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Rh Dave also sent a letter to Ben Basswood, and in return got word that Ben was doing his best to get his folks to let him come to Oak Hall.

"I hope he comes," said the country lad to Roger. "I know the others will like him."

It was a warm, clear day in September, and school had been dismissed a quarter of an hour before. The pupils had two hours for recreation, and some were in the "gym.," some on the playground, and others on the river or down to the boathouse.

"What do you say if we go for a row on the river?" asked Roger of Dave, as he threw down a Latin book he had been studying.

"Just the thing!" cried Dave, laying down an algebra. "I've been wanting to row on the river ever since I got here. Can we get a boat?"

"I think so. Each class has four boats, and I don't think many of our class are out on the river to-day. Most of them went off to the gym."

The two boys were soon out of the academy and on their way to the boathouse, a pretty affair, standing partly on the bank and partly over the water. At one end of the house was a general meeting room, with lockers for rowing suits, and at the other were the boats and shells used by the students. A short distance from the boathouse were a row of bathing houses, and here over a dozen pupils were in swimming.