t
Moll without rising from her knees. The woman fidgeted on her seat,
toyed with the amber beads on her neck, but she would not meet the pure
gaze fixed upon her; for there was a tremulousness about her lips, a
moisture in her eyes, a sense of ashamedness all over her which she did
not wish the child to see.

But Joan _did_ see, and vaguely understood that here there was somewhat
amiss, and forthwith proceeded to offer her sympathy after her own
fashion, which, when all is said, is about the oldest and sweetest form
that sympathy can take. Silently she got to her feet, climbed on Moll's
lap, and laid a kiss--light as a snowflake, holy as a benediction,
pregnant as a prayer--upon the woman's broad, sunburnt brow. Then she
tumbled on to the shelf beside Darby, and soon both were wrapped in the
deep, dreamless sleep of wearied childhood.

A few hours afterwards quite an air of stir and bustle pervaded the
encampment. The crossbars for the support of pots and pans were taken
down; scattered utensils were gathered up and stowed away; Bruno was
driven into his cage under the body of the van; the wandering horses
were caught, harnessed, and put in their places; and soon the Satellite
Circus Company was on the move once more. For Joe and Moll had not
failed to observe the dwarf's openly-evinced interest in their captives;
and fearing that he might take it into his head to decamp during the
night, carrying the children along with him, they quickly made up their
minds to push on and put as many miles as the horses could cover between
them and the possibility of escape, pursuit, or capture before daylight
the next morning.

The little ones slept soundly side by side on their narrow shelf; the
bear snarled uneasily behind his iron bars, with only an inch of plank
between his hairy embrace and their soft young bodies; the monkey curled
closer into the warmth of Tonio's black breast; the dwarf sat on his
perch above the plodding piebalds, watching the stars and speculating
about the pretty children--who they were, whence they came, and what
would be their fate if left to the tender mercies of Thieving Joe and
his bold wife Moll.

It was broad daylight when Darby and Joan awoke and sat up to look about
them. For a few minutes they remembered nothing of what had occurred,
and could not make out where they were. Oh yes, of course, Darby at
length understood. They were in a caravan where they had sheltered all
night, not very far fr