Toby Tyler; Or, Ten Weeks with a CircusOtis, James
General
Toby Tyler; Or, Ten Weeks with a Circus
Otis, James
Circus -- Fiction; Runaways -- Fiction
“Mr. Lord won't wake us up in the mornin' an' swear at us for not
washin' the tumblers,” said Toby, in a tone of satisfaction, to the
monkey; “an' we won't have to go into the tent tomorrow an' sell sick
lemonade an' poor peanuts. But”--and here his tone changed to one of
sorrow--“there'll be some there that 'll be sorry not to see us in the
mornin', Mr. Stubbs, though they'll be glad to know that we got away all
right. But won't Mr. Lord swear, an' won't Mr. Castle crack his whip,
when they come to look round for us in the mornin' an' find that we
hain't there!”
The reply which the monkey made to this was to nestle his head closer
under Toby's coat, and to show, in the most decided manner, that he was
ready to go to sleep.
And Toby was quite as ready to go to sleep as he was. He had worked
hard that day, but the excitement of escaping had prevented him from
realizing his fatigue until after he had lain down; and almost before he
had got through congratulating himself upon the ease with which he had
gotten free both he and the monkey were as sound asleep as if they had
been tucked up in the softest bed that was ever made.
Toby's very weariness was a friend to him that night, for it prevented
him from waking; which, if he had done so, might have been unpleasant
when he fully realized that he was all alone in the forest, and the
sounds that are always heard in the woods might have frightened him just
the least bit.
The sun was shining directly in his face when Toby awoke on the
following morning, and the old monkey was still snugly nestled under his
coat. He sat up rather dazed at first, and then, as he fully realized
that he was actually free from all that had made his life such a sad and
hard one for so many weeks, he shouted aloud, reveling in his freedom.
The monkey, awakened by Toby's cries, started from his sleep in affright
and jumped into the nearest tree, only to chatter, jump, and swing from
the boughs when he saw that there was nothing very unusual going on,
save that he and Toby were out in the woods again, where they could have
no end of a good time and do just as they liked.
After a few moments spent in a short jubilee at their escape Toby took
the monkey on his shoulder and the bundles under his arm again, and went
cautiously out to the edge of the thicket, where he could form some idea
as to whether or no they were pursued.
He had entered the woods at the brow of a small hill when he had fled
so hastily on the previous evening, and, looking down, he could see the
spot whereon the tents of the circus had been pitched, but not a sign
of them was now visible. He could see a number of people walking around,
and he fancied that they looked up every now and then to where he stood
concealed by the foliage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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