no use of complaining."
"Oh, it was a fair and square race sure enough," answered Walt Baxter. "All the same, if my skates had been just a little sharper I think I might have won," he added a little wistfully.
"Well, I am glad the honors stay in our family anyhow," announced Fred, as he skated up, followed by Andy.
"And first and second prizes, too!" cried his cousin. "That ought to be enough to hold the other fellows for awhile."
Jack and Randy were both panting from their exertions, but their faces showed their satisfaction, and especially did Jack look his pleasure when he happened to glance beyond the crowd of cadets and saw Ruth Stevenson waving her hand toward him. Beside Ruth was May Powell, who waved gaily to all of the Rovers.
"Fine race, boys! Fine race!" was Fatty Hendry's comment. "Just the same, none of you would have been in it for a minute if I had entered," and at this joke there was a general laugh.
"Say, Fatty, you should have gone into it just to lose flesh," was Andy's dry comment. "If you tried real hard, you might lose a pound a mile," and at this there was another laugh.
The crowd began to gather around Jack and Randy and the others who had won the race, and many wanted to shake hands with the oldest Rover boy. Even some of the town folks skated up, and they were followed by some of the girls from Clearwater Hall.
"I say, boys, this may not be safe!" cried Professor Brice suddenly, when the crowd on the ice had become unusually thick. "This ice isn't as strong as it might be."
"Yes, and with Fatty in the crowd——" began Andy Rover. Then, of a sudden, he stopped short because an ominous crack was heard, followed by several other cracks.
"The ice is breaking!"
"Skate away, everybody, or we'll go down!"
Instantly there was a commotion, and all of the skaters tried to break away from the spot where the crowd had congregated. The confusion was tremendous, and in the mix-up six or eight persons, including Ruth Stevenson and May Powell, were thrown down. Then came another crack, and it looked as if in another instant the ice would give way completely and precipitate the whole crowd into the cold waters of the lake.
CHAPTER II
SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS
It was a time of extreme peril, and it is doubtful if any one realized that more than did Jack Rover. He, too, had been thrown down, and across his legs was sprawled the heavy form of Fatty Hendry. It was the toppling over of the fat youth which had caused one of the cracks which were now so numerous in the ice.
"Hi! get off of me!" yelled Jack, and managed to pull one of his legs free; and with this he pushed the fat youth to one side.
"Help! help! We're going down!" came in a scream from May Powell.
The ice had become depressed where she and Ruth Stevenson stood, and both were already in a half inch of water.
"Scatter! Everybody scatter!" cried Professor Brice, and then rushed to one side, to rescue several little boys and girls.
"Come on, Jack, we've got to help those girls!" cried Randy, and caught his cousin by the arm, thus assisting him to his feet. Then off the pair skated, with Andy and Fred behind them, all bent on going to the assistance of the girls from Clearwater Hall.
Now, I know quite well that to the readers of the former volumes in these two "Rover Boys Series," all of the Rovers, both old and young, will need no introduction. But for the benefit of those who have not perused any of the previous volumes in this line, a few words concerning our characters will not be amiss.
In my first volume, entitled "The Rover Boys at School," I told how three brothers, Dick, Tom and Sam Rover, had been sent off to Putnam Hall Military Academy, where they made a host of friends, including a manly and straightforward cadet, named Lawrence Colby. From Putnam Hall, the Rovers were sent to Brill College, and after leaving that institution of learning they went into business in Wall Street, New York City, where they organized The Rover Company, of which Dick was now president; Tom, secretary; and Sam, treasurer.
While at Putnam Hall the three Rovers had become acquainted with three charming girls, Dora Stanhope and her cousins Nellie and Grace Laning. This acquaintance had ripened into loving intimacy, and when Dick went into business he had made Dora Stanhope his life-long partner. A short while after this Tom married Nellie Laning and Sam married Grace.
When first married, Dick and his beautiful wife Dora had begun housekeeping in a small apartment, but a few years later the three brothers had purchased a plot of ground on Riverside Drive, overlooking the Hudson river, and there they had built three handsome houses, Dick living in the middle house, and Tom on one side and Sam on the other.
Before the young people had moved into the new homes, Dick and Dora became the proud parents of a little son, who was named John, after Mr. Laning. The son was followed by a daughter, Martha, so named after her Great Aunt Martha of Valley Brook Farm, where the older boys had spent many of their youthful days. Little Jack, as he was called, was a bright lad with many of the qualities which had made his father so well liked and so successful in life.
About the time Jack's sister Martha was born, Tom and Nellie Rover came forward with twin boys, one of whom they named Anderson, after his grandfather, and the other Randolph, after Uncle Randolph, of Valley Brook Farm. Andy and Randy, as they were always called for short, were exceedingly clever and active lads, in this particular being a second edition of their father. Andy was usually saying things that were more or less funny, and Randy thought that playing some trick was the finest thing in the world.
"You can't find fault with those kids, Tom," Dick Rover said more than once. "They are chips off the old block."
"Well, I suppose they are," Tom Rover would reply, with a twinkle in his eye. "But if they never do anything that is really mean or harmful, I won't care."
About the same time the twins were born, Sam and Grace Rover came along with a beautiful little girl, whom they named Mary, after Mrs. Laning. Then, a year later, the girl was followed by a sturdy little boy, who was christened Fred, after Sam Rover's old school chum, Fred Garrison.
Living so close together—the three stone mansions on Riverside Drive were connected—the younger generation of Rover boys, as well as the girls, were brought up very much like one big family. The winters were spent in New York City, while during the summer the young folks were generally bundled off to Valley Brook Farm, where their grandfather, Anderson Rover, still resided with his brother Randolph and wife Martha.
At first both the girls and the boys had been sent to private schools in the metropolis. But the boys showed such a propensity for "cutting up," as Dick Rover expressed it, that the fathers were compelled to hold a consultation.
"The best thing we can do is to send them to some strict boarding school," was Dick Rover's comment, and in this the brothers agreed.
Some time before, their old school chum,
