THE BIG CIRCUS
Bunny Brown and his sister Sue looked at one another. If the white mice
had escaped from the circus tent, some of the other animals might also
get away. And suppose that should happen to the lion, which Ben had said
was in one of the boxes! Just suppose!
"I--I guess we'd better go home, Bunny," said Sue, in a whisper.
"Yes," he answered. "I--I guess mother wants us. Come on!"
"What's the matter?" asked Bunker Blue. "I thought you were going to
stay and help us, Bunny."
"I--I was. But if those mice got away--"
"Oh, I see!" laughed Bunker Blue. "You're afraid some of the other
animals might also get out. But don't be afraid. We haven't any of the
other wild beasts in here yet."
"But that--that lion," said Bunny, looking toward the animal tent.
"Oh, he's asleep," said Ben. "Besides he wouldn't hurt anyone even if he
was out of his cage. You needn't be afraid. He's the only animal, except
the mice, that we've put in the tent yet. But how did your mice get out,
Sam?" he asked the boy who owned them.
"I don't know. They were all right last night, but, when I went to feed
them this morning, the cage door was open, and they were all gone."
"Will--will they bite?" asked Sue.
"No, they're very tame and gentle," answered Sam. "White mice and white
rats, you know, aren't like the other kind. I guess being colored white
makes them kind and nice. They run all over me, in my pockets and up my
sleeves. Sometimes they go to sleep in my pockets.
"Why, even my mother isn't afraid of them, and she'll let them go to
sleep in her lap, and she wouldn't do that for a black mouse or a black
or gray rat. No sir!"
"No, I guess not!" exclaimed Bunker. "Other rats and mice would bite.
But it's too bad your white ones are gone. We'll have to find them. We
can't have a good circus without them. Everybody help hunt for Sam's
lost mice!" cried Bunker.
"I--I know how to get them," said Sue.
"How?" Sam wanted to know. He and the others, including Bunny and Sue,
had gone inside the tent to look at the empty mouse cage.
"With cheese," answered Sue. "Don't you know the little verse: 'Once a
trap was baited, with a piece of cheese. It tickled so a little mouse it
almost made him sneeze.' And when your mices sneeze, when they smell the
cheese, you could hear them, and catch them, Sam."
"Yes, maybe that would be a good plan," laughed Bunker Blue. "But do
your mice like cheese, Sam?"
"Yes, they'll eat almost anything, and they'll take it right out of my
hand. Oh dear! I hope they come back!"
Sam felt very bad, for he had had his white mice pets a long time, and
had taught them to do many little tricks.
"We'll all help you look for them," said Ben. "Did you ever teach any of
them the trick of opening the cage door?" he asked.
"No," replied Sam. "I don't believe they could do that, for the door was
fastened on the outside, and white mice haven't paws like a trained
monkey. Maybe I didn't fasten the cage door good last night."
"Oh, Bunny!" cried Sue. "Wouldn't it be fun if we could send and get Mr.
Winkler's monkey Wango for our circus? Wouldn't it?"
"Yes, maybe it would," replied Bunny. "But I don't guess we could do it.
Come on, Sue, I'm going to look for the white mice."
"All right," Sue said. Maybe some little girls would be afraid of mice,
white, black or gray. But Sue was not. Perhaps it was because she knew
Bunny was going to be with her. Then, too, Sue was very anxious to have
the circus as good as it could be made, and if the mice were missing
some of the people who came might not like it. So Sue and Bunny said
they would help hunt for the lost white mice.
With the big boys, the children looked all around the animal tent. The
ground had been covered with straw, and the mice might be hiding in
this, or among the boxes and barrels in the tent. But, look as every one
did, the mice were not to be found.
"What's in that box?" asked Sue, pointing to one covered with a horse
blanket.
"That's the lion," answered Bunker Blue. "But don't be afraid," he went
on, as he saw Sue step to one side. "He's asleep now. Besides he can't
hurt anyone. You'll see, when we have the circus."
No one knew where the white mice had gone. Even Splash could not find
them, though both Bunny and Sue told their dog to look for Sam's pets.
"I guess Splash isn't a rat dog," said Ben.
"No, and I'm glad he isn't," Sam said. "Rat dogs might think white mice
were made for them to shake and kill, just as they shake and kill the
other kind of rats and mice. I'd rather lose my white mice, and never
see them again, than have them killed."
But, even though the white mice were missing, the circus would go on
just the same. And now began a busy time for all the big boys. The show
would be given in two more days, and there was much to be done before
that time.
Sam and Bunker Blue had painted some signs which they tacked up on
Grandpa Brown's barn, as well as on the barns of some of the other
farmers. Everybody was invited to come to the circus, and those who
wanted to could give a little money to help pay for the hire of the big
tent. Many of the farmers and their wives said they would do this.
One by one the animal cages, which were just wooden boxes with wooden
slats nailed in front, were brought into the animal tent. They were put
around in a circle on the straw which covered the ground.
In the other tent the boys had made a little wooden platform, like a
stage. They had put up trapezes and bars, on which they could do all
sorts of tricks, such as hanging by their hands, by their heels and even
by their chins.
No one except themselves knew what Bunny and his sister Sue were going
to do. The children had kept their secret well. They had asked their
grandma for two old bed sheets, and she had let them take the white
pieces of cloth. Bunny and Sue were making something in the harness room
of the barn, and they kept the door shut so no one could look in.
It was the night before the circus, and Bunny and Sue had gone to bed.
They were almost asleep when, in the next room, they heard their mother
call:
"Oh, Walter!" exclaimed Mrs. Brown to her husband. "There's something
under my bed. I'm sure it's one of the animals from the boys' circus! Do
look and see what it is!"
"Oh, it can't be anything," said Mr. Brown. "All the animals are shut up
in the tent. Besides, they are only make-believe animals, anyhow."
"Well, I'm sure _something_ is under my bed!" said Mrs. Brown. "I heard
it move. Please look!"
Mr. Brown looked. Sue and Bunny wondered what it was their papa would
find. They heard him say:
"Oh, it's nothing but a piece of white paper. You heard it rattle in the
wind. Come and see for yourself."
Bunny and Sue heard their mother cross the room. She stooped down to
look under the bed. Then she cried:
"Oh, Walter! It's alive! It isn't paper at all. It's coming out!"
"Why, so it is!" said Mr. Brown. "I wonder what--?"
Then Mrs. Brown screamed, and Mr. Brown laughed.
"Oh, it's a mouse! It's a rat! It's a whole lot of mice!" said Bunny's
mother.
"Yes, it's a whole lot of mice, and they're white!" said Mr. Brown with
a jolly laugh. "Hurrah! We've found the lost white mice from the boys'
circus! You needn't be afraid of them!"
Mrs. Brown did not scream any more. She was not afraid of white mice.
Bunny and Sue ran into the room where their mother and father were.
There they saw their father picking up the white mice in his hands, and
petting them. The mice seemed to like it.
"Oh, where did you find them?" cried Bunny.
"Under our bed," his mother said.
"Oh, how glad Sam will be!" said Sue. "Now we can have the circus all
right."
And so the white mice were found. They had gotten out of their cage in
the tent, and had, somehow or other, found their way to the farmhouse.
There they had hid themselves away, until that night when they came out
into Mr. Brown's room.
"Well, I'm glad they are found," said Mrs. Brown. "Give them something
to eat, and put them in a box until morning."
This Mr. Brown did, after Bunny and Sue had held in their hands the
queer pets, which had such funny pink eyes.
"I want to see them do some tricks," said Sue.
"Sam can hitch them to a little cart and drive them," said Bunny. "He
told me so."
The mice were put safely away ready for the circus the next day, and
soon the house was quiet, with everyone asleep.
The sun was brightly shining. There was just enough wind to make it
cool, and the weather was perfectly fine for the circus. Bunny, Sue,
Bunker and Ben were up early that morning, for there was still much to
do.
Sam, the boy who owned the white mice, came over to ask if his pets had
been found. And when told that they were safe in a box down in the
cellar, he was very happy indeed.
"I must put them back in their cage, and let them practise a few of
their tricks," he said. "They may have forgotten some as they have been
away from me so long."
Bunny and Sue had to get their things ready. They were to have a little
place in the big tent to dress and get ready for their act. They were
the smallest folks in the circus, and everyone was anxious to see what
they would do.
On the big, as well as on the little, tent the boys had fastened flags.
Some were the regular stars and stripes of our own country, and other
flags were just pieces of bright-colored cloth that the boys' mothers
had given them. But the tents looked very pretty in the bright and
sparkling sunshine, with the gay banners fluttering.
Just as in a real circus, the people who came were to go first into the
animal tent, and from there on into the one with the seats, where they
would watch the performance.
Soon after dinner the farmers and their wives, with such of their
children who were not taking part in the show, began to come.
"Right this way to see the wild animals!" called Ben Hall, who was
making believe he was a lion tamer. "This way for the wild animals! Come
one! Come all!"
The people crowded into the small tent. All around the sides were wooden
boxes, with wooden slats. These were the "cages."
"Now watch the trained white mice!" cried Ben. "The big circus is about
to begin!"
"Over this way! Over this way!" cried Sam, as he stood on a box with his
trained white mice in their cage in front of him. "Right this way to see
the wonderful trained white mice, which escaped from their cage and were
caught by brave Mr. Brown and his wife!"
Everyone clapped and laughed at that.
Then Sam made his pink-eyed pets do many tricks. They ran up his arms to
his shoulders, and sat on his head. Some of them jumped over sticks, and
others through paper-covered hoops, like the horse-back riders in a real
circus. One big white mouse climbed a ladder, and two others drew a
little wagon, in which a third mouse sat, pretending to hold the reins.
One big white mouse fired a toy cannon, that shot a paper cap.
Then Sam made his mice all stand up in a line, and make a bow to the
people.
"That ends the white mice act!" cried Sam. "We will now show you a wild
lion. But please don't anybody be scared, for the lion can only eat
bread and jam, and he won't hurt you."
"What a funny lion--to eat bread and jam," laughed Sue.
"Hush!" exclaimed Bunny. "He's going to take the blanket off the cage."
Everyone looked to see what sort of wild lion there was in the circus.