"Stick to the truth!" mocked Dick.

"But I really am beginning to feel that a little exercise is the
best course before breakfast," Tom declared.

"The next thing we hear," scoffed Hazy, "you'll be telling us
that you really don't want any breakfast."

"I'll tell you fellows what I'll do," Tom called. "I'll agree
to put off eating until noon if you'll all stick to the idea."

But that suggestion did not prove popular.

"I mean it," Reade insisted. "I hardly care, now, whether I eat
any breakfast or not."

"What's that noise below? Come on!" called Prescott, landing
and running along the bank. Tom was close behind him, the others
following.

In their search for Tom they had gotten farther away from the
wagon than they realized. During their brief absence from the
spot two tramps had come upon the camp wagon and the piles of
discarded clothing. It was plain that the wagon contained all
that was needed for several meals---and the tramps were hungry.

Yet the only safe way to enjoy that food would be to partake of
it at a safe distance from the rightful owners.