"I'll see you a little later, Luke," he said to his young friend.
"All right," nodded Luke. "I've got a good deal to tell you. But it will keep."
When they reached the clown's tent Marco sat down on the bench beside
Andy.
"Business, Wildwood," he spoke, briskly tapping the papers in his hand. "I wanted to get you fixed right, and started right in to get a contract from Mr. Scripps."
"Is that it?" asked Andy.
"Yes, and favorable in every way—your end of it, and the circus end is all right. But there's another end. That is it. I reckon you'd better get the gist of the trouble by reading it over."
Marco separated one of the written sheets and passed it to Andy.
"Oh, dear!" cried the latter in dismay the moment his eyes had taken in the general subject matter of the screed before him. "That settles it."
Andy's face ran quickly from consternation to utter gloom.
The document before him was a legally-worded affair awaiting a signature. It stated that "Miss Lavinia Talcott, guardian relative of Andrew Wildwood, minor, hereby agreed to hold the circus management free from any blame, damage or indemnity in case of accident to the said Andrew Wildwood, this day and date a contracted employee of said circus management."