t," she hesitated.

"Oh, now, Ruth--"

"I haven't had one taken in an awfully long time, Jack."

"Never mind, you will let me have one of them anyhow, won't you?"

"I--I guess--maybe so. I'll give it to you for a Christmas present. Only
don't tell the others."

"I won't, Ruth. And you can keep about my picture to yourself, too,"
added the captain. And thereupon the decidedly interesting conversation
between the pair had to come to an end as one of the trains came puffing
in--that which was to carry Ruth and some of the other girls, as well as
many of the cadets, away.

CHAPTER VIII

CHRISTMAS AT HOME

"Well, here we are at last. I wonder if anybody will be at the station
to meet us," said Martha Rover.

"Oh, I'm sure somebody will come down," answered Mary.

The six Rovers had had a long and uneventful train ride from Haven Point
to the Grand Central Terminal, Forty-second Street, New York City. They
had had to change cars at the Junction, where some months before they
had had such fun with Mr. Asa Lemm, the discharged teacher of the Hall,
as related in detail in the volume previous to this. The train had been
crowded with passengers, but the Rovers had managed to get seats
together, much to their satisfaction; and they had also managed to get
pretty fair accommodations when it came time to go into the diner.

They had telegraphed ahead concerning their coming, and found two
chauffeurs employed by Dick Rover and Tom Rover on hand to receive them
and take charge of their baggage. Then they went out to the street,
where they found two automobiles awaiting them, one containing Jack's
mother and the other the mothers of Fred and the twins.

"Hello, Ma!" cried the young captain, as he rushed forward to embrace
his parent. "How are you? You are looking pretty good."

"Oh, I am feeling quite fair," answered Mrs. Dick Rover with a smile.

"Home again, and glad of it!" exclaimed Fred, as he embraced his mother.

"My, my, but I'm glad that that term at the school is at an end!" cried
Andy, as he gave Mrs. Tom Rover the hug he knew she would be expecting,
a hug which was speedily duplicated by his twin. "Hope you've got a good
big dinner waiting for us. Traveling has made me hungry."

"Not but what we had a pretty good meal on the train," added his twin.

"You'll get all you want to-night," answered Mrs. Tom Rover
affectionately.

In the meantime Mary and Martha had come up and joined their parents.
T