ing the wood
neatly by the fireplace, and scrubbing the frying pans and the outside
of the coffee pot with sand and gravel.

He was scooping out a little fish pond at the mouth of the brook when
Randy returned.

"What luck?" he asked, looking up from his work.

"Not a thing," answered Randy in a disappointed tone. "The snipe are all
on the other side of the creek. I'm going after them now in my canoe. I
tramped along the shore for at least a mile, Ned, and I didn't see a
trace of anybody, either on this side or on the other. Our midnight
visitors must have cleared out for good."

"I hope they have," said Ned. "What luck are the boys having?"

"Four bass, and one of them is a big fellow. Help me up with my canoe
now, will you?"

Ned rendered the desired assistance.

"Don't stay too long," he told Randy.

"I'll be back inside of an hour," was the reply, as the other paddled
swiftly down the creek.

Ned finished the fish pond to his satisfaction, and feeling a little
tired, he climbed up the slope and threw himself down in a clump of high
grass behind the tent. He was gazing dreamily up the creek with his head
resting on his outstretched arms, when a boat containing two persons
came suddenly into view around the bend.

Ned crept a little deeper into the grass, where he could see without
being seen. The boat was now out of sight behind the trees, but when it
reappeared a moment later, directly opposite the camp, a single glance
satisfied Ned that it was not the same craft which had landed at the
mouth of the brook during the previous night.

This was a rude affair known as a "flat." It was long and narrow, with
square ends and sides, and from its cranky motion evidently had no keel.

The occupants were young fellows of twenty or thereabouts. They were
roughly dressed, and their general appearance was by no means favorable.
They stopped paddling in amazement when they caught sight of the camp,
and after a brief conversation, which Ned did not catch, they ran their
craft on shore a few yards below the mouth of the brook.

Ned shifted his position, and watched their movements curiously. The
strangers evidently intended to pitch a camp of their own, for they made
frequent trips up the slope, carrying blankets and tin pails, and
various other articles. Then they chopped down a number of fine shoots,
and constructed, in a brief space of time, a snug lean-to between two
big trees.

Having placed their things in t