"He's trying to sneak out of the trial," said a voice in the rear of the crowd.

"I'll sneak you!" roared Lew Flap, in a rage. "I want you all to know that I ain't afraid of d.i.c.k Rover, or anybody else."

"Do you want the trial to continue?" questioned d.i.c.k, in an even tone.

"Didn't I just say I was tired out? But I'll show you what I can do some time," bl.u.s.tered Lew Flapp.

"Oh; all right."

"You needn't think you're king-pin of the punching bag," went on the tall boy, who had lost control of his temper because of the exhibition.

"Thank you, Flapp, what I think and what I don't think isn't any of your business."

"Pooh! I've heard about you and your two brothers, d.i.c.k Rover. They tell all sorts of stories about you, but I don't believe the half of them."

"Come, come, what's the use of quarreling," put in Larry pleasantly.

"I'm sure I don't want to quarrel," answered d.i.c.k. "He challenged me to punch the bag against him, and I did so, that's all."

"You're dead stuck on yourself, Rover," went on Lew Flapp slangily.

"You think you're the only toad in the puddle. But you ain't, let me tell you that. As soon as I heard about you, I made up my mind I wouldn't knuckle under to you."

"This isn't right!" cried Larry. "d.i.c.k is my friend, and let me say he never asks any cadet to knuckle under to him, unless the cadet did something that wasn't on the level."

"That's true! That's true!" came from half a dozen of the students.

"d.i.c.k Rover is all right!"

"So you're all turning against me, eh?" burst out Lew Flapp fiercely, his face growing dark with rage. "I was warned of this before I came here."

"Who warned you?" asked Tom, who had just put in an appearance.

"A gentleman who used to teach here."

"What was his name?" questioned several.

"Mr. Jasper Grinder. He said he had left because the Rover boys tried to run everything."

"That old fraud!" cried Larry.

"He left because he was kicked out," came from another.

"And he is a criminal," put in d.i.c.k. "I can prove it, if he wants me to do it."

"Oh, you can talk all you please," growled Lew Flapp. "I know what I know, and don't you forget it. And what is more, d.i.c.k Rover, don't you expect me to knuckle under to you. If you try that game, you'll get what you least expect," and so speaking Lew Flapp forced his way out of the crowd and left the gymnasium.

"Well, of all the idiots I ever met!" came from Tom. "He believes in meeting trouble three-quarters of the way, doesn't he?"

"I think Jasper Grinder must have stuffed him full of stories about us," said d.i.c.k. "That's the way that rascally teacher expects to get square on Captain Putnam--by ruining the reputation of the school."

"Oh, it's mostly Lew Flapp's fault," put in a pupil who had been at the Hall for some time. "The very first day Flapp arrived he had a row with little Tommy Browne, and knocked Tommy down, and a few days after that he had a fight with Jack Raymond, and was pounding Jack good when Mr.

Strong came up and made them run off in different directions. He's a good deal of the same kind of a bully that Dan Baxter was."

"If that's the case, he had better keep his distance," said d.i.c.k determinedly. "I don't want any quarrels, but I despise a bully thoroughly."

"So do I."

"I wonder if this Flipflap ever heard of Dan Baxter," put in Tom. "If he has he ought to profit by the example."

"Hullo, Tom's got a new name for Flapp," said one of the boys.

"Isn't his name Flipflap?" questioned Tom innocently. "Or is it Flapjack?"

"It will be Flopdown, if he ever gets into a fight with d.i.c.k," said Larry, and then followed a general laugh.

"I really don't want any more fights," said d.i.c.k, when he could be heard. "I came back to Putnam Hall to dig in and learn something. I've had enough adventures to last a lifetime. If the others will only leave me alone I'll leave them alone."

"But if they won't leave you alone, d.i.c.k?" asked George Granbury.

"Then they had better look out for themselves, that's all," was the reply of the eldest Rover.

CHAPTER IX

SETTLING DOWN TO STUDY

d.i.c.k meant what he said concerning coming back to Putnam Hall for the sake of learning something. He felt that he had lost too much time from school already to lose more, and he pitched in with a vigor that was indeed surprising.

"I don't see how you can do it," said Tom one day. "I can't, to save my life." Yet Tom was by no means a poor scholar, and if he did not stand at the head of his cla.s.s he was not far from it. Sam was also doing his best, and all of this gratified Captain Putnam exceedingly.

"It shows they can work as well as play," was what the captain told himself, and he wrote Anderson Rover a long letter, in which he praised the boys for their efforts.

The boys fell into their places at the academy with a naturalness that was surprising when one considered the adventures that had but lately befallen them. Over and over again did they have to tell of their doings while on the Pacific, and as Crusoes, and some of the cadets never tired of listening to the stories. A few, including Lew Flapp, did not believe them true, but the majority did, and that was enough for the Rovers.

d.i.c.k was now advancing in years, and he knew that before long he would either have to go into business or to college, which he had not yet fully decided. To tell the truth, the thought of separating from his brothers was exceedingly distasteful to him.

"If I went to college I'd like you fellows to be with me," he said one day to Tom and Sam. "There would be no fun in going alone."

"That's true," answered Tom. "But if you wanted us to go together you'd have to wait for Sam and me to catch up to you."

"Well, I might spend a year or so in traveling while I waited, or Sam and you might hurry up a little," answered the eldest Rover.

During those days but little out of the ordinary happened. d.i.c.k took especial care to avoid Lew Flapp, and the tall youth did not attempt to bother him. It was soon learned that Flapp was more of a braggart than anything else, and then even some of the smaller boys grew less afraid of him.

As already told, it had been decided by Captain Putnam to have the cadets elect a new set of officers for the term, and these officers were to be chosen in a somewhat different manner than heretofore.

"In the past," said the captain, when addressing the students on the subject, "you have been permitted to elect whoever you pleased to any office, from major down. This has occasionally resulted in someone being chosen who, while he might be a good scholar and a good fellow generally, was not exactly fitted to a military position. On that account I have made a change. Next Wednesday and Thursday I shall hold a general examination in military matters only, and the twenty pupils standing highest shall be the ones eligible for the positions of major, captain, and first and second lieutenants. On these twenty names you shall vote as heretofore. As we now have three companies here we shall want a major, three captains, and six lieutenants, making a total of ten officers. After that each company shall choose its own corporals and sergeants. The company marching best on parade the following Sat.u.r.day shall have the honor of carrying the flag until after the annual encampment, which this year will begin a month from to-day."