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MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER


[Illustration: MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER MISBEHAVES HIMSELF [See p. 205]]


MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER

A Sequel to "TOBY TYLER"

BY JAMES OTIS

AUTHOR OF "TIM AND TIP," ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

[Illustration: Logo]

HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS
NEW YORK AND LONDON


COPYRIGHT, 1882, 1910, BY HARPER & BROTHERS

COPYRIGHT, 1910, BY JAMES OTIS KALER

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA




CONTENTS


CHAPTER                                        PAGE

    I. THE SCHEME                                 1

   II. THE BLIND HORSE                           14

  III. ABNER BOLTON                              31

   IV. THE PONY                                  40

    V. OLD BEN                                   54

   VI. THE GREAT EVENT                           66

  VII. ATTRACTIONS FOR THE LITTLE CIRCUS         78

 VIII. THE DINNER PARTY                          91

   IX. MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER                     105

    X. THE ACCIDENT                             119

   XI. CHANGE OF PLANS                          131

  XII. A REHEARSAL                              143

 XIII. THE RESULTS OF LONG TRAINING             156

  XIV. RAISING THE TENT                         170

   XV. STEALING DUCKS                           183

  XVI. A LOST MONKEY                            197

 XVII. DRIVING A MONKEY                         208

XVIII. COLLECTING THE ANIMALS                   218

  XIX. THE SHOW BROKE UP                        231

   XX. ABNER'S DEATH                            237


ILLUSTRATIONS

MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER MISBEHAVES HIMSELF             _Frontispiece_
                                                            FACING
                                                              PAGE
PLANNING THE CIRCUS                                             14

MR. AND MRS. TREAT EXHIBIT PRIVATELY                            92

TOBY RESCUES THE CROWING HEN FROM MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER         234




MR. STUBBS'S BROTHER




CHAPTER I

THE SCHEME


"Why, we could start a circus jest as easy as a wink, Toby, 'cause you
know all about one an' all you'd have to do would be to tell us fellers
what to do, an' we'd 'tend to the rest."

"Yes; but you see we hain't got a tent, or bosses, or wagons, or
nothin', an' I don't see how you could get a circus up that way;" and
the speaker hugged his knees as he rocked himself to and fro in a musing
way on the rather sharp point of a large rock, on which he had seated
himself in order to hear what his companions had to say that was so
important.

"Will you come down with me to Bob Atwood's, an' see what he says about
it?"

"Yes, I'll do that if you'll come out afterwards for a game of I-spy
'round the meetin'-house."

"All right; if we can find enough of the other fellers, I will."

Then the boys slipped down from the rocks, found the cows, and drove
them home as the preface to their visit to Bob Atwood's.

The boy who was so anxious to start a circus was a little fellow with
such a wonderful amount of remarkably red hair that he was seldom called
anything but Reddy, although his name was known--by his parents, at
least--to be Walter Grant. His companion was Toby Tyler, a boy who, a
year before, had thought it would be a very pleasant thing to run away
from his Uncle Daniel and the town of Guilford in order to be with a
circus, and who, in ten weeks, was only too glad to run back home as
rapidly as possible.

During the first few months of his return, very many brilliant offers
had been made Toby by his companions to induce him to aid them in
starting an amateur circus; but he had refused to have anything to do
with the schemes, and for several reasons. During the ten weeks he had
been away, he had seen quite as much of a circus life as he cared to
see, without even such a mild dose as would be this amateur show; and,
again, whenever he thought of the matter, the remembrance of the death
of his monkey, Mr. Stubbs, would come upon him so vividly, and cause him
so much sorrow, that he resolutely put the matter from his mind.

Now, however, it had been a year since the monkey was killed; school had
closed during the summer season; and he was rather more disposed to
listen to the requests of his friends.

On this particular night, Reddy Grant had offered to go with him for the
cows--an act of generosity which Toby accounted for only on the theory
that Reddy wanted some of the strawberries which grew so plentifully in
Uncle Daniel's pasture. But when they arrived there the strawberries
were neglected for the circus question, and Toby then showed he was at
least willing to talk about it.

There was no doubt that Bob Atwood knew Reddy was going to try to induce
Toby to help start a circus, and Bob knew, also, that Reddy and Toby
would visit him, although he appeared very much surprised when he saw
them coming up the hill towards his house. He was at home, evidently
waiting for something, at an hour when all the other boys were out
playing; and that, in itself, would have made Toby suspicious if he had
paid much attention to the matter.

Bob was perfectly willing to talk about a circus--so willing that,
almost before Toby was aware of it, he was laying plans with the others
for such a show as could be given with the material at hand.

"You see we'd have to get a tent the first thing," said Toby, as he
seated himself on the saw-horse as a sort of place of honor, and
proceeded to give his companions the benefit of his experience in the
circus line. "I s'pose we could get along without a fat woman, or a
skeleton; but we'd have to have the tent anyway, so's folks couldn't
look right in an' see the show for nothin'."

Reddy had decided some time before how that trifling matter could be
arranged; and, as he went industriously to work making shavings out of a
portion of a shingle, he said:

"I've got all that settled, Toby; an' when you say you're willin' to go
ahead an' fix up the show, I'll be on hand with a tent that'll make your
eyes stick out over a foot."

Bob nodded his head to show he was convinced Reddy could do just as he
had promised; but Toby was anxious for more particulars, and insisted
on knowing where this very necessary portion of a circus was coming
from.

"You see a tent is a big thing," he said seriously; "an' it would cost
more money than the fellers in this town could raise if they should pick
all the strawberries in Uncle Dan'l's pasture."

"Oh, I don't say as the tent Reddy's got his eye on is a reg'lar one
like a real circus has," said Bob slowly and candidly, as he began to
draw on the side of the wood-shed a picture of what he probably intended
should represent a horse; "but he knows how he can rig one up that'll be
big enough, an' look stavin'."

With this information Toby was obliged to be satisfied; and with the
view of learning more of the details, in case his companions had
arranged for them, he asked:

"Where you goin' to get the company--the folks that ride, an' turn
hand-springs, an' all them things?"

"Ben Cushing can turn twice as many hand-springs as any feller you ever
saw, an' he can walk on his hands twice round the engine-house. I guess
you couldn't find many circuses that could beat him, an' he's been
practising in his barn all the chance he could get for more'n a week."

Without intending to do so, Bob had thus let the secret out that the
scheme had already been talked up before Toby was consulted, and then
there was no longer any reason for concealment.

"You see we thought we'd kinder get things fixed," said Reddy quickly,
anxious to explain away the seeming deception he had been guilty of,
"an' we wouldn't say anything to you till we knew whether we could get
one up or not."

"An' we're goin' to ask three cents to come in; an' lots of the fellers
have promised to buy tickets if we'll let 'em do some of the ridin', or
else lead the hosses."

"But how are you goin' to get any hosses?" asked Toby, thoroughly
surprised at the way in which the scheme had already been developed.

"Reddy can get Jack Douglass's blind one, an' we can train him so's
he'll go 'round the ring all right; an' your Uncle Dan'l will let you
have his old white one that's lame, if you ask him. I ain't sure but I
can get one of Chandler Merrill's ponies," continued Bob, now so excited
by his subject that he left his picture while it was yet a three-legged
horse, and stood in front of his friends; "an' if we could sell tickets
enough, we could hire one of Rube Rowe's hosses for you to ride."

"An' Bob's goin' to be the clown, an' his mother's goin' to make him a
suit of clothes out of one of his grandmother's curtains," added Reddy,
as he snapped an imaginary whip with so many unnecessary flourishes that
he tumbled over the saw-horse, thereby mixing a large quantity of
sawdust in his brilliantly  hair.

"An' Reddy's goin' to be ring-master," explained Bob, as he assisted
his friend to rise, and acted the part of Good Samaritan by trying to
get the sawdust from his hair with a curry-comb. "Joe Robinson says
he'll sell tickets, an' 'tend the door, an' hold the hoops for you to
jump through."

"Leander Leighton's goin' to be the band. He's got a pair of clappers;
an' Mrs. Doak's goin' to show him how to play on the accordion with one
finger, so's he'll know how to make an awful lot of noise," said Reddy,
as he gave up the task of extracting the sawdust, and devoted his entire
attention to the scheme.

"An' we can have some animals," said Bob, with the air of one who adds
the crowning glory to some brilliant work.

Toby had been surprised at the resources of the town for a circus, of
which he had not even dreamed; and at Bob's last remark he left his
saw-horse seat as if to enable him to hear more distinctly.

"Yes," continued Bob, "we can get a good many of some kinds. Old Mrs.
Simpson has got a three-legged cat with four kittens, an' Ben Cushing
has got a hen that crows; an' we can take my calf for a grizzly bear,
an' Jack Havener's two lambs for white bears. I've caught six mice, an'
I'll have more'n a dozen before the show comes off; an' Reddy's goin' to
bring his cat that ain't got any tail. Leander Leighton's goin' to bring
four of his rabbits an' make believe they're wolves; an' Joe Robinson's
goin' to catch all the squirrels he can--we'll have the largest for
foxes, an' the smallest for hyenas; an' Joe'll keep howlin' while he's
tendin' the door, so's to make 'em sound right."

"Bob's sister's goin' to show him how to sing a couple of songs, an'
he's goin' to write 'em out on paper so's to have a book to sell," added
Reddy, delighted at the surprise expressed in Toby's face. "Nahum Baker
says if we have any kind of a show he'll bring up some lemonade an' some
pies to sell, an' pass 'em 'round jest as they do in a reg'lar circus."

This last information was indeed surprising, for, inasmuch as Nahum
Baker was a man who had an apology for a fruit-store near the wharves,
it lent an air of realism to the plan, this having a grown man connected
with them in the enterprise.

"But he mustn't get any of the boys to help him, an' then treat them as
Job Lord did me," said Toby earnestly, the scheme having grown so in the
half-hour that he began to fear it might be too much like the circus
with which he had spent ten of the longest and most dreary weeks he had
ever known.

"I'll look out for that," said Bob confidently, "If he tries any of them
games we'll make him leave, no matter how good a trade he's doin'."

"Now, where we goin' to have the show?" and from the way Toby asked the
question it was easily seen that he had decided to accept the position
of manager which had been so delicately offered him.

"That's jest what we ain't fixed about," said Bob, as if he blamed
himself severely for not having already attended to this portion of the
business. "You see, if your Uncle Dan'l would let us have it up by his
barn that would be jest the place, an' I almost know he'd say yes if you
asked him."

"Do you s'pose it would be big enough? You know when there's a circus in
town everybody comes from all around to see it, an' it wouldn't do to
have a place where they couldn't all get in," and Toby spoke as if there
could be no doubt as to the crowds that would collect to see this
wonderful show of theirs.

"It'll have to be big enough, if we use the tent I'm goin' to get," said
Reddy decidedly; "for you see that won't be so awful large, an' it would
make it look kinder small if we put it where the other circuses put
theirs."

"Well, then, I s'pose we'll have to make that do, an' we can have two
or three shows if there are too many to come in at one time," said Toby
in a satisfied way that matters could be arranged so easily; and then,
with a big sigh, he added, "If only Mr. Stubbs hadn't got killed, what a
show we could have! I never saw him ride; but I know he could have done
better than any one else that ever tried it, if he wanted to, an' if we
had him we could have a reg'lar circus without anybody else."

Then the boys bewailed the untimely fate of Mr. Stubbs, until they saw
that Toby was fast getting into a mood altogether too sad for the proper
transaction of circus business, and Bob proposed that a visit be paid
Ben Cushing, for the purpose of having him give them a private
exhibition of his skill, in order that Toby might see some of the talent
which was to help make their circus a glorious success.




CHAPTER II

THE BLIND HORSE


Reddy had laid his plans so well that all the intending partners were
where they could easily be found on this evening when Toby's consent was
to be won, and Ben Cushing was no exception. On the hard, uneven floor
of his father's barn, with all his clothes discarded save his trousers
and shirt, he was making such heroic efforts in the way of practice,
that while the boys were yet some distance from the building they could
hear the thud of Ben's head or heels as he unexpectedly came in contact
with the floor.

When the three visitors stood at the door and looked in, Ben professed
to be unaware of their presence, and began a series of hand-springs that
might have been wonderful, if he had not miscalculated the distance,
and struck the side of the barn just as he was getting well into the
work.

[Illustration: PLANNING THE CIRCUS]

Then, having lost his opportunity of dazzling them by showing that even
when he was alone he could turn any number of hand-springs simply in the
way of exercise, he suddenly became aware of their presence, and greeted
his friends with the anxiously asked question as to what Toby had
decided to do about entering the circus business.

Bob and Reddy, instead of answering, waited for Toby to speak; it was a
good opportunity to have the important matter settled definitely, and
they listened anxiously for his decision.

"I'm goin' into it," said Toby after a pause, during which it appeared
as if he were trying to make up his mind, "'cause it seems as if you had
it almost done now. You know when I got home last summer I didn't ever
want to hear of a circus or see one, for I'd had about enough of them,
an' then I'd think of poor Mr. Stubbs, an' that would make me feel awful
bad. I didn't think, either, that we could get up such a good show; but
now you fellers have got so much done towards it, I think we'd better go
ahead--though I do wish Mr. Stubbs was alive, an' we had a skeleton an'
a fat woman."

Reddy Grant cheered very loudly as a means of showing how delighted he
was at thus having finally enlisted Toby in the scheme, and Bob, as
proof of the high esteem in which all the projectors of the enterprise
held this famous circus-rider, said:

"Now you know all about circuses, Toby, an' you shall be the chief boss
of this one, an' we'll do just what you say."

Toby almost blushed as this great honor was actually thrust upon him,
and he hardly knew what reply to make, when Ben ceased his acrobatic
exercises, and, with Bobby and Reddy, stood waiting for him to give his
orders.

"I s'pose the first thing to do," he said at length, "is to see if Jack
Douglass is willin' for us to have his hoss, an' then find out what
Uncle Dan'l says about it. If we don't get the hoss, it won't be any use
to say anything to Uncle Dan'l."

Reddy was so anxious to have matters settled at once that he offered to
go up to Mr. Douglass's house then, if the others would wait there for
his return, which proposition was at once accepted.

Mr. Douglass was an old <DW52> man who lived fully half a mile from the
village; but Reddy's eagerness caused quick travelling, and in a
surprisingly short time he was back breathless and happy. The coveted
horse was to be theirs for as long a time as they wanted him, provided
they fed him well, and did not attempt to harness him into a wagon.

The owner of the sightless animal had expressed his doubts as to
whether he would ever make much of a circus-horse, owing to his lack of
sight and his extreme age; but he argued that if, as was very probable,
the animal fell while being ridden, he would hurt his rider quite as
much as himself, and therefore the experiment would not be tried so
often as seriously to injure the steed.

It only remained to consult Uncle Daniel on the matter, and of course
that was to be attended to by Toby. He would have waited until a fitting
opportunity presented itself; but his companions insisted so strongly,
that he went home at once to have the case decided.

Uncle Daniel was seated by the window as usual, looking out over the
distant hills as if he were trying to peer in at the gates of that city
where so many loved ones awaited him, and it was some moments before
Toby could make him understand what it was he was trying to say.

"So ye didn't get circusin' enough last summer?" asked the old
gentleman, when at last he realized what it was the boy was talking
about.

"Oh yes, I did!" replied Toby, quickly; "but you see that was a real
one, an' this of ours is only a little make-believe for three cents. We
want to get you to let us have the lot between the barn an' the road to
put our tent on, an' then lend us old Whitey. We're goin' to have Jack
Douglass's hoss that's blind, an' we've got a three-legged cat, an' one
without any tail, an' lots of things."

"It's a kind of a <DW36>s' circus, eh? Well, Toby boy, you can do as
you want to, an' you shall have old Whitey; but it seems to me you'd
better tie her lame leg on, or she'll shake it off when you get to
makin' her cut up antics."

Then Uncle Daniel returned to his reverie, and the show was thus decided
upon, the projectors going again to view the triangular piece of land
so soon to be decorated with their tents and circus belongings.

Each hour that passed after Toby had decided, with Uncle Daniel's
consent, to go into the circus business made him more eager to carry out
the brilliant plan that had been unfolded by Bob Atwood and Reddy Grant,
until his brain was in a perfect whirl when he went to bed that night.
He was sure he could ride as well as when he was under Mr. Castle's
rather severe training, and he thought over and over again how he would
surprise every one who knew him; but he did not stop to think that there
might be a difference between the horse he had ridden in the circus and
the lame one of Uncle Daniel's, or the blind one belonging to Mr.
Douglass. He had an idea that it all depended upon himself, with very
little reference to the animal, and he was sure he had his lesson
perfectly.

Early as he got up the next morning, his partners in the enterprise
were waiting for him just around the corner of the barn, where he found
them as he went for the cows, and they walked to the pasture with him in
order to discuss the matter.

Ben Cushing was in light-marching and acrobatic costume, worn for the
occasion in order to give a full exhibition of his skill; and Reddy had
been up so long that he had had time to procure Mr. Douglass's wonderful
steed, which he had already led to the pasture so that he could be
experimented upon.

"I thought I'd get him up there," he said to Toby, "so's you could try
him; 'cause if we don't get money enough to hire one of Rube Rowe,
you'll have to ride the blind one or the lame one, an' you'd better find
out which you want. If you try him in the pasture the fellers won't see
you; but if you did it down by your house, every one of 'em would huddle
'round."

Toby thought the general idea was a good one; but he was just a trifle
uncertain as to how the blind horse would get along on such uneven
ground. However, he said nothing, lest his companions should think he
was afraid to make the attempt; and when Ben and Bob proceeded to mark
out a ring, he advised them as to its size.

The most level piece of ground that could be found was selected as the
place for the trial, but several small mounds prevented it from being
all a circus-rider could ask for.

Bob volunteered to lead the horse around the track several times, hoping
he would become so accustomed to it as to be able to go by himself after
a while; and Toby made his preparations by laying his hat on the ground
with a stone on it, so that he should be sure to find it when his
rehearsal was done.

It was a warm job Bob had undertaken, this leading the blind animal
along the ill-defined line that marked the limits of the ring, for the
sun shone brightly, and there were no friendly trees to lend a shelter;
but he paid no attention to his discomfort because of the fact that he
was doing something towards the enterprise which was to bring them in
both honor and money.

The poor old horse was the least interested of the party, and he
stumbled around the circle in an abused sort of way, as if he considered
it a piece of gross injustice to force him on the weary round when the
grass was so plentiful and tender just under his feet.

Ben was busily engaged in lengthening Mr. Douglass's rather weak and
aged bridle with a small piece of rope, and from time to time he
encouraged the ambitious clown in his labor.

"Keep it up, if it is hot!" he shouted; "an' when we get him so's he can
do it alone, he'll be jest as good a circus-hoss as anybody would want,
for we can stuff him with hay an' grass till he's fat," and Ben looked
at the clearly defined ribs in a critical way, as if trying to decide
how much food would be necessary to cover them with flesh.

"Oh, I can keep on as long as the hoss can," said Bob, as he wiped the
perspiration from his face with one hand, and clung firmly to the
forelock of the animal with the other; "but we've been round here as
many as six times already, an' he don't seem to know the way any better
than when we started."

"Oh yes, he does," cried Reddy, who was practising for his duties as
ring-master, anxious that his education should advance as fast as the
horse's did; "he's got so he knows enough to turn out for that second
knoll, though he does stumble a little over the first one."

By this time Ben had the bridle adjusted to suit him, Toby was ready to
make his first attempt at riding since he left the circus, and the more
serious work was begun.

Ben bridled the horse after some difficulty, Reddy drew out from its
hiding-place a whip made by tying a piece of cod-line to an alder
branch, and Toby was about to mount, when Joe Robinson came in sight.

He had been running at full speed, and was nearly breathless; but he
managed to cry out so that he could be understood after considerable
difficulty:

"Hold on! don't go to ridin' till after we get some hoops for you to
jump through."

"I guess I won't try any jumpin' till after I see how he goes," said
Toby as he looked rather doubtfully first at the horse's weak legs, and
then at his sharp back; "besides, we can't use the hoops till he gets
more used to the ring."

Joe threw himself on the ground as if he felt quite as much aggrieved
because he was thus left out of the programme as the horse apparently
did because he was in it, and Bob consoled him by explaining that he
had no reason to feel slighted, since he, who, as the clown, was to be
the life of the entertainment, could take no other part in these
preparatory steps than to lead a blind horse around a still blinder
ring.

"Hold him while I get on," said Toby as he clutched the mane and a
portion of the prominent backbone, drawing himself up at some risk of
upsetting the rather shaky steed.

But there was no necessity of his giving this order, for, although four
boys sprang to do his bidding, the weary horse remained as motionless as
a statue, save for his hard breathing which proclaimed the fact that the
"heaves" had long since singled him out as a victim.

Toby succeeded in getting on the animal's back after some exertion; but
he found standing there an entirely different matter from standing on
the broad saddles that were used in the circus, and the