CHAPTER VIII
AN UNWELCOME ARRIVAL
The second week passed and they spent a quiet Sunday in camp. They were fortunate in their hunting and brought in large quantities of small game. Shep brought down a silver-tailed fox, of which he was very proud, and Whopper laid low the biggest rabbit they had yet seen. One day Giant and Snap went out for partridge and brought in three, all of fair size. They had also come across the track of some deer, and hoped to get on the trail of big game in the near future.
But Tuesday morning brought a disagreeable surprise. They were just getting ready for dinner, and Giant was out in the boat, fishing, when they heard a noise that was new to them.
"What do you suppose that is?" asked Whopper. "Sounds like an automobile approaching," answered Shep. "But of course it can't be that."
"It's a gasolene launch," declared Snap. "There she is now!" and he pointed to an outlying spur of land, around which the craft was puffing.
The launch was a craft fully forty feet long and correspondingly broad of beam. She was piled high with an outfit for camping, and in the boat were six men, two of whom were evidently camp helpers and guides.
"I believe those men are coming here!" declared Shep, as the launch turned in toward them.
The boys watched the approach of the gasolene launch with interest. It did not take long for the craft to reach a position directly in front of the camp, and there the power was turned off and one of the men prepared to leap ashore.
"Hullo!" ejaculated a man in the stern of the launch, gazing ashore at the cabin. "What in thunder does this mean?"
No one answered him, and a moment later the bow of the launch scraped the sand and one after another the men leaped out. The boat was tied up and the men approached the young hunters.
"I say, what does this mean?" demanded the man who had spoken before. He was a burly individual, with a heavy black moustache and closecut beard. The look out of his eye was far from a pleasant one.
"What does what mean?" returned Snap, as coolly as he could, yet he felt that something "was in the wind."
"This!" cried the man, pointing to the cabin. "Who built that?"
"We did," put in Shep.
"Did you?" sneered the man. "And who gave you permission to do it?"
"Nobody," said Whopper. "We took permission. What have you got to say about it?" he added, not liking the man's tone.
"What have I got to say about it?" ejaculated the bearded man. "I've got a good deal to say about it, seems to me. Don't you know this is my private property?"
"No; we didn't know that," put in Snap, quickly. "Are you Mr.
Chester?"
"No; I am Mr. Andrew Felps."
"Oh!" exclaimed Snap, but the word meant a good deal. He remembered that the man named was the head of the lumber company with which the Barnaby Lumber Company had had its dispute over the Spur Road tract. Snap's father had had several interviews with Mr. Andrew Felps, and the feeling engendered was decidedly bitter.
"You boys have no right on this property," went on Andrew Felps.
"I thought Mr. Chester owned this tract of land."
"He did, but he has sold out to the Felps Lumber Company, of which
I am the head. Who ar you?"
"My name is Charley Dodge."
"Humph!! Come from Fairview?"
"Yes, sir."
"Is it your father who has the interest in the lumber company there?"
"Yes, sir."
At this discovery Andrew Felps' face grew positively resentful.
"I suppose he sent you up here, eh?" he snarled.
"No. We got permission to go camping out and picked this place as suiting us."
"Well, you knew what was good," put in another of the men.
"Did you see us looking around here a couple of weeks ago?" went on Andrew Felps.
"We did not."
"Who are these—-other kids with you?"
"Thank you, but I am not a kid," put in Shep. "My name is Sheppard Reed, and I am the son of Dr. Reed of Fairview. This is Frank Dawson, and the boy out in the boat is Will Caslette. We all belong at Fairview. As Snap—-I mean Charley—-says, we came to camp out. We have always understood that this was a free camping-out place. Folks have come to this lake for years."
"Well, they are not coming here any more!" cried Andrew Felps.
"After this those who come will pay for the privilege."
"The place isn't fenced in," said Whopper.
"No; but it will be, shortly. I am going to have a wire fence put up."
Seeing there was a dispute going on, Giant came ashore.
"What's the trouble?" he sang out. "Bad news from home?"
"No—-bad news right here," murmured Shep, coming towards him.
"What do you mean?"
"Wait and see."
"I came down here to camp out myself," went on Andrew Felps. "I and my friends picked this very spot over two weeks ago. I am going to have a first-class cabin built here shortly. You boys had no right to cut down the trees."
"Can't we stay here?" blurted out Giant.
"Stay here? Not much! You'll get out just as fast as you can pack up!"
At this announcement the hearts of the boys fell instantly. All thought of the labor they had put on the cabin and the surroundings.
"This is too bad!" cried Whopper. "See here, Mr. Felps, can't we stay if we pay you?"
"No, sir!" was the first answer. Andrew Felps looked at Snap, coldly. "You can go home and tell your father I sent you."
The remark made Snap exceedingly angry and for the moment he lost his temper.
"You are more than mean!" he cried. "We have worked hard to fit up this spot, as you can see. But your meanness is nothing but what I should expect from one who would act as you did about that Spur Road tract of lumber."
"Shut up, you imp!" snarled Andrew Felps, growing red in the face. I have my rights, as you'll soon learn. Pack up your duds and get out at once!"
"Well, you are a gentleman!" cried Shep, also growing angry. "But
I've heard about you before—-down to Fairview. Well, we'll go."
"Yes, and mighty quick, too!" roared Andrew Felps, and rushing forward he kicked at the campfire with his foot and sent one of the frying-pans whirling into the bushes.
"I wouldn't be so hard on the youngsters, Andy," said one of the men, in a low tone.
"Oh, I know them, Sam," was Andrew Felps's answer. "That Dodge's father has been trying to get the best of me for years. Do you suppose I am going to give his cub any leeway? Not much!"
Some bitter words followed between the boys and the unreasonable timber dealer, and then the young hunters began to pack up and put their belongings in the rowboat.
"Oh, but wouldn't I like to get square with him!" muttered Whopper, as the work went on.
"Maybe we'll get a chance to square up some day," answered Shep.
"I think he is more than mean."
"Here, leave that cabin alone!" came from Andrew Felps, as Snap began to knock down the front end with the ax.
"I may as well take it down, as you don't want it," said the boy.
"You leave it alone, I say."
"Maybe you want to use it?" sneered the youth.
"If so, who is going to stop me? It was built out of my timber, don't forget that, smarty."
"Perhaps you want to steal our outfit," cried Giant, who was boiling with suppressed rage.
"Say another word, kid, and I'll throw you into the lake!" roared
Andrew Felps.
He came at Giant so threateningly that the small boy had to retreat. At last the things were stowed on the rowboat and the four young hunters boarded the craft.
"Don't you dare to come back here!" cried Andrew Felps.
"Thank you, I like to pick my company!" returned Whopper.
"What do you mean by that?"
"I like to associate with a gentleman."
"Say that again and I'll make it warm for you!" roared the timber dealer, and would have grabbed up a gun from his launch had not one of his companions prevented the move.
"Here, you might as well keep this while you are at it!" cried Shep, and hurled a dead rabbit ashore. The game was unusually "ripe" and caught Andrew Felps directly across the face. The man staggered back, stumbled over a log and sat down directly in the midst of the scattered campfire!