Certainly it looked so, and when Ted walked forward, toward the place where he had last seen the acrobat and when Janet and Trouble followed, the Curlytop lad found that what his little brother said was true.
There was a hole in the ground, a rather deep and steep hole with grass growing close to the edge of it. And down in this hole lay the acrobat in a huddled heap.
So still and quiet he was, all doubled up, that Janet felt frightened. She was going to ask Ted if he thought the jolly man might be dead. But Ted suddenly exclaimed:
“I guess he’s fainted. I’ll get some water and pour it on him.”
Ted had once seen his aunt faint, and his mother had dashed water on her face.
Back to the stream ran the boy, and in the can he had fished out he brought back some water. When some of this had been spilled on the face of the man lying in the hole, he opened his eyes and asked rather faintly:
“What happened?”
“You flip-flopped into a hole,” answered Ted. “Can you get out or shall I run back to the farm for help?”
“Oh, I guess I’m all right now,” was the answer. “I remember now. I was cartwheeling around and, all of a sudden, I saw this hole in front of me. Before I could stop myself I rolled into it. I hit my head on a stone, and that’s all I remember. But I’m all right now, though I guess I was unconscious for a minute or two.”
“We didn’t know what had happened to you,” remarked Janet.