[Illustration: “Jack excelled himself” _Page 170_] Jack the Runaway Or On the Road with a Circus BY FRANK V. WEBSTER AUTHOR OF “BOB THE CASTAWAY,” “THE YOUNG FIREMEN OF LAKEVILLE,” “TOM THE TELEPHONE BOY,” “THE NEWSBOY PARTNERS,” ETC. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY PUBLISHERS BOOKS FOR BOYS _By FRANK V. WEBSTER_ 12mo. Illustrated. Bound in cloth. ONLY A FARM BOY, Or Dan Hardy’s Rise in Life TOM THE TELEPHONE BOY, Or The Mystery of a Message THE BOY FROM THE RANCH, Or Roy Bradner’s City Experiences THE YOUNG TREASURE HUNTER, Or Fred Stanley’s Trip to Alaska BOB THE CASTAWAY, Or The Wreck of the Eagle THE YOUNG FIREMEN OF LAKEVILLE, Or Herbert Dare’s Pluck THE NEWSBOY PARTNERS, Or Who Was Dick Box? THE BOY PILOT OF THE LAKES, Or Nat Morton’s Perils TWO BOY GOLD MINERS, Or Lost in the Mountains JACK THE RUNAWAY, Or On the Road with a Circus _Cupples & Leon Co., Publishers, New York_ Copyright, 1909, by CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY JACK THE RUNAWAY Printed in U. S. A. CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I JACK WANTS A DOLLAR 1 II AT THE SHOW 11 III JACK IS PUNISHED 18 IV DISQUIETING NEWS 26 V A SERIOUS ACCUSATION 34 VI JACK RUNS AWAY 43 VII A NARROW ESCAPE 50 VIII THE SIDE-DOOR PULLMAN 58 IX JACK LOSES SOMETHING 66 X A FRUITLESS SEARCH 72 XI JACK AT THE CIRCUS 81 XII JACK DOES A STUNT 90 XIII PLANNING AN ACT 100 XIV HIS FIRST PERFORMANCE 106 XV JACK HAS ENEMIES 113 XVI THE FLYING MACHINE 120 XVII JACK MAKES A HIT 129 XVIII PROFESSOR KLOPPER APPEARS 138 XIX JACK’S TRICK 145 XX A TREACHEROUS ACT 152 XXI THE MONKEY’S ESCAPE 161 XXII IN A STORM 170 XXIII THE MAD ELEPHANT 180 XXIV JACK’S BAD FALL 187 XXV LEFT BEHIND--CONCLUSION 193 JACK THE RUNAWAY CHAPTER I JACK WANTS A DOLLAR “Professor, will you please give me a dollar?” asked Jack Allen, of the elderly man who sat reading a book in the library. “A dollar, Jack?” and Professor Simonedes Klopper, who had retired from the position of mathematical instructor in a large college, to devote his declining years to study, looked over the rims of his big glasses at the boy before him. “A dollar? Why, what in the world do you want of a dollar, Jack?” “I--I want to go to a show,” and Jack rather hesitated for he was doubtful over the outcome of his request. “A show?” and the professor’s eyes opened so wide that, seen through the powerful lenses of his glasses, they reminded Jack of the orbs of a cuttlefish.