He waited for them until long after dark, and then went back to his boat and pulled for the cabin, feeling very lonely indeed.
“I have looked forward to this night with many pleasurable anticipations, and it is hard to be disappointed,” thought George. “The shanty will look as gloomy now as it did last Saturday when those fellows first went away. Well, I will hope for better luck next week.”
George slept but little that night, and he was up the next morning long before the sun.
Having lighted the fire, he opened the door, and the first objects that attracted his attention, as he stepped across the threshold, were two boys who were coming down the beach at a rapid walk. He recognized them at a glance.
“There they are now!” he exclaimed, pulling off his hat and swinging it about his head. “They have brought their guns and fishing-rods with them, and each one has a pack of something on his back. More provisions, I suppose. They haven’t come from the village this morning, and consequently they must have laid out all night.”
The approaching boys answered his greeting by flourishing their caps in the air, and George hastened to meet them, fully prepared to laugh at them for losing their way, when the road that led from the village to the lake was as plain as the beach they were then following; but as he drew nearer to them he saw that something had gone wrong with them.
Their faces were flushed, and their quick, nervous movements showed that they were excited and angry.
“What’s the matter?” asked George. “And where did you stay last night? Did you miss your way?”
“I should say so,” answered Bob, in a tone of deep disgust.
“And you had to stay in the woods, I suppose?”