The coming of Snap and his friends to the rival camp produced another stormy scene, and for awhile it looked as if there would be an open fight.  The young hunters “laid down the law” good and hard, and Ham Spink and his crowd were much alarmed in consequence.

“You had no right to touch our things, and I could have you arrested for it,” said Snap.  “Now our boat is gone, I am going to claim yours until we get ours back.”

“That ain’t fair!” cried Ham Spink.

“It has got to be fair,” answered Snap, stubbornly.

“Most of our stores are gone, too,” growled the dudish youth.

“That isn’t our fault.”

“Will you—–­er—–­will you sell us one of your deer?” faltered another of the crowd.

“If you absolutely need it, yes; otherwise, no,” said Shep.

“Yes, we need it.  We are almost cleaned out of everything.”

“One of you has got to go with us,” said Snap, a moment later.

“What for?”

“To show us where our things are.”

“We’ll tell you where they are,” said several.  They were afraid to cross the lake in such a wind.

The secret was revealed, and a few minutes later Snap and his chums started for the boat, which was close at hand.

“You can have this boat as soon as the wind lets up,” said Giant.

“And what of the deer?”

“You can take the smallest,” said Snap.  “But mind, don’t touch the others, or it will be the worse for you!” he added, sternly.

It was dark and blowing a full gale when the four young hunters embarked.  They realized that the journey to their camp would be a perilous one, and wished that the other crowd was more friendly, so that they could remain with them all night.  But they had not been asked to stay and were too proud to mention it.

“Phew! but this is a sockdollager!” was Whopper’s comment.  “Blowing about two thousand miles an hour, I guess.  I hope it doesn’t send us to the bottom.”

“Don’t be so cheerful,” said Shep.  “Boys, we have got to do some nice work with the oars, or else ship a lot of water,” he added, gazing out on the black and angry lake.

“Well, come on,” said Giant.  “The sooner we get at it the sooner we’ll be on the other side.”

All took their places at the oars, and a few strokes sufficed to send them well out into Firefly Lake.  Here they felt the full force of the breeze, and in a twinkling Shep’s cap was blown from his head.

“My cap!”

“Here it is,” answered Snap, passing it over.  “Say, boys, this is a corker sure!  Can anybody see ahead?”

“I can see a little,” said Whopper.  “But not a great deal.”

They rowed on, bending low to escape the fury of the wind.  The rowboat rocked violently, and every time she went down some water came in over the gunwale.

“Let us move down the lake,” suggested Shep.  “We can’t go straight across.  We can come up again on the other shore—–­if the wind will let us.”