"Then I was right?" asked the other.
"You certainly were, and if the whole of you turn your eyes aways up yonder, perhaps you'll notice a big black-and-white bird come to the surface. It dived just after scolding us for disturbing its fishing excursion."
Following the direction indicated by Elmer's extended finger the scouts all watched eagerly.
"I see something moving just behind that bunch of lily pads," exclaimed one with keen vision.
"There it swims out now, and it's a big water bird, too. Looks like a goose to me," Landy remarked, earnestly.
"That's a loon, fellows!" exclaimed Red.
"Is it, Elmer?" they demanded in a breath.
"Just what it is, and nothing else," replied the acting scout master. "They are very common up in the Great Northwest. And once you've heard their wild laugh you'll never forget it."
"Huh, sounds just like the shout of a crazy man to me," ventured Lil Artha.
"Everybody says that," Elmer declared. "And I never knew a single fellow who liked to hear a loon call. Some say it's a sign of ill luck to be scolded by a loon."