The Rover Boys on Land and Sea
Arthur M. Winfield
Children
5:58 h
Level 3
The Rover Boys, or The Rover Boys Series for Young Americans, was a popular juvenile series written by Arthur M. Winfield, a pseudonym for Edward Stratemeyer. Thirty titles were published between 1899 and 1926 and the books remained in print for years afterward. The Rover Boys on Land and Sea, or, The Crusoes of Seven Islands was published in 1903. The Rovers were students at a military boarding school: adventurous, prank-playing, flirtatious, and often unchaperoned adolescents who were frequently causing mischief for authorities, as well as for criminals. The series often incorporated modern technology of the era, such as the automobile, airplanes (The Rover Boys in the Air) and news events, such as World War I. The earliest volumes focused on the boys' travel adventures, but later stories were filled with mystery and suspense.

The Rover Boys on Land and Sea

or
The Crusoes of the Seven Islands

by
Arthur M. Winfield

Chapter I
The Rover Boys on San Francisco

“Well, Dick, here we are in San Francisco at last.”

“Yes, Tom, and what a fine large city it is.”

“We’ll have to take care, or we’ll get lost,” came from a third boy,the youngest of the party.

“Just listen to Sam!” cried Tom Rover. “Get lost! As if we weren’tin the habit of taking care of ourselves.”

“Sam is joking,” came from Dick Rover. “Still we might get lost hereas well as in New York or any other large city.”

“Boston is the place to get lost in,” said Tom Rover. “Got streetsthat curve in all directions. But let us go on. Where is the hotel?”

“I’m sure I don’t know,” came from Sam Rover.

“Cab! carriage! coupe!” bawled a cabman standing near. “Take youanywhere you want to go, gents.”

“How much to take the three of us to the Oakland House?”

“Take you there for a dollar, trunks and all.”

“I’ll go you,” answered Dick Rover. “Come on, I’ll see that you getthe right trunks.”

“I think we are going to have some good times while we are on thePacific coast,” observed Tom Rover, while he and Sam were waitingfor Dick and the cabman to return.

“I shan’t object to a good time,” replied Sam. “That is what we camefor.”

“Before we go back I am going to have a sail up and down the coast.”