ANDY'S ESCAPE
Jim Tapp gave a great wriggle as Andy involuntarily let go his hold of
the young rascal. His ferret-like eyes twinkled and followed the glance
of Andy's own.
Tapp was too keen a fellow not to observe that Andy was startled and
unnerved by the unexpected appearance of some one on the scene.
He probably caught the words spoken by Andy: "My aunt," and presumably
identified Miss Lavinia Talcott as the cause of the boy's disquietude.
Further, Jim Tapp knew that Andy had run away from home and had been
sought for by the police. As it turned out later in Andy Wildwood's
career, Jim Tapp knew a great deal more than all this put together. In
fact, he knew some things of which Andy never dreamed.
Andy had been completely driven off his balance at the sight of his
aunt. It was natural that she should be at Tipton. She went there quite
often. Loneliness at home and the variety of the county fair at Tipton
had probably induced her to make the present visit.
Instantly Andy thought of but one thing--to escape recognition. Still,
the minute he let go of Tapp his presence of mind returned, and he was
sorry he had lost his nerve on an impulse. It would have been quite an
easy thing to roll and force his antagonist over the sidewalk edge. Now,
however, Tapp had wriggled past his reach.
Andy made one grab for him, prostrate on the planks now, missed, rolled
along, and dropped squarely over the inner edge of the walk five feet
down into the vacant lot below.
"She didn't see me," he panted--"I'm sure she didn't. Too bad, though! I
had that fellow, Tapp, tight. Why should I lose him, even now?"
Andy ran under the sidewalk for about ten feet. He rounded a heap of
sand and glided up a slant where an alley cut in. There he paused,
hidden by a big billboard. Peering past this barrier he could view the
crowd he had just left.
"Thief--stop thief!" fell in a frantic yell on his hearers.
To his surprise it was Jim Tapp who uttered the call. He was flinging
about in great excitement. As a police officer ran up, Andy saw him
pointing into the vacant lot. He also evidently told some specious story
to the officer.
The latter jumped into the lot, and two or three followed him. Andy saw
that he was in danger of discovery, and directed a last glance at the
crowd on the sidewalk. He saw his aunt's bobbing bonnet retreating from
the scene. He also saw Jim Tapp, apparently following her. He did not
dare to go in the same direction.
Andy dodged down the alley and came out on the next street. He looked
vainly for the two persons in whom he was interested. He failed to
locate them, and then proceeded in the direction of the circus grounds.
He was very thoughtful, and in a measure worried and uneasy.
"Tapp is pretty smart," soliloquized Andy. "He's mean, too. If he
noticed that I was flustered and afraid of Aunt Lavinia seeing me, and
guesses who she is and connects my running away from home with her, he
would tell her where I am just out of spite. Wonder if she could have me
arrested here, in another State?"
Andy was too tired to stay awake over this problem when he located the
clown's new quarters. Before he retired, however, he got word to the
circus manager that Jim Tapp was evidently following the circus, and had
been seen in Tipton that very evening.
The next morning Andy was too busy to give the matter of his aunt's near
proximity much thought. He worked with a gang hoisting the main tent
until nearly noon.
"Hi, Wildwood!" hailed a friendly voice, as Andy was leaving the cook's
tent an hour later.
The speaker was Marco. He made a few inquiries as to how Andy was
getting along. Then he said: "I saw Miss Stella Starr this morning. You
know the manager, of course?"
"Mr. Scripps--yes," nodded Andy.
"Well, about two o'clock they're going to line up the amateurs in the
performance tent. You be there."
"All right," said Andy.
"Benares and Thacher will be on hand. You'll see some fun. Afterwards
they'll put you through some stunts in dead earnest. It's your chance to
get in on the tumbling act. Would you like that?"
"I should say so--if I can do it good enough."
"Well, try, anyhow. If you're not up to average, Benares will train you.
He's taken a fancy to you, and he'll help you along. Some of the
tumblers leave us here, and they're shy on a full number. If they take
you, stick hard for ten dollars."
"A month?" said Andy.
"No, a week."
"Gracious!" exclaimed Andy, "that's too good to come out true."
"Stick and strive, Wildwood--the motto will win," declared Marco.
When Andy went to the performers' tent at two o'clock, he found over
fifty persons there. In its centre a balancing bar had been put up. An
old circus horse stood at one side. Some low trapezes were swung from a
post. A number of the circus people were lounging on benches in one
corner of the tent. In another corner on other benches some twenty
persons, mostly boys, were gathered.
"Here, you're not on show yet," spoke Benares, the trapezist, pulling
Andy beside him as he passed along. "Your turn will come after they get
rid of those aspirants yonder."