The Rover Boys in Camp | Page 2

"Wonder if the folks got that telegram I
forwarded from Buffalo?"
"They must have, for there is Jack with the big carriage," said Tom, and
walked over to the turnout he mentioned. "Hullo, Jack!" he called out.
"How is everybody?"
"Master Tom!" ejaculated Jack Ness, the Rovers' hired man. "Back at
last, are you, an' safe an' sound?"
"Sound as a dollar, Jack. How are the folks?"
"Your father is putty well, and so is your Uncle Randolph. Your Aunt
Martha got so excited a-thinkin' you was coming hum she got a
headache."
"Dear Aunt Martha!" murmured Tom. "I'll soon cure her of that." He
turned to his brothers. "What shall we do about the trunks? We can't
take 'em in the carriage."
"Aleck is comin' for them boxes," said the hired man. "There's his
wagon now."
A box wagon came dashing up to the depot platform, with a tall,

good-looking colored man on the seat. The eyes of the colored man lit
up with pleasure when he caught sight of the boys.
"Well! well! well!" he ejaculated, leaping down and rushing forward.
"Heah yo' are at las', bless you! I'se been dat worried 'bout yo' I couldn't
'most sleep fo' t'ree nights. An' jess to t'ink yo' was cast away on an
island in de middle of dat Pacific Ocean! It's a wonder dem cannonballs
didn't eat yo' up."
"Thanks, but we didn't meet any 'cannonballs,' Aleck, I am thankful to
say," replied Dick Rover. "Our greatest trouble was with some
mutineers who got drunk and wanted to run things to suit themselves.
They might have got the best of us, but a warship visited the island just
in the nick of time and rescued us."
"So I heared out ob dat letter wot yo' writ yo' father. An' to t'ink dat
Miss Dora Stanhope and de Laning gals was wrecked wid yo'! It's
wonderful!"
"It certainly was strange, Aleck. But, come, I am anxious to get home.
Here are the trunk checks," and Dick passed the brasses over.
In a moment more the three boys had entered the carriage, along with
Jack Ness. Tom insisted on driving, and away they went at a spanking
gait, over Swift River, through the little village of Dexter's Corners, and
then out on the road that led to Valley Brook farm.
As my old readers know, the Rover boys were three in number, as
already introduced. They were the sons of Anderson Rover, a
well-to-do gentleman, who was now living in retirement at Valley
Brook, in company with his brother Randolph, and the latter's wife,
Martha.
While Anderson Rover had been on a hunt for gold in the heart of
Africa, the three boys had been sent by their Uncle Randolph to a
military academy known as Putnam Hall. Here they made many friends
and also a few enemies, the worst of the latter being Dan Baxter, a
bully who wanted his way in everything. Baxter was the offspring of a

family of low reputation, and his father, Arnold Baxter, was now in
prison for various misdeeds.
The first term at school had been followed by an exciting chase on the
ocean, after which the boys had gone with their uncle to the jungles of
Africa, in a search after Anderson Rover. After the parent was found it
was learned that Arnold Baxter was trying to swindle the Rovers out of
a valuable gold mine in the far West, but this plot, after some exciting
adventures, was nipped in the bud.
The trip West had tired the boys, and they hailed an outing on the Great
Lakes with delight. During this outing they learned something about a
treasure located in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains, and the next
winter visited the locality and unearthed a box containing gold, silver,
and precious stones, worth several thousands of dollars. During this
treasure-hunt Dan Baxter did his best to bring the Rover boys to grief,
but without success.
After the winter in the Adirondacks, the boys had expected to return at
once to Putnam Hall to continue their studies. But three pupils were
taken down with scarlet fever, and the academy was promptly closed
by the master, Captain Victor Putnam.
"That gives us another holiday," Tom had said. "Let us put in the time
by traveling," and, later on, it was decided that the boys should visit
California for their health. This they did, and in the seventh volume of
this series, entitled "The Rover Boys on Land and Sea," I related the
particulars of how they were carried off to sea during a violent storm,
in company with three of their old-time girl friends, Dora Stanhope and
her cousins, Nellie and Grace Laning. It may be mentioned here that
Dick thought Dora Stanhope the sweetest