tail. This
startling curiosity he carried in a bag slung over his shoulder, and
from the expression on his face when he came up it seemed almost certain
that the cat's claws had passed through the bag and into her master's
flesh.

"There," he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief, as he threw his live
burden at the foot of the post to which Mr. Stubbs's brother was tied,
"I've kept shiftin' that cat from one shoulder to the other ever since I
started, an' I tell you she can scratch as well as if she had a tail as
long as the monkey's."

It surely seemed as if the work of building the cages had been too long
neglected, for here were a number of curiosities without anything in
which they could be exhibited, and the audience might be dissatisfied
if asked to pay to see a cat in a bag, or a hen under a bushel-basket.

Toby spoke of this, and Bob assured him that it could easily be arranged
as soon as all the partners should arrive.

"You see, we've got to carry Mrs. Simpson's cat an' kittens home every
night, 'cause she says the rats are so thick she can spare her only
day-times, an' we don't need a cage for her till the show comes off,"
said Bob, as he bustled around again to find materials.

Mr. Stubbs's brother demanded his master's attention about this time,
owing to his attempts to make friends with the calf. From the time that
this peaceful animal, who was to be transformed into a grizzly bear, had
been brought into the tent, the monkey had tried in every possible way
to get at him, and the calf had shown unmistakable signs of a desire to
butt the monkey; but the ropes which held them both had prevented the
meeting. Now, however, Bob detected Mr. Stubbs's brother in trying to
bite his rope in two, and it was considered necessary to set a guard
over him.

Reddy was already busily engaged in painting the posters, despite the
confusion that reigned, and, as his work would keep him inside the tent,
he was chosen to have general care of the animals, a task which he,
without a thought of possible consequences, accepted cheerfully.

Leander and Joe came together, the first bringing his accordion, and
four rabbits in a cage, and the last carrying five striped squirrels in
a paste-board box.

Leander was the only one who had been thoughtful enough to have his
animals ready for exhibition, and the cage in which the long-eared pets
were confined bore the inscription, done in a very fanciful way with
blue and red crayons, "W