at the feet of the all-absorbed spectators, he cried
in high cracked falsetto:

"Well, _well_, _WELL_! Here we are again, good people! Billy Miller's
Big Show! Larger--greater--grander than ever. Everything new! Come and
see the wild animals! Hear the lions roar!"

Wheeling suddenly towards Mrs. Batholommey he pointed a whitened
forefinger at her and broke into a truly frightful roar. The good lady
jumped at least six inches from the ground.

"Steady, ma'am!" exhorted the clown. "I won't let him bite you! Come
one, come all! Come see the diving deer! The human fly, Mademoiselle
Zarella!" he added, addressing the rector. "She walks suspended from the
ceiling! One ring and no confusion!" he confided to the delightedly
smiling Peter. "And all for the price of admission! Remember the grand
free exhibition one hour before the big show!"

He paused, catching sight of Willem for the first time. Now, it is a
well-grounded tradition in one-ring circus life that no clown stays long
in the business or scores a hit in it unless he is genuinely fond of
children. Noting the all-absorbing bliss and adoration in Willem's wide
eyes, the clown grinned at the boy in right brotherly fashion.

"Howdy!" said he cordially. "Shake!"

Marvelling, overcome with rapture, feeling as though the proffered
honour was one far too wonderful to be real, Willem shyly extended his
hand and met the friendly grasp of the flour-dusted fingers. The clown,
striking an attitude, began in shrill, exaggerated diction, to chant the
antiquated "Frog Opera" song:

"Uncle Rat has gone to town,--Ha-_H'M_!
Uncle Rat has gone to town,"

he sang on, addressing Willem,

"To buy his niece a wedding gown."

"Ha-_H'M_!" intoned Willem, delightedly; laughing aloud as he realised
he was actually singing with a real live clown.

"What shall the wedding breakfast be?"

continued the clown, interrogating the equally youthful and delighted
Peter Grimm. And this time more voices than Peter's and Willem's caught
up the refrain:

"Ha-_H'M_!
Hard-boiled eggs and a cup of tea,"

sang the clown. And again from Willem and the rest came the answering:

"Ha-_H'M_!"

"Billy Miller's Big Show!" yelled the clown. "Come one, come all! So
long, Sonny!"

He was gone. The others came back to earth. But Willem was still in the
wonder clouds. It had been to him an experience to rehearse a thousand
times, to dream over, to remember forever. Peter Grimm, reading