The Rover Boys in New York | Page 4

this."
"Oh, they will, rest assured of that," came from Stanley Browne. "The
head jailer will get a raking over the coals for this, mark my words."

"The Stanhopes and the Lanings will be sorry to learn that Crabtree got
away," said Sam. "I wonder if they aren't searching for him," mused
Sam.
"Oh, they'll search for all of them," put in Songbird. "I think the
newspaper man said the sheriff had a posse out."
"Too bad!" said Dick, shaking his head gravely. "And just when we felt
sure old Crabtree wouldn't be able to give us any more trouble!"
"It beats the nation, what that man can do!" cried Sam. "Maybe be
hypnotized one of the jailers-- just as he hypnotized Mrs. Stanhope
years ago.
"He'd be equal to it-- if he got the chance," answered Tom; and then all
of the students had to go in to their classes.
To those who have read the previous volumes in this "Rover Boys
Series" of books, the lads we have just met will need no special
introduction. For the benefit of my new readers, however, let me state
that the Rover boys were three in number, Dick being the oldest,
fun-loving Tom coming next, and Sam being about a year younger still.
When at home they lived with their father, Anderson Rover, and their
Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha on a beautiful farm called Valley
Brook, in New York State.
Years before, and while their father was in Africa, the three boys had
been sent by their uncle to Putnam Hall Military Academy, as related in
detail in the first volume of this series, called "The Rover Boys at
School." At the Hall they had made a number of friends, including
Songbird Powell and the dudish student, William Philander Tubbs.
They had also made some enemies, who did their best to bring the
Rover boys to grief, but without success.
A term at school had been followed by a short cruise on the ocean, and
then a trip to the jungles of Africa, whither the lads went to find their
father, who had disappeared. Then, during vacation, the boys took a trip
West, and then another trip on the Great Lakes. After that they went in

the mountains, and then came back to Putnam Hall, to go into camp
with their fellow cadets.
This term at Putnam Hall was followed by a long journey on land and
sea, to a far-away island of the Pacific, where the boys and their friends
had to play "Robinson Crusoe" for a while. Then they returned to this
country, and, in a houseboat, sailed down the Ohio and the Mississippi
Rivers. After leaving the Mississippi they took an outing on the plains,
and then went down into southern waters, where, in the Gulf of Mexico,
they solved the mystery of a deserted steam yacht.
"And now for home and a big rest!" said Dick, and they went back to
the farm. But here something very unusual occurred, and the boys had
as lively a time as ever.
While at school the three Rover boys had become well acquainted with
three girls, Dora Stanhope and her cousins, the two Laning sisters,
Nellie and Grace. Dora was the only daughter of Mrs. Stanhope, a
widow, and soon she and Dick became the warmest of friends, while
Tom was quite taken by Nellie, and Sam often "paired off" with Grace.
In those days Josiah Crabtree had been an instructor at Putnam Hall. He
was very dictatorial, and none of the cadets liked him, and the Rovers
liked him still less when they learned that he was trying to practically
hypnotize Mrs. Stanhope into marrying him, so that he could get
control of the fortune which the widow was holding in trust for Dora.
They foiled the teacher's efforts to wed the lady, and in the end Josiah
Crabtree had to leave Putnam Hall. Later still he was arrested for some
of his misdeeds and given a short sentence in jail.
The Stanhope fortune, as a part of the money coming to the Stanhopes
and the Lanings was called, had come to Mr. Stanhope in a peculiar
way, and some outsiders claimed the treasure, which, at that time, was
secreted in a spot among the West Indies called Treasure Isle. There
was a lively chase to get there first, but the Rovers won out, and
because of this their enemies were more bitter than ever.
The boys had finished their term at Putnam Hall and on their return

home became students at Brill College, a fine institution of learning of
the Middle West. At the same time Dora, Nellie, and Grace became
pupils at Hope Seminary, located not many miles from Brill. At the
college the Rovers made many friends, including