The Rover Boys out West | Page 2

Who's that capering around?"
"It's me, thank you!" yelled Tom, with more force than good grammar.
"I'm doing an Indian war dance in honor of the victory. Want to join in,
anybody?"
"Stop it; you'll be coming through the roof. We had only one man hurt
on the field; I don't want a dozen hurt on the ride home."
"Oh, it's safe enough, Dick. If I feel the roof giving way I'll jump and
save myself," and Tom began a wilder caper than ever. But suddenly
George Granbury, who sat nearby, caught him by the foot, and he came
down with a thump that threatened to split the stage top from end to

end.
"It won't do, nohow!" pleaded Peleg Snuggers, the general utility man
attached to Putnam Hall Military Academy. "Them hosses is skittish,
and --"
"Oh, stow it, Peleg," interrupted George. "You know those horses
couldn't run away if they tried. You only want us to act as if we were a
funeral procession coming --"
A wild blast of horns from below drowned out the remainder of his
speech, and this finished, the football team and the other cadets began
to sing, in voices more forceful than melodious:
"Putnam Hall! Putnam Hall! What is wrong with Putnam Hall? Nothing,
boys! Nothing, boys! She's all RIGHT! Right! right! Right! Right!
RIGHT!"
Through the woods and far across the clear waters of Cayuga Lake
floated the words, followed by another blast from the horns and then
continued cheering. And their cheering was answered by others who
passed them, some in carriages and others oil bicycles. It was a clear,
sunshiny day, and nearly all of the inhabitants of Cedarville, as well as
of other villages along the lake, were out in honor of the occasion. It
had been a general holiday both at Putnam Hall and at Pornell
Academy, and the whole neighborhood had taken advantage of it.
"I believe Captain Putnam is as proud as any of us," remarked Dick
Rover, when the excitement had calmed down a bit. "When Tom
kicked that final goal I saw him rise up and nearly pound the life out of
the railing with his gold-headed cane. "I'll wager the cane is split into a
dozen pieces."
"Oh, that's nothing," put in Harry Blossom slyly. "When Tom did his
little act I saw Nellie Laning actually throw him a kiss from the grand
stand. If she --"
"Hi, below there! Who's taking my name in vain?" came from Tom,

and suddenly his head appeared at the top of one of the openings on the
side of the stage.
"I was just telling what Nellie Laning did, Tom. When you made that
splendid kick--"
"Stow it, you moving-picture camera!" cried Tom, his face growing
suddenly red. "You see altogether too much."
"Do I?" drawled Harry dryly. "Maybe. And then when Dick made his
run, pretty Dora Stanhope just put out her arms as if she wanted to hug
-- Whow!"
Harry Blossom's banter came to a sudden ending, for, as red in the face
as his brother, Dick Rover reached forward and thrust a banana he was
eating into the tormenter's half open mouth. Harry gulped once or twice,
then the fruit disappeared as if by magic.
"All right, Dick, I accept the bribe and will henceforth be silent," he
said solemnly, as soon as he could speak.
"That's right, tie up your tongue, unless you want to be lifted from the
stage," said Tom.
"It's all right," put in Dave Kearney, another cadet. "Dora Stanhope and
the Laning girls are nice folk and I don't blame anybody for being
sweet on them."
"Yes, but you keep out of their cornfield, or you'll have all three of the
Rovers after you," came from Harry warningly.
"What are we going to do to-night?" asked Dick abruptly, and in such a
tone that the others felt the bantering must come to an end. "Is it feast,
or fireworks, or both?"
"Make it both!" came in chorus from a dozen cadets. "Captain Putnam
is just in the humor to let us do anything to-night. And Mr. Strong's in
the same good humor. Let us make the best of it."

"All right; feast and fireworks it is," said Dick. "But both will cost
money. Who'll pass around the hat?"
A groan went up, as is generally the case when an academy boy is
asked to part with some of his spending money. But the groan counted
for nothing, and the passing of the hat brought in over ten dollars.
"Ten-sixty for this load," announced the cadet who had made the
collection. "And there are two other loads following, besides those who
were on their wheels. We ought to be able to collect at least thirty
dollars, and that will buy