"Ham in the pan! Ham in the pan!
Ham's the best of meat!"

"Ham in the pan! Ham in the pan!
Ham is good and sweet!"

"You stop that!" roared Ham Spink, and then, as a dozen boys on
the dock took up the darky song, he turned and strode away, with
his rather short nose tilted high in the air.

"Do you think he'll call on our folks about this?" whispered Whopper,
somewhat anxiously. "I shouldn't like to leave under a cloud."

"Oh! he hasn't got backbone enough to make trouble," answered
Shep. But Shep was mistaken, as we shall learn later.

The rowboat was now some distance from the dock, and with a final
wave of the hand the boys began the journey to Lake Cameron.

In a straight line the lake was about ten miles from the town,
but the river was a winding one, so they had a row of over thirteen
miles before them.

"I hope we haven't forgotten anything," said Whopper. "It would
be a shame to have to go back, eh, fellows?"

"We are not going back," returned Giant. "If anything has been
left behind we will have to get along without it."