Part 42 (1/2)

He was guarding himself as best he could and watching his chance to get the upper hand of his antagonist.

All at once Teddy let drive a short-arm blow at the head of the baboon.

Few things could withstand that blow, and least of all a baboon.

It landed fairly on the grinning jaws and Bruiser's head jolted backwards as if it were going right on into the river.

Teddy lost his balance, aided in this by the fact that Bruiser had fastened to the lad's pajamas.

”They're going to fall!” roared Mr. Sparling. ”Catch them!

Catch them!”

The men hastened to move the net, and none too soon, for Teddy and Bruiser came whirling down, the lad making desperate efforts to right himself so as to drop on his feet. But the baboon prevented his doing this.

They struck the net, which was jerked from the hands of the men, and Teddy hit the deck with a terrific b.u.mp.

CHAPTER XXI

A CIRCUS BOY MISSING

”Grab the beast!”

Teddy was still clinging to the baboon so firmly that they had to use force to get Bruiser away from him.

As for the baboon, he was too dazed from the shock of the fall to offer any resistance, and was quickly captured and returned to his cage.

Teddy had not fared quite so well. He was unconscious, and for a time it was feared that he had been seriously injured.

As it turned out, however, he had escaped with nothing worse than a severe shock and a sprained wrist. A sprain of any sort is sufficient to lay up a circus performer for sometime. As a result of his injury, Teddy Tucker did not work again for the next week; that is, he did not enter the ring, though he was anxious to do so. Mr. Sparling, however, would not permit it.

Those were glorious days for Teddy. He could not keep away from the circus lot. He had plenty of time to think up new ways of tormenting his enemies, some of which he applied from time to time. The boy was safe, however, for no one felt inclined to punish a boy who was going around the outfit with one arm helpless in a sling.

Perhaps Teddy Tucker took advantage of this fact. At least, he enjoyed himself and, besides, found plenty of time to hunt for his lost egg. The boy was suspicious of everyone. One time he became firmly convinced that Mr. Sparling had taken it from him.

The moment the idea occurred to him he hunted up the showman and demanded to know if the latter had his egg.

”No,” answered Mr. Sparling with a twinkle in his eyes, ”but I will try to arrange so you get another.”

”You will?”

”Yes.”

”Thank you; thank you.”

”I am having the show's carpenter make one out of wood.”

”I can't eat a wooden egg,” protested Teddy.

”Why not? You were going to eat the ostrich egg. The wooden one will give you indigestion no quicker than the other would have done.”

”I'll tell you what I will do,” said the Circus Boy, an idea suddenly occurring to him.