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.”
117 “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 he118 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,119 “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 chance120 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 place121 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.
122 “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 in123 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,”124 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, trying125 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!”
126 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.
