CHAPTER XIII — The Cir­cus Boys Across the Con­ti­nent finds the Spar­ling Com­bined Shows thriv­ing as they trav­el from town to town, thrilling crowds and draw­ing applause wher­ev­er they go. Amidst this suc­cess, trou­ble sur­faces dur­ing a stop in Franklin, Indi­ana. Late one evening, Phil For­rest and Ted­dy Tuck­er are ambushed by two men hid­ing in the shad­ows near the cir­cus grounds. Though the attack­ers catch them off guard, the boys man­age to escape with only scrapes and bruis­es. They return to their duties the next day, ban­daged and sore, choos­ing not to let the inci­dent dis­tract from their respon­si­bil­i­ties. Their bruised appear­ances draw teas­ing remarks from fel­low per­form­ers, yet nei­ther boy shares the full sto­ry until Mr. Spar­ling press­es them after notic­ing their injuries.

Upon learn­ing the details, Mr. Spar­ling takes the mat­ter seri­ous­ly and qui­et­ly begins an inter­nal inquiry. The boys describe their attack­ers clear­ly, lead­ing to sus­pi­cions about two workers—Red Lar­ry and a man known only as Bad Eye. These can­vas­men had a rep­u­ta­tion for being short-tem­pered and care­less, but no one expect­ed them to resort to vio­lence. A quick inspec­tion of lost cloth­ing items—specifically a but­ton and a torn collar—further sup­ports the boys’ account. With­out caus­ing pub­lic com­mo­tion, Spar­ling dis­miss­es both men and warns them nev­er to return. The deci­sion, though nec­es­sary, is not with­out risk. Men like Lar­ry don’t often leave qui­et­ly.

That risk proves real when Lar­ry tries to re-enter the grounds under the pre­tense of col­lect­ing his belong­ings. His pres­ence is noticed near Emper­or, one of the circus’s ele­phants, just as the ani­mal is being bathed. Larry’s ner­vous, jerky move­ments around the ele­phant raise con­cern. Emper­or, react­ing as if he rec­og­nizes a for­mer threat, charges sud­den­ly and dous­es Lar­ry with a strong blast of water from his trunk. In the chaos, the animal’s aggres­sive pos­ture makes it clear that some­thing deep­er lies behind this reaction—possibly a mem­o­ry of mis­treat­ment. Phil, see­ing the poten­tial dan­ger, rush­es for­ward to calm Emper­or, guid­ing him away before the sit­u­a­tion turns trag­ic.

Soaked and humil­i­at­ed, Lar­ry lash­es out, blam­ing Phil for turn­ing the ele­phant against him. His accu­sa­tions fall flat as wit­ness­es quick­ly point out that Phil had not been near Emper­or until after the soak­ing began. Mr. Spar­ling arrives in time to con­front Lar­ry, who flees the scene rather than face fur­ther ques­tions or pun­ish­ment. Though Spar­ling gives chase, the man van­ish­es before he can be caught. The brief chaos leaves the cir­cus grounds buzzing with spec­u­la­tion and unease, though many per­form­ers find com­fort in how swift­ly Phil respond­ed to the sit­u­a­tion. It’s anoth­er mark of his grow­ing reli­a­bil­i­ty and calm under pres­sure.

Lat­er that evening, as the cir­cus pre­pares for anoth­er show, Phil and Ted­dy qui­et­ly reflect on every­thing that has hap­pened. The attack, the fir­ing, and the elephant’s reac­tion all point to a pat­tern they can’t ignore. Trust, once bro­ken, spreads uncer­tain­ty through the camp. They real­ize that while the cir­cus may daz­zle on stage, dan­ger some­times lurks where it’s least expect­ed. Still, their bond grows stronger with each shared chal­lenge. They learn that loy­al­ty in this envi­ron­ment is earned not just through per­for­mance, but through dai­ly vig­i­lance, stand­ing up for oth­ers, and pro­tect­ing what mat­ters most.

The events also hint at deep­er ten­sions with­in the trav­el­ing troupe. With each stop, the poten­tial for both excite­ment and dan­ger grows. Yet these moments also bring out the best in those who choose to stand firm when oth­ers run. Phil’s brav­ery doesn’t go unno­ticed, nor does Teddy’s unwa­ver­ing sup­port. Though young, they con­tin­ue to prove that age is no bar­ri­er when it comes to courage and integri­ty. Their jour­ney isn’t just about acts and applause—it’s about nav­i­gat­ing loy­al­ty, betray­al, and the unpre­dictable rhythm of life on the road.

As the lights flick­er on and crowds begin to gath­er for the evening per­for­mance, the boys take their places, set­ting aside their per­son­al tri­als to deliv­er yet anoth­er show. Their smiles may be part of the act, but the strength behind them is real. This chap­ter reminds read­ers that while the cir­cus is full of spec­ta­cle, its truest sto­ries unfold away from the spotlight—where bonds are test­ed, char­ac­ter is shaped, and qui­et acts of courage speak loud­est.