brought in from the hotel, which made it very pleasant.

When the three boys drove up in a carriage from the depot, three
girls came rushing out to greet them. The three were Dora Stanhope
and her two cousins, Nellie and Grace Laning.

"So here you are at last!" cried Dora Stanhope, as she gave Dick's
hand a tight squeeze.

"We almost made up our mind you had missed the train," said Nellie
Laning to Tom, giving him a bright smile as she spoke.

"How fine you are looking," said Grace to Sam. "Traveling must agree
with you."

"Traveling does agree with us," said Sam.

"We would have been here sooner, only we stopped to talk to an old
schoolmate," said Dick, and then he told about Bob Sutter.

"Oh, I remember Bob Sutter," said Nellie. "We went on a straw-ride
together once--before you came to Putnam Hall," she added, to Tom.

"I know him, too," put in Grace. "He's a nice boy."

"Of course he is," said Sam pointedly.

"But he isn't as nice as some boys," went on Grace in a lower tone,
and giving Sam an arch smile that made him feel very happy.

They were soon in the cottage and greeting Mrs. Stanhope, who had
been lying on a couch. The lady greeted them in a motherly way that
made them feel more at home than ever. She thought a great deal of
the Rover boys, and especially of Dick, and did not object in the
least to the marked attention Dick bestowed upon her only child. As
my old readers know, the Rover boys had, in the past, done mother
and daughter more than one valuable service.

The boys were fortunate in obtaining rooms in the hotel close to the
cottage, which would make it possible for them to run in and out as
they pleased.

"It's like old times to be together again," said Tom, when he and
his brothers were retiring that night. "And, as Mrs. Stanhope is
feeling so well, I guess we can have lots of fun."

And fun they did have. There were bathing in the surf, and lawn
tennis, and dancing at the hotel in the evening, and also lovely
walks and drives, and once they went out on horseback to a large
fruit farm some miles away, and were royally entertained by some of
Bob Sutter's friends. Bob Sutter and his cousin, Mary Parloe, went
along, and proved first-class company.

The idea of a trip on Bob's yacht suited everybody, and it was
decided that the whole party should go out early Monday morning,
taking old Jerry Tolman with them. They were to load down well with
provisions and visit not only several p