The Ranger Boys Outwit the Timber Thieves

by Claude A. LaBelle

This the hermit promised to do at the earliest possible opportunity. He then proposed that they walk a few hundred yards out of the camp with him, so that they might select a spot where notes could be left without his having to penetrate the dangers of the camp at night.

This the boys agreed to do, and after a brisk walk selected a tree with a hollow, half concealed in it, and established that as the “postoffice.” The hermit then took up his journey, while the boys returned to the office to tell the manager, as they had agreed to do, about the hermit’s leaving. When Barrows heard their story he seemed relieved and was apparently only too anxious to ingratiate himself with the boys again, for he realized that he had overstepped the mark a bit in his words with Garry a short time previous.

“You should have brought the old chap back, and perhaps I could have persuaded him that it was all a mistake,” but the boys were quick to detect the false ring in his tone.

“Now we are off to Kanamo Lake for our delayed fishing trip, and so that you may not get uneasy if we do not return by nightfall, let us tell you that we are used to making camp wherever we happen to be, and so will be all right. I only wish there was a canoe on the lake, and we would take a three or four-day hike, canoeing from spot to spot on the lake, and camping wherever we saw fit,” concluded Garry.

“Sorry there isn’t. You might make a flatboat out of some lumber, but there is nothing with which to calk the seams, and the task of dragging the lumber to the water would be almost too much to bother with for the short time that you are going to stay here,” replied Barrows.

As the boys set out on their seven-mile hike to the lake, they discussed the way in which Barrows was continually bringing into the conversation the suggestion that they were not going to stay very long.

“I wonder if that is a warning unintentionally given, or is the wish just father to the thought?” asked Garry. “I don’t remember ever saying anything to Barrows about the length of time that we intended to spend here.”

“Maybe it is just the wish coming to surface as you say. At any rate, let’s not worry about that for awhile. We will have bridges enough to cross when we come to them.”

The chums pursued their way through the fragrant woods, spicy with the smell of pine and balsam. Occasionally they heard the whirr of wings as a covey of grouse or partridge, frightened at the sound of approaching footsteps, took wing and flew away from the cover where they had been hiding. The sound of the birds brought to the minds of the trio the sad thought of the missing Sandy, for he had the canine instinct of most dogs to flush a bird. He had so often hunted with the boys that they had taught him to retrieve a bird as does a regular pointer or hunting dog.

“Tell you what we’ll do when we get back to the camp tonight,” announced Phil. “We’ll offer a reward for the finding of Sandy. I think myself that some of the lumberjacks, perhaps that chap that took us coon hunting, recognized the value of Sandy and stole him, determined to sell him and make a few dishonest dollars. Sandy is worth more to us than many people would want to pay for him, and I think if we offered a big enough reward we might get him back.”