“What are you looking for, Mike?” he heard someone say in a deep voice.
“That big goat,” was the reply. “Did you see Jumbo put him on his back? He’s a beauty. When I saw him make that flying leap among the freaks, it popped into my head that we ought to annex him to this show. He’ll sure make an attraction.”
“Do you know I thought the very same thing, and I have been looking for him too. It seems to me that he must be hidden in some of this rubbish. Have you looked in this big box?” and Mike kicked with his foot Billy’s hiding-place.
“No, I will in just a minute. But say, before we go any further let’s settle it that whether you or I find the goat, we will own him equally between us. If we decide to sell him, we’ll share and share alike.”
“I’m agreed to that. It’s my guess that it will take the two of us to handle and train him. I never saw such a jump in my born days as he made off that elephant’s back. He must be as strong as an ox. We’ll have to starve him down a bit, probably, before he will be manageable.”
“Yes, that’s right. Hurry up now and see what’s in that box. The old man will be calling us in a minute.”
“I’ll have to go right now,” thought Billy, “for I won’t be captured by that precious pair of scamps if I can possibly help it. As like as not they would want to put me in a cage, and I haven’t forgotten what that means if the stories of the wolf and the lion can be believed. It’s awfully unlucky, though, for now I am here there are a whole lot of things I want to see. The only thing for me to do is the minute one of them stoops down to look into this box, to jump at him with all my might, knock him flat, and make a bee line just as fast as I can go for the entrance. It’s good-bye Circus for me,” sighed Billy, and he prepared for the attack.
For once in this eventful day luck was with him. Just as the man called Mike was coming around—Billy could hear him—where he could look in at him, someone called and both his pursuers started on the double quick to get back to their posts, one saying to the other that they would try it again a little later.
“Saved again!” Billy would have shouted had he dared to make any noise, but he didn’t.