When the Circus Came to Town
Rob felt something like relief, for although still strong in his
belief that Peleg was innocent of the charge hovering over his head,
he had felt a little anxious.
“I’m glad to hear you say that, Ralph,” he remarked. “A thing like
this makes a good impression. Peleg has acted like any honest boy
would.”
“Y--es, it would seem so,” the other went on to say, with a touch of
hesitation in his speech. “I was just wondering if there could be a
method in his madness. You see, for anything we know, he may have
suspected that the pocketbook had been purposely dropped as a trap;
or even seen us hiding where we did, and on that account guessed
what was doing.”
“That thought never came to me,” Rob replied, looking grave. “While
there’s a chance that it might be so, I don’t believe it, Ralph. I
think you gave him a severe test, and that the boy came out of it
without being scorched a whit. Still, if you have the least doubt
left, and I can’t blame you for it, either, keep tabs of Peleg, and
prove the case, one way or the other.”
“Oh! I mean to, Rob. I don’t consider it’s quite fair to keep
suspecting a fellow and never openly accuse him. I own up this
affair has upset some of my opinions. I’m more inclined than ever to
believe I was mistaken.”
“Let’s forget it for the present,” suggested Rob.
To this the other only too readily agreed, for Ralph was evidently a
fair minded fellow, who believed in the good old motto of “live, and
let live.”
Supper was to be at an unusually early hour because they meant to
start to town afterwards. The Southern “mammy” who served as cook
evidently knew how to serve up “turtle fries” to equal anything a
Delmonico could boast; at least, that was the verdict of the boys
after they had tasted the dish set before them.
It was noticed, however, that Tubby, the provider of the leading
article on the bill of fare, did not seem to care particularly for
turtle; which seemed strange to some of the others, knowing his
customary tastes as they did.
“What ails you, Tubby?” demanded Sim. “Seems to me you only toy with
that helping on your plate. If you love frogs’ legs, and such things
as spring chicken, you ought to just smack your lips over such a
dish as this, fit for a crowned head.”
Tubby grinned as he went on to reply.
“Oh! I don’t know, Sim, why it doesn’t seem to strike me just right.
Somehow, I seem to don’t care for it as much as I thought I would.”
“Why, it is the finest thing going,” urged Sim, “and here you act as
if you thought it would jump right out of your plate at you!”
“Please don’t say anything more, Sim,” requested Tubby, looking a
bit pale. So the subject was dropped, though Tubby failed to take
another bite of his portion of “turtle fry.”
Rob had noticed how white the fat boy had suddenly turned while Sim
was teasing him. He immediately guessed what was the matter. He
afterwards found out, just as he suspected, that Tubby, wanting to
see how everything was done, had stood around on the previous
evening when Peleg carved the turtle into bits, after first removing
the double shell, always a difficult task.
As Rob well knew, there is often a strange species of muscle
contraction observed in the severed portions of a turtle or tortoise
when recently killed, so that even pieces of the meat on the block
will jump in a most peculiar way. Tubby, doubtless, witnessed with
amazement this phenomenon as it was pointed out to him by Peleg, and
somehow the remembrance had taken away his desire to feast upon the
unlucky owner of the shell.
However, his normal appetite seemed to come back when the heaping
plate of well-browned bass came on, for, taken in all, Tubby kept up
with the others in disposing of the second course.
It was just after supper, while the boys were sitting around on the
big porch resting a while before thinking of starting for town, that
Peleg appeared. He approached the spot where it happened Ralph and
Rob were idly moving back and forth in one of those wide porch
swings.
“I wanted to ask you, Ralph, if you had any room in the car tonight
to let me squeeze in, ’cause I happen to have some business to look
after in town that ought to be ’tended to. You see, I got a letter
when the delivery man went through this mornin’ that says I had
ought to see a lawyer in Wyoming right away concerning somethin’
that I’ll tell you ’bout later on.”
Ralph nodded his head as though it would be quite agreeable to him.
“Sure, Peleg, plenty of room,” he replied. “Car will hold seven
without crowding, and with you there will be only six. We’ll be
starting in about fifteen minutes, so if you haven’t had supper,
better be getting busy.”
Afterwards he turned toward Rob and remarked:
“Queer thing for Peleg to want to go into town at night; but then
he’s a pretty busy fellow all day long. I wonder if he did get a
letter this afternoon when the rural delivery mail man came along in
his buggy?”
“I saw him reading some sort of letter half an hour ago, so I
imagine he did,” Rob told him, and the subject was dropped.
The patrol leader had noticed, however, that Peleg looked flushed
more than ordinarily at the time he asked permission to accompany
them to town. From this fact he imagined the boy had something on
his mind. Perhaps that letter had been from the sister who was
living in service some seven miles away in an opposite direction
from Wyoming, and whom he did not often see. However, it was no
business of his who Peleg corresponded with, and so Rob put the
matter out of his mind.
Later on the four boys jumped into the big old car as Ralph drew up
in front of the farmhouse. Peleg, too, was ready, and found a place
on one of the extra movable seats. Rob again noticed that the boy
seemed to be excited, though never speaking unless addressed.
Several times he believed Peleg was chuckling to himself as if
secretly pleased; but, then, a trip to town after nightfall might be
a treat that excited his delight.
When they finally had covered the distance separating the Jeffords’
farm from Wyoming, and put the car up at a convenient garage where
it could be called for at any hour of the night, Peleg said he
guessed he would move along.
“We don’t know just when we’ll be starting back, Peleg,” Ralph
called after him; “but better show up here by eleven at the latest,
or you might get left.”
“Oh! I’ll be along before that,” confidently replied the other, as
he hurried away down the street.
Sim was chuckling as though secretly amused.
“Now what has got hold of you, Sim, to keep making all those queer
sounds like you do?” demanded Andy Bowles.
“Oh! nothing much,” answered the disturber of the peace, “only I
think I can see through a mill-stone when there’s a hole in it. I
was thinking about Peleg’s asking to come with us. That letter
business may have only been a blind. The real cause you can hear, if
you listen right now.”
“Why, it’s a band playing, as you live!” ejaculated Tubby.
“To be sure,” laughed Ralph. “I forgot that this was the night the
circus was billed to strike Wyoming. It’s located on a vacant lot we
have to pass going toward the centre of the town. Come along, let’s
stand around for a bit and see the sights. I always like to watch
the shouters get busy, and see the crowd of country yahoos gathering
around. We’ve got a whole hour yet before the concert begins, boys.”
What wideawake boy could ever resist the alluring attraction of a
circus band, with the added pleasure of listening to the various
glib-tongued orators who so loudly describe the wonders to be seen
in the side shows? Even Rob was perfectly willing to move along and
join the crowd surging in front of the round-top that occupied the
big vacant lot.
Many lights abounded, strange sounds came from beyond the canvas
walls, and everything combined to throw an air of romantic interest
about the one-night stand of the Great Aggregation that had honored
Wyoming with its presence.
So the five boys stood and listened and laughed while the
loud-voiced fakirs on the platforms bellowed their invitations to
“step in and see the seven wonders of the world,” as shown in their
side shows; while the busy ticket-taker in the circus wagon
continued to sell pasteboard admissions to the big event, and people
gradually sifted into the round-top for the evening performance.
“There’s Peleg!” announced Sim, later on. “What did I tell you,
fellows?”
Sure enough, Peleg was to be seen standing there, with a look of
intense interest on his face, as though greatly amused by all this
glitter and talk. The woman in spangles who handled an enormous
snake so fearlessly had the crowd gaping with awe; the pigmies from
the heart of Africa who sang such a quaint song and exhibited their
war trophies excited great interest; and the giant and dwarf
appearing side by side on another platform caused quite a stampede
in that direction when they pretended to engage in a boxing match.
No wonder then that Peleg could not resist stopping on his way, and
staring at those wonderful sights. It would be hard, indeed, to find
any boy capable of passing by on the other side of the street, no
matter what his errand, without halting for at least a few minutes’
survey and treat.
“But you notice that he isn’t showing any signs of going inside,
don’t you?” Tubby was saying, turning to Sim. “Perhaps Peleg did
have some other sort of errand in town, just as he said. Stopping on
his way doesn’t signify anything, for we’re doing the same thing.”
Still, Peleg was standing there when they once more resumed their
stroll, that same entranced look on his freckled face; as though he
may have utterly forgotten the passage of time, and the fact of his
having business to attend to in this unexpected treat of being
brought in touch with a traveling circus.
Ralph had several things he wanted his friends to see while in town.
Of course, they might be trivial sights to these scouts, some of
whom had actually been across the ocean; traveled to Mexico, and
visited at the great Panama-Pacific Exposition on the Coast; but,
then, like most boys, he felt that it was up to him to do the honors
to the best of his ability.
So Rob and the others looked upon the high school with its campus;
heard about the doings of the football team, and the baseball nine
that represented Wyoming in the league; were shown the various mills
and factories upon which the stability of Wyoming rested; and,
finally, along toward half-past seven, they started for the hall
where the concert was to be given, and which happened to be in the
centre of the town.
Rob noticed that quite a lively wind had arisen. Some of the boys
remarked that they were glad they had thought to “chuck” their
sweaters in the car, for with such a high breeze in their faces they
would need them going home at a late hour. Mention is made of this
because it afterwards turned out that this same strong wind had much
to do with the fortunes of Wyoming before another day dawned.
As they passed along the main street of the town Rob saw Ralph
pointing to what seemed to be an abandoned frame building that had
once been a bustling hive of industry, though now deserted. It stood
as a connecting link between the old part of the town and the newer
section where all those factories and mills lay.
“Going to be pulled down soon, and another big mill built there,”
Ralph remarked, and then he added, turning to Rob: “Look, Rob,
there’s Peleg now, and going in that place!”