CHAPTERPAGE
I.[The Camping Party]5
II.[Making Camp]14
III.[Evening at Pleasant Point]26
IV.[A Bad Night for Piper]36
V.[With Rod and Reel]53
VI.[A Morning’s Sport]64
VII.[The Encounter at the Brook]74
VIII.[One from the Shoulder]84
IX.[Carl Duckelstein Fishes]91
X.[An Experiment with Flapjacks]106
XI.[The Legend of Lovers’ Leap]117
XII.[The Story of the Hermit]131
XIII.[Queer Sleuth]144
XIV.[The Haunted Island]154
XV.[The Mysterious Light]165
XVI.[Another Encounter]176
XVII.[What Carl’s Pail Contained]188
XVIII.[Disposing of Unwelcome Neighbors]200
XIX.[The Hermit’s Cabin]209
XX.[Grant to the Rescue]221
XXI.[Establishing Friendly Relations]232
XXII.[Piper Grows Secretive]244
XXIII.[Crane Relents]253
XXIV.[Strange Behavior of Sleuth]262
XXV.[A Terrible Predicament]274
XXVI.[Piper Meets the Ghost]284
XXVII.[The Secret]296

ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE
[“The Legend of Lovers’ Leap.” “You seem inclined to take everything too literally,” said Granger.]Frontispiece
[There was a swirl, a snap at the line, a sharp bending of the rod—the fish was hooked.]63
[He dove headlong from the canoe without upsetting it.]230
[Parting the bushes gently, he thrust his head into them and looked forth into the clearing.]277

Oakdale Boys in Camp

CHAPTER I.

THE CAMPING PARTY.

The afternoon of a lazy midsummer day was waning as an old white horse drew a heavily loaded, creaking, complaining farm wagon along a crude, seldom used road which wound through the depths of a silent stretch of timberland. A sleepy looking, tow-headed boy with round apple cheeks sat on the wagon-seat and held the reins. Behind the wagon five more boys straggled along on foot, stumbling over the rocks and “cradle knolls.” The party, with the exception of the drowsy driver, who had been engaged to transport the camping outfit from Pemstock, the nearest railroad station, was bound for Phantom Lake, the objective point of the expedition.