get lost, or come back here after a couple of days with a broken
leg or a busted coco! You'd better stay in camp."

"But I want to know who's sneaking around our tents!" insisted
Tommy. "You come along with me, Will, if you think I'm not
competent to go alone," the boy added with a grin.

Will hesitated for a moment and then providing himself with an
automatic revolver and an electric searchlight, the two boys left
the camp and soon disappeared in the darkness. They had been gone
scarcely five minutes when a shot came from the thicket.

CHAPTER II

THE LITTLE BRASS GOD

After a time George and Sandy heard some one running through the
undergrowth, and the next instant Will and Tommy burst into view.
It was evident that they had been running, for they were panting
and their clothing was disarranged and torn in places.

The two boys hastened out to meet their chums with question marks
in their eyes. Will and Tommy offered no explanation until the
tents had been reached, then Tommy burst into a low chuckle.

"Can you beat it?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?" demanded George.

"What did you see out there?" asked Sandy.

"We didn't see a thing!" declared Tommy.

"You're wrong there!" Will cut in. "We saw the flash of a gun!"

"Some one shoot at you?" questioned George.

"Perhaps not," Will replied, "but I heard a bullet whizzing past my
ear! That's not a very warm welcome to this blooming country, I
take it."

"What's it all about?" asked Sandy impatiently.

"That's the answer!" Tommy declared. "That's all we know about it
ourselves. We hear a paddle splash in the water; we go out to see
what's doing, and we get a chunk of lead plugged at us. That's the
answer so far as I know. Now, how about this fish?"

"Right as a book!" cried Sandy. "I've been taking care of this
fish while you've been out there facing some boy with an air gun."

"Yes," laughed Tommy, "if you want to find boys with air guns, come
out here about three hundred miles north of nowhere!"

The incident did not seem to affect the appetites of the boys, for
they attacked the fish industriously. When the meal was finished
and the dishes cleared away; Will turned to his chums with a sober
look on his face. When he spoke it was with suppressed excitement.
"Do you boys know exactly why we are in the Hudson Bay country?" he
asked, "How much did Mr. Horton tell you?"

"Nothing at all!" Tommy replied.

"He just tol