Page:Dapples of the Circus (1943).pdf/173

 tend to the wardrobes of each member. So, although they were supposed to be laid off, yet it would be a busy season.

Sir Wilton did not arrive for nearly a week, and Freckles was very impatient until he came. When he did finally appear, the boy left his dinner untasted and hurried away to the freight yard for his friend. If Freckles was glad to see Dapples, the Shetland was also delighted to see his driver, and he nickered and pawed vigorously until he was unloaded, and then went nosing into Freckles's pockets, to see if he could find a lump of sugar, and, sure enough, he did.

Freckles and Sir Wilton at once set to exploring as much of southern California as they could reach in every direction by a day's ride.

The beautiful country was quite different from anything Freckles had ever seen. The great eucalyptus trees and the catalpas, the fruit farms, especially the prune orchards and citrus groves, asparagus