A supply of mutton and lamb had been placed in it the evening before by Michael, the hired man, a portion for the use of the ladies and a portion for himself, when he should come to take it away in the morning.
There had never been an ice-house on the property, that luxury having been much less known a half a century ago than it is to-day.
The lion, in snuffing around the premises, had scented this store-house of meat, and was feasting himself upon it when detected by Fred Sheldon, who, with very little hesitation, covered the couple of rods necessary to reach it.
It is difficult to comprehend the trying nature of such a venture, but the reward was a gigantic one in the eyes[Pg 105] of Fred, who was very hopeful also of the chance being favorable for capturing the animal.
Having started he did not dare to turn back, but hastened forward on tip-toe, and with a firm hand caught the latch of the door. The instant he did so the latter was closed and fastened.
He expected the lion would make a plunge against it, and break out. Having done all he could to secure him, Fred scurried back through the kitchen door, which he nervously closed after him, and then scampered in such haste to his room that he feared he had awakened the two ladies in the other part of the house.
Hurrying to the window, the lad looked anxiously out and down upon the smoke-house as it was called.
To his delight he saw nothing different in its appearance from what it was when he left it a few moments before.
It followed, therefore, that the lion was within, as indeed was proven by the sounds which reached the ears of the listening lad.
But was the little structure strong enough to hold him? When he broke through his own cage with such ease, would he find any difficulty in making his way out of this place?
These were the questions our hero asked himself, and which he could not answer as he wished.
While the walls of the little building were strong and secure, yet the door was an ordinary one of wood, fastened by a common iron latch and catch, supplemented by a padlock whenever Michael Heyland chose to take[Pg 106] the trouble; but the door was as secure against the animal within with the simple latch in place as it was with the addition of the lock, for it was not to be expected that he would attempt to force his way out in any manner other than by flinging himself against the door itself whenever he should become tired of his restraint.
After a while all became still within the smoke-house, and it must have been that the unconscious captive, having gorged himself, had lain down for a good sleep.
Fred Sheldon was all excitement and hope, for he felt that if the creature could be kept well supplied with food, he was likely to remain content with his quarters for a considerable time.
Tired and worn out, the boy finally lay down on his bed and slept till morning. The moment his eyes were open, he arose and looked out. The smoke-house showed no signs of disturbance, the door remaining latched as it was the night before.
"He's there yet," exclaimed the delighted boy, hurriedly donning his clothes and going down the stairs in three jumps.
He was right in his guess, for when he cautiously peeped through the slats of the window he saw the monster stretched out upon the floor in a sound slumber.
When Fred told the Misses Perkinpine that the lion was fastened in the smoke-house their alarm passed all bounds. They instantly withdrew to the uppermost room, where they declared they would stay until the neighbors should come and kill the creature.
Fred tried to persuade them out of their fears, but it[Pg 107] was useless, and gathering what meat he could in the house he shoved it through the small window, and then hurried off toward Tottenville.
"The lion has got plenty of food, and there is the little stream of water running through the smoke-house, so he ought to be content to stay there for the day."
Jacob Kincade sat on the porch of the Tottenville Hotel, smoking a cigar and talking with a number of the villagers, who were gathered around him. Bud Heyland stayed with his folks up the road, and he had not come down to the village yet.
The talk, as a matter of course was about the lion, which was believed to be ranging through the country, and playing havoc with the live stock of the farmers.
Among the listeners were several boys, with open mouths and eyes, and when Fred joined them no one paid any attention to him.
"As I was saying," observed Mr. Kincade, flinging one of his legs over the other, and flirting the ashes from his cigar, "the lion is one of the most valuable in the country. He has a wonderful history, having killed a number of people before he was captured in Africa. Colonel Bandman has been offered a large price for him, which explains why he is so anxious to secure him unhurt."
"What is the reward?" asked one of the bystanders.
"It was originally a hundred dollars, but I've just received a letter from Colonel Bandman, in which he instructs me to make the reward two hundred, provided the animal is not injured at all."
[Pg 108]
"What does that offer imply?" asked another of the deeply interested group.
"The only feasible plan, in my judgment, is to construct a large cage and to lure the lion into that. I have a couple of carpenters hard at work, but the trouble is the animal has such a good chance now of getting all the meat he wants that it will be difficult to get him inside of anything that looks like a cage."
"If he could be got into a place where he could be held secure until you brought up his own cage, that would be all you would ask?" continued the speaker, who evidently was forming some plan of operations in his own mind.
"That is all, sir."
"I've got your lion for you!"
This rather weighty assertion was made by Fred Sheldon, from his position in the group. An instant hush fell upon all, who looked wonderingly at the lad, as if uncertain whether they had heard aright.
Before any comment was made our hero, somewhat flushed in the face, as he summoned up his courage, added:
"I've got the lion fast, and if you will go with me I will show you where he is."
Mr. Kincade laughed, as did one or two others. Taking a puff or two of his cigar, the showman added:
"Run home, sonny, and don't bother us any more."
But in that little party were a number who knew Fred Sheldon to be an honest and truthful boy. They made inquiries of him, and when his straightforward answers[Pg 109] had been given they told the showman he could rely on what had been said.
Mr. Kincade thereupon instantly made preparations, the group swelling to large proportions, as the news spread that the wild beast had been captured.
The cage of the lion, which had been strongly repaired, was driven to the front of the hotel; Jake Kincade mounted, took the lines in hand and started toward the home of the Misses Perkinpine, the villagers following close beside and after him.
Just as they turned into the short lane leading to the place, whom should they meet but Bud Heyland in a state of great excitement.
He was seen running and cracking his whip over his head, and shouting——
"I've got him! I've got him! I've got the lion!"
The wagon and company halted for him to explain.
"I've got him up here in the old maids' smoke-house. I put some meat in there last night, for I seen tracks that showed me he had been prowling around, and this morning when me and the old man went over to look there he was! I'll take that reward, Jacob, if you please."
And the boy grinned and ejected a mouthful of tobacco juice, while the others turned inquiringly toward Fred Sheldon, whose cheeks burned with indignation.
"He tells a falsehood," said Fred. "He never knew a thing about it till this morning."
"I didn't, eh?" shouted Bud. "I'll show you!"
Thereupon he raised his whip, but Mr. Emery stepped in front and said, calmly:
[Pg 110]
"Bud, it won't be well for you to strike that boy."
"Well, I don't want anybody telling me I don't tell the truth, for I'm square in everything I do, and I won't be insulted."
Mr. Kincade was on the point of taking the word of Bud Heyland that the reward had been earned by him, when he saw from the disposition of the crowd that it would not permit any such injustice as that.
"If you've got the animal secure I'm satisfied," called out the showman from his seat, as he assumed an easy, lolling attitude. "You two chaps and the crowd can settle the question of who's entitled to the reward between you, and I only ask that you don't be too long about it, for the critter may get hungry and eat his way out."
Mr. Emery, at the suggestion of several, took charge of the investigation.
Turning to Fred he said: "The people here have heard your story, and Bud can now tell his."
"Why, I hain't got much to tell," said the big boy, in his swaggering manner. "As I said awhile ago, I seen signs around the place last night which showed the lion was sneaking about the premises. He likes to eat good little boys, and I s'pose he was looking for Freddy there," said young Heyland, with a grinning leer at our hero, which brought a smile to several faces.
"So I didn't say anything to the old man but just flung a lot of meat in the smoke-house and went home to sleep. This morning the old man awoke afore I did, which ain't often the case, and going over to his work found the trap had been sprung and the game was there.
[Pg 111]
"The old man (Bud seemed to be proud of calling his father by that disrespectful name) came running home and pitched through the door as white as a ghost, and it was a minute or two before he could tell his story. When he had let it out and the old woman begun to shiver, why I laughed, and told 'em how I'd set the trap and earned the reward. With that the old man cooled down, and I got him back with me to look at the beast, which is still asleep, and then I started to tell you about it, Jake, when I meets this crowd and hears with pain and surprise the awful whopper this good little boy tells. I believe he slept in the house there last night, and when he woke up and went out in the smoke-house to steal a drink of milk and seen the lion, he was so scared that he nearly broke his neck running down to the village to tell about it."
This fiction was told so well that several looked at Fred to see what he had to say.
The lad, still flushed in the face, stepped forward and said:
"I'd like to ask Bud a question or two."
As he spoke, Fred addressed Mr. Emery, and then turned toward the grinning bully, who said:
"Go ahead with all you're a mind to."
"You say you put the meat in there on purpose to catch the lion last night?"
"That's just what I done, Freddy, my boy."
"Where did you get the meat?"
"At home of the old woman."
"After you put it in the smoke-house, you didn't go back until this morning?"
[Pg 112]
"No, sir; my little Sunday school lad."
"Who, then, shut and fastened the door, after the lion walked in the smoke-house to eat the meat?"
Bud Heyland's face flushed still redder, and he coughed, swallowed and stuttered——
"Who shut the door? Why—that is—yes—why what's the use of asking such infarnal questions?" demanded Bud in desperation, as the listeners broke into laughter.
Mr. Emery quietly turned to Kincade, who was leaning back on his elevated seat and said:
"The reward of two hundred dollars belongs to Master Fred here," and the decision was received with shouts of approbation.
Bud Heyland's eyes flashed with indignation, and he muttered to himself; but, in the face of such a number, he dared not protest, and he followed them as they pushed on toward the little structure where the escaped beast was restrained of his liberty.
A reconnoissance showed that he was still there, and the arrangements for his transfer were speedily made and carried out with much less difficulty than would have been supposed.
The cage was placed in front of the door of the smoke-house, communication being opened, after an inclined plane was so arranged that the beast could not walk out without going directly into his old quarters.
Several pounds of raw, bleeding meat were placed in the cage, and then the animal was stirred up with a long pole.
[Pg 113]
He growled several times, got on his feet, looked about as if a little confused, and then seemed to be pleased at the familiar sight of his old home, for he walked deliberately up the inclined plane into the cage, and lay down as if to complete his nap, so rudely broken a few minutes before. The door was quickly closed and fastened, and the escaped lion was recaptured!
When all saw how easily it was done, and recalled the fact that the king of beasts, so far as was known, had injured no person at all, there was a great deal of inquiry for the explanation.
Why was it that, with such opportunities for destroying human life, he had failed to rend any one to fragments?
Jacob Kincade, after some laughter, stated that the lion, although once an animal of tiger-like ferocity and strength, was now so old that he was comparatively harmless. His teeth were poor, as was shown by the little progress he had made with the bony meat in the smoke-house. If driven into a corner he might make a fight, but if he had been loose for a month it was hardly likely he would have killed anybody.
The blow which he received in the eye from Bud Heyland's whip incited him to fury for the moment, but by the time he got fairly outside he was comparatively harmless, and the hurried climbing of the center-pole by Bud Heyland was altogether a piece of superfluity.
As Fred Sheldon had fairly earned the two hundred dollars, he was told to call at the hotel in Tottenville that afternoon and it would be paid him.
[Pg 114]
It is not necessary to say that he was there punctually, for the sum was a fortune in his eyes.
As he came to the porch a number of loungers were there as usual, and Fred found himself quite a hero among his playmates and fellows.
Not only was Jake Kincade present, with his cigar alternately between his finger and lips, but Bud Heyland and a stranger were sitting on the bench which ran along the porch, their legs crossed, one smoking his briar-wood and the other a cigar.
Despite Fred's agitation over his own prospects, he could not help noticing this stranger whom, he believed, he had never seen before.
His dress and appearance were much like those of a cattle drover. He wore a large, gray sombrero, a blue flannel shirt, had no suspenders, coarse corduroy trousers, though the weather was warm, with the legs tucked in the tops of his huge cowhide boots, the front of which reached far above his knees, like those of a cavalryman.
He had frowsy, abundant hair, a smoothly-shaven face—that is, the stubby beard was no more than two or three days old—and he seemed to be between twenty-five and thirty years of age.
Looking at his rather regular features, it would be hard to tell whether he was a good or evil man, but it was very evident that he and Bud Heyland had struck up a strong intimacy, which was growing.
They sat close together, chatted and laughed, and indulged in jokes at the expense of those around them,[Pg 115] careless alike of the feelings that were hurt or the resentment engendered.
As Fred approached he saw Bud turn his head and speak to the stranger, who instantly centered his gaze on the boy, so there could be no doubt that his attention was called to him.
Fred was moving rather timidly toward Kincade, when the stranger raised his hand and crooked his finger toward him. Wondering what he could want, Fred Sheldon diverged toward him and took off his hat.
"I wouldn't stand bareheaded, Freddy, dear," said Bud, with his old grin; "you might catch cold in your brains."
Neither of the others noticed this course remark, and the stranger, scrutinizing the boy with great interest, said:
"What is your name, please?"
"Frederick Sheldon."
"And you are the boy who locked the lion in the smoke-house last night when you heard the poor fellow trying to use his aged teeth on some bones?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, you deserve credit; for you thought, like everybody else, that he was as fierce as he was a dozen years ago. Well, all I want to say, Fred, is that I'm Cyrus Sutton, stopping here at the hotel, and I'm somewhat interested in cattle. Bud, here, doesn't feel very well, and he's got leave of absence for two or three days and is going to stay at home. Bud and I are strong friends, and I've formed a rather good opinion of you and I [Pg 116]congratulate you on having earned such a respectable pile of money. Mr. Kincade is ready and glad to pay you."
Squire Jones, a plain, honest, old man, who had been justice of the peace for fully two score years, went into the inner room with Fred Sheldon and Jacob Kincade to see that everything was in proper shape; for as the boy was a minor his rights needed careful protection.
All was done deliberately and carefully, and the entire amount of money, in good, crisp greenbacks, was placed in the trembling hands of Fred Sheldon, who felt just then as though he would buy up the entire village of Tottenville, and present it to his poor friends.
"Come over to my office with me," said the squire, when the transaction was finished.
The lad willingly walked across the street and into the dingy quarters of the old man, who closed the door and said:
"I am real glad, Frederick, that you have earned such a sum of money, for your mother needs it, and I know you to be a truthful and honest boy; but let me ask you what you mean to do with it?"
"Save it."
"I know, but how and where? It will not be safe in your house nor at the Misses Perkinpines', as the events of the other night prove. It ought to be placed somewhere where it will be safe."
"Tell me where to put it."
"There is the Lynton Bank ten miles away, but you couldn't drive there before it would be closed. I have a[Pg 117] good, strong, burglar-proof safe, in which I have many valuable papers. If you wish it, I will seal the money in a large envelope, write your name on the back and lock it up for you. Then, whenever you want it, I will turn it over to you."
Fred replied that he would be glad to have him do as proposed, and the old squire, with solemn deliberation, went through the ceremony of placing the two hundred dollars safely among his other papers and swinging the ponderous safe-door upon them.
Fred would have liked to keep the money to look at and admire and show to his playmates, but he saw how much wiser the course of the squire was, and it was a great relief to the boy to have the custody of such riches in other hands.
When he came out on the street again he looked across to the hotel and noticed that Bud Heyland and Cyrus Sutton were no longer visible. He supposed they were inside visiting the bar, and without giving them any further thought, Fred started for his home to complete his chores before going over to stay with the Misses Perkinpine.
After reaching a certain point up the road a short cut was almost always used by Fred, who followed quite a well-beaten path through a long stretch of woods.
The boy was in high spirits, for he could not feel otherwise after the wonderful success which had attended his efforts to capture the astray lion.
"If I could only get on the track of the men that stole the silverware and money, why, I would retire[Pg 118] wealthy," he said to himself, with a smile; "but I don't see where there is much chance——"
"Halloo, there, Freddy dear!"
It was Bud Heyland who hailed the startled youngster in this fashion, and when our hero stopped and looked up, he saw the bully standing before him, whip in hand and waiting for him to approach.