un short o' lunertics, jus' let me know, and I'll furnish you with
another pair.' 'All right,' says I; 'but you mustn't bring your little
girl along.'

"He kinder laughed at this, as we walked away, an' then he turned
around an' come back, and says he, 'Have you been to any the-ay-ters, or
anything, since you've been in town?' 'No,' says I, 'not one.' 'Well,'
says he, 'you ought to go. Which do you like best, the the-ay-ter, the
cir-cus, or wild-beasts?' I did really like the the-ay-ter best, havin'
thought of bein' a play-actor, as you know, but I considered I'd better
let that kind o' thing slide jus' now, as bein' a little too romantic,
right after the 'sylum, an' so I says, 'I've been once to a circus, an'
once to a wild-beast garden, an' I like 'em both. I hardly know which I
like best--the roarin' beasts, a-prancin' about in their cages, with the
smell of blood an' hay, an' the towerin' elephants; or the horses, an'
the music, an' the gauzy figgers at the circus, an' the splendid knights
in armor an' flashin' pennants, all on fiery steeds, a-plungin' ag'in
the sides of the ring, with their flags a-flyin' in the grand entry,'
says I, real excited with what I remembered about these shows.

"'Well,' says he, 'I don't wonder at your feelin's. An' now, here's two
tickets for to-night, which you an' your husband can have, if you
like, for I can't go. They're to a meetin' of the Hudson County
Enter-mo-logical Society, over to Hoboken, at eight o'clock.'

"'Over to Hoboken!' says I; 'that's a long way.'

"'Oh no, it isn't,' says he. 'An' it wont cost you a cent, but the
ferry. They couldn't have them shows in the city, for, if the creatures
was to get loose, there's no knowin' what might happen. So take 'em, an'
have as much fun as you can for the rest of your trip. Good-bye!' An'
off he went.

"Well, we kep' straight on to the doctor's, an' glad we was when we got
there, an' mad he was when we lef' Mrs. Jackson an' the General on his
hands, for we wouldn't have no more to do with 'em, an' he couldn't help
undertaking' to see that they got back to the asylum. I thought at first
he wouldn't lift a finger to get us our trunk; but he cooled down after
a bit, an' said he hoped we'd try some different kind of institution for
the rest of our trip, which we said we thought we would.

"That afternoon we gawked around, a-lookin' at all the outside shows,
for Jone said he'd have to be pretty careful of his money now, an' he
w