Books - macintosh.world

macintosh.world | Log In | Register

The Rover Boys on the Farm; or, Last Days at Putnam Hall

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Rover Boys on the Farm; or, Last Days at Putnam Hall

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms
of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online
at www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States,
you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located
before using this eBook.

Title: The Rover Boys on the Farm; or, Last Days at Putnam Hall

Author: Edward Stratemeyer

Release date: July 28, 2007 [eBook #22163]
Most recently updated: January 2, 2021

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/22163

Credits: Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from scans of public domain material
produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM; OR, LAST DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL ***

Produced by David Edwards, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from scans of public domain material
produced by Microsoft for their Live Search Books site.)

THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM

_LAST DAYS AT PUTNAM HALL_

BY ARTHUR M. WINFIELD (Edward Stratemeyer)

AUTHOR OF THE ROVER BOYS AT SCHOOL. THE ROVER BOYS ON THE OCEAN, THE
PUTNAM HALL SERIES, Etc.

_ILLUSTRATED_

NEW YORK
GROSSET & DUNLAP
PUBLISHERS

Made in the United States of America

[Illustration: ONE HORSE REARED AND TRIED TO BACK.]

PREFACE.

MY DEAR BOYS: With this I present to you "The Rover Boys on the Farm,"
the twelfth volume in the "Rover Boys Series for Young Americans."

It is a large number of volumes to write about one set of characters,
isn't it? When I started the series, many years ago, I had in mind, as I
have told you before, to pen three books, possibly four. But as soon as
I had written "The Rover Boys at School," "The Rover Boys on the Ocean,"
and "The Rover Boys in the Jungle," there was a cry for more, and so I
wrote "The Rover Boys Out West," "On the Great Lakes," "In the
Mountains," "On Land and Sea," "In Camp," "On the River," "On the
Plains," and then "In Southern Waters," where we last left our heroes.

In the present story, as promised in the last volume, the scene is
shifted back to the farm and to dear old Putnam Hall, with their many
pleasant associations. As before, Sam, Tom and Dick are to the front,
along with several of their friends, and there are a number of
adventures, some comical and some strange and mystifying. At the school
the rivalries are as keen as ever, but the Rover boys are on their
mettle, and prove their worth on more than one occasion.

Again I thank my numerous readers for all the kind words they have
spoken about my stories. I hope the present volume will please them in
every way.

Affectionately and sincerely yours,

EDWARD STRATEMEYER

CONTENTS.

I. SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS

II. WHAT HAPPENED ON THE MOUNTAIN

III. A MYSTERIOUS CAVE

IV. AT THE FARM

V. RANDOLPH ROVER'S STORY

VI. WAITING FOR NEWS

VII. A STRANGE LETTER BOX

VIII. LAST DAYS ON THE FARM

IX. AT THE WILD WEST SHOW

X. JOLLY OLD SCHOOLMATES

XI. WILLIAM PHILANDER TUBBS

XII. WHAT HAPPENED ON THE STAIRS

XIII. DORA, GRACE AND NELLIE

XIV. AT THE ICE-CREAM ESTABLISHMENT

XV. AN ASTONISHING GIFT

XVI. THE HUNT FOR A SNAKE

XVII. A STIRRING SCENE IN THE SCHOOLROOM

XVIII. IN WHICH TAD SOBBER DISAPPEARS

XIX. WHAT HAPPENED AT THE PARTY

XX. DICK AND DORA

XXI. A BOB SLED RACE

XXII. PELEG SNUGGERS' QUEER RIDE

XXIII. HOLIDAYS AT THE FARM

XXIV. A CAPTURE AND A SURPRISE

XXV. CHRISTMAS AT THE FARM

XXVI. THE SKATING RACE

XXVII. ON THE LAKE

XXVIII. AT THE OLD HOUSE

XXIX. A WRECK AND A CAPTURE

XXX. GOOD-BYE TO PUTNAM HALL

THE ROVER BOYS ON THE FARM

CHAPTER I

SOMETHING ABOUT THE ROVER BOYS

"Sam, this isn't the path."

"I know it, Tom."

"We've missed our way," went on Tom Rover, with a serious look on his
usually sunny face.

"It looks that way to me," answered Sam Rover, his younger brother. "I
think we made a wrong turn after we slid down the cliff."

"What is keeping Dick?"

"I don't know."

"Let's call to him," went on Tom, and set up a loud cry, in which his
brother joined. The pair listened intently, but no answer came back.

"I don't like this," said Sam, an anxious look in his clear eyes. "Maybe
Dick is in trouble."

"Perhaps so," answered Tom Rover.

The two boys were far up on a mountainside, and all around them were
tall trees, thick brushwood, and immense ridges of rocks. It had been a
clear, sunshiny day, but now the sky was overcast, and it looked like
rain.

"We've got to go back for Dick," said Tom, after a painful pause. "No
use of going on without him."

"I hope he hasn't fallen over some cliff and hurt himself," returned his
younger brother.

"I don't see why he doesn't answer us, if he's all right," was the
unsatisfactory reply. "Come on, or the storm will overtake us before we
get down from the mountain and we'll be soaked by the time we reach
home."

Side by side the brothers retraced their steps--a hard task, for it is
much easier to climb down a steep mountainside than to climb up.

To those who have read the previous volumes in this "Rover Boys Series,"
the two brothers just mentioned will need no special introduction. The
Rover boys were three in number, Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom
coming next, and Sam bringing up the rear. All were bright, lively,
up-to-date lads, and honest and manly to the core. They lived on a farm
called Valley Brook, in New York state,--a beautiful spot owned by their
uncle, Randolph Rover, and his wife, Martha. Their father, Anderson
Rover, also lived at the farm when at home, but he was away a great deal
on business.

From the farm the boys had been sent, some years before, to Putnam Hall,
an ideal place of learning, of which we shall learn more as our tale
proceeds. What the lads did there on their arrival has already been
related in "The Rover Boys at School," the first volume of this series.

A short term at Putnam Hall was followed by a trip on the ocean, and
then a long journey to the jungles of Africa, in search of Anderson
Rover, who had disappeared. Then came a grand outing out west, and
another outing on the great lakes, followed by some stirring adventures
in the mountains of New York state.

Coming from the mountains, the three youths had expected to go back to
Putnam Hall at once, but fate ordained otherwise and they were cast away
in the Pacific Ocean, as related in "The Rover Boys on Land and Sea."
They had a hard task of it getting home, and then returned to the school
and had some splendid times while in camp with the other cadets.

When vacation was once more at hand the boys soon solved

Next