Toby Tyler

cepted this as a good omen. He would be near his venerable friend all night, and there was some consolation in that. The driver instructed t

ed the driver around so closely that, had he desired,

was over, and the work of putting the show and its belongings into such a shape as could be conveyed from one town to another was soon in active operation. Toby forgot his gri

f the tent and almost before the work

seats were being packed into one of the carts with a rattling sound that seemed as if a regular fusillade of musketry was being indulged in. Men were shouting; horses were being driven hither and thither, harnes

at the time for starting had arrived, and assisted him to c

eat so great, that he really had no time to attend to the homesick

he town, and when the last familiar house had been passed the

work to keep

igh in air, and he, by strenuous efforts, barely succeeded in alighting

ts he feared that his companion was choking. But he soon understood that this was simpl

to being called

called Toby, for, you

uppose you thought it was a mighty fine thin

ened into the cage just back of the seat they were sitting on. Then he turned slowly around to the driver, and asked, in a voice sunk to a whisp

to look around in search of

n?" asked the m

hink he knew I was runnin' away, though he didn't sa

nly understanding the boy, relapsed into one of those convulsive efforts that caus

which had been almost shaken out of his body by the silent laughter. "So you thought a m

again, "I saw him tonight, an' he looked as if he knew what I was doin'; so I up an' told him, a

oby did not fear so much, since he was getting accustomed to it, and

on't seem to amount to so much as the other fellers do, an' I guess it

put his hand down into the deepest recesses of one of his deep pockets

which had failed him at supper had now returned in full fo

easy sweetness disappeared, and he fished up another for the boy. "Some time you'll get hold of

first, craning his neck, and uttering a funny little squeak as the last bit

it; and Uncle Dan'l says I could eat a pair of boots

axle, and these lights could be seen far ahead on the road, as if a party of fireflies had started in single file on an excursion. The trees by the side of the road stood

rformance of the circus was to be given, and as Toby thought of the ride before them it seemed as if the time would be almost interminable. He curled himself up on one corner of the seat, and tried very hard to go to sleep; but just as his eyes began to grow heavy the

silent laughing spells, until Toby would wonder whether he would ever recover from it. Several times had Toby been awakened, and

er, thinking a conversation would be the

and seemed to be debating in his mind how he should answer the question

ed upon his mind. He revolved the matter silently for some moments, and

an' I've got so used to the na

ions, but he wisely concluded that it w

ferring to the aged monkey, whom he seemed to feel acquai

ntil Toby again ventured to suggest,

won't think much of it. Why, I've known the show towns to be thirty miles apart, an' them was the

ndered whether he had got to work as hard as that; "

me since I've been with this show, an' I've tried to start them right; but they didn't seem to profit by it, an' always got sick of the show an' run away, just because they didn't look out for themselves as they ought to. Now listen to me, Toby, an' remember what I say. You see they put us

," said Toby, "I'm just the one, 'cause I always used to

of his horses and, looking carefully ahead, said, as he guided his

d remain by the roadside until time to make the grand entree into the village, when every wagon, hors

on the top of the wagon; and he was so tired from the excitement of the day and