The Circus Boys On The Flying Rings | Page 6

some more stunts then."
"I wouldn't till after the circus, were I in your place," laughed Phil.

"Why not!"
"Cause, if you break your neck, you won't be able to go to the show."
"Huh!" grunted Teddy, hastily turning his back on his companion and
starting for the house.
Phil took his way home silently and thoughtfully, carrying his precious
bundle of books under an arm, his active mind planning as to how he
might employ his time to the best advantage during the summer
vacation that was now so close at hand.
A rheumatic, bent figure was standing in front of the shack where the
lad lived, glaring up the street from beneath bushy eyebrows, noting
Phil Forrest's leisurely gait disapprovingly.
Phil saw him a moment later.
"I'm in for a scolding," he muttered. "Wonder what it is all about this
time. I don't seem able to do a thing to please Uncle Abner."

CHAPTER II
PHIL HEARS HIS DISMISSAL
"Where you been, young man?" The question was a snarl rather than a
sentence.
"To school, Uncle, of course."
"School's been out more than an hour. I say, where have you been?"
"I stopped on the way for a few minutes."
"You did?" exploded Abner Adams. "Where?"
"Teddy Tucker and I stopped to read a circus bill over there on Clover

Street. We did not stop but a few minutes. Was there any harm in that?"
"Harm? Circus bill--"
"And I want to go to the circus, too, Uncle, when it comes here. You
know? I have not been to anything of that sort since mother died--not
once. I'll work and earn the money. I can go in the evening after my
work is finished. Please let me go, Uncle."
For a full minute Abner Adams was too overcome with his emotions to
speak. He hobbled about in a circle, smiting the ground with his cane,
alternately brandishing it threateningly in the air over the head of the
unflinching Phil.
"Circus!" he shouted. "I might have known it! I might have known it!
You and that Tucker boy are two of a kind. You'll both come to some
bad ending. Only fools and questionable characters go to such places--"
"My mother and father went, and they always took me," replied the boy,
drawing himself up with dignity. "You certainly do not include them in
either of the two classes you have named?"
"So much the worse for them! So much the worse for them. They were
a pair of--"
"Uncle, Uncle!" warned Phil. "Please don't say anything against my
parents. I won't stand it. Don't forget that my mother was your own
sister, too."
"I'm not likely to forget it, after she's bundled such a baggage as you
into my care. You're turning out a worthless, good-for- nothing loaf--"
"You haven't said whether or not I might go to the circus, Uncle,"
reminded Phil.
"Circus? No! I'll have none of my money spent on any such
worthless--"
"But I didn't ask you to spend your money, even though you have

plenty of it. I said I would earn the money--"
"You'll have a chance to earn it, and right quick at that. No, you won't
go to any circus so long as you're living under my roof."
"Very well, Uncle, I shall do as you wish, of course," answered Phil,
hiding his disappointment as well as he could. The lad shifted his
bundle of books to the other hand and started slowly for the house.
Abner Adams hobbled about until he faced the lad again, an angry
gleam lighting up his squinting eyes.
"Come back here!"
Phil halted, turning.
"I said come back here."
The lad did so, his self-possession and quiet dignity never deserting
him for an instant. This angered the crabbed old uncle more than ever.
"When will you get through school?"
"Tomorrow, I believe."
"Huh! Then, I suppose you intend to loaf for the rest of the summer and
live on my hard earned savings. Is that it?"
"No, sir; I hadn't thought of doing anything of the sort. I thought--"
"What did you think?"
"I thought I would find something to do. Of course, I do not expect to
be idle. I shall work at something until school begins again next fall,
then, of course, I shall not be able to do so much."
"School! You've had enough school! In my days boys didn't spend the
best part of their lives in going to school. They worked."

"Yes, sir; I am willing to work, too. But, Uncle, I must have an
education. I shall be able to earn so much more then, and, if necessary,
I shall be able to pay you for all you have spent on me, which isn't
much, you know."
"What, what? You dare