“We want to make sure of that reward,” said the doctor’s son.

“All right, young man, turn the lion over to us and the money is yours,” said one of the men.  “But we’ll want a receipt from all the boys who captured the beast.”

“You’ll get that,” said Snap.  “You offered a reward for the chimpanzee, too, didn’t you?”

“Certainly; five hundred dollars.”

“Well, we’ve got him, too.”

“You have?  How did you do it?” asked the man, and very briefly Snap related the tale, but did not give Tommy’s name.

“That boy is in luck, for the half thousand is his,” said the circus man.  “Glad you got Abe,” he added.  “He is a great drawing-card and worth a dozen lions to us.”

A visit was made to the lion pit, and after a good deal of trouble the lion was brought to the surface of the ground and chained and muzzled.  One of the men knew the beast well and had little trouble in walking the lion to the lake shore, where he was chained to a tree, and left in charge of one of the party.

The circus men were vastly surprised when they learned that it was Tommy who had captured the chimpanzee.  At first they did not think they ought to pay the lad the reward, but Shep told them they could not have Abe unless they did so.

“A bargain is a bargain,” said the doctor’s son.  “You’ll not touch the chimpanzee unless you pay up.”

The matter was argued hotly, but in the end the circus men gave in, and two checks were made out, both payable to Dr. Reed, and the boys signed the receipts.  Then the circus men took the chimpanzee, and walked down to the lake shore.

“Guess you don’t want Tommy any more,” cried Shep after them.

“No; we’ve got another kid to take his place,” answered one of the men.

“They’ll have their hands full getting that lion and the chimpanzee to town,” said Snap, and he was right.  But the work was accomplished by the next day, and the pair were shipped on to the circus by train.

The young hunters remained in camp forty-eight hours longer, and then packed up and moved down to Firefly Lake.  Just previous to going they let the Spink crowd have some more of their things, for which the other lads were extremely grateful.

“Guess we better be friends after this,” said Ham Spink.  “It doesn’t pay to be on the outs.”

“It doesn’t,” answered Shep readily.

On the return to Fairview the boy hunters camped out three nights, and shot a variety of small game and also a deer.  They took the latter home and also the skin of the bear, which was afterward cured and is now on the floor of the Dodge parlor.”

“You have done exceedingly well,” said Dr. Reed, when he had heard their story and gone over their films and plates and pictures.  “These will make a grand collection, and are just what we wanted for advertising purposes.”

The money obtained for the capture of the lion was divided among the four boy hunters, and the amount received for the chimpanzee was placed to Tommy’s credit by the doctor, and the former circus boy went to live with the Reed family for the time being.  Several letters were sent to Tommy’s missing sister, and at last word came back from her.  She had married a storekeeper who was rich, and she asked that Tommy come to live with her.