“I think so—–­unless they come at night.”

“You’ll have to risk that.”

“Wags will watch out at night,” said Tommy.  “He’s better as a watch dog at night than he is in the daytime.”

It was decided that the boys should try first to find out if the lion had been trapped.  Then they were to journey to the lonely cabin in the woods.  Not knowing how long they would be away.  They took with them a fair stock of provisions and also a good supply of matches.  They also took new films and plates for their cameras.  Fortunately, in spite of the rather rough experiences of the boys, none of the picture-taking machines had been damaged, beyond having the leather covers scratched, and this did not matter.

“They don’t look so well,” said Shep.  “But they’ll do the work, and that’s what we want.”

The doctor’s son, with Snap and Giant, started early on the following morning.  Giant was glad to get away from the camp once more, and whistled a merry tune as they hurried along.  They cut around the Spink camp, not wishing to meet their enemies.

“No use of letting them know we are gone,” said Snap.  “If they did, they’d be sure to go and bother Whopper and Tommy at once—–­and two couldn’t do much against that whole crowd.”

Snap and Shep had fixed the direction well in their mind and studied the position of the sun, so that they might not go astray.  Having left the Spink camp behind them, the three boys struck out in a bee line for the spot where they had left the pit with the dead wildcats as bait.  They made good progress, and stopped less than half an hour for lunch at midday.

“We ought to reach there before nightfall,” said the doctor’s son.  “That is, unless we get turned around again.”

“I think we are going straight,” answered Snap.  “But it may be farther than you think.”

While tramping along they scared up several rabbits, and Giant brought down one of these.  But game appeared to be scarce and nothing else came to view.

It was just five o’clock when they reached a clearing that looked familiar to Snap and Shep.

“That pit is just beyond here,” said the doctor’s son.  “We’d better go slow—–­in case that lion hasn’t been caught and is at large.”

The others took the advice and advanced with caution.  A fringe of brushwood hid the pit from view.  On the other side of the clearing was a dense forest of pines and hemlocks.

“Well, I never!”

It was the doctor’s son who uttered the exclamation.  He was slightly in advance and had peered over the bushes.

“What is it?” asked Snap in a low tone.

“Look, but don’t make any noise.”

Snap and Whopper pressed forward and looked.  What they saw thrilled them greatly.

On the edge of the pit was a fair-sized black bear.  He was sniffing at the carcass of the wildcat that rested on the tree branches laid over the mouth of the opening.