CHAPTER IX.—THE MAD ELEPHANT.
From Middletown the circus went to Dover, and then to Grasscannon.
At each of these places a big business was done, and at every performance Leo did better.
The young gymnast became a great favorite with all but two people in the “Greatest Show on Earth.”
These two people were Jack Snipper, who remained as overbearing as ever, and Jack Broxton, the fellow discharged for intoxication.
Broxton had been following up the circus ever since his discharge, in the vain hope of being reinstated.
But the rules in the “Greatest Show on Earth” are very strict, and no intoxication is allowed.
After leaving Grasscannon, the circus struck up through New York State, and at the end of the week arrived at Buffalo.
It was while at this place that Broxton tried to play a dangerous trick upon Leo.
He met the young gymnast on the street one night after the performance.
He was under the influence of liquor at the time, and in his pocket he carried what is known by the boys as a giant torpedo.
As Leo turned a corner he threw the torpedo at Leo’s feet.
Luckily the torpedo failed to explode.
Had it gone off the young gymnast would have been sadly crippled.
“You rascal!” cried Leo, and he made for Broxton and landed him in the gutter.
Some of the other performers then came up.
“What’s the row, Leo?”
“Look what Broxton threw at me,” he replied, and handed the torpedo around for inspection.
While the explosive was being examined, Broxton sneaked off, and it was well for him that he did so, for otherwise the crowd would have pounced upon him and given him the greatest warming up of his life.
But that ended Broxton’s hope of rejoining the circus. The story of his attempt on Leo circulated, and he did not dare to show his face anywhere around the dressing tents.
After leaving Buffalo the circus turned southward toward Pennsylvania.
One night they arrived at Harmony Falls.
“To-morrow, if all goes right, I am going to take a train for Hopsville and see Squire Dobb,” said Barton Reeve to Leo.
“I hope you have luck,” replied the boy. “If he is keeping any of my property back from me I want to know it.”
The day in Harmony Falls opened very warm. A haze hung over the mountains to the westward.
“We’ll have a storm by night,” said Natalie Sparks to Leo.
The two were now warm friends.
“That will make it bad for the ticket-wagon,” laughed the young gymnast.
“Oh, I hate a storm during a performance,” went on the girl, “especially if it thunders and lightens.”
“Well, that’s what it’s going to do.”
“How do you know?”
“Oh, didn’t I live on a farm?”
“That’s so!” Natalie laughed merrily. “You don’t look much like a farm hand now.”
“Thanks for the compliment,” and Leo blushed.
During the afternoon it grew hotter and hotter. Under the big tents it was suffocating.
“Dandy weather for lemonade,” said the owner of the main drinking stand, but he was about the only person who appreciated the sudden rise in the thermometer.
At seven o’clock the circus tents were again crowded, and amid the general excitement but few noticed the flashes of lightning over in the west. The low rumblings of thunder they attributed to the lions in the cages.
At last the grand entrée was over, and then the performance settled down to the various specialties.
Then, as Leo and Snipper came on, a louder peal of thunder attracted every one’s attention.
To quiet fears the band struck up. Of course Leo and Snipper could not talk against the music, and so they tumbled around instead, Leo casting himself into the most awkward of shapes.
The rain began to fall, but as the canvases were waterproof this did no great harm.
Then the wind freshened up, and every one realized that a big storm was at hand.
Leo had just thrown off his clown’s dress and mounted up to a pair of rings when a fearful crack of thunder caused every one to leap up in terror.
The lightning had struck a pole in the menagerie tent!
Down came the heavy stick, straight across the backs of three of the largest elephants.
THE ELEPHANT MADE FOR THE CROWD
The thunder and the fall of the pole frightened the huge beasts. They roared and plunged and finally broke from their fastenings.
Two of them were secured without much difficulty, but the third, the largest, could not be managed.
With a fearful roar he rushed into the main circus tent, under the spot where Leo was performing, and directly in the faces of the crowd, which tried in vain to flee from his path.