in a tent, and opposite him a
husky-looking individual was climbing into a pair of checked trousers
and yawning vociferously.

Jim's head ached confoundedly, and he was stiff and sore, but his mind
cleared rapidly from the mists of slumber. What sort of a place was
this, and how had he got there? Then all at once he remembered, and
there came a horrifying thought. What had become of Lou?

"Where's Lou? M--my sister?" he demanded, sitting bolt upright.

"Hello, there! Come out of it all right, did you?" The occupant of the
tent hitched a suspender over one shoulder and grinned cheerfully. "The
kid's took care of! She's with Ma Billings. That was a nasty header you
took last night. O. K. now? We gotter pull out in an hour."

"Oh, I'm all right; but say, did I pull that bonehead stuff out there
before all of them?" Jim reddened beneath his tan at the thought. "Fall
off the horse like that, I mean?"

"In the ring? No, you made a grand exit, and then slumped; nobody saw it
but the little girl, and she beat it right down to the ring and out
after you. Fit like a wildcat, too, when we tried to keep her away from
you till we could find out what had struck you." The other grinned once
more.

"Some sister, ol'-timer! When we found that big muscle bruise on your
side, and she told us that you had been tossed by a bull a couple of
days ago, we didn't wonder you keeled over."

Jim sat up dizzily.

"It was mighty good of you people to take us in for the night," he said.
"Who is Ma Billings?"

"Marie LaBelle she used to be; worked up on the flyin' rings until she
got too hefty," his companion explained. "Now she takes care of the
wardrobes and sort of looks out that the Human Doll don't get lost in
the shuffle; the midget, you know. Now peel, and I'll give you a
rub-down with some liniment."

Jim tried to protest, but the husky individual only grinned the broader.

"You may be some boy when it comes to bronco-bustin', but I'm the Strong
Man in the sideshow, and you haven't a chance."

Meekly Jim submitted to his companion's kindly ministrations, and then
dressing quickly, made his way out into the glare of the early morning
sun.

The big top was down, and poles and animal cages were being loaded on
long trucks as he emerged. An appetizing odor of fried pork floated upon
the air from the direction of the cook tent, and people seemed to be
rushing all over the lot in wildest confusion, but Jim caught a glimpse
of a bit