ADVENTURES AT A FAIR.
As much as Neka wished to talk matters over with Longfellow
Wadsworth, there was no time to do so now. The audience were growing
highly impatient, and several cries of “humbug,” “fraud,” and so
forth had been raised.
“Get ready as quickly as you can,” said the elocutionist. “I will
make an apology for the delay.”
He slipped out on the stage, and, coming forward, laid his hand on
his heart and bowed profoundly.
“Ladies and gentlemen: No one regrets this delay more than do I and
my distinguished fellow performer, Professor Neka. But accidents
will happen in the best of families, some one has said, and when
they do happen we must make the best of them. In bringing our
numerous trunks to this hall the drayman accidentally let slip one
containing the most important paraphernalia belonging to Professor
Neka, and, in consequence, many of his things were sadly shattered,
involving a loss of several hundred dollars. But the professor, with
his accustomed courage to meet adverses, has gone bravely to work
to mend matters, and will be ready to give you one of the grandest
exhibitions of fire tricks ever seen on any stage in a few minutes
more. In the meantime I will crave your indulgence, and beg leave to
recite a humorous selection, entitled, ‘Murphy’s Tailless Cow.’”
This little speech was well received, and the recitation was
applauded. By the time Longfellow Wadsworth had finished, Neka was
ready to go on.
The boy was nervous, yet he did not allow this to mar his
performance. He came on the stage with a grand flourish, and executed
his fiery ribbon evolution amid vigorous handclappings.
“He’s all right!”
“No fake about that!”
“The folks in Chambersburgh said he was a wonder, and they are about
right.”
This evening Neka had a new trick in view. He had purchased several
daggers of iron. These he heated red-hot, then, advancing to the
footlights, began to joggle them into the air with his bare hands. A
storm of applause showed how well this new trick was received.
“We have caught them, just as we caught the folks at Chambersburgh,”
observed Longfellow Wadsworth, when they were closing up. “What a
pity a place like this is not large enough to exhibit for several
nights.”
Neka was silent on this subject, his head being filled with thoughts
concerning Daniel Bambo. The elocutionist was quick to surmise what
the trouble was.
“Don’t you worry about him, Neka,” he said. “I fancy we have him
where the hair is good and long instead of short.”
“You said something to him about old Jerry Brown,” said the boy,
slowly.
“Yes, and that was where I had him.”
“He appeared greatly alarmed.”
“Yes, it made him cave in. Do you know, I believe I can corner
him some day and make him reveal your past,” went on Longfellow
Wadsworth, earnestly.
“I wish you could,” replied Neka, and his heart gave a great bound at
the thought.
“I don’t believe, at any rate, that he will bother you again in a
hurry,” said the elocutionist.
The two talked the matter over on the way to the town tavern, a dingy
and old-fashioned place, where they obtained a room together for a
dollar.
Early on the following morning they had breakfast, and cast about for
some place where they might exhibit on the following evening. Outside
of Chambersburgh, only a few small villages were in the vicinity, and
it would scarcely pay to open up in them.
“We had better push on to Carmine,” said Longfellow Wadsworth. “I see
by the County _Item_ there is to be a county fair there for three
days next week. If we can buy a privilege cheap and hire a tent, it
would pay very well to give a sort of continuous performance during
fair days.”
“That’s a good idea!” cried Neka. “Under a tent I can tumble as well
as execute my fire tricks.”
“And I can take a hand at exhorting the folks to come in and see
our wonderful exhibition, my son. I once traveled, in my younger
days, for a circus side show, and had a neat speech which I have not
forgotten. It ran something like this:”
The elocutionist waved his hands grandly, as though addressing a vast
multitude.
“‘Walk up, tumble up, crawl up, any way to get up, kind people, and
enter and behold the wonders we have spread for your inspection. The
greatest and most glorious and mystifying combination of wonders on
the face of the terrestrial globe! You may travel from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, and see
none that will equal this stupendous and magnificent olla-podrida of
good things, and all for the small sum of one dime, the insignificant
ten cents. If you miss this unparalleled opportunity you will regret
it for the remainder of your life, so walk up at once and thus get
ahead of the great crowd that is now coming on.’
“I tell you, Neka, that used to fetch ’em every time.”
“It ought to,” laughed the boy. “Such a speech is better than blowing
a horn or beating a bass drum.”
Just as they were about to leave Lock Haven, an elderly man,
accompanied by a young lady, drove up in a T-cart and got out. They
made an inquiry of the landlord, and then turned to Neka and his
companion.
“Mr. Travers tells me you are Professor Wadsworth, the elocutionist,”
said the elderly man.
“I have that honor,” replied Longfellow Wadsworth, bowing deeply, and
removing his battered tile with a flourish.
“I am James Fordham; this is my daughter, the one that lost the skate
bag which you found.”
“Ah, yes--er----”
“My daughter thinks she should acknowledge your service,” went on
James Fordham. “Of course, not knowing anything about the ownership
of the bag, you had a perfect right to put out the pearls on a loan.”
“Merely a bit of necessity, my dear sir; otherwise I would not have
done it,” returned the elocutionist. “You see, we were short of ready
cash, and, as there is no bank in town, we could not draw on our New
York----”
“It is unnecessary to make explanations, Professor Wadsworth. The
truth is, I offered a reward of twenty-five dollars for the recovery
of the bag, and my daughter thinks, and I think, too, that you should
have the money.”
“I expected no reward, but----” Longfellow Wadsworth hesitated.
He liked to appear indifferent to pecuniary gain, but to lose
twenty-five dollars, why, that was not to be thought of.
“You will accept it, please,” said the girl. “I know now you must
have found it under the twin chestnut trees on the Chambersburgh
road.”
“I did, miss, I did. And if you really insist----”
Longfellow Wadsworth looked longingly at the five crisp five-dollar
bills in the elderly gentleman’s hand.
“I do, sir,” said the girl, and a minute after the elocutionist had
the money tucked safely in his vest pocket.
A few minutes later the two parties separated, and Neka and his
partner set off on their journey to Carmine. A farmer came along with
an empty produce wagon, and offered to give them a ride for ten cents
each, and this offer was accepted.
“We are growing rich, my son,” cried Longfellow Wadsworth, as he and
Neka rode along in the back of the wagon. “Twenty-three dollars last
night and twenty-five now make forty-eight, and two I had make an
even fifty. Not bad, is it?”
“The twenty-five is yours, professor.”
“No, no; we share and share alike; didn’t I say so before? I am not a
second Daniel Bambo, my son. Half the money is yours. Here, take it,
lest it be lost and the blame fall on my shoulders.”
“I’ll put it in my shirt, so it won’t be as easy to rob me as it was
before,” said Neka. “But tell me, why do you draw the long bow so
much?”
“Me? Never, Neka!”
“But you told them about a bank account----”
“Oh, that was a mere figure of speech--it didn’t count.”
“And you said something to the jeweler about those pearls----”
“Another little turn that hurt nobody.”
“I don’t like that.”
“Don’t be too particular in this life, my son.” Longfellow Wadsworth
was for the moment irritated, but as quickly recovered his good
humor. “Let us change the subject.”
And then he spoke of the fair and of their future plans, and so the
talk about the elocutionist’s shortcoming was dropped. But it was
plain to see that Neka’s idea of right and wrong were of a finer and
higher grade than those of his companion.
Carmine was reached in half an hour, and a few minutes later they
found themselves at the entrance to the fair grounds, which were
inclosed by a high board fence.
To the man at the gate Longfellow Wadsworth explained their mission,
and they were readily admitted. They looked over the grounds, sized
up the attractions offered, and finally made up their minds to
locate, providing they could rent a suitable tent.
They took a walk among the other “fakirs,” as all show people
are called at a fair, and soon met the owner of a trained animal
exhibition who had an extra tent he would let for three dollars a
day. The tent was twenty feet wide by fifty feet long, and though
rather small, Neka and his partner thought they could make it do.
They hired the outfit, leased a promising spot, and lost no time in
getting ready. The day was Saturday, and the fair was to open bright
and early the following Monday morning.