The Outdoor Chums After Big Game | Page 3

it just great? Did ever a set of grads get such a chance for fun as
this?"
"I don't believe they ever did, or ever will, Bluff. And our folks have
been mighty good to give us this glorious opportunity to enjoy an
outing such as we've hankered after for a year, remember that, fellows,"
remarked Frank seriously.

"You can just wager that I make it a point to let the pater know my
sentiments. He's the best dad going, and I mean to make him proud of
me some day. But tell us more about it, Frank. Where is Martin Mabie
to meet us, and what does he tell us to fetch along?"
"I'm not going to say another word, Jerry, until we get to the clubhouse,
when every one of you can have a chance to read his letter," remarked
Frank as he prepared to cast off and throw his sails to the breeze again.
"A week, did you say? Oh! what a long time to wait!" groaned Bluff.
"Still, there are lots of things to be done. I think it may be necessary for
one of us to run down to the city to lay in some things in the way of
ammunition, and a few articles of clothing for mountain wear."
"Then we'll appoint you as a committee of one to see to such traps,
Frank," called Jerry as the other shot away with the wind, his canoe
gliding over the little wavelets like a phantom craft.
Frank smiled. It was certainly nice to know that his chums felt such
sincere confidence in him at all times. There was nothing he would not
do to give them pleasure.
So the three cedar boats were soon heading for the clubhouse, and
while they are thus employed it might be well for us to understand just
who these chums were, and what they had been doing in the past to
make them such firm friends.
Frank was from Maine, but his father, a banker, had come to
Centerville a few years back; and among all the boys attending the
Academy Frank had soon picked out as his especial friends these three,
Will Milton, Jerry Wallingford and Bluff Masters.
After the Rod, Gun and Camera Club had been formed they had taken
their first outing, using their motorcycles to reach the woods beyond
the head of the lake. What befell them on this occasion has been told in
the first volume of this series, called "The Outdoor Chums; or, The
First Tour of the Rod, Gun and Camera Club."

Later on, a storm having done considerable damage at the school, they
were given an unexpected fall vacation, and the chums decided to
spend it on Wildcat Island, situated at the foot of the lake. There were
several strange things connected with this island, such as a mysterious
wild man who had been seen there; and besides, it was shunned
because of the fierce bobcats that had possession. How our boys
camped on this island, and what wonderful adventures they met with
there, can be learned by reading the second volume, entitled "The
Outdoor Chums on the Lake; or, Lively Adventures on Wildcat Island."
When the Easter holidays came around they had laid out another
charming campaign. This was nothing more nor less than an expedition
to Oak Ridge, that lay some ten miles back from the lake, amid the
Sunset Mountains. Report had it that there was a real ghost to be seen
there, and the boys were bent on discovering the truth of this weird
story. It can be easily understood that they must have had a glorious
time on that trip, viewed from the standpoint of an eager,
adventure-loving boy. But the story is set down in full in the third
volume, and you can read it for yourselves in "The Outdoor Chums in
the Forest; or, Laying the Ghost of Oak Ridge."
No further long jaunts came the way of the quartet during the school
term, up to the Christmas holidays, when they received permission to
undertake a trip to the Sunny South. Just how this came about, and
what wonders they saw and experienced on a Florida river, as well as
upon the great Mexican Gulf, have been told in the fourth book of the
series, called "The Outdoor Chums on the Gulf; or, Rescuing the Lost
Balloonists."
And now it seemed as though, less than six months later, they were
ready to embark on what promised to be the most exciting trip of all, a
visit to the wilderness of the great Northwest, in search of big game.
Reaching the clubhouse, they quickly stowed their boats away. From
this time on there would probably be scant time for aquatic sports. The
tremendous undertaking they had in