--the late Mr. Stanhope's
sister--who was to share in the estate, and she had two daughters, Grace
and Nellie, two young ladies who were especial favorites with Sam and
Tom.

"Oh, we've got to find that treasure," said Tom. "Think of what it
means to the Stanhopes and the Lanings."
"They'll be rich--and they deserve to be," answered his brother Sam. It
may be added here