The Rover Boys on a Hunt; or, The Mysterious House in the Woods. Stratemeyer Edward

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СКАЧАТЬ they go! They are upset!" yelled Fred. And then he lost sight of those left behind as the Blue Moon shot out on the surface of the lake and beyond the mark set for the end of the race.

      "We win! we win!" cried Andy, leaping from the bobsled, and in the exuberance of his spirits he turned a handspring in the snow.

      "What happened to the other sled?" asked Jack, who had been so busy steering the Blue Moon he had paid little attention to what had been going on behind.

      "They had a spill," answered Fred. "But before they took it they came pretty close to running into us."

      "It was up to them to keep to their side of the road," said Gif Garrison. "Why, we might have had a terrible accident if they had run into us!"

      There were about a dozen boys on the lake who had witnessed the finish of the race, and these, along with those who had come down on the Blue Moon, now turned back to see what had happened to the Glutts party. They found the cadets who had been spilled picking themselves up and brushing the snow from their garments. One was nursing a bruised ankle, and another a bruised elbow, while Bill Glutts was wiping some blood from a scratch on his chin.

      "Well, we won the race," said Jack briefly. He had no desire to crow over his opponents.

      "Huh! you didn't win it fairly," growled Glutts, glaring at him.

      "Didn't win it fairly!" exclaimed Jack. "What do you mean by that?"

      "I mean you got in our way so we couldn't get past you—that's what I mean!" growled the other.

      "That is false, Glutts, and you know it," retorted the oldest Rover boy.

      "See here, Jack Rover! you can't talk to me in that fashion," roared Bill Glutts. He had been in a more or less bad humor all the afternoon, and the defeat had not improved his temper. "I say you got in my way, and that is why I lost the race."

      "And I say your statement isn't true," returned Jack sturdily.

      "It is true! And I won't let you or anybody else say any different," said Bill Glutts. And then, in sudden passion, he stepped forward and gave Jack a shove which sent the oldest Rover boy flat on his back in a snowbank.

CHAPTER II

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ABOUT THE ROVERS

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      The attack upon Jack Rover was so unexpected that he had no chance to save himself from going down into the snowbank. He went down so hard and the snow was so soft that for the moment he was almost covered and had to flounder around quite some to regain his feet.

      "See here, Bill Glutts! what do you mean by attacking my cousin?" cried Randy, leaping forward and catching the bully by the arm.

      "He had no right to talk to me the way he did," retorted Glutts. "Let go of me!" and he shook himself free.

      "What Jack said was true," put in Fred quickly. "I was on the back of our bobsled and watched you nearly all the time. You came over on our side of the road at least three different times."

      By this time half a dozen of the cadets were speaking at once, Carncross and several others upholding Bill Glutts. In the midst of the discussion Jack managed to regain his feet, and, leaping forward, he caught Bill Glutts firmly by both wrists.

      "Glutts, you listen to me," said he sternly, looking the bully in the eyes. "If I wasn't an officer at the Hall, I'd give you a sound thrashing for what you just did. As it is, I expect you to apologize or else take the consequences."

      "Huh! I suppose you mean by that you'll play sissy and report me," said the bully.

      "No, I won't report you, but I'll see to it that you get what is coming to you," answered Jack.

      "Knowing he is an officer and can't fight you, you took a mean advantage of Jack," broke in Gif Garrison. "You ought to be thrashed for it, Glutts."

      "I don't think Bill meant to shove him down into the snow," put in Codfish, somewhat timidly.

      "He did mean to do it!" said Jack quickly. "And he'll either apologize for his actions or he'll take the consequences."

      "Well, I'll take the consequences, whatever they are," retorted Bill Glutts, with a sickly grin. "I know that race wasn't a fair one. Come on, fellows, let's get back to the Hall, it's almost supper time," and with that he trudged away, he and his cronies pulling the Yellow Streak behind them.

      "He sure is one sweet-tempered fellow," was Spouter's comment.

      "Jack, why didn't you pitch into him, anyway?" questioned Andy anxiously.

      "I didn't have to," returned Jack briefly. "Just the same, I won't forget the way he has acted. If it wasn't that I am captain of Company C, and am expected not to fight, I'd have given him the thrashing of his life."

      To the many young folks who have read the former volumes in this series, the Rover boys will not need an introduction. But for the benefit of new readers a few words concerning my characters will be necessary.

      In the first volume, entitled "The Rover Boys at School," I related how three brothers, Dick, Tom, and Sam Rover, were sent to Putnam Hall Military Academy, where they made a great number of friends, including a cadet named Lawrence Colby.

      From Putnam Hall the boys went to Brill College, and, after leaving that institution of learning, joined their father in business in New York City, with offices on Wall Street. They organized The Rover Company, of which Dick was president, Tom, secretary and general manager, and Sam, treasurer.

      During their cadet days at Putnam Hall the three Rovers had become acquainted with a number of charming girls, including Dora Stanhope and her cousins, Nellie and Grace Laning. When Dick went into business he made Dora Stanhope his life partner, and a short while after this Tom married Nellie Laning and Sam married Grace. The three brothers purchased a fine plot of ground on Riverside Drive overlooking the Hudson River, and there they built three connecting houses, Dick and his wife living in the middle house, with Tom on one side and Sam on the other.

      About a year after their marriage Dick and his wife became the proud parents of a little son, who was named John after Mr. Laning. This son was followed by a daughter, named Martha, after her Great-aunt Martha, of Valley Brook Farm. Little Jack, as he was commonly called, was a manly lad with many of the qualities which made his father so successful in life.

      It was about this time that Tom and Nellie Rover sprang a great surprise on all the others. This surprise was in the shape of a pair of very lively boy twins, one christened Anderson, after his grandfather, and the other Randolph, after his Great-uncle Randolph of Valley Brook Farm. Andy and Randy, as the twins were always called, were decidedly active lads, taking after their father, "who was never still a minute," to quote Grandpa Rover.

      Shortly after the twins were born, Sam and Grace Rover came along with a beautiful girl, named Mary, after Mrs. Laning. Then, a year later, the girl was followed by a sturdy boy, who was called СКАЧАТЬ