up beyond the lumber camps at the head of the lake.

"Count me out," declared Will, raising one foot to be ready to mount.

"That settles it, then. Who goes first?" asked Frank.

"You do, to start with. Later on, after we pass the wagon, Jerry will act
as guide, as he's been up there before, and knows a lot about the
country," called Will.

"Then, here goes, fellows."

Suiting the action to the word Frank ran with his machine, then gave a
vault into the saddle, started the engine, and with a loud popping the
motor-cycle began to hustle along the road at a moderately swift pace.

Jerry came second, then Will, and last but not least Bluff, who was very
apt to have many things happen to his motor-cycle before the ten miles
had been reeled off, for that seemed to be just his fortune.

"Good luck!" called the girls from the window; while the little
mother waved a 'kerchief from the doorway, and then hurried in to
shed a few tears, for, truth to tell, these partings always affected
her in this way.

Through the town they went, with dogs racing alongside and barking
wildly, and quite a few persons waving them good wishes as they passed;
for it was pretty well known what the Outdoor Club had in view, and the
hunting toggery with which Bluff had adorned himself was a constant sign
as to the glut there would presently be in the game market of
Centerville.

Then past Frank's home, where his father waved his hat as he stood in the
doorway, warned of the coming of the squad by the rampant popping of the
motor-cycles; and after that the open country, where the northbound road
ran alongside the calm waters of Lake Camalot, now glistening in the
frosty air of an October morning.

Frank slowed up to allow of Jerry overtaking him, so that they might talk
as they covered the miles.

"There's the wagon ahead," he said.

"I had noticed it, and just beyond I thought I saw several fellows up on
the bank, perhaps Andy and his chums. It might be well for us to close
in and be ready to defend the wagon if necessary. And look out for any
sort of sharp-pointed nails on the road, apt to slash our tires,"
remarked Jerry, who had experienced so much of the trickery of the
Lasher crowd that he believed there was nothing too mean or small for
them to attempt.

"Not a bad idea, so slow up until the other boys arrive. They may hardly
feel like doing anything, now that we happen along."

"I'd feel sure they wouldn't if we could only coa