fifteen stores and shops, three churches, a hotel, and a livery
stable, while just outside were a saw mill and several other
industries. The place was located on the Rocky River, which, ten miles
below, flowed into a beautiful sheet of water called Lake Cameron.

To those who have read a previous volume of mine entitled, "Four Boy
Hunters," the lads skylarking in the snow need no special
introduction. For the benefit of others let me state that Charley
Dodge was the son of one of the most influential men of that district,
a gentleman who was a school trustee and also part owner of a big
summer hotel and one of the saw mills. Sheppard Reed was the son of
the best-known local physician, and he and Charley,--always called
Snap, why nobody could tell--were such chums they were often spoken of
as the Twins.

Frank Dawson had come to Fairview a little over two years before, and
had speedily made himself a prime favorite. As we have seen, he loved
to exaggerate when telling things, yet with it all Whopper, so called,
was as truthful as anybody. As Snap said, "you could always tell
Whopper's whoppers a mile off," which I think was something of a
whopper in itself, don't you?

The youngest lad of the four was Will Gaslette, always called Billy or
Giant. He was the son of a French widow lady, who thought the world of
her offspring. Although Will was small in size, he was sturdy and
self-reliant, and promised to become all that his mother hoped for
him.

During the previous summer the four boys had organized the Fairview
Gun Club and obtained permission to go camping for a few weeks in the