s under a "Peace, be still!" and, worn out
with the contest, the man from Tennessee fell asleep under the grateful
shade of the nooning tree. So deep was the slumber that settled over
exhausted body and troubled spirit that the gathering clouds, the sudden
darkness, the distant muttering of thunder, the frightened twitter of
the birds, passed unnoticed. A heavy drop of rain pierced the thick
foliage and fell on his face, but the storm within had been too fierce
for him to heed the storm without. He slept on.

*****

Almost every man, woman, and child in the vicinity of Pleasant River
was on the way to the circus,--Boomer's Grand Six-in-One Universal
Consolidated Show; Brilliant Constellations of Fixed Stars shining in
the same Vast Firmament; Glittering Galaxies of World-Famous Equestrian
Artists; the biggest elephants, the funniest clowns, the pluckiest
riders, the stubbornest mules, the most amazing acrobats, the tallest
man and the shortest man, the thinnest woman and the thickest woman,
on the habitable globe; and no connection with any other show on earth,
especially Sypher's Two-in-One Show now devastating the same State.

If the advertisements setting forth these attractions were couched in
language somewhat rosier than the facts would warrant, there were few
persons calm enough to perceive it, when once the glamour of the village
parade and the smell of the menagerie had intoxicated the senses.

The circus had been the sole topic of conversation for a fortnight. Jot
Bascom could always be relied on for the latest and most authentic news
of its triumphant progress from one town to another. Jot was a sort of
town crier; and whenever the approach of a caravan was announced, he
would go over on the Liberty road to find out just where it was and what
were its immediate plans, for the thrilling pleasure of calling at every
one of the neighbors' on his way home, and delivering his budget of
news. He was an attendant at every funeral, and as far as possible at
every wedding, in the village; at every flag-raising and husking, and
town and county fair. When more pressing duties did not hinder, he
endeavored to meet the two daily trains that passed through Milliken's
Mills, a mile or two from Pleasant River. He accompanied the sheriff on
all journeys entailing serving of papers and other embarrassing duties
common to the law. On one occasion, when the two lawyers of the village
held an investigation before Trial Jus