Now, just about this time, it chanced that a man was passing under the tree.  This man had on a large, loose coat with large pockets on the sides, and he was so used to carrying things in his pockets that each nearly always stood wide open, like a hungry mouth, waiting for some one to fill it.

And, as luck would have it, the man came under the tree just as the Calico Clown slipped and fell.  And so, instead of falling to the ground, the Clown fell into one of the wide open side pockets of the man’s coat.  And the man never knew about it—­at least for a time.

“Oh, my goodness me, what a narrow escape!” exclaimed the Clown as he landed safely in the soft pocket.  “This is better than falling on the hard ground.  But I wonder what will happen to me now.”

And well might he ask that, for the man, not knowing the Clown was in his pocket, hurried on down town to his office.

CHAPTER VI

IN THE OFFICE

The Man, into whose pocket the Calico Clown had fallen from the tree, hurried along the street, not knowing a thing of what had happened.  He was anxious to get to his office to look after his business, for he was a very busy Man.  He kept other folks busy, too—­clerks and office boy and a girl to write letters on the typewriter.

Now, as it happened, the Man was a little late that morning, and when he reached his office he was in such haste that he did not take time to do anything before he sat down in his big chair to look over his mail.

“Please write some letters for me on the typewriter,” he said to Miss Jones, who worked the machine.

Miss Jones sat down and became very busy.  The Man told her what to write and she banged away on the machine.  Every once in a while she would look at the Man when he paused to think of something else to say.  And once, as she did this, a queer look came over the face of Miss Jones.  Then she smiled and next she burst right out into a loud laugh.

And the funny part of it was that just then the Man was telling her to put in a letter something like this: 

“I am very, very sorry to tell you that I can not do as you want me to.”

And, just as he said the word “sorry,” Miss Jones laughed her very hardest.

“Eh!  What’s the matter?  What is so very funny about my saying I am sorry?” asked the Man.  The girl typewriter and the office boy called him “the Boss” behind his back, and they liked him very much, for he was kind and good to them.

“Oh, dear!  I must laugh!” said Miss Jones.

Miss Jones pointed to something sticking out of his side coat pocket.  The Man put his hand there and pulled out—­the Calico Clown!

You should have seen the strange look come over the Man’s face.  Then he laughed as hard as Miss Jones, and the office boy in the next room, hearing them, laughed also.