Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown did not appear until supper was almost over. Both had a gloomy look, as if something had gone decidedly wrong.

They glared sourly at the Rover boys and their chums, and then sat down to their meal without saying a word to anybody.

"I'll wager something slipped a cog with them," whispered Fred to Jack.

"I've got an idea," returned the oldest of the Rover boys. "Maybe Jennie Mason and that other girl who were out in the motor boat gave them a piece of their mind for not aiding us."

"Oh, I hope they did, Jack!"

"It wouldn't be anything to wonder at. That Jennie Mason seemed to be a nice girl, and I don't think she would stand for any such meanness."

Jack's surmise concerning what had happened to Nappy and Slugger was correct. The two girls had pleaded with the two cadets to go back and give those in the rowboats aid. And after much argument, in which Nappy and Slugger had proved that they were anything but young gentlemen, the girls had politely asked to be taken ash.o.r.e. This had brought on something of a quarrel, and in the end the two cadets had taken the girls to a dock near the lumber yards and quite a distance from Clearwater Hall.

"Now you can have the fun of walking to the school," had been Nappy Martell's final words.

"And I don't think you'll go out with us again in a hurry," Slugger Brown had added.

"I'll never go out with you again," Ida Brierley had answered.

"And I'd much prefer to walk to the school alone than to ride any further with you in the motor boat," Jennie Mason had added; and thus the four had parted, the two girls resolving in their hearts never to have anything more to do with Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown.

CHAPTER XXII

THE MEETING WITH HIXLEY HIGH

Football talk now filled the air at Colby Hall, and for the time being most of the cadets forgot about how the Rovers had been treated on the lake by Nappy Martell and Slugger Brown.

Nappy was particularly angry, because of the way he had been treated by Jennie Mason, on whom he had been sweet ever since they had become acquainted. Slugger, too, was hurt over what the girls had said about his meanness. But he was far more put out over the fact that he could act only as a subst.i.tute on the regular eleven, and that Gif Garrison had finally concluded to put Jack in his place. Fred had not won out for the first eleven, but Gif had told him he stood so high on the scrub that he might possibly make the team before the season came to an end.

"It's all those Rovers' fault," growled Slugger Brown to Martell.

"Of course it is!" was the unreasonable reply. "I'll tell you, Slug, we ought to do something to get square with those chaps."

"If I break loose and do that, it'll be something they'll remember as long as they live!" declared Slugger Brown, vehemently.

Nappy Martell looked at his crony knowingly, and then glanced around to see if anybody was listening.

"Let's do it right now, Slug," he said in a low voice. "I don't care what it is, so long as we can get the best of those Rovers."

"We'll think it over, Nap. This isn't to be any one-cent, every-day affair, you know."

"Right you are! I'm game for anything--just remember that!" added the other cadet.

As Gif Garrison had said, there were three football games scheduled for Colby Hall that Fall. The first of these was to be with Hixley High School, located in a town at the other end of the lake. Then would follow a game of more importance with the Clearwater Country Club, at their beautiful grounds on the outskirts of Haven Point. And then the last and most important game of all--that with Columbus Academy, located about ten miles away. Whether the last named game would be played at Colby Hall or at the Columbus Academy grounds, was still a question.

In a few days Jack recovered completely from the spiking he had received from Slugger Brown, and then he went at his football practice with greater vigor than ever. He took Slugger's place on the regular eleven, as already mentioned, and in his first game they beat the scrub team by a score of 32 to 12.

"Now, that's better!" declared Gif. "You didn't let the scrub walk all over you."

Fred had been on the scrub team, and, although that eleven had been defeated, he was in a rather happy frame of mind, for the reason that out of the twelve points scored he had been directly responsible for six points.

"I think Fred is going some," remarked Jack to Gif, later on when he had a chance to speak to the football captain privately.

"You're right, Jack," was the answer. "And I've got my eye on him."

The game with Hixley High was not a very important one, yet it was made the occasion for quite a gala day by not only the boys of both schools but likewise the girls attending the high school and also the young ladies of Clearwater Hall. The Rover boys and some of their chums invited Ruth and her several friends, including Jennie Mason and Ida Brierley, to be present, and this invitation was gladly accepted.

"I don't wonder that Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell look so glum occasionally," remarked Spouter to Jack the day after the invitations had been given and accepted. "I just had a talk with my cousin May, and she says Jennie Mason and Ida Brierley are through with those two cadets. They told Nappy and Slugger they thought they were nothing but cowards for the way they treated you Rovers on the lake."

"Well, I'm glad they've given up going with that pair," announced Jack.

The last game with Hixley High had been played on the grounds of that inst.i.tution, so that the game this year was to take place at Colby Hall.

"You fellows will have the honor of bringing the girls over from Clearwater Hall," remarked Jack to his cousins and his chums. "I'll have to stay here and do a bit of practising."

The auto-stage and a number of automobiles and carriages had been requisitioned, and also a number of motor boats on the lake, and in these the young folks from Hixley High School and from Clearwater Hall journeyed to Colby Hall.

Jack was on the lookout for Ruth and the others, and lost no time in greeting the girl as soon as she appeared.

"I'm so glad that you're on hand to encourage us to win," said he, as he took Ruth's hand.

"Thank you. But how are you sure I am here to encourage you?" she questioned mischievously. "Maybe I'm going to root for Hixley High."

"You dare!" he returned earnestly, and then they both laughed and hurried towards the grandstand, where seats had been reserved for the entire party.

"Whoop her up for Hixley High!" was the cry. And then those in favor of the high school took up the slogan:

"Do or die!

Hixley High! Hixley High!"

"They mean to win if yelling will do it," was May Powell's comment.

"Oh, I guess the cadets of Colby Hall can yell, too," responded Fred.

And he was right, for a moment later there boomed out this refrain:

"Who are we?

Can't you see?

Colby Hall!

Dum! Dum! Dum, dum, dum!

Here we come with fife and drum!

Colby! Colby! Colby Hall!"

And this the cadets repeated over and over again until they were hoa.r.s.e.

"Well, I've got to go now," said Jack, reluctantly, as word came for the team to gather in the dressing room for final instructions.