The dreary days of suffering oh the derelict, and in an open boat, the meanness of Mr. Skeel and how Tom and his companions were finally rescued, is all set down in the second book of this series.  Tom finally reached Australia and, setting out again, was just in time to rescue his parents from the savages of one of the South Pacific islands.

Tom reached home in time to go back to school and take his second-year examinations, which he passed, thus becoming a Sophomore.

Then came the long summer vacation, and as Tom had had enough of travel he decided to go to the woods.  In the third volume, called “Tom Fairfield in Camp,” I told of his experiences in the forest.  With him went Jack Fitch, Bert Wilson and a Briartown lad named Dick Jones.

Almost at the first Tom and his chums ran into a mystery.  Near where they pitched their tents there was an old mill where there was said to be a treasure hidden.  But an old hermit who owned the mill was seeking for the treasure, and he was not the most pleasant character in the world.  At the very start he threatened the boys and tried to drive them from the woods.

But they decided to have a hunt for the treasure.  It did not add to their pleasure to learn that Mr. Skeel, who had returned from Honolulu, was also camping near the mysterious mill, and, most unexpectedly our friends also learned that Sam Heller and Nick Johnson were also in the same woods.

Tom and his friends had many experiences in camp, and with the old hermit.  Finally their motorboat was taken, and they were in sore straits.  But still they kept after the treasure.

Then Bert, Jack and Dick mysteriously disappeared from camp.  Tom suspected Mr. Skeel, and the two school bullies, Sam and Nick, of having had some sort of a hand in the kidnapping of his chums.

How he traced them, recovered his boat, and found the secret passage into the old mill, you will find told in my third book.  Also how Tom accidentally discovered the hidden room and the place where the treasure was concealed.  Mr. Skeel and the two Elmwood lads, who had held Jack, Dick and Bert prisoners, fled in alarm, and the old hermit, restored to his right mind through the finding of his wealth, lived a peaceful life thereafter.

Once the secret of the mill was discovered, Tom and his chums had an enjoyable time in camp.  They remained until it was almost time for school to begin, and then returned to their several homes.

And now, once more, they were together in Elmwood Hall, and, most unexpectedly, had come the news of the return of the two bullies, Sam and Nick.  It was startling news, in a way, for, after the mean fashion in which the two cronies had treated Tom’s chums, when they were held prisoners in the old mill, Tom scarcely believed that Sam and Nick would dare show their faces at Elmwood Hall again.

“And yet they’re here,” said our hero, as he and the others hurried on across the broad campus.