“I think he’d bark if anything came to disturb us,” came from Whopper.

“We’ll tie him to the front tent pole,” said the doctor’s son.  “Then he won’t be able to run off, and more than likely he’ll bark if anything goes wrong.”

They fixed the camp fire and then tied the collie fast by a cord slipped under his collar.  Evidently Wags was used to this treatment, for he did not seem to mind it in the least.  The young hunters entered the tent, and in less than a quarter of an hour all were sound asleep.

Thus an hour passed.  Then, of a sudden, all the lads found themselves wide awake.  Wags was barking furiously, and the hair of his body seemed to be fairly standing on end.

CHAPTER XI

A STRANGE MEETING

“Something is wrong!” cried Snap, leaping up and feeling for his gun.  “What is it, Wags?”

The dog kept on barking and commenced to tug on the cord that held him.

“Shall I let him loose?” asked Whopper.  All the boys were now on their feet, and he and Giant were rubbing their eyes.  The wind had shifted and was blowing the smoke of the smoldering camp fire toward the tent.

“Don’t do it—–­yet,” answered the doctor’s son.  “He might bite somebody.  Let us go outside first.”

“Maybe it’s that crazy hermit,” suggested Whopper, and gave a little shiver.  He could still see that impish face glaring at him.  “Be careful.”

One after another the young hunters stepped into the open, each with his gun ready for use.  Shep stirred up the camp fire and threw on some lightwood, causing a renewed blaze.

“I don’t see anything wrong,” said Shep after a long look around.

“See any wild beasts?” asked Giant.  “Wags would bark at a wild beast, I am sure.”

“Nothing in sight now.”

All walked completely around the tent and the camp fire, but failed to see anything out of the ordinary.  The collie had now ceased barking and was wagging his tail, apparently as happy and free from anxiety as ever.

“The dog must have dreamed he heard something,” grumbled Whopper.  “Hang the luck!  I was so sleepy!” And he yawned broadly, setting his chums to doing likewise.

“Well, dogs do dream sometimes,” admitted the doctor’s son.  “But what made him bark so loudly and look so mad?”

Nobody could answer that question, and nobody tried.  They took another look around the tent, fixed the fire again, and at last one by one retired to rest once more, Wags at the foot of the tent pole as before.

It was broad daylight when they awoke again, and for a while nobody felt like stirring.  At length Snap looked at his watch.

“Great mackerel!” he ejaculated.  “Eight o’clock!  Time we were getting breakfast and moving.”

“That’s so,” answered Shep.  “Still, there is no great hurry.  Our time is our own.  That’s the charm of such an outing as this.”