RAISING THE TENT
Toby went into the house, feeling rather uneasy because he had not been
called; but when Aunt Olive told him that Abner had aroused from his
slumber but twice, and then only for a moment, he had no idea of being
worried about his friend, although he did think it a little singular he
should sleep so long.
That evening Dr. Abbot called again, although he had been there once
before that day; and when Toby saw how troubled Uncle Daniel and Aunt
Olive looked after he had gone, he asked;
"You don't think Abner is goin' to be sick, do you?"
Uncle Daniel made no reply, and Aunt Olive did not speak for some
moments; then she said:
"I am afraid he stayed out too long this morning; but the doctor hopes
he will be better to-morrow."
If Toby had not been so busily engaged planning for Abner to see the
work next day, he would have noticed that the sick boy was not left
alone for more than a few moments at a time, and that both Uncle Daniel
and Aunt Olive seemed to have agreed not to say anything discouraging to
him regarding his friend's illness.
When he went to bed that night, he fancied Uncle Daniel's voice
trembled, as he said:
"May the good God guard and spare you to me, Toby, boy;" but he gave no
particular thought to the matter, and the sandman threw dust in his eyes
very soon after his head was on the pillow.
In the morning his first question was regarding Abner, and then he was
told that his friend was not nearly so well as he had been; Aunt Olive
even said that Toby had better not go into the sick-room, for fear of
disturbing the invalid.
"Go on with your play by yourself, Toby, boy, and that will be a great
deal better than trying to have Abner join you, until he is much
better," said Uncle Daniel, kindly.
"But hain't he goin' to have a ride this mornin'?"
"No, he is not well enough to get up. You go on building your tent, and
you will be so near the house that you can be called at any moment, if
Abner asks for you."
Toby was considerably disturbed by the fact that he was not allowed to
see his friend, and by the way Uncle Daniel spoke; but he went out to
the barn where his partners were already waiting for him, feeling all
the more sad now because of his elation the day before.
He had no heart for the work, and, after telling the boys that Abner
was sick again, proposed to postpone operations until he should get
better; but they insisted that as they were so near the house, it would
be as well to go on with the work as to remain idle, and Toby could
offer no argument to the contrary.
Although he did quite as much towards the putting-up of the tent as the
others did, it was plain to be seen that he had lost his interest in
anything of the kind, and at least once every half-hour he ran into the
house to learn how the sick boy was getting on.
All of Aunt Olive's replies were the same: Abner slept a good portion of
the time, and during the few moments he was awake said nothing, except
in answer to questions. He did not complain of any pain, nor did he
appear to take any notice of what was going on around him.
"I think it's because he got all tired out yesterday, an' that he'll be
himself again to-morrow," said Aunt Olive, after Toby had come in for
at least the sixth time, and she saw how worried he was.
This hopeful remark restored Toby to something very near his usual good
spirits; and when he went back to his work after that, his partners were
pleased to see him take more interest in what was going on.
The tent was up firmly enough to resist any moderate amount of wind, but
it did not look quite so neat as it would have done had it not been
necessary to perform the operation of "tucking in" one end, which made
that side hang in folds that were by no means a pleasing addition to the
general appearance.
The small door of the barn, over which the tent was placed, served
instead of a curtain to their dressing-room; and at one side of it, on
an upturned barrel, arrangements were made for a band-stand.
Mr. Mansfield's flag covered the one end completely, and all the boys
thought it gave a better appearance to the whole than if they had made
it wholly of canvas.
The ring, which Reddy marked out almost before the tent was up, occupied
nearly the whole of the interior; but since they did not intend to have
any seats for their audience, it was thought there would be plenty of
room for all who would come to see them. The main point was to have the
ring, and to have it as nearly like that of a regular circus as
possible, while the audience could be trusted to take care of itself.
The animals to be exhibited were to be placed in small cages at each
corner. Reddy had at first insisted that each cage should be on a cart
to make it look well; but he gave up that idea when Bob pointed out to
him that six mice or two squirrels would make rather a small show in a
wagon, and that they would be obliged to enlarge their tent if they
carried out that plan, even provided they could get the necessary
number of carts, which was very doubtful.
In the matter of getting sheets from their mothers they had not been as
successful as they had anticipated. No one of the ladies who had been
spoken to on the subject was willing to have her bed-linen decorating
the interior of a circus-tent, even though the show was to be only a
little one for three cents.
Reddy was quite sure he could mend one or two of the largest holes if he
had a darning-needle and some twine; but after he got both from Aunt
Olive, and stuck the needle twice in his own hand, once in Joe
Robinson's, and then broke it, he concluded that it would be just as
well to paste brown paper over the holes.
It was a hard job to dig the ground up in order to make as large a ring
as the boys had marked out, but by persistent work it was accomplished,
as almost everything can be; and then Ben went to practising, in order
that he might, as he expressed it, "get the hang of the thing."
Of course, the fact that a tent had been put up by the side of Uncle
Daniel's barn was soon known to every boy in the village, and the rush
of visitors that afternoon was so great that Joe was obliged to begin
his duties as door-keeper in advance, in order to keep back the crowd.
The number of questions asked by each boy who arrived kept Joe so busy
answering them that, after every one in town knew exactly what was going
on, Reddy hit upon the happy plan of getting a large piece of paper, and
painting on it an announcement of their exhibition.
It was while he was absent in search of the necessary materials with
which to carry out this work that the finishing touches were put on the
interior; and the partners were counting the number of hand-springs Ben
could turn without stopping, when a great shout arose from the visitors
outside, and the circus owners heard a pattering and scratching on the
canvas above their heads.
"Mr. Stubbs's brother has got loose, an' he's tearin' 'round on the
tent!" shouted Joe, as he poked his head in through a hole in the flag,
and at the same time struggled to keep back a small but bold boy with
his foot.
Toby, followed by the other proprietors, rushed out at this alarming bit
of news, and, sure enough, there was the monkey dancing around on the
top of the tent like a crazy person, while the rope with which he had
been tied dangled from his neck.
It seemed to Toby that no other monkey could possibly behave half so
badly as did Mr. Stubbs's brother on that occasion. He danced back and
forth from one end of the tent to the other, as if he had been a
tight-rope performer giving a free exhibition; then he would sit down
and try to find out just how large a hole he could tear in the tender
canvas, until it seemed as if the tent would certainly be a wreck before
they could get him down.
Toby coaxed and scolded, and scolded and coaxed, but all to no purpose.
The monkey would clamber down over the end of the tent as if he were
about to allow himself to be made a prisoner, and then, just as Toby was
about to catch the rope, he would spring upon the ridge-pole again,
chattering with joy at the disappointment he had caused.
The visitors fairly roared with delight, and even the proprietors, whose
borrowed property was being destroyed, could not help laughing at times,
although there was not one of them who would not have enjoyed punishing
Mr. Stubbs's brother very severely.
"He'll break the whole show up if we don't get him off," said Bob, as
the monkey tore a larger hole than he had yet made, and the crowd
encouraged him in his mischievous work by their wild cheers.
"I know it; but how can we get him down?" asked Toby, in perplexity,
knowing that it would not be safe for any one of them to climb upon the
decayed canvas, even if there were a chance that the monkey would wait
for them to catch him after they got there.
"Get a long pole, an' scrape him off," suggested Joe; but Toby shook his
head, for he knew that to "scrape" a monkey from such a place would be
an impossibility.
Bob had an idea that if he had a rope long enough to make a lasso, he
could get it around the animal's neck and pull him down; but just as he
set out to find the rope, Mr. Stubbs's brother settled the matter
himself.
He had torn one hole fully five inches long, and commenced on another a
short distance from the first, when the thin fabric gave way, the two
rents were made one, and down fell Mr. Monkey, only saved from falling
to the ground by his chin catching on the edges of the cloth.
There he hung, his little round head just showing above the canvas, with
a bewildered, and, at the same time, discouraged look on his face.
Toby knew that it would be but a moment before the monkey would get his
paws out from under the canvas, and thus extricate himself from his
uncomfortable position. Running quickly inside the tent, he seized Mr.
Stubbs's brother by his long tail, pulling him completely through, and
the mischievous pet was again a prisoner.
It was a great disappointment to the boys on the outside when this
portion of the circus was hidden from view; but it was equally as great
a relief to the partners that the destruction of their tent was at last
averted.
After the excitement had nearly subsided, and Toby was reading his pet
a lesson on the sin of destructiveness, Reddy arrived with the materials
for making his circus poster--a sheet of brown paper, a bottle of ink,
and a brush made by chewing the end of a pine stick.
He began his work at once. It was a long task, but was at last
accomplished, and when the partners went to their respective homes that
night, the following placard adorned one side of the tent:
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| BiG CiRCUS |
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| DOORS OpEn PuTTy SOOn |
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| PRiCe 3 CEnTS |
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