Page:Dapples of the Circus (1943).pdf/124

 the signals, and that gave the frightened boy time to draw himself together and get back his nerve. So they worked together nicely. The performance was not quite so elaborate as that of Tony, but Freckles would do all of his tricks in time. Mr. Williams was much pleased with this first performance and complimented Freckles freely.

"Yes, you are all right, boy. I knew you would be. The secret of it is,—love your work."

One evening when Freckles had been with the circus about two weeks, he was treated to a scene that disclosed to his boyish mind most graphically the fact that the life to which he had linked himself was no child's play.

It was a scene that made his hair stand up with fright and his blood run cold in his veins while it lasted,—just another of those strange tragedies which always follow in the wake of the circus. This is inevitable, since the show deals with the