The Circus Boys on the Mississippi Part 13

"Oh, is that you, Phil?"

"It is myself, sir," smiled the lad. "How are you getting along?"

"Much better than I had hoped. You see the 'Little Nemo' is already loaded. The 'Fat Marie' is well loaded and the 'Queen'

is taking stuff on board at a two-forty gait."

"I see you haven't driven the bulls on yet," meaning the elephants.

The elephants were standing off beyond the docks, huge shadowy figures, swaying silently in the faint light, for there was a slight haze in the air that even the brilliant moonlight could not wholly pierce.

"No; I thought it best to load the bulls and the ring stock later on. The bulls might get frightened with all the unusual noises around them. After they become more used to this method of traveling they will be all right."

"What time do we pull out?"

"It will be three o'clock, I think. Perhaps a little later than that."

"You mean earlier," suggested Teddy.

The showman turned on him sharply.

"Why, h.e.l.lo, Teddy. Really, you are so small that I did not see you."

Teddy winced.

"I guess I'm some, even if I am little," protested the lad warmly.

"You are right. You are not only some, but _much._ What's this I hear about trouble on the lot? Some of the men said they heard there had been an accident, but they guessed it didn't amount to much."

"It was not very serious," said Phil.

"Oh, no; nothing of any consequence," jeered Teddy. "I was struck by lightning, that's all."

"What!"

"Hit by b.a.l.l.s of fire--and the big hen laid an egg."

"See here, what are you driving at--"

"And crushed, utterly crushed by my best friend, Phil Forrest.

Now, what do you think of that?"

"Teddy, please hitch your tongue to the roof of your mouth for a moment. Now, Phil, tell me what happened. I get so dizzy when Teddy is talking that I almost imagine I am going to be seasick."

"Pshaw!" growled Teddy.

"We did have a little trouble."

"Tell me about it."

"The storm came up while the aerial acts were on. We all shortened our acts at the direction of the ringmaster, and it was well we did so. We had not all gotten down when a bolt of lightning struck the main center pole."

"You don't say! Here, men, stow those canvas wagons forward!

You must learn to trim the boat, giving her an even load all over! Did the bolt do any damage?"

"Slivered the pole."

"Wreck it?"

"Yes. Not worth carrying off the lot."

"What else?"

"Some excitement--"

"Panic?"

"No, but I think there would have been had it not been for my friend, Teddy Tucker. He amused the audience while things were happening up above."

"Good for you, Teddy Tucker," said the showman, slapping the Circus Boy on the back.

"Ouch!" howled Teddy.

"I was congratulating you, that's all," laughed Mr. Sparling.

"If it is all the same to you, please use a club when you congratulate me. I won't feel it so much."

Phil next went on to relate how Teddy had, by his quickness, made fast the rope and probably saved the top from falling in on them, and how he, Phil, had fallen on the boy and knocked him out.

Mr. Sparling surveyed the flushed face of Teddy approvingly.

"Thank you, Teddy," he said. "I'll give you a day off to go fishing, sometime, for that."

"I don't want to go fishing."

"Then you are the first showman I ever knew who did not.

They are simply crazy over fishing. You'll see every one of them hanging over the rails in the early morning trying to catch fish."

"I won't. You'll see me asleep about that time, if you look in the right place," answered Teddy very promptly.

"Teddy deserves your praise, Mr. Sparling."

"He does, and he has it. I will show my appreciation more fully when I get all this rush out of the way. The loss of the center pole doesn't amount to much, but the rest does."

"And the hen laid an egg," reiterated Teddy.

"Oh, yes, I forgot to tell you. The big ostrich hen laid an egg this evening."

"Is it possible?"