"Yes, sir; two hundred and fifty acres, and the fittest dairy in these parts. If the widder marries again, her husband will fall into a very good thing. The dairy company at Ithaca once offered fifty thousand dollars for the cattle and land."
"Gracious!" came from Tom. "We've been chumming with an heiress.
Are the Lanings rich, too?"
"Very well to do. That is their place, that side road. Here is where we turn off to get to the Hall. Captain Putnam had this road made when the Hall was first built."
The road was one of cracked stone, as smooth as a huge iron roller could make it. They bowled along at a rapid rate, under the wide spreading branches of two rows of stately maples. They were close to the lake, and occasional glimpses of water could be caught through the tree branches.
"It is certainly a splendid locality for a boarding academy," was Dick's comment. "My, what pure air—enough to make a sick boy strong! Do you have much sickness at the Hall?"
"Very little, sir. The captain does not let a cast of sickness stand, but calls in Dr. Fremley at once."
"That is where he is level-headed," said Fred. "My father said I was to call for a doctor the minute I felt at all sick."
They were now approaching Putnam Hall, but there was still another turn to make. As they swept around this, they came upon a tramp, half asleep under a tree. The tramp roused up at the sounds of carriage wheels and looked first at the driver of the carryall and then at the four boys.
"Phew!" he ejaculated, and lost no time in diving out of sight into some brush back of the row of maples.
"Hullo, who was that?" cried Sam.