Circus Feverish

Released
March 30, 1925

Starring

 * Farina
 * Jackie
 * Joe
 * Johnny
 * Mary
 * Mickey
 * Pineapple

Story
The circus is in town, idiotically for one day only on a school day. Mickey, Joe, and Jackie come by Pineapple and Farina’s house. Through a back window the trio sees the brothers lying partially covered in bed, with white spots all over their faces, arms, and chests. Mickey calls out, “Hello,” and the brothers get up and go to the window. From a rear shot it is seen that the brothers weren’t wearing anything in bed, and that the spots cover their entire bodies.

Mickey gulps and avoids the obvious at first. “Hey, you weren’t at school last Friday. What’s up?”

“We got speckled fever, and we’re under quarantine for six weeks,” answered Pineapple. “It’s contagious.”

“Wow,” says Mickey, who can’t put it off any longer. “Um, you guys always sleep in the nude?”

“We didn’t use to,” explains Pineapple, but our Doctor Sorghum had this idea about the quarantine. He asked our parents to lock away our grass skirts and anything else we might wear: loincloths, and even the barrels are gone. That way we’re guaranteed not to go outside the house.”

“You mean you’ve been naked the whole time?”

“Yeah, ever since Thursday night.”

“That’s crazy!” opines Joe.

“It works,” responds Farina. “Would you go outside if you were naked?”

“Of course not,” says Joe. “But …but …”

“See?” retorts Farina.

“What does it feel like?” asks Jackie.

“It was weird at first, but then we got used to it,” answers Pineapple.

“Yeah,” agrees Farina. “I wanted to hide in bed all the time, but then I got bored. We can get up and do things like shoot dice or play cards.”

“I thought maybe you both lost at strip poker,” comments Jackie.

“We also got some stuff from school we’re supposed to do sometime before the quarantine is over.”

“Hey, what if your house catches fire?” asks Joe.

“Then we have to go outside and jump in the well,” answers Pineapple. “We had a practice drill yesterday and it worked fine. But our Pa was funny and left us down there for six hours before lowering the rope and bucket so we could climb out.”

“I got an idea,” announces Mickey. “Joe and Jackie, we should go home, paint dots on ourselves, say we got speckled fever, and when our Mas leave us alone, sneak out and go to the circus.”

Joe and Jackie agree it’s a great idea, and hurry back home to paint red dots all over themselves. Then they get into their beds, Mickey and Jackie in one house and Joe next door. Their mothers are alarmed and call Dr. Pipp. He is fooled into thinking the three boys do have speckled fever. He tells the mothers that the boys can’t go to school.

Mickey and Jackie’s mother has a concern. “We have to go into town and do some shopping. I don’t trust these boys not to sneak off to the circus.”

“My feelings exactly,” agrees Joe’s mother.

“A colleague of mine had this great idea about the quarantine,” replies Dr. Pipp. “Lock up all of their clothes so they can’t leave the houses.”

“What! No!” exclaim the boys.

“That sounds like a good idea,” says Mickey and Jackie’s mother. “Boys, take off your clothes from under that sheet like the doctor says.”

“No!”

“Then we’ll just have to give them castor oil until they do,” counters Dr. Pipp. “You’re aren’t faking it, are you?”

“They’ll be in big trouble if they are. Well?” asks Mickey and Jackie’s mother.

The boys reluctantly shed their clothes from under the sheets. The mothers then collect all the boys’ clothes and lock them up. Then they and the doctor leave.

“Now what?” asks Jackie. “I don’t know,” says Mickey. “At least we got out of going to school.”

“But we can’t go to the circus like this!” pouts Joe.

An hour later, Mary and Johnny come by. Mary smiles sweetly as Mickey, Jackie, and Joe cower under the bedsheets. “Hi boys, heard you were sick. Too bad, the teacher gave us half a day off to go to the circus. She asked me to drop off your schoolwork. And Mickey, since you’re sick, Johnny is taking me to the circus. Isn’t he a gentleman?” Johnny smirks and Mickey looks really sick as Mary and Johnny leave together.

“That wasn’t such a great idea, Mickey,” comments Joe. Jackie nods in assent as the boys grudgingly open their schoolbooks.