THE SPINK CROWD AGAIN
The prospect was not a pleasant one for the three boy hunters. It was not that they were afraid over the fact that they were lost in the woods on the mountain side. But they knew that Giant and Tommy would be greatly worried over their absence, and it was possible, yes, probable, that the two lads might have trouble with Ham Spink and his cronies.
"Ham will be as mad as a hornet if he had much trouble finding his boat," said Snap, in talking the situation over. "And the first thing he'll think of will be to get square."
"Well, if we can't get back we can't get back, and that is all there is to it," answered the doctor's son philosophically. "We've got to make the best of it."
"And then that lion——-" added Whopper. But to this the others merely shrugged their shoulders.
They found a spot that seemed as good as any, and collecting some dry sticks built a camp fire and made themselves a supper. They were footsore and weary and glad to rest. Inside of an hour after eating all of the lads fell asleep, and each slept soundly until morning.
Snap was the first to awaken, and, letting the others rest, he replenished the camp fire and got breakfast ready. There was a sameness about their food that was not very appetizing, but this could not be helped.
"When I get back I'm going to live a whole day on pancakes and beans and bacon," said Whopper. "No more rabbits for me, or partridge, either."
"That's the one drawback to camping out," returned the doctor's son.
"One does get awfully tired of eating game."
It was again a question of how to proceed, and once more they mounted a tree to take observations. They now saw two columns of smoke arising on the air, not a great distance off.