"We'll have to get word to the circus folks as quickly as possible,"
said Snap. "But where the show is now I don't know."

"Probably Tommy knows the route the circus was to take," answered
the doctor's son.

"He does, for he spoke to me about it," put Giant. "But I have
forgotten the towns and dates."

"Do you know what I'd like to do before going on to that lonely
cabin?" went on Snap.

"What?"

"Go after that bear."

"Oh, he is probably miles away by this time," said the doctor's
son. "He was too scared to stay around here."

"Well, let us go after him, anyway. He went in the direction
of the cabin---that is, partly."

"Well, we'll see in the morning," said Shep.

The three boy hunters went into camp not very far away from the pit
holding the lion. Once or twice they went up to view their precious
prize, and noted that after eating one of the wildcats the lion
stretched out and went to sleep.

"Guess he thinks he's back in the menagerie," said Giant. "Well,
let him, if only he'll keep quiet until the circus people take him
away."

It was such a warm night they did not bother with a camp fire,
but eating some of the food brought along, soon retired and went
sound asleep. Once Giant awoke with a start and imagined that the
lion was after him, but he soon went to sleep again.

I'm the morning they found the captured lion still resting quietly
on the bottom of the pit. He had not touched the second wildcat.

"He'll have plenty of food," said Snap. "But how about water?"

"I was thinking of that," answered the doctor's son. "We'll have
to bring some from a spring and lower it to him."

They took the kettle they had brought along and filled it at a spring
they had found and lowered this into the pit by means of a piece
of fishingline Grant carried. At first the lion roared in rage,
but when he saw the water he drank eagerly. They had to fill the
kettle three times before he was satisfied. Then they took more
water and poured it in a hollow on one side of the pit bottom.

"Now he won't go thirsty for a long time," said Shep.

They cooked themselves a good breakfast and a little later set off
across the hills in the direction of the end of Firefly Lake. It
was their purpose to get to the lake by noon if possible, and then
strike out along the rocky watercourse leading to Lake Cameron.

"We'll have to be careful how we tackle that hermit," said the
doctor's son. "He may be the craziest k