property, the income from which he could never begin to spend in any
sensible fashion. That accounted for his desire to assist Ethan; and
while he felt that it was too bad to play such a trick, there seemed to
be no other way in which the end they sought might be attained.

Raymond's folks, too, were wealthy, and he had really been sent up into
the clear atmosphere of the Adirondacks to improve his health. Although
the doctors did not really say he was threatened with signs of lung
trouble, they advised that the boy, who had grown so fast at the expense
of his strength, should live out of doors all he could for a year or
two. He would then be able to catch up in school duties with little
trouble.

The other three had by degrees come to look upon Phil as their leader;
and indeed, he had all the qualities that go to make a successful pilot.
They delighted to call themselves the "Mountain Boys." Really it had
been Ethan Allan who originated that name, and no doubt at the time he
had in mind those daring heroes of Revolutionary days who made
themselves such a terror to the British under the title of "Green
Mountain Boys."

Among other properties of which the Bradley estate consisted there was a
tract of several thousand acres of wild land bordering on this
mysterious Lake Surprise. Phil had heard a number of things about it
that excited his curiosity. He had so far never set eyes on the place;
when one of the other chums happened to suggest that it might make a
splendid little outing, if they started to look in on the lonely estate.

One thing led to another, with the result that here they were heading
toward the lake, and following a dim trail which had been described by
an old guide who could not accompany them on account of other pressing
engagements.

The boys were pretty good woodsmen, all but Lub, and they had not
doubted their ability to find the lake.

"I think we're in luck about one thing," X-Ray was saying, as he toiled
along sturdily, and wishing that he had as much stamina as Phil or
Ethan; for somehow his legs seemed a bit shaky after so long and
difficult a tramp, with all that burden piled on his back.

"As what?" asked Ethan, giving Phil a nudge, and thus calling attention
to the fact that by degrees the puffing Lub had actually gone ahead,
fastening his eyes on the winding trail, and evidently feeling that he
was becoming quite a woodsman.

"Why, about that cabin the old guide Jerry Kane told us