Page:Young Hunters of the Lake.djvu/16

6 what had been done for him and ran away with some of their things, which brought on a lively pursuit. Then the boys had more trouble with Ham Spink and his crony, Carl Dudder. In the end it was discovered that Ham and Carl had gotten the tramp to annoy the young hunters, and as a result Mr. Spink and Mr. Dudder had to foot some heavy bills for their sons. Ham and Carl were sent off to a strict boarding school, where their parents hoped they would turn over a new leaf. Snap and his chums came back home loaded down with game.

"The best outing ever!" declared more than one of the boys.

"We'll have to go again!"

"Yes, indeed!"

And then and there they began to plan what to do during the next vacation.

"I've got an idea," said Snap, one day, during the spring. "Why not get a good boat—one that will stand some hard knocks—and go through Lake Cameron and Firefly Lake to Lake Narsac? Jed Sanborn was telling me that was a fine place for hunting and fishing, and the lake is as clear as crystal."

"It's an awfully wild place, so I was told," said Shep.