CHAPTER XVI
AT THE MOVING PICTURE THEATER
The moving picture theater was large enough to hold several hundred people, and when the boys entered they found the place almost full.
"There are some seats—over on the left," remarked Jack, as he pointed them out. "Two in one row and two directly behind."
"Why not two in one row and two directly in front?" returned Andy, gaily, and then headed for the seats.
"You and Fred had better sit in front, and Randy and I can take the back seats," went on Jack; and so it was arranged.
They had come in between pictures and while some doors had been open for ventilation, so that the place was fairly light. As Jack took his seat he noticed that the girls who had come in just ahead of the boys were sitting close by.
"They certainly do look like nice girls," was Jack's mental comment; and he could not help but cast a second glance at the girl sitting directly next to him. She was attired in a dark blue suit trimmed in fur and held a hat to match in her lap. Jack noted that she was fair of complexion, with dark, wavy hair.
"I'm thinking this is going to be a pretty interesting picture for us, Andy," remarked Randy, as the name of the production was flashed upon the screen. "'The Gold Hunter's Secret—A Drama of the Yukon,'" he read. "That must have been taken in Alaska."
"That's right, Randy," returned his twin. "Gee! I hope this Alaskan play doesn't affect us; like that other Alaskan play once affected dad," he went on, referring to a most remarkable happening, the details of which were given in "The Rover Boys in Alaska."
"It isn't likely to," answered Randy, promptly. "Poor dad was in no mental condition to attend that show, Uncle Dick once told me. He had been knocked on the head with a footstool, and that had affected his mind."
The four Rovers were soon absorbed in the stirring drama of the Alaskan gold fields, and for the time being almost forgot their surroundings. In the midst of the last reel, however, Jack felt the girl beside him stirring.
"It's my hatpin," she whispered. "It just fell to the floor."
"I'll get it," he returned promptly, and started to hunt in the dark. He had to get up and push up his seat before the hatpin was recovered.
"Oh, thank you very much," said the girl sweetly, when he presented the article to her.
"You are welcome, I'm sure," returned the Rover boy; and then he added with a smile: "Accidents will happen in the best of families, you know," and at this both the girl and two of her companions giggled.
The photo-drama was presently finished and was followed by a mirth-provoking comedy at which the entire audience laughed heartily. Then came a reel of current events from various portions of the globe.
"Say, there's something worth looking at!" cried Fred, as a boat race was flashed on the screen.
"Right you are," responded Jack. "Just see those fellows pull! Isn't it grand?" he added enthusiastically. "I'd like to be in that shell myself," and he turned suddenly, to catch the girl beside him casting her eyes in his direction. She dropped them quickly, but her whole manner showed that she, too, was interested, not only in the race, but in what Jack had said. The cadets, of course, were in uniform, so the girl knew they were from Colby Hall.
The reel of current events had almost come to a finish, and there was intense silence as the picture showed the funeral of some well-known man of the East, when there came a sudden splutter from the operator's booth in the back gallery. This was followed by several flashes of light and then a small explosion.
"What's that?"
"Some explosion!"
"The theater's on fire!"
"Let's get out of this!"
"That's right! I don't want to be burnt to death!"
Such were some of the exclamations which arose on the air. A panic had seized the audience, and, like one person, they leaped to their feet and began to fight to get out of the theater. In a twinkling there was a crush in the aisles, and several people came close to being knocked down and trampled upon.
"Where's my hat?"
"Get back there—don't crush these children!"
"See the smoke pouring in!"
"Open the side door, somebody!"
"Keep cool! Keep cool!" yelled somebody from the gallery. "There is no fire! Keep cool!" But there was such a tumult below that scarcely anybody paid attention to these words.
While many fought to get out the way they had come in, others stormed towards the side doors of the playhouse. Meanwhile, an ill-smelling cloud of smoke drifted through the auditorium.
With the first alarm the Rover boys had leaped to their feet, and almost by instinct the others looked to Jack to see what he would do.
"Oh, oh! is the place on fire?" cried the girl who had been sitting next to the oldest Rover, and she caught him by the arm.
"I don't know," he answered. "Something exploded in the operating room."
"Oh, let us get out!" came from one of the other girls.
"Yes, yes! I don't want to be burnt up!" wailed a third.
"Don't get excited," warned Jack. "I don't believe there is any great danger. There is no fire down here, and there seem to be plenty of doors."
"The fellow upstairs said to keep cool," put in Randy. "Maybe it won't amount to much after all."
Most of the lights had gone out, leaving the theater in almost total darkness.
"Come on for the side door," said Jack. "That's the nearest way out."
The smoke from above was now settling, and this caused many to cough, while it made seeing more difficult than ever. Jack pushed Fred ahead of him, holding one hand on his cousin's shoulder, while with the other hand he reached out and grasped the wrist of the girl who had been sitting beside him.
"You had better come this way," he said; "and bring your friends along."
"All right. But do hurry!" she pleaded. "I am so afraid that something will happen."
"Oh, Ruth! can we get out?" questioned the girl next to her.
"I don't know. I hope so," answered the girl addressed, and then began to cough slightly, for the smoke was steadily growing thicker.
It was no easy matter to reach the side entrance, for already half a hundred people were striving to get through a doorway not much over two feet wide. The air was filled with screams and exclamations of protest, and for the time being in the theater it was as if bedlam had broken loose.
"Are we all here?" came from Andy, as, with smarting eyes, he tried to pierce the gloom.
"I'm here," answered his twin.
"So am I," came simultaneously from Jack and Fred.
Then Jack turned to the girl who was now beside him.
"Are all your friends with you?"
"I—I think so," she faltered; and then she added: "Annie, are Alice and Jennie with you?"
"Yes. We're all here," came from somebody in the rear. "But, oh, do let us get out! I can scarcely breathe!"
"I've lost my hat!" wailed another.
"Oh, never mind your hat, Alice, as long as we get out," came from the girl who was next to Jack.
At last the crowd at the doorway thinned out, and a moment later the four Rovers, pushing the girls ahead of them, managed to get outside. They found themselves in a narrow alleyway, and from this hurried to the street beyond.
"Oh, how glad I am that we are out of there!" exclaimed the girl who had been sitting beside Jack.
"I'm glad myself," he added, wiping away the tears which the smoke had started from his eyes.
"If only they all get out safely!" said one of the other girls.
"I don't know about that," answered Randy, seriously. "It was a bad enough crush at that side door, but I think it was worse at the front doors."
By this time everybody seemed to be out of the theater. An alarm of fire had been sounded, and now a local chemical engine, followed by a hook and ladder company, came rushing to the scene. There was, for fully ten minutes, a good deal of excitement, but this presently died down when it was learned positively that there was no fire outside the metallic booth from which the pictures had been shown and where the small explosion had occurred.
"It wasn't much of an explosion," explained the manager of the theater. "It was more smoke than anything else."
"Yes. And I yelled to the crowd that there was no fire and that they must keep cool," added the man who had been operating the moving picture machine.
In the excitement several people had been knocked down, but fortunately nobody had been hurt. A number of articles of wearing apparel had been left in the theater.
"I wish I could get my hat," said the girl named Alice, wistfully. "I don't want to go back to school bareheaded."
"What kind of a hat was it?" questioned Randy, who stood beside her. "Maybe I can get it for you;" and then, after the girl had given him a description of the head covering, he went off to question one of the theater men about it. In a few minutes more he came back with the missing property.
After Randy returned, the boys introduced themselves to the girls, and learned that all of the latter were scholars at Clearwater Hall. The leader of the party was Ruth Stevenson, who had sat next to Jack, while her friends were Annie Larkins, Alice Strobell, Jennie Mason and May Powell.
"I know a fellow named Powell quite well," remarked Jack, as the last-named girl was introduced. "He goes to our school. His name is Dick, but we all call him Spouter."
"Dick Powell is my cousin," answered May. And then she added smilingly: "I've heard of you Rover boys before."
"Yes, and I've heard of you, too," broke in Ruth Stevenson.
"And who told you about us?" questioned Jack.
"Why, a big boy at your school—the head of the football team."
"Oh! do you know Gif Garrison?"
"Yes. I suppose you know him quite well?"
"Well, I should say so!" declared Jack. "Why, my cousin Fred here is named after Gif Garrison's father. His father and my father were school chums."
"Oh! Why then we know a lot of the same people, don't we? How nice!" returned Ruth Stevenson, and smiled frankly at Jack.
After that the talk between the boys and the girls became general, and each crowd told the other of how matters were going at their own particular school.
"Yes, I've been up to Colby Hall several times to see the baseball and the football games," said Ruth to Jack in answer to his question. "It's certainly a splendid place."
"Some day, if you don't mind, I'll come over and take a look at Clearwater Hall," he answered.
"Clearwater Hall! Say, that must be a fine place to get a drink!" piped in Andy; and at this little joke all of the girls giggled.
CHAPTER XVII
THE GIRLS FROM CLEARWATER HALL
The Rover boys remained with the girls from Clearwater Hall for the best part of half an hour after the scare at the moving picture theater, and during that time the young folks became quite well acquainted.
"We'll have to be getting back to our school now," said Ruth Stevenson, presently.
"Oh, what's your hurry?" pleaded Jack. "Weren't you going to stay to the pictures?"
"No. We were going to leave immediately after that reel they were showing when the explosion occurred," the girl replied.
"Well, we've got to get back to Colby Hall in time for supper; but we can make that easily enough—we are all good walkers."
"I should think you would ride in your auto-stage," put in Alice Strobell. "I'd ride if we had a stage handy."
"The stage isn't down here now," answered Randy. "It only comes on order."
The four boys walked with the girls to the end of a side street of the town, and there the pupils from Clearwater Hall stopped to say good-bye.
"We are very thankful for what you did for us at the theater," said Ruth Stevenson. "You were very kind, indeed."
"You are regular heroes!" burst out May Powell, who by her merry eyes showed that she was almost as full of fun as were the Rover twins. "I'm going to write to Spouter and let him know all about it."
"And don't forget to mention the rescue of my hat," added Alice Strobell with a giggle.
"I hope I have the pleasure of meeting you again, Miss Stevenson," said Jack, in an aside to the oldest girl of the party.
"Well, maybe," she returned, looking at him frankly.
"I've enjoyed this afternoon very much—in spite of that excitement."
"Oh, so have I!" and now she cast down her eyes while a faint flush stole into her cheeks.
"We won't dare say much about that trouble in the theater when we get back to school," remarked Jennie Mason.
"That's right!" burst out Annie Larkins. "If we did, maybe Miss Garwood would refuse to let us attend any more performances."
"Is Miss Garwood the head of your school?" questioned Randy.
"Yes. And let me tell you, she is a very particular and precise woman."
"I guess she isn't as precise and particular as one of our professors," was Andy's comment.
"Oh! do you mean that teacher they call old Lemon?" cried May Powell.
"Yes."
"We've met him a number of times. What a ridiculous man he is! I don't understand why Colonel Colby keeps him."
"I saw you look at me when I spoke about that boat race," said Jack to Ruth Stevenson. "Maybe you like to be out on the water?"
"Oh, I do—very much! You know we have boats at the school, and I often go out with my friends."
"I like to row myself. Perhaps some day you'd like to go out with me?" went on the oldest Rover, boldly.
"I'd have to ask permission first," answered the girl, and then dropped her eyes. Evidently, however, the tentative invitation pleased her.
As was to be expected, the parting between the boys and the girls was a rather prolonged affair, and it looked as if everybody was highly pleased with everybody else. But at last Annie Larkins looked at a wrist watch she wore and gave a little shriek.
"Oh, girls, we must be going! We ought to be at the school this minute!"
"Then here is where we start the walking act," declared May Powell. "Good-bye, everybody!" and away she hurried, leaving the others to trail behind her.
"Don't forget about the row," said Jack in a low tone to Ruth Stevenson.
"I'll remember—if I get the chance," she returned; and in a moment more all of the girls were gone and the boys retraced their steps to the center of the town.
"Pretty nice bunch," was Randy's comment.
"It's funny that Spouter Powell never told us he had such a nice cousin," came from Fred.
"Hello, Fred's already smitten!" cried Jack, gaily.
"Huh! you needn't talk," retorted the youngest Rover. "How about yourself? Didn't I catch you trying to make a date with that Ruth Stevenson?"
"Oh, say, Fred! your ears are too big for your head," retorted Jack, growing red, while Andy and Randy looked at each other suggestively.
By this time the excitement around the moving picture theater had died away completely and the crowd had disappeared. The front doors were closed, but the manager was just hanging out a sign to the effect that the evening performances would be given as usual.
"I guess it was a big scare for nothing," was Randy's comment.
"The audience can be thankful that they got out without anybody being hurt," returned Jack.
The boys made a few more purchases in Haven Point, and then started back for Colby Hall.
"I wonder if those girls go to church in Haven Point on Sundays," remarked Jack, just before the Hall was reached.
"I don't know," answered Andy. "More than likely." His eyes began to twinkle. "Thinking of going to church yourself, Jack?"
"Didn't we go to church when we were at home, Andy?"
"Sure," was the prompt reply.
"I think we can find out from Spouter or from some of the other cadets," answered Fred. "I know the boys are allowed to go to whatever church they please on Sundays." It may be as well to add here that on week days regular chapel exercises were held at Colby Hall before the ordinary classes were in session.
From Spouter Jack received the information he desired, which was to the effect that his cousin May and a number of her chums generally attended a church on the outskirts of Haven Point in the direction of Clearwater Hall.
"If you say so, I'll go with you there to-morrow morning," continued Spouter; and so the matter was arranged. At the church the cadets heard a very good sermon, and after the services had the pleasure of strolling with the girls as far as the entrance to their school grounds.
Monday morning found the Rovers once more down to the grind of lessons. So far they had gotten along very well. But on Tuesday the unfortunate Andy had another run-in with Asa Lemm.
"This won't do at all, Rover," stormed the professor, after Andy had given the wrong answer to a question. "You must pay more attention to your studies."
"I'm doing the best I can, Professor," pleaded the youth.
"Nonsense! I don't believe a word of it. They tell me you spend most of your time in horseplay. Now, that won't do at all. You must buckle down to your studies or I shall have to take you in hand;" and Professor Lemm glared at the lad as if ready to devour him.
"Say, Andy, you'll have to toe the chalk mark after this," whispered his twin. "If you——"
"Silence there! I will have silence!" cried Asa Lemm, pounding on his desk with a paper weight.
"I'll have one grand smash-up with that man some day," was Andy's comment in speaking of the affair after the school session had closed. "I can't stand his arbitrary ways."
"Oh, he's a lemon—and worse," returned his brother.
During that week there was an election of officers for the school battalion, composed of Company A and Company B. The Rover boys, being freshmen, could not compete for any position, even had they so desired; but there was a good deal of electioneering among the cadets, and the lads got quite a lot of fun out of it. The announcement of who was elected was followed by a parade around the grounds and an unusually good supper in the mess hall. Then the boys were allowed to gather at one end of the parade ground near the river, where they soon had several large bonfires burning, around which they danced, sang, and cut up to their hearts' content.
The election had been a bitter disappointment to Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell. Each had wanted to be an officer of the battalion, and each had failed to get the required number of votes.
"It's that Gif Garrison-Spouter Powell crowd that did it," muttered Slugger Brown. "I saw 'em working like troopers to defeat us."
"Yes. And those Rover boys worked against both of you, too," piped in Codfish, who was present. "I watched 'em do it. They went all around among the fellows they know electioneering for the others who were running."
"It would be just like them to do it," muttered Nappy Martell, gloomily.
"I thought you were going to fight that Jack Rover to a finish some day?" questioned the sneak of the school.
"So I am—when I get the chance," returned Martell.
As soon as the election of officers was settled, the minds of a certain number of cadets turned to football. Gif Garrison was busy arranging his teams and placing the names of the players up on a big board in the gymnasium.
"Hurrah!" shouted Fred, bursting in on Jack one afternoon while the latter was busy in his room studying the next day's lessons. "Our names are up on the board, Jack! Gif has put us up for a try-out on the scrub eleven!"
"Is that so!" exclaimed his cousin, his face showing his satisfaction. "Are you sure?"
"I am. I just came from the gymnasium. We are to report for practice to-morrow afternoon at four o'clock."
"Is Andy or Randy up?"
"No. You remember they told Gif they didn't want to play football this season."
The Rover boys soon learned that not only Gif but also Spouter, Ned Lowe, Walt Baxter, and Slugger Brown were on the regular eleven. The scrub team was made up largely from the freshmen class, although Dan Soppinger and a few others of the older cadets who had never played on the first team were also included.
"Now, I want all of you to do your very best," said Gif, at the close of a long talk to the boys on what was required of them. "We'll have nothing but squad work first, and then a game or two just to find out how matters are shaping themselves."
As an aid Gif had Mr. Crews, the gymnasium instructor, who in his younger days had been quite a football player. Between the pair matters took shape rapidly, and by the end of the week the scrub was in shape to play a game against the regulars.
As was to be expected, this opening contest was a decidedly ragged one, even the regular team making many plays which caused hearty laughter.
"You fellows have all got to do better if we want to win any matches," declared Gif. "Now then, go at it as if you meant it and see that you mind the rules." And after that the playing showed gradual improvement.
Colonel Colby had not forgotten his own football days, and one afternoon he came down to the field to see what progress his pupils were making.
"Be on the alert when the signals are given," he said. "The signals," he added, "count for a good deal."
With the master of the school present, the cadets put forth renewed efforts and the playing became actually snappy. There were several well-earned runs, and once Jack managed to kick a goal from the field which brought forth considerable applause.
"Keep it up, Jack! You're doing fine!" were Gif's encouraging words.
"Thanks. I'll do the best I know how," was the rejoinder.
Fred was also working hard, and a little later he made a run which netted the scrub team fifteen yards.
"Fine! Fine!" cried his cousin encouragingly.
"That was well played," announced Gif. "But I want every man on the field to do better than he has been doing," he added, stiffening up, for he knew that a captain can only get out of his men the best that is in them by thus urging them on.
During several of the plays Jack had come into contact with Slugger Brown, and the big fellow showed that he had no friendly feeling for the Rover boy.
"You be careful," warned Jack, when Brown started once to tackle him unfairly. But the big fellow merely grinned in a sarcastic fashion. Then, less than two minutes later and while there was a wild rush on, Slugger Brown, by a sidelong and unexpected leap, hurled Jack to the ground and spiked him in the leg with his shoe.
CHAPTER XVIII
SLUGGER BROWN IS EXPOSED
To be thrown down so violently was bad enough, but to be spiked in the leg hurt so much that Jack could not repress a gasp of pain.
"Get off of me, Brown!" he panted when he could speak. "What do you mean by spiking me that way?"
"Didn't spike you!" retorted Slugger Brown, scowling viciously.
The whistle blew and Gif came running towards the pair. "What's the matter?" he demanded.
"Brown tackled me unfairly and then spiked me," answered Jack.
"It's false!" roared the accused one. "I threw him down according to the rules and I didn't spike him at all!"
The pain in Jack's leg was so intense that he could hardly stand. Fred and some others came rushing to his assistance, and between them he managed to hobble to a bench at the side of the football field. A crowd began to collect, and all wanted to know what had gone wrong.
"Let us take a look at your leg, Rover," said Mr. Crews. "That will show whether you were spiked or not." The limb was exposed, and then a cry of dismay went up.
"Why, look there—it's all bloody! Slugger Brown must have spiked him for keeps!"
"That's a shame—if he did it on purpose. He has no right to have spikes in his shoes."
"I didn't do it on purpose! It was an accident!" cried the accused player. "I didn't know I had spiked him or that I had spikes. Maybe he cut himself on a stone or something like that."
"No; he has been spiked," announced the gymnasium instructor, after examining the wound. "Come, Rover; we'll go to the gymnasium and I'll attend to that and bind it up for you."
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Brown, for doing such a thing to my cousin," said Fred.
"That's right!" broke in Randy, who had come up.
"You stop your talking!" answered Slugger Brown, uneasily. "It was an accident, I tell you. Anybody on the team might have done it."
Colonel Colby had been on the other side of the field, but now he came hurrying forward to see what was amiss. He told Mr. Crews to do everything that was necessary for Jack, and then turned to Gif.
"I think it would be as well for you to retire Brown for the present," he said in a low voice.
"Just what I was going to do," answered the football captain quickly. "We'll have to investigate this matter after the game is over."
"I don't see why I should be put off the team!" cried Slugger Brown, when notified that a substitute would take his place. "It was an accident and nothing else."
"We'll see about that later, Brown," answered Gif briefly. "Anyway, you had no right to have spikes on your shoes."
With one substitute in place of Brown and another playing Jack's position, the game went on and came to a finish in favor of the regular team by a score of 22 to 16.
"Not such a very good showing for the regulars," was Gif's comment.
"Maybe, if Jack had been in shape to play, we might have beaten you," remarked Fred, grimly.
"Oh, I'm not willing to admit that," answered the football captain. "Just the same, some of you fellows on the scrub did very well, indeed. I'm going to continue to keep my eyes on all of you."
Down in the gymnasium the wound inflicted by the spikes in Slugger Brown's shoe had been carefully washed and dressed by Mr. Crews and then bandaged.
"I don't think you'll have any great trouble from it, Rover," remarked the gymnasium instructor. "But, just the same, you had better favor that leg for a few days."
"Then you wouldn't advise me to play football?" questioned Jack in dismay.
"Not for the next few days. After that I think you'll be all right."
As soon as the game was over, Gif, aided by Mr. Crews, began an investigation, closely questioning all of the players and those looking on who had seen the encounter between Brown and Jack. Of course, there were various versions of the affair, but the consensus of opinions seemed to be that the tackle had been an unfair one and that Brown could have avoided spiking Jack had he been more careful. It was likewise considered unfair to use spiked shoes even in a practice game.
"I guess he did it just to be nasty," said Gif to Mr. Crews. "You see, he and Nappy Martell and that crowd are all down on the Rovers."
"I know nothing about the quarrels between the cadets," was Mr. Crews' reply. "But I do know that spiking anyone on purpose cannot be permitted in this institution. I recommend, Garrison, that Brown be suspended from the team."
This was going a little further than Gif had anticipated. He knew that Brown was a fairly good player, carrying considerable weight, and that the cadet's heart would be almost broken if he was taken out of the games entirely.
"Don't you think, Mr. Crews, it would be going far enough if I put him on the bench with the substitutes?" he pleaded. "To be thrown out of the team entirely is a terrible blow for any one."
"But we expect our cadets to act like young gentlemen and not like brutes, Garrison," returned the gymnastic instructor warmly. "However, if you wish to place Brown among the substitutes, I will not oppose you. His weight might help you to win some game if it was running very close and some of your best players dropped out." And so it was arranged.
Slugger Brown had been very anxious to know what the outcome of the matter would be. He was far from appeased when he received the notification that, while he would be retained on the regular team, it would be only as a substitute.
"A substitute, eh?" he said sarcastically to Gif. "So that is the way you are going to punish me for something that couldn't be helped."
"Mr. Crews and I went into the details of the affair, Brown," answered the football captain. "Mr. Crews wanted to put you off the team entirely. It was only through my efforts that you are to remain as a substitute."
"I've been the mainstay of our football eleven ever since it was organized!" stormed Slugger Brown. "I helped to win every victory that came our way."
"I'm not denying that you play well. But, just the same, if you'll remember, you've been warned of your brutal attacks before. In that game with Hixley High last Fall, the left tackle said, if you will remember, that you ought to be handed over to the police. Now Mr. Crews says—and I agree with him—that we've got to play in a clean-cut fashion, free from all needless brutality."
"Bah! I won't listen to you," howled Slugger Brown. "You're in with those Rovers, and that whole crowd is down on me just because I am chummy with Nappy Martell. I won't stand for it! If I can't play on the regular team, I won't play at all!"
"Very well then, you can suit yourself about that," answered Gif; and to avoid further argument he walked away, leaving the big youth in anything but a pleasant frame of mind.
The interview had taken place in the gymnasium, and presently Slugger Brown was joined by Nappy Martell and three or four other cronies, including Codfish.
"It's an outrage!" was Martell's comment, when Slugger had told of what had occurred. "I wouldn't stand for it! No wonder you told him you wouldn't play on the eleven any more."
"A team that has got a captain like that doesn't deserve to win," was the comment of one of the other cadets.
"Say, Slugger, why don't you get to work and see if you can't boost Gif Garrison out of his place? He has no more right to be captain of the eleven than you have."
"Easy enough to say," growled Brown. "But Garrison has too many of the fellows under his thumb. Oh, I don't care—they can go to grass with their old football games!" And then Slugger Brown stalked off by himself to nurse his wrath as best he could. He was very bitter against Jack.
"It's all that Rover boy's fault," he muttered to himself. "I don't wonder Nappy is down on that crowd."
The recent cold snap had given way to weather that was quite balmy; and, being unable to put in his off time in football practice, Jack remembered what he had said to Ruth Stevenson about a row on the river. He consulted with Fred, and then the pair managed to get a message to both Ruth and May Powell; and in return received word that the two girls would be pleased to go out the following afternoon about four o'clock.
"Gee! you fellows will have a dandy time," remarked Randy, when he heard of this. "Why didn't you let us know?"
"Four in one of those rowboats is about enough," answered Jack. "But if you and Andy want to go out, why don't you get another boat and send word to a couple of the other girls?"
"All right! Let's do it," answered Andy, quickly; and the upshot of the matter was that they telephoned over to Clearwater Hall and made an arrangement with Alice Strobell and Annie Larkins.
"It's a shame we can't ask Jennie Mason, too," said Randy, who remembered the fifth girl who had been in the crowd at the moving picture theater.
"You won't have to worry about Jennie," answered Alice Strobell, over the telephone. "She has a date with somebody else."
The Rover boys had already arranged about the boats, and promptly on time they set off down the river in the direction of the lake. They had to row past the several docks of the town, and then drew up at a small wharf, leading up to the Clearwater Hall grounds.
When the girls appeared, they were accompanied by one of the teachers, who had been sent down, evidently, for the purpose of looking the cadets over.
"Now remember, do not stay out any later than six o'clock," said the teacher, as the girls were entering the two rowboats, assisted by the boys.
"Oh, we'll have to come back a little before that time," answered Jack. "You see, we are due at Colby Hall at that hour."
"Very well then," said the teacher. "I trust you all have a pleasant time," and she smiled.
"Oh, we'll have a good time—don't worry," sang out Andy, gaily.
"To be sure we will," echoed May Powell.
And then, with the girls safely seated in the two rowboats, the boys took up the oars, and the little outing on Clearwater Lake was begun.
CHAPTER XIX
A SQUALL ON THE LAKE
"It's too bad we don't happen to have a motor boat up here," remarked Jack, as he and Fred bent to the oars of their rowboat.
"You mustn't work too hard," came from Ruth.
"I wasn't thinking of that," answered the oldest Rover boy quickly. "I was only thinking if we had a motor boat we could go farther."
"They are going to have a motor boat or two at Colby Hall next Spring—I heard Colonel Colby speaking about it," put in Fred.
"That will be very fine," remarked May. "I suppose you'll give us a ride once in a while?" she added, her eyes twinkling.
"Sure!" responded the youngest Rover, quickly.
"Hi—over there!" came from Andy, as he and his twin bent to the oars. "Want to race?"
"Of course—if you'd like to!" responded Jack.
"Oh, a race!" exclaimed Alice Strobell. "Won't that be fine!"
"There won't be any danger, will there?" questioned Annie Larkins, anxiously.
"No danger whatever, so long as we keep far enough apart," answered Randy. "And we'll do that, because we expect to leave them far behind."
"Not much you won't leave us behind!" retorted Fred. And then he added: "Are you ready?"
"Wait a minute until we have the young ladies seated just right," answered Andy. And then, turning to the two girls in the boat with him, he continued gaily: "Now sit right in the center of the boat, please; and be sure to have your hair parted exactly in the middle;" and at this both girls shrieked with laughter.
With their passengers seated to their satisfaction, the four Rovers prepared for the race.
"Where are we going to race to?" questioned Jack.
"I don't know," answered Randy. "Can any of you tell me?" he went on, appealing to the pupils from Clearwater Hall.
"You might race to the near end of Foxtail Island," suggested Ruth, and pointed to an island some distance down the lake.
"That suits!" cried Jack.
"The first one to reach the dock at the end of the island wins the race," announced May.
"And what's the prize?" questioned Fred.
"Oh, the prize will be the pleasure of rowing back," answered May, and at this little joke there was a general laugh.
"Now please don't tip us overboard," pleaded Alice.
"Nary a tip," answered Randy.
"We're not looking for tips," broke in Andy, quickly. "We are going to do this free, gratis, for nothing," and at this pun there was another laugh. Then Jack gave the signal, and away the two rowboats started on the race.
Of course, it was only a friendly affair, and none of the boys rowed as hard as he would have done in a regular contest. Nevertheless, each craft made good progress over the sparkling waters of the lake.
"Oh, my! you certainly can row," remarked Ruth to Jack and Fred, as their craft drew ahead.
"Oh, we're not warmed up yet," was Jack's reply.
"We could do much better if we were in regular rowing togs," explained Fred.
"Hi you! What do you mean by going ahead?" piped out Randy. "Come on, Andy, or they'll beat us."
"Maybe they can beat a drum, but they can't beat us," cried Andy.
And then he and his twin increased their strokes so that presently their boat was once more beside the other.
The girls were as much interested as the boys in the impromptu race, and they soon began to shout words of encouragement.
"Pull! pull! we're going to win!" cried May.
"Not a bit of it! Our boat will get there first!" sang out Alice.
"You can't beat us!" came from Annie.
"He crows best who crows last," cried Ruth.
"Right you are!" came pantingly from Jack; and then, as he saw the look of encouragement in Ruth's face, he redoubled his efforts. Fred did the same, and when they came into plain view of the tiny dock at the end of Foxtail Island their boat was two full lengths ahead of the other.
"Hi you! What kind of a race is this, anyhow?" shouted out Andy, gaily. "Why don't you keep side by side and be sociable?"
"Sour grapes!" roared Fred. "Here is where we win!" and in a moment more he and Jack sent their boat up to the side of the little dock. Almost immediately the second craft followed.
"I think all of you did very well," remarked Ruth, consolingly.
"Anyway, we came in a close second," remarked Randy.
"We would have won if it hadn't been for one thing—just one thing," remarked Andy, solemnly.
"Why, what was that?" questioned several of the others quickly.
"That was the fact that the other boat"—Andy drew a deep breath—"came in first." At this the girls shrieked with laughter and the other boys set up a howl.
"Pitch him into the lake!"
"That's right! Give him a bath!"
"A ducking will do him good—he needs to be cooled off!"
"Not much! No bath for me!" cried Andy, quickly, and lost no time in leaping to the dock, where, in the exuberance of his spirits, he turned several handsprings, much to the amusement of the girls.
"Is there anything worth seeing on this island?" questioned Jack, when the excitement of the race was over.
"There isn't anything here that I know of," answered Ruth. "In the summer time people come here to picnic. There is a nice spring of water in the center of the island."
"Let's go and get a drink," said Fred. "That race made me thirsty;" and off the whole party trooped to the spring.
The young folks had a good time at the spring and in exploring the little island, which had a hill at one end covered with trees. They found some chestnuts and also a few hickory nuts, and these the boys opened for the girls' benefit.
"I suppose we had better go on and finish the row," remarked Jack to Ruth, presently. "That is, unless you girls would rather wander through the woods."
"Oh, it's nice enough here on the island," she answered. "Remember, you'll have quite a row back to the school and then to Colby Hall."
"Oh, let's stay here for a while," put in Alice. "Maybe we'll be able to find more nuts."
They hunted around, and presently discovered another large chestnut tree which was fairly loaded. The boys threw up sticks and stones, and brought down a big shower.
"If I had known this, we might have brought along a pillowcase for the nuts," said Fred.
"We can come back some day if we want to," returned Randy.
Before leaving the island the young folks decided to go back to where the spring was located, so as to get another drink and also to wash their hands. On this trip, in speaking about the excitement at the moving picture theater, Randy chanced to mention Jennie Mason's name.
"Jennie is a nice girl," answered Annie Larkins, to whom he was speaking, "but she does some things that I do not approve of. Do you know a cadet at your Hall named Napoleon Martell—I think they call him Nappy for short?"
"Do we know him!" exclaimed Randy. "I should say we did!"
"Oh! is that so?" Annie looked at him searchingly. "Is he a friend of yours?"
"No; I can't say that he is. To tell you the truth, he doesn't like us at all."
"If that's the case, I don't mind speaking to you about Jennie," went on the girl. "You know, Jennie comes from New York City. And down there she met Nappy Martell quite a few times, and they became well acquainted. But Jennie's folks don't approve of him at all; and they don't want her to go with him." And here Annie paused.
"And do you mean to say she does go with him, anyhow?" queried the Rover boy.
"Yes. She goes out to meet him whenever she can get the chance," was the reply. "You are sure you don't approve of him?"
"Not in the least. In fact, to tell the truth, we have no use for him or the bunch he trains with."
"I see. Well, all of us think it is perfectly dreadful the way Jennie accepts Martell's invitations. Of course, we don't want to tell on her, either in school or to her folks, and yet none of us think it is right."
"Does he take her out much?"
"Oh, as much as they dare to go. He takes her out sailing on the lake and to the moving picture shows, and once they went off together on a picnic to the Clearwater Country Club. The places were all right in themselves, but I know Jennie's folks don't want her to be seen in the company of Nappy Martell. He is so loud and forward."
"You can't tell us anything about Martell being loud and forward," answered Randy, readily. "We all know him to be a regular bully. Besides that, when he isn't in uniform, he wears the loudest kind of clothes—just as if he wanted to make an exhibition of himself."
"Jennie went out with him this afternoon," continued Annie. "Where they went to, I do not know. But I think they hired a motor boat and went across the lake."
"Does Martell know how to run a motor boat?"
"Oh, yes. He told Jennie that he owned a motor boat on the Hudson River—a boat his father gave him for a birthday present."
Randy and the girl had dropped a little behind the others, who now waited for them to come up.
"I think we had better be getting back," said Jack. "It isn't as clear as it was before, and it is beginning to blow."
"Yes, we'll get back," returned Randy, with a look at the sky. He knew that a blow on the lake might be no trifling matter.
On the way over to the island the sun had been clear and warm. Now, however, it was hidden under a dark bank of clouds, which were coming up quickly from the west. The wind was already blowing freely, and out on the bosom of the lake the water was roughing up in tiny ripples.
"All aboard, everybody!" sang out Jack. And then turning to his cousins he added in a low voice: "We mustn't lose a minute of time in getting back. This blow is going to be a heavy one."
The girls were soon seated in the rowboats, and then the four Rovers lost no time in casting off from the little dock and in starting to row towards Clearwater Hall. As they proceeded, the sky kept growing darker and darker while the wind grew stronger and stronger.
"We're in for a squall all right enough," murmured Randy, as he and Andy bent to their oars with vigor.
"Gee! I only hope we can reach the shore before it strikes us," was the response.
"Row for all you're worth, boys!" sang out Jack from the other boat. "Bend to it just as if you were in a race!"
And then he and Fred, as well as the twins, settled down to the task of trying to outrace the oncoming squall.