"Do you, indeed!" sneered the man. "Well, we don"t want anybody that can do almost any kind of business."
"I"m used to this thing, sir," pleaded Noddy.
"Used to it! I suppose you want a place as a bill-sticker, or to take care of the horses."
"No, sir; I want to perform. If you will give me a chance to show what I can do, I think you"ll have me," persisted Noddy, not at all pleased with the decided refusal he had received.
"Well, come in here," laughed the head man, who had no doubt that the applicant would soon be brought to grief.
It was almost time for the doors to be opened for the afternoon performance, and the man conducted Noddy to the ring, where he saw a number of the riders and gymnasts, all dressed in their silks and spangles to appear before the public.
"Here, Whippleby, is a young man that wants an engagement," said the manager to the man who had acted as ring-master when Noddy was present.
"What can he do?"
"Almost everything; but he isn"t much used to riding."
Whippleby laughed, and the manager laughed; and it was quite evident, even to the aspirant for circus honors, that all present intended to amuse themselves at his expense. But Noddy felt able to outdo most of the circus people at their own profession, and he confidently expected to turn the laugh upon them before the game was ended.
"A versatile genius," said Whippleby.
"Just try him, and see what he can do," added the manager, significantly.
"Well, my little man, what do you say to a little ground and lofty tumbling," said Whippleby, winking at the performers, who stood in a circle around them.
"I"m at home in that," replied Noddy, throwing off his jacket.
"Good! You have got pluck enough, at any rate. Here, Nesmond, do something," said the ring-master to a wiry young man of the group.
Nesmond did what Noddy had seen him do the day before; he whirled over and over across the ring, like a hoop, striking his hands and feet alternately on the ground.
"There, youngster, do you see that?" said Whippleby.
"Yes, sir, I see it," replied Noddy, unabashed by the work which was expected of him.
"Now, let us see you do it."
Noddy did it, and if anything, more rapidly and gracefully than the professional man. The men applauded, and Nesmond--"the great American vaulter and tumbler"--looked exceedingly disconcerted when he saw his wonderful act so easily imitated.
"Try it again, Nesmond," said Whippleby.
The distinguished athlete went on for half an hour, performing his antics; and Noddy repeated them, though he had never before attempted some of them. Nesmond gave it up.
"Well, young man, you can do almost everything, but you are as clumsy and ungraceful as a bear about it. You need a little training on your positions, and you will make a first-cla.s.s tumbler," said the manager.
The men had ceased to laugh, and even looked admiringly on the prodigy who had so suddenly developed himself. Noddy felt that his fortune was already made, and he was almost ready to snap his fingers at the court-house. Here was a chance for him to "work and win," and it was entirely to his taste.
The manager then questioned him in regard to his family connections; but as Noddy had none, his answers were very brief. He had no father nor mother, and he had no home; he was no runaway, for there was no one living who had any claim upon him. These answers were entirely satisfactory to the head man.
"What salary do you expect?" asked the manager, when he had a.s.sured himself there was no one to interfere with any arrangement he might make.
"What do you give?" asked Noddy.
"Well, we give different salaries, depending on the men."
"You have seen what I can do--what will you give me? Talk right up, or I shall have nothing to do with it," added Noddy, borrowing an expression from a highly respectable horse jockey, who had a language of his own.
"I"ll give you your board and clothes, and your dresses for the first season."
"Nothing of that sort for me," replied Noddy, promptly. "I want to know how much I am to have in hard cash."
"Very well; I"ll give you five dollars a week, and you find yourself."
Five dollars a week looked like a large salary to Noddy, though it was not one-fourth of what the distinguished Mr. Nesmond received, and he immediately closed the bargain.
"I"ll put you on the bills for the next town we visit. What"s your name?"
"Noddy Newman."
"What?"
The embryo performer repeated his name.
"That won"t do; you must have a better name than that. Arthur De Forrest--how will that suit you?"
"First rate," replied Noddy, who was very accommodating in minor matters.
"We show in Disbury to-morrow night, and you must be ready to do your business then, Mr. De Forrest," added the manager. "After the performance this afternoon Mr. Whippleby will give you a few lessons."
"But where shall I get a dress?"
"I will furnish you one, and take it out of your salary. You had better put it on when you practice, so as to get used to it."
Noddy was highly pleased with all these arrangements, and could not help congratulating himself on the happy thought which had induced him to join the circus. It was true, and he could not help noticing it, that the men around him were not such people as Mr. Grant, and others whom he had been in the habit of seeing at Woodville. All of them swore terribly; their breath smelt of liquor, and they talked the language of a depravity to which Noddy, with all his waywardness, was a stranger.
There were boys no older than himself in the company, but they did not seem a whit less depraved than the older ones.
Though the novice was not a young man of high aims and purposes, he was not much pleased with his companions. He was what they termed "green,"
and it was quite plain to him that there would be a fight before many days had pa.s.sed by, for he was too high-spirited to submit tamely to the insults which were heaped upon him.
During the afternoon performance, he stood at the gates of the ring, where the horses enter; and Mr. Whippleby sent him before the public for the first time, to bring out a whip which had been left there.
"Noddy Newman!" shouted a boy among the spectators.
The young athlete heard his name, and too late he remembered that he had exposed himself to the gaze of the constables, who might by this time be in search of him. During the rest of the afternoon he kept himself out of sight; but the mischief had already been done.
CHAPTER VII.