Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net.
[Illustration: _LEO'S FIRST APPEARANCE_]
LEO THE CIRCUS BOY;
or
LIFE UNDER THE GREAT WHITE CANVAS
BY CAPTAIN RALPH BONEHILL,
Author of "The Young Oarsmen of Lakeview," "The Rival
Bicyclists," "Gun and Sled," etc., etc.
CHICAGO:
_M. A. Donohue_ & Co.
_Copyright_, 1897.
_BY_
_W. L. Allison_ Co.
CONTENTS
- CHAPTER I.--A ROW AND ITS RESULT.
- CHAPTER II.--CAPTURING A RUNAWAY LION.
- CHAPTER III.--LEO LEAVES THE FARM.
- CHAPTER IV.--LEO JOINS THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH.
- CHAPTER V.--A LEAP OF GREAT PERIL.
- CHAPTER VI.--LEO ASSERTS HIS RIGHTS.
- CHAPTER VII.--LEO GAINS HIS LIBERTY.
- CHAPTER VIII.--AMONG THE CLOUDS IN A THUNDERSTORM.
- CHAPTER IX.--THE MAD ELEPHANT.
- CHAPTER X.--CAPTURING THE ELEPHANT.
- CHAPTER XI.--A CRIMINAL COMPACT.
- CHAPTER XII.--THE STOLEN CIRCUS TICKETS.
- CHAPTER XIII.--LEO MAKES A CHANGE.
- CHAPTER XIV.--LEO MAKES A NEW FRIEND.
- CHAPTER XV.--AN ACT NOT ON THE BILLS.
- CHAPTER XVI.--AN UNPLEASANT POSITION.
- CHAPTER XVII.--CARL SHOWS HIS BRAVERY.
- CHAPTER XVIII.--A WONDERFUL TRICK EXPLAINED.
- CHAPTER XIX.--WAMPOLE'S NEW SCHEME.
- CHAPTER XX.--ANOTHER STOP ON THE ROAD.
- CHAPTER XXI.--AN UNEXPECTED BATH.
- CHAPTER XXII.--WAMPOLE SHOWS HIS HAND.
- CHAPTER XXIII.--THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH ONCE MORE.
- CHAPTER XXIV.--IN THE CIRCUS RING AGAIN.
- CHAPTER XXV.--ANOTHER BALLOON TRIP.
- CHAPTER XXVI.--ADVENTURES AMID THE FLAMES.
- CHAPTER XXVII.--ESCAPE FROM THE BURNING FOREST.
- CHAPTER XXVIII.--THE RIVAL BALLOONISTS.
- CHAPTER XXIX.--PORLER'S MOVE.
- CHAPTER XXX.--MART KEENE'S STORY.
- CHAPTER XXXI.--A FALL FROM THE CLOUDS.
- CHAPTER XXXII.--MART A PRISONER.
- CHAPTER XXXIII.--LEO TO THE RESCUE.
- CHAPTER XXXIV.--THE END OF PORLER.
- CHAPTER XXXV.--A COWARDLY ATTACK.
- CHAPTER XXXVI.--ON THE ELEVATED TRACKS.
- CHAPTER XXXVII.--THE CAPTURE OF GRISWOLD.
- CHAPTER XXXVIII.--GOOD-BY TO THE CIRCUS BOY.
Leo the Circus Boy
CHAPTER I.--A ROW AND ITS RESULT.
"Land sakes alive, Daniel, look at that boy!"
"Where is he, Marthy?"
"Up there on the old apple tree a-hangin' down by his toes! My gracious,
does he wanter kill himself?"
"Thet's wot he does, Marthy," grumbled old Daniel Hawkins. "He'll do it,
jest so ez we kin pay his funeral expenses. Never seen sech a boy before
in my born days!"
"Go after him with the horsewhip, Daniel. Oh! goodness gracious, look at
thet now!"
And the woman, or, rather, Tartar, Mrs. Martha Hawkins, held up her
hands in terror as the boy on the apple tree suddenly gave a swing,
released his feet, and, with a graceful turn forward, landed on his feet
on the ground.
"Wot do yer mean by sech actions, yer young good-fer-nothin'?" cried
Daniel Hawkins, rushing forward, his face full of sudden rage. "Do yer
want ter break yer wuthless neck?"
"Not much, I don't," replied the boy, with a little smile creeping over
his sunburned, handsome face. "I'm afraid if I did that I would never
get over it, Mr. Hawkins."
"Don't try ter joke me, Leo Dunbar, or I'll break every bone in your
worthless body!"
"I'm not joking; I mean what I say."
"Did yer put the cattle out in the cherry pasture?"
"Yes, sir."
"Feed the pigs?"
"Yes, sir."
"Mend thet barn door! as I told yer to yesterday?"
"Mended it last night."
"Wot about fixin' thet scythe yer broke tudder day?"
"I can't fix that. I'll have to take it down to Joe Marks' blacksmith
shop."
"O' course! An' who's goin' ter pay fer it?" demanded Daniel Hawkins.
"You can take it out of my wages, Mr. Hawkins."
"Out o' yer wages?"
"That's what I said, sir."
The old farmer's face grew darker than ever. "Ain't no wages comin' to
yer! You spile more than yer earn."
"According to my reckoning there are about twenty-eight dollars coming
to me," returned Leo Dunbar quickly. "I have kept the tally ever since I
came to live with you."
"Ain't a cent, boy; not a penny."
"I beg to differ with you. And now while we are at it, Mr. Hawkins,
supposing we settle up?"
"Eh?"
"I say, supposing we settle up?"
"Settle up?" repeated the miserly farmer in amazement.
"Yes. You can pay me what you owe me. My month will be up to-morrow, and
I don't intend to stay here any longer."
"But yer will stay, boy! I've got a right on yer. The poorhouse folks
signed the papers."
"Squire Dobb signed the papers, but to me that doesn't count. He never
had any claim on me."
"He settled yer father's estate."
"I know it--and kept me out of my money, too."
"You--you----"
"No more compliments, Mr. Hawkins. I say he kept me out of my money, and
I mean it. And now he and you are doing about all you can to make me
commit suicide." "Oh! jest to hear thet boy!" burst in Mrs. Hawkins, who
had just come up. "Daniel, why don't yeou birch him?"
"I will, ef he gives me any more sass," replied her husband. "He shan't
talk about me an' the squire."
The old farmer was getting red in the face. He knew that Leo Dunbar was
telling the truth.
A year before, Leo's parents had died, leaving the boy alone in the
world.
Mr. Dunbar's property had been very much involved, and Squire Dobb, the
most rascally lawyer in Hopsville, had taken the matter in charge.
At the end of six months he had announced to Leo that there was no money
coming to him. Then, as manager of the poorhouse of the district, the
lawyer had bound Leo over to Daniel Hawkins at four dollars a month and
found.
"I will talk," cried Leo spiritedly. "I think it about time that I
received my rights."
This remark made Daniel Hawkins' wrath boil over. He ran toward the barn
and presently returned, carrying a heavy hide-bound whip.
"You ain't had a dressing down in a month, an' now I'm a-goin' ter give
it to yer good!" he exclaimed, as he raised the whip and rushed at Leo.
Whiz! The heavy whip came down, the blow aimed for the boy's shoulder.
But Leo was not hit. Like a flash he moved to one side at the last
instant, and the whip only circled through the empty air.
More enraged than before Daniel Hawkins rushed forward again and caught
the boy by the arm.
"You whelp! I'll show you!" he snarled.
Again the whip was raised. But it never struck the blow intended, for an
interruption came as terrorizing as it was unexpected.
There was a fearful roar out in the dusty road beyond the house, a roar
that echoed and re-echoed among the hills around, and then a huge beast
bounded over the stone fence, landing directly at Leo Dunbar's feet.
It was a lion that had escaped from "The Greatest Show on Earth," the
circus that was to perform at Hopsville that afternoon and evening.