Edgar B. P. Darlington

“ Mr. Sparling, attracted by the roars of laughter of the audience and the unusual disturbance, had hurried into the big top, where he stood, at first in amazement, then with a broad grin overspreading his countenance.
Now Jumbo began a race with himself about the arena, following the concourse, now and then sending his heels into the air right over the heads of the spectators of the lower row of seats, sending them scrambling under the seats for protection.
A clown ran out with half a dozen paper covered hoops, which he was holding in readiness for the next bareback act. ”

“ But all eyes now being centered on Wallace’s cage, they had no time to observe Phil, for which he was duly thankful.
The animal trainer, clad in red tights, his breast covered with spangles, was already at the door of the cage, whip in hand. When a sufficient crowd had gathered about him, he opened the door, and, entering the cage threw wide the iron grating that shut Wallace off from the door end of the wagon. The big lion bounded out with a roar that caused the people to crowd back instinctively. ”

“ The performers glanced at them curiously, some of the former nodding to Phil, having recognized in him the boy who had ridden the elephant into the arena in the grand entry.
“Not so much after all, are they?” grunted Teddy.
“They are all human beings like ourselves, I guess,” replied Phil.
Stripped of their gaudy costumes and paint, the performers looked just like other normal beings. But instead of talking about the show and their work, they were discussing the news of the day, and it seemed to the two lads to be more like a large family at supper than a crowd of circus performers. ”

“ Phil stole into the menagerie tent, relieved to be away from the gaze and comments of the crowd that was massed in front.
“Gracious, I’m afraid I wouldn’t make a very good circus man. I hate to have everybody looking at me as if I were some natural or unnatural curiosity. Wonder if I will know any of the show people when they are made up, as they call it, and performing in the ring? I shouldn’t wonder if they didn’t know me in my best clothes, though,” grinned the boy. ”

“ There was a slight jolt. Instantly he knew that something was wrong. The audience, too, instinctively felt that the act was not ending as it should.
Phil was falling. He was plunging straight toward the ring, head first. He struck heavily, crumpling up in a little heap, then straightening out, while half a dozen attendants ran to the lad, hastily picking him up and hurrying to the dressing tent with the limp, unconscious form. ”

“ The sugar was promptly conveyed to the elephant’s mouth, the beast uttering a loud scream of satisfaction.
“Emperor, you rascal!” laughed Phil, patting the beast on the head.
Once more the trunk curled up in search of more sugar, but a stern command from the trainer caused the beast to lower it quickly. The time for play had passed. The moment had arrived for Emperor to do his work and he was not the animal to shirk his act. In fact, he seemed to delight in it. All elephants work better when they have with them some human being or animal on which they have centered their affections. ”

“ Sparling,” said Phil boldly.
“Neither do I, neither do I. Emperor has gone daffy over you. What did you feed him?”
“Some sugar and peanuts. That was all.”
“Huh! You ought to be a showman.”
“I have always wanted to be, Mr. Sparling.”
“Oh, you have, eh?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, why don’t you?”
“I have never had the opportunity.”
“You mean you’ve never looked for an opportunity. There are always opportunities for everything, but we have to go after them. You’ve been going after them today for the first time, and you’ve nailed one of them clear up to the splice of the center pole. ”

“ A THRILLING RESCUE
“Open the door and let the man out!” shouted Phil, with great presence of mind. But no one seemed to have the power to move.
One sweep of the powerful claw and one side of the lad’s clothes was literally stripped from him, though he had managed to shrink back just far enough to save himself from the needle like claws of the tiger.
At this moment men came rushing from other parts of the tent. Some bore iron rods, while two or three carried tent poles and sticks—anything that the circus men could lay their hands upon. ”

“ He found the trainer in Mr. Sparling’s tent.
“Where did they take him?” demanded Phil, breaking in on their conversation.
“To jail,” answered Kennedy grimly. “First time I ever heard of such a thing as an elephant’s going to jail.”
“That’s the idea. We’ll use that for an advertisement,” cried the ever alert showman, slapping his thighs. “Emperor, the performing elephant of the Great Sparling Combined Shows, jailed for assault. Fine, fine! How’ll that look in the newspapers? Why, men, it will fill the tent when we get to the next stand, whether we have the elephant or not.” ”

“ The elephant tender laughed without changing the expression of his face. His laugh was all inside of him, as Phil characterized it.
“Not they! They may be afraid of their keeper, but they would as soon chew him up as anybody else—I guess they would rather, for they’ve always got a bone to pick with him.”
“Do any of the men go in the cages and make the animals perform here?”
“Oh, yes. Wallace, the big lion over there, performs every afternoon and night. So does the tiger in the cage next to him.” ”

“ Every man started on a run, some leaping on horses, clearing the circus lot, riding like so many cowboys. As they approached the lad perched on the bobbing head of the elephant the showmen set up a chorus of wild yells, to which Phil responded by waving his hat. He tried to stand up on Emperor’s head, narrowly missing a tumble, which he surely would have taken had not the elephant given him quick support with the ever-handy trunk. ”

“ Jumbo’s equipment consisted of a cinch girth and a pair of bridle reins connected with a headstall. There was no bit, but the effect was to arch his neck like that of a proud stallion.
“You’d make the hit of your life if you did,” laughed Miaco. “Wonder the boss don’t have you do it.”
“Would if he knew about it,” spoke up a performer. “The really funny things don’t get into the ring in a circus, unless by accident.” ”

“ The trainer had been forced against the bars at the back of the cage by the animal, whose length was more than the width of the cage itself.
In an unsuspected moment the beast had sprung upon the unfortunate man, and with one sweep of his powerful paw had laid the man low.
With a growl of savage joy, the brute settled back against the bars of the cage near which the lads were standing.
Women shrieked and men grew pale as they stood helpless to do aught to avert the impending tragedy.
Teddy slipped out from under the rope, his face ashen gray. But Phil stood his ground. ”

“ Then, again, he was obliged to walk all the way to the menagerie tent to reach his elephant.
Throwing a robe over his shoulders and pulling his hat well down over his eyes, the lad pushed the silken curtains aside and began working his way toward the front, beating against the human tide that had set in against him, wet, dripping, but good natured.
“Going to have a wet night,” observed Teddy, whom he met at the entrance to the menagerie tent.
“Looks that way. But never mind; I’ll share my rubber coat with you. We can put it over us and sit up to sleep. That will make a waterproof tent. ”

“ I’ll dress the wounds and he can go on about his business,” was the surgeon’s verdict.
“I’ve got to ride Emperor in tonight,” objected Phil.
“You’ll do nothing of the sort. You’ll get into my wagon and go to bed. That’s what you will do, and right quick, at that.”
“But,” urged the lad, “the people will all think I am seriously hurt if they see no more of me. Don’t you think it would be a good plan for me to show myself? They are liable to be uneasy all through the performance. If I show myself they will settle down and forget all about it in a few minutes.” ”

“ The others failed to see what Phil had observed almost from the first. The bit had broken in the mouth of the broncho and the reins hung loosely in the woman’s helpless hands.
They were almost up with the clowns’ wagon when the woman was seen to sway dizzily in her saddle, as the leather slipped beneath her. Then she plunged headlong to the ground.
Instead of falling in a heap, the circus woman, with head dragging, bumping along the ground, was still fast to the pony.
“Her foot is caught in the stirrup!” yelled half a dozen men at once, but not a man of them made an effort to rescue her. ”

“ PHIL GETS A SURPRISE
“Where will I find Mr. Sparling?”
“In the doghouse.”
“Where’s that?”
“Out back of the ticket wagon. It’s a little A tent, and we call it the boss’s doghouse, because it’s only big enough to hold a couple of St. Bernards.”
“Oh! What does he want of me?”
“Ask him,” grinned the attendant, who, it developed, was an usher in the reserved-seat section. “He don’t tell us fellows his business. Say, that was a great stunt you did with Emperor.” ”

“ Though the lad was getting severe punishment, he was accomplishing just what he had hoped for—to keep Bengal busy until help arrived to liberate the unconscious trainer, who lay huddled against the bars on the opposite side of the cage.
“Poke one of the tent poles in to him and let him bite it!” roared Mr. Sparling. “Half a dozen of you get around behind the cage and when we have his attention one of you pull Bob out. Keep your poles in the opening when you open the door, so Bengal doesn’t jump out. Everybody stand back!” ”

“ No sooner had the elephant discovered the lad than he picked him up with his trunk, slowly hoisting the boy high in the air.
“Steady, Emperor! Steady!” cautioned the attendant. But Emperor needed no admonition to deal gently with his young friend. He handled Phil with almost the gentleness of a mother lifting a babe.
Phil Forrest experienced a thrill that ran all through him when he realized what was taking place.
“We can’t stop to put you down now, my boy. You’ll have to go through the performance with us. Grab the head harness when he lets you down on his head. ”

“ Signor Navaro was the leading performer in the flying-rings act. With him was his young son, Rodney Palmer and a young girl performer, whose father was a clown in the show.
Phil shot a sharp glance at Mr. Miaco, then dropped his eyes.
“I guess nobody would be jealous of me,” laughed the lad. “I’m only a beginner, and a clumsy one at that. All I can do is to ride an elephant and fall off, nearly killing myself.” ”

“ A roar that fairly made the ground shake answered Phil’s question. The cage in question held a lion, and a big, ugly one if his voice was any indication. The great elephant, when the cage was being placed, would, at a signal from its keeper, place its ponderous head against one side of the cage and push, while a driver would steer the wagon by taking hold of the end of the tongue. ”

“ Phil agreed, and the lads strolled in. They found the performance nearly over. When it was finished quite a large number remained to see the “grand concert” that followed.
While this was going on there was a crash and a clatter as the men ripped up and loaded the seats, piling them into waiting wagons that had been driven into the tent from the rear so as not to be in the way of the people going out.
“It’s more fun to watch the men work than it is to see the concert. That concert’s a bum show,” averred Teddy, thrusting his hands in his pockets and turning his back on the “grand concert.” ”

“ The owner was striding toward the cook tent for his morning cup of coffee.
“Good morning, sir,” greeted the boys, pausing in their work long enough to touch their hats, after which they continued unpacking the dishes.
“Morning, boys. I see you are up early and getting right at it. That’s right. No showman was ever made out of a sleepy-head. Where did you sleep last night?”
“In a wagon on a pile of canvas,” answered Phil.
“And they threw us out of bed this morning,” Teddy informed him, with a grimace.
Mr. Sparling laughed heartily. ”

“ So humorous were the clown’s antics that the spectators screamed with laughter.
Suddenly the lad espied that which caused his own laughter to die away, and for the moment he forgot to toot the fish horn. The parade was passing his former home, and there, standing hunched forward, leaning on his stick and glaring at the procession from beneath bushy eyebrows, stood Phil’s uncle, Abner Adams.
Phil’s heart leaped into his throat; at least that was the sensation that he experienced.
“I—I hope he doesn’t know me,” muttered the lad, shrinking back a little. “But I’m a man now. I don’t care. ”