Toby Tyler; Or, Ten Weeks with a CircusOtis, James
General
Toby Tyler; Or, Ten Weeks with a Circus
Otis, James
Circus -- Fiction; Runaways -- Fiction
He was in a great perplexity, until the thought came to him that he
could write a good-bye to her, and by this means any unpleasant
discussion would be avoided.
After some little difficulty he procured a small piece of not very clean
paper and a very short bit of lead-pencil, and using the top of one of
the wagons, as he sat on the seat, for a desk, he indited the following
epistle:
"deaR ella I Am goin to Run away two night, & i want two say
good by to yu & your mother. i am Small & unkle Danil says i
dont mount two much, but i am old enuf two know that you
have bin good two me, & when i Am a man i will buy you a
whole cirkus, and we Will ride together. dont forgit me & I
wont yu in haste TOBY TYLER."
Toby had no envelope in which to seal this precious letter, but he felt
that it would not be seen by prying eyes, and would safely reach its
destination, if he intrusted it to Old Ben.
It did not take him many moments to find the old driver, and he said, as
he handed him the letter, "I didn't see Ella to tell her I was goin', so
I wrote this letter, an' I want to know if you will give it to her?"
"Of course I will. But see here, Toby"--and Ben caught him by the sleeve
and led him aside where he would not be overheard--"have you got money
enough to take you home? for if you haven't I can let you have some."
And Ben plunged his hand into his capacious pocket, as if he was about
to withdraw from there the entire United States Treasury.
Toby assured him that he had sufficient for all his wants; but the old
man would not be satisfied until he had seen for himself, and then,
taking Toby's hand again, he said, "Now, my boy, it won't do for you to
stay around here any longer. Buy something to eat before you start, an'
go into the woods for a day or two before you take the train or
steamboat. You're too big a prize for Job or Castle to let you go
without a word, an' they'll try their level best to find you. Be
careful, now, for if they should catch you, good-bye any more chances to
get away. There"--and here Ben suddenly lifted him high from the ground
and kissed him--"now get away as fast as you can."
Toby pressed the old man's hand affectionately, and then, without
trusting himself to speak, walked swiftly out toward the entrance.
He resolved to take Ben's advice and go into the woods for a short time,
and therefore he must buy some provisions before he started.
As he passed the monkeys' cage he saw his pet sitting near the bars, and
he stopped long enough to whisper, "I'll be back in ten minutes, Mr.
Stubbs, an' you be all ready then."
Then he went on, and just as he got near the entrance one of the men
told him that Mrs. Treat wished to see him.
Toby could hardly afford to spare the time just then, but he would
probably have obeyed the summons, if he had known that by so doing he
would be caught, and he ran as fast as his little legs would carry him
toward the skeleton's tent.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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