penitent, and for a wonder accepted the rebuke quietly.

"I forgot, Ned, indeed I did," he said earnestly. "I put a shell in for
snipe this afternoon, and never thought about it again. After this I'll
examine the gun every night."

"If it was accidental that alters the case," replied Ned. "And now
suppose we turn in. There is no use in standing here in the rain any
longer."

The boys went back to the tent, and to prevent a second attempt at
sleep-walking they made Nugget take the middle place. Five minutes later
all were sleeping as soundly as before the alarm.

The next morning it was raining hard, and in fact it continued to rain
at intervals all of that day and the next. The boys found the time hang
a little heavy, although they sallied out in rubber coats, and had some
excellent sport fishing for catfish.

Cooking was not interfered with, since the fireplace was in a sheltered
position, and the tent was at all times snug and waterproof, in spite of
some of the heaviest showers that the boys had ever known.

Rain was still falling at daybreak on Saturday, but about ten o'clock
the sky cleared, and the sun came out--greatly to the delight of the
Jolly Rovers.

As the next day was Sunday, and the camp was in such a good location,
they decided to remain until Monday morning. This turned out to be a
wise decision, for shortly after dinner a thunder storm swept down the
valley, and for several hours the rain fell in torrents. By evening not
a cloud was in sight, and indications pointed to a spell of clear
weather.

Of course the creek was by this time very high and muddy, and was still
on the rise. The water had crept three feet up the slope on top of which
the tent was pitched, but as three feet more remained to be covered the
boys felt no uneasiness.

There was still higher ground behind them on which they could take
refuge if the necessity came.

After supper Ned got out his map, and began to study it with great care.

"Has it occurred to any of you fellows that we are drawing near home?"
he asked finally. "We passed Honck's dam on Wednesday afternoon, and our
present camp is very near Sporting Green. There are only four more dams
between us and the Susquehanna, and the distance can't be much over
thirty miles."

The others were rather surprised to hear this, and could not make up
their minds at first whether to be glad or sorry.

"I can hardly realize it," said Randy. "The time has certainly slipped