losely."

After a good deal of talking the boys decided to return to their
camp. It was arranged that the old hunter should depart for town
at once, find out where the circus was, and inform the proprietor
that the lion was found. Then, when a circus representative appeared,
Sanborn was to meet him, arrange to cage the lion, and meet the boys
at their camp, the location of which they described in such a
manner that it could not be missed. Sanborn said the circus
manager had found out that the three discharged employees were
guilty of letting the animals escape, and the men were now in jail.

"Tell our folks that we are well and having a grand time," said
Snap, and Sanborn promised to do so.

After a hearty dinner, at which the old hunter ate his fill of
the things cooked by Giant, the boys and the old hunter separated,
and Shep and his chums struck out for the camp. It was still warm,
so the doctor's son did not mind the loss of his shirt. He had
more at the camp, so the loss did not matter much.

"I am glad we saw Jed," said Shep as they trudged along. "That will
save us the trip to town. I hope he gets the circus folks here soon."

"Tommy won't want to see them," said Giant. "He told me he never
wanted to see the inside of a circus tent again."

"And I don't blame him," returned Snap. "Well, he can easily keep
out of the way, and we needn't say anything about him."

"Wonder what he'll do after we go home?"

"I've got an idea," came from the doctor's son. "Let us take him
with us and do what we can to find his sister. If we can't find
her, let us see if we can't find a home for him and put him to
school. He ought to get an education."

"I'm willing to do what I can," said Snap readily. His eyes brightened.
"We might spend some of that reward for the lion on Tommy. I'd be
willing to put in my share."

"So would I," answered Shep.

In the middle of the afternoon they reached a beauwul spot in the
mountains, where a rocky stream formed a series of waterfalls. This
locality had been mentioned by Dr. Reed, and they spent some time
getting different pictures of it, Snap assisting the others, since
he had no camera of his own.

"I hope I get that camera back," he said.

"We all hope that," returned Giant. "The wild man can keep my
sock---I shouldn't want to touch it after he had it."

The water at the foot of the falls looked good for fishing, and
Giant pleaded for permission to fish for a qu