quick cut in Flip the Frog short

[Cartman]

While watching the Flip the Frog cartoon Circus, I noticed that there had been what seemed like a quick cut. The thief was sneaking up to the woman and then it seemed to have cut to the two of them fighting over the woman's purse.

[David Gerstein]

I've seen several prints of CIRCUS (with and without original titles, from American and European sources), and they're all cut in the same way, suggesting a cut made before the original release.
I can only imagine the villain grabbed the old lady's rear end in the process of getting at her purse, tickling her and causing her to saucily slap him (as would have been a pretty typical Iwerks gag).