“Yes, I guess maybe I had,” Teddy agreed. “I’m going to make a rope ladder after we catch that deer. A rope ladder is much easier to climb.” For the next two days the three boys, aided occasionally by the girls, made a search for the mystery deer. But though Teddy and his chums several times were sure they saw the trail of the animal in the woods and field owned by Mr. Mason, they could get no real glimpse of the deer itself. Then one afternoon, when the three chums were scouting around, they saw the deer as it came out of the woods and began feeding in the meadow. “There he is!” cried Teddy. “Sure enough!” yelled Dick. “Let’s cut him off!” shouted Joe. “Get between him and the woods and keep him out in the open. Then we can chase him down. Come on!” Eagerly the three boys rushed forward, spreading out so as to place themselves between the deer and the forest. They were in a good position to do this as the animal was well out in the field. For a short time, neither hearing, seeing nor scenting the boys, the deer continued to feed. Then his alert ears, eyes or nose told him something was wrong and, raising his head, shaking his horns and giving a defiant snort, he turned toward the woods. But the boys were between him and this hiding place. With shouts they turned the deer back and he fled across the fields, out into the open. “Now we’ll get him!” cried Teddy. “We’ll run him down if we have to keep up the chase all night.” “We can’t stay out all night,” said Joe. “Why not?” asked Teddy. “We haven’t any blankets, not even a flashlight, and we have nothing to eat.” “That last is important,” said Dick. “We have to eat.” “I’ll tell you what we can do,” Teddy said. “Two of us will take the trail after the deer, Joe and I. Dick, you get to the nearest telephone and ask my mother to put up some food, some blankets and flashlights, and meet us with the car at Bailey’s Corners. That’s the little town about three miles from here. The deer is headed that way. We can keep on after him all night if we get some supplies. My mother will fix that for us. Hurry now, Dick!” Teddy issued his orders like a soldier and they were soon being carried out. Perhaps Dick Kelly might have wished he could keep on the trail of the mystery deer instead of having to go to a telephone to order supplies for the expedition. But if Dick wished this he gave no sign of it. “All right, Teddy,” he answered. “I’ll go telephone your mother to bring our stuff to Bailey’s Corners. Do you think she will?” “Of course she will,” Teddy declared. “She knows how much we want to capture this deer and solve the mystery.” “All right,” said Dick. He set off on the run for the nearest telephone. Teddy and Joe raced after the deer. The animal was now evidently heading for open places instead of toward the woods. “We have a good chance to catch him,” panted Teddy as he trotted along beside Joe. “Do you think so?”