"I'm going to try to catch him," said Fred, in his off-hand fashion, as though it was a small matter, and then, swallowing enough of the sweet food to allow him to speak more plainly, he added:
"Lions ain't of much account when you get used to 'em; I'm beginning to feel as though I'm going to make that hundred dollars."
But the good ladies could not accept this statement as an earnest one, and they chided their youthful visitor for talking so at random. Fred thought it best not to insist, and finished his meal without any further declarations of what he intended to do.
"They've left two persons behind to look after the lion," he said; "one is named Kincade and the other is Bud Heyland, you know him—the son of Michael, your hired man."
"Yes; he called here to-day."
"He did. What for?"
"Oh, nothing in particular; he said he heard we had had our silverware stolen, and he wanted to tell us how sorry he felt and to ask whether we had any suspicion of who took it."
"He did, eh?" said Fred, half to himself, with a belief that he understood the real cause of that call.
"I think Bud is getting to be a much better boy than he used to be," added Aunt Annie; "he was real sorry for us, and talked real nice. He said he expected to be at home for two or three days, though he didn't tell us what for, and he would drop in to see us."
Master Sheldon made no answer to this, but he "had his thoughts," and he kept them to himself.