Something heavy was on his hook, that was certain. But when he hauled it up out of the water all that met his eyes was—an old rusty tin can!
Janet looked up in time to see it sailing through the air and she cried, as well as she could for her giggles:
“Oh, Teddy! what’s the matter with you? More funny fish!”
“It’s a trick—that’s what it is!” declared the Curlytop lad. “A trick. Somebody down there in the grass is putting boots and shoes and tin cans on my hook!”
Dropping his pole, Ted made a dash for the clump of tall grass and rushes where he had seen the cautious movements. Before he reached the place there was a commotion there, and out and up leaped a queer little man—a man who shouted and laughed and at once began turning somersaults on the open place a little way back from the edge of the stream.
Backward and forward the queer little man turned somersaults. Then he sprang up in the air, landed on his hands, and bounced back to his feet. With a whoop he turned a “cartwheel,” and then rolled over and over in the grass.
“Oh, look! He’s doing flip-flops! He’s doing flip-flops!” cried Trouble who, with Jan, had risen from his fishing place to look at the funny man. “He’s doing flip-flops like the nellifunt man in the circus!”
Indeed, this odd character seemed to have come from a circus, except that he did not have on a gayly colored suit with shining spangles.
As Ted watched the thought came into the lad’s mind that this strange man was the one who had fastened the boot, the shoe and the tin can on the fish hook.
“Whoop-la! That’s the way to do it!” cried the man in a jolly voice, as he walked around on his hands. He then very suddenly straightened up. “How’s fishing?” he asked, as he walked toward Ted.