The Adventures of a Country Boy at a Country Fair Part 13

Then Dan asked concerning business, and by the time all three had finished discussing this very important matter the knives and canes were packed ready for removal.

Each boy took a load, carried it to the tent where Mr. Sweet was figuring up his receipts for the day, and then went to supper, returning half an hour later so tired that there was no desire on the part of either to do anything other than sleep.

The proprietor of the museum was in very good spirits. He had taken in one hundred and six dollars and eighty cents, and said, in a tone of satisfaction:

"I reckon this fair will pan out all right. Trade is bound to be better to-morrow, and Thursday is always the biggest of the week. I hear you boys have been distinguis.h.i.+ng yourselves. Tell me about it."

Dan related the incident of the day very modestly, interrupted now and then by Sam, who was eager to pose as a hero also, and Mr. Sweet expressed himself as being well satisfied with their behavior.

"Chasing a thief and getting a whipping in the night, and then saving the lives of three people the next day is record enough for one week, so you'd better not try for any more adventures," he said, with a laugh.

Now that the incident of the previous night had been spoken of so openly, it was necessary Sam's curiosity should be satisfied, and Dan was forced to tell the story.

While he was doing so, and listening to the oarsman's comments, Teddy had an opportunity to see the "barker" and clown who arrived that morning. Neither was a very prepossessing-looking man. They were lying on the ground some distance from the boys, as if bent on minding their own business, and there was no real reason for an unfavorable opinion concerning them.

But little time was spent in conversation on this evening. Every one was thoroughly tired, and each sought for a soft spot on which to pa.s.s the night.

As before, Sam crawled up on the wagon to be out of harm's way when the goat should be unfastened, while Dan and Teddy lay down in very nearly the same place as before.

"I don't fancy we shall hear many secrets between now and morning, no matter how many men come around here to talk," the former said, laughingly. "It won't take me two minutes to fall asleep, and the noise that can awaken me then will have to be very great."

Teddy's only reply was a yawn, and in even less time than Dan had mentioned he was wrapped in slumber.

Shortly after the proprietor of the exhibition began to make his preparations for retiring, and the clown asked:

"How did that row start this afternoon?"

"Half a dozen of the village toughs tried to get in without paying, and I had to polish one of 'em off," the barker replied.

"You must have done it pretty quick, for when I got out there the thing was over," Mr. Sweet said.

"The fellow was more than half-drunk, an' it wasn't a very big job. They threaten to come back and clean the whole show out."

"Yes, I've heard such threats made before; but never lost much sleep worrying about it."

Ten minutes later all the human occupants of the tent were enjoying a well-earned rest, and the goat had about concluded it would be a profitless job to prospect for anything more to eat, when the sound of footsteps could have been heard from the outside.

Had Mr. Sweet been awake he would have decided that these late visitors were trying to find the flap of the tent, for they walked cautiously around the canvas twice, and then a sharp knife was thrust through the fabric.

An instant later Sam awoke his companion with a yell that would have done credit to any Indian.

Some one had given him such a blow as sent him from the seat to the ground, and the remainder of the party leaped to their feet only to be confronted by a large party of half-drunken toughs who had come to avenge the insult received during the afternoon.

CHAPTER XI.

_LONG JIM_.

Teddy's first thought when he was awakened by Sam's yells was that the officers of the law were coming to arrest him for the robbery committed at Uncle Nathan's store; but in a very few seconds he understood that this was not the case.

He and Dan had been sleeping some distance from the remainder of the company; therefore, when the hand-to-hand struggle began they were out of it entirely, and owing to the darkness could not be seen by the a.s.sailants; but Sam's cries served to show the mob where he was, and one after another pounded him when they failed to find any of the other occupants.

While one might have counted twenty Teddy and Dan stood motionless, undecided as to what should be done, while the din caused by the combatants and the screaming boy were almost deafening, and then the latter said:

"We've got to take a hand in this row, Teddy. Mr. Sweet has given us the chance to sleep here, and the least we can do is to help as much as possible, for it appears to me that his men are getting the worst of it."

A broken tent-peg was lying on the ground near at hand, and Dan added, as he seized it:

"Try to light one of the lanterns so we can see which is an enemy, and then sail in."

It seemed to Teddy as if he would never be able to follow these instructions. He had plenty of matches; but in his excitement one after another was extinguished until he fancied half an hour must have elapsed before the wick was ignited.

The faint glow of light served to show one of the intruders Teddy's form, and the latter had but just succeeded in hanging the lantern on the center-pole when it became necessary to defend himself.

The drunken bully made a lunge at him, which he managed to avoid by jumping aside, and in another instant he had seized the man by the waist, doing his best to throw him.

From this moment Teddy knew nothing more of the row than that portion in which he was immediately concerned. He was able to prevent the man from striking by hugging close to his body, and the two swayed here and there in the effort to gain the mastery. Now and then they came in contact with the other combatants, one or both receiving a chance blow, but no especial injury was done to either.

Had the man been sober, Teddy must have been overcome in a very short time; but as he was far from being steady on his feet the odds were about even, and the boy succeeded in holding his own until the others had retreated or been so disabled that it was no longer possible for them to continue the a.s.sault.

Fully thirty minutes had elapsed from the time Sam first sounded the alarm before the occupants of the tent could count themselves as victors, and then Mr. Sweet and the clown pulled Teddy's adversary away, throwing him bodily out of the tent after administering summary punishment.

During all this time the other exhibitors who intended to sleep on the grounds had been gathering around the canvas, but no one cared to risk his precious body by entering until it was certain the battle had been ended.

Then the tent was filled with sympathizing friends, who endeavored to ascertain the amount of injury done, but were interrupted in the work by the proprietor, who cried, angrily:

"Clear out of here, every mother's son! You didn't dare to come in when it would have been possible to help us, and there's no need of you now.

We were attacked by a crowd of men from the town, who proposed to clean the show out because we wouldn't let them in free, and that's all there is to it."

Not until the last visitor had unwillingly departed did the little party pay any attention to their wounds, and then the result of the engagement was ascertained.

The barker had a broken nose, but it would not prevent him from doing a full share of talking on the following day. The clown's eye looked rather bad, and Mr. Sweet's cheek had been cut, but these were only trifling mishaps. Teddy had come out of the affray comparatively uninjured; Dan showed nothing worse than a bruise under the left ear, and while Sam appeared to be unscathed, he declared that he had been pounded until every inch of his body felt like jelly.

"You squealed fairly well for a fellow who was so badly done up," Mr.

Sweet said, with a laugh, as he proceeded to dress the barker's wounded nose, "and I reckon you'll be all right by morning. Light some of the other lanterns so I can see what I'm about, and during the remainder of the night we'll stand guard, for no one can say how soon those scoundrels may attempt to pay us a second visit, although I think they had a full dose this time."

How the a.s.sailants had fared no one was able to form a very good opinion. The general belief among the occupants of the tent, however, was that they had received such severe punishment that there would be no further attack on this night, at least.

When the wounds had been dressed, Mr. Sweet said, as he took up a position near the flap:

"You fellows had better try to go to sleep now. I'll keep awake for a while, and then call some one to relieve me. Dan, can't you borrow one of those queer-looking rifles you are exhibiting, and bring it with you to-morrow night?"

"I might get the one I use for shooting at a target; but you wouldn't think of trying to kill a man, would you, Mr. Sweet?"

"I could do a good deal toward scaring them, and if a crowd insisted on forcing an entrance, I'd take mighty good care that one would carry away a bullet to remember me by."