“Why, it isn’t so very good—not with you around.” When Ted said this, which might not be considered very polite, a smile came to his face. One could not help smiling when one looked at the jolly countenance of the “flip-flop man” as Trouble called him.
“Oh, ho! So I spoiled your fishing, did I?” asked the acrobat.
“Somebody did,” declared Ted. “That’s all I caught.” He pointed to the rubber boot, the shoe, and the rusty tin can on the grass.
“Oh, dear! That’s too bad! Too bad!” sighed the funny man. “And there’s good fish in here, too. I know it, for I’ve pulled them out. Suppose you try again.”
“I will if you’ll stay up here and not go down there to put things on my hook,” agreed Ted, pointing to the clump of tall grass near the water’s edge, whence the man had come.
“Oh, ho! So you suspect me, do you?” asked the tumbler.
“Yes, I do!” laughed Ted. “Didn’t you do it?”
“I’m like George Washington. I must tell the truth,” said the man. “I did it. I hope I didn’t bother you. It isn’t too late to catch some real fish. Come on—throw in again. I’ll sit here on the bank and keep as quiet as a little mouse. Did you ever see a little mouse?” he asked Trouble, winking first one eye and then the other at the small boy.
“I—now—I saw a nellifunt,” was Trouble’s answer.
“Hum! Then you must belong in the circus where I came from,” laughed the man.