ick wardens prowling around to see that the game laws
were enforced; or it might be he owned the land up here, and took me for
a poacher who hadn't any right to be fishing on his preserves; then
again, he looked so ugly and black that I even figured whether he could
be a desperate fugitive from justice who'd been hiding in the Pontico
Hills country, and hated to see anybody coming in to bother him.

"When the tall man with the black mustache and goatee started to move
toward me I collected my wits and decided I'd have to seem cordial to
him. Then, Jack, I also remembered your warning not to peep a single
word about our having come up here for any other purpose besides having
a jolly summer outing during our vacation.

"So I nodded my head and said good morning to him just as cheerful and
unconcerned as I could. He grunted something, and kept coming along,
watching me like a hawk all the while, I could see. Why, I had a cold
shiver chase up and down my spine just like somebody had thrown a bucket
of ice-water over me; because all sorts of horrible things began to
flash through my mind.

"If he chose to tumble me into the river and drown me, who'd ever be the
wiser for it, I thought; and perhaps I unconsciously moved back a bit
from the edge, as if I wanted to put on a fresh bait.

"'Who may you be, boy, and how does it happen that you're fishing up
here where not a single soul have I seen in the weeks I've spent here?'
was what he said to me.

"'Course I up and told him my name, and that I lived in Chester; also
how with two chums I was camping about a mile or more to the east.

"All the while I was speaking he kept those hawk-like black eyes of his
glued on my face. I felt my skin fairly burn, and wondered whether he
could read a fellow's thoughts, which would surely give me away. But I
told him the truth, because we have come up here for our vacation
camping, and mean to have a bully good time of it fishing, walking, and
eating until our grub runs low, and we'll have to head back to
civilization.

"I guess I must have put up a pretty fair article of a yarn; leastways
he seemed just a mite more cordial when I'd got through; though I could
feel that his suspicions hadn't all been set at rest, for he seemed
mighty uneasy.

"He told me he was a surveyor employed by the owner of the property all
around there; but that owing to an accident to a companion, he had to
temporarily stop work, and was waiting for another