This plan was speedily carried out, and just as Ham Spink started to leap to the shore he found himself confronted by the four boy hunters, each with a torch in one hand and his gun held out in the other.
"Stop, Ham Spink!" cried Snap. "Don't you dare to step a foot further!"
"Discovered!" muttered Carl Dudder, in disgust. "I told you to be careful."
"I want to talk to you," murmured Ham, not knowing what else to say."
"To-morrow morning, at ten o'clock, at your camp," answered Snap promptly. "That was the bargain."
"But see here——-"
"We won't waste words, Ham. It's ten o'clock to-morrow and nothing else."
"We want our boat and our canoe, and we want them now," cried Ike Akley.
"It is not for you to dictate, Ike Akley," said Shep. "We want you to leave and be quick about it. We don't intend to stay up all night fooling with you."
"Let us have our boat and the canoe and we'll promise not to molest you again," said Ham, quite humbly.