CHAPTER VII
FINAL EXAMINATIONS
“Davenport demanded fifty thousand dollars!” ejaculated Randy.
“He certainly doesn’t want much, does he?” was Fred’s comment.
“Of course my dad didn’t let him have a cent!” came quickly from Jack.
“I knew you boys would be surprised,” said Sam Rover, with something of a grim smile crossing his face. “No, he didn’t give Davenport anything but a piece of his mind and told the fellow if he didn’t clear out at once he’d have him placed under arrest.”
“Dad should have had him held, Uncle Sam.”
“That’s what I said, and so did your Uncle Tom. But your father reasoned that he had had enough trouble with Davenport, and the fellow had had trouble too—losing his money in those oil wells that went dry.”
“Yes, but the rascal is a thief and worse!” burst out Fred. “Why, he even tried to rob his partners!”
“Did dad have any idea Davenport was coming up here?” questioned the young major.
“He didn’t know what Davenport’s next move would be, but he thought it would be a good idea for me to warn both you and the girls.”
“Well, we were already on our guard, and now that we know he has made this outrageous demand for money we’ll be more wary than ever,” said Randy.
“Oh, I hope he doesn’t try to make trouble for the girls!” cried Fred.
“I have warned them to be very careful of their movements while they remain at the school,” answered Sam Rover. “We would prefer to have them go home, but they wish to finish the term.”
“They ought not to go out at all unless they have a man or one of us with them,” remarked Jack. “It wouldn’t be safe.”
“Wonder who the man was in the runabout with Davenport?” came from Andy.
“He was a stranger to me,” replied his twin, and the other boys said the same.
Sam Rover took his departure that evening and on the following morning the boys went to their classes for their final tests. Jack did not finish until after three o’clock and his cousins were even later in appearing.
“Gee, I don’t know whether I squeezed through or not,” remarked Andy. “Some of the questions were stiffer than I expected.”
“Don’t say a word! I know I flunked on two or three questions,” answered his twin.
“I know I didn’t answer everything correctly,” came from the young major.
“Neither did I,” added Fred.
One by one the cadets assembled on the campus and along the lake front. A few went out to row, but most of them hung around, wanting to know how others had made out.
That day Phil Franklin received another letter from his father in which his parent stated that he intended to take a trip to the oil fields of Oklahoma.
“And he wants me to remain here until the school opens again this fall,” said Phil. “What do you know about that?”
“You don’t mean at the Hall!” exclaimed Fred. “Why, Colonel Colby just about shuts the place up during July and August.”
“No, my father wants to know if I can’t find some suitable boarding house at Haven Point, or some other place in this vicinity. He thinks I’d be better off here than down home during his absence.”
“What about boarding with Barry Logan?” suggested Randy, mentioning a boy of the town whose mother kept a boarding house. The cadets had often met young Logan on the lake where he earned his living by fishing and by taking people out in his boat.
“That’s just what I was thinking I might do,” answered Phil. “I’ve met Barry’s mother, and she is a real nice lady, and I could have dandy times out on the lake with Barry.”
“If you stay here, Phil, I know what I’d like you to do!” cried Randy.
“What is that?”
“I’d like you to hire Barry to go on a hunt for that silver trophy. He might get some kind of a trawl and bring the vase up.”
“That’s the talk! If I stay here I certainly will go on a hunt for that trophy!” exclaimed Phil. “It will help fill in the time.”
On the following Friday afternoon there was a special session of the school, and the cadets were acquainted with the results of the examinations. It was found that Fred had received 96 per cent., Jack 94 per cent., Andy and Randy 89 and 88 per cent., respectively. Gif had 92 per cent. to his credit, Phil 91 per cent., while Spouter was overjoyed to learn that he had reached 98 per cent., the highest record made that year.
“Hurrah, Spouter! You’re sure the king pin when it comes to studying!” cried Jack, and shook hands warmly.
“Well, you and Fred did pretty well,” answered Spouter modestly.
“Gee, but I’m glad I passed!” murmured Randy. “I got about ten more points than I thought I’d have.”
All of the cadets who were to graduate that year had passed, and they were, of course, correspondingly elated.
“We’ll have to celebrate,” said Gif.
“Let’s have a farewell dinner,” suggested Jack. “And it will be a real farewell, too—farewell to Colby Hall, farewell to our offices, and farewell to baseball, football, and everything else connected with the Hall.”
From that minute on the boys to leave Colby Hall forever were kept more than busy. The Rovers helped to arrange for a final formal dinner, and then lost no time in sending telegrams home, telling the glad news of their having passed the final tests.
“Now I think we deserve a real good vacation,” said Fred.
“What do you suppose it ought to be?” questioned the young major. He had started to polish his sword for the last time, preparatory to making the best showing possible during the military maneuvers which would help to mark the closing of the term.
“Oh, I’d like to take a long trip somewhere,” answered Fred.
“Maybe you’d like to be shipwrecked again?” observed Andy. “We might fall in with another Ira Small and go after another pirates’ treasure,” he added, with a grin.
“If it’s all the same with you fellows, I’ll stay on land this summer,” said Randy. “I got all the ocean I wanted when we drifted down to the West Indies.”
The girls at Clearwater Hall did not finish their examinations until the plans for the final dinner at Colby Hall were well under way. Then it was learned that both Martha and Mary, as well as Ruth Stevenson, had passed with flying colors and that May Powell had been only slightly behind. This news came to the lads over the telephone.
“We ought to go over and congratulate them,” said Jack.
“I know what you want to do,” came from Andy, as he winked one eye suggestively. “You want to congratulate Ruth Stevenson.”
“Well, don’t you want to congratulate the girls?” demanded the young major, his face reddening.
“Of course he does! We all do!” burst in Fred.
“That’s right,” said Andy, nodding sagely. “Just the same, I’ll bet most of Fred’s congratulations go to May Powell,” and then he had to duck quickly in order to avoid a book which the youngest Rover aimed at his head.
The boys did not get a chance to go over to Clearwater Hall until the following day. In the meanwhile they received congratulatory messages from home which pleased them greatly. Then came a letter for Randy marked “personal” which filled that lad with curiosity.
“Randy’s best girl must be writing to him,” suggested Fred, as he turned the missive over. “Why don’t you let us know who she is, Randy?”
“Humph! I haven’t any best girl. And, anyway, this letter is postmarked ‘New York.’ I haven’t the least idea what’s in it.”
He tore the communication open and glanced at the heading. Then he glanced at the signature.
“Why, it’s for Andy as well as for me! And it’s from——” He stopped short. “Well, what in the world can this be, anyhow?” And then, as all of the other Rovers crowded closer, he pushed Jack and Fred back. “Excuse me, boys, but this is marked private and is for nobody but Andy and myself.”
“Well, of all things!” murmured Fred.
“What’s the big secret?” came blankly from Jack.
“I’ve got to find out myself,” answered Randy, and thereupon he and Andy retreated to a corner where they read the somewhat lengthy communication from their father with keen interest.
“Gee, what do you know about that!”
“Isn’t that the best ever!”
“Say, it took dad to think up something worth while, didn’t it?”
“Hush now, or you’ll give it away. It’s to be a secret, you know.”
“Sure, it’s a secret.”
So the talk ran on between the twins while Fred and Jack looked on in silent amazement.
“Say, is this a game?” demanded the youthful major, at last.
“I’ll bet it’s a joke,” said Fred dryly.
“It isn’t a joke. It’s the best news I’ve heard since Noah gave up ship building,” cried Andy. Then he added quickly to his brother: “Shall we tell them anything at all?”
“Sure, we’ll have to tell them something, but not the thing,” was the quick reply.
“We’re going to take a trip this summer, and you two fellows are to go along.”
“Where are you going?” questioned Jack and Fred simultaneously.
At this question the twins looked at each other and slowly a broad grin appeared on the face of each.
“Once upon a time Spouter Powell invited us to take a trip with him. Only he didn’t tell us where we were to go——” began Andy teasingly.
“And another time Gif Garrison did the same thing, and then took us to Big Bear Lake,” added Randy.
“See here! Is this another one of those secrets?” cried Jack.
“That’s it!”
“You’ve hit the nail on the head, Jack.”
“Do you mean to say you won’t tell us where we are to go?” flung out Fred.
“Nope! Can’t! Dad says we’re to keep it a secret until we are ready to start.”
“Come on, Jack, we’ll pound it out of them!” cried the youngest Rover, and sprang at the twins, followed by his cousin.
“Stop! Stop! It won’t do you any good to fight,” spluttered Randy, when he found himself backed into a corner.
“Then spill the beans, and spill ’em quick,” ordered Jack.
“It’s all well enough for outsiders to keep a secret,” broke in Fred. “There shouldn’t be any secrets among us fellows. Come on! Tell us where we’re to go.”
“I can’t do it—not until the day we are leaving school. Those are dad’s orders,” said Andy.
“And that’s the truth,” added his twin. “You’ll know where you’re going to spend your vacation on the day you’re ready to leave Colby Hall.”
“And we’re ordered to hide this letter where nobody can get at it,” went on Randy. He looked questioningly at his brother and then at his cousins. “It’s mighty queer,” he continued, “but that’s just what dad wrote down. You can figure it out for yourselves if you want to.”
For a moment all of the Rover boys were silent, each gazing at the others questioningly. Then, of a sudden, Jack emitted a low whistle.
“Well, if you fellows are telling the truth, and I suppose you are, then I think I know the answer,” he said.
“What is the answer?” demanded Fred.
“Davenport!”