ANOTHER OUTING PROPOSED
"Will you be so highly condescending and much obliging as to open the
trapdoor of your mind and let us know what it is that beats the
Dutch?" demanded Giant, after he and his chums had looked at the
doctor's son for several seconds in silence.
"Why, yes, of course," answered Shep. "But er---it all fits in with
what I was going to tell you about in the first place."
"And that was-----" burst out Whopper eagerly.
"Wait till we are out on the river, away from the town folks. I don't
want everybody to know our business."
"Great Scott! but Shep's got a secret!" burst out Snap. "What is
it---a treasure hunt, or a new way to make diamonds?"
"Now quit fooling, and come on out in the boat, and you'll soon know
all about it," replied the doctor's son.
"Then we have got to wait?" asked Giant reproachfully.
"And when we are dying by inches to know," added Whopper.
"Yes, you've got to wait. So the sooner we get out on the river the
better---if you are dying, as you say," responded the doctor's son.
While talking the four chums had been watching the departure of the
Ham Spink crowd from another dock. Soon the boat that carried the
dudish bully and his cronies disappeared around a bend of the river.
In a very few minutes Shep and his chums had their rowboat out. They
were used to rowing together, and each took his accustomed place at
the oars. Shep gave the word, and like clockwork four blades dropped
into the water and the rowboat shot away from the dock.
"Where shall we go?" asked Giant.
"Let us row over to Lackney's orchard," answered Snap. "Dandy apples
there---and Mr. Lackney told me we could help ourselves."
"Suits me!" cried Whopper. "I'd rather eat apples than go to a
fire. Us three can eat while Shep does the spouting."
"Humph! perhaps I'd do a little eating myself," came from the doctor's
son.
It was an ideal day in midsummer, and all of the lads were in the
best of spirits. As they rowed along they discussed the encounter
with the Spink faction.
"I wish they'd leave us alone," was Shep's comment. "I am getting
so I fairly hate the sight of Ham and Carl Dudder."
"So do I," added Whopper. "But they don't intend to leave us alone,
and that is all there is to it."
"I am sorry they are going up into the Windy Mountains," said Shep.
"It will-----" And then he stopped short.
"Say, Shep, if you keep on like that we'll pitch you overboard,"
cried Whopper. "If you've got anything to tell, tell it, or else
keep still."
"Wait till we get to Lackney's orchard," was all the doctor's son
would reply.
They soon came to a bend in the river and, crossing here, drew up
to a spot where some trees and bushes overhung the water. All
leaped ashore and Snap tied the craft fast to a stake. Then the
chums strolled up to some near-by apple trees, selected some fruit
that suited them, and threw themselves on the ground to enjoy their
feast.
"Now we are ready to listen to your imperial majesty's secret,"
observed Giant as he munched a juicy apple.
"Yes, let us in on it, by all means," added Snap.
"And don't say it's about lessons for the coming fall," put in
Whopper with a mock-serious look.
"Lessons!" burst out Giant. "Perish the thought!"
"Well, to start with," began the doctor's son. "How would you like
to go camping again?"
"Fine!"
"Great!"
"Couldn't be better!"
"Just as I thought," continued Shep. "And just what I told my
father. He wants us to go out, you know," and Shep's eyes began
to twinkle.
"He wants us to go out?" asked Whopper. "You mean he is willing for
you to go?"
"No, he told me to ask you if you wanted to go out---for him."
"Mystery on mystery," came from Giant. "For him? I don't understand."
"Neither do I," came simultaneously from Snap and Whopper.
"Will, it's this way, to tell you the whole story. Can you keep a
secret?"
"Of course!"
"Well, then, my father has become interested in a big land company
that has procured a large reservation of land in and along the Windy
Mountains. The company isn't going to do much with the reservation
this year, but next year it is going to build camps up by the lake,
and advertise it as a sort of private hunting and fishing resort.
They hope to get the better class of sportsmen up here from the
cities and make considerable money."
"Yes; but how does that affect us?" asked Giant impatiently.
"Wait and you'll see. My father says the success of the scheme will
depend very largely on how it is presented to the public, and he and
two of the other men have decided to do some high-class advertising
of the project---little booklets and folders, and all that. These
booklets and folders are to be filled with photo-engravings, showing
the pretty spots in the mountains, and also pictures of the animals
and fish a sportsman can get."
"And does your father want us to get the photographs?" asked Snap.
"That's it---if we care to do it. He can't go out, and neither can
those other men, and they don't know who to get. Of course, they
could hire a professional photographer, but he would only take
scenery, most likely, while what my father wants particularly is
pictures of good hunting and fishing, and pictures of real camp
life. He thinks we are just the boys to get the right kind of
pictures-----"
"So we are, if we had the right kind of cameras," broke in Whopper.
"Yes; give me a high-class camera and plenty of films or plates,
and I'll take all the photos he wants," added Snap.
"I haven't got to the end of my story yet," resumed the doctor's
son. "Father knows that the pictures---I mean the right kind---will
be worth money, and so he said, if we'd go out, and do the very best
we could about getting the photos, he would furnish the cameras and
plates, and would pay all the expenses of the trip."
"Whoop! hurrah! that suits me down to the ground!" cried Whopper.
"Let's start to-morrow---no, this afternoon!"
"Offer accepted with pleasure," came from Giant.
"Do you really think we can get the photographs your father wants,
Shep?" asked Snap. "It wouldn't be fair to take the offer up and
then disappoint him."
"He thinks we can do it. He says he will get us the proper outfit,
and before we start he'll have a professional photographer, who has
made a study of landscapes, give us pointers on how to get the best
results. He knows we can take pretty good pictures already."
"In that case, I say, let us accept the offer, by all means,"
answered Snap.
"How soon can we start?" demanded Whopper.
"I asked my father that, and he said most likely by next Monday. He
will want to give us all some instructions before we leave. And he
wants us to read this book," and Shep drew a small volume from his
pocket.
"What is it?"
"A book on how to take the best photographs of wild animals."
"Humph! It's easy to get a picture---if you can find the animal,"
was Whopper's comment.
"This tells how to get a picture if you can't find the animal."
"What!"
"Exactly. Here are diagrams showing how to rig up a camera and a
flashlight, so that if the animal comes along in the dark and shoves
a certain string the light goes off and so does the camera, and the
picture is taken. If you want to, you can bait the string."
"Say, that's great!" cried Giant.
"I'd like to lay the game low---after I had the picture," was
Snap's comment.
"We can do that, too---sometimes."
After that the doctor's son gave his chums more details of what his
parent had said. All the boys were sure they could go out again,
for their return home from their previous trip had not been expected
by their parents.
"Were you thinking we might meet Ham Spink and his crowd?" asked
Giant during a short lull in the talk.
"Yes," answered Shep. "And if we do, they'll sure try to make
trouble for us."
"I am not afraid of them," said Snap. "If they don't keep their
distance we'll-----"
"Give 'em as good as they send," finished Whopper. "But great
Caesar's tombstone! just think of going camping again!" And in his
joy the youth turned a handspring on the grass. As he arose Giant
threw an apple core that took him in the ear. Then Whopper threw
a core in return, hitting Shep. A general fusillade of cores
followed, and the lads ended by chasing each other around the
orchard. Then they trooped back to the rowboat.
"Shall we go and talk to your father?" asked Snap on the way back.
"I think he'd like it if you would," answered the doctor's son. "I'll
see if he is disengaged."
Dr. Reed was busy with a lady caller and the boys had to wait a
quarter of an hour. Then he came into the sitting-room and shook
hands warmly.
"So you are willing to undertake the commission to get pictures, eh?"
he said after a few words. "Well, I am glad of it, for I know you
can do it if you'll try. The outing ought to just suit you."
"It certainly will," answered Snap.
"I'll get the cameras at once and likewise the other things. Let me
see, what cameras have you now?"
The boys told him, and he made some notes in a book. A general talk
followed, and the physician told the lads just what he would like
best to have. He cautioned them to keep quiet concerning the land
company's projects.
"We want to spring this on the general public as a surprise," he
explained. "If we don't keep it quiet some other folks may try to
get ahead of us. To my mind our section of the Windy Mountains is
an ideal one for city sportsmen, being wild and yet not too wild,
and having some charming spots for camping."
"And hunting and fishing ought to be good," added Whopper. "I've
heard Jed Sanborn say so." Jed Sanborn was an old hunter who knew
every foot of territory for miles around the river and its lakes.
"I suppose we can take along the same general outfit we had before,"
remarked Whopper.
"I will get you a new and larger tent," answered the doctor, "and
a few other things I think you ought to have." Can you go to Rallings
to-morrow?"
"Rallings?" asked several.
"Yes. I will pay your way. I want you to go to visit Mr. Jally,
the photographer. He is the one to give you a few lessons in
photography."
The boys could all go, and it was decided to visit Railings early in
the morning. The physician said he would give his son a letter of
instructions for the photographer.
"It would be a good thing if you could stay overnight," said Dr.
Reed. "Then you could have two days instructions instead of one.
You could stay at my sister's house."
"That would be jolly!" cried Shep. He loved his aunt and knew she
would make him and his chums welcome.
"I guess I can stay---anyway, I'll find out," answered Snap; and
Giant and Whopper said the same.
Little did any of the boys dream of what strange happenings that visit
to Railings was to bring forth.