Toby Tyler

by began to hope that no one else would pay any attention to him. On this day he was permitted to go to dinner first, and after he returned he was left in charge of

his tent and come toward him he was particularly pleased, for he

chair, and sat down very cautiously in it, as if he expected that it would break down under his

words, and he stammered out, with considerable difficulty, "

ly covered joints. "When you was tellin' about Mr. Stubbs yesterday I thought you meant someone belonging t

w just what to say, "I should thin

those big plates of jelly that they have in the bakeshop windows." And Mr. Treat looked proudly at the gaudy picture

ng nice regarding Mrs. Treat, but he really did not know what to s

im to elevate his feet on the edge of the counter, and placed his handkerchief under him as a cushion; "she's talking o

o weighted down by a sense of the honor he

away, to tell you that we're goin' to have a little kind of a friendly dinner in our tent tomorrow

is face grew sad as he replied, "I'd like to come first rate, Mr. Treat, bu

any work to do tomorr

r. And then he added, quickly: "An' this is Saturday afternoon. What fun the boys at home are hav

go with them, don't you?" aske

, quickly. "It's twice as goo

nk so before you ca

ut circuses then as I do n

and one which was arousing sad thoughts in his little

Lilly that you'

; an' I want you to know just how

th a pleased expression on his face; "an' yo

tubbs will be just as glad to come as I

going, or Lilly will worry her life out of her for fear I'm somewhere getting cold. She's

emphatically, "an' I'll br

hat he was safe and well; and before he had hardly disappeared within the tent To

tones, "I haven't seen you since you left the wag

ain't very big; an' then I struck i

men get pitched off a wagon in that way an break their necks doin' it. But has Job to

ut that; but I s'pose I'll s

beds will likely be dirty; an' if you take my advic

ht, he would not be expected to report for duty until the time f

impose on you in any way. I'll be round here after you

chief delight these men had in life was to torment him, for neither ever spoke a pleasant word to him; and when one was not giving him some difficult work to do, o

Mr. Stubbs, and then he was so tired that he simply took the old monkey from the cage, nestle

before breakfast. They went instinctively toward the woods; and when the shade of the trees was once reached, how the two reveled in their freedom! Mr. Stubbs climbed into the

, and forgot there was in this world such a thing as a circus or such a man as Job Lord. It was to Toby a morning without a flaw, and he took no heed of the time, until the

aster's attention, and, failing in his efforts, he came down from the

ef to burst forth afresh, and, clasping the monkey aro

n all this world. We could play on the hay, or go up to the pasture, or go down to the village; an' I'd work my fin

f grief. The monkey, not knowing what to make of this changed mood, cowered whimperingly in h

then, still clasping the monkey, he hurried out of the wood

tent. From the odors which assailed him as he entered, it was very evident that a feast of no mean proportions was in course of preparation, and Toby's keen appetite returned in full vigor. Even the

exhibiting themselves now bore a long table, loaded with eatables; and, from the fact that eight or ten chairs were ranged around it, Toby understood that he was not the only guest invited to the feast. Some little attemp

ced toward him, and, with the liveliest appearance of pleasure,

t one of our little home reunions, if one can call

. Tyler"; but by the time his hands were released from the b

guests present, who were sitting at one end of the te

ined around each other's waist, and had been eying the monkey with some appearance of fear, "are the Miss Cushings, know

f they had been the Siamese Twins and could n

nkey made frantic efforts to escape, as if he would

m the others, with his arms folded, and looking as if he was counting the very seconds before the dinner

words unbent his dignity so far as to unfold his arms and present a very dirty looking hand for Toby to shake. The boy took hold of the outstretched hand, wondering why the signo

etti, the wonderful snake charmer, whose exploits in this country, and before the

uch as if her name might originally have been Murphy, and she, too, extended a hand for Toby to grasp-only her han

fat lady and the giver of the feast which was about to come, and which already smelled so inviti

eeves were rolled up, her hair tumbled and frowzy, and there were s

ility that she would break all the bones in his body; and she kept him so long in this bearlike embrace that Mr. Stubbs reached his little

gone, and holding Toby at arm's length so that she could look into his face, "you were so late that I was af

to tell the large and kind hearted lady that he had had no idea of

not to give Mr. Stubbs a chance of grasping her hair again. "Of course I wanted you to come, for th

ything, only submitting patiently to the third hug, which was all Mrs. Treat had time to give him, as she was oblig

"-and here he touched Toby on the shoulder, as if he were some living curiosity whose habits and mode of capture he was about to explain to a party of spectators-"is Mr. Toby Tyler, of whom you heard on the night when the monkey cage

erful creature whom the skeleton was exhibiting; but he managed to rise to his feet and duck his little

looked so intently at Toby that for the life of him he couldn't say which she rega

he monkeys; Mr. Stubbs here did alm

the whole story from Old Ben, an' I sha'n't let you get out of it like that