This was on Saturday, and, after a good day’s business in a large country town, the circus started for Stewartsville, where it was to remain two days; Sunday, during which no performance would be given, and Monday, when the usual afternoon and evening exhibitions would take place.
Sunday was pretty much a day of rest with the circus folk. Of course the tents had to be put up in the morning, and the animals arranged in places. And the beasts had to be fed, and the performers, whose talents depended on their muscles or dexterity, did not forego their daily practice, to keep in condition. But, for the majority of the circus crowd, there was little to do.
Jack took advantage of the opportunity to go and look at the animals, for which he had very little time during the regular circus day. He was fond of wild beasts, and he made the acquaintance of some of the keepers. He was also introduced to the fat lady and the skeleton man, who were among the freaks in the side show. He found them both nice persons, and, in their turn, they seemed attracted to the boy, who, in spite of his unusually good luck in getting along so well as a newcomer, in the circus, was quite lonesome at times.
Toward the close of the afternoon Mr. Delafield called Jack into the property tent. The sight of a big object in the middle caused Jack to utter an exclamation. There was his new flying machine, complete.
“That’s fine!” he cried. “It will be ready for to-morrow, won’t it?”
“I think so. The paint isn’t quite dry, but it will be by morning.”
The affair was gaudily colored, to match the suit which Jack had decided to wear. He could hardly wait for morning to try it, and, as soon as he had his breakfast, he took it into the main tent, where, with the help of the property man and Sam Kyle, he had his first rehearsal.
It worked fairly well, though it was found necessary to make one or two readjustments. But these were finished by afternoon, and Jack got ready for his first appearance in his new rôle, that of an eccentric, clownish airship inventor.
He was a little nervous as he took his apparatus with him out into the ring that afternoon, and set it down in a space in front of the reserved seats. Then, with an affair that looked like an air pump, he pretended to fill the muslin bag. All the while he assumed the part of a man who has just completed an aeroplane and is anxious to see how it will work.
“Oh, mamma! See the airship! See the airship!” cried a boy in the audience close to Jack. “Will he really fly, mamma?”