Chapter I: Preface

As the Pacific Series, just completed, is devoted to stories of life and adventure on the Pacific coast, the Atlantic Series, of which the Young Circus Rider is the initial volume, will comprise stories located nearer home. The author will feel at liberty, however, should the exigencies of the plot require it, to change the scene temporarily to other parts of the continent.

The fascinations which the circus has always exercised over the minds of young people is so well known, that the author has felt justified in selecting the hero of the present story from that class of public performers who appeal so powerfully to the imagination of his young readers. In order to prepare himself for his task, he has made personal acquaintance with more than one hero of the ring, and has sought to furnish an inside view of the life which he describes. He hopes that the result may prove acceptable to the juvenile public in whose behalf he is always glad to labor.

HORATIO ALGER, JR.

March 13, 1883.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER. PAGE

I. Anak, the Norwegian Giant 7

II. Anak's Exploits 15

III. The Wrath of Mr. Tarbox 24

IV. Mr. Tarbox Invokes the Majesty of the Law 32

V. Tarbox and the Constable go to the Circus 41

VI. Tarbox is Defeated 50

VII. The Evening Entertainment 59

VIII. A Scheming Nephew 68

IX. Two Boys on a Tramp 77

X. Trapped 85

XI. Dismay at the Home of Tarbox 94

XII. The Canvas Man 102

XIII. Catching a Thief 110

XIV. Chestnutwood 115

XV. A Compact 120

XVI. The Canvas Man 127

XVII. An Athletic Contest 136

XVIII. The Canvas Man finds a Bonanza 144

XIX. A Farce and a Tragedy 153

XX. The Amateur Detectives 162

XXI. Catching a Burglar 171

XXII. Robert Rudd Leaves the Circus 180

XXIII. What the Letter Contained 188

XXIV. Robert Meets his Employer 193

XXV. At Niagara Falls 198

XXVI. A Victim of Treachery 207

XXVII. Robert finds Himself in a Tight Place 216

XXVIII. Robert Subdues a Horse 225

XXIX. An Unpleasant Acquaintance 234

XXX. The Tree of Refuge 241

XXXI. Hercules—the Strong Man 247

XXXII. Fitzgerald's Disappointment 253

XXXIII. Fitzgerald Sees an Apparition 262

XXXIV. The Mystery of Robert Rudd is Solved 266

THE STAR OF THE CIRCUS.