Rover Boys On Snowshoe Island

"Everybody ready?" "Sure! Been ready half an hour." "Wait a minute, Frank, till I tighten my skate strap," cried Fred Rover, as he bent down to adjust the loosened bit of leather. "Hurry up, Fred, we don't want to stand here all day," sang out his Cousin Andy gaily. "That's it! I want to win this race," broke in Randy Rover, Andy's twin brother. "Now remember, the race is to be to the old white pine and back," announced the starter. "Every contestant has got to touch the tree before he starts to come back; otherwise he'll be counted out." "You ought to have a pistol to start us with," came from Jack Rover. "I guess my old locomotive whistle will do for that," answered Frank Newberry. He paused to look at the line of skaters. "Now then, everybody on the job!" and a loud whistle rent the air. Instantly there was a scurry of skates, and off the line started across Clearwater Lake to where a blasted pine tree reared its naked trunk against the skyline. It was a Saturday afternoon in early winter, and the cadets of Colby Hall Military Academy were out in force to enjoy themselves on the smooth ice of the lake, near which the school was located. The cadets had been amusing themselves in various ways, playing tag and hockey, and in "snapping the whip," as it is called, when Gif Garrison, at the head of the athletic association, had suggested a race.