in this town?"

"What do you want with an auto when I have my little jitney?" asked
Babson, indicating the motor-cycle. "She's a good machine, but I
haven't cleaned her lately. She'll carry double, too. Hop up behind me
and I'll have you at Elmwood in no time. I'll bring you back, too,
though I won't promise to carry the seal. Time is no object to
me--now," and he laughed rather grimly.

"Say, I believe I'll take you up," Joe said. "That is, if you'll allow
me to pay you as I would have to pay a chauffeur."

"Pay nothing!" exclaimed the man. "I guess I can do you that favor. If
you feel like spending any money why don't you buy this machine? I'll
sell it cheap, and you could have a lot of fun with it. Take your wife
out for a run between performances."

"I haven't one," laughed Joe.

"Well, you may have one some day. That's no reason for not buying my
motor-cycle. I'll let you have it cheap."

"I don't know how to run one," objected Joe.

"It won't take you long to learn. Come on, I'll take you over and you
can look at the seal, and I'll be giving you instructions on the way."

"All right," agreed Joe. "But first come in and watch my act. Then you
can see Tracy, too."

And so it was arranged. Babson was disappointed in not securing work
from the ring-master, who said, though, that there might be an opening
later. But the former juggler enjoyed Joe's act, and said so.

"Don't say anything about the seal proposition," Joe cautioned him, as
he went out with Babson after the performance in the tank. "I don't
want it known until I actually have the seal."

"Oh, I'll keep quiet. But say, Joe, that act of yours, as it stands
now, is a dandy! It sure is!"

"Glad you like it. I'm going to make it better yet, I think."

Joe enjoyed the trip on the motor-cycle. It was not his first one, for
a boy he once knew in Bedford owned one, and Joe had frequent rides on
it. But now he took a new interest, since he began to consider buying
this one.

"It wouldn't be such a bad idea," he told himself as Babson explained
how simple it was to ride and operate one. "And I suppose Helen would
come for a ride now and then. It wouldn't be any bother taking it with
me. A motor-cycle, more or less, wouldn't matter to a circus."

Joe found the seal still unsold. The man had owned several of the
intelligent creatures which he took about with him giving performances
in theatres. But his health had broken down, and he had been forced t