“No doubt,” said Snap, sarcastically.  “Give me the ticket,” he added, and stowed the pawnbroker’s receipt carefully away in his own clothes.

After that Jeff Thompson confessed that he had visited both the camp of the young hunters and that of Ham Spink’s crowd and taken such things as struck his fancy.  He was a shiftless mortal and half intoxicated and did not care much what became of himself.

The boys were too cold and hungry to listen, just then, to his story in detail, and threatening to shoot him if he dared to move, they piled some more wood on the fire, rummaged around through the stores Thompson had collected and prepared themselves a hot and welcome meal.  The negro watched them for awhile and then turned over and pretended to go to sleep again.

“Maybe he is playing ’possum,” whispered Shep.

“We’ll keep our eyes on him,” answered Snap.  The boys were glad enough to crouch close to the fire and get dry and warm.  They piled on as much wood as possible, and drank a large quantity of hot coffee, to keep from taking cold.  And thus the night wore slowly away.  Each got a few “cat naps,” but that was all.

About three o’clock the storm went down and by sunrise the rain and the wind were a thing of the past.  The boys were around early, and they gave Jeff Thompson such a breakfast as they thought he needed.  The negro begged for his liberty, and when he could not get it began to grow abusive.

“Here, none of that!” said Snap, decidedly.  “You keep quiet, or I’ll place a gag in your mouth.”

“I ain’t gwine ter let no foah boys do me up!” cried the negro.

“Let us gag him!” cried Whopper, and began to make a gag of a tree root.  But then Jeff Thompson cooled down and said no more.

The young hunters hardly knew what to do, and after a consultation it was decided to look for their own rowboat and then take a message to Ham Spink’s crowd.  The boat was easily located in the daylight, and Whopper rowed across the lake and told his story to the rival campers.

“Humph! that negro ought to be locked up!” said Ham Spink.  “He took the very best of our stores!”

“Well, you will have to help take him to town,” said Whopper.

“We’ll do that, too,” was the answer.

CHAPTER XXII

RABBITS, NUTS AND A SNAKE

It was arranged that Snap and Whopper, with two of the Spink crowd, should take Jeff Thompson and turn him over to the authorities, at the same time notifying Simon Lundy of what they were doing and giving him the pawn-ticket for the watch.

The boat belonging to the Spink crowd was righted and the oars were located, and this craft was used for the trip.  The negro was tightly bound, so that it was impossible for him to make any trouble.

“We are going to do what we can to put the camp in order,” said Shep, when the others were ready to leave.  “And we are going to hunt for our guns, too.”