"And now for home and a big rest!" said Dick, and they went back to
the farm. But here something very unusual occurred, and the boys had
as lively a time as ever.

While at school the three Rover boys had become well acquainted with
three girls, Dora Stanhope and her cousins, the two Laning sisters,
Nellie and Grace. Dora was the only daughter of Mrs. Stanhope, a
widow, and soon she and Dick became the warmest of friends, while Tom
was quite taken by Nellie, and Sam often "paired off" with Grace.

In those days Josiah Crabtree had been an instructor at Putnam Hall.
He was very dictatorial, and none of the cadets liked him, and the
Rovers liked him still less when they learned that he was trying to
practically hypnotize Mrs. Stanhope into marrying him, so that he
could get control of the fortune which the widow was holding in trust
for Dora. They foiled the teacher's efforts to wed the lady, and in
the end Josiah Crabtree had to leave Putnam Hall. Later still he was
arrested for some of his misdeeds and given a short sentence in jail.

The Stanhope fortune, as a part of the money coming to the Stanhopes
and the Lanings was called, had come to Mr. Stanhope in a peculiar
way, and some outsiders claimed the treasure, which, at that time, was
secreted in a spot among the West Indies called Treasure Isle. There
was a lively chase to get there first, but the Rovers won out, and
because of this their enemies were more bitter than ever.

The boys had finished their term at Putnam Hall and on their return
home became students at Brill College, a fine institution of learning
of the Middle West. At the same time Dora, Nellie, and Grace became