The Circus Boys on the Plains; Or, The Young Advance Agents Ahead of the Show Read online

  The Circus Boys on the PlainsOrThe Young Advance Agents Ahead of the Show

  By EDGAR B. P. DARLINGTON

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER I--ON THE OWNER'S PRIVATE CAR

  The English Fat Girl gets mired on the lot. Teddy Tuckerthreatens to thrash the "Strongest Man on Earth." The hazards ofa circus life. Teddy would put the whole show out of business.Phil and his chum assigned to Advance Car Number Three.

  CHAPTER II--OFF FOR NEW FIELDS

  "Boss Sparling seems in an awful hurry to get rid of us."Circus Boys meet a cold reception. Phil is made a"barn climber." Teddy threatens to wring the car manager's neck."Soak him, Phil!" yells the boy on the pile of railroad ties.

  CHAPTER III--COMING TO AN UNDERSTANDING

  Phil gets into action. "I've had enough!" groans thecar manager. A telegram to the owner complains of theCircus Boys. "Either you get off this car or I do." The advancecar is a bedlam. More trouble for the Circus Boys is in sight.

  CHAPTER IV-INTRODUCED TO THE CREW

  Circus Boys meet "Rosie the Pig" and other notables. The portertells how Phil worsted Mr. Snowden. What a "contract hotel" is.Teddy decides to take bean soup. "Why didn't the contractingagent sign us up with a livery stable?"

  CHAPTER V--THE MIDNIGHT ALARM

  How an advance car is operated. The "banner man" and his littlemagnetic hammer. "You're a bird on the trapeze." The boysexchange confidences on snoring. Circus Boys go to sleep onbeds of paper. Aroused by a great uproar.

  CHAPTER VI--ALMOST A TRAGEDY

  "He's fallen into the paste can headfirst!" Teddy Tucker hasa narrow escape from death. The manager gives Phil a ducking."Rain-in-the-Face" sees a great light. An irate car manager.How Teddy took his revenge on Mr. Snowden.

  CHAPTER VII--THE FIRST DAY'S EXPERIENCE

  "He pulled me out of bed!" Great excitement on Car Three.Snowden hopes Phil will fall off and break his neck.Young Forrest pastes a poster on himself. "Young man,you have a cast-iron nerve!" The Circus Boy "squares"a hard-shell farmer.

  CHAPTER VIII--THE CIRCUS BOY WINS

  Phil gets a silo, and a hog pen for good measure.Farmers witness a circus stunt not down on the bills.A narrow escape. Taking a desperate chance. Phil "the champeenof them all." Circus sheets that stood out like a fire onthe landscape.

  CHAPTER IX--TEDDY GETS INTO TROUBLE

  Blue jeans replace pink tights. When it rained paste. "I didn'tknow you had your nose stuck in the paste pot when I turned onthe steam." Teddy sets himself the task of reforming a"crazy man." The trouble maker is named "Spotted Horse.""You're discharged!"

  CHAPTER X--A SURPRISE, INDEED!

  Billy Conley is up to tricks. Mr. Sparling takes a hand.The car manager gets his deserts. "You will hear greatthings of Phil Forrest one of these days." "I'm going tothrash a man within an inch of his life!" Phil hears anamazing thing.

  CHAPTER XI--THREE CHEERS AND A TIGER

  Phil Forrest, Car Manager. Dazed by an unexpected promotion.Teddy graduates from the paste pot. How circus money is spent.The Circus Boys win new laurels. Teddy becomes a press agent.Phil makes a speech and is welcomed as "The Boss."

  CHAPTER XII--FACING AN EMERGENCY

  "Bad habit to go to bed on an empty stomach." Teddy Tuckerdiscovers a rival on a side track. "Here's trouble right fromthe start!" The new car manager gets into rapid-fire action."We must beat the 'opposition.' Now, boys, it's up to you!"The mine is laid.

  CHAPTER XIII--A BAFFLED CAR MANAGER

  "That fellow is playing a sharp trick." Phil breakfasts with hisrival and extracts information from him. "You ain't half as biga fool as you look, are you?" Bob Tripp gets a great shock.Farmers guard Phil Forrest's posters with shot guns.

  CHAPTER XIV--TEDDY WRITES A LETTER

  Circus Boys steal a second march on the "opposition."Teddy Tucker whoops for joy. The new press agent begins work."Spotted Horse" has too many fingers for typing. A suggestionfor billposters. Circus Boys strike hard blows.

  CHAPTER XV--IN AN EXCITING RACE

  All surrounded in Kansas. Three "opposition" carsdiscovered in the same yard with Phil Forrest. A race forthe country. Paste cans dance a jig. Rivals turned overinto a ditch. A case of give and take.

  CHAPTER XVI--A BATTLE OF WITS

  When money made a big noise. The canary car manager gets anawful jolt. "Be on your way, my little man," urges Phil sweetly."Turn out every man in town! Run as if the Rhino of the SparlingCircus were after you!"

  CHAPTER XVII--THE CHARGE OF THE PASTE BRIGADE

  The battle is on in earnest. Trouble is on the air."Paste them, fellows!" howls Teddy. "Look out! The policeare coming!" "I arrest you for disturbing the peace!"Phil faces the officers of the law boldly and wins for his show.

  CHAPTER XVIII--THE MISSING SHOW CARS

  Congratulations from the show's owner. Four rival advance carsgo out on one train. Teddy sends the enemy's cars adrift.Sleeping a sleep of innocence. Phil is puzzled over the mysteryof the missing cars. Teddy's expression arouses the suspicion ofhis chum.

  CHAPTER XIX--PHIL'S DARING PLAN

  Teddy Tucker admits his guilt. Forrest reads "Spotted Horse"a severe lecture. "Is the sermon over?" A lesson that borefruit for a day or so. Pat "smells a rat." "She's moving!We're off!" The Circus Boys adrift on a runaway car.

  CHAPTER XX--ON A WILDCAT RUN

  A dizzy ride through the storm. "Don't bother me, I'm makingthe next town!" A thrilling moment. Phil faces death with asmile on his face. "Hold fast, we're going to sideswipe them!"The agent at Salina gets a surprise.

  CHAPTER XXI--IN A PERILOUS POSITION

  Teddy throws out his chest and seeks publicity. "Spotted Horse"has a daring plan. The Circus Boy a hundred feet in the air.Teddy takes a desperate chance to earn Phil Forrest's fifty.Overtaken by disaster as the Sparling banner floats tothe breeze.

  CHAPTER XXII--A DASH FOR LIBERTY

  "Help! I'm hung up!" Teddy is suspended, head downward, betweenearth and sky. Phil hurries to the rescue. "I'm all tied up ina knot!" wails the unhappy Tucker. Teddy takes a long drop,landing on Billy's neck, and bowls over a policeman.

  CHAPTER XXIII--THE DESERTED VILLAGE

  A new trouble-plan in the making. Teddy is so happy that hecan't go to bed. The "opposition" is lost again. Phil makeshis chum tell how he tricked the rival car managers. How PhilForrest proved that he was a real manager.

  CHAPTER XXIV--CONCLUSION

  The manager of "The Greatest Show on Earth" wants Phil.Setting out to "drive the other fellows off the map." "No moremeals at the Sign of the Tin Spoon." Circus Boys have a happywindup to an exciting show season.

  THE CIRCUS BOYS ON THE PLAINS