They came upon Towser, growling in a most excited manner, threshing
something about him in the bushes as he came toward them.

"Hold still, boy!" commanded Harry. "What is it, old chap?"

Then he came upon the dog. In the darkness it was not easy to
make out what ailed Towser. But Prescott came closer to the dog
with the lantern.

"Towser has his foot caught in a steel trap. I'm afraid his leg
is broken," quivered Hazelton, as he threw himself on the ground
beside his pet. "Hold still, boy! Let me take it off of you."

The dog permitted himself to be held while Tom Reade pried open
the jaws of the steel fox trap, the chain to which the pup had
dragged over the ground.

"That's a queer accident," commented Greg Holmes.

"Accident?" flamed Harry. "This thing is no accident. It was
done on purpose, and I wouldn't need but one guess to name the
two-legged cur that did this!"

All of the boys understood at once that Hazelton was accusing
Fred Ripley of setting the trap.

Towser, as soon as released, limped a little, but proved that
his leg was not broken, though it had been cut in the trap.

"Woof!" he exploded angrily, as soon as he found that he could