8 TRAPPING WILD ANIMALS 



circus-men in the seats jumped up and, without let- 

 ting the audience know what was happening, they 

 snatched the guns. Down went the "bad men'' 

 between the seats. It all happened so quickly and 

 so quietly that the audience didn't realize what had 

 become of them. The canvas-men "toe-staked" them ; 

 that is, they hit them over the heads with the toe- 

 stakes that are driven into the ground to keep the 

 seat-stringers from sliding. A toe-stake is of just 

 the proper size and weight to use in a fight, and it 

 is the circus-man's idea of a good weapon. The 

 crew buried the four men while the show was on. 

 I thought there would be trouble before we could 

 get out of town, but the men weren't even missed. 



The Fryer outfit had a Pennsylvania Dutchman 

 called Charley. He was one of the strongest men 

 I have ever seen. One night, when the stake-wagon, 

 drawn by eight horses, was stuck in the mire, he 

 lifted the rear end of the wagon on his back while 

 the horses pulled it out. I think that if Charley 

 had got a good swing at a man and used his full 

 strength, he could have killed him with one blow. 

 One day, in Christchurch, New Zealand, while Fitz- 

 gerald was taking tickets, a larrikin a tough 

 came along and said: "Ticket? I'll spit in your 

 eye." Fitzgerald knocked him down and called for 

 Charley, who was working at the ticket-wagon. 

 Charley took the larrikin in his arms just as easily 

 as if he had been a baby, and carried him out into 

 the street. There he dropped him and said : "If I 



