fatty nolan, whose rapid-fire talk had taken teddy and the others by surprise, raced toward a man who was crossing one end of the meadow into the woods. the man had a rope, as the boys and girls could notice. but he did not appear to be a cowboy.
“i’m going to help him catch that steer!” cried fatty.
a little later he and the man, whom teddy and his friends did not know, disappeared in the woods where the deer had first been seen.
“well, what do you make of this?” asked teddy of his chums.
“you’ve got me,” replied dick. “fatty nolan? who is he, anyhow?”
“i never saw him before,” said joe. “he must have just come to oakdale.”
59 “he seems friendly enough,” said lucy.
“didn’t he talk fast!” laughed margie. “and isn’t he fat?”
“his name sure fits him!” agreed teddy. “but i’d like to know how many wild animals there are running loose around here? first we see a deer and now fatty nolan tells us about a steer.”
“i think it’s the same thing,” suggested joe. “the man must have said deer and fatty took it to be steer.”
“having seen the man with a lasso,” spoke dick, “fatty would naturally think of a runaway steer. but i believe the man must have said deer. you’re right, joe.”
“then he’s after the deer,” teddy remarked. “and i guess that’s about the end of the mystery.”
“if the man catches him,” said joe. “he might not, you know. that deer is a fast runner.”
“that’s right,” teddy agreed. “maybe he can’t catch the deer, and our club will still60 have a chance to do it and solve the mystery.”
“do you think it is much of a mystery?” asked margie.
“you can’t tell,” said lucy. “we didn’t think the dog was going to be a mystery, did we, teddy?”
“no. nor the pony and parrot, either. but they both turned out to be swell mysteries,” said teddy.
“and i think the deer will,” declared joe.
“besides, the deer, there’s this mystery about fatty nolan,” said dick. “who is he, anyhow?”
this small mystery was soon solved. for though fatty and the man with the rope did not appear again for some time, as the boys and girls were coming from the lane into the main highway they met mr. mason once more. the farmer was in a small auto and stopped to ask if the mystery club wanted a ride home.
“thanks. if you will drop us off in town,61 near mrs. traddle’s store, we’ll be much obliged,” said teddy.
“why do you want to get out at mrs. traddle’s store?” asked dick.
“because i’m going to treat this club to sodas,” teddy answered. “we’ve had a hard day. a soda will be good for us.”
“fine!” chorused his chums.
“do you mean us, too?” asked margie.
“of course,” laughed lucy’s brother.
“what club is this?” asked mr. mason when they were all in his car.
“oh, the deer mystery club,” teddy explained. “you know. the deer that was in your meadow.”
“oh, yes. well, he’d better keep out of my garden! did you see the deer again?”
“no but we saw a man with a rope who was running after him, i guess,” joe said.
“hum! just as i thought! a stray deer got out of a railroad car,” said the farmer. “well, i hope they catch him.”
62 “who is this new boy, fatty nolan?” asked teddy.
“nolan? a fat lad? why, he’s the son of samuel nolan who is a farmer i hired to work part of my place on shares. the nolan family just moved here yesterday. came from over portchester way. they’re occupying that little old house where mr. huntley used to live. so you’ve met the fat boy, eh?”
teddy told of the meeting and something of the stout lad.
“yes, he is quite a talker, i noticed that,” said mr. mason. “well, here you are at mrs. traddle’s.”
“thanks for the ride,” teddy said. “won’t you come in and have a soda?”
“thanks, no. i’ve got to get along. but if you see that deer, i hope you capture him, or help that man to do it. i don’t want a deer messing up my garden and cornfields.”
the boys and girls crowded into mrs. traddle’s small store.
63 “i’m glad mr. mason didn’t accept my invitation,” said teddy in a low voice to joe. “i only have enough money to treat this crowd. i’d have had to charge mr. mason’s soda.”
“lucky he didn’t come in,” laughed joe.
mrs. traddle came bustling out from her rooms in the rear of the store.
“give your orders, girls and boys,” invited teddy. “what flavors have you got, mrs. traddle?”
“oh, yes, i know you’re all neighbors,” smiled the little old lady, her deafness causing her to mistake the words of teddy.
“you can see the list up over the mirror,” said lucy to her brother. “and i think,” she went on, “it will be easier to point to the flavors of soda we want instead of trying to tell her.”
“that’s right,” said joe. “then she won’t mix lemon and vanilla as she did for me once.”
mrs. traddle quickly understood when64 the soda flavors were pointed out by teddy on the list as his friends named them. and soon the five chums were sitting on stools and enjoying the drinks.
“where have you been? to a party?” asked mrs. traddle when she had rung up the sales on the cash register.
“we’ve been chasing a deer,” teddy said.
“oh, my goodness, a bear! i wouldn’t chase bears if i were you,” said the old lady. “i don’t think your folks would like that. besides, it’s dangerous. bear! my gracious!”
“not a bear. a deer,” said teddy in a loud voice.
“oh, a deer? that’s different. a deer is harmless, i guess, though i never chased one.”
“this one chased us,” said margie. “and we ran.”
“whose deer was it?” asked mrs. traddle.
“it’s ours,” teddy said.
“oh, i didn’t know you had a deer,” mrs.65 traddle was much surprised. “but then i suppose i’m old fashioned. dogs and cats were all we had for pets when i was a child.”
“it isn’t exactly our deer, but we sort of saw it and we are going to get it and solve the mystery of it,” teddy said. but it is doubtful if mrs. traddle heard this last explanation. some other customers came in.
and as teddy and his chums went out, they heard the store keeper telling her new customers something about the deer the benson children had for a pet.
“no use bothering to explain,” teddy said. “it’s too hot to have to talk loud enough for mrs. traddle to hear.”
margie and lucy had decided to go on a little picnic next day. teddy asked joe and dick what they planned to do.
“why not have another try for that deer?” asked teddy as his chums had no particular place to go.
“sure,” agreed joe and dick.
“if we’re going to solve the mystery,”66 teddy went on, “we might as well start. come over to my house right after breakfast.”
“we’ll do that,” joe promised and dick agreed, adding:
“we can have a talk with fatty nolan and see if he found out anything about the man with the rope.”
“that’s a good idea,” teddy assented.
the boys and girls soon separated to go to their several homes, all being in the vicinity of teddy benson’s house.
after spending an hour or two that evening making some repairs to his toy plane, teddy went to bed. he thought with pleasure of what might happen next day, when he and his chums would start on the trail of the mysterious deer.
once during the night teddy was awakened by hearing a noise at the back door. he sat up in bed, thinking for a moment it might be the deer, coming to knock as, once, a mysterious pony rang the door bell. but67 then teddy heard a clatter of milk bottles and knew what had caused the noise.
teddy was at breakfast next morning when he saw mrs. traddle coming around the side of the house. she saw mr. benson, who was cutting the grass before he went to the office.
“good morning, mrs. traddle!” greeted teddy’s father. “what brings you out so early?”
“it’s your children’s pet deer!” said mrs. traddle in a loud voice.
“a pet deer!” exclaimed mr. benson. “my children have no pet deer. there must be some mistake.”
“no. excuse me, but there is no mistake,” said mrs. traddle. “they told me about their pet deer yesterday. last night the deer got in my garden and ate it all up. i’ll have to be paid damages, mr. benson. you should see the ruin that deer made in my garden!”
