The cold chills ran down the officer's back as he heard this hail, and suppressing all expression of pain, he shoved his hands into his pockets and looked quickly around.
In the dim moonlight he saw old man Scrapton and two neighbors, Vincent and Emery, fathers respectively of two playmates of Fred Sheldon.
Each carried a coil of long, strong rope in his right hand and seemed to be considerably excited over something.
"We're after the lion," said Mr. Scrapton; "have you seen him?"
"No, I don't think he's anywhere around here."
"I've had Vincent and Emery out in the meadow nearly all day, practicing throwing the lasso, and they've got the hang of it exactly. Emery can fling the noose over the horns of a cow a dozen yards away and never miss, while Vincent, by way of experiment, dropped the noose over the shoulders of his wife at a greater distance."
"Yes," said Mr. Vincent, "but I don't regard that as much of a success. Mrs. Vincent objected, and before I could let go of my end of the lasso, she drawed me to her and—well, I'd prefer to talk of something else."
The constable laughed and said:
"It's a good thing to practice a little beforehand, when you are going into such a dangerous business as this."