Page:Dapples of the Circus (1943).pdf/197

 the circus had been loaded. The ninety-odd gilded and gaudy cars were all there, as were all the wagons and cages.

For a week everything went well. It was a wonderful experience for Freckles. He kept his eyes wide open and saw how everything was done. He went to every corner of the great ship, even down into its very depths and saw the stokers at work.

During this trip he also made several new friends among the circus people. Each day he was allowed to parade Dapples up and down the deck to give him exercise, although this privilege was denied the rest of the horses.

But one night, when they had been out about two weeks, the winds began to kick up quite a sea and the captain said they were in for a storm. To make the night even more eventful, Tom Kennedy, the oldest and most famous bareback horse in the world, died. He had not been well since they left New York. This was not