"

"My, look at Ben's new suit! It's almost loud enough to talk!"

"Hello, fellows!" answered Dave, and striding forward he shook hands
with the crowd, one after the other.

"Got any of those mountain lions with you?" queried Joseph Beggs, a
round-faced, fat lad. "Heard you brought down about a dozen while you
were on the ranch."

"Yes, Buster, I've got three in my trunk," answered Dave, gayly. "Want
me to let 'em loose!"

"Heard you did up Link Merwell," said Luke Watson, another lad, who was
well liked because of his singing and playing abilities. "I was glad to
hear it."

"So were all of us," broke in the third boy, a tall, slim youth, Maurice
Hamilton by name. "But speaking of mountain lions puts me in mind of a
story. Once three men----"

"The same old Shadow!" interrupted Dave, grabbing his hand and giving it
a squeeze that made the story-teller of the school wince. "Shadow, I
believe you'd try to spin a yarn when you were proposing to your best
girl."

"That sure would be a yarn," cried Ben, as he, too, shook hands.

"I haven't any best girl and you know it," retorted Shadow. "But I say,"
he continued, closing one eye tightly. "How is Miss Jessie Wadsworth,
Dave?"

"Very well," was the answer, and Dave turned a bit red. "Let us have
something," he added, hastily, to the clerk behind the soda fountain
counter. "What shall it be, Ben?"

"Make it a true love frappe," sang out Buster Beggs, with a broad grin.

"But don't forget to put some ginger in it," added Shadow Hamilton.

"My love, how can I leave thee!
One parting hug I give thee!
And now when Oak Hall calls me,
I go, whate'er befalls me!"

sang Luke Watson, and put up his hands as if playing an imaginary
guitar.

"Say, doesn't anybody want to hear that story about the mountain lions?"
queried Shadow, reproachfully. Story-telling was his hobby, and it had
often been said by his friends that he would rather spin a yarn than
eat.

"Some other time, Shadow," answered Buster. "We want to hear about
Dave's trip West, and about what he did to Link Merwell."

"Before I tell you about that, let me give you a piece of news," said
Dave. And then he related how he and the others had met Merwell and
Jasniff with Nat Poole, and how the two former youths were going to
Rockville Military Academy. As he had anticipated, this created quite a
sensation, and a lively discussion followed, which was kept up even
after the crowd got aboard t