s were so wet it was decided not to travel through them
until after dinner. The sun came out strongly, and in the clear sky
thus presented the boys managed to get several pleasing photographs.
One was of Tommy and his dog sitting on a rock, and this was so good
that, when shown later, it was very much admired. They also took
a photograph of Giant and Whopper with the strings of fish.

Late that afternoon found them at the foot of the Windy Mountains.
Here they discovered a well-defined trail and also a signboard,
telling them the game preserve in which Dr. Reed was interested
was just beyond."

"Now we haven't much farther to go," said the doctor's son. "My
father said we'd find a good camping spot less than a mile from here."

"I'm glad of it," answered Giant. "This load on my back isn't as
light as it might be."

Pushing on, they soon came to where another signboard had been
located; but the board had been knocked off with a stone or a
hammer and was missing.

"Some hunter's meanness," was Snap's comment.

"A fellow who would destroy a signboard ought to be locked up,"
was Whopper's comment. "It's about on a par with starting a forest
fire."

They trudged on, and presently came to where somebody had had
a camp fire. Here were some empty tins and some well-picked bones.
Giant kicked over one of the empty tins.

"Hello! I know who was here!" he cried. "Ham Spink and his crowd."

"How do you know?" demanded the doctor's son.

"Because I know they had some of this brand of canned goods with
'em---saw it among their supplies. It's different from the kind we
have, or what you can get in the regular stores. The Spinks have
their goods sent by freight from the city."

"Giant must be right," said Snap. "And look here, will you?"

As he spoke Snap pulled from the dead embers of the fire a half-burned
bit of wood. It was part of a signboard.

"Humph! the signboard that was missing below here," muttered Shep.
"Ham and his crowd were too lazy to cut firewood, so they used
the board. If that isn't the height of laziness and meanness!"

"It's against the law to destroy signboards," said Whopper. "That
crowd ought to be brought to book for this."

"If you said anything they'd say we did it," responded Snap. "Ham
would do anything to keep out of trouble and get us into a muss."

"That camp fire was built after the storm," said the doctor's son.
"That proves the Spink crowd can't be far from here."