BOSTON
LOTHROP, LEE & SHEPARD CO.
Copyright, 1904, by A. S. Barnes & Co., under the Title
“The Island Camp.”
Copyright, 1908, by Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Co.
PREFACE.
This story is a complete tale in itself, and it also forms the first volume of a series to be devoted to sport in the forest, on the water, and on the athletic field.
My object in writing this tale was two-fold: first, to present to the boys a story which would please them, and, second, to give my young readers an insight into Nature as presented in the depths of the forest during the winter.
The young hunters of Lakeport are no different from thousands of other youths of to-day. Although they do some brave deeds, they are no heroes in the accepted sense of that term, and at certain times they get scared just as others might under similar circumstances. They are light-hearted and full of fun, and not above playing some odd practical jokes upon each other. In the old and experienced hunter, who goes with them on this never-to-be-forgotten outing, they find a companion exactly to their liking, and one who teaches them not a few “points” about hunting that are worth knowing.
The scene of this tale is laid in one of our eastern states. A few years ago small game of all kinds was plentiful there, and deer, moose, and even bears, could also be laid low. But some of the larger animals are fast disappearing, and it is now only a question of time when they will be wiped out altogether. This seems a great pity; but the march of the lumberman and the progress of the farmer cannot be stayed.
Edward Stratemeyer.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE I. [What Happened in a Snowstorm] 1 II. [The Dugans to the Rescue] 12 III. [A Fruitless Search] 24 IV. [Skating] 37 V. [A Quarrel on the Ice] 44 VI. [Organizing the Club] 56 VII. [The First Day in Camp] 71 VIII. [What Happened at Night] 83 IX. [At a Deer Hunt] 95 X. [Among the Wolves] 104 XI. [Confronted by the Enemy] 116 XII. [Driven from the Lodge] 125 XIII. [Lost in a Blizzard] 137 XIV. [The Enemy Asks a Favor] 149 XV. [A Midnight Visitor] 161 XVI. [Back to the Lodge] 173 XVII. [A Search and a Bear] 185 XVIII. [A Fire, and What Followed] 197 XIX. [A Gathering of Young Hunters] 209 XX. [Building the New Shelter] 219 XXI. [The Fight of the Pine Martens] 229 XXII. [Teddy Meets “The Indians”] 239 XXIII. [Pike Spearing through the Ice] 249 XXIV. [A Battle with a Wolverene] 261 XXV. [Teddy Evens the Score] 270 XXVI. [The House in the Woods] 279 XXVII. [A Plan for a Capture] 286 XXVIII. [The Last of the Tramps] 294 XXIX. [A Great Moose Hunt] 303 XXX. [The Find—End of the Outing] 312