"You never want to go out with an empty gun," he said.

"Humph!" muttered Giant. "Did you ever do such a thing?" But Snap
pretended not to hear and did not answer.

Whopper and Snap covered almost half a mile before they came to
a turn in the lake shore. Here there was quite a good sized cove,
and much to their surprise they saw two large tents standing among
the trees. Nearby was the remains of a campfire, with sticks,
an iron chain, and a big iron pot over it.

"I didn't notice this camp when we came up," said Whopper.

"All the folks here must be asleep," said Snap. But as he spoke
a man came from one of the tents and stared at them. It was Andrew
Felps, the rich lumber merchant who owned much of the land around
the lake and who had treated them so meanly the summer and the
winter previous.

"Hi, you!" roared Felps. "What are you doing around here?"

"Looking for our boat," answered Snap.

"Humph! This is a pretty time to visit our camp, I must say!"

"We didn't know you had a camp here," said Whopper.

"I'd like to know what you are doing here---after my ordering you away
last summer and last winter," went on the lumber merchant, sourly.