om Mr. Scripps."

"Is that it?" asked Andy.

"Yes, and favorable in every way--your end of it, and the circus end is
all right. But there's another end. That is it. I reckon you'd better
get the gist of the trouble by reading it over."

Marco separated one of the written sheets and passed it to Andy.

"Oh, dear!" cried the latter in dismay the moment his eyes had taken in
the general subject matter of the screed before him. "That settles it."

Andy's face ran quickly from consternation to utter gloom.

The document before him was a legally-worded affair awaiting a
signature. It stated that "Miss Lavinia Talcott, guardian relative of
Andrew Wildwood, minor, hereby agreed to hold the circus management free
from any blame, damage or indemnity in case of accident to the said
Andrew Wildwood, this day and date a contracted employee of said circus
management."

"She'll never sign it!" cried Andy positively. "How did they come to
bring her name into this business, anyhow?"

"Hold hard. Don't get excited, Wildwood," advised Marco. "Business is
business, even if it is unpleasant sometimes. You've got the facts.
Don't grumble at them. Let's see how we can remedy things."

"They can't be remedied," declared Andy forcibly. "Why, Mr. Marco, I
wouldn't meet my aunt for a hundred dollars, and I couldn't get her to
sign any such a paper if it meant a thousand dollars to me."

Marco stroked his chin thoughtfully and in perplexity.

"Then the jig's up," he announced definitely. "You see, Wildwood, we've
had all kinds of trouble--suits, judgments, injunctions--along of
fellows getting hurt in the show. One man lost an ear in the
knife-throwing act. He recovered two thousand dollars damages. Another
sprained an ankle. Had to pay him eight dollars a week for six months.
Now they put the clause in the contract holding the circus harmless in
such matters. Where it's a minor, they insist further that parent or
guardian also sign off all claims."

"But I have neither," said Andy. "Miss Lavinia is only a half-aunt."

"Well, Miss Starr explained just how matters stood to Mr. Scripps. He
hasn't got time to quibble over your aunt. Her signature fixes
it--otherwise you're left out in the cold."

Andy was never so dispirited in all his life. He sat dumb and wretched,
like a person suddenly finding his house collapsed all about him, and
himself in the midst of its ruins.

"Look here, Wildwood," said Marco kindly, arising after a refle