“Good idea!”
“I don’t care how many of you go to the show; but, mark me, it will cost you fifty cents a head, and at the first sign of disturbance you’ll see the biggest bunch of trouble headed your way!”
“It’s all right, Mr. Sparling. We admit we’ve been done.”
And that was the end of it. Mr. Sparling’s lawyer visited the town where the disturbance had occurred on the previous day, and at his client’s direction made a settlement that should have been wholly satisfactory to the injured parties. Ordinarily the showman would not have settled the case, in view of the fact that neither he nor any of his employees was directly responsible for the series of disasters. He did it almost wholly on account of Phil Forrest, who had asked him to.
“Well, young man, I’ve paid the bills,” announced Mr. Sparling that afternoon before the evening performance.
“Thank you,” glowed Phil.
“Stop that! If there’s any thanks in it, they’re coming to you. Between you and the elephant we’ll have another turn-away today. You have already put a good bit of money in my pocket, and I’m not forgetting it. I have made definite arrangements for you and your chum to have a berth in a closed wagon after this. You will be good enough to offer no objections this time. What I say goes.”
“I hope I did not do anything wrong in taking Emperor away. I’m afraid my conscience has troubled me ever since. But I didn’t intend to do anything wrong or to cause any further damage than already had been done.”
“You did perfectly right, Forrest. That was a stroke of genius. As for damage, I tell you I have settled all of that. One of these days you come in when I’m not busy and we’ll talk about next season. I want you to stay with me.”
Phil left his employer, the lad’s face flushed and his eyes sparkling. Altogether, he was a very happy boy. The only real cloud that had darkened his horizon was that anyone should feel such an enmity toward him as to desire to take his life; or, at least, to cause him so serious an injury as to put an end to the career that now seemed so promising.