ircled the tent.
He saw Mr. Dorgan and Syrilla enter it. Himself hidden in a clump of
bushes, he saw Mr. Lonergan, the Living Skeleton; Mr. Hoxie, the
Strong Man; Major Ching, the Chinese Giant; General Thumb, the Dwarf;
Princess Zozo, the Serpent Charmer; Maggie, the Circassian Girl; and
the rest of the side-show employees enter the tent. Then he removed
his Number Eight mustache and put it in his pocket, and balanced his
mirror against a twig. Mr. Gubb was changing his disguise.

For a while the lady and gentleman freaks stood talking, casting
reproachful glances at Mr. Dorgan. Syrilla, with traces of tears on
her face, was complaining of the cruel man who insisted that the Pet
become part of the show once more and Mr. Dorgan was resisting their
reproaches.

"I'm the boss of the show," he said firmly. "I'm goin' to use that
cage, and I'm goin' to use the Pet."

"Couldn't you put Orlando in it, and get up a spiel about him?" asked
Princess Zozo, whose largest serpent was called Orlando. "If you got
him a bottle of cold cream from the make-up tent he'd lie for hours
with his dear little nose sniffin' it. He's pashnutly fond of cold
cream."

"Well, the public ain't pashnutly fond of seein' a snake smell it,"
said Mr. Dorgan. "The Pet is goin' into that cage--see?"

"Couldn't you borry an ape from the menagerie?" asked Mr. Lonergan,
the Living Skeleton, who was as passionately fond of Syrilla as
Orlando was of cold cream. "And have him be the first man-monkey to
speak the human language, only he's got a cold and can't talk to-day?
You did that once."

"And got roasted by the whole crowd! No, sir, Mr. Lonergan. I can't,
and I won't. Bring that case right over here," he added, turning to
the four roustabouts who were carrying the blue case into the tent.
"Got it open? Good! Now--"

He looked toward the cage and stopped short, his mouth open and his
eyes staring. Sitting on his haunches, his fore paws, or hands,
hanging down like those of a "begging" dog, a Tasmanian Wild Man
stared from between the bars of the cage. The matted hair, the bare
legs, the animal skin blanket, the streaks of ochre and red on the
face, the black circles around the eyes with the white inside the
circles, were those of a real Tasmanian Wild Man, but this Tasmanian
Wild Man was tall and thin, almost rivaling Mr. Lonergan in that
respect. The thin Roman nose and the blinky eyes, together with the
manner of holding the head on one side, sugg