AT THE CAMP ONCE AGAIN
The announcement Snap made cast a gloom over all the boys. Each felt
that their leader spoke the truth.
"Well, as I don't want to go home, I vote we go after the thief," said
Shep, who was the first to speak.
Fortunately not all of their stores had been taken--they had been too
plentiful to pile on one sled--so they had enough left with which to
get a substantial supper. But all of the boys did not wait for the
meal.
"If we are going to follow that thief up we ought to do it right
away," said Snap. "The more time that is wasted the less will be our
chance of catching him. Shep, if you say so, we can go after him and
leave Giant and Whopper to look after what is left here."
"Why can't I go along?" asked Giant.
"Two ought to stay here," said Snap. "And I've got another plan," he
went on. "How much money have we got on hand?"
The amount was counted and found to be nearly five dollars.
"That's enough," said the leader. "If we can't find the thief, we can
slip over to Riverside and buy the things we actually need. I wouldn't
go to Fairview, because that would cause too much talk."
Snap and Shep put some provisions in their game bags, readjusted their
snowshoes, and soon set off.
"Have you any idea when you will be back?" called Whopper after them.
"No--maybe not till to-morrow," was the answer.
In the deep snow it was easy to follow the direction the thief with
the sled had taken, and they soon became convinced that but one person
had done the deed.
Left to themselves, Whopper and Giant did what little they could to
restore order to the camp. They saw that the thief must have remained
in the shelter one or two days--probably during the blizzard. On
leaving he had attempted to break down one wall of the place and ruin
the chimney, but had not succeeded.
"They'll last as long as we want to stay," said Giant. "But how mean
it was to try such things!"
In coming to the shelter Whopper had twisted his ankle and this hurt
him not a little, and he was perfectly willing to rest the member all
he could. Giant prepared supper and they ate it leisurely, in the
meanwhile talking over the outlook from every point of view.
Morning found the two young hunters stirring early. There was little,
however, to do, and they took their time over breakfast. Giant had
found where a bag of beans had been spilled on the ground and he
picked them up with care one by one.
"I think I'll make some bean soup for a change," he said. "I'll throw
in some meat to give it a flavor."
"That rascal--whoever he was--took all the flour, otherwise we might
make some pancakes," grumbled Whopper.
"I might try my hand at fishing through the ice again," said Giant.
"Baked fish will go fine for a change."
"Hadn't I better stay here, Giant? Somebody ought to mind the camp
until Snap and Shep get back, and my ankle is quite swollen."
"Yes, stay by all means, and if you want me, yell or fire your gun."
So it was arranged, and after dinner Giant sallied forth, with the
axe, which had not been confiscated, and his fishing lines and such
bait as he could scrape together.
As Giant had found his former fishing place a good one he went to the
same spot again. The snow was deep and he had to sweep it away with a
spruce branch he cut for that purpose. Then he chopped a round hole in
the ice as before, and sat down on some snow and the tree branch to
wait for a bite.
Fishing proved slow, and it was a good quarter of an hour before he
got a bite and then the fish slipped the hook just as he was hauling
the catch to the surface. But he kept on and in an hour had a catch of
three, all of fair size.
After that, however, try his best, he could not get another bite. Then
he determined to go further down the lake, where there was another
cove.
"There ought to be fish at the bottom of that cove," he told himself.
"And if there are, I am bound to have some."
Finding a spot that suited his fancy, he again swept off the snow and
began to cut a hole in the ice. This proved quite a task, and by the
time he had finished he was pretty well winded. He baited up and sat
down on a bank of snow he had swept together.
Just then some noise reached his ears, and he looked around and
listened. But the noise was not repeated.
"What could that have been?" he mused. "Some bird?"
He strained his ears, but the stillness of the forest lay all around
the lake. Of a sudden Giant began to feel lonely, and he gave a little
shiver. Then he braced up.
"Pshaw, I'm getting as nervous as a cat," he murmured. "And all on
account of nothing. I'd better go to fishing and forget it."
He dropped in his line, properly baited, and waited for a bite. He was
lucky, for soon up came a nice maskalonge. Then, a few minutes later,
came a rock bass--something for which he had not been looking. He grew
interested, and forgot all about the noise he had heard, until the
cracking of some bushes caught his ears.
"There's that noise again," he muttered. "What in the world can it
be?"
For the first time since leaving the shelter Giant wished he had
brought along his shotgun. What if some game should suddenly appear?
"If a deer should come along and I couldn't shoot it, it would make me
sick," he told himself. "And game is always sure to come along when
you haven't a gun."
Giant had now seven fish, four of good size. He decided to wait for
just one more, then wind up and go back to the shelter. It was rather
cold sitting at the fishing hole and his feet were beginning to feel
very much like the ice under them.
He had baited up with care, and allowed the line to sink almost to the
bottom of the lake, when a fresh noise startled him. This was another
crackling sound. There followed a low, suppressed growl, and turning
in the direction of the shore Giant was horrified to see a big, black
bear come lumbering into view!
"A bear! I'll have to get out of here!" he ejaculated, and snatching up
his fish and line and the axe he started on a run for the shelter.
The bear came out on the ice and toward the hole. Then it smelt the
fish, and a moment later started on a clumsy run after the fleeing
youth!