“And so have we, and the Westmores have got theirs, too. Some day they’ll find those missing papers, and then you may hear a thing or two,” and with this parting shot Fred moved off with one sled, while old Runnell moved off with the other. “Ha! did you hear that?” gasped Hiram Skeetles, clutching Marcy by the arm. “Do you think——” “Oh, don’t get scared,” came from the bully. “They don’t know any more about those papers than they know about the man in the moon.” “But they might have heard of my loss——” “No, I think it was only a bluff, Hiram. They’ll leave to-day or to-morrow, and that will be the end of it.” “I hope they do leave,” sighed the real estate dealer. “I won’t feel safe so long as they are on the island.” “Do you remember the place where you dropped your pocketbook?” “Not the exact spot. I was all shook up by the storm, and had a splittin’ headache. I looked around for half a day, but it was no use.” “Maybe the pocketbook and the papers went to the bottom of the lake.” “I’d rather have that happen than that they should run across those papers,” answered Skeetles, with another sigh. The spot Joel Runnell had chosen for a new camp was located not far from where Fred had been fishing. Here a clump of pines overhung a hollow several yards wide, and sloping off toward the lake shore. To the north of the hollow were a series of rocks, that, along with the pines, cut off a good portion of the wind and the snow. “I’ll cut a few saplings, and throw them over the hollow, and over them we can place a double blanket and some pine boughs,” said Joel Runnell. “Then we can clean out the place and start a fire near the doorway, and we’ll be almost as comfortable as at the lodge.” “They kept one of the deer on us. I think that was cheeky.” “Never mind, we have the other, and we’ll have two more when Joe and Harry get back. I don’t think they took anything else.” But in this the old hunter was mistaken. Skeetles and Marcy had helped themselves to a little of almost all the stores, but had not taken sufficient of any particular article to make it noticeable. It took over an hour to get the shelter into shape. Then the fire was started between two large rocks, and here they proceeded to broil several of the fish, and also set a pot of beans to baking as soon as one of the rocks was hot enough. “It’s queer that Joe and Harry don’t show themselves,” was Fred’s comment, while they were eating. “In such a storm as this they ought to know enough to hurry back.” “I’ll wait a little longer and see if they don’t turn up, Fred. They may have found the load heavier than they calculated on. Remember, too, it’s quite a distance to where we left those deer hanging.” “What do you think those shots meant?” “I can’t say, except that they might have brought down some more small game, maybe a partridge or some rabbits.”