Show TALE OF A GIIICUS Undo Abo Sloan proprietor and manager of Sloans Mammoth Circus and Hippodrome stopped in surprise when some one tugged at his elbow and then looked down into the np arced face of a youngster at his side Then his lace lighted and drawing his big bund out of his crcoit ho slapped the young follow heartily on the houhllr Phil ho exclaimed Where did 1 loll come hum 1 Just blowcd In fioiu Dewitur the riper answered lightly and what are you doing here tnelo ml Abo turned about and pointed m a bill i poster i across tho street Uh I am over at tho L 1 this week with ell dogs ho said Hut what me you tlolug In Chicago sonulo Not IiI particular answered Phil lp I I want to alga out all soon as he season opens up I suppos jour aiitflt will bo pulling out soon I am going back 1 to St Louis In tlnuo weeks old Abe answered Im getting a bigger canvas made Itll ho thrice as bit as that old one Phil What do you think of that 1 Well thats going some said Phil briefly They walked on In silence Cora Cor-a few inlnutct Uncle bald the young fellow stopping sal pointing to a restaurant across the street Im hungry and Im broke clean strapped Had to soak my ticker to get here and paid my last nickel for a shine last night The showman led the way across tho street to the little Clark street lunchroom lunch-room and pushed tho boy Into a chair at a table The young fellow ordered pork and and old Abe wanted an Irish I stew Now said old Abe when they were alone Ive got some questions for you to answer Where have you been since last Fourth of July > tm and Johnson What became of Knobbs 1 ° Knobbs Knobbs said the other What of whats the matter with Knobbs Well Johnson and you and Knobbs disappeared from ShelbyvIIle 111 on the night of the Fourth of July Some blankets were taken and some other tuff disappeared Now what do you now about it Phil You dont why I didnt take em selp me I didnt I tell you uncle Johnson and I got left behind that night and wc hunted for you for a month before we gave you up for lost Circuses as a rule said old Abe aint gineially M hard to find As for that pesky monkey I do believe iou know just where ho Is Now what do you know Phil 1 Was the monkey and the blankets all you missed asked the other No said the older man wo missed our trap drummer and first cornet and we missed em bad That was a bad trick for you and Johnson to play It was this way said Phil as ho sipped his coffee Johnson an me that night we was tired and rolled out In a cornfield It was a fine night not too cool an not too warm an we didnt wake up until it was long after sunup next raornln As we later learned Phil laughed anyhow we lit out after youuns and then was stopped What detained us was somethln peculyar Ghosts It wasperhaps old Nick himselfwas what detained us Leastways so said everybody we came across Phil old be laughed youre not good at lyin This is every bit the truth what Im tellln Listen We staid all night with a farmer feller what had seen it the night before He saw the darned thing in the henhouse and devil or no It was particular fond of eggs cause the next mornln they found no less than the empty shells of a dozen eggs lyln on tho floor Now he said that long In the middle mid-dle of tho night ho had been waked by the squawkln of chickens in the henhouse Sounded like all the hens was bean murdered he said and he hustled out an found the thing sittln comfortable and confldontllko In a hen box suckln eggs It smiled at him goodnatured like then let out a howl and Jumped Into the window It set in the window a moment and the farmer said it waved its hand at him Of course that farmer might have been a liar That was what detained us We organized a searchln1 party and hunted for the thing Poor Knobbs old Abe broke In I suppose hes dead now Of course you didnt find him Knobbs said the other What of Knobbs That devil of yourn was Knobbs sures Im alive Because Knobbs was powerful fond of eggsraw eggs Knobbs hail a peculiar way of throw In a kiss at you when ho was particularly partic-ularly happy Of course it was Knobbs Ill Just bet it was come to think of It tho first cornet answered I had ought to have known It He stopped speaking a moment and asked the waiter to draw him another cup of Java Well what did you do after that old Abe asked Wo followed a circus which we believed be-lieved was your outfit for three weeks always one town behind We followed fol-lowed that outfit to Decatur and found It was Smalley Brothers and that gang Since then I have been a measly clerk In a shoo store yes sir uncle I have remained In one spot for six months But this beautiful spring weather uncle stirs tho roamln fever In my bones and I cant set still Uncle whats the chance of sign In out for tho summer All the chance in the world boy said old Abe Are you comln with mo to feed tho 1IUpsChlcabO Roo ordHerald |