“True enough,” murmured Mr. Crispen. “True enough and fair enough. I hope you get the reward. But I didn’t say anything about harming a deer you caught in a trap.” “I thought traps always hurt the wild animals caught in them,” said Joe. “So did I,” added Dick. “We mustn’t hurt the deer,” declared Teddy. “I wouldn’t want the sharp teeth of a steel trap to snap on one of his legs.” “I’m not talking about that kind of a trap,” said Mr. Crispen. “What I mean is a box trap. The deer will go in, a door will close behind him and he’ll be nicely caught in a box trap. You can use the box trap to ship that deer wherever you want to send him to get the reward.” “It sounds easy,” Joe said. “But we don’t know how to make a box trap. Do you, Mr. Crispen?” “Of course I do. When I was a boy I used to catch all sorts of wild animals in traps--box traps, too. I’ve caught foxes, bobcats, weasels, muskrats.” “Did you ever catch a deer?” asked Teddy. “Don’t know’s I did,” admitted the cobbler. “Never had no reason to. But catching the deer in a box trap would be just the same as catching a bear, I guess. Only easier.” “Did you ever catch a bear?” asked Teddy, his eyes shining. The other boys were equally excited. “A real bear?” “Of course I did!” chuckled Mr. Crispen. “Wouldn’t be any fun catching a make-believe bear. I caught real bears out in the West when I was younger. And if I can catch a bear I can catch a deer.” “Will you help us?” asked Teddy, somewhat shyly. “Of course I will!” exclaimed the cobbler. “It will be like old times for me. I haven’t done any trapping in a long time. It will be fun.” “When can you do it?” asked Joe. “Tonight after I close my shop here.” “And how will we get the trap by that time?” asked Dick. “I’ll attend to that. All I need is a strong, heavy box, and I have that. Yes, boys, we’ll set a trap for that deer tonight. And, what’s more we’ll catch him!” Again Mr. Crispen snapped his gnarled finger and thumb as if he had shot off a small gun. The boys were delighted. It seemed as if the mystery of the deer would soon be solved. CHAPTER XIII SETTING THE TRAP Forgotten for a time was the mysterious man with the lasso. The man who wore star heel plates could wait. What Teddy and his chums wanted to do now was to catch the mysterious deer. But after the first joyous excitement over Mr. Crispen’s promise about the trap, Teddy began to think a little. It might not be so easy as it sounded. With this in mind he asked the old cobbler: “Where will you set the trap, Mr. Crispen?” “Why the best place would be where the deer comes. You’ve got to set a trap for deer near what is called a deer-run. Set a trap in some other place and you won’t catch a deer in a month of Sundays.” “But where is a deer-run?” asked Dick. “We don’t know of any,” added Joe. “And,” added Teddy Benson, “we don’t know where to look next for the deer. If we did, we might be able to catch him without a trap.”