Page:Dave Porter at Oak Hall.djvu/295

Rh for the time being Dave was looked up to as the champion skater of Oak Hall. Nothing more was said about his owning nothing but an old pair of skates.

"The skates don't count as much as the fellow who wears 'em," said Ben, and the others agreed with him.

"I'm awfully glad you won, Dave," said Chip Macklin, in private. "It will help to take the conceit out of Plum and Poole."

"Maybe, but I doubt it," was Dave's reply. "They are too thick-skinned to be affected so easily."

The skating continued good, and on the following Saturday, Dave, Roger, Ben, and Phil arranged for a long outing up the river. They expected to be gone all day and took their dinners with them.

"This is just the kind of an outing I love," said Dave, as they spun along over the ice. "We ought to cover a good many miles before we get back."

"Let us skate as far as the old castle," said Phil. "I haven't visited that spot for years."

"What sort of a place is it?" questioned Ben.

"It's a tumbled-down brick-and-stone building that was erected during the Revolutionary War, so they say. It's on a branch of the river, and I think it's deserted. We can build a fire in the old place and have our dinners there."