than
going back to the life you left."

"I don't mind in the least, Mrs. Calvert--staying in the tent, I
mean. I'd do anything to escape my uncle. He's certainly the meanest
man on earth."

Aunt Betty's plan was followed during the next few days, but neither
Sheriff Dundon or James Haley put in a further appearance at the
camp. Aunt Betty cautioned Len, however, to keep out of sight until
the end of the trip, at which time he was to be piled into the big
auto and taken with them back to Baltimore.

The party had been in the mountains a week before Jim and Gerald
decided to put into practice their oft-repeated resolve to go
fishing. Dorothy and Molly begged to be taken along, and to this the
boys reluctantly consented.

The trout stream in the valley was the objective point of the
pilgrimage. Here, in the spot where Molly had discovered the fish
swimming about in plain view of those on shore, they would try their
luck.

Aurora, interested in a book, refused to be tempted by the other
girls, and stated her intention of remaining in camp with Aunt Betty,
Ephraim and Len.

With a bundle of sandwiches and their tackle, the fishing party got
away from camp in the early morning, planning to spend the better
part of the day in enticing the denizens of the deep to nibble at
their flies. Then the return to camp could be made in the cool of
the evening between sundown and dark.

By nine o'clock they were seated on the bank of the stream, poles in
hand, and lines cast far out into the stream.

At first the girls kept up an incessant chatter, in spite of the
warning from Jim and Gerald that if they did not stop they would
scare the fish away.

"Nonsense!" cried Molly, laughing aloud at the warning. "Fish can't
hear."

At this Jim and Gerald exchanged glances of amused tolerance.

"Told you we should have left 'em at home," said the latter.

"I knew it," Jim replied. "It was only through the kindness of my
heart that I agreed to let them come."

This statement only served to amuse Dorothy and Molly, and their
laughter rang out over the water so loudly, that Jim and Gerald, with
sighs of resignation, began winding in their lines with the evident
intention of departing.

At first this increased the merriment of the girls. But when they saw
the boys taking their poles apart, and stowing the sections away in
their fishing bags, they realized that they had really incurred the
displeasure of their young friends by wha