in number, Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom next, and small but
sturdy Sam bringing up the rear of a trio of as bright and up-to-date a
set of American lads as could be found anywhere.

The home of the lads was with their father, Anderson Rover, and their
Uncle Randolph and Aunt Martha, on a beautiful farm at Valley Brook, in
the heart of New York State. From this farm they had been sent to Putnam
Hall, a semi-military institute of learning situated near Cedarville, on
Cayuga Lake. This was while their father had mysteriously disappeared
while on an exploring tour into the heart of Africa.

At Putnam Hall the Rover boys made a number of friends, some of whom
have already been mentioned in these pages, and they likewise made
several enemies. Chief among the enemies were Josiah Crabtree, a
dictatorial teacher, and Dan Baxter, a bully who had done his best to
make them "knuckle under" to him.

Since those first days at school many changes had taken place; so many,
in fact, that but a few can be noted here. Crabtree had been discharged,
and was now in prison for trying to hypnotize a lady into marrying him.
This lady was Mrs. Stanhope, the mother of Dora Stanhope, who lived in
the vicinity of Putnam Hall, and a girl of Whom Dick Rover thought a
good deal.

It had not taken the Rover boys long to discover that not only the
dictatorial old teacher, but also the bully, Dan Baxter, were rascals,
and, what was more, that Arnold Baxter, the father of Dan, was an old
enemy to their father. Following this had come a journey to Africa and
into the jungle in search of Mr. Rover, and this mission accomplished,
the Rover boys had gone West to establish a mining claim in which their