The Circus of Dr. Lao by Charles G. Finney Read Free Book Online Page B

doctor, have we got a corpse?"
     "I'll go and see," said the old Chinaman.
     The crowd of people milled around on the flowers and frightened the turtle so that it pulled its heads back into its shell again. A big fat woman stepped on it. She looked down to see what was under her foot.
     "Good God Almighty, Luther, there's a turtle in here!" she screeched.
     "Where? Where?" asked Luther nervously. "Where the hell is it, Kate?"
     "Right under my feet," sobbed Kate.
     "It won't hurt you," said Mr. Rogers. "It's a real tame turtle, I think."
     Luther pulled Kate aside and stared down at the chelonian. "It don't look tame to me."
     "It's got two heads; hasn't it, mother?" said Willie.
     "By God, I knew there was something queer about it," said Luther.
     Doctor Lao came back in the tent with a big bundle in his arms.
     "I got one," he whispered to Apollonius.
     "Now stand back, all you people, around the edges of the tent," directed the doctor. "Apollonius of Tyana is about to perform the greatest piece of magic in several centuries. Before your very eyes he will restore life to a lifeless corpse.
     Before your very eyes the dead will become quick again. And at no further cost to you than what you paid to enter this tent. Stand aside, ladies and gentlemen; stand aside, please! Give the man all the room he needs."
     Apollonius stooped over and unrolled the bundle. A little shrivelled dead man, one who had been a laborer of some sort, was disclosed. He had on overalls, old worn army shoes with leather laces in them, a blue hickory shirt, and an old worn-out cowboy hat. In the leather sweat band of the hat were the initials "R.K." floridly delineated in indelible pencil. One of the leather shoestrings in the man's old worn-out army shoes had been broken and retied in several places. The knots looked as if they might have been done by a seafaring man. Apollonius placed the cadaver on its side, drawing the arms up above the head. He bent the knees and slightly spread the legs. The corpse looked as if it was sleeping in a very uncomfortable position.
     Apollonius began to pray a low, thick prayer. His eyeballs turned dead green; thin, hazy stuff floated out of his ears. He prayed and prayed and prayed. To the subtle spirit of life he sent his terrible invocation.
     Then all of a sudden, when everyone was most expecting it, the dead man came to life, sat up, coughed, and rubbed his eyes.
     "Where the devil am I?" he wanted to know.
     "You're at the circus," said the doctor.
     "Well, lemme outa here," said the man. "I got business to attend to."
     He got to his feet and started off with a slight limp. Luther caught his arm as he made for the door. "Listen, mister," he asked, "was you really dead?"
     "Deader than hell, brother," said the man and hurried on out of the tent.
     At about two-thirty two policemen arrived at the circus grounds to look the show over and see that nothing inimical to the public interest took place. One of the cops was a big fat jolly ignorant-looking guy; the other was a tall thin ugly man. They wore uniforms, Sam Browne belts, sidearms and shiny, brass badges. Doctor Lao spotted them from afar and slipped up behind them.
     "Whatsah mattah? Chase crook? Somebody steal? Whatsah mattah cops come this Gloddam place? This my show, by Glod!"
     "Now don't get all excited," said the fat cop. "We just come out to look around a little. Jest keep yer shirt on, slant-eye. We ain't gonna arrest nobody unless they needs it. We're officers; how about us takin' in a few of these here sideshows?"
     "Make yourselves at home, gentlemen," said Doctor Lao. "Go where you please when you please. I shall instruct the ticket-takers to let you in wherever you may choose to go."
     "That's the way to talk," said the policeman. "Whattayah