"You've given us a terrible scare," declared Martha to her brother. "You shouldn't have taken such a risk!"
"Well, it was worth while," answered Fred, and then told of the rescue of Jed Kessler.
"Well, we've had a surprise since you went away," said Ruth Stevenson presently.
"A thoroughly disagreeable surprise, too," added May Powell. "You'll never guess who was here only a few minutes ago!"
"Some of our folks from New York?" questioned Jack quickly.
"They were two persons we didn't care to see," said Ruth. "They were Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell!"
"Slugger Brown and Nappy Martell!" The cry came from all of the Rover boys simultaneously.
"What were those fellows doing here?" continued Jack.
"Did they dare to speak to you?" demanded Fred.
"Of course they spoke to us--you can't stop fellows like Brown and Martell from doing that," answered Ruth. "But you can be sure we gave them both the cold shoulder."
"What did they want here?" questioned Jack.
"I don't know what they wanted or where they came from," continued Ruth. "Their appearance gave us such a shock we didn't know what to do at first."
"We were on our way from the school to the boathouse, and were just crossing the roadway when Slugger and Nappy came along in a runabout," said May. "The minute they saw us they stopped and jumped out. They asked us a whole lot of questions about how we were getting along at school and if your sisters were here."
"Our sisters!" cried Fred. "What business have they got to ask about Martha and Mary?"
"Of course we didn't answer their questions, and Martha and Mary had gone on ahead, so Brown and Martell didn't see them," said Ruth. "They tried to act in a friendly manner, but we gave them to understand that we wanted nothing to do with them. Then they jumped into the runabout again and drove off."
"Did they go toward Haven Point?" questioned Randy.
"Those fellows certainly have their nerve with them--to show themselves anywhere near Colby Hall after what happened!" burst out Andy.
"One would think they wouldn't want any of their old classmates to see them," remarked Fred.
"They are not that kind," replied Jack. "Both of them are too thick-skinned to be sensitive. More than likely they have been telling their friends that we did our best to get them into trouble and that they were not to blame."