"If you don't shut up I'll have you put out!" roared the ringmaster.

The young acrobat had climbed the rope a distance of ten feet. Now
he appeared to grow dizzy, and of a sudden he lost his grip and fell
in a heap in the sawdust ring.

"You rat, you, I'll fix you!" hissed the ringmaster. "What do
we pay you for, anyway?"

He raised his long lash again, but before he could bring it down Snap
and Shep leaped from their seats, quickly followed by Giant and
Whopper and two well-dressed men.

"Don't you hit that boy," cried Snap loudly. "Don't you do it!"

"That's right---let the kid alone," added one of the well-dressed men.

"Go back to your seats---this is none of your affair," growled the
ringmaster.

"It is our affair," put in the doctor's son. "That boy is
sick---everybody can see it. He can't perform."

He purposely spoke in a loud voice, so that many heard him. At once
a murmur arose on all sides.

"That's right---the kid is sick---take him out of the ring."

"It's an outrage to try to make him perform."