e boys very much. Paul took several pictures of it, with his two
companions standing in the foreground, as positive evidence that the
scouts had been on the spot.

They also examined the strong dam which the cunning animals had
constructed across the creek, so as to hold a certain depth of water.
When the boys saw the girth of the trees the sharp teeth of the
beavers had cut into lengths in order to form the dam, the scouts were
amazed.

"I'd give a lot to see them at work," declared Paul. "If I get half a
chance, Tolly Tip, I'm going to come up here next spring if you'll
send me word when they're on the job. It would be well worth the trip
on horseback from Stanhope."

Upon arriving at the camp toward noon the boys and their guide found
everything running smoothly, and a great deal accomplished. Jud had
not come back as yet, but several times distant shots had been heard,
and the boys were indulging in high hopes of what Jud would bring
back.

"You musn't forget though," Paul warned these optimists, "that we're
not the only pebbles on the beach. There are others in these woods,
some of them with guns, and no mean hunters at that."

"Meaning the Lawson crowd," remarked Bobolink. "Your statement is
quite true, for I've seen Hank do some mighty fine shooting in times
past. He likes nothing so much as to wander around day after day in
the fall, with a gun in his hands, just as old Rip Van Winkle used to
do."

"Yes," remarked Jack, drily, "a gun in hand has served as an excuse
for a _loaf_ in more ways than getting the family bread."

"Hey!" cried Bluff, "there comes Jud right now. And look what he's
got, will you?"

CHAPTER XXI

SETTING THE FLASHLIGHT TRAP

"Jud's holding up one measly rabbit, as sure as anything!" exclaimed
Bobolink, with a vein of scorn in his voice, as became the lord of the
hunt, who on the preceding day had actually brought down a young buck,
and thus provided the camp with a feast for supper.

"We'd soon starve to death if we had to depend on poor old Jud for our
grub!" remarked Tom Betts, with a sad shake of his head.

"All that waste of ammunition, and just a lone rabbit to show for it!
They say successful hunters must be born, not made!" Sandy Griggs went
on to say.

Other sarcastic remarks went the rounds, while Jud just stood meekly,
seeming to be very much downcast.

"Are you all through?" he finally asked, looking up with a grin.
"Because before you condemn me entir