CHAPTER XIII
THE RIPLEY HEIR TRIES COAXING
Fred studied the now distant canoe, then glanced carefully about the camp.
He knew that any sign of his presence, observed by Dick & Co., would be sure to result in the swift return of the canoe, with its load of six indignant boys.
Nor did young Ripley dare to risk discovery as the perpetrator of the outrage he was now planning. He feared his father's certain wrath.
"There are screens of bushes behind which I can operate," Ripley decided. "I am glad of the bushes, for, if I use care, not a living soul can see me. Now, for some swift work."
It did not take Ripley long to discover where the boys' food supply was stored.
"These fellows act like boobs!" muttered Fred in disgust. "Here they go away and leave everything exposed. If they didn't have an enemy in the world, even then some tramp could come along and clean out the camp. Humph! Two tramps, if they wanted to work for a little while, could carry away all the food there is here. What a lot of poor, penniless muckers Prescott and his friends are!"
Again Fred studied the lay of the land, then drew off his coat and flung it aside.
"Now, to work!" he said to himself gleefully.