which came to a sudden end when the youngest
Rover tripped him up and sent him plunging into a snowbank on the side
of the narrow stream.

"Now let up, I tell you!" warned Jack. "You never want to try any
horseplay when you are tramping or skating along with a loaded gun.
It's too dangerous. Remember what Colonel Colby said," and then Andy
sobered down a little.

All too soon for the boys, the skating on the river came to an end.
Beyond, the stream was little better than a rocky watercourse, now
thickly covered with ice and snow.

"Why can't we leave our skates here until we come back?" suggested
Randy.

"We could if we were sure we were going to return this way," answered
Jack. "But we had better take them along, for we may return to the Hall
by an entirely different route. We'll place our skates in our game bags
for the present;" and this advice was followed.

After this the Rover boys trudged along through the woods bordering the
stream. Soon they came upon some rabbit tracks, and less than a minute
later Jack suddenly raised his double-barreled shotgun and blazed away.

"Hurrah! you've got him!" cried Fred, and all of the boys rushed forward
to where the game lay--a big, fat rabbit.

"Say, Jack, you're the lucky one!" cried Andy. "Now you know what you
promised?" he added.

"All right--it's your turn now to have the shotgun," answered his
cousin, for that was the bargain which had been made. "I'll carry the
rifle."

On and on went the young hunters, getting deeper and deeper into the
woods. Here they managed to stir up more game, and Andy had the pleasure
of bringing down the second rabbit, while the others laid low several
squirrels.

"This is pretty rough ground around here," remarked Jack, after they had
wound in and out around some exceedingly rough rocks and through some
thick underbrush.

"We had better keep close to this stream," was Randy's suggestion. "If
we don't, we may become hopelessly lost in these woods."

"Huh! I guess we could find our way out sooner or later," retorted his
twin. To Andy, getting lost in the woods would seem nothing more than a
big joke.

The young hunters continued to advance, and, during the course of the
next hour, brought down several more rabbits, and also another squirrel.
Then, just as Andy had handed back one of the shotguns to Jack and the
weapon had been reloaded, they heard a strange noise coming from back of
some bushes not a great distance away.

"N