ested that he was not.

"I knew you'd try to put it on me," he grumbled. "I'm pretty bad, I
know, but I don't steal."

"Stop it! I haven't accused you of stealing. Of course I know you
wouldn't do that, but if you have taken the stuff and hidden it for a
joke, say so now before I call the others. They might not take kindly to
your joke after your early morning vocal exercises."

"I didn't. I don't know any more about it than you do."

Stacy's lips were blue with cold and he was chattering. Tad suddenly
observed these signs of cold and felt sorry for the boy.

"When the others come out, you duck in and put on some dry clothes. You
will have plenty of time. I don't think they will bother you. Oh, Ned!
Professor!" called Tad.

Ned Rector, Professor Zepplin and Walter came hurrying out.

"Isn't there any rest at all in this camp?" protested Ned.

"That is what I was about to inquire," declared the Professor.

"What! _You_ here?" demanded Rector, fixing a menacing eye on the
fat boy. "Has he been cutting up again?"

"It's something else this time."

"What is it?" questioned Professor Zepplin sharply.

"Did any of you folks remove the ham and the other stuff from the line
last night?" asked Butler.

"No," replied Ned.

"Of course not. You were the last one to attend to those things," said
the Professor.

"I helped him tie them up," interjected "Walter.

"And--and I watched him--them--do it," added Stacy.

"Yes, that's about all you ever do do," objected Ned.

"What's this you say?" questioned Professor Zepplin. "The ham missing?"

"Yes, sir. It is nowhere about," Tad informed him.

"Then we must have had a visit from a bear or some other animal."

"What would a bear want with a rope?" asked Butler.

"A rope?"

"I left our quarter-inch reserve rope coiled at the foot of that tree
last night. It isn't there now."

"Stacy Brown, do you know anything about this?" demanded the Professor
sternly.

"What'd I tell you, Tad? I knew you'd be accusing me for the whole
business. I told Tad you would blame me."

"Go put on some dry garments," commanded the Professor.

Stacy lost no time in getting to the tent.

"What do you make of it, Tad?" asked Professor Zepplin.

"I can make only one thing out of it. There has been an intruder in the
camp while we slept. That intruder must have been a man. Bears do not
carry away ropes. Bears do not untie knots and take the strings away
with them," replied Tad Butl