“Tanned by the tropical sun,” answered Sam.  “Oh, here is Aunt Martha, and Uncle Randolph!”

“Sam!” burst out the motherly aunt, as she kissed him.  “Oh, how you must have suffered on that lonely island!” And then she kissed the others.

“We’ve certainly had our fill of adventures,” came from Dick, who was shaking hands with his Uncle Randolph.  “And more than once we thought we should never see Valley Brook farm again.”

“We were real Robinson Crusoes,” went on Sam.  “And the girls were Robinson Crusoes, too.”

“Are the girls well?” questioned Mrs. Rover.

“Very well, auntie.  If they hadn’t been we shouldn’t have parted with them in San Francisco.  They went back to Santa Barbara to finish their vacation.”

“I see.  Well, it certainly was a wonderful trip.  You’ll have to tell us all the particulars this evening.  I suppose you are as hungry as bears just now.  Tom is, I’m sure.”

“Oh, Aunt Martha, I see you haven’t forgotten my failing,” piped in the youth mentioned, with a twinkle in his eye.  “And do I get pie for dinner?”

“Yes, Tom, and all you care to eat, too.  We are going to make your home-coming a holiday.”

“Good!”

They were soon in the house, every nook and corner of which was so familiar to them.  They rushed up to their rooms, and, after a brushing and a washing up, came down to the big dining room, where the table fairly groaned with good things.

“Gosh! this is a regular Christmas spread!” observed Tom, as he looked the table over.  “Tell you what, Aunt Martha, I’m going to be cast away every week after this.”

“Oh, Tom, don’t speak of it!  After this you must stay right here.  Neither your father nor your uncle nor myself will want to leave you out of sight.”

“Pooh!  We can’t stay home.  But we’ll be careful of our trips in the future, you can be sure of that.”

“Have you heard anything about Putnam Hall since we went away?” asked Dick, during the meal.

“The academy opened again last week, Dick,” answered his father.  “We received a circular letter from Captain Putnam.  The scarlet fever scare did not amount to much, for which the captain is very thankful.”

“I sent him a telegram, stating we were safe,” said Sam.  “I knew he would like to hear from us.  The captain is a brick.”

“The best ever,” said Tom, with his mouth full of chicken.

“And ditto, Mr. Strong,” put in Dick, referring to the head assistant at the Hall.

“Exactly, Dick.  But no more Jasper Grinders in mine,” went on Tom, referring to a tyrannical teacher who had caused them much trouble, and who had been discharged from the academy, as already mentioned in “The Rover Boys in the Mountains.”

“Or Josiah Crabtrees,” said Dick, referring to another teacher, who had been made to leave Putnam Hall, and who had wanted to marry the widow Stanhope, in an endeavor to get control of the money that was coming to Dora.  Crabtree’s misdeeds had landed him in prison, where he was likely to stay for some time to come.