Jerry of the circus. Now for Jerry of the circus. Good morning, miss. Good morning. Is Mr. Grayson in? Whom shall I say is calling? Well, don't say. Just... I beg your pardon. Well, you see, miss, I'm Mr. Grayson's father and... Oh, Mr. Grayson, I beg your pardon. Please. I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. Please, not so loud. I was just passing through town on a quick business trip and thought I'd surprise him, you know. Why, of course, Mr. Grayson. So if he's in, I'd like to just walk in on him, providing he's alone, of course. Certainly. Just a minute. If you'll go through this door. Dick, my boy. Dad! I can't believe my eyes. Where did you come from? Sort of gave you a surprise, eh? Surprise? I'll say so. Aren't you supposed to be in New York or something? Well, it's a long story, my boy. Oh, good, Dad. I'm forgetting my manners. Sit down on this chair. It's the most comfortable. Thanks. I should say it is. Well, well, well. So this is your office, eh? Our office. After all, you helped me get it. Oh, forget it, my boy. Any dad would do the same. I'm not so sure. Looking pretty well, son. I can hardly talk. I'm so glad to see you and have a chance to really visit with you. It's been a long time, hasn't it, Dick? I should say it has. Gee, you're looking fine, Dad. Here's not showing too much. I should say not. You look as spry as the days we all used to troop together. You have your mother's gift of Blarney, Dick. But how long are you going to stay? What are you going to... Well, son, I'm afraid I only have a few minutes to spend with you. What? Yes, you see, I'm on business. Just passing through Jackson City. Oh, now, Dad, you've got to stay. You can't just barge right off again. Sorry, but I've got to take the next train out of here. You see, well, I'm going through with a young actor I'm coaching. But, Dad... So when I found we came through this town, I... Well, I just had to drop in and see you for a minute. Gee, I'm glad. You're looking fine and prosperous, too. You always were the well-dressed man about town, Dad, even in the old days. Yes. Those were the days. You've no idea how much it means to me to really see you and talk to you. Don't be so sure I don't know. You've no idea how much it means to me to see you and talk to you. The same old Dad. Oh, now, listen, you've got to stay to lunch. I've got a surprise for you. Wish I could, my boy. But I've got to leave here in a few minutes and... Well, the young chap's waiting for me and... But, Dad, I haven't told you yet about... I wanted you to meet Sally. Sally? The girl I'm going to marry. Oh, yes, I... I see. And I wanted her to meet you. She knows all about you already. So you're going to get married, eh? Yes, sir. Just as soon as I can get this office running smoothly and... Oh, that reminds me. I've got a little gift here for you. Oh, it's not much. But I've had unexpected heavy expenses this summer and I... No, sir. You put that right back in your pocket, Dad. What? Since when have you been giving orders to me, sir? Oh, I don't mean it that way. Then here you are. One hundred dollars? What's that so much? Dear Bagatelle. Should be more. Oh, but I don't believe in letting a young fella get dependent. Dad, you're a brick. It's all right to lend a hand now and then. But let young people work for their place in the world. That's the old school of breeding successful men. Dad, I don't know what to say. Enough. We'll discuss it no more. Pardon me, Mr. Grayson, but that young man from the circus is here. Ask him to wait, Miss James. He has an older man with him. Calls him Bumps. Tell him to wait. Yes, sir. Why must go anyway now, son? Now, don't worry about them, Dad. They can wait. They're nice folks. Trooping with the circus that's playing the town. Yes, yes, to be sure. They mustn't be seen, though. Oh, they're all right. However, I usually get my clients out this door under the hall. To be sure, to be sure. Well, son, I must be going. Not yet, Dad. Sorry, my boy. My blessings to the little lady. Dad, you've got to come for the wedding. I don't know when it'll be, but you've got to come. Well, we'll see when the time comes. And now, time flies, and I must depart. Oh, gee, Dad, I... I'm proud of you, son. Keep your standards high. With you as an example, how could I fail? Is, uh... Is this the door out into the hall? Yes, Dad. Goodbye, son. And God bless you. I can never thank you enough for coming up here, Dad. Well, I could hardly pass through town and not stop by. I should hope not. Till we meet again, Dick. Bye, Dad. An old trooper to the end. Miss James. Yes, Mr. Grayson? You may show them in now. Yes, sir. Will you step right in this way, please? Well, thank you, Miss. Good morning, Mr. Grayson. Good morning. Why, what's the matter? You look as if you'd just seen a ghost. I have. What? My father. What? You mean Johnny Bradley came up here? Exactly. But I thought he didn't want you to know he was here. He didn't. Why, it doesn't seem to make much sense, Mr. Grayson. Pretended he was going through town on some business, just seeing me between trains. It broke my heart. Golly. Then insisted on giving me this money. Gee, Willikers. Must be almost $100 there. It's exactly that much. Pretty nearly every cent he's got. I tell you, it just about killed me to sit here and pretend I thought he was a successful man making lots of money. Well, he makes a lot with this circus. Yes, we make pretty good money, Jerry. But you see, he has to live on all that the year around. And we only work during the summer. Gee, I never thought of that. You see, Dad's a pretty old man. It's harder for the old timers. Their type of acting is not used much anymore. I see. And then his not being so strong... That's just it. It nearly drives me crazy to think of Dad working so hard and not even being able to tell him I know all about it. He'd feel lots worse if he thought you knew. That's the only reason I kept quiet. Well, you mustn't worry about that, Father of yours, Grayson. He's in good hands. Oh, I know he is. I had quite a talk with Mr. Randall. He promised to see that Dad doesn't overwork. Well, you can count on us, too. You bet I'll do everything I can to help. You see, I haven't got it, Dad. I just love to kind of pretend he's mine and do things for him like I used to do for my own dad. You're a grand kid, Jerry. Well, gee, that's nothing. I think your dad's swell. We all do. I'll tell you what I'll do. I'll drop you a card every week and tell you how Mr. Bradley's doing. No, I think that's a pretty friendly thing for you to do, Jerry. And I'll tell you what I'll do. What? I'll drop you a card once in a while telling you how your case is coming along. Gee, you will? Sure. And when I finally get it settled, I'll send you a telegram. Golly, I never got in a telegram. Well, it looks like you, too, are going to be pretty good correspondents. If you mean letter-writing, well, I'm not so hot, but I will be prompt. Fine. And now I suppose you've come to sign that paper I told you about last night. Yeah, and to tell you what a swell time we had at your party. You didn't have any more fun than Sally and I had giving it. If only Dad could have come, too. It would have been perfect. Oh, mighty nice young woman, that Miss Gray. I know it. But it sure sounds good to have a person like you agree with me, Bumps. Let's see where that paper is. Don't tell me you lost it. Oh, no danger of that. Everything's filed carefully in this office. Oh, I remember. Miss James tipped that this morning. Just a minute. Miss James? Miss James, will you please bring me that paper regarding the Dugan case? Yes, Mr. Grayson. Well, I suppose you lawyers have to be almost as orderly as circus folk. Circus folk orderly? What do you mean? Here you are, Mr. Grayson. Thank you. That'll be all. I don't see how you can be very orderly in an outfit that moves almost every night. Well, we couldn't move at all if we weren't. Everything with the show goes just like clockwork. I'll say it does. Every minute of the day and night, everything and everybody connected with the circus can be accounted for. That's amazing. I'll never forget the first time I was out in the backyard just before the show began. Why? What happened? Oh, nothing. That's why it seems so funny. What do you mean? Well, you see, I was wandering around and people were going back and forth. Nobody thinking much about the show. Then all of a sudden, I noticed a couple of guards dressing some of the elephants. How do you mean, dressing? Oh, you know, the howders they put on their backs and the spangled banners and things like that. Oh, I see. Well, the next thing I knew, the animals and people started going into the big top. Exactly on time, too. That's one show that begins on time, unless, of course, there's an accident. People were wandering around in costumes and things. You know, the clowns were fooling around and the keepers. But no one seemed to be paying much attention to the show. But gradually, the folks were breaking away and going into the tent. This was for the opening parade? Yeah, they call it the grand entry. Suddenly animals would appear and go on into the main top. Before you know it, the first part of the grand entry was coming out again. You know, it is amazing even to show people the casualness of which the circus starts its performance. I suppose it's so much a part of the day's life that it doesn't seem to be of greater importance than any other part of the day. Well, to a certain extent, that's true. And yet the entire day, all the moving, the putting up and taking down of tents, is all for the one purpose of giving the show. What got me that first time was that no one made a fuss or seemed to be paying any special attention. And yet no one was a minute late. Yeah. You see, Mr. Grayson, a whistle is blown ahead of time for all the performers. I didn't hear it when I was there the first time. No, because you weren't listening for it. We heard it. Yes, that's it. I always hear it now and know exactly what acts on. How? Oh, by listening to the music, the band's playing. Certain pieces go with certain acts. And then, of course, the ringmaster whistles for certain acts. You get to know pretty much how near through even the acts are by listening to the drums. How do the drums help? Well, you see, for all the falls, the drummer has to roll the drums. Oh. Yeah, and for the entrances of the stars. And when the animals do some special tricks, the drum is rolled to accent it. That's funny. I saw the circus twice, and I didn't particularly notice all that. But all that special music helped to build up the big moments and make them seem more exciting. Sure. When a guy falls, if there's a lot of excitement in the music or with the drum, well, you get more excited. That's true. Ah, there's certainly lots of tricks to the circus business, aren't there? I'll say so. Well, there are a lot of tricks to the law business, too. And if I don't get these papers signed, I'll never get on with your case. Golly, guess I was talking too much. Where do I sign? Right here, Jerry, where this dotted line is. Okay. Okay. Jerry. Dugan. There you are. That's done. All right, Jerry. And now I hope it won't be long before you're opening that box of your dad's in the bank downstairs. So do I. Gee, Mr. Grayson, I can hardly wait to see what's in that box. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited.
