r cars, too!"

"Oh, you can't lose the Oak Hall boys!" cried Buster. "Say, let me
tell you something," he went on. "Luke has written a song about Oak
Hall that is about the finest thing I ever heard."

"It ought to be if it mentions us," answered Dave, with a boldness
that took away much of the conceit.

"Say, you haven't let me tell that story!" interrupted Shadow, with a
disconcerted look on his thin face. "Now, as I was saying, there was
once a--"

"Not now, Shadow!"

"You can tell it on the way to New York!"

"Provided the conductor will give you written permission."

"Not much!" returned the would-be story-teller. "If I can't tell that
story now, I'm going to be mum forever." He suddenly looked at Dave.
"What is taking you to New York?" he inquired.

"I'm on my way to Texas," answered Dave, and then told his former
classmates of how he and Roger had passed the preliminary examination
as civil engineers and of how they were now going to take up field
work in the Lone Star State.

"Say, that's great!" exclaimed Buster, in admiration. "I wish I was
going to do something like that."

"So do I," added Luke, while Shadow nodded in assent.

The other lads had many questions to ask, and in return told Dave much
about themselves. In the midst of the conversation the express train
for the metropolis rolled in and the four youths lost no time in
clambering aboard. They found their seats with ease, and quickly
settled themselves.

"That's a fierce loss that the Basswoods sustained," remarked Luke. "I
read all about it in the newspapers. That fellow, Ward Porton, must be
a peach."

"I should say he was a lemon so far as Dave was concerned," said
Buster, with a slow wink of his eye.

"Speaking of peaches puts me in mind of another story," cried Shadow.
"A man had a tree in his garden and--"

"Oh, Shadow, why this infliction!"

"Have we really got to listen?"

"How much will you pay us if we keep still until you have finished?"

"Yes, you've got to listen, and I won't pay you a cent for it,
either," retorted the would-be story-teller. "This is a short one. A
man had a fruit-tree in his garden, and he told a friend of his that
he got three kinds of fruit from it. His friend didn't believe it, so
he told his friend: 'Why, it was dead easy. I went out in the garden
to pick an apple. I picked one, and then I picked a pair. One was no
good, but another was a peach.'"

"Wow! listen to that!"

"Shadow must ha