fried every time."

None of the four chums as they joked in this fashion dreamed of what
Fate had in store for them before the sun went down behind the western
horizon. How could they suspect when just then the heavens looked so
fair and inviting?

"What's that you've got there with you, Jerry?" asked Bluff, who had
been fixing a phantom minnow on a troll, in the expectation of picking
up a fish or two while they rowed.

"Oh! a little cold snack in the shape of grub," explained the other,
who on all occasions possessed a voracious appetite.

"But don't you remember we planned to be in the village long before
noon, and expected to get dinner there?" protested Bluff.

"All right, that strikes me as a good scheme," came the ready reply;
"but with my customary caution I'm only insuring against starvation.
How do we know but what we'll be shipwrecked half-way there, and find
ourselves up against it? For one I don't propose to go hungry when
there's a chance to save myself."

Bluff laughed on hearing this explanation.

"Trust you to look out for that, Jerry!" he declared. "And I suppose
that in case we do get dinner at the village tavern or a farmhouse,
you'll be ready to make way with your snack on the voyage back?"

"I might be influenced by strong pressure," chuckled the other.

"How about the weather, Frank; see any sign of a storm in the offing?"
asked Bluff, turning to the leader of the camp.

"Nothing in sight right now," he was told; "the chances are you'll
have clear weather going, though there may be some wind behind you.
What's going to happen in the afternoon is another matter. I'm not a
weather sharp, and so I throw up my hands when you ask me to lift the
veil."

All being ready, the boys launched their boat. Bluff was to use the
oars for the first shift. When he began to tire he was to call on his
chum to change places, unless in the meantime the breeze had
freshened enough for them to make use of their sail.

"Good-bye, fellows!" called out Will; "see you later, and take mighty
good care of those eggs, remember!"

"Listen to him, would you?" jeered Jerry. "So long as the hen fruit
gets here unbroken Will doesn't seem to care what happens to his
chums. But that's all right, and we hope to turn up safe and sound
before sunset." And under the steady influence of the oars the boat
glided on until the voices of the boys died away in the distance.

CHAPTER X

TRESPASSERS

The two guardian