that Snap could not make out what was said. They
seemed to be in the best of spirits, as if something had happened
to please them greatly.

Between the campfire and the lake a large tent had been erected.
Near the tent, on the ground, lay portions of a camping outfit,
and Snap wondered if it could be the things belonging to himself
and his friends.

Suddenly the idea struck Snap to take a look at what might be
near the water, and he moved in that direction. He had to pass
through a fringe of brushwood and then he gained a tiny cove,
well screened from the lake proper by a number of overhanging
trees. Here it was so dark he could see but little. He felt
his way along and soon reached a fair-sized boat, tied to a tree.

The craft was not the one belonging to his party and he was a
trifle disappointed. Then he saw another boat and his heart gave
a bound.

"It must be the _Snapper_!" he murmured and hurried to the second
craft. But this proved to be nothing but a canoe, and again his
heart sank.

"Maybe we've made a mistake after all," he thought dismally, but
continued to move around the cove. To reach one point he had
to push through some more bushes, and in the midst of these he
fairly tumbled over a third boat, piled high with various camping
things. He gave a close look and almost uttered a cry of triumph.

"Our boat, and all of our things! Here's luck at last!"

As well as he was able in the dark, he looked over the articles
in the _Snapper_. The things were in great confusion, showing
they had been thrown in in a hurry. But almost everything appeared
to be there, and for this he was thankful.

Snap's next thought was to go back and tell his chums of his discovery.
But then he reasoned that this would take time and in the meanwhile
someone of the other crowd might come down to the boat and take
away some of the things.

"I'll take this boat around to where we left the raft," he told
himself, and set to work to shove the _Snapper_ into deep water
without delay. This was no light task, for the outfit on board
was heavy, and Snap had to work like a Trojan to accomplish it.

The _Snapper_ safely floated, another idea popped into the young
hunter's mind and made him grin broadly.

"Tit for tat," he murmured, and set to work to float out the other
rowboat and the canoe. Once they were free of the shore he tied
both to the stern of the _Snapper_, and then settled down to row
along the lake shore