ts that morning, but he did not wish to
refuse the kindly proffered gift, and he made every effort to do as she
requested, though one of the cakes would have been quite a feast for him
at his hungriest moment.

The food reminded him of the dinner-invitation he was to deliver, and,
as he forced down the rather heavy cake, he said:

"Aunt Olive's killed a lamb, an' made an awful lot of things for dinner
to-day, an' Uncle Dan'l says he'd be glad to have you come up. Ben's
coming an' I'm goin' to find Ella, so's to have her come, an' we'll
have a good time."

"Lilly an' I will be pleased to see your aunt's lamb, and we shall be
delighted to meet your Uncle Daniel," replied the skeleton, before his
wife could speak, and then a "far-away" look came into his eyes, as if
he could already taste, or at least smell, the feast in which he was
certain he should take so much pleasure.

"That's just the way with Samuel," said Mrs. Treat, as if she would
offer some apology for the almost greedy way in which her husband
accepted the invitation; "he's always thinking so much about eating that
I'm afraid he'll begin to fat up, and then I shall have to support both
of us."

"Now, my dear"--and Mr. Treat used a tone of mild reproof--"why should
you have such ideas, and why express them before our friend, Mr. Tyler?
I've eaten considerable, perhaps, at times; but during ten years you
have never seen me grow an ounce the fatter, and surely I have grown
some leaner in that time."

"Yes, yes, Sammy, I know it, and you shall eat all you can get, only try
not to show that you think so much about it." Then, turning to Toby, she
said, "He's such a trial, Sam is. We'll go to see your uncle, Toby, and
we should be very glad to do so even if we wasn't going for dinner."

"Ben an' me will come 'round when it's time to go," said Toby, and then,
in a hesitating way, he added, "Abner's out here--he's a cripple that
lives out to the poor-farm--an' he never saw a circus or anything. Can't
I bring him in here a minute before you open the show?"

"Of course you can, Toby, my dear, and you may bring all your friends.
We'll give an exhibition especially for them. We haven't got a
sword-swallower this year, and the albino children that you used to know
have had to leave the business, because albinos got so plenty they
couldn't earn their salt; but we've got a new snake-charmer, and a man
without legs, and a bearded lady, so--"

"So that our entertainm