Hurrying at his usual fast pace, as if to keep up with his fast thoughts and talk, the fat lad ran after a man of whom Teddy and his chums had only obtained a glimpse.
 
“Are you sure it was the same man, Fatty?” asked Joe.
 
“Oh, sure. Didn’t you see he had a rope?”
 
“Yes,” spoke Teddy, “but anybody could have a rope.”
 
“Maybe he’s after a stray cow,” suggested Dick.
 
“No, I’m sure he’s after the mysterious deer,” declared Fatty Nolan. “Nobody around here goes after cows with a rope. Cows are easy to drive. I drive ours. This is the lasso man. Come on, before he gets away. He’ll take us to the deer!”
 
79 Teddy and his chums were not so sure of this. But they followed the stout lad, smiling at his rapid manner of speaking. On the whole, they rather liked him.
 
The man with the lasso had appeared so suddenly, seemingly from no particular place, that the boys had scarcely a good chance to see him. They obtained one look and then the man hurried down into one of the many grassy hollows, that dotted the fields and meadows around there.
 
The boys were not in Mason’s meadow now, but in one belonging to another of the many farmers who lived in and around Oakdale. Trotting after Fatty Nolan, who was still in the lead, Teddy and his chums finally caught up to him.
 
“Do you know who this man is?” asked Teddy.
 
“Sure,” the fat boy replied. “He’s the man with the lasso.”
 
“But do you know his name?” Teddy wanted to know.
 
80 Fatty Nolan shook his head and answered:
 
“No. I never saw him before yesterday. But I never forget anybody I once see—even from the back. Besides, this must be the same man—he had the same rope—I wonder where he went—come on—let’s hurry!”
 
“If we hurry any faster,” objected Joe, “we’re going to be all tired out before we get anywhere.”
 
“That’s what I say,” agreed Dick. “Let’s take it easy.”
 
“You can go pretty fast for a fat boy,” complimented Joe as he ruffled his red hair. It was beginning to get damp and curly now, for Joe was perspiring.
 
“Yes, I always was pretty fast,” admitted Fatty Nolan. “First I tried to get thin by running and hurrying. But it didn’t do any good. I kept on getting fatter. So I hurry anyhow.”
 
“Well, there’s no special need for it,” decided81 Teddy. “We aren’t going any particular place. We just want to catch up to this man and find out if he is after the deer.”
 
“He’s after something or he wouldn’t have that rope,” was Joe’s opinion.
 
“And he hasn’t caught whatever he was after yesterday, or he wouldn’t be out with his lasso again today,” decided Dick.
 
“I wonder who he is?” Teddy said.
 
“I think maybe he works on one of the farms around here,” answered Fatty. “There are many hired men on the farms now. This is summer, and there’s lots of work for hired men. My father is going to get one. I help him but that isn’t enough, he says. What are you going to do?” he asked as Dick Kelly threw himself on the grass behind some bushes.
 
“Take a little rest in this shade,” Dick answered. Dick, too, was stout; not as fat as the Nolan boy, but stouter than either Teddy or Joe.
 
&l............