The faces of the crowd were full of surprise and perplexity as they first gazed upward, then turned toward each other in half-breathless astonishment.
“There is a ventriloquist among us,” repeated Mr. Austin; “there must be, without doubt.”
“Ven—ven—what is it anyway?” asked Riggs.
“Ventriloquist; one who can speak without moving his lips, and cause his voice to seem to come from somewhere outside of himself; from some person or animal, or place near at hand or farther off.”
“You don’t say. I never heered o’ sech doins!” exclaimed Riggs. While several others standing near cried out, “A ventriloquist. Is there one here? If there is, let him give us some more of his tricks. We’d like no better fun.”
“Just you keep quiet then, all of you, and perhaps he will,” said Mr. Short, who, though he knew nothing absolutely in regard to the matter, began to have strong suspicions that Captain Raymond could tell all about it if he would.
A short, sharp bark, that seemed to come from the coat-pocket of the speaker, made him start involuntarily and thrust his hand deep into it.
He drew it out with a laugh. “Nothing there, as I might have known,” he said.
But the words were hardly out of his mouth when a loud, furious barking, growling and snarling began in the midst of the crowd, causing them to scatter pell-mell to the sidewalks, women and children screaming, men and boys shouting, bursts of laughter following, as they perceived that the cause of their fright was but another trick of the ventriloquist.
“Who is he! who is he!” was the question bandied from one to another, but answered by no one.