THE SURPRISING DOCTOR 73
Dicky
Gibbs was a born showman, and although he didn't know it, his
unconscious humor often saved us from distraction. He always had a mad
scheme or two up his sleeve, and the wonder was that he ever found
others madder than himself to back him.
One
day, probably for want of a sympathetic ear elsewhere, he came and
tried the early-bird game on me. I was standing pouring the first
morning douche over my back with a salmon can when he burst in upon me.
"Gee,"
he said, "I couldn't put it off any longer. I come by a great idea last
night, and you'll be just tickled to death to hear it because there's
money in it for you—for us-------"
"Pass
me that towel over there," I said, "and spit out your idea if it hurts
to keep it any longer on your chest. But I warn you, I'm not an
investor."
Dicky
explained. A certain son-of-a-gun of a Dutchman had got stranded in
Kudat or Sandakan (he was not sure which) on the island of Borneo—the
British part. This Dutchman had brought out a show to the East Indies,
a circus all complete, with ruddy roundabouts and blinking swings,
dinkey ponies—three of 'em—that could do tricks and dance on their
toes, an elephant who could play the clown, a giant, a dwarf and a
bearded lady. The Dutchman had gone broke only because of the new
fashion. The Javanese, the Celebes natives and even the Dyaks of Borneo
had lately tired of circuses and had become movie fans.
"The
fellow's stuck there," he said with a gleam in his eye. "Can't go
forrard or back, I hear, and there's our chance. Two thousand bucks
will buy him out."
"The
idea is great, Dicky," I said, rubbing myself down, "but who is to find
the money, and if it can be found, who's to run the circus; and if it
can be run, who's to provide the grub for the elephant; and even if
someone can be found to treat him as an honored guest for a month or
so, who's to drag the Moros to the circus? Haven't we movies in this
burg too?"
