“We don’t want anything to do with you!” put in Shaff.
They made rapid progress through the forest and soon George Strong lost track of them. But then Jack sighted them again.
“There they go—straight for the lake!” shouted the young major.
“I see them,” answered the teacher.
“They are getting into a boat,” said Pepper, and he was right.
By the time the party gained the lake shore the two crazy men were in a rowboat and pulling rapidly across the lake. The others looked around, but not another craft of any sort was in sight.
“We have lost them again!” said George Strong, with something like a groan. “Too bad!”
“How did they discover you?” asked Andy, after the darkness had hidden the fleeing men.
“In the oddest kind of a way,” explained Jack. “We were resting behind some bushes, when of a sudden the man named Callax leaped up and began to prance around the camp like a horse. He came straight for us, and landed within a few inches of my head. Then he let out a yell and that brought Shaff, and off they went like a pair of frightened rabbits.”
Curious to know what sort of a camp the crazy men had had, George Strong went back to the spot and stirred up the campfire. He found there a good supply of clothing and also many odds and ends which made the boys smile.