“Ah, that accounts for his suspicions, then. For a while, we thought we would have to stay out of doors all night,” continued Dick; “but finally, the old fellow said we might sleep on the hay, if we wouldn’t smoke. And just before dark he brought us a mouthful of bread and butter and about half a pint of milk.”
“And charged us a dollar for it!” said Bob, in a tone of disgust. “He’s a regular old skin-flint. But if he keeps so much money in the house, I shouldn’t think he and his wife would want to live there alone. If some tramp should happen to find it out, it might be bad for them, for they are too old to defend themselves, and there isn’t another house on the lake—is there?”
“Yes, there is one at the lower end,” replied George; “but I am his nearest neighbor.”
When bedtime came, George spread all his quilts and blankets on the floor in front of the fire, and he and his guests went to sleep, lulled by the howling of the storm, which continued to rage with unabated fury until long after midnight; but the morning broke bright and clear, and at the first peep of day the boys were astir.
They looked out at the door, and saw that the lake was as smooth as a mill-pond. There was nothing to prevent them from making an attempt to recover Bob Howard’s lost fowling-piece.
“But first, I must have a good breakfast of fish,” said that young gentleman. “We lost those we caught yesterday, but fortunately, I have both hooks and lines in one of the pockets of my game-bag.”
“And there’s an axe, and you will find plenty of poles behind the cabin,” said George, “While you are cutting them, I will go down and bring up the scow.”
“Did you save any cartridges?” asked Dick Langdon, who stood just outside the door, with his head turned on one side, as if he were listening intently.
“I did; and as they are loaded in water-proof cases, they are not injured in the least.”
“Well, your gun is the same calibre as mine, and if you will give me some of those cartridges, I’ll see if I can get a squirrel or two for breakfast. I hear one barking out there in the woods.”