lled May.

And then there was such a babble of exclamations that hardly a word of
what was said could be understood. And in the midst of this the cadets
gave a rousing cheer for Clearwater Hall and everybody connected with
that school.

"Oh, but don't they look lovely!" cried May, when the boys had passed.
"Did you see Jack at the head of the third company?" she asked of
Ruth.

"Why, of course! And he certainly looked every inch a captain."

"I wish I were a boy and could go along!" sighed Mary.

"Oh, I guess we all wish that," declared Ruth. "But come--let us give
them another cheer!" And this rent the air just as the cadets reached
a turn in the road and passed out of sight.

CHAPTER XVII

A NIGHT ON THE ROAD

"This is the life, boys!"

"Ho for a life under canvas!"

"Beats rooming in a school all hollow, doesn't it?"

"Exactly so! And think--we haven't any studying to do. Oh, boy!" and
Andy, who was the speaker, felt so light-hearted that he turned
several cartwheels on the grass.

"Say, you look out, Andy, or somebody will grab you and put you in the
circus," was Spouter's comment.

The Colby Hall cadets had finished their first day's march and were
now in camp on the outskirts of Rackville. They had made the hike
without mishap, stopping at noon for lunch along the roadside.

The encampment consisted of three long lines of tents, one for each
company. As was the usual practice, the cadets had erected the
canvases themselves, doing it with real military precision. They were
in the center of a large, sloping field, one end of which bordered the
road running into Rackville. The field was a pasture lot belonging to
a large farm owned by a man named Oliver Appleby. Appleby owned a
dairy farm, and employed about a dozen hired hands.

"I know one thing we'll get here," remarked Fred, after a look around.
"We'll probably get all the milk we want to drink."

And in this surmise he was correct. Captain Dale had made the
necessary arrangements with Oliver Appleby, and that evening and the
following morning the cadets were furnished with the best of cream and
also all the fresh milk they desired.

After the setting up of the tents came supper, and my readers can rest
assured that none of the boys were "backward about coming forward," as
Randy expressed it. All were as hungry as wolves, and the amount of
food they stored away was simply astonishing. But Captain Dale had
received orders from Colone