"You're wrong there!" Will cut in. "We saw the flash of a gun!"

"Some one shoot at you?" questioned George.

"Perhaps not," Will replied, "but I heard a bullet whizzing past my
ear! That's not a very warm welcome to this blooming country, I
take it."

"What's it all about?" asked Sandy impatiently.

"That's the answer!" Tommy declared. "That's all we know about it
ourselves. We hear a paddle splash in the water; we go out to see
what's doing, and we get a chunk of lead plugged at us. That's the
answer so far as I know. Now, how about this fish?"

"Right as a book!" cried Sandy. "I've been taking care of this
fish while you've been out there facing some boy with an air gun."

"Yes," laughed Tommy, "if you want to find boys with air guns, come
out here about three hundred miles north of nowhere!"

The incident did not seem to affect the appetites of the boys, for
they attacked the fish industriously. When the meal was finished
and the dishes cleared away; Will turned to his chums with a sober
look on his face. When he spoke it was with suppressed excitement.
"Do you boys know exactly why we are in the Hudson Bay country?" he
asked, "How much did Mr. Horton tell you?"

"Nothing at all!" Tommy replied.