The circus played a number of one-day stands through the lower part of Ohio, and then swinging around in a big circle, began to work back east. As the larger cities were reached they stayed longer in one place, in some remaining a week, which gave the performers and animals a chance to get a good rest. Meanwhile, Jack had heard nothing more from the professor, nor about the efforts to cause an arrest for the theft of the gold cup. The young clown kept a wary eye out for the sight of a policeman who might be looking for him, and he was also on his guard against meeting Mr. Klopper. But he need not have worried. The professor, after his one attempt to locate Jack, gave it up personally, though he tried other means to find the boy, for, as before stated, he had something very important to tell our hero. The circus reached a town in western Pennsylvania one morning during quite a heavy storm. It had been raining off and on for a week, and the temper of all the employees and performers was tried by the unpleasant weather. A circus is quite a miserable place in the rain, for the usual crowds do not turn out, and everything seems to go wrong. “I hope it clears up by this afternoon,” said Sam Kyle gloomily, as he left the breakfast tent, which leaked in places, and, with Jack, and some of the other clowns, looked up at the dull sky. “I’m sick of being wet through.” The show had to go on, rain or shine, however, and the parade usually took place no matter how hard it stormed. This was very unpleasant for the performers, especially the clowns, as the paint would persist in running off their faces, giving them a streaked and bedraggled appearance, which, while it added to their funny aspect, was not just what they wanted. “It looks as if it might clear,” said Jack hopefully. “The wind seems to be shifting.” But it was raining when the parade started, and Jack and his fellow clowns were wet and cold riding on top of the open wagon, playing their battered instruments. Now, whether the rain was the cause for what happened when the procession reached the middle of the town, where quite a crowd had gathered to view it, or whether the little beasts managed to break open the door, was not disclosed. At any rate, just as the parade was turning back to the grounds, the cage containing the monkeys suddenly opened. Jack was the first to notice it, for the clowns’ wagon was right behind that containing the long-tailed creatures. He saw several of the monkeys leaping out of the opened door, and swinging themselves up on top. “The monkeys! The monkeys!” he cried. “They’re getting loose!” “They’re already loose,” observed Sam grimly. “Now there’ll be some fun. They’re the hardest of all animals to catch, once they get out.”