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cried our hero. "And how are you, Buster?" he added, as Maurice Hamilton and Buster Beggs came across the road to greet them.

      "Fine!" puffed Buster, who was very fat and jolly. "Only Shadow has been walking the feet off of me!" And then the stout youth shook hands all around.

      "Now, just to hear that!" cried Shadow, as he, too, shook hands. "Why, all we did was to walk from the Hall to here."

      "And up one street and down another for half an hour," burst in Buster.

      "Say, that puts me in mind of a story!" cried Shadow, who was noted for his yarn-spinning weakness. "Once two men started to walk----"

      "Stow it!" came from three of the other lads in concert.

      "It's too early yet to tell stories, Shadow," said Dave, with a smile. "You can tell them to-night. Tell us now, is there anything new at the Hall?"

      "There sure is."

      "What?" asked Phil and Roger.

      "The wild man."

      "Oh, has he turned up again?" asked the girls, with interest.

      "Twice--yesterday morning and this morning," said Buster.

      "He didn't turn up at all, Buster," interposed Shadow. "When you start to tell a story, why don't you tell it straight?"

      "Oh, you tell it," grumbled the fat boy. "You have that sort of thing down to a science."

      "There isn't very much to tell," went on Shadow Hamilton. "He left his mark, that's all."

      "Left his mark?" queried Dave.

      "That's it--wide, blue marks. He must have about a ton of blue chalk."

      "Say, Shadow, you are talking in riddles," burst out the shipowner's son. "Give it to us in plain United States, can't you?"

      "Sure I can. Well, this wild man visited the school yesterday morning and this morning, before anybody was up. The first time he went into the big classroom and took some books, and the next time he visited the kitchen and pantry and took some grub--I beg the ladies' pardon--I should have said food--a ham, a chicken, and some doughnuts."

      "And the blue chalk----?" queried Mr. Porter.

      "I was coming to that. In the classroom he left his mark--a big circle, with a cross inside, in blue chalk."

      "And how do you know that is the mark of the wild man?" asked Laura.

      "Oh, we found that out some time ago," answered Shadow. "He seems to have a mania for blue chalk, and even puts it on his face sometimes, and he chalks down that circle with the cross wherever he goes."

      "Then, if he does that, why can't they trail him down?" asked Dave.

      "Because he is like a flea--when you try to put your hands on him he isn't there," answered Shadow. "And say, that puts me in mind of another story. Once three boys were----"

      "That will do, Shadow!" cried Roger. "About the wild man is enough for the present."

      "Have they any idea who he is?" asked Dunston Porter.

      "Not the slightest," answered Buster. "And they don't know where he keeps himself, although it must be in the woods near the school."

      "Oh, Dave, I hope he doesn't harm anybody!" cried Jessie, with a shiver.

      "Are you boys ready to go back to the Hall?" asked Dunston Porter.

      "I am," responded Buster, readily.

      "So am I," added the story-teller of the school.

      "Then we'll take you along, provided you don't mind being crowded."

      "We won't mind, if the young ladies won't," returned the fat youth.

      "Oh, come in by all means!" cried Laura.

      "We'll make room somehow," added Jessie.

      A minute later the big car started on the way to Oak Hall, with Dave at the wheel and his uncle beside him.

      "Looks familiar, doesn't it?" called out Roger, as they spun along the turnpike.

      "It certainly does!" answered Roger, and then he added, "What do you say to the old school song?"

      "Fine!" came back the answer, and then the senator's son commenced a song they all knew well, which was sung to the tune of "Auld Lang Syne." The girls knew the song, too, and readily joined in.

      "Oak Hall we never shall forget, No matter where we roam; It is the very best of schools, To us it's just like home! Then give three cheers, and let them ring Throughout this world so wide, To let the people know that we Elect to here abide!"

      Loud and clear over the cool air sounded the song, and it was sung several times. Then, just as the car rolled into the grounds of the school, the boys gave one of the Hall yells, and Dave honked the horn of the automobile loud and long.

      "Hello! It's the Porter crowd!"

      "Welcome to our city!"

      "How about Cave Island, Dave! Did you bring it with you?"

      "Heard you caught Jasniff and Merwell, Roger. Good for you!"

      "Say, Phil, you're as sunburnt as if you'd been to the seashore for a summer."

      So the talk ran on as half a dozen students flocked up to the car. The afternoon session was over, and despite the chilliness many lads were out on the campus. Many knew the girls--having met them at some athletic games and at a commencement--and those that did not were glad of a chance for an introduction.

      "I am real glad to see you back, boys," said Doctor Hasmer Clay, the head of the institution, as he appeared and shook hands. "Glad to see you, Mr. Porter, and also the young ladies," he added. "So you came all the way by automobile, eh? It must have been a delightful trip."

      "It was," answered Dave's uncle.

      All went inside, and the visitors were permitted to accompany Dave and his chums to their dormitory. The boys' baggage had already arrived, so it did not take the lads long to settle down.

      "And now we'll have to start back," said Dunston Porter, a little later. "Dave, take good care of yourself, and make a good record."

      "I'll do my best, Uncle Dunston."

      "And don't let that wild man get you," added Jessie, as she took his hand and allowed him to hold her own, perhaps longer than was necessary.

      "And don't forget to write," put in his sister.

      "Oh, I'll not forget that!" answered Dave, with a smile, both to his sister and to the girl whom he regarded so warmly.

      It was a trying moment--this parting--but it was soon over, and, with Dunston Porter at the wheel, and the girls and boys waving their hands, the touring car left the Oak Hall grounds, on its return journey to Crumville.

      "Well, here we are, as the pug dog said to the looking-glass, when he walked behind it to look for himself," remarked Phil, dropping into a chair.

      "I suppose it will take us a few days to get settled down," answered Dave, resting on the top of a table. "I don't feel much like unpacking yet, do you?"

      "No, let us wait until to-night or to-morrow," returned Roger, dropping on one of the beds. He was still thinking of how clear and deep Laura's eyes had appeared when she had said good-by to him.

      "I really hope you will not be homesick," said a girlish voice, and Bertram Vane, one of the students, appeared from the next room and sat down on a chair. "Homesickness

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