e after him, with loud shouts; but seeing
their opportunity to escape made haste to put the wire fence between
themselves and the owner of those cruel white fangs. As long as he
could follow them from his side of the barrier the dog continued to
bark savagely; but did not offer to leave his own domain.

After all Billy Button was the only one to suffer, and he had a fine
big three-cornered hole in his coat.

"Going into the real-estate business, are you, Billy?" asked Josh, who
could always see a chance for a joke.

"Oh! am I?" retorted the other. "What makes you think that, Josh?"

"Because you've got a sign up 'to rent,'" is what the other told him.

"Didn't I see that dog take hold of you by the leg, Felix, at the time
you struck him so hard on the head with your club?" Mr. Witherspoon
asked.

"Yes, sir, but he only dented my leggings, you see," the bugler
replied, as he showed where the marks of the animal's teeth could be
plainly seen; "that's the good of having extra-thick canvas leggings
on; they save you from snake bites and all sorts of other things that
you don't want."

"It was a pretty lively skirmish while it lasted, let me tell you,"
admitted Rob Shaefer, who had seemed quite to enjoy the affair.

Another hour or more passed, with the column straggling along, and some
of the boys showing positive signs of fatigue. Mr. Witherspoon had been
consulting with the leader of the Black Bear Patrol, and evidently they
had reached a conclusion, for presently the welcome order was given to
turn into the woods, as the day's hike was at an end.

Gladly did those tired lads obey the call. And one of the first things
they discovered was that there was another cold spring nearby, the
presence of which, of course, had been known to those who carried the
chart of the region.

First of all they dropped down to rest themselves. Later on, when they
were feeling more like doing things, they would start to put the camp
in order, get the fires started, and perhaps erect some sort of rude
shelter that to a certain degree would take the place of tents.

Finally some of the more enterprising began to stir around. Josh took
it upon himself to provide a fireplace made out of stones which lay
conveniently near. It was to be built according to the best formula he
knew, something in the shape of a letter V, with the large end toward
the wind; and across the top of the stones they would lay their iron
rods, thus forming a gri