“We can have a talk with Fatty Nolan and see if he found out anything about the man with the rope.”
“That’s a good idea,” Teddy assented.
The boys and girls soon separated to go to their several homes, all being in the vicinity of Teddy Benson’s house.
After spending an hour or two that evening making some repairs to his toy plane, Teddy went to bed. He thought with pleasure of what might happen next day, when he and his chums would start on the trail of the mysterious deer.
Once during the night Teddy was awakened by hearing a noise at the back door. He sat up in bed, thinking for a moment it might be the deer, coming to knock as, once, a mysterious pony rang the door bell. But then Teddy heard a clatter of milk bottles and knew what had caused the noise.
Teddy was at breakfast next morning when he saw Mrs. Traddle coming around the side of the house. She saw Mr. Benson, who was cutting the grass before he went to the office.
“Good morning, Mrs. Traddle!” greeted Teddy’s father. “What brings you out so early?”
“It’s your children’s pet deer!” said Mrs. Traddle in a loud voice.
“A pet deer!” exclaimed Mr. Benson. “My children have no pet deer. There must be some mistake.”
“No. Excuse me, but there is no mistake,” said Mrs. Traddle. “They told me about their pet deer yesterday. Last night the deer got in my garden and ate it all up. I’ll have to be paid damages, Mr. Benson. You should see the ruin that deer made in my garden!”