The Rover Boys in Camp | Page 3

girl in the world, and Tom
and Sam were equally smitten with Nellie and Grace Laning.
Being cast away on the Pacific was productive of additional adventures
and surprises. On a ship that picked the girls and boys up they fell in
again with Dan Baxter, and he did all in his power to make trouble for
them. When all were cast away on a deserted island, Dan Baxter joined
some mutineers among the sailors, and there was a fight which

threatened to end seriously for our friends. But as luck would have it, a
United States warship hove into sight, and from that moment the boys
and girls, and the friends, who had stuck to them through thick and thin,
were safe.
Before the warship left the island a search was made for Dan Baxter
and for those who had mutinied with him. But the bully and his
evil-minded followers kept out of sight, and so they were left behind to
shift for themselves.
"Do you think that we will ever see Dan Baxter again?" Sam had
questioned.
"I hardly think so," had been Dick's reply. But in this surmise the elder
Rover boy was mistaken, as later events will prove.
The journey across the Pacific to San Francisco was accomplished
without incident. As soon as the Golden Gate was reached the boys,
and also the girls, sent telegrams to their folks, telling them that all was
well.
Mrs. Stanhope was staying at Santa Barbara for her health. All of the
girls had been stopping with her, and now it was decided that Dora,
Nellie, and Grace should go to her again.
"It's too bad we must part," Dick had said, as he squeezed Dora's hand.
"But you are coming East soon, aren't you?"
"In a month or two, yes. And what will you do?"
"Go back to Putnam Hall most likely--if the scarlet fever scare is over."
"Then we'll be likely to see you again before long," and Dora smiled
her pleasure.
"It will be like old times to get back to the Hall again," Sam had put in.
"But first, I want to go home and see the folks."
"Right you are," had come from Tom. "I reckon they are dead anxious

to see us, too."
And so they had parted, with tight hand-squeezing and bright smiles
that meant a good deal. One train had taken the girls southward to
Santa Barbara, and another had taken the boys eastward to Denver and
to Chicago. At the latter city the lads had made a quick change, and
twenty-six hours later found them at Oak Run, and in the carriage for
the farm.
CHAPTER II
NEWS OF INTEREST
"My boys! my boys!"
Such was the cry given by Anderson Rover, when he caught sight of
the occupants of the carriage, as the turnout swept up to the piazza of
the comfortable farm home.
"Home again! Home again Safe from a foreign shore!"
sang out Tom, and leaping to the ground, he caught his father around
the shoulders. "Aren't you glad to see us, father?" he went on.
"Glad doesn't express it, Tom," replied the fond parent, as he embraced
first one and then another. "My heart is overflowing with joy, and I
thank God that you have returned unharmed, after having passed
through so many grave perils. How brown all of you look!"
"Tanned by the tropical sun," answered Sam. "Oh, here is Aunt Martha,
and Uncle Randolph!"
"Sam!" burst out the motherly aunt, as she kissed him. "Oh, how you
must have suffered on that lonely island!" And then she kissed the
others.
"We've certainly had our fill of adventures," came from Dick, who was
shaking hands with his Uncle Randolph. "And more than once we

thought we should never see Valley Brook farm again."
"We were real Robinson Crusoes," went on Sam. "And the girls were
Robinson Crusoes, too."
"Are the girls well?" questioned Mrs. Rover.
"Very well, auntie. If they hadn't been we shouldn't have parted with
them in San Francisco. They went back to Santa Barbara to finish their
vacation."
"I see. Well, it certainly was a wonderful trip. You'll have to tell us all
the particulars this evening. I suppose you are as hungry as bears just
now. Tom is, I'm sure."
"Oh, Aunt Martha, I see you haven't forgotten my failing," piped in the
youth mentioned, with a twinkle in his eye. "And do I get pie for
dinner?"
"Yes, Tom, and all you care to eat, too. We are going to make your
home-coming a holiday."
"Good!"
They were soon in the house, every nook and corner of which was so
familiar to them. They rushed up to their rooms, and, after a brushing
and a washing up, came down to the big dining room,