Page:Stringer - Lonely O'Malley.djvu/144

 for an opening in the serried avenues of feet before him.

It took him but a short while to discover several, whereupon he did his best to make a hurried but minute character study of his possible neighbors, in so far as such a study could be carried on with nothing more than the several pairs of feet which dangled before or above him.

He decided, at last, in favor of what was a rotund and comfortable-looking country-woman of about forty, deciding that here was a pair of feet on which he could pin his faith and his future.

Then he thrust his russet head through the two green boards which made up the tiers of seats, and clambered and twisted nimbly up into the vacant place.

The stout country-woman uttered a startled, "Lord bless my soul!" and peered down at Lonely, in not unnatural wonder. The youth on his other side looked envious, for there is no hero like unto the hero who can hook into a circus.

Lonely smiled up at the stout country-woman with his most winning and wistful