Portal logo
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?"