"All ready!" called Ned, and then, every one playing a different tune on his fife, they marched out on the campus.

The seniors, in accordance with an old custom, had gathered in a circle about an ancient elm tree and were singing. The song was "Farewell to Thee, Dear Alma Mater," and they were in the midst of the touching lines:

"We shall be here never more; Some go to a foreign sh.o.r.e,"

"Toot! Toot!" sounded shrilly on the fifes and then the band of masqueraders, followed by scores of other boys and girls, began circling the seniors.

The farewell song was drowned in a burst of weird noises, tootings, yells and shouts.

"Farewell to the seniors!" called Ned.

"Farewell!" echoed the crowd.

"Here we go 'round the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush, the mulberry bush!" sang Bart. "All join hands!"

Then began a mad, merry dance. The seniors looked on helplessly. Some of them were laughing, and some of the girls were crying just a little bit, at the thought of leaving all their happy comrades.

"Farewell, farewell, farewell!" the other pupils sang, as they ran around in a circle, hands joined to hands.

"Now give 'em 'How Can I Bear to Leave Thee,'" suggested Ned, and the pupils quieted down and sang the song with feeling.

Then the circle broke up, and the seniors, waving their diplomas, and trying to say good-bye to scores at once, broke away from the old oak tree and started home--high school pupils no longer. But there were plenty left.

CHAPTER XII

FRANK'S QUEER LETTER

"What are we going to do this vacation?" asked Ned of his three chums, as they a.s.sembled the next Monday morning at the boat dock where they had agreed to meet.

"We had such a strenuous time Friday I haven't been able to think of anything since," said Frank. "Say that was the best last day yet, thanks to you, Ned."

"That cow was the limit," spoke Bart. "How did you happen to think of it?"

"Oh, it sort of came to me."

"And the cow 'sort of' came up stairs," cried Fenn. "Say, it was as good as a circus."

"How did you do it?" asked Bart.

"It was easy enough once I got the farmer to consent. I met him down in the yard and laid the salt trail after he left. The cow did the rest."

"Let's go for a swim," proposed Bart. "It's getting hot, and the water ought to be fine. Come on up to the old hole."

The idea pleased the others. They got their suits from the dock house where they kept them, and soon were in their boat rowing for the swimming hole, just below the Riffles.

"Wonder if we'll see the King of Paprica?" said Bart.

"They needn't worry; we'll not bother 'em."

"How do you know?" asked Frank quickly.

"Well I pa.s.sed the place where the hut was the other day, and it was gone."

"They may have moved it to another place because they didn't want us to know where it was," suggested Fenn.

"They needn't worry, we'll not bother 'em," said Bart. "It's too hot to tramp through the woods to-day."

The boys rowed leisurely up the stream, keeping close in sh.o.r.e, where there was plenty of shade. At one place they could send the craft along under an arch of overhanging bushes which made a sort of bower.

They had scarcely entered this spot, which was about half a mile below the swimming hole, when there sounded a cracking in the woods that told them some one was walking along the sh.o.r.e.

"Wait a bit," suggested Ned. "Let's see if it's any of the fellows."

Bart and Fenn, who were rowing, rested on their oars, and all four boys listened. The noise came nearer. Suddenly there peered forth from the bushes a man who had every appearance of being a tramp.

His face had not felt a razor for several weeks. His coat was in tatters, and his trousers, into which was tucked a ragged blue shirt, were all frayed about the bottoms, and flapped like those on a scarecrow. His hat was a battered derby and on one foot he wore a boot, while the other was encased in a heavy shoe. He looked at the boys for several seconds.

"h.e.l.lo," he said at length, in a pleasant voice that contrasted strangely with his disreputable appearance. "Are you boys acquainted around here?"

"Pretty well," replied Fenn.

"Well, you haven't seen a short stout man, with a black moustache and black hair, anywhere around here, have you?"

"Did he have a gilt crown on?" asked Ned quickly.

"A gilt crown? No. Why should he wear a gilt crown?" and the tramp affected surprise.

"Oh, nothing, I was just wondering, that's all," and Ned winked at the other boys.

"I guess you can't tell me what I want to know," the tramp resumed. "I'm much obliged though. About how far is it to the lake?"

"Twelve miles from here," replied Bart.

"Well, I guess I can make it by night," the man said, and then he drew back into the bushes and the boys could hear him tramping through the woods.

"What made you ask him about the gilt crown?" inquired Frank.

"Because he partly described the man we saw at the hut that day,"

replied Ned, "and I thought I might as well complete it. I guess he's here to add to the mystery. It's getting deeper. We must certainly solve it; or try to, at any rate."

"You'd make a mystery out of a fish jumping for a fly," said Frank. "Let up on it."

"Whew! But it's hot!" exclaimed Bart, as the boat was sent on, coming from the shady nook into the glare of the sun. "I'm going to stay in all morning."

They were soon at the swimming hole, and lost little time in getting into the water. Its coolness was a welcome relief from the heat and they splashed about in great glee.