lance, they started out. Somehow, no one seemed to consider the
possibility of their camp being invaded during their absence. The
eatables had been hung up, so that hungry wild-cats might not run away
with them should they take a notion to visit the place while the five
boys were away; but no one thought of one of their own species coming
around.

It was indeed hard work making their way through the dense growth that
covered the main part of Catamount Island. Max saw that as the place had
been let alone by mankind, Nature had kept on increasing the wild tangle
of vines, bushes and saplings that filled the spaces between the larger
trees. In some places the branches were so very dense overhead that it
seemed gloomy and even "spooky," as Bandy-legs took pains to inform his
companions.

Birds they saw many times, and often the whirr of wings announced the
sudden flight of a partridge. Squirrels abounded, and even a raccoon was
sighted, while Max declared that he felt sure he had a glimpse of the
red brush of a vanishing fox that had been disturbed in his day nap by
their approach.

Still, all these were such things as they had expected to meet with.
What pleased Max most of all was the fact that outside of a few harmless
small snakes the island seemed to hardly deserve the terribly bad name
it had gained as a breeding spot for venomous reptiles, and which
reputation it was that had always kept local hunters from visiting its
shores in the season.

The little party was pushing through the thickest part of the jungle,
where they had great difficulty in making progress at all, and often