Page:Leah Reed--Brenda's summer at Rockley.djvu/393

Rh she ran over to a stand, where she bought two or three bags of peanuts, and another of popcorn balls. She then patronized the balloon man, and made each of the other  girls tie a pink balloon to her belt.

“As a reminder of Philip,” said Julia.

“Well, I was n’t thinking of him,” responded Brenda. At this the others laughed, though why, it would have been hard to tell; and Brenda added,—

“I really am sorry that Philip could not come to-day; he and Tom Hearst are always fine company on excursions.”

Overhearing this remark, Arthur Weston put on an injured air, “Harvard always has to come to the front,  even at a County Fair.”

“We ’re always fair,” responded Amy.

“I ’ll try not to consider that a pun,” said the young man; “but if I had a yacht called ‘The Union Jack’  would you wear a flag at your button-hole?”

“Without seeing the boat and the flag it’s hard to tell,” replied Julia, gravely; but Brenda and Amy made no  reply, because just at that moment Fritz and Ben came  up to urge them to hurry over to the open-air theatre,  where a very remarkable man was about to perform a very  remarkable feat on the trapeze.

Older persons might have found the County Fair tiresome, after they had admired the sleek animals in their stalls, and the horses that raced or trotted in the ring.

But Mr. Elston’s charges found fun in everything. They even peeped in at some of the side-shows, and shot at a target in a funny little shooting-gallery.