Giles Faswig strode up to the two young hunters and caught Snap by the arm. The next instant the hand was shaken off violently and the youth stood before the man with blazing eyes and doubled-up fists.
"Don"t you try that again, Mr. Faswig," said Snap, in a cold, measured voice. "You have no right to touch me."
"And you have no right in this camp."
"You clear out!" came from Andrew Felps. "I don"t want you around another minute."
Faswig stepped in front of the boys and so did Felps and Lemon. All three of the men looked ugly, and Snap and Whopper did not know what to do.
"Mr. Felps," began Snap, after a painful pause, "I want you to listen to what I have to say. Last night our rowboat with our outfit on board disappeared. I don"t know if it drifted off or was stolen.
If it was stolen, and we find it out, somebody is going to be arrested for the theft."
"Ha! do you call me a thief!" burst out the lumber dealer, in a rage.
"Not at all I am only telling you a few plain facts. We have every reason to believe our boat is somewhere around this camp. If it is I want to know if you are going to give it up peaceably, or if we"ll have to send down to town for an officer of the law?
"You---you---" commenced Andrew Felps, and then looked at Giles Faswig, who had turned slightly pale.
"This may not be a serious business to you but it is to us," continued Snap. "There are four of us in our party, and if you have our boat, we can all testify to that fact. Three of us can stay here and watch you while the fourth goes for the officer."
"Do you think we"d steal a measly rowboat?" asked Vance Lemon, but he glanced at Faswig as he spoke, and his tone was an uneasy one.
"I don"t know what you"d do. But that boy, said something about bringing in a boat last night, and I want to know if it is our boat."
"How do I know whose boat it is?" growled Giles Faswig.
"Has it got the name _Snapper_ on it?" asked Whopper.
"I didn"t notice. I saw a boat drifting on the lake and hauled it in, that"s all," answered Giles Faswig, curtly. "For all I know, you are trying to get somebody else"s property away from me."
"You let us see that boat, and we"ll soon tell you if it is ours or not," said Snap.
"I was out on the sh.o.r.e last night and I saw something drifting by and drew it in," explained Giles Faswig. "I hauled it back of yonder bushes. If you can prove it is your property you can take it, but not otherwise."
"We"ll soon find out," answered Snap, and walked over in the direction pointed out. As he did this, Whopper put his little fingers in the corners of his mouth and gave a piercing whistle.
"What"s that for?" demanded Andrew Faswig, in alarm.
"We want our crowd down here---and some others," said Whopper.
"Some others? Who?" asked Faswig, and now he was also alarmed.
"Some folks who will give us all the help we want," said Snap, quick to understand the ruse his chum was playing.
"How many people are up here?" asked the rich lumber dealer, nervously.
"Oh, seven or eight," answered Whopper, but did not add that he was counting in Felps"s own party.
Behind a thick ma.s.s of brushwood rested the _Snapper_, as the boys"
craft had been christened. The boat was very much as the lads had left it, but Snap was quick to detect that the painter, which had before had a frayed-out end, had been cut by some sharp instrument, probably a knife.
"This is our boat," said Snap, as he looked the craft over.
"Humph, can you prove it?" growled Giles Faswig.
"Yes, and I can prove more if I have to," added the leader of the hunting club.
"What?"
"That the rope has been cut."
"What does that signify?" asked Andrew Felps.
"It shows that the boat didn"t drift away. Somebody cut the rope and made off with her."
"See here---" began Giles Faswig, and then stopped short. There was a shout, and Giant and Shep burst into view.
"Got the boat, eh?" cried the doctor"s son. "Good!" And then he looked curiously at the men, and so did Giant.
"Come on and shove the boat out," said Snap. "We"ll talk this over later." And before anybody could stop him he was in the craft and pushing out of the bushes.
"Say look here---" began Andrew Felps, but the boys paid no attention.
All got on board the _Snapper_, and in a moment more the craft was out in the middle of the cove.
"Don"t you try to make any trouble for me!" shouted Giles Faswig.
"I simply found that boat adrift and brought her in here for safety."
"And I don"t believe a word you say," answered Snap. "I think you visited our camp and stole the boat."
"And that is what I think," added Whopper.
A wordy war followed lasting fully ten minutes. It was plainly to be seen that Giles Faswig and his companions were much disturbed, thinking the boys would make trouble for them. At last the young hunters rowed away and went back to their own camp. It was now growing quite light.
"Did you ever hear of such meanness," was Snap"s comment. "They meant to keep our boat hidden until we had left this vicinity.
Then maybe, they"d cast it adrift and say they had nothing to do with taking her."
"Well, we found out how mean they were last year, so it is nothing new," said Shep. "You were lucky to locate the craft."
"It was all through that boy," returned Whopper. "I pity him if he has Giles Faswig for an uncle."
"I think the best we can do is to leave Lake Cameron at once," said Giant. "We don"t want to run into that crowd again."
The others agreed, and by eight o"clock that morning the tent was taken down and stored away and the journey to Firefly Lake was begun.
It was a clear, warm day, with bright sunshine overhead. The woods were full of birds that sang sweetly, and being so near to nature"s heart, the young hunters soon forgot their troubles.
The stream leading from Lake Cameron to Firefly Lake was a tortuous and rocky one, and more overgrown with bushes than it had been the summer previous. At one point the spring freshets had rolled in a number of big stones and these the boys had to roll out of the way before the rowboat could get through. Not wishing to damage the _Snapper_, they proceeded with care, so by dinner time less than half the distance to the smaller body of water was covered.
"We won"t get to Firefly Lake until to-night," said Snap. "But who cares? We have plenty of time."