TARBOX IS DEFEATED.
The performance had not commenced—indeed, half an hour would elapse
before the hour fixed—and several of the performers were to be seen
among the spectators about the cages of the animals. One of these
Tarbox recognized.
"Look at that boy!" he said, clutching the constable's arm.
He pointed to Robert Rudd and Charlie Davis, the two young riders, who
were walking together.
"What of him?" asked Spriggins.
"That's the young villain that was with Enoch."
Spriggins inwardly wished that the warrant was for Robert instead of
the giant.
"Why didn't you arrest him instead of the giant?" he asked.
"Perhaps I will yet, for he trespassed on my grounds; but it was Enoch
that shook me up and killed Bruiser. Look here, young feller," he
said, addressing Robert.
Robert turned and smiled as he recognized the farmer.
"Oh, it's you," he answered.
"Yes, it's me," answered Tarbox sternly. "Where is Enoch?"
"Who do you mean?"
"That overgrown brute that was with you this afternoon."
Charlie Davis asked a question in a low voice of Robert, and then
turning to Tarbox before Robert had a chance to answer him asked: "Do
you want to buy a dog, mister?"
"You're too small! I don't want a puppy!" answered Tarbox, scowling.
"Oh, you're too fresh!" answered Charlie, rather annoyed, particularly
as Robert laughed.
"Why don't you answer me, boy?" demanded Tarbox angrily.
"I will conduct you to my friend, the Norwegian giant," answered Robert
politely.
"Come along, Spriggins!" said Mr. Tarbox, pulling after him the
reluctant constable.
Spriggins would have enjoyed a leisurely examination of the Albino
sisters, the wild man from Borneo, the living skeleton, and the fat
lady, but none of them had attractions for Mr. Tarbox, whose soul was
fired by the desire for revenge. All too soon they reached the chair
where in massive dignity sat Anak, the Norwegian giant.
As Anak's eyes rested on the approaching visitors, he looked amused.
"I'm glad to see you, my friend," he called out, in the deep tones
natural to him, to Tarbox.
"And I'm glad to see you," said Tarbox, spitefully. "I came here
expressly to see you."
"You're very kind," said Anak. "Take a good look. There ain't so much
of me as there is of my friend, Mme. Leonora," with a wave of the hand
towards the fat lady; "but you can look at me as much as you want to."
"I shall soon see you in a prison cell," said Mr. Tarbox, sternly.
"Constable Spriggins, do your duty, sir."
Poor Spriggins gazed at the immense man before him, with his heart
gradually sinking down into his boots. Never in all his life had he
been placed in such an embarrassing position. What utter nonsense it
was for him to think of leading out such a monster by the collar. Why,
he couldn't begin to reach up to Anak's collar.
"Can't we compromise this thing?" he asked, faintly.
"No, we can't, Spriggins; I insist upon your doin' your duty."
"What do you want?" asked Anak, in some curiosity.
"Produce your warrant, Spriggins," said Tarbox.
The constable mechanically drew it out from his inside pocket.
Tarbox saw that he must take the initiative, and he was perfectly
willing to do so.
"Enoch," he said, "this man is an officer of the law. He has a warrant
for your arrest."
"For my arrest?" inquired Anak, opening his eyes in amazed surprise.
"Yes, for assault and battery on me, Nathan Tarbox, and the murder of
my dog, Bruiser. Such things can be done in Norway, p'r'aps, but they
ain't allowed in the State of Massachusetts. Spriggins, do your duty."
The constable looked at the giant uncomfortably, and edged away a
little.
"What!" said Anak, shaking his sides, "does he want to arrest me?"
"Yes," said Tarbox, grimly. "Spriggins, read the warrant."
"Read it yourself, Mr. Tarbox."
Tarbox did so with evident enjoyment, but Anak's enjoyment seemed no
less.
"Ho, ho, ho!" he shouted. "This is a joke!"
"You won't find it much of a joke," said Tarbox. "Come, Spriggins, do
your duty."
"Mr. Enoch," said the constable, in a trembling voice, "if you'll come
with me without making any fuss, I'll see that you are well treated."
"Suppose I don't?" said Anak.
Spriggins looked helplessly at Tarbox. That was a question he could not
answer.
"Then it'll be the worse for you," said Tarbox, who was always ready to
make up for his companion's deficiencies.
"Can't you wait till the performance is over?" asked the giant, smiling.
"To be sure," said Spriggins, quickly. "Anything to oblige."
"No," said Tarbox, decidedly. "The warrant must be served now. You have
no discretion."
"I'd like to oblige the gentleman," said the constable, who wanted to
avoid trouble and see the performance.
"You can't. It won't be allowed."
"What's the use of losing the benefit of our money, Mr. Tarbox?"
"That's my affair. I don't want to see the circus. I consider it a
wicked snare to lure souls to Satan."
"But I don't; you can go, you know," suggested Spriggins.
"No; I shall stay here to see that you do your duty."
"You have no charge over me," said the constable, with some spirit.
"All the same you need looking after. Enoch, if you defy the law you'll
find it the worse for you. This ain't Norway."
"No; we've got no such fools as you in Norway," retorted the giant.
"Tell me what you want."
Tarbox whispered to Spriggins.
The latter in a tremulous voice said, "Enoch, I arrest you in the name
of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and I require you to come with me
at once."
"Come and take me," said Anak, his broad face relaxing with a smile.
"What do you mean?" asked Tarbox, quickly.
"I mean that I shan't stir from this chair. My contract with this show
requires me to sit here. If the constable wants me, he must take me by
force. He needn't be afraid. If he can take me he may."
Even Tarbox looked rather nonplussed. Both he and Spriggins together
would have found it impossible to carry off a giant weighing over four
hundred pounds.
"You see, we'll have to give it up," said Spriggins, with evident
pleasure.
"You're glad of it!" said Tarbox, suspiciously. "You don't want to do
your duty."
"I've tried to do it, and it's no use," said the constable, with a
little show of spirit. "If I had the strength of a yoke of oxen, I
might do something; as it is, I can't."
"You'd better come quietly, Enoch," said Tarbox, his own courage
beginning to fail.
A crowd had collected about the two, and derisive smiles and remarks
greeted the lamentable failure of Tarbox's scheme of revenge.
"Get a wheelbarrow, mister," said a boy from a neighboring town.
"Hadn't you better try a derrick?" suggested a man beside him.
"You must be a lunatic!" said another.
"We'd better go, Mr. Tarbox," said Spriggins, uncomfortably.
"I won't stir," said Tarbox, looking around him with a scowl, "till I
see that warrant served. I wish I was a constable."
"It wouldn't be healthy for you, old man!" said Charlie Davis, who,
with Robert, had been drawn to the scene, and heard the colloquy.
"I'd make you healthy if I had you with me for a few minutes," said
Tarbox, scowling.
"Thank you; you're very kind, but my time is too valuable," said
Charlie.
"What is all this?" asked a voice of authority.
It was the voice of the manager, who had been attracted by the crowd as
he was going his rounds.
"The matter is that we've got a warrant for this man's arrest!" said
Tarbox, pointing to the giant.
"Show me your warrant!"
It was handed him.
He smiled as he read it, and handing it back, remarked, "Your warrant
is mere waste paper, gentlemen."
"Why is it?" asked Tarbox, defiantly.
"Because there is no such man as Enoch in this show."
"Isn't that his name?" asked Tarbox.
"No, it isn't. If you can find a man by that name you are welcome to
take him."
"Crushed again," remarked Charlie Davis, mockingly.
Tarbox made a grab for the boy's collar, but failed to secure him.
"Come along out, Spriggins," he said, in a tone of deep depression.
"You can go if you like," said the constable, independently; "I'm going
to stay and see the show."