e orders us away we can go," said Shep Reed. "I know he is just
mean enough to do it."

"Is Ham home yet?" asked one of the boys.

"No, but I heard he was going to come home as soon as that boarding
school shut up for the summer."

"Wonder if he'll try to make more trouble?"

"If he does he'd better watch out, or he'll get into hot water,"
said Shep Reed; and then the boys separated, to get their swimming
outfits and tell their folks what they proposed to do.

The boys lived in the town of Fairview, a country place, located
on the Rocky River, about ten miles above a fine sheet of water
called Lake Cameron. The town boasted of a score of stores, several
churches, a hotel, and a neat railroad station at which, during
the summer months, as high as ten trains stopped daily. On the
outskirts of the town were a saw mill, a barrel factory, and several
other industries.

To those who have read the two former books in this series, entitled,
"_Four Boy Hunters_" and "_Guns and Snowshoes_," the lads getting
ready for a swim will need no special introduction. The lad called
Snap was Charley Dodge, the son of one of the most influential
men of that neighborhood, who was a school trustee and also part
owner of the saw mill and a large summer hotel. Charley was a
brave and wide-awake youth and was often looked up to as a leader
by the others. Where his nickname of Snap had originated it would
be hard to say, although he was as full of snap and ginger as a shad
is full of bones.

Sheppard Reed, always called Shep for short, was the son of a
well-known physician, a boy who loved outdoor life, and one who was
as strong as he was handsome. He and Snap had been chums for many
years, and as a consequence were occasionally known as the twins,
although they were no relation to each other.

Frank Dawson had moved to Fairview about three years before this tale
opens. He was a merry lad, with laughing eyes, and his method of
exaggerating had speedily gained for him the nickname of Whopper. But
Frank was withal a truthful lad his "whoppers" being of the sort meant
to deceive nobody. Even his mother could not make him give up his
extravagant speech. Once when she spoke about it he gravely replied:

"I know it is wrong, mother, but I simply can't stop it. Why, I've
made up my mind over a million times to---" And then he broke down,
and his mother had to laugh in spite of herself.

The smallest lad of the four was Will Cas