ere we are now," he said. "We're about eight miles from
the cabin. This place here is called Bear Ridge, and it's about
the only collection of rocks and caverns that I know of in this
district."

"Can't we find a cavern to crawl into?" asked George, his teeth
chattering with the cold.

"If we find a cavern," advised Thede, "we're likely to find a
couple of bears packed away in it!"

"I don't care if there are a hundred bears!" grumbled George.
"I'll freeze to death if I stay out in this snow another minute!"

After a long and difficult climb the boys came to a ledge of rock
and crawled into a small opening revealed by the searchlight.

"The beds are all full tonight, I guess," George said shivering.
"I hear Bruin kicking about being disturbed."

CHAPTER V

A BOY SCOUT TRICK

"Where's that fool boy going now?" asked Tommy as George, in
pursuit of the spy, dashed into the thicket.

"What did he see back here that caused him to let out a yell like
that?" asked Sandy.

"I don't believe he saw anything!" Will declared. "He just thought
he'd give us a good scare by pretending he'd bumped into a band of
Indians, or something like that."

The boys looked over the ground in the rear of the tent, and
finally Tommy came to the place where the spy had punctured the
canvas.

"Who made this hole in the tent?" he asked.

The boys gathered around the opening through which the spy had
inspected the interior of the tent, and looked at each other with
wonder expressed on their faces. Tommy was first to speak.

"George must have caught a man here looking in," he said.

"That's why he disappeared so suddenly," Will argued.

"Yes, he was chasing the Peeping Tom," Sandy agreed.

"I wish we knew the direction they took," Will mused. "The boy may
get into serious trouble, chasing off into the forest along in the
night. He should have told us of his discovery so one of us could
have gone with him! We may be able to find him yet."

"Aw, he'll come back before long!" Tommy argued. "He can't make
any headway out there in the underbrush, and the fellow who was
here will probably run away from him before he gets three rods from
the tent."

"I hope so!" answered Will.

"But what was that gink prowling around the tent for?" asked Sandy.
"That must have been the same fellow we heard using the paddle a
short time ago. If it is, he's mighty liberal with his bullets!"

"I'm anxious about that boy," Will broke in.