and then she turned to those
who were waiting to greet her.

Mrs. Treat took her in her enormous arms, and, having kissed her, put
her down quickly, and clasped Toby as if he had been a very small walnut
and her arms a very large pair of nutcrackers.

"Bless the boy!" she exclaimed, as she kissed him again and again with
an energy and force that made her kisses sound like the crack of the
whip and caused the horses to stamp in affright. "I knew he'd amount
to something one of these days, an' Samuel an' I had to come out, when
business was dull, just to see how he got along."

It was some time before she would unloose him from her motherly embrace,
and when she did the skeleton grasped him by the hand and said, in the
most pompous and affected manner:

"Mr. Tyler, we're proud of you, and when we saw that costume of yours,
that my Lilly embroidered with her own hands, we was both proud of it
and what it contained. You're a great rider, my boy, a great rider, and
you 'll stand at the head of the profession some day, if you only stick
to it."

"Thank you, sir," was all Toby had time to say before Old Ben had him by
the hand, and the skeleton was pouring out his congratulations in little
Miss Ella's ear.

"Toby, my boy, you did well, an' now you'll amount to something, if you
only remember what I told you last night," said Ben, as he looked upon
the boy whom he had come to think of as his protege, with pride. "I
never seen anybody of your age do any better; an' now, instead of bein'
only a candy peddler, you're one of the stars of the show."

"Thank you, Ben," was all that Toby could say, for he knew that his old
friend meant every word that he said, and it pleased him so much that he
could say no more than "Thank you" in reply.

"I feel as if your triumph was mine," said Mr. Lord, looking benignly
at Toby from out his crooked eye, and assuming the most fatherly tone at
his command; "I have learned to look upon you almost as my own son, and
your success is very gratifying to me."

Toby was not at all flattered by this last praise. If he had never seen
Mr. Lord before, he might, and probably would, have been deceived by
his words; but he had seen him too often, and under too many painful
circumstances, to be at all swindled by his words.

Toby was very much pleased with his success and by the praise he
received from all, and when the proprietor of the circus came along,
patted him on the head, and told him that he