Page:Young Hunters of the Lake.djvu/68

58 ing in the floor. Down below two dark forms, covered with mud and flour paste, could be seen clutching at the slippery braces of the spiling. Snap and Shep could scarely keep from roaring.

"There they are! Get the gun!" yelled the doctor's son.

"Two dangerous burglars!" cried Snap. "Wonder where they came from?"

"W—we ar—are not burglars!" spluttered Carl. "We are—"

"Do—don't sh—shoot!" wailed Ham Spink. "We di—didn't mean—"

Bang! went the shotgun Snap had picked up. He fired at the corner of the building, into a mass of rubbish. A piercing yell of terror came up from below, and down dropped Ham and Carl into the water once more. They were too afraid to come up under the boathouse again and so struck out for the river bank some distance away.

"They are going away!" called out Shep. "They are two desperate burglars! Give them another shot!"

"Perhaps they have been robbing some stores," called out Snap. Then he discharged the shotgun once more, and down ducked Ham and Carl again, yelling wildly in their fright. They swam with energy and soon reached the shelter of another