There were many of the cadets who did not blame any of the baseball team for the mishap which had deprived the school of the trophy. There were, however, others, perhaps ten or a dozen all told, who laid the blame entirely on Andy and Randy.
“Those twins are forever cutting up,” growled Grimshaw, the fellow who had been hit by one of the stones from the cannon. “For all we know, it might have been nothing but their horseplay that sent the trophy to the bottom of the lake.”
“That isn’t true, Grimshaw!” burst out Spouter indignantly. “It was lost on account of the collision, and in no other way!”
“Well, anyhow, those Rover twins ought to be more careful,” put in another cadet.
“That’s the truth!” added still another. “What business had they to place the trophy on the forward deck, anyhow? Why didn’t they leave it in the bottom of the boat? Then it wouldn’t have gone overboard even when the boat did tip up.”
Some of this talk reached the ears of the Rover boys and it made them all, and especially the twins, feel very bad.
“Gee, I feel like taking some of that money I got from the pirates’ treasure and buying another vase,” remarked Andy. “Only, it wouldn’t be the vase.”
“I’ll pay for a new one quick enough if they’ll get it,” added his twin. The following day, which was Saturday, the four Rover boys and their chums spent the whole afternoon dragging the lake bottom and in diving in a vain hunt for the missing trophy.
With the baseball season at an end, the cadets were forced to give all their attention to their studies. Final examinations were now at hand and those who expected to graduate had to turn in compositions on the subjects assigned to them.
“Gosh! but I’ll be glad when the examinations are over,” remarked Fred, one evening after he had been poring over his books for an hour or more. “My head is fairly splitting with all the stuff I’m expected to remember.”