SOMETHING ABOUT CEDAR LODGE
"Oh, go ahead, Gif, and get it off your chest!"
"Don't keep us waiting."
"Has some one died and left you a fortune?"
Such were some of the remarks made after Gif Garrison had said that he
had an important announcement to make to the four Rover boys.
"Not another word until we get to your rooms," said Gif. "And, Andy,
won't you please run off and get Spouter Powell? I just saw him heading
for the gymnasium."
"All right, Gif. But don't you dare to let the others in on the secret
until I get back," returned the fun-loving Rover boy, and away he sped
on his errand.
A few minutes later all of the lads mentioned were assembled in the
Rover boys' sitting room, some on chairs, one on a table, and two on a
couch. Andy playfully started to throw a pillow at Fred, but Gif at once
put up his hand in protest.
"Any horseplay, and I'll call it all off," he warned.
"I'll be good, Gif!" cried Andy reluctantly, and got rid of the pillow
by using it for a back rest.
"This letter is from my Uncle Louis, who is a partner with my father in
the ownership of a large tract of land not far from the seacoast," began
Gif. "There is a small but comfortable bungalow on it, known as Cedar
Lodge. Nobody was going to use the Lodge this winter, and I suggested to
my folks and Uncle Louis that they allow us fellows to occupy it during
the holidays."
"And what did they say?" questioned Randy eagerly.
"They said I could go there if I wanted to, and I could take you Rover
boys and Spouter with me, provided you could get consent to go."
"Isn't that dandy!"
"Of course we'll go, Gif. Horses couldn't hold us back!"
"How is the hunting there? Can we get a deer or a moose?"
"How do you get there?"
These were a few questions hurled at Gif after he had made his important
announcement. He placed his hands over his ears in despair.
"One question at a time, please!" he begged. "What do you think I am,
anyhow--an encyclopædia? To get there you go from here to Portview, and
then along the coast to a place called Timminsport. From Timminsport you
have either to take a sleigh or else hike to the camp, which is about
five or six miles away. There is an old fellow, named Jed Wallop, who
lives near the property in a little shack some distance from the
bungalow. If we want him to, he will get a sled and drive us to the
place, and he will also assist us in getting settled, and in getting
what stores we may need--that is, provided you fellows can really go."
"You can count of me," declared Spouter promptly. "My folks said I could
do as I pleased during the holidays, provided I kept out of mischief.
And what mischief could a fellow get into in the midst of those grand
primeval forests where perhaps the woodsman has never dared to lay his
axe to the heart of the sturdy oak, and where the timid deer, in fancied
freedom, ambles through the darkening glades, and--"
"Turn off the spigot, Spouter, or you'll have us flooded!" burst out
Randy.
"Save your orations for the day before election," came from Fred.
"You can give us the rest of it, Spouter, when we are in camp some night
and have nothing to read and don't know what to do," suggested Jack.
"That's it--always cutting my rhetorical effusions short," remarked
Spouter reproachfully. "Some day, when you are aching to have me make a
speech, you'll find me dumb."
"Tell us more about this camp, Gif," cried Fred.
Thereupon Gif Garrison related all he knew concerning the camp, which
was located on a small stream of water that in the summer time ran down
to a bay emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. There was a good deal of
timber on the tract, and, so far as Gif knew, there was quite some small
game.
"I don't know about deer," he continued. "More than likely the big
animals have gone further north. But one might get a chance at a wolf or
a fox, and maybe some brook mink. We'll be sure to get plenty of rabbits
and squirrels and ducks, and most likely some partridges and maybe wild
turkeys. But, first of all, you Rovers have got to make sure that you
can go."
"Oh, we'll arrange that somehow, Gif," said Jack. "Of course, we'll want
to go home first and see our folks and cheer them up a bit. They are
pretty lonely now that our dads are over in France."
"Oh, I'm going home myself first. But we can have at least three weeks
up there, because the school is going to be closed more than a month
before and after Christmas."
Gif's announcement was such a pleasing one that the Rovers found it hard
work after that to settle down to their studies. Letters were at once
written to their mothers, and presently word came back that they might
go to the camp immediately after Christmas if they wanted to do so. Then
Jack telephoned to his sister at Clearwater Hall and got word back that
Ruth and May would go down to New York with Mary and Martha and remain
there until it was time to return to the girls' school.
"It's too bad we can't be at home while the girls are there," remarked
Jack to his cousins. He sighed deeply.
"You mean it's too bad you can't be there while Ruth is there," put in
Andy slyly.
"That's the time you struck the nail on the head!" cried Randy.
"Humph! you needn't rap me about it," returned the young captain
briefly. "I guess you'd like to see the girls yourselves."
Now that they knew what they were going to do during the midwinter
holidays, the Rover boys and their chums were eager to have the school
session come to an end. But they did not neglect their studies, nor did
Jack and Fred neglect their duties as officers.
Jack had an essay to write on "The Real Training of a Soldier," and he
spent a great deal of time over this.
"Not but what there is a good deal about it that I don't know," said
Jack to his cousins. "I guess dad could write a better essay than I can
turn out. He's seen some of the real side of a soldier's life."
"What wonderful things our dads will have to tell when they get back,"
said Fred. "That is, if they ever do get back," he added anxiously.
"Oh, they've got to come back, Fred! They've simply got to!" returned
Jack. But his face, too, showed his worry. The Rover boys did not care
to admit it to each other, yet each day every one of them worried over
their parents. It was dreadful to think that one's father, or one's
beloved uncle, might be killed by the Germans, or even badly wounded.
On the Saturday following the bobsled contest the boys assembled once
more on the long Hill, and this time they were accompanied by many of
the girls from Clearwater Hall. Jack and his cousins gave Ruth and the
others many rides down the hill, much to their mutual delight.
"Here comes Bill Glutts with his _Yellow Streak_," cried Fred presently.
"Here's a chance to have another race with him, Jack," said Fatty
Hendry. "He says you won the other race by a foul."
"That's the talk, Jack!" cried Dan Soppinger. "Show him and the whole
crowd that you beat him fairly."
At first Jack did not care to pit himself again against Glutts. But
there was so much talk that at length he consented, but insisted upon it
that the whole course of the slide must be policed by the cadets.
"All right, we'll do that," said Major Ralph Mason, and then ordered all
the cadets he could collect to station themselves on each side of the
slide from the top to where it ran out on the lake.
"Oh, Jack, I hope you do win again!" said Ruth anxiously.
"I intend to do my best," he answered.
"You have got to win, Jack Rover!" cried his sister Martha. "If you
don't beat that great big clumsy Glutts, I'll never speak to you again."
With so many cadets stationed along the course, Bill Glutts felt that
his chances of winning the race were diminishing. He had thought that he
could crowd Jack as he had done before, but now Walt Baxter laid down
the law in such a manner that it could not be misunderstood.
"I will toss up a coin," said Walt, "and if you guess right, Glutts, you
can take your choice of sides, and whichever side you or Jack Rover
select, that side you must stick to from start to finish."
The coin was tossed up, and Bill Glutts called out "tails" and won. Then
he said he would take the right side of the slide, that which Jack Rover
and his chums had previously used.
"All right, then, Glutts," announced Walt. "Now then, remember that you
have got to keep to the right all the way down; and you, Jack Rover,
must keep to the left. If either of you crosses the middle of the
course, that one will be disqualified and the race will be given to the
other."
"All right, Walt, I will stick to the left from start to finish; just
watch me and see," declared Jack.
"And I'll stick to the right," announced Bill Glutts. But his face
showed anything but a happy expression as he spoke.
Jack had the same crowd on board that he had before, but Glutts made
several changes. He retained Nick Carncross and Codfish, but for the
other three cadets substituted youths who were slightly built, and
consequently rather light in weight.
"He's saving all the pounds he can," whispered Randy.
"Jack, do you think the right side of the course is better than the
left?" questioned Gif.
"I don't know. One looks about as good as the other to me," was the
young captain's reply.
Professor Frank Grawson had come up and was quite interested in the
proposed contest.
"I used to do a lot of bobsledding myself," said the professor, who was
well liked by nearly all the cadets. "I used to have a home-made sled
which was my pride for several seasons. Now, to make this more
interesting, I'll put up a prize for the winner."
"Fine, Professor! Fine!" was the cry.
"What's the prize?"
The teacher thought for a moment.
"Well, every boy likes a good pocket knife," he said presently. "Now, to
the one who wins this race I'll give a first-class, four-bladed,
buck-handled knife. I saw some very good ones down in the hardware store
at the Point, and I'll get one Monday."
"That's splendid, Professor!" cried Jack. "I'll do my best to win that
knife."
"You'll see that knife coming to me!" exclaimed Bill Glutts, glaring at
the young captain.
Walt Baxter now called for the contestants to get ready. In a minute
more the two bobsleds stood side by side, each with its load of
passengers, and with Fred ready to push one to the front and Nick
Carncross ready to shove the other.
"All ready!" shouted Walt. "One--two--three! Go!"
And away both bobsleds dashed, and the great race was on.