and mustache.
Both were armed with rifles, and a well-packed hand-sled trailed behind
them.

"Hullo!" exclaimed Raikes, in a tone of the utmost surprise. "We meet
again, my young friends. This is an unexpected pleasure. Not taking a
bath on such a morning as this, I hope."

"Hamp was compelled to take one," replied Jerry.

He briefly related the stirring events of the past twenty-four hours,
beginning with the start from the far side of Moosehead Lake. Meanwhile
the fire blazed up merrily, and Hamp got himself into dry clothes and
blankets.

"You've had a tough time of it, boys!" commented Silas Raikes. "I'm glad
to find that you weathered the storm all right. And so you're bound in
our direction? I had no idea you intended traveling to Chesumcook."

"That's what we told you the night you were at our camp," replied Jerry.

"Then I forgot all about it," admitted Raikes. "You see, I've got a bad
memory."

"Are you still prospecting?" asked Brick.

"Not in this weather," was the reply. "We're taking a sort of a
roundabout way home."

"We feared you were lost in the storm," said Jerry. "After it was over
we hunted the neighborhood for your camp."

"And didn't find it, eh?" laughed Raikes. "No wonder, lads. We had a
snug nest among the rocks, two miles or more from the lake. But pardon
me. I quite forgot to introduce my friend, of whom I spoke to you
before. This is Joe Bogle, from Augusta, Maine. We've been partners for
many a year."

The black-bearded man had been scrutinizing the lads--and Brick in
particular--with keen attention. Now he stepped forward, and nodded in
response to the introduction.

"I'm glad to meet any friends of my partner," he said, in a low, oily
voice.

A surprised and puzzled look appeared on Brick's face. He stared
intently at Mr. Joe Bogle.

"Haven't I met you before?" he exclaimed.

CHAPTER XIX.

BOGLE SHOWS HIS HAND.

A brief pause followed Brick's impulsive question. The boys looked on
with interest. Raikes gave an almost imperceptible start. Then he drew a
pipe from his pocket, and began to clean the bowl industriously with a
twig of wood.

Mr. Joe Bogle was the most unconcerned one of the party. A smile
lightened his sinister features, and he came quite close to Brick.

"We may have met before, youngster," he drawled, in a tone that was the
exact opposite of the one he had used before. "It's quite likely