The Circus Boys On The Flying Rings | Page 3

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This Etext was prepared for Project Gutenberg by Greg Berckes

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
THE LURE OF THE CIRCUS II PHIL HEARS HIS DISMISSAL III MAKING HIS START IN THE WORLD IV THE CIRCUS COMES TO TOWN V WHEN THE BANDS PLAYED VI PROVING HIS METTLE VII MAKING FRIENDS WITH THE ELEPHANTS VIII IN THE SAWDUST ARENA IX GETTING HIS FIRST CALL X PHIL GETS A SURPRISE XI THE FIRST NIGHT WITH THE SHOW XII A THRILLING RESCUE XIII THE DAWNING OF A NEW DAY XIV AN UNEXPECTED HIT XV A STROKE OF GOOD FORTUNE XVI HIS FIRST SETBACK XVII LEFT BEHIND XVIII A STARTLING DISCOVERY XIX TEDDY DISTINGUISHES HIMSELF XX THE RETURN TO THE SAWDUST LIFE XXI AN ELEPHANT IN JAIL XXII EMPEROR ANSWERS THE SIGNAL XXIII THE MYSTERY SOLVED XXIV CONCLUSION

The Circus Boys on the Flying Rings

CHAPTER I
THE LURE OF THE CIRCUS
"I say, Phil, I can do that."
"Do what, Teddy?"
"A cartwheel in the air like that fellow is doing in the picture on the billboard there."
"Oh, pshaw! You only think you can. Besides, that's not a cartwheel; that's a double somersault. It's a real stunt, let me tell you. Why, I can do a cartwheel myself. But up in the air like that--well, I don't know. I guess not. I'd be willing to try it, though, if I had something below to catch me," added the lad, critically surveying the figures on the poster before them.
"How'd you like to be a circus man, Phil?"
Phil's dark eyes glowed with a new light, his slender figure straightening until the lad appeared fully half a head taller.
"More than anything else in the world," he breathed. "Would you?"
"Going to be," nodded Teddy decisively, as if the matter were already settled.
"Oh, you are, eh?"
"Uh-huh!"
"When?"
"I don't know. Someday--someday when I get old enough, maybe."
Phil Forrest surveyed his companion with a half critical smile on his face.
"What are you going to do--be a trapeze performer or what?"
"Well," reflected the lad wisely, "maybe I shall be an 'Or What.' I'm not sure. Sometimes I think I should like to be the fellow who cracks the whip with the long lash and makes the clowns hop around on one foot--"
"You mean the ringmaster?"
"I guess that's the fellow. He makes 'em all get around lively. Then, sometimes, I think I would rather be a clown. I can skin a cat on the flying rings to beat the band, now. What would you rather be, Phil?"
"Me? Oh, something up in the air--high up near the peak of the tent--something thrilling that would make the people sit up on the board seats and gasp, when, all dressed in