Part V Chapter 6 Doctor Dolittle's Circus by Hugh Lofting
THE DOCTOR BECOMES MANAGER OF THE CIRCUS
It was curious to see how, as soon as the strong man spoke of a new manager, all the eyes of the little crowd gathered in the wagon turned upon John Dolittle.
"Doctor," said Hercules, "it looks to me like you'd got to be the new boss. And if anybody was to ask me. I'll say you'd make a pretty good one. How about it, boys?"
"Aye! Aye!" they all cried. "The Doc's the man."
"That being the case," said Hercules, "in the name of the staff of the Greatest Show on Earth, I present you, Doctor, with the circus of the late lamented Alexander Blossom. From now on, with us, your word is law."
"But--good heavens!" the Doctor stammered. "I don't know anything about circus management, and, besides, I--"
"Oh, yes, you do," Hercules broke in. "Wasn't it your act with Beppo that made the big week at Bridgeton? And wasn't it you what got the circus brought to Manchester? Why, bless me, you can talk to the bloomin' animals! We ain't worried. Meself, I've a kind of an idea we'll make more money under you than ever we made--or lost--under Blossom. You go ahead and manage."
"Yes," said Hop. "That's right, Doctor. Lord only knows what's going to happen to us if you don't. We're in the soup--dead broke. And you're the one to pull us out."
For a full minute the Doctor did not answer--just sat, thinking, on his packing case. At last he looked around at the miserable waiting group and said:
"Very well. I had not intended going into this business for long when I started. But I certainly can't get out of it now-- not only on your account, but on account of my own animals and my responsibility to them. For I, too, am--er--dead broke. If you want me to manage for you, I'll try it. But I'm going to do it a little differently from Blossom's way. I'm going to run the circus on a cooperative basis--that is, instead of wages, we will all take our share of the money made, after expenses are paid. That means that when business is bad you will get very little-- may even have to pay a little; and when business is good you will do well. Also, I claim the right to dismiss anyone from the circus without notice at any moment."
"That's the idea!" said Hercules. "That's the way a circus should be run--everybody partners in the business, but one man boss."
"But listen," said the Doctor. "For the beginning it's going to be hard work and very little money. We haven't got a cent in hand, and until the rain stops we shan't make a penny. What's worse, we will probably run into debt for a while--supposing, even, that we can get anybody to give us supplies on credit. Are you willing?"
"You bet we are!" . . . "We're with you, Doc!" . . . "Nobody's going to grumble!" . . . "You're the right boss!" they cried. And immediately the appearance of the whole crowd had changed from miserable gloom to hopeful smiles and enthusiasm.
In the midst of this arrived Matthew Mugg, with Mr. Bellamy himself.
"I'm terribly sorry to hear of this," said Mr. Bellamy, addressing the Doctor. "I gave that scoundrel Blossom two thousand pounds. He has cleared out with the whole lot, it seems--even left tradespeople unpaid in the city. It was their coming to me that first told me of his crookedness; and then your Mr. Mugg arrived. I've put the police on Blossom's trial, but I don't think there's the least chance of their catching him. You had better come back to Manchester, and I will give you space at the Amphitheatre pack until you have made enough to carry on."
"Hooray!" yelled Hop. "And, look, the rain has stopped! Our luck has changed. Hooray for the Dolittle Circus."
"Pardon me!" said a small, polite voice from the door. "Is Doctor Dolittle here?"
Everyone turned; and there stood a small man in the entrance. Behind him the sun was now shining brightly.
"I am John Dolittle," said the Doctor.
"How do you do," said the little man. "I have been sent on a special mission by a firm of theatrical producers. I am instructed to make you an offer. They wish you to bring your troupe to London next month--if you have not been already booked."
"Hah!" cried Hercules. "What did I tell you, boys? First minute he's manager he gets an offer from Manchester and another from London. Three cheers for the Doctor!"
It was a day of great rejoicing for both the animals and the people of the circus when the Doctor took over the management. As soon as the news got around the enclosure tent-riggers, stable boys, performers--everybody, in fact, who was part of the establishment --came to the Doctor to congratulate him and to say how glad they were to be under his direction. With the stopping of the rain a general cheerfulness and hustle began. And the very first thing done was the taking down of the "Blossom's Mammoth Circus" sign over the main entrance and erecting in its place the "Dolittle Circus"-- a more modest title, but one which was to become far greater and better known than Blossom's had ever been.
Mr. Bellomy was very kind. Realizing that the Doctor and everyone had been left practically penniless, he offered to help the new management with loans of money or in any other way he could. However, John Dolittle was most anxious to avoid getting the circus further into debt than it already was, and all he asked of Mr. Bellamy was to visit some of the tradespeople of this town with him and ask them to give him credit, to trust him for a while. Mr. Bellamy was, of course, very well known for miles and miles around Manchester. And the local corn-dealer, grocer, butcher and the rest were perfectly willing, when he asked them, to give the Doctor provisions and to wait for their money till the circus had made enough to pay its bills.
For the same reason, to avoid getting into debt, the Doctor decided not to move back to Manchester, but to keep the show where it was for the present. And with better weather the attendance soon began to be quite considerable. Mr. Bellamy's arrival and his visit to the tradespeople of the town were a good advertisement for the Dolittle Circus. Another advertisement better still was, curiously enough, Blossom's theft and disappearance. No sooner had it become known in Manchester that the ringmaster had run away with a large sum of money than the newspapers took it up and wrote long stories of how the famous Puddleby Pantomime had been robbed and left stranded in a small town twelve miles from the city. The story was reprinted in country papers. And suddenly the people of this same small town woke up to the fact that they had the Puddleby Pantomime in their midst and hadn't noticed it (on account of the rain) till they read of it in the papers.
Then, of course, everybody began talking of the robbery and everybody wanted to go and see the pantomime and the Doctor and the famous animal actors who had made such a sensation in Manchester. And the next thing the whole town was tramping in at the gates of the Dolittle Circus.
As I have said, it was not a large town, but for the three days the business was good enough to enable the Doctor to pay all the bills off and to buy more provisions on which to keep going. There was even a little over to pay everybody a small-- very small--amount of wages.
Too-Too, the expert accountant, was busier now than he had ever been. For not only did he keep record of how much the pushmi-pullyu made, but he kept the books for the whole circus. This, with the Doctor's new "coöperative*" arrangement, was no easy task. Strict account of all money paid out to tradespeople had to be carefully entered, and the profits left divided among all the people of the circus in proportion to the amount of work they did. For instance, some of the tent-riggers and wagon-drivers who really only worked one or two days a week did not get so large a share as the side-show performers who were at work all the week. But every one got more when business was good, and less when it was bad.
Although nearly the whole staff were glad to have the Doctor's management and willingly stayed on with the circus even in the distressful conditions under which the new management began, there were, nevertheless, one or two malcontents who wanted large wages right away before the debts and bills were paid. These, as a matter of fact, were people that the Doctor was glad to part with anyway. And as soon as he could raise the money to pay them off he sent them about their business. The Dolittle Circus began, in consequence, somewhat smaller than the Blossom Circus ended, but it began along strictly honest lines and with every man and animal in it united, hopeful and contented under the new management.