The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Camp Fire Boys at Log Cabin Bend, by St. George Rathborne, Illustrated by Charles L. Wrenn

THE CAMP FIRE BOYS AT LOG CABIN BEND

A guest at the campfire.

THE CAMP FIRE BOYS

AT

LOG CABIN BEND

OR

Four Chums Afoot in the Tall Timber

BY

OLIVER LEE CLIFTON

AUTHOR OF “CAMP FIRE BOYS IN MUSKRAT SWAMP,”

“CAMP FIRE BOYS AT SILVER FOX FARM,” ETC.

ILLUSTRATED BY

CHARLES L. WRENN

PUBLISHERS

BARSE & HOPKINS

NEW YORK, N. Y.—NEWARK, N. J.

Copyright, 1923

By Barse & Hopkins

PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.

ILLUSTRATIONS

• [A guest at the campfire]
• [“A whopping big cat, for a fact!”]
• [His method of descending the tree was exceedingly clumsy]
• [Mr. Codling found the litter much more comfortable]

THE CAMP FIRE BOYS AT LOG CABIN BEND

CHAPTER I
AT NIGHTFALL IN THE BIG WOODS

“How far have we hiked, Elmer, would you say?”

“About twelve miles, at a rough guess, Perk.”

“Huh! then we ought to be close to the ford, where this old river road crosses to the east shore of the Beaverkill, eh, Elmer?”

“If you listen carefully, Perk, you’ll hear the gurgle of the water among the stepping stones that lie at the upper edge of Galloway’s Ford.”

“That’s a fact; and say, I might have noticed it before now, only I was so busy watching some honey-bees working in the wild flowers alongside the road, and wondering if we’d be lucky enough to run across their hive, away up in the top of some hollow tree. Wow! the very idea makes my mouth water.”

“Well, once across the river and we’ll have about four miles more to tramp before we can pitch camp; is that O.K., Elmer?”

“A close guess for you, Wee Willie; but over a rough trail instead of this fairly decent road. Above the ford on this side there’s just a tote-road leading up to Si. Keck’s deserted lumber camp that lies, you remember, on the edge of Muskrat Swamp. This road crosses to the other side, and runs to Crawford Notch, ten miles away.”

“Huh!”

The chap who uttered this last exclamation half belligerently was what you might call a “horrible example” of the folly often displayed by boys when clapping a “nick-name” on some unsuspecting comrade.

Really “Wee Willie” was a full head taller than any one of his three chums, having possibly “shot up” overnight when about fourteen, as often happens—he was three years past that age now.

Perhaps at one time young Winkleman may have seemed puny and undersized, so that he really merited the queer sobriquet his mates had fastened upon him. But nowadays it seemed absolutely ridiculous, and few ever used it save when accompanied by a whimsical grin that must have become exceedingly annoying to the tall, angular, sandy-haired and freckled youth; more especially since he had of late been taking girls to country barn-dances.

The boy named “Perk,” really Aloysius Green Perkins, a rosy-faced, genial-looking, and altogether wholesome chap, whom everybody liked, once more spoke up. He was wheezing, being a bit stout of build, and frequently mopped his face with a suspiciously dingy-looking red bandanna; for the summer day had been rather warm, and each fellow carried quite a weighty pack on his back.

“I’m more than sorry I kept you waiting for me, because I wanted to see my dad when his train came in; but I had an important message for him, you know. So I guess it’s my fault if we have to make the last lap of our big hike after night sets in.”

“We should worry a whole lot about that!” disdainfully chortled the tall tramper. “Here’s Elmer got his fine pocket flashlight along; and besides, if we feel like it we can hold up a bit, and wait for the old moon to come along. She’s due shortly after dark sets in, you remember, fellows, being just past the full stage.”

“You’ve said it, Wee Willie,” remarked Elmer; “and we ought to be good for a few more miles.”

“Huh!” grunted the tall chap, just as before, as though the mention of that name grated on his nerves.

“Sure thing,” assented Perk, sturdily, though at the time it is possible his plump lower limbs were feeling more or less “wobbly” under him.

“Here’s the ford, and now to cross over,” remarked the fourth member of the party, Amos Codling by name, who was rather a newcomer in Chester; though ever since his advent, some six months previous, he and Elmer Kitching had been fast friends after a sort of David and Jonathan fashion.

The Beaverkill was not at a high stage, owing to summer droughts, but made up for this by being unusually noisy at the point where its waters ran past the “stepping stones,” forming eddies, and pools of foam-crested water.

The four chums proceeded to cross over. As a rule they were nimblefooted, and found little trouble in springing from rock to rock. Once, however, fat Perk came near slipping into the “drink,” when he made a little miscalculation. However, it happened that wise Elmer had been “keeping tabs” on the movements of the other, and managed to throw out a helping hand just in the nick of time.

So at last they reached the other shore. Perk was heard to draw a long breath as of real relief; for he believed he had just had a narrow escape from taking an involuntary bath, in which his pack must have been thoroughly soaked as well as himself.

“Now we leave the Crawford Notch road, and take to the trail that leads to Log Cabin Bend above here,” announced Elmer, who seemed to be looked upon as a leader among his mates.

“I reckon now this might be your old trail,” mentioned Wee Willie, as he pointed indifferently down at his feet.

Elmer agreed with him, for the “signs” were all there. And so without wasting any time in argument they started off in single file, with Perk fetching up the rear.

Already the sun was low down, and night could not be far distant. The trees up in this region were unusually tall, for the lumberman had not as yet attacked the eastern side of the Beaverkill.

“Say, let me tell you, it’s going to be some gloomy around here pretty soon,” observed the tall boy, after they had been tramping in this fashion for at least fifteen minutes, keeping up quite a lively pace.

Amos sighed, as though he might be carrying a little more than his share of boyish troubles himself; at which Elmer half turned his head to glance uneasily at his chum; doubtless wondering what it could be that of late was making the other seem so heavy-hearted.

They continued to plunge along, Elmer setting the pace. Already two of the four miles had been left behind them, a fact that Perk heard the leader state with much joy, though he only grunted in his peculiar way.

“Hope you don’t lose touch with this blinky old trail, Elmer,” suggested Wee Willie, apparently with a motive in view.

“That would be pretty tough on us, for a fact,” chuckled the other; “and as it’s getting to be something of a strain on my eyes to pick my way, I reckon it’s time we had a little artificial help.”

With that there immediately sprang into existence a glow from his electric flashlight that brightly illuminated the forest ahead.

“That’s the ticket!” ejaculated the relieved Perk as they continued to move along their way, winding in among the aisles of the tall timber, but in the main keeping toward the north.

“I understand there’s some sort of queer history connected with this old abandoned cabin at the big bend of the river; do you happen to know anything about it, Elmer?” asked Amos, presently.

“Oh! I’ve heard some strange things about it,” came the quick reply; “but I’m not feeling just in the humor to mention any of the same right now. They’ll keep until some evening, when we’re sitting around the fire, and spinning yarns.”

“Some of them are just awful,” Perk was heard remarking from a little distance in the rear, for at times he seemed to lag more or less; “but of course I never take much stock in such old women stories.”

“All the same there was some sort of tragedy took place—” began Wee Willie, when Elmer stopped him short by saying:

“Drop that, old fellow; we said we’d avoid any and all unpleasant subjects for to-night, when all of us are feeling a bit tired and grumpy. Let’s figure out what sort of supper we’d enjoy most when we arrive. I always look forward to the first meal in camp.”

“And the next one, too,” sighed Perk.

That started them on a congenial topic always deeply absorbing to healthy and hungry lads; and they continued to lay out a program which, had it been carried through in its entirety, must have made serious inroads in the limited stock of provisions carried on their backs.

Later on they relapsed into silence again, being pretty well worn out and in need of refreshment. It was about this time that all of them received a sudden rude shock when there came a savage snarl; and as Elmer threw his light to the quarter whence came the significant sound they discovered a crouching figure on the low limb of a tree under which the winding trail to Log Cabin Bend apparently ran.

CHAPTER II
THE FIRST CAMPFIRE

“Oh! what’s that?” gasped Perk.

“Stand perfectly still, everybody, or he may jump at us!” commanded the leader.

“A whopping big cat, for a fact!” muttered Wee Willie, fumbling about his waist, where he usually carried a homely so-called “hunting knife” in a leather sheath, when on the hike.

“See his yellow and green eyes, will you!” muttered Amos. “He acts as if as mad as hops because we came along. What ails him, do you think, Elmer?”

“I couldn’t say,” replied the other, softly, “unless this one happens to be a mother cat, with kits somewhere close by. They say such a varmint is always doubly dangerous to a man in the woods, especially after nightfall sets in.”

“What’ll we do about it—back out?” came in Perk’s quavering voice.

“I’d hate to do that, for fear of losing the trail,” said Elmer.

“But we’d get clawed up something fierce, wouldn’t we, if it came to a fight with the savage critter? Just listen to the snarls, will you?” the stout boy went on to say.

“Hold on!” suddenly remarked Amos; “leave it all to me, and I think I can do the business. Just keep quiet for a minute or so, and then see what’s going to happen.”

He was heard fumbling with some of the stuff he carried.

“You haven’t got a gun along now, have you, Amos?” asked Perk, with possible visions of a wounded wildcat charging them, and committing more or less scratching and biting before giving up the ghost.

“Something a heap better’n that,” panted Amos, himself excited for fear the enraged beast might leap before he got his plans ready for carrying out. “There, now I’ve got the thing loose; give me just time enough to put a cartridge in place. Don’t be startled, fellows, when I pull the trigger. It’s my camera flashlight I’m going to work on the old rascal. Steady now!”

“Oh!” gasped Perk, comprehendingly.

“A whopping big cat, for a fact!”

Even as he made this sound there came a dazzling flare that caused every one to blink as if half blinded; indeed, a flash of lightning could not have had a more startling effect.

“He jumped!” cried Perk, “but away from us! You certainly gave him the scare of his life, Amos, with your bully camera outfit. Let’s be pushing along, boys; somehow I don’t quite like this section of woods very much.”

No one made any objection, and so the march was resumed. It might have been noticed, however, that Perk made it a point not to lag behind. He was continually imagining he saw crouching figures on many a low hanging limb when Elmer’s light moved this way and that.

So they proceeded until finally Elmer announced that according to his belief they were close to their destination.

“Thank you for saying that, Elmer,” remarked Perk, whole-heartedly, as if he had never listened to more delightful words.

“Yes, here’s the river on our left,” added Wee Willie, encouragingly; “and it looks to me as if we might be rounding the bend right now.”

“Just what we are,” affirmed Amos. “A bit back we were heading due east, and now our course is almost north.”

“Well, there’s the old moon going peeking up on the right,” Perk commented, cheerily. “I can’t remember a time I felt happier to glimpse her smiling face. I’m tired of seeing things lying in wait for us. Ugh!”

Indeed, all of them felt somewhat the same way, so that when the moon was discovered through the aisles of the forest her appearance was greeted joyfully.

“Keep your eyes on the lookout for any signs of the old cabin,” Elmer warned his three chums. “It would be a joke on us if we went past without discovering it. But I’ve a notion this dim trail ought to lead straight to the door.”

Accordingly four pairs of eager eyes kept on the alert every minute of the time, and presently Wee Willie, who possessed remarkably keen vision, made an eager announcement.

“There, over a little to the left—I’m sure it must be a shack under that big tree!” he hastened to say.

“Something moved just then; didn’t you see it slip away?” Perk added in a thrilling whisper.

“You’re still dreaming of cats by the wholesale, Perk!” chided the tall chum, disdainfully.

“It was something that seemed to double over, and disappear back in the shadows!” sturdily declared the stout boy; “mebbe only a dog, though!”

“And what would any dog be doing away up here?” demanded Wee Willie.

“Well, I’ve heard of wild dogs, that have run away from some farm, and taken to living like their ancestors did by the chase,” Perk maintained.

“You only imagined you saw something, so forget it, please,” the other assured him. “Now, here’s the cabin, let’s see what she looks like, Elmer!”

By making good use of his little hand torch the leader was able to do as requested. They all stared eagerly, and then Wee Willie gave vent to a grunt of disappointment.

“Huh! a rickety old shack it is, believe me, boys!” he grumbled. “The door hangs on one rusty hinge; and it looks to me as if the roof might be as full of holes as a housewife’s sieve. Say, just imagine a bally storm hitting us when cooped up in this rotten crib! We’d get soaked to the bone, chances are. I think we’d be sensible to make a brush shanty. Besides, now, I wouldn’t be surprised if the old cabin was haunted.”

“Oh! what makes you believe so?” demanded the thrilled Perk, his thoughts possibly flying back to the flitting shadow he believed he had detected at the time of their arrival on the scene.

“Never mind what he says, Perk,” soothed Elmer. “Here’s the cabin, and if it is rather dilapidated, what’s to hinder our mending the roof to-morrow, I’d like to know? Not much sign of rain to-night, as far as I can see.”

“It’s all right, boys,” Amos now went on to say, cheerily; “let’s go inside and get shut of these pesky packs. My shoulders feel raw from carrying such a load for miles and miles. Mine must weigh twice as much as when we started out.”

“Oh, easily four times that,” chanted Perk, eagerly. “There’s one good thing, though, they’ll be heaps and heaps lighter going back home.”

“Sure thing, if your appetite is what it’s usually been, Perk,” chuckled Wee Willie, as he pushed after Elmer, who had started to enter the abandoned cabin.

“Drop the things here, and let’s get a fire started as soon as we can,” suggested Elmer.

“Indoors or out?” demanded Wee Willie, as though by rights he took that order on his shoulders; for it happened that he had long been known as a veritable “crank” when it came to building fires, and could manage to accomplish this result without the use of matches in half a dozen different ways, some of them really wonderful.

“Outside for this time might be better, as the night is so warm, and we don’t want to take chances of burning our shelter down about our ears,” he was told.

That was enough for the tall chum, who tossing down his pack borrowed Elmer’s hand torch so as to be able to gather some wood, and passing out, proceeded to business. Perk pulled out a fragment of a candle, purloined from home, which he lighted, and set on the gaping hearth.

“It isn’t much of a glim, but better than nothing at all,” he hastened to say in apology. “I always carry some fag-ends of candles when I’m out camping; you never know when you’ll need such things in a hurry. Whew! so this is the shack that gave the place the name of Log Cabin Bend? You c’n see the stars through the holes in the roof, for a fact.”

“We’ll mend that in the morning, Perk, so quit poking fun at our palatial abode,” chided Amos. “And if you asked me, I’d say there’s no apparent reason why we shouldn’t make ourselves mighty comfy here, given a little time, and some elbow grease.”

Already had the fire-maker managed to start his blaze, though likely enough he did not scorn to make use of a plain every-day match on this special occasion, knowing it was hardly the time for any “fiddling” with tedious methods of inducing a spark, coaxed into being by means of flint and steel, or some other aboriginal method of procedure.

As the flames leaped up, seizing on the dry wood Wee Willie had arranged so cleverly, the glow attracted the others, who came trooping out, showing by their actions how pleased they were to be finally free from their burdens.

“The first campfire for this outing!” remarked Perk, his round face aglow, while his eyes sparkled with satisfaction. “And how long will it be before your fire is fit for cooking over, Wee Willie?”

The other gave him a queer look, and seemed on the point of saying something sharp, but restrained himself.

“Right soon, so you might as well be getting the ham and eggs and coffee out of the packs, fellows. Say, I’m as hungry as a homeless dog; so be sure you cook double rations, Perk.”

“Leave that to me,” chuckled the other, ambling back inside the cabin in order to round up the necessary cooking implements and then root out the ingredients of the first meal in camp.

Elmer walked about meanwhile as though investigating the surroundings, so as to figure on what they would find it necessary to do in order to make the old shack habitable. Several times Wee Willie glanced toward the other as though he might have something on his mind. Finally he arose from his knees and joined Elmer.

“Noticed you sniffing like you suspected there might be a skunk in the offing?” he finally remarked. “Fact is, I thought myself there was a queer kind of odor around here, inside the cabin in particular.”

“That’s the idea I had,” assented Elmer, softly, “but this isn’t anything in the line of a polecat; if you asked me I’d say it was some sort of villainous tobacco, such as a tramp might pick up in a wayside field, and smoke in his pipe as he lay around after his supper!”

“By George, fellows! there goes somebody now! I’m sure I saw him this time!” said Perk excitedly, coming through the door and pointing through a dusky lane of trees. “Now tell me again that I am only imagining things!”

CHAPTER III
THE CHUM BELOVED

After all Elmer’s effort to keep his voice down when talking to the tall chum, Perk had heard what was said. He happened to be coming out of the door just at that moment, as luck would have it, and so caught the full significance of the remark. But try as they might, no one else saw the lurking figure he again pointed out.

“I guess you score, Perk,” admitted the one addressed, for whatever Wee Willie had in the way of faults, and he was not by any means perfect, he never failed to make amends when an occasion arose for it.

“What’s all the talk about, I want to know?” demanded Amos, showing up just then, and with all a natural boy’s curiosity aroused.

“Why, Elmer was just saying, and I agreed with him,” explained the tall pal, “that there was an odor of stale tobacco smoke hanging around this old cabin. He thinks it may have been some wandering tramp who put up here for the night.”

“But,” interposed Perk, “why should he skip out so quick when he heard us coming along the trail, or else caught the glimmer of Elmer’s torch? You’d think the poor chap’d feel mighty lonely, away off the beaten track of his kind, and be glad of our company.”

“Which remark shows how little you know of the hobo tribe in general,” chuckled the angular boy. “Most of the Weary Willies are born thieves, and only want a chance to steal to let themselves out.”

“Many are, anyhow,” admitted the more conservative Elmer, “and for all we know, this fellow has done something that makes him afraid of officers of the Law.”

“But he may come back again?” hazarded Perk, dubiously, a cloud beginning to gather upon his forehead, as though some of his expectations of a carefree holiday had received a sudden and unexpected backset.

“That’s true enough for you, Perk,” agreed the grinning Wee Willie; “but take my word for it, if he does it’ll not be to make our acquaintance.”

“What then?” asked the other, quickly, looking worried still.

“Oh! I reckon tramps have ferocious appetites, and get good and hungry,” continued the tall chum; “and if he hangs around for a bit he’ll smell our jolly supper cooking, which ought to make him well-nigh frantic.”

“Then you mean he may sneak back here during the night, with the idea of stealing some of our grub; is that it?” questioned Perk, his anxiety taking a new turn.

“It wouldn’t surprise me much if he did,” coolly observed Wee Willie.

“But you’re only guessing it was a tramp,” said Amos just then.

“Why, yes, that’s a fact,” admitted Elmer. “To be sure the man might be something entirely different from a hobo.”

“As what, Elmer?” asked Perk.

“Oh! there are a number of answers to your question, Perk,” the leader informed him. “For instance, this chap might be some fugitive from justice who had broken jail, and was in hiding.”

“Yes, or even a lunatic at large,” continued Wee Willie, perhaps amused to see how eagerly the other was swallowing all these suggestions; “for we happen to know such a thing did happen once, years back; for the State Asylum for the Insane is located not much more’n twenty miles northeast of our home town of Chester.”

“Then there might be another explanation for his being here,” spoke up Amos. “I chanced to be talking with the head game warden only a week back, and he told me he had never known the game poachers so daring as this season. They have shot deer, snared partridge and rabbits out of season, and laid illegal set-lines for black bass in some of the best lakes of the county.”

“Yes,” Elmer added, thoughtfully, “it might be one of those bold game hogs who didn’t want to be seen up here, where he really had no right to be. But why bother our heads so about the fellow? He’s skipped out, and the chances are we’ll never glimpse hide nor hair of him again. Perk was the only one who got a peep at the slippery rascal.”

Accordingly the subject was dropped, for the time being at any rate; but Perk looked unusually grave as he proceeded to get supper, as though creeping, mysterious men kept looming up before his mental vision.

Indeed, doubtless the little mystery connected with the strange actions of the unknown would give each one of the boys cause for more or less reflection, and vague speculation.

The supper was voted a great success. Perk prided himself on his ability as a cook; and since the others usually commended his efforts to the skies he almost always insisted on doing the lion’s share of this work; to which of course no one objected in the least.

The sliced ham was browned to a nicety, the eggs, carefully packed so as not to be broken in transit, were “turned” or not, to suit the individual taste of each fellow; the coffee seemed like ambrosia, so fragrant and cheering did it appear; while the home-made bread, with genuine butter for a spread, added much to the enjoyment of their first meal in camp.

These four lads of Chester had been accustomed to similar outings during the summer holidays, and thus banded together called themselves the “Camp Fire Boys,” a name that seemed to possess a certain charm in their eyes as it was bound always to recall the jolly times they had when camping out in company.

Elmer Kitching had always possessed an ardent love for everything connected with the Great Outdoors. He came by this nature honestly, for his father in his day had been a well-known naturalist, whom such famous men as Teddy Roosevelt himself, John Burroughs, and others along the same line had been glad to consult when preparing articles for publication, in order to verify their own observations concerning animated nature.

His mother, now a widow, was comfortably well off, and Elmer had a young sister at home by the name of Rebecca.

Amos Codling lived with his mother and three younger children. They had not mingled very much with other folks since coming to Chester; the widow returned no calls, and seemed content to look after her family. Some were inclined to think this rather strange; but by degrees it became the conviction of her neighbors that she must have seen great trouble, and shrank from contact with the rough world. Her children were always well dressed, and bright in school; but even the town gossips could find out next to nothing about the previous history of the Codling family, save that they came from a big city.

Wee Willie Winkleman was the son of the owner of the finest motion picture theater in Chester. As has been stated before, his prevailing passion was the ambition to discover new and novel methods of making fires without the use of matches. That had become such a “fad” with the tall chum that he even dreamed about it, and had been known to get up in the middle of the night to try out some queer scheme which had visited him in his sleep.

Perk, the beloved pal, was famous for his amiable disposition. Few fellows had ever seen him show a trace of anger. Indeed, his beaming smile could, the boys claimed, melt the flinty heart of almost any farmer around town; though this rule had its exceptions. Perk was frequently in trouble; likewise rosy-cheeked, and guileless, he was also addicted to straying from beaten paths in the woods, and getting lost; but never from the truth, since his word was as good as most fellows’ bond. His father was a railroad engineer, and likewise rather ponderous of build.

As the evening crept along, Wee Willie every once in a while might have been noticed glancing sharply in the direction of Amos. It struck him that the other was acting unusually nervous, for he would get up and walk around for a minute or two, and then again throw himself down.

“Something must be bothering Amos, that’s dead sure,” the tall chum told himself; and at the same time determined to speak of the fact to Elmer if a chance offered.

He had never been quite as close to Amos as Elmer, though for that matter it was extremely doubtful if even the latter had been taken into the confidence of the Codling boy, who knew how to keep a “close mouth,” as Wee Willie called it.

“Still, it may be he’s eaten too much supper, and his digestion is troubling him,” was the final conclusion Wee Willie reached.

They sat around for some time, talking after their habit. It was hard to realize that they were all of sixteen miles from home, and surrounded by the primeval forest, up there in the Tall Timber, as that belt of the big wilderness was known.

“This just suits me to a dot,” Wee Willie said for the fourth time as he poked at the fire, and sighed with complete happiness. “Guess I was just born to be a tramp, and make fires across the whole Continent, I love to hear the crackle of the flames so much.”

“I’m really concerned about you sometimes, Wee Willie,” said Elmer, pretending to look serious, though the sparkle in his gray eyes belied his words and manner. “If this craze for fires keeps up you’ll be tempted to run with the machine; and then when there’s a slacking up of business set a few haystacks ablaze just to keep your hand in.”

“Not much I will,” retorted the other. “My fad is in inventing new and novel ways for creating fires. I consider a good blaze man’s best friend, when held in hand; let it break away, and I own up it may become his worst enemy. All good things can be abused, remember, and fire isn’t an exception to the general rule.”

“About time we looked after our beds, isn’t it?” asked Perk, accompanying his words with a tremendous yawn.

“Oh! that isn’t going to take much time,” scoffed Wee Willie, “seeing how we all share alike. It’s a hard bed for to-night, on the floor of the cabin. To-morrow we’ll hunt for hemlock browse, and ease things up. I’m the one who will suffer most, because my bones stick out so, without pads, like Perk here carries around with him.”

Amidst considerable merriment they soon laid out their double camping blankets, of a gray or dun color as most suitable for the purpose, and “less liable to show dirt spots,” as Perk always slyly claimed.

“It’s good night boys for me,” that individual was saying, as he stripped off his coat, kicked his shoes into a corner and commenced to crawl under his warm woolen cover. “Say, this feels just great; you fellows’d better make up your minds to follow my example, and turn in.”

He was sound asleep in less than ten minutes, when the others were ready to seek cover. Wee Willie stared down at his round moonlike face, and nodded his head as he turned to Elmer and Amos to say softly:

“Looks like a sweet cherub lying there, with such a happy smile on his mug. No use talking, Perk is the best-natured chap in seven counties. I’ve been mean enough more’n a few times to try my level best to make him mad, but had to give it up; he just looked at me, and kept on smiling until I had to turn and walk away bested; bless his big heart!”

Elmer nodded in approval of these words of appreciation, and Amos too showed that he echoed the sentiments expressed by the tall chum.

“I’ve known a lot of fellows,” he went on to say, “but never his like. If all boys were built like good old Perk there’d be a heap less trouble in this world. I know I’d have been saved more or less suffering myself.”

Wee Willie looked quickly at the speaker, as though he half expected Amos to take them into his confidence; but instead the other simply bent down and started to push his extremities under his blanket.

The fire still burned without, and although the door was closed, Perk having succeeded in fastening it with a piece of stout rope, through innumerable apertures the flickering glow stole, making queer pictures on the wall beyond, that came and went like phantom drawings.

Elmer lay there and watched them for some time, his thoughts far afield, possibly in his Chester home with the dear ones there. Gradually his eyes closed and he lost track of even these precious ties in restful slumber.

Time passed by, several hours elapsing, when Elmer suddenly sat half-way up. Surely he had heard the yapping of a dog somewhere near by. This not only interested him but aroused an intense curiosity. Then he noticed that both Wee Willie and Amos also gave signs of being awake.

Now voices could be heard. They were heavy tones that came to Elmer’s ears, as of mature men. Crunching footsteps followed, then a loud pounding.

“Open up here!” boomed a voice, followed by further sonorous knocks.

CHAPTER IV
UNEXPECTED VISITORS

“All right, dad; I’m up!”

That was Perk, who, aroused so suddenly by the racket doubtless imagined himself at home in his own bed, with his father rapping on the wall when the son indulged in his favorite habit of oversleeping mornings.

Elmer, Amos and Wee Willie were already on deck, having jumped to their feet in a hurry. The gruff voice seemed to be one invested with some degree of authority; it struck them all “in a heap,” as the tall chum afterwards described the sudden awakening.

Again came that loud thumping on the quivering door.

“Hurry up and open, do you hear?” rasped the voice, now with a touch of anger in the tones. “Don’t think you can escape, because we’ve got you cornered like a rat. Better be sensible, and go back with us!”

“Oh! my stars! who is it, and what does he mean?” gasped Perk, realizing at last that things were quite different from what he had at first imagined.

Perk was really responsible for the fastened door. He had in his timidity pictured the frowsy tramp creeping back when they were all fast asleep, and perhaps almost cleaning out their limited supply of provisions, thus bringing the glorious camping trip to an untimely end; since four healthy boys could not be expected to stay up in the woods without sufficient “grub” to keep the wolf from the door.

So he had managed to make a shift with a piece of clothes-line (which was likely to be searched for in vain at home when next washday came along), securing the door so that it could not be opened from without unless by a display of extreme violence.

Elmer was by now across the cabin. He touched the planks of which the door was composed, to find them still quivering under the impact of the unknown party’s knuckles.

“Wait a minute, and we’ll open up; the door is fastened, don’t you understand? Hold your horses, Mister; I’m undoing it right now!” he called out.

Immediately he caught the sound of voices again just beyond. Evidently the men, whoever they might turn out to be, seemed astonished at something, perhaps disappointed in the bargain. Once more there also came to the ears of the boys the eager whining of a dog. Elmer imagined that this animal might have been partly responsible for the visit of these midnight prowlers.

Perk gave a low cry as the door suddenly swung back under Elmer’s push. The moon was shining brightly, and standing there in its mellow glow were two stalwart figures and a hound. The first thing Perk noticed was the fact that both men were garbed in some sort of uniform, with caps that bordered on the military.

Meanwhile the two men were bending forward and looking at the youthful group that filled the doorway of the cabin. One of them gave a grunt, and followed this with a scornful laugh that grated on the nerves like a file.

“There you are, Collins, with all your being so sure we’d find the tricky chap located here, just because his trail headed this way. Sold again, Elihu, and off the scent once more! Now perhaps you’ll pay some attention to my plan of campaign, since yours has petered out so flat.”

The other man continued to stare at Elmer and his mates.

“Who are you chaps anyway, and what’re you doing here?” he demanded.

“Oh! that’s easily explained,” said the Kitching boy cheerily. “We all belong in Chester, you see, and make up the Camp Fire Boys’ Club. Just now we are on one of our regular trips to the woods for sport, and to wind up the summer vacation. My name is Elmer Kitching, this is Amos Codling; the tall chum is a son of Caleb Winkleman who owns the classy motion picture theater in our town; and the last boy is Perk—his dad is an engineer on the B. & S. Railroad. Might I ask who you are, and what you expected to find here in this shack at Old Cabin Bend of the Beaverkill?”

“That’s a civil question, youngster, and since you’ve been so obliging, I don’t mind answering it. Me and my mate Andrews here are guards over at the big State Asylum for the Insane. A few days ago one of the inmates managed to escape, and we’ve been searching the whole countryside for him ever since. Our hound here found and lost his trail again and again in the queerest way ever. The last time he ran it out the fugitive was heading this way. Somehow I got a notion he must know about this old cabin here, and was making for it. You see I originally came from Crawford Notch, and knew all about the deserted cabin up here. So I influenced my pal to drop around.”

“Yes,” broke in the man who had been called Andrews, “and when we caught the glimmer of a dying fire through the trees, Collins here was dead sure we’d treed our coon at last. But the game is all off again, it seems; and we can start in looking where we left off; warning the farmers as we go to keep their eyes peeled for a clever chap who’ll hoodwink them with his blarney, if he gets half a chance.”

“Thank you for telling us,” said Elmer; “and in return let me say that when we struck this cabin some time after moonrise to-night, there was an odor of stale tobacco smoke hanging around inside. One of my chums here also declared he glimpsed some sort of figure bending over like an animal, and getting out of sight in a hurry!”

At hearing this the men both uttered exclamations that told of renewed interest. “That sounds interesting,” said Collins, warmly. “It might be we can pick up a fresh trail around these diggings. About where was it he was seen?”

“Perk, step up here,” said Elmer; “can you point out the spot for the gentlemen?”

“Sure thing, Elmer. There, over to the left yonder, see the tree that seems to bend over toward the southeast—it was right under that same I sighted a moving figure; but it flashed out of sight before I could rub my eyes twice to make sure.”

“That’s aplenty, Perk, and thank you,” said Collins, who seemed a pretty decent sort of a chap after all, though he must have been terribly disappointed when his theory turned to bitter fruit; his comrade’s jeers too had not added to his enjoyment of the situation.

“Let’s try the dog around that place,” immediately suggested the other man, plainly full of action. “If it’s our bird, Jock’ll soon give tongue, and lead us off right smart.”

“Our only play, I reckon,” agreed Collins. “So good night, boys; hope you have a bully time of it in camp; used to do that sort of thing myself years back, and know what it means. We’ll soon be clearing out of this region, hit or miss, so you won’t be pestered with our hound barking for long.”

Elmer and the others saw them hurry away with mingled emotions. Despite the fact that the night air seemed pretty chilly, and their garments exceedingly thin, they continued to huddle in the open doorway, listening and watching.

Even Perk refused to go back again to his snug blanket so long as the other three remained there; and once Elmer heard him saying softly, as though to himself:

“Poor thing, just to think of him out of his mind, and wandering at large in these big woods, hungry, and without even a blanket to hug nights. I almost wish he’d crept in, and cribbed that last loaf of bread we fetched along.”

That was Perk all over, full of feeling for any one apt to be suffering; and it was this spirit of wanting to be of service that endeared him to the hearts of all his boy friends in Chester.

“There’s the hound picking up!” snapped Amos, suddenly.

“But you want to notice there isn’t a note of eagerness in his baying,” added Elmer, quickly. “If he’s found any sort of scent at all, it isn’t what he’s been searching for. You can even detect a sort of disappointed sound about his mournful notes.”

“That’s what!” echoed Wee Willie. “Either the lunatic has been too smart for the trackers, or else it wasn’t him after all, and the dog knows it.”

Elmer shut the door again, though only with an effort, owing to its really dilapidated condition. And Perk, as if in duty bound, proceeded again to adjust his rope guard. It had served them one good turn already, he figured; because had those two guards burst suddenly in upon them, their consternation must have been many times aggravated.

“A nice state of affairs, I must say!” Wee Willie was grumbling. “We came all the way up here to camp in solitude and peace, and now see what we’re up against! Gee whiz! can you beat it?”

“No, but mebbe we’d better beat it for home,” Perk faintly suggested, as if even the thought gave him fresh pain.

“Here, none of that, Perk,” sternly rebuked Elmer. “We’re not the kind to be frightened off by such a silly little thing as that. We’ll stick it out, no matter what comes along!”

“Hear! hear!” came from Wee Willie; while Amos too added his voice to the chorus, and even Perk hastened to say:

“Oh! I didn’t really mean it, I assure you, boys, and you can believe me. I’ll hang on as long as the next one, no matter if the whole asylum breaks loose.”

CHAPTER V
ALL BUSY AS BEAVERS

It was some time before the boys could settle down again to sleep. Perk often believed he could catch a distant yap from the ranging hound, and it never failed to give him a thrill. The beast had seemed both big, and inclined to be savage; and Perk could not help shuddering to think of his getting loose from his leash and coming on the cringing lunatic somewhere in the lonely timber.

But finally even the anxious Perk succumbed, and when he again opened his eyes it was to find that daylight had come, with Elmer outside starting up the fire, and some one else rattling the tin pans, as if getting ready for a jolly breakfast.

As that was encroaching on his private preserves, Perk hastened to bob up and assure the others he would soon be on deck, prepared to make a mess of his savory “flapjacks,” as he had solemnly promised to do the very first morning in camp.

Soon every one was busily engaged, for there was bound to be “heaps” of work laid out for that wonderful day. Amos was examining the dilapidated roof of the cabin and settling just how they should go about rendering it waterproof; Wee Willie beat some batter in a tin vessel, under the eye of the self-constituted master of ceremonies (for Perk had actually donned a snow-white peakless cap, fashioned after a regular chef’s headgear, doubtless meaning to have no dispute regarding his recognized rights to the exalted title); while Elmer had taken to looking around outside, especially over in the quarter of the leaning birch tree.

He came over to the fire a little later, and Wee Willie at once detected indications in his face that made him suspicious.

“You’ve discovered something new, Elmer, now don’t deny it!” he immediately asserted.

“What is it?” hastily demanded Perk.

“Well,” said Elmer, quietly, “it’s just this; whoever that man may be, he came back again during the night!”

This information caused all of the others to show fresh interest. Perk was just in the act of tossing aloft his first flapjack, and in his nervousness he actually missed connections, so that the delectable morsel ignominiously fell into the ashes, and was thus lost.

“It wasn’t up to the mark, anyhow,” the nervous cook hastened to say in apology; “first off the pan shouldn’t be eaten, I always claim. But you did give me a jolt, Elmer, when you said that.”

“How do you know?” questioned Wee Willie; “run across the sign, did you?”

“He walked completely around the cabin twice,” stated the other. “From the indications I’d say he must have been a heap surprised to discover that it had occupants; for I take it, he could hear some of us breathing pretty hard.”

“Huh! needn’t all look right at me,” Wee Willie hastened to snap, as he colored up amidst his freckles. “I made out to lie on my side the whole live-long night, I’d take my affidavy on that. I admit that once in a while I do snore; but that’s when I roll over on my back, and have been gorging at supper on such things as mince pie and other heavy stuff. Go on, Elmer!”

“I know what you are thinking,” Elmer continued; “how could I decide that the man didn’t make those marks before we came? I’ll tell you what proof I have right now. In the first place there isn’t much dew in the tracks, which I reckon would indicate that the footprints were made shortly before dawn. Am I right there, Wee Willie? You’re well up in woodcraft, and ought to be able to say.”

“Sounds good to me,” grunted the other, wagging his head violently in the affirmative, while a pleased expression on his thin face told how much he felt complimented by having Elmer defer in this fashion to his judgment.

“Well, I had another good proof,” Elmer went on to say, with one of his reassuring smiles. “Where the tracks crossed the marks left by Collins and his pal they overlapped; that is, this footprint broke into the ones made by the two guards from the asylum!”

“Splendid work, Elmer!” cried Perk, this time succeeding brilliantly in tossing up his second flapjack, which alighted successfully in the pan, with the browned side up. “Guess he did come prowling around then, and like as not tried the door more’n once. Say, I’m real glad I fastened it as well as I did.”

“What do you suppose he wanted?” queried Amos, looking even more serious than was his habit.

“Not being a mind reader,” Elmer told him, “I couldn’t say; but to make a stab at it I’d guess he hoped we’d gone along, and he could have his old cabin to himself again.”

“Well, it’ll always be a big mystery who and what this chap can be,” Wee Willie concluded. “I only hope now he knows we’re stopping here he’ll take the hint, and keep off the grass. It’ll go rough with any hobo we catch bothering our traps, let me tell you. Here, put that one on this warm plate I’ve got on this flat stone alongside the fire, Perk. It makes a beginning, and we can soon be starting in to feed.”

“Somebody open that bottle of maple syrup,” observed the bustling cook a little later on, as another “cart-wheel” cake went turning over in the air, to be caught dexterously again in the pan. “And when I get a third one ready you’d better start in eating while they’re fresh and hot. The coffee’s done; and of course I don’t mean to commence until somebody can spell me here.”

In good time they were doing full justice to Perk’s famous flapjacks; which each and every camper solemnly declared when passing up his pie-tin for more were really unequaled by anything served at the breakfast table at home.

Of course Wee Willie presently insisted on taking Perk’s place, so that the chef might take the edge off his own appetite; until finally all of them declared they could not swallow another bite, and with three cakes left over.

“For munching on between meals, if any one wants a snack,” Perk explained, as he put them aside. “Nothing to be wasted in this camp—that is, except perhaps the first tryout in a batch.”

Then they commenced to do things, each one having jotted down certain tasks that should be attended to without delay.

Elmer and Wee Willie took upon their shoulders the mending of the cabin roof; patching up sundry apertures between the logs of the walls, where the dried mud had long since fallen away through the action of time and weather combined; and also renewing the broken hinge on the cumbersome door.

Perk insisted on cleaning up the breakfast things; somehow he loved to serve in the capacity of cook, and his mates seemed perfectly willing to have it so, strange to say.

As for Amos, already he had his precious camera out, and announced his intention of searching the immediate neighborhood, in hopes of securing some unusual picture.

“I’d like above all things to find a late partridge on her nest,” he was explaining ere he sauntered forth. “I’ve always wanted to get a picture of the bird on her eggs, or strutting around with her chicks; but I’m afraid it’s a heap too late in the season for such a thing to happen.”

“As a rule the early brood is pretty well grown by now,” commented Elmer; “still, I remember finding a nest with eggs in it as late as this, and you might be just lucky enough. Wish you success, Amos; and if I can help you in any way let me know.”

“Perhaps you may when I get a chance to set a camera trap at night, so some cunning ’coon, or frisky mink, will take his own picture. That’s my ambition, you know, Elmer, though I’m not building my hopes too high, not wanting to be disappointed.”

“I wouldn’t stray too far away, if I were you, Amos,” hinted Wee Willie.

“Oh! I’m a pretty fair woodsman,” insisted the other, “and I reckon now the chances of my getting lost are small. But I’ll just wander around the Bend here, and sort of get my bearings, as well as keep one eye out for anything that appeals to me.”

“And keep the other on the watch for signs of that tramp, or lunatic, Amos,” Perk insisted on warning him solicitously.

So Amos walked away, carrying his camera along with him. Elmer looked after him with an expression akin to concern on his young face, which shrewd Wee Willie was quick to notice.

“Something seems to be bothering him, don’t you think, Elmer?” the latter asked in a low tone so that Perk might not hear what he said.

“Y-es, I’ve thought so myself lately,” admitted Elmer, slowly; “though you remember, Amos has always been a sobersides of a chap ever since we came to know him. There’s a sort of family trouble weighing down on him, I reckon; something that is no one else’s business. I’d like to comfort him if only I knew how to go about it; but I don’t want to kick in where outsiders have no right. But let’s change the subject, Wee Willie; I dislike talking about any of my chums.”

They worked industriously for an hour and more, and under their clever tactics the roof began to show decided signs of improvement. Indeed, already one-half of its surface had been rendered impervious to water, after the boys had succeeded in thatching it with bark stripped from certain trees, and overlapping like the shingles on an ordinary house.

“By the time we get through we needn’t be afraid of the heaviest kind of a rainfall,” said Elmer, confidently; “unless it’s accompanied by a fierce wind, such as might strip all this off in a jiffy.”

“Where’s Perk gone?” asked Wee Willie; “I thought I heard him saying something just then, but it sounded as if he was off somewhere.”

“I saw him prowling around in the brush yonder ten minutes ago,” Elmer informed him. “Like as not he’s just bent on seeing if there’s a good spot for fishing at the Bend here; because, you know Perk dearly loves to pull in the frisky black bass, or the striped perch, as well as eat the same.”

“Listen! wasn’t that him speaking again?” hissed Wee Willie, stopping his task of fastening a strip of pliable bark with small round tins, through each of which a nail could be driven, such as are used to secure tarred paper to the roofs of chicken coops and other small outbuildings.

“No, you don’t, not this time, you nasty thing!” Perk was heard saying half in disgust, and with a tinge of consternation in his tones. “Curl up again, and shake your old locust rattle as much as you please, who cares?”

“Perk!” shouted Elmer excitedly, recognizing a certain dreadful sound that now floated to his ears, “back away! Don’t fool with a rattlesnake, you silly! Back water, and in a hurry!”

CHAPTER VI
THE EVENTS OF A DAY

Both boys leaped to the ground without waiting to agree on any particular program. They had recognized the peculiar buzz of an angry rattlesnake, so like the shrill sound made by a locust on a hot August day, and once heard never afterwards forgotten.

The thought of their chum taking any chances with such a dangerous viper thrilled them, and also gave them a chill. Elmer snatched up the first stick he could see, in which he was speedily imitated by the other. Then they started on the run, heading directly for the spot whence that furious whirring sound sprang.

As they went thus they heard another sort of disturbance, as though some object might be swishing through the bushes, or else beating the ground. Then again came the voice of Perk, uttering low warwhoops, as though furiously engaged, while the rattle gradually became uncertain, and finally ceased to sound.

“Take that with my compliments, and here’s another of the same sort! Huh! lunge at a fellow who didn’t mean to bother you at all, will you? Guess I’ve done for your hash all right, thanks to this bully pole. Hello! fellows, just come up in time to see me clip him the last stunner. He’s settled, don’t you think?”

Elmer breathed easier when he saw that bulky Perk had snatched up a convenient pole, and with this had proceeded to break the back-bone of the angry snake. It was even then squirming on the ground, and judging from its length must be an old campaigner, being fully three feet, which could be considered fair proportions for a Northern specimen.

“He didn’t get to you, I hope, Perk?” was the first question Elmer asked, at which the other grinned, and shook his head vigorously in the negative.

“Glad to say he didn’t, Elmer; but shucks! if he could only have flung himself his full length, instead of only half, I believe he’d have struck me. But I did for him, let me tell you, that’s right. Six rattles, and a prime button to wind up with, to show for my encounter! Whew!”

“But didn’t you hear his warning rattle?” demanded Wee Willie; “I never knew a case where one of his stripe didn’t shake his can like thunder before you almost stepped on him. They’re the only honorable snake there is.”

Perk colored up, and then candidly admitted his shortcoming.

“Why, er, you see, I just must have thought it was only a locust buzzing away like all get-out,” he confessed, in some confusion. “Then all at once he launched himself out at me, to fall short; but like a flash he was coiled again, and starting in to make that queer buzzing sound once more. Oh! yes, I did get a shock, and felt as cold as ice for a few seconds; then my dander seemed to rise, and I just looked around for a pole, which luckily enough happened to be handy. It knocked him silly, you can see.”

“We’ll take no chances with such a slick neighbor,” said Wee Willie, who happened to be carrying the camp hatchet in his left hand; with which he now proceeded to decapitate the squirming snake. “There, be careful not to step on his head, Perk; I’ve heard of a case where a man died by doing that, the sharp fangs running into his foot through his soft moccasin.”

Perk was contented to obtain possession of the rattle as a memento of his late exciting encounter. He showed some concern over the matter.

“I certainly hope there isn’t a nest of these chaps hanging around Log Cabin Bend,” he remarked, solicitously. “What with watching for snakes, and escaped lunatics, I can see where we’re bound to be on the alert every minute of our stay up here.”

“So far as that goes, it always pays to keep your eyes open when afoot in the Tall Timber,” Elmer warned him. “You never know what you may run up against any minute; and preparedness is the right bower of every woodsman worthy of the name. Already we’ve run across three instances of this—first there was that crouching cat Amos frightened off with his flashlight; then came the mysterious party who slipped away from the cabin at our approach; and now this venomous snake that was lying coiled in your path, and on which you might have trod unawares only for his generous warning.”

“This ought to be a good lesson to me, Elmer,” humbly admitted the contrite Perk. “I realize that I’m a whole lot short on woods lore, and all those things some of my fine pards know so much about; but I mean to soak in a wheen of the same while we’re up here in camp. Yes, every time I shake this rattle it’ll remind me how wofully lacking I am in scoutcraft, and everything connected with life in the woods.”

“Everything perhaps except the splendid art of cookery, Perk,” remarked the cunning Wee Willie, adroitly feeding the ambition of the other to shine as an artist along such lines; “there you’ve got the bunch of us left at the post.”

“Yes,” remarked the other, with a puff of unconscious pride, while his eyes fairly sparkled with pleasure at receiving such a compliment, “I suppose a fellow can’t be up head in everything; where one excels, another fails to hit the mark. And perhaps it’s just as well that I have a knack for the noble culinary art.”

Perk went back to camp with the others, as though for the time being his desire to look around had received a decided setback.

“I’ll come out and put the ugly thing underground later on,” he said; “for such trash ought to be buried deep, so as to keep the air around the camp sweet and pure. I burned some insect powder inside the cabin, you may have noticed, just to get rid of that stale odor we took to come from rank tobacco. It’s a disinfectant in the bargain.”

“That’s right, Perk,” assented Wee Willie, promptly; “anyway, it almost disinfected me when I poked my head indoors a while back, to see if there might be any cavity we’d overlooked. Made the tears come, too, so that Elmer he asked me, when I got back on the roof, if I’d had any bad news from home. But then I left the door wide open, so it’ll gradually pass away, let’s hope.”

The two menders of leaky roofs were soon at their old job, while Perk readily found something else to occupy his time and attention. He had pounded nails galore in the wall near the cavity which was used as a fireplace, and on these he hung such cooking utensils as they had fetched along with them, consisting of a large sized coffeepot; a generous frying pan; some kettles in which grits or rice or oatmeal might be cooked; likewise a little teapot, for Perk was a regular old maid when it came to the question of drinking a decoction of the fragrant herb at lunch or supper, preferring it to Java at any time.

Along about half-past-ten by Elmer’s little nickel watch who should come in but Amos, with a look of eager expectation on his face.

“Guess you struck oil somewhere, didn’t you, brother?” asked Wee Willie, as if able rightly to interpret this expression of anticipated triumph.

“Would you believe it,” crowed Amos, “I had the great good luck to scare a bird out of the thicket where the berries are growing that partridges like to feed on early in the Fall; and on investigating there was a nest, with some eggs in it, and warm at that? Of course it’s a silly bird that hopes to fetch up a flock of nestlings hatched out so near frost time, but it was pie to me!”

“What did you do?” demanded Perk, looking deeply interested.

“Well, I fixed my camera so it focussed on the nest, with the proper effect of light,” explained Amos. “Then I crept away to some little distance, keeping in tabs with it all, so I’d know when to pull the string that would free the trigger of the camera, and expose the plate in a jiffy.”

“And did it work; was the old bird so little alarmed that she’d come back to her nest before the eggs got chilled?” continued Perk.

“Just what she did,” assented the eager photographer, “and as soon as I saw everything was O. K. I did the business. Knew just when the trigger sprang, too, for I noticed her give a little jump at the click. Then she flew off again as I stepped up to recover my camera that lay on the ground. I certainly do hope I’ve struck a decent picture; but if not I’ll just keep on trying till I do.”

“That’s the right spirit, Amos,” chuckled Elmer. “Just keep it up and you’re bound to get there sooner or later.”

Then the newcomer had to be told about Perk’s thrilling adventure, as well as shown the rattle of the dead snake by the proud victor in the battle royal. The reader may rest assured that by the time all three boys had given their separate version of the encounter, Amos was fully posted regarding every detail possible.

“You came out of it in prime shape, Perk,” he said, heartily; “but luck was on your side. If you’d happened to be a foot closer, there might have been a far different story to tell; and a heap anxious lot of fellows up here at Old Cabin Bend. I’ve known of chaps who were struck by a rattler, and died in spite of being dosed with whisky, and such things, under the idea that one poison can counteract another. For myself I like to give snakes a wide berth. I’ll step out of the trail every time to let one hold possession.”

“It’s really the safest plan,” assented Elmer.

“But that isn’t just all my news, boys,” continued the ardent photographer. “Down under the river bank I found a heap of little tracks, mink footprints for a certainty, showing that one old chap roams around there, anyway. And to-night, Elmer, I’d like to have you help me set my camera trap, hoping to coax Mr. Mink to sit for his own picture.”

“You can count on me in anything you ask, Amos,” he was told most heartily as the roofers again got busy with their pounding.

After they had partaken of a light lunch, meaning to have the big meal of the day come at evening, when their tasks would all be finished, they lay around resting and dozing, for it had become quite warm.

Perk, however, showed signs of continued nervousness. Perhaps he had received a greater shock during his encounter with the rattler than he cared to admit; then again the suspicion that an escaped lunatic was hovering around, and trying to spy upon them, was in itself quite enough to make him uneasy.