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.”
 
196 “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:
 
“It’s all right, Hopper—those are the boys I’m looking for—you found ’em—this is fine—now you can lie down—hello over there—I’m here!”
 
In a moment the boys knew who was speaking—Fatty Nolan. But how he had managed to reach their camp and what he was doing with the big dog was more than Teddy and his chums could guess. They must find out, however, so Teddy called:
 
“Is that you, Fatty?”
 
“Sure!”
 
“What are you doing?”
 
“Looking for you. I heard you were on the trail of the deer so I followed. You don’t mind, do you? I’ve brought my father’s deer hound—Clodhopper my mother calls him on account of he’s so big and clumsy—but he’s197 got another name—Rex. He’s a good dog for hunting deer—maybe he can help us—I came anyhow—had hard work finding you—guess I couldn’t have only for Hopper—that’s the dog—I call him Hopper for short. Can I come over there?” All this Fatty spoke in his usual fast style.
 
“Sure! Come on over and bring your dog,” Teddy invited. “Maybe he will help us in the morning. Come on and join us.”
 
“Thanks,” spoke Fatty advancing, while Hopper, sensing that the three boys were friends, wagged his tail harder than ever and curled up in a bunch of grass. “This is swell,” went on the stout lad. “I hoped I’d find you before morning so I could camp with you. I have my own blanket,” he added, showing a roll.
 
“Did you have anything to eat?” asked Dick whose thoughts always seemed to be on food.
 
“Oh, yes. I brought some along when I started out last evening. But it’s all gone198 now. If you fellows are going to eat again—of course maybe I should have brought more—but if you are going to eat again—”
 
“Not until morning,” Teddy announced. “And that won’t be for another six hours,” he added, looking at his wrist watch and noting it was shortly past midnight.
 
“Oh, that’s all right,” said Fatty good-naturedly. “I can wait. I have some chocolate candy I can eat.” He began chewing on this as he arranged his blanket on the ground.
 
“But how did you know we were here?” asked Joe as he and his two chums stretched out again to go to sleep.
 
“I went over to your house, Teddy,” said the fat boy. “Your mother said you were over this way and intended to camp out all night. So I packed up my outfit, got Hopper and came along. Hope you don’t mind.”
 
“Glad to have you,” welcomed Teddy. “Maybe you will bring us good luck.”
 
Nothing further disturbed the boys that199 night. They were up early and breakfast was soon being cooked. Fatty Nolan insisted on helping to gather wood and carry water. The boys noticed he had a rope looped to his belt.
 
“That’s my lasso in case we see the deer,” Fatty explained.
 
Breakfast over, the boys once more took the trail. They were heading for Oak Forest and about half an hour after leaving camp they were crossing a large field in one corner of which several cows were grazing.
 
Suddenly Hopper began to bark and act excited.
 
“What’s the matter with him?” asked Teddy.
 
“I don’t know,” answered Fatty. “Never knew him to get excited about cows before. Here, Hopper, where are you going?” he yelled as the dog, with loud barks, rushed for the herd of cows. “Come back!”
 
But the hound did not obey. And then Teddy and his chums saw the reason. In with the herd of cows, cropping grass as they200 were, stood an animal with branching horns.
 
“Look!” yelled Teddy. “The mystery deer! There he is!”
 
“Golly! Sure enough, it is the deer,” echoed Joe.
 
“But the dog! The dog!” cried Dick. “He’ll kill the deer! Call him back, Fatty!”
 
“Here, Hopper! Hopper! Come back!” ordered the fat boy. But the hound, with loud barks, was leaping toward the herd of cows in the midst of which was the strange deer.
 
The cows separated as the dog rushed toward them, leaving a cleared space in the middle of which stood the deer who threw up his head and looked at the oncoming dog.
 
“Your dog will pull the deer down and kill him, Fatty!” cried Teddy. “Can’t you bring him back?”
 
“I’ll try,” said the fat boy, running after his dog. “Back, Hopper!”
 
Just when it seemed that the dog was about to jump on the deer, which seemed too201 frightened to run, a man suddenly leaped over the fence and took his place in front of the deer. There was something familiar about the man. And when he began swinging a rope in circles around his head Teddy cried:
 
&l............