ead with the
piece of dragon that he knocked a hole in the papier-mache, and, just as
Hiram freed himself of the encumbrance, and straightened up to get his
bearings and swoop down on his assailant, an egg smashed in his face and
effectually blinded him.

A hollow murmur sounded in Hiram's ears, like the roar of the sea. He
was picked up on the troubled waters of the melee, and borne back and
forth in the surging tide. At last he slammed into something and fell,
limp and dazed, to the ground.

He drew his sleeve across his eyes, thus freeing them for clearer
vision. To his joy and wonder, he found that destiny had hurled him
against the side of the automobile he had been trying to reach.

Jocko had jumped from the shoulders of the passenger in the tonneau, and
the passenger was still on his feet and had his back toward Hiram. The
latter, boiling over with filial sentiments, climbed up on the running
board and encircled the beetle-browed man in a fond embrace.

"Dad!" clamored Hiram excitedly; "don't you know me?"

"Get off! get off!" roared the man, going at once into a flurry. "Whose
monkey is this, anyway? Police! Police!"

The man, naturally, was in a highly excited state of mind and thought
the simian was upon him again. Just then, the driver of the machine
found a cleared space ahead and started for it. He started so quickly
that Hiram was thrown from the running board, dropped to the hard
pavement, and there stumbled against and fallen over by the jostling
mob.

This rough usage was more than Hiram could stand. The senses were being
knocked out of him by swift degrees. He felt his wits going, and he made
a frantic attempt to stay them as they drifted away. The attempt was
useless, however, and a great darkness suddenly descended upon Hiram and
closed him in.

When he regained his senses, he was lying on a bench in a drug store. A
clerk was holding a handkerchief, saturated with a drug of some kind, to
his nostrils, and a bluecoat was standing near, twirling his club and
looking down at Hiram speculatively.

"Question is," said the policeman, "what is he doing with two hats?"

"That's more than I can tell you, officer," answered the clerk. "Ah,
he's coming to!"

Hiram sat up on the bench and pushed aside the drug-soaked handkerchief.
"Dad!" he murmured confusedly.

"I'm not your dad," said the officer. "I'm just the fellow who pulled
you out of the crowd. Where'd you get that hat?"

Hiram looked do