Leo the Circus Boy Part 18

Then Snipper and one of them called on a local locksmith.

The swindler told a long story of having lost the keys to his trunk, and he ordered the locksmith to make him three keys from impressions furnished by Snipper.

With these keys in his possession, Snipper went back to the circus grounds.

On the following day, toward evening, there was a commotion at the entrance to the main tent of the circus. One of the managers of the great aggregation had discovered that hundreds of circus tickets had been sold throughout the district at a discount from the regular price, fifty cents.

A hurried examination was made, and then it was learned that two thousand tickets had been stolen from one of the box-office wagons.

These tickets were now either sold to individuals or in the hands of the outside speculators.

Who could have stolen the tickets was a mystery, until a slip of paper was handed to Giles, the treasurer, which read:

"Leo Dunbar was hanging around the ticket wagon last night.

Better watch and search him.

"A Friend."

Giles lost no time in acting upon the suggestion given in the note. He ran to the dressing-tent and, finding a key to fit Leo's trunk, opened it.

A first examination of the contents revealed nothing, but then the treasurer brought to light three heavy strips of red paper, each marked 100-50s.

They were the strips used around bundles of tickets.

This was sufficient proof against Leo for Giles. He told several of the others, including Mr. Lambert, the general manager, and then waited for the boy to come in from his performance in the ring.

Amid a generous round of applause, the young gymnast finished his turn and bowed himself out.

On his appearance in the dressing-tent, Giles at once placed his hand on our hero's shoulder.

"Consider yourself under arrest, Leo Dunbar," he said sternly.

Leo was much startled.

"What for?"

"For stealing two thousand circus tickets."

CHAPTER XIII.-LEO MAKES A CHANGE.

Leo stared at the circus treasurer in amazement.

"For stealing two thousand circus tickets?" he repeated.

"Exactly, young man."

"I am innocent."

"I don't believe Leo would steal a pin," put in Natalie Sparks, who had just come up.

"That's not for you to decide, Miss Sparks." said Giles sharply. "We found evidence against you in your trunk, young man. You may as well confess."

"What evidence?" asked Leo, bewildered.

The circus treasurer mentioned the red strips.

"I never placed them there," declared Leo. "Somebody has been tampering with that trunk."

"That's too thin," sneered Giles.

"Of course it's too thin," put in Snipper, who was watching the scene with an ill-concealed smile of triumph on his face.

Leo looked at the gymnast sharply. Then he suddenly bounded toward Snipper and ran him up against a pile of boxes.

"You scoundrel! This is some of your work! I can see it in your face."

He choked Snipper until the man was red in the face.

"Let-let me go!" gasped the second-rate gymnast finally.

"Let him go, Dunbar," ordered Giles, and caught Leo by the collar.

The noise of the trouble had spread, and now Barton Reeve appeared on the scene.

"What's the meaning of all this?" he demanded.

He was quickly told by Natalie Sparks.

"I do not believe Leo is guilty, in spite of the red strips found in the trunk," he said.

He talked the matter over with Giles, and finally Leo, Giles, and Barton Reeve went off to interview the manager.

They found Adam Lambert in the main ticket wagon, counting tickets and cash. He was much disturbed.

"I don't know much about you, Dunbar," he said coldly. "The thing looks very black, and--"

"Mr. Lambert, I am innocent!" cried Leo. "I believe this is only a plot against me."

"A plot? Whose plot?"

"This man Snipper--"

"You and Snipper seem to be fighting continually," broke in the manager.