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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6bd6c48 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #60461 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/60461) diff --git a/old/60461-0.txt b/old/60461-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 78686a8..0000000 --- a/old/60461-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,4954 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy and the Mystery Deer, by -Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962) - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Teddy and the Mystery Deer - -Author: Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962) - -Release Date: October 8, 2019 [EBook #60461] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - -[Illustration: A lithe, tawny body sprang over Teddy. - -“_Teddy and the Mystery Deer_” (See Page 21)] - - - - -_THE TEDDY SERIES_ - - TEDDY AND - THE MYSTERY - DEER - - by - HOWARD R. GARIS - - Author of “Teddy and the Mystery Parrot,” “Teddy - and the Mystery Pony,” The “Buddy” Books, “The - Curlytops,” “Uncle Wiggily” Books, etc. - - ILLUSTRATED - - CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY - PUBLISHERS · · · NEW YORK - - - - -THE TEDDY BOOKS - -_By_ Howard R. Garis - -_Mystery Stories of Boys and Animals_ - - TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DOG - TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY MONKEY - TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY CAT - TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY PARROT - TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY PONY - TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER - -_Other Titles in Preparation_ - - CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY - PUBLISHERS · · · NEW YORK - - - - - Copyright, 1940, by - Cupples & Leon Co. - - TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER - - PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. - - - - -CONTENTS - - -CHAPTER PAGE - - I. LOST 1 - II. FOUND 13 - III. MYSTERY DEER 21 - IV. MORE MYSTERY 29 - V. THE MYSTERY CLUB 38 - VI. FATTY NOLAN 48 - VII. MRS. TRADDLE’S GARDEN 58 - VIII. THE LASSO MAN 68 - IX. TEDDY IS LASSOED 78 - X. THE PICNIC LUNCH 86 - XI. HEEL PLATE CLUE 96 - XII. THE TRAP 106 - XIII. SETTING THE TRAP 116 - XIV. A CAPTIVE 127 - XV. ESCAPE 136 - XVI. TEDDY IS UPSET 146 - XVII. ON THE DEER’S TRAIL 156 - XVIII. WRONG NUMBER 163 - XIX. NIGHT CAMP 173 - XX. NIGHT ALARM 187 - XXI. CAUGHT 195 - - - - -PUBLISHER’S NOTE - - -The type in which this book and others of the same series is set is -especially designed to conform to the type in the school books which -are used by boys and girls of the age to which these stories appeal. -The size of the letters, the arrangement of the words on the pages and -the general construction is intended, as nearly as possible, to be an -aid to the reading work of public and private schools. - - - - -TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER - -CHAPTER I - -LOST - - -Teddy Benson gave a final twist to the propeller of his toy, model -airplane. - -“Better not make it too tight,” suggested his chum, Dick Kelly. - -“Why not?” Teddy asked, looking up as he slipped on the catch so the -propeller might not start revolving before he was ready. - -“You might break the rubber bands,” Dick explained. - -“Oh, I guess they’ll take it,” answered the little lad who straightened -up and wet a finger in his mouth. - -“How is it?” asked Dick. - -You might have thought he was inquiring how Teddy liked the taste of -his finger. But anyone who has flown model airplanes could tell that -Teddy was just testing the wind. - -“It’s blowing almost directly east,” Teddy answered. - -“Then Mason’s meadow will be the place to have the test,” suggested -Dick. “There’s plenty of room there.” - -“Yes,” Teddy agreed, “if we start on the far side--away from the woods. -Can’t start in the middle of the meadow.” - -“Why not?” asked Dick. - -He did not glance up at his chum. Dick, who was short and rather stout, -was twisting the propeller blades of his own toy plane. He was winding -the rubber bands which, when they untwisted, would serve as the motor -of the little craft. “Why can’t we begin the race in the middle of the -meadow, Teddy? That’s the clearest place.” - -“Well, if you want your plane to shoot over in the woods, and maybe get -lost, let it go from the middle of Mason’s meadow,” said Teddy. He -tested the rudders of his craft. - -Dick, who had put the clamp on his rubber engine, looked up to laugh as -he said: - -“Say, Teddy, you don’t think, that these planes of ours will fly from -the middle of Mason’s meadow away over to the woods on the far side, do -you?” - -“I don’t know about your plane, but mine will,” stated Teddy -confidently. “I’m not so sure,” he went on, as he carefully tested the -tautness of the stretched rubber bands, “I’m not so sure but what we -had better go down to the lake beach. There’s a longer stretch to fly -from down there. But of course the wind is wrong. The planes would have -to go over the water.” - -“And since mine doesn’t happen to be a hydroplane, I’m not for that,” -declared Dick. “But you make me laugh when you say your plane will go -all the way across Mason’s meadow and into the woods.” - -“I don’t want my plane to go into the woods,” spoke Teddy calmly. “But -I’m pretty sure it will if I let it have all the power I can give it. I -didn’t wind it up as tight as I could.” - -“Well, if your plane is as good as you think it is, why don’t you enter -it in the races for the Johnson cup?” asked Dick. - -“Maybe I will,” Teddy answered as he made another adjustment to his -craft’s rudders. - -“Say, don’t you know that only the very best planes go in that contest -this September?” asked Dick. “Your little one wouldn’t have a chance!” - -“Maybe it would,” spoke Teddy. “We’ll know more after we have our own -little race today down in Mason’s meadow. Did you see anything of Joe?” - -“I passed his house on my way here,” Dick answered. “He was doing -something to his plane and said he’d be right over. We can wait. I’ve -got to fix my rudder a little.” - -“And I think I’ll take off one of my rubber bands and put on another,” -Teddy remarked. “One of ’em looks a little bit frayed. I don’t want my -plane to slow up.” - -“You want it to go all the way to the woods, I suppose,” laughed Dick. - -“Oh, it’ll go there. Maybe yours will, too,” said Teddy. “The wind is -getting stronger,” he added. Again he wet his finger and held it up as -a test. “It’s going to be a strong tail wind,” he went on. “I wouldn’t -be surprised if all three of our planes got to the edge of the woods, -anyhow.” - -“You have a pretty good opinion of our planes,” chuckled Dick. - -“Why not?” Teddy asked as he let his propeller slowly unwind. He wanted -to take the tension off the rubber bands in order to insert a new one. - -Dick did not answer his chum. But he looked up long enough to say: -“Here comes Joe!” - -“Good!” exclaimed Teddy. “Now we can have the race. Hurry, Joe!” he -shouted. “The wind’s just right and it’s getting stronger. Hurry!” - -“Coming!” answered Joe Denton. - -The three chums were soon busy making final adjustments to their toy -planes in the yard of Teddy Benson’s home. Most of the activities -of the three centered around Teddy’s home. He was the leader of his -crowd, always the first to propose something new. He had done it when -he suggested they have a race of their model planes. The boys had been -making model planes for some time. - -At first they made only small ones, which were launched by being tossed -into the air. These planes went only a short distance. - -The next planes the boys made had rubber bands for motors. At first, -they attached only a few, small rubbers to the propeller of their -craft. These bands, when twisted, would unravel, whirl the propeller -and send the planes flying. - -Step by step the three chums had advanced until they now had planes -with quite powerful rubber “motors,” if such they could be called. The -“motors” of course, were just rubber bands or cords. - -“Some day,” Teddy had declared, “we’ll get real miniature gasoline -motors for our planes. Then they’ll fly miles and miles before they -come down.” - -“And we’ll have to walk after ’em to bring ’em back,” sighed Dick. He -was too stout to care for much walking. - -“Golly, it would be fun to have a gas motor model plane,” remarked Joe -Denton as he put the final touches on his rubber-motored one. “They -have some dandy ones in the Johnson cup races,” he added. - -“Yes, and they have good prizes for rubber-motored planes,” announced -Teddy. “Well, if you fellows are ready, let’s go to Mason’s meadow and -see whose plane can fly farthest.” - -“I guess you think yours can,” laughed Dick. - -“Well, I’m not saying anything,” Teddy modestly remarked. - -“No, but you’re doing a lot of thinking,” said Joe. “I know my plane -won’t win,” he sighed. “There’s something wrong with it, I guess.” - -“Maybe we can find out what it is in this race,” Teddy suggested, “and -fix it.” - -“Maybe,” agreed Joe, ruffling his red hair. - -As the three chums started from Teddy’s yard, carefully carrying their -model planes, Lucy Benson came to the kitchen door. - -“Where are you going?” she asked. “May I come?” - -“No, you can’t,” Teddy answered. “Sorry,” he added as he saw the look -of disappointment on his sister’s face. “But we’re going to fly our -planes and we don’t want any girls.” - -“One of our planes might get tangled in your hair,” said Dick. - -“Oh, is that so?” snapped Lucy. “And one of ’em might get lost, too! -Then maybe you’ll be glad to have me help hunt it like I did the time -Teddy’s plane was lost before. I found it then.” - -“Did she?” asked Joe, looking at Lucy. Her cheeks were flushed because -of a little excitement. - -“Yes, she did--sort of,” Teddy rather grudgingly admitted. - -“Oh, Teddy Benson!” exclaimed his sister, stamping her foot on the back -porch. “How can you talk that way? You know I found your lost plane all -by myself--in the woods.” - -“Well, there aren’t going to be any lost planes today,” said Teddy. “So -you can’t come. Sorry. Come on, fellows!” he added. “The wind may die -out.” - -The three boys hurried to Mason’s meadow. Lucy, left behind, looked -after them a moment. Then she said: - -“I’ll go get Margie Kelly. We can go to Mason’s meadow if we want to. -There’s no fence around it.” - -Lucy hurried to the home of her chum, Dick’s sister. The three boys -were soon at the meadow. On the far side was a patch of woods. Pointing -to this Dick said to Joe: - -“Teddy expects his plane to fly there.” - -“I don’t expect it,” Teddy said. “But it might. Come on now. Get ready. -The plane that goes the farthest wins the race.” - -“And what’s the prize?” asked Joe. - -“The loser has to treat him and the other fellow to ice cream,” Teddy -decided. - -“That means I’ve got to treat,” sighed Joe. “Well, let’s go!” - -The rubber motors were wound up. The boys held their planes poised for -a start. They stood with their backs to the wind, on the edge of the -meadow farthest from the woods. - -“All ready?” Teddy called. - -“All ready!” his chums answered. - -“Let go!” - -The three little planes were launched into the air. - -For a short distance all three were about even. Then Teddy’s began -pulling ahead. Close behind it was Dick’s. Joe’s plane was lagging and -soon began to descend. - -“I might have known it!” sighed the red-haired lad. “I’ll buy the ice -cream.” - -Teddy and Dick did not answer. They were running after their planes. -Then, Dick’s began to falter. Teddy’s was sailing on full and fast. It -rose on a long slant. - -“Say! I believe Teddy’s plane will reach the woods!” cried Joe. He had -picked up his craft from the grass. - -“Well, it’s going better than I thought it would,” Dick had to admit. - -Then came a puff of wind. That and the power in Teddy’s plane sent it -more swiftly toward the woods. Dick’s plane, having reached the limit -of its flight, began coming down. - -“Teddy wins!” cried Joe. - -“Yes! But look! His plane is sailing right into the woods!” cried Dick. -“You’ve done it, Teddy! I didn’t think you could, but you did. There -goes your plane into the woods!” - -“I wish it hadn’t!” cried Teddy, running after it. - -“Why?” asked Joe. - -“Because I think it will be lost. It went in the woods right near that -deep gully. I guess my plane is lost, fellows!” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -FOUND - - -Reaching an open glade in the meadow, where the grass was shorter -than in other places, Dick and Joe put down the planes they had been -carrying. - -“I guess they’ll be all right,” said Dick. - -“Why are you leaving your planes there?” asked Teddy, looking back over -his shoulder as he headed toward the gully in the woods. - -“So they won’t get all banged up on trees and bushes when we help you -hunt for yours,” Joe answered. - -“If we carried them through the woods there wouldn’t be much left of -’em,” added Dick. - -“That’s so,” Teddy agreed. “We may have to dodge into some tough -places, looking for my lost plane. It’s swell of you fellows to come -and help me,” he added. - -“As if we wouldn’t!” exclaimed Dick. - -“Fine chums we’d be if we didn’t,” added Joe. “Well, Teddy, you won the -race.” - -“But I didn’t expect my plane to go so far,” said the tall lad. “It’s -got a dandy motor. I hope I can find it.” - -“Oh, we’ll find it!” declared Dick. Yet as he and the two other boys -looked at the thick woods they began to have feelings of doubt. -The place where Teddy’s plane had disappeared amid the trees was a -particularly dense part of the forest. - -While the three are starting their search for the lost plane, a moment -may be taken to let our new readers know something about Teddy Benson -who has had many mysterious adventures. Now he was about to have -another. - -The first book of this series, “Teddy and The Mystery Dog” introduces -our young hero. He and his sister and chums had many strange -experiences with a certain dog. Later they were involved in a mystery -about a monkey, a cat, a parrot and a pony. - -Teddy and his chums lived in the small city of Oakdale, near Hemlock -River. There was a small lake nearby. The boys had many good times on -the river and lake, or in the country near these bits of water. - -Summer had come, the long vacation from school was at hand and one -of the first bits of fun Teddy and his chums started was the model -airplane race. They planned to have others if the first was successful. - -“But if I don’t find my plane I guess I won’t go in any more races,” -Teddy said somewhat gloomily. He was leading his chums into the woods. - -“Can’t you build another?” asked Dick. - -“Oh, I guess so,” Teddy replied. “I plan to, of course, if I get into -the gas motor class. But first I want to find this dandy little plane -that’s lost. I wish I hadn’t wound those rubber bands so tight.” - -“Still, you know what your plane can do when it has to,” comforted Dick. - -“I never saw a better flight,” added Joe. “I thought for a while it was -going to soar right over the woods.” - -“I wish it had,” murmured Teddy. “Then it wouldn’t be down in the -gully.” - -“Are you sure it’s there?” asked Joe. - -“Can’t tell,” Teddy replied. “We’ll have to scout around and look. -Say,” he went on as the three boys were fairly within the woods, -“this is going to be pretty tough going. I shouldn’t make you fellows -scramble through this underbrush with me to search for my lost plane.” - -“Forget it!” advised Joe. - -“That’s what we’re here for,” declared Dick. - -The woods adjoining Mason’s meadow, owned by the same man, were dense -and dark. Tall pines and other evergreen trees made the forest dark on -even a bright, sunny day. The woods were not on level ground, as was -the grassy plain. Part of the patch where the trees and brush grew was -level enough. But beyond that area the woods sloped down quite a hill -and a section of the woodlot lay in a deep ravine or gully. - -“It’s a good distance down there and a good distance back,” remarked -Teddy as he and his chums reached the edge of the ravine and looked -into it as far as their sight could penetrate through the gloom. - -“We can make it,” declared Joe. “I’ve often gone down steeper places -than this when I was out scouting.” - -“It isn’t going down that counts,” said Dick with a sigh. “It’s the -climb up that’s hard work.” - -“It’ll work off some of your fat!” chuckled Joe, taking care to be -beyond the range of Dick’s fists. - -“Oh, is that so?” snapped the stout lad. “Well, I’ll show you two I’m -as good a gully climber as either of you. But are you sure your plane -came in here, Teddy?” - -“Quite sure, yes. I marked it by that lightning-struck oak tree on the -edge of the wood. The plane went in right there.” - -“Do you think it could go far, with all these trees to dodge?” Dick -asked. “I mean wouldn’t it crack-up against one of ’em?” - -“It might,” Teddy agreed. “But if my good luck holds, it might just -buzz in and out among the trees. Then it would come down in the gully. -I think the motor would be about run down if the plane got this far,” -he said. He came to a stop in a little glade on the edge of the ravine. -The ground was covered with a soft carpet of pine needles. - -“Makes a good landing field,” commented Joe as he brushed a pile of -needles together with a motion of his foot. - -“Just like coming down on a spring bed,” declared Dick. He threw -himself on the ground with a soft thud. - -“Well, let’s have a look around,” suggested Joe. “If your plane is -here, Teddy, it ought to be easy to spot it with the white wings and -fusilage.” - -“Yes, it’ll show up well against all this darkness,” agreed Dick. “Now -let’s spread out a bit and look.” - -“Take it easy going down into the gully,” advised Teddy. “If any of us -slip we might get a bad fall.” - -Foot by foot the boys advanced deeper into the woods. Darkness slowly -hemmed them in. The trees were thicker now. The boys looked down into -the ravine at the foot of which raced a murmuring stream. - -Suddenly Dick clutched Teddy’s arm and exclaimed: - -“There! Isn’t that your plane? That white thing?” - -“Where?” asked Teddy. - -“Right near that big rock. Look! Sure! That’s your plane!” - -“By golly! So it is!” cried Teddy in delight, “I’ve found it and not -far down in the gully, either. Hurray!” - -He started toward the toy plane. But before he and the boys who were -following him could reach it, they were startled by a loud snorting -noise. - -Then some animal, with large ears and an upraised tail, sprang from -behind the rock and made straight for Teddy Benson. - -“Look out!” yelled Dick. “Look out!” - - - - -CHAPTER III - -MYSTERY DEER - - -Teddy Benson ducked just in time. Warned by Dick’s cry, the young lad -stooped down so quickly that he sprawled on the pine needles that -covered the hard earth. - -A moment later a lithe, tawny body sprang over Teddy, rushed between -Joe and Dick and was lost to sight in the darkness of the small forest. - -For a moment after this strange happening, neither of the chums did or -said anything. Then Teddy, who scrambled to his feet, asked his friends: - -“Did you see what I saw?” - -“I saw something--some animal,” replied Joe. “But it went past me so -fast--like your airplane, Teddy--that I don’t know whether it was a dog -or a calf.” - -“It wasn’t a dog,” declared Dick. - -“How do you know?” asked Joe. - -“Because if it was a dog it would have barked. And it wasn’t a calf.” - -“How do you know that?” Teddy asked. - -“If it was a calf,” reasoned Dick, “it would have bleated. Besides, -what would a farmer’s calf be doing in these woods?” - -“I guess you’re right there,” Teddy agreed. “Of course, a farmer’s calf -could have strayed into these woods. But it ran too fast for a calf.” - -“And it jumped better than any calf I ever saw,” reported Dick. “Why, -it jumped right over you, Teddy.” - -“Yes, I saw that. I also saw something else.” - -“What?” his two chums wanted to know. - -Teddy Benson arose and brushed the dry, brown pine-needles off -his clothes. Then he looked back into the gully and made sure his -white-winged airplane was still in sight. It was so Teddy went on: - -“I saw some horns and they weren’t the kind of horns a calf wears. They -were quite different--branching horns, you know.” - -“Like what?” asked Joe. - -“Like the horns of a deer,” Teddy answered. “Fellows, I think what -scared us was a deer.” - -“Scared? Who’s scared?” asked Dick. - -“Weren’t you?” asked Teddy. “I was. And from the way you and Joe -ducked, I’ll say you were scared, too.” - -“Well, I was for a second, I guess,” admitted Dick. “At first, I -thought it was a bobcat.” - -“What would a lynx be doing in Mason’s woods?” asked Joe. “No one ever -saw a wild animal in here.” - -“Then what does Teddy mean by talking about a deer?” asked Dick. “Now I -come to think of it, that animal did look something like a deer. It ran -and jumped fast enough to be a deer, anyhow. But what would a deer be -doing in Mason’s woods?” - -“That’s what we have to find out,” Teddy said. - -“You mean it might be another of those--those _mysteries_?” asked Joe. - -“It might,” admitted Teddy. “Anyhow, isn’t it queer that we should meet -a deer here.” - -“I guess that deer--if it was a deer,” said Dick, “was as scared as we -were. It ran like a streak of light. Must have been lying down back of -that big rock where Teddy’s airplane is. And when we started down it -caught our scent, got scared and leaped up to run away.” - -“The question is, where did it run?” asked Joe, looking off through the -dark woods. “It isn’t in sight.” - -“Maybe we can trail it,” suggested Teddy. “But first I’m going to get -my plane. Then we can look for the deer. If we don’t find it, so much -the more mystery.” - -“And if we find it the mystery will be solved,” said Joe. - -“Maybe not,” spoke Teddy. “I don’t see how a deer got in these woods. -It might have escaped from a circus. But, as a rule, they don’t carry -deer in a circus. They aren’t strange enough animals. And nobody around -here keeps deer that I know of.” - -The other boys admitted they knew of no deer paddock in Oakdale whence -the deer might have escaped. The appearance of the deer was a complete -mystery. - -“But it comes at just the right time,” Teddy remarked. “We haven’t any -school. We can spend the whole summer solving the deer mystery.” - -“Unless your folks go away,” said Joe. - -“I don’t believe we’re going away this year,” Teddy said. “My father -has to make a business trip and my mother doesn’t feel like going to -the country or seashore. So we may stay home. Or maybe we might go away -in August.” - -“That’s what our folks are planning to do,” said Joe. - -“And my mother says she can’t afford to go away,” spoke Dick. “So we’re -going to stay home.” Dick’s mother was a widow. - -“Well, this is just fine and dandy then,” declared Teddy. “We are all -going to be around Oakdale most of the summer. So we can have plenty of -time to solve the mystery.” - -“If there is one,” commented Joe. - -“Don’t you call meeting a leaping deer, with horns, in a wood where no -deer has been seen since Indian days--don’t you call that a mystery?” -asked Dick. - -“Yes, I guess I do,” admitted Joe. - -“It sure is,” agreed Teddy. “And as soon as I get my plane we’ll have a -start at solving the mystery.” - -He left his chums to walk a short distance down the first slope of the -gully to where the toy model lay at the foot of a great rock. - -“Good thing it didn’t smash into the rock,” commented Joe. - -“Sure is,” assented Dick. - -The two watched Teddy reach his toy and stoop to pick it up. The tall -lad examined his model carefully and Joe called: - -“Is it damaged any?” - -“One propeller blade is chipped a bit,” Teddy answered. “Otherwise it’s -all right. I’m lucky.” - -“As usual,” chuckled Joe. “Just like now, when the mystery deer jumped -over you instead of through you. Well, come on. Let’s get back and pick -up our planes. We can have another race tomorrow. I’m going to put a -bigger propeller on my model.” - -“I’m going to use more rubber bands,” declared Dick. “See any more deer -or other wild animals back of that rock, Teddy?” - -“No, there are no more here. But that deer was resting here. He had a -bed in the leaves. I’d like to know more about him.” - -As Teddy walked up the little incline from the edge of the gully, -carrying his plane, there came to his ears and those of his chums the -shrill screams of girls. - -“Help! Help!” cried the voices which Teddy and his chums knew to be -those of Lucy Benson and Margie Kelly. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -MORE MYSTERY - - -When Lucy Benson’s brother told her she couldn’t watch him and his -chums race their toy, model airplanes, the little girl felt sad for a -few moments. Then her spirits rose as she said to herself determinedly: - -“I don’t care! I’ve got just as good a right in Mason’s meadow as Teddy -Benson, Dick Kelly or Joe Denton. And I’m going there! I’ll take Margie -with me.” - -A little later, while Teddy and his chums were on their way to the deer -mystery, Lucy hurried into the yard of the Kelly home. Mrs. Kelly saw -her from a side window. - -“Is Margie home, Mrs. Kelly?” asked Lucy. - -“I think she is, my dear. She was just going over to your house but I -think she is still up in her room. You may go right upstairs.” - -The Benson and Kelly families visited back and forth as if they were -relatives more than friends. So Lucy hurried into the house, calling: - -“Margie! Where are you?” - -“Just getting ready to come over to your house, Lucy. Come on up. I’ll -be ready as soon as I tie a new ribbon on my hair.” - -Lucy hurried into Margie’s room. There was something in the haste and -manner of Lucy that caused Margie to stop and ask: - -“What’s the matter? Has anything happened?” - -“Teddy wouldn’t let me come to watch him, Joe and Dick fly their -planes,” Lucy reported. “But I’m going anyhow. And if the planes won’t -fly--and I don’t believe they will--we can have the laugh on them.” - -“We, Lucy?” - -“Sure. You’ll come with me, won’t you?” - -“I guess so. Where is it?” - -“Down in Mason’s meadow. We haven’t anything to do so we might as well -go there as any place else, don’t you think?” - -“Of course. Won’t the boys be surprised?” - -“Well--maybe,” said Lucy slowly. “I think Teddy sort of suspects I’ll -follow him. But I don’t care. I’ve got a right to.” - -“Of course we have,” agreed Margie. “They can’t keep us out of Mason’s -meadow.” - -So the two girls hurried toward the same field where, a little while -before, Teddy and his chums had started to fly their planes. On the way -the girls decided to stop in the candy store kept by old Mrs. Traddle. - -“I’ve got part of my allowance left,” said Lucy. “I’ll treat you, -Margie.” - -“Oh, that’s lovely. Next time I’ll treat you. But let’s save some of -the candy for the boys.” - -“What! Give them candy after they wouldn’t let us come to see them fly -their planes? I should say not!” - -“Oh, I don’t mean give them any candy,” explained Margie with a laugh. -“But we’ll save some to eat in the meadow after we get there. And when -the boys see us eating candy--” - -“Oh, I see what you mean!” laughed Lucy. “Sure, we’ll do that. It will -make them wish they’d invited us. What do you like best, jelly beans or -gum drops?” - -“I like both. But you get more jelly beans for a nickel than you do gum -drops. Gum drops are expensive.” - -“We’ll get some of each,” decided Lucy. - -Now it wasn’t as easy to buy candy at the store of old Mrs. Traddle as -it might seem. For one thing Mrs. Traddle was very deaf but she never -would admit it. She thought her hearing was fine. So the boys and -girls, after finding out that if they asked for chocolate drops often -were handed lollypops, had gotten into the habit of pointing out in the -show case what candy they wanted. - -But this time Lucy, being in somewhat of a hurry, forgot, for the -moment, that Mrs. Traddle was deaf. So, going into the store, Lucy said: - -“I want five cents worth of jelly beans and gum drops, mixed, please.” - -“Oh, yes, there is quite a breeze today,” said Mrs. Traddle, as she -pulled her spectacles down off the top of her head to where they could -sit on her nose and be in front of her eyes. “A very good breeze -indeed. How many sticks did you say, my dear?” - -“I didn’t say STICKS,” spoke Lucy. “I said I wanted my candy MIXED, -Mrs. Traddle. Gum drops and jelly beans.” - -“Why, of course I have screens in here, Lucy,” said Mrs. Traddle. “How -else could I keep out the flies? Screens? I should say so. Flies are -dreadful around a candy shop. Now tell me what kind you want and I’ll -wait on you. But please hurry. I have a cake in the oven.” - -Mrs. Traddle glanced back toward the living rooms in the rear of her -little candy shop. Now Margie thought she would try. So, raising her -voice, she said: - -“We want jelly beans and gum drops!” - -“Yes, it is pretty good weather for crops,” agreed Mrs. Traddle. “We -could do with a mite more of rain, though. But, in general, as you say, -crops are good. Now did you want some candy?” - -The two girls looked at each other helplessly. Then Lucy did what she -should have done at first. She pointed to the glass dish of jelly beans -and to the one containing gum drops. Then she put her five-cent piece -on the top of the show case and made a mixing motion with her hands. - -“Oh, of course! Why didn’t you say so at first?” asked Mrs. Traddle, -somewhat peevishly. “Children come in here talking about fly screens -and crops and don’t seem to know what they want. Jelly beans and gum -drops, of course. Mix them up. Certainly. Your motion, Lucy, reminds -me I mixed up a cake and it’s in the oven now. I’ll have to hurry and -take it out. Here’s your candy.” - -Whether it was because she liked the two little girls or because she -was in a hurry, Mrs. Traddle gave Lucy a very generous five cents’ -worth of candy and the two girls went out of the store rejoicing. - -The girls ate part of the candy on their way to Mason’s meadow. They -saved some with which to make the boys envious. In a short time they -were at the field. But they saw no signs of Teddy, Dick or Joe. - -“Maybe they’ve been here and gone,” said Margie. - -“No, I don’t think so,” said Lucy. “It takes quite a while to wind up -those rubber band motors. Maybe they’re over by the woods. Come on!” - -The girls hurried across the field and, in a short time, came to the -place where Joe and Dick had left their airplanes to follow Teddy into -the gully. - -“Oh, look!” exclaimed Margie. “Here’s my brother’s plane!” - -“Then the other must be Joe’s,” said Lucy. “For it isn’t Teddy’s.” - -“How do you suppose the planes got here?” asked Margie. - -“Why,” said Lucy, considering, “I guess the boys flew them and the -planes came down and the boys couldn’t find them. But we have. And we -can take the planes home and won’t the boys be surprised?” - -“I should say so!” exclaimed Margie. “But where is Teddy and his plane?” - -“Maybe his flew another way, and he and Joe and Dick are hunting for -it,” suggested Lucy. “Anyhow, we have found two of the planes and we’ll -take them home with us. When the boys are feeling sorry that they have -lost them, we’ll give them back.” - -“Oh, what fun!” laughed Margie. - -The two girls each picked up one of the toy planes and were starting to -walk back across the meadow when Margie exclaimed: - -“Hark! Did you hear that?” - -“Hear what?” Lucy asked. - -“That noise.” - -“What sort of a noise?” asked Lucy. - -“A--a sort of a--a whoofing noise!” whispered Margie. “It seemed to -come from those bushes near the edge of the wood. Listen! There it is -again!” - -Lucy heard a noise and said: - -“It was more like a cow snorting than a whoofing noise.” - -“Well, maybe it was a cow,” admitted Margie. “Anyhow it was a noise -and--oh, look, Lucy! It’s coming for us--that noise. Oh, it’s a wild -cow--or something. Run! Run!” - -Lucy gave one look and then, holding tightly to Joe’s plane as Margie -was carrying Dick’s, the two girls turned and ran as fast as they could -crying: - -“Help! Help!” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE MYSTERY CLUB - - -Though Margie and Lucy ran fast, carrying the toy planes, they had a -chance to look back to see what had frightened them. They both looked -at the same time and Margie said: - -“It isn’t a cow that’s chasing us.” - -“No, it isn’t a cow,” Lucy agreed. “It hasn’t the horns of a cow. It -looks more like a reindeer.” - -“Reindeers only come around Christmas time--if you believe in them,” -said Margie. “Besides, there wouldn’t be reindeers down here--only up -at the North Pole.” - -“Well, anyhow, it’s coming after us, whatever it is,” added Margie. -“Come on! Run fast!” - -“Oh, why doesn’t somebody help us?” cried Lucy. “Go on back, you old -scarecrow you!” she shouted. - -“It isn’t a scarecrow, whatever else it is,” said Margie. - -“I know it isn’t,” Lucy admitted. “But I couldn’t think of anything -else to call it. Oh, goodie! Here’s the fence. Now we can crawl under -and be safe.” - -The girls reached a fence at one corner of Mason’s meadow and lost no -time in crawling below the first rail. They pushed their brothers’ -airplanes through the fence ahead of them. - -The grass was long and green at the place where Margie and Lucy had -crawled under the fence. And, noting as they were on their hands and -knees, that the grass was above their heads, Margie said: - -“Why not stay here?” - -“Stay here?” exclaimed Lucy. - -“Yes. We can hide here in the long grass until that animal has gone -away. It can’t see us if we hide in the grass.” - -Lucy thought that was a fine idea. So the girls stretched out in the -fragrant clover and timothy grass that would soon be hay. It was quiet -and restful there and they felt sure the animal that had frightened -them could not see them. - -“But I wish the boys would come,” said Margie. - -“Maybe they will,” added Lucy. - -Teddy Benson and his two chums lost no time hurrying out of the woods -after they had found Teddy’s lost plane. The frightened cries of the -girls hastened their steps. - -“That was Margie’s voice,” decided Dick. “My sister always yells that -way when she’s frightened.” - -“So does Lucy,” said Teddy. - -“But what could have frightened them?” asked Joe Denton. “The voices -sounded as if they came from the meadow. And we crossed the meadow a -little while ago and there was nothing there.” - -“Unless it was that mysterious deer,” spoke Teddy. - -“But the deer didn’t run out toward the meadow,” objected Joe. “We saw -it go back down in the gully.” - -“You can’t tell which way a deer will go,” Teddy declared. “They can -swing around and double on their trail and do all sorts of queer -things. Especially if they think somebody is after them.” - -“Well, we weren’t after this deer,” laughed Dick. “It was more like he -was after us.” - -“Anyhow we have to go see what scared the girls,” decided Teddy. He -held fast to his model plane, which, he was glad to note, did not -appear to be much damaged. He and his chums hurried out of the woods -into the open meadow. - -“Nobody here,” announced Dick who was the first to reach it. - -“Not a sign of the girls,” added Joe. - -“Nor the deer, either,” said Teddy. “Maybe it was a false alarm.” - -“But we heard the girls scream,” said Joe. “And we saw a deer. There’s -something funny about it all. We’d better have a look around. But first -I’m going to get my plane.” - -“So am I,” said Dick. - -The boys had noted the place where they had left the two toy model -planes. But when they reached the spot of course the planes were gone. -At first, Teddy and his chums thought perhaps they had mistaken the -place. They cast about, searching in the grass, but no planes were to -be found. - -“But this is the place where we left them,” insisted Joe. - -“How can you tell?” Teddy wanted to know. - -“Here’s a piece of paper with my name on it,” Joe answered. He picked -it up out of the tall grass. “I put the paper, with my name and address -on it, on my plane,” he added. “That was in case it flew a long way -and I couldn’t trace it. The paper says that whoever sends me word of -finding my plane will get a dollar.” - -“Say, that’s a good idea!” exclaimed Teddy. “I’m going to do that to my -plane.” - -“So will I,” decided Dick. “But how did the paper get here when the two -planes are gone?” - -“I took the paper off after I found my plane,” explained Joe. “There -wasn’t any need of it on the plane just now. I thought I put the paper -in my pocket but it must have fallen on the ground. But, anyhow, it -shows this is the place where we left our planes, Dick, doesn’t it?” - -“Sure does. But where are the planes?” - -“Somebody’s been here and has taken them,” Teddy said. “You would have -done better to have left the paper on, Joe.” - -“Maybe,” Joe admitted. “This sure is queer. I say, fellows, look at -this!” he cried as he pointed to a place where there was a bare spot -in the meadow. Scarcely any grass grew there and in the brown earth -Dick and Teddy saw some peculiar marks. - -“What are they?” asked Dick. - -“Hoof marks of that deer!” exclaimed Teddy as he got down on one knee -to take a better look. “That deer has been here and not long ago. The -marks are fresh.” - -“And the girls have been here, too!” declared Joe. - -“How can you tell?” Dick wanted to know. - -Joe pointed to some footprints. There were two sets of them. He bent -down to examine them more closely. - -“They’re small footprints,” went on Joe, “about the size of the feet of -Margie and Lucy. Of course, other girls could have made these marks,” -he admitted. “But when we know we heard Margie and Lucy yelling for -help and find footprints of girls’ shoes here why, it’s pretty certain -Margie and Lucy were here.” - -“I think so, too,” admitted Teddy. “The question is where are the girls -now?” - -“And where are our planes?” asked Joe. - -“And where is the deer?” added Dick. “Gosh, we’ve got three mysteries -here instead of one, I guess.” - -“Look over here,” and Teddy directed the attention of his chums to -another bare patch. “The deer was here and he was sort of jumping -around heavy. The hoof marks are deeper.” - -Teddy’s chums agreed that this was so and Joe exclaimed: - -“Gosh, fellows, it looks as if that deer bashed up our planes and then -made off with Margie and Lucy.” - -“How could he do that?” Teddy inquired. - -“Well, by jumping up and down on the planes, he could easily bash them -to bits.” - -“There’d be some pieces left,” Dick argued. - -“Yes, I guess there would be unless the deer ate them,” Joe had to -admit. - -“And how do you figure the deer took the girls away?” asked Teddy. - -“On his back, maybe,” declared Joe. “He was a pretty big deer, and he -acted sort of savage. I’m sure that’s what happened. The deer broke -our toy planes. Then the girls came along and the deer rushed at them, -tossed them over his head with his horns and--” - -“And, I suppose,” laughed Teddy, “Margie and Lucy landed on the deer’s -back and went hitch-hiking.” - -“Well, I guess that couldn’t exactly happen,” replied Joe with a funny -little smile. “But something has happened, all right. Model airplanes -don’t disappear and deer don’t suddenly appear and sisters don’t vanish -after they cry for help--not unless something has happened.” - -“This sure is a mystery, fellows!” Teddy exclaimed. “Isn’t it queer how -I always seem to get mixed up in a mystery? First it was a dog and then -a monkey and now--” - -“The way it looks to me,” interrupted Joe, “is that you have all the -mystery fun, Teddy.” - -“That’s right!” chimed in Joe. “We hardly ever get a chance.” - -“Say, look here!” cried Teddy. “That’s right. But you fellows are going -to be in on this mystery. How about forming a Mystery Club? Just us -three?” - -“Swell!” exclaimed Joe. - -“All right,” went on Teddy. “Then the Deer Mystery Club is hereby -formed. What’s the first order of business?” - -“I think,” said Joe, “we ought to notify the police that our toy planes -are missing.” - -“And so are Margie and Lucy,” said Teddy. “The girls ought to come -first. If they have really disappeared, I think we should--” - -He was interrupted by a loud voice shouting: - -“Get out of there! Get out of my meadow! Get out!” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -FATTY NOLAN - - -Teddy Benson and his two chums were so surprised, for a moment, at -hearing the ordering voice that they made no move to obey. They -assumed, of course, the order was for them. Though it was the first -time they had ever been told to get out of Mr. Mason’s meadow. But the -voice cried again: - -“Get out, I tell you! I don’t want you in my meadow spoiling the -fodder. Next I know you’ll be eating all my corn and beans! Get out -before I get my gun!” - -“Say, he can’t mean us!” exclaimed Teddy. “Mr. Mason wouldn’t talk that -way to us.” - -“Besides,” added Joe. “We aren’t hurting his meadow fodder.” - -“And we surely aren’t going to eat his corn and beans,” said Dick. -“What’s he mean--talking about getting his gun?” - -“I have it!” suddenly exclaimed Teddy. “Mr. Mason must mean the -mysterious deer. He’s trying to drive the deer away. They eat garden -crops, you know.” - -“But is this Mr. Mason?” asked Joe. - -The boys learned, a few seconds later, that it was Mr. Mason, owner -of the meadow, who had been so angrily shouting. They saw him as they -walked up out of a little hollow to the top of a small hill. They also -saw the farmer throwing stones at some object they could not see. - -“It must be the deer,” said Teddy. - -Just then Mr. Mason turned and caught sight of the three boys. He -walked toward them, asking: - -“Is that your deer that’s been running around my meadow?” - -“No, sir,” answered Teddy, “it isn’t ours.” - -“Did you see a deer?” asked Joe. - -“I certainly did. Quite a big one, too.” - -“Did it have any girls on its back?” asked Dick. - -“Girls? Land sakes, what do you mean? What girls?” asked Mr. Mason, -much surprised. - -“My sister, and Teddy’s,” explained Dick. “Did you see them on the -deer’s back?” - -“I should say not! What do you think it was? A circus deer?” - -“It’s a mystery deer,” said Teddy. - -“Oh, then it is your deer!” cried Mr. Mason. “Why didn’t you say so at -first? I don’t like deer, mystery or any other kind, making free with -my farm. Where did you get this deer, anyhow?” - -“We didn’t get him. He isn’t ours. We just saw him,” said Teddy. “Which -way did he go?” - -“I stoned him back into the woods,” said Mr. Mason. “Oh, I didn’t hit -him with any stones,” he was quick to add. “I wouldn’t hit any animal -with stones. I just pegged a few rocks up close to him, so he’d know -he wasn’t wanted. He went for the woods in high gear. But what do you -fellows know about this deer? And what do you mean,” he continued, -looking at Dick, “by girls on the deer’s back?” - -“Well, my sister has disappeared,” said Dick. “So has Teddy’s. And two -of our toy airplanes are missing. We found a place where the deer had -been jumping around in your meadow.” - -“And we found a place, near there, where the girls had been,” put in -Teddy. “We thought maybe the deer went for the girls and got them on -his back and--” - -“Say,” laughed Mr. Mason, “you’re Teddy Benson, aren’t you? The boy who -was mixed up with a mystery dog?” - -“Yes,” Teddy admitted, “I was. And so was my sister.” - -“And now you’ve got a mystery deer on your trail. Well, my boy, there -were no girls on the back of the deer I saw. So you needn’t worry -about that. But how did you come to see this deer, anyhow? And where is -he from?” asked Mr. Mason. - -The boys told of first seeing the deer when they went in the woods to -look for Teddy’s plane. As to where the deer had come from, they could -give no information. - -“Most likely from a circus,” decided Mr. Mason as he listened to the -boys’ story. - -“But there hasn’t been any circus around here,” Teddy objected. - -“That’s so,” agreed the farmer. “Well, anyhow, there’s a deer around -here and I’ll have to notify the game warden to get rid of him. There -may be more than one of the animals. I can’t afford to have my crops -ruined.” - -“We thought you said something about getting your gun,” said Teddy. - -“Oh,” laughed Mr. Mason, “that was just to scare the pesky deer. I -wouldn’t have shot him. In the first place, it’s against the law to -shoot deer now. Out of season, you know.” - -“Yes,” murmured Teddy. - -“And in the second place,” went on the farmer, “I wouldn’t shoot a -deer, anyhow. All I wanted was to scare him off my place, and I think -I did; either with the stones which didn’t hit him, or by my talk of -the gun. Of course, it was only talk,” he resumed with a laugh. “But -sometimes strong talk does a lot of good.” - -“Do you want us to let you know if we see that deer again?” asked Joe. - -“If it’s on my land, yes. But I don’t believe it will come back.” - -“You haven’t any idea whose deer it might be, have you?” asked Dick. - -“Not the least in the world, my boy. Either it got away from a circus -or a traveling show, or else it must have made its way here from a long -distance. There is no deer country around here.” - -“So it’s a sort of mystery, isn’t it?” asked Teddy. - -“You’re right there, my boy. It sure is a mystery.” - -“Well, we’re going to solve it!” Teddy declared as he and his chums -started toward their homes. - -“I wish you luck,” called Mr. Mason. “I say!” he called as he turned -back. “I just happened to think maybe that deer got loose out of a -railroad car. He might be one of a large shipment of deer from one -place to another and he got out. Ask the railroad freight or express -agent.” - -“We will,” promised Joe. - -The three boys walked slowly across the big meadow back toward the road -that led to Oakdale. They were talking of what had happened and Joe and -Dick were wondering what had become of their planes. Dick and Teddy -were also rather anxious about their sisters. - -But since Mr. Mason had laughed at the idea that the deer might have -carried the girls off on his back, the boys no longer gave it any -serious thought. - -“I guess the girls just got scared at seeing the deer and ran away,” -suggested Joe. - -“What about our planes?” asked Dick. - -Joe didn’t answer. But there was no need. For a little later the three -boys heard their names called from beyond a fence. Lucy and Margie -bobbed into sight, each one with a plane in her hands. - -“Oh, so that’s what happened?” asked Dick. - -“Yes, we found your planes,” Margie said. - -“And did you get chased by a deer?” asked Lucy. - -“No, the deer didn’t chase us. We chased the deer,” said Teddy. This -was not strictly true, for there was a time when the deer seemed very -much to be chasing the boys. But at least the chums had seen Mr. Mason -make the deer run away. - -“Whose deer is it?” asked Lucy. - -“That’s what our club is going to find out,” said Teddy. - -“Your club?” chorused the two girls. - -“The Mystery Club,” explained Joe. - -Then, of course, the girls had to be told more about it. They teased to -be made members but, for a time, the boys refused. Then Joe, who had no -sister and was rather neutral, said: - -“Couldn’t they be sort of extra members? You know lots of clubs have -women and girls as extra members.” - -“Oh, yes! Could we be that?” begged Margie. - -After further discussion the boys agreed to this. The five walked along -together, out of the meadow, talking about the mystery deer when, just -as they were about to go from a lane into the main road, a fat boy, -whom none of them knew, came out on the run, very much excited. - -“Hello! Hello!” he greeted Teddy and the others. He talked very fast, -as if he were having a race with words. “Did you see him?” he asked. -“The man--the man with a rope--a long rope like a lasso? He was running -over to the woods--I thought he was a cowboy and he asked me if I had -seen him and I said who and he said a steer and I thought he was trying -to make fun of me so I said no I hadn’t and say--Oh, gosh! Did you see -him? He came this way and--oh, but you don’t know who I am, do you? -Well, I’m Charlie Nolan. Everybody calls me Fatty Nolan and you can if -you like. Oh, say, there he is now! The man with the rope. Look! I’m -going to run after him!” - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -MRS. TRADDLE’S GARDEN - - -Fatty Nolan, whose rapid-fire talk had taken Teddy and the others by -surprise, raced toward a man who was crossing one end of the meadow -into the woods. The man had a rope, as the boys and girls could notice. -But he did not appear to be a cowboy. - -“I’m going to help him catch that steer!” cried Fatty. - -A little later he and the man, whom Teddy and his friends did not know, -disappeared in the woods where the deer had first been seen. - -“Well, what do you make of this?” asked Teddy of his chums. - -“You’ve got me,” replied Dick. “Fatty Nolan? Who is he, anyhow?” - -“I never saw him before,” said Joe. “He must have just come to -Oakdale.” - -“He seems friendly enough,” said Lucy. - -“Didn’t he talk fast!” laughed Margie. “And isn’t he fat?” - -“His name sure fits him!” agreed Teddy. “But I’d like to know how many -wild animals there are running loose around here? First we see a deer -and now Fatty Nolan tells us about a steer.” - -“I think it’s the same thing,” suggested Joe. “The man must have said -_deer_ and Fatty took it to be _steer_.” - -“Having seen the man with a lasso,” spoke Dick, “Fatty would naturally -think of a runaway steer. But I believe the man must have said deer. -You’re right, Joe.” - -“Then he’s after the deer,” Teddy remarked. “And I guess that’s about -the end of the mystery.” - -“If the man catches him,” said Joe. “He might not, you know. That deer -is a fast runner.” - -“That’s right,” Teddy agreed. “Maybe he can’t catch the deer, and our -club will still have a chance to do it and solve the mystery.” - -“Do you think it is much of a mystery?” asked Margie. - -“You can’t tell,” said Lucy. “We didn’t think the dog was going to be a -mystery, did we, Teddy?” - -“No. Nor the pony and parrot, either. But they both turned out to be -swell mysteries,” said Teddy. - -“And I think the deer will,” declared Joe. - -“Besides, the deer, there’s this mystery about Fatty Nolan,” said Dick. -“Who is he, anyhow?” - -This small mystery was soon solved. For though Fatty and the man with -the rope did not appear again for some time, as the boys and girls were -coming from the lane into the main highway they met Mr. Mason once -more. The farmer was in a small auto and stopped to ask if the Mystery -Club wanted a ride home. - -“Thanks. If you will drop us off in town, near Mrs. Traddle’s store, -we’ll be much obliged,” said Teddy. - -“Why do you want to get out at Mrs. Traddle’s store?” asked Dick. - -“Because I’m going to treat this club to sodas,” Teddy answered. “We’ve -had a hard day. A soda will be good for us.” - -“Fine!” chorused his chums. - -“Do you mean us, too?” asked Margie. - -“Of course,” laughed Lucy’s brother. - -“What club is this?” asked Mr. Mason when they were all in his car. - -“Oh, the deer mystery club,” Teddy explained. “You know. The deer that -was in your meadow.” - -“Oh, yes. Well, he’d better keep out of my garden! Did you see the deer -again?” - -“No but we saw a man with a rope who was running after him, I guess,” -Joe said. - -“Hum! Just as I thought! A stray deer got out of a railroad car,” said -the farmer. “Well, I hope they catch him.” - -“Who is this new boy, Fatty Nolan?” asked Teddy. - -“Nolan? A fat lad? Why, he’s the son of Samuel Nolan who is a farmer I -hired to work part of my place on shares. The Nolan family just moved -here yesterday. Came from over Portchester way. They’re occupying that -little old house where Mr. Huntley used to live. So you’ve met the fat -boy, eh?” - -Teddy told of the meeting and something of the stout lad. - -“Yes, he is quite a talker, I noticed that,” said Mr. Mason. “Well, -here you are at Mrs. Traddle’s.” - -“Thanks for the ride,” Teddy said. “Won’t you come in and have a soda?” - -“Thanks, no. I’ve got to get along. But if you see that deer, I hope -you capture him, or help that man to do it. I don’t want a deer messing -up my garden and cornfields.” - -The boys and girls crowded into Mrs. Traddle’s small store. - -“I’m glad Mr. Mason didn’t accept my invitation,” said Teddy in a low -voice to Joe. “I only have enough money to treat this crowd. I’d have -had to charge Mr. Mason’s soda.” - -“Lucky he didn’t come in,” laughed Joe. - -Mrs. Traddle came bustling out from her rooms in the rear of the store. - -“Give your orders, girls and boys,” invited Teddy. “What flavors have -you got, Mrs. Traddle?” - -“Oh, yes, I know you’re all neighbors,” smiled the little old lady, her -deafness causing her to mistake the words of Teddy. - -“You can see the list up over the mirror,” said Lucy to her brother. -“And I think,” she went on, “it will be easier to point to the flavors -of soda we want instead of trying to tell her.” - -“That’s right,” said Joe. “Then she won’t mix lemon and vanilla as she -did for me once.” - -Mrs. Traddle quickly understood when the soda flavors were pointed out -by Teddy on the list as his friends named them. And soon the five chums -were sitting on stools and enjoying the drinks. - -“Where have you been? To a party?” asked Mrs. Traddle when she had rung -up the sales on the cash register. - -“We’ve been chasing a deer,” Teddy said. - -“Oh, my goodness, a _bear_! I wouldn’t chase bears if I were you,” said -the old lady. “I don’t think your folks would like that. Besides, it’s -dangerous. _Bear!_ My gracious!” - -“Not a BEAR. A DEER,” said Teddy in a loud voice. - -“Oh, a _deer_? That’s different. A deer is harmless, I guess, though I -never chased one.” - -“This one chased us,” said Margie. “And we ran.” - -“Whose deer was it?” asked Mrs. Traddle. - -“It’s ours,” Teddy said. - -“Oh, I didn’t know you had a deer,” Mrs. Traddle was much surprised. -“But then I suppose I’m old fashioned. Dogs and cats were all we had -for pets when I was a child.” - -“It isn’t _exactly_ our deer, but we sort of saw it and we are going to -get it and solve the mystery of it,” Teddy said. But it is doubtful if -Mrs. Traddle heard this last explanation. Some other customers came in. - -And as Teddy and his chums went out, they heard the store keeper -telling her new customers something about the deer the Benson children -had for a pet. - -“No use bothering to explain,” Teddy said. “It’s too hot to have to -talk loud enough for Mrs. Traddle to hear.” - -Margie and Lucy had decided to go on a little picnic next day. Teddy -asked Joe and Dick what they planned to do. - -“Why not have another try for that deer?” asked Teddy as his chums had -no particular place to go. - -“Sure,” agreed Joe and Dick. - -“If we’re going to solve the mystery,” Teddy went on, “we might as -well start. Come over to my house right after breakfast.” - -“We’ll do that,” Joe promised and Dick agreed, adding: - -“We can have a talk with Fatty Nolan and see if he found out anything -about the man with the rope.” - -“That’s a good idea,” Teddy assented. - -The boys and girls soon separated to go to their several homes, all -being in the vicinity of Teddy Benson’s house. - -After spending an hour or two that evening making some repairs to his -toy plane, Teddy went to bed. He thought with pleasure of what might -happen next day, when he and his chums would start on the trail of the -mysterious deer. - -Once during the night Teddy was awakened by hearing a noise at the back -door. He sat up in bed, thinking for a moment it might be the deer, -coming to knock as, once, a mysterious pony rang the door bell. But -then Teddy heard a clatter of milk bottles and knew what had caused the -noise. - -Teddy was at breakfast next morning when he saw Mrs. Traddle coming -around the side of the house. She saw Mr. Benson, who was cutting the -grass before he went to the office. - -“Good morning, Mrs. Traddle!” greeted Teddy’s father. “What brings you -out so early?” - -“It’s your children’s pet deer!” said Mrs. Traddle in a loud voice. - -“A pet deer!” exclaimed Mr. Benson. “My children have no pet deer. -There must be some mistake.” - -“No. Excuse me, but there is no mistake,” said Mrs. Traddle. “They told -me about their pet deer yesterday. Last night the deer got in my garden -and ate it all up. I’ll have to be paid damages, Mr. Benson. You should -see the ruin that deer made in my garden!” - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE LASSO MAN - - -Teddy’s father was puzzled. He leaned on the handle of the lawn mower. -He looked at Mrs. Traddle. Then he looked toward the house where Teddy -and Lucy were at breakfast. - -“I am very sorry, Mrs. Traddle,” began Mr. Benson. But the old lady -store keeper, who had, seemingly, been hearing quite well a moment -before, suddenly became deaf. - -“I didn’t come to borrow anything,” she said rather crossly. “Not even -your lawn mower.” - -“I didn’t say you had come to borrow anything,” went on Mr. Benson. “I -said I was _sorry_ about your garden. I am sure it wasn’t any deer of -Teddy’s that got into your garden.” - -“No, I didn’t say the deer came there steady,” said Mrs. Traddle, -mixing Teddy’s name up in that way. “But the deer came last night and -he ate up most of my garden. It was a big loss. Somebody has to pay for -it.” - -“I’ll see about it,” said Mr. Benson, pushing the lawn mower to one -side. He walked toward the house, followed by Mrs. Traddle. - -“Teddy!” called his father. “Come out here, please.” - -Teddy was already on his way to the side porch. Lucy followed him, -whispering: - -“Oh, what do you suppose is going to happen?” - -Both children had heard the last of Mrs. Traddle’s remarks as they -crossed the porch. - -“I don’t know,” Teddy answered. “Anyhow Mrs. Traddle can’t blame us for -what a stray, mysterious deer did to her garden.” - -“Teddy,” began Mr. Benson as he saw his son. “What is this about your -deer getting into the garden of Mrs. Traddle?” - -“It isn’t our deer at all,” Teddy explained. - -“Is there a deer?” his father wanted to know. - -“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Lucy. “I saw it. I was chased by it and so was -Margie, yesterday.” - -“This is the first I have heard of any deer,” said Mr. Benson. “Where -is it, Teddy?” - -“That’s what we don’t know. But we are going to find out. It is a -mystery deer,” Teddy answered. - -Mr. Benson smiled at this. He had often heard his children speak of -“mysterious” animals. But sometimes the animals were just that. - -“The reason we didn’t tell you about the deer last night,” went on -Teddy, “is that you and mother were over to the church supper, and it -was so late when you got home I forgot it.” - -“So did I,” added Lucy. - -“Well, tell me about it now,” suggested Mr. Benson. - -He was told the story of the deer--as much as Teddy and Lucy knew--and -Teddy explained that he and his chums were going to try to get on the -trail of the mysterious animal that day. - -“First we have to find Fatty Nolan,” said Teddy. - -“Is that the deer’s name?” asked Mr. Benson. - -“No. It’s the name of a new fat boy,” Teddy went on, laughing. “His -father works part of Mr. Mason’s farm. Fatty saw a man with a lasso -running across the fields. After the deer, maybe. We’re going to see if -he caught the deer.” - -“Well, if he has,” said Mr. Benson, “you might tell the owner of the -deer that Mrs. Traddle wants damages for her garden. All her corn and -beans are gone.” - -“No, no!” hastily exclaimed Mrs. Traddle. “I didn’t say the deer sang -a _song_. He just trampled and ate my garden. I didn’t even _see_ the -deer. He came during the night.” - -“Well, it wasn’t our deer,” Teddy stated, taking pains to speak in a -loud voice so Mrs. Traddle could understand. - -“But in my store I’m sure you said it was your deer,” insisted the -confused old lady. - -“Well,” explained Teddy, “I meant we sort of called it our deer. We -sort of feel we have to solve the mystery about it.” - -“Oh, well, then I guess I can’t blame you,” said Mrs. Traddle. “I’m -sorry I made any trouble,” she went on. “But my poor garden is ruined.” - -“If we find the man who owns the deer we’ll make him pay for the -damage,” promised Teddy. - -“Thanks,” murmured Mrs. Traddle as she turned and went back to her -store. - -Teddy and Lucy started toward the house to finish their breakfasts. Mr. -Benson returned to cutting the grass, saying: - -“So you have a new mystery, have you?” - -“Maybe it will be a mystery and maybe it won’t,” admitted Teddy. “I’m -going over to see Fatty Nolan as soon as the fellows come.” - -A little later, when Dick and Joe arrived at Teddy’s house, they were -told of what had happened to Mrs. Traddle’s garden. - -“Let’s go have a look,” suggested Dick. - -“What for?” Teddy wanted to know. “The deer isn’t there now.” - -“No. But maybe he left a trail,” said Joe. “If we’re going to find this -animal we’ve got to follow his trail. Come on.” - -Mrs. Traddle’s garden was at the rear and to one side of her house and -store. The boys found several men of Oakdale looking at the ruin caused -by the deer. - -“Looks like a herd of elephants was in there,” commented Sam Kean, the -grocer. - -“Guess that deer spoiled more than he ate,” said Luke Lanter, the -butcher. “Looks like he lay down and rolled in the corn.” - -“Maybe he was sort of celebrating,” said Mr. Kean. “He probably never -had such a free feast before.” - -When most of the curious ones had departed, Teddy and his chums asked -permission of Mrs. Traddle to look in the garden. - -“Look as much as you like,” she said with a sniff. “There isn’t much -left to see. Dear me.” - -“We want to see if he left a trail,” explained Teddy. - -“Left a _tail_? Land sakes, why would a deer want to go and leave his -_tail_ behind?” asked the old lady. - -“I mean any marks so we could go after him and find him,” Teddy -explained. - -“Oh, I understand. Like the Indians I used to hear my grandfather tell -about. Well, look if you like. All you’ll see are a lot of paw marks. -Or maybe I should say hoof marks, bein’ as how it’s a deer,” said Mrs. -Traddle. - -The boys did find plenty of hoof marks but they were so jumbled up, it -was impossible to determine which way the deer had come into the garden -or gone out. - -“I know what we ought to do,” said Joe. - -“What?” asked Teddy. - -“Find that man with the lasso. If he wasn’t the owner of the deer he -must have been after it. And maybe he would know how to trail it. Let’s -go find him.” - -“Where’ll we look?” asked Dick. - -“Start with Fatty Nolan,” suggested Teddy. - -It did not take them long to reach the small farm house where the fat -boy lived. Fatty, who had just driven the cows to pasture after they -had been milked, hurried toward the three boys. - -“Hello!” he called with a good-natured grin. “Did you find that deer -yet? I guess you didn’t. I didn’t either. I guess deers are hard to -catch. I never chased one, but maybe that man with the lasso got him. -Did you see him--whose deer was it--come on in, will you? I can go -with you if you like and help look for the deer. He was a big one, -wasn’t he?” - -Fatty Nolan had to stop and take a breath after all this talk. He had a -habit of running his words and sentences together in his conversation, -but the boys understood. - -“The deer hasn’t been caught yet, as far as we know,” Teddy said. “We -came to see if you know that man with the lasso.” - -“Never saw him before,” Fatty answered. “But let’s go look for him. -Maybe he caught the deer last night.” - -“No, he didn’t,” said Joe. “If he had, Mrs. Traddle’s garden wouldn’t -have been spoiled.” - -“Did the deer do that?” exclaimed Fatty. “Oh, gosh!” he said, when told -this had happened. “Now we’ve got to get that deer. It might spoil -dad’s garden. Come on--this way. I can take you right where I last saw -that lasso man. Come on! Hurry!” - -Fatty Nolan, in spite of his unusual size, could walk almost as fast -as he could talk. He kept ahead of Teddy and his chums as they made -their way to the meadow where they had first seen the man with the -lasso. - -Teddy, Dick and Joe hardly expected to see the strange man again but -luck was with them. They had just reached the place where they had -noticed him the day before when, suddenly, Fatty Nolan shouted: - -“There he is! There he is! The lasso man!” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -TEDDY IS LASSOED - - -Hurrying at his usual fast pace, as if to keep up with his fast -thoughts and talk, the fat lad ran after a man of whom Teddy and his -chums had only obtained a glimpse. - -“Are you sure it was the same man, Fatty?” asked Joe. - -“Oh, sure. Didn’t you see he had a rope?” - -“Yes,” spoke Teddy, “but anybody could have a rope.” - -“Maybe he’s after a stray cow,” suggested Dick. - -“No, I’m sure he’s after the mysterious deer,” declared Fatty Nolan. -“Nobody around here goes after cows with a rope. Cows are easy to -drive. I drive ours. This is the lasso man. Come on, before he gets -away. He’ll take us to the deer!” - -Teddy and his chums were not so sure of this. But they followed the -stout lad, smiling at his rapid manner of speaking. On the whole, they -rather liked him. - -The man with the lasso had appeared so suddenly, seemingly from no -particular place, that the boys had scarcely a good chance to see him. -They obtained one look and then the man hurried down into one of the -many grassy hollows, that dotted the fields and meadows around there. - -The boys were not in Mason’s meadow now, but in one belonging to -another of the many farmers who lived in and around Oakdale. Trotting -after Fatty Nolan, who was still in the lead, Teddy and his chums -finally caught up to him. - -“Do you know who this man is?” asked Teddy. - -“Sure,” the fat boy replied. “He’s the man with the lasso.” - -“But do you know his name?” Teddy wanted to know. - -Fatty Nolan shook his head and answered: - -“No. I never saw him before yesterday. But I never forget anybody I -once see--even from the back. Besides, this must be the same man--he -had the same rope--I wonder where he went--come on--let’s hurry!” - -“If we hurry any faster,” objected Joe, “we’re going to be all tired -out before we get anywhere.” - -“That’s what I say,” agreed Dick. “Let’s take it easy.” - -“You can go pretty fast for a fat boy,” complimented Joe as he ruffled -his red hair. It was beginning to get damp and curly now, for Joe was -perspiring. - -“Yes, I always was pretty fast,” admitted Fatty Nolan. “First I tried -to get thin by running and hurrying. But it didn’t do any good. I kept -on getting fatter. So I hurry anyhow.” - -“Well, there’s no special need for it,” decided Teddy. “We aren’t -going any particular place. We just want to catch up to this man and -find out if he is after the deer.” - -“He’s after something or he wouldn’t have that rope,” was Joe’s opinion. - -“And he hasn’t caught whatever he was after yesterday, or he wouldn’t -be out with his lasso again today,” decided Dick. - -“I wonder who he is?” Teddy said. - -“I think maybe he works on one of the farms around here,” answered -Fatty. “There are many hired men on the farms now. This is summer, and -there’s lots of work for hired men. My father is going to get one. I -help him but that isn’t enough, he says. What are you going to do?” he -asked as Dick Kelly threw himself on the grass behind some bushes. - -“Take a little rest in this shade,” Dick answered. Dick, too, was -stout; not as fat as the Nolan boy, but stouter than either Teddy or -Joe. - -“I guess we can all take a rest,” agreed Teddy. “I wish I had a -drink of water,” he went on as he wiped his sweaty forehead with his -handkerchief. - -“There’s a spring not far from here,” said Fatty. “It’s over that -way--near those trees. I sometimes let our cows stop there and get -drinks.” - -“I wouldn’t want to drink from a spring if cows drank from it,” Teddy -objected. - -“There are two springs,” said the fat boy. “The big one is where the -cows drink. I wouldn’t want to drink there, either. But there’s a -smaller spring, above the one where I let the cows drink. That small -spring is nice and clean.” - -“We’ll go there after we rest,” decided Teddy. - -Joe was fumbling in his pocket and soon brought out a little paper bag. -He opened it, held it out to Teddy and said: - -“Have some!” - -“What are they?” asked Teddy. - -“Gum drops. I bought them in Mrs. Traddle’s store while you and Dick -were out looking at the deer’s hoof marks in the garden.” - -“Thanks!” murmured Teddy as he began chewing some of the gum drops. -“They’ll make me more thirsty. Candy always does. But it won’t matter -as long as we’re near a spring.” - -“Have some, Fatty!” Joe invited. - -“Well--er--yes--thanks--I will. Maybe I oughtn’t to eat any. Candy -makes you fatter they say, but I guess a couple of gum drops won’t, -will they?” - -“Try ’em and see!” suggested Joe. - -They finished the bag of gum drops, Fatty eating his share, and then -Teddy, taking a string from his pocket, began passing it around the -Nolan boy’s waist. - -“What are you trying to do, lasso me?” laughed the stout lad. - -“No,” said Teddy, “I was just trying to measure to see if those gum -drops had made you any fatter. I don’t believe they have. Not yet, -anyway,” he ended with a laugh in which the others joined. - -“Oh, I guess candy doesn’t work that fast on me,” said Fatty. - -Besides making Teddy more thirsty, the gum drops also increased the -thirst of the other boys. So, after waiting a little while to rest, -they went to the spring. Fatty Nolan acted as guide. - -“I guess maybe that man with the lasso has gotten away from us,” Teddy -said as they neared the spring. - -“Well, if we don’t find him today we may tomorrow,” said Dick. “It’s -getting too hot to hurry much.” - -As Fatty had said, there were two springs in a little glade not far -from where Teddy and his chums had sat down to rest. The larger water -hole was rather muddy, and all about it were the hoof-marks of cattle. -But farther up, amid a little group of trees and bushes, was a small -spring. It bubbled out of the rocks into a natural rock basin. - -Stretching out on the ground, the boys took turns drinking the clear, -cold water. Teddy took two drinks. - -“Oh, that’s good!” he exclaimed as he rose to wipe off his lips. “Water -always tastes twice as good after you’ve been eating candy,” he added. - -The boys stood silent for a moment near the spring. They were wondering -what to do next. Suddenly, from over the tops of some bushes behind -them, a rope came circling through the air. The loop of a lasso fell -over Teddy and, a moment later, he was pulled backward off his feet, -falling on a bunch of leaves. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -THE PICNIC LUNCH - - -Surprise, for a few seconds, kept the boys from saying a word. Teddy, -himself, was not only astonished, but the breath was somewhat jolted -out of him so he could not have said anything even if he had wished to. - -Joe, Dick and Fatty Nolan were the first to speak and they all shouted, -together: - -“Who did that?” - -By this time Teddy had managed to scramble to his feet. He loosened the -loop of the lasso and slipped it over his head, letting the coils fall -to the ground. Then he, too, demanded: - -“Who did that?” - -There was no answer. Teddy picked up the rope and pulled on it. The far -end came snaking over the ground out of the bushes. - -“Why, there’s no one there!” exclaimed Dick. “No one has hold of the -rope!” - -“But somebody must have thrown this lasso!” declared Joe. - -“And they gave it a good yank, too, after they lassoed me,” said Teddy. -“I was pulled right off my feet! I’m going to find out who’s playing -tricks!” - -Teddy was about to pull all the rope toward him, in coils at his feet, -when Fatty Nolan called: - -“Don’t do that!” - -“Why not?” Teddy asked. - -“Because,” answered the fat boy, “if you pull in all the rope you won’t -be able to see where it ends. Leave it lying there and we can trail it -to the far end and see who lassoed you.” - -“I don’t believe you can,” said Dick. “I think whoever threw that lasso -ran away right after they tossed it at you, Teddy. We won’t find anyone -at the other end of this rope. But Fatty’s idea is a good one. We’ll -follow the rope and see.” - -“I used to belong to the Boy Scouts where I lived before we came here,” -Fatty said a bit proudly. “I’m going to join again if there’s a troop -here.” - -“Sure there is,” Teddy said. “We all belong.” - -Just as Dick had predicted, there was no one at the end of the lasso -when the boys had trailed it to the bushes. There it lay, stretched out -like a hempen snake. - -“Take it easy now, fellows,” cautioned Teddy as his chums crowded -around the end of the rope. - -“Why?” asked Joe. “Do you think the lasso man is hiding around here?” - -“No, I think he’s far enough away by this time,” Teddy replied. “But I -was going to see if I could find his footprints. Maybe we could trace -him that way.” - -“That’s right!” Fatty agreed. “Let Teddy look alone. If we all walk -around here there’ll be so many footprints he won’t be able to tell -one from another.” - -“I don’t know that I’ll be able to detect any marks as it is,” Teddy -said. “This ground is sort of hard. But maybe there will be traces of -some shoe prints.” - -Teddy knelt down and began to use some of his Boy Scout knowledge in -trailing. At first, he saw nothing unusual. As he had said, the ground -was too hard. But, after scouting about a bit, Teddy uttered a cry of -surprise. - -“I think I’ve found it!” he exclaimed. “Come over here! Careful, -fellows! Look!” and he pointed to a little patch of soft earth in which -was imbedded several impressions of a small star. - -“What does that mean?” asked Dick. “That an astronomer has been here?” - -“No,” Teddy answered. “But it means somebody that wears metal heel -plates in the shape of a star has been here. And I think they were on -the shoes of the man who lassoed me.” - -“What do you mean by heel plates?” asked Fatty. - -“Why, some men, who wear down the heels of their shoes faster than -the soles, put metal plates on the heels to stop the wear,” Teddy -explained. “Mr. Crispen, the cobbler on Main street, has lots of heel -plates. They come in different shapes. Maybe he has some like these -stars and can tell us who bought them.” - -“That’s a dandy clue,” said Joe. - -“But it doesn’t help us find the mysterious deer,” Dick stated. “Unless -the deer wore heel plates.” - -“Well, if the deer did wear heel plates, he certainly didn’t lasso me,” -declared Teddy. “Though the lasso man who ran away and the mysterious -deer must be mixed up in some way.” - -“Why do you think he lassoed you?” asked Fatty Nolan. - -“Haven’t the least idea,” Teddy answered. “Unless maybe he wanted to -scare us away from following him.” - -“But if he wanted to do that, he wouldn’t run away and leave a good -lasso, would he?” asked Joe. - -“You can’t tell,” was Teddy’s answer. “Anyhow,” he went on, “it’s a -good lasso. It’s just like some of those the cowboys had in the Wild -West Show that was here last year. The man who left this lasso must be -sorry to lose it.” - -“Do you think he stood here and threw at you?” asked Joe. - -“That’s what it looks like, from the star heel plates,” Teddy answered. -“Look, you can see a lot of them now.” - -There were several impressions of the star heel plates in the soft -ground, near where the end of the lasso led. But when the boys tried to -follow the trail they soon lost it. They could not trace the peculiar -marks where the ground was hard. - -Perhaps, a more experienced trailer might have been able to do so. But -the boys were only amateurs and had no luck. - -“Anyhow,” Teddy declared, “I got a good lasso out of it. And we know -who to look for now--a man with star heel plates.” - -“What are you going to do now?” asked Joe as Teddy began coiling the -rope. - -“Let’s go back to town and ask Mr. Crispen if he can tell us who bought -any star heel plates lately,” Teddy suggested. - -The others agreed this was a good idea and it was at once acted on. -They started back to the village. - -“Though this isn’t finding the mysterious deer,” remarked Joe. - -“We’ll have another try at that after we find out about the heel -plates,” Teddy said. - -On the way back across the meadows and fields the boys kept a lookout -for a sight of the deer or the lasso man who had so mysteriously -disappeared after making a cast at Teddy. But they saw neither. They -took their time, stopping to get another drink at the spring before -taking the homeward trail. - -It was this same day that Margie, Lucy and several other girls went on -a little picnic to Buttermilk Falls. This was a favorite picnic spot -for the young people of Oakdale. The falls were not very high. But they -were churned to whiteness by tumbling down a rocky glen and so had been -named because of their resemblance to thick buttermilk. - -Around the falls were patches of woodland and meadows and in these -Margie, Lucy and several of their girl friends were soon having fun; -playing games, running about and finding shady places in which to rest. - -Noon came and there was a general gathering of the picnic party to -where their lunches had been left under a rustic shelter. The woods -and fields around Buttermilk Falls were maintained by the Oakdale -authorities as a public park. Tables and benches were provided for -picnic parties and there were several stone fire places where potatoes -could be roasted and sausages broiled. - -“But it’s too hot to cook anything today,” Margie had decided. Lucy had -agreed with her so they had brought only a cold lunch with them. This -lunch they now picked up at the rustic shelter and took it to a shady -spot along the little stream that flowed away from the foot of the -falls. - -“Oh, isn’t it lovely here!” exclaimed Lucy as she put her lunch down on -the grass. - -“It’s the nicest place!” agreed Margie. She, too, laid down her package -of lunch for a moment to open a thermos bottle of lemonade she had -brought. - -The girls were about to eat their lunches when a sudden scream from a -group of their chums near the falls made them look up. - -“Oh, Nellie has fallen in!” some one cried. - -Margie and Lucy rushed to the scene of the accident. But it was a very -slight one. A little girl, leaning over the edge of the stream to wash -her hands, had toppled in. The water was shallow and Mrs. Watson, one -of the ladies who had accompanied the girls, soon pulled Nellie out. -She was wet but not harmed. - -“You must be more careful, my dear,” said Mrs. Watson. - -“But I couldn’t help it,” Nellie said. “Something scared me.” - -“Something scared you! What?” - -“A big animal right across the brook. He looked at me with such big -eyes and then I fell in!” - -Some of the girls laughed. But Margie and Lucy glanced at one another -in a knowing way and Lucy said: - -“It must have been that deer!” - -“I believe it was!” agreed Margie. “How queer!” - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -HEEL PLATE CLUE - - -Somehow, Margie and Lucy did not speak of the mysterious deer to -Nellie, the other girls or to Mrs. Watson. Lucy and Margie hurried away -from the scene of the little accident as soon as it was certain Nellie -was only wet and frightened but not hurt. - -“I thought we had better not say anything about it being a deer that -might have frightened Nellie,” said Lucy when the two were off by -themselves. - -“I thought the same,” agreed Margie. “Besides, we aren’t positive it -was the deer.” - -“No, but I believe it was,” said Lucy. “Only I didn’t see why we should -tell everyone the secret.” - -“Of course not,” agreed her chum. “The deer sort of belongs to our -club. If we can find out about it by ourselves, instead of bringing in -a lot of others, it will be more fun.” - -“That’s what I think,” agreed Lucy. “But I wish I had been there when -the deer looked out of the bushes across the brook.” - -“And scared Nellie so she fell in,” added Margie. “It’s a wonder she -didn’t know it was a deer.” - -“That’s right. She just called it some big animal. But I’m sure the -deer was around here. It must be here yet.” - -“Sure,” agreed Margie. “Do you think, after we eat our lunch, we should -try to find the deer? It would be a good joke on the boys if we found -it first, wouldn’t it?” - -“Just scrumptious!” laughed Lucy. “But I think maybe we had better not -go off deer hunting by ourselves. That deer has horns and it might be -dangerous.” - -“Besides, we might get lost looking for it,” went on Margie. “The woods -are thick and dark once you go a little way from Buttermilk Falls. But -we can tell the boys about the deer and they can come here and hunt it.” - -“Yes. And now let’s eat our lunches. I’m starved!” - -“So am I!” assented Margie. “I have some lovely chicken sandwiches that -mother put up for me.” - -“I have only ham sandwiches,” said Lucy. “But I have a big piece of -chocolate cake.” - -“I’ll trade you a chicken sandwich for a piece of chocolate cake,” -Margie offered. - -“That will make it just right!” laughed Lucy. She ran ahead of Margie -but suddenly came to a stop. - -“What’s the matter?” asked Margie. - -“Isn’t this the place where we left our lunch?” asked Lucy. - -“Yes, right there by that big rock,” said Margie. - -“Well, it isn’t here now!” went on Lucy. - -“What! Has somebody taken our lunch?” cried Margie. - -“I don’t know whether or not anybody has taken it,” spoke Lucy as she -looked around. “But our lunch is gone. There is nothing left of it but -some crumbs and paper!” - -“Then somebody ate our lunch when we ran to see about Nellie falling in -the brook!” cried Margie. - -“Somebody--or some animal,” spoke Lucy as she continued to look about. -“And from the way the paper is torn and scattered and from the marks -here, I would say it was an animal, Margie.” - -“What marks? What animal, Lucy?” - -“Hoof marks of a deer,” replied Teddy’s sister. “That deer must have -jumped the brook, after it scared Nellie, and it came here and ate our -food.” - -“Oh! Oh!” sighed Margie. “I didn’t know a deer would eat chicken -sandwiches and lovely chocolate cake!” - -“I didn’t either,” spoke Lucy. “But I guess they do. It’s too bad!” Her -eyes were wide with excitement. - -“I should say it is!” agreed Dick’s sister. “But what are we going to -do?” - -For a time it seemed as if the two girls would have to go without their -picnic lunch. But Mrs. Watson, making the rounds to see that all the -children were safe, suddenly noticed how upset Margie and Lucy were. - -“What’s the matter?” Mrs. Watson asked. - -“Someone took our lunch,” explained Margie. - -“Oh, I hardly think anyone of our party would be so unkind as to -do that,” said Mrs. Watson. “And there aren’t any boys along. Boys -sometimes play those tricks, I know, but girls don’t.” - -“I think it was an animal,” explained Lucy. But she did not speak of -the deer. - -Mrs. Watson heard the story of how Margie and Lucy had left their lunch -on the ground, near the rock, while they ran to see what had happened -to Nellie. - -“Very likely some animal, a fox, perhaps, or a raccoon, came along and -thought your picnic lunch was for him,” said Mrs. Watson. “Never mind, -my dears. Nearly every girl brings more lunch than she can eat to these -little picnics of ours. I am sure some of them will be glad to share -with you.” - -When the plight of Margie and Lucy became known, they had so many -offers of sandwiches, cake and other things that they could not have -eaten it all if they had tried. - -“My! We never had so many adventures before on any of our picnics,” -said Mrs. Watson when lunch time was over. “What with Nellie falling in -the brook and food mysteriously disappearing it was all quite exciting. -What sort of an animal was it you think scared you, Nellie?” - -“Well, I can’t be sure of that, but I think it was an elephant,” Nellie -answered. And while the others laughed she said: “Well, it COULD be an -elephant, couldn’t it?” - -“Of course it could,” said Mrs. Watson. “For elephants have been known -to escape from circuses. But I hardly think it was, Nellie. It might -have been a cow or a dog.” - -“Do dogs have horns?” asked Nellie, who was about seven years old. - -“Not that I ever heard of,” laughed Mrs. Watson. - -“Then it was a cow,” said Nellie. “’Cause I saw horns.” - -“More likely it was a cow,” agreed Mrs. Watson. “But a cow wouldn’t -hurt you.” - -“It didn’t hurt me but it scared me,” stated the little girl. She was -quite dry by this time, for Mrs. Watson had made her take off her outer -garments which had dried in the sun and wind. - -When Nellie spoke of a “cow,” Margie and Lucy looked quickly at each -other. They felt sure the animal with horns, which had so frightened -Nellie as to cause her to fall into the brook, was not a cow but the -mysterious deer. - -When the picnic was over, Margie and Lucy hurried to their homes, -which were close together. - -“We want to tell the boys about the deer being near Buttermilk Falls,” -said Margie. - -“Then they can go look for it,” said Lucy. - -But neither Teddy, Dick nor Joe was at home when the girls reached town. - -“They started off early this morning, before you went to the picnic,” -said Mrs. Benson. “They haven’t come back yet.” - -“Didn’t they come home to lunch?” asked Lucy. - -“No,” said her mother. “But that is nothing to worry about. Teddy said -he might not be back. And he has money so he can buy a glass of milk -and a sandwich if he needs it. Why are you so anxious about the boys?” - -“We want to tell them about the mysterious deer,” said Lucy, as she and -Margie related the story of the afternoon’s adventures. - -Meanwhile Teddy and his chums were starting to have some adventures of -their own. They had come back to town after the strange lassoing of -Teddy near the spring. They went to the cobbler shop of Mr. Crispen. - -“Heel plates, eh?” questioned the old shoe-maker as he looked up from -his bench at the boys. “Yes, I have some.” - -“Have you any with a star on?” asked Teddy. - -“I had just one pair like that,” Mr. Crispen answered. “But I sold ’em, -day afore yistiday. Sort of funny, it was, too. I had ’em in stock a -long time. But nobody seemed to want that pattern. - -“Then, day afore yistiday, all of a sudden, a young fellow came in here -and bought ’em. Said he sort of fancied ’em. So I sold ’em to him.” - -“Do you know who he was?” asked Joe, eagerly. - -“Well, I don’t know him, exactly. But I got his name down somewhere. He -said he wanted another pair of star heel plates and I said I’d send -and get some. So I took his name to send a postal to him when they -come. I got it somewhere--I mean his name.” - -“What sort of a man was he?” asked Teddy. - -“Oh, sort of tall and thin. Funny part of it was he had a long rope -with him, sort of a lasso I took it to be. He might be one of them Wild -Westerners for all I know. I got his name some place around here.” - -While Mr. Crispen was getting up from his bench to look for the name -and address of the buyer of the star heel plates, Teddy whispered to -his chums: - -“We’re on his trail! We have the heel plate clue! Maybe now we can -trace the mysterious deer!” - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -THE TRAP - - -Old Mr. Crispen was never in very much of a hurry. He had been the -cobbler, or shoemaker as most Oakdale folk called him, for many years. -But Mr. Crispen no longer made shoes. He only repaired them. And he -took his own time about doing that. - -If Teddy or any of his chums brought their own shoes, or those of any -member of their families, to Mr. Crispen’s shop, they were often told -the shoes would be ready in a day or two. - -“Next Tuesday or Wednesday,” Mr. Crispen would say as he marked some -mysterious characters in chalk on the sole. - -But when Tuesday or Wednesday came, nearly always the shoes would not -be ready. - -“Had more work than I expected,” Mr. Crispen would report. “I’ll have -your shoes tomorrow,” he would say, or it might be the next day. - -So Teddy and his chums, as well as nearly everyone else in Oakdale, -never went for their shoes on the day they were promised. They waited -one or two days after that and usually then the shoes would be ready. - -So it was no surprise to the deer hunters to hear Mr. Crispen say, -after he had fumbled about his bench, counter and shelves: - -“Sorry, boys, but those shoes won’t be ready afore tomorrow.” - -“But,” said Teddy with a wink at his chums, “we didn’t come here for -shoes.” - -“What did you come for, then?” - -“Heel-plates,” prompted Joe. - -“With a star on,” added Dick. - -“Oh, yes. I remember now. I sold them to a man, sort of a cowboy with a -lasso. I was going to give you his name, wasn’t I?” - -“Yes,” Teddy answered, “you were, Mr. Crispen.” - -“Well, I’m sorry, but that name won’t be finished afore day arter -tomorrow. I’ve been sort of rushed with work lately, and--” - -“But this wasn’t _work_,” explained Teddy. “You were just going to look -for the name of the man you sold one pair of star heel plates to, and -who wanted another pair. Just his _name_, you know.” - -“Oh, yes, that’s so, the name. You only want his name. I thought you -wanted shoes. Well, let me see now, what did I do with his name? I -wrote it on a piece of paper and then I put the paper away some place. -I can’t just remember where. But it’ll come to me in a day or two, I -dare say. Come back then.” - -“Don’t you think you could find it now?” asked Dick. - -“No, I don’t,” said Mr. Crispen as he took up a hammer and began -pounding a leather sole. “I can’t remember.” - -“Maybe you could if we helped you,” suggested Joe. - -“What’s that?” exclaimed the old man, looking up through his thick, -bushy eyebrows at the chums. “Let you lads go all over my place looking -for a paper with a name on? No, sir-ee! You’d mix everything all up. I -wouldn’t be able to find a waxed end in a month. It can’t be done! Give -me, say a week, and I’ll find that paper.” - -“That might be too late,” said Teddy. - -“Look here!” exclaimed the shoemaker, getting up from his bench. “Why -are you so anxious to have that man’s name? What’s all this about my -star heel plates?” - -Teddy Benson took a sudden resolve. It might be a good idea to have Mr. -Crispen in their confidence. If they told him part of the mystery he -might help them solve it. Anyhow they were getting nowhere by waiting a -week to get on the trail of the man with the star heel plates. - -“What’s it all about?” asked Mr. Crispen again. He seemed suspicious, -as though he feared some trick might be played on him. - -“I’m going to tell him,” Teddy whispered to his chums. Then he added: -“We think those star heel plates may be a clue.” - -“A clue to what?” asked the cobbler. - -“To a mysterious deer,” Teddy said. - -“Say, what are you, fellows? Boy detectives?” asked Mr. Crispen with a -laugh. - -“Not exactly,” Teddy replied. “But we are on the trail of a mysterious -deer and we want to find the man who lassoed me with star heel plates.” - -“Lassoed you with star heel plates?” cried Mr. Crispen. “Land sakes, I -never heard of such a thing!” - -“I mean,” went on Teddy with a laugh, “a man lassoed me with a rope. We -think he did it by mistake. Then he ran away but we saw where he had -been standing. And he had star heel plates. So we thought maybe you -could give us the clue to the man.” - -“And you could,” put in Joe, “if you could find his name.” - -“Oh, I can find his name, once I put my mind to it,” said the old -cobbler. “But what has this got to do with a mysterious deer?” - -“I’ll tell you about that,” Teddy said. He and his chums related the -story, including the last episode of the lassoing of Teddy. - -“So what you really want to do,” said Mr. Crispen, “is to catch that -deer, isn’t it? The deer that ate up Mrs. Traddle’s garden. You want -the deer.” - -“Yes!” exclaimed Teddy and his chums. - -“Well,” said the cobbler as he again sat at his bench, “I can tell you -a better way to catch the deer than by looking for a man with star heel -plates.” - -“How?” asked the three boys together. - -“Get him in a trap,” said Mr. Crispen. He snapped the gnarled thumb and -finger of his right hand sharply, as if the mysterious deer had already -been caught. “A trap’s the thing for deer!” - -“A trap?” questioned Teddy. And his chums also murmured: - -“A trap?” - -“Certainly,” went on the cobbler. “Easiest thing in the world. You set -the trap, catch the deer and that’s the end of the mystery. What do you -want to bother about heel plates for?” - -“But the man with the star heel plates lassoed Teddy,” said Joe. - -“That’s all right,” said the cobbler. He stopped to peel a little -rubber cement from his left thumb nail. “You can trail that cowboy -later. I don’t believe he had anything to do with the deer. But if you -want to catch the critter that ate up Mrs. Traddle’s garden, a trap’s -the thing.” - -“But we don’t want to hurt the deer,” objected Teddy. “It might be a -valuable animal and we could get a reward if we took it to the owner.” - -“True enough,” murmured Mr. Crispen. “True enough and fair enough. I -hope you get the reward. But I didn’t say anything about harming a deer -you caught in a trap.” - -“I thought traps always hurt the wild animals caught in them,” said Joe. - -“So did I,” added Dick. - -“We mustn’t hurt the deer,” declared Teddy. “I wouldn’t want the sharp -teeth of a steel trap to snap on one of his legs.” - -“I’m not talking about that kind of a trap,” said Mr. Crispen. “What I -mean is a box trap. The deer will go in, a door will close behind him -and he’ll be nicely caught in a box trap. You can use the box trap to -ship that deer wherever you want to send him to get the reward.” - -“It sounds easy,” Joe said. “But we don’t know how to make a box trap. -Do you, Mr. Crispen?” - -“Of course I do. When I was a boy I used to catch all sorts of wild -animals in traps--box traps, too. I’ve caught foxes, bobcats, weasels, -muskrats.” - -“Did you ever catch a deer?” asked Teddy. - -“Don’t know’s I did,” admitted the cobbler. “Never had no reason to. -But catching the deer in a box trap would be just the same as catching -a bear, I guess. Only easier.” - -“Did you ever catch a bear?” asked Teddy, his eyes shining. The other -boys were equally excited. “A real bear?” - -“Of course I did!” chuckled Mr. Crispen. “Wouldn’t be any fun catching -a make-believe bear. I caught real bears out in the West when I was -younger. And if I can catch a bear I can catch a deer.” - -“Will you help us?” asked Teddy, somewhat shyly. - -“Of course I will!” exclaimed the cobbler. “It will be like old times -for me. I haven’t done any trapping in a long time. It will be fun.” - -“When can you do it?” asked Joe. - -“Tonight after I close my shop here.” - -“And how will we get the trap by that time?” asked Dick. - -“I’ll attend to that. All I need is a strong, heavy box, and I have -that. Yes, boys, we’ll set a trap for that deer tonight. And, what’s -more we’ll catch him!” - -Again Mr. Crispen snapped his gnarled finger and thumb as if he had -shot off a small gun. - -The boys were delighted. It seemed as if the mystery of the deer would -soon be solved. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -SETTING THE TRAP - - -Forgotten for a time was the mysterious man with the lasso. The man who -wore star heel plates could wait. What Teddy and his chums wanted to do -now was to catch the mysterious deer. - -But after the first joyous excitement over Mr. Crispen’s promise about -the trap, Teddy began to think a little. It might not be so easy as it -sounded. With this in mind he asked the old cobbler: - -“Where will you set the trap, Mr. Crispen?” - -“Why the best place would be where the deer comes. You’ve got to set a -trap for deer near what is called a deer-run. Set a trap in some other -place and you won’t catch a deer in a month of Sundays.” - -“But where is a deer-run?” asked Dick. - -“We don’t know of any,” added Joe. - -“And,” added Teddy Benson, “we don’t know where to look next for the -deer. If we did, we might be able to catch him without a trap.” - -“No, sir, boys! You’ve got to have a trap!” said Mr. Crispen. “Let me -set the trap for you and you’ll catch the deer just like that!” Again -he snapped his finger and thumb. - -“But where are you going to set the trap?” asked Teddy. - -“Ha!” chuckled the old cobbler. “That’s my secret. But I’ll let you in -on it. Come into my back room and I’ll tell you!” - -Teddy and his chums were beginning to enjoy the entrance of Cobbler -Crispen into their search for the mysterious deer. They felt he would -be of much more help to them than the girls or even Fatty Nolan. - -“Though maybe that lasso man with the star heel plates could tell -something if he wanted to,” Teddy whispered to his chums as they went -into the cobbler’s rear room. - -“If we could catch him,” added Joe. - -“Yes,” said Dick. “That lasso man is almost as mysterious as the deer.” - -“Come on in, boys,” invited Mr. Crispen. “This is where I do my -thinking and planning,” he added. It was a small, rear room where he -kept an extra bench, some tools and his supplies. There were several -rolls of leather in the place and they gave it a strong odor, mixed -with that of shoemaker’s wax. - -“Have you the deer trap here?” asked Joe. - -“Oh, my goodness, no!” exclaimed the old cobbler. “I have to make the -trap. I brought you here to tell you where I plan to set it after I -have the trap made. I didn’t want any chance customer to hear about my -plan.” - -“Why?” asked Teddy. - -“Because,” answered Mr. Crispen with a quick look around as he shut the -door, “somebody else might try our plan of trapping the deer. They -might catch him ahead of us and then where would you boys be when the -reward money is paid?” - -“Oh,” said Joe, “we aren’t sure any reward money is going to be paid.” - -“Of course there will be!” insisted Mr. Crispen. “It’s a valuable deer, -from what you tell me. Whoever owns it will be glad to pay a reward to -get it back.” - -“Maybe it might be a wild deer,” said Dick. - -“Not from the way you tell me it acted,” said the cobbler, again -snapping his finger and thumb and nodding his head. “Most likely it -belongs to that lasso man. He’ll pay you for bringing it back.” - -“Suppose he finds it first?” asked Teddy. - -“We’ll get ahead of him. I’ll have my trap ready to set tomorrow -night,” said the cobbler. “I’ll work on it tonight and tomorrow. Folks -that are in a hurry for their shoes will have to wait. It isn’t every -day I get a chance to trap a deer. It’s like old times to me!” he -laughed. - -“But won’t you want part of the reward money?” asked Dick. - -“No, not a penny. You boys may divide it all,” was the answer. - -“I tell you maybe there won’t be any!” insisted Joe. - -“There was a reward when we found the mystery pony,” said Teddy. “Not -that I expect it. But maybe there might be one for the deer.” - -“Of course there will be!” declared Mr. Crispen. “Now about setting -this trap. Where do you think I’m going to put it?” - -“In the woods,” guessed Joe. - -“In the fields,” said Dick. - -“Near the glen in Mason’s meadow, where we first saw the deer,” -ventured Teddy. - -“All good places,” agreed Mr. Crispen. “But I know a better one. I’m -going to put the trap in Mrs. Traddle’s garden,” exclaimed the old -cobbler. “That’s the place where the deer came to feed and he’ll -likely go back there. And we’ll trap him there!” - -“But maybe Mrs. Traddle won’t let you put the trap in her garden,” -suggested Joe. - -“Oh, yes, I think she will,” said Mr. Crispen. “If she makes a fuss -we’ll promise her some of the reward money for the damage the deer did. -At least you boys can promise her some of the money. The reward is -going to be all yours. I don’t want it. How’s that?” - -“Sounds all right to me,” Teddy admitted. - -“Swell!” said Joe. - -“Fine and dandy,” was Dick’s opinion. - -“All right then,” said the cobbler. “I’ll start making the trap. You -boys get permission from Mrs. Traddle to set it in or near her garden, -and tomorrow night we’ll catch that deer!” - -Mr. Crispen seemed very sure about it. Teddy and his chums hoped the -plan would succeed. Anyhow, it promised to be exciting fun to set the -trap. - -“But we’ll wait until tomorrow to ask Mrs. Traddle if we can put the -trap in her garden,” Teddy suggested as he and his chums started for -their homes. - -The next day they went to the cobbler’s shop again. The front door was -closed and locked and a sign on it said: - - NO SHOES DELIVERED TODAY - -“I wonder where he’s gone?” said Dick. - -“Around in his back room, I’d say,” ventured Teddy. - -“Yes, here he is!” called Joe who had gone around the side path. “And -he’s working on the trap,” he added as he looked in a window. “Come on, -fellows!” - -Mr. Crispen was glad to see the boys. He let them in when they tapped -at the rear door. In the middle of the back room was a box about twice -the size of a dog kennel. - -“The trap is nearly finished,” said the cobbler. “It works this way,” -and he demonstrated and explained. “The deer goes in this end,” he -said. “It has an up-and-down sliding door. The other end is closed. -As soon as the deer goes in, the sliding door drops and the deer is -caught. It’s a regular box trap. Doesn’t hurt the deer at all.” - -“But what makes the sliding door fall?” asked Teddy. - -“The deer shuts it himself,” said Mr. Crispen. - -“How?” inquired Joe. - -“Like this,” and the cobbler showed the boys. “The door is held up and -open by a catch. On the end of the catch, inside the box trap, is the -bait. The deer starts to nibble the bait. This pulls out the catch and -the door falls and the deer is caught.” - -“Are you sure he will go inside to nibble the bait?” asked Joe. - -“I’m positive,” declared Mr. Crispen. - -“What bait are you going to use?” asked Teddy. - -“A combination of carrots, cabbage, turnips and salt, all made into -a sort of package,” was the answer. “No deer can keep from nibbling -that. Now you boys go and get permission from Mrs. Traddle to put the -trap in her garden.” - -A little doubtful of what Mrs. Traddle might say, the three boys went -to the candy store. As a sort of opening wedge, Teddy bought some -chocolate creams, ordering them in such a loud voice that the deaf old -lady did not confuse them with popcorn balls. Then Teddy, thinking she -was in good humor, said: - -“We want to set a deer trap in your garden, may we?” - -“What’s that? You lost a hat in my garden? Why of course you may go in -and get it, boys. But I don’t see how you could lose a hat. The wind -isn’t blowing much.” - -“Not a HAT--a TRAP!” said Teddy loudly. - -“A mouse trap?” asked Mrs. Traddle doubtfully. - -“No, a DEER TRAP!” Joe said, trying his luck. He finally managed -to make Mrs. Traddle understand. And when she was promised some of -the possible reward money to pay for the damage the deer had done to -her garden, she gave permission. Not only that, but she supplied the -vegetables for the bait. - -The boys went back to the cobbler’s shop. The trap was almost finished. - -“Good work!” complimented Mr. Crispen when Teddy and his chums told -of their success and gave him the vegetables. “I have some salt of my -own,” the cobbler said. “Deer are very fond of salt.” - -The boys, having obtained permission from their parents to go with the -cobbler to set the trap after dark, found Mr. Crispen waiting for them -at his shop. He had the trap on a small cart he used to haul his rolls -of leather from the railroad express office. - -“It won’t be long now before we have that deer,” said Mr. Crispen. -“Come along, boys!” - -Teddy and his chums helped push the cart through the streets to the -rear of Mrs. Traddle’s garden. It was dusk. But if the strange little -procession was observed, doubtless it was thought to be some boys -moving a dog house. That’s what the trap looked like. - -“Now show me,” said Mr. Crispen when the garden was reached, “just -where the deer got in that time and ate the corn.” - -The boys indicated the place. It could still be seen in the light of -the moon, for that part of Mrs. Traddle’s garden still bore the marks -made by the trampling deer. - -“Now we’ll place and set the trap,” said the cobbler. “Then we’ll get -out of here. The deer won’t come if we stay around very long.” - -“Do you think the deer will come?” asked Teddy. - -“Oh, sure he will!” replied Mr. Crispen. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -A CAPTIVE - - -Teddy and his chums helped Mr. Crispen set the deer trap in Mrs. -Traddle’s garden. The candy-store keeper watched them for a while, but -whenever the bell on her store door jingled, she hurried inside to wait -on a customer. Each time the door was opened a bell rang. Sometimes -Mrs. Traddle heard it and sometimes she didn’t. - -But at last, growing tired of running in and out, Mrs. Traddle remained -in the store and left the boys and the cobbler to their work. It was -getting dark now. - -“There!” exclaimed Mr. Crispen as he set the bait and adjusted the -catch of the sliding door. “The trap is all ready. What we need now is -for the deer to come along and be caught.” - -“Are you sure the trap will work?” asked Teddy. - -“Oh, sure!” said the cobbler. “Just you try it.” - -“Go on, Teddy, get in!” advised Dick with a laugh. - -“And get caught!” cried Teddy. “I should say not!” - -“But we’re here to let you out,” said Joe. - -Under that promise Teddy consented to enter the box trap to see if it -would work. - -“But no fooling!” he told his chums. “If I get caught in there you’ve -got to let me out.” - -“I’ll see to that,” promised Mr. Crispen. “It will be a good way to -test the trap. Now, Teddy, here is what you do. The trap is big enough -for you to go in if you stoop a little. From what you told me, the deer -isn’t quite as tall as you boys, even counting his horns.” - -“No, he’s about our size,” Dick said. - -“A deer can bend his head backward and sort of lay his horns along -his back,” explained the cobbler. “That’s what they do when they run -through the woods so their horns won’t get caught. So I think I have -made the trap plenty high enough for the deer. - -“When you go in, Teddy, just pretend you are a deer and take hold of -the bait with your hand. The bait is tied to the trigger that will slip -the catch and let the door fall back of you. You will be a captive for -a little while. But we’ll soon let you out. - -“Then, if we find the trap works all right, and I’m sure it will, I’ll -set it again and we’ll go away. In the morning we shall have another -captive, I’m sure.” - -“You mean the deer?” asked Joe. - -“I mean the deer,” said the cobbler. - -When all was ready, and the bundle of carrots, cabbage, lettuce and -salt tied to the trigger, Teddy stooped and walked into the trap. It -was just about large enough for him. - -“All ready fellows!” he called in a muffled voice. “Here she goes!” - -A moment later, with a thud, the door dropped down back of the boy and -he was caught in the trap. - -“It worked!” cried Joe. - -“Swell!” exclaimed Dick. - -“I knew it would,” chuckled the cobbler. He walked all around the trap -to make sure it was tight. The moon was beginning to rise now and the -party of deer-trappers could see quite well. - -“I say!” called Teddy. “When are you going to let me out of here?” - -“Oh, that’s so,” said Joe, pretending to have forgotten his chum. -“Teddy is in the trap, isn’t he?” - -“I was wondering what had become of him,” Dick remarked with pretended -innocence. - -“Open that door!” cried Teddy. - -A man passing in the road, which was not far from where the trap was -being set in Mrs. Traddle’s garden, suddenly stopped and called: - -“What’s going on there?” - -At the same time Teddy called again in loud tones: - -“Let me out! Let me out of this trap!” - -“Oh, so you’re putting boys in traps, are you!” cried the man in angry -tones. “I’ll stop that!” He leaped over the fence. Joe, Dick and Mr. -Crispen saw it was Policeman Robbin. - -“What’s going on here?” demanded the officer, his ruddy face darkened -by anger. - -“We’re just setting a deer trap, and Teddy went in to test it,” -explained Joe as Dick and Mr. Crispen raised the door. - -“Oh,” said the policeman, with a little laugh. “Excuse me. But I -thought somebody was trying to catch a boy in a trap.” - -“Well,” laughed Teddy, “I was caught all right. But the trap sure -works. That door fell shut as soon as I touched the bait.” - -“I hope it happens that way when the deer goes in,” said Joe. - -“It will,” declared Mr. Crispen. - -It did not take long to re-set the trap. Policeman Robbin watched for a -while and then, jumping back over the fence, went on duty again. - -“Well, we can leave now,” said the cobbler as he gave a last look all -around the trap. “In the morning when you boys come here, you will find -another sort of captive than Teddy in the trap.” - -“Hadn’t you better come here with us?” suggested Teddy. “If we catch -the deer, you will know better how to handle him than we will.” - -“Yes, I’m an old hand with deer,” said Mr. Crispen. “I used to trap -them out West. I had two or three for pets until they grew so big they -were troublesome. Yes, I’ll come here with you. Stop at my house when -you come to look in the trap. I’ll join you.” - -Mr. Crispen’s house was next door to his shop. - -“We’ll be here early,” warned Dick. - -“Yes, I expect you’ll want to see the deer in the trap. Well, you can’t -come any too early for me. I never sleep late. Just ring my bell and -I’ll be with you.” - -Leaving the trap in Mrs. Traddle’s garden, the boys and the cobbler -started for their homes. In front of the candy store Teddy said: - -“I feel sort of thirsty, fellows, after being caught in the trap. I’ll -treat to soda if you want some.” - -“Why not?” asked Dick. - -“You can’t scare me off!” laughed Joe. - -Mr. Crispen had hurried off down the street, not staying for the soda -treat. But the three boys went inside and Mrs. Traddle came out to wait -on them. - -“Lemon soda,” ordered Joe. - -“Sarsaparilla,” was Dick’s choice. - -“I think I’ll have a root beer,” said Teddy. - -“What’s that?” cried the deaf old lady. “You are going to give a -cheer? Mercy me! Oh, I know. It’s because you have caught the deer. -Well, go on and cheer, if you like. I guess I can stand it if you don’t -cheer too loud.” - -“No, no,” said Teddy laughing. “I said I wanted a ROOT BEER soda.” - -“Oh, root beer. Why didn’t you say so at first?” grumbled Mrs. Traddle. - -After drinking their sodas the boys went home. They were up early next -morning, meeting at Teddy’s house. They hurried to the home of the -shoemaker where Mr. Crispen soon joined them. - -“I wonder if we’ve caught the deer,” mused Teddy as they went on to the -trap in Mrs. Traddle’s garden. - -“You will find the deer in my trap,” said the cobbler confidently. - -They soon were in sight of it. And one look was enough to tell them -some captive was inside the trap. For there was a sound of banging -horns, trampling feet and dull thuds. The trap was swaying from side to -side. - -“We’ve caught the deer!” cried Teddy leaping over the fence. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -ESCAPE - - -Just as Teddy Benson leaped over the fence and landed in Mrs. Traddle’s -garden, to run toward the deer trap, the candy-store lady darted out of -her back door and headed for the same place. - -Teddy was followed by his chums and Mr. Crispen. - -Mrs. Traddle was all alone. She was the first to reach the box trap out -of which came many strange sounds. - -There were sounds of tramping, beating feet and banging horns. Also -sounds of grunts and heavy breathing. - -“You’ve caught some sort of animal in your trap!” called Mrs. Traddle -to Teddy and the others. - -“It’s a deer, Mrs. Traddle,” said the old cobbler. “I knew when I made -that trap it would catch the mystery deer.” - -“I can’t make out if it’s a deer or not,” said Mrs. Traddle. - -“Have you been out here before, looking?” asked Joe as they all hurried -nearer the trap. - -“Oh, land sakes, yes,” Mrs. Traddle replied. “I was out here as soon as -it was daylight.” - -“What time was the deer caught?” asked Teddy. - -“I’m not sure it is a deer,” Mrs. Traddle said. “I can’t get a good -look at it through the cracks. You made that trap of yours good and -tight, Mr. Crispen.” - -“I sure did, Mrs. Traddle,” said the cobbler. “When you make a deer -trap, make it good and tight, I say. Deer are pesky critters for -getting out of a place once they get in.” - -“But as I said,” went on Mrs. Traddle, “I can’t be sure it is a deer.” - -“Oh, it’s a deer, all right,” said Mr. Crispen. - -“What time was it caught?” asked Teddy. - -“Oh, along about midnight, I should say,” replied the candy-store lady. -“I heard a noise in my garden then and I looked out. But I couldn’t see -anything. I expect what I heard was the sliding door falling shut after -the critter in the trap had pulled on the bait. I didn’t come down to -look, but I expect that’s what it was.” - -“That was it,” said the cobbler a bit proudly. “The deer nibbled the -bait and the door fell, catching him.” - -“As I said,” went on Mrs. Traddle who seemed to be hearing very well -now, “as I said, I’m not sure it is a deer you’ve caught. I came out -here as soon as it was daylight and peeked through the cracks as best I -could.” - -“What did you see?” asked Joe. - -“I saw a critter with sort of brown and white fur and horns,” replied -Mrs. Traddle. “Might be a cow for all I know.” - -“A cow would be too big to get in my trap,” said the cobbler. - -“Well, yes, maybe so,” admitted Mrs. Traddle. “Anyhow it’s a raging and -plunging sort of a critter, whatever it is. Two or three times, when I -came out to look before you arrived, I thought it would break out of -the trap.” - -“It can’t get out of the trap!” declared the cobbler. “I made it too -strong.” - -“Well, it’s cutting up something terrible,” went on the old lady. “I’m -sure it will get free.” - -As Teddy, his chums and Mr. Crispen stood near the trap, the animal -inside appeared to be making strong efforts to escape. It plunged about -and struck the sides and ends of the trap with its horns and feet. - -“That’s the way it’s been going on since daylight,” explained Mrs. -Traddle. “If you hadn’t come when you did I was going to telephone -you. I was getting sort of scared.” - -“There is no danger,” said Mr. Crispen. He peered through a crack in -the trap at the animal inside. So did the boys. They could not get a -very good view. Though there were many cracks in the box trap, none of -them was large enough to give a good view. But the boys and the cobbler -had glimpses of an animal with brown and white hair and also with horns. - -“That’s a deer, all right,” asserted the cobbler. “We’ve caught him -just as I said we would.” - -“The next thing,” said Teddy, “is to get him out of this trap and tie -him up some place. He seems wild.” - -“He is wild!” declared Mrs. Traddle. “He’s been wild ever since he was -in that trap. I tried to quiet him but I couldn’t.” - -“What did you do to quiet him?” asked Teddy. - -“Well, I tried to whistle and make noises as I would to a dog. I don’t -expect,” said Mrs. Traddle slowly, “they were the right sort of noises -to make to a deer in a trap.” - -“No,” said Mr. Crispen with a short laugh, “they weren’t. Not to a deer -in a trap or out of a trap.” - -“What kind of noises should you make to quiet a deer?” asked Mrs. -Traddle. - -“I don’t know,” the cobbler had to admit. - -“Why, I thought you said you had caught lots of deer.” - -“So I have. But I never made any soothing noises to ’em,” chuckled Mr. -Crispen. “They didn’t seem to need such attention. But now this is a -wild and tearing sort of critter and it isn’t going to be easy to get -him quiet and out of this trap.” - -“If that man with the lasso was here, he could help,” said Joe. - -“Yes, but he isn’t here,” spoke Mr. Crispen. - -“I’ve got that lasso home,” Teddy said. “Shall I go get it and lasso -the deer after you open the trap and let him out?” - -“Can you lasso?” asked Mr. Crispen. - -“Not very good,” Teddy had to admit. - -“Then I guess we’d better not try that,” said the cobbler. “If I open -that door and let the deer back out, he’s going to run loose and cut up -something fierce! He’s scared like. Then he’ll do a lot more damage to -Mrs. Traddle’s garden--maybe more than the reward money would cover.” - -“If there is any reward money,” Teddy pointed out. - -“Oh, there’ll surely be some!” declared the cobbler. “But I don’t want -to open this trap out here in Mrs. Traddle’s garden. What we ought to -do is let the deer stay in the trap. Then if we could load him, trap -and all, on a sort of truck and take it to a barn, we could let the -deer loose in the barn and catch him. Of course, we’d have to be sure -the barn doors were shut. If we could do that--” - -“There’s no reason why we can’t,” Teddy exclaimed. “Mr. Lanter, the -butcher, has a truck. He often loads heavy boxes and barrels on it and -he has a sort of windlass up under the front seat. We could fasten a -rope to the trap and haul it up on Mr. Lanter’s truck with the rope -and windlass. Then we could take the deer in the trap to our garage. A -garage would be just as good as a barn, wouldn’t it, Mr. Crispen?” - -“Sure, just as good. That’s a fine idea, Teddy. If I can use your -telephone, Mrs. Traddle, I’ll ask Mr. Lanter to come here with his -truck.” - -“What’s that?” asked the old lady, who seemed to have gone deaf again. -“You say you haven’t any luck? Why, I think you were very lucky to -catch the deer on your first try.” - -“No, I didn’t say LUCK!” shouted Mr. Crispen. “I said I want to -telephone for Mr. Lanter’s TRUCK. I suppose I can?” - -“Of course you can. But why didn’t you say so at first, instead of -talking about your luck. The telephone is in the store.” - -The cobbler went there with Mrs. Traddle. He got the butcher on the -wire but was having a little hard work making Mr. Lanter understand -what was wanted. The butcher could not be made to believe that a deer -had been caught in Mrs. Traddle’s garden. - -But finally Mr. Lanter said: - -“All right, I’ll be right over with the truck.” - -Mr. Crispen went out to the garden to tell the boys about the coming of -the truck. Teddy, Joe and Dick were standing near the trap. The animal -inside was plunging about more vigorously than before. - -Suddenly there was an extra loud bang, a rending crash of wood and the -front end of the trap splintered outward. - -“He’s breaking loose!” yelled Joe. - -“He’s out!” shouted Teddy as the whole end of the trap gave way and the -captive leaped out. - -“Catch him! Catch that deer!” yelled Mr. Crispen. - -There was a flash of heels, a shaking of horns in the sunlight and the -animal leaped over the garden fence and galloped down the road. At the -same time Teddy yelled: - -“That wasn’t a deer at all!” - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -TEDDY IS UPSET - - -The escape of the animal from the cobbler’s cage so surprised Joe and -Dick that at first they did not understand what Teddy had shouted. Even -Mr. Crispen was startled. - -As for Mrs. Traddle, who had followed the shoemaker out to the garden -after the telephone talk, she gave a loud cry when the trap was broken -by the escaping captive. - -Then Mrs. Traddle rushed into the house, slammed shut and locked the -door and cried: - -“Send for the police! Send for the police!” - -But when another shout of Teddy had echoed in the ears of his chums, -and they had time to calm down, Joe asked: - -“What did you say, Teddy?” - -“I said that was no deer.” - -“What was it?” asked Dick. - -“A goat!” Teddy exclaimed. “And it looked like that big goat Tony -Pasqualla keeps in a shack near his garden.” - -“A goat?” repeated Dick. - -“Yes, a goat,” declared Teddy again. “I had a better look at it than -you fellows. It was a goat as sure as anything.” - -“Well, then,” said Mr. Crispen, who was getting over his disappointment -at the animal’s escape, “no wonder it broke my trap, strong as it was. -That goat just butted through the boards.” - -“I’ll say he butted through!” laughed Teddy. “I’m glad I wasn’t in -front of him when it happened. Boy, he sure sailed over the fence as if -he had wings!” - -“Where is he now?” asked the cobbler. - -“About ten miles from here, I should say, at the rate he was going,” -laughed Teddy. - -“He sure was scared,” remarked Joe. - -“And mad!” added Dick. - -“No wonder,” said Teddy. “If that was Tony Pasqualla’s big goat, and I -think it was from the color, he’s always been kindly treated. To Tony -and his family that goat, which they milk, is like a cow. They even -bring it in the house, so I heard. No wonder, after having been treated -kindly all its life, the goat got mad when it was trapped and shut up.” - -“Dear me! A goat!” murmured Mr. Crispen. “I was sure it was a deer.” - -“Well, it did look a little like the mystery deer,” Joe said. “It was -brown and white.” - -“And had horns,” added Dick. - -“But we couldn’t see it very well. The cracks in the trap were too -small,” Teddy remarked. - -“That’s so,” admitted the cobbler. “I’ll make a new trap and put in -bigger cracks. Then we can see what we’ve caught.” - -Mrs. Traddle, after looking from a window and seeing no signs of any -raging animal, came out into the garden again. - -“Are you fixing,” she asked Mr. Crispen, her mouth drawing to a thin -line, “to make another trap and set it in my garden?” - -“I was,” spoke the cobbler. - -“No,” said Mrs. Traddle firmly. “No more deer traps in my garden! I’ve -been bothered enough. Set your deer trap some other place.” - -“But this is the best place,” protested the cobbler. “The deer has -been here once. He likes your garden, Mrs. Traddle. He is sure to come -again.” - -“Well, if he comes again he can go again. He isn’t going to be trapped -and turn into a goat to scare a body into a conniption fit. No more -deer traps in my garden!” - -“Well, all right,” said the cobbler, somewhat sadly. “I guess you boys -will have to look around for other places where the deer comes and I’ll -set my trap there.” - -“All right,” assented Teddy. “We’ll have to take the trail again, -fellows.” - -“The trail of the mystery deer!” said Joe. - -“What’ll we do about this broken trap?” asked Dick. - -“I’ll take it back to the shop on my cart,” said Mr. Crispen. “I’ll -make a better trap next time. I’m sorry about this, boys.” - -“Oh, well, you couldn’t help it,” said Teddy. “No one could tell that -Pasqualla’s goat was going to get loose and roam into the trap at -night.” - -Mr. Lanter, the butcher, came along just then in his truck, ready to -load on it the trap and the deer he supposed had been caught. - -“But there’s nothing now for you to do, thank you just the same,” said -Mr. Crispen. “It got away.” - -“You mean the deer did?” asked the butcher. - -“No, the goat.” - -“I thought you said it was a deer.” - -“So I did, Mr. Lanter, but it turned out to be a goat.” - -“There’s something funny about this,” said the butcher as he prepared -to drive away in his truck after hearing the story. “First it’s a deer, -then it’s a goat, then it isn’t anything. Talk about mysteries--this -sure is one!” - -And as several days passed and there was no further sign or news of the -deer, Teddy and his chums began to feel they had seen the last of the -mystery animal. - -For a time they had hopes they might be called on to look for the big -brown and white goat of Tony Pasqualla. But that family pet, after -breaking out of the trap and leaping from Mrs. Traddle’s garden, -finally made his way back to the stable where he was penned up. - -Teddy and his chums learned this when they called to inquire about the -goat. They saw the animal tied in a stall eating peacefully. - -“One nighta she go away,” Tony explained to the boys. “No can finda my -goat all night. Nexta da morn she coma home alla crazy like--you know, -excite! Someting musta happen my goat.” - -“Something did,” Teddy said. And he and the boys explained. For they -knew Tony would hear about the trap and they wanted him to know the -catching of his goat had not been intended. - -“Oh, sure, dat’s alla de right,” smiled the Italian. “My goat Angelina -no hurt any. But you say you want to get a deer?” - -“Yes,” Teddy replied. “A mystery deer.” - -“Oh, is dat a danger kind--dat mysdery deer?” - -“No. It only means there’s something strange about it,” said Joe. -“Mysterious.” - -“It comes and goes,” added Dick. - -“Oh, I understan’,” laughed Tony. “Justa laik de sun! Ha! Ha!” - -Though Teddy and his chums made several trips to the woods, fields and -the glen, they saw no further signs of the deer. Sometimes the girls -went with them on hunts. Once in a while Fatty Nolan would go out with -the boys. But he was so excited no one could depend on him. Once he -caused great excitement by shouting: - -“There he is! The mystery deer! I see his horns!” - -But it was only the whitened, gnarled roots of an old stump in a field. - -Once Margie and Lucy came hurrying home from a berry-picking trip -saying they had seen the deer in a field. Teddy and his chums hurried -to the place only to see a cow, partly screened by the bushes. - -Meanwhile Mr. Crispen made his trap over and set it in Mason’s meadow -near the place where the deer had first been seen. But though he put -fresh bait in the trap every night, no deer went in to spring the trap -and be caught. - -“I guess we’ve seen the last of the mystery deer,” said Teddy to his -chums one day. They were returning from a trip to look for the animal. - -“Seems so,” admitted Joe. - -“We haven’t even seen that cowboy, or whoever he was, that lassoed you, -Teddy,” remarked Dick. - -“No, we haven’t. And I’d like to meet him. Maybe he didn’t mean to rope -me. He might want his lasso back,” Teddy said. - -It was two days after this that Teddy was down in the far end of the -house garden, doing a little weeding. The garden was one in which Teddy -had an interest. It was a tomato patch and his father had said Teddy -could have half of the tomatoes to sell if he would keep the patch -weeded and the vines up off the ground on little wooden supports. - -It was in the afternoon and Teddy was stooping down, pulling out some -weeds when he suddenly felt himself touched on the back. - -“Hey, quit that!” he called, thinking it was either Dick or Joe who had -sneaked up on him. - -There was no answer. But a moment later Teddy suddenly was upset and -thrust forward so that he fell flat on the ground among the tomato -vines. - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -ON THE DEER’S TRAIL - - -Scrambling to his feet, Teddy whirled around thinking to confront one -of his chums who had upset him. Teddy was angry. He started to say: - -“What’s the big idea? What right have you to--” - -That was as far as Teddy got. For as he stood up and turned to look, he -saw neither Joe nor Dick. - -But rapidly disappearing from view across a field adjoining the Benson -garden, and heading for Mason’s woods, was the mystery deer. - -“There he goes!” cried Teddy, very much excited. “There he goes! He -upset me! Gosh! What do you know about that! I’ve got to catch that -deer now!” - -Teddy darted toward the edge of the garden. There was no fence around -it. He started to race after the deer. But the animal was so swift it -had vanished in the woods before Teddy was half way across the field -that adjoined Mason’s meadow. - -“That deer sure can travel!” exclaimed Teddy admiringly as he slowed -up. “But why did he upset me--and how?” - -Teddy squirmed around far enough to look at the back of his slacks. He -saw a small hole that had not been there before and he understood what -had happened. - -The deer had sneaked up so quietly behind Teddy that the boy had never -heard a sound. He was intent on his weeding and so had been taken off -guard. - -“And I was sort of figuring,” Teddy said afterward, when he met his -chums and told them the story, “how much I might make by selling my -tomatoes. Then, all of a sudden, I was upset. I thought sure one of you -fellows had done it.” - -“Are you sure it was the deer?” asked Joe. - -“Sure! Who else could it be? There was no one else in sight. And I saw -the deer running away. He just sneaked up behind me, hooked a prong of -his horns into my slacks and turned me over.” - -“Did he hurt you?” asked Dick. - -“No. Didn’t even scratch me. But he put a hole in my slacks.” - -“He was just playing with you,” said Joe. - -“Well, maybe it was play, or maybe he meant to tell me that we should -stop trying to catch him,” Teddy said. “But it proves one thing, -fellows.” - -“What?” Dick wanted to know. - -“That the mystery deer is still around here. And we are going to catch -him!” - -“How?” asked Joe. - -“We’ll take the trail again!” said Teddy firmly. “We’ll chase that deer -until we catch him. Are you with me?” - -“Sure!” echoed his chums. Their faces brightened eagerly. - -“Then help me finish the tomato weeding,” Teddy suggested, “and we can -start right away.” - -Joe and Dick looked blank. They hadn’t counted on weeding. - -“Oh, I’ll cut you in on whatever I make when I sell my tomatoes, -fellows,” Teddy promised. - -So the two chums agreed to help. They accompanied Teddy to the lower -end of the garden, and Joe suddenly said: - -“Say, I’ve got an idea!” - -“Better set a trap for it. Maybe it will escape!” chuckled Dick. - -“No, I mean it,” went on Joe. “Maybe it was the cowboy who sent that -deer to upset you, Teddy.” - -“How do you figure that out?” Teddy asked. - -“Well, something like this,” Joe continued. “That cowboy with the star -heel plates has something to do with this mystery deer. I’m sure of -that.” - -“So am I,” said Dick. - -“Well,” resumed Joe, “you have his lasso, Teddy, haven’t you?” - -“Yes, but he sort of gave it to me. Anyhow he threw it around me and -yanked me over and the lasso stayed there. He can have it back if he -wants it.” - -“Maybe he thinks you won’t give it to him,” went on Joe. “So he trailed -you and as soon as he saw his chance he set his deer on you to topple -you over into the tomatoes.” - -“You mean he set his deer on me as he might set a dog?” asked Teddy. - -“Sure, that’s it.” - -“I don’t believe this cowboy had anything to do with the deer upsetting -me,” Teddy said quietly. - -“I don’t, either,” said Dick, siding with Teddy. - -“Well, maybe I’m wrong,” Joe admitted. “But it’s mighty strange that -the deer stays around here. He wouldn’t do that unless his owner was -somewhere near, and I think the cowboy owns him.” - -“Why doesn’t he capture the deer, then, and keep him from bothering -us?” asked Teddy. - -“Maybe he can’t catch the deer, any more than we can,” Joe said. “I’d -like to meet that cowboy.” - -“So would I,” Teddy agreed. “But while he may have something to do with -the deer, I don’t believe he set the deer on me.” - -“Then why did the deer upset you?” Joe asked. - -“Oh, he’s young--just sort of playful,” Teddy answered. - -“Oh, yeah?” laughed Dick, somewhat tauntingly. “Well, I don’t like that -sort of play.” - -“You want to help get that deer, don’t you?” Teddy asked. - -“Sure.” - -“Well, then you may have to take some chances of hard play. If you -fellows want to drop out--” - -“Oh, we don’t want to do that,” said Joe. - -“Well, then let’s step on it a little and scout around more,” Teddy -suggested. “Our vacation is getting shorter. We want to find that deer -before it’s over.” - -“That’s right!” agreed his chums. - -“We’ve got to be ready, night or day, to take the trail after the -deer!” Teddy declared. - -“Sure!” echoed Joe and Dick. - -More determined than ever before to capture the mystery deer, the three -boys worked hard at weeding the tomato patch. It was tame work compared -to the exciting adventure just ahead. - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -WRONG NUMBER - - -When the tomato patch had been weeded and the dirt hoed into small -hills around the roots of each plant, Teddy and his chums were free to -go deer hunting. - -“First,” decided Teddy as he led his friends from the garden, “we ought -to wash up and then get something to eat.” - -“I’m in favor of that last, anyhow,” Dick said. “Lead the way to the -pantry, Teddy.” - -Removing some of the grime and the stains of weeds from their hands, -the boys sat on Teddy’s back stoop, disposing of several glasses of -milk and some cookies which Teddy got from the kitchen. - -“Now I feel strong enough to play with any deer!” declared Dick. - -“Even one with big horns?” asked Joe. - -“Bring on the deer--horns and all!” Dick challenged. - -But though the boys spent the remainder of the afternoon scouting -around for traces of the deer, they saw none and when night came they -decided to give up the chase for the time being. - -Tired from the day’s work in the garden and from following a deer trail -that led nowhere, Teddy was reading in his room that evening when he -heard a rattle of gravel against the window. At the same time he heard -what seemed to be a tree-toad trilling. - -Casting aside his book, Teddy jumped to the window, the lower sash -of which was open since it was a warm night. The gravel had rattled -against the upper panes. - -Teddy whistled back the tree-toad signal and called down: - -“Is that you, Joe?” - -“It’s Dick,” was the answer. - -“What’s the matter?” Teddy wanted to know. “This isn’t secret club -night, is it?” - -“No,” answered Dick. “But I thought maybe you couldn’t get out to go -with me and Joe, so I gave the secret signal.” - -“Go where?” demanded Teddy. - -“After the deer. Joe saw him. He’s keeping him in sight and I came for -you. Hurry!” - -“I’ll be right down,” Teddy answered. - -Besides the Mystery Club, the boys had a Secret Society. Instead of -leaving by the front or back doors to attend sessions, it was one of -the rules they should slide down a rope from their bedroom windows. And -the boys took turns going quietly after dark, signalling to one another -by tossing gravel against a window and giving the tree-toad whistle. - -There was no reason why Teddy and his chums could not have gone out the -front or back doors to the meetings of the Secret Club. - -Their parents would probably have made no objections, since the -existence of the club was known to them. - -But, somehow, it seemed much more fun to go to a meeting of the Secret -Club after a summons by thrown gravel, a strange whistle and after -sliding down a rope. - -So Teddy got his rope out of a closet where he kept it hidden, fastened -one end firmly to his bed and tossed the other end out of the window. -It was no trick at all to go down it hand-over-hand to the ground where -Dick was waiting in the shadow of some bushes. - -“So you sighted the deer, did you?” asked Teddy as he and Dick made -their way down through the back yard and across lots. - -“Joe did,” Dick answered. “We had been downtown and were on our way -home by the back way, through the little patch of woods near Fountain -Park when Joe saw the deer. I had left him but he came running after me -to tell me. Then he said he’d keep the deer in sight and I was to come -for you.” - -“So you did,” agreed Teddy. “But do you think that deer is going to -stay in one place while Joe watches him, and until you and I get -there?” - -“Joe thought maybe he would,” said Dick. “Joe said the deer was feeding -right in that little patch of woods, and acted as if he were going to -stay there a while.” - -“Well, maybe he will,” Teddy said. “Golly! This is swell! We have a -good chance to get that deer now!” - -“Come on! Hurry!” advised Dick. - -The two boys hurried on through the darkness. Now and then they -stumbled. Once Dick, who was in the lead, tripped and fell. Teddy -tumbled over him. - -“Gosh! What happened, Dick?” asked Teddy. - -“There was a ditch here. I didn’t see it.” - -“I should say you didn’t! Well, anyhow, we know it’s here now,” Teddy -said rather ruefully as he got to his feet. “We should have brought -flashlights.” - -“I guess you’re right,” Dick replied. “But Joe and I didn’t know we -were going deer hunting. We didn’t have time to go back and get our -flashlights.” - -“That’s right. But I should have brought mine,” Teddy said. “Never -mind. We’ll go a bit slower from now on.” - -This plan of advance worked well and in a short time Teddy and Dick -emerged into a little clearing near a small recreation spot on the edge -of town. The place was called Fountain Park. - -“There’s Joe!” called Dick excitedly. - -Teddy saw a figure dimly waving its arms in a signal to hurry. - -“We’d better run!” Teddy advised. - -In another few seconds he and Dick had joined their chum. - -“Where is he?” demanded Teddy excitedly. - -“He’s gone,” Joe replied. - -“Gone? You mean the deer got away?” - -“Yes. But he hasn’t gone far I guess. He walked off into the patch -of woods just before you fellows got here. I thought you weren’t ever -coming!” - -“We came as fast as we could,” Dick said. “I fell down.” - -“And I fell over him,” added Teddy. “But we’re here now. Do you know -which way the deer went?” - -“Sure I do! Straight ahead. Follow me!” - -Joe darted off in the darkness. Teddy and Dick followed. They were -out of the clearing now and into the small patch of woods which was -separated from Fountain Park by a highway. It was a seldom-used -thoroughfare and there was no traffic on it now. - -“Did you see anybody near the deer?” asked Teddy as he and Dick trotted -along beside Joe. - -“No. He was all alone. He was feeding quietly. Then, just before you -fellows got here, he seemed to take fright. He raised his head. I was -about fifty feet away and I could see him very well. Then, all of a -sudden, he turned around and walked off through the woods.” - -“Maybe you scared him,” suggested Teddy. - -“No. I didn’t move or make a sound. I was still and quiet. I could see -the deer as plain as anything. But I thought you fellows would never--” - -“Hark!” suddenly interrupted Teddy. - -They stopped and listened. Ahead of them they could hear the clatter -and cracking of the branches of trees and bushes. - -“That’s the deer!” cried Joe. “He’s just ahead of us!” - -“We’ll get him now!” exclaimed Teddy. - -“Hurry!” advised Dick. - -In the excitement of the chase, neither of the boys gave thought to how -they might capture the mystery deer even if they got within sight. They -had nothing with which to make the animal fast. They broke into a run. -It wasn’t quite so dark now. A half moon was beginning to lift in the -dark sky and it gave a little light. - -The noise of the boys increased. Plainly some animal was making its way -through the little patch of woods ahead of them. - -Then, suddenly, Teddy who was now in the lead, came to such an abrupt -stop that Joe bumped into him. - -“What’s the matter?” Joe demanded. - -“Wrong number!” cried Teddy, starting to retreat. - -“Wrong number?” questioned his two chums. - -“Yes. Can’t you smell it?” - -A dank, strong and most oppressive odor was wafted to the three boys. - -“Skunk!” they cried together. “Skunk!” And Teddy added: “Come on! Beat -it before we get any closer! We might have bumped right into him if -we’d kept on!” - -It was all too evident they were in the neighborhood of a skunk. And -they well knew the consequences of coming to close quarters with one -of these animals. Harmless if left alone, a skunk can loose a barrage -of what is practically a poison gas--not deadly but terribly offensive. - -“So that was your deer--just a skunk, Joe!” taunted Teddy as the three -boys started back to their homes. - -“I tell you I saw the deer as plain as anything!” Joe declared. “I know -a deer when I see one, even in the dark.” - -“And I know a skunk when I smell one--even in the dark!” laughed Teddy. -“But maybe you were right, Joe. Probably you saw the deer but he got -away. Maybe the deer scared the skunk or maybe he even might have -stepped too close. Anyhow the skunk is on the trail ahead and that -means we lay off.” - -“I guess you’re right,” Joe said. “But we had a swell chance!” - -“I don’t want to take any chances with a skunk,” Teddy said. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -NIGHT CAMP - - -Disappointed at the result of the chase, but thankful they had not come -in any closer contact with the skunk, the boys returned to their homes. - -Teddy tried to climb up the rope to get back into his room, but he made -so much noise his father came out to see what was going on. - -“I thought you were in bed,” remarked Mr. Benson. - -“Oh, I was out With Joe and Dick after that deer.” - -“Did you get him?” - -“No, he got away.” - -“Hum,” remarked Mr. Benson. “Seems to me you boys are going to a lot of -trouble about a deer.” - -“We don’t like to be stumped,” Teddy said. - -“Hum. Well, I can understand that. But you’d better come in the front -door instead of trying to climb that rope, Teddy.” - -“Yes, I guess maybe I had,” Teddy agreed. “I’m going to make a rope -ladder after we catch that deer. A rope ladder is much easier to climb.” - -For the next two days the three boys, aided occasionally by the girls, -made a search for the mystery deer. But though Teddy and his chums -several times were sure they saw the trail of the animal in the woods -and field owned by Mr. Mason, they could get no real glimpse of the -deer itself. - -Then one afternoon, when the three chums were scouting around, they saw -the deer as it came out of the woods and began feeding in the meadow. - -“There he is!” cried Teddy. - -“Sure enough!” yelled Dick. - -“Let’s cut him off!” shouted Joe. “Get between him and the woods and -keep him out in the open. Then we can chase him down. Come on!” - -Eagerly the three boys rushed forward, spreading out so as to place -themselves between the deer and the forest. They were in a good -position to do this as the animal was well out in the field. - -For a short time, neither hearing, seeing nor scenting the boys, the -deer continued to feed. Then his alert ears, eyes or nose told him -something was wrong and, raising his head, shaking his horns and giving -a defiant snort, he turned toward the woods. - -But the boys were between him and this hiding place. With shouts they -turned the deer back and he fled across the fields, out into the open. - -“Now we’ll get him!” cried Teddy. “We’ll run him down if we have to -keep up the chase all night.” - -“We can’t stay out all night,” said Joe. - -“Why not?” asked Teddy. - -“We haven’t any blankets, not even a flashlight, and we have nothing to -eat.” - -“That last is important,” said Dick. “We have to eat.” - -“I’ll tell you what we can do,” Teddy said. “Two of us will take the -trail after the deer, Joe and I. Dick, you get to the nearest telephone -and ask my mother to put up some food, some blankets and flashlights, -and meet us with the car at Bailey’s Corners. That’s the little town -about three miles from here. The deer is headed that way. We can keep -on after him all night if we get some supplies. My mother will fix that -for us. Hurry now, Dick!” - -Teddy issued his orders like a soldier and they were soon being carried -out. - -Perhaps Dick Kelly might have wished he could keep on the trail of the -mystery deer instead of having to go to a telephone to order supplies -for the expedition. But if Dick wished this he gave no sign of it. - -“All right, Teddy,” he answered. “I’ll go telephone your mother to -bring our stuff to Bailey’s Corners. Do you think she will?” - -“Of course she will,” Teddy declared. “She knows how much we want to -capture this deer and solve the mystery.” - -“All right,” said Dick. He set off on the run for the nearest -telephone. Teddy and Joe raced after the deer. The animal was now -evidently heading for open places instead of toward the woods. - -“We have a good chance to catch him,” panted Teddy as he trotted along -beside Joe. - -“Do you think so?” - -“Sure!” Teddy declared. “This is the best chance we’ve had yet. Come -on! Step on it!” - -Teddy and his chum were good runners. They often had taken part in -cross-country races and this practice helped them to make good speed -now. They had lost sight of the deer for the moment. But in a short -time after taking the trail Teddy shouted: - -“There he goes! Straight toward Bailey’s Corners!” - -“And he isn’t going very fast,” said Joe. - -The deer might not have been going as fast as he could run. But still -he managed to keep well ahead of the two boys. Perhaps, the animal -knew, also, he could “step on it,” when the need came. - -But the sight of the animal gave Teddy and Joe new hope and they -somewhat increased their speed hoping to catch up to the deer before it -reached Bailey’s Corners. - -This was a small settlement, about three miles from Mason’s woods and -meadow, and about half way between another large patch of woodland -which had been taken over by the state as a forest park. - -“If the deer gets into Oak Forest,” said Teddy, “we’ll never be able to -trail him. It’s too big a stretch of woods.” - -“That’s right,” agreed Joe. “We must capture him before he gets there.” - -So they continued the chase. - -Meanwhile Dick had reached a farmhouse where there was a telephone. His -arrival, somewhat out of breath and excited, caused a little stir in -the house. Mrs. Nixon, the farmer’s wife, who was the only one at home, -gave Dick permission to use the telephone. She could not help hearing -what he said to Teddy’s mother. - -At first Dick was so excited he could hardly talk straight. It was not -surprising, therefore, that Mrs. Benson did not quite understand all -Dick said nor what he wanted. - -“Is this a joke?” she asked. “Teddy, you and Joe wanting me to bring -you things for a night camp?” - -“No, it isn’t a joke,” Dick said. “We are really on the deer’s trail. -We’ll catch him this time.” - -“Well, all right,” said Mrs. Benson after a short pause, “I will put -some camping things for you boys in the car and bring them to you. But -please tell Teddy to be careful.” - -“I will,” promised Dick. “But you can tell him yourself, Mrs. Benson. -Teddy and Joe are going to wait for you and me at Bailey’s Corners. -You can pick me up here, can’t you?” - -“Why, yes, Dick. I can do that,” said Teddy’s mother. “That will be -best. Well, I’ll get ready right away.” - -“Oh, Mrs. Benson!” called Dick into the telephone. - -“Yes, what is it, Dick?” - -“You won’t forget to put in some flashlights, will you?” - -“I’ll put them in with the blankets and other things for a temporary -camp.” - -“And one other thing, Mrs. Benson.” - -“What is it, Dick?” - -“You won’t forget to put in something to eat, will you, please?” - -“Oh, no,” laughed Teddy’s mother. “I won’t forget that. I’ll put that -in the car first of all. Now you stay at the Nixon farm until I get -there.” - -“Yes’m,” said Dick. - -“Land sakes!” exclaimed Mrs. Nixon as Dick turned from the telephone. -“What’s all this? You must excuse me,” she went on, “but I couldn’t -help hearing what you were saying to Mrs. Benson. So it’s been a deer -that’s been rampaging around in my garden, eh?” - -“Has that deer been around here?” asked Dick eagerly. - -“Some sort of a critter has,” stated the farmer’s wife. “Two or three -nights ago it got into our melon patch and did a lot of damage. We -didn’t exactly know what sort of an animal it was. But it must be the -deer you’re talking about.” - -“It got in Mrs. Traddle’s garden, too,” Dick said. He gave a short -account of the animal, and Mrs. Nixon said: - -“This must be the critter that cowboy fellow is after.” - -“Was there a cowboy here after the deer?” asked Dick, now more excited -than before. - -“Yes, there was, a couple of days ago,” replied Mrs. Nixon. “At least, -he said he was a cowboy and he was looking for a lost deer. That was -before our melon patch was raided. And I didn’t think any more about it -until now when I heard you talk to Mrs. Benson.” - -“What sort of a cowboy was he?” asked Dick. “Did he have stars on his -heels?” - -“Stars on his heels? Why, how you talk!” exclaimed the farmer’s wife. -“I never heard of such a thing! Stars on his heels!” - -“I mean did he have heel plates with stars on them?” - -“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Nixon. “But when I told him I hadn’t seen a -deer he went away. He took a short cut across my flower beds, too. But -I must say he didn’t step on any.” - -“Has it rained since then?” asked Dick. - -“Rained? What’s that got to do with it? No, it hasn’t.” - -Dick ran to where he could see several beds of flowers at the side of -the house. Anxiously he bent over to look at the soft ground. - -“Yes, it’s the same cowboy!” he exclaimed. “I can see the marks of his -star heel plates. That’s why I asked if it had rained. Rain would have -washed them away. But they are plain yet.” - -“Land sakes!” exclaimed Mrs. Nixon. “What you boys don’t do!” - -“Did this cowboy have a lasso?” asked Dick. - -“I didn’t notice it if he had,” said Mrs. Nixon. - -“And did he say why he was looking for a deer?” asked Dick. - -“No, he didn’t say that. I probably would have asked him more about the -critter only I was busy. And up to then our melon patch hadn’t been -raided. - -“Now you’d better sit down and rest until Mrs. Benson gets here. And -wouldn’t you like a nice glass of cool milk and some molasses cookies?” - -“Yes’m, I would,” said Dick. “Thanks a lot.” - -He had finished his little lunch, and was telling Mrs. Nixon more about -the hunt for the mystery deer, when Mrs. Benson drove into the yard. -The auto contained blankets, food and other items needed for the night -camp Teddy had planned on. - -After a brief talk with Mrs. Nixon and Dick, Mrs. Benson, with Dick on -the seat beside her, started for Bailey’s Corners. There they found -Teddy and Joe had just arrived. - -“Thanks a lot, mother, for helping this way,” Teddy panted. - -“I think you boys are rather silly to make this fuss and take all this -trouble about a deer,” said Mrs. Benson, smiling. - -“Oh, we just can’t let this deer beat us at the mystery game!” Teddy -exclaimed. “We can’t have our Mystery Club beaten!” - -In a short time each boy had made up his bundle of blanket, food and -other things in readiness to again take the trail after the deer. It -was not the first time they had gone on hikes and spent the night in -the open without a tent. - -“Are you sure there is plenty to eat,” Teddy asked his mother as the -three chums were about to start off. - -“I put in all I thought you could carry,” she answered. “After all, you -won’t be out more than one night, will you?” - -“I guess not,” Teddy replied. “If we can’t capture the deer between now -and tomorrow noon, we’ll come back home.” - -“And try over again,” said Joe. - -“Yes!” Teddy agreed. - -Dick was lifting his pack. A satisfied look came over his face as he -noted the packages of food inside the blanket roll. - -Bidding Mrs. Benson good-bye, the boys started off again. They had to -go a bit slower now because of the camping packs they carried. - -They made their way through the little village. On inquiring of several -farmers they learned the deer was still out in the open. It had been -seen crossing several fields. - -On and on the boys continued. The afternoon passed. They had stopped -for a little lunch. They had one distant glimpse of the deer and then -the animal had disappeared. - -“But he is still going straight away from us,” Teddy said. “If we can -come up to him before he gets to Oak Forest we have a chance.” - -The boys hurried on, but their pace was slower now. Teddy was tiring -and so were his chums. It was getting dusk. - -“Fellows,” said Teddy suddenly, “we can’t go on any farther. Let’s make -a night camp here!” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -NIGHT ALARM - - -Teddy and his chums set up their little night camp in a field near a -small patch of woods and beside a small stream. The woods were just -the beginning of the state park, Oak Forest and were not very dense. -Farther on in the state park the trees were much thicker and larger. - -“This is a good place,” Teddy remarked as he threw his blanket roll on -the ground. “We can stay here tonight and start after the deer first -thing in the morning.” - -“That is if he waits for us and doesn’t go on into Oak Forest during -the night,” said Joe. - -“It would be just like him to do that,” said Dick. - -“No, I think not,” Teddy said. “We’ve kept after that deer pretty -steady. He must be tired and will be glad to rest and sleep during the -night.” - -“Well,” remarked Dick with a sigh, “if that deer is as tired as I am he -won’t get up until noon tomorrow.” - -“And if he’s as hungry as I am,” chuckled Joe, “he will spend most of -the night eating.” - -“Well, fellows,” Teddy said, “we’ll soon be resting and eating. But we -can’t loaf until noon tomorrow. We’ve got to get up early and chase -after that deer. That is, if we want to catch him and find out why he’s -roaming around here, where deer don’t belong. - -“Of course if you fellows want to give up,” said Teddy after a pause, -“I can’t make you stick at it. But--” - -“There are no ‘buts’ about it,” Joe interrupted quickly. “Of course -we’ll stick with you. What about it, Dick?” - -“Oh, sure. Only I was wondering what Teddy expects to find out after -we catch the deer--if we do. Think he’ll talk after we capture him, -Teddy?” - -“No,” Teddy laughed. “But he may have some mark on him that will help -us trace where he came from and what he’s doing around here. Anyhow -let’s catch him first and find out about him later.” - -“What we should do first is eat,” said Dick firmly. - -“Second the motion!” laughed Joe. - -“Motion carried!” announced Teddy. - -Mrs. Benson had put up rather a complete camping outfit for the boys. -At least, it would serve for one night. There were blankets and some -light cellophane coverings which could be used in case of rain. These -cellophane coverings folded up into small, light packages. This left -more room for food and a small cooking outfit. - -“If you fellows will get the water and wood, I’ll start to cook -supper,” offered Teddy. - -“Fair enough!” cried Dick as he began to gather some dried driftwood -from the banks of the stream. - -“Where’s the water pail?” asked Joe. “I saw a small spring back by that -pile of rocks. I don’t fancy drinking water from this stream. It might -not be clean.” - -In a short time Teddy had put up a small iron frame to hold a coffee -pot and frying pan. The frame set over a bed of glowing coals from -the burning driftwood, and in a short time the little camp smelled of -frying bacon and eggs and boiling coffee. - -“Boy, am I hungry!” Dick announced, sniffing the air. - -“Teddy’s the best cook we ever had!” laughed Joe. - -“Somebody else has to get breakfast!” Teddy warned the others. - -“I’ll let Dick do it,” spoke Joe. “I always was a big-hearted chap,” he -added with a laugh. - -After supper the boys made ready to spend the night in the open. There -was no sign of rain and it was not cold. The cellophane coverings, -between which the boys could crawl into their blankets, would keep away -the dampness from the ground. - -“Are we going to keep watch?” asked Dick, when it was about time to -turn in. - -“What for?” asked Teddy. “There’s no danger. We don’t need even to keep -a fire going. We have our flashlights.” - -“There’ll be a moon later,” said Joe. - -“Then if the deer comes nosing around we can spot him,” suggested Dick. -“But the way I feel now I’m going to do nothing but sleep.” - -“Same here,” echoed Joe. - -“I don’t believe the deer will bother us,” was Teddy’s opinion. “He’s -likely as tired and sleepy as we are.” - -So it was decided not to take turns watching during the night. The -three boys would go to sleep together and trust to luck to get on the -trail of the deer again in the morning. - -“If we had a dog it would be easier,” said Joe somewhat sleepily as -they were all dozing off. - -“Easier for what?” asked Teddy. - -“Easier to trail the deer. But we haven’t any dog, have we?” - -“No,” Teddy admitted, “we haven’t. Unless Dick brought one,” he added -with a chuckle and a nudge of his chum. - -“Brought what?” mumbled Dick, half asleep. - -“A dog,” said Teddy. “Did you bring one?” - -“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Dick less clearly than -before. “I--I--” But he was asleep before he could finish the sentence. - -A little later the deep and even breathing of Teddy and Joe showed that -they, also, were asleep. - -Who awakened first was always a disputed point with the three boys when -ever they talked about what happened that night. But Teddy suddenly -found himself roused by feeling something cold and wet on his face. For -a moment he thought it was raining. But as he opened his eyes he saw -that the moon was shining brightly. - -But he still felt that cool dampness on his face and suddenly, with a -shout of alarm, he sat up, scattering his blanket and reaching for his -flashlight. - -“Golly! It’s a dog!” he shouted. - -“What’s that?” cried Joe. - -“A dog--licking my face with his tongue! It woke me up!” said Teddy in -a loud voice. - -“Did Dick bring a dog after all?” asked Joe. - -“I don’t know, but here’s a dog!” went on Teddy excitedly. “Dick!” he -shouted. - -But Dick was awake. Instinctively he had reached for his flashlight -and switched it on, though the moon was bright. And in the glow of -the combined lights the boys saw a large dog regarding them from the -ash-strewn spot where the campfire had been made. It was a huge beast -and its eyes glowed in the shafts of the flashlights. - -There it stood, looking intently at the boys as if ready to spring on -them. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -CAUGHT - - -For a few seconds Teddy and his chums did not know whether the big dog -was a friend or enemy. Teddy had the thought that they might be camping -on the ground of some farmer who kept a fierce dog to drive away tramps. - -“But,” thought Teddy, “the dog couldn’t be very fierce or it wouldn’t -have awakened me by licking my face with his tongue. He’d have started -in biting me.” - -However, in a little while the dog, which had been so closely looking -at the boys, whom he could plainly see by the moonlight, wagged his -tail in a friendly way. - -“I guess he’s all right,” Teddy announced. - -“Yes,” agreed Dick. “That tail-wagging business shows he doesn’t want -to bite.” - -“But whose dog is it?” asked Joe. “Gosh! It’s almost as big as the deer -we’re chasing.” - -Hardly had Joe stopped talking than from the shadows of some little -hillocks beyond the cold campfire came a voice saying: - -“It’s all right, Hopper--those are the boys I’m looking for--you found -’em--this is fine--now you can lie down--hello over there--I’m here!” - -In a moment the boys knew who was speaking--Fatty Nolan. But how he had -managed to reach their camp and what he was doing with the big dog was -more than Teddy and his chums could guess. They must find out, however, -so Teddy called: - -“Is that you, Fatty?” - -“Sure!” - -“What are you doing?” - -“Looking for you. I heard you were on the trail of the deer so I -followed. You don’t mind, do you? I’ve brought my father’s deer -hound--Clodhopper my mother calls him on account of he’s so big and -clumsy--but he’s got another name--Rex. He’s a good dog for hunting -deer--maybe he can help us--I came anyhow--had hard work finding -you--guess I couldn’t have only for Hopper--that’s the dog--I call him -Hopper for short. Can I come over there?” All this Fatty spoke in his -usual fast style. - -“Sure! Come on over and bring your dog,” Teddy invited. “Maybe he will -help us in the morning. Come on and join us.” - -“Thanks,” spoke Fatty advancing, while Hopper, sensing that the three -boys were friends, wagged his tail harder than ever and curled up in -a bunch of grass. “This is swell,” went on the stout lad. “I hoped -I’d find you before morning so I could camp with you. I have my own -blanket,” he added, showing a roll. - -“Did you have anything to eat?” asked Dick whose thoughts always seemed -to be on food. - -“Oh, yes. I brought some along when I started out last evening. But -it’s all gone now. If you fellows are going to eat again--of course -maybe I should have brought more--but if you are going to eat again--” - -“Not until morning,” Teddy announced. “And that won’t be for another -six hours,” he added, looking at his wrist watch and noting it was -shortly past midnight. - -“Oh, that’s all right,” said Fatty good-naturedly. “I can wait. I -have some chocolate candy I can eat.” He began chewing on this as he -arranged his blanket on the ground. - -“But how did you know we were here?” asked Joe as he and his two chums -stretched out again to go to sleep. - -“I went over to your house, Teddy,” said the fat boy. “Your mother said -you were over this way and intended to camp out all night. So I packed -up my outfit, got Hopper and came along. Hope you don’t mind.” - -“Glad to have you,” welcomed Teddy. “Maybe you will bring us good luck.” - -Nothing further disturbed the boys that night. They were up early and -breakfast was soon being cooked. Fatty Nolan insisted on helping to -gather wood and carry water. The boys noticed he had a rope looped to -his belt. - -“That’s my lasso in case we see the deer,” Fatty explained. - -Breakfast over, the boys once more took the trail. They were heading -for Oak Forest and about half an hour after leaving camp they were -crossing a large field in one corner of which several cows were grazing. - -Suddenly Hopper began to bark and act excited. - -“What’s the matter with him?” asked Teddy. - -“I don’t know,” answered Fatty. “Never knew him to get excited about -cows before. Here, Hopper, where are you going?” he yelled as the dog, -with loud barks, rushed for the herd of cows. “Come back!” - -But the hound did not obey. And then Teddy and his chums saw the -reason. In with the herd of cows, cropping grass as they were, stood -an animal with branching horns. - -“Look!” yelled Teddy. “The mystery deer! There he is!” - -“Golly! Sure enough, it is the deer,” echoed Joe. - -“But the dog! The dog!” cried Dick. “He’ll kill the deer! Call him -back, Fatty!” - -“Here, Hopper! Hopper! Come back!” ordered the fat boy. But the hound, -with loud barks, was leaping toward the herd of cows in the midst of -which was the strange deer. - -The cows separated as the dog rushed toward them, leaving a cleared -space in the middle of which stood the deer who threw up his head and -looked at the oncoming dog. - -“Your dog will pull the deer down and kill him, Fatty!” cried Teddy. -“Can’t you bring him back?” - -“I’ll try,” said the fat boy, running after his dog. “Back, Hopper!” - -Just when it seemed that the dog was about to jump on the deer, which -seemed too frightened to run, a man suddenly leaped over the fence and -took his place in front of the deer. There was something familiar about -the man. And when he began swinging a rope in circles around his head -Teddy cried: - -“It’s the lasso cowboy!” - -It was, and in another instant the loop of the lasso had settled over -the head of the big hound. With a quick jerk on the rope the cowboy -pulled the dog off its feet. - -“Good work!” yelled Teddy. - -“Now the deer is safe,” said Dick. - -“He lassoed your dog just in time, Fatty,” said Joe. - -“Yes, but I hope he doesn’t hurt him,” spoke the stout lad. “Hopper is -a good dog but he gets excited when he sees a deer.” - -The lassoing of Hopper seemed to have taken all the fight out of the -dog. Perhaps he would not, after all, have attacked the deer. But the -cowboy was taking no chances. - -As if sure the dog was no longer a danger, the cowboy took the lasso -from the neck of the dog, who had been choked a little. And a moment -later the cowboy had secured the deer with the same rope. He did it -gently, however. Then, having made the end of his deer lasso fast to -the fence, the cowboy walked toward the boys and smiled. - -“Well,” he said, “I guess the chase is over.” - -“Is that your deer?” asked Teddy. - -“No, but I’m responsible for it and I’m glad I have it back. I want to -thank you boys for what you did, trying to help capture this deer and I -want to tell you I’m sorry I lassoed one of you. Which one was it?” - -“You lassoed me,” Teddy said with a laugh. “But it’s all right. You -didn’t hurt me any.” - -“But why did you do it?” asked Joe. - -“It was all a mistake. I thought I saw the horns of my missing deer and -I let go with my lasso. Then I was ashamed of what I had done, the -silly mistake I’d made, and I thought maybe you boys would blame me and -make trouble. So I just got out of the way. I secured another lasso and -I’ve been hunting this deer ever since.” - -“If he isn’t your deer, whose is he?” demanded Teddy in a puzzled voice. - -“He belongs in Oak Forest,” was the answer. “That’s where I’m going to -take him now.” - -“Won’t he get away again?” asked Joe. - -“No,” the cowboy said. “He will be put in a big, new paddock in the -state park. There’ll be a lot of other deer there. It will soon be open -to the public. This is one of the valuable deer to be used in stocking -the paddock. It was my fault he got away and I had to catch him or lose -my job.” - -“How did it happen?” asked Teddy. - -“It was this way,” explained the cowboy, who said his name was Jed -Blackton. “A lot of deer for the state forest were rounded up near the -Western ranch where I work. I was hired to go with the big trucks used -to bring the deer here. - -“Just outside Oakdale we stopped to water and feed the deer. This one -got away. It was partly my fault for I had become fond of this critter -and I was sort of petting him and not watching the gate on the truck. - -“So this deer slipped out and ran away. The boss of the outfit was -angry at me and told me I’d have to find the deer and take him to the -state park or I would be out of a job. So I’ve been hunting the deer -ever since.” - -“Did you know we were here hunting him?” asked Dick. - -“I didn’t know a thing about you boys,” said the cowboy. “I just -happened to run across your trail several times. Mostly I kept to my -own trail, now and then getting a line on where the deer was. I heard -last night he had been seen in this direction so I came over. Sure -enough, here’s the deer. It’s just chance that brought us together,” he -added, nodding at the boys. - -“Well,” remarked Teddy, “we’re glad you have your deer back again.” - -“Oh, it isn’t my deer. It belongs to the state park forest,” said the -cowboy. “But I’m glad I won’t lose my job. Now I guess I’ll get along -and deliver the deer.” - -“There isn’t any reward for the deer, is there?” asked Joe. - -“Not that I know of. But if you boys have had to spend any money in -your trailing of the deer, I reckon I can pay you. I won’t be out of a -job as I was afraid I would.” - -“Oh, we don’t want any pay,” said Teddy. - -“It was fun,” said Joe. - -“One of the best mysteries we ever solved,” added Dick. - -“Mystery?” spoke the cowboy wonderingly. - -“Yes. We called it the mystery deer,” said Teddy. “And it was, for a -while. But it isn’t any more. Mrs. Traddle is going to be mad, though,” -he added. - -“Oh, on account of her garden,” said the cowboy. “Well, I aim to settle -with her. It was my fault the deer got in, I guess. And now I’ll bid -you boys good-bye. It isn’t far from here to the state forest. The deer -will soon be in the paddock with the others. That’s a good dog you have -there,” said the cowboy to Fatty Nolan. “Sorry I had to upset him to -keep him from hurting the deer.” - -“Oh, that’s all right,” responded the stout lad. “Hopper won’t mind.” - -The deer hunt was over. The cowboy led the animal away, holding fast to -the lasso rope around the animal’s neck. Teddy and his chums returned -home. - -“Well, it was a good mystery while it lasted,” said Joe. - -“Yes,” agreed Dick. “The girls are going to be disappointed, though. -They didn’t have much to do with the deer mystery.” - -“They had a little,” Teddy remarked. “And maybe they may do more in the -next one.” - -“Is there going to be another mystery?” asked Dick. - -“You never can tell,” said Teddy Benson. - - -THE END - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: - -The statement in the Publisher’s Note referring to the type in which -the original book was set is not applicable to this ebook. - -Spelling and hyphenation have been preserved as they appear in the -original publication. The following changes have been made: - - Page 6 - the race. “Hurry, Joe! _changed to_ - the race. Hurry, Joe! - - Page 86 - even if he hadn’t wished _changed to_ - even if he had wished - - Page 179 - Teddy and Joe and going to wait _changed to_ - Teddy and Joe are going to wait - - Page 193 - he still felt that cool, dampness _changed to_ - he still felt that cool dampness - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy and the Mystery Deer, by -Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962) - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER *** - -***** This file should be named 60461-0.txt or 60461-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/4/6/60461/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Garis - </title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - body {margin: 3em 10%;} - .chapter, .section {page-break-before: always;} - h1, h2 {text-align: center; clear: both;} - h2 {font-size: 1.4em; line-height: 2em;} - h2 span {font-size: .8em;} - p {margin-top: 1em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: 1em; text-indent: 1em;} - .p180 {font-size: 1.8em;} - .p140 {font-size: 1.4em;} - .p130 {font-size: 1.3em;} - .p120 {font-size: 1.2em;} - .p90 {font-size: .9em;} - - /* General */ - em, cite {font-style: italic; font-weight: normal;} - .noi {text-indent: 0;} - .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} - .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} - .mt3 {margin-top: 3em;} - - /* Horizontal rules */ - hr {width: 60%; margin: 2em 20%; clear: both;} - hr.divider {width: 65%; margin: 4em 17.5%;} - hr.divider2 {width: 45%; margin: 4em 27.5%;} - hr.short {width: 20%; margin: 1em 40%;} - hr.short2 {width: 10%; margin: 1em 45%;} - hr.full {width: 100%; margin: 1em 0;} - - /* Page numbers */ - .pagenum {position: absolute; right: 2%; text-indent: 0em; - text-align: right; font-size: x-small; - font-weight: normal; font-variant: normal; font-style: normal; - letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; - color: #999; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid; - background-color: inherit; padding: .01em .4em;} - - /* Images */ - img {max-width: 100%; width: 100%; height: auto;} - .figcenter {clear: both; margin: 2em auto; text-align: center; max-width: 100%;} - .width400 {width: 400px;} - .caption {font-weight: normal;} - - /* Front matter */ - .container {max-width: 25em; margin: 0 auto; border: 1px solid #000;} - .underline {text-decoration: underline;} - - /* Table */ - table {margin: auto; border-collapse: collapse;} - .tdh {font-size: .8em; font-weight: bold;} - td {padding: .3em; vertical-align: top;} - .tdl {text-align: left; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;} - .tdr {text-align: right; padding-right: 2em;} - .tdr2 {text-align: right;} - - /* Notes */ - ins {text-decoration: none; border-bottom: 1px dotted #dcdcdc;} - .tn {max-width: 25em; margin: 2em auto; background: #dcdcdc; padding: .5em 1em;} - li {margin-bottom: .5em;} - - /* Show screen only */ - .hidehand {display: block;} - - @media handheld { - body {margin: .5em; padding: 0; width: 98%;} - p {margin-top: .1em; text-align: justify; margin-bottom: .1em; text-indent: 1em;} - hr.divider, hr.divider2 {border-width: 0; margin: 0;} - img {max-width: 100%; width: auto; height: auto;} - .tn {width: 80%; margin: 0 10%; background: #dcdcdc; padding: 1em;} - a {color: inherit; text-decoration: inherit;} - .container {max-width: 75%; margin-left: 12.5%; margin-right: 12.5%;} - .hidehand {display: none;} - table {width: 94%; margin-left: 2%; margin-right: 2%;} - } - </style> - </head> -<body> - - -<pre> - -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy and the Mystery Deer, by -Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962) - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Teddy and the Mystery Deer - -Author: Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962) - -Release Date: October 8, 2019 [EBook #60461] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<hr class="divider" /> -<h1>TEDDY AND<br /> -THE MYSTERY<br /> -DEER</h1> - - -<div class="hidehand"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/cover2.jpg" width="400" height="644" alt="Cover" /> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="figcenter width400"> -<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="400" height="630" alt="Frontispiece" /> -<div class="caption"><strong>A lithe, tawny body sprang over Teddy.</strong><br /> -“<cite>Teddy and the Mystery Deer</cite>” (See <a href="#lithe">Page 21</a>)</div> -</div> -</div> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="container"> -<p class="center underline p130">THE TEDDY SERIES</p> - -<p class="center p180"><strong>TEDDY AND<br /> -THE MYSTERY<br /> -DEER</strong></p> - -<p class="center p180">by<br /> -HOWARD R. GARIS</p> - -<p class="center">Author of “Teddy and the Mystery Parrot,” “Teddy<br /> -and the Mystery Pony,” The “Buddy” Books, “The<br /> -Curlytops,” “Uncle Wiggily” Books, etc.</p> - -<p class="center">ILLUSTRATED</p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="center p140">CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY<br /> -PUBLISHERS · · · NEW YORK</p> -</div> -</div> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<div class="container"> -<p class="center p130"><strong>THE TEDDY BOOKS</strong></p> - -<p class="center p130"><i>By</i> Howard R. Garis</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p120"><i>Mystery Stories of Boys and Animals</i></p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p90">TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DOG</p> -<p class="center p90">TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY MONKEY</p> -<p class="center p90">TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY CAT</p> -<p class="center p90">TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY PARROT</p> -<p class="center p90">TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY PONY</p> -<p class="center p90">TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER</p> - -<hr class="short" /> - -<p class="center p120"><i>Other Titles in Preparation</i></p> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<p class="center p140">CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY<br /> -<small>PUBLISHERS · · · NEW YORK</small></p> -</div> -</div> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider2" /> -<p class="center">Copyright, 1940, by<br /> -Cupples & Leon Co.</p> - -<hr class="short2" /> - -<p class="center smcap">Teddy and the Mystery Deer</p> - -<hr class="short2" /> - -<p class="center"><small>PRINTED IN THE U. S. A.</small></p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">iii</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="contents" id="contents"></a>CONTENTS</h2> - -<table summary="contents"> -<tr> -<td class="tdh tdr">CHAPTER</td> -<td class="tdl"> </td> -<td class="tdh tdr2">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr tdr">I.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Lost</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#i">1</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">II.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Found</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ii">13</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">III.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Mystery Deer</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iii">21</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IV.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">More Mystery</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#iv">29</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">V.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Mystery Club</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#v">38</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VI.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Fatty Nolan</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vi">48</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VII.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Mrs. Traddle’s Garden</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#vii">58</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">VIII.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Lasso Man</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#viii">68</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">IX.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Teddy Is Lassoed</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#ix">78</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">X.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Picnic Lunch</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#x">86</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XI.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Heel Plate Clue</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xi">96</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XII.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">The Trap</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xii">106</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIII.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Setting the Trap</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiii">116</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIV.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">A Captive</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xiv">127</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XV.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Escape</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xv">136</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVI.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Teddy Is Upset</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvi">146</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVII.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">On the Deer’s Trail</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xvii">156</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XVIII.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Wrong Number</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xviii">163</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XIX.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Night Camp</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xix">173</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XX.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Night Alarm</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xx">187</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> -<td class="tdr">XXI.</td> -<td class="tdl smcap">Caught</td> -<td class="tdr2"><a href="#xxi">195</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - - - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<h2><a name="publisher" id="publisher"></a>PUBLISHER’S NOTE</h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> type in which this book and others of the same series is set is -especially designed to conform to the type in the school books which -are used by boys and girls of the age to which these stories appeal. -The size of the letters, the arrangement of the words on the pages and -the general construction is intended, as nearly as possible, to be an -aid to the reading work of public and private schools.</p> -</div> - - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -</div> -<p class="center p180">TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER</p> - -<h2><a name="i" id="i"></a>CHAPTER I<br /> -<span>LOST</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Teddy Benson</span> gave a final twist to the propeller of his toy, model -airplane.</p> - -<p>“Better not make it too tight,” suggested his chum, Dick Kelly.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” Teddy asked, looking up as he slipped on the catch so the -propeller might not start revolving before he was ready.</p> - -<p>“You might break the rubber bands,” Dick explained.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I guess they’ll take it,” answered the little lad who straightened -up and wet a finger in his mouth.</p> - -<p>“How is it?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">2</a></span> -You might have thought he was inquiring how Teddy liked the taste of -his finger. But anyone who has flown model airplanes could tell that -Teddy was just testing the wind.</p> - -<p>“It’s blowing almost directly east,” Teddy answered.</p> - -<p>“Then Mason’s meadow will be the place to have the test,” suggested -Dick. “There’s plenty of room there.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Teddy agreed, “if we start on the far side—away from the woods. -Can’t start in the middle of the meadow.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>He did not glance up at his chum. Dick, who was short and rather stout, -was twisting the propeller blades of his own toy plane. He was winding -the rubber bands which, when they untwisted, would serve as the motor -of the little craft. “Why can’t we begin the race in the middle of the -meadow, Teddy? That’s the clearest place.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if you want your plane to shoot over in the woods, and maybe get -lost, let it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">3</a></span> go from the middle of Mason’s meadow,” said Teddy. He -tested the rudders of his craft.</p> - -<p>Dick, who had put the clamp on his rubber engine, looked up to laugh as -he said:</p> - -<p>“Say, Teddy, you don’t think, that these planes of ours will fly from -the middle of Mason’s meadow away over to the woods on the far side, do -you?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know about your plane, but mine will,” stated Teddy -confidently. “I’m not so sure,” he went on, as he carefully tested the -tautness of the stretched rubber bands, “I’m not so sure but what we -had better go down to the lake beach. There’s a longer stretch to fly -from down there. But of course the wind is wrong. The planes would have -to go over the water.”</p> - -<p>“And since mine doesn’t happen to be a hydroplane, I’m not for that,” -declared Dick. “But you make me laugh when you say your plane will go -all the way across Mason’s meadow and into the woods.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">4</a></span> -“I don’t want my plane to go into the woods,” spoke Teddy calmly. “But -I’m pretty sure it will if I let it have all the power I can give it. I -didn’t wind it up as tight as I could.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if your plane is as good as you think it is, why don’t you enter -it in the races for the Johnson cup?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Maybe I will,” Teddy answered as he made another adjustment to his -craft’s rudders.</p> - -<p>“Say, don’t you know that only the very best planes go in that contest -this September?” asked Dick. “Your little one wouldn’t have a chance!”</p> - -<p>“Maybe it would,” spoke Teddy. “We’ll know more after we have our own -little race today down in Mason’s meadow. Did you see anything of Joe?”</p> - -<p>“I passed his house on my way here,” Dick answered. “He was doing -something to his plane and said he’d be right over. We can wait. I’ve -got to fix my rudder a little.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">5</a></span> -“And I think I’ll take off one of my rubber bands and put on another,” -Teddy remarked. “One of ’em looks a little bit frayed. I don’t want my -plane to slow up.”</p> - -<p>“You want it to go all the way to the woods, I suppose,” laughed Dick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, it’ll go there. Maybe yours will, too,” said Teddy. “The wind is -getting stronger,” he added. Again he wet his finger and held it up as -a test. “It’s going to be a strong tail wind,” he went on. “I wouldn’t -be surprised if all three of our planes got to the edge of the woods, -anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“You have a pretty good opinion of our planes,” chuckled Dick.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” Teddy asked as he let his propeller slowly unwind. He wanted -to take the tension off the rubber bands in order to insert a new one.</p> - -<p>Dick did not answer his chum. But he looked up long enough to say: -“Here comes Joe!”</p> - -<p>“Good!” exclaimed Teddy. “Now we can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">6</a></span> have the race. -<a name="quote" id="quote"></a><ins title="Original has extraneous “">Hurry</ins>, -Joe!” he shouted. “The wind’s just right and it’s -getting stronger. Hurry!”</p> - -<p>“Coming!” answered Joe Denton.</p> - -<p>The three chums were soon busy making final adjustments to their toy -planes in the yard of Teddy Benson’s home. Most of the activities -of the three centered around Teddy’s home. He was the leader of his -crowd, always the first to propose something new. He had done it when -he suggested they have a race of their model planes. The boys had been -making model planes for some time.</p> - -<p>At first they made only small ones, which were launched by being tossed -into the air. These planes went only a short distance.</p> - -<p>The next planes the boys made had rubber bands for motors. At first, -they attached only a few, small rubbers to the propeller of their -craft. These bands, when twisted, would unravel, whirl the propeller -and send the planes flying.</p> - -<p>Step by step the three chums had advanced<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">7</a></span> until they now had planes -with quite powerful rubber “motors,” if such they could be called. The -“motors” of course, were just rubber bands or cords.</p> - -<p>“Some day,” Teddy had declared, “we’ll get real miniature gasoline -motors for our planes. Then they’ll fly miles and miles before they -come down.”</p> - -<p>“And we’ll have to walk after ’em to bring ’em back,” sighed Dick. He -was too stout to care for much walking.</p> - -<p>“Golly, it would be fun to have a gas motor model plane,” remarked Joe -Denton as he put the final touches on his rubber-motored one. “They -have some dandy ones in the Johnson cup races,” he added.</p> - -<p>“Yes, and they have good prizes for rubber-motored planes,” announced -Teddy. “Well, if you fellows are ready, let’s go to Mason’s meadow and -see whose plane can fly farthest.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you think yours can,” laughed Dick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">8</a></span> -“Well, I’m not saying anything,” Teddy modestly remarked.</p> - -<p>“No, but you’re doing a lot of thinking,” said Joe. “I know my plane -won’t win,” he sighed. “There’s something wrong with it, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe we can find out what it is in this race,” Teddy suggested, “and -fix it.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe,” agreed Joe, ruffling his red hair.</p> - -<p>As the three chums started from Teddy’s yard, carefully carrying their -model planes, Lucy Benson came to the kitchen door.</p> - -<p>“Where are you going?” she asked. “May I come?”</p> - -<p>“No, you can’t,” Teddy answered. “Sorry,” he added as he saw the look -of disappointment on his sister’s face. “But we’re going to fly our -planes and we don’t want any girls.”</p> - -<p>“One of our planes might get tangled in your hair,” said Dick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">9</a></span> -“Oh, is that so?” snapped Lucy. “And one of ’em might get lost, too! -Then maybe you’ll be glad to have me help hunt it like I did the time -Teddy’s plane was lost before. I found it then.”</p> - -<p>“Did she?” asked Joe, looking at Lucy. Her cheeks were flushed because -of a little excitement.</p> - -<p>“Yes, she did—sort of,” Teddy rather grudgingly admitted.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Teddy Benson!” exclaimed his sister, stamping her foot on the back -porch. “How can you talk that way? You know I found your lost plane all -by myself—in the woods.”</p> - -<p>“Well, there aren’t going to be any lost planes today,” said Teddy. “So -you can’t come. Sorry. Come on, fellows!” he added. “The wind may die -out.”</p> - -<p>The three boys hurried to Mason’s meadow. Lucy, left behind, looked -after them a moment. Then she said:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">10</a></span> -“I’ll go get Margie Kelly. We can go to Mason’s meadow if we want to. -There’s no fence around it.”</p> - -<p>Lucy hurried to the home of her chum, Dick’s sister. The three boys -were soon at the meadow. On the far side was a patch of woods. Pointing -to this Dick said to Joe:</p> - -<p>“Teddy expects his plane to fly there.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t expect it,” Teddy said. “But it might. Come on now. Get ready. -The plane that goes the farthest wins the race.”</p> - -<p>“And what’s the prize?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“The loser has to treat him and the other fellow to ice cream,” Teddy -decided.</p> - -<p>“That means I’ve got to treat,” sighed Joe. “Well, let’s go!”</p> - -<p>The rubber motors were wound up. The boys held their planes poised for -a start. They stood with their backs to the wind, on the edge of the -meadow farthest from the woods.</p> - -<p>“All ready?” Teddy called.</p> - -<p>“All ready!” his chums answered.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">11</a></span> -“Let go!”</p> - -<p>The three little planes were launched into the air.</p> - -<p>For a short distance all three were about even. Then Teddy’s began -pulling ahead. Close behind it was Dick’s. Joe’s plane was lagging and -soon began to descend.</p> - -<p>“I might have known it!” sighed the red-haired lad. “I’ll buy the ice -cream.”</p> - -<p>Teddy and Dick did not answer. They were running after their planes. -Then, Dick’s began to falter. Teddy’s was sailing on full and fast. It -rose on a long slant.</p> - -<p>“Say! I believe Teddy’s plane will reach the woods!” cried Joe. He had -picked up his craft from the grass.</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s going better than I thought it would,” Dick had to admit.</p> - -<p>Then came a puff of wind. That and the power in Teddy’s plane sent it -more swiftly toward the woods. Dick’s plane, having reached the limit -of its flight, began coming down.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">12</a></span> -“Teddy wins!” cried Joe.</p> - -<p>“Yes! But look! His plane is sailing right into the woods!” cried Dick. -“You’ve done it, Teddy! I didn’t think you could, but you did. There -goes your plane into the woods!”</p> - -<p>“I wish it hadn’t!” cried Teddy, running after it.</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Because I think it will be lost. It went in the woods right near that -deep gully. I guess my plane is lost, fellows!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">13</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="ii" id="ii"></a>CHAPTER II<br /> -<span>FOUND</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Reaching</span> an open glade in the meadow, where the grass was shorter -than in other places, Dick and Joe put down the planes they had been -carrying.</p> - -<p>“I guess they’ll be all right,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“Why are you leaving your planes there?” asked Teddy, looking back over -his shoulder as he headed toward the gully in the woods.</p> - -<p>“So they won’t get all banged up on trees and bushes when we help you -hunt for yours,” Joe answered.</p> - -<p>“If we carried them through the woods there wouldn’t be much left of -’em,” added Dick.</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” Teddy agreed. “We may have to dodge into some tough -places, looking for my lost plane. It’s swell of you fellows to come -and help me,” he added.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">14</a></span> -“As if we wouldn’t!” exclaimed Dick.</p> - -<p>“Fine chums we’d be if we didn’t,” added Joe. “Well, Teddy, you won the -race.”</p> - -<p>“But I didn’t expect my plane to go so far,” said the tall lad. “It’s -got a dandy motor. I hope I can find it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we’ll find it!” declared Dick. Yet as he and the two other boys -looked at the thick woods they began to have feelings of doubt. -The place where Teddy’s plane had disappeared amid the trees was a -particularly dense part of the forest.</p> - -<p>While the three are starting their search for the lost plane, a moment -may be taken to let our new readers know something about Teddy Benson -who has had many mysterious adventures. Now he was about to have -another.</p> - -<p>The first book of this series, “Teddy and The Mystery Dog” introduces -our young hero. He and his sister and chums had many strange -experiences with a certain dog.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">15</a></span> Later they were involved in a mystery -about a monkey, a cat, a parrot and a pony.</p> - -<p>Teddy and his chums lived in the small city of Oakdale, near Hemlock -River. There was a small lake nearby. The boys had many good times on -the river and lake, or in the country near these bits of water.</p> - -<p>Summer had come, the long vacation from school was at hand and one -of the first bits of fun Teddy and his chums started was the model -airplane race. They planned to have others if the first was successful.</p> - -<p>“But if I don’t find my plane I guess I won’t go in any more races,” -Teddy said somewhat gloomily. He was leading his chums into the woods.</p> - -<p>“Can’t you build another?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I guess so,” Teddy replied. “I plan to, of course, if I get into -the gas motor class. But first I want to find this dandy little plane -that’s lost. I wish I hadn’t wound those rubber bands so tight.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">16</a></span> -“Still, you know what your plane can do when it has to,” comforted Dick.</p> - -<p>“I never saw a better flight,” added Joe. “I thought for a while it was -going to soar right over the woods.”</p> - -<p>“I wish it had,” murmured Teddy. “Then it wouldn’t be down in the -gully.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure it’s there?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Can’t tell,” Teddy replied. “We’ll have to scout around and look. -Say,” he went on as the three boys were fairly within the woods, -“this is going to be pretty tough going. I shouldn’t make you fellows -scramble through this underbrush with me to search for my lost plane.”</p> - -<p>“Forget it!” advised Joe.</p> - -<p>“That’s what we’re here for,” declared Dick.</p> - -<p>The woods adjoining Mason’s meadow, owned by the same man, were dense -and dark. Tall pines and other evergreen trees made the forest dark on -even a bright, sunny<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">17</a></span> day. The woods were not on level ground, as was -the grassy plain. Part of the patch where the trees and brush grew was -level enough. But beyond that area the woods sloped down quite a hill -and a section of the woodlot lay in a deep ravine or gully.</p> - -<p>“It’s a good distance down there and a good distance back,” remarked -Teddy as he and his chums reached the edge of the ravine and looked -into it as far as their sight could penetrate through the gloom.</p> - -<p>“We can make it,” declared Joe. “I’ve often gone down steeper places -than this when I was out scouting.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t going down that counts,” said Dick with a sigh. “It’s the -climb up that’s hard work.”</p> - -<p>“It’ll work off some of your fat!” chuckled Joe, taking care to be -beyond the range of Dick’s fists.</p> - -<p>“Oh, is that so?” snapped the stout lad. “Well, I’ll show you two I’m -as good a gully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">18</a></span> climber as either of you. But are you sure your plane -came in here, Teddy?”</p> - -<p>“Quite sure, yes. I marked it by that lightning-struck oak tree on the -edge of the wood. The plane went in right there.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think it could go far, with all these trees to dodge?” Dick -asked. “I mean wouldn’t it crack-up against one of ’em?”</p> - -<p>“It might,” Teddy agreed. “But if my good luck holds, it might just -buzz in and out among the trees. Then it would come down in the gully. -I think the motor would be about run down if the plane got this far,” -he said. He came to a stop in a little glade on the edge of the ravine. -The ground was covered with a soft carpet of pine needles.</p> - -<p>“Makes a good landing field,” commented Joe as he brushed a pile of -needles together with a motion of his foot.</p> - -<p>“Just like coming down on a spring bed,” declared Dick. He threw -himself on the ground with a soft thud.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">19</a></span> -“Well, let’s have a look around,” suggested Joe. “If your plane is -here, Teddy, it ought to be easy to spot it with the white wings and -fusilage.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’ll show up well against all this darkness,” agreed Dick. “Now -let’s spread out a bit and look.”</p> - -<p>“Take it easy going down into the gully,” advised Teddy. “If any of us -slip we might get a bad fall.”</p> - -<p>Foot by foot the boys advanced deeper into the woods. Darkness slowly -hemmed them in. The trees were thicker now. The boys looked down into -the ravine at the foot of which raced a murmuring stream.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Dick clutched Teddy’s arm and exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“There! Isn’t that your plane? That white thing?”</p> - -<p>“Where?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Right near that big rock. Look! Sure! That’s your plane!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">20</a></span> -“By golly! So it is!” cried Teddy in delight, “I’ve found it and not -far down in the gully, either. Hurray!”</p> - -<p>He started toward the toy plane. But before he and the boys who were -following him could reach it, they were startled by a loud snorting -noise.</p> - -<p>Then some animal, with large ears and an upraised tail, sprang from -behind the rock and made straight for Teddy Benson.</p> - -<p>“Look out!” yelled Dick. “Look out!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">21</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iii" id="iii"></a>CHAPTER III<br /> -<span>MYSTERY DEER</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Teddy Benson</span> ducked just in time. Warned by Dick’s cry, the young lad -stooped down so quickly that he sprawled on the pine needles that -covered the hard earth.</p> - -<p>A moment later <a name="lithe" id="lithe"></a>a lithe, tawny body sprang over Teddy, rushed between -Joe and Dick and was lost to sight in the darkness of the small forest.</p> - -<p>For a moment after this strange happening, neither of the chums did or -said anything. Then Teddy, who scrambled to his feet, asked his friends:</p> - -<p>“Did you see what I saw?”</p> - -<p>“I saw something—some animal,” replied Joe. “But it went past me so -fast—like your airplane, Teddy—that I don’t know whether it was a dog -or a calf.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">22</a></span> -“It wasn’t a dog,” declared Dick.</p> - -<p>“How do you know?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Because if it was a dog it would have barked. And it wasn’t a calf.”</p> - -<p>“How do you know that?” Teddy asked.</p> - -<p>“If it was a calf,” reasoned Dick, “it would have bleated. Besides, -what would a farmer’s calf be doing in these woods?”</p> - -<p>“I guess you’re right there,” Teddy agreed. “Of course, a farmer’s calf -could have strayed into these woods. But it ran too fast for a calf.”</p> - -<p>“And it jumped better than any calf I ever saw,” reported Dick. “Why, -it jumped right over you, Teddy.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I saw that. I also saw something else.”</p> - -<p>“What?” his two chums wanted to know.</p> - -<p>Teddy Benson arose and brushed the dry, brown pine-needles off -his clothes. Then he looked back into the gully and made sure his -white-winged airplane was still in sight. It was so Teddy went on:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">23</a></span> -“I saw some horns and they weren’t the kind of horns a calf wears. They -were quite different—branching horns, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Like what?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Like the horns of a deer,” Teddy answered. “Fellows, I think what -scared us was a deer.”</p> - -<p>“Scared? Who’s scared?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Weren’t you?” asked Teddy. “I was. And from the way you and Joe -ducked, I’ll say you were scared, too.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I was for a second, I guess,” admitted Dick. “At first, I -thought it was a bobcat.”</p> - -<p>“What would a lynx be doing in Mason’s woods?” asked Joe. “No one ever -saw a wild animal in here.”</p> - -<p>“Then what does Teddy mean by talking about a deer?” asked Dick. “Now I -come to think of it, that animal did look something like a deer. It ran -and jumped fast enough to be a deer, anyhow. But what would a deer be -doing in Mason’s woods?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">24</a></span> -“That’s what we have to find out,” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>“You mean it might be another of those—those <em>mysteries</em>?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“It might,” admitted Teddy. “Anyhow, isn’t it queer that we should meet -a deer here.”</p> - -<p>“I guess that deer—if it was a deer,” said Dick, “was as scared as we -were. It ran like a streak of light. Must have been lying down back of -that big rock where Teddy’s airplane is. And when we started down it -caught our scent, got scared and leaped up to run away.”</p> - -<p>“The question is, where did it run?” asked Joe, looking off through the -dark woods. “It isn’t in sight.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe we can trail it,” suggested Teddy. “But first I’m going to get -my plane. Then we can look for the deer. If we don’t find it, so much -the more mystery.”</p> - -<p>“And if we find it the mystery will be solved,” said Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">25</a></span> -“Maybe not,” spoke Teddy. “I don’t see how a deer got in these woods. -It might have escaped from a circus. But, as a rule, they don’t carry -deer in a circus. They aren’t strange enough animals. And nobody around -here keeps deer that I know of.”</p> - -<p>The other boys admitted they knew of no deer paddock in Oakdale whence -the deer might have escaped. The appearance of the deer was a complete -mystery.</p> - -<p>“But it comes at just the right time,” Teddy remarked. “We haven’t any -school. We can spend the whole summer solving the deer mystery.”</p> - -<p>“Unless your folks go away,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe we’re going away this year,” Teddy said. “My father -has to make a business trip and my mother doesn’t feel like going to -the country or seashore. So we may stay home. Or maybe we might go away -in August.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what our folks are planning to do,” said Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">26</a></span> -“And my mother says she can’t afford to go away,” spoke Dick. “So we’re -going to stay home.” Dick’s mother was a widow.</p> - -<p>“Well, this is just fine and dandy then,” declared Teddy. “We are all -going to be around Oakdale most of the summer. So we can have plenty of -time to solve the mystery.”</p> - -<p>“If there is one,” commented Joe.</p> - -<p>“Don’t you call meeting a leaping deer, with horns, in a wood where no -deer has been seen since Indian days—don’t you call that a mystery?” -asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I guess I do,” admitted Joe.</p> - -<p>“It sure is,” agreed Teddy. “And as soon as I get my plane we’ll have a -start at solving the mystery.”</p> - -<p>He left his chums to walk a short distance down the first slope of the -gully to where the toy model lay at the foot of a great rock.</p> - -<p>“Good thing it didn’t smash into the rock,” commented Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">27</a></span> -“Sure is,” assented Dick.</p> - -<p>The two watched Teddy reach his toy and stoop to pick it up. The tall -lad examined his model carefully and Joe called:</p> - -<p>“Is it damaged any?”</p> - -<p>“One propeller blade is chipped a bit,” Teddy answered. “Otherwise it’s -all right. I’m lucky.”</p> - -<p>“As usual,” chuckled Joe. “Just like now, when the mystery deer jumped -over you instead of through you. Well, come on. Let’s get back and pick -up our planes. We can have another race tomorrow. I’m going to put a -bigger propeller on my model.”</p> - -<p>“I’m going to use more rubber bands,” declared Dick. “See any more deer -or other wild animals back of that rock, Teddy?”</p> - -<p>“No, there are no more here. But that deer was resting here. He had a -bed in the leaves. I’d like to know more about him.”</p> - -<p>As Teddy walked up the little incline from the edge of the gully, -carrying his plane,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">28</a></span> there came to his ears and those of his chums the -shrill screams of girls.</p> - -<p>“Help! Help!” cried the voices which Teddy and his chums knew to be -those of Lucy Benson and Margie Kelly.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">29</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="iv" id="iv"></a>CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span>MORE MYSTERY</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">When</span> Lucy Benson’s brother told her she couldn’t watch him and his -chums race their toy, model airplanes, the little girl felt sad for a -few moments. Then her spirits rose as she said to herself determinedly:</p> - -<p>“I don’t care! I’ve got just as good a right in Mason’s meadow as Teddy -Benson, Dick Kelly or Joe Denton. And I’m going there! I’ll take Margie -with me.”</p> - -<p>A little later, while Teddy and his chums were on their way to the deer -mystery, Lucy hurried into the yard of the Kelly home. Mrs. Kelly saw -her from a side window.</p> - -<p>“Is Margie home, Mrs. Kelly?” asked Lucy.</p> - -<p>“I think she is, my dear. She was just going over to your house but I -think she is still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">30</a></span> up in her room. You may go right upstairs.”</p> - -<p>The Benson and Kelly families visited back and forth as if they were -relatives more than friends. So Lucy hurried into the house, calling:</p> - -<p>“Margie! Where are you?”</p> - -<p>“Just getting ready to come over to your house, Lucy. Come on up. I’ll -be ready as soon as I tie a new ribbon on my hair.”</p> - -<p>Lucy hurried into Margie’s room. There was something in the haste and -manner of Lucy that caused Margie to stop and ask:</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter? Has anything happened?”</p> - -<p>“Teddy wouldn’t let me come to watch him, Joe and Dick fly their -planes,” Lucy reported. “But I’m going anyhow. And if the planes won’t -fly—and I don’t believe they will—we can have the laugh on them.”</p> - -<p>“We, Lucy?”</p> - -<p>“Sure. You’ll come with me, won’t you?”</p> - -<p>“I guess so. Where is it?”</p> - -<p>“Down in Mason’s meadow. We haven’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">31</a></span> anything to do so we might as well -go there as any place else, don’t you think?”</p> - -<p>“Of course. Won’t the boys be surprised?”</p> - -<p>“Well—maybe,” said Lucy slowly. “I think Teddy sort of suspects I’ll -follow him. But I don’t care. I’ve got a right to.”</p> - -<p>“Of course we have,” agreed Margie. “They can’t keep us out of Mason’s -meadow.”</p> - -<p>So the two girls hurried toward the same field where, a little while -before, Teddy and his chums had started to fly their planes. On the way -the girls decided to stop in the candy store kept by old Mrs. Traddle.</p> - -<p>“I’ve got part of my allowance left,” said Lucy. “I’ll treat you, -Margie.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s lovely. Next time I’ll treat you. But let’s save some of -the candy for the boys.”</p> - -<p>“What! Give them candy after they wouldn’t let us come to see them fly -their planes? I should say not!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">32</a></span> -“Oh, I don’t mean give them any candy,” explained Margie with a laugh. -“But we’ll save some to eat in the meadow after we get there. And when -the boys see us eating candy—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I see what you mean!” laughed Lucy. “Sure, we’ll do that. It will -make them wish they’d invited us. What do you like best, jelly beans or -gum drops?”</p> - -<p>“I like both. But you get more jelly beans for a nickel than you do gum -drops. Gum drops are expensive.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll get some of each,” decided Lucy.</p> - -<p>Now it wasn’t as easy to buy candy at the store of old Mrs. Traddle as -it might seem. For one thing Mrs. Traddle was very deaf but she never -would admit it. She thought her hearing was fine. So the boys and -girls, after finding out that if they asked for chocolate drops often -were handed lollypops, had gotten into the habit of pointing out in the -show case what candy they wanted.</p> - -<p>But this time Lucy, being in somewhat of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">33</a></span> a hurry, forgot, for the -moment, that Mrs. Traddle was deaf. So, going into the store, Lucy said:</p> - -<p>“I want five cents worth of jelly beans and gum drops, mixed, please.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, there is quite a breeze today,” said Mrs. Traddle, as she -pulled her spectacles down off the top of her head to where they could -sit on her nose and be in front of her eyes. “A very good breeze -indeed. How many sticks did you say, my dear?”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say STICKS,” spoke Lucy. “I said I wanted my candy MIXED, -Mrs. Traddle. Gum drops and jelly beans.”</p> - -<p>“Why, of course I have screens in here, Lucy,” said Mrs. Traddle. “How -else could I keep out the flies? Screens? I should say so. Flies are -dreadful around a candy shop. Now tell me what kind you want and I’ll -wait on you. But please hurry. I have a cake in the oven.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Traddle glanced back toward the living rooms in the rear of her -little candy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">34</a></span> shop. Now Margie thought she would try. So, raising her -voice, she said:</p> - -<p>“We want jelly beans and gum drops!”</p> - -<p>“Yes, it is pretty good weather for crops,” agreed Mrs. Traddle. “We -could do with a mite more of rain, though. But, in general, as you say, -crops are good. Now did you want some candy?”</p> - -<p>The two girls looked at each other helplessly. Then Lucy did what she -should have done at first. She pointed to the glass dish of jelly beans -and to the one containing gum drops. Then she put her five-cent piece -on the top of the show case and made a mixing motion with her hands.</p> - -<p>“Oh, of course! Why didn’t you say so at first?” asked Mrs. Traddle, -somewhat peevishly. “Children come in here talking about fly screens -and crops and don’t seem to know what they want. Jelly beans and gum -drops, of course. Mix them up. Certainly. Your motion, Lucy, reminds -me I mixed up a cake<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">35</a></span> and it’s in the oven now. I’ll have to hurry and -take it out. Here’s your candy.”</p> - -<p>Whether it was because she liked the two little girls or because she -was in a hurry, Mrs. Traddle gave Lucy a very generous five cents’ -worth of candy and the two girls went out of the store rejoicing.</p> - -<p>The girls ate part of the candy on their way to Mason’s meadow. They -saved some with which to make the boys envious. In a short time they -were at the field. But they saw no signs of Teddy, Dick or Joe.</p> - -<p>“Maybe they’ve been here and gone,” said Margie.</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t think so,” said Lucy. “It takes quite a while to wind up -those rubber band motors. Maybe they’re over by the woods. Come on!”</p> - -<p>The girls hurried across the field and, in a short time, came to the -place where Joe and Dick had left their airplanes to follow Teddy into -the gully.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">36</a></span> -“Oh, look!” exclaimed Margie. “Here’s my brother’s plane!”</p> - -<p>“Then the other must be Joe’s,” said Lucy. “For it isn’t Teddy’s.”</p> - -<p>“How do you suppose the planes got here?” asked Margie.</p> - -<p>“Why,” said Lucy, considering, “I guess the boys flew them and the -planes came down and the boys couldn’t find them. But we have. And we -can take the planes home and won’t the boys be surprised?”</p> - -<p>“I should say so!” exclaimed Margie. “But where is Teddy and his plane?”</p> - -<p>“Maybe his flew another way, and he and Joe and Dick are hunting for -it,” suggested Lucy. “Anyhow, we have found two of the planes and we’ll -take them home with us. When the boys are feeling sorry that they have -lost them, we’ll give them back.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, what fun!” laughed Margie.</p> - -<p>The two girls each picked up one of the toy planes and were starting to -walk back across the meadow when Margie exclaimed:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">37</a></span> -“Hark! Did you hear that?”</p> - -<p>“Hear what?” Lucy asked.</p> - -<p>“That noise.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of a noise?” asked Lucy.</p> - -<p>“A—a sort of a—a whoofing noise!” whispered Margie. “It seemed to -come from those bushes near the edge of the wood. Listen! There it is -again!”</p> - -<p>Lucy heard a noise and said:</p> - -<p>“It was more like a cow snorting than a whoofing noise.”</p> - -<p>“Well, maybe it was a cow,” admitted Margie. “Anyhow it was a noise -and—oh, look, Lucy! It’s coming for us—that noise. Oh, it’s a wild -cow—or something. Run! Run!”</p> - -<p>Lucy gave one look and then, holding tightly to Joe’s plane as Margie -was carrying Dick’s, the two girls turned and ran as fast as they could -crying:</p> - -<p>“Help! Help!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">38</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="v" id="v"></a>CHAPTER V<br /> -<span>THE MYSTERY CLUB</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Though</span> Margie and Lucy ran fast, carrying the toy planes, they had a -chance to look back to see what had frightened them. They both looked -at the same time and Margie said:</p> - -<p>“It isn’t a cow that’s chasing us.”</p> - -<p>“No, it isn’t a cow,” Lucy agreed. “It hasn’t the horns of a cow. It -looks more like a reindeer.”</p> - -<p>“Reindeers only come around Christmas time—if you believe in them,” -said Margie. “Besides, there wouldn’t be reindeers down here—only up -at the North Pole.”</p> - -<p>“Well, anyhow, it’s coming after us, whatever it is,” added Margie. -“Come on! Run fast!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, why doesn’t somebody help us?”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">39</a></span> cried Lucy. “Go on back, you old -scarecrow you!” she shouted.</p> - -<p>“It isn’t a scarecrow, whatever else it is,” said Margie.</p> - -<p>“I know it isn’t,” Lucy admitted. “But I couldn’t think of anything -else to call it. Oh, goodie! Here’s the fence. Now we can crawl under -and be safe.”</p> - -<p>The girls reached a fence at one corner of Mason’s meadow and lost no -time in crawling below the first rail. They pushed their brothers’ -airplanes through the fence ahead of them.</p> - -<p>The grass was long and green at the place where Margie and Lucy had -crawled under the fence. And, noting as they were on their hands and -knees, that the grass was above their heads, Margie said:</p> - -<p>“Why not stay here?”</p> - -<p>“Stay here?” exclaimed Lucy.</p> - -<p>“Yes. We can hide here in the long grass until that animal has gone -away. It can’t see us if we hide in the grass.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">40</a></span> -Lucy thought that was a fine idea. So the girls stretched out in the -fragrant clover and timothy grass that would soon be hay. It was quiet -and restful there and they felt sure the animal that had frightened -them could not see them.</p> - -<p>“But I wish the boys would come,” said Margie.</p> - -<p>“Maybe they will,” added Lucy.</p> - -<p>Teddy Benson and his two chums lost no time hurrying out of the woods -after they had found Teddy’s lost plane. The frightened cries of the -girls hastened their steps.</p> - -<p>“That was Margie’s voice,” decided Dick. “My sister always yells that -way when she’s frightened.”</p> - -<p>“So does Lucy,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“But what could have frightened them?” asked Joe Denton. “The voices -sounded as if they came from the meadow. And we crossed the meadow a -little while ago and there was nothing there.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">41</a></span> -“Unless it was that mysterious deer,” spoke Teddy.</p> - -<p>“But the deer didn’t run out toward the meadow,” objected Joe. “We saw -it go back down in the gully.”</p> - -<p>“You can’t tell which way a deer will go,” Teddy declared. “They can -swing around and double on their trail and do all sorts of queer -things. Especially if they think somebody is after them.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we weren’t after this deer,” laughed Dick. “It was more like he -was after us.”</p> - -<p>“Anyhow we have to go see what scared the girls,” decided Teddy. He -held fast to his model plane, which, he was glad to note, did not -appear to be much damaged. He and his chums hurried out of the woods -into the open meadow.</p> - -<p>“Nobody here,” announced Dick who was the first to reach it.</p> - -<p>“Not a sign of the girls,” added Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">42</a></span> -“Nor the deer, either,” said Teddy. “Maybe it was a false alarm.”</p> - -<p>“But we heard the girls scream,” said Joe. “And we saw a deer. There’s -something funny about it all. We’d better have a look around. But first -I’m going to get my plane.”</p> - -<p>“So am I,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>The boys had noted the place where they had left the two toy model -planes. But when they reached the spot of course the planes were gone. -At first, Teddy and his chums thought perhaps they had mistaken the -place. They cast about, searching in the grass, but no planes were to -be found.</p> - -<p>“But this is the place where we left them,” insisted Joe.</p> - -<p>“How can you tell?” Teddy wanted to know.</p> - -<p>“Here’s a piece of paper with my name on it,” Joe answered. He picked -it up out of the tall grass. “I put the paper, with my name and address -on it, on my plane,” he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">43</a></span> added. “That was in case it flew a long way -and I couldn’t trace it. The paper says that whoever sends me word of -finding my plane will get a dollar.”</p> - -<p>“Say, that’s a good idea!” exclaimed Teddy. “I’m going to do that to my -plane.”</p> - -<p>“So will I,” decided Dick. “But how did the paper get here when the two -planes are gone?”</p> - -<p>“I took the paper off after I found my plane,” explained Joe. “There -wasn’t any need of it on the plane just now. I thought I put the paper -in my pocket but it must have fallen on the ground. But, anyhow, it -shows this is the place where we left our planes, Dick, doesn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Sure does. But where are the planes?”</p> - -<p>“Somebody’s been here and has taken them,” Teddy said. “You would have -done better to have left the paper on, Joe.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe,” Joe admitted. “This sure is queer. I say, fellows, look at -this!” he cried as he pointed to a place where there was a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">44</a></span> bare spot -in the meadow. Scarcely any grass grew there and in the brown earth -Dick and Teddy saw some peculiar marks.</p> - -<p>“What are they?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Hoof marks of that deer!” exclaimed Teddy as he got down on one knee -to take a better look. “That deer has been here and not long ago. The -marks are fresh.”</p> - -<p>“And the girls have been here, too!” declared Joe.</p> - -<p>“How can you tell?” Dick wanted to know.</p> - -<p>Joe pointed to some footprints. There were two sets of them. He bent -down to examine them more closely.</p> - -<p>“They’re small footprints,” went on Joe, “about the size of the feet of -Margie and Lucy. Of course, other girls could have made these marks,” -he admitted. “But when we know we heard Margie and Lucy yelling for -help and find footprints of girls’ shoes here why, it’s pretty certain -Margie and Lucy were here.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">45</a></span> -“I think so, too,” admitted Teddy. “The question is where are the girls -now?”</p> - -<p>“And where are our planes?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“And where is the deer?” added Dick. “Gosh, we’ve got three mysteries -here instead of one, I guess.”</p> - -<p>“Look over here,” and Teddy directed the attention of his chums to -another bare patch. “The deer was here and he was sort of jumping -around heavy. The hoof marks are deeper.”</p> - -<p>Teddy’s chums agreed that this was so and Joe exclaimed:</p> - -<p>“Gosh, fellows, it looks as if that deer bashed up our planes and then -made off with Margie and Lucy.”</p> - -<p>“How could he do that?” Teddy inquired.</p> - -<p>“Well, by jumping up and down on the planes, he could easily bash them -to bits.”</p> - -<p>“There’d be some pieces left,” Dick argued.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I guess there would be unless the deer ate them,” Joe had to -admit.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">46</a></span> -“And how do you figure the deer took the girls away?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“On his back, maybe,” declared Joe. “He was a pretty big deer, and he -acted sort of savage. I’m sure that’s what happened. The deer broke -our toy planes. Then the girls came along and the deer rushed at them, -tossed them over his head with his horns and—”</p> - -<p>“And, I suppose,” laughed Teddy, “Margie and Lucy landed on the deer’s -back and went hitch-hiking.”</p> - -<p>“Well, I guess that couldn’t exactly happen,” replied Joe with a funny -little smile. “But something has happened, all right. Model airplanes -don’t disappear and deer don’t suddenly appear and sisters don’t vanish -after they cry for help—not unless something has happened.”</p> - -<p>“This sure is a mystery, fellows!” Teddy exclaimed. “Isn’t it queer how -I always seem to get mixed up in a mystery? First it was a dog and then -a monkey and now—”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">47</a></span> -“The way it looks to me,” interrupted Joe, “is that you have all the -mystery fun, Teddy.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right!” chimed in Joe. “We hardly ever get a chance.”</p> - -<p>“Say, look here!” cried Teddy. “That’s right. But you fellows are going -to be in on this mystery. How about forming a Mystery Club? Just us -three?”</p> - -<p>“Swell!” exclaimed Joe.</p> - -<p>“All right,” went on Teddy. “Then the Deer Mystery Club is hereby -formed. What’s the first order of business?”</p> - -<p>“I think,” said Joe, “we ought to notify the police that our toy planes -are missing.”</p> - -<p>“And so are Margie and Lucy,” said Teddy. “The girls ought to come -first. If they have really disappeared, I think we should—”</p> - -<p>He was interrupted by a loud voice shouting:</p> - -<p>“Get out of there! Get out of my meadow! Get out!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">48</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="vi" id="vi"></a>CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span>FATTY NOLAN</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Teddy Benson</span> and his two chums were so surprised, for a moment, at -hearing the ordering voice that they made no move to obey. They -assumed, of course, the order was for them. Though it was the first -time they had ever been told to get out of Mr. Mason’s meadow. But the -voice cried again:</p> - -<p>“Get out, I tell you! I don’t want you in my meadow spoiling the -fodder. Next I know you’ll be eating all my corn and beans! Get out -before I get my gun!”</p> - -<p>“Say, he can’t mean us!” exclaimed Teddy. “Mr. Mason wouldn’t talk that -way to us.”</p> - -<p>“Besides,” added Joe. “We aren’t hurting his meadow fodder.”</p> - -<p>“And we surely aren’t going to eat his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">49</a></span> corn and beans,” said Dick. -“What’s he mean—talking about getting his gun?”</p> - -<p>“I have it!” suddenly exclaimed Teddy. “Mr. Mason must mean the -mysterious deer. He’s trying to drive the deer away. They eat garden -crops, you know.”</p> - -<p>“But is this Mr. Mason?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>The boys learned, a few seconds later, that it was Mr. Mason, owner -of the meadow, who had been so angrily shouting. They saw him as they -walked up out of a little hollow to the top of a small hill. They also -saw the farmer throwing stones at some object they could not see.</p> - -<p>“It must be the deer,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>Just then Mr. Mason turned and caught sight of the three boys. He -walked toward them, asking:</p> - -<p>“Is that your deer that’s been running around my meadow?”</p> - -<p>“No, sir,” answered Teddy, “it isn’t ours.”</p> - -<p>“Did you see a deer?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">50</a></span> -“I certainly did. Quite a big one, too.”</p> - -<p>“Did it have any girls on its back?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Girls? Land sakes, what do you mean? What girls?” asked Mr. Mason, -much surprised.</p> - -<p>“My sister, and Teddy’s,” explained Dick. “Did you see them on the -deer’s back?”</p> - -<p>“I should say not! What do you think it was? A circus deer?”</p> - -<p>“It’s a mystery deer,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, then it is your deer!” cried Mr. Mason. “Why didn’t you say so at -first? I don’t like deer, mystery or any other kind, making free with -my farm. Where did you get this deer, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“We didn’t get him. He isn’t ours. We just saw him,” said Teddy. “Which -way did he go?”</p> - -<p>“I stoned him back into the woods,” said Mr. Mason. “Oh, I didn’t hit -him with any stones,” he was quick to add. “I wouldn’t hit any animal -with stones. I just pegged a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">51</a></span> few rocks up close to him, so he’d know -he wasn’t wanted. He went for the woods in high gear. But what do you -fellows know about this deer? And what do you mean,” he continued, -looking at Dick, “by girls on the deer’s back?”</p> - -<p>“Well, my sister has disappeared,” said Dick. “So has Teddy’s. And two -of our toy airplanes are missing. We found a place where the deer had -been jumping around in your meadow.”</p> - -<p>“And we found a place, near there, where the girls had been,” put in -Teddy. “We thought maybe the deer went for the girls and got them on -his back and—”</p> - -<p>“Say,” laughed Mr. Mason, “you’re Teddy Benson, aren’t you? The boy who -was mixed up with a mystery dog?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Teddy admitted, “I was. And so was my sister.”</p> - -<p>“And now you’ve got a mystery deer on your trail. Well, my boy, there -were no girls on the back of the deer I saw. So you needn’t<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">52</a></span> worry -about that. But how did you come to see this deer, anyhow? And where is -he from?” asked Mr. Mason.</p> - -<p>The boys told of first seeing the deer when they went in the woods to -look for Teddy’s plane. As to where the deer had come from, they could -give no information.</p> - -<p>“Most likely from a circus,” decided Mr. Mason as he listened to the -boys’ story.</p> - -<p>“But there hasn’t been any circus around here,” Teddy objected.</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” agreed the farmer. “Well, anyhow, there’s a deer around -here and I’ll have to notify the game warden to get rid of him. There -may be more than one of the animals. I can’t afford to have my crops -ruined.”</p> - -<p>“We thought you said something about getting your gun,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” laughed Mr. Mason, “that was just to scare the pesky deer. I -wouldn’t have shot him. In the first place, it’s against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">53</a></span> law to -shoot deer now. Out of season, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” murmured Teddy.</p> - -<p>“And in the second place,” went on the farmer, “I wouldn’t shoot a -deer, anyhow. All I wanted was to scare him off my place, and I think -I did; either with the stones which didn’t hit him, or by my talk of -the gun. Of course, it was only talk,” he resumed with a laugh. “But -sometimes strong talk does a lot of good.”</p> - -<p>“Do you want us to let you know if we see that deer again?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“If it’s on my land, yes. But I don’t believe it will come back.”</p> - -<p>“You haven’t any idea whose deer it might be, have you?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Not the least in the world, my boy. Either it got away from a circus -or a traveling show, or else it must have made its way here from a long -distance. There is no deer country around here.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">54</a></span> -“So it’s a sort of mystery, isn’t it?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“You’re right there, my boy. It sure is a mystery.”</p> - -<p>“Well, we’re going to solve it!” Teddy declared as he and his chums -started toward their homes.</p> - -<p>“I wish you luck,” called Mr. Mason. “I say!” he called as he turned -back. “I just happened to think maybe that deer got loose out of a -railroad car. He might be one of a large shipment of deer from one -place to another and he got out. Ask the railroad freight or express -agent.”</p> - -<p>“We will,” promised Joe.</p> - -<p>The three boys walked slowly across the big meadow back toward the road -that led to Oakdale. They were talking of what had happened and Joe and -Dick were wondering what had become of their planes. Dick and Teddy -were also rather anxious about their sisters.</p> - -<p>But since Mr. Mason had laughed at the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">55</a></span> idea that the deer might have -carried the girls off on his back, the boys no longer gave it any -serious thought.</p> - -<p>“I guess the girls just got scared at seeing the deer and ran away,” -suggested Joe.</p> - -<p>“What about our planes?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>Joe didn’t answer. But there was no need. For a little later the three -boys heard their names called from beyond a fence. Lucy and Margie -bobbed into sight, each one with a plane in her hands.</p> - -<p>“Oh, so that’s what happened?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Yes, we found your planes,” Margie said.</p> - -<p>“And did you get chased by a deer?” asked Lucy.</p> - -<p>“No, the deer didn’t chase us. We chased the deer,” said Teddy. This -was not strictly true, for there was a time when the deer seemed very -much to be chasing the boys. But at least the chums had seen Mr. Mason -make the deer run away.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">56</a></span> -“Whose deer is it?” asked Lucy.</p> - -<p>“That’s what our club is going to find out,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Your club?” chorused the two girls.</p> - -<p>“The Mystery Club,” explained Joe.</p> - -<p>Then, of course, the girls had to be told more about it. They teased to -be made members but, for a time, the boys refused. Then Joe, who had no -sister and was rather neutral, said:</p> - -<p>“Couldn’t they be sort of extra members? You know lots of clubs have -women and girls as extra members.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes! Could we be that?” begged Margie.</p> - -<p>After further discussion the boys agreed to this. The five walked along -together, out of the meadow, talking about the mystery deer when, just -as they were about to go from a lane into the main road, a fat boy, -whom none of them knew, came out on the run, very much excited.</p> - -<p>“Hello! Hello!” he greeted Teddy and the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">57</a></span> others. He talked very fast, -as if he were having a race with words. “Did you see him?” he asked. -“The man—the man with a rope—a long rope like a lasso? He was running -over to the woods—I thought he was a cowboy and he asked me if I had -seen him and I said who and he said a steer and I thought he was trying -to make fun of me so I said no I hadn’t and say—Oh, gosh! Did you see -him? He came this way and—oh, but you don’t know who I am, do you? -Well, I’m Charlie Nolan. Everybody calls me Fatty Nolan and you can if -you like. Oh, say, there he is now! The man with the rope. Look! I’m -going to run after him!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">58</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="vii" id="vii"></a>CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span>MRS. TRADDLE’S GARDEN</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Fatty Nolan</span>, whose rapid-fire talk had taken Teddy and the others by -surprise, raced toward a man who was crossing one end of the meadow -into the woods. The man had a rope, as the boys and girls could notice. -But he did not appear to be a cowboy.</p> - -<p>“I’m going to help him catch that steer!” cried Fatty.</p> - -<p>A little later he and the man, whom Teddy and his friends did not know, -disappeared in the woods where the deer had first been seen.</p> - -<p>“Well, what do you make of this?” asked Teddy of his chums.</p> - -<p>“You’ve got me,” replied Dick. “Fatty Nolan? Who is he, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>“I never saw him before,” said Joe. “He must have just come to -Oakdale.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">59</a></span> -“He seems friendly enough,” said Lucy.</p> - -<p>“Didn’t he talk fast!” laughed Margie. “And isn’t he fat?”</p> - -<p>“His name sure fits him!” agreed Teddy. “But I’d like to know how many -wild animals there are running loose around here? First we see a deer -and now Fatty Nolan tells us about a steer.”</p> - -<p>“I think it’s the same thing,” suggested Joe. “The man must have said -<em>deer</em> and Fatty took it to be <em>steer</em>.”</p> - -<p>“Having seen the man with a lasso,” spoke Dick, “Fatty would naturally -think of a runaway steer. But I believe the man must have said deer. -You’re right, Joe.”</p> - -<p>“Then he’s after the deer,” Teddy remarked. “And I guess that’s about -the end of the mystery.”</p> - -<p>“If the man catches him,” said Joe. “He might not, you know. That deer -is a fast runner.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” Teddy agreed. “Maybe he can’t catch the deer, and our -club will still<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">60</a></span> have a chance to do it and solve the mystery.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think it is much of a mystery?” asked Margie.</p> - -<p>“You can’t tell,” said Lucy. “We didn’t think the dog was going to be a -mystery, did we, Teddy?”</p> - -<p>“No. Nor the pony and parrot, either. But they both turned out to be -swell mysteries,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“And I think the deer will,” declared Joe.</p> - -<p>“Besides, the deer, there’s this mystery about Fatty Nolan,” said Dick. -“Who is he, anyhow?”</p> - -<p>This small mystery was soon solved. For though Fatty and the man with -the rope did not appear again for some time, as the boys and girls were -coming from the lane into the main highway they met Mr. Mason once -more. The farmer was in a small auto and stopped to ask if the Mystery -Club wanted a ride home.</p> - -<p>“Thanks. If you will drop us off in town,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">61</a></span> near Mrs. Traddle’s store, -we’ll be much obliged,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Why do you want to get out at Mrs. Traddle’s store?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Because I’m going to treat this club to sodas,” Teddy answered. “We’ve -had a hard day. A soda will be good for us.”</p> - -<p>“Fine!” chorused his chums.</p> - -<p>“Do you mean us, too?” asked Margie.</p> - -<p>“Of course,” laughed Lucy’s brother.</p> - -<p>“What club is this?” asked Mr. Mason when they were all in his car.</p> - -<p>“Oh, the deer mystery club,” Teddy explained. “You know. The deer that -was in your meadow.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. Well, he’d better keep out of my garden! Did you see the deer -again?”</p> - -<p>“No but we saw a man with a rope who was running after him, I guess,” -Joe said.</p> - -<p>“Hum! Just as I thought! A stray deer got out of a railroad car,” said -the farmer. “Well, I hope they catch him.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">62</a></span> -“Who is this new boy, Fatty Nolan?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Nolan? A fat lad? Why, he’s the son of Samuel Nolan who is a farmer I -hired to work part of my place on shares. The Nolan family just moved -here yesterday. Came from over Portchester way. They’re occupying that -little old house where Mr. Huntley used to live. So you’ve met the fat -boy, eh?”</p> - -<p>Teddy told of the meeting and something of the stout lad.</p> - -<p>“Yes, he is quite a talker, I noticed that,” said Mr. Mason. “Well, -here you are at Mrs. Traddle’s.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks for the ride,” Teddy said. “Won’t you come in and have a soda?”</p> - -<p>“Thanks, no. I’ve got to get along. But if you see that deer, I hope -you capture him, or help that man to do it. I don’t want a deer messing -up my garden and cornfields.”</p> - -<p>The boys and girls crowded into Mrs. Traddle’s small store.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">63</a></span> -“I’m glad Mr. Mason didn’t accept my invitation,” said Teddy in a low -voice to Joe. “I only have enough money to treat this crowd. I’d have -had to charge Mr. Mason’s soda.”</p> - -<p>“Lucky he didn’t come in,” laughed Joe.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Traddle came bustling out from her rooms in the rear of the store.</p> - -<p>“Give your orders, girls and boys,” invited Teddy. “What flavors have -you got, Mrs. Traddle?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I know you’re all neighbors,” smiled the little old lady, her -deafness causing her to mistake the words of Teddy.</p> - -<p>“You can see the list up over the mirror,” said Lucy to her brother. -“And I think,” she went on, “it will be easier to point to the flavors -of soda we want instead of trying to tell her.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” said Joe. “Then she won’t mix lemon and vanilla as she -did for me once.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Traddle quickly understood when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">64</a></span> the soda flavors were pointed out -by Teddy on the list as his friends named them. And soon the five chums -were sitting on stools and enjoying the drinks.</p> - -<p>“Where have you been? To a party?” asked Mrs. Traddle when she had rung -up the sales on the cash register.</p> - -<p>“We’ve been chasing a deer,” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness, a <em>bear</em>! I wouldn’t chase bears if I were you,” said -the old lady. “I don’t think your folks would like that. Besides, it’s -dangerous. <em>Bear!</em> My gracious!”</p> - -<p>“Not a BEAR. A DEER,” said Teddy in a loud voice.</p> - -<p>“Oh, a <em>deer</em>? That’s different. A deer is harmless, I guess, though I -never chased one.”</p> - -<p>“This one chased us,” said Margie. “And we ran.”</p> - -<p>“Whose deer was it?” asked Mrs. Traddle.</p> - -<p>“It’s ours,” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I didn’t know you had a deer,” Mrs.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">65</a></span> Traddle was much surprised. -“But then I suppose I’m old fashioned. Dogs and cats were all we had -for pets when I was a child.”</p> - -<p>“It isn’t <em>exactly</em> our deer, but we sort of saw it and we are going to -get it and solve the mystery of it,” Teddy said. But it is doubtful if -Mrs. Traddle heard this last explanation. Some other customers came in.</p> - -<p>And as Teddy and his chums went out, they heard the store keeper -telling her new customers something about the deer the Benson children -had for a pet.</p> - -<p>“No use bothering to explain,” Teddy said. “It’s too hot to have to -talk loud enough for Mrs. Traddle to hear.”</p> - -<p>Margie and Lucy had decided to go on a little picnic next day. Teddy -asked Joe and Dick what they planned to do.</p> - -<p>“Why not have another try for that deer?” asked Teddy as his chums had -no particular place to go.</p> - -<p>“Sure,” agreed Joe and Dick.</p> - -<p>“If we’re going to solve the mystery,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">66</a></span> Teddy went on, “we might as -well start. Come over to my house right after breakfast.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll do that,” Joe promised and Dick agreed, adding:</p> - -<p>“We can have a talk with Fatty Nolan and see if he found out anything -about the man with the rope.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a good idea,” Teddy assented.</p> - -<p>The boys and girls soon separated to go to their several homes, all -being in the vicinity of Teddy Benson’s house.</p> - -<p>After spending an hour or two that evening making some repairs to his -toy plane, Teddy went to bed. He thought with pleasure of what might -happen next day, when he and his chums would start on the trail of the -mysterious deer.</p> - -<p>Once during the night Teddy was awakened by hearing a noise at the back -door. He sat up in bed, thinking for a moment it might be the deer, -coming to knock as, once, a mysterious pony rang the door bell. But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">67</a></span> -then Teddy heard a clatter of milk bottles and knew what had caused the -noise.</p> - -<p>Teddy was at breakfast next morning when he saw Mrs. Traddle coming -around the side of the house. She saw Mr. Benson, who was cutting the -grass before he went to the office.</p> - -<p>“Good morning, Mrs. Traddle!” greeted Teddy’s father. “What brings you -out so early?”</p> - -<p>“It’s your children’s pet deer!” said Mrs. Traddle in a loud voice.</p> - -<p>“A pet deer!” exclaimed Mr. Benson. “My children have no pet deer. -There must be some mistake.”</p> - -<p>“No. Excuse me, but there is no mistake,” said Mrs. Traddle. “They told -me about their pet deer yesterday. Last night the deer got in my garden -and ate it all up. I’ll have to be paid damages, Mr. Benson. You should -see the ruin that deer made in my garden!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">68</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="viii" id="viii"></a>CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span>THE LASSO MAN</span></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Teddy</span>’s father was puzzled. He leaned on the handle of the lawn mower. -He looked at Mrs. Traddle. Then he looked toward the house where Teddy -and Lucy were at breakfast.</p> - -<p>“I am very sorry, Mrs. Traddle,” began Mr. Benson. But the old lady -store keeper, who had, seemingly, been hearing quite well a moment -before, suddenly became deaf.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t come to borrow anything,” she said rather crossly. “Not even -your lawn mower.”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t say you had come to borrow anything,” went on Mr. Benson. “I -said I was <em>sorry</em> about your garden. I am sure it wasn’t any deer of -Teddy’s that got into your garden.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">69</a></span> -“No, I didn’t say the deer came there steady,” said Mrs. Traddle, -mixing Teddy’s name up in that way. “But the deer came last night and -he ate up most of my garden. It was a big loss. Somebody has to pay for -it.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll see about it,” said Mr. Benson, pushing the lawn mower to one -side. He walked toward the house, followed by Mrs. Traddle.</p> - -<p>“Teddy!” called his father. “Come out here, please.”</p> - -<p>Teddy was already on his way to the side porch. Lucy followed him, -whispering:</p> - -<p>“Oh, what do you suppose is going to happen?”</p> - -<p>Both children had heard the last of Mrs. Traddle’s remarks as they -crossed the porch.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” Teddy answered. “Anyhow Mrs. Traddle can’t blame us for -what a stray, mysterious deer did to her garden.”</p> - -<p>“Teddy,” began Mr. Benson as he saw his son. “What is this about your -deer getting into the garden of Mrs. Traddle?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">70</a></span> -“It isn’t our deer at all,” Teddy explained.</p> - -<p>“Is there a deer?” his father wanted to know.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes!” exclaimed Lucy. “I saw it. I was chased by it and so was -Margie, yesterday.”</p> - -<p>“This is the first I have heard of any deer,” said Mr. Benson. “Where -is it, Teddy?”</p> - -<p>“That’s what we don’t know. But we are going to find out. It is a -mystery deer,” Teddy answered.</p> - -<p>Mr. Benson smiled at this. He had often heard his children speak of -“mysterious” animals. But sometimes the animals were just that.</p> - -<p>“The reason we didn’t tell you about the deer last night,” went on -Teddy, “is that you and mother were over to the church supper, and it -was so late when you got home I forgot it.”</p> - -<p>“So did I,” added Lucy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">71</a></span> -“Well, tell me about it now,” suggested Mr. Benson.</p> - -<p>He was told the story of the deer—as much as Teddy and Lucy knew—and -Teddy explained that he and his chums were going to try to get on the -trail of the mysterious animal that day.</p> - -<p>“First we have to find Fatty Nolan,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Is that the deer’s name?” asked Mr. Benson.</p> - -<p>“No. It’s the name of a new fat boy,” Teddy went on, laughing. “His -father works part of Mr. Mason’s farm. Fatty saw a man with a lasso -running across the fields. After the deer, maybe. We’re going to see if -he caught the deer.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if he has,” said Mr. Benson, “you might tell the owner of the -deer that Mrs. Traddle wants damages for her garden. All her corn and -beans are gone.”</p> - -<p>“No, no!” hastily exclaimed Mrs. Traddle. “I didn’t say the deer sang -a <em>song</em>. He just<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">72</a></span> trampled and ate my garden. I didn’t even <em>see</em> the -deer. He came during the night.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it wasn’t our deer,” Teddy stated, taking pains to speak in a -loud voice so Mrs. Traddle could understand.</p> - -<p>“But in my store I’m sure you said it was your deer,” insisted the -confused old lady.</p> - -<p>“Well,” explained Teddy, “I meant we sort of called it our deer. We -sort of feel we have to solve the mystery about it.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, then I guess I can’t blame you,” said Mrs. Traddle. “I’m -sorry I made any trouble,” she went on. “But my poor garden is ruined.”</p> - -<p>“If we find the man who owns the deer we’ll make him pay for the -damage,” promised Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Thanks,” murmured Mrs. Traddle as she turned and went back to her -store.</p> - -<p>Teddy and Lucy started toward the house to finish their breakfasts. Mr. -Benson returned to cutting the grass, saying:</p> - -<p>“So you have a new mystery, have you?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">73</a></span> -“Maybe it will be a mystery and maybe it won’t,” admitted Teddy. “I’m -going over to see Fatty Nolan as soon as the fellows come.”</p> - -<p>A little later, when Dick and Joe arrived at Teddy’s house, they were -told of what had happened to Mrs. Traddle’s garden.</p> - -<p>“Let’s go have a look,” suggested Dick.</p> - -<p>“What for?” Teddy wanted to know. “The deer isn’t there now.”</p> - -<p>“No. But maybe he left a trail,” said Joe. “If we’re going to find this -animal we’ve got to follow his trail. Come on.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Traddle’s garden was at the rear and to one side of her house and -store. The boys found several men of Oakdale looking at the ruin caused -by the deer.</p> - -<p>“Looks like a herd of elephants was in there,” commented Sam Kean, the -grocer.</p> - -<p>“Guess that deer spoiled more than he ate,” said Luke Lanter, the -butcher. “Looks like he lay down and rolled in the corn.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe he was sort of celebrating,” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">74</a></span> Mr. Kean. “He probably never -had such a free feast before.”</p> - -<p>When most of the curious ones had departed, Teddy and his chums asked -permission of Mrs. Traddle to look in the garden.</p> - -<p>“Look as much as you like,” she said with a sniff. “There isn’t much -left to see. Dear me.”</p> - -<p>“We want to see if he left a trail,” explained Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Left a <em>tail</em>? Land sakes, why would a deer want to go and leave his -<em>tail</em> behind?” asked the old lady.</p> - -<p>“I mean any marks so we could go after him and find him,” Teddy -explained.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I understand. Like the Indians I used to hear my grandfather tell -about. Well, look if you like. All you’ll see are a lot of paw marks. -Or maybe I should say hoof marks, bein’ as how it’s a deer,” said Mrs. -Traddle.</p> - -<p>The boys did find plenty of hoof marks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">75</a></span> but they were so jumbled up, it -was impossible to determine which way the deer had come into the garden -or gone out.</p> - -<p>“I know what we ought to do,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“What?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Find that man with the lasso. If he wasn’t the owner of the deer he -must have been after it. And maybe he would know how to trail it. Let’s -go find him.”</p> - -<p>“Where’ll we look?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Start with Fatty Nolan,” suggested Teddy.</p> - -<p>It did not take them long to reach the small farm house where the fat -boy lived. Fatty, who had just driven the cows to pasture after they -had been milked, hurried toward the three boys.</p> - -<p>“Hello!” he called with a good-natured grin. “Did you find that deer -yet? I guess you didn’t. I didn’t either. I guess deers are hard to -catch. I never chased one, but maybe that man with the lasso got him. -Did you see him—whose deer was it—come on in, will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">76</a></span> you? I can go -with you if you like and help look for the deer. He was a big one, -wasn’t he?”</p> - -<p>Fatty Nolan had to stop and take a breath after all this talk. He had a -habit of running his words and sentences together in his conversation, -but the boys understood.</p> - -<p>“The deer hasn’t been caught yet, as far as we know,” Teddy said. “We -came to see if you know that man with the lasso.”</p> - -<p>“Never saw him before,” Fatty answered. “But let’s go look for him. -Maybe he caught the deer last night.”</p> - -<p>“No, he didn’t,” said Joe. “If he had, Mrs. Traddle’s garden wouldn’t -have been spoiled.”</p> - -<p>“Did the deer do that?” exclaimed Fatty. “Oh, gosh!” he said, when told -this had happened. “Now we’ve got to get that deer. It might spoil -dad’s garden. Come on—this way. I can take you right where I last saw -that lasso man. Come on! Hurry!”</p> - -<p>Fatty Nolan, in spite of his unusual size,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">77</a></span> could walk almost as fast -as he could talk. He kept ahead of Teddy and his chums as they made -their way to the meadow where they had first seen the man with the -lasso.</p> - -<p>Teddy, Dick and Joe hardly expected to see the strange man again but -luck was with them. They had just reached the place where they had -noticed him the day before when, suddenly, Fatty Nolan shouted:</p> - -<p>“There he is! There he is! The lasso man!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">78</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="ix" id="ix"></a>CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span>TEDDY IS LASSOED</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Hurrying</span> at his usual fast pace, as if to keep up with his fast -thoughts and talk, the fat lad ran after a man of whom Teddy and his -chums had only obtained a glimpse.</p> - -<p>“Are you sure it was the same man, Fatty?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Oh, sure. Didn’t you see he had a rope?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” spoke Teddy, “but anybody could have a rope.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe he’s after a stray cow,” suggested Dick.</p> - -<p>“No, I’m sure he’s after the mysterious deer,” declared Fatty Nolan. -“Nobody around here goes after cows with a rope. Cows are easy to -drive. I drive ours. This is the lasso man. Come on, before he gets -away. He’ll take us to the deer!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">79</a></span> -Teddy and his chums were not so sure of this. But they followed the -stout lad, smiling at his rapid manner of speaking. On the whole, they -rather liked him.</p> - -<p>The man with the lasso had appeared so suddenly, seemingly from no -particular place, that the boys had scarcely a good chance to see him. -They obtained one look and then the man hurried down into one of the -many grassy hollows, that dotted the fields and meadows around there.</p> - -<p>The boys were not in Mason’s meadow now, but in one belonging to -another of the many farmers who lived in and around Oakdale. Trotting -after Fatty Nolan, who was still in the lead, Teddy and his chums -finally caught up to him.</p> - -<p>“Do you know who this man is?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Sure,” the fat boy replied. “He’s the man with the lasso.”</p> - -<p>“But do you know his name?” Teddy wanted to know.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">80</a></span> -Fatty Nolan shook his head and answered:</p> - -<p>“No. I never saw him before yesterday. But I never forget anybody I -once see—even from the back. Besides, this must be the same man—he -had the same rope—I wonder where he went—come on—let’s hurry!”</p> - -<p>“If we hurry any faster,” objected Joe, “we’re going to be all tired -out before we get anywhere.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I say,” agreed Dick. “Let’s take it easy.”</p> - -<p>“You can go pretty fast for a fat boy,” complimented Joe as he ruffled -his red hair. It was beginning to get damp and curly now, for Joe was -perspiring.</p> - -<p>“Yes, I always was pretty fast,” admitted Fatty Nolan. “First I tried -to get thin by running and hurrying. But it didn’t do any good. I kept -on getting fatter. So I hurry anyhow.”</p> - -<p>“Well, there’s no special need for it,” decided<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">81</a></span> Teddy. “We aren’t -going any particular place. We just want to catch up to this man and -find out if he is after the deer.”</p> - -<p>“He’s after something or he wouldn’t have that rope,” was Joe’s opinion.</p> - -<p>“And he hasn’t caught whatever he was after yesterday, or he wouldn’t -be out with his lasso again today,” decided Dick.</p> - -<p>“I wonder who he is?” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>“I think maybe he works on one of the farms around here,” answered -Fatty. “There are many hired men on the farms now. This is summer, and -there’s lots of work for hired men. My father is going to get one. I -help him but that isn’t enough, he says. What are you going to do?” he -asked as Dick Kelly threw himself on the grass behind some bushes.</p> - -<p>“Take a little rest in this shade,” Dick answered. Dick, too, was -stout; not as fat as the Nolan boy, but stouter than either Teddy or -Joe.</p> - -<p>“I guess we can all take a rest,” agreed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">82</a></span> Teddy. “I wish I had a -drink of water,” he went on as he wiped his sweaty forehead with his -handkerchief.</p> - -<p>“There’s a spring not far from here,” said Fatty. “It’s over that -way—near those trees. I sometimes let our cows stop there and get -drinks.”</p> - -<p>“I wouldn’t want to drink from a spring if cows drank from it,” Teddy -objected.</p> - -<p>“There are two springs,” said the fat boy. “The big one is where the -cows drink. I wouldn’t want to drink there, either. But there’s a -smaller spring, above the one where I let the cows drink. That small -spring is nice and clean.”</p> - -<p>“We’ll go there after we rest,” decided Teddy.</p> - -<p>Joe was fumbling in his pocket and soon brought out a little paper bag. -He opened it, held it out to Teddy and said:</p> - -<p>“Have some!”</p> - -<p>“What are they?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">83</a></span> -“Gum drops. I bought them in Mrs. Traddle’s store while you and Dick -were out looking at the deer’s hoof marks in the garden.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks!” murmured Teddy as he began chewing some of the gum drops. -“They’ll make me more thirsty. Candy always does. But it won’t matter -as long as we’re near a spring.”</p> - -<p>“Have some, Fatty!” Joe invited.</p> - -<p>“Well—er—yes—thanks—I will. Maybe I oughtn’t to eat any. Candy -makes you fatter they say, but I guess a couple of gum drops won’t, -will they?”</p> - -<p>“Try ’em and see!” suggested Joe.</p> - -<p>They finished the bag of gum drops, Fatty eating his share, and then -Teddy, taking a string from his pocket, began passing it around the -Nolan boy’s waist.</p> - -<p>“What are you trying to do, lasso me?” laughed the stout lad.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Teddy, “I was just trying to measure to see if those gum -drops had made<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">84</a></span> you any fatter. I don’t believe they have. Not yet, -anyway,” he ended with a laugh in which the others joined.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I guess candy doesn’t work that fast on me,” said Fatty.</p> - -<p>Besides making Teddy more thirsty, the gum drops also increased the -thirst of the other boys. So, after waiting a little while to rest, -they went to the spring. Fatty Nolan acted as guide.</p> - -<p>“I guess maybe that man with the lasso has gotten away from us,” Teddy -said as they neared the spring.</p> - -<p>“Well, if we don’t find him today we may tomorrow,” said Dick. “It’s -getting too hot to hurry much.”</p> - -<p>As Fatty had said, there were two springs in a little glade not far -from where Teddy and his chums had sat down to rest. The larger water -hole was rather muddy, and all about it were the hoof-marks of cattle. -But farther up, amid a little group of trees and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">85</a></span> bushes, was a small -spring. It bubbled out of the rocks into a natural rock basin.</p> - -<p>Stretching out on the ground, the boys took turns drinking the clear, -cold water. Teddy took two drinks.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s good!” he exclaimed as he rose to wipe off his lips. “Water -always tastes twice as good after you’ve been eating candy,” he added.</p> - -<p>The boys stood silent for a moment near the spring. They were wondering -what to do next. Suddenly, from over the tops of some bushes behind -them, a rope came circling through the air. The loop of a lasso fell -over Teddy and, a moment later, he was pulled backward off his feet, -falling on a bunch of leaves.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">86</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="x" id="x"></a>CHAPTER X<br /> -<span>THE PICNIC LUNCH</span></h2> - - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Surprise</span>, for a few seconds, kept the boys from saying a word. Teddy, -himself, was not only astonished, but the breath was somewhat jolted -out of him so he could not have said anything even if he -<a name="had" id="had"></a><ins title="Original had 'hadn’t'">had</ins> wished -to.</p> - -<p>Joe, Dick and Fatty Nolan were the first to speak and they all shouted, -together:</p> - -<p>“Who did that?”</p> - -<p>By this time Teddy had managed to scramble to his feet. He loosened the -loop of the lasso and slipped it over his head, letting the coils fall -to the ground. Then he, too, demanded:</p> - -<p>“Who did that?”</p> - -<p>There was no answer. Teddy picked up the rope and pulled on it. The far -end came<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">87</a></span> snaking over the ground out of the bushes.</p> - -<p>“Why, there’s no one there!” exclaimed Dick. “No one has hold of the -rope!”</p> - -<p>“But somebody must have thrown this lasso!” declared Joe.</p> - -<p>“And they gave it a good yank, too, after they lassoed me,” said Teddy. -“I was pulled right off my feet! I’m going to find out who’s playing -tricks!”</p> - -<p>Teddy was about to pull all the rope toward him, in coils at his feet, -when Fatty Nolan called:</p> - -<p>“Don’t do that!”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” Teddy asked.</p> - -<p>“Because,” answered the fat boy, “if you pull in all the rope you won’t -be able to see where it ends. Leave it lying there and we can trail it -to the far end and see who lassoed you.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe you can,” said Dick. “I think whoever threw that lasso -ran away right after they tossed it at you, Teddy. We won’t find anyone -at the other end of this<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">88</a></span> rope. But Fatty’s idea is a good one. We’ll -follow the rope and see.”</p> - -<p>“I used to belong to the Boy Scouts where I lived before we came here,” -Fatty said a bit proudly. “I’m going to join again if there’s a troop -here.”</p> - -<p>“Sure there is,” Teddy said. “We all belong.”</p> - -<p>Just as Dick had predicted, there was no one at the end of the lasso -when the boys had trailed it to the bushes. There it lay, stretched out -like a hempen snake.</p> - -<p>“Take it easy now, fellows,” cautioned Teddy as his chums crowded -around the end of the rope.</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked Joe. “Do you think the lasso man is hiding around here?”</p> - -<p>“No, I think he’s far enough away by this time,” Teddy replied. “But I -was going to see if I could find his footprints. Maybe we could trace -him that way.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right!” Fatty agreed. “Let Teddy look alone. If we all walk -around here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">89</a></span> there’ll be so many footprints he won’t be able to tell -one from another.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know that I’ll be able to detect any marks as it is,” Teddy -said. “This ground is sort of hard. But maybe there will be traces of -some shoe prints.”</p> - -<p>Teddy knelt down and began to use some of his Boy Scout knowledge in -trailing. At first, he saw nothing unusual. As he had said, the ground -was too hard. But, after scouting about a bit, Teddy uttered a cry of -surprise.</p> - -<p>“I think I’ve found it!” he exclaimed. “Come over here! Careful, -fellows! Look!” and he pointed to a little patch of soft earth in which -was imbedded several impressions of a small star.</p> - -<p>“What does that mean?” asked Dick. “That an astronomer has been here?”</p> - -<p>“No,” Teddy answered. “But it means somebody that wears metal heel -plates in the shape of a star has been here. And I think they were on -the shoes of the man who lassoed me.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">90</a></span> -“What do you mean by heel plates?” asked Fatty.</p> - -<p>“Why, some men, who wear down the heels of their shoes faster than -the soles, put metal plates on the heels to stop the wear,” Teddy -explained. “Mr. Crispen, the cobbler on Main street, has lots of heel -plates. They come in different shapes. Maybe he has some like these -stars and can tell us who bought them.”</p> - -<p>“That’s a dandy clue,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“But it doesn’t help us find the mysterious deer,” Dick stated. “Unless -the deer wore heel plates.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if the deer did wear heel plates, he certainly didn’t lasso me,” -declared Teddy. “Though the lasso man who ran away and the mysterious -deer must be mixed up in some way.”</p> - -<p>“Why do you think he lassoed you?” asked Fatty Nolan.</p> - -<p>“Haven’t the least idea,” Teddy answered.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">91</a></span> “Unless maybe he wanted to -scare us away from following him.”</p> - -<p>“But if he wanted to do that, he wouldn’t run away and leave a good -lasso, would he?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“You can’t tell,” was Teddy’s answer. “Anyhow,” he went on, “it’s a -good lasso. It’s just like some of those the cowboys had in the Wild -West Show that was here last year. The man who left this lasso must be -sorry to lose it.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think he stood here and threw at you?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“That’s what it looks like, from the star heel plates,” Teddy answered. -“Look, you can see a lot of them now.”</p> - -<p>There were several impressions of the star heel plates in the soft -ground, near where the end of the lasso led. But when the boys tried to -follow the trail they soon lost it. They could not trace the peculiar -marks where the ground was hard.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">92</a></span> -Perhaps, a more experienced trailer might have been able to do so. But -the boys were only amateurs and had no luck.</p> - -<p>“Anyhow,” Teddy declared, “I got a good lasso out of it. And we know -who to look for now—a man with star heel plates.”</p> - -<p>“What are you going to do now?” asked Joe as Teddy began coiling the -rope.</p> - -<p>“Let’s go back to town and ask Mr. Crispen if he can tell us who bought -any star heel plates lately,” Teddy suggested.</p> - -<p>The others agreed this was a good idea and it was at once acted on. -They started back to the village.</p> - -<p>“Though this isn’t finding the mysterious deer,” remarked Joe.</p> - -<p>“We’ll have another try at that after we find out about the heel -plates,” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>On the way back across the meadows and fields the boys kept a lookout -for a sight of the deer or the lasso man who had so mysteriously -disappeared after making a cast at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">93</a></span> Teddy. But they saw neither. They -took their time, stopping to get another drink at the spring before -taking the homeward trail.</p> - -<p>It was this same day that Margie, Lucy and several other girls went on -a little picnic to Buttermilk Falls. This was a favorite picnic spot -for the young people of Oakdale. The falls were not very high. But they -were churned to whiteness by tumbling down a rocky glen and so had been -named because of their resemblance to thick buttermilk.</p> - -<p>Around the falls were patches of woodland and meadows and in these -Margie, Lucy and several of their girl friends were soon having fun; -playing games, running about and finding shady places in which to rest.</p> - -<p>Noon came and there was a general gathering of the picnic party to -where their lunches had been left under a rustic shelter. The woods -and fields around Buttermilk Falls were maintained by the Oakdale -authorities as a public park. Tables and benches were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">94</a></span> provided for -picnic parties and there were several stone fire places where potatoes -could be roasted and sausages broiled.</p> - -<p>“But it’s too hot to cook anything today,” Margie had decided. Lucy had -agreed with her so they had brought only a cold lunch with them. This -lunch they now picked up at the rustic shelter and took it to a shady -spot along the little stream that flowed away from the foot of the -falls.</p> - -<p>“Oh, isn’t it lovely here!” exclaimed Lucy as she put her lunch down on -the grass.</p> - -<p>“It’s the nicest place!” agreed Margie. She, too, laid down her package -of lunch for a moment to open a thermos bottle of lemonade she had -brought.</p> - -<p>The girls were about to eat their lunches when a sudden scream from a -group of their chums near the falls made them look up.</p> - -<p>“Oh, Nellie has fallen in!” some one cried.</p> - -<p>Margie and Lucy rushed to the scene of the accident. But it was a very -slight one. A little girl, leaning over the edge of the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">95</a></span> stream to wash -her hands, had toppled in. The water was shallow and Mrs. Watson, one -of the ladies who had accompanied the girls, soon pulled Nellie out. -She was wet but not harmed.</p> - -<p>“You must be more careful, my dear,” said Mrs. Watson.</p> - -<p>“But I couldn’t help it,” Nellie said. “Something scared me.”</p> - -<p>“Something scared you! What?”</p> - -<p>“A big animal right across the brook. He looked at me with such big -eyes and then I fell in!”</p> - -<p>Some of the girls laughed. But Margie and Lucy glanced at one another -in a knowing way and Lucy said:</p> - -<p>“It must have been that deer!”</p> - -<p>“I believe it was!” agreed Margie. “How queer!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">96</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xi" id="xi"></a>CHAPTER XI<br /> -<span>HEEL PLATE CLUE</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Somehow</span>, Margie and Lucy did not speak of the mysterious deer to -Nellie, the other girls or to Mrs. Watson. Lucy and Margie hurried away -from the scene of the little accident as soon as it was certain Nellie -was only wet and frightened but not hurt.</p> - -<p>“I thought we had better not say anything about it being a deer that -might have frightened Nellie,” said Lucy when the two were off by -themselves.</p> - -<p>“I thought the same,” agreed Margie. “Besides, we aren’t positive it -was the deer.”</p> - -<p>“No, but I believe it was,” said Lucy. “Only I didn’t see why we should -tell everyone the secret.”</p> - -<p>“Of course not,” agreed her chum. “The deer sort of belongs to our -club. If we can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">97</a></span> find out about it by ourselves, instead of bringing in -a lot of others, it will be more fun.”</p> - -<p>“That’s what I think,” agreed Lucy. “But I wish I had been there when -the deer looked out of the bushes across the brook.”</p> - -<p>“And scared Nellie so she fell in,” added Margie. “It’s a wonder she -didn’t know it was a deer.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right. She just called it some big animal. But I’m sure the -deer was around here. It must be here yet.”</p> - -<p>“Sure,” agreed Margie. “Do you think, after we eat our lunch, we should -try to find the deer? It would be a good joke on the boys if we found -it first, wouldn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Just scrumptious!” laughed Lucy. “But I think maybe we had better not -go off deer hunting by ourselves. That deer has horns and it might be -dangerous.”</p> - -<p>“Besides, we might get lost looking for it,” went on Margie. “The woods -are thick and dark once you go a little way from Buttermilk<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">98</a></span> Falls. But -we can tell the boys about the deer and they can come here and hunt it.”</p> - -<p>“Yes. And now let’s eat our lunches. I’m starved!”</p> - -<p>“So am I!” assented Margie. “I have some lovely chicken sandwiches that -mother put up for me.”</p> - -<p>“I have only ham sandwiches,” said Lucy. “But I have a big piece of -chocolate cake.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll trade you a chicken sandwich for a piece of chocolate cake,” -Margie offered.</p> - -<p>“That will make it just right!” laughed Lucy. She ran ahead of Margie -but suddenly came to a stop.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” asked Margie.</p> - -<p>“Isn’t this the place where we left our lunch?” asked Lucy.</p> - -<p>“Yes, right there by that big rock,” said Margie.</p> - -<p>“Well, it isn’t here now!” went on Lucy.</p> - -<p>“What! Has somebody taken our lunch?” cried Margie.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">99</a></span> -“I don’t know whether or not anybody has taken it,” spoke Lucy as she -looked around. “But our lunch is gone. There is nothing left of it but -some crumbs and paper!”</p> - -<p>“Then somebody ate our lunch when we ran to see about Nellie falling in -the brook!” cried Margie.</p> - -<p>“Somebody—or some animal,” spoke Lucy as she continued to look about. -“And from the way the paper is torn and scattered and from the marks -here, I would say it was an animal, Margie.”</p> - -<p>“What marks? What animal, Lucy?”</p> - -<p>“Hoof marks of a deer,” replied Teddy’s sister. “That deer must have -jumped the brook, after it scared Nellie, and it came here and ate our -food.”</p> - -<p>“Oh! Oh!” sighed Margie. “I didn’t know a deer would eat chicken -sandwiches and lovely chocolate cake!”</p> - -<p>“I didn’t either,” spoke Lucy. “But I guess they do. It’s too bad!” Her -eyes were wide with excitement.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">100</a></span> -“I should say it is!” agreed Dick’s sister. “But what are we going to -do?”</p> - -<p>For a time it seemed as if the two girls would have to go without their -picnic lunch. But Mrs. Watson, making the rounds to see that all the -children were safe, suddenly noticed how upset Margie and Lucy were.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” Mrs. Watson asked.</p> - -<p>“Someone took our lunch,” explained Margie.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I hardly think anyone of our party would be so unkind as to -do that,” said Mrs. Watson. “And there aren’t any boys along. Boys -sometimes play those tricks, I know, but girls don’t.”</p> - -<p>“I think it was an animal,” explained Lucy. But she did not speak of -the deer.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Watson heard the story of how Margie and Lucy had left their lunch -on the ground, near the rock, while they ran to see what had happened -to Nellie.</p> - -<p>“Very likely some animal, a fox, perhaps,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">101</a></span> or a raccoon, came along and -thought your picnic lunch was for him,” said Mrs. Watson. “Never mind, -my dears. Nearly every girl brings more lunch than she can eat to these -little picnics of ours. I am sure some of them will be glad to share -with you.”</p> - -<p>When the plight of Margie and Lucy became known, they had so many -offers of sandwiches, cake and other things that they could not have -eaten it all if they had tried.</p> - -<p>“My! We never had so many adventures before on any of our picnics,” -said Mrs. Watson when lunch time was over. “What with Nellie falling in -the brook and food mysteriously disappearing it was all quite exciting. -What sort of an animal was it you think scared you, Nellie?”</p> - -<p>“Well, I can’t be sure of that, but I think it was an elephant,” Nellie -answered. And while the others laughed she said: “Well, it COULD be an -elephant, couldn’t it?”</p> - -<p>“Of course it could,” said Mrs. Watson. “For elephants have been known -to escape<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">102</a></span> from circuses. But I hardly think it was, Nellie. It might -have been a cow or a dog.”</p> - -<p>“Do dogs have horns?” asked Nellie, who was about seven years old.</p> - -<p>“Not that I ever heard of,” laughed Mrs. Watson.</p> - -<p>“Then it was a cow,” said Nellie. “’Cause I saw horns.”</p> - -<p>“More likely it was a cow,” agreed Mrs. Watson. “But a cow wouldn’t -hurt you.”</p> - -<p>“It didn’t hurt me but it scared me,” stated the little girl. She was -quite dry by this time, for Mrs. Watson had made her take off her outer -garments which had dried in the sun and wind.</p> - -<p>When Nellie spoke of a “cow,” Margie and Lucy looked quickly at each -other. They felt sure the animal with horns, which had so frightened -Nellie as to cause her to fall into the brook, was not a cow but the -mysterious deer.</p> - -<p>When the picnic was over, Margie and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">103</a></span> Lucy hurried to their homes, -which were close together.</p> - -<p>“We want to tell the boys about the deer being near Buttermilk Falls,” -said Margie.</p> - -<p>“Then they can go look for it,” said Lucy.</p> - -<p>But neither Teddy, Dick nor Joe was at home when the girls reached town.</p> - -<p>“They started off early this morning, before you went to the picnic,” -said Mrs. Benson. “They haven’t come back yet.”</p> - -<p>“Didn’t they come home to lunch?” asked Lucy.</p> - -<p>“No,” said her mother. “But that is nothing to worry about. Teddy said -he might not be back. And he has money so he can buy a glass of milk -and a sandwich if he needs it. Why are you so anxious about the boys?”</p> - -<p>“We want to tell them about the mysterious deer,” said Lucy, as she and -Margie related the story of the afternoon’s adventures.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Teddy and his chums were starting to have some adventures of -their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">104</a></span> own. They had come back to town after the strange lassoing of -Teddy near the spring. They went to the cobbler shop of Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p>“Heel plates, eh?” questioned the old shoe-maker as he looked up from -his bench at the boys. “Yes, I have some.”</p> - -<p>“Have you any with a star on?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“I had just one pair like that,” Mr. Crispen answered. “But I sold ’em, -day afore yistiday. Sort of funny, it was, too. I had ’em in stock a -long time. But nobody seemed to want that pattern.</p> - -<p>“Then, day afore yistiday, all of a sudden, a young fellow came in here -and bought ’em. Said he sort of fancied ’em. So I sold ’em to him.”</p> - -<p>“Do you know who he was?” asked Joe, eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Well, I don’t know him, exactly. But I got his name down somewhere. He -said he wanted another pair of star heel plates and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">105</a></span> I said I’d send -and get some. So I took his name to send a postal to him when they -come. I got it somewhere—I mean his name.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of a man was he?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, sort of tall and thin. Funny part of it was he had a long rope -with him, sort of a lasso I took it to be. He might be one of them Wild -Westerners for all I know. I got his name some place around here.”</p> - -<p>While Mr. Crispen was getting up from his bench to look for the name -and address of the buyer of the star heel plates, Teddy whispered to -his chums:</p> - -<p>“We’re on his trail! We have the heel plate clue! Maybe now we can -trace the mysterious deer!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">106</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xii" id="xii"></a>CHAPTER XII<br /> -<span>THE TRAP</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Old</span> Mr. Crispen was never in very much of a hurry. He had been the -cobbler, or shoemaker as most Oakdale folk called him, for many years. -But Mr. Crispen no longer made shoes. He only repaired them. And he -took his own time about doing that.</p> - -<p>If Teddy or any of his chums brought their own shoes, or those of any -member of their families, to Mr. Crispen’s shop, they were often told -the shoes would be ready in a day or two.</p> - -<p>“Next Tuesday or Wednesday,” Mr. Crispen would say as he marked some -mysterious characters in chalk on the sole.</p> - -<p>But when Tuesday or Wednesday came, nearly always the shoes would not -be ready.</p> - -<p>“Had more work than I expected,” Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">107</a></span> Crispen would report. “I’ll have -your shoes tomorrow,” he would say, or it might be the next day.</p> - -<p>So Teddy and his chums, as well as nearly everyone else in Oakdale, -never went for their shoes on the day they were promised. They waited -one or two days after that and usually then the shoes would be ready.</p> - -<p>So it was no surprise to the deer hunters to hear Mr. Crispen say, -after he had fumbled about his bench, counter and shelves:</p> - -<p>“Sorry, boys, but those shoes won’t be ready afore tomorrow.”</p> - -<p>“But,” said Teddy with a wink at his chums, “we didn’t come here for -shoes.”</p> - -<p>“What did you come for, then?”</p> - -<p>“Heel-plates,” prompted Joe.</p> - -<p>“With a star on,” added Dick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. I remember now. I sold them to a man, sort of a cowboy with a -lasso. I was going to give you his name, wasn’t I?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Teddy answered, “you were, Mr. Crispen.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">108</a></span> -“Well, I’m sorry, but that name won’t be finished afore day arter -tomorrow. I’ve been sort of rushed with work lately, and—”</p> - -<p>“But this wasn’t <em>work</em>,” explained Teddy. “You were just going to look -for the name of the man you sold one pair of star heel plates to, and -who wanted another pair. Just his <em>name</em>, you know.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, that’s so, the name. You only want his name. I thought you -wanted shoes. Well, let me see now, what did I do with his name? I -wrote it on a piece of paper and then I put the paper away some place. -I can’t just remember where. But it’ll come to me in a day or two, I -dare say. Come back then.”</p> - -<p>“Don’t you think you could find it now?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“No, I don’t,” said Mr. Crispen as he took up a hammer and began -pounding a leather sole. “I can’t remember.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe you could if we helped you,” suggested Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">109</a></span> -“What’s that?” exclaimed the old man, looking up through his thick, -bushy eyebrows at the chums. “Let you lads go all over my place looking -for a paper with a name on? No, sir-ee! You’d mix everything all up. I -wouldn’t be able to find a waxed end in a month. It can’t be done! Give -me, say a week, and I’ll find that paper.”</p> - -<p>“That might be too late,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Look here!” exclaimed the shoemaker, getting up from his bench. “Why -are you so anxious to have that man’s name? What’s all this about my -star heel plates?”</p> - -<p>Teddy Benson took a sudden resolve. It might be a good idea to have Mr. -Crispen in their confidence. If they told him part of the mystery he -might help them solve it. Anyhow they were getting nowhere by waiting a -week to get on the trail of the man with the star heel plates.</p> - -<p>“What’s it all about?” asked Mr. Crispen again. He seemed suspicious, -as though he feared some trick might be played on him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">110</a></span> -“I’m going to tell him,” Teddy whispered to his chums. Then he added: -“We think those star heel plates may be a clue.”</p> - -<p>“A clue to what?” asked the cobbler.</p> - -<p>“To a mysterious deer,” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>“Say, what are you, fellows? Boy detectives?” asked Mr. Crispen with a -laugh.</p> - -<p>“Not exactly,” Teddy replied. “But we are on the trail of a mysterious -deer and we want to find the man who lassoed me with star heel plates.”</p> - -<p>“Lassoed you with star heel plates?” cried Mr. Crispen. “Land sakes, I -never heard of such a thing!”</p> - -<p>“I mean,” went on Teddy with a laugh, “a man lassoed me with a rope. We -think he did it by mistake. Then he ran away but we saw where he had -been standing. And he had star heel plates. So we thought maybe you -could give us the clue to the man.”</p> - -<p>“And you could,” put in Joe, “if you could find his name.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, I can find his name, once I put my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">111</a></span> mind to it,” said the old -cobbler. “But what has this got to do with a mysterious deer?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you about that,” Teddy said. He and his chums related the -story, including the last episode of the lassoing of Teddy.</p> - -<p>“So what you really want to do,” said Mr. Crispen, “is to catch that -deer, isn’t it? The deer that ate up Mrs. Traddle’s garden. You want -the deer.”</p> - -<p>“Yes!” exclaimed Teddy and his chums.</p> - -<p>“Well,” said the cobbler as he again sat at his bench, “I can tell you -a better way to catch the deer than by looking for a man with star heel -plates.”</p> - -<p>“How?” asked the three boys together.</p> - -<p>“Get him in a trap,” said Mr. Crispen. He snapped the gnarled thumb and -finger of his right hand sharply, as if the mysterious deer had already -been caught. “A trap’s the thing for deer!”</p> - -<p>“A trap?” questioned Teddy. And his chums also murmured:</p> - -<p>“A trap?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">112</a></span> -“Certainly,” went on the cobbler. “Easiest thing in the world. You set -the trap, catch the deer and that’s the end of the mystery. What do you -want to bother about heel plates for?”</p> - -<p>“But the man with the star heel plates lassoed Teddy,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“That’s all right,” said the cobbler. He stopped to peel a little -rubber cement from his left thumb nail. “You can trail that cowboy -later. I don’t believe he had anything to do with the deer. But if you -want to catch the critter that ate up Mrs. Traddle’s garden, a trap’s -the thing.”</p> - -<p>“But we don’t want to hurt the deer,” objected Teddy. “It might be a -valuable animal and we could get a reward if we took it to the owner.”</p> - -<p>“True enough,” murmured Mr. Crispen. “True enough and fair enough. I -hope you get the reward. But I didn’t say anything about harming a deer -you caught in a trap.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">113</a></span> -“I thought traps always hurt the wild animals caught in them,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“So did I,” added Dick.</p> - -<p>“We mustn’t hurt the deer,” declared Teddy. “I wouldn’t want the sharp -teeth of a steel trap to snap on one of his legs.”</p> - -<p>“I’m not talking about that kind of a trap,” said Mr. Crispen. “What I -mean is a box trap. The deer will go in, a door will close behind him -and he’ll be nicely caught in a box trap. You can use the box trap to -ship that deer wherever you want to send him to get the reward.”</p> - -<p>“It sounds easy,” Joe said. “But we don’t know how to make a box trap. -Do you, Mr. Crispen?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I do. When I was a boy I used to catch all sorts of wild -animals in traps—box traps, too. I’ve caught foxes, bobcats, weasels, -muskrats.”</p> - -<p>“Did you ever catch a deer?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">114</a></span> -“Don’t know’s I did,” admitted the cobbler. “Never had no reason to. -But catching the deer in a box trap would be just the same as catching -a bear, I guess. Only easier.”</p> - -<p>“Did you ever catch a bear?” asked Teddy, his eyes shining. The other -boys were equally excited. “A real bear?”</p> - -<p>“Of course I did!” chuckled Mr. Crispen. “Wouldn’t be any fun catching -a make-believe bear. I caught real bears out in the West when I was -younger. And if I can catch a bear I can catch a deer.”</p> - -<p>“Will you help us?” asked Teddy, somewhat shyly.</p> - -<p>“Of course I will!” exclaimed the cobbler. “It will be like old times -for me. I haven’t done any trapping in a long time. It will be fun.”</p> - -<p>“When can you do it?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Tonight after I close my shop here.”</p> - -<p>“And how will we get the trap by that time?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“I’ll attend to that. All I need is a strong,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">115</a></span> heavy box, and I have -that. Yes, boys, we’ll set a trap for that deer tonight. And, what’s -more we’ll catch him!”</p> - -<p>Again Mr. Crispen snapped his gnarled finger and thumb as if he had -shot off a small gun.</p> - -<p>The boys were delighted. It seemed as if the mystery of the deer would -soon be solved.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">116</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xiii" id="xiii"></a>CHAPTER XIII<br /> -<span>SETTING THE TRAP</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Forgotten</span> for a time was the mysterious man with the lasso. The man who -wore star heel plates could wait. What Teddy and his chums wanted to do -now was to catch the mysterious deer.</p> - -<p>But after the first joyous excitement over Mr. Crispen’s promise about -the trap, Teddy began to think a little. It might not be so easy as it -sounded. With this in mind he asked the old cobbler:</p> - -<p>“Where will you set the trap, Mr. Crispen?”</p> - -<p>“Why the best place would be where the deer comes. You’ve got to set a -trap for deer near what is called a deer-run. Set a trap in some other -place and you won’t catch a deer in a month of Sundays.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">117</a></span> -“But where is a deer-run?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“We don’t know of any,” added Joe.</p> - -<p>“And,” added Teddy Benson, “we don’t know where to look next for the -deer. If we did, we might be able to catch him without a trap.”</p> - -<p>“No, sir, boys! You’ve got to have a trap!” said Mr. Crispen. “Let me -set the trap for you and you’ll catch the deer just like that!” Again -he snapped his finger and thumb.</p> - -<p>“But where are you going to set the trap?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Ha!” chuckled the old cobbler. “That’s my secret. But I’ll let you in -on it. Come into my back room and I’ll tell you!”</p> - -<p>Teddy and his chums were beginning to enjoy the entrance of Cobbler -Crispen into their search for the mysterious deer. They felt he would -be of much more help to them than the girls or even Fatty Nolan.</p> - -<p>“Though maybe that lasso man with the star heel plates could tell -something if he<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">118</a></span> wanted to,” Teddy whispered to his chums as they went -into the cobbler’s rear room.</p> - -<p>“If we could catch him,” added Joe.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” said Dick. “That lasso man is almost as mysterious as the deer.”</p> - -<p>“Come on in, boys,” invited Mr. Crispen. “This is where I do my -thinking and planning,” he added. It was a small, rear room where he -kept an extra bench, some tools and his supplies. There were several -rolls of leather in the place and they gave it a strong odor, mixed -with that of shoemaker’s wax.</p> - -<p>“Have you the deer trap here?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Oh, my goodness, no!” exclaimed the old cobbler. “I have to make the -trap. I brought you here to tell you where I plan to set it after I -have the trap made. I didn’t want any chance customer to hear about my -plan.”</p> - -<p>“Why?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Because,” answered Mr. Crispen with a quick look around as he shut the -door,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">119</a></span> “somebody else might try our plan of trapping the deer. They -might catch him ahead of us and then where would you boys be when the -reward money is paid?”</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said Joe, “we aren’t sure any reward money is going to be paid.”</p> - -<p>“Of course there will be!” insisted Mr. Crispen. “It’s a valuable deer, -from what you tell me. Whoever owns it will be glad to pay a reward to -get it back.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe it might be a wild deer,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“Not from the way you tell me it acted,” said the cobbler, again -snapping his finger and thumb and nodding his head. “Most likely it -belongs to that lasso man. He’ll pay you for bringing it back.”</p> - -<p>“Suppose he finds it first?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“We’ll get ahead of him. I’ll have my trap ready to set tomorrow -night,” said the cobbler. “I’ll work on it tonight and tomorrow. Folks -that are in a hurry for their shoes will have to wait. It isn’t every -day I get a chance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">120</a></span> to trap a deer. It’s like old times to me!” he -laughed.</p> - -<p>“But won’t you want part of the reward money?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“No, not a penny. You boys may divide it all,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“I tell you maybe there won’t be any!” insisted Joe.</p> - -<p>“There was a reward when we found the mystery pony,” said Teddy. “Not -that I expect it. But maybe there might be one for the deer.”</p> - -<p>“Of course there will be!” declared Mr. Crispen. “Now about setting -this trap. Where do you think I’m going to put it?”</p> - -<p>“In the woods,” guessed Joe.</p> - -<p>“In the fields,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“Near the glen in Mason’s meadow, where we first saw the deer,” -ventured Teddy.</p> - -<p>“All good places,” agreed Mr. Crispen. “But I know a better one. I’m -going to put the trap in Mrs. Traddle’s garden,” exclaimed the old -cobbler. “That’s the place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">121</a></span> where the deer came to feed and he’ll -likely go back there. And we’ll trap him there!”</p> - -<p>“But maybe Mrs. Traddle won’t let you put the trap in her garden,” -suggested Joe.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes, I think she will,” said Mr. Crispen. “If she makes a fuss -we’ll promise her some of the reward money for the damage the deer did. -At least you boys can promise her some of the money. The reward is -going to be all yours. I don’t want it. How’s that?”</p> - -<p>“Sounds all right to me,” Teddy admitted.</p> - -<p>“Swell!” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Fine and dandy,” was Dick’s opinion.</p> - -<p>“All right then,” said the cobbler. “I’ll start making the trap. You -boys get permission from Mrs. Traddle to set it in or near her garden, -and tomorrow night we’ll catch that deer!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Crispen seemed very sure about it. Teddy and his chums hoped the -plan would succeed. Anyhow, it promised to be exciting fun to set the -trap.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">122</a></span> -“But we’ll wait until tomorrow to ask Mrs. Traddle if we can put the -trap in her garden,” Teddy suggested as he and his chums started for -their homes.</p> - -<p>The next day they went to the cobbler’s shop again. The front door was -closed and locked and a sign on it said:</p> - -<p class="center">NO SHOES DELIVERED TODAY</p> - -<p>“I wonder where he’s gone?” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“Around in his back room, I’d say,” ventured Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Yes, here he is!” called Joe who had gone around the side path. “And -he’s working on the trap,” he added as he looked in a window. “Come on, -fellows!”</p> - -<p>Mr. Crispen was glad to see the boys. He let them in when they tapped -at the rear door. In the middle of the back room was a box about twice -the size of a dog kennel.</p> - -<p>“The trap is nearly finished,” said the cobbler. “It works this way,” -and he demonstrated and explained. “The deer goes in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">123</a></span> this end,” he -said. “It has an up-and-down sliding door. The other end is closed. -As soon as the deer goes in, the sliding door drops and the deer is -caught. It’s a regular box trap. Doesn’t hurt the deer at all.”</p> - -<p>“But what makes the sliding door fall?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“The deer shuts it himself,” said Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p>“How?” inquired Joe.</p> - -<p>“Like this,” and the cobbler showed the boys. “The door is held up and -open by a catch. On the end of the catch, inside the box trap, is the -bait. The deer starts to nibble the bait. This pulls out the catch and -the door falls and the deer is caught.”</p> - -<p>“Are you sure he will go inside to nibble the bait?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“I’m positive,” declared Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p>“What bait are you going to use?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“A combination of carrots, cabbage, turnips and salt, all made into -a sort of package,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">124</a></span> was the answer. “No deer can keep from nibbling -that. Now you boys go and get permission from Mrs. Traddle to put the -trap in her garden.”</p> - -<p>A little doubtful of what Mrs. Traddle might say, the three boys went -to the candy store. As a sort of opening wedge, Teddy bought some -chocolate creams, ordering them in such a loud voice that the deaf old -lady did not confuse them with popcorn balls. Then Teddy, thinking she -was in good humor, said:</p> - -<p>“We want to set a deer trap in your garden, may we?”</p> - -<p>“What’s that? You lost a hat in my garden? Why of course you may go in -and get it, boys. But I don’t see how you could lose a hat. The wind -isn’t blowing much.”</p> - -<p>“Not a HAT—a TRAP!” said Teddy loudly.</p> - -<p>“A mouse trap?” asked Mrs. Traddle doubtfully.</p> - -<p>“No, a DEER TRAP!” Joe said, trying<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">125</a></span> his luck. He finally managed -to make Mrs. Traddle understand. And when she was promised some of -the possible reward money to pay for the damage the deer had done to -her garden, she gave permission. Not only that, but she supplied the -vegetables for the bait.</p> - -<p>The boys went back to the cobbler’s shop. The trap was almost finished.</p> - -<p>“Good work!” complimented Mr. Crispen when Teddy and his chums told -of their success and gave him the vegetables. “I have some salt of my -own,” the cobbler said. “Deer are very fond of salt.”</p> - -<p>The boys, having obtained permission from their parents to go with the -cobbler to set the trap after dark, found Mr. Crispen waiting for them -at his shop. He had the trap on a small cart he used to haul his rolls -of leather from the railroad express office.</p> - -<p>“It won’t be long now before we have that deer,” said Mr. Crispen. -“Come along, boys!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">126</a></span> -Teddy and his chums helped push the cart through the streets to the -rear of Mrs. Traddle’s garden. It was dusk. But if the strange little -procession was observed, doubtless it was thought to be some boys -moving a dog house. That’s what the trap looked like.</p> - -<p>“Now show me,” said Mr. Crispen when the garden was reached, “just -where the deer got in that time and ate the corn.”</p> - -<p>The boys indicated the place. It could still be seen in the light of -the moon, for that part of Mrs. Traddle’s garden still bore the marks -made by the trampling deer.</p> - -<p>“Now we’ll place and set the trap,” said the cobbler. “Then we’ll get -out of here. The deer won’t come if we stay around very long.”</p> - -<p>“Do you think the deer will come?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, sure he will!” replied Mr. Crispen.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">127</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xiv" id="xiv"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /> -<span>A CAPTIVE</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Teddy</span> and his chums helped Mr. Crispen set the deer trap in Mrs. -Traddle’s garden. The candy-store keeper watched them for a while, but -whenever the bell on her store door jingled, she hurried inside to wait -on a customer. Each time the door was opened a bell rang. Sometimes -Mrs. Traddle heard it and sometimes she didn’t.</p> - -<p>But at last, growing tired of running in and out, Mrs. Traddle remained -in the store and left the boys and the cobbler to their work. It was -getting dark now.</p> - -<p>“There!” exclaimed Mr. Crispen as he set the bait and adjusted the -catch of the sliding door. “The trap is all ready. What we need now is -for the deer to come along and be caught.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">128</a></span> -“Are you sure the trap will work?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, sure!” said the cobbler. “Just you try it.”</p> - -<p>“Go on, Teddy, get in!” advised Dick with a laugh.</p> - -<p>“And get caught!” cried Teddy. “I should say not!”</p> - -<p>“But we’re here to let you out,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>Under that promise Teddy consented to enter the box trap to see if it -would work.</p> - -<p>“But no fooling!” he told his chums. “If I get caught in there you’ve -got to let me out.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll see to that,” promised Mr. Crispen. “It will be a good way to -test the trap. Now, Teddy, here is what you do. The trap is big enough -for you to go in if you stoop a little. From what you told me, the deer -isn’t quite as tall as you boys, even counting his horns.”</p> - -<p>“No, he’s about our size,” Dick said.</p> - -<p>“A deer can bend his head backward and sort of lay his horns along -his back,” explained<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">129</a></span> the cobbler. “That’s what they do when they run -through the woods so their horns won’t get caught. So I think I have -made the trap plenty high enough for the deer.</p> - -<p>“When you go in, Teddy, just pretend you are a deer and take hold of -the bait with your hand. The bait is tied to the trigger that will slip -the catch and let the door fall back of you. You will be a captive for -a little while. But we’ll soon let you out.</p> - -<p>“Then, if we find the trap works all right, and I’m sure it will, I’ll -set it again and we’ll go away. In the morning we shall have another -captive, I’m sure.”</p> - -<p>“You mean the deer?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“I mean the deer,” said the cobbler.</p> - -<p>When all was ready, and the bundle of carrots, cabbage, lettuce and -salt tied to the trigger, Teddy stooped and walked into the trap. It -was just about large enough for him.</p> - -<p>“All ready fellows!” he called in a muffled voice. “Here she goes!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">130</a></span> -A moment later, with a thud, the door dropped down back of the boy and -he was caught in the trap.</p> - -<p>“It worked!” cried Joe.</p> - -<p>“Swell!” exclaimed Dick.</p> - -<p>“I knew it would,” chuckled the cobbler. He walked all around the trap -to make sure it was tight. The moon was beginning to rise now and the -party of deer-trappers could see quite well.</p> - -<p>“I say!” called Teddy. “When are you going to let me out of here?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s so,” said Joe, pretending to have forgotten his chum. -“Teddy is in the trap, isn’t he?”</p> - -<p>“I was wondering what had become of him,” Dick remarked with pretended -innocence.</p> - -<p>“Open that door!” cried Teddy.</p> - -<p>A man passing in the road, which was not far from where the trap was -being set in Mrs. Traddle’s garden, suddenly stopped and called:</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">131</a></span> -“What’s going on there?”</p> - -<p>At the same time Teddy called again in loud tones:</p> - -<p>“Let me out! Let me out of this trap!”</p> - -<p>“Oh, so you’re putting boys in traps, are you!” cried the man in angry -tones. “I’ll stop that!” He leaped over the fence. Joe, Dick and Mr. -Crispen saw it was Policeman Robbin.</p> - -<p>“What’s going on here?” demanded the officer, his ruddy face darkened -by anger.</p> - -<p>“We’re just setting a deer trap, and Teddy went in to test it,” -explained Joe as Dick and Mr. Crispen raised the door.</p> - -<p>“Oh,” said the policeman, with a little laugh. “Excuse me. But I -thought somebody was trying to catch a boy in a trap.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” laughed Teddy, “I was caught all right. But the trap sure -works. That door fell shut as soon as I touched the bait.”</p> - -<p>“I hope it happens that way when the deer goes in,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“It will,” declared Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">132</a></span> -It did not take long to re-set the trap. Policeman Robbin watched for a -while and then, jumping back over the fence, went on duty again.</p> - -<p>“Well, we can leave now,” said the cobbler as he gave a last look all -around the trap. “In the morning when you boys come here, you will find -another sort of captive than Teddy in the trap.”</p> - -<p>“Hadn’t you better come here with us?” suggested Teddy. “If we catch -the deer, you will know better how to handle him than we will.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I’m an old hand with deer,” said Mr. Crispen. “I used to trap -them out West. I had two or three for pets until they grew so big they -were troublesome. Yes, I’ll come here with you. Stop at my house when -you come to look in the trap. I’ll join you.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Crispen’s house was next door to his shop.</p> - -<p>“We’ll be here early,” warned Dick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">133</a></span> -“Yes, I expect you’ll want to see the deer in the trap. Well, you can’t -come any too early for me. I never sleep late. Just ring my bell and -I’ll be with you.”</p> - -<p>Leaving the trap in Mrs. Traddle’s garden, the boys and the cobbler -started for their homes. In front of the candy store Teddy said:</p> - -<p>“I feel sort of thirsty, fellows, after being caught in the trap. I’ll -treat to soda if you want some.”</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“You can’t scare me off!” laughed Joe.</p> - -<p>Mr. Crispen had hurried off down the street, not staying for the soda -treat. But the three boys went inside and Mrs. Traddle came out to wait -on them.</p> - -<p>“Lemon soda,” ordered Joe.</p> - -<p>“Sarsaparilla,” was Dick’s choice.</p> - -<p>“I think I’ll have a root beer,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” cried the deaf old lady.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">134</a></span> “You are going to give a -cheer? Mercy me! Oh, I know. It’s because you have caught the deer. -Well, go on and cheer, if you like. I guess I can stand it if you don’t -cheer too loud.”</p> - -<p>“No, no,” said Teddy laughing. “I said I wanted a ROOT BEER soda.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, root beer. Why didn’t you say so at first?” grumbled Mrs. Traddle.</p> - -<p>After drinking their sodas the boys went home. They were up early next -morning, meeting at Teddy’s house. They hurried to the home of the -shoemaker where Mr. Crispen soon joined them.</p> - -<p>“I wonder if we’ve caught the deer,” mused Teddy as they went on to the -trap in Mrs. Traddle’s garden.</p> - -<p>“You will find the deer in my trap,” said the cobbler confidently.</p> - -<p>They soon were in sight of it. And one look was enough to tell them -some captive was inside the trap. For there was a sound<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">135</a></span> of banging -horns, trampling feet and dull thuds. The trap was swaying from side to -side.</p> - -<p>“We’ve caught the deer!” cried Teddy leaping over the fence.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">136</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xv" id="xv"></a>CHAPTER XV<br /> -<span>ESCAPE</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Just</span> as Teddy Benson leaped over the fence and landed in Mrs. Traddle’s -garden, to run toward the deer trap, the candy-store lady darted out of -her back door and headed for the same place.</p> - -<p>Teddy was followed by his chums and Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Traddle was all alone. She was the first to reach the box trap out -of which came many strange sounds.</p> - -<p>There were sounds of tramping, beating feet and banging horns. Also -sounds of grunts and heavy breathing.</p> - -<p>“You’ve caught some sort of animal in your trap!” called Mrs. Traddle -to Teddy and the others.</p> - -<p>“It’s a deer, Mrs. Traddle,” said the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">137</a></span> cobbler. “I knew when I made -that trap it would catch the mystery deer.”</p> - -<p>“I can’t make out if it’s a deer or not,” said Mrs. Traddle.</p> - -<p>“Have you been out here before, looking?” asked Joe as they all hurried -nearer the trap.</p> - -<p>“Oh, land sakes, yes,” Mrs. Traddle replied. “I was out here as soon as -it was daylight.”</p> - -<p>“What time was the deer caught?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“I’m not sure it is a deer,” Mrs. Traddle said. “I can’t get a good -look at it through the cracks. You made that trap of yours good and -tight, Mr. Crispen.”</p> - -<p>“I sure did, Mrs. Traddle,” said the cobbler. “When you make a deer -trap, make it good and tight, I say. Deer are pesky critters for -getting out of a place once they get in.”</p> - -<p>“But as I said,” went on Mrs. Traddle, “I can’t be sure it is a deer.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">138</a></span> -“Oh, it’s a deer, all right,” said Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p>“What time was it caught?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Oh, along about midnight, I should say,” replied the candy-store lady. -“I heard a noise in my garden then and I looked out. But I couldn’t see -anything. I expect what I heard was the sliding door falling shut after -the critter in the trap had pulled on the bait. I didn’t come down to -look, but I expect that’s what it was.”</p> - -<p>“That was it,” said the cobbler a bit proudly. “The deer nibbled the -bait and the door fell, catching him.”</p> - -<p>“As I said,” went on Mrs. Traddle who seemed to be hearing very well -now, “as I said, I’m not sure it is a deer you’ve caught. I came out -here as soon as it was daylight and peeked through the cracks as best I -could.”</p> - -<p>“What did you see?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“I saw a critter with sort of brown and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">139</a></span> white fur and horns,” replied -Mrs. Traddle. “Might be a cow for all I know.”</p> - -<p>“A cow would be too big to get in my trap,” said the cobbler.</p> - -<p>“Well, yes, maybe so,” admitted Mrs. Traddle. “Anyhow it’s a raging and -plunging sort of a critter, whatever it is. Two or three times, when I -came out to look before you arrived, I thought it would break out of -the trap.”</p> - -<p>“It can’t get out of the trap!” declared the cobbler. “I made it too -strong.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it’s cutting up something terrible,” went on the old lady. “I’m -sure it will get free.”</p> - -<p>As Teddy, his chums and Mr. Crispen stood near the trap, the animal -inside appeared to be making strong efforts to escape. It plunged about -and struck the sides and ends of the trap with its horns and feet.</p> - -<p>“That’s the way it’s been going on since daylight,” explained Mrs. -Traddle. “If you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">140</a></span> hadn’t come when you did I was going to telephone -you. I was getting sort of scared.”</p> - -<p>“There is no danger,” said Mr. Crispen. He peered through a crack in -the trap at the animal inside. So did the boys. They could not get a -very good view. Though there were many cracks in the box trap, none of -them was large enough to give a good view. But the boys and the cobbler -had glimpses of an animal with brown and white hair and also with horns.</p> - -<p>“That’s a deer, all right,” asserted the cobbler. “We’ve caught him -just as I said we would.”</p> - -<p>“The next thing,” said Teddy, “is to get him out of this trap and tie -him up some place. He seems wild.”</p> - -<p>“He is wild!” declared Mrs. Traddle. “He’s been wild ever since he was -in that trap. I tried to quiet him but I couldn’t.”</p> - -<p>“What did you do to quiet him?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">141</a></span> -“Well, I tried to whistle and make noises as I would to a dog. I don’t -expect,” said Mrs. Traddle slowly, “they were the right sort of noises -to make to a deer in a trap.”</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mr. Crispen with a short laugh, “they weren’t. Not to a deer -in a trap or out of a trap.”</p> - -<p>“What kind of noises should you make to quiet a deer?” asked Mrs. -Traddle.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” the cobbler had to admit.</p> - -<p>“Why, I thought you said you had caught lots of deer.”</p> - -<p>“So I have. But I never made any soothing noises to ’em,” chuckled Mr. -Crispen. “They didn’t seem to need such attention. But now this is a -wild and tearing sort of critter and it isn’t going to be easy to get -him quiet and out of this trap.”</p> - -<p>“If that man with the lasso was here, he could help,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but he isn’t here,” spoke Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">142</a></span> -“I’ve got that lasso home,” Teddy said. “Shall I go get it and lasso -the deer after you open the trap and let him out?”</p> - -<p>“Can you lasso?” asked Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p>“Not very good,” Teddy had to admit.</p> - -<p>“Then I guess we’d better not try that,” said the cobbler. “If I open -that door and let the deer back out, he’s going to run loose and cut up -something fierce! He’s scared like. Then he’ll do a lot more damage to -Mrs. Traddle’s garden—maybe more than the reward money would cover.”</p> - -<p>“If there is any reward money,” Teddy pointed out.</p> - -<p>“Oh, there’ll surely be some!” declared the cobbler. “But I don’t want -to open this trap out here in Mrs. Traddle’s garden. What we ought to -do is let the deer stay in the trap. Then if we could load him, trap -and all, on a sort of truck and take it to a barn, we could let the -deer loose in the barn and catch him. Of course, we’d have to be sure<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">143</a></span> -the barn doors were shut. If we could do that—”</p> - -<p>“There’s no reason why we can’t,” Teddy exclaimed. “Mr. Lanter, the -butcher, has a truck. He often loads heavy boxes and barrels on it and -he has a sort of windlass up under the front seat. We could fasten a -rope to the trap and haul it up on Mr. Lanter’s truck with the rope -and windlass. Then we could take the deer in the trap to our garage. A -garage would be just as good as a barn, wouldn’t it, Mr. Crispen?”</p> - -<p>“Sure, just as good. That’s a fine idea, Teddy. If I can use your -telephone, Mrs. Traddle, I’ll ask Mr. Lanter to come here with his -truck.”</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” asked the old lady, who seemed to have gone deaf again. -“You say you haven’t any luck? Why, I think you were very lucky to -catch the deer on your first try.”</p> - -<p>“No, I didn’t say LUCK!” shouted Mr.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">144</a></span> Crispen. “I said I want to -telephone for Mr. Lanter’s TRUCK. I suppose I can?”</p> - -<p>“Of course you can. But why didn’t you say so at first, instead of -talking about your luck. The telephone is in the store.”</p> - -<p>The cobbler went there with Mrs. Traddle. He got the butcher on the -wire but was having a little hard work making Mr. Lanter understand -what was wanted. The butcher could not be made to believe that a deer -had been caught in Mrs. Traddle’s garden.</p> - -<p>But finally Mr. Lanter said:</p> - -<p>“All right, I’ll be right over with the truck.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Crispen went out to the garden to tell the boys about the coming of -the truck. Teddy, Joe and Dick were standing near the trap. The animal -inside was plunging about more vigorously than before.</p> - -<p>Suddenly there was an extra loud bang, a rending crash of wood and the -front end of the trap splintered outward.</p> - -<p>“He’s breaking loose!” yelled Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">145</a></span> -“He’s out!” shouted Teddy as the whole end of the trap gave way and the -captive leaped out.</p> - -<p>“Catch him! Catch that deer!” yelled Mr. Crispen.</p> - -<p>There was a flash of heels, a shaking of horns in the sunlight and the -animal leaped over the garden fence and galloped down the road. At the -same time Teddy yelled:</p> - -<p>“That wasn’t a deer at all!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">146</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xvi" id="xvi"></a>CHAPTER XVI<br /> -<span>TEDDY IS UPSET</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">The</span> escape of the animal from the cobbler’s cage so surprised Joe and -Dick that at first they did not understand what Teddy had shouted. Even -Mr. Crispen was startled.</p> - -<p>As for Mrs. Traddle, who had followed the shoemaker out to the garden -after the telephone talk, she gave a loud cry when the trap was broken -by the escaping captive.</p> - -<p>Then Mrs. Traddle rushed into the house, slammed shut and locked the -door and cried:</p> - -<p>“Send for the police! Send for the police!”</p> - -<p>But when another shout of Teddy had echoed in the ears of his chums, -and they had time to calm down, Joe asked:</p> - -<p>“What did you say, Teddy?”</p> - -<p>“I said that was no deer.”</p> - -<p>“What was it?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">147</a></span> -“A goat!” Teddy exclaimed. “And it looked like that big goat Tony -Pasqualla keeps in a shack near his garden.”</p> - -<p>“A goat?” repeated Dick.</p> - -<p>“Yes, a goat,” declared Teddy again. “I had a better look at it than -you fellows. It was a goat as sure as anything.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then,” said Mr. Crispen, who was getting over his disappointment -at the animal’s escape, “no wonder it broke my trap, strong as it was. -That goat just butted through the boards.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll say he butted through!” laughed Teddy. “I’m glad I wasn’t in -front of him when it happened. Boy, he sure sailed over the fence as if -he had wings!”</p> - -<p>“Where is he now?” asked the cobbler.</p> - -<p>“About ten miles from here, I should say, at the rate he was going,” -laughed Teddy.</p> - -<p>“He sure was scared,” remarked Joe.</p> - -<p>“And mad!” added Dick.</p> - -<p>“No wonder,” said Teddy. “If that was Tony Pasqualla’s big goat, and I -think it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">148</a></span> was from the color, he’s always been kindly treated. To Tony -and his family that goat, which they milk, is like a cow. They even -bring it in the house, so I heard. No wonder, after having been treated -kindly all its life, the goat got mad when it was trapped and shut up.”</p> - -<p>“Dear me! A goat!” murmured Mr. Crispen. “I was sure it was a deer.”</p> - -<p>“Well, it did look a little like the mystery deer,” Joe said. “It was -brown and white.”</p> - -<p>“And had horns,” added Dick.</p> - -<p>“But we couldn’t see it very well. The cracks in the trap were too -small,” Teddy remarked.</p> - -<p>“That’s so,” admitted the cobbler. “I’ll make a new trap and put in -bigger cracks. Then we can see what we’ve caught.”</p> - -<p>Mrs. Traddle, after looking from a window and seeing no signs of any -raging animal, came out into the garden again.</p> - -<p>“Are you fixing,” she asked Mr. Crispen,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">149</a></span> her mouth drawing to a thin -line, “to make another trap and set it in my garden?”</p> - -<p>“I was,” spoke the cobbler.</p> - -<p>“No,” said Mrs. Traddle firmly. “No more deer traps in my garden! I’ve -been bothered enough. Set your deer trap some other place.”</p> - -<p>“But this is the best place,” protested the cobbler. “The deer has -been here once. He likes your garden, Mrs. Traddle. He is sure to come -again.”</p> - -<p>“Well, if he comes again he can go again. He isn’t going to be trapped -and turn into a goat to scare a body into a conniption fit. No more -deer traps in my garden!”</p> - -<p>“Well, all right,” said the cobbler, somewhat sadly. “I guess you boys -will have to look around for other places where the deer comes and I’ll -set my trap there.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” assented Teddy. “We’ll have to take the trail again, -fellows.”</p> - -<p>“The trail of the mystery deer!” said Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">150</a></span> -“What’ll we do about this broken trap?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“I’ll take it back to the shop on my cart,” said Mr. Crispen. “I’ll -make a better trap next time. I’m sorry about this, boys.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, well, you couldn’t help it,” said Teddy. “No one could tell that -Pasqualla’s goat was going to get loose and roam into the trap at -night.”</p> - -<p>Mr. Lanter, the butcher, came along just then in his truck, ready to -load on it the trap and the deer he supposed had been caught.</p> - -<p>“But there’s nothing now for you to do, thank you just the same,” said -Mr. Crispen. “It got away.”</p> - -<p>“You mean the deer did?” asked the butcher.</p> - -<p>“No, the goat.”</p> - -<p>“I thought you said it was a deer.”</p> - -<p>“So I did, Mr. Lanter, but it turned out to be a goat.”</p> - -<p>“There’s something funny about this,”<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">151</a></span> said the butcher as he prepared -to drive away in his truck after hearing the story. “First it’s a deer, -then it’s a goat, then it isn’t anything. Talk about mysteries—this -sure is one!”</p> - -<p>And as several days passed and there was no further sign or news of the -deer, Teddy and his chums began to feel they had seen the last of the -mystery animal.</p> - -<p>For a time they had hopes they might be called on to look for the big -brown and white goat of Tony Pasqualla. But that family pet, after -breaking out of the trap and leaping from Mrs. Traddle’s garden, -finally made his way back to the stable where he was penned up.</p> - -<p>Teddy and his chums learned this when they called to inquire about the -goat. They saw the animal tied in a stall eating peacefully.</p> - -<p>“One nighta she go away,” Tony explained to the boys. “No can finda my -goat<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">152</a></span> all night. Nexta da morn she coma home alla crazy like—you know, -excite! Someting musta happen my goat.”</p> - -<p>“Something did,” Teddy said. And he and the boys explained. For they -knew Tony would hear about the trap and they wanted him to know the -catching of his goat had not been intended.</p> - -<p>“Oh, sure, dat’s alla de right,” smiled the Italian. “My goat Angelina -no hurt any. But you say you want to get a deer?”</p> - -<p>“Yes,” Teddy replied. “A mystery deer.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, is dat a danger kind—dat mysdery deer?”</p> - -<p>“No. It only means there’s something strange about it,” said Joe. -“Mysterious.”</p> - -<p>“It comes and goes,” added Dick.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I understan’,” laughed Tony. “Justa laik de sun! Ha! Ha!”</p> - -<p>Though Teddy and his chums made several trips to the woods, fields and -the glen, they saw no further signs of the deer. Sometimes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">153</a></span> the girls -went with them on hunts. Once in a while Fatty Nolan would go out with -the boys. But he was so excited no one could depend on him. Once he -caused great excitement by shouting:</p> - -<p>“There he is! The mystery deer! I see his horns!”</p> - -<p>But it was only the whitened, gnarled roots of an old stump in a field.</p> - -<p>Once Margie and Lucy came hurrying home from a berry-picking trip -saying they had seen the deer in a field. Teddy and his chums hurried -to the place only to see a cow, partly screened by the bushes.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Mr. Crispen made his trap over and set it in Mason’s meadow -near the place where the deer had first been seen. But though he put -fresh bait in the trap every night, no deer went in to spring the trap -and be caught.</p> - -<p>“I guess we’ve seen the last of the mystery deer,” said Teddy to his -chums one day.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">154</a></span> They were returning from a trip to look for the animal.</p> - -<p>“Seems so,” admitted Joe.</p> - -<p>“We haven’t even seen that cowboy, or whoever he was, that lassoed you, -Teddy,” remarked Dick.</p> - -<p>“No, we haven’t. And I’d like to meet him. Maybe he didn’t mean to rope -me. He might want his lasso back,” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>It was two days after this that Teddy was down in the far end of the -house garden, doing a little weeding. The garden was one in which Teddy -had an interest. It was a tomato patch and his father had said Teddy -could have half of the tomatoes to sell if he would keep the patch -weeded and the vines up off the ground on little wooden supports.</p> - -<p>It was in the afternoon and Teddy was stooping down, pulling out some -weeds when he suddenly felt himself touched on the back.</p> - -<p>“Hey, quit that!” he called, thinking it was either Dick or Joe who had -sneaked up on him.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">155</a></span> -There was no answer. But a moment later Teddy suddenly was upset and -thrust forward so that he fell flat on the ground among the tomato -vines.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">156</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xvii" id="xvii"></a>CHAPTER XVII<br /> -<span>ON THE DEER’S TRAIL</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Scrambling</span> to his feet, Teddy whirled around thinking to confront one -of his chums who had upset him. Teddy was angry. He started to say:</p> - -<p>“What’s the big idea? What right have you to—”</p> - -<p>That was as far as Teddy got. For as he stood up and turned to look, he -saw neither Joe nor Dick.</p> - -<p>But rapidly disappearing from view across a field adjoining the Benson -garden, and heading for Mason’s woods, was the mystery deer.</p> - -<p>“There he goes!” cried Teddy, very much excited. “There he goes! He -upset me! Gosh! What do you know about that! I’ve got to catch that -deer now!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">157</a></span> -Teddy darted toward the edge of the garden. There was no fence around -it. He started to race after the deer. But the animal was so swift it -had vanished in the woods before Teddy was half way across the field -that adjoined Mason’s meadow.</p> - -<p>“That deer sure can travel!” exclaimed Teddy admiringly as he slowed -up. “But why did he upset me—and how?”</p> - -<p>Teddy squirmed around far enough to look at the back of his slacks. He -saw a small hole that had not been there before and he understood what -had happened.</p> - -<p>The deer had sneaked up so quietly behind Teddy that the boy had never -heard a sound. He was intent on his weeding and so had been taken off -guard.</p> - -<p>“And I was sort of figuring,” Teddy said afterward, when he met his -chums and told them the story, “how much I might make by selling my -tomatoes. Then, all of a sudden, I was upset. I thought sure one of you -fellows had done it.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">158</a></span> -“Are you sure it was the deer?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Sure! Who else could it be? There was no one else in sight. And I saw -the deer running away. He just sneaked up behind me, hooked a prong of -his horns into my slacks and turned me over.”</p> - -<p>“Did he hurt you?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“No. Didn’t even scratch me. But he put a hole in my slacks.”</p> - -<p>“He was just playing with you,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Well, maybe it was play, or maybe he meant to tell me that we should -stop trying to catch him,” Teddy said. “But it proves one thing, -fellows.”</p> - -<p>“What?” Dick wanted to know.</p> - -<p>“That the mystery deer is still around here. And we are going to catch -him!”</p> - -<p>“How?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“We’ll take the trail again!” said Teddy firmly. “We’ll chase that deer -until we catch him. Are you with me?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">159</a></span> -“Sure!” echoed his chums. Their faces brightened eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Then help me finish the tomato weeding,” Teddy suggested, “and we can -start right away.”</p> - -<p>Joe and Dick looked blank. They hadn’t counted on weeding.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I’ll cut you in on whatever I make when I sell my tomatoes, -fellows,” Teddy promised.</p> - -<p>So the two chums agreed to help. They accompanied Teddy to the lower -end of the garden, and Joe suddenly said:</p> - -<p>“Say, I’ve got an idea!”</p> - -<p>“Better set a trap for it. Maybe it will escape!” chuckled Dick.</p> - -<p>“No, I mean it,” went on Joe. “Maybe it was the cowboy who sent that -deer to upset you, Teddy.”</p> - -<p>“How do you figure that out?” Teddy asked.</p> - -<p>“Well, something like this,” Joe continued. “That cowboy with the star -heel plates<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">160</a></span> has something to do with this mystery deer. I’m sure of -that.”</p> - -<p>“So am I,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“Well,” resumed Joe, “you have his lasso, Teddy, haven’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Yes, but he sort of gave it to me. Anyhow he threw it around me and -yanked me over and the lasso stayed there. He can have it back if he -wants it.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe he thinks you won’t give it to him,” went on Joe. “So he trailed -you and as soon as he saw his chance he set his deer on you to topple -you over into the tomatoes.”</p> - -<p>“You mean he set his deer on me as he might set a dog?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Sure, that’s it.”</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe this cowboy had anything to do with the deer upsetting -me,” Teddy said quietly.</p> - -<p>“I don’t, either,” said Dick, siding with Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Well, maybe I’m wrong,” Joe admitted. “But it’s mighty strange that -the deer stays<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">161</a></span> around here. He wouldn’t do that unless his owner was -somewhere near, and I think the cowboy owns him.”</p> - -<p>“Why doesn’t he capture the deer, then, and keep him from bothering -us?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Maybe he can’t catch the deer, any more than we can,” Joe said. “I’d -like to meet that cowboy.”</p> - -<p>“So would I,” Teddy agreed. “But while he may have something to do with -the deer, I don’t believe he set the deer on me.”</p> - -<p>“Then why did the deer upset you?” Joe asked.</p> - -<p>“Oh, he’s young—just sort of playful,” Teddy answered.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yeah?” laughed Dick, somewhat tauntingly. “Well, I don’t like that -sort of play.”</p> - -<p>“You want to help get that deer, don’t you?” Teddy asked.</p> - -<p>“Sure.”</p> - -<p>“Well, then you may have to take some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">162</a></span> chances of hard play. If you -fellows want to drop out—”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we don’t want to do that,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Well, then let’s step on it a little and scout around more,” Teddy -suggested. “Our vacation is getting shorter. We want to find that deer -before it’s over.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right!” agreed his chums.</p> - -<p>“We’ve got to be ready, night or day, to take the trail after the -deer!” Teddy declared.</p> - -<p>“Sure!” echoed Joe and Dick.</p> - -<p>More determined than ever before to capture the mystery deer, the three -boys worked hard at weeding the tomato patch. It was tame work compared -to the exciting adventure just ahead.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">163</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xviii" id="xviii"></a>CHAPTER XVIII<br /> -<span>WRONG NUMBER</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">When</span> the tomato patch had been weeded and the dirt hoed into small -hills around the roots of each plant, Teddy and his chums were free to -go deer hunting.</p> - -<p>“First,” decided Teddy as he led his friends from the garden, “we ought -to wash up and then get something to eat.”</p> - -<p>“I’m in favor of that last, anyhow,” Dick said. “Lead the way to the -pantry, Teddy.”</p> - -<p>Removing some of the grime and the stains of weeds from their hands, -the boys sat on Teddy’s back stoop, disposing of several glasses of -milk and some cookies which Teddy got from the kitchen.</p> - -<p>“Now I feel strong enough to play with any deer!” declared Dick.</p> - -<p>“Even one with big horns?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">164</a></span> -“Bring on the deer—horns and all!” Dick challenged.</p> - -<p>But though the boys spent the remainder of the afternoon scouting -around for traces of the deer, they saw none and when night came they -decided to give up the chase for the time being.</p> - -<p>Tired from the day’s work in the garden and from following a deer trail -that led nowhere, Teddy was reading in his room that evening when he -heard a rattle of gravel against the window. At the same time he heard -what seemed to be a tree-toad trilling.</p> - -<p>Casting aside his book, Teddy jumped to the window, the lower sash -of which was open since it was a warm night. The gravel had rattled -against the upper panes.</p> - -<p>Teddy whistled back the tree-toad signal and called down:</p> - -<p>“Is that you, Joe?”</p> - -<p>“It’s Dick,” was the answer.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” Teddy wanted to know. “This isn’t secret club -night, is it?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">165</a></span> -“No,” answered Dick. “But I thought maybe you couldn’t get out to go -with me and Joe, so I gave the secret signal.”</p> - -<p>“Go where?” demanded Teddy.</p> - -<p>“After the deer. Joe saw him. He’s keeping him in sight and I came for -you. Hurry!”</p> - -<p>“I’ll be right down,” Teddy answered.</p> - -<p>Besides the Mystery Club, the boys had a Secret Society. Instead of -leaving by the front or back doors to attend sessions, it was one of -the rules they should slide down a rope from their bedroom windows. And -the boys took turns going quietly after dark, signalling to one another -by tossing gravel against a window and giving the tree-toad whistle.</p> - -<p>There was no reason why Teddy and his chums could not have gone out the -front or back doors to the meetings of the Secret Club.</p> - -<p>Their parents would probably have made no objections, since the -existence of the club was known to them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">166</a></span> -But, somehow, it seemed much more fun to go to a meeting of the Secret -Club after a summons by thrown gravel, a strange whistle and after -sliding down a rope.</p> - -<p>So Teddy got his rope out of a closet where he kept it hidden, fastened -one end firmly to his bed and tossed the other end out of the window. -It was no trick at all to go down it hand-over-hand to the ground where -Dick was waiting in the shadow of some bushes.</p> - -<p>“So you sighted the deer, did you?” asked Teddy as he and Dick made -their way down through the back yard and across lots.</p> - -<p>“Joe did,” Dick answered. “We had been downtown and were on our way -home by the back way, through the little patch of woods near Fountain -Park when Joe saw the deer. I had left him but he came running after me -to tell me. Then he said he’d keep the deer in sight and I was to come -for you.”</p> - -<p>“So you did,” agreed Teddy. “But do you think that deer is going to -stay in one place<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">167</a></span> while Joe watches him, and until you and I get -there?”</p> - -<p>“Joe thought maybe he would,” said Dick. “Joe said the deer was feeding -right in that little patch of woods, and acted as if he were going to -stay there a while.”</p> - -<p>“Well, maybe he will,” Teddy said. “Golly! This is swell! We have a -good chance to get that deer now!”</p> - -<p>“Come on! Hurry!” advised Dick.</p> - -<p>The two boys hurried on through the darkness. Now and then they -stumbled. Once Dick, who was in the lead, tripped and fell. Teddy -tumbled over him.</p> - -<p>“Gosh! What happened, Dick?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“There was a ditch here. I didn’t see it.”</p> - -<p>“I should say you didn’t! Well, anyhow, we know it’s here now,” Teddy -said rather ruefully as he got to his feet. “We should have brought -flashlights.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you’re right,” Dick replied. “But<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">168</a></span> Joe and I didn’t know we -were going deer hunting. We didn’t have time to go back and get our -flashlights.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right. But I should have brought mine,” Teddy said. “Never -mind. We’ll go a bit slower from now on.”</p> - -<p>This plan of advance worked well and in a short time Teddy and Dick -emerged into a little clearing near a small recreation spot on the edge -of town. The place was called Fountain Park.</p> - -<p>“There’s Joe!” called Dick excitedly.</p> - -<p>Teddy saw a figure dimly waving its arms in a signal to hurry.</p> - -<p>“We’d better run!” Teddy advised.</p> - -<p>In another few seconds he and Dick had joined their chum.</p> - -<p>“Where is he?” demanded Teddy excitedly.</p> - -<p>“He’s gone,” Joe replied.</p> - -<p>“Gone? You mean the deer got away?”</p> - -<p>“Yes. But he hasn’t gone far I guess. He<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">169</a></span> walked off into the patch -of woods just before you fellows got here. I thought you weren’t ever -coming!”</p> - -<p>“We came as fast as we could,” Dick said. “I fell down.”</p> - -<p>“And I fell over him,” added Teddy. “But we’re here now. Do you know -which way the deer went?”</p> - -<p>“Sure I do! Straight ahead. Follow me!”</p> - -<p>Joe darted off in the darkness. Teddy and Dick followed. They were -out of the clearing now and into the small patch of woods which was -separated from Fountain Park by a highway. It was a seldom-used -thoroughfare and there was no traffic on it now.</p> - -<p>“Did you see anybody near the deer?” asked Teddy as he and Dick trotted -along beside Joe.</p> - -<p>“No. He was all alone. He was feeding quietly. Then, just before you -fellows got here, he seemed to take fright. He raised his head. I was -about fifty feet away and I could<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">170</a></span> see him very well. Then, all of a -sudden, he turned around and walked off through the woods.”</p> - -<p>“Maybe you scared him,” suggested Teddy.</p> - -<p>“No. I didn’t move or make a sound. I was still and quiet. I could see -the deer as plain as anything. But I thought you fellows would never—”</p> - -<p>“Hark!” suddenly interrupted Teddy.</p> - -<p>They stopped and listened. Ahead of them they could hear the clatter -and cracking of the branches of trees and bushes.</p> - -<p>“That’s the deer!” cried Joe. “He’s just ahead of us!”</p> - -<p>“We’ll get him now!” exclaimed Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Hurry!” advised Dick.</p> - -<p>In the excitement of the chase, neither of the boys gave thought to how -they might capture the mystery deer even if they got within sight. They -had nothing with which to make the animal fast. They broke into a run. -It wasn’t quite so dark now. A half<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">171</a></span> moon was beginning to lift in the -dark sky and it gave a little light.</p> - -<p>The noise of the boys increased. Plainly some animal was making its way -through the little patch of woods ahead of them.</p> - -<p>Then, suddenly, Teddy who was now in the lead, came to such an abrupt -stop that Joe bumped into him.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter?” Joe demanded.</p> - -<p>“Wrong number!” cried Teddy, starting to retreat.</p> - -<p>“Wrong number?” questioned his two chums.</p> - -<p>“Yes. Can’t you smell it?”</p> - -<p>A dank, strong and most oppressive odor was wafted to the three boys.</p> - -<p>“Skunk!” they cried together. “Skunk!” And Teddy added: “Come on! Beat -it before we get any closer! We might have bumped right into him if -we’d kept on!”</p> - -<p>It was all too evident they were in the neighborhood of a skunk. And -they well knew the consequences of coming to close quarters<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">172</a></span> with one -of these animals. Harmless if left alone, a skunk can loose a barrage -of what is practically a poison gas—not deadly but terribly offensive.</p> - -<p>“So that was your deer—just a skunk, Joe!” taunted Teddy as the three -boys started back to their homes.</p> - -<p>“I tell you I saw the deer as plain as anything!” Joe declared. “I know -a deer when I see one, even in the dark.”</p> - -<p>“And I know a skunk when I smell one—even in the dark!” laughed Teddy. -“But maybe you were right, Joe. Probably you saw the deer but he got -away. Maybe the deer scared the skunk or maybe he even might have -stepped too close. Anyhow the skunk is on the trail ahead and that -means we lay off.”</p> - -<p>“I guess you’re right,” Joe said. “But we had a swell chance!”</p> - -<p>“I don’t want to take any chances with a skunk,” Teddy said.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">173</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xix" id="xix"></a>CHAPTER XIX<br /> -<span>NIGHT CAMP</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Disappointed</span> at the result of the chase, but thankful they had not come -in any closer contact with the skunk, the boys returned to their homes.</p> - -<p>Teddy tried to climb up the rope to get back into his room, but he made -so much noise his father came out to see what was going on.</p> - -<p>“I thought you were in bed,” remarked Mr. Benson.</p> - -<p>“Oh, I was out With Joe and Dick after that deer.”</p> - -<p>“Did you get him?”</p> - -<p>“No, he got away.”</p> - -<p>“Hum,” remarked Mr. Benson. “Seems to me you boys are going to a lot of -trouble about a deer.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">174</a></span> -“We don’t like to be stumped,” Teddy said.</p> - -<p>“Hum. Well, I can understand that. But you’d better come in the front -door instead of trying to climb that rope, Teddy.”</p> - -<p>“Yes, I guess maybe I had,” Teddy agreed. “I’m going to make a rope -ladder after we catch that deer. A rope ladder is much easier to climb.”</p> - -<p>For the next two days the three boys, aided occasionally by the girls, -made a search for the mystery deer. But though Teddy and his chums -several times were sure they saw the trail of the animal in the woods -and field owned by Mr. Mason, they could get no real glimpse of the -deer itself.</p> - -<p>Then one afternoon, when the three chums were scouting around, they saw -the deer as it came out of the woods and began feeding in the meadow.</p> - -<p>“There he is!” cried Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Sure enough!” yelled Dick.</p> - -<p>“Let’s cut him off!” shouted Joe. “Get between<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">175</a></span> him and the woods and -keep him out in the open. Then we can chase him down. Come on!”</p> - -<p>Eagerly the three boys rushed forward, spreading out so as to place -themselves between the deer and the forest. They were in a good -position to do this as the animal was well out in the field.</p> - -<p>For a short time, neither hearing, seeing nor scenting the boys, the -deer continued to feed. Then his alert ears, eyes or nose told him -something was wrong and, raising his head, shaking his horns and giving -a defiant snort, he turned toward the woods.</p> - -<p>But the boys were between him and this hiding place. With shouts they -turned the deer back and he fled across the fields, out into the open.</p> - -<p>“Now we’ll get him!” cried Teddy. “We’ll run him down if we have to -keep up the chase all night.”</p> - -<p>“We can’t stay out all night,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Why not?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">176</a></span> -“We haven’t any blankets, not even a flashlight, and we have nothing to -eat.”</p> - -<p>“That last is important,” said Dick. “We have to eat.”</p> - -<p>“I’ll tell you what we can do,” Teddy said. “Two of us will take the -trail after the deer, Joe and I. Dick, you get to the nearest telephone -and ask my mother to put up some food, some blankets and flashlights, -and meet us with the car at Bailey’s Corners. That’s the little town -about three miles from here. The deer is headed that way. We can keep -on after him all night if we get some supplies. My mother will fix that -for us. Hurry now, Dick!”</p> - -<p>Teddy issued his orders like a soldier and they were soon being carried -out.</p> - -<p>Perhaps Dick Kelly might have wished he could keep on the trail of the -mystery deer instead of having to go to a telephone to order supplies -for the expedition. But if Dick wished this he gave no sign of it.</p> - -<p>“All right, Teddy,” he answered. “I’ll<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">177</a></span> go telephone your mother to -bring our stuff to Bailey’s Corners. Do you think she will?”</p> - -<p>“Of course she will,” Teddy declared. “She knows how much we want to -capture this deer and solve the mystery.”</p> - -<p>“All right,” said Dick. He set off on the run for the nearest -telephone. Teddy and Joe raced after the deer. The animal was now -evidently heading for open places instead of toward the woods.</p> - -<p>“We have a good chance to catch him,” panted Teddy as he trotted along -beside Joe.</p> - -<p>“Do you think so?”</p> - -<p>“Sure!” Teddy declared. “This is the best chance we’ve had yet. Come -on! Step on it!”</p> - -<p>Teddy and his chum were good runners. They often had taken part in -cross-country races and this practice helped them to make good speed -now. They had lost sight of the deer for the moment. But in a short -time after taking the trail Teddy shouted:</p> - -<p>“There he goes! Straight toward Bailey’s Corners!”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">178</a></span> -“And he isn’t going very fast,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>The deer might not have been going as fast as he could run. But still -he managed to keep well ahead of the two boys. Perhaps, the animal -knew, also, he could “step on it,” when the need came.</p> - -<p>But the sight of the animal gave Teddy and Joe new hope and they -somewhat increased their speed hoping to catch up to the deer before it -reached Bailey’s Corners.</p> - -<p>This was a small settlement, about three miles from Mason’s woods and -meadow, and about half way between another large patch of woodland -which had been taken over by the state as a forest park.</p> - -<p>“If the deer gets into Oak Forest,” said Teddy, “we’ll never be able to -trail him. It’s too big a stretch of woods.”</p> - -<p>“That’s right,” agreed Joe. “We must capture him before he gets there.”</p> - -<p>So they continued the chase.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile Dick had reached a farmhouse where there was a telephone. His -arrival,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">179</a></span> somewhat out of breath and excited, caused a little stir in -the house. Mrs. Nixon, the farmer’s wife, who was the only one at home, -gave Dick permission to use the telephone. She could not help hearing -what he said to Teddy’s mother.</p> - -<p>At first Dick was so excited he could hardly talk straight. It was not -surprising, therefore, that Mrs. Benson did not quite understand all -Dick said nor what he wanted.</p> - -<p>“Is this a joke?” she asked. “Teddy, you and Joe wanting me to bring -you things for a night camp?”</p> - -<p>“No, it isn’t a joke,” Dick said. “We are really on the deer’s trail. -We’ll catch him this time.”</p> - -<p>“Well, all right,” said Mrs. Benson after a short pause, “I will put -some camping things for you boys in the car and bring them to you. But -please tell Teddy to be careful.”</p> - -<p>“I will,” promised Dick. “But you can tell him yourself, Mrs. Benson. -Teddy and Joe -<a name="are" id="are"></a><ins title="Original has 'and'">are</ins> -going to wait for you and me at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">180</a></span> Bailey’s -Corners. You can pick me up here, can’t you?”</p> - -<p>“Why, yes, Dick. I can do that,” said Teddy’s mother. “That will be -best. Well, I’ll get ready right away.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, Mrs. Benson!” called Dick into the telephone.</p> - -<p>“Yes, what is it, Dick?”</p> - -<p>“You won’t forget to put in some flashlights, will you?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll put them in with the blankets and other things for a temporary -camp.”</p> - -<p>“And one other thing, Mrs. Benson.”</p> - -<p>“What is it, Dick?”</p> - -<p>“You won’t forget to put in something to eat, will you, please?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, no,” laughed Teddy’s mother. “I won’t forget that. I’ll put that -in the car first of all. Now you stay at the Nixon farm until I get -there.”</p> - -<p>“Yes’m,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“Land sakes!” exclaimed Mrs. Nixon as Dick turned from the telephone. -“What’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">181</a></span> all this? You must excuse me,” she went on, “but I couldn’t -help hearing what you were saying to Mrs. Benson. So it’s been a deer -that’s been rampaging around in my garden, eh?”</p> - -<p>“Has that deer been around here?” asked Dick eagerly.</p> - -<p>“Some sort of a critter has,” stated the farmer’s wife. “Two or three -nights ago it got into our melon patch and did a lot of damage. We -didn’t exactly know what sort of an animal it was. But it must be the -deer you’re talking about.”</p> - -<p>“It got in Mrs. Traddle’s garden, too,” Dick said. He gave a short -account of the animal, and Mrs. Nixon said:</p> - -<p>“This must be the critter that cowboy fellow is after.”</p> - -<p>“Was there a cowboy here after the deer?” asked Dick, now more excited -than before.</p> - -<p>“Yes, there was, a couple of days ago,” replied Mrs. Nixon. “At least, -he said he was a cowboy and he was looking for a lost deer.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">182</a></span> That was -before our melon patch was raided. And I didn’t think any more about it -until now when I heard you talk to Mrs. Benson.”</p> - -<p>“What sort of a cowboy was he?” asked Dick. “Did he have stars on his -heels?”</p> - -<p>“Stars on his heels? Why, how you talk!” exclaimed the farmer’s wife. -“I never heard of such a thing! Stars on his heels!”</p> - -<p>“I mean did he have heel plates with stars on them?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” said Mrs. Nixon. “But when I told him I hadn’t seen a -deer he went away. He took a short cut across my flower beds, too. But -I must say he didn’t step on any.”</p> - -<p>“Has it rained since then?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“Rained? What’s that got to do with it? No, it hasn’t.”</p> - -<p>Dick ran to where he could see several beds of flowers at the side of -the house. Anxiously he bent over to look at the soft ground.</p> - -<p>“Yes, it’s the same cowboy!” he exclaimed. “I can see the marks of his -star heel plates.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">183</a></span> That’s why I asked if it had rained. Rain would have -washed them away. But they are plain yet.”</p> - -<p>“Land sakes!” exclaimed Mrs. Nixon. “What you boys don’t do!”</p> - -<p>“Did this cowboy have a lasso?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t notice it if he had,” said Mrs. Nixon.</p> - -<p>“And did he say why he was looking for a deer?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“No, he didn’t say that. I probably would have asked him more about the -critter only I was busy. And up to then our melon patch hadn’t been -raided.</p> - -<p>“Now you’d better sit down and rest until Mrs. Benson gets here. And -wouldn’t you like a nice glass of cool milk and some molasses cookies?”</p> - -<p>“Yes’m, I would,” said Dick. “Thanks a lot.”</p> - -<p>He had finished his little lunch, and was telling Mrs. Nixon more about -the hunt for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">184</a></span> the mystery deer, when Mrs. Benson drove into the yard. -The auto contained blankets, food and other items needed for the night -camp Teddy had planned on.</p> - -<p>After a brief talk with Mrs. Nixon and Dick, Mrs. Benson, with Dick on -the seat beside her, started for Bailey’s Corners. There they found -Teddy and Joe had just arrived.</p> - -<p>“Thanks a lot, mother, for helping this way,” Teddy panted.</p> - -<p>“I think you boys are rather silly to make this fuss and take all this -trouble about a deer,” said Mrs. Benson, smiling.</p> - -<p>“Oh, we just can’t let this deer beat us at the mystery game!” Teddy -exclaimed. “We can’t have our Mystery Club beaten!”</p> - -<p>In a short time each boy had made up his bundle of blanket, food and -other things in readiness to again take the trail after the deer. It -was not the first time they had gone on hikes and spent the night in -the open without a tent.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">185</a></span> -“Are you sure there is plenty to eat,” Teddy asked his mother as the -three chums were about to start off.</p> - -<p>“I put in all I thought you could carry,” she answered. “After all, you -won’t be out more than one night, will you?”</p> - -<p>“I guess not,” Teddy replied. “If we can’t capture the deer between now -and tomorrow noon, we’ll come back home.”</p> - -<p>“And try over again,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Yes!” Teddy agreed.</p> - -<p>Dick was lifting his pack. A satisfied look came over his face as he -noted the packages of food inside the blanket roll.</p> - -<p>Bidding Mrs. Benson good-bye, the boys started off again. They had to -go a bit slower now because of the camping packs they carried.</p> - -<p>They made their way through the little village. On inquiring of several -farmers they learned the deer was still out in the open. It had been -seen crossing several fields.</p> - -<p>On and on the boys continued. The afternoon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">186</a></span> passed. They had stopped -for a little lunch. They had one distant glimpse of the deer and then -the animal had disappeared.</p> - -<p>“But he is still going straight away from us,” Teddy said. “If we can -come up to him before he gets to Oak Forest we have a chance.”</p> - -<p>The boys hurried on, but their pace was slower now. Teddy was tiring -and so were his chums. It was getting dusk.</p> - -<p>“Fellows,” said Teddy suddenly, “we can’t go on any farther. Let’s make -a night camp here!”</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">187</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xx" id="xx"></a>CHAPTER XX<br /> -<span>NIGHT ALARM</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">Teddy</span> and his chums set up their little night camp in a field near a -small patch of woods and beside a small stream. The woods were just -the beginning of the state park, Oak Forest and were not very dense. -Farther on in the state park the trees were much thicker and larger.</p> - -<p>“This is a good place,” Teddy remarked as he threw his blanket roll on -the ground. “We can stay here tonight and start after the deer first -thing in the morning.”</p> - -<p>“That is if he waits for us and doesn’t go on into Oak Forest during -the night,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“It would be just like him to do that,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“No, I think not,” Teddy said. “We’ve<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">188</a></span> kept after that deer pretty -steady. He must be tired and will be glad to rest and sleep during the -night.”</p> - -<p>“Well,” remarked Dick with a sigh, “if that deer is as tired as I am he -won’t get up until noon tomorrow.”</p> - -<p>“And if he’s as hungry as I am,” chuckled Joe, “he will spend most of -the night eating.”</p> - -<p>“Well, fellows,” Teddy said, “we’ll soon be resting and eating. But we -can’t loaf until noon tomorrow. We’ve got to get up early and chase -after that deer. That is, if we want to catch him and find out why he’s -roaming around here, where deer don’t belong.</p> - -<p>“Of course if you fellows want to give up,” said Teddy after a pause, -“I can’t make you stick at it. But—”</p> - -<p>“There are no ‘buts’ about it,” Joe interrupted quickly. “Of course -we’ll stick with you. What about it, Dick?”</p> - -<p>“Oh, sure. Only I was wondering what<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">189</a></span> Teddy expects to find out after -we catch the deer—if we do. Think he’ll talk after we capture him, -Teddy?”</p> - -<p>“No,” Teddy laughed. “But he may have some mark on him that will help -us trace where he came from and what he’s doing around here. Anyhow -let’s catch him first and find out about him later.”</p> - -<p>“What we should do first is eat,” said Dick firmly.</p> - -<p>“Second the motion!” laughed Joe.</p> - -<p>“Motion carried!” announced Teddy.</p> - -<p>Mrs. Benson had put up rather a complete camping outfit for the boys. -At least, it would serve for one night. There were blankets and some -light cellophane coverings which could be used in case of rain. These -cellophane coverings folded up into small, light packages. This left -more room for food and a small cooking outfit.</p> - -<p>“If you fellows will get the water and wood, I’ll start to cook -supper,” offered Teddy.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">190</a></span> -“Fair enough!” cried Dick as he began to gather some dried driftwood -from the banks of the stream.</p> - -<p>“Where’s the water pail?” asked Joe. “I saw a small spring back by that -pile of rocks. I don’t fancy drinking water from this stream. It might -not be clean.”</p> - -<p>In a short time Teddy had put up a small iron frame to hold a coffee -pot and frying pan. The frame set over a bed of glowing coals from -the burning driftwood, and in a short time the little camp smelled of -frying bacon and eggs and boiling coffee.</p> - -<p>“Boy, am I hungry!” Dick announced, sniffing the air.</p> - -<p>“Teddy’s the best cook we ever had!” laughed Joe.</p> - -<p>“Somebody else has to get breakfast!” Teddy warned the others.</p> - -<p>“I’ll let Dick do it,” spoke Joe. “I always was a big-hearted chap,” he -added with a laugh.</p> - -<p>After supper the boys made ready to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">191</a></span> spend the night in the open. There -was no sign of rain and it was not cold. The cellophane coverings, -between which the boys could crawl into their blankets, would keep away -the dampness from the ground.</p> - -<p>“Are we going to keep watch?” asked Dick, when it was about time to -turn in.</p> - -<p>“What for?” asked Teddy. “There’s no danger. We don’t need even to keep -a fire going. We have our flashlights.”</p> - -<p>“There’ll be a moon later,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Then if the deer comes nosing around we can spot him,” suggested Dick. -“But the way I feel now I’m going to do nothing but sleep.”</p> - -<p>“Same here,” echoed Joe.</p> - -<p>“I don’t believe the deer will bother us,” was Teddy’s opinion. “He’s -likely as tired and sleepy as we are.”</p> - -<p>So it was decided not to take turns watching during the night. The -three boys would go to sleep together and trust to luck to get on the -trail of the deer again in the morning.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">192</a></span> -“If we had a dog it would be easier,” said Joe somewhat sleepily as -they were all dozing off.</p> - -<p>“Easier for what?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Easier to trail the deer. But we haven’t any dog, have we?”</p> - -<p>“No,” Teddy admitted, “we haven’t. Unless Dick brought one,” he added -with a chuckle and a nudge of his chum.</p> - -<p>“Brought what?” mumbled Dick, half asleep.</p> - -<p>“A dog,” said Teddy. “Did you bring one?”</p> - -<p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Dick less clearly than -before. “I—I—” But he was asleep before he could finish the sentence.</p> - -<p>A little later the deep and even breathing of Teddy and Joe showed that -they, also, were asleep.</p> - -<p>Who awakened first was always a disputed point with the three boys when -ever they talked about what happened that night.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">193</a></span> But Teddy suddenly -found himself roused by feeling something cold and wet on his face. For -a moment he thought it was raining. But as he opened his eyes he saw -that the moon was shining brightly.</p> - -<p>But he still felt that -<a name="cool" id="cool"></a><ins title="Original has 'cool,'">cool</ins> -dampness on his face and suddenly, with a -shout of alarm, he sat up, scattering his blanket and reaching for his -flashlight.</p> - -<p>“Golly! It’s a dog!” he shouted.</p> - -<p>“What’s that?” cried Joe.</p> - -<p>“A dog—licking my face with his tongue! It woke me up!” said Teddy in -a loud voice.</p> - -<p>“Did Dick bring a dog after all?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know, but here’s a dog!” went on Teddy excitedly. “Dick!” he -shouted.</p> - -<p>But Dick was awake. Instinctively he had reached for his flashlight -and switched it on, though the moon was bright. And in the glow of -the combined lights the boys saw a large dog regarding them from the -ash-strewn spot where the campfire had been made. It<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">194</a></span> was a huge beast -and its eyes glowed in the shafts of the flashlights.</p> - -<p>There it stood, looking intently at the boys as if ready to spring on -them.</p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">195</a></span> -</div> - -<h2><a name="xxi" id="xxi"></a>CHAPTER XXI<br /> -<span>CAUGHT</span></h2> - -<p class="noi"><span class="smcap">For</span> a few seconds Teddy and his chums did not know whether the big dog -was a friend or enemy. Teddy had the thought that they might be camping -on the ground of some farmer who kept a fierce dog to drive away tramps.</p> - -<p>“But,” thought Teddy, “the dog couldn’t be very fierce or it wouldn’t -have awakened me by licking my face with his tongue. He’d have started -in biting me.”</p> - -<p>However, in a little while the dog, which had been so closely looking -at the boys, whom he could plainly see by the moonlight, wagged his -tail in a friendly way.</p> - -<p>“I guess he’s all right,” Teddy announced.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” agreed Dick. “That tail-wagging business shows he doesn’t want -to bite.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">196</a></span> -“But whose dog is it?” asked Joe. “Gosh! It’s almost as big as the deer -we’re chasing.”</p> - -<p>Hardly had Joe stopped talking than from the shadows of some little -hillocks beyond the cold campfire came a voice saying:</p> - -<p>“It’s all right, Hopper—those are the boys I’m looking for—you found -’em—this is fine—now you can lie down—hello over there—I’m here!”</p> - -<p>In a moment the boys knew who was speaking—Fatty Nolan. But how he had -managed to reach their camp and what he was doing with the big dog was -more than Teddy and his chums could guess. They must find out, however, -so Teddy called:</p> - -<p>“Is that you, Fatty?”</p> - -<p>“Sure!”</p> - -<p>“What are you doing?”</p> - -<p>“Looking for you. I heard you were on the trail of the deer so I -followed. You don’t mind, do you? I’ve brought my father’s deer -hound—Clodhopper my mother calls him on account of he’s so big and -clumsy—but he’s<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">197</a></span> got another name—Rex. He’s a good dog for hunting -deer—maybe he can help us—I came anyhow—had hard work finding -you—guess I couldn’t have only for Hopper—that’s the dog—I call him -Hopper for short. Can I come over there?” All this Fatty spoke in his -usual fast style.</p> - -<p>“Sure! Come on over and bring your dog,” Teddy invited. “Maybe he will -help us in the morning. Come on and join us.”</p> - -<p>“Thanks,” spoke Fatty advancing, while Hopper, sensing that the three -boys were friends, wagged his tail harder than ever and curled up in -a bunch of grass. “This is swell,” went on the stout lad. “I hoped -I’d find you before morning so I could camp with you. I have my own -blanket,” he added, showing a roll.</p> - -<p>“Did you have anything to eat?” asked Dick whose thoughts always seemed -to be on food.</p> - -<p>“Oh, yes. I brought some along when I started out last evening. But -it’s all gone<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">198</a></span> now. If you fellows are going to eat again—of course -maybe I should have brought more—but if you are going to eat again—”</p> - -<p>“Not until morning,” Teddy announced. “And that won’t be for another -six hours,” he added, looking at his wrist watch and noting it was -shortly past midnight.</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” said Fatty good-naturedly. “I can wait. I -have some chocolate candy I can eat.” He began chewing on this as he -arranged his blanket on the ground.</p> - -<p>“But how did you know we were here?” asked Joe as he and his two chums -stretched out again to go to sleep.</p> - -<p>“I went over to your house, Teddy,” said the fat boy. “Your mother said -you were over this way and intended to camp out all night. So I packed -up my outfit, got Hopper and came along. Hope you don’t mind.”</p> - -<p>“Glad to have you,” welcomed Teddy. “Maybe you will bring us good luck.”</p> - -<p>Nothing further disturbed the boys that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">199</a></span> night. They were up early and -breakfast was soon being cooked. Fatty Nolan insisted on helping to -gather wood and carry water. The boys noticed he had a rope looped to -his belt.</p> - -<p>“That’s my lasso in case we see the deer,” Fatty explained.</p> - -<p>Breakfast over, the boys once more took the trail. They were heading -for Oak Forest and about half an hour after leaving camp they were -crossing a large field in one corner of which several cows were grazing.</p> - -<p>Suddenly Hopper began to bark and act excited.</p> - -<p>“What’s the matter with him?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“I don’t know,” answered Fatty. “Never knew him to get excited about -cows before. Here, Hopper, where are you going?” he yelled as the dog, -with loud barks, rushed for the herd of cows. “Come back!”</p> - -<p>But the hound did not obey. And then Teddy and his chums saw the -reason. In with the herd of cows, cropping grass as they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">200</a></span> were, stood -an animal with branching horns.</p> - -<p>“Look!” yelled Teddy. “The mystery deer! There he is!”</p> - -<p>“Golly! Sure enough, it is the deer,” echoed Joe.</p> - -<p>“But the dog! The dog!” cried Dick. “He’ll kill the deer! Call him -back, Fatty!”</p> - -<p>“Here, Hopper! Hopper! Come back!” ordered the fat boy. But the hound, -with loud barks, was leaping toward the herd of cows in the midst of -which was the strange deer.</p> - -<p>The cows separated as the dog rushed toward them, leaving a cleared -space in the middle of which stood the deer who threw up his head and -looked at the oncoming dog.</p> - -<p>“Your dog will pull the deer down and kill him, Fatty!” cried Teddy. -“Can’t you bring him back?”</p> - -<p>“I’ll try,” said the fat boy, running after his dog. “Back, Hopper!”</p> - -<p>Just when it seemed that the dog was about to jump on the deer, which -seemed too<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">201</a></span> frightened to run, a man suddenly leaped over the fence and -took his place in front of the deer. There was something familiar about -the man. And when he began swinging a rope in circles around his head -Teddy cried:</p> - -<p>“It’s the lasso cowboy!”</p> - -<p>It was, and in another instant the loop of the lasso had settled over -the head of the big hound. With a quick jerk on the rope the cowboy -pulled the dog off its feet.</p> - -<p>“Good work!” yelled Teddy.</p> - -<p>“Now the deer is safe,” said Dick.</p> - -<p>“He lassoed your dog just in time, Fatty,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Yes, but I hope he doesn’t hurt him,” spoke the stout lad. “Hopper is -a good dog but he gets excited when he sees a deer.”</p> - -<p>The lassoing of Hopper seemed to have taken all the fight out of the -dog. Perhaps he would not, after all, have attacked the deer. But the -cowboy was taking no chances.</p> - -<p>As if sure the dog was no longer a danger,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">202</a></span> the cowboy took the lasso -from the neck of the dog, who had been choked a little. And a moment -later the cowboy had secured the deer with the same rope. He did it -gently, however. Then, having made the end of his deer lasso fast to -the fence, the cowboy walked toward the boys and smiled.</p> - -<p>“Well,” he said, “I guess the chase is over.”</p> - -<p>“Is that your deer?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“No, but I’m responsible for it and I’m glad I have it back. I want to -thank you boys for what you did, trying to help capture this deer and I -want to tell you I’m sorry I lassoed one of you. Which one was it?”</p> - -<p>“You lassoed me,” Teddy said with a laugh. “But it’s all right. You -didn’t hurt me any.”</p> - -<p>“But why did you do it?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“It was all a mistake. I thought I saw the horns of my missing deer and -I let go with my lasso. Then I was ashamed of what I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">203</a></span> done, the -silly mistake I’d made, and I thought maybe you boys would blame me and -make trouble. So I just got out of the way. I secured another lasso and -I’ve been hunting this deer ever since.”</p> - -<p>“If he isn’t your deer, whose is he?” demanded Teddy in a puzzled voice.</p> - -<p>“He belongs in Oak Forest,” was the answer. “That’s where I’m going to -take him now.”</p> - -<p>“Won’t he get away again?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“No,” the cowboy said. “He will be put in a big, new paddock in the -state park. There’ll be a lot of other deer there. It will soon be open -to the public. This is one of the valuable deer to be used in stocking -the paddock. It was my fault he got away and I had to catch him or lose -my job.”</p> - -<p>“How did it happen?” asked Teddy.</p> - -<p>“It was this way,” explained the cowboy, who said his name was Jed -Blackton. “A lot of deer for the state forest were rounded<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">204</a></span> up near the -Western ranch where I work. I was hired to go with the big trucks used -to bring the deer here.</p> - -<p>“Just outside Oakdale we stopped to water and feed the deer. This one -got away. It was partly my fault for I had become fond of this critter -and I was sort of petting him and not watching the gate on the truck.</p> - -<p>“So this deer slipped out and ran away. The boss of the outfit was -angry at me and told me I’d have to find the deer and take him to the -state park or I would be out of a job. So I’ve been hunting the deer -ever since.”</p> - -<p>“Did you know we were here hunting him?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“I didn’t know a thing about you boys,” said the cowboy. “I just -happened to run across your trail several times. Mostly I kept to my -own trail, now and then getting a line on where the deer was. I heard -last night he had been seen in this direction so I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">205</a></span> came over. Sure -enough, here’s the deer. It’s just chance that brought us together,” he -added, nodding at the boys.</p> - -<p>“Well,” remarked Teddy, “we’re glad you have your deer back again.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, it isn’t my deer. It belongs to the state park forest,” said the -cowboy. “But I’m glad I won’t lose my job. Now I guess I’ll get along -and deliver the deer.”</p> - -<p>“There isn’t any reward for the deer, is there?” asked Joe.</p> - -<p>“Not that I know of. But if you boys have had to spend any money in -your trailing of the deer, I reckon I can pay you. I won’t be out of a -job as I was afraid I would.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, we don’t want any pay,” said Teddy.</p> - -<p>“It was fun,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“One of the best mysteries we ever solved,” added Dick.</p> - -<p>“Mystery?” spoke the cowboy wonderingly.</p> - -<p>“Yes. We called it the mystery deer,” said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">206</a></span> Teddy. “And it was, for a -while. But it isn’t any more. Mrs. Traddle is going to be mad, though,” -he added.</p> - -<p>“Oh, on account of her garden,” said the cowboy. “Well, I aim to settle -with her. It was my fault the deer got in, I guess. And now I’ll bid -you boys good-bye. It isn’t far from here to the state forest. The deer -will soon be in the paddock with the others. That’s a good dog you have -there,” said the cowboy to Fatty Nolan. “Sorry I had to upset him to -keep him from hurting the deer.”</p> - -<p>“Oh, that’s all right,” responded the stout lad. “Hopper won’t mind.”</p> - -<p>The deer hunt was over. The cowboy led the animal away, holding fast to -the lasso rope around the animal’s neck. Teddy and his chums returned -home.</p> - -<p>“Well, it was a good mystery while it lasted,” said Joe.</p> - -<p>“Yes,” agreed Dick. “The girls are going to be disappointed, though. -They didn’t have much to do with the deer mystery.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">207</a></span> -“They had a little,” Teddy remarked. “And maybe they may do more in the -next one.”</p> - -<p>“Is there going to be another mystery?” asked Dick.</p> - -<p>“You never can tell,” said Teddy Benson.</p> - - -<p class="center mt3 p120">THE END</p> - - -<div class="section"> -<hr class="divider" /> -<div class="tn"> -<p class="center p120">Transcriber’s Note:</p> - -<p class="noi">The statement in the <a href="#publisher">Publisher’s Note</a> -referring to the type in which the original book was set is not applicable -to this ebook.</p> - -<p class="noi">Spelling and hyphenation have been preserved as they appear in the -original publication. The following changes have been made:</p> - -<ul> -<li>Page 6<br /> -the race. “Hurry, Joe! <i>changed to</i><br /> -the race. <a href="#quote">Hurry</a>, Joe!</li> - -<li>Page 86<br /> -even if he hadn’t wished <i>changed to</i><br /> -even if he <a href="#had">had</a> wished</li> - -<li>Page 179<br /> -Teddy and Joe and going to wait <i>changed to</i><br /> -Teddy and Joe <a href="#are">are</a> going to wait</li> - -<li>Page 193<br /> -he still felt that cool, dampness <i>changed to</i><br /> -he still felt that <a href="#cool">cool</a> dampness</li> - -</ul> -</div> -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Teddy and the Mystery Deer, by -Howard Roger Garis (1873-1962) - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TEDDY AND THE MYSTERY DEER *** - -***** This file should be named 60461-h.htm or 60461-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/4/6/60461/ - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Sue Clark, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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