So it was decided not to take turns watching during the night. The three boys would go to sleep together and trust to luck to get on the trail of the deer again in the morning. “If we had a dog it would be easier,” said Joe somewhat sleepily as they were all dozing off. “Easier for what?” asked Teddy. “Easier to trail the deer. But we haven’t any dog, have we?” “No,” Teddy admitted, “we haven’t. Unless Dick brought one,” he added with a chuckle and a nudge of his chum. “Brought what?” mumbled Dick, half asleep. “A dog,” said Teddy. “Did you bring one?” “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Dick less clearly than before. “I--I--” But he was asleep before he could finish the sentence. A little later the deep and even breathing of Teddy and Joe showed that they, also, were asleep. Who awakened first was always a disputed point with the three boys when ever they talked about what happened that night. But Teddy suddenly found himself roused by feeling something cold and wet on his face. For a moment he thought it was raining. But as he opened his eyes he saw that the moon was shining brightly. But he still felt that cool dampness on his face and suddenly, with a shout of alarm, he sat up, scattering his blanket and reaching for his flashlight. “Golly! It’s a dog!” he shouted. “What’s that?” cried Joe. “A dog--licking my face with his tongue! It woke me up!” said Teddy in a loud voice. “Did Dick bring a dog after all?” asked Joe. “I don’t know, but here’s a dog!” went on Teddy excitedly. “Dick!” he shouted. But Dick was awake. Instinctively he had reached for his flashlight and switched it on, though the moon was bright. And in the glow of the combined lights the boys saw a large dog regarding them from the ash-strewn spot where the campfire had been made. It was a huge beast and its eyes glowed in the shafts of the flashlights. There it stood, looking intently at the boys as if ready to spring on them. CHAPTER XXI CAUGHT For a few seconds Teddy and his chums did not know whether the big dog was a friend or enemy. Teddy had the thought that they might be camping on the ground of some farmer who kept a fierce dog to drive away tramps. “But,” thought Teddy, “the dog couldn’t be very fierce or it wouldn’t have awakened me by licking my face with his tongue. He’d have started in biting me.” However, in a little while the dog, which had been so closely looking at the boys, whom he could plainly see by the moonlight, wagged his tail in a friendly way. “I guess he’s all right,” Teddy announced. “Yes,” agreed Dick. “That tail-wagging business shows he doesn’t want to bite.” “But whose dog is it?” asked Joe. “Gosh! It’s almost as big as the deer we’re chasing.” Hardly had Joe stopped talking than from the shadows of some little hillocks beyond the cold campfire came a voice saying: