Page:Dapples of the Circus (1943).pdf/96



FTER the ringmaster's statement that Freckles "was on" had been fully comprehended, the three chums went to a lumber pile at the edge of the circus lot to talk it over. Freckles himself was the most dazed and thunderstruck of the three. To his friends he had suddenly become a mighty hero. If he had been elevated to the Presidency of the United States, they would not have viewed him with more respect. They spoke to him in a new, awe-struck tone, and kept looking at him askance, to discover, if possible, if he were really the same old Freckles.

"Gee, fellers," said Freckles after a short pause, which was more eloquent than