“Well, I don’t particularly wish them any hard luck,” remarked Andy. “Just the same, I guess Nappy, Slugger, and Gabe got what was coming to them.”
Before going down to Texas and Oklahoma the Rover boys, while along the Rick Rack River during a violent storm, had succeeded in rescuing a man and his son who were caught between some rocks and a drifting tree in the middle of the swiftly flowing stream.
The man, John Franklin, was exceedingly thankful for what had been done for him, and so was his son Philip. It developed later that the Franklins owned a tract of land in Texas. And when it was discovered that the tract inherited by Dick Rover from the soldier in France was practically worthless, Jack’s father made an arrangement to work the Franklin place on shares. Two oil wells were bored, and both of these paid handsomely, making the Rovers richer than ever and also placing a substantial amount in the bank to John Franklin’s account.
“Do you know I can scarcely believe it’s true,” Phil Franklin had said to the Rover boys. “Why, my father will have more money than he ever dreamed of.”
“We’re as glad as you are, Phil,” Jack had answered. “Glad on your account as well as our own. Now maybe you can go to Colby Hall with us.”
“Say, that would be immense!” Phil had returned with pleasure. And that fall he had joined the crowd at the military academy and soon made for himself a host of friends.
“Gee, I never thought going to school could be so nice,” declared Phil Franklin to the Rover boys one day. “I always considered going to school a hardship. But this is bang-up in every way.”
“I guess you haven’t made any enemies yet, Phil,” remarked Fred. “Don’t forget that Nappy Martell, Slugger Brown, and Gabe Werner all hailed from here.”
“I’ve met only one fellow that I don’t like,” returned Phil Franklin. “That’s a fellow who came in the day I did, a big, tall, lanky chap named Lester Bangs.”
“Oh, you mean Brassy Bangs,” broke in Randy. “I know that fellow only too well. I had quite a set-to with him one day in the gym.”