Dan Vinton, roommate Gerald Pennimore, and their schoolmates at Yardley Hall are back again for more adventures as well as athletic and scholastic achievements. In this installment, Dan and friends work to get Gerald into the Cambridge debating society, after a rival keeps him out the prior year.Cross country is the main sport this time around, but Mr. Barbour touches on the school's football, hockey and basketball activities. Gerald's father, a benefactor of the school, has donated a cross-country trophy cup to be awarded to the winner of a series of meets between arch-rivals Yardley Hall and Broadwood Academy. But the cup is stolen, and our heroes race against time to solve the mystery and retrieve the trophy. Will it be found?