BOUND FOR LAKE SURPRISE

"Phil, _please_ tell me we're nearly there!"rnrn"I'd like to, Lub, for your sake; but the fact of the matter is we'verngot about another hour of climbing before us, as near as I can reckon."rnrn"Oh! dear, that means sixty long minutes of this everlasting scramblingrnover logs, and crashing through tangled underbrush. Why, I reckon I'llrnhave the map of Ireland in red streaks on my face before I'm done withrnit."rnrnAt that the other three boys laughed. They were not at all unfeeling,rnand could appreciate the misery of their fat companion; but then Lub hadrnsuch a comical way of expressing himself, and made so many ludicrousrnfaces, that they could never take him seriously.rnrnThey were making their way through one of the loneliest parts of therngreat Adirondack regions. There might not be a living soul within milesrnof them, unless possibly some guide were wandering in search of newrnfields.rnrnThe regular fishermen and tourists never came this way for many reasons;rnand the only thing that had brought these four well-grown boys in thernregion of Surprise Lake was the fact that one of them, Phil Bradley,rnowned a large mountain estate of wild land that abutted on the westernrnshore of the lake.rnrnAll of the lads carried regular packs on their backs, secured with bandsrnthat passed across their foreheads, thus giving them additionalrnadvantages. In their hands they seemed to be gripping fishing rods inrntheir cases, as well as some other things in the way of tackle boxes andrnbait pails.rnrnApparently Phil and his chums were bent on having the time of theirrnlives upon this outing. Laden in this fashion, it was no easy task theyrnhad taken upon themselves to "tote" such burdens from the littlernjumping-off station up the side of the mountain, and then across thernwooded plateau. There was no other way of getting to Lake Surprise, asrnyet, no wagon road at all; which accounted for its being visited onlyrnby an occasional fisherman or hunter.rnrnEach year such places become fewer and fewer in the Adirondacks; and inrntime to come doubtless a modern hotel would be erected where just thenrnonly primitive solitude reigned.rnrnOf course Lub (who at home in school rejoiced in the more aristocraticrnname of Osmond Fenwick) being heavily built, suffered more than any ofrnhis comrades in this long and arduous tramp. He puffed, and groaned, butrnstuck everlastingly at it, for Lub was not the one to give in easily, nornmatter how he complained.rnrnBesides these two there was Raymond Tyson, a tall, thin chap, who was sornquick to see through nearly everything on the instant that his friendsrnhad long ago dubbed him "X-Ray," and as such he was generally known.rnrnThe last of the quartette was Ethan Allan. He claimed to be a linealrndescendant of the famous Revolutionary hero who captured Ticonderogarnfrom the British by an early morning surprise. Ethan was very fond ofrnboasting of his illustrious ancestor, and on that account found himselfrnfrequently "joshed" by his chums.rnrnIt happened that Ethan's folks were not as well off in this world'srngoods as those of his chums; and he was exceedingly sensitive about thisrnfact. Charity was his bugbear; and he would never listen to any of thernothers standing for his share of the expense, when they undertook anrnexpedition like the present.rnrnEthan was a smart chap. He knew considerable about the woods, and allrnsorts of things that could be found there. And he had hit upon anrningenious method for laying up a nice little store of money whereby herncould keep his savings bank well filled with ready cash, and thusrnproudly meet his share of expenses.rnrnIn the winter he used to spend all his spare time out at a farm owned byrnan uncle, where he had traps, and managed to catch quite a few littlernfur-bearing denizens of the woods. Then in the summer and fall he knewrnjust where the choicest mushrooms could be picked day after day in thernearly morning. He also had several deposits of wild ginseng and goldenrnseal marked down, and many pounds of the dried roots did he ship to arndistant city to be sold.rnrnHis success was enough to turn any boy's head, since he seemed tornreceive a price far above the top-notch quotations for such things. Thernhead of the firm even took occasion to write, congratulating him onrnhaving sent a fox skin (really a dark red), which he claimed was as finerna _black_ fox as he had ever seen, and worth a large sum of money. Onrnanother occasion it was to say that the dried ginseng Ethan had shippedrnwas simply "magnificent," and that they took pleasure in remitting arnprice that they hoped would inspire him to renewed efforts.rnrnAlas! how poor Ethan's pride would have taken a sad tumble had he everrnso much as guessed that this very accommodating fur and root dealer wasrnin reality an uncle of Phil Bradley, and that the whole thing was only arnnice little plot on the part of the other three boys to assist Ethanrnwithout his knowing it.rnrnThat proved how much they thought of their chum; but should he everrndiscover the humiliating truth there was likely to be some trouble, onrnaccount of that pride of Ethan's.rnrnIt happened that Phil was an orphan, and had been left a very largernproperty, the income from which he could never begin to spend in anyrnsensible fashion. That accounted for his desire to assist Ethan; andrnwhile he felt that it was too bad to play such a trick, there seemed tornbe no other way in which the end they sought might be attained.rnrnRaymond's folks, too, were wealthy, and he had really been sent up intornthe clear atmosphere of the Adirondacks to improve his health. Althoughrnthe doctors did not really say he was threatened with signs of lungrntrouble, they advised that the boy, who had grown so fast at the expensernof his strength, should live out of doors all he could for a year orrntwo. He would then be able to catch up in school duties with littlerntrouble.rnrnThe other three had by degrees come to look upon Phil as their leader;rnand indeed, he had all the qualities that go to make a successful pilot.rnThey delighted to call themselves the "Mountain Boys." Really it hadrnbeen Ethan Allan who originated that name, and no doubt at the time hernhad in mind those daring heroes of Revolutionary days who madernthemselves such a terror to the British under the title of "GreenrnMountain Boys."rnrnAmong other properties of which the Bradley estate consisted there was arntract of several thousand acres of wild land bordering on thisrnmysterious Lake Surprise. Phil had heard a number of things about itrnthat excited his curiosity. He had so far never set eyes on the place;rnwhen one of the other chums happened to suggest that it might make arnsplendid little outing, if they started to look in on the lonely estate.rnrnOne thing led to another, with the result that here they were headingrntoward the lake, and following a dim trail which had been described byrnan old guide who could not accompany them on account of other pressingrnengagements.rnrnThe boys were pretty good woodsmen, all but Lub, and they had notrndoubted their ability to find the lake.rnrn"I think we're in luck about one thing," X-Ray was saying, as he toiledrnalong sturdily, and wishing that he had as much stamina as Phil orrnEthan; for somehow his legs seemed a bit shaky after so long andrndifficult a tramp, with all that burden piled on his back.rnrn"As what?" asked Ethan, giving Phil a nudge, and thus calling attentionrnto the fact that by degrees the puffing Lub had actually gone ahead,rnfastening his eyes on the winding trail, and evidently feeling that hernwas becoming quite a woodsman.rnrn"Why, about that cabin the old guide Jerry Kane told us was on the shorernof the lake. It'll save us building one, you know, if it's in any kindrnof a decent condition," the tall boy went on to say.rnrn"Yes, that's a fact," Phil himself remarked; "I've been thinking sornright along. I only hope we won't find some fishermen camped in it. Kanernsaid that once in a long while some guide took a party over to Surprise;rnbut that the tramp was so hard few gentlemen cared to try for it. Therernare lakes all around that offer just about as good fishing."rnrn"I should think there'd be some pretty fine hunting around up here,"rnremarked Ethan. "I've noticed quite a few signs of deer, and that wasrncertainly the track of a big moose we saw. I'd like to run across one ofrnthat stripe. Never saw a wild moose in all my life."rnrn"I wouldn't be surprised if some of us do meet one while we roam thernwoods around the little lake," Phil told him. "If I'm that lucky I wantrnto take a picture of the beast, to add to my collection."rnrn"And I reckon, now," suggested X-Ray, "that nearly every night you'll bernsetting traps, not to catch wild animals, but to make them take theirrnown pictures. That's the main reason why you've come up here, isn't it,rnPhil?"rnrn"Well, you know it's a sort of hobby of mine, and I've got all thernapparatus for taking flashlight pictures along with me. I started in tornthe business just to kill time; but let me tell you it grows on arnfellow like everything. I'm something of a hunter myself, but thisrnshooting with a camera beats anything else all hollow. Besides, you getrnyour game, and yet don't injure it, which is the best of all."rnrnEthan laughed, and shook his head.rnrn"But your pelts don't bring you in the hard cash, Phil, like mine do,"rnhe went on to say, with a touch of genuine pride in his voice. "S'posernnow I'd just snapped off that black fox's picture instead of getting hisrnpaw in my steel Newhouse trap--it might have been all very well, but I'drnbe several hundred dollars shy right now."rnrnX-Ray Tyson chuckled; but the other frowned and shook his head. It wouldrnnever do to get Ethan's suspicions aroused. He was terribly persistent,rnand once on the scent would never give up until he had unearthed theirrnclever little plot. Then good-by to peace among the Mountain Boys, forrnEthan would never be apt to forgive them the deception.rnrn"That's the main thing, after all, Ethan," Phil added. "One man's foodrnis another man's poison. You enjoy your way of doing things, and Irnunderstand how that is, for I'm something of a hunter of small gamernmyself; but I find more real delight in surprising a keen-nosed fox, orrna night-roaming raccoon, and getting his photo than in blowing them overrnwith a charge of shot."rnrn"Think there could be any bear up around here, Phil?" asked Lub, overrnhis shoulder.rnrn"I wouldn't be surprised, and if we run across tracks I'll add to myrncollection."rnrn"Mebbe we ought to have fetched a gun along," suggested X-Ray, who wasrnnot much of a hunter himself, though fond of any kind of game when itrnwas cooked at a camp-fire.rnrn"Well, that would have brought us into trouble with the game wardens,"rnPhil replied.rnrnAt this point they were interrupted by a cry from Lub, who was on hisrnhands and knees in the midst of the scrub, where he had evidently caughtrnhis foot in a vine, and gone sprawling down on account of hisrnclumsiness.rnrnHigh above the exclamation from the lips of their fat companion theyrncould hear a fierce growling sound, and about ten feet beyond Lub theyrnsaw the crouching body of a very large and angry bobcat, with blazingrnyellow eyes, and every hair on its back standing up on edge, as it gotrnready to spring.