# Young Hunters of the Lake/Chapter 8

CHAPTER VIII
HOW TWO PROWLERS WERE TREATED
While Ham and Carl were moving around under the boathouse, Shep and Snap were not idle. The doctor's son, on awakening, had wanted to throw the flour paste out of the window at the midnight prowlers, but Snap thought of another plan.
"Come on below, and wait until they shove up the flooring," he whispered.
The doctor's son understood, and with caution, so as not to make any noise, the two chums came down out of the tiny loft, bringing with them the pail and the tin can of awful-smelling flour paste.
It was absolutely dark below, but they could plainly hear Ham and Carl working on the loose boards of the floor near the river end of the boathouse. Thither they made their way. Snap with the pail and Shep with the can, both ready for action.
Slowly one board was lifted and pushed aside and a second followed. Then two heads appeared in the gloom.
"Robbers!" cried Snap.
​"Burglars!" yelled the doctor's son.
"Shoot them!"
"Don't let them get away alive!"
Then with a vigorous throw Snap landed his pail of stuff full upon the head of Ham Spink. Splosh! it struck the dudish youth squarely in the face and ear. Another splosh followed, and Carl Dudder was likewise decorated.
"Hi! wow!" spluttered Ham. "I—Oh, what a smell!"
"Oh, my eye!" groaned Carl. "Phew! what's this?"
"We're discovered!"
"What's this they threw on us?"
"Oh, did you ever smell such stuff?"
"Robbers! thieves!" yelled Snap and Shep. "Shoot them! Give them a dose of buckshot!"
"They are going to shoot us!" screamed Carl Dudder, and dodged down. Then he lost his footing on the wet and slippery rails, clutched at Ham to save himself, and both went down with a loud splash into the dirty water under the boathouse.
"There they go!" cried Shep.
"Let us scare them some more," whispered Snap. "Pretend you don't recognize them."
Quickly a lantern was lit and held over the ​ing in the floor. Down below two dark forms, covered with mud and flour paste, could be seen clutching at the slippery braces of the spiling. Snap and Shep could scarely keep from roaring.
"There they are! Get the gun!" yelled the doctor's son.
"Two dangerous burglars!" cried Snap. "Wonder where they came from?"
"W—we ar—are not burglars!" spluttered Carl. "We are—"
"Do—don't sh—shoot!" wailed Ham Spink. "We di—didn't mean—"
Bang! went the shotgun Snap had picked up. He fired at the corner of the building, into a mass of rubbish. A piercing yell of terror came up from below, and down dropped Ham and Carl into the water once more. They were too afraid to come up under the boathouse again and so struck out for the river bank some distance away.
"They are going away!" called out Shep. "They are two desperate burglars! Give them another shot!"
"Perhaps they have been robbing some stores," called out Snap. Then he discharged the shotgun once more, and down ducked Ham and Carl again, yelling wildly in their fright. They swam with energy and soon reached the shelter of another ​boathouse. Here they crawled from the water and took to their legs with all the speed at their command. Both were frightened nearly out of their wits, and for the time being paid no attention to the foul-smelling paste and mud that covered them.
"They—they thought we were thi—thieves!" panted Carl, after he and his crony had covered several blocks.
"Yes, and we came near being shot dead!" added Ham.
"I didn't know they were going to stay there to-night."
"Neither did I."
"Those shots will wake up the whole town."
"Yes, and we must get out of sight. Phew! what a smell!"
"They dumped something down on us."
"Must have been rotten eggs. What are we going to do?"
"I don't know—go home, I guess."
"I can't go home looking this way."
"You'll have to go."
"Well, it's lucky they didn't recognize us."
"That's true. But this suit is about ruined."
"So is mine. And we didn't hurt their outfit at all."
​"Never mind, we'll get square with them another time."
After that Carl and Ham separated and each lost no time in sneaking home and washing up and trying to clean his garments. They did not dare to tell their parents of what had occurred and so had to suffer in silence.
The shots from the gun aroused some folks living near the river front, and several men came down to the boathouse to learn what was the matter.
"Two fellows tried to get in here, but we scared them away," said Snap.
"Who were they?" asked one man.
"Two fellows dressed In dark suits and with slouch hats."
"Did you hit them?"
"No, we only fired to scare them off."
"Where did they go?"
"Ran back of Dickson's boathouse," answered the doctor's son.
A brief search was made, but the prowlers, of course, were not located. Then the men went home, and Snap and Shep settled down to make themselves comfortable for the rest of the night.
"Ham and Carl won't forget that reception in a ​hurry," remarked the doctor's son, and indulged in a laugh, in which his chum joined.
The rest of the night passed without anything unusual happening. Early in the morning Whopper and Giant appeared and were told of what had occurred.
"Served 'em right," cried Giant. "Oh, I wish I had seen them," he added, with a broad grin.
"I don't think they'll try any such game again in a thousand years," said Whopper.
"Make it a million. Whopper," added the doctor's son.
Whopper and Giant had had breakfast and said good-bye to their folks and now Snap and Shep went off to get something to eat. By nine o'clock they returned and said they were ready for the start. The others already had the boat out and the outfit properly stored on board.
"All ready?" called out Snap, who was looked upon as the leader of the club.
"All ready," came from the others.
"Sure we haven't left anything behind—salt, mustard, vinegar, or canned soft-soap?"
"Maybe Whopper's left his shaving outfit behind," suggested Giant.
"Humph!" muttered the youth mentioned. ​"Be sure and take Giant's hobby horse with you." And then there was a general laugh, in the midst of which Snap shoved off from the boathouse dock.
It was arranged that Shep and Whopper should row for the first few miles and then be relieved by Snap and Giant. A number of boys had come down to the dock to see them off. There was a general shouting.
"Hope you have a good time!"
"Be sure and bring back plenty of game!"
"Say, if you see that ghost up to Lake Narsac give him my regards!"
"I wouldn't go up to that locality for a farm! You'll be sure to get into trouble. Every spot up there is alive with snakes."
"I'll bet they won't go any further than Lake Cameron or Firefly Lake," said one boy, who was a chum to Ham and Carl.
"It's Lake Narsac or bust!" cried Snap.
"Huh! I'll believe it when I see it," returned the boy on shore.
"Don't worry, you'll never get there, Jack Voss," said a man standing by. "You are too much of a coward."
"Won't I?" answered Jack Voss. "A lot of us are going up to Lake Narsac in a few days, or next week."
​"Who?"
"Never mind. We are going and that's enough," answered Jack Voss. "I ain't afraid of that ghost—or of snakes either," he added.
"There they go!" shouted Joe Bright, enthusiastically. "Hurrah for the young hunters of the lake!"
"Hurrah!" shouted several and waved their hands and handkerchiefs.
Those in the rowboat waved in return. Then Shep and Whopper bent to the oars; and the summer outing was begun. Little did the young hunters realize how many strange adventures were in store for them.