Between the campfire and the lake a large tent had been erected. Near the tent, on the ground, lay portions of a camping outfit, and Snap wondered if it could be the things belonging to himself and his friends.
Suddenly the idea struck Snap to take a look at what might be near the water, and he moved in that direction. He had to pass through a fringe of brushwood and then he gained a tiny cove, well screened from the lake proper by a number of overhanging trees. Here it was so dark he could see but little. He felt his way along and soon reached a fair-sized boat, tied to a tree.
The craft was not the one belonging to his party and he was a trifle disappointed. Then he saw another boat and his heart gave a bound.
"It must be the Snapper!" he murmured and hurried to the second craft. But this proved to be nothing but a canoe, and again his heart sank.
"Maybe we've made a mistake after all," he thought dismally, but continued to move around the cove. To reach one point he had to push through some more bushes, and in the midst of these he fairly tumbled over a third boat, piled high with various camping things. He gave a close look and almost uttered a cry of triumph.
"Our boat, and all of our things! Here's luck at last!"
As well as he was able in the dark, he looked over the articles in the Snapper. The things were in great confusion, showing they had been thrown in in a hurry. But almost everything appeared to be there, and for this he was thankful.
Snap's next thought was to go back and tell his chums of his discovery. But then he reasoned that this would take time and in the meanwhile someone of the other crowd might come down to the boat and take away some of the things.
"I'll take this boat around to where we left the raft," he told himself, and set to work to shove the Snapper into deep water without delay. This was no light task, for the outfit on board was heavy, and Snap had to work like a Trojan to accomplish it.
The Snapper safely floated, another idea popped into the young hunter's mind and made him grin broadly.