im how splendid it would
be to lie there, and get all the night air that was stirring.

"Excuse me, Nick," Jimmy had said, "sure, I'd like to accommodate ye,
but it seems to me there's a quare smell in the air that makes me think
of bears. P'raps they do come down here out of the canebrake beyant.
And I'd feel safer aboard the boat."

"Now, you think you're going to scare me, don't you?" demanded the
stout boy, pugnaciously, his stubborn nature having been aroused, "but
all the same you ain't. I c'n see through a knothole in a fence. The
rest of you are afraid, that's what! All right, it's good there's one
brave feller in the bunch. But, George, you've just got to loan me
your gun again."

"More razorback pork for dinner tomorrow, fellows," laughed George.

"Oh! well, if you try to throw every obstacle in my way, why of
course----" began Nick, eagerly seizing upon the slightest excuse to
hedge; when George, fearful that he might have to share the cramped
quarters aboard the _Wireless_ after all with his team mate, quickly
exclaimed:

"You can have the gun, and welcome, Nick; only be careful how you
shoot. One of those charges at close range would go through the flimsy
planking of my boat like a bullet. Here, take the gun. And if there's
anything else I can do to make you comfortable, let me know. I'm the
most obliging fellow you ever met."

Nick looked at him out of the corner of his eye, as though he strongly
suspected the genuine character of this generosity. Still, he felt
that he could not in decency draw back now, so he took the shotgun and
tucked it away beside his blanket.

Considerably to the satisfaction of the entire club, the night passed
without any wild alarm. If there were bears in the neighborhood, as
Jimmy had wickedly suggested, they at least had the decency to keep
aloof from the camp. Perhaps they showed their wisdom in so doing when
Nick was on guard. That, at least, was what he boasted, when Jack and
the rest came ashore and aroused him from a sound sleep.

The fact of the matter was that Nick had never once awakened during the
entire night. A dozen bears might have prowled around the camp,
sniffing at anything left lying around loose, and in all probability he
would never have been any the wiser, provided they did not tumble his
tent down about his ears.

Once more they started on their way. Jack continually consulted his
charts. When connecting creeks had to be negotiate