to try to find some news of them or, if possible, to rescue them.

The steamer on which Tom sailed was wrecked, and he and some sailors,
together with a little boy, floated for some time on a derelict with
which the _Silver Star_ had collided. On the derelict, most
unexpectedly, came Professor Skeel, who was on his way to Honolulu when
the accident happened.

The dreary days of suffering oh the derelict, and in an open boat, the
meanness of Mr. Skeel and how Tom and his companions were finally
rescued, is all set down in the second book of this series. Tom
finally reached Australia and, setting out again, was just in time to
rescue his parents from the savages of one of the South Pacific islands.

Tom reached home in time to go back to school and take his second-year
examinations, which he passed, thus becoming a Sophomore.

Then came the long summer vacation, and as Tom had had enough of travel
he decided to go to the woods. In the third volume, called "Tom
Fairfield in Camp," I told of his experiences in the forest. With him
went Jack Fitch, Bert Wilson and a Briartown lad named Dick Jones.

Almost at the first Tom and his chums ran into a mystery. Near where
they pitched their tents there was an old mill where there was said to
be a treasure hidden. But an old hermit who owned the mill was seeking
for the treasure, and he was not the most pleasant character in the
world. At the very start he threatened the boys and tried to drive
them from the woods.

But they decided to have a hunt for the treasure. It did not add to