"You mean Colonel Colby is going away?" questioned Fred. "Where to?"
"He has offered his services to the Government."
"Hurrah for the colonel! I knew he'd do something like that!" cried Randy.
"Do you know whether his offer has been accepted?" questioned Jack.
"Of course his offer will be accepted," answered Ralph Mason. "Now that we are in this great war Uncle Sam will need all the soldiers he can possibly muster, and of course they've got to have first-class men like Colonel Colby to command them."
"You're right there," said Fred. Then he looked questioningly at Jack and the twins. The others understood that look, but just then nothing was said concerning the thought which had rushed into their minds.
"I've got to go now," said Ralph Mason, a few minutes later. "I suppose you fellows will want to celebrate that baseball victory to-night?"
"I don't suppose we'll have as much fun as we would have had if the shell-loading plant hadn't gone up," grumbled Andy. "We can't make any such noise as that."
"Oh, we'll have fun enough--don't worry about that," answered his twin quickly.
"Well, don't tear the old Hall down," returned the young major, laughing, and then hurried away.
"This certainly is great news about Colonel Colby's volunteering for the army," said Jack, a little later.
"I wonder why Captain Dale doesn't volunteer, too?" said Andy.
"Oh, he's too old; and besides he's somewhat crippled by rheumatism or something," said Randy.
The Rover boys hurried off to their room to get into their cadet uniforms. The twins went on ahead, leaving Jack and Fred alone for the time being.
"Jack, what do you think our fathers will do?" questioned Fred. He remembered that both Jack's father and his own had at one time been officers of the cadets at Putnam Hall. The fun-loving father of the twins had never aspired to such a position, being content to remain "a high private in the rear rank," as he himself had often expressed it.
"I'm sure I don't know, Fred," was the sober reply. "It may be that they will be just as anxious to get into the war as Colonel Colby seems to be. But you must remember that they are at the head of The Rover Company, and possibly they won't be able to leave--at least not right away."