in the
hills."

"And my name is David Lannarck, and I've got a score of other names
besides, to include Shorty, Prince, Runt, Half-Pint, and others. I'm
with the Kid Show. I was getting my stuff in shape for the opening
when Alfred decided to work on me with that knife. And he about got it
done, because there were none of the show people around to take him
off me. The spectators thought it was some sort of a pre-exhibition.

"And now, Mr. Welborn, let's go down to the cook tent and get a cup of
coffee, and then you can look around the lot until the shows open. I
want you to be my guest for the day. I feel that I can never repay you
for what you have done. If you ever want any help or aid that a little
fellow like me can give, call on me; there are a few things that I can
do."

"Well I do need some help, right now," said Welborn. "I want to
dispose of a couple of bears."

"Bears? What kind of bears?"

"Two black bear cubs, fat and fine and just ready to be trained. I
caught them up in the hills, and find that I have about as much use
for them as I would have for a yacht, or a case of smallpox. I've
tried turning them loose, but they won't go. Knowing that the show was
to be here today, I brought them down in the trailer, hoping some one
wanted two healthy cubs to fit into an act or exhibition."

"Bears, bears," mused the midget. "Truth is, Mr. Welborn, I'm not
posted on the bear market. Offhand, I would say that they were not
worth much to a show that was losing money by the bale. You see, this
good old year of '32 is a bust. A depression hits a circus first and
hardest. Just now, we are cutting the season and have planned a
straightaway back to winter quarters. Instead of going down through
Fort Collins, Greeley, Denver, Pueblo, with a swing through Texas, we
have canceled everything. We play this Union Pacific right through to
Omaha and thence back home by direct rails. So a pair of bear cubs
wouldn't be much of an asset right now."

"Anyhow, let's look 'em over while I think up a plan." The midget
recovered Alfred's knife from the dust and walked over to the trailer
that he noted had a wooden coop of slats aboard. He climbed up on the
wheel where he could see two black, wooly objects, scarcely a foot
high, and nearly that size in length and breadth.

"They do look fat and in good fur," he commented, "and from the way
they are working on the slat on yon side, you won't have them long.
They would be out of t