“Give it up,” laughed Dave. “We’ll know before the night is over.”
Victor, whose curiosity was highly excited, now easily kept ahead of his taller companion. But the lights had entirely disappeared, leaving the street to end apparently in a void of blackness.
“Looks like a jumping off place,” exclaimed Victor. “Hurry up, Brandon.”
They began to walk rapidly, soon covering a number of blocks.
Suddenly the cluster of lights flashed into view once more. Five minutes later they heard a series of dull thuds, as of hammering, accompanied at intervals by a low rumbling of wagon wheels. When an open lot which faced the street was reached Dave and his companion saw a number of flaming torches that sent weird streaks of yellow over the ground, lighting up in their course groups of men busily engaged with sledge-hammers.
Dave Brandon’s eyes were instantly attracted toward a huge bill-board which rose from amidst a tangle of weeds and grasses. The rays from a gas lamp cast a flickering glow over its multi-colored surface.
“Look, Vic,” he exclaimed, with a laugh. “The mystery is solved.”
And Victor, whose eyes were bright with interest, read in letters that almost took in the entire length of the board:
“Ollie Spudger’s Great Combined Peerless Circus and Menagerie.”
“By George—a circus! Isn’t this jolly good luck, Brandon?” he cried, enthusiastically.