"Say, did ye see anything o' a dog around here?" he asked.
"Yes," answered Giant. "That is, the circus boy we told you about has his dog with him—-a collie."
"Here's a trail looks something like a dog's, but not much. Plenty o' other footmarks—-but I reckon you made those."
What to do next the boys did not know. There was no telling what had become of the strange occupant of the lonely cabin, or when he would return.
"We'd like to let those circus folks know about the lion," said the doctor's son. "I suppose one of us will have to go back to town to send them word."
"I am going back to town to-morrow," answered the old hunter. "I can take word, if ye want me to."
"That will do first-rate," answered Shep. "We can send word where some of the men can meet us—-and in the meantime we can watch the lion, so that he doesn't get away, and doesn't die of hunger and thirst."
"Wild beasts can live a long time without food and drink," said Jed Sanborn. "But the gittin' away is another story. Better watch him putty closely."
After a good deal of talking the boys decided to return to their camp. It was arranged that the old hunter should depart for town at once, find out where the circus was, and inform the proprietor that the lion was found. Then, when a circus representative appeared, Sanborn was to meet him, arrange to cage the lion, and meet the boys at their camp, the location of which they described in such a manner that it could not be missed. Sanborn said the circus manager had found out that the three discharged employees were guilty of letting the animals escape, and the men were now in jail.
"Tell our folks that we are well and having a grand time," said
Snap, and Sanborn promised to do so.