Snap was the first to awaken, and, letting the others rest, he replenished the camp fire and got breakfast ready.  There was a sameness about their food that was not very appetizing, but this could not be helped.

“When I get back I’m going to live a whole day on pancakes and beans and bacon,” said Whopper.  “No more rabbits for me, or partridge, either.”

“That’s the one drawback to camping out,” returned the doctor’s son.  “One does get awfully tired of eating game.”

It was again a question of how to proceed, and once more they mounted a tree to take observations.  They now saw two columns of smoke arising on the air, not a great distance off.

“Our camp fire and that of the Spink crowd!” exclaimed Snap.  “I’ll wager a button on it.”

“I believe you are right,” answered Shep.  “We’ll make for the nearest of ’em, anyway.”

They set off at a brisk pace, taking as direct a route as the nature of the ground permitted.  On the way they came to a large patch of huckleberry bushes and found the berries ripe and luscious.

“Let’s pick some,” said Whopper.  “Then we can make huckleberry dumplings, or something like that.”

“What about huckleberry pie?” suggested Snap.

“Great!”

They stopped long enough to pick several quarts of the berries, stowing the fruit away in one of the cleaned-out game bags.  Then on they went as before.

Soon they broke through the woods into a clearing, and on the opposite side of this saw a camp, with several boys lolling around a camp fire.  They were members of the Spink crowd and included Dick Bush and Carl Dudder.

“Say, where did you come from?” demanded Carl Dudder as he espied them and leaped to his feet.

“From the woods,” answered Shep calmly.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing, Dudder, excepting to pass.”

“Huh!  You needn’t look so innocent-like, Shep Reed!  We know what you did to our boat,” put in Dick Bush.

“What did we do to it?” asked Whopper.

“You know well enough.  Think you’re smart, don’t you?” growled Carl.

“We know what you were going to do to our boat,” put in Snap.

“What?”

“You heard what I said.  We only got ahead of you, that’s all.”

“We’ll fix you for it, don’t you worry,” said Carl with a cunning leer.

“Take care that you don’t get into trouble,” was Shep’s answer.  Then he walked around the camp fire and his chums followed.

“Where are you going?” asked one of the other members of the Spink crowd.

“That is our business.”

At this answer the other lads merely scowled.  There was an awkward pause, and then Shep and his chums moved on and plunged into the woods beyond the camp fire.

“They are a real sociable bunch,” was Whopper’s sarcastic comment.  “How I would love to stay with them!”