that slued the ridiculous green bow to a more rakish angle, and then
stopped suddenly in the road. "O-oh, look!"

A barn had been built close up to the side of the fence, and freshly
pasted upon it was the vividly colored poster of a circus. The
enthusiastic admiration which she had denied to her first view of the
great river glowed now in Lou's eyes, and she stood transfixed.

"What is it, Jim? The pretty lady on the horse an' the other one up on
the swing thing without--without any skirt to her, and the man with the
funny pants an' the big hat that's shootin'----"

"There must be a circus in Highvale--yes, the date says to-night," Jim
replied.

"'Trimble & Wells Great Circus & Sideshow,'" she read slowly. "I heard
about them circuses; some of the children seen them before they came
to--to where I was, an' once one come to town an' sent free tickets to
us, but the deaconesses said it was sinful an' so we couldn't go. It
don't look sinful to me; it looks just grand--grand!"

She could have stood for an hour drinking in all the wonders of the
poster, but Jim hurried her on although he was filled with sympathy.
Poor little kid! What a rotten, black sort of life she must have had,
and how he wished that he might take her to this tawdry, cheap affair
and watch her naive enjoyment.

But their combined capital would not have covered the price of the
tickets, and there was supper to be thought of, and the hazards of the
immediate future. For the present the circus must remain an unattained
dream to Lou.

The steep little hill down to the village seemed very long, and twilight
was almost upon them when they came to a big, open lot upon which a
circular tent was in process of erection, with lesser oblong ones
clustered at one side.

A fringe of small boys and village loungers lined the roadway watching
the corps of men who were working like beavers within the lot, urged on
by a bawling, cursing voice which seemed to proceed from a stout,
choleric man who bounded about, alternately waving his arms and cupping
his hands to improvise a megaphone.

Jim was tired, and his side throbbed dully, but a sudden inspiration
came to him, and he drew Lou over to the other side of the road.

"Sit down here and wait for me," he told her. "I won't be long. That's
where the circus is going to be, and perhaps I can fix it for you to see
it."

Turning, he shouldered his way through the knot of loungers, and
entering the lot, approache