sins, Nellie and Grace Laning. The
three young couples became married and settled down in connecting houses
on Riverside Drive, New York City.

About a year following their marriage Dick and his wife Dora became the
parents of a son, who was named John, and this son was followed by a
daughter Martha. The boy Jack, as he was usually called, was a sturdy
youth with many of the independent qualities which had made his father so
successful.

Shortly after the birth of Jack, Tom Rover and his wife Nellie came
forward with a great surprise in the form of a pair of lively twin boys,
one of whom was named Anderson and the other Randolph. Andy and Randy, as
they were invariably called, were exceedingly active lads, in that
particular being a second edition of their fun-loving father, Tom.

About the time Tom's twins came upon the scene, Sam Rover and his wife
Grace became the parents of a little girl, called Mary. Then, a year
later, the girl was followed by a boy who was christened Fred.

Residing side by side, the younger generation of Rover boys, as well as
their sisters, were brought up very much as one large family. At first
they were sent to private schools in the Metropolis, but the boys, led by
Andy and Randy, showed such an aptitude for fun and horseplay that their
parents were compelled to hold a consultation.

"We'll have to send those kids to some strict boarding school--some
military academy," said Dick Rover.

"I guess that's right," his brother Tom had answered. "Although how my
wife is going to get along without having the twins around is more than I
know."

At that time Lawrence Colby, the Rovers' former Putnam Hall chum, was at
the head of a military academy called Colby Hall. To this institution
Jack, Fred, and the twins were sent. And what they did upon their arrival
there is told in detail in the first volume of my second series, entitled
"The Rover Boys at Colby Hall."

The military school was located about half a mile from the town of Haven
Point on Clearwater Lake. At the head of the lake was the Rick Rack
River, running down from the hills and forests beyond. The school
consisted of a large stone building facing the river, and close by was a
smaller building occupied by Colonel Colby and his family and some of the
professors, and at a short distance were a gymnasium, a boathouse, and
likewise bathing pavilions.

On arriving at Colby Hall the younger Rovers found several of their
friends awaiti