"I know you cadets," he had snarled. "You are all a pack of petty thieves! I want you to keep away from here."
He had suffered a great deal, some cadets, including Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell, having at various times robbed him of his cherries, his strawberries, and some melons. Of these depredations, however, the Rovers knew nothing.
"Maybe Lacy isn't around," remarked Jack. "He may have gone to town."
They knew that the old man was a bachelor. He had two young men working for him, and also a woman who came in during the day to do the housework, but all of these went home at night.
"I see somebody moving around the house now," answered Randy. "It's Lacy, too!"
"Let's knock on the door and pretend we are young ladies in distress," cried Randy. "Come on! I wonder what he'll do?"
"Don't ask him for any money. He won't give you a cent," chuckled Fred.
"Let's tell him some tramps stopped us and that we want him to go out and fight the fellows," suggested one cadet. "That will show how brave a man Lacy is. We can take off our masks."
So it was arranged, and in a minute more the boys were all on the front piazza of the farmhouse ringing the old doorbell. There was a sound within, and in a moment more Elias Lacy came to the door with a lamp in one hand.
"What do you want?" he asked in astonishment, when he saw what looked to be a number of well-dressed girls confronting him.