"Where is he?" shouted several, as they drew near the spot, and failed to discover the skulking figure of any enemy, trying to get away.
"I see him, fellow's; right there in that shadow!" cried Corney, pointing.
"Surround the spot, boys; and if he makes a dash for it, Colon, we look to you, with your sprinter legs, to overhaul the coward!" declared Brad.
The lines were immediately extended so as to take in the dark spot indicated; and every fellow gritted his teeth, indignant at the mean trick being played by some unknown enemy, whereby perhaps harm was intended their boat.
"Make him out yet, Corney?" asked one who was further removed.
"Sure I do," came the exultant answer. "We closed in around so fast he didn't have sense enough to light out. Oh! we've got him cornered, all right, boys. And won't we make him sick of his bargain though!"
"We ought to tie him up to a stake, and make him tell who sent him here to stick a knife through our shell, ripping her wide open!" declared Dick Hendricks, warmly.
"Is there more'n one feller in all Riverport that would get down low enough to be back of a job like that?" asked Colon.
"Mebbe we don't know who you mean, but we think we do," sang out Sid Wells; who had always been at loggersheads with Buck Lemington, from the time they were, as Sid used to say, "knee high to grasshoppers."
"How about it now, Corney; is he there yet? Perhaps it was only a stump you set eyes on," called another from the opposite side of the circle.