"I was thinking of that," answered the doctor's son. "We'll have to bring some from a spring and lower it to him."

They took the kettle they had brought along and filled it at a spring they had found and lowered this into the pit by means of a piece of fishingline Grant carried. At first the lion roared in rage, but when he saw the water he drank eagerly. They had to fill the kettle three times before he was satisfied. Then they took more water and poured it in a hollow on one side of the pit bottom.

"Now he won't go thirsty for a long time," said Shep.

They cooked themselves a good breakfast and a little later set off across the hills in the direction of the end of Firefly Lake. It was their purpose to get to the lake by noon if possible, and then strike out along the rocky watercourse leading to Lake Cameron.

"We'll have to be careful how we tackle that hermit," said the doctor's son. "He may be the craziest kind of a lunatic."

"I've got an idea," said Snap. "Wouldn't it be a good idea to wait until night and then crawl up to the cabin while he is asleep?"

"It may be---if he didn't take us for robbers and act worse than ever."

"Why not try him in the daytime first, and then, if you can't get the watch, go back at night?" said Giant.

"He may prowl around at night," suggested Shep. "And, remember, he may not have the watch at all---it's all guesswork."

It was an exceedingly warm day, and when it was near noon all three of the young hunters were glad enough to lie down in the shade and rest. Game appeared to be as scarce as the day before and all they shot were some rabbits and one squirrel.

"We've got to do better than this before we go home," said Shep.

"If we only knew what had become of that bear!" sighed Snap.

"Yes, if we only did!" murmured Giant.

It was so pleasant in the shade that none of the boys could get up ambition enough to go on until they had taken a nap. Then they went up a hill slowly, carrying their coats over their shoulders.

"If it's hot here, what must it be in town?" said the doctor's son.

"About ninety in the shade!" cried Snap.

At the top of the hill they took another rest. Here there was a little breeze, for which they were thankful.

"There is the lake!" cried Giant, pointing to a sheet of water below them. "One good thing, it will be easier going downhill than it was coming up."

"I vote we go in for a good swim when we reach the lake," said Snap.

"What do you say, Shep?"

"I'd rather get to that cabin, before it is too late. But I'll take a ten-minutes' dip, if you wish."

So it was agreed, and the boys hurried through the woods to the lake sh.o.r.e in a pleasant frame of mind.

"Listen!" cried Snap presently. "What's that---a dog?"

All listened and heard a loud barking, coming from the neighborhood of the water.

"I think it's a fox!" cried Giant. "You'll remember, they bark just like that!"

"Let's try to get a photo and a shot!" answered the doctor's son.

"Nothing like getting pictures of everything," he added.

They increased their speed, and soon found themselves within a hundred yards of the sh.o.r.e of Firefly Lake. The barking had now ceased, and they stood still, not knowing in which direction to turn.

"Something moving over yonder," whispered Giant presently, and nodded with his head down the lake sh.o.r.e.

Making no noise, they went forward again. They had to pa.s.s some bushes and rocks, and then came to a point where a spur of land jutted far out into Firefly Lake. It was a rocky and sandy spur, with scarcely any brushwood on it.

"There you are!" said Snap, and pointed to the extreme end of the spur. There, on the rocks, were two large foxes, their noses well in the air, gazing down the lake attentively.

"We've got them," murmured the doctor's son. "Come on, we'll take pictures first and then shoot them!"

He brought around his camera and the others did likewise. They had just snapped the shutters when the foxes turned, saw them, and set up a loud and angry barking and showed their teeth.

"They are coming for us!" yelled Giant, and he was right. Without hesitation, the foxes made several big leaps and came directly for the young hunters!

CHAPTER XXV

THE TWO FOXES

Ordinarily the foxes would have turned and run away, but, with the lake behind them, this was impossible, consequently they showed fight. They came on snapping and snarling viciously and with their teeth gleaming in a manner that made the boys shudder.

Fortunately for the young hunters the distance from the spur of rocks to where the lads stood was over fifty yards, so, as the foxes came rushing on, they had just time enough to shove aside their cameras and bring their shotguns to the front. Snap was the first of the three to bring his weapon into play, and he pulled the trigger when the fox was less than a dozen feet away.

The shot was a fairly good one, for it took the beast just under the breast. The fox gave a yelp of intense pain and dropped back.

The other fox came rushing at the doctor's son. The strap of Shep's gun had become entangled with that of his camera and consequently it was next to impossible for him to bring the weapon into proper play. He fired, but the charge went too high, and the beast continued to come on, until it crouched at his feet, snapping viciously and getting ready to leap at his throat.

It was now that Giant showed his mettle. He, too, had had a little trouble in getting at his gun, but now the weapon was pointed at the fox at Shep's feet. Giant ran closer and pulled the trigger.

Bang! went the gun, and the fox received the full charge directly in the left ear. It keeled over, and Giant sent the second charge of his double-barreled weapon into the second fox, and that, too, went down and lay quivering in its death agonies.

It took the young hunters some time to recover from the excitement of the occurrence. The attack of the foxes had come so quickly that it had startled them greatly.

"This ought to be a warning to us---this and that fight with the wildcats," said Snap. "We ought to be on our guard every minute.

We've been lucky so far---maybe some other time we'll not do so well."

"Don't borrow trouble, Snap," answered the doctor's son. "Yet I agree with you, we must be more careful in the future. Is your camera all right?"

"I think so."

"Then let us take pictures of ourselves with the dead foxes," went on Shep, and this was done, and later the photographs turned out very well.

Having finished with the picture-taking, the boys threw off their clothing and went for a swim in the clear, cool waters of Firefly Lake.

"Say, this is fine!" cried Snap enthusiastically as he splashed the water around. "Makes a fellow feel a year younger, after such a hot tramp as we have had!"