“Softly! Easy!” spoke the professor.
He had his net now and was tiptoeing up to where the officer sat, close beside Stoneham.
“There!” cried the professor, slapping the meshes down on the ground. “I’ve got him!”
“Have you got the rattlesnake?” asked Jerry.
“Rattlesnake?” inquired the naturalist, gathering something carefully in the folds of the net. “Who said anything about a snake? I’ve just captured a white lizard, one of the rarest that exists. It’s worth one thousand dollars.”
“Well,” exclaimed the sheriff, “it nearly scared me to that amount, the way you acted. I thought sure I was goin’ to be hit by a snake.”
After the excitement, unintentionally caused by the professor, had quieted down, and he had put his lizard away with his other specimens, it was voted time to turn in. Blankets were brought from the automobile to serve as coverings, and the fire was replenished.
In order to be sure his prisoner would not escape, the sheriff tied Stoneham to a big tree. As an additional precaution the officer passed one end of the rawhide thong about his own arm, so that the slightest movement on the gambler’s part would be noted.
Then Nestor, who agreed to take the first watch, began pacing up and down in front of the camp, while the others fell asleep.