k, are y

had seen his brother hurled backwards, and he saw that Dick made no move to arise.

flying machine, that was rushing so madly through the air towards the Rover homestead. He h

r, Dick being the oldest, fun-loving Tom coming next, and sturdy Sam being the youngest. They were the sons of Anderson Rover, a widower, and when at

o boarding school, as related in the first volume of this series, entitled, "The Rover Boys at School." Th

d followed a trip out West, and another on the Great Lakes. Later the youths had camped out in the mountains during the wi

down the Ohio River, and soon after this the Rovers found themselves on the plains, where they had some adventures far out of the ordinary. From

rning they presently graduated with honors. Then Mr. Anderson Rover got word of a valuable treasure, and he and the boys, with a number of their

had with them an old school chum named John Powell, usually called "Songbird," because of his habit of making up and reciting so-called poetry, and were presently joined by another old school companion named Wi

er Boys Down East." There was a mystery about that trip, of which the outside world knew little, but as that trip ha

ween Dick and Dora,-a friendship that grew more and more intimate as the days went by. Dick thought the world of Dora, and the two were now practically engaged to be married. As for Tom and Sam, they had taken to the two Laning girls from

Lanings, because Mrs. Laning was Mrs. Stanhope's sister. But the treasure had been claimed by a certain rascal named Sid Merrick and his nephew, Tad

one day. "It's mine, all mine, a

ick's answer. "We found that treasure, and the courts have decided that i

ut who had been discharged and who had, later on, been sent to prison for his misdeeds. This Josiah Crabtree had once sought to marry Mrs. Stanhope, thinking thereby to get control of her money and the mon

ession that it was to be invested by her friends. The lady was carried off to an island in Casco Bay, off the coast of Maine, and thither the Rover boys and some others followed them. There was a

over and over again for what he had done for her mother, and Nellie and Grace had not been backward in com

did work!" Anderson Rover h

thorities could do," had

n it," Mr. Rover had added. And soon after that it was put in the strong box

mong whom were Dudd Flockley, Jerry Koswell and Bart Larkspur. Led by Koswell, who was a thoroughly bad egg, the three last-named students had tried to get the Rover boys into trouble, and had

e latter did what they could to help old Crabtree and Sobber. This brought on a fight, and Koswell and Larkspur received a thrashing

over's comment, when referring to Crabtree, Sobber,

m Rover's reply. "It's an awful shame th

ee and Sobber if we hadn't broken the

cause," came from Dick. And he spoke

selves before going back to Brill. They had intended to take it easy on the farm, but when a great aviati

a monoplane, and a dirigible balloon. All made good records, a

right down to the

he had a flying machine and knew

n Dick's words. "But if he didn't know-well

n run these machines, so can we,

autos and motor-boa

r a biplane, or any kind of an aerop

fraid?" de

ng machine we'd have to be car

nt headlong into everything. "We'll get a

usand dollars, I fancy,"

las, Dick! As

hink

am. "Nothing but bamboo poles and a f

, Sam, and those engines are as powerful as they are light. And then don

iator named Captain Colby, who proved to be a relative to Larry Colby, one of their former chums at Putnam Hal

emselves, it was not a very difficult matter for them to persuade their father to let them buy a biplane. Then, through Captain Colby, they learned where the flying machine

ck to college," Tom had said. "If we are quick

e biplane to college with us and astonish some o

ed the youngest Rover.

ed up the engine and the propellers. The ropes holding the biplane had broken or torn loose from the ground, and now the machi