"Yes, indeed! The Ford girls are just all right."
"Best ever!" chimed in Jack.
"Don't forget to fill your lamps!" cried Andy, as he turned away.
"Mine is full," answered Jack.
"I'll see to mine," came from Pepper. "Glad you mentioned it. It will be quite dark on the road to-night, and I don't want to run in a hole and take a header."
"None of us want to do that. We'd look fine going into the Lodge with our faces and hands all dirt and our uniforms torn."
The cadets hurried away in various directions. They had been talking in the gymnasium, near one of the dressing-rooms, and they did not know that anybody else was near. But Mumps, the sneak, had overheard every word. As soon as they had gone, the younger cadet hurried off toward the boathouse. Here he found half a dozen students assembled, including Ritter and Coulter.
"Say, do you fellows know that Ruddy, Ditmore and Snow are going out to-night?" he said. He always loved to tell the news, and thought himself quite important in so doing.
"Where to?" asked one of the cadets.
"To Point View Lodge—the place where the Ford family live. They've got an invitation to dinner."