ere gliding down
Riverside Drive on the way to the Grand Central Terminal at
Forty-second Street.

It was a perfect autumn day, and all four of the lads were in the best
of spirits. To be sure, the fact that they were leaving home to be gone
for several months sobered them a trifle; but all were eager to find
out what was in store for them rather than to give thought to what had
been left behind.

As might have been expected, there was a perfect jam of automobiles and
carriages in the vicinity of the Terminal, and as a consequence the
lads had barely time to get aboard the train which was to carry them to
Haven Point, the town on the outskirts of which Colby Hall was located.

"Take care of yourselves!" cried Dick Rover.

"Learn all you can," added his brother Sam.

"And go slow on mischief," warned Tom.

"We'll remember everything," came in a chorus from the four boys; and
then, as they waved their hands to their parents, the long train pulled
out of the big, gloomy station and the trip to the boarding school was
begun.

Haven Point was located in the heart of New England, so that the boys
had a ride of several hours ahead of them. They had seats in a parlor
car, two on one side and two on the other, and they proceeded without
delay to make themselves comfortable, the porter aiding them in
disposing of their handbaggage.

"Good-bye to old New York!" cried Jack. "Won't we have a lot of things
to talk about when we get back!"

"I'm just crazy to see Colby Hall, to find out what it really looks
like," said Andy.

"That picture we had of it looked pretty good," was Fred's comment.
"But, of course, you can't always tell by a picture."

"Not much!" vouchsafed Randy. "A building may look all right enough in
a picture and still be about ready to tumble down."

The boys had left home in the middle of the forenoon, and expected to
have their lunch on the train before reaching Haven Point.

"When lunch time comes I'm going to fill up," declared Andy. "No
telling what sort of grub we'll get at the Hall."

"Father said they used to have first-class eats at Putnam Hall,"
declared Fred.

"Not always!" cried Jack. "At one time, while Captain Putnam was away,
the food got so bad there that the cadets rebelled and left the
school."

"Oh, that was before our fathers went to Putnam Hall," answered Randy.
"I heard about that, too. But while our fathers were there, the food
was very good, indeed."

After about half a