"It must be the one that got away from the circus!" cried Shep.
"To be sure! Why didn't I think of that?" came from Whopper. "Sure as you're a foot high that is the circus lion. But how did he get away out here?"
"That's easy to explain," answered the doctor's son. "He left town and took to the woods, and his quest for food brought him here."
"And it was the lion that scared the buck," said Snap.
"More than likely. And he scared us, too. Why didn't you shoot at him?"
"Why didn't you?"
"I guess we were all about paralyzed; I know I was," declared Whopper. "I didn't come out to hunt lions! Ugh! Maybe we had better get away from here. You can't kill a lion with a shotgun—-you need a rifle, and a heavy one at that."
"Three heavy charges of buckshot would discourage any lion, I think," answered Shep. "At the same time, we don't want to run the risk of being torn to pieces by such a beast."
"Boys, I've got an idea!" cried Snap suddenly. "Maybe it won't work out, but we might try it."
"To kill the lion?"