Four Afoot: Being the Adventures of the Big Four on the Highway

by Ralph Henry Barbour

  CHAPTER XI

  IN WHICH JERRY TELLS HIS STORY AND DAN PROVIDES DINNER

  They dragged Dan away from the elephant and set out for the town andthe telegraph office.

  “I hope the money is there,” said Tom. “Of course I want to eat, butto stay here where there’s a circus and not be able to get in would beworse than starving.”

  “And such a bee-oo-tiful elephant,” sighed Dan. “I could look for hoursat that elephant and watch him curl his trunk up. Why weren’t we madewith trunks, do you suppose?”

  “I suppose little boys like Tommy would only have suit cases?” inquiredBob.

  “Robert, that is a bum joke,” answered Dan severely. “Only theconsideration that you are weak and faint from want of food restrainsme from punishing you severely. Also Nel.”

  “What have I done?”

  “It’s what you didn’t do. You didn’t wake me up when the circus walkedinto our bedroom. Don’t you think I like to see camels and lions andthings as well as you do? And hot coffee too! You were pretty mean tohave all that fun by yourself.”

  “That’s what!” concurred Tom.

  “Well, there’s the telegraph office,” said Bob. “Say, fellows,supposing--supposing it hasn’t come!”

  “Maybe it hasn’t--yet,” said Dan anxiously. “It’s only a little aftereight, and if dad didn’t send it last night----”

  “We ought to have said ‘Send immediately,’” interrupted Bob regretfully.

  “That’s so,” agreed Tom; “immediately, if not sooner. But pshaw, why, Ican just smell that money!”

  “Wish I could smell the breakfast,” laughed Nelson. “Here we are.”

  “Good morning,” said Dan. “Anything here for me?”

  The operator shook his head.

  “Nothing yet,” he answered.

  They looked disappointed, and he added:

  “Brooklyn’s sort of slow this morning, though; maybe your message iscoming.”

  “It’s more the money I want than the message,” said Dan.

  “Oh, well, the money wouldn’t be likely to get here for an hour or soyet. When was it sent?”

  “I don’t know. Last night, I hope.”

  “If it was sent last night it ought to be here now,” said the operator.

  “What’ll we do?” asked Dan.

  “I’m going back to the circus,” said Tom. “If I’ve got to starve I’drather do it there where I can keep my mind off my troubles.”

  “So am I,” said Nelson.

  “I guess we might as well all go,” said Dan. “I’ll come back in anhour,” he added to the operator. “It ought surely to be here by thattime, don’t you think?”

  “I should think so,” answered the operator. “Sorry I haven’t got it foryou now.”

  “Thanks. It isn’t your fault, though. Come on, fellow-poverns.”

  “What’s a povern?” asked Tom.

  “It’s a chap who hasn’t any money,” answered Dan glumly, “like you andme, Tommy, and Bob and Nelson--and Barry.”

  “Oh,” said Tom disappointedly; “I thought maybe it was something toeat. I guess I was thinking of muffins.”

  “Don’t do it; that way lies madness.”

  When they turned into the circus grounds again they put Barry backon his leash, for he showed a most unchristian attitude toward theelephant and camel. For an hour they wandered about or sat on somepacking boxes at the back of the dressing tent and tried to forgetthat they were hungry. Then Dan and Barry left them and set off forthe telegraph office once more. By that time the scene had becomeanimated again. The horses were being hitched to the wagons andchariots, performers in costume were issuing from the dressing tent,and the elephant and camel were being decked in spangled red blankets.Tom made inquiries and learned that there was to be a parade throughMillford and on a mile farther to where the summer colony was situated.Things were quite exciting for the next half hour and when all was inreadiness the boys went down to the road to watch the procession passout.

  First there was an intensely dignified gentleman in hunting costume,pink coat, high hat, and all, who rode ahead on a big white horse.Then came the band, eight dejected-looking men in red tunics sittingin a boat-shaped barge. After them followed the elephant conducted byan Irishman in Arab dress who carried a short spear. The elephant’sname, if the faded red blanket was to be believed, was Hercules.The blanket said so in large letters. But the Irish Arab calledhim “Charlie.” A lady with golden hair, attired in a flowing whitecostume of cheesecloth made up according to the fashions prevailingin Greece many centuries ago, stood in a golden chariot and drovethree well-behaved black horses abreast. A second chariot, drawnby three bay horses, was presided over by a red-faced gentleman inRoman costume. A line of animal cages followed. Then came a smallpony cart hauled by a black-and-white pony and driven by a clown,a very sad-looking individual indeed. More cages, many empty; acalliope with the musician smoking a big black cigar; a float uponwhich five white-cheesecloth-attired ladies sat in various attitudesof discomfort; two lady jockeys driving white horses in tandem;more clowns, one riding a donkey and the others occupying a smallcarriage; the camel ridden by a man in a pair of baggy blue trousersand a green jacket; three trick ponies led by small boys; an ancientbarouche occupied by four gentlemen in full dress and bearing placardsadvertising the show. That was the last of it. It trailed slowly awayin the direction of the village, and the boys slipped off the fence.

  “Let’s go and find Jerry,” suggested Nelson. “He said he wasn’t busy atten, and I guess it must be pretty near that time now. Gee, but I missmy watch!”

  “And I miss my money,” said Tom.

  “Wait a minute,” said Bob. “Here comes Dan. Did you get it, Dan?”

  Dan shook his head sadly.

  “Thunder!” muttered Tom.

  “Do you suppose your father’s away?” asked Bob.

  “I don’t believe so. He doesn’t very often go away. Anyhow, motherwould be pretty sure to open the message.”

  “I think one of us had better telegraph,” said Nelson.

  “Wait until noon,” said Bob.

  “We’ll be starved by that time,” objected Tom.

  “Look here, fellows,” said Dan. “If that money doesn’t come by twelveo’clock, I’ll get some dinner for you.”

  “How?”

  “I don’t know how yet. But I’ll do it, so don’t you worry. I’m mightysorry, and I don’t see what the trouble can be.”

  “Oh, don’t bother,” said Bob, noting Dan’s downcast looks. “We’ll dowell enough. Who wants to eat, anyway?”

  “Not I,” said Nelson. “Food has no attraction for me; I’m above it.”

  “It’s bad for the digestion,” added Tom. “Let’s find Jerry. Maybe he’llpresent us with a crust of bread.”

  “If you ask him for food,” threatened Bob, “I’ll lick you, Tommy, tillyou can’t stand up--or sit down either, for that matter.”

  “Who’s going to ask him?” muttered Tom. “I was only in fun.”

  They found Jerry sitting on one of the trestles outside the mess tentreading a book. When they hailed him he laid the book aside ratherhurriedly, but later Nelson caught a glimpse of the cover. It was abattered arithmetic. Jerry shook hands all around and was formallyintroduced to Barry, and they climbed to the trestle beside him andasked dozens of questions. Above all they wanted to know how Jerry cameto be with the circus.

  “It sort of happened,” he said. “The day after you all was at the farm,dad sent me over to Newbury with a load of hay for the circus. I gotthere about eight o’clock and after I’d thrown the load off I hitchedthe horses and looked around a bit. And I happened to get along to themess tent just when Mr. Foley--that’s the head cook and the man thatgave you the coffee--was tellin’ Mr. Wirt--he’s one of the proprietors,you know--that he wouldn’t work another day without a boy to help him.You see, the boy they had before I came, had run away two days before,when they was showing at Flushing. So
after the boss went away I up andasked Mr. Foley did he want a boy. He said he did, and I said I’d likethe job. He looked me over and said for me to go and see Mr. Wirt. So Iseen Mr. Wirt, and he hired me. Then I drove the hayrick home and cameback in the afternoon.”

  “That was slick,” said Tom. “Do you like it?”

  “Yes, I like it. It’s kind of hard, but Mr. Foley and Mr. Jones aremighty good to me. I get three dollars and a half a week and plenty toeat.”

  “Did your father want you to go?” asked Nelson.

  Jerry shook his head.

  “No; but after I’d explained to him he didn’t mind--much. You see,it’s kind of lonesome for dad without me there. But I told him I had toearn some money because I was going to school next year, and he said itwas all right. Course I ain’t goin’ to stay here all winter. The showgoes South next month, and I’m goin’ to quit then. I got a place on afarm promised me in October, over near Barrington.”

  “That’s fine,” said Nelson. “You still intend to go to Hillton?”

  “Yes. Do you--do you think I could?”

  “Of course you can,” answered Nelson heartily. “Only--you’d betterstudy whenever you get a chance.”

  “I’m goin’ to.”

  “It would be nice,” said Dan, “if you could go to one of the schoolsaround here this winter.”

  “Yes; I thought of that,” answered Jerry, “but I couldn’t do it, Iguess; leastways, not if I was to make any money. And I got to havemoney,” he added doggedly.

  Dan looked inquiringly at Nelson and Bob, but each shook his head,counseling silence as to their conspiracy.

  “Does the circus make much money?” asked Tom.

  “I guess so,” Jerry replied. “Sometimes we don’t have very big crowds,and then again sometimes we have to pack ’em into the tent like oatsin a grain bin. A good deal depends on the weather, they say. They’resort of lookin’ for a big crowd this afternoon an’ a slim one to-night.This ain’t a very good show place, Mr. Foley says, but it’s better tomake a little here than to miss a performance, like we’d have to do ifwe went right on to Patchogue.”

  Jerry put his hand in his pocket and brought out four soiled oblongs ofred pasteboard.

  “I thought maybe you fellers would like to go,” he said, handing theadmission tickets to Dan. “Those ain’t for reserved seats, but thereserves ain’t much better’n the others, far’s I can see.”

  “That’s awfully kind of you,” said Dan, and the others echoed hissentiment.

  “Can you get all the tickets you want?” asked Nelson.

  “N-no,” answered Jerry; “they don’t give many away.”

  “Well, they must like you, Jerry, to give you all these,” said Tom.

  Jerry studied his hands a moment.

  “I--they didn’t exactly give me them,” he owned finally.

  “Do you mean that you bought them?” asked Tom.

  “Yes; but ’tain’t anything,” Jerry responded with elaboratecarelessness.

  “But--but--!” stammered Tom.

  Nelson reached across with his foot and kicked Tom’s shin.

  “It’s mighty good of you, Jerry,” he said gratefully. “Are you going tobe there?”

  “Somewheres about, I guess.”

  “Well, couldn’t you go with us and--and sort of explain things?”

  Jerry’s face lighted eagerly.

  “Guess I could if you want me to,” he answered.

  “All right. We’ll look for you here, then. What time does it begin?”

  “Half-past two. I’ll be here and I’ll look for you. You won’t see asgood a show as usual, though,” he continued apologetically. “You see,we ain’t got Donello any more. He left us day before yesterday.”

  “Who’s he?” asked Bob.

  “He’s the fellow does the high dive,” answered Jerry. “Ain’t you seenthe show bills? He climbs up a ladder on to a little platform aboutthirty feet in the air an’ dives into a tank an’ turns a somersaultcomin’ down. The bills say that there ain’t but three feet of water inthe tank, but that ain’t so, ’cause the tank’s set down in the groundabout two feet. It’s a fine trick, that is, an’ the first time I seenit I was most scared to death. But he an’ Mr. Murray had a quarrel, an’he lit out. Mr. Murray’s been telegraphin’ around ever since tryin’ toget some one to take his place, but I guess he ain’t found anyone.”

  “How far did you say he dives?” asked Dan.

  “’Bout thirty feet, but it looks a lot more. An’ when he gets up therehe says ‘Ready!’ in a little squeaky voice that sounds like he wasabout a mile away. An’ then the drums beat an’ he comes down headfirsta ways. Then he flips himself over, an’ the ringmaster he shouts ‘Inmid-air!’ an’ then Donello he comes plump into the tank headfirst; an’everyone sets up a shoutin’ an’ a clappin’. It’s certainly”--Jerrysearched for a word--“in-_spi_-rating.”

  “It must be,” said Dan gravely. “I wonder what time it is.”

  Jerry looked up at the sun.

  “’Bout eleven, I guess,” he answered. “I got to get to work. Theparade’ll be back in about half an hour, an’ we have dinner athalf-past twelve.”

  “Well, we’ll meet you here at about a quarter past two,” said Nelson asthey slid off the trestle.

  “What’ll we do now?” asked Tom.

  “Guess I’ll go back to the telegraph office,” said Dan.

  “We’ll all go,” said Nelson. “Then if the money’s there we can findsome place to have some dinner. We don’t want to miss the show. Isn’tJerry a corker?”

  “He’s all right, Jerry is,” agreed Bob. “What was that word of his?Inspi----?”

  “In-_spi_-rating,” answered Tom, laughing. “I wish Donello, or whateverhis name is, was going to do his stunt. It sounds pretty fine.”

  “Shucks!” said Nelson, “that isn’t very much. Why, look here, Dan,you’ve done twenty-five feet often up at camp. And as for turningsomersaults----!”

  “That’s all right,” responded Tom warmly, “but I’ll bet you couldn’t doit, nor Dan either. It’s one thing to dive into a lake where there’stwelve feet of water and another to dive into a little old tank.”

  “Five feet’s as good as twelve,” answered Dan calmly.

  “Not for me it isn’t,” said Tom.

  “I know, Tommy; it takes more water to float you.”

  “Huh!” grunted Tom. “I can beat you floating!”

  “I don’t believe you could sink if you tried,” said Dan.

  “Then what did you just su-su-say it took more water----”

  “Shut up, you fellows,” interrupted Bob. “Here’s the office. Let’slearn the worst.”

  It was soon learned. The operator shook his head before Dan could ask aquestion. Tom groaned loudly.

  “I’ll stay here awhile,” said Dan soberly. “You fellows go on back ifyou want to. I’ll be there at a little after twelve.”

  “Well, all right,” said Nelson. “Only if you don’t hear by that timeI’d better telegraph to my folks. Supposing I write out a message now?Then if you don’t get any word you can send it.”

  So Nelson wrote a demand for fifty dollars “_immediately_,”underscoring the “immediately,” although, as Bob pointed out, theoperator couldn’t send italics.

  “I don’t care,” replied Nelson. “It gives me satisfaction.”

  They left Dan and, after sauntering around the streets of the littlevillage for a while, returned to the circus field in the wake of theparade. On the way they paused to admire a lithograph of “Donello,Prince of High Divers, in his Perilous Plunge of Fifty Feet intoThirty-six Inches of Water!”

  “But, look here,” objected Tom, “how many of him are there?”

  Sure enough, according to the lithograph there were three distinctDonellos. One was poised on the little platform at the summit of theladder, while two others were turning somersaults on the way down tothe tiny tank.

  “Oh, that’s just poetic license,”
explained Nelson. “It shows him atvarious points in the trip. It’s the same chap, see? Blue-black hair,pink tights, and a green velvet thingumbob around the middle of him.”

  “All the same,” answered Tom, “it’s a lie, that picture.”

  “As far as I can see,” responded Bob sadly, “circus posters are mostall lies. I guess if they just showed what there really was to see noone would go.”

  “Sure,” said Nelson. “Besides, they’re mighty interesting lies. Isuppose a circus man’s got as much right to tell lies in his picturesas authors have to write them in books.”

  “It isn’t the same,” objected Tom. “Authors don’t tell lies to get yourmoney out of you, and circuses do.”

  “No; authors get your money first,” laughed Bob.

  “Besides,” Tom continued, “that poster says fifty feet, and Jerry saysit’s only thirty.”

  “Poetic license again, Tommy,” said Nelson soothingly.

  “It isn’t right, though,” was the stubborn response.

  “Well, don’t you care, old chap; it isn’t your fault.”

  “Hunger is driving Tommy into a frightful condition of pessimism,” saidBob.

  “Wish I had a fried egg,” said Tom gloomily.

  “Yes, all kind of golden on top and brownish around the edges,”supplemented Bob with a grin.

  “Oh, cut it out,” sighed Nelson. “You’re making me have spasms inside.I suppose we might go and stand around the cook until he offered ussomething to eat to get rid of us, but it would be pretty low down.”

  “Couldn’t be any lower down than I feel right now,” said Tom.

  “Oh, I guess Dan’ll get the money this time,” said Bob hopefully.

  They found a comfortable place in the sun and stretched themselves outto wait. Nelson said he was going to try to go to sleep and forgetit. But he didn’t succeed. It was long past noon when Barry pounced onthem and heralded Dan’s approach. They sat up quickly and looked thequestion none dared to ask. Dan shook his head smilingly. Tom rolledover on the grass and muttered. Even Bob lost his temper for an instant.

  “You needn’t look so thundering pleased about it,” he growled.

  Dan laughed and tossed something at him. Bob snatched it up. It was atwo-dollar bill.

  “What did you lie for?” he demanded.

  “I didn’t,” answered Dan. “The money hasn’t come, nor any messageeither. But there’s enough for dinner.”

  “Wh-wh-wh-wh-where--” began Tom.

  “You needn’t ask where it came from,” said Dan, “because I’m not goingto tell you. But I got it honestly, and all you’ve got to do now is tofind something to eat.”

  “It sounds good to me,” said Nelson, jumping up. Bob and Tom joinedhim, eying Dan curiously.

  “Aren’t you coming?” asked Bob. Dan shook his head.

  “I’ve had mine,” he answered lightly.

  “I’ll bet you haven’t! Don’t be an ass, now; there’s more than enoughfor the four of us.”

  “Honor bright, I have, Bob.”

  “Where?”

  “I won’t tell you. Go on and get your dinners, you chaps, and I’ll tellyou all about it later. And--er--do you mind taking Barry with you? Idon’t believe he had enough.”

  “Will you be here when we come back?” asked Nelson suspiciously.

  “Yes, somewheres around,” was the careless answer.

  “There’s something mighty funny about it,” grumbled Tom as they tookthemselves off, Barry following unwillingly at the end of the leash.

  “You bet there is,” answered Nelson. “Dan’s been up to mischief, that’swhat!”

  “Well, he says it’s all right,” said Bob cheerfully, “and Dan doesn’tlie. I vote we get some dinner and----”

  “Hold on a bit!” cried Nelson. “Let me see that bill.”

  He took it and looked it over carefully. Then he gave a sigh of relief.

  “It seems to be all right,” he said. “I didn’t know but what it mightbe a fake or something. You never can tell what Dan will do.”

  “That’s so,” the others agreed.

  And a few hours later they were more certain of it than ever.