“He wants you to show what you can do at the dressing tent a little before seven o’clock.” And Leo went into a few particulars. “Do your best, Carl, and you are sure of a steady place at a good salary.”
“That would certainly be far better than knocking around, as we have been doing, on an uncertainty.”
That evening Carl presented himself, in company with Leo, and gave an exhibition of his finest tricks and of his most dexterous juggling. Mr. Lambert was greatly pleased.
“You’ll do first rate,” he said, when Carl had concluded. “If you wish, you can join us, and I’ll pay you the same wages that I was paying Dunbar.”
Carl accepted on the spot, and the next day found him and Leo traveling with the other performers of the “Greatest Show on Earth.”
Leo’s friends were glad to see him back, and doubly glad that they had gotten rid of Snipper.
“I never want to see that man again,” declared Natalie Sparks, and nobody blamed her.
The next two weeks were busy ones for Leo. Not only had he to practice up himself in his old acts, but he had also to instruct a new gymnast who came to take Snipper’s place.
The newcomer was named Harry Ray. He was a first-class fellow, and soon he and Leo and Carl became warm friends.
The “Greatest Show on Earth” moved nearly every day. Its course was westward, something which did not suit the young gymnast, but which was also something he could not help.