“So would I,” added Whopper.

All were too tired, however, to hunt for the interloper and all they did that evening was to get supper and take it easy.  When they turned in it was raining, but by midnight the stars came out one by one.

“After this I shall hate to leave the camp all alone for fear somebody will run off with our things,” remarked Snap, while at breakfast.

“Just the way I feel about it,” answered Shep.  “Yet we can’t watch the things all the time.”

For several days they remained close to the camp and then received a second visit from Jed Sanborn.

He reported that everything was going on well at Fairview, and listened to what they had to tell with much interest.

“Yes, you must get those deer by all means,” he said.  “But about the feller that come here and took your things.  He must have been a mean critter an’ no mistake!”

Jed Sanborn was quite willing to go out with them after the deer, and the start was made on the following morning.  They were soon across Firefly Lake, and then the old hunter showed the boys an easy trail over the hill and up the distant mountain.

“Gracious!  This beats going through the bushes!” cried Giant.

“It’s a pity we didn’t know of this trail before,” said Whopper.  “It might have saved us from going about ’steen miles out of our way.”

“Well, you’ll know it after this,” said Jed Sanborn, with a quiet smile.  “Can’t learn everything in a day, ye know.  The woods is like book larnin’—–­ye have got to learn a page at a time.”

They walked along until nearly noon and then came to something of a clearing.  Here all took a sharp gaze around and at last saw two deer far over to the eastward.

“We can walk straight for ’em,” said the old hunter.  “The wind is blowing our way.”

Once more they hurried on, this time with hopes beating high.  Half the distance was covered when Jed Sanborn halted the boys.

“Look to your guns, lads.  Is every gun ready for use?”

“Mine is!” came from one after another, as the examination was made.

“Good!  Now remember, if we come up to the deer and you shoot, aim for the one that’s in line with you—–­that is, the boy on the left takes the left deer, the boy on the right takes the deer on the right, a boy in the middle takes one in the middle, and so on.  Do you understand that?”

They all said that they did.

“Very good.  Now, one thing more.  Don’t get scared.  Shoot quickly, but take as good an aim as you possibly can.  If the deer is coming toward you, let him git putty close before you let drive.”

Having issued these instructions, the old hunter moved on once more, and the boys followed.  Each had his weapon ready for use, and each advanced with as little noise as possible.

The deer were in a little glade, cropping the tender grass around a small spring.  They were six in number, including a fair-sized buck, who occasionally raised his head, as if on guard.  But the wind, as Jed Sanborn had said, was blowing directly from the deer to the hunters, so nothing in the air gave the game the alarm until it was too late.