YOUNG HUNTERS OF THE LAKE
CHAPTER I
FOUR LIVELY BOYS
"Boys, I'm going swimming. Who is going along?"
"Count me in, Snap," answered Shep Reed.
"Swimming?" came from a third youth of the crowd of four. "Why, you couldn't keep me away if you tried. I've been waiting for a swim for about eleven years—"
"And a day," broke in a small, stout youth. "Don't forget the day. Whopper, if you want to be really truthful.
"All right, put in the day," cheerfully assented the lad called Whopper, because of his propensity to exaggerate when speaking. "Of course you'll go, too, Giant?" he added, questioningly.
"Will I?" answered the small youth. "Will a duck swim and a cow eat clover? To be sure I'll go. But I'll have to run home first and tell mother."
"I'll have to go home, too," said the lad called Snap. "But I can be back here in a quarter of an hour."
"Where shall we go?" asked Shep Reed.
"I was thinking of going up to Lane's Cove," answered Snap Dodge.
"Lane's Cove!" cried the smallest youth of the crowd.
"Yes. Isn't that a nice place?"
"Sure it is, but don't you know that Ham Spink's father has bought all the land around there?"
"What of that, Giant?"
"Maybe he won't let us go swimming on his property—because of the trouble we had with Ham."
"Oh, I don't believe he'll see us," came from the boy called Whopper. "Why, I've been swimming at the cove a thousand times, and nobody ever tried to stop me."
"If he orders us away we can go," said Shep Reed. "I know he is just mean enough to do it."
"Is Ham home yet?" asked one of the boys.
"No, but I heard he was going to come home as soon as that boarding school shut up for the summer."
"Wonder if he'll try to make more trouble?"
"If he does he'd better watch out, or he'll get into hot water," said Shep Reed; and then the boys separated, to get their swimming outfits and tell their folks what they proposed to do.
The boys lived in the town of Fairview, a country place, located on the Rocky River, about ten miles above a fine sheet of water called Lake Cameron. The town boasted of a score of stores, several churches, a hotel, and a neat railroad station at which, during the summer months, as high as ten trains stopped daily. On the outskirts of the town were a saw mill, a barrel factory, and several other industries.
To those who have read the two former books in this series, entitled, "Four Boy Hunters" and "Guns and Snowshoes," the lads getting ready for a swim will need no special introduction. The lad called Snap was Charley Dodge, the son of one of the most influential men of that neighborhood, who was a school trustee and also part owner of the saw mill and a large summer hotel. Charley was a brave and wide-awake youth and was often looked up to as a leader by the others. Where his nickname of Snap had originated it would be hard to say, although he was as full of snap and ginger as a shad is full of bones.
Sheppard Reed, always called Shep for short, was the son of a well-known physician, a boy who loved outdoor life, and one who was as strong as he was handsome. He and Snap had been chums for many years, and as a consequence were occasionally known as the twins, although they were no relation to each other.
Frank Dawson had moved to Fairview about three years before this tale opens. He was a merry lad, with laughing eyes, and his method of exaggerating had speedily gained for him the nickname of Whopper. But Frank was withal a truthful lad—his "whoppers" being of the sort meant to deceive nobody. Even his mother could not make him give up his extravagant speech. Once when she spoke about it he gravely replied:
"I know it is wrong, mother, but I simply can't stop it. Why, I've made up my mind over a million times to—" And then he broke down, and his mother had to laugh in spite of herself.
The smallest lad of the four was Will Caslette, always called Billy or Giant. He was the son of a widow lady, who owned a small but neat cottage on one of the side streets of the town. Mrs. Caslette thought the world of her offspring and Giant was fully worthy of the affection she bestowed upon him. Although small in size he was manly in his deportment, and at school he was as bright as anyone in his class.
About a year before, the four boys had organized an outing or gun club and obtained permission to go camping for a few weeks in the vicinity of Lake Cameron. They reached the lake after several adventures and settled down in a comfortable camp, from which, however, they were driven by a saw mill owner named Andrew Felps, who ran a rival concern to that in which Snap's father owned an interest. The young hunters then moved to Firefly Lake, a mile away, and there hunted and fished to their hearts' content. They were frequently joined by old Jed Sanborn, a trapper who lived in the mountains between the lakes. They had some trouble with Ham Spink, a dudish young man of the town, who established a rival camp not far off, and they came close to perishing during a disastrous forest fire.
The summer outing made the boys hungry for more, and as soon as the winter holidays were at hand they made arrangements to go into the woods again, this time taking their outfits on sleds. They had with them their snowshoes, and found the latter articles very useful when out after game. They fixed up a comfortable camp, and rescued a half-frozen tramp. But the tramp did not appreciate what had been done for him and ran away with some of their things, which brought on a lively pursuit. Then the boys had more trouble with Ham Spink and his crony, Carl Dudder. In the end it was discovered that Ham and Carl had gotten the tramp to annoy the young hunters, and as a result Mr. Spink and Mr. Dudder had to foot some heavy bills for their sons. Ham and Carl were sent off to a strict boarding school, where their parents hoped they would turn over a new leaf. Snap and his chums came back home loaded down with game.
"The best outing ever!" declared more than one of the boys.
"We'll have to go again!"
"Yes, indeed!"
And then and there they began to plan what to do during the next vacation.
"I've got an idea," said Snap, one day, during the spring. "Why not get a good boat—one that will stand some hard knocks—and go through Lake Cameron and Firefly Lake to Lake Narsac? Jed Sanborn was telling me that was a fine place for hunting and fishing, and the lake is as clear as crystal."
"It's an awfully wild place, so I was told," said Shep.
"About a million snakes up there, so I once heard," put in Whopper. "Snakes are so thick you have to kick 'em out of your way to walk around."
"Excuse me, I don't want any snakes," answered Giant, with a shiver.
"Somebody once told me the lake was haunted," said Snap. "But of course that wouldn't scare us—we are not afraid of ghosts, are we?"
"No!" came from all of the others promptly.
"The ghost that tries to scare me will get his ear pinched," added Giant, and said this so drolly that all had to laugh.
"One thing is sure," said Shep, after a pause, "with fish, game, snakes and ghosts we'd certainly find enough to interest us, eh?"
"Is the lake very deep?" asked Giant.
"Jed Sanborn told me that you can't touch bottom in some places," answered Snap. "The lake lies right between three tall mountains. He said we might have to carry our boat around some of the rocks in the stream leading to it."
"Well, we can do that to—providing the boat isn't too heavy."
This talk led to many others, and in the end it was decided that the four boys should start on the trip the week following the Fourth of July. Then commenced active preparations. Guns were cleaned, camping outfits overhauled, and the lads looked around for just the right boat in which to make the trip. Through Mr. Dodge a fine, strong craft was obtained; and then the lads waited impatiently for the day to come when they should begin the outing on the lake. They anticipated some adventures, but did not dream of the curious happenings in store for them.