“Say, that was fine of you to come in there and rescue me,” declared Bluff, as he caught hold of Jerry’s unwilling hand, and squeezed it.

The other seemed to be unusually modest, for he pulled quickly away.

“Beat it, Bluff.  You know you’d have done the same for me.  I guess I owed you something for making fun of you so much.  Anyhow, it was just bully, that’s what.  Talk about your earthquakes and cyclones, I don’t think anything could beat that scare you gave them with your old flashlight stunt, Will.”

“And I reckon it’s going to turn out a dandy picture.  I just wanted to get that crowd in some outlandish attitude, and if it proves what I think, I’ve done it.”

“Did they hurt you, Bluff?” asked Frank.

“Oh! well, they acted better than perhaps I had any reason to expect.  We mixed up some in the start, but they were too many for me.”

“You mean the whole lot—­well, I should guess yes.  You had a sweet nerve sauntering into that camp and taking them all on.  Accused them of stealing, too!  Say, you don’t know that they took your gun, do you?” demanded Frank.

“N—­no, perhaps not,” admitted Bluff, hesitatingly.

“Just surmise like, isn’t it?”

“But why that shower of stones if not to get us to run out of camp, so that some one could sneak in and take a coveted article—­and what more natural than that my new repeater should be the thing they wanted?” said Bluff, logically, as he believed.

“Well, until you have found some stronger evidence than that, I’d be a little slow about accusing any of that crowd, eh, Jerry?” went on Frank.

“That’s right,” admitted Jerry, looking back just then as if he fancied they might be followed, which, of course, was not the case.

“You didn’t see any signs of the gun while there, did you?” asked Frank.

“No, I can’t say I did; but then they wouldn’t be likely to stick my own property under my nose, would they?  I could have them arrested later on for robbery.”

“All right.  Suppose we let the subject rest for a while.  The gun may turn up again, sooner or later.  I have heard of just such queer freaks happening in camp.  Now, who gets the first sight of our campfire, and old Toby cooking a glorious supper?”

“Wow!  I can do justice to it all right.  They gave me something to eat, but gracious, it was burned, and tasted horrible.  Not one in that crowd knows the first thing about camp cookery, and they scorch everything they try,” said Bluff, sighing.

“Just keep up a little while longer.  There, isn’t that the fire through that bunch of trees ahead?”

“After all, you saw it yourself first, Frank.  That’s the fire all right.  Straight this way, boys, and we’ll be there in a jiffy,” said Will.

They hurried on.

“I’m looking to see good old Toby; but somehow don’t seem able to clap my eyes on his honest, black face,” declared Bluff.