“Give him the balloon!” cried the crowd, delighted at the antics of the monkeys. “No, no, daddy! It’s mine! Get the monkey for me, too,” cried the little girl. “Stand still a minute!” called Jack. “I’ll catch the monkey.” He hurried up to the man, and grabbed the hairy little brute. The monkey tried to get away, but Jack held it tight, and soon had carried it back to the cage, having caught the first one of the runaways. “That’s the way to do it,” said the man in charge of the monkey wagon. “The old man will have a fit if we lose any.” Jack ran back to try and capture some more. It was an odd sight to see the queerly-dressed clowns, with the paint on their faces running into all sorts of streaks, darting through the crowd after the monkeys. The excitement among the women continued, and several bonnets had been ruined. Some of the men in the throng now turned in to help, and five or six of the long-tailed beasts were caught. Jack captured another, and some of the other clowns managed to grab the nimble creatures as they scampered about. In about ten minutes half of the number in the cage had been caught. The others--the large ones--had climbed to high points of the buildings along the street, where they chattered away, as if defying the men to get them. “I’ll bring ’em back,” said the man who had charge of them. He went into a store, and purchased some apples, peanuts and candy. These things he gave to the recaptured monkeys in the cage, and the cries they set up as they fought over the possession of the dainties, attracted the others, who, anxious not to miss the feast, came trooping along, only too glad to submit to being captured, if only they could get something to eat. “Whew! That was a strenuous time,” panted Jack, as he took his place again on the wagon with his fellow clowns. “That was as good as part of the circus.” “Yes, the crowd got its money’s worth,” replied Sam. “I suppose the old man will have to pay damages for those hats, however.” CHAPTER XXII IN A STORM Once more the parade started, and it completed the circuit without further accident. To the delight of every one, the rain ceased, and the sun came out to dry off dripping tents, and drive away the moisture from the soaked ground. “We’ll have a fine crowd out this afternoon and to-night, I think,” said Sam. “This is always a good town to show in.” Events proved that he was right, and when it came time for the afternoon performance the big tent was taxed to its capacity to hold the throng gathered. All the performers seemed to have new vim and vigor with the advent of better weather, and the acts went off with a snap that had been absent during the wet spell. “Now, Jack, show ’em what you can do,” advised Sam Kyle, as it came the turn of the clowns to enter the ring. “Make a good flight.”