After we've taken you into the camp we'll return for the garden truck." Gr-r-r-r-r! came a warning sound through the bushes.
"Towser!" spoke Harry Hazelton sharply.

"I'm ashamed of you!" "You ought to be!" came the answer in another voice, and a surly one, at that.
"Fred Ripley ?" muttered Dick.

"What on earth can he be doing here ?" Unconsciously all of the picnickers hastened their steps.

Then they came upon a truly ludicrous sight.
Fred lay where he had been lying ever since ten o'clock that morning.
He was coatless, stretched out face downward, with Towser still camped across his shoulder, and the dog's teeth still fastened in his shirt.
"Come and call this measly dog off!" ordered Fred, in a surly tone.

"This is a fine reward that I get for trying to do you fellows a friendly turn!" Dick, Dave and Tom were the first to get within range and obtain a glimpse of the extraordinary scene.