t all the same it may mean trouble for us.
You can see that these tracks were made by a man, for he had a foot much
longer than any of the scouts; and boys, I'm afraid he's been hanging
around our camp for some purpose!"

CHAPTER XXIV

THE STRANGEST FISHING EVER KNOWN

"A man!" echoed Wallace, also looking grave; and even while speaking he
turned his head to stare upward toward that grim cap of old Rattlesnake
Mountain that hung so high above them.

Perhaps Wallace had seen that will-o'-the-wisp light far up the side of
the rocky steep on the preceding night, as well as Paul and Jack. He may
have been pondering over it since, though neglecting to speak to the
patrol leader.

"Well," said Bobolink, with a relieved look, "I'd rather have a
two-legged man wandering around our camp than a four-legged tiger-cat,
any day."

"Of course you would," observed Jack, drily, "but think how awful it
would be if a four-legged man was spying on us!"

Bobolink only snorted at this thrust. It was not often the other fellows
had a chance to give him a sly dig; and that was why Jack could not
resist the temptation, even while Paul was looking so worried.

"I think we had better run this trail out a bit, fellows," remarked the
patrol leader; "and see what he was after. It seems to have come from
along the shore of the lake, and struck up the rise about here. What
say, Wallace?"

"I'm with you all right," came the immediate reply from the one
addressed; "It will give us some exercise, and experience; because once
he strikes the rocks we'll have to be pretty smart not to lose him."

Accordingly they all bent their heads low over the spot where that plain
print of the boot was to be seen.

"Say, do you know what this makes me think of?" demanded Bobolink.

"Not elephants, panthers, or two-legged men, of course!" chuckled Jack.

"Oh! rats!" expostulated his fellow scout. "Come off your perch, Jack,
and talk sense. You make me think of an old Polly, just able to repeat
things over and over. But to see us all down on our knees staring at
that trail made me remember the alarm of poor old Robinson Crusoe when
he found the footprint of the cannibal on his island."

"Well, the comparison isn't so bad--for you, Bobolink," observed Jack;
"because while we haven't got an island that we can call our own, we
seemed to be the only campers on this lake; and to discover that there
is another fellow on the spot ready to dispute our cl