It was supper time when the boys arrived, and as soon as they had
registered and washed up and combed their hair, they descended to
the spacious dining room, where fully a score of tables were set.

"This way, please," said the head waiter, and showed them to a
table at one side, overlooking one of the wide verandas of the
hotel.

"I'm as hungry as a bear!" exclaimed Tom. "You can't serve us
any too quick," he added, to the waiter who came up to take their
orders.

"Yes, sah, do the best I can, sah," grinned the colored man.
"What kind of soup, please?"

"I'll have ox-tail -- " began Tom, when he happened to glance out
of the window. As his gaze fell upon a man sitting in an easy
chair on the veranda he uttered a low whistle. "By jinks, boys,
look! Josiah Crabtree, as sure as you're born!" he whispered.





CHAPTER III

JOSIAH CRABTREE FREES HIS MIND

Then individual to whom Tom referred had been a former master at
Putnam Hall, but his disagreeable ways had led to his dismissal