a barn
all night!"

"I did--almost," said Ben, smiling.

"Well, come in and get that clown suit off you," said Mrs. Brown. "Then
tell us all about it. What made you run away?"

"I was afraid that man would get me," said Ben.

"Why should he want to get you?" asked Daddy Brown.

"Because I ran away from his circus where I used to do tricks," Ben
answered. "That's my secret. I used to be a regular circus performer,
but I couldn't stand it any longer, and I ran away. I didn't want you to
know it, so I didn't tell you. But that man, who came into the tent when
I was doing the same jump I used to do in the regular circus--that man
knew me. I thought he had come to take me back, and I didn't want to go.
So I ran away."

"You poor boy!" said Grandma Brown.

There came a knock on the door, and when Mrs. Brown opened it there
stood the same man from whom Ben had run away the day before.

"Oh, you're back again I see!" said the man.

Ben dropped his knife and fork on his plate, and looked around for a
place to hide. Everyone was silent, waiting for what would happen next.

CHAPTER XXV

BACK HOME AGAIN

"Now don't be afraid, Ben," said the man. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Are you--are you going to make me go back to the circus?" Ben asked
slowly.

"Not unless you want to go, though we want you back with us very much,
for we have missed you," the man replied.

"I'll not go back to be beaten the way I was!" cried Ben. "I can't stand
that. That's why I ran away."

"You can just stay with us; can't he Mother?" pleaded Sue. "He can work
on grandpa's farm with Bunker Blue."

"What does all this mean?" asked Grandpa Brown of the strange man who
had knocked at the door. "Are you after Ben?"

"Yes, sir, I am after Ben," was the answer, and the man smiled. "I have
been looking for him for a long time, and I am glad I have found him. I
will take him back with me if he will come, and I will make him a
promise that he will no more be whipped. I never knew anything about
that until after he had run away from my circus."

"Did you really do that, Ben?" asked Bunny. "Run away?"

"Yes. That was where I came from that night I begged a meal here--a
circus. But I'll go back, for I like being in a circus, if I'm not
beaten."

"Tell us all about it," said grandpa.

"I will," answered the man. "My name is James Hooper. I own a small
circus, with some other men, and we travel about the country, giving
performances