AN OLD FRIEND APPEARS
"That can't be the wild man, can it?" queried Giant.
"No," answered the doctor's son. "I think I know that voice."
"I think it's Jed Sanborn," came from Snap.
They waited for a few minutes and then saw a familiar figure emerge
from the woods. It was their old hunting friend, and in his hand
he carried six partridges.
"Hello, there!" he cried on coming closer. "Thought you fellers
was a-goin' up to the Windy Mountains?"
"We've been up---have our camp there," answered the doctor's son.
"We came down here for a purpose."
"Everything all right at home?" asked Giant.
"Yes. We had a scare day before yesterday, though. Hicks' barn got
afire, an' folks thought the town might burn down, account o' the
wind. But the bucket brigade an' the engine got the fire out before
anything else caught."
"Are our folks all well?" asked Snap.
"Yes; an' hopin' you are the same, as they write in letters,"
and the old hunter grinned. "Had much luck shootin' and
picter-takin'?"
"We are well satisfied," answered Shep. "Got quite some partridge
and rabbits and some deer, and a lion-----"
"Oh, sure! A lion! Suppose ye got an ellerphant, and
hoppo-what-you-call-'em, too?"
"We did get a lion," said Giant. "We've got him in a pit."
"See here, son, lions don't roam these woods, an' never did. You
are mistook in the beast."
"It's the circus lion, Jed; the one that got away at Railings,"
explained Snap.
"Oh! Do ye really mean it?" And now Jed Sanborn was tremendously
interested.
"Yes. We saw him on the mountain side and found a big pit and
made a trap of it with some wildcat meat, and we caught him."
"Is he alive an' well?"
"Yes."
"Glory to Washington! Do you know them circus folks has offered a
reward o' three hundred dollars fer that lion if caught alive?"
"Then the money is ours!" cried Shep. "Hurrah, boys, that suits
me down to the ground!"
"Are you sure about the reward?" asked Snap.
"O' course---I read the poster in the post-office. They'll give
three hundred dollars fer the lion an' five hundred fer the eddicated
chim---what-you-call-him. You know."
"The educated chimpanzee," said Shep.
"That's it. It looks as if that chimpanzee was wuth a lot to them.
He was a whole show in hisself."
"Well, we've got the lion right enough," said Snap. "We don't know
anything about the monkey."
They told the old hunter about many of their doings, and related
the story of the missing watch, camera, and other things.
"Why, I didn't know anybody lived in this cabin," said Jed Sanborn.
"It's been empty ever since old Sturgis died---about twelve years
ago. He had some awful disease---like smallpox---and folks got
scared to come here."
"Gracious! You don't suppose we'll get any disease?" cried Giant
in alarm.
"Not from him, son---it's too long ago. Why, say, I was at this
cabin less than a month ago---stopped here overnight account o'
a rainstorm."
Wasn't nobuddy here then. It can't be Peter Peterson, can it?"
"No; it didn't look like Peterson," answered the doctor's son.
"Besides, Peterson isn't so plumb crazy as this chap."
"I'll take a look around," answered Jed Sanborn.
He made the same investigation as had the boys. Then he got down
on his hands and knees and examined the soft ground in and around
the cabin.
"Say, did ye see anything o' a dog around here?" he asked.
"Yes," answered Giant. "That is, the circus boy we told you about
has his dog with him---a collie."
"Here's a trail looks something like a dog's, but not much. Plenty
o' other footmarks---but I reckon you made those."
What to do next the boys did not know. There was no telling what
had become of the strange occupant of the lonely cabin, or when
he would return.
"We'd like to let those circus folks know about the lion," said the
doctor's son. "I suppose one of us will have to go back to town to
send them word."
"I am going back to town to-morrow," answered the old hunter. "I
can take word, if ye want me to."
"That will do first-rate," answered Shep. "We can send word where
some of the men can meet us---and in the meantime we can watch the
lion, so that he doesn't get away, and doesn't die of hunger and
thirst."
"Wild beasts can live a long time without food and drink," said
Jed Sanborn. "But the gittin' away is another story. Better
watch him putty closely."
After a good deal of talking the boys decided to return to their
camp. It was arranged that the old hunter should depart for town
at once, find out where the circus was, and inform the proprietor
that the lion was found. Then, when a circus representative appeared,
Sanborn was to meet him, arrange to cage the lion, and meet the boys
at their camp, the location of which they described in such a
manner that it could not be missed. Sanborn said the circus
manager had found out that the three discharged employees were
guilty of letting the animals escape, and the men were now in jail.
"Tell our folks that we are well and having a grand time," said
Snap, and Sanborn promised to do so.
After a hearty dinner, at which the old hunter ate his fill of
the things cooked by Giant, the boys and the old hunter separated,
and Shep and his chums struck out for the camp. It was still warm,
so the doctor's son did not mind the loss of his shirt. He had
more at the camp, so the loss did not matter much.
"I am glad we saw Jed," said Shep as they trudged along. "That will
save us the trip to town. I hope he gets the circus folks here soon."
"Tommy won't want to see them," said Giant. "He told me he never
wanted to see the inside of a circus tent again."
"And I don't blame him," returned Snap. "Well, he can easily keep
out of the way, and we needn't say anything about him."
"Wonder what he'll do after we go home?"
"I've got an idea," came from the doctor's son. "Let us take him
with us and do what we can to find his sister. If we can't find
her, let us see if we can't find a home for him and put him to
school. He ought to get an education."
"I'm willing to do what I can," said Snap readily. His eyes brightened.
"We might spend some of that reward for the lion on Tommy. I'd be
willing to put in my share."
"So would I," answered Shep.
In the middle of the afternoon they reached a beauwul spot in the
mountains, where a rocky stream formed a series of waterfalls. This
locality had been mentioned by Dr. Reed, and they spent some time
getting different pictures of it, Snap assisting the others, since
he had no camera of his own.
"I hope I get that camera back," he said.
"We all hope that," returned Giant. "The wild man can keep my
sock---I shouldn't want to touch it after he had it."
The water at the foot of the falls looked good for fishing, and
Giant pleaded for permission to fish for a quarter of an hour or
so. This was granted, and he promptly baited up and threw in.
As a consequence he soon caught a beautiful brook trout, and
several more followed.
"Wait; I'll take a snapshot of hauling in the next fish," said the
doctor's son, and he succeeded in getting a view that later on
turned out exceedingly well.
Not having anything else to do, Snap wandered down the brook for
a distance of a hundred yards. He was on the point of turning
back when he saw something at a distance, moving among the brushwood.
He looked sharply for a moment and then discovered that it was
a large black bear.