"Oh, you were willing enough to come this direction," answered Giant sharply. "If we are wrong, you needn"t blame me."
"It"s your fault!"
"Oh, don"t quarrel about it," interposed Snap. "We were all willing to come this way. If we have made a mistake---" He did not finish.
"Don"t croak until you are sure we are mistaken," said Shep.
A silence followed, and they moved on, the stream growing broader as they advanced. It was a lonely spot, and as it grew darker the loneliness seemed to increase. On all sides were the immense trees and dense brushwood, while the stream was dotted with little islands, covered with reeds and rushes and small, th.o.r.n.y bushes.
The sun had gone down, and as the darkness increased the boys looked at each other wonderingly. This was not at all what they had expected.
"If this is Narsac Lake I don"t want to stay here," remarked Shep.
"Why, it can"t hold a candle to Cameron or Firefly."
"No wonder n.o.body comes here," grumbled Whopper. "It"s nothing but a swamp."
"This can"t be Lake Narsac," answered Snap. "Don"t you remember what we heard---that it is a very deep lake, set right in among the mountains. We have made a mistake."
"I see something ahead," said Giant, who was standing in the bow. "It looks to me like a signboard. Let us row up to it."
"A signboard is just what we want," said Snap, and took up the oars. Soon they reached the board, which was nailed to a post set on one of the reedy islands. The board read as follows:
Hooper"s Pond S. Hooper, Owner No campingers allowe
"Hooper"s Pond!" cried Snap. "We certainly have made a mistake!"
""No campingers allowed,"" read the doctor"s son. "His spelling and grammar are not very strong but he knows what he means."
"Well, we don"t want to camp here," said Whopper in disgust. "Mr.
S. Hooper can keep his pond to himself and welcome."
"I think we"ll have to camp here for to-night," said Shep. "We can"t go back to where we took lunch with darkness coming on.
And I am hungry, too."
They were all hungry and tired, and after a brief talk decided to remain at the pond over night and in the morning retrace their way to where the stream had forked.
"Shall we camp on one of the islands, or on the sh.o.r.e?" questioned Shep.
"The main thing is to find some dry spot," answered Snap. "To me all the ground around here looks spongy and wet."
They tried several of the islands, but found them soft and uncertain, and so rowed over to the sh.o.r.e on the west. Here was a little hill, covered with dewberries, and having cleared a spot, they erected their tent and built a campfire.
"If Mr. S. Hooper is around he may chase us away," said Snap. "But we"ll take the chance of his not being in this vicinity."
The swamp was full of flies and mosquitoes, and they were glad enough to keep near the fire, to get rid of the pests. After the cooking was done they built a smudge, of wet reeds, and this helped to keep the insects away. But it was not a cheerful spot and when the boys went to bed all felt depressed.
Snap was the first up in the morning, and while he was getting breakfast ready, Giant took his shotgun and went off in quest of game.
"There ought to be plenty of wild fowl around a swamp like this,"
said the small member of the club. "I am going to see what I can bring down before we leave."
"If you bring down much you"ll have Mr. S. Hooper in your wool,"
answered Snap.
"I don"t believe he is around. And, another thing, I didn"t see any fences."
"Nor I. I guess you are safe in bringing down whatever you can hit. But don"t stay out too long."
Giant walked to the other side of the little hill and then along a cove of the big swamp. Far ahead he saw some birds, resting close to the water"s edge. He felt they might be quail or perhaps some wild turkeys.
The ground was anything but firm, and Giant soon had to leap from one dry patch to another. He was half tempted to turn back, but now he was almost within gun-shot of the game and he hated to give up the quest.
"I"ll go back a bit from the water and come around on the other side," he reasoned. Then he took to another course, only to find, presently, that it was worse than the first. He was now between clumps of reeds, and almost before he knew it one of the clumps turned over on him, sending him into the water and mud up to his knees.
"Gracious! this won"t do!" he muttered, and tried to turn back.
He found the water and mud very treacherous, and in a few seconds he went down again, this time to his waist. His feet were in the mud so firmly that he could scarcely budge them. He let out a cry for help. Then the mud below the surface commenced to sink, and in a few minutes poor Giant was up to his armpits. What to do he did not know, and it looked as if he would surely be drowned.
CHAPTER XVI
THE RESCUE OF GIANT
Snap had the breakfast well underway when Shep came out of the tent.
"h.e.l.lo, you"re at it early," remarked the doctor"s son. "Why didn"t you call me and I would have helped you."
"Oh, I didn"t want to disturb you, Shep, you were snoozing so comfortably."
"Where is Giant?"
"Gone off to see if he can get some game before we leave."
"Do you want me to help with breakfast? If you don"t, I"ll try for some game myself."
"Go ahead---only come back when I whistle," answered the leader of the club.
The doctor"s son was soon on his way, with his shotgun trailing in his hand. He, too, crossed the little hill as Giant had done.
Hardly had he done this than he caught sight of a wild turkey and let drive, bringing the game down some distance ahead of him.
"Now I am going to have some fun getting that turkey," he told himself, as he surveyed the mud and water before him.
It was no light task to bring in the game, and the doctor"s son got both feet wet. But the turkey was a gobbler and of good size, and he was very proud when he had the game over his shoulder in true sportsman"s style.
"Guess I"ll go on a little further and see if I can stir up anything else," he thought. "If game is plentiful around here maybe it will pay us to stay for a day or two after all."
He trudged on, and had just caught sight of what looked like some wild ducks when a cry reached his ears. At first he imagined it came from behind him, and thought it might be Snap calling him to breakfast, but then he concluded it came from in front.