“Now that’s what I get for staying home when I had a chance to go along with you, Toby, old scout,” grumbled Steve. “Just my luck to be left out of the running. Hang the sore heel, I say!”

“Come over to the log and sit down, Toby,” tempted Jack; “you must be a little tired after your long walk, and all the work of catching such a bunch of fighters. It seems after all that the gamiest bass frequent the upper reaches of Paradise River. And none of the fellows in Chester cared to go that far when the fishing near home was always pretty good.”

So Toby was escorted to the sitting log with one chum on either side. He would not have been a natural boy if he did not feel his importance just then, with two fellows eager to hear his story.

“Now pitch in and tell us what really did happen,” begged Steve; “for of course by now you’ve got us all excited, and guessing a dozen things in the bargain.”

“Well, I didn’t have a bit of trouble finding the river,” began Toby, just as though he felt he should conduct them gradually along until the climax came, as good story-tellers do, he understood. 36 “All I had to do was to follow my nose, and keep going ahead into the west.

“I reckon the Paradise River must lie about a mile and a half over yonder; but in places the going isn’t as easy as you’d like. Finally, I glimpsed running water, though to tell the truth I’d heard it some time before; because in places there are quite some rapids, and they make music right along, as the water gurgles down the incline, and swishes around rocks that stick out above the surface.

“Let me tell you, boys, the old river may look pretty fine in spots down our way, but shucks! it can’t hold a candle to what you’ll see up here. Soon’s I got my eyes fastened on that picture I thought of you, Jack, and how you’d just love to knock off such a handsome view for keeps.

“But fishing was what I’d come after, and so I put all other notions out of my head. It didn’t take such an old fisherman as Toby Hopkins long to settle on what looked like the most promising site for throwing out in an eddy just below some frowning big rocks, and where the shadows looked mighty inviting for a deep hole.

“Say, the fun began right away. Hardly had my baited hook disappeared in the dark water when I had a savage strike, and away my reel buzzed like fury. He was a game fighter, let me tell you, and I had all I could do to land him, what with his acrobatic jumps out of the water, and his boring deep down between times. But everything 37 held, and he chanced to be well hooked, so at last in he came.

“That sure looked like business, and I lost no time in baiting up again, for I knew how finicky bass are about biting, and that you have to make hay while the sun shines, because they quit work just as suddenly as they start in, without you understanding the cause either.

“Right away I had another, and then a third big chap followed which I lost. But what did one fish matter when there seemed to be no end of them just hanging around waiting a chance for grub–because that was just what I was feeding ’em, having fetched along two dozen big white and brown fat fellows I got out of rotten stumps around home.

“Before there was a lull, I had landed five of the string. Then they quit biting, and I had a chance to rest up a bit, and do some thinking. So mebbe half an hour passed, when suddenly something happened. I heard a cough, and looked around right away, thinking that either Steve here, or you, Jack, had taken a notion to follow my trail across to the river just to see what was going on.

“Say, I had a little shock just about that time. A man was standing there not a great ways off, and watching me for keeps. He seemed to be scowling like a black pirate, and something told me right away he didn’t much fancy seeing me there, taking fish out of the river.

38“I guess I must have thought of half a dozen things all in a minute. He was one of those slick wardens prowling around to see that the game laws were enforced; or it might be he owned the land up here, and took me for a poacher who hadn’t any right to be fishing on his preserves; then again, he looked so ugly and black that I even figured whether he could be a desperate fugitive from justice who’d been hiding in the Pontico Hills country, and hated to see anybody coming in to bother him.

“When the tall man with the black mustache and goatee started to move toward me I collected my wits and decided I’d have to seem cordial to him. Then, Jack, I also remembered your warning not to peep a single word about our having come up here for any other purpose besides having a jolly summer outing during our vacation.

“So I nodded my head and said good morning to him just as cheerful and unconcerned as I could. He grunted something, and kept coming along, watching me like a hawk all the while, I could see. Why, I had a cold shiver chase up and down my spine just like somebody had thrown a bucket of ice-water over me; because all sorts of horrible things began to flash through my mind.

“If he chose to tumble me into the river and drown me, who’d ever be the wiser for it, I thought; and perhaps I unconsciously moved back a bit from the edge, as if I wanted to put on a fresh bait.

39“‘Who may you be, boy, and how does it happen that you’re fishing up here where not a single soul have I seen in the weeks I’ve spent here?’ was what he said to me.

“’Course I up and told him my name, and that I lived in Chester; also how with two chums I was camping about a mile or more to the east.

“All the while I was speaking he kept those hawk-like black eyes of his glued on my face. I felt my skin fairly burn, and wondered whether he could read a fellow’s thoughts, which would surely give me away. But I told him the truth, because we have come up here for our vacation camping, and mean to have a bully good time of it fishing, walking, and eating until our grub runs low, and we’ll have to head back to civilization.

“I guess I must have put up a pretty fair article of a yarn; leastways he seemed just a mite more cordial when I’d got through; though I could feel that his suspicions hadn’t all been set at rest, for he seemed mighty uneasy.

“He told me he was a surveyor employed by the owner of the property all around there; but that owing to an accident to a companion, he had to temporarily stop work, and was waiting for another assistant to arrive. But he never once hinted at such a thing as our visiting him in his camp; or suggesting that he’d like to drop in on us here during our stay.

“He asked a whole lot of questions about Chester folks and what was going on down there; so 40 thinking to interest him I told him about the new spirit that had been aroused in Chester boys, and how we were going to have a new gymnasium erected this coming fall; also how we licked Harmony at baseball, and hoped to wipe their big eleven up on the gridiron when the football season opened.

“Would you believe it, that solemn-looking man never cracked a single smile all the time I was giving him such a glowing description of sport events down Chester way. And I want to go on record as saying that the man who has no love for baseball or football in his system is fit for treason, stratagems and spoils.

“Then finally he said goodbye, just as short as if he was biting it off from a plug of tobacco, turned on his heel, and walked away as cool as you please. Anyhow, I did make a face after him when I could see that his back was turned. And, believe me, fellows, that man isn’t all right; he’s got something crooked about his make-up as sure as two and two make four.”

Steve heaved a great sigh.

“I want to say again I’m sorry I wasn’t along when you met him, Toby,” he observed, disconsolately. “Not that I don’t give you credit for being as smart as they make ’em, but two heads are better than one, even if one of them is a cabbage head.”

“Which one?” demanded Toby, suspiciously.

“I’m not committing myself,” grinned Steve. 41 “But all the same I agree with you in saying that man must be crooked, though just what his game could be up here I’m not able to even guess.”

He gave Jack a quick, almost imploring look as he said this, as though begging him to lift the veil and let them see a little light; but Jack only turned to Toby and commenced to quiz him, asking numerous pointed questions, all concerning the appearance of the dark-visaged stranger who had bobbed up so unexpectedly to interrupt his sport with rod and reel.

It could be seen that Jack took especial pains to inquire into the personal looks of the man. He even startled Toby once by asking suddenly:

“If you scrutinized his face as closely as you say you did, Toby, perhaps you can tell me if he had a scar under his left eye, a sort of mark like a small crescent moon, and which like most scars turns furiously red when any excitement comes along?”

“Why, Jack, I clean forgot to mention that!” Toby instantly exclaimed. “He certainly did have just such a disfigurement, though I took it for a birth-mark and not a scar or healed wound. So then you’ve already got a good suspicion about his identity, have you? Well, this keeps on growing more and more interesting. Steve and myself will be glad when the time comes for you to open up and tell us the whole story.”

“You must hold your horses yet a while, fellows,” said Jack, gravely. “The lady made me 42 promise to keep the secret until I had gained the information that was so important, and then I could tell you everything. Toby, I want to congratulate you on playing your part well. That man had reason to suspect you might be up in the Pontico Hills for something a heap more important than just camping out. Perhaps he’s satisfied now you spoke the truth; and then again he may still suspect something wrong, and want to keep an eye on us; so we must never speak of these things except when our heads are close together. At all other times we’ve got to act just like care-free lads off on a camping trip would appear. There are other days to come, and bit by bit I reckon the thing will grow, until in the end I’ve found out all I want to know.”

“One thing sure, Jack,” ventured Steve, meditatively, “it’s no ordinary game this man with the black mustache and goatee is playing up here in these hills.”

“Well, I can stretch a point,” Jack told him, with a twinkle in his eye, “and agree with you there, Steve. It’s a big game, with a fortune at stake; and so you can both understand how desperate that man might become if he really began to believe that our being here threatened his castles in the air with a tumble. So be on your guard all the time, boys, and play your part. Suspense will make the wind-up all the more enjoyable; just as in baseball when the score is tied in the ninth and Steve here has swatted the ball for a 43 three-bagger, with two men on bases, the pent-up enthusiasm breaks loose in a regular hurricane of shouts and cheers, and we’re all feeling as happy as clams at high tide. Now, let’s get busy on these fish, and have a regular fry for dinner tonight!”