rowd, and all the talk was of how Jason Sparr had acted and who had
been mean enough to play such a trick.

"Maybe it was Nat Poole," said Chip.

"What makes you think that?" asked Phil.

"Oh, he is mean enough for anything."

"If Nat did this I'll--I'll mash him!" cried Phil, with energy.

"Can't you find out?" asked Roger.

"I'll try--but most likely the fellow who did it took care to cover up
his tracks. Sparr didn't know where the messages came from."

On and on rolled the carryall, until the lights of Rockville appeared
in the distance. By this time all of the students were decidedly
hungry. They rolled up to the little hotel and those with horns gave a
couple of shrill blasts.

This time there was a warm welcome by the host. He came out, bowing
and smiling.

"Did the best I could for you, on such short notice," he said, as they
entered. "Next time, if you'll only give me a little more time----"

"That's all right, let's have what you've got," cried Buster. He was
hungry enough to eat anything.

They were ushered into what was usually the private dining-room of the
little hostelry. The table had been spread out and was tastefully
decorated with paper chrysanthemums, made by the hotel man's daughter.
A parlor-lamp and several others shed light on the scene.

"This looks good!" murmured Roger.

"Wait till you see what we get to eat," answered Sam. "It may be
slim--on such short notice."

But he was agreeably mistaken, the spread was all that could be
desired. There were oysters on the half-shell, tomato soup, fried
chicken, mashed potatoes, lettuce salad, olives, and also coffee, pie,
and various cookies. It was served in home style, by the hotel man's
daughter and a hired girl.

"Say, this is fine!" cried Buster, smacking his lips.

"Better, maybe, than if we had stayed at the other place," added
Dave.

"Only we haven't got the music," said Phil. He was glad that matters
had taken such a nice turn, but still angry over what had gone
before.

As they had already lost so much time, the boys did not dare linger
too long over the spread. Horsehair was given something to eat in
another room, and then they set out on the return. Songs were sung and
jokes cracked, and Shadow was permitted to tell half a dozen of his
best stories. Yet, with it all, the edge had been taken off the
celebration, and Phil knew this as well as anybody, and was
correspondingly chagrined.

"I'll make that man square up wi