Jerry of the circus. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. The. Now for Jerry of the circus. Goodbye rags. Now you stay quietly in this wagon and behave yourself. Now no use wagging your tail I won't take you along. But I'll be right back after the show. Now be a good dog. That's right Flossie keep going there girl. Hey out of the way buddy. Sorry mister. Golly those horses are beaut. They sure are. Watch them get in the step before they even get near the big top. Hey you're the kid Randall took on this afternoon aren't you. Yeah. He said he had a kid to help with the water. Hey why don't you go on into the horse tent and get acquainted with Whitey. He's the head man. Thanks. Sure it's all right. It'll be okay. This is a good time to see him while those Rosenbecks are working. Well so long kid. Hello there. Are you Whitey. That's what they call me around here. I'm Jerry. Yeah. Mr. Randall said I was to help you you know carry water. Oh yeah. So you're the boy. Know anything about horses. I helped dad take care of a string of them for a couple of years out in Arizona. Pretty mare over there. Yeah. That's your colt huh. Cute isn't he. How old is he. About three months. Oh there lady take it easy. Hey there. She'll break loose if she doesn't stop turning around so. Wonder what's got into that mare. Maybe I'm quite her Whitey. Nice lady. What's the matter lady huh. Put your nose in your coat for trying to push him right in. Looks as if she wants to get rid of that colt all right. I can see you understand horse talk sonny. Shall I take the colt away. Yeah that's a good idea. Tie her up there in that empty stall way down at the far end. Okay. Kind of frisky aren't you. Hey what's his name Whitey. Splendor. All right Splendor. Here you go. Right into this empty stall. Take it easy there. Gee you're a pretty pony. Say Jerry when you finish tying up that colt you better run along. That horse offering is about over and I'll be busy and I'll get out when those Rosenbikes come back. Okay Whitey. Is the mare all right now. Well she's a little better but still pretty nervous. Funny she never acted like that before. Thanks Jerry for helping. Oh that's nothing. Now you be sure and report early in the morning. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'll be right there. Well, hello there Jerry, my boy. Where you been? I've been looking for you. Oh, hello Bumps. I locked Rags up in the wagon and then I met my new boss. Oh, you mean Whitey? Yeah, he's nice, isn't he? Sure is. You'll get along with him just fine. Uh, say Bumps, uh... Well, Jerry... I feel terrible about Rags. I'm sorry he followed you into the ring like he did. As a matter of fact, that's what I wanted to see about Jerry. I've been talking to Mr. Randall. Gee whiz, he isn't sore, is he? No, no, not this time. We just kind of figured the circus kind of gutten Rags blood. That's it? You know, the only time Rags ever ran away in his whole life was when a band came through town. He's crazy about band music. Well, that's as well. That's gonna work out perfect. What? What would you think of letting Rags work? Work? In my act. No. Oh, Bumps! Well, why not? You really mean it? I think Rags and I understand each other pretty well. Oh, gee, Bumps. Honestly. I'm so excited I can hardly... Golly, you imagine Rags a real circus trick dog. Yeah. Hey, ought to be worth a little money to you too, Jerry. I'll have to speak to Mr. Randall about that. Oh, gee, Bumps. That's swell of you. Hey, hey, Jerry, look. They're bringing the lions back. Jason's just finished his act. You see him over there? They're taking the lions and tigers out of the big cage and putting them back in the animal wagon. Gee, isn't that exciting, Bumps? Jason sure must be a brave man. Wish I could be a wild animal trainer. Oh, sir, looks as if you'd like to be a three-ring circus all by yourself. Oh, here comes Jason now. Boy, doesn't he look keen in that uniform. He's a handsome man, all right. Oh, oh, Jason. Say, Jason. Oh, hello, Bumps. Come here. I want you to meet a friend of mine. This is Jerry Dugan, Jason. Hello, young fella. Glad to meet you. Gee, me too. Jerry here thinks he'd like to take up wild animal training. Well, we might get around to that someday, Jerry. Whenever you see me putting the tigers through their tricks, drop around and watch. That's the way I started. You did? You mean you can learn to train wild animals just from watching? Well, now, maybe it isn't quite that easy, but you can learn a whole lot from observation. Well, tell me exactly how you did start, will you? Weren't you afraid the first time you went into a cage with a lion? Not exactly. You see, Jerry, I didn't start with lions. No? No, sir. The first animal I taught trick tricks to was a cat. Oh, you mean a tiger, huh? No, Jerry, not that kind of a cat. I mean a plain old alley cat. Collie, that's not a wild animal. There isn't any danger to teach a plain old cat trick. That's right, Jerry, but there's plenty to learn with a domestic animal before you take up with the wild ones. You have to learn patience and plenty of it. You have to learn to keep cool and level-headed. Even though it takes hours to teach one little trick, you have to be calm and never let the animal know you're excited. Oh, you see, Jerry, there's a lot more to it than just cracking a whip and being brave. Gee, I'll say there is. Now, do you still think you'd like to learn to be an animal trainer? Uh-huh, because I already know how to train domestic animals. You do? Sure, I taught rags most of the tricks he knows. Rags? Who's rags? Oh, you haven't seen him yet. Well, rags is my dog. Yeah, and a mighty fine dog too, Jason. I guess he's friendly little fellas I've ever seen. Well, fine. Then you're one up on me, Jerry. I guess you're about ready to start on leopards and tigers now. Oh, no. But I would like to see if I could get friendly with a little lion cub sometime. Well, we'll see. You seem to like animals pretty well, and that's the first step to being a trainer. Hey, quiet! All you guys not working, get over to the horse top quick! There's a fire and the horses are stampeding! Fire! Fire in the horse top! Hey, get going, bucket! Fire in the horse top! Bumps, that's what was wrong. Uh, what was wrong, Jerry? That mare. She must have smelled the smoke. Horses sense most things before we do. She was having a fit. That's why she wanted to get her cold out. She knew there was a fire starting. I don't know what you're talking about, Jerry, but we'd better get moving. They'll be shorthanded over there. It's a bad night for a fire with that wind coming up. Gee, you can see the place from here. Lucky most of the horses are still working. Every man grab a bucket! What are all them men getting in line for? Uh, they're forming a fire brigade. Get all the buckets from the mast tent! That's so they can pass the buckets of water up to the fire quick, Jerry. And the other line over there is to pass the empty buckets back to get them filled again. Say, what about getting the elephants to help spray water on the fire? Elephants? Good idea. How'd you happen to think of that? Dad told me about saving the whole surface that way, right? It's a swell idea. I'll see about getting the elephants, Jerry. Listen to those four horses, four things. Hey, Jason, give me a hand with these Arabians. Let me help too. Oh, Jerry, now you run over to that box right outside the entrance and grab some of that canvas. Okay. And tear it up in strips and bring it back here. We have to blindfold those horses if we're gonna lead them through the flames. Hurry up now! Okay, I'll be right back. Here comes bumps with the elephants. My golly, that's a swell idea. Look at those elephants spray water on that fire. I guess those trunks are good for something besides grabbing peanuts after all. I'm afraid it's too late to do much good. That main pole's almost burnt through now. Here's the canvas, Whitey. Oh, good for you, Jerry. Come on, Jason. Quick, I think we can get them all out in one trip. Clear that tent. She's got a cave in. Did they get all the horses out? All but the Arabians. Whitey's bringing them out now. Look, Jerry comes and there's Jason. They got them all. Whitey, hey, Whitey, did you get the coal? Remember, I tied him down in the forest stall. Oh, gosh, I forgot about that coal. Oh, Jerry, don't go into that blazing tent. Oh, it'll fall in on you. It's too late to save that coal now. Here, you stay away from that top. Take your hands off of me, Whitey. Let me get that coal. That's right, Whitey. Hang on to Jerry. I'll get the coal. It's too late, Jason. The tent's caving in now. No, I can make it. Hey, you with that bucket, throw that water on me. I'm going in that tent. Jason, you can't make it. Oh, there you are, Jerry. We got those elephants a little too late. Bob, Jason went into the tent. Look, there it goes. Why doesn't Jason come out? There he is. Where? Where is he? He's there in the smoke by the entrance. See him? And he's got the coal. Oh, I can't believe it. Jason, you did it. You poor little ponies. You're scared to death, aren't you? Well, Jerry, I guess that's all. I could do with a bath. Golly, man, are you hurt? No, but I take a cage of tigers in preference to a fire any day. Oh, thanks, Jason. I'll never forget this. Well, here come the boys with the fire extinguishers. They'll handle it from now on. Oh, sure. Yeah, they'll get it under control, all right. Oh, gee whiz, it's almost 11. I got to get back for the finale. And I better go get rags. He'll be scared stiff with all this noise and smoke. I'll go along with you, Bumps, as far as a wagon. Yeah, okay, Jerry, but hurry now. I'll be back and help you, Whitey, as soon as I get my dog. You know, Jerry, that's the first fire we've had in over five years. It's lucky all the horses were saved. Golly, wasn't Jason wonderful? Yeah, takes a brave man to handle lions, Jerry. Wasn't he ever hurt, Bumps? Well, I guess if you'd call being clawed by wild animals being hurt, he's had his share. Then he has been clawed, huh? Oh, plenty a time, but it doesn't seem to put any fear into him. He always figures it's his fault when something goes wrong and one of the animals gets at him. And he goes right back into the cage with the same animal that clawed him, huh? Yep. After a lot of stitches and a short stay in the hospital, he goes right into the steel with his cats again. The steel? What do you mean, Bumps? Oh, well, the steel, Jerry, is the big cage in the center ring where Jason puts on his act. Oh, well, I thought that was a cage. Well, yeah, that's what it really is, but around his circus, you'll find we have a lot of different names for things. Bumps, look it! Huh? What? The door to our wagon. It's open. Well, what of it? But I left Braggs there. Braggs? Braggs? Braggs, where are you? Bumps, he's gone. Braggs is gone. The End
