“But we’re here to let you out,” said Joe.
Under that promise Teddy consented to enter the box trap to see if it would work.
“But no fooling!” he told his chums. “If I get caught in there you’ve got to let me out.”
“I’ll see to that,” promised Mr. Crispen. “It will be a good way to test the trap. Now, Teddy, here is what you do. The trap is big enough for you to go in if you stoop a little. From what you told me, the deer isn’t quite as tall as you boys, even counting his horns.”
“No, he’s about our size,” Dick said.
“A deer can bend his head backward and sort of lay his horns along his back,” explained the cobbler. “That’s what they do when they run through the woods so their horns won’t get caught. So I think I have made the trap plenty high enough for the deer.
“When you go in, Teddy, just pretend you are a deer and take hold of the bait with your hand. The bait is tied to the trigger that will slip the catch and let the door fall back of you. You will be a captive for a little while. But we’ll soon let you out.
“Then, if we find the trap works all right, and I’m sure it will, I’ll set it again and we’ll go away. In the morning we shall have another captive, I’m sure.”
“You mean the deer?” asked Joe.
“I mean the deer,” said the cobbler.