On his arrival at camp he found Elliott much interested over discoveries of his own. It seemed that the Easterner had spent the afternoon fishing. At one point, happening to look up, he caught sight of a man surveying him intently from a thicket. As he stared, the man drew back and disappeared. "I couldn't see him very plainly," said Elliott. "He had a beard and an old gray hat; but that doesn't mean much of course. When I got my nerve up, and had concluded to investigate, I could hardly find a trace of him. He must wear moccasins, I think." In return Bob detailed his own experiences. The two could make nothing of it all. "If we were down South I'd say 'moonshiners,'" said Elliott, "but the beautiful objection to that is, that we aren't!" "It's some mystery to do with the Basin," said Bob, "and the whole countryside is 'on'--except our boys. I don't believe California John knew a thing about it." "Didn't act so. Question: what possibly could everybody in the mountains be interested in that the Forest Service would object to?" "Lots of things," replied Bob promptly, "but I don't believe the mountains are unfriendly to us--as a unit. I know Martin isn't, and he was the first one I noticed as particularly worried." Elliott reflected. "If he's so friendly, perhaps he was a little uneasy about _us_," he suggested at length. "If somebody doesn't want the Forest Service in this neck of the woods--if that somebody is relying on the fact that we never come down in here farther than the lookout, why then it may not be very healthy here." "Hadn't thought of that," said Bob. "That looks cheerful. But what's the point? Nine-tenths of this timber is private property anyway. There's certainly no trespass--sheep, timber or otherwise--on the government land. What in blazes is the point?" "Give it up; but we'd better wear our guns." Bob laughed. "I'd have a healthy show against a man who really wanted to get me with a gun. Presumably he'd be an expert, or he wouldn't be sent." It was agreed, however, "in view of the unsettled state of the country," as Bob gravely characterized the situation, that the young men should stick together in their work. "There's no use taking chances, of course," Bob summed up, "but there's no sense in making fools of ourselves, either. Lord love you, I don't mind being _haunted_! They can spring as many mysterious apparitions as they please, so long as said apparitions don't take to heaving bricks. We'd look sweet and lovely, wouldn't we, to go back to headquarters and tell them we'd decided to come in because a bad man with whiskers who'd never been introduced came and looked at us out of the trees."