d.

"You do!" demanded Darry incredulously.

"Yes; just think of all the zest they've put into our morning,
and they didn't harm us, either."

"But just think of what it would have been like if we hadn't stopped
'em!" gasped Danny Grin solemnly. "We couldn't have chased 'em.
It wouldn't have been decent for us to go along the road, making
four miles to every five covered by the horse. No, sir! We'd
have had to remain hidden in the forest until we could signal
some farmer to send to our folks for clothes to put on. Wouldn't
it have been great, staying in the woods two or three days, with
nothing to eat, waiting for the proper clothing to enable us to
go out into the world again!"

"It was a mean trick!" cried Darry hotly; and then he began to
laugh as the ridiculous features of the situation appealed to him.

"But nothing serious happened," laughed Dick, "so we owe that
pair of tramps for a pleasant touch to the morning's sport."

"I wonder how many years since either of them has had a bath,
until this morning," grinned Reade, as he began to lace his shoes.

As Reade was dressed first, Dick called to him: "Take the horse
out of the shafts, Tom, and let him feed in comfort."

"You may," laughed Reade. "As for me, I've flirted with my breakfast
so long this morning, and have taken so many chances of not having
any, that now I'm going to make sure of that first of all."

So Dick himself attended to the horse. Dan was already gathering
firewood, which Dave piled into the stove in the wagon.

Soon water was boiling, coffee was being ground, tins opened,
and a general air of comfort and good fellowship prevailed in
that forest.

"We'll have to give you the palm for being a good trainer, Dick,"
declared Tom, taking a bite out of a sandwich and following it
with a sip of coffee, "but you have one short-coming. You're
no fortune teller. So, as you can't foretell the future, I vote
that, after this, we breakfast in the morning and swim later in
the day. It would affect my heart in time, if we had to battle
every morning for our breakfast in this fashion."

"I can't get over the impudence of those tramps," muttered Darry,
as he set his coffee cup down. "They couldn't hope to get away
with the horse and wagon and sell them in these days of the rural
telephone. They couldn't use our clothing for themselves. And
yet they stole all we had in order to get hold of our food. At
that, they didn't care what beca