Red said, “It’s awfully small for a space-ship.”
“Sure, because it’s probably a scout-ship.”
“I’ll bet Dad couldn’t even get into the old thing.”
So much Slim realized to be true. It was a weak point in his argument and he made no answer. His interest was absorbed by the adults.
Red rose to his feet; an elaborate attitude of boredom all about him. “Well, I guess we better be going. There’s business to do and I can’t spend all day here looking at some old space-ship or whatever it is. We’ve got to take care of the animals if we’re going to be circus-folks. That’s the first rule with circus-folks. They’ve got to take care of the animals. And,” he finished virtuously, “that’s what I aim to do, anyway.”
Slim said, “What for, Red? They’ve got plenty of meat. Let’s watch.”
“There’s no fun in watching. Besides Dad and your father are going away and I guess it’s about lunch time.”
Red became argumentative. “Look, Slim, we can’t start acting suspicious or they’re going to start investigating. Holy Smokes, don’t you ever read any detective stories? When you’re trying to work a big deal without being caught, it’s practically the main thing to keep on acting just like always. Then they don’t suspect anything. That’s the first law—”
“Oh, all right.”
Slim rose resentfully. At the moment, the circus appeared to him a rather tawdry and shoddy substitute for the glories of astronomy, and he wondered how he had come to fall in with Red’s silly scheme.