“We didn’t get him. He isn’t ours. We just saw him,” said Teddy. “Which way did he go?” “I stoned him back into the woods,” said Mr. Mason. “Oh, I didn’t hit him with any stones,” he was quick to add. “I wouldn’t hit any animal with stones. I just pegged a few rocks up close to him, so he’d know he wasn’t wanted. He went for the woods in high gear. But what do you fellows know about this deer? And what do you mean,” he continued, looking at Dick, “by girls on the deer’s back?” “Well, my sister has disappeared,” said Dick. “So has Teddy’s. And two of our toy airplanes are missing. We found a place where the deer had been jumping around in your meadow.” “And we found a place, near there, where the girls had been,” put in Teddy. “We thought maybe the deer went for the girls and got them on his back and--” “Say,” laughed Mr. Mason, “you’re Teddy Benson, aren’t you? The boy who was mixed up with a mystery dog?” “Yes,” Teddy admitted, “I was. And so was my sister.” “And now you’ve got a mystery deer on your trail. Well, my boy, there were no girls on the back of the deer I saw. So you needn’t worry about that. But how did you come to see this deer, anyhow? And where is he from?” asked Mr. Mason. The boys told of first seeing the deer when they went in the woods to look for Teddy’s plane. As to where the deer had come from, they could give no information. “Most likely from a circus,” decided Mr. Mason as he listened to the boys’ story. “But there hasn’t been any circus around here,” Teddy objected. “That’s so,” agreed the farmer. “Well, anyhow, there’s a deer around here and I’ll have to notify the game warden to get rid of him. There may be more than one of the animals. I can’t afford to have my crops ruined.” “We thought you said something about getting your gun,” said Teddy. “Oh,” laughed Mr. Mason, “that was just to scare the pesky deer. I wouldn’t have shot him. In the first place, it’s against the law to shoot deer now. Out of season, you know.” “Yes,” murmured Teddy. “And in the second place,” went on the farmer, “I wouldn’t shoot a deer, anyhow. All I wanted was to scare him off my place, and I think I did; either with the stones which didn’t hit him, or by my talk of the gun. Of course, it was only talk,” he resumed with a laugh. “But sometimes strong talk does a lot of good.” “Do you want us to let you know if we see that deer again?” asked Joe. “If it’s on my land, yes. But I don’t believe it will come back.” “You haven’t any idea whose deer it might be, have you?” asked Dick. “Not the least in the world, my boy. Either it got away from a circus or a traveling show, or else it must have made its way here from a long distance. There is no deer country around here.” “So it’s a sort of mystery, isn’t it?” asked Teddy. “You’re right there, my boy. It sure is a mystery.” “Well, we’re going to solve it!” Teddy declared as he and his chums started toward their homes.