“Yes, climb up and catch it,” responded a pert young man.
The stranger was not discomfitted at the jeering proposition.
He calmly took out his pocket book and drew from it a ten dollar bill.
“Why not?” he asked complacently. “Suppose you try, since you suggest it. I will willingly give that money for the bird.”
The crowd laughed. It became the young man’s turn to look embarrassed.
“You ain’t in earnest,” he said.
“But I am.”
“Well, I guess no one in this crowd cares to risk his neck, even for ten dollars.”
“Steeple Jack would,” broke in a boy.
“Where is he?” asked the stranger.