Sam. "I was thinking of them while riding in the train."
"Well, you shall have all you wish during the holidays," answered his aunt fondly.
They were soon settled down and relating the particulars of some of the things that had happened at Brill. None of the boys cared to tell of the coldness that had sprung up between themselves and the girls. They simply said they knew the girls had gone home.
"That was an outrage," said Mr. Rover with considerable warmth.
"An outrage?" repeated Dick doubtfully. "What do you mean?"
"Perhaps you didn't hear the report that was circulated at Hope Seminary concerning them."
"We heard no report, excepting that they had been called home."
"Somebody circulated a story that they were going to school on money that did not belong to them—that their folks had confiscated a fortune belonging to others. Grace wrote to her mother that the story was being whispered about everywhere, and it was making them all miserable; and that's the main reason for their going home."
"What a contemptible thing to do!" cried
