MAROONED IN A FREIGHT CAR
"Catch him!Catch him!Catch that man!"
The parade was just passing when Phil shouted out the words that attracted all eyes toward him.It was to a policeman that he appealed.
The lad had discovered a shock of red hair above the heads of the people, and was gradually working his way toward the owner of it, when all at once Red Larry discovered him.
Red pushed his way through the crowd and disappeared down an alleyway, the policeman to whom the boy had appealed making no effort to catch the man.
"What kind of a policeman are you, anyway?" cried Phil in disgust."That fellow is a crook, and we have been on the lookout for him for the last four weeks.""What's he done?"
"Done? Tried to poison one of the elephants, and a lot of other things.""The kid's crazy or else he belongs to the circus," laughed a bystander.
Phil Forrest did not hear the speaker, however, for the boy had dashed through the crowd and bounded into the alley where he had caught a glimpse of a head of red hair a moment before.
But Larry was nowhere in sight.He had disappeared utterly.
"I was right," decided Phil, after going the length of the alley and back."He's been following this show right along, and before he gets through he'll put us out of business if we don't look sharp."Considerable damage already had been done.Horses and other animals fell ill, in some instances with every evidence of poisoning; guy ropes were cut, and the cars had been tampered with in the railroad yards.
All this was beginning to get on the nerves of the owner of the show, as well as on those of some of his people who knew about it.Things had come to a point where it was necessary to place more men on guard about the lot to protect the show's property.
At each stand of late efforts had been made to get the police to keep an eye open for one Red Larry, but police officials do not, as a rule, give very serious heed to the complaints of a circus, especially unless the entire department has been pretty well supplied with tickets.Mr.Sparling was a showman who did not give away many tickets unless there were some very good reason for so doing.
Phil, in the meantime, had been at work in an effort to satisfy his own belief that Larry was responsible for their numerous troubles.Yet up to this moment the lad had not caught sight of Red; and now he had lost the scoundrel through the laxity of a policeman.
There was no use "crying over spilled milk," as Phil told himself.
The lad spent the next hour in tramping over the town where the circus was to show that day.He sought everywhere for Red, but not a sign of the fellow was to be found.
As soon as the parade was over Phil hastened back to the lot to acquaint Mr.Sparling with what he suspected.
"Do you know," said Phil, "I believe that fellow and his companion are riding on one of our trains every night?""What?" exclaimed the showman.
"You'll find I'm right when the truth is known.Then there's something else.There have been a lot of complaints about sneak thieves in the towns we have visited since Red left us.You can't tell.There may be some connection between these robberies and his following the show.I'm going to get Larry before I get through with this chase.""Be careful, Phil.He is a bad man.You know what to expect from him if he catches you again.""I am not afraid.I'll take care of myself if I see him coming.The trouble is that Red doesn't go after a fellow that way."Phil went on in his three acts as usual that afternoon, after having spent an hour at the front door taking tickets, to which task he had assigned himself soon after his talk with Mr.Sparling.
It was instructive; it gave the boy a chance to see the people and to get a new view of human nature.If there is one place in the world where all phases of human nature are to be found, that place is the front door of acircus.
The Circus Boys, by this time, had both fitted into their new acts as if they had been doing them for years--Phil doing the bareback riding and Teddy tumbling in the leaping act, both lads gaining the confidence and esteem more and more every day of their fellow performers and the owner of the show.
That night, after the performance was ended, Phil stood around for a time, watching the men at work pulling down the tent.He had another motive, too.He had thought that perchance he might see something of the man he was in search of, for no better time could be chosen to do damage to circus property than when the canvas was being struck.
Then everyone was too busy to pay any attention to anyone else.Teddy had gone on to pay his usual evening visit to the accommodation car and at the same time make miserable the existence of the worthy who presided over that particular car.
Phil waited until nearly twelve o'clock; then, deciding that it would be useless to remain there longer, turned his footsteps toward the railroad yards, for he was tired and wanted to get to bed as soon as possible.
He found the way readily, having been over to the car once during the morning while out looking for Red Larry.The night was very dark, however, and the yards, at the end from which he approached them, were enshrouded in deep shadows.
On down the tracks Phil could see the smoking torches where the men were at work running the heavy cages and canvas wagons up on the flat cars.Men were shouting and yelling, the usual accompaniment to this proceeding, while crowds of curious villagers were massed about the sides of the yard at that point, watching the operations.
