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.”
 
117 “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.”
 
“No, sir, boys! You’ve got to have a trap!” said Mr. Crispen. “Let me set the trap for you and you’ll catch the deer just like that!” Again he snapped his finger and thumb.
 
“But where are you going to set the trap?” asked Teddy.
 
“Ha!” chuckled the old cobbler. “That’s my secret. But I’ll let you in on it. Come into my back room and I’ll tell you!”
 
Teddy and his chums were beginning to enjoy the entrance of Cobbler Crispen into their search for the mysterious deer. They felt he would be of much more help to them than the girls or even Fatty Nolan.
 
“Though maybe that lasso man with the star heel plates could tell something if he118 wanted to,” Teddy whispered to his chums as they went into the cobbler’s rear room.
 
“If we could catch him,” added Joe.
 
“Yes,” said Dick. “That lasso man is almost as mysterious as the deer.”
 
“Come on in, boys,” invited Mr. Crispen. “This is where I do my thinking and planning,” he added. It was a small, rear room where he kept an extra bench, some tools and his supplies. There were several rolls of leather in the place and they gave it a strong odor, mixed with that of shoemaker’s wax.
 
“Have you the deer trap here?” asked Joe.
 
“Oh, my goodness, no!” exclaimed the old cobbler. “I have to make the trap. I brought you here to tell you where I plan to set it after I have the trap made. I didn’t want any chance customer to hear about my plan.”
 
“Why?” asked Teddy.
 
“Because,” answered Mr. Crispen with a quick look around as he shut the door,119 “somebody else might try our plan of trapping the deer. They might catch him ahead of us and then where would you boys be when the reward money is paid?”
 
“Oh,” said Joe, “we aren’t sure any reward money is going to be paid.”
 
“Of course there will be!” insisted Mr. Crispen. “It’s a valuable deer, from what you tell me. Whoever owns it will be glad to pay a reward to get it back.”
 
“Maybe it might be a wild deer,” said Dick.
 
“Not from the way you tell me it acted,” said the cobbler, again snapping his finger and thumb and nodding his head. “Most likely it belongs to that lasso man. He’ll pay you for bringing it back.”
 
“Suppose he finds it first?” asked Teddy.
 
“We’ll get ahead of him. I’ll have my trap ready to set tomorrow night,” said the cobbler. “I’ll work on it tonight and tomorrow. Folks that are in a hurry for their shoes will have to wait. It isn’t every day I get a chance120 to trap a deer. It’s like old times to me!” he laughed.
 
“But won’t you want part of the reward money?” asked Dick.
 
“No, not a penny. You boys may divide it all,” was the answer.
 
“I tell you maybe there won’t be any!” insisted Joe.
 
“There was a reward when we found the mystery pony,” said Teddy. “Not that I expect it. But maybe there might be one for the deer.”
 
“Of course there will be!” declared Mr. Crispen. “Now about setting this trap. Where do you think I’m going to put it?”
 
“In the woods,” guessed Joe.
 
“In the fields,” said Dick.
 
“Near the glen in Mason’s meadow, where we first saw the deer,” ventured Teddy.
 
“All good places,” agreed Mr. Crispen. “But I know a better one. I’m going to put the trap in Mrs. Traddle’s garden,” exclaimed the old cobbler. “That’s the place121 where the deer came to feed and he’ll likely go back there. And we’ll trap him there!”
 
“But maybe Mrs. Traddle won’t let you put the trap in her garden,” suggested Joe.
 
“Oh, yes, I think she will,” said Mr. Crispen. “If she makes a fuss we’ll promise her some of the reward money for the damage the deer did. At least you boys can promise her some of the money. The reward is going to be all yours. I don’t want it. Ho............