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!”
79 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.
80 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,” decided81 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,” agreed82 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.
83 “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 made84 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 and85 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.
