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!”

157 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.”

158 “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?”

159 “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 plates160 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 stays161 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 some162 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.