at the man curiously, but the fellow kept his face averted as he slipped by. Soon boy and man had disappeared from view.
"Talk about a lemon!" cried Phil. "Say, isn't Link the sourest ever!"
"He certainly is," answered Roger.
"Let's forget him," said Dave. "We are out for fun to-day, not for trouble." And then they moved forward as before. Little did any of them dream of what that unexpected meeting in the woods was to bring forth.
CHAPTER XVII
IN WHICH SOME HORSES ARE STOLEN
A half hour more of riding brought the little party to the bank of the stream at a point where Belle said they would be sure to find good fishing. Here there was something of a pool, the river tumbling from some rocks above. The pool was lined with rocks and brushwood, and behind these was a glade, backed up by the woods.
"What a lovely spot!" cried Jessie, enthusiastically, as Dave assisted her to dismount, and took charge of her horse. "Just look at the wild flowers among the rocks! One would not believe that they could grow in such a place!"
"I am glad I brought my camera with me," said Laura. "I am sure I shall get some fine pictures."
Belle showed the boys where the animals might be tethered, and they took particular care to fasten the steeds properly, as Sid Todd had instructed them. Then they got out their fishing-rods, and also that of Belle, and baited up with the artificial flies they had brought along.
"We'll fish for an hour," announced Dave. "And then I'll knock off and start up a campfire."
"When you do that be careful and not set fire to the woods," said Belle. "Papa is very much afraid of fire."
"I don't blame him," put in Roger. "A fire out here would do a terrible amount of damage."
The boys and Belle were soon busy fishing, in the pool and along the lower part of the river. The stream was about thirty feet in width and from a foot to four foot deep, with great rocks sticking up here and there. Trout and some other fish were plentiful, and all had but little difficulty in getting bites, and it was great sport to play their catches and land them.
"This is the best fishing I ever saw!" cried Phil, as he succeeded in landing an extra fine mountain trout. "I don't wonder that fishermen come many miles to gratify their taste for such sport."
"Here's another!" exclaimed Belle, merrily, and brought in a fish that was a beauty. Roger and Dave both leaped to help her, and soon the catch was dropped into a side pool with the others.
While the boys and Belle were fishing, Laura and Jessie wandered up and down the rocks and the grassy glade beyond, gathering wild flowers and also some blackberries that grew in that vicinity. Dave's sister also succeeded in getting several photographs, including two of the others with their fishing outfits.
"Now, I want you all to stand in a group, with your fish on strings," said Laura, a little later, when the fishing seemed to slow up a little. And then she arranged them to suit herself and took two snapshots.
"Now, let me take a snapshot of you and Jessie, with your bunches of wild flowers," said Dave, and this was soon added to the other films.
They had great fun building a campfire and preparing lunch. The boys cut the wood and started the blaze, and even made coffee, while the girls spread a tablecloth that had been brought along, and put out tin plates and tin cups, and the various good things to eat. Then some of the fish were cleaned by the boys and fried by the girls, and all sat down to enjoy what every one declared was better than a feast at a hotel. In the meantime the horses were tethered in a new place, so that they could crop the luxurious grass.
"I can tell you one thing, life in the open air gives one a great appetite," remarked the senator's son, as he smacked his lips over a particularly dainty portion of trout.
"As if there was ever anything the matter with Roger's appetite," cried Phil.
"How about yourself, Phil?" questioned Dave, with a grin.
"Oh, I reckon I can get away with my share," answered the shipowner's son calmly, as he reached for another portion of the fish.
As there was no hurry, the boys and girls took their time over the meal, and many were the stories told and the jokes cracked while the food was disappearing.
"If only some of the Oak Hall boys could see us now!" cried Dave. "Wouldn't they envy us!"
"They certainly would," answered Roger.
"And what of the girls at home?" asked Jessie. "I rather think they'd like to be in our place."
"Crumville seems a long way off, doesn't it?" said Laura.
Besides the fish, they had chicken sandwiches, cake, pie, and half a dozen other things to eat, and coffee, and water from a sparkling spring to drink. When they had finished, they took it easy for a while, and then fished some more, and went strolling.
"I think we had better be thinking of returning," said Belle, at length. "It is a long ride back, remember, and unless I am mistaken there is a storm coming up."
"A storm!" cried Jessie. "Oh, I hope not!"
"We don't want to get wet," added Laura.
"I don't think the storm will come right away. But I don't like the looks of the clouds yonder."
"They certainly do look bad," remarked Dave, casting his eyes in the direction to which Belle pointed. "It didn't look like rain this morning."
"It may be more wind than rain, Dave. Sometimes we have great windstorms around Star Ranch."
They were quite a distance up the river shore when Belle called attention to the clouds. They had gone up to get a view of a small but picturesque waterfall, and Laura had taken several snapshots, with the boys and girls in the foreground, seated on a fallen tree trunk. Now all started back in the direction of the temporary camp.
"Say, Roger, you help the girls pack up," said Dave. "Phil and I can get the horses ready. Be sure to see that the fire is out, too," he called back.
"All right," answered the senator's son. "The fire is out--I saw to that before," he added.
The horses had been tethered at some distance from the camping-out spot, behind some heavy brushwood, where the grass was extra thick and nutritious. Dave hurried in that direction, with Phil at his heels.
When the two youths reached the spot, both stared around in perplexity.
"Why, Dave----" stammered the shipowner's son. "I thought----"
"We left the horses here!" cried Dave. "I'm sure of it."
"Then where are they now?"
"Maybe they broke loose and wandered away."
"Or else they have been stolen!"
"Stolen!"
"Yes,--it couldn't be otherwise. They wandered away or they have been stolen."
"We'll take a look around."
Both boys hurried, first in one direction, and then another. They could see hoof-prints in the grass, leading towards the rocks back of the bushes, but that was all. The horses had been tethered to some saplings.
"The halters didn't break, that's certain," said Phil, soberly. "For if they did, we'd find the broken ends."
"I can't understand it," returned Dave, and his face grew thoughtful.
"Hello!" came in Roger's voice. "Why don't you bring those horses? We are all ready to go."
"Come