"Oh, don't lecture us now, mother. Do it when we come back."

"Please tell us where we can find the gun and game-bag," pleaded Jed,
putting an arm around his mother's waist.

Mrs. Fellows could not resist this appeal, and she directed the boys to
the wood-shed, where they found the desired gun and game-bag standing
near a pile of wood. The boys had left them there two days before after
returning from a hunt, and the gun was somewhat the worse for rust and
exposure.

Down by Loon Lake the great saurians were basking themselves in the hot
sun, and the appearance of the boys among them made a slight disturbance
along the edges of the water.

"These are only small ones," whispered Jed, with contempt. "We want some
big four-dollar hides. Snag Creek's the place for them. The big fellows
always hang out there."

The young hunters paddled their small skiff rapidly around the edge of
the clear-water lake, and then shoved her gently up a narrow, muddy
creek.

Enormous cypress trees lined either bank, and scores of buzzards were
perched on the dead branches, watching the solitary skiff glide through
the water. The buzzards seemed to know that they were protected by law,
and they did not deign to jump from their roosts.

At the end of the creek was a smaller lake, or rather a small muddy