[BANG! CRACK! BANG! WENT THE GUNS THE BOYS CARRIED.]

THE ROVER BOYS AT
BIG BEAR LAKE

OR

THE CAMPS OF THE
RIVAL CADETS

BY

ARTHUR M. WINFIELD
(Edward Stratemeyer)

AUTHOR OF “THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL,” “THE ROVER BOYS
ON LAND AND SEA,” “THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL,”
“THE PUTNAM HALL CADET SERIES,” ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America

Books by Arthur M. Winfield
(Edward Stratemeyer)

THE FIRST ROVER BOYS SERIES

• THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE JUNGLE
• THE ROVER BOYS OUT WEST
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE MOUNTAINS
• THE ROVER BOYS IN CAMP
• THE ROVER BOYS ON LAND AND SEA
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE RIVER
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE PLAINS
• THE ROVER BOYS IN SOUTHERN WATERS
• THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM
• THE ROVER BOYS ON TREASURE ISLAND
• THE ROVER BOYS AT COLLEGE
• THE ROVER BOYS DOWN EAST
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE AIR
• THE ROVER BOYS IN NEW YORK
• THE ROVER BOYS IN ALASKA
• THE ROVER BOYS IN BUSINESS
• THE ROVER BOYS ON A TOUR

THE SECOND ROVER BOYS SERIES

• THE ROVER BOYS AT COLBY HALL
• THE ROVER BOYS ON SNOWSHOE ISLAND
• THE ROVER BOYS UNDER CANVAS
• THE ROVER BOYS ON A HUNT
• THE ROVER BOYS IN THE LAND OF LUCK
• THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG HORN RANCH
• THE ROVER BOYS AT BIG BEAR LAKE

THE PUTNAM HALL SERIES

• THE CADETS OF PUTNAM HALL
• THE RIVALS OF PUTNAM HALL
• THE CHAMPIONS OF PUTNAM HALL
• THE REBELLION AT PUTNAM HALL
• CAMPING OUT DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL
• THE MYSTERY AT PUTNAM HALL

12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.

Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York

Copyright, 1923, by
EDWARD STRATEMEYER

The Rover Boys at Big Bear Lake

INTRODUCTION

My Dear Boys: This book is a complete story in itself, but forms the seventh volume in a line issued under the general title, “The Second Rover Boys Series for Young Americans.”

As told in some volumes of the First Series, this line of books was started years ago with the publication of “The Rover Boys at School,” “On the Ocean,” and “In the Jungle,” in which I introduced my readers to Dick, Tom and Sam Rover and their chums and relatives. The First Series, consisting of twenty volumes, gave the particulars of what happened to these three Rover boys while attending Putnam Hall Military Academy, Brill College, and while on numerous outings in this country and abroad. Having finished their education, the three young men established themselves in business and became married. Later Dick Rover was blessed with a son and a daughter, as was also his brother Sam, while the fun-loving Tom became the father of a pair of lively twin boys.

From their homes in New York City the four Rover boys were sent to a boarding school, as related in the first volume of the Second Series, entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall,” where they made many friends, also a few enemies. From that school the scene was shifted to “Snowshoe Island,” where the boys spent a winter outing, and then they rejoined their fellow cadets in some strenuous happenings while “Under Canvas.” Then in “The Rover Boys on a Hunt” they uncovered the mystery surrounding a lonely house in the woods.

The older Rovers had become interested in oil, and in the next volume, entitled “The Rover Boys in the Land of Luck,” I related how the lads went to Texas and Oklahoma. Then one of their chums asked them to take a vacation in the West, and in the volume preceding this and called “At Big Horn Ranch” they had the time of their lives.

In the present story the scene is shifted back to Colby Hall and then to some rival camps on the edge of a big lake. What happened to the boys I will leave the pages which follow to relate.

As many of my readers know, the sale of this line of books has now passed the three million mark. To me this is as wonderful as it is pleasing. I earnestly hope that the reading of these volumes will do all of the boys and girls good.

Affectionately and sincerely yours,

Edward Stratemeyer.

CONTENTS

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

THE ROVER BOYS AT
BIG BEAR LAKE

CHAPTER I
ON THE LAKE

“It’s great, I’ll say!” declared Randy Rover.

“I should say it was!” returned his twin brother, Andy. “Just think of swooping through the air like a bird! Gee, I’d like to own a flying machine myself!”

“Well, our fathers owned one once,” declared Captain Fred Rover, somewhat proudly. “They flew clear to Brill College in their machine.”

“Yes, I’ve often heard them talk about that,” put in Major Jack Rover. “They called the machine the Dartaway. It was a biplane and of rather primitive construction, because in those days aeroplanes were a new invention and the best of them were rather crude.”

“I wonder what ever became of that machine?” questioned Andy.

“Oh, it went into the scrap heap long ago,” declared his cousin Fred.

“They didn’t have much use for it after they left college and went into business in Wall Street,” explained Jack. “But they certainly had some dandy times in it.”

The four boys were out on Clearwater Lake in one of the rowboats belonging to Colby Hall. They had been watching the maneuvers of a large biplane which had circled over their heads several times. This biplane had made its headquarters at a cove just below Haven Point, and its owners had advertised far and wide to take people up for a fly around the lake for fifteen dollars per person. As this was the first aeroplane to come to the lake for business, it had taken up quite a few people during the past ten days.

“I wonder how long they stay up on a trip,” remarked Andy, as the four boys resumed their rowing.

“The circulars say fifteen minutes,” answered Fred.

“It didn’t seem to me he stayed up more than ten minutes the time before this,” said Jack. “I suppose they cut the time when they have other people waiting to go up. They carry only two passengers at a time, you know, and I suppose they want to make hay while the sun shines.”

“A dollar a minute is making money pretty fast,” observed Randy. “I’d like to rake in an iron man every sixty seconds by the watch,” and he grinned.

“Yes, but it costs something to run a flying machine,” returned Jack. “And then there is the risk, too.”

“Well, if we went up it would cost the four of us sixty dollars,” declared Randy.

“And I don’t see ourselves spending sixty dollars that way just now,” cried Jack. “My spending money for this quarter is getting low.”

“Don’t say a word, Jack, about spending money!” came from his cousin Fred, with a wry face. “I’m almost high and dry.”

“It’s lucky they can’t charge us for looking at the aeroplane,” chuckled Andy.

The four Rover boys had left Colby Hall about an hour before for a row down the Rick Rack River to the lake. In a boat behind them were four of their chums, Dick Powell, often called Spouter because of his fondness for making long speeches, Gif Garrison, who was at the head of the school athletics, and Ned Lowe and Dan Soppinger. Each crowd of cadets was in a well-built four-oared boat, and a little while before had indulged in a race which had come to an end when all had stopped rowing to look at the aeroplane which was soaring above their heads.

Boating that year promised to become popular at Colby Hall. Colonel Colby had had the institution fitted out with several new racing shells, and in addition had purchased two motor-boats of which all the cadets were very proud. A man had been hired who knew all about motor-boats, and he was instructing the various cadets in the use of the craft.

“I must say I wish we were out in one of the new motor-boats,” declared Fred, after they had gone on rowing for ten minutes more. “This is rather hot and tiresome work.”

“Never mind, Fred. You need the exercise,” declared Jack. “You’re getting too stout. The first thing you know you’ll be as fat as Fatty Hendry.”

“Gosh! don’t say that, Jack,” returned the young captain quickly. “Why, Fatty is so fat he can hardly get through the dormitory doors!”

“That aviator won’t want to take up Fatty,” remarked Andy. “That is, not unless he went up alone and paid double fare.”

“Hi, you fellows, get a move on!” came a shout from the other rowboat, and Gif Garrison waved a hand towards the Rovers. “I thought you were going to do a little rowing practice. Remember, we have got to get busy if we want to win any of those boat races later on.”

“Fred and I are not in those races, Gif,” answered Jack. “You know officers are not expected to enter any contests like that.”

“Yes, but I expect Andy and Randy to go into at least one race,” declared the cadet who was at the head of the athletic committee. “And when they go in I want them to make a real showing for Colby.”

“We’ll do that all right enough,” declared Randy.

“I’m going in for practice every day after this,” answered his brother.

“Just remember we’ve got to wipe Longley Academy from the face of the lake,” declared Spouter Powell. “We’ll show them that as a military academy they are not one, two, three with good old Colby Hall.”

“That’s the talk!” cried Jack. “There’s going to be only one real military academy around here, and that’s Colby.”

“So say we all of us!” sang out his cousin Andy.

“What did they want to turn Longley Academy into a military school for, anyway?” grumbled Ned Lowe. “I thought when they started that school they were going to give their attention mainly to athletics.”

“So they did,” answered Gif Garrison. “But when they saw how popular Colby Hall was becoming, and how they were losing one scholar after another, I guess the owners got busy and concluded the only thing they could do would be to turn the academy into a military school and give their boys the showiest kind of a uniform.”

“And they sure have got the uniforms!” declared Fred, who overheard this remark from the other boat. “Gosh! you would think they were cadets from one of those little jerkwater monarchies in Europe. Such gold braid and buttons and such lace! It’s enough to make an ordinary American boy sick!”

“You’d better not tell them that,” said Jack quickly. “If you do they’ll say you’re jealous of them because our uniforms are so ordinary.”

“Well, you give me the good old gray and khaki every time,” came from Randy. “Both of those colors stand the wear a good deal better than that showy stuff will ever do.”

“Come on, fellows; jack her up!” called out Gif. “I’ll bet you a pint of peanuts we can beat you to the landing at Berry Island.”

“Make it a quart and we’ll go you!” shouted back Jack gayly.

“And they’ve got to be freshly roasted, too,” broke in Andy. “No stale old goobers from Rigoletto’s place where they’ve been lying in his show window for a month or two! They’ve got to be freshly roasted, right out of the whistling roaster!”

“Get ready—pull!” cried Gif, a few seconds later, and at this word of command from the head of the general athletic committee the four Rovers started up the lake with the other boat close by their side.

It was a beautiful day in early summer, and the surface of Clearwater Lake sparkled in the sunshine. There was scarcely any wind and consequently conditions were ideal for rowing.

Ever since they had come to the military academy the four Rover boys had spent more or less time on the river and the lake beyond, so they were no novices when it came to handling an oar. Jack set the pace, and his three cousins kept stroke with him in a fashion that could not help but win approval.

“Come on, fellows! We’ve got to beat ’em!” cried Gif Garrison to his rowing mates. “Pull now, and make every stroke tell!”

“We are not as well matched up as they are,” panted Ned Lowe, who was by far the poorest rower of the bunch. “Those Rovers have been rowing together ever since they came to the Hall.”

“Don’t growl, Ned! Row!” returned the leader, and then the cadets in the second boat did their best to outstrip their rivals.

It was certainly a spirited race and well worth watching. But no other craft was in sight, the two rowboats apparently having that portion of the lake entirely to themselves. The aeroplane which had attracted the rowers’ attention had glided away in the distance and they could no longer hear the roar of the motor.

Berry Island was little more than a quarter of a mile away. It was for the most part very rocky, but at one end there was a somewhat sandy beach where the boys occasionally went in bathing.

“Say, it wouldn’t be a bad stunt to go in swimming after this race,” puffed Randy, as he bent over his oar.

“No use to go in when you’re all tired out and in a sweat,” declared Fred, who on account of his stoutness found it rather difficult to keep up with the others.

The Rovers had forged ahead, and it looked very much as if they would win the race when suddenly Randy began to drag. Then he lost his stroke and that threw his brother out of stroke, too, and this caused the rowboat to swerve from its course and the craft under Gif Garrison’s directions shot ahead.

“Hi! what’s the matter with you?” cried Jack, in some vexation.

“My oar caught on a rope or some bit of seaweed,” declared Randy. “It’s gone now,” and he and his brother proceeded to right themselves. Then they caught the stroke and went forward as before.

This little mishap occupied only a few seconds of time, but during that period the other boat went ahead a good hundred feet. Gif and his followers were rowing with all their might, bound to put all the distance possible between themselves and their competitors.

“Swing into it! Swing!” cried Jack. “We’ve got to catch up! Now then—all together and make her jump out of the water!”

Jack had always been the leader of the four cousins, and they obeyed his instructions as best they could. They put in every ounce of their strength on the oars, and slowly but surely their craft began to overtake the other rowboat.

“Pull, you duffers, pull!” cried Gif, as he saw the Rovers crawling up. “We’re almost to the island! Pull, or they’ll overtake us!”

He increased the stroke and Spouter and Dan followed. But this speed was too great for poor Ned Lowe, and all of a sudden Ned’s oar came up with a tremendous splash that showered everybody in the boat with water. Then Ned lost his balance and he and Spouter came close to falling overboard. The craft slued around directly in the path of the second rowboat.

“Stop rowing! Back water!” cried Jack, as the sudden shouts ahead warned him that something was wrong. He gave a quick glance around, as did his oar mates, and then he and Fred threw their craft out of the course. An instant later the oars of the boats scraped each other. But then the craft separated.

“Some narrow escape, I’ll say,” declared Randy, when the momentary danger was over.

“What’s the matter with you fellows, anyway?” called out Fred.

“Ned lost his stroke, that’s all,” answered Gif.

“Lost his stroke and gave us a shower bath at the same time,” put in Dan.

“Well, I guess the race is off,” declared Jack, good-naturedly. “Anyway, I think it’s about time that we got back to the Hall. I want to see Captain Dale before we have the evening parade.”

“Let’s rest at the island just a few minutes,” pleaded Randy. “I want to get my wind back before—— Gee, boys, look at that, will you?”

He broke off suddenly and in his excitement stood up in the rowboat pointing skyward as he did so. All looked in the direction pointed out and saw that the aeroplane was again heading in their direction. But now instead of sailing along on an even keel the flying craft was zigzagging in a most unusual fashion.

“Say! there’s something wrong with that flying machine, that’s sure,” declared Fred in excitement.

“Maybe the aviator is trying a few stunts,” suggested Andy. “They do that once in a while, you know.”

“But not when they have passengers who are green at flying!” burst out Jack. “I believe something is wrong with that machine.”

“Look! Look! Did you ever see anything like that?” came from the other boat. “That aviator acts as if he were crazy! Or otherwise his machine has got the jimjams.”

By this time the aeroplane was almost over their heads. The roar of the motor was deafening. The great machine darted from one side to the other, and then took a dip and a whirl which made it look as if both rowboats and their occupants might be doomed.

CHAPTER II
ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS

“Look out!”

“We’re going to be smashed!”

“That fellow must be crazy!”

Such were some of the cries coming from the Rover boys and their chums as the big aeroplane swooped around from one side to another almost over their heads.

It was a truly perilous moment, and no one realized it more than did the Rovers. And what to do not a one of them knew. To attempt to row out of the way might prove the worst move of all, for it might bring them directly to the spot where the aeroplane would come crashing down.

“Let’s dive overboard,” suggested Fred. “Go down as deep as you can!” he yelled.

This seemed good advice and some of the lads were on the point of following it when suddenly the aeroplane made another swoop and struck the surface of the lake some distance away. It sent the water flying in every direction, some of the drops even reaching the cadets. The propeller gave a snap and one blade went whizzing up into the sky to come down on the other side of Berry Island. Then the flying machine began slowly to settle and the motor stopped abruptly.

“Help! Help! Save us!” came in a girlish voice across the water. “Save us!”

“Look! Look!” exclaimed Jack, springing suddenly to his feet. “Unless I’m mistaken, that is Ruth Stevenson!”

“It is Ruth, just as sure as you’re born!” declared Fred. “And a man and the aviator are with her!”

“That man must be her father,” went on Jack. “She said he was going to call at Clearwater Hall to see her. Come on, boys! We’ve got to get to them before the aeroplane pulls them under. Hurry! Row for all you’re worth!”

As he uttered the last words Jack sank down on the seat and grasped tight hold of the oar which had almost gotten away from him in his excitement. The others also fell to rowing, and away they pulled for the sinking aeroplane which was less than two hundred feet away. Soon the other rowboat followed.

And while the four Rover boys and their chums are going to the rescue of those in peril, it may be as well for me to state as briefly as possible who the boys were and how they came to be in their present situation. Of course, those who have read the previous volumes of this series will need no special introduction to the Rovers, and they can skip these pages if they so desire.

In the first volume of the line, entitled “The Rover Boys at School,” I introduced three brothers, Dick, Tom and Sam Rover and told how they were sent to Putnam Hall Military Academy where they had a number of adventures and where they made great friends of three other students, Larry Colby, Songbird Powell, and Fred Garrison.

Passing from Putnam Hall, these three brothers next attended Brill College, and then went into business in New York City by organizing The Rover Company with offices on Wall Street.

During their schoolboy days the three lads had made the acquaintanceship of three nice girls, Dora Stanhope and her cousins Nellie and Grace Laning. Shortly after the three couples were married and settled down in connecting houses on Riverside Drive, New York City. As the result of his marriage Dick Rover became the father of a son, Jack, and a daughter named Martha. Sam Rover was blessed with a girl called Mary, and then a son who was christened Fred. At about this same time Tom Rover’s wife, Nellie, came forward with a lively pair of twin boys, who were named Anderson and Randolph after their grandfather and their great-uncle. Andy and Randy, as they were always called, were full of fun, coming naturally by this, as their father had been as full of life as any lad could well be.

Being brought up side by side, the younger generation of Rover boys, as well as the girls, lived together very much as one large family. But soon the boys began to cut up to such an extent that it was decided to send them to some strict boarding school.

About that time Larry Colby, the chum of the older Rovers, had opened Colby Hall, a military academy patterned somewhat after the national institution at West Point. This was considered just the institution for the younger generation, and in the first volume the Second Series, entitled “The Rover Boys at Colby Hall,” I related how Jack, Fred and Andy and Randy journeyed to that institution of learning and how they made a number of warm friends and also defeated several of their enemies.

The military school was located about half a mile from Haven Point, a small town on Clearwater Lake close to where the Rick Rack River ran into that body of water. The school consisted of a large stone building facing the river and close by was a smaller building occupied by Colonel Colby and his family and some of the professors, and not far away were a gymnasium, a boathouse, and several necessary buildings.

On arriving at Colby Hall the four Rovers found several of their friends already there, including Spouter Powell and Gif Garrison, the sons of their fathers’ old classmates.

Up the lake on the other side of Haven Point was located Clearwater Hall, a boarding school for girls. During a panic in a moving picture theater the four Rover boys became acquainted with several girls from this school, including Ruth Stevenson and May Powell, a cousin of Spouter. Later on Mary and Martha Rover became pupils at the girls’ school, and all of the young folks got to be warm friends.

After a term at Colby Hall the four Rover boys had the pleasure of spending the winter holidays on “Snowshoe Island.” Then a little later they went “Under Canvas” with their fellow cadets, and later still went on a grand hunt, using a bungalow up in the woods which belonged to Gif Garrison’s uncle. This was during the great World War and when the older Rovers had all gone to France to fight for democracy.

The return of the older Rovers brought a surprise. Dick Rover had saved the life of a man from Texas and in return had received a deed to some land which later on was supposed to contain oil. Dick decided to go to Texas and Oklahoma, and the four boys begged to go with him. And they had some stirring adventures in what has so often been called “The Land of Luck.”

After their adventures in the Southwest the four boys returned again to Colby Hall. At this time Jack was captain of Company C and Fred was a lieutenant in the same command.

There was a spirited rivalry when a new election for officers was held. But in spite of many efforts made to defeat them, Jack was chosen major of the school battalion and Fred was made captain of Company C. Andy and Randy might have held minor offices, but both preferred to remain privates, especially as that would enable them to take part in the various athletic exercises. At first Colonel Colby had allowed the cadets to join the baseball nine, football eleven, and the rowing teams, even though they were officers. But there had been some grumbling that “some cadets were trying to do everything and would not give the others a show,” and so it had been decided that while all cadets were supposed to go in for athletics in general, they could not be officers and take part in any official athletic contests.

During this term at school Spouter asked the Rovers and Gif Garrison to spend the summer vacation with him out in Montana on a ranch owned by his father. How the Rovers went out there with their chums and what stirring times they encountered have been related in the volume preceding this, entitled “The Rover Boys at Big Horn Ranch.” In that book they exposed the acts of one of their enemies, Brassy Bangs, and also brought a number of horse thieves to justice.

“We have certainly had some strenuous times here,” remarked Jack, one day.

“I suppose it will be dead quiet for us this winter when we return to Colby Hall,” his cousin Randy had answered.

“Well, that will give us a chance to catch up in our studies,” Fred had suggested. “We don’t want to fall behind. If we do, our folks may take us away from Colby Hall.”

“Oh, we don’t want to leave that place—at least, not just yet!” Andy had put in hastily.

The winter had passed rather quietly, the boys going home only for the Christmas holidays. During that time there had come only one surprise, and that was the news concerning Longley Academy. This institution of learning, which had been in existence only a short time, had been devoted very largely to physical culture and athletics and had an extra fine baseball grounds with a beautiful grandstand and bleachers. But strange to say, the athletics had not been as prosperous as the management of the institution wished, and a good many of the pupils had been on the point of leaving, and several had applied for admission to Colby Hall.

As a consequence of this the owners of Longley had turned the academy into a military school with a section devoted to horsemanship. The cadets were given a most striking uniform, and everything possible was done to induce the cadets of Colby Hall to shift to the other institution.

“And I call that about as mean a piece of business as could happen,” was Jack’s comment, in talking this over with some of his chums. “Of course they have a perfect right to make a military academy of Longley if they want to; but they have no right to steal away our cadets.”

Among the boys to leave Colby Hall and go to Longley were Paul Halliday and Billy Sands, who had been great chums of Brassy Bangs while that individual was a cadet. Of course, Colonel Colby was sorry to have any of his pupils leave him, but the Rovers were rather glad to see Halliday and Sands go.

“It’s good riddance to those fellows!” Fred had remarked. “I never considered either of them much better than Brassy Bangs himself.”

“Oh, I don’t think Halliday and Sands are quite as bad as Bangs was,” Randy had answered. “Still I’d rather have them somewhere else than here.”

During the winter the cadets of Colby and the boys at Longley had had several contests on the ice and had also indulged in several snowball fights. In one of these fights Fred had received a black eye from a snowball hurled by Billy Sands. In return for this Sands had been caught a little later and rolled down into a snowy hollow, much to his disgust. In one of the skating races Paul Halliday had come in ahead of two of the cadets from Colby, and because of this he and the other cadets from Longley had done considerable crowing.

“We’ll show Colby where they get off!” had come boastfully from Tommy Flanders, a youth who on several occasions had pitched for the rival school.

“You’ll never show Colby anything!” Jack had retorted, and this had made Tommy Flanders very angry, because he had been virtually “batted out of the box” by the Colby baseball nine.

As a result of the new order of things a more bitter rivalry than ever had sprung up between Colby Hall and Longley Academy, and when the winter was at an end and there were talks of some boat races everybody was wondering how the matches would terminate. The Colbyites hoped that they might win, while the Longley supporters went around everywhere declaring that they “would wipe up the lake” with their rivals.

This was the condition of affairs when the four Rovers had gone out on the afternoon of this bright day in early summer for a row on Clearwater Lake. They had been talking about the boys at Longley Academy when their attention had been attracted to the aeroplane, as mentioned at the beginning of this story.

The flying machine was one belonging to an aero corporation which sent aeroplanes to many summer resorts where they might be used by visitors and others. Each was supposed to be in first-class condition and under the care of an experienced aviator.

At first it was supposed that the aviator would be able to get but little patronage at Haven Point for the reason that the town was small and the district sparsely settled. But it was soon found that, by skillful advertising, the flying machine drew a great many visitors to the lake; and sometimes the aviator was called on to make a dozen or more trips a day.

As he usually carried two passengers and as the fare was fifteen dollars per person, it can readily be seen that the business was a prosperous one. The local paper had devoted several columns to the enterprise, giving the personal experience of a number of people who had made a flight. So far nothing in the way of an accident had occurred to mar the success of the undertaking.

But now in the twinkling of an eye all this was changed. For some reason as yet unknown the huge flying machine had struck the bosom of the lake in slanting fashion and one of the blades of the propeller had been broken of to fly into space. And now the aeroplane was on the point of sinking, carrying the aviator and his two passengers with it.

CHAPTER III
THE RESCUE FROM THE BIPLANE

“I wonder if they are strapped to the seats of that biplane?”

“More than likely. They usually strap themselves and their passengers fast to keep from falling out.”

“If they can’t loosen the straps they’ll surely be drowned.”

“Come on, fellows, row for all you’re worth! A second gained may mean a life!” yelled Jack.

“Say, wasn’t that Ruth Stevenson?” came from the second boat.

“Yes,” answered Fred. “Hurry up! We’ve got to save them!”

All this conversation came in jerks, for every cadet was working frantically at his oar in a mad endeavor to reach the sinking aeroplane. They were almost up to the spot when they heard a queer gurgle and suddenly the big flying machine slid from view under the surface of the lake.

“It’s going down!” cried Randy, glancing hastily around.

By this time the first rowboat had reached the scene of the accident and all of the boys threw down their oars to get a better view of the situation. The water was much disturbed, and in the foam created by the disappearing flying machine could be seen two men struggling, one with some sort of strap fastened around him.

“Help! Help! I can’t swim!” cried one of the men, and Jack recognized Mr. Stevenson’s voice.

“Help! I’m being pulled down! Help!” gasped the aviator.

“Go after him, fellows! I’m going after Mr. Stevenson!” called out Randy, and immediately leaped overboard, followed by his brother.

“Where is Ruth?” questioned Jack anxiously, for the girl from Clearwater Hall was one of his dearest friends.

He had scarcely spoken when he saw an arm appear a short distance away. Then Ruth’s head bobbed up and the girl uttered another cry.

“Help me! I can’t move my feet! Help me!”

By this time the second boat was close at hand and a glance showed Jack and Fred that the aviator was already clambering on board. Another glance showed Randy and Andy supporting Mr. Stevenson.

“I’m coming, Ruth! Keep up!” cried Jack, and leaping to the bow of the rowboat he made a quick, slanting dive overboard which brought him within a few feet of where the girl was floundering. He knew that Ruth was a fair swimmer and realized that something must be radically wrong if she could not keep herself afloat.

“Oh, Jack! Jack! Is that you?” gasped the girl. “Help me! My feet are all tangled up!”

“I’m coming, Ruth,” he reassured her. And then he yelled back to his cousin: “Fred, bring the boat up here, quick!”

The stout young Rover hastened to comply, and while he was doing this Jack continued to swim swiftly towards the hapless girl. He caught hold of Ruth’s arm just as she was about to go down a second time.

“Grab hold, Ruth. I’ll support you,” he said. “What is holding you?”

“I don’t know. A strap, I guess. I had one around me and it loosened and slipped to my knees.”

“Just hang over my shoulders and you’ll be all right,” answered the young major. “I was afraid you had been hurt.”

“But, Jack! I can’t move my feet at all!”

“Never mind. We’ll soon have you on board the boat.”

“Where is daddy?”

“Andy and Randy went for him. I’m sure they’ll save him. We’ve got two boats here, and four cadets in each; so there is plenty of assistance at hand.”

At that instant Fred came alongside with the boat and it was the work of but a few seconds to place the dripping girl aboard. Then Jack followed. As Ruth had said, a strap had become tangled around her knees, but this was now disposed of.

In the meantime Andy and Randy had reached Mr. Stevenson, and with something of an effort they managed to get that gentleman over to the vicinity of the second boat. Ruth’s father was somewhat excited, and this was but natural. He could not swim, and, moreover, he had received a blow in the side which pained him considerably.

“My daughter? Where is my daughter?” he questioned as soon as he had hold of the side of the boat.

“Jack and Fred went after her,” answered Spouter. “There they are, over yonder. Jack is supporting her.”

“Thank heaven then she isn’t drowned!” said Mr. Stevenson, shuddering. “I’d have gone after her myself; but what can a man do if he can’t swim? After this I’ll advocate that every boy and girl be forced to learn to swim,” he added, with emphasis.

“Either that or keep away from the water,” returned Andy grimly.

“Oh, Jack, what a terrible experience!” came from Ruth, when she could regain her breath. “I thought surely I was going down to the bottom of the lake. And how good of you to come to my aid!”

“You don’t suppose I was going to let you drown, Ruth?” he answered quickly.

“I have to thank you too, Fred,” went on the girl.

“Oh, I didn’t do so much,” answered the stout Rover modestly. “It’s mighty lucky we happened to be in this vicinity,” he went on.

“And just to think I was going to surprise you, Jack!” continued Ruth.

“Surprise me?”

“Yes. By sending you a picture of daddy and me in the aeroplane. You see, my father came to Haven Point last night and called on me this morning, and he happened to know the men who are running the aero corporation. So when I begged him to take me up he agreed and we had our photographs taken just when we started.” She paused and gave a sudden shiver. “Oh, if daddy had been drowned, what would I have done!”

A little later the two boats came together and Mr. Stevenson joined his daughter in the craft manned by the Rovers.

“I scraped my side on the machine when we came down so suddenly,” explained Ruth’s father. “It hurts me yet. I think I’ll see a doctor about it when I go ashore. I must have scraped the skin pretty hard, if nothing more,” and he winced.

“We’ll row for Haven Point right away,” answered Jack.

“I suppose that’s the last of my biplane,” said the aviator. “How deep is the lake around here, do any of you know?”

“I don’t believe it’s very deep right here,” answered Gif. “Do you see that sandy beach over on the island yonder? Well, that sandbar extends out in this direction.”

“Then maybe the machine didn’t sink as far down as I thought it might,” went on Tom Bossick, for such was his name. “I’d like to mark this spot if I could.”

“Maybe you could dive overboard again and find out what became of the flying machine,” suggested Dan Soppinger. “That is, unless you feel too weak.”

“Oh, I’m all right. I went through a good deal worse than this when I was flying for Uncle Sam in France,” said Bossick, with a grin. “If you fellows are not in a hurry I’d like to find out what did become of the old lady.”

“If you fellows want to stay here with the aviator, we’ll take Mr. Stevenson and Ruth over to Haven Point,” said Jack.

“All right, go ahead,” answered Gif readily. “We’ll take the aviator over later, after he has located his machine. I suppose, if it’s only in shallow water, it might be raised again?”

“So I was thinking,” answered Tom Bossick.

A minute later the two boats separated and the four Rovers took up the task of rowing to Haven Point.

“It’s mighty lucky for us that there’s no wind and the sun is so warm,” said Jack, as he glanced at the water still dripping from his own garments and those worn by the others who had been in the lake.

“We’ll create a sight when we reach the town,” was Randy’s comment.

“I guess everybody will want to know what happened to the flying machine and if the folks on board were rescued,” put in Fred. “You three will be regular heroes,” and he gave something of an envious glance at his cousins.

“Oh, say, Fred! Can that hero stuff,” put in Andy quickly. “Anybody would have done what we did if only they had had the chance.”

“Nevertheless, I’m very thankful to all of you,” said Mr. Stevenson.

“Are you sure you weren’t hurt quite a good deal, Mr. Stevenson?” questioned Jack. He noted that the face of Ruth’s father was pale and haggard.

“Oh, I don’t think it’s very much, Jack. Of course, we came down so hard it gave us all a terrible jolt.”

“It was like one of those roller-coaster boats hitting the water at a seaside resort,” remarked Randy.

“A good deal worse than that!” cried Ruth. “You know, we came down nose first, as they say. Why, for an instant I thought I was going to be thrown out on my face. And, you must remember, we were several hundred feet up in the air when we started to fall.”

“Oh, I know you came down pretty hard,” answered Andy. “Why, the water splashed in every direction!”

After this there was a brief period of silence, the boys bending vigorously to their oars, feeling that the Stevensons would like to get ashore and to shelter as soon as possible.

“I am staying at the Haven Point House,” said Mr. Stevenson. “I’ll go right up there and get an extra room for Ruth, and then we can telephone to Clearwater Hall and have some of the girls bring her some dry clothing. And I’ll have a doctor look her over, as well as find out what’s the matter with my side. I don’t think it’s much, but I want him to make sure. I have trouble enough these days without becoming sick,” he added, with a thoughtful look on his face.

As anticipated, their coming to one of the docks of the town created not a little excitement. A number of persons had seen the erratic movements of the biplane and had witnessed its disappearance into the lake, and the news had spread that the aviator and his passengers were probably drowned. Several boats had put out to the scene of the disaster, but these now returned. A crowd surrounded the Stevensons and the cadets, asking numerous questions. But Jack soon obtained a taxicab, and into this the Stevensons were hurried and the driver was directed to take them at once to the hotel.

“We’ll be up after a while,” said Jack. “I want to telephone to Colonel Colby first, to let him know we’ll be late in getting back. I don’t want to leave here until I find out what condition your father is really in.”

With the Stevensons gone, the Rover boys told the crowd some of the particulars of what had happened.

“I think I know what was the trouble,” said another aviator who was present, a man who occasionally took Tom Bossick’s place. “Tom and I were going over the motor a couple of days ago, and I noticed that it wasn’t as fast to the framework as it might be. It’s my opinion it worked loose, and that threw the machine off its keel.”

“The aviator didn’t say what went wrong,” answered Fred. “Perhaps he didn’t know himself. But one thing is sure—the biplane bobbed around from one side to the other several times before it headed down into the lake.”

“Well, they can all be thankful they escaped with their lives,” said one of the bystanders, and in this statement everybody concurred.

The Rover boys telephoned to the military academy and gave the head of that institution a few of the particulars of what had occurred. Colonel Colby had heard nothing about the aeroplane accident, and was, of course, much surprised. He readily gave the boys permission to remain in town for an hour longer in order that they might ascertain more of Mr. Stevenson’s real condition.

A motor boat had been sent to the scene of the wreck, and this presently returned with Tom Bossick on board.

“The cadets in the other rowboat have returned to their school,” said the aviator. “We found that the aeroplane was under less than twenty feet of water, so I have hopes that we can raise her and maybe have her repaired, or at least save the engine. I think she rests on that sandbar one of you young fellows mentioned.”

“And what went wrong?” questioned Fred eagerly.

“I think the motor got loose somehow. We’ll have to investigate after we raise the biplane—if we ever do.”

A little later the four Rover boys went to the hotel. There they encountered Jack’s sister Martha and Fred’s sister Mary, who had just come over from Clearwater Hall with some dry clothing for Ruth. Of course the two Rover girls were greatly excited, and they rushed at their brothers and their cousins, demanding to know if they were perfectly all right.

“Sure we are!” declared Fred. “Why, I wasn’t even in the water!”

“But the rest of you are dripping wet,” declared Martha.

“We’re all right,” answered Jack. “But what we want to know is how Mr. Stevenson and Ruth are.”

“Ruth says the bath didn’t hurt her a bit,” answered Mary. “But she is rather worried about her father.”

A few minutes later Ruth came forth. Her hair was still wet and done up fantastically in a towel, but she wore the dry clothes the other girls had brought her.

“I’m perfectly all right,” she said to Jack.

“What about your dad?”

“The doctor says he’ll have to keep very quiet for a few days,” went on the girl soberly. “He received a blow in the side just under the right arm. He is all black and blue.”

“He seemed to be very haggard, Ruth,” remarked the young major.

At this Ruth Stevenson gave Jack a look which he found hard to interpret. She caught Jack’s hand and drew him a little to one side.

“Dad has been having a whole lot of trouble lately,” she whispered. “Some time I’ll tell you all about it—or at least as much as I know of it.”

CHAPTER IV
A SUDDEN INTERRUPTION

Quarter of an hour later found the four Rover boys once more on the lake, this time bound for Colby Hall. They had said good-by to Ruth. Mary and Martha were to return by taxicab to Clearwater Hall.

“You boys have got to be careful after this,” said Jack’s sister. “Suppose that flying machine had come down on top of you? You might all have been killed!”

“Yes. But suppose we hadn’t been in that vicinity when it did come down?” returned her brother. “Ruth and all of them might have been drowned!”

“I understand Colby Hall and Longley Academy are going to have some boat races soon,” said Mary to the twins. “Are you going to take part?” She knew that, as officers, Jack and Fred could not participate.

“Gif says he wants us in one of the races,” answered Randy. “I certainly would like to put one over on some of those Longley fellows.”

“I heard one of the Longley cadets bragging that the Colby Hall fellows were deserting as fast as they could and coming over to Longley,” broke in Martha.

“That isn’t true, Martha!” returned Andy. “We’ve lost just five cadets all told, and two of them were fellows we were glad to get rid of—Billy Sands and Paul Halliday.”

“Oh, you mean the cadets who used to travel with Brassy Bangs!”

“Yes. And let me tell you something—Longley Academy has lost over fifteen pupils during the past year; and of those, four are now enrolled at Colby and three more are trying to get in. So I guess all told we have the best of it.”

Jack had had no opportunity to ask Ruth the particulars of her father’s trouble. But he had promised to see the girl a few days later or call her up on the telephone, and then, he knew, she would give him more of the facts.

“Mr. Stevenson certainly looked very haggard,” he mused to himself. “He certainly must have something very serious on his mind. I hope it isn’t something that will affect Ruth. It would be too bad if he lost his money or something like that and Ruth had to give up going to Clearwater Hall.”

The strenuous happenings of the afternoon, along with the unexpected bath of Jack and the twins, made the Rover boys rather weary, and so they took their time at rowing up the lake to the river.

“There is no use of our hurrying,” declared Fred. “We won’t be in time for the evening parade anyway. And Colonel Colby said we could take our own time.”

“Just the same, I want to get there before the mess hall is closed,” declared Andy. “I’m about famished.”

“Don’t say a word about being hungry!” returned his twin. “I wish we had bought some doughnuts, or something like that, before we left town.”

“I’m sure Captain Dale will allow us something to eat even if the mess hall is closed,” declared Jack. Captain Dale was one of their military instructors and the official who took charge of the academy during Colonel Colby’s absence.

The summer day was drawing to a close and the sun was setting behind the hills to the west of Haven Point when the tired cadets reached the mouth of the Rick Rack River. Here there was a small island in the middle of the stream dividing that waterway into two rather narrow channels.

“Here comes a motor-boat!” exclaimed Fred presently, pointing up the river. “I wonder if it’s one of our boats coming to meet us.”

“I hope it is,” returned Randy. “I’d much rather be towed back than do more rowing.”

“It isn’t one of our boats,” said Jack, a few seconds later. “Our boats are all striped white and blue. This one is green and yellow.”

“Green and yellow!” exclaimed Andy. “Why, that’s the color of some of the Longley boats! To my mind they are the ugliest things on the lake.”

It was indeed a motor-boat belonging to Longley Academy, and as it came closer the Rovers noted that it contained four cadets, two in khaki outing uniforms and the other two in the brilliant uniforms used by the Longley cadets when on parade.

“Gee! how those fellows do love to show off those uniforms,” remarked Fred.

“Maybe that’s the only suit of clothes they have to their backs,” chuckled Andy.

The motor-boat coming down the river occupied the middle of the stream. As it reached the vicinity of the little island just mentioned it should have turned to the other channel from that being used by the Rover boys. Instead, however, it came rushing straight towards them.

“Hi, you! Get out of the way there! Look where you’re running!” exclaimed Jack, in alarm.

“Ha-ha! Don’t get scared,” sang out a youth at the wheel of the motor-boat. “We won’t run you down.”

By this time the motor-boat was directly alongside of the rowboat. It came so close that the oars on that side scraped the hull of the heavier craft. There was a tremendous swell from the propeller, and the next instant a small wave hit the gunwale and dashed over the Rover boys’ feet. The rowboat bobbed up and down in the narrow channel like a cork, the water foaming and churning all around it. In the meanwhile the motor-boat darted ahead and was soon out on the broad bosom of Clearwater Lake.

“Well, of all the gall!” burst out Andy, as soon as he could recover from his astonishment.

“They did that on purpose!” burst out Jack. “Did you see who was at the wheel?”

“It was Tommy Flanders!” cried Randy.

“He’s sore over the way he was batted out of the box in those baseball games,” remarked Fred. “Just the same, he had no business to endanger our lives in this narrow passage. I wish we could get hold of him,” and he shook his head angrily.

“We can’t follow a motor-boat in a rowboat,” answered Jack. “Just the same, we ought to let him hear from us about this.”

“If we only had one of our own new motor-boats,” groaned Fred, “I bet we could catch that old tub!”

“Did you notice who the fellows in the gaudy uniforms were?” questioned Andy. “Our beloved friends, Halliday and Sands!”