“No, this isn’t about Ham, or any of that crowd.   It concerns-----
But I’ll tell you later,” and Sheppard Reed put on an air of great
secrecy.

“All right.  If you don’t want to tell I suppose I’ll have to wait,” said Whopper disappointedly.  “But you might tell me what’s on your mind.”

“I want to tell the whole crowd at once,” answered his chum.  “Then nobody can say somebody else was told first.”

“I see.  Well, you go down to the dock and meet Snap, and I’ll hustle around and stir up Giant,” went on Frank Dawson.

“I was going to have you all over to my house to-night, to tell you,” explained Sheppard.  “But I might as well speak of it when we are together on the river.”

“Say, you must have something wonderful on your mind!” cried Whopper.  “I’m dying by inches to know what it is.  I’ll find Giant somehow, and have him at the dock inside of a quarter of an hour sure.”  And away he ran on his errand, while the youth who had the important announcement to make turned in the direction of the water-front.

To those who have read the former volumes in this “Boy Hunters Series” the lads who have been speaking will need no further introduction.  For the benefit of others let me state that Sheppard Reed was the son of a doctor who had a large practice in and around the town of Fairview.  Shep, as he was usually called, was a bright and manly youth, and one who loved life out of doors.

Frank Dawson was a lad who had moved to the town some years before, and by his winning manner had made himself many friends.  The boy had a habit of exaggerating when telling anything, and this had earned for him the nickname of Whopper—–­even though Frank never told anything in the shape of a deliberate falsehood.  As some of his friends said, “you could tell Frank’s whoppers a mile off,” which was a pretty stiff “whopper” in itself.

These two boys had two close chums, Charley Dodge, usually called Snap—–­why nobody could tell—–­and Will Caslette, known as Giant, because of his small stature.  Charley, or Snap, as I shall call him, was the son of one of the richest men of the district, his father owning a part interest in a sawmill and a large summer hotel, besides many acres of valuable forest and farm lands.  Giant was the son of a widow who had once been poor but was now in comfortable circumstances.  Though small for his age, the lad was as manly as any of his chums, and they thought the world of the little fellow.

The town of Fairview was a small but prosperous community, located on the Rocky River, ten miles above a sheet of water known as Lake Cameron.  The place boasted of a score of stores, several churches, a volunteer fire department, and a railroad station—–­the latter a spot of considerable activity during the summer months.