He referred to one of the younger boys, Henry Stowell by name, a lad who was a good deal of a sneak and who in time past had been a toady to Brown and Martell. On account of the great width of his mouth, Stowell was usually called Codfish.
"If you fellows will keep a secret, I"ll tell you something," remarked Ralph Mason, lowering his voice. "I just heard of this a while ago."
"What is it, Ralph?" questioned Jack quietly.
"Will you fellows keep it to yourselves until it becomes public property?" asked the young major anxiously.
"Sure!" was the prompt response.
"I overheard the talk quite by accident while I was in the library.
Colonel Colby was talking to Professors Grawson and Brice. He stated that he intended to leave the Hall under the management of Captain Dale."
"You mean Colonel Colby is going away?" questioned Fred. "Where to?"
"He has offered his services to the Government."
"Hurrah for the colonel! I knew he"d do something like that!" cried Randy.
"Do you know whether his offer has been accepted?" questioned Jack.
"Of course his offer will be accepted," answered Ralph Mason. "Now that we are in this great war Uncle Sam will need all the soldiers he can possibly muster, and of course they"ve got to have first-cla.s.s men like Colonel Colby to command them."
"You"re right there," said Fred. Then he looked questioningly at Jack and the twins. The others understood that look, but just then nothing was said concerning the thought which had rushed into their minds.
"I"ve got to go now," said Ralph Mason, a few minutes later. "I suppose you fellows will want to celebrate that baseball victory to-night?"
"Surest thing you know!" declared Jack.
"I don"t suppose we"ll have as much fun as we would have had if the sh.e.l.l-loading plant hadn"t gone up," grumbled Andy. "We can"t make any such noise as that."
"Oh, we"ll have fun enough--don"t worry about that," answered his twin quickly.
"Well, don"t tear the old Hall down," returned the young major, laughing, and then hurried away.
"This certainly is great news about Colonel Colby"s volunteering for the army," said Jack, a little later.
"I wonder why Captain Dale doesn"t volunteer, too?" said Andy.
"Oh, he"s too old; and besides he"s somewhat crippled by rheumatism or something," said Randy.
The Rover boys hurried off to their room to get into their cadet uniforms. The twins went on ahead, leaving Jack and Fred alone for the time being.
"Jack, what do you think our fathers will do?" questioned Fred. He remembered that both Jack"s father and his own had at one time been officers of the cadets at Putnam Hall. The fun-loving father of the twins had never aspired to such a position, being content to remain "a high private in the rear rank," as he himself had often expressed it.
"I"m sure I don"t know, Fred," was the sober reply. "It may be that they will be just as anxious to get into the war as Colonel Colby seems to be. But you must remember that they are at the head of The Rover Company, and possibly they won"t be able to leave--at least not right away."
"But they are so patriotic they"ll want to go," declared Fred.
"Well, if they make up their minds to go, I guess we"ll be among the first to hear about it."
"Gee, how I"d like to be a soldier boy!" sighed Fred. "Wouldn"t it be great if all of us cadets could go into the army?"
"We"ll have to wait four or five years before we can do that, Fred.
And I rather think that by that time this great war will be over."
"Oh, you can"t tell how long a war like this will last. For all you know the Germans may come right over here."
"I don"t think they"ll do that. They"ll have their hands full fighting in Europe."
"Well, they"ve sent their submarines over here already."
"I know that. But I don"t think they"ve got enough submarines to transport an army that way."
Since coming to Colby Hall the Rover boys had occupied four very pleasant rooms on the second floor in a wing of the great building.
But instead of using the four rooms for bedrooms, the twins slept together and all used one of the extra rooms, No. 20, for a sitting-room.
"You fellows have got to hurry up or you"ll be late for roll call!"
cried Randy, when he entered.
"Oh, I think they"ll give us a little leeway on account of all the excitement," returned Fred. And he was right,--the roll call and drill were postponed for half an hour, for which many of the cadets were thankful.
It did not take the Rovers long to throw off their baseball togs, wash, and don their uniforms. Then they lost no time in rushing below to the gun rack and obtaining their rifles, doing this just as the drums rattled on the parade ground.
Soon the battalion of several companies was examined, and then began the roll call. After this there was a brief inspection by Captain Dale, with Colonel Colby looking on. Then the drums rattled and the fifes struck up a lively march air, and the cadets marched around the grounds, disposed of their rifles, and entered the mess hall of the inst.i.tution. Here each had his place a.s.signed to him at one of the long tables, each table presided over by one of the officers or a teacher.
The meal was a substantial one, for Colonel Colby believed in treating his pupils well, and it is perhaps needless to state that all of the cadets fell to with vigor. There was a constant clatter of forks and knives, mingled with a flow of lively conversation, carried on, however, in rather a subdued tone, for boisterousness of any sort in the mess hall was against regulations. After each lad finished he excused himself and left the hall, and soon all of them had scattered in various directions.
"Bonfires to-night!" announced Andy gaily, as he turned a handspring on the campus.
"I think we ought to have some sort of feast," said Fred.
"Great Caesar, Fred! didn"t you get enough to eat at supper?" queried Jack.
"Oh, you know what I mean--a little something to eat just before we go to bed!" answered his cousin.
"Suits me!" was the cry from the others.
Talk about the victory over Hixley High and about the excitement attending the destruction of the sh.e.l.l-loading plant filled the air.
The cadets were only boys, and the facts regarding the awful occurrence across the lake could not subdue their high spirits when they considered their great victory over the high school.
"We"ve just got to celebrate and let off steam somehow," was the way Randy expressed himself.
Boxes and barrels had already been stored away in antic.i.p.ation of a victory, and these were promptly brought forth and placed on the river front. They were piled as high as possible and then set on fire, the flames shooting skyward quickly and illuminating the scene for a long distance around.
"h.e.l.lo there, Codfish!" cried Andy gaily, when he beheld the sneak of the school standing not far from one of the bonfires.
"Got any more boxes to put on the fire, Codfish?" questioned Randy, who was beside his twin.