"Well, go home then!" snapped Werner. "Go home this minute if you want to. I'm sick of having you around."

"You'd do much better, Codfish, if you wouldn't train with fellows like Werner and Glutts," remarked Jack.

"If I leave them will you fellows show me the way back to Timminsport?"

questioned the sneak of Colby Hall pleadingly. It was plainly to be seen that he had had no easy time of it since he had come up into the woods.

"That depends," said Gif, and caught the youth by the wrist. "Tell me, Codfish, were you at our Lodge the other day--the day the whole place was rough-housed?"

"No, I wasn't, Gif. Really and truly I wasn't!" cried the sneak, in alarm.

"Were Werner and Glutts alone?"

"Yes, yes! I had nothing to do with it!"

"See here, Codfish, you keep your mouth shut!" roared Glutts, and he moved forward as if to strike the small youth who cowered before him.

"You keep your distance, Glutts," admonished Jack. "If Codfish is tired of staying with you fellows, he's going to leave, and you're not to say anything about it."

"What right had you fellows to smash those s...o...b..a.l.l.s down on us?"

questioned Werner, with an angry look in his eyes.

"What right had you fellows to come and upset Cedar Lodge, destroying some of our stores, and walking off with some of the others?" questioned Jack sternly.

"We didn't walk off with anything," answered Werner quickly. "What we did we had a right to do--to pay you back for what you did to our stores in the sleigh."

"We didn't take any of your things," put in Fred quickly; "and a whole lot of our stuff is missing."

"We didn't take a thing away--not a thing," put in Glutts, and he smiled grimly to himself as he spoke.

"I know what they did!" cried Codfish quickly. "If you'll take me along with you, and see that I get to Timminsport safely, I'll tell you where your things are."

"You say a word, Codfish, and I'll lambaste the life out of you!" yelled Werner.

"You won't touch Codfish!" broke in Jack st.u.r.dily. "And if he wants to go with us, he'll go."

"I want to go!" wailed the sneak. "I don't want to stay with them another minute. But how am I to get my things that are up at their shack?" he questioned helplessly.

"Well go up there with you," answered Gif.

A war of words followed, and then in uncontrolled rage Werner and Glutts attacked Jack and Gif. Half a dozen blows were exchanged, and then Glutts attempted to run away while Werner attempted to use the b.u.t.t of his gun as a club. Andy tripped Glutts up, and Spouter caught Werner from behind, and as a consequence of the general mix-up the two bullies received a well-deserved drubbing. Then their weapons were discharged and their ammunition was taken away from them, and they were told to march back to Tony Duval's shacks.

Here, as they expected, our friends had another set-to with the French-Canadian. Tony Duval wanted to take sides with Werner and Glutts, but the others would not listen.

"This young man is going with us, and he is going to take his things with him," announced Gif, pointing to Codfish. "If you make any trouble for us, Duval, I'll at once notify my father and my uncle, and likewise the authorities at Portview. Your reputation around here is already none of the best, and I'll see to it that you are treated as you deserve."

"Bah! what do I care for you or your father or your uncle?" cried Tony Duval, in a rage. "This is my property. You will leave it at once."

"We'll leave when this young man has his things, and not before,"

answered Jack, and now he, too, fingered his gun in a suggestive manner.

Tony Duval realized that he was outnumbered and that the boys from Cedar Lodge meant business. He grumbled a good deal and talked in a whisper with Werner and Glutts. In the meanwhile, Codfish hurriedly gathered together his few belongings, and presently announced that he was ready to leave.

"Now, one thing more," said Gif, turning to the two bullies. "Don't you dare to show your faces anywhere near Cedar Lodge again. If you come on our property, you come at your own peril."

"Oh, you don't know how to take a joke," grumbled Glutts.

"We'll do as we please," added Werner, but it was plainly to be seen that he was much disturbed.

The boys were about ready to leave the shack when they heard the sound of sleigh bells, and soon a two-seated sleigh came into sight drawn by a pair of powerful horses. The turnout drove directly to the front of the shack occupied by Tony Duval.

"h.e.l.lo! there are those men again," cried Gif.

All looked and saw that he referred to the Germans they had met on the road when looking for Cedar Lodge. The newcomers paid no attention to them, but leaped out of the sleigh and entered the Duval shack.

"I must go," said Tony Duval abruptly. "And I want you to go, too, and never come back here again," he added, and then hurried away.

"Who are those men?" questioned Jack, turning to Werner and Glutts.

"That's none of your business," answered Werner sourly. "You clear out of here and never come back."

There seemed nothing to do but to leave the premises, yet the Rovers and their chums were curious to know who the Germans were and what their errand to Tony Duval's shack could be. Yet they had no excuse for lingering longer, so presently they took their departure, Werner and Glutts looking sourly after them as they walked away.

"Do you know, I'd give a good deal to know more about those Germans,"

remarked Jack, as they trudged along. "I wonder what they want here?

They can't be hunters, because they haven't any hunting outfits."

"They certainly couldn't be up here for business," returned Spouter, "because there is no business to speak of in this vicinity. Why, there isn't even a farm or a farmer around here, and the nearest logging camp is miles away, so they told me at Henryville."

"I'll tell you what we might do," said Gif. "We might pa.s.s into the woods and then turn around and come back again up behind Tony Duval's shack. We can watch and see what the Germans do, and maybe we'll hear what they and Duval have to say."

"That's an idea!" cried Jack. "I don't know but what we had better act on it."

CHAPTER XXIV

A CONVERSATION OF IMPORTANCE

"Do you know anything about those Germans?" questioned Fred, turning to Codfish.

"I know they came to see Tony Duval once or twice before," answered the sneak of Colby Hall. "They and Duval seem to have some secret business between them."

"Do you know what it is?" asked Jack.

At this Codfish shook his head.