GOOD-BY TO THE BOY HUNTERS
"I'll kill that monkey!" roared Ham as he ran into the camp and
picked up his ruined clothing. "Look at this!"
"And this!" added Carl Dudder, snatching up the remains of his
sleeping blanket.
"It was the chimpanzee, sure enough," said Dick Bush.
"Come on after him!" exclaimed Shep. "Remember the reward," he
whispered to his chums.
All presently made off after the chimpanzee. They kept in a bunch
at first, but gradually separated, the Spink crowd going one way
and Snap and his chums in another.
"I'm glad we caught sight of him as we did," said Whopper. "Now
those fellows know we were not guilty of the rough-housing."
"It certainly was rough," was Giant's comment. "Three-quarters of
their things are ruined."
"Perhaps they can hold the circus proprietor responsible," said the
doctor's son.
They moved forward for nearly a quarter of a mile, and were on
the point of giving up the search and returning to camp when Giant
caught sight of a small, cave-like opening on the mountain side.
"Let's look in there," he said. "See, there is a vest on the
ground in front of it!"
"Be careful---the chimpanzee may be dangerous!" warned Snap.
They hurried forward, with eyes and ears on the alert. Giant
looked into the opening.
"No monkey here," he announced. "But he has been here. Look!"
And much to Snap's delight he held up the missing camera. Then
he ran into the cave and came forth with Shep's watch, and a number
of trinkets taken from the Spink camp.
"He must have come here after he left the old cabin," said Snap.
"See, there is some food. He must have gotten that last night, when
he raided Spink's place."
They took with them all the things to be found, and then made
another search for the chimpanzee. But they could not locate the
marauding creature, and so turned their steps toward their camp.
"Well, we've got a few of those others fellows' things for them,"
said Whopper. "We can return them after dinner."
"The camera is O.K.," said Snap, after an examination.
"And so is the watch," came from the doctor's son.
"And to think it was only a chimpanzee, after all!" cried Giant.
"'Only' is good!" exclaimed Shep. "He's had enough for anybody,
I'm thinking!"
As they came closer to their camp they heard Tommy talking in a
loud voice to somebody. Wags was barking gaily.
"Now you sit still and behave yourself," the circus boy was saying.
"Then you'll get a fine lump of sugar."
"Talking to the dog, I suppose," said Whopper. "He thinks Wags-----No,
he isn't, either. Well, I never! If this doesn't beat anything
I ever saw!"
All came into the clearing and gazed in amazement at the sight
presented. Chained to a tree was Abe, the chimpanzee, smiling and
chattering, and in front of him were Tommy and the dog, the former
with some sugar in his hand.
"Hullo!" cried Snap. "Did you catch him?"
"I certainly did!" answered the circus boy. "But I had the time
of my life doing it. He ran up a tree, and he wouldn't come down
until I offered him a handful of those nuts I found yesterday. They
were too much of a temptation, and while I fed him nuts with one
hand I took the kettle chain and tied him up as you see."
"Good for you!" said Whopper. "He must have known you, or I guess
he would have run away."
"Yes, he started to run away, but I whistled like his keeper used
to whistle, and that made him sit still."
"You want to make sure of that chain," said the doctor's son. "I see
he has Snap's belt on," he added with a grin.
"I'll tie him with a rope," answered Tommy, and later the chimpanzee
was firmly secured, so that escape was out of the question. As
the young hunters fed him well, he seemed quite content.
"Tommy, this is an important capture for you," said Shep. "It's
money in your pocket. The circus proprietor has offered five
hundred dollars reward for the capture of this chimpanzee."
"Five hundred dollars!" gasped the little fellow. "But they won't
pay it to me!" he added, as his face fell.
"We'll make them pay---if they want the animal," answered Snap.
"But I don't want them to see me," insisted Tommy.
"See here, Tommy, you leave this matter to us," said the doctor's
son. "I don't think they can compel you to go with the circus.
We'll take you to Fairview, and you can remain with us until we
hear from your sister."
"All right; but if they take me I'll run away again," answered
the boy.
A little later the Spink crowd came into camp and were astonished
to learn of the capture of the chimpanzee. They were glad to get
back the things that had been found, but declared that so many
other articles had been ruined they would have to give up their
outing.
"Let's be generous to them," whispered Shep to his chums. "I
don't think we want to stay after the circus people come for the
lion and the chimpanzee." And after some talking the young hunters
offered the Spink crowd part of their food supplies and a few other
things. This surprised Ham, Carl and the rest. They accepted the
offer on the spot, and a better feeling prevailed between the boys
than had for many months.
"It's very nice of you to do this," said Dick Bush. "I shan't
forget it."
"I'm sorry I accused you of ruining the camp," came from Ham.
"So am I," added Carl. "But---well, you know how it was."
"We'll let bygones be bygones," said the doctor's son. "It's
better to be friends than enemies."
"I---I suppose so," said Ham humbly, and then he and his cronies
took their departure.
The young hunters watched out for the reappearance of Jed Sanborn,
Snap and Shep going to Firefly Lake for that purpose. Two days
later they saw the old hunter coming to the shore with a big
flat-bottomed boat, containing four men. The men were from the
circus and said they had come for the captured lion.
"We want to make sure of that reward," said the doctor's son.
"All right, young man, turn the lion over to us and the money
is yours," said one of the men. "But we'll want a receipt from
all the boys who captured the beast."
"You'll get that," said Snap. "You offered a reward for the
chimpanzee, too, didn't you?"
"Certainly; five hundred dollars."
"Well, we've got him, too."
"You have? How did you do it?" asked the man, and very briefly Snap
related the tale, but did not give Tommy's name.
"That boy is in luck, for the half thousand is his," said the
circus man. "Glad you got Abe," he added. "He is a great drawing-card
and worth a dozen lions to us."
A visit was made to the lion pit, and after a good deal of trouble
the lion was brought to the surface of the ground and chained
and muzzled. One of the men knew the beast well and had little
trouble in walking the lion to the lake shore, where he was chained
to a tree, and left in charge of one of the party.
The circus men were vastly surprised when they learned that it was
Tommy who had captured the chimpanzee. At first they did not think
they ought to pay the lad the reward, but Shep told them they could
not have Abe unless they did so.
"A bargain is a bargain," said the doctor's son. "You'll not
touch the chimpanzee unless you pay up."
The matter was argued hotly, but in the end the circus men gave
in, and two checks were made out, both payable to Dr. Reed, and
the boys signed the receipts. Then the circus men took the chimpanzee,
and walked down to the lake shore.
"Guess you don't want Tommy any more," cried Shep after them.
"No; we've got another kid to take his place," answered one of
the men.
"They'll have their hands full getting that lion and the chimpanzee
to town," said Snap, and he was right. But the work was accomplished
by the next day, and the pair were shipped on to the circus by train.
The young hunters remained in camp forty-eight hours longer, and
then packed up and moved down to Firefly Lake. Just previous to
going they let the Spink crowd have some more of their things,
for which the other lads were extremely grateful.
"Guess we better be friends after this," said Ham Spink. "It doesn't
pay to be on the outs."
"It doesn't," answered Shep readily.
On the return to Fairview the boy hunters camped out three nights,
and shot a variety of small game and also a deer. They took the
latter home and also the skin of the bear, which was afterward cured
and is now on the floor of the Dodge parlor."
"You have done exceedingly well," said Dr. Reed, when he had heard
their story and gone over their films and plates and pictures.
"These will make a grand collection, and are just what we wanted
for advertising purposes."
The money obtained for the capture of the lion was divided among
the four boy hunters, and the amount received for the chimpanzee
was placed to Tommy's credit by the doctor, and the former circus
boy went to live with the Reed family for the time being. Several
letters were sent to Tommy's missing sister, and at last word came
back from her. She had married a storekeeper who was rich, and she
asked that Tommy come to live with her.
"My, but that's grand!" cried Tommy. "Now I'll have a good home."
"I'm mighty glad of it," said Shep, and the other lads said the
same. Later they received letters from Tommy stating that his
sister and his brother-in-law treated him well and were going to
give him a fine education.
"Well, it was a great outing," said Snap, one day, when the boy
hunters were talking it over.
"We'll have to go out again some day," said Whopper.
"School for ours!" cried the doctor's son.
"Right you are," came from Giant. "But, say, we had a dandy time,
didn't we?"
"So we did!" cried all the others; and here we will leave the four
boy hunters and say good-by.
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's Out with Gun and Camera, by Ralph Bonehill