and then bid good-by to Mrs. Carson. She was still a bit timid
about letting them go.

"You keep your eyes open for that lion," she said. "And if you see
him, run into the first house or store that's handy. Don't think
you can shoo him off again with a stone, because it isn't likely
you'll be able to."

"We'll be on our guard, aunty," answered Shep.

The circus had left town, as it was billed to perform in another
city forty miles away. But several employees had been left behind,
and these men, aided by a number of others, went on a long hunt
for the lion and the chimpanzee. The lion had been seen making
for the woods, but what had become of the chimpanzee nobody knew.

"The loss of that chimpanzee is a big one for the circus," said
Snap, while on the way home. "Just see how they feature him on
the bills. They have other lions, but Abe was their only man-monkey."

What the youth said about the chimpanzee was true. Abe, as he
had been named, was a wonderful drawing-card. At first a reward
of fifty dollars was offered for his return, and later this sum
was increased. It may be as well to state here that the owner
of the circus suspected that the men who had been discharged by
him had the chimpanzee and would have it returned to him when
the reward was large enough. What had become of the men nobody
knew, and the boy acrobat had likewise disappeared.

"That boy interested me," said Snap. "I'd like to meet him again