E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Matthew Wheaton, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this file which includes the original illustrations. See 37647-h.htm or 37647-h.zip: (https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37647/pg37647-images.html) or (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37647/37647-h.zip) [Illustration: In an instant Sam was off at full speed, crying, "Stop thief!" at the full strength of his lungs.] THE ADVENTURES OF A COUNTRY BOY AT A COUNTRY FAIR by James Otis Author of Toby Tyler Etc. Illustrated Boston Charles E. Brown & Co. Copyright, 1893, By Charles E. Brown & Co. S. J. Parkhill & Co., Printers Boston CONTENTS. CHAPTER. I.--A Young Fakir II.--An Old Fakir III.--A Friend IV.--Uncle Nathan V.--The Fair VI.--A Clue VII.--The Clerk VIII.--The Jewelry Fakir IX.--A Brave Rescue X.--An Encounter XI.--Long Jim XII.--A Discovery XIII.--Amateur Detectives XIV.--The Rendezvous XV.--Sam's Adventures XVI.--Missing XVII.--A Terrible Night XVIII.--A Narrow Escape XIX.--The Arrest XX.--A Proposition XXI.--With the Burglars XXII.--A Disaster XXIII.--A Second Arrest XXIV.--A Third Arrest XXV.--On Bail XXVI.--The Fakirs' Party XXVII.--In Hiding XXVIII.--A Failure XXIX.--The Testimonial XXX.--The Trial XXXI.--An Arrival XXXII.--In Conclusion _THE ADVENTURES OF A COUNTRY BOY AT A COUNTRY FAIR._ CHAPTER I. _A YOUNG FAKIR._ "I'm going to try it. Deacon Jones says I can have the right to run both things for ten dollars, and Uncle Nathan is going to lend me money enough to get the stock." "What scheme have you got in your head now, Teddy Hargreaves?" and Mrs. Fernald looked over her spectacles at the son of her widowed sister, who was literally breathless in his excitement. "I'm going to run a cane an' knife board at the Peach Bottom fair, and try to make money enough to pay the debt mother owes on the place." "You're crazy--mad as a March hare! The idea of a child like you setting yourself up to earn three or four hundred dollars, when your father worked all his life and couldn't get so much together." Mrs. Fernald really appeared to be angry, and she really believed there was good cause why she should lose her temper. The thought that little Teddy--a "whiflet" she called him--should set up his opinion in such matters against his elders, and attempt to earn in one season an amount which Seth Hargreaves had never been able to repay during his thirty-six years of life, was so preposterous that the good lady looked upon the boy's assertion as positive proof that he was not only ready but willing to "fly in the face of Providence."