After a hearty dinner, at which the old hunter ate his fill of the things cooked by Giant, the boys and the old hunter separated, and Shep and his chums struck out for the camp. It was still warm, so the doctor's son did not mind the loss of his shirt. He had more at the camp, so the loss did not matter much.
"I am glad we saw Jed," said Shep as they trudged along. "That will save us the trip to town. I hope he gets the circus folks here soon."
"Tommy won't want to see them," said Giant. "He told me he never wanted to see the inside of a circus tent again."
"And I don't blame him," returned Snap. "Well, he can easily keep out of the way, and we needn't say anything about him."
"Wonder what he'll do after we go home?"
"I've got an idea," came from the doctor's son. "Let us take him with us and do what we can to find his sister. If we can't find her, let us see if we can't find a home for him and put him to school. He ought to get an education."
"I'm willing to do what I can," said Snap readily. His eyes brightened. "We might spend some of that reward for the lion on Tommy. I'd be willing to put in my share."
"So would I," answered Shep.
In the middle of the afternoon they reached a beauwul spot in the mountains, where a rocky stream formed a series of waterfalls. This locality had been mentioned by Dr. Reed, and they spent some time getting different pictures of it, Snap assisting the others, since he had no camera of his own.
"I hope I get that camera back," he said.