Out with Gun and Camera Part 26

WHAT HAPPENED UNDER THE CLIFF

It was presently made evident to our friends that the persons ahead were Ham Spink, Carl Dudder and a lad named d.i.c.k Bush, who had in former years been a close personal friend to Ham.

"Wonder where they are going?" asked Snap.

"Down to the lake," answered the doctor's son. "Most likely to where they left their boat."

"Let us keep behind them and out of sight," suggested Giant. "If they see us they may follow us up and damage our boat after we are gone."

So, although they kept the Spink crowd well in sight, they took good care not to show themselves.

Reaching the lake sh.o.r.e, Ham Spink and his friends came to a halt behind a clump of willows overhanging the water. Close by the others saw a rowboat tied up.

"That must be their boat," whispered Snap. "Most likely they came for the same purpose that we did---to get supplies."

"Listen!" whispered the doctor's son. "I just heard somebody mention my name."

"Their boat must be somewhere along here," they heard Ham Spink exclaim. "And if it is---We'll fix it, all right," finished Carl Dudder. "Well, that's all right," expostulated d.i.c.k Bush.

"But we don't want to do anything unlawful. They might have us arrested."

"They won't know who did it," answered Ham.

"What do you think of doing if you locate their boat?" asked d.i.c.k.

"We'll take out the supplies and hide 'em, and then fill the boat with rocks and sink her," answered Ham.

"That will be doing 'em up brown!" chuckled Carl.

"Well, I don't know about this," answered d.i.c.k Bush doubtfully.

He was not quite so lawless in his ideas as were the others.

"Oh, it will be all right; we won't hurt the boat any," answered Ham. "Come on; the quicker we locate the boat the better. As soon as we've fixed their boat we can come back here and get our things and hurry back to camp." And then the three boys moved along down the lake sh.o.r.e.

"Well, wouldn't that jar you?" cried Snap, when the other crowd was gone. "Hide our supplies and sink our boat! Well, I guess not!"

"They haven't turned in the right direction to find our boat,"

returned the doctor's son. "We can get it out of the way before they come back."

"We ought to pay them for this," murmured Giant. "Let us take their boat and row it up the lake. It will give 'em something to do to find it."

"That's the talk!" cried Snap. "As the old saying goes, 'what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.' Jump in and we'll take the boat to where we left our own."

They soon had the Spink rowboat untied, and leaping aboard they shoved the craft out into the lake. Then Snap and Shep took the oars, and they were soon moving up Firefly Lake. They kept close to the overhanging trees and bushes, so that the other crowd might not discover what was taking place.

The distance to where they had left their own craft was not quite half a mile, and they reached the spot in less than a quarter of an hour. They pulled insh.o.r.e, to find their boat just as it had been left.

"Now, the quicker we work the better," said the doctor's son. "I've got an idea," he went on, as he caught sight of a tiny island about a hundred feet from sh.o.r.e. "Why not tie their boat fast over there? Then if they want it they can swim for it."

"Good!" cried Snap, and grinned.

Taking their own boat along, they rowed to the island, and there the Spink craft was made fast on the side next to the main sh.o.r.e and in plain view of anybody who might be pa.s.sing. On the sh.o.r.e of the island Snap stuck up one of the oars and on the top placed a rubber boot he found in the rowboat---one of a pair Ham had brought along in case of prolonged wet weather.

"Ham will recognize that rubber boot," said Snap. "And then he'll know the boat is his." The sight of the rubber boot on the top of the oar was a comical one and the boys had to laugh as they looked at it.

Having fastened the boat so that it could not possibly drift away, the boys boarded their own craft and rowed still farther up Firefly Lake, until they came to a cove and a creek, the latter thickly overhung with bushes. They pulled the craft out of sight, so that to find it without knowing where it was located would be practically impossible.

"Now, then, to take our things and go into camp for the night,"

said the doctor's son. "We'll have to find some shelter under the rocks, not having a tent."

The boys knew the locality fairly well, from their previous visits, and walked to where there was a split in the hills. Here was located a rocky cliff, hollowed out somewhat at the bottom.

"We can camp here," said Shep. "With a camp fire in front the hollow will be quite comfortable."

While in the cove they had managed to catch a few perch and a pickerel, and starting a blaze, they cooked these. They had some crackers and cheese along, so made a comfortable if not an elaborate meal, washing it down with a drink from a spring.

"We ought to get to bed early," said Snap. "Then we can start back for camp at sunrise, and so get ahead of the Spink crowd."

"Oh, they won't go back until they find their boat," said Giant.

"I don't know about that," said the doctor's son. "They may get mad and lay it to us and start back to-night. You can never tell what Ham Spink and Carl Dudder will do. d.i.c.k Bush isn't quite so bad."

As it was warm, they allowed the fire to die down, and by nine o'clock all were sleeping soundly. They did not think it necessary to stand guard, for the hollow was well screened from outside observation, and they had all their traps behind them, next to the cliff.

How long he had been asleep the doctor's son did not know, but he awoke with a start, feeling something pressing on his breast.

He gave a yell of fright and alarm and added another yell as he felt his leg pulled. Then a dark body fled from the hollow and went crashing through the bushes beyond.

"Wha---what's the matter?" came in a stammering voice from Giant.

"Who was that?" demanded Snap as, in the darkness, he felt for his gun. The fire was practically out, and the hollow was intensely gloomy.

"I don't know; Ham Spink, maybe," answered the doctor's son, much bewildered. "He stood on me and pulled my foot," he added.

The boy hunters leaped up, and after some trouble armed themselves.

It was dark around the cliff, so they could see nothing. They listened intently and at a distance heard a peculiar noise and the rustling of some brushwood.

"Shall I give 'em a shot?" suggested Snap.

"No; you might kill somebody," answered Shep. He raised his voice: "Hi, Ham Spink! Come back here! We know you!"

To this call no answer was vouchsafed. Again the boys listened, but now the only sound that broke the stillness was the low wind in the tree branches overhead.

"He has gone, whoever he was," said Snap. "Shep, are you sure it was Ham?"

"Not at all. I only thought it might be. For all I know it might have been a wild animal."

"What! to pull your leg?" queried Giant.