to
seek new camping grounds and new adventures.

At eight o'clock on Tuesday morning the crimson and gold pennant stood
stiffly against the breeze as it led the little fleet from the spot
where so many happy hours had been spent.

It was a glorious day--a day when all living things should have been
happy. So it seemed to the boys as they paddled lazily down mid-channel
with the slanting sunbeams on their bronzed and radiant faces.

But the business of life went on just the same around them. The hungry
bass with his piratical black fin just cutting the surface, scattered
the shoals of minnows, and sadly lessened their numbers. The kingfisher
scooped occasionally from his perch to return with a shining morsel, and
the gray heron stalked among the pools like a duck on stilts, searching
the muddy bottom for tender young frogs.

Back in the forest the crows and the blue jays were waging a bitter
squallish conflict, and here and there weary toilers among the yellow
grain dropped their scythes to watch the canoes drifting by.

But the problem of life cast no shadow on the Jolly Rovers, and they
paddled on contentedly, finding something new to admire every few
minutes.

Nugget was more than usually happy that morning. The past few days had
taught him the bright side of canoeing, and he fondly hoped to find the
future just as smooth and free from snags.

He was dipping his paddle from side to side in a leisurely way when his
eyes chanced to rest on the bottom of the cockpit. Right between his
knees was a flat little head with two bead-like eyes and a red tongue
that darted quickly in and out. Attached to the head was a long
gracefully coiled body, mottled like the skin of a brook trout.

The yell that burst from Nugget's lips would have done credit to a Sioux
warrior. It scared the snake half out of its wits, and the reptile
wriggled under the bottom board.

"Help! Murder! Snakes!" roared Nugget, partly rising and clutching the
combing with both hands. "Help me, help me! I'll be bitten. I'll die."

"Where is it?" cried Ned, paddling alongside.

"Stamp on it," shouted Randy. "Throw it out and I'll shoot it."

Nugget only yelled the more and shook the canoe so violently by his
antics that it threatened to tip over.

"Be careful," Ned warned him. "You will upset. Paddle to shore and we'll
take the snake out for you."

"I can't, I can't," shrieked Nugget. "My paddle fell overboard. There it
goes."

Ned and Clay st