"The fiend is cutting the net," he muttered."I wonder who he is.Ah, I know him now! He is one of the tent men.I never thought he was in this thing.I must catch him--I must make the attempt, for he may get away.I don't even know the fellow's name, nor do I understand his enmity toward the show or myself."Phil wriggled in under the tent, now, not fearing discovery, for inside the tent, it was quite dark.Slowly raising himself to his feet, he edged nearer, step by step, to where the man was at work.The man had partly spread the net out by this time, to make sure that he was cutting it in the right place so that it would give way beneath the weight of the performer unfortunate enough to drop into it first.
"The fiend!" repeated Phil, clenching his fists."I'm glad I am the one to discover him.Mr.Man, I have a score to settle with you and I'm going to begin the settling up now."Phil crouched low.He was now only a few feet from the stooping figure.
All at once the boy threw himself forward.He landed on the man, forcing him to the ground.As he struck, Phil raised his voice in the showmen's rallying cry.
"_Hey, Rube!_" he shouted in a sing-song voice that was heard in the dressing tents and even out in the menagerie tent.
His first care, then, was to pinion the man so he could not use his hands, for the Circus Boy knew that his captive had a knife in one hand.
Men came running from all directions, Mr.Sparling among the number, for he had been in the menagerie tent when the cry reached him, and feared some fresh trouble was at hand.
"What is it?Where is it?" roared the showman."Here, here!Bring lights.Bring--"The man beneath him began to struggle.In fact the fellow staggered to his feet, the boy being too light to hold him down.
Phil grabbed him about the waist, pinioning the man's arms to his sides.Then began a desperate struggle, during which the combatants fell to the ground, rolling over and over in their fierce battle.
"It's Phil Forrest!" shouted the owner.
He sprang forward and with a mighty tug, jerked the tentman free of the Circus Boy's body.At that instant the fellow leaped to his feet and started to run.
"Stop him!" howled Phil.
Teddy, who had come running up, suddenly stooped over and constituting himself a battering ram, ran full tilt into the tentman, the boy's head landing in the pit of the circus hand's stomach.The fellow went down, whereupon Teddy promptly sat on him until the others reached the scene.
"Now, what does this mean?" demanded the showman sternly.
"It means that I caught this fellow cutting the net.If you will look at it you will find it to be badly mutilated, I think." An examination proved that Phil was right.Mr.Sparling had all he could do to prevent the angry circus men from wreaking their vengeance on the wretch then and there.
Teddy, in the meantime, had been peering into the man's face.
"I know him!I know him!" howled the Circus Boy, dancing about."You know him?""Yes, do you remember Bad Eye who was mixed up with Red Larry, the fellow we sent to jail two or three seasons ago?""Yes."
"That's Bad Eye," pointing to the prisoner, "and he is bad medicine,besides."
"Is it possible?" muttered Phil, a new light breaking over him.Suddenly Teddy uttered a yell.
"I've got him! He's the fellow who stole my egg." Teddy made a dive for the prisoner, but strong hands pulled him away.
Bad Eye, it developed, smarting under the punishment that had been meted out to his companion, had once more joined the show, determined upon revenge.He had in the meantime grown a full beard, so that no one recognized him.Now, Phil Forrest knew why the voice was dimly familiar to him when he had heard it that night out on the lot.
Caught red-handed, Bad Eye made a full confession.And to the surprise of everyone, he implicated Manuel, the assistant to the Spanish clown.Bad Eye admitted having thrown Phil Forrest overboard, as well.He denied having stolen Tucker's egg, placing the full responsibility for this on the shoulders of Manuel.
What was done with the egg was never known, though Manuel was believed to have thrown it overboard.Diaz, after his one violent outbreak, had made no further evil attempts.
Bad Eye and Manuel were tried and convicted in due time, and placed where they would do the show no further harm.
The show went on, and after several successful weeks, reached New Orleans, where the final performance of the season was given.All hands then turned their faces northward.Teddy and Phil decided to take a steamship for New York, thence proceeding to their home by train.Each lad was a few thousand dollars richer than when he had joined out in the spring.
They waved their adieus to Mr.Sparling from the deck of an ocean steamer next morning as the big ship slowly poked its nose out into the gulf.
"You can't down the Circus Boys," said Phil, with a pleased smile as they leaned over the rail.
"At least, not this season," added Teddy.
But the exciting experiences of the Circus Boys were not yet at an end.The lads will be heard from further in another volume, under the title:
"THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE PLAINS; Or, The Young Advance Agents Ahead of the Show."In this forthcoming volume the lads pass through a phase of circus life never experienced by them before.They will find, too, that all the thrills of the circus life are not confined to the sawdust arena, but that there is every whit as much excitement and real peril in the daily life of the advance man on the advertising car ahead of the show.
