"I see de picters on de fence when I come from de ferry.
Dere's a chariot-race out o' sight, an' a' elephant what stands on
'is head. Hold on till I see ef de Big Gray 's got enough beddin'
under him. He wuz awful stiff dis mornin' when I helped him up."
Cully never went to bed without seeing the Gray first made
comfortable for the night.
The two young fellows saw all the sights, and after filling their
pockets with peanuts and themselves with pink lemonade, took their
seats at last under the canvas roof, where they waited impatiently
for the performance to begin.
The only departure from the ordinary routine was Cully's instant
acceptance of the clown's challenge to ride the trick mule, and
his winning the wager amid the plaudits of the audience, after a
rough-and-tumble scramble in the sawdust, sticking so tight to his
back that a bystander remarked that the only way to get the boy
off would be to "peel the mule."
When they returned it was nearly midnight. Cully had taken off
his "choker," as he called it, and had curled it outside his hat,
They had walked over from the show, and the tight clutch of the
collar greatly interfered with Cully's discussion of the wonderful
things he had seen. Besides, the mule had ruined it completely
for a second use.
It was a warm night for early spring, and Carl had his coat over
his arm.
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