son for
various misdeeds.

The first term at school had been followed by an exciting chase on the
ocean, after which the boys had gone with their uncle to the jungles of
Africa, in a search after Anderson Rover. After the parent was found it
was learned that Arnold Baxter was trying to swindle the Rovers out of
a valuable gold mine in the far West, but this plot, after some
exciting adventures, was nipped in the bud.

The trip West had tired the boys, and they hailed an outing on the
Great Lakes with delight. During this outing they learned something
about a treasure located in the heart of the Adirondack Mountains, and
the next winter visited the locality and unearthed a box containing
gold, silver, and precious stones, worth several thousands of dollars.
During this treasure-hunt Dan Baxter did his best to bring the Rover
boys to grief, but without success.

After the winter in the Adirondacks, the boys had expected to return at
once to Putnam Hall to continue their studies. But three pupils were
taken down with scarlet fever, and the academy was promptly closed by
the master, Captain Victor Putnam.

"That gives us another holiday," Tom had said. "Let us put in the time
by traveling," and, later on, it was decided that the boys should visit
California for their health. This they did, and in the seventh volume
of this series, entitled "The Rover Boys on Land and Sea," I related
the particulars of how they were carried off to sea during a violent
storm, in company with three of their old-time girl friends, Dora
Stanhope and her cousins, Nellie and Grace Laning. It may be mentioned
here that Dick thought Dora Stanhope the sweetest girl in the world,
and Tom and Sam were equally smitten with Nellie and Grace Laning.

Being cast away on the Pacific was productive of additional adventures
and surprises. On a ship that picked the girls and boys up they fell in
again with Dan Baxter, and he did all in his power to make trouble for
them. When all were cast away on a deserted island, Dan Baxter joined
some mutineers among the sailors, and there was a fight which
threatened to end seriously for our friends. But as luck would have it,
a United States warship hove into sight, and from that moment the boys
and girls, and the friends, who had stuck to them through thick and
thin, were safe.

Before the warship left the island a search was made for Dan Baxter and
for those who had mutinied with him. But the bully and his evil-