hing looks rather certain, at any rate," yawned Dick, covering
his mouth with his hand. "Whoever the unknowns are, they were
trying only to bother us. Or, if they were trying to injure us,
they were rank amateurs at the destructive game.

"But what was it that blew up, anyway?" queried Dave.

"It sounded like a keg of gunpowder each time," Tom declared.
"Yet to carry around five kegs of gunpowder would call for a
lot of muscular work."

"I'm going back to camp to put on my shoes," Dave declared.

"So am I," Danny Grin added.

"We'll wait here for you," said Dick. "When you come back there
may be light enough for us to look into matters a little."

Dave and Dan returned in a little more than five minutes afterwards.
The daylight was now becoming stronger.

"Are Greg and Harry keeping awake?" was Prescott's first question.

"They are," nodded Darrin.

"Then they can be trusted to look after the camp," Dick continued.

"And to look after the canoe," Reade amended.

"Now, we'll explore the woods a bit," Prescott went on. "We know
about where we heard the explosions, and we'll look for whatever
evidence we can find."

For this purpose each explorer went by himself. Ten minutes later
Dave Darrin set up a loud hello. This brought the others to him
on the run.

"Give us another call," demanded Dick.

"Here!" called Dave, from the depths of the woods.

Dick went in, followed by Tom and Dan.

"I've found this much," Dave announced, holding up a scorched
bit of colored paper. It was such paper as is used for the outer
wrapping of fireworks.

Dick took the fragment of paper, reading therefrom the title,
"The Sploderite Pyrotechnic Co."

"Nothing but fireworks, after all," ejaculated Danny Grin in great
contempt, now that it was broad daylight.

"But I would like to have seen the fireworks before they blew
up," retorted Tom Reade. "They were surely the loudest I ever
heard. I don't believe anything but the heaviest cannon could
make as much noise."

"Whoever touched off fireworks like these," uttered Dave, "didn't
care a hang whether or not he set the woods on fire."

"There was no fire danger," Dick rejoined. "The grass and everything
in these forests is as green as can be. But let's look about
and see if we can't find evidences of the explosion at this point."

"There ought to be a good-sized hole in the ground right under
where this piece of fireworks exploded," Tom guessed. "We ought
to