"Well, we won't object to bringing down a deer or two if we get the chance," answered our hero. "But I rather imagine deer are scarce around here. I haven't seen any of them yet."
"Oh, you'll find plenty of deer up at the head of the lake," returned the old hunter. "They don't come down here much. They always left this spot for the bears."
"The bears! Oh, Mr. Rason! you surely don't mean that?" cried Della Ford.
"But I certainly do, ma'am. This was always a great place for bears. That's why they call this end of the lake Bear Camp. I shot one of 'em here last winter, and I got an old she-bear and her two cubs here two years afore that."
"We haven't seen any traces of bears," said Phil.
"You'll see 'em sooner or later," returned the old hunter, with conviction. "They are bound to come here."
"What makes you say they are bound to come?" questioned Dave, curiously. "Is there any particular reason for it?"
"I think there is, young man. So far as I can understand it, I think the bears come here in the fall to get certain roots and herbs that they like to eat. I think they find more of 'em around here than they do anywhere else, and that's what fetches 'em."
"And do you think the bears keep the deer away from here?" questioned Roger.
"I don't know as to that. But I do know that bears and deer don't mix very well," answered Tad Rason.