on mathematics with singular
ease--which cost him precisely the price of the book the following
September.

Penrod departed to study in the backyard. There, after a cautious survey
of the neighbourhood, he managed to dislodge the iron cover of the
cistern, and dropped the arithmetic within. A fine splash rewarded his
listening ear. Thus assured that when he looked for that book again no
one would find it for him, he replaced the cover, and betook himself
pensively to the highway, discouraging Duke from following by repeated
volleys of stones, some imaginary and others all too real.

Distant strains of brazen horns and the throbbing of drums were borne to
him upon the kind breeze, reminding him that the world was made for joy,
and that the Barzee and Potter Dog and Pony Show was exhibiting in a
banlieue not far away. So, thither he bent his steps--the plentiful
funds in his pocket burning hot holes all the way. He had paid
twenty-two cents for the accordion, and fifteen for candy; he had bought
the mercenary heart of Mitchy-Mitch for two: it certainly follows that
there remained to him of his dollar, sixty-one cents--a fair fortune,
and most unusual.

Arrived upon the populous and festive scene of the Dog and Pony Show,
he first turned his attention to the brightly decorated booths which
surrounded the tent. The cries of the peanut vendors, of the popcorn
men, of the toy-balloon sellers, the stirring music of the band, playing
before the performance to attract a crowd, the shouting of excited
children and the barking of the dogs within the tent, all sounded
exhilaratingly in Penrod's ears and set his blood a-tingle.
Nevertheless, he did not squander his money or fling it to the winds in
one grand splurge. Instead, he began cautiously with the purchase of an
extraordinarily large pickle, which he obtained from an aged negress for
his odd cent, too obvious a bargain to be missed. At an adjacent stand
he bought a glass of raspberry lemonade (so alleged) and sipped it as he
ate the pickle. He left nothing of either.

Next, he entered a small restaurant-tent and for a modest nickel was
supplied with a fork and a box of sardines, previously opened, it is
true, but more than half full. He consumed the sardines utterly, but
left the tin box and the fork, after which he indulged in an inexpensive
half-pint of lukewarm cider, at one of the open booths. Mug in hand,
a gentle glow radiating toward his surface from various centre