It was a clear, warm day, with bright sunshine overhead. The woods were full of birds that sang sweetly, and being so near to nature's heart, the young hunters soon forgot their troubles.
The stream leading from Lake Cameron to Firefly Lake was a tortuous and rocky one, and more overgrown with bushes than it had been the summer previous. At one point the spring freshets had rolled in a number of big stones and these the boys had to roll out of the way before the rowboat could get through. Not wishing to damage the Snapper, they proceeded with care, so by dinner time less than half the distance to the smaller body of water was covered.
"We won't get to Firefly Lake until to-night," said Snap. "But who cares? We have plenty of time."
All were hungry for a taste of roast duck, and so they stopped off long enough to cook a fine dinner. For dessert they had some blackberries which they chanced to find growing near the watercourse, and they stopped so long over their midday meal that it was after two o'clock before the journey was resumed.
"Do you remember the awful windstorm we once struck up here?" queried
Shep, as they rowed along.
"Will we ever forget it," cried Whopper. "Gosh! I thought I was going to be blown into the next century! Say, did I ever tell you how it blew my socks inside out?" he added, with a grin.
"Hardly," answered Giant, and laughed.
"Fact, and the next morning I had to turn my shoes inside out to accommodate the socks," finished Whopper. "Yes, that was a wind to remember."
"Hurrah, Whopper is coming to his own!" cried Snap. "Whopper, what would you do if you couldn't tell stories now and then?"
"Why, I'd—-" began Whopper, and then leaped to his feet. "Well,
I never! Give me a gun, quick! There's a bear!"