THE CURLYTOPS' CIRCUS
Hurrying along, as if afraid that Professor Montelli might run after them and take Tip and Top away again, Teddy and Janet went to the corner where they had left the trolley car. Some boys and girls who had been in the dog show followed the Curlytops, and men and women smiled at the children.
"Here comes a car!" cried Ted, as he saw one approaching. "Have we got enough money left to take us home, Jan?" he asked, for his sister had the cash.
"I guess so," she answered. "If we haven't we'll ask the conductor please to charge it."
The car stopped and with Janet holding Top and Ted with Tip in his arms, the children got aboard.
"Well, I see you got your dogs back," came a voice, and, looking up, the Curlytops saw the same conductor they had ridden out with from Cresco.
"I didn't think I'd have you back with me so soon," he said. "But I'm glad to see you. It's sort of against the rules to bring dogs on trolley cars, but I guess yours will be all right, as long as they're trick circus dogs."
"Shall we make 'em do some tricks for you?" asked Teddy, as he and his sister took their seats.
"Well, not now, thank you," the conductor answered, with a smile as the car started off, leaving behind the curious crowd. "I'll soon be so busy collecting fares that I won't have time to watch."
"Then we'll send you a ticket to our circus," promised Janet, "'cause you were so kind to us."
"Thank you," replied the conductor. "I shall be glad to come. You can take my name and mail the ticket to me at the car house. I like animals," and he patted the heads of Tip and Top. "But what makes one black, and the other streaked black and white?" he asked.
"They're colored, but it will wash off," answered Ted. "The Professor, or maybe Shorty, dyed our white poodles black."
You can imagine how surprised Mr. and Mrs. Martin were when Ted and Janet came in with the lost dogs—one black and the other white and black.
"I was just going to telephone to the police and have them start to look for you!" cried their mother. "I was worried. Where have you been?"
"To a dog show, where we found Tip and Top," said Janet.
Then they told the whole story, and Mr. and Mrs. Martin were much surprised at what the Curlytops had done.
"As it was, you did just the right thing," said their father. "Though I wouldn't like to have you do it again. However, I'm glad you have your pets back, though Tip isn't exactly a beauty."
"They'll be all right after they have had a bath," said Janet.
And the poodles were, coming from the tub as white as snow. Later it was learned that the young man known as Shorty had not really taken Tip from the automobile. But he had gotten a chum of his to do it, and afterward the two had sold the dog. They sold him to Professor Montelli, who used to have a side show with a circus, but who, after a quarrel, started out for himself, traveling around the country giving exhibitions.
Shorty, having heard the talk of the Martin family while he was acting as guard of the automobile load of pets, knew where Top was being taken, to Cresco. And it was he who broke into the barn and took away the poodle. For, as I have told you, while one dog was valuable for the tricks he could do, the two, doing tricks together, were worth much more.
Professor Montelli may not have known the poodles were stolen, and he may, as he said, have dyed them with harmless black color to keep their white coats from getting dirty. But the police said they thought the dog trainer had a hand, with Shorty, in the thefts, and this may have been so. At any rate the Curlytops had their pet poodles back, and they heard nothing more of Shorty or the showman.
"And now we can give our circus!" cried Janet one afternoon, when she and Teddy, with Trouble, were feeding their pets in the barn.
It did not take long to make arrangements for the show. Jimmy Norton's father secured a large tent for the Curlytops and their friends, and the tent was set up in a lot not far from the Martin house. Several boys and girls helped make the arrangements, and Mr. Martin sent up from the store a pile of boxes and boards which some of his men made into seats.
Mrs. Martin told the ladies who had asked her to help raise money for the orphans that the Curlytops were going to give all they took in at the circus to help the poor children. And when this became known many grown folk, as well as boys and girls, bought tickets for the performance.
It was to be given one afternoon, and you can imagine all the work that had to be done to get ready. But some of the fathers and mothers of the chums of the Curlytops helped, leaving to Ted and Janet the work of getting the animals ready to do their tricks. Jack Turton was to be a fat little clown, riding on a pony his father had bought for him. Harry Kent and some other boys were to help Teddy, and some of Jan's girl friends offered to help her.
And we must not forget Trouble. As arranged, he was to come into the tent at a certain time, driving Skyrocket, the dog, and Turnover, the cat, hitched to his little express wagon, with funny Miss Muffin on the seat.
At last the day of the circus came. Into the tent were moved the cages of the white mice and the white rats, the tank containing Slider, the pet alligator, the cage of Mr. Nip, the parrot, and the box of Jack, the monkey. Snuff, Skyrocket and Turnover were on hand. Tip and Top were all ready to perform their tricks.
"Do you think we'll have a big crowd?" asked Janet of Ted, when everything was arranged and it was almost time for the show to begin.
"Sure we will!" he answered. "Everybody I met is coming—all the fellows and girls and a lot of men and women. We'll make a lot of money for the orphans."
"I wish Uncle Toby could be here to see it all," went on Janet, as she took a last look inside the tent to make sure everything was in order "He'd be surprised at some of the things his pets can do."
"Yes, I wish Uncle Toby could be here," said her brother. "It's queer about him. He never answered any of daddy's letters. South America must be a good way off, for Uncle Toby hasn't gotten there yet."
"Well," began Ted. "I guess——" and then Harry Kent called:
"Hey, Ted! You'd better look at Slider! He's trying to crawl out of his tank."
"It isn't time for him to start his act yet!" answered the Curlytop boy. "I'll have to give him a bit of meat to quiet him!"
And a little while after that the audience began to enter the tent. Boys and girls, of course, were the first, but there were a number of men and women, too, and it was not long before every seat was taken. Mr. and Mrs. Martin just had to be there—they couldn't stay away when the Curlytops were giving a show. Besides, Mother Martin had to help Trouble dress for his act.
"Oh, we're going to have a big crowd!" said Janet excitedly to Teddy, in the little dressing room behind the stage. There was a stage almost like the one Professor Montelli had in his dog show.
"You better go out and make your talk now," went on Janet to her brother. "The tent won't hold many more, and we want to start."
"All right," agreed Teddy. It had been decided that he was to make a little speech of welcome. Soon he was out in front, bowing as he did when he "spoke a piece" in school.
"Ladies and gentlemen," began Teddy, "and boys and girls. We're glad you came to our circus, and we hope you will like our pets and what they do. And my little brother, Trouble, is going to do an act by himself. He——"
"Here I is!" suddenly cried Trouble, coming out behind Teddy. "I do my act now!"
"No! No!" said Teddy, while the audience laughed. For Trouble was only half dressed, having rushed out of the room back of the stage when he heard his name mentioned.
"Here, William! Come back and let me finish!" said his mother, and she reached out her hand and pulled Trouble back to her.
"Now the show will start," Teddy finished, amid laughter.
The first act was a tableau with Ted, Janet and their boy and girl helpers, not forgetting Trouble, of course, posing on the stage with their pets. Gathered about the children were the dogs, the cats, Mr. Nip, the parrot, Jack the monkey, the white mice and the white rats in cages, and Slider, the pet alligator. Down in the audience Harry Weldon played the mouth organ. He was the "orchestra."
No sooner had Harry started to play than Tip, Top and Skyrocket barked, the cats mewed, the monkey chattered and Mr. Nip cried:
"I'm a crack-crack-cracker!"
You should have heard the audience clap then!
One after another the animals did their tricks, Ted, Janet and the other boys and girls helping. Mr. Nip, the parrot, after he had been quieted down, walked up and down a little ladder, that was balanced like a see-saw over a tiny board. Mr. Nip would walk to one end of the ladder, and it would go down with him. Then he would walk to the other end, which would then sway downward. And when he had finished this trick Mr. Nip cried:
"Help! Fire! Police!" and flew over on Janet's shoulder.
"He's as good as a watch dog, that parrot is," said Policeman Cassidy, who had come to the show, as had also the kind trolley car conductor. "He's a regular burglar alarm, he is!"
Snuff and Turnover did their tricks, some separately and some together. One of the tricks they did together was to run and jump through a paper hoop, and when Turnover had landed on the other side, through the hoop, he lay down and rolled over and over—one of the first tricks the Curlytops had taught their pet.
ONE OF THE TRICKS WAS TO RUN AND JUMP THROUGH A PAPER HOOP.
Again the audience clapped and laughed. But there was more to come. Tip and Top did the tricks for which they were famous, separately and together, one dog walking on his hind legs, and the other turning somersaults. Then one dog got on the other's back, the two going around the stage together. And as a climax they did the trick by which Ted and Janet had recognized their pets in Professor Montelli's tent, one dog leaping over the other's back, while moving along.
"Now, Jan, you do your trick with the white mice and the alligator while Harry Kent and I fix up the tower for Jack to jump from," said Ted. "And Jack can do his clown tricks, too."
It had been decided that while Teddy and his helper were putting in place the tower for the monkey to leap from something must be done to amuse the audience.
So Janet had said she would do some little tricks with the mice, rats, and alligator, while Harry, the fat little boy clown, would turn somersaults and handsprings on the stage.
This went off very well. Janet fixed the slanting board for Slider to coast "down hill," and when the alligator had done this the audience laughed its hardest. Then some of the rats and mice did simple tricks, two of the larger rats pulling a little toy wagon in which rode two mice.
However, these pets did not do as well as the others, for the two in the wagon kept jumping out and Janet had to keep putting them back.
Jack, the fat little clown, made a big "hit." He was really very funny, and when, toward the end of his act, he got too near the edge of the stage and fell into the lap of big Oscar North, the audience thought it was all part of the show, and not an accident, and clapped most loudly. However, Jack was not hurt, and only laughed at the mishap.
By this time the tower was ready. It reached nearly to the top of the tent, and as the boxes had been covered with green branches they made a nice appearance.
"Up, Jack! Up!" called Ted, climbing up the stepladder and placing the banana on top of the tower. Then Ted had to hurry the ladder away, after Jack had climbed up to the top, for fear the monkey would climb down that same way instead of jumping as he was wanted to do.
Ted and Harry Kent held the net at the foot of the tower. This time the net was not a lace curtain, but some old bags sewed together. Janet held up the bit of banana, and, after he had eaten the piece on top of his perch, the monkey looked down at the other bit of fruit.
"Come on, Jack! Jump!" cried Teddy.
And to the delight of the Curlytops, Jack jumped his very best, landing in the net and bouncing up and down.
"Good trick! Good trick!" cried the trolley car conductor, clapping the loudest of all.
After that Jack did a number of other simple tricks, and then it was time for Trouble to come on in his act. Only a few knew what the little fellow was to do. But when the curtains on the stage were pulled apart by Mrs. Martin and the little fellow walked out, dressed like the pictures of Cupid on valentines, driving the dog and cat harnessed to the wagon, with queer Miss Muffin on the seat, you should have heard the people laugh and clap!
"Didap! Didap!" cried Trouble to his dog and cat team. "Didap an' go fast!"
Around the stage went Skyrocket and Turnover, behaving very nicely; and when he had made one round Trouble stood in the middle of the stage and made a low bow, as his mother had taught him to do.
"He's a cute little chap!" said Policeman Cassidy.
And then came the last scene of all, where Ted, Janet, Trouble and their boy and girl helpers, with all the pets, except the parrot, alligator and rats and mice, marched around the stage, while the mouth organ was loudly played.
"That's the end of the show! Much obliged to you all for coming!" called out Teddy.
"And let's see how much we made for the orphans!" exclaimed Janet, before any of the audience had a chance to leave.
There was a laugh at this.
"You did very well, Curlytops, and Trouble also," said Mrs. Martin, as the children began to take off their costumes, for they had all dressed especially for the occasion.
"I never thought the pets would act so well," added Mr. Martin.
"And did we make much money?" Janet wanted to know.
Mr. Martin was counting it. As he dropped the last penny back into the cash box he announced:
"It is ninety-nine dollars and one cent."
"Well, here's ninety-nine cents to make it an even hundred dollars!" cried a jolly voice at the tent entrance, and in walked a man who seemed to be a stranger. But at the second look Mr. Martin cried:
"Uncle Toby!"
"Yes, Uncle Toby!" laughed the man. "I got here a little too late for the show, but you can give it over again for me, and I'll put as much again in the collection box as you have there. How are all my pets?" and he laughed again and looked at the Curlytops as well as at the animals.
"We're well, thank you," said Janet, shyly.
"And Tip and Top were taken away but we got them back," added Ted.
"An' Mr. Nip he catch a bu'glar!" lisped Trouble.
"My! My! There must have been a lot of excitement while I have been gone!" laughed Uncle Toby, for it was, indeed, he.
"When did you get back from South America?" asked Mr. Martin.
"I didn't go," answered Uncle Toby. "I got all ready to go, but changed my mind and went to Canada instead. I'm going back to live in my old house."
"And will you—will you take your pets?" asked Teddy.
"Well, not right away," answered Uncle Toby. "You may keep them as long as you like. I wish I had been here for the show, but here's the ninety-nine cents I promised, and if you give the show for me later on I'll give a hundred dollars for the orphans."
"Oh, how lovely!" cried Janet. "Let's start and give it now!"
It was, however, a little too late in the day for that. But, a week later, Uncle Toby did see all the pets put through their tricks and he gave another hundred to the orphan fund, so that many of the poor children had a fine vacation time in the country.
"Well, we certainly had a lot of fun with all the animals," said Janet one day, when she and Teddy were playing out under the trees with the dogs and the cats.
"Yes," he agreed, "we did. We had as much fun this summer as if we had gone away. And I wonder what we can do next?"
"Oh, something, I guess," said Janet. "What I'm going to do now is go in and get something to eat."
"I'm a crack-crack-cracker!" shrieked Mr. Nip from his perch.
"Well, I want something more than crackers!" laughed Janet.
"So do I!" agreed Teddy. "We'll get some bread and jam and also feed our pets. I guess they're hungry, too."
And while the Curlytops are thus engaged we will say good-bye to Janet, Teddy and Trouble.