f the pigtails so stubborn at the ends; and Toby was remembering
the little shoes that had once needed to be laced in the cold, dark
mornings, and the strings that were always snapping.

Something had gone.

They were not philosophers to reason like Emerson, that for everything
we lose we gain something; they were simple souls, these two, they could
only feel.

Chapter II

WHILE Polly sat in the dressing tent, listening indifferently to the
chatter about the "Leap of Death" girl, Jim waited in the lot outside,
opening and shutting a small, leather bag which he had bought for her
that day. He was as blind to the picturesque outdoor life as she to her
indoor surroundings, for he, too, had been with the circus since his
earliest recollection.

The grass enclosure, where he waited, was shut in by a circle of tents
and wagons. The great, red property vans were waiting to be loaded with
the costumes and tackle which were constantly being brought from the
"big top," where the evening performance was now going on. The gay
striped curtains at the rear of the tent were looped back to give air
to the panting musicians, who sat just inside. Through the opening,
a glimpse of the audience might be had, tier upon tier, fanning and
shifting uneasily. Near the main tent stood the long, low dressing
"top," with the women performers stowed away in one end, the "ring
horses" in the centre, and the men performers in the other end.

A temporary curtain was hung between the main and the dressing tent,
to shut out the curious mob that tried to peep in at the back lot for a
glimpse of things not to be seen in the ring.

Coloured streamers, fastened to the roofs of the tents, waved and
floated in the night air and beckoned to the towns-people on the other
side to make haste to get their places, forget their cares, and be
children again.

Over the tops of the tents, the lurid light of the distant red fire shot
into the sky, accompanied by the cries of the peanut "butchers," the
popcorn boys, the lemonade venders,{sic} and the exhortations of the
side-show "spieler," whose flying banners bore the painted reproductions
of his "freaks." Here and there stood unhitched chariots, half filled
trunks, trapeze tackle, paper hoops, stake pullers or other "properties"
necessary to the show.

Torches flamed at the tent entrances, while oil lamps and lanterns gave
light for the loading of the wagons.

There was a constant stream of life shoot