truction was by
threats and chastisement in some form, dealt out impartially to each and
all, and more than one valuable animal had come to grief on the system.

It was a hard life, and after a time became very monotonous to the
dwarf, who was often heartsick of it all. But what else was there for
him to do? Nothing that he knew of, so he stayed on.

One after another the changing seasons slipped swiftly away, and in
their passing brought to the Satellite Circus Company reverses and bad
times. They found it impossible to keep pace with the ever-growing craze
for something fresh, a new excitement, and in consequence had slowly but
surely been losing their place in public favour. Then the company was
broken up. The Swedish giantess went over to an opposition troupe; the
German ventriloquist and conjurer had died of apoplexy; their leading
lady, who so airily executed the tight-rope performances as well, went
off one fine day without saying good-bye, and married the clown, with
whom she had serious thoughts of setting up a select show on her own
account. The roomy, comfortable caravan was sold, and an old lumbering
machine hired each summer instead; while in winter the party lived from
hand to mouth on their wits, putting up here, there, and anyhow. The
animals had all died or been disposed of except the horses--a pair of
broken-down yet intelligent piebalds--Puck, and Bruno, the bear that
Bambo had trained from a cub, and tamed until he was as gentle as a
lamb with every one but Joe, towards whom he seemed to entertain a
dislike both deep and savage.

As the years rolled round, Bambo became reconciled to his lot, and in
course of time more than reconciled, even happy. For in the many
solitary hours he passed perched above the horses upon the box of the
caravan, when the soft summer wind fanned his face, or in dark, dewy
midnights, when in the shelter of some leafy forest glade he felt
himself alone with nature, long-forgotten words he had heard from his
mother's lips, prayers she had taught him, hymns she had crooned beside
his bed, came back to his memory--not quickly or clearly all at once,
but slowly, hazily. He eagerly welcomed these memories, and hungrily
held them close. At first they represented to him his mother--gentle,
pitiful, loving--come back from the dead, and the friendless youth felt
no longer desolate. Then he began to ponder the meaning of the thoughts
that filled his heart and brain; and God, by His s