“And the following one is; what are we going to do?” added Dick.

“Two pretty hard propositions,” commented Tom grimly. “I fancy we can answer the first question easily enough.”

“How?” asked Jack quickly. “Whom do you think took your boat?”

“Who else but Sam Heller and Nick Johnson?” retorted Tom quickly. “They’re prowling around this neighborhood with Mr. Skeel, and, though we haven’t seem ’em lately I’ve no doubt that they are around here. Very likely they came past here and, seeing my boat, knew her at once. They hopped into her, and made off.”

“I believe you’re right,” agreed Jack. “The sneaks! I wish I could get hold of ’em now! I’d settle with ’em, game leg or not. I wonder which way they went?”

“Down the river, and out into the lake, naturally,” declared Bert. “They didn’t pass us as we were legging it away from old Wallace.”

“Yes, I guess that’s right,” assented Tom.

“Which brings us to the second question,” remarked Dick.

“What’s that?” asked Jack.

[131]

[131]

“What are we going to do? How are we going to get back to camp?”

“And it’s a mighty serious question,” said Tom grimly. “It will soon be dark, and if we don’t get back—well—” He shrugged his shoulders, and they all knew what he meant. They would have to spend the night in the woods, supperless. Not a very pleasant prospect, to say the least.

“Well, let’s have a hunt for the boat,” proposed Jack after a pause. “Maybe we can get a sight of those fellows if they’re in her, and if we do—”

“Well, what?” asked Tom significantly.

“We’ll swim out and take her away from ’em.”

Tom shook his head. “Not much chance of that,” he said. “The Tag would walk right away from the best swimmer among us.”

“That is unless those fellows did something wrong to the motor, and it balked on them,” added Tom’s roommate.

“That’s a slim chance,” declared our hero. “Of course the Tag may kick up a fuss when she finds her rightful owner isn’t in her, but we can’t count on it. There’s one thing, though, in our 

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