"
[Illustration: Pa Was Suspended in the Air.]
But they didn't seem to be scared, for one man caught the horse and let
it out of the ring, and the man who handled the rope tied it to the
center pole by a half hitch, and the fellows all went into the dressing
room to play cinch on the trunks, leaving pa hanging there. Just then
the boss canvasman came along and he said: "Hello, old man, what you
doing up there?" And pa said some of the pirates in the show had
kidnaped him, and seemed to be holding him up for a ransom, and he said
he would give ten dollars if some one would let him down.
The boss canvasman said he could fix it for ten, all right, and he blew
a whistle, and the gang came back, and the boss said: "Bring a blanket
and help this gentleman down;" so they brought a big piece of canvas,
with handles all around it, and about a dozen fellows held it, and the
rope man let pa down on the canvas, and unhitched the ring, and when pa
was in the canvas he laughed and said: "Thanks, gentlemen, I guess I am
mot much of a horseback rider," and then the fellows pulled on the
handles of the canvas, and by gosh, pa shot up into the air half-way to
the top of the tent, and when he came down they caught him in the canvas
and tossed him up a whole lot of times until pa said: "O, let up, and
make it $20.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29