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THE OUTDOOR CHUMS

whole lot of us; said as how he knew somebody from here had swiped his old gun, and that unless we handed it over he'd show us. Say, we couldn't stand for that, so we just sailed in and,made him a prisoner. We didn't hurt him much, no more than he did us. Suppose the lot of you clear out now, and let us alone," growled Andy, growing bolder.

"Which we will be only too glad to do. We only wanted to get Bluff back."

There was a sudden brilliant flash, and a shout of alarm from the boys about the front of the charcoal burners' cabin.

"Got it all right, and I bet it's a dandy!" exclaimed Will.

He had set down Jerry's double-barreled shotgun when he saw what he considered a good chance to get a picture of the group, and touched off the little cartridge that allowed him to snatch a flashlight picture.

Two or three of Andy's fellows threw themselves flat on the ground, under the impression that some one had fired at them; still more of them were trying to hide behind each other in alarm.

"Hey, take that feller away, won't you? He's sure enough to scare anybody out of a year's