As quickly as it could be done, Whopper and Giant ranged alongside of Snap and the doctor’s son.  They gazed defiantly at the crowd that confronted them.  For a brief spell there was an ominous silence.

“Say, did we come here to fight or to start on our outing?” asked a lad of the Spink crowd.  He was tall and thin, and evidently very nervous.  He was a newcomer in the town and knew but little about the quarrels of bygone days.

“Don’t waste time here,” added another youth.  “We can finish with them when we come back.”

“You are afraid, now that we are four to six,” said Snap.  “You were willing enough to pitch into Shep and me when we were alone.”

“Oh, give us a rest!” growled Ham Spink, not knowing what else to say.  He caught up the things he had been carrying.  “Come on, fellows,” he added, and almost ran from the dock.

With great rapidity, for they were afraid Snap and his chums would charge upon them, the others of the Spink coterie took up their guns, rods and bundles and followed their leader.

“Let us go after ’em!” cried Whopper.  “We can knock them into the middle of next Christmas, and I know it!”

“That’s the talk!” cried the plucky Giant.  “Let’s go and make mincemeat of ’em!” And he started to follow those who had retreated.

“No use, boys!” called out Snap.  “Come back.”

“Why not?” demanded Whopper.

“They are going aboard the Mary Raymond.  Ham said so.  There she is now, with a lot of other passengers.  See, they are heading for that dock already.”

“Where are they going, anyway?” asked Giant as he halted.

“I know,” whispered Whopper.  “Just heard about it.  They are going to camp out behind Lake Narsac, in the Windy Mountains.”

“The Windy Mountains?” ejaculated the doctor’s son in evident astonishment.  “Did you say the Windy Mountains, Whopper?”

“I did.  Why, what’s the matter, Shep?”

“Well, if that don’t beat the Dutch!” And then Shep shook his head in a manner that indicated something did not suit him at all.

CHAPTER II

ANOTHER OUTING PROPOSED

“Will you be so highly condescending and much obliging as to open the trapdoor of your mind and let us know what it is that beats the Dutch?” demanded Giant, after he and his chums had looked at the doctor’s son for several seconds in silence.

“Why, yes, of course,” answered Shep.  “But er—–­it all fits in with what I was going to tell you about in the first place.”

“And that was-----” burst out Whopper eagerly.

“Wait till we are out on the river, away from the town folks.  I don’t want everybody to know our business.”

“Great Scott! but Shep’s got a secret!” burst out Snap.  “What is it—–­a treasure hunt, or a new way to make diamonds?”

“Now quit fooling, and come on out in the boat, and you’ll soon know all about it,” replied the doctor’s son.