“Well,” remarked Garry grimly, “I can think of only one person who would have been fiendish enough to do that, let alone think of it. It’s an old Indian trick to get rid of an enemy without leaving a trace. Boys, just as sure as we’re sitting here, Jean LeBlanc is back on our trail, and that snake was put there by none other than our halfbreed enemy!”
“That means step carefully every minute then, doesn’t it?” asked Phil.
“You bet it does,” responded Garry. “From now on we go back to our old system of night watches. Two hours and a half of duty for each of us every night while we are in the woods, and eyes in the back of our heads all the time.”
“Do you suppose Lafe Green could have done that?” queried Phil. “You know he gave a pretty significant warning to you last night, Garry.”
“No, I don’t believe he would have thought of that, and besides he was around town all day, as you will remember Denton told us when we asked him. It means that LeBlanc has come back and they have joined forces.”
The chums carefully searched every nook and corner of the lean-to, and shook out the boughs that made their bunks, for they did not know what other infernal contrivance their enemies might have laying in wait for them.
It was also agreed to keep the campfire going all through the night, the boy being on sentry duty being detailed to keep it supplied with fuel. To this end, all hands turned out for a few minutes and gathered firewood. A sharp watch was kept for the mate of the rattler, and before turning in, it was carried several feet away from the camp, and thrown at the foot of a tree.
“You know I have an idea that whoever did that, or rather say LeBlanc, since we are morally certain it was his work, will come back here tomorrow to see if his ruse worked. If he finds us gone, he will be likely to look under the boughs to see if the reptile is still there. Now we are not certain that it is LeBlanc or Green, it may be someone else. In that case we would want to know what he looked like. So here is my idea. Just before we leave in the morning, I am going to rig up a camera trap,” said Dick.
“A what?” asked Phil.
“Camera trap; haven’t you ever heard of one? They’re often used in the woods by people who want to get good pictures of wild animal life. You just fix a place for the camera and focus it on a spot, then set a trap that will pull down the lever when it is stepped on or moved. Simple as A B C. I’ve never done it before, but I know how to construct one. We’ll do it first thing in the morning.”