Chap­ter XX begins with Ted­dy Tucker’s unre­solved grudge still bub­bling from a prank pulled by the cir­cus band, espe­cial­ly the loud, unflinch­ing bass drum­mer. To set­tle the score in his own com­i­cal style, Ted­dy arms him­self with a bag of lemons, which he bites into dra­mat­i­cal­ly right in front of the musi­cians. The sour-faced reac­tions of the band mid-per­for­mance are exact­ly the dis­trac­tion he want­ed, caus­ing a few notes to fal­ter and the rhythm to briefly col­lapse. Though the audi­ence doesn’t catch on, the band mem­bers glare, clear­ly aware of the cul­prit behind the dis­rup­tion. Mr. Spar­ling notices the dis­tur­bance but choos­es restraint, issu­ing Ted­dy a warn­ing rather than a pun­ish­ment, know­ing the boy’s antics usu­al­ly end in unex­pect­ed solu­tions. For Ted­dy, bound­aries are some­thing to gen­tly poke—not nec­es­sar­i­ly to cross out­right. His humor and spir­it keep the troupe light-heart­ed, even when things around them threat­en to spi­ral into chaos.

The calm doesn’t last long as Bruis­er, the baboon, seizes an oppor­tu­ni­ty for mis­chief dur­ing his cage clean­ing and bolts into free­dom. This sets off a fren­zy aboard the cir­cus steam­er, where every per­former and work­er drops their tasks to join the chase. The baboon, faster than most expect­ed, darts through tents and cor­ri­dors, leav­ing upturned equip­ment and star­tled per­form­ers in his wake. Ted­dy and Phil spring into action with lit­tle hes­i­ta­tion, rely­ing on instinct rather than plan. Bruis­er even­tu­al­ly scram­bles up the ship’s tall mast, high above the deck, where ropes sway and gusts threat­en bal­ance. No one vol­un­teers to climb after him—except Ted­dy. With a firm grip on a rope and deter­mi­na­tion in his eyes, he swings upward like a sea­soned acro­bat, deter­mined to reclaim order and maybe his pride.

Once near the top, Ted­dy finds him­self in a tricky stand­off. Bruis­er growls and resists, but Ted­dy doesn’t back down. He uses calm com­mands and steady motion to inch clos­er. It’s a risky game, one requir­ing both courage and bal­ance. A slight mis­step could send either of them tum­bling. But Teddy’s back­ground in aer­i­al stunts, honed under the cir­cus tent, gives him an edge. Care­ful­ly, he lash­es a teth­er around Bruis­er and sig­nals to the crew below. Cheers erupt as they low­er both boy and baboon safe­ly back to the deck. Mr. Spar­ling watch­es with a mix of awe and relief, impressed not just by the out­come but by the clever resolve of a boy many would call trou­ble.

As the boat resumes its jour­ney, the cir­cus crew reflects on the inci­dent not just as enter­tain­ment but as a moment that reaf­firmed their trust in one anoth­er. It’s clear Ted­dy doesn’t act out of pure rebellion—his pranks, wild as they may seem, often stem from loy­al­ty or jus­tice as he sees it. He’s young, but already prov­ing capa­ble of think­ing under pres­sure and act­ing with courage. Phil, ever the more reserved and steady coun­ter­part, com­pli­ments Teddy’s wild spir­it by help­ing assess risks and out­comes. Their friend­ship bal­ances reck­less action with thought­ful sup­port. Read­ers are remind­ed that behind the cir­cus’s glit­ter lies a deep­er sto­ry about grow­ing up in a world where respon­si­bil­i­ty and dar­ing are learned by doing, not just watch­ing.

The cama­raderie forged on the riv­er and under the big top is strength­ened by such events. Chal­lenges, even when unex­pect­ed or dan­ger­ous, are tak­en in stride by those who’ve built their lives around unpre­dictabil­i­ty. From tam­ing baboons to tam­ing egos, the mem­bers of the cir­cus learn that every act counts—not just for the show, but for sur­vival. Mr. Spar­ling, though often stern, knows when to nur­ture and when to guide. His patience with Ted­dy is not weakness—it’s wis­dom, under­stand­ing that brav­ery and mis­chief are often two sides of the same coin. As dusk set­tles on the Mis­sis­sip­pi and laugh­ter returns to the boat, read­ers are left with the sense that in this trav­el­ing world of won­der, every prob­lem can be solved with heart, wit, and a bit of dar­ing rope work.