in a low but distinct voice.

"I did," went on the doctor's son. "Turn in here with that boat
and be quick about it. What do you mean by running off with our
property?"

"Why, I declare!" gasped Snap as he caught a good look at the face
of the lad in the rowboat. "Shep, do you recognize him? He's the
lad from the circus---the young acrobat who ran away!"

CHAPTER XII

THE CIRCUS BOY'S STORY

Snap was right; it was indeed the youthful circus performer. He
looked as thin as ever, but his face bore a far more healthy color
than when the young hunters had seen him before.

"I say, what do you mean by running off with our boat?" repeated
the doctor's son wrathfully.

"Is this your boat?" asked the circus boy calmly.

"It is."

"I didn't run off with it. I found it drifting along the shore,
and I took off my shoes and socks and waded in after it."

"You didn't run off with it?" asked Snap.

"I give you my word of honor," replied the boy quickly. He ran
the boat to shore and stepped out. "If it's your property, I'm
glad to hand it over to you. I---Say, didn't I see you somewhere
before?" he demanded excitedly.

I rather guess you did---at the circus, replied Shep.

"Oh! You were the fellows who---who talked to Jones, the ringmaster."

"Exactly. And you're the chap who ran away."

"That's true, I did run away. Can you blame me? They half starved
me and beat me, and wanted me to go up on the trapeze after I had
had a spell of sickness."

"We saw you on a freight train leaving Rallings."

"Oh, did you? Yes, I left town on a freight. It was the easiest way
to go---and the cheapest." And the boy smiled quietly.

"Now give us the truth about our boat," said Shep sternly. "You
ran off with it last night, didn't you?"

"No, sir!" And the boy looked the doctor's son squarely in the eyes.
"I never took any property that didn't belong to me in my life."

"And where did you find the boat?"

"About half a mile from here, along the shore. I made up my mind
it had broken loose somehow, and I thought if I found the owner he
might---er---that is-----"

"Give you a reward?" suggested Snap. Something about the lad's
manner pleased him.

"Well, he might give me something to eat."

"Hungry?"

The boy nodded.

"Well, we'll give you something to eat---all you want---if you are
quite sure you didn't take the boat," answered the doctor's son.

"I told you the truth."

"Then get into the