CHAPTER XX — The Circus Boys on the Mississippi

Ted­dy Tuck­er’s quest for revenge against the cir­cus band, par­tic­u­lar­ly the bass drum­mer, leads him to dis­rupt their per­for­mance by suck­ing on lemons, much to the musi­cians’ dis­may. His antics cause dis­ar­ray among the per­form­ers, but despite a stern warn­ing from the show­man, Mr. Spar­ling, Ted­dy remains unde­terred. The Cir­cus Boys’ adven­tures con­tin­ue as the show moves along the Mis­sis­sip­pi. They encounter a hic­cup when a baboon, Bruis­er, escapes dur­ing a rou­tine cage clean­ing. Bruis­er’s escape caus­es chaos, stir­ring the entire boat into action, includ­ing Ted­dy and his friend Phil. The chase leads Bruis­er to climb up the mast of the boat, out of reach of his pur­suers. Ted­dy, not one to back down from a chal­lenge, clev­er­ly uses a rope to reach Bruis­er. Despite a tus­sle at the top, which sees Ted­dy grap­pling with Bruis­er, he man­ages to secure the baboon, much to the amaze­ment and approval of Mr. Spar­ling and the spec­ta­tors. This chap­ter show­cas­es Ted­dy’s mis­chie­vous nature and deter­mi­na­tion, high­light­ing his abil­i­ty to nav­i­gate and ulti­mate­ly resolve chaot­ic sit­u­a­tions with cre­ativ­i­ty and brav­ery.