nce to talk to old Uncle Barney about my
folks. And if you get any such chance, I hope you'll impress it upon him
that we want to be friends."

When the cadets returned to Colby Hall, both Jack and Fred were in
unusual good humor, for, not only had Ruth said she would try to get
down to New York during the holidays, but May had told Fred that if
Spouter came down to the metropolis she would try to accompany her
cousin.

Several days slipped by, and the Rover boys applied themselves closely
to their lessons, for they wished to make as good a showing as possible
during the coming examinations. During that time, they saw Slugger,
Nappy and Codfish a number of times, but all of those unworthies seemed
to give them a wide berth.

Although Colonel Colby had not given the Rovers any of the particulars
of what he proposed to do, he had not forgotten what Randy and Fred had
told him. He had had a conference on the subject with Professor Brice,
Silas Crews, and Bob Nixon, the chauffeur, and Nixon and Crews were
detailed to watch every movement made by the bully and his cronies.

It was on the following Tuesday, the day previous to the examinations,
that Silas Crews came hurrying to the master of the Hall, who had just
entered the school library in search of a certain book.

"I think Brown and Martell are at it," he announced in a low tone of
voice. "Martell just sneaked a quart bottle of ink from the storeroom,
while Brown picked up some of the cans of vegetables which were cast
aside by the cook as unfit to eat. Now they have both gone down into the
boiler-room, evidently after those ashes."

"Continue to watch them, Crews, and tell Nixon to watch them, too. I
will notify Professor Brice, and also Captain Dale." Captain Dale was
the military instructor of the Academy.

Silas Crews hurried off, and Colonel Colby lost no time in notifying the
others of what was taking place. As a result, a guard was established,
which took cognizance of every move made by Slugger and Nappy. Why it
was that Codfish was not with them, nobody knew. The fact was, the poor
little sneak had been so terrified at the mere mention of doing anything
further that he had burst out crying and locked himself in his room,
stating that he was too sick to act.

Having obtained the bottle of ink and several cans of spoiled tomatoes,
Slugger and Nappy watched their chance and visited the boiler-room under
the school. Here they found a dozen large cans of as