"What are you talking about?" demanded George.
"What did you see out there?" asked Sandy.
"We didn't see a thing!" declared Tommy.
"You're wrong there!" Will cut in. "We saw the flash of a gun!"
"Some one shoot at you?" questioned George.
"Perhaps not," Will replied, "but I heard a bullet whizzing past my ear! That's not a very warm welcome to this blooming country, I take it."
"What's it all about?" asked Sandy impatiently.
"That's the answer!" Tommy declared. "That's all we know about it ourselves. We hear a paddle splash in the water; we go out to see what's doing, and we get a chunk of lead plugged at us. That's the answer so far as I know. Now, how about this fish?"
"Right as a book!" cried Sandy. "I've been taking care of this fish while you've been out there facing some boy with an air gun."
"Yes," laughed Tommy, "if you want to find boys with air guns, come out here about three hundred miles north of nowhere!"