nch; and Dave asked her about many of
the friends he had made among the cowboys at the place.

"Oh, I'll just love to see bears," said Belle, when told about the camp.
"They are such funny, clumsy creatures. Why, I once saw a little
cinnamon bear climbing up a tree, and he was the funniest fellow I ever
looked at."

"Oh, Belle! Weren't you frightened?" asked Jessie.

"Frightened? What, with Sid Todd with me? No, indeed! We just watched
him until we got tired of it, and then Todd up with his rifle, and that
was the end of Mr. Cinnamon Bear."

"Good for Sid!" cried Dave. "He was always on hand when wanted. I'd like
to see him again."

"Well, he sent his regards to you, Dave," was Belle's rejoinder.

Shadow Hamilton and Luke Watson, the latter carrying a case containing
his guitar and his banjo, arrived on Saturday afternoon. They came to
Ben's house, and, having been notified by telephone, Dave hurried over
to see them.

"Dave, you're a sight for sore eyes!" said Luke Watson, as he gave our
hero's hand a grasp that made him wince. "My gracious, it seems to me
that I haven't seen you in a year of Sundays!"

"One thing's sure, Luke," answered Dave, with a twinkle in his eyes.
"You haven't seen me since I've seen you," and at this remark both
laughed.

"Luke has brought his instruments along," said Ben, "so we'll be sure to
have plenty of music up at the camp."

"It suits me, and will surely suit the girls," returned Dave. "We can
sit out in the moonlight nights, and have fine times singing," he
added.

"Say! talking about singing in the moonlight, puts me in mind of a
story," burst out Shadow. "Once on a time a young fellow went to
serenade his girl, and----"

"Never mind the yarn now, Shadow," said Ben. "I've got something to tell
you that is more interesting than a story. It's about Nat Poole's
uncle."

"Nat Poole's uncle?" queried Dave. "You don't mean Wilbur Poole, the
wild man we caught in the woods back of Oakdale?"

"That is the man."

"What of him? I thought they had taken him to a sanitarium, and that he
was getting better."

"So he was getting better--in fact he was almost well, so Nat said. But
now what do you think has happened?"

"What?" came from all of the other boys.

"He has disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

"That's it. He has run away, and nobody knows where he went to."

CHAPTER VIII

OFF FOR BEAR CAMP

"Who told you this, Ben?" asked Dave.

"I just got the story fr