CHAPTER XVI
THE BATTLE OF THE ELEPHANTS
"What!"
"Yes, hurry!" and Phil sank back, weak from lack of food and thesevere strain he had put upon himself.
Mr. Sparling grasped the meaning of the lad's words in a flash.Snatching a whistle from his pocket he blew two short,shrill blasts. A mounted man came riding up at a gallop.
"Go to the lot! Have the tents surrounded. Let no one throughwho doesn't belong to the show. I trust you to look out forour property. An attempt may be made to do us damage while weare out on parade. Now, ride!"
The man did ride. He whirled his horse and set it at a run downthe line, headed toward the circus lot.
"I've got to get back there myself, Phil. Can you stand it tostay in the carriage until it reaches the lot?"
"Yes, but I don't look fit. I--"
"Sit up and look wise. The people will think you are a clown andthey'll split their sides laughing. I'll talk with you later.You must have had a rough time of it."
"I have had."
Mr. Sparling jumped out of the carriage, and, ordering a rider todismount, took the latter's horse, on which he, too, rode back tothe lot with all speed.
Phil pulled himself together. Half a block further on thepeople, espying him, did laugh as Mr. Sparling had saidthey would.
Phil grinned out of sheer sympathy.
"I must look funny riding in this fine carriage with fourwhite horses drawing me through the streets. I don't blamethem for laughing. If I had something to eat, now, I wouldbe all right. I am getting to have as much of an appetite asTeddy Tucker has. I--"
Phil paused, listening intently.
"I hear another band and it is coming nearer," he exclaimed."That must be the Sully show. I forgot in my excitement, to askMr. Sparling about them. I wonder where they are?"
The music of the rival band grew louder and louder, but strainhis eyes and ears as he would, Phil was unable to locate theother show's line of parade.
"Where's that band?" he called up to the driver of his carriage.
"Off that side of the town, I guess," he answered, waving hiswhip to the right of them.
"Well, I think they are pretty close to us and I don't like thelooks, or rather the sound of things."
At that moment Phil's carriage was drawn across anintersecting street. He looked up the street quickly.
"There they are!" he cried.
Less than a quarter of a block up the street he saw the otherparade sweeping down upon them, bands playing, flags flyingand banners waving. Phil's quick, practiced eyes sawsomething else too. The elephants were leading the rivalparade, with horsemen immediately at their rear, the bandstill further back.
This being so unusual in a parade, the Circus Boy knew that theremust be some reason for the peculiar formation. The elephantsshould have been further back in the line, the same as were thoseof the Sparling show.
Phil divined the truth instantly.
"They're going to break up our parade!" he cried. "That's whatthey are hoping to do. Drive on! I'm going to get out and runback to tell the parade manager. They'll do us a lot of damage."
Phil leaped from the carriage and ran down the street, his coatwide open showing his pink riding shirt beneath it.
"Where's the parade manager?" he cried.
"Gone to the lot. Boss sent him back."
Phil groaned. Something must be done and done quickly.The rival parade must be nearing their street by this time.
A thought occurred to him. Phil dashed for the elephant herd.
"Mr. Kennedy!"
"Yes?"
"Sully's show is going to run into us at that corner there."
"They don't dare!"
"They do and they will. Swing your elephants out of line andthrow them across that intersecting street. I'll bet they won'tget by our bulls in a hurry."
"Great! Great, kid! I'd never thought of that."
"You'll have to hurry. The other fellows are almost here andtheir elephants are leading the parade. Sully's just lookingfor trouble!"
The voice of the elephant trainer uttered a series ofshrill commands that sounded like so many explosions.The elephants understood. They swung quickly out ofline and went lumbering down the street.
"Hey, there, that you, Phil?"
It was Teddy on old Emperor's back in the same frog costume thathe had worn for that purpose the first season with the show.
"Yes, what's left of me," answered Phil, running fast to keep upwith the swiftly moving elephants.
Just before reaching the intersecting street he managed to getahead of Kennedy and his charges.
"Hurry, hurry! They're right here," howled the Circus Boy.
The trainer, with prod and voice, urged the elephants into evenquicker action than before. Two minutes later they swung acrossthe street down which the rival parade was coming, and, at thecommand of their keeper, the huge animals turned, facing theother body of paraders.
"We're just in time! There they are!" cried Phil excitedly.
"I should say so. They were going to do what you said theywould, the scoundrels!"
"Can you hold them till our people get by, do you think?"
"Can I hold them? I can hold them till all the mill ponds inCanada freeze up!" exploded the elephant trainer.
Phil walked forward to meet the Sully parade. The owner of thatshow was well up toward the front of the line on horseback.
"You'll have to wait till our line gets by, sir," announced Phil,with a suggestive grin. "We've got your little game blocked,you see."
"You!"
Sully fairly hurled the word at the disreputable lookingCircus Boy.
"Yes; you see I got away. Are you going to stop?"
"No, not for any outfit that James Sparling runs. Where is he?Afraid to come out and show himself, eh? Sends a runaway kid outto speak for him. Get out of the way, or I'll run you down!"
Phil's eyes snapped.
"You had better not try it, if you know what's good for you!"
"Move on! Break through their line!" commanded Sully.
Phil turned and waved his hand.
"They are going to try to break through, Mr. Kennedy," he called.
Kennedy uttered several quick commands. The Sully elephantsswung down toward him, their trunks raised high in the air.The leader, a big tusker, uttered a shrill cry.
It was the elephants' battle cry, but Phil did not know it.Kennedy did.
For the first time, thus far, the Sparling herd of elephantsbegan to show signs of excitement. Their trainer quieted themsomewhat with soothing words here, a sharp command there, andoccasionally a prod of the hook.
All at once the leading tusker of the Sully herd lunged straightat old Emperor. In another instant nearly every elephant in eachherd had chosen an opponent and the battle was on in earnest.
Trumpetings, loud shrieks of rage and mighty coughs made the moretimid of the people flee to places of greater safety.
As the crash of the meeting elephants came, Phil ran back to thestreet where his own parade was standing.
"Move on!" he shouted. "Follow your route without the elephants.And you, bandmaster, keep your men playing. When you have goneby, we will give the other show a chance to go on if there'senough left of them to do so."
Realizing that Phil had given them sensible advice, the Sparlingshow moved on with band playing and colors waving, but above theuproar could be heard the thunder of the fighting elephants.
Two of the rival show's elephants had been tumbled into a ditchby the roadside. Then Kennedy had a lively few minutes to keephis own animals from following and putting an end to the enemiesthey had tumbled over.
The tusks of the two big elephants, when they met, sounded likethe report of a pistol. Such sledge hammer blows as these twomonsters dealt each other made the spectators of the remarkablebattle gasp.
All at once they saw something else that made them starethe harder.
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br /> On the back of Emperor, lying prone was stretched astrange figure. From it they saw the head of a boy emerge.Slowly the frog costume that he had worn, slipped from himand dropped to the ground.
"Teddy!" shouted Phil. "He'll be killed!"
"W-o-w!" howled Teddy Tucker, who had been so frightened in thebeginning that he could not get down, and now he could not ifhe would.
"Let go and jump off! I'll catch you!" shouted Phil.
"I--I can't."
"Mr. Kennedy, can't you get him off?"
But the trainer had his hands more than full keeping his chargesin line, for at all hazards they must not be allowed to get awayfrom him, as in their present excited state there was no tellingwhat harm they might do.
The Sparling people suddenly uttered a great shout. Emperor wasslowly forcing his antagonist backward, the Sully elephantgradually giving ground before the mighty onslaught ofold Emperor. Seeing their leader weakening, the other elephantsalso began retreating until the line was slowly forced backagainst Sully's line of march. The owner was riding up and downin a frightful rage, alternately urging his trainer to rally hiselephants, and hurling threats at Phil Forrest and theorganization he represented.
"Had we better not call our bulls off, Mr. Kennedy?"shouted Phil. "Our parade has gone by this time."
"Yes, if I can. I don't know whether I can stop them nowor not."
"You get the others away. I'll try to take care of Emperorand Jupiter. Emperor will give in shortly, after he knowsthe other elephant is whipped."
"He won't give in till he kills him," answered Kennedy."Better look out. He's blind, crazy mad."
"I'm not afraid of him. Hang on now, Teddy. We will have youout of your difficulty in a few minutes."
Teddy had been hanging on desperately, his eyes largeand staring. Every time the long trunk of Sully's big tusker wasraised in the air, Teddy thought it was being aimed at his headand shrank closer to Emperor's back. But the tusker probablynever saw Teddy at all. He was too busy protecting himself fromold Emperor's vicious thrusts.
At last the tusker began to retreat in earnest. First he wouldturn, running back a few rods; then he would whirl to give amoment's battle to Emperor.
Emperor was following him doggedly.
Phil decided that it was time to act. He rushed up to Emperor'shead during one of these lulls and called commandingly.
Emperor, with a sweep of his trunk, hurled Phil Forrest to theside of the street. But Phil, though shaken up a bit, was notharmed in the least.
He was up and at his huge friend almost at once.
"Emperor! Emperor!" he shouted, getting nearer and nearer to thehead of the enraged beast.
Finally Phil stepped up boldly and threw both arms aboutEmperor's trunk.
"Steady, steady, Emperor!" he commanded.
This time the elephant did not hurl Phil away. Instead, hestopped hesitatingly, evidently not certain whether heshould plunge on after his enemy or obey the command of hislittle friend.
Phil tucked the trunk under his arm confidently.
"That's a good fellow! Come along now, and we'll have a wholebag of peanuts when we get back to the lot."
The elephant coughed understandingly, it seemed. At least heturned about, though with evident reluctance, and meekly followedthe Circus Boy, his trunk still tucked under the latter's arm.
The Sully elephants had been whipped and driven off, though nonehad been very seriously injured. Some fences had been knockedover and a number of people nearly frightened to death--but thatwas all. Phil had saved the day for his employer's show and hadcome out victorious.
The Circus Boy was in high glee as he led Emperor back towardthe lot, where the parade was drawing in by the time hereached there.
Teddy, on the big elephant's head, was waving his arms excitedly.
"We licked 'em! We licked 'em!" he howled, as he caught sight ofMr. Sparling hurrying toward them.
The Circus Boys in Dixie Land; Or, Winning the Plaudits of the Sunny South Page 18
