far from there, and I wished to go and see what it
was."

"And did you go?" asked Jennie.

"Yes," replied Rollo, "and I found it was a man who had made a great
ring of people all about him, and was trying to get them to give fifteen
sous to see him shut himself up in a small box. The box was on the
pavement, all ready. It was quite small. It did not seem possible that a
man could be shut up in it."

"How big was it?" asked Jennie.

"O, I don't know, exactly," said Rollo. "It was quite small."

"Was it no bigger than that," said Jennie, holding her two hands a few
inches apart, so as to indicate what she would consider quite a small
box.

"O, yes," said Rollo, "it was a great deal bigger than that. It was only
a little smaller than you would think a man could get into. The box was
square, and was made of tin, but painted black.

[Illustration: PERFORMANCE ON THE BOULEVARDS.]

"There was an organ at one end of the ring, with a man playing upon it,
to draw the crowd together. In front of the organ was a woman, with a
baby in her arms, and another little child playing about her. The man
said that this was his family, and that he had to support them by his
experiments. In front of the woman was the box. In front of the box was
the man, who stood there, generally, telling what he was going to do,
and calling upon the people to throw in their sous. In front of the man
was a carpet, on the pavement, and in the middle of the carpet a tin
plate. From time to time the people would throw sous over into the
circle. The man would then pick them up and put them into the plate, and
tell the people how many there lacked. There must be fifteen, he said,
or he could not perform the experiment. He kept talking all the time to
the people, and saying funny things to make them laugh.

"At last all the fifteen sous were in, and then the man went to the box.
He brought out a soldier who was standing among the people, and placed
him near the box, so that he might shut the cover down when the man was
in. The man then stepped into the box. The upper edge of it was not
higher than his knees. He then began to kneel down in the box, crossing
his legs under him; and then he crouched his body down into it, and
curled in his head, and then----

"Jennie!" said Rollo, interrupting himself. He observed that Jennie was
very still, and he was not sure that she was listening.

Jennie did not answer. She was fast asleep.

"She's gone to sleep,"