The Rover Boys in Business | Page 5

drowned!" gasped Sam, on
recovering from the shock. "Tom, do you see him anywhere?"
"No, I don't." Tom took a few steps forward and gazed down into the
swiftly-flowing stream. "Perhaps he is pinned under the auto, Sam!"
"Wait, I'll get the searchlight," cried the younger Rover, and ran back to
their automobile. The boys made a point of carrying an electric pocket
searchlight to be used in case they had to make repairs in the dark.
Securing this, and turning on the light, Sam ran forward to the river
bank, with Tom beside him.
To those who have read the previous volumes in this "Rover Boys
Series" the lads just mentioned will need no special introduction. For
the benefit of others, however, let me state that the Rover boys were
three in number; Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom coming next,
and sturdy Sam being the youngest. When at home, which was only for
a short time each year, the boys lived with their father, Anderson Rover,
and their Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha on a farm called Valley
Brook, in New York State.
While their father was in Africa, the boys had been sent to Putnam Hall
Military Academy, as related in the first volume of this series, entitled
"The Rover Boys at School." There they had made quite a few friends,
and, also, some enemies.*
*For particulars regarding how Putnam Hall Military Academy was

organized, and what fine times the cadets there enjoyed even before the
Rovers appeared on the scene, read "The Putnam Hall Series," six
volumes, starting with "The Putnam Hall Cadets."-- Publishers
The first term at school was followed by an exciting trip on the ocean,
and then another trip into the jungles of Africa, where the boys went
looking for their parent. Then came a journey to the West, and some
grand times on the Great Lakes and in the Mountains. After that, the
Rover boys came back to the Hall to go into camp with their
fellow-cadets. Then they took a long journey over land and sea, being
cast away on a lonely island in the Pacific.
On returning home, the boys had imagined they were to settle down to
a quiet life, but such was not to be. On a houseboat the lads, with some
friends, sailed down the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers, and then
found themselves on the Plains, where they solved the mystery of Red
Rock ranch. Then they set sail on Southern Waters, and in the Gulf of
Mexico discovered a deserted yacht.
"Now for a good rest," Sam had said, and the three lads had returned to
the home farm, where, quite unexpectedly, more adventures befell them.
Then they returned to Putnam Hall; and all graduated with considerable
honor.
It had been decided by Mr. Rover that the boys should next go to
college, and he selected an institution of learning located in the Middle
West, not far from the town of Ashton. Brill College was a fine place,
and the Rovers knew they would like it as soon as they saw it. With
them went their old-time school chum, Songbird Powell, already
mentioned. At the same time, William Philander Tubbs came to the
college from Putnam Hall. He was a dudish fellow, who thought far
more of dress than of gaining an education, and he was often made the
butt of some practical joke.
It did not take the Rover boys long to make a number of friends at Brill.
These included Stanley Browne, a tall, gentlemanly youth; Bob Grimes,
who was greatly interested in baseball and other sports; Max Spangler,
a German-American youth, who was everybody's friend; and Will

Jackson, always called "Spud" because of his unusual fondness for
potatoes. Spud was a great story-teller, and some of his yarns were
marvelous in the extreme.
During their first term at Putnam Hall, the Rover boys had become well
acquainted with Dora Stanhope, who lived near the school with her
widowed mother, and, also, Nellie and Grace Laning, Dora's two
cousins, who resided but a short distance further away. It had not been
long before Dick and Dora showed a great liking for each other, and, at
the same time, Tom often "paired off" with Nellie, and Sam as often
sought the company of Grace. Then came the time when the boys did a
great service for Mrs. Stanhope, saving her from the wicked plotting of
Josiah Crabtree, a teacher at Putnam Hall. Crabtree was exposed, and
lost no time in leaving the school, threatening at the same time that,
sooner or later, he would "square accounts with the Rovers."
But a few miles away from Brill College was located Hope Seminary,
an institution for girls. When the Rover boys went to Brill, Dora, Nellie
and Grace