Clark--Mr. Fits--went away to prison for a long term, and Gridley heard no more about him. The recovered stolen property was turned over to the owners after the trial. Dr. Bentley was so overjoyed at the recovery of his prized heirloom watch that he presented each member of d.i.c.k & Co., except the leader, with a silver watch and chain. As d.i.c.k now had the watch bought for him by his parents, he received from Dr. Bentley a handsome pair of racing skates.
Mrs. Prescott wore her fan proudly the next time that she attended a performance at the local opera house. Other Gridley folks whose property had been recovered by the Grammar School boys were equally delighted.
The reader may be disappointed that Fred Ripley was not immediately punished for his meanness to the young campers, but it may be remarked in pa.s.sing that fellows of Ripley"s kind are always caught up with and punished sooner or later.
Boys filed in from one coatroom, girls from another, at the stroke of nine on the following Monday morning.
Tap! sounded a bell, and instantly the young people in their seats came to order, hands folded on desks before them.
"Young ladies and gentlemen," began Old Dut, in his usual schoolmaster tone, "I trust that you have all enjoyed your mid-winter vacation immensely. I hope that you have brought back here refreshed bodies and minds. Have you?"
"Yes, sir," came from all quarters of the schoolroom.
"The report cards given the pupils on the first of February will show whether you have answered accurately or impulsively," continued the princ.i.p.al. "I shall not expect too great performance from you this morning, but I warn you all that I shall not be jovially inclined to overlooking inattention or skylarking. Master Dalzell, were you whispering?"
"No, sir," Dan answered truthfully.
"That is well. Any young man who has just spent many days communing with grand old Nature should feel it beneath his dignity to whisper to mere mortals. Master Hazelton, you are moving uneasily in your seat. Be calm; you will not have to cook your own dinner to-day. Miss Bentley, it is hardly fair to smile so knowingly. For aught of evidence that may be presented, Master Hazelton may be a very excellent cook. Only his late camping comrades really know--and I"m certain they won"t expose him.
Attention! Turn to page 46 of your singing books."
After the singing exercises had been finished Old Dut announced:
"Master Reade and Miss Kimball will pa.s.s around with this composition paper. Each member of the cla.s.s will have twenty minutes in which he will write a brief but interesting description of something that he saw, and which impressed him, during the vacation just closed."
Then, for some minutes, all was quiet save the scratching of pens through the room. Yet Old Dut, expert reader of pupils" eyes and glances, presently cast a bombsh.e.l.l by declaring in his dryest tone:
"Any pupil who writes anything believed to be funny will be required to explain before the cla.s.s just what he considers the joke to be. He will then also be required to laugh three times at his own joke."
Here we will leave the Grammar School boys--and girls--for the present.
However, we shall catch up with them again in the next volume in this series, which deals with spring sports, adventures and mysteries, and with a jolly good round of all the phases of public school life that interest young readers. This next volume is published under the t.i.tle, "THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WOODS; Or, d.i.c.k & Co. Trail Fun and Knowledge."
THE END
The Motor Boat Club Series
By H. IRVING HANc.o.c.k
The keynote of these books is manliness. The stories are wonderfully entertaining, and they are at the same time sound and wholesome. No boy will willingly lay down an unfinished book in this series.
1 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OF THE KENNEBEC; Or, The Secret of Smugglers" Island.
2 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT NANTUCKET; Or, The Mystery of the Dunstan Heir.
3 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB OFF LONG ISLAND; Or, A Daring Marine Game at Racing Speed.
4 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AND THE WIRELESS; Or, The Dot, Dash and Dare Cruise.
5 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB IN FLORIDA; Or, Laying the Ghost of Alligator Swamp.
6 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB AT THE GOLDEN GATE; Or, A Thrilling Capture in the Great Fog.
7 THE MOTOR BOAT CLUB ON THE GREAT LAKES; Or, The Flying Dutchman of the Big Fresh Water.
High School Boys" Vacation Series
By H. IRVING HANc.o.c.k
"Give us more d.i.c.k Prescott books!"
This has been the burden of the cry from young readers of the country over. Almost numberless letters have been received by the publishers, making this eager demand; for d.i.c.k Prescott, Dave Darrin, Tom Reade, and the other members of d.i.c.k & Co. are the most popular high school boys in the land. Boys will alternately thrill and chuckle when reading these splendid narratives.
1 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS" CANOE CLUB; Or, d.i.c.k & Co."s Rivals on Lake Pleasant.
2 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN SUMMER CAMP; Or, The d.i.c.k Prescott Six Training for the Gridley Eleven.
3 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS" FISHING TRIP; Or, d.i.c.k & Co.
in the Wilderness.
4 THE HIGH SCHOOL BOYS" TRAINING HIKE; Or, d.i.c.k & Co. Making Themselves "Hard as Nails."
The Circus Boys Series
By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON
Mr. Darlington"s books breathe forth every phase of an intensely interesting and exciting life.
1 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE FLYING RINGS; Or, Making the Start in the Sawdust Life.
2 THE CIRCUS BOYS ACROSS THE CONTINENT; Or, Winning New Laurels on the Tanbark.
3 THE CIRCUS BOYS IN DIXIE LAND; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South.
4 THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE MISSISSIPPI; Or, Afloat with the Big Show on the Big River.