The Go Ahead Boys in the Island Camp Part 4

"Absolutely."

"Then don't ever tell a soul," begged John eagerly. "I'd never hear the last of it as long as I lived. It would be awful if George ever knew."

"You're not the first one who's ever been fooled," laughed Grant. "You probably won't be the last, either."

"Please don't tell on me, though, Grant. Promise me you won't."

"We'll see," said Grant evasively. "I can't make any promises though."

"How should I know that it was a loon?" demanded John. "I never heard one before and you yourself say that other people have been fooled the same way."

"That's true. Still it's almost too good a joke on you to keep."

"What is a loon, anyway?"

"It's a bird; it belongs to the duck family, I guess. They live around on lakes and ponds like this and spend their nights waking people up and scaring them."

"I should say they did," exclaimed John with a shudder. "I never heard such a lonesome-sounding, terrible wail in all my life."

"There it is again," said Grant laughingly, as once more the cry of the loon came to their ears across the dark waters of the little lake.

"Let's go back to sleep," exclaimed John earnestly. "That sound makes my blood run cold, even though I know it is made by a bird."

"Don't you think we ought to tell Fred and Pop about it?" inquired Grant mischievously. "It seems to me they ought to be warned."

"You can tell them about it if you don't mention my name in connection with it," said John. "If you tell on me though, I swear I'll get even with you if it takes me a year."

"All right," laughed Grant, "I won't say anything about it. At least, not yet," he added under his breath.

"What did you say?" demanded John, not having caught the last sentence.

"I said, 'let's go to bed.'"

"That suits me," exclaimed John, and a few moments later they had once more crawled quietly over their sleeping comrades and again rolled in their blankets, were sound asleep.

The sun had not been up very long before the camp was astir. Sleepy-eyed the boys emerged from the tent, blinking in the light of the new day. A moment later, however, four white bodies were splas.h.i.+ng and swimming around in the cool waters of the lake, and all the cobwebs of sleep were soon brushed away.

"That's what makes you feel fine," exclaimed George when they had all come out and were dressing preparatory to eating breakfast. "A swim like that makes me feel as if I could lick my weight in wildcats."

"You must have slept pretty well last night, Pop," remarked Grant.

"I did. Never slept harder in my life."

"Well, I didn't," exclaimed Fred. "It seemed to me I was dreaming all night long. Maybe my bed wasn't fixed just right."

"What did you dream about, Fred?" asked Grant curiously.

"Oh, all sorts of things. I thought I heard people calling for help.

That seemed to be my princ.i.p.al dream for some reason."

"That's funny," said Grant. "You didn't dream anything like that, did you, String?"

"No, I didn't," said John shortly.

CHAPTER IV-SETTING SAIL

"What shall we do to-day?" exclaimed George when breakfast was over.

"We might go fis.h.i.+ng," suggested Fred. "I want a big trout some time this summer, you know."

"Oh, it's too sunny for trout to-day," Grant objected.

"All right then," said Fred. "What do you want to do?"

"How about taking a sail?"

"Is there enough wind?"

"Of course there is, and unless I'm very much mistaken its going to get stronger all the time."

"Suppose we take our lunch along," said John. "We can be gone as long as we want then and can go ash.o.r.e and eat wherever we happen to be."

"Good idea, String," cried George heartily. "I do believe you're getting smarter every day."

"What do you think of my scheme?" demanded John, completely ignoring his friend's sarcasm.

"It's all right," said Grant. "I'm in favor of doing it."

"We can take a couple of rods with us, can't we?" said Fred. "We might get a few fish for dinner."

"That's right," agreed Grant. "We can anchor and fish from the boat if we want."

"Let's get started," exclaimed John.

A small catboat was a part of the equipment the boys had in order to help them enjoy their summer more thoroughly. It now lay at anchor in a little cove a short distance from the place where the tent was located.

It was a natural harbor and afforded excellent shelter for the boats from the squalls and not infrequent storms that were apt to spring up during this season of the year. The lake was between two and three miles in length so that a comparatively heavy sea could be stirred up by the winds.

The island on which the four boys had pitched their tent was the only one in the lake and it was very nearly in the center. It was owned by a friend of John's father who had obtained permission for his son and his three friends to camp on it that summer. The sailboat and two canoes were included with the island, so that there was no question but that these four boys were very fortunate indeed to be able to enjoy it all.

For months they had been looking forward to this summer and they had planned innumerable excursions and expeditions as part of their camping experiences. Now that the time was really at hand they meant to enjoy every minute of it to the utmost.

"Fred and I will get the boat ready," exclaimed John. "You two can collect the rods and fix up the lunch."

"Put me near the food and I'm satisfied," said George. "Come on, Grant."