“How are we to get over without a boat?” demanded Whopper.  “It’s too far to swim.  The water is so cold a fellow would get cramps before he was half over.”

“We might build a raft,” suggested Snap, who had been favorably impressed by Shep’s words.  “There are a number of logs lying around that we cut for firewood, and I saw some wild grapevines back of the spring which will do very well for ropes.  We could take off the most of our clothing, so it wouldn’t matter if we got wet.”

The proposal to build a raft was approved by all, and they set to work without delay.  It had been after four o’clock when they got back to the cabin and it was dark by the time the raft was ready for use.  It was a clumsy affair, made of rough logs, spliced together with grapevine shoots, and it was barely large enough to carry the four boys.  They took off their coats and shoes and socks, and rolled their trousers up to the knees.

“Talk about a life on the ocean wave!” sang out Whopper.  “This steam yacht would take the first prize at any cattle show, eh?” And this quaint remark caused a general laugh.

In the center of the raft a small log was set upright, not as a mast but as a support for their guns, for they did not wish the weapons or their ammunition to get wet.  Nobody thought of crossing the lake without the firearms.

“We may have to fight to get our things back,” was the way Snap expressed himself.  “And our guns may come in mighty handy.”

“Let us try to reach a point some distance below where Shep thought he saw the boat,” suggested Snap.  “Then we can land and not let the others know what we are doing.  We don’t want to rush in on any crowd that is too large for us.  That would simply make more trouble for us.”

Snap’s proposal was considered a wise one.

Soon the young hunters had poled the raft from shore and then they started to propel it across the lake.  Two of the boys had rude paddles and the others cedar branches.  The progress made was not great but it was sure, and they were content.

It was pitch dark when the rude raft struck the opposite shore of Lake Narsac.  They came in among some brushwood and landed without great difficulty.  They donned their socks and shoes, put on their coats, and slung their guns across their backs.

“We’ll tie up the raft,” said Snap.  “For all we know we may have to come back to it.”

“Oh, I hope not!” murmured Giant.

With extreme caution they picked their way among the trees and bushes and across the rough rocks.  Once Giant rolled over and over down some of the slanting rocks and would have got a ducking in the lake had not Snap stopped him just in time.

“Be careful,” whispered the leader of the club.

“Don’t let go of one footing until you are sure of the next.”

They covered a distance of two hundred yards, when Snap called a halt.