"He's treed something, all right," remarked Rob, pushing the branches
aside.

The next minute he gave a loud shout of triumph.

"Look there, boys! Old Skipper sure did 'have suthin' on his mind'!"

Peering over Rob's shoulder, the other two were able to make out two
hidden sacks, the mouth of one of which had been torn open, evidently
by the investigating Skipper.

From the aperture appeared the torn sleeve of a Boy Scout's uniform,
and a brief searching of the sacks after they had been lugged out on
the beach revealed the entire stolen equipment.

"Bones for you, Skipper, for the rest of your life!" promised Tubby, as
the dog, evidently well pleased with the petting he received and the
admiration showered upon him, pranced about on the beach and indulged
in a hundred antics.

The only one of the uniforms damaged was the one that Skipper had torn.
The others were all intact, but badly crumpled, having been hastily
thrust into the sacks, and, as it appeared, tamped down to make them
fit more compactly.

"Well, what do you know about that?" was Merritt's astonished
exclamation, as one by one Rob drew forth the regimentals and laid them
on the beach.

"You mean what does Jack Curtiss and Company know about that,"
seriously returned Rob.

"However, we found them--that's one thing to be enthusiastic over,"
observed Tubby sagely.

"I'd like just as well almost to find out exactly who hid them there,"
was Merritt's reply.

"The same folks that stole the old captain's seventy-five dollars, I
guess," returned Rob, thrusting the garments back into the sacks
preparatory to carrying them to the boat. "Here, Tubby, you carry this
one--it'll take some of that fat off you to do a hike along the beach
with it. I'll shoulder this one."

"Well, boys, yer certainly made a haul, thanks ter old Skipper here,"
declared Captain Job, after the delighted boys had made known their
discovery. "He's a smart one, I tell yer. No better dog ever lived."

"That's what we think," agreed Merritt warmly, patting old Skipper's
black and white head.

The recovery of the uniforms had quite put all thoughts of blue or any
other fishing out of the boys' heads, and after bidding farewell to the
captain, who promised to point out to them a good site for a camp on
their next visit, they made their best speed back to Hampton. On their
way to the armory they spread the news of their discovery broadcast, so
that in a short time the town wa